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THE
LESSER WRITINGS
v x
a k OF
\ v
CM. F. von BOENNINGHAUSEN
COMPILED BY
THOMAS LINDSLEY BRADFORD, M. D.
Author of Life of Hahnemann, Homoeopathic Bibliography, Index of
Provers, Pioneers of Homoeopathy, Etc., Etc.
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GERMAN BY
PROF. L. H. TAFEL
PHILADELPHIA :
BOERICKE & TAFEL.
I908.
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PREFACE.
r
Because a number of physicians desired to obtain certain es-
says by Boenninghausen and because of the difficulty in obtain-
ing them, Messrs. Boericke & Tafel decided some years since
that it would be a favor and advantage to the homoeopathic pro-
fession to collect the shorter writings of the old practitioner,
many of which had never been before published in English, in
book form.
The result is thus presented. This book includes presumably
all the magazine articles by Boenninghausen, and a few of the
smaller of the pamphlets written by him.
The translations were made by Prof. L,. H. Tafel especially
for this book.
It has been the pleasure of the editor to collect the articles
and in order so to do, all the German and French journals have
been examined very carefully.
These articles have been translated from the original journals,
and the phraseology has been left intact.
It is the hope that the book will be of some advantage to those
of our school who have not advanced so far as to consider
Boenninghausen* s opinion behind the times,
T. L. BRADFORD, M. D.
Philadelphia , Pa,,
June i t 1908.
185048
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THE
LESSER WRITINGS
OF
C. von Bcenninghausen
A Reproof. — Smelling of Medicines.
Allgetneine homceopathische Zeitung, Vol. XII, p. 359.
Among the more causeless defamations of the founder of the
homoeopathic school, which we read in the Hygea, is an attack by
Dr. Griesselich found in the third volume (pp. 256 and 257), en-
titled " Contribution to the History of Smelling Medicines.' ' He
there protests against the " authorship ' ' of the discovery, as-
signed to him by Hahnemann, that smelling of the highly poten-
tized Mercury may incline the vital force which has become dis-
eased by abuse of Sulphur, so as to again admit a beneficent effect
of Sulphur upon it. Not only this, but he says in conclusion:
* ' I was with Hahnemann in the last days of April, 1832, and that
the preface alluded to is dated only a. few days later, was the more
surprising, as it was impossible that he should have the time in
these few days to verify my enormous discovery."
Little is to be said against this statement as here laid down, and
there is not the least doubt that Dr. Griesselich has a perfect right
to decline the honor of this discovery, since I am assured by very
creditable men, whose names, if necessary, I can give, that he
devotes himself so little to practice that it is difficult in Karlruhe
to find out his place of residence, so that he must be devoting his
time especially to theoretical studies.
But, in order to present history in its true light, I must add the
following, and I feel myself the more called upon to the truth,
as / alone am able to indicate the exact circumstances, though I
am fully resolved not to answer in future any attack made upon
myself personally.
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2 SMELLING OF MEDICINES.
The remarks made in the appendix to the preface to the letter
of Hahnemann of August, 1832 (following p. 24), that this
is the third matter inserted, and that it was impossible for him to
communicate to the world anything of which he was not convinced \
would have caused any unprejudiced person to entertain the sup-
position, that this smelling of Mercurius to cure the abuse of
Sulphur, was among the matters inserted later. And that this is
really the case the writer of this article can prove from the original
documents, which have been preserved; and this is actually the
second point inserted, sent in by Hahnemann on June 15, 1832.
In the preface dated May 6, 1832, there is as yet not a syllable
about smelling of Mercurius, nor in the first matter inserted, which
speaks of the use of Sulphur in psoric patients suffering from in-
termittent fever, and which is dated May 28. Not before fune 15,
1832, had sufficient time elapsed to verify the observation as it now
stands, and not before that time was it sent in by Hahnemann for
publication.
But as these facts could not be definitely known to Dr. Griesse-
lich I do not want to state this as a reproach to him, but only in
order to wipe out the undeserved stain that he has thrown on the
power of observation and the love of truth of Hahnemann. But
what ought to have moved him not so easily to charge this honor-
able old gentleman with credulity, in contradiction to the extract
published above from the letter of Hahnemann of August 21,
1832, is the fact that in the second edition of the year 1833, which
had been enlarged by the addition of many remedies, the preface
written by Hahnemann was, indeed, wholly rewritten, but that
Passage was preserved verbatim , and this has given to it a very
important confirmation. We cannot, therefore, well see what
his phrase about " discoveries which are unconfirmed M can mean,
especially as the correctness of that observation has surely been
recognized in numerous cases by all good homoeopaths, who only
allow their patients to smell the Mercurius in cases where it cor-
responds with the Sulphur symptoms, as is very often the case;
while in other cases they take their refuge to other remedies (as
the honorable editors of the Archiv will testify*) although Dr.
Griesselich, in case he should have tried it, may have been as un-
successful with it as in the case of Silicea 30 (according to his
own confession in Hygea III, 17,) which, to be sure, is not suit-
*If it needs any confirmation we gladly give it. — Gr. (Gross.)
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THUJA IN SMALL-POX. 3
able in all cases where merely the scholastic, pathological name of
the disease may point to it.
Munster, January 17 , 1838.
Concerning the Curative Effects of Thuja in Small-pox.
Allg. horn. Zeit. % Vol. XXXVII, page 21.
Epistolary Communication from the Royal Councilor, Dr. von
Bcenninghausen, in Munster, to Dr. Rummel (Editor).
I think I ought to inform you of an experience of mine during
the course of this winter, as it seems to me worthy of a more ex-
tended publicity.
Since the last six months small-pox has appeared here and in
the environs, in several places with considerable violence, and,
although in consequence of our wise laws about segregation, etc.,
the disease was in many cases kept secret, yet numerous cases
came under my treatment.
The observation, repeatedly made, that during such epidemics
malanders are frequently observed in horses, brought me to com-
pare with the symptoms of small-pox the specific for this disease
in animals (Thuja), and the result proved so decidedly favorable
that I used the same in the first case of small-pox* that was en-
trusted to my treatment. It exceeded all my expectations. On
the fourth day the pustules were all dried up; on the eighth day
they had fallen off and no pockmarks were to be seen.
This decidedly favorable result caused me not only to use the
same remedy with all the following small-pox patients, but to also
use the same remedy in several houses where small-pox had
broken out, as a prophylactic, and lo! also here the result was
favorable, and no case came to my knowledge where, after using
Thuja, any other member of the family had been infected.
As I have hardly used anything for five years but high po-
tencies, and with such good results that I shall probably never
again return to low potencies, I also used in small-pox cases
only the 200th potency of Thuja, giving a few pellets as a dose
every other evening, and only in two cases, where, it seemed to be
indicated, I interjected a single dose of Mercurius 200, whereby,
as it seemed, the efficacy of Thuja was increased.
*This was that of a girl of twenty-four years of age, whom I had cured the
year before of a chronic crusty herpes on both cheeks. At this day her face
is quite smooth and clean and the picture of health.
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4 THE HIGH POTENCIES.
Most manifest was the absence of pockmarks, which otherwise
are so unavoidable and disfigure so many pretty faces, and even
the redness of the spots disappeared more quickly.
Whether the same results may be obtained in every epidemic of
small- pox must be found out by later experience. If this should
be the case, vaccine matter, which in careless hands is so danger-
ous, and which has doubtlessly caused an enormous infection with
the scrofula- poison, might find a most valuable substitute.
Of course, none of my small-pox patients died. Although the
epidemic was not one of the most dangerous a number of patients
treated by allopaths died, and all the rest will carry a reminder of
it in their faces; and with them the course of the disease was, as
usual, long drawn out. So much at this time.* . . .
The following note is by the editor of the Zeitung :
"Von Bcenninghausen brought up vaccination at the meeting
and considered that as practiced now it is the chief cause of the
disquieting spread of scrotulous diseases. All the physicians
present agreed in this view and promised to give especial atten-
tion to this important subject so as to be able to follow up the
matter next year. There has not as yet been any opportunity to
test the discovery of Von Bcenninghausen concerning the curative
power of Thuja in small-pox; this has also been confirmed in
France, and it is to be expected that we may have opportunities
in the course of the year to test this also here."*
The High Potencies. f
Allg, horn, Zeit, Vol. XXXVIII, page 358.
High potencies have produced a division, especially among
German homoeopaths, which still exists and is in no way condu-
cive to the progress of science. A war in our own camp has thus
been caused, far worse and more dangerous than a war against an
external foe — a war of specificists against the Hahnemannians , of
*Whether Thuja will be efficient as a prophylactic might perhaps be seen
by giving this remedy to persons before they are vaccinated, and then ob-
serving whether the vaccination 4I takes' ' with them. We would request
vaccinating physicians to make this experiment. — Rummei*.
tAccording to my opinion, there is no more need to establish the action of
high potencies, for very few homoeopaths will question this; yea, I even
know from Griesselich, who, as is well known, is their chief opponent, that
he experimented with them on himself; thus, he must not have considered
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THE HIGH POTENCIES. 5
the materialists against the dynamists — and in consequence the
amphibians have lately arisen, who are neither fish nor fowl,
neither homoeopaths nor allopaths, and who frequently sacrifice
their convictions to selfish considerations. Among these latter es-
pecially we find the pretended mediators between the old and the
new school, who want to please both and lose the good graces of
neither, without considering that half- measures are most con-
temptible, and that indecision which would carry water on both
shoulders will gain the confidence of neither side and must be re-
pulsive to every independent examiner. They cannot be at-
tacked, indeed, because they keep open a way of escape toward
either side, and their campaigns are all of the kind which French-
men well designate battre la campagne (scouring the country).
It would, therefore, be probably a vain endeavor to bring convic-
tion to these amphibians.
Materialistic homoeopaths, or specificists (believers in specific
remedies), as they choose to call themselves, who are character-
ized chiefly by giving low dilutions in frequent repetition, but
who select their remedies correctly according to the fundamental
law of homoeopathy, giving larger or smaller doses, are more
amenable to reason. The greater number of them will not at
least refuse to investigate the matter, and prove experimentally,
as soon as we can convince them that even high potencies, yea,
the highest, given in very small and infrequent doses, produce
effects, and, indeed, deeply penetrating effects, entirely sufficient
for cure.
Deservedly passing over the subterfuge of the cowards, who are
not ashamed to proclaim as lies and perversions what honest and
honorable men have communicated as the results of their care-
fully repeated experiments as soon as these run counter to their
mole- like views, there are really only two objections which have
been brought forward against the dynamists, and which give
them a priori as so void of action, else he would not have deemed them
worthy of any experiment. This would be anyway quite ridiculous. Now,
the question is rather, Whether high potencies have any excellence above
other preparations, and what excellence, and whether this is geneial or only
in certain cases?
If there is only a relative superiority \ then we would have to examine in
what cases this exists. Everything that can clear up this obscurity is wel-
come. The above communications, referring to observations made on ani-
mals, have the advantage that the effects cannot, as is often done, be as-
cribed to psychical or dietetic influences. — Rummei*.
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6 THE HIGH POTENCIES.
food to the skepticism of their opponents. These objections are:
First, that cures are due to a trusting confidence of the patients in
their physician, the moral effect of which is rated too highly; and,
secondly, to homoeopathic dieting, which brings back the patients to
a natural mode of living, and is supposed to be able to restore
health by dieting alone, without any medicine.
We dynamists, if we were inclined to retaliate, would be fully
justiBed in asking the materialists why they do not labor to gain
with their patients as great and mighty a confidence and prescribe
the same diet with all their patients, throwing aside all medicine
as entirely useless? But we have no need of such ambiguous re-
torsi ve measures, and we know as well as our opponents that
there are many, especially chronic, diseases, which can never be
thoroughly and permanently eradicated by the vital force alone,
as also acute diseases where the regular course can only be miti-
gated and aborted by suitable medicines, and where a fatal issue
can only be safely averted by the same.
But all these excuses and objections are at once cut off in the
homoeopathic cures of animals. These cures, and only these, give
us the surest and most irrefutable information what and how
much medicines, and also high potencies, are able to do, quite in-
dependent of all moral faith and of all dieting, both of which are
here entirely eliminated, so that not the remotest suspicion can be
admitted in any of them.
Convinced of the far-reaching importance of these cures of ani-
mals of various kinds, and in order to be able to gather with the
greatest ease their results for this purpose, I have kept a special
journal of these cases for a year, during which the number of
those seeking aid also for this purpose has very much increased.
This journal already shows a great number of, in part, very re-
markable cures, all of which present the most irrefutable proof
not only of the great curative power of medicines selected accord-
ing to strictly homoeopathic principles, but especially also of the
power of high potencies in minimal doses, since I almost exclu-
sively employed these. The journal is not, indeed, conducted as
circumstantially as in the case of the cures of men; on the other
hand, I need feel no delicacy in naming the owners of the sick
animals, and thus show every skeptical person how he may gain
the surest conviction of the truth of my statements.
In publishing in what follows only a few of the cures in ques-
tion I think I may assume that the aim of this communication has
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THE HIGH POTENCIES. 7
been stated with sufficient clearness, so that no one will interpret
it wrongly or see a degradation of our noble science in my request
that our most experienced and learned homoeopaths may enter on
this hitherto untrodden path with respect to high potencies, and
communicate the results of their experiments frankly and truly to
those who are in doubt.
May I be permitted to put at the head of my list a brilliant case
which occurred already two years ago, and excited so much atten-
tion among the lovers of horses here that it is still mentioned as
memorable whenever Homoeopathy is spoken of?
i. Lieutenant von Grueter, of the Eleventh Regiment of Hus-
sars, which was then here in garrison, had a full-blooded English
horse, which he had purchased at a very low price because it suf-
fered from an affection of the larynx, coughed much, there being
rattling and croaking in the throat and short breath at the slight-
est exertion. This morbid condition had existed for some time,
and had been treated without the slightest success by a number of
veterinary surgeons, both while the horse was in the possession of
the former owner and of its present owner. At last, as is usu-
ally the case, Homoeopathy was tried, after all other prospects of
improvement had vanished. Thus, the horse came under my
treatment.
The nature of the disease and the former allopathic remedies
used, of which, however, only repeated anointing with Mercury
could be established with any certainty, left no doubt as to the
remedy proximately indicated I, therefore, as is my usual prac-
tice with animals, prescribed Hepar sulphuris calc. 200 (/. e. % three
pellets moistened with the 200th potency), to be dissolved in half
a quart of pure, cold water, to be shaken until dissolved, and then
given the horse by means of a bottle. No change was made in
the feeding, and the horse was, as before, taken out daily for a
ride at a walk for one hour. In a week the beneficent action of
the remedy was manifest, as the cough had entirely ceased; the
rattling and croaking, however, still existed, and, though the
respiration was freer, it was still oppressed. Spongia 200, given
in the same manner, now caused a further progress in the im-
provement, and another dose of Hepar suiph. calc, given a week
later, so removed the remaining symptoms of ailment in the horse
that about three weeks later at a horse-race, where several excel-
lent thoroughbreds took part, this horse on one and the same day
won both prizes. A short time afterwards it was sold at four times
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8 THE HIGH POTENCIES.
the price to another officer (Count von der Groeben), whose best
horse it is said to be at this day, as I have been assured by one
of his acquaintances.
2. About the same time a poor farmer from the little village of
Amelsbueren, five miles from here, whose name, if I remember
rightly, was Roevekamp, came to me for help, dragging behind
him a horse which was a mere skeleton, with rough hair standing
up in every direction, and which could hardly put one foot before
the other. The horse had been sick for three months, and in spite
of all the remedies used by various veterinarians, on whom he had
expended much money, the horse had become more and more mis-
erable
He said that I had helped so many people given up by the doc-
tors, also in his neighborhood, that he was in hopes I would not
be too proud to take pity also on his horse, the loss of which he
would not know how to replace. On questioning him, I found
out that his horse while carting ground had gotten into a perspira-
tion, and had been overtaken by a heavy shower of rain mingled
with snow, that it had taken a bad cold and been sick ever since
the day succeeding the shower. This anamnesis, together with
other symptoms not written down and which I can not now re-
member, pointed plainly to Rhus tox. So I gave him one dose of
the 200th and two doses of Sac. lac. with the direction to give
the horse one powder every five days (as in case i) shaken tip
with water. Three weeks later a farmer with a heavily loaded
cart stopped at my house and requested me to please come down.
It was the same farmer with the same horse, which I did not rec-
ognize again, for it had been so poor and wretched and was now
so well nourished, smooth and sleek, with bright eyes. The
owner assured me that the improvement had set in twenty-four
hours after taking the first powder, that the improvement had
gone on day by day, and that the horse was now healthier and
more vigorous than ever before, for which he heartily thanked me.
3. Baronet von -Boeselager, in Hessen (near Hamm on the
Lippe), possesses a neat lady's horse, the pet of his second
daughter, who now, as before, continually uses it for her riding-
horse. This horse all at once began to limp. Several veterinary
physicians in Hamm and here had in vain tried their art. The
ailment remained the same, and the doctors were not even agreed
as to the seat of the trouble, because there was no swelling nor
pain on pressure and touch to be noticed anywhere on the lame
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THE HIGH POTENCIES. 9
leg. Also, in this case as a last refuge, they turned to Homoeop-
athy and to me. But it was difficult to at once find the right rem-
edy, because the seat of the disease could not be discovered, nor
was anything morbid to be noticed in the well-nourished and
lively animal. I at once acknowledged this, and said that I was
not able t > promise with certainty an immediate favorable result,
but, confiding in the power of my approved high potencies, I did
not in the least doubt that I should be able to restore it, though
perhaps it might take a few months.
I began my treatment with Sulphur 200 and Caust. 200, on the
4th and 13th of August, without the least result. Of as little
avail were Bryonia on the 20th or Rhus tox. on the 27th of the
same month, given in the same dose. Thence it appeared that
the lameness had its seat merely in the hoof, and I accordingly
gave Arsenicum 200, with a decided improvement, which was not,
however, permanent, wherefore I repeated the same remedy on
the 17th and the 24th. Since no trace of the ailment now re-
mained I concluded the treatment on October 1st with a dose of
Sulphur 200. These remedies, as all the others, were dissolved
in the manner described in case 1 . The horse has been well ever
since, as I heard from the mouth of the owner himself a few days
ago. The Baronet is just enough to give a full acknowledgment
to the little powders, though he has no suspicion of the actual
minimal nature of their medical contents.
4. The pointer of Baronet von Wendt-Crassenstein was seized
with the so-called dog-epidemic, and under allopathic veterinary
treatment he was so far gone by January 20, 1849, that his death
was expected every hour; but before the final conclusion I was
called in to help his master's pet. Without any hope, and pro-
testing against any ill-fame that might accrue from my failure, I
at once gave him Rhus tox. 200, which was immediately followed
by an apparent relief. Next day I followed with Kali card. 200,
with such a decided ana rapid improvement that on January 22d
he ate with considerable appetite, and could be dismissed as cured
on January 23d. With equally rapid and complete success I
afterwards treated several other dogs, also my own. Only with
two of them I had first to give Bryonia instead of Rhus f but all
the remedies in the high potency already mentioned.
5. In September, 1848, I lost a cow on my country- place,
Darup, from tympany, or wind dropsy, from eating green clover,
it was strange that this quickly fatal disease within two days be-
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10 THE HIGH POTENCIES.
came so unusually common, that in these forty-eight hours more
cattle were lost than else in a whole year. As soon as the news
of my loss was brought to me in Miinster I at once sent out a
bottle of pellets of Colchicum 30, directing that as soon as another
case should appear three or four pellets should be shaken in half
a tumblerful of water until dissolved. About a week later a sec-
ond case actually appeared among my cows; my men did exactly
as I had ordered, and the effect was almost immediately visible,
and in an hour the attack had passed off.
The neighbors, surprised by this wonderful success, transferred
the confidence in the little pellets, which they had before felt only
as to men, now also to their cattle. Since then the trocar has dis-
appeared and my bottle of Colchicum has been repeatedly used
with the same good effect. If I had then been in possession of
Colchicum 200, I would not have had the slightest hesitation in
using that.
6. In cows whose afterbirth did not follow quickly I affected
cures last spring in seven cases in this neighborhood (near
Nickotter, Ricke, Vennemann, Froerd, Maykotter, Wappendrups
and Wilhelmers) within twelve hours by administering two doses
of Secale corn. 30 and an intermediate dose of Sabina 30, one dose
every three hours, shaken up with water.
I have read the assertion somewhere, I do not remember where,
that high dilutions and small doses would be least effective with
swine. The following case may prove that my experience does
not coincide with that statement.
7. On the 22d of April, 1849, Colon Bredeweg, of Amelsbueren,
five miles from here, invoked my help for a litter of eight little
pigs, which were all suddenly seized with an eruption which had
also, in a short time, killed many swine in that neighborhood,
and resembled the well-known so-called Antony's fire. I at once
gave him (1) Sulphur ", (2) Sepia and (3) Arsenicum^ each in the
200th potency. Each powder was to be dissolved in half a quart
of water by vigorous shaking, and each pig was to receive a table-
spoonful. No. 1 was to be given at once, No. 2 in six hours and
No. 3 in twelve hours. When the man got home one pig was
already dead, but the other seven he treated as I had told him,
and next day all seven were well. On April 29, 1849, a h°g was
taken sick in the same manner and Bredeweg hurried to me for
help. The same remedies given at the same intervals and in the
same potency, but only two pellets of each, helped just as quickly
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EPISTOLARY COMMUNICATION. 11
and completely. These two results show conclusively also in ani-
mals the same observation made with men, that the shorter or
longer duration of the action of a remedy depends as much on the
nature of the disease as on the peculiarity of the remedy, and that,
also, the high potencies may be used in the most acute disease
without any fear that the curative action may set in too late.
If these few true and actual facts, which I might multiply ten-
fold from my one year's journal, shall contribute to put into true
light the advantages of Homoeopathy in general, and especially
the advantages of high potencies, and if they encourage others to
imitate my action, I shall consider myself very happy.
Dr. C. v. Bcbnninghausbn.
Minister \ March # t 1830.
Epistolary Communication of Councilor Dr. von Boenning-
hausen to Dr. Rummel.
Allg. horn. Zeit., Vol. XXXIX, page 98.
I use a moment of quiet to communicate to you two observa-
tions, quite various in their character, one even being drawn from
the department of chemistry, and yet both of them seem of use
to our science, on which account I do not object to their publi-
cation.
The first observation is respecting the enormous and fatal effects
of the high potencies when the dynamization is much increased
by excessive shaking with water. I came to this knowledge in
the following manner: In the second half of last winter there
were an unusual number of cases of hydrophobia among the dogs,
and even at present hardly a day passes without my services
being called for to aid some person bitten. Homoeopathy and
high potencies have proved their worth. I have used only two or
three pellets of the 200th potency dissolved in water for a dose
this year, but neither this nor the preceding years have I ever
heard that any man or animal treated in this manner by me was
seized with hydrophobia. Nevertheless in the last eleven days
I have had two deaths of dogs.
The first case was that of a large fine bull-dog of Burgess
Bcening near Drensteinfurth, that had been bitten by a dog which
proved to be mad. As usual I gave the owner, who valued the
dog highly, a number of powders, Nos. 1, 3 and 5 Belladonna,
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12 EPISTOLARY COMMUNICATION.
2 Hyoscyamus, 4 Stramonium , all of the 200th potency, to be
given every three days in their proper order, one powder dissolved
in water by shaking, which could best be effected in a small bot-
tle. This man was too zealous in well-doing, as I afterwards
found out, and shook up the powder every time most vigorously for
five minutes and over, and then he gave it to the dog with boiled
sweet milk which had been allowed to cool off. After each one
of these powders the dog had looked very doleful for a whole day;
after the last he would not eat any more, though still willing to
drink water. On the third day after taking the fifth powder he
died, but without shorting the least sign of madness or hydrophobia.
About two weeks later I gave the same remedies, to be taken
in the same manner, to a large mastiff on Heithorn's Kolonet in
the village of Hittrup, and as if by a providential decree, to im-
press the lesson taught by the former example, also in this case
the shaking of the medicine in water was carried to excess. In
consequence the result was just the same. After the last powder
the dog was taken very sick and as he was near dying on the sec-
ond day they ended his pains with a bullet. Also this dog did not
show any symptom of madness before his death.
It is to be noted that I have given the same remedy in the same
dose and the same manner to quite a number of animals of vari-
ous kinds, horses, cows, hogs and little dogs, as also to some men
who had been bitten, without producing any noticeable trouble;
nor did hydrophobia appear with any one of them. But so far as
I know and can find out by inquiry, in none of those cases had
the potentizing been increased by an excess of shaking, as in the
two cases given above.
Though we have here two facts, they stand as yet too isolated
to derive certain conclusions therefrom, and I fully see that there
are many ways of escaping from the deduction. Still these phe-
nomena seem to me of sufficient importance to call attention to
them and cause us to give attention to this matter. If others of
my honored colleagues should have heard of similar cases, or can
communicate other facts which show that my apprehensions as to
the effect of too violent potentizing are baseless, I may well re-
quest them for the good of our science to communicate them.*
* It would be a great pity if high potencies could by strong shaking be
rendered so dangerous, still we would not hesitate to acknowledge this if
the reasons were convincing. Our honored friend will permit us, however,
to communicate our doubts as to the observations made, especially as he
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EPISTOLARY COMMUNICATION. 13
The second observation is in reference to a discover}- by a French
chemist, which was presented in a session of the Academy of Sci-
ences in* Paris on the 27th of the month, and from which Homoe-
opathy, as it seems to me, may draw a double use. I will first
premise the words of the reporter, Leon Foucauld, in the Journal
des Dibats, translated into German with the greatest possible faith-
fulness:
" M. Maumen6, Professor of Chemistry at Reims, makes a
proposition for the use of a reacting tissue for medical use, to in-
dicate by its change of color the presence of sugar in urine. This
would be formed of strips of white merino, cut like the paper-
strips of test paper used in laboratories; they would be saturated
with bichloride of tin. If one of these merino-strips thus prepared
is moistened with a fluid containing the smallest amount of sugar,
and then heated in the flame of a candle, the white color will
quickly pass into blackish- brown by the browning of the sugar.
M. Maumen6 has convinced himself that neither urates, nor uric
acid, nor any substance present in normal urine will produce a
similar change of color; so that whenever this is seen we may at
once surely conclude the presence of diabetic sugar/'
seems to consider the conclusions as very uncertain as yet. And they are
so, indeed, for they stand solitary among thousands of observations that
have been made; aggravations caused by medicines have, indeed, been fre-
quently observed, but none of a dangerous nature, on the contrary they were
usually welcome as the harbingers of improvement. An additional difficulty
in the way of making experiments on this disease is caused by the merely
relatively infectious nature of the disease, for of ten animals bitten only
about one gets hydrophobia. So one can never tell whether we have to do
with an infected or a healthy animal, i. e., whether we should consider the
medicine given as a preservative or a medical proving on a healthy subject.
Now the provings of the Vienna provers have shown, indeed, that high
potencies will act, but still they were not dangerous even in larger quanti-
ties. The danger in these cases could, therefore, only have arisen from the
collision of the medicinal force with the disease still latent. The following
facts, communicated to me by an experienced veterinary physician, may
serve to throw light on the subject:
"The mania often runs its course so latently that one not an exact con-
noiseur* of dogs would not consider it sick at all; in all stages of mania
death often sets in apoplectically. Only if immediately after death blood
should flow from the nose, the ears or the eyes would death be manifestly
proved to have been caused by hydrophobia."
It may easily be seen that it depends entirely on the interpretation given
to the observations; they may be used either to prove the excessive strength
of the violently shaken high potencies, or, on the contrary, they may be
viewed as proving that the remedies in these cases were unable to protect.
— R . . . 1,. (Rummei,.)
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14 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF HOMOEOPATHY.
1 g The reason why we should use strips of merino, and not paper
or a tissue woven of flax or hemp, is because bichloride of tin
would blacken and carbonize such a strip, since it approaches too
closely to the chemical constitution of sugar. It was, therefore,
necessary to discover a substance which resists the action of
chlorine, and this is only found in such a mineral substance.
Parchment itself cannot be used, because when heated it hardens
like horn. But merino is quite free from these faults, and when
prepared in the manner mentioned above, the practical physician
can always carry such strips in his letter-case and in every case
where he suspects sugar he can at once make his tests. ' '
I have stated above that this discovery, the correctness of which
can hardly be questioned, promises a double advantage: In the
first place, without wearisome chemical processes, we can at once
establish the presence of diabetes, but then also it will enable us
to enrich our medical treasury in this disease, always difficult to
cure. For all that has so far become known with respect to it has
been drawn only ex usu in morbis. We cannot doubt that several
of our powerful remedies are able to counteract this malignant
disease; but we do not know them, as yet, because in our provings
the peculiar transmutation of the urine has not been noted, and
owing to the troublesome and tedious chemical decomposition re-
quired could hardly have been observed. But now, that so easy
and simple a test has been found by which to discover the pres-
ence of sugar in the urine, it will not be difficult to make up this
deficiency in our provings.
Contributions to the History of Homoeopathy.
Allg. horn. Zeit., Vol. XXXIX, page 339.
A Notice to Dr. v. Boenninghausen to Cease from Homoeopathic Veterinary
Practice.
I.
We have been informed, noble sir, that when Commissary
Henschen, of Holzhausen, applied to you for medical advice for
a hog bitten by a mad dog, you gave him powders for the animal,
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF HOM030PATHY. 15
and that later on the hog became mad, wherefore it had to be
killed in the presence of a veterinary physician, Steinkiihler, to-
gether with its litter of three pigs, born after the event.
We take occasion from this event to communicate to you in
copy the Order of the Royal Minister of Spiritual, Educational
and Medical Affairs, issued on December 6, 1840 (Ministerial
Journal for the Interior, 1840, p. 476). This orders that persons
who have not been approved for the practice of the veterinary art
should not undertake the treatment of domestic animals in dis-
eases belonging to the category of infectious diseases and of epi-
demics. Since you have not obtained the qualifications demanded
in this Order by the Order of the Royal Cabinet of July 11, 1843,
which granted you permission to provide patients in single cases
with homoeopathic advice and corresponding medicines, we must
forbid you to medically treat mad animals or such domestic ani-
mals as have been bitten by mad animals, or such as are suspected
of madness, as also in general cattle taken with an infectious or
epidemic disease, if you would avoid a fine of from 5 to 10 dollars.
Munster, June 24, 1850.
Royal Minister of the Interior.
To the Royal Councilor, retired,
Dr. phil? von Boenninghausen,
Nobleman in this city.
No. 404. I. M.
Hereupon follows No. II. The Rescript issued by the Ministry
of the Interior.
III.
To the Honorable Royal Government here.
Miinster, July 10, 1850.
The Order issued to me lays upon me the imperative duty, not
on my own account, but on account of the cause, not to receive
this order in silence, and thereby, as it were, confess a guilt of
which I am entirely innocent as well in a material as in formal
respect. The whole honorable college will not refuse me the testi-
mony that I have never stood among the complainers, but have
always devoted all my time and strength to studying, advising and
bringing aid, whenever and wherever I was able, in a faithful and
honest manner. I have not to fear, therefore, from this side that my
present address will be misinterpreted since I sincerely desire and
strive for merely what is truly good; but, at the same time, as is
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16 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF HOMOEOPATHY.
proper, I am determined to oppose every obstruction to this en-
deavor with zeal and determination.
Although it is an undeniable truth, proved by numberless facts,
that the cure of the diseases of animals is accomplished according
to one and the same law as the cure of men. I would yet hardly have
thought of reaching out also to them, if the objections of the adher-
ents of the old school, repeated ad nauseam, had not, as it were, com-
pelled me to it. After so many striking facts, which left them no
denial possible, the only objection was left them : ' "The cures of ho-
moeopaths are caused merely by diet and by a confident imagination,
because the naughts administered by them are entirely unable to
effect cures.' ' If such ridiculous statements were merely made
as a cheap and somewhat silly joke every rational man would at
most have compassionately shrugged his shoulders or left it un-
noticed as a transitory folly. But after all the other objections,
mostly drawn from an absurd theory, were of no more avail, this
nonsense was at last seized upon, and because it was uttered with
such a mien of wisdom there were silly men enough who actually
believed it.
In order to make this last loophole impracticable for the op-
ponents of the new and natural methods of cure nothing is more
suitable than the application of Homoeopathy to animals. For
here nothing can be ascribed to diet, which remains the same,
much less to the influence of imagination and faith; when ani-
mals, therefore, with such treatment recover, and, indeed, in a
very brief time, it cannot be denied that their cure is due to these
derided " naughts/ ' unless all reason is set aside and skepticism
should increase even to insanity. The 38th volume of the Allge-
meine horn. Zeitung, by Hartmann and Rummel, contains in No.
23 a treatise on this subject, with an appendix on the cures
effected on animals with such "naughts," and, indeed, with
" naughts' ' in the superlative degree.
Purely for this reason and based on the principle of similia
similibus ! I did not consider myself too aristocratic where my
aid was invoked " in single cases," and in the beginning only in
cases where the present veterinary methods had shown no suc-
cess, not to deny my assistance also to animals of various kinds.
Since January 18, 1849, 1 have also kept a formal journal, and am
therefore ready at all times to give account concerning every case
treated , just as I am able to do about my treatment of sick persons,
though the former account is not so full. In this journal there is,
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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF HOMOEOPATHY. 17
therefore, also found an account of the sow big with young, belong-
ing to Hensche, on May 8th of this year, with a notice of the usual
remedies used against the biting by mad dogs. Later on, accord-
ing to subsequent information, there is the remark, that " the saw
nevertheless was said to have become hydrophobic, though it had not
bitten or gored as mad sows always do." It is, therefore still very
questionable whether said sow actually had hydrophobia when
she was killed, and from many scientific reasons I have a perfect
right to question this and deny it until a complete account of a
dissection made should prove the assertion of veterinary doctor
Steinkuehler, who is altogether unknown to me.
But even in that case it would not matter much if, from some
unknown cause, hydrophobia should exceptionally have broken
out in this one case, as such cases, even among men, when treated
allopathically occur but too frequently, as the yearly statistical
tables plainly show. Two sad examples of this occurred in the
last two years here before the gates of the city of Minister and in
the town of Coesfeld. On the other hand, not a single well-
authenticated case has come to my knowledge where a man who
had been bitten by a mad dog, and who had actually become hy-
drophobic, has been saved by Allopathy, but I can show a case of
a person thus saved by Homoeopathy. The records of the Royal
Government from the beginning of the year 1830 contain the re-
ports of Dr. Sentrup, then district- physician, concerning hydro-
phobia having broken out with Louise Klusemann, born in Iburg,
twenty -one years old, and living as a servant on Menken's farm,
near Alveskirchen, as also the allopathic treatment of this person
for several days without effect. But from what the Court pub-
lished about the matter later on, I doubt that my homoeopathic
cure of this person, who else would have died without chance of
rescue, has been entered on the records. But I am able, even at
this day, to give a detailed and exact account of the matter as it
was published in the Archiv fur die horn. Heilkunst, Vol. X,
No. 3, page 85, which is confirmed by a communication of the
pastor there, as well as by the statement written down according
to the words of the cured person in the presence of the late Privy
Councilor, Baronet von Korff, a few weeks after the event. The
fame of this cure, which has not yet been forgotten, as well as
many remarkable cures since, have brought to me a great number
of persons who had been bitten by dogs alleged to be mad, and
with none of these persons who have used my homoeopathic rem-
2
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18 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE HISTORY OF HOMCEOPATHY.
edies did hydrophobia break out, though I saw several of them
who had been dreadfully bitten and mangled, and some of these
persons by dogs whose bite caused hydrophobia with other ani-
mals. These remedies are not, however, secret remedies, as they
are sold and used without obstruction in many places; nor has
their publication caused any expense to the State as has been the
case with several other remedies, but they have been made known
unselfishly in my own works and others, together with directions
showing how to use them. These remedies, also, are the only
and true prophylactics against hydrophobia, as they have the
virtue of curing the whole disease, even when it has broken out.
This latter condition is indispensable, and where a prophylactic
has not been put to this proof it is, by homoeopaths, relegated at
once to the limbo of the doubtful and unsafe, if not into that of
secret remedies and humbugs. For the time of the empty
authority of opinions and assertions is gone by never to return,
and in future only that will be accepted as true which has been
proved correct by repeated experience, and which corresponds
with a law of nature which is no less irrefragable than the law of
gravitation established by Newton. But we have the more reason
to apply a strict criticism to the old practice of medicine as even
among the most decided adherents of the old school there are a
number of honest men who have recognized and designated it as
a collection of fallacies and falsities.
So much I thought it my duty to say concerning the order
issued by the honorable Royal Government, dated on the 24th of
this month. I will not mention the rank into which homoeopaths
have placed me, nor the many honors that have been paid to me,
diplomas, etc., which have come, and are still coming, to me from
the most remote countries, but will pass on to the conclusions to be
drawn from it.
In this respect it is not to be overlooked that the supreme royal
cabinet order concerning my homoeopathic activity is dated July
1 1 , 1843, but the ministerial order cited bears date of December 6,
1840. Therefore, this ministerial order cannot affect the other,
even if a minister should have the power to nullify or arbitrarily
to limit a royal cabinet order.
Secondly \ in the royal cabinet order there is nowhere to be found
a restriction or exception as to any sort of disease. Therefore,
there can be no interpretation of this order, least of all one that
would place the life of a sow above that of a human being.
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HISTORY OF HOMCEOPATHY. 19
Finally, the above said cabinet order distinctly declares that no
obstruction is to be put in my way based on my lack ^qualifica-
tion, and yet the order cited by you, in direct conflict therewith,
says that I had not obtained the qualification demanded in that
(ministerial) rescript, and therefore am forbidden, etc., threaten-
ing a fine of from five to ten dollars.
There are cases of interpretation which do not tally with com-
mon sense, but such a bald and plain contradictory interpretation
as this I never met before, and I cannot, therefore, submit myself
to the honorable order of the Royal Government in this case.
Dr. C. von Bcenninghausen,
Royal Councilor (Retired).
History of Homoeopathy. — (Continued.)
Continued in Allg. horn, Zeit. % Vol. XL, page 96.
VI.
We have not found ourselves moved by the reasons given in
your answer of July 10th, this year, to our order of June 24th of
this year to depart from our position, and we particularly direct
you, with reference to the treatment of mad dogs or those bitten
by them, to the direction given in paragraph 100 of the regula-
tion confirmed by royal authority October 28, 1835 (Lawb. No.
27, page 239), according to which every one not a physician is
strictly warned against treating such cases, and which is even per-
mitted to physicians and veterinary doctors only under conditions .
involving strict limitations. From the royal cabinet order of July
11, 1843, giving you permission to give homoeopathic advice and
to administer homoeopathic medicines to patients who, in single
cases, apply to you from their special confidence in you, you can
in no wise derive more extended privileges for yourself than are
legally granted even to approved physicians.
The Royal Government.
Munster, September 6, 1S50.
To the Royal Conncilor (retired),
Dr. Phil. v. Bcenninghausen, here.
459. I. M.
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20 IDEA OF A SYSTEMA NOSOLOGICUM.
Idea of a Systema Nosologicum.
Allg. horn. Zeit. % Vol. XL, page 17.
Since Linn6's time the botanist confines himself in his diagnoses
to as few words as are absolutely necessary to distinguish the
plant from others, describing it according to a few characteristics
belonging to it alone. Among the advantages gained thereby is
this essential advantage, that it requires but little time to find the
class, order, genus, and finally the species and variety of every
plant, even when one has never seen it before; so also every new
plant not yet named may immediately be recognized as such. A
detailed description of the plant in all its parts does not properly
belong to the system, and it is not, therefore, found in most of the
manuals, as being something dispensable and superfluous, where
the desire is merely to find the name without loss of time. When
this is found and thus the proximate end of botany reached, then
other works may easily be consulted, which describe at length
the plant as to its medical, technical or other relations which
are foreign to botany.
Ought we not to be able to introduce something similar in
Homoeopathy, so as to considerably lighten the work of incipient
(perhaps also of older) homoeopaths, and to simplify the selection
of remedies without, in the least, endangering their sureness, but
rather securing it ? I believe so. Yes !
Allopathic, as well as homoeopathic pathologists divide diseases
into classes and orders. Also their genera have been described
with more or less exactness and distinguished from each other.
It is only the numberless species and varieties that are as yet un-
distinguished because the necessary footholds are lacking; these
are offered to homoeopaths solely by the knowledge of the char-
acteristics of every remedy. But the allopath is met everywhere
with insurmountable obstacles to the presentation of really brief
diagnoses; the homoeopath, however, is able to surmount these,
as to him alone the distinguishing factors are known, with the aid
of the characteristics of the remedies.
A work executed in this way would be of immense importance
and as a Systema Nosologicum it would become for homoeopaths
as indispensable as a Systema Vegetabilium is for the botanist.
Merely from the conviction as to this usefulness and importance,
I have undertaken to present this idea to my honored colleagues
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IDEA OF A SYSTEMA NOSOLOGICUM. 21
for their investigation and consideration with the request that
they may give their views concerning it in this journal.
To make my ideas and views concerning this matter more clear,
I submit here as examples arid experiments, short diagnoses of
the various forms of disease belonging to cholera, a disease which
again threatens the regions of our native land, and which, owing
to the abnormal and manifold forms under which it appears, com-
bined with the haste with which our help is called for, often may
not be met with that calm presence of mind and that successful
selection of remedies without loss of time and without mistakes*
which is so desirable:
I. CHOLERINE.
(The character of this genus is supposed to be known.)
i. Nausea or vomiting predominate without, or, at least, pre-
cedent to each diarrhoea of faeces: Ipecacuanha.
2. Diarrhoea of faces only in the morning \ preceded by colic:
Bryonia.
3. Diarrhoea of faces with formication and going to sleep of the
limbs: Secale cornut.
4. Diarrhoea of faces mixed with blood, with violent colic, draw*
zng down the thighs: Colocynth.
5. Diarrhoea effaces or water, without pains \ with rumbling of
flatulence in the abdomen and a sticky tongue: Phosphoric ac.
6. Diarrhoea of bloody mucus with tenesmus: Mercurius.
7. Diarrhoea and vomiting of turbid water with cold perspira-
tion on the forehead: Veratrum.
II. CHOLERA.
1. Without vomiting and diarrhoea, a sudden spasm in the
chest and limbs, with a sudden failing of strengh: Camphor.
2. Pale vomiting, mostly sour, without diarrhoea: Ipecac.
3. Vomiting of turbid water and diarrhoea, amounting to more
than has been ingested, with tonic spasms beginning in the hands
and feet: Veratrum
4. Same as 3, but with clonic spasms and convulsions: Cuprum.
5. Dark- brown, burning evacuations with anguish, restlessness,
and great weakness: Arsenicum.
6. Cessation of diarrhoea and vomiting, with a total collapse, and
expiring vital strength: Car bo veg.
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22 TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
III. TYPHOID FEVER.
(In consequence of Cholera.)
i. Pain in the limbs while moving, aggravation in the evening:
Bryon.
2. Pain in the limbs while at rest, aggravation in the morning:
Rhus tox.
3. Painlessness, slight delirium and somnolence: Phosphor, acid.
4. Speaking is difficult, moaning and groaning in sleep and glid-
ing down in the bed : Muriat. ac.
5. Great weakness, excessive thirst, drinking often but little at a
time, and burning in the abdomen: Arsenic.
6. Congestion of blood to the head, with violent delirium, phan-
tastic illusions and visions: Belladonna.
(So far as I know, no other forms of typhoid fever, as a sequel
to cholera have been observed.)
Munster, Aug. 25, 1850.
Typhoid Fever and High Potencies.
Allgi horn. Zeit., Vol. XLVII, pages 57 and 65.
Since Gross died and Stapf laid down his pen the opponents of
Homoeopathy raise their voices louder and louder, since they are
no more afraid of contradiction of any weight, and the voices of
the American defenders of the faith (the Drs. Hering, Lippe and
Hay n el) only in part reach Germany, and are ignored there.
Though here and there a modest voice in praise of high potencies
is heard, it is soon drowned by the noise raised against it from all
sides. In the meanwhile the anathema against high potencies
becomes inrooted ever more deeply, and we have at this day
reached such a point that no one dares to loudly declare his expe-
rience with them, that he may not expose himself to the danger
of being insulted and derided, a treatment of which some of our
German colleagues are by no means sparing toward those of an
opinion different from theirs.
Without assuming to put myself in a line with the worthies
above named, I am nevertheless too conscious of the importance
of a ten years' faithful experience to show the reprovable cow-
ardice of giving way to my opponents without maintaining my
views. On the contrary, I have to fulfill a sacred duty, as I was
the first man who (in the Neue Archiv f d. h. Heilk. Vol. I,
No. 2, page 36) made mention of this subject. Whoever will
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TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES. 23
take the trouble to peruse the article by Dr. Croserio there (page
31 sq.) will find a bold and false assertion most successfully re-
futed, and will fully convince himself that the author of Homoe-
opathy was even in his last years far from returning to the more
massive doses and the more frequent dosing which belonged to
the infancy of this science.
There are some homoeopaths among us who, in their wisdom,
will allow the value of high potencies in chronic diseases, indeed,
but who, probably owing to their lack of sufficient personal expe-
rience, warn against their use in other diseases. They cannot,
indeed, find or give any reasonable grounds for this, and one
would be inclined rather to suppose the contrary to be the case,
since in most acute diseases the excitability and thus also the re-
ceptivity for the suitable homoeopathic remedy is apt to be much
greater than in most chronic cases. But that assertion having
once been made it continues like an axiom, founded on manifold
so-called authorities, so that it may seem useless to say aught
against it. But it may be granted me to limit myself in what fol-
lows to an acute disease, a sort of nervous (or typhoid) fever,
which has for some months been raging in the rural surroundings
of my home, and which under allopathic treatment has, as usual,
'called for numerous victims.
The typhoid fever in question, which, though it has not yet
ceased, still seems near extinguishment, according to the allo-
pathic nomenclature, belongs to the genus of Typhus abdomtnalts,
and I may be excused from giving a general description of it as it
may be found in all its details in every later pathology. But I
found it all the more indispensable, according to the direction in
§§ 100-102 of the Organon* (5th edition), to note on a special
leaf the symptoms of the various cases, especially as, owing to
the long distances to be covered, I could see but few of the pa-
tients in the first stages of the disease, and had to depend as to
the rest on the account of their relatives whom I especially in-
*It seems actually at present to be a rarity and an exception when any
homoeopath again consults tjie "Organon of Healing," and I know several
who do not even possess, and have never read, this book. And yet it is in-
disputably the basis of the homoeopathic healing art, and besides so many
valuable grains of gold are enclosed within it that at every repetition of the
reading of this remarkable book, especially when read by the older practic-
ing and experienced homoeopathic physicians, ever new and important
instruction and intelligence may be gained, so that its neglect cannot be too
sharply reproved.
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24 TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
structed. As in this way in every case everything was noted as
the author of Homoeopathy makes it the duty of his successors,
and as he himself gave us the example, I am enabled to present a
pretty accurate image of this epidemic without needing to add a
word from the easily deceptive memory. I believe, therefore,
that many readers will like to see the symptoms leading to the
selection of the remedies here in the customary sequence. I will
only add that italics designate frequent symptoms; smaij, capi-
tals, the more frequent, and bold face the symptoms almost
continually recurrent. The total image of the disease is then the
following:
Vertigo. — VERTIGO (in all cases) most when moving and
raising up. Vertigo even to swooning, also while lying down and
in the open air. Vertigo while lying down, improved from rising.
Vertigo in bed in the evening. Vertigo in the evening ', so as to
lose sight and hearing.
Stupefaction. — In the evening, especially great DIZZINESS
(in all cases). Dizziness on raising oneself. Dizziness in
the warm room.
Mind. — Delirium (in most cases) mostly at night; wants to
escape from bed; does not know his own folks; sees all manner of
animals, snakes and creeping things.
Head.— Violent HEADACHE IN THE EVENING, in a
warm room, aggravated by RAISING UP and by the least
MOTION. EVENING HEADACHE in the forehead.
Continual headache in the occiput and neck. Headache and
dizziness after midnight. Fulness in the head. Headache in the
evening while resting. Headache in the morning, worse from
moving. Headache from stooping. Headache from making a
misstep or from striking the foot against anything.
Eyes. —Inflammation of the eyes, mostly only on the left side.
The sight fails (only in a few cases). Photophobia.
Hearing. — Failing of the hearing. Ringing and buzzing
in the ears. %
Nose — Bleeding from the nose. Itching of the nose.
Face. — Deep redness of the face. Redness of one cheek,
mostly the left. Circumscribed redness of the cheek. Swelling of
the left cheek; burning in the face. Dry lips, they crack open.
Mouth. — Dryness of the mouth. Dryness of the fauces
without thirst. Burning in the mouth. The swallowing of the
saliva is painful, but not that of food and of liquids.
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TYPHOID' FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES. 25
Tongue. — Gray, covered with mucus. Tongue coated white or
yellow. The tongue cracks open. The tongue blackish.
Appetite. — Total anorexia. Insatiable hunger. Desire for
various things, and then they are refused. Aversion to meat.
Ill-effects from fat and from vegetables.
Thirst —CONSTANT THIRST day and night. Moderate
Thirst. No thirst at all. Thirst in the evening after fever,
Thirst at night y less by day. Thirst in the morning, but not
at other times. Thirst for a warm drink. Co?itinual thirst for
cold water.
Taste. — Bitter taste in the mouth while eating and at
other times. Sour taste of food. Milk has an acid after- taste.
Sour after taste after eating. Salty taste in the mouth. All food
tastes as if unsalted.
Eructation. —Very much eructation. Eructation with nau-
sea every time after eating and drinking. Sour eructation after
drinking water.
Nausea. — Nausea every time after eating and drinking. Much
nausea in the afternoon and evening. Vomiting of solid food,
but not of fluids. Vomiting of mucus mixed with blood. Vom-
iting of water in the evening, but not of solid food. Vomiting of
sour water. Bitter vomiting. Immediate vomiting of all the in-
gesta.
Stomach. — Violent pains in the stomach aggravated by every
movement. Stitches in the stomach. Burning in the stomach
with dyspnoea.
Hypochondria. — Pains in the liver, aggravated by motion and
by lying on the right side. Pains in the spleen, worse from mo-
tion and from lying on the left side.
Abdomen. —I NOR DIN ATE DISTENSION OF THE
ABDOMEN. Bloatkdness and fulness of the abdomen.
Colicky pains while moving, often also worse when resting.
Tearing and lancination in the abdomen Colic, worse in the even-
ing and afternoon. Colic when touched or pressed on the ab-
domen. Colic early in the morning, followed by
diarrhcea. It feels as if a stone lay in the abdomen. The ab-
domen is quite hard. Lancination in the abdomen on taking a
deep breath. Colicky pains in the morning on raising oneself up.
Flatulence. — Rumbling and noises in the abdomen, especially
drinking water. Fermentation in the abdomen.
Stool. — Diarrhcea , often with a sour smell. Diarrhcea in the
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26 TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
evening. Nocturnal diarrhoea. Diarrhcea merely in the
MORNING AFTER PREVIOUS RUMBLING AND COLIC. Painless di-
arrhoeas. Stubborn CONSTIPATION. Hard, knotty stool.
Delayed stool. Involuntary, unconscious stool.
Urine. — Red, dark urine. Thick, brown urine. Mucous
urine. Difficult urination. The urine passes off involuntarily
and unconsciously. Chaps in the urethra before urinating.
Catarrh. — Much bloody mucus in the nose.
Respiration. — Great dyspncea at the slightest motion
and when turning round in bed. Dyspnoea in a warm room.
Hot breath.
Cough. — Much dry cough. Cough dry in the evening; in the
morning with expectoration of mucus. Dry cough by night. Dry
cough early in the morning. Violent pains in the abdomen at
every attack of coughing. Headache when coughing, especially in
the forehead or in the nape of the neck.
Throat and Neck. — Stiffness of the neck. PAINS IN
NECK in the evening and AGGRAVATED by MOTION.
Pain in the neck whenever the head is turned.
Chest. — Stitches in the left side of the chest, worse in the even-
ing and when moving. Pains in the chest in the evening. Pains
in the right side of the chest from motion and from coughing.
Tightness in the chest. Palpitation of the heart when mov-
ing and when at rest.
Back. — Violent pains in the small of the back, worse in
the evening and during motion. Pains in the back when lying on
it. Pains in the back worse in the evening and while resting. In
the morning, while lying on the back, pains therein. Pains in
the shoulder-blades, aggravated by motion.
Upper Limbs. — Pains in the arms in the evening and from mo-
tion. Tearing in the lower arms. Pains in the arms in the even-
ing and at night. Beating about with the arms. Gathering
flocks (of wool).
Lower Limbs. — In the evening and FROM EVERY
MOTION, VIOLENT TEARING PAINS IN THE
LEGS. Tearing in the knees and in the legs while sitting
and standing, improved by motion. Tearing in the lower limbs ',
especially in the legs (not in the arms). Great weariness in
the lower limbs. Weakness of the lower limbs, so that he can-
not stand.
Generalities. -VIOLENT PAINS IN THE LIMBS,
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TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES. 27
AGGRAVATED IN THE AFTERNOON, the evening
AND AT EVERY MOTION. Pain and restlessness in
the limbs while Lying down. Pains in the limbs while at
rest, worse by nay and when getting cold. Excessive weari-
ness. Trembling of the limbs. General aggravation in a warm
room and in the warm air. Complete absence of pain.
Quiet lying down.
Sleep— COMPLETE INSOMNIA. CONSTANT
STUPIFIED SOMNOLENCE. Restlessness and throw-
ing oneself about in bed. Sleeplessness after midnight owing
to pains in the limbs. The sleep is disturbed by a rush of thoughts.
Talking and muttering in sleep. Many dreams.
Chills.— CHILLS IN THE EVENING, especially while
sittmg down and at rest, with or without thirst. Chill in the
evening, while the mouth is dry. In the evening \ chill without
thirst, with pains in the limbs while resting. In the evening,
chill while out of bed, heat while in bed. Chill day and night,
worse when moving. Chill alternating with heat. Early in the
morning, chill with tearing in the limbs, worse when getting cold.
Constant internal cold through all the limbs.
Fever Heat. — Dry heat with thirst. In the evening, severe
heat with thirst, redness of the face, dizziness, headache and pains
in the limbs. In the afternoon, heat with dyspnoea In the even-
ing, intolerable heat in bed. Predominant heat.
Feverish Perspiration.— COPIOUS PERSPIRATION IN
THE MORNING. SEVERE NOCTURNAL PERSPI-
RATION, also WHILE SLEEPING. Much perspiration, with
thirst and tearing in the limbs. The perspiration smells
sour. Perspiration merely after midnight. Nocturnal per-
spiration with simultaneous chill when moving and getting bared.
The preceding list of symptoms, which is collected from eighty
or ninety patients,* will at once convince every connoisseur that
several remed es had to be selected, and that, as always, it was
indispensably necessary to individualize each case most carefully.
* :
*The arrangement of my patients' journal, which has now advanced to
the eighty-seventh quarto volume, and where ever}- patient at once receives
his page, does not permit me, without immense trouble, to give the exact
number of persons treated of this disease as several of them had consulted
me before that time for other ailments, and the register of names onl}- gives
the names of the patients with volume and page. In the last two volumes,
of which the eighty-seventh is only half full, I found sixty-three patients of
this kind.
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28 TYPHOID FEYER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
Although the greater number of the cases with their symptoms
were reflected in Bryonia alba, and found in this their remedy,
there were yet many other persons who either at once or in the
course of their disease required also other remedies, such as Pul-
satilla, Rhus tox., Nuxvom., Kali car b., Arsen , Phosphoric ac. ,
Belladonna , Hyoscyamus, Ac. muriate Taraxacum, and, where
the reaction was defective, Sulphur and Carbo veg.
In all these cases, without any exception, I used only the 200
potency, and each time only a single pellet * as my experience of
many years has showed me that my apprehension, that one or the
othej of the pellets might not be properly saturated, is altogether
unnecessary. Only one time, when I ran out of the 200 potency
of Tarax., I had to give the 30, but I found afterwards that the
1000 potency of Jenichen's preparation was quite sufficient. Al-
most one- third of all the cases were cured with one single dose of
the 200 potency of the suitable medicine; only very few received
more than three such doses, and where this was the case, either
the description of the case had been defective and incorrect, or
mistakes in diet were made, or lastly, the patients had, before
calling me, used all sorts of allopathic or domestic remedies. Of
all these patients, only one died, and I shall faithfully relate the
course of his disease below. All the others were restored, not
only in a comparatively short time, but none of them had the least
prejudicial sequelae from this disease, as else is so frequently the
case, or required any considerable time to regain their former
vigor, excepting a few cases, where the reconvalescents, by not
following my directions, had relapses.
As I may presuppose that the general treatment of this disease
and the criteria for the selection of the remedies are well known
to every homoeopath, I may limit my communication to a few
concrete cases, to which I may subjoin some short remarks which
may be new and worth knowing to one or another of your read-
ers. I begin with the only case that ended fatally:
I. Gertrude D., in H., an unmarried servant-girl, twenty-seven
years of age, had felt unwfll for over a week and had been
obliged for two days to keep her bed.
*My pellets, which I get made here by a reliable confectioner, may be a
little larger than usual, since 17 to 19 laid in a straight line will occupy an
inch in length, but they are so pervious (and easily crushed) that 100 only
weigh three grains. They imbibe the medicine, do not easily stick together
and soon get dry in a stoppered bottle.
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TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES. 29
On the 13th of September, 1853, tne symptoms, as communi-
cated by a messenger, were the following: Colic, mostly in the
morning and from motion; headache, worse in the morning and
from motion; weariness in the legs; a good deal of thirst, more
for warm than for cold drinks; no diarrhoea and no pains in the
limbs; constant slumbering day and night; constant heat but no
chill; the face deep red; the monthly had not appeared for two
months. She received 1 and 3, Phosphoric acid 200; 2, Bellad. 200;
4, §* one powder to be taken every twenty-four hours (in the
evening).
Sept. 17. There are still colicky pains and also pains in the
limbs, worse at night and when moving. Vertigo, even to swoon-
ing when raising herself up; much sleep; perspiration in the
morning: 1, 3, Bryonia; 2, Rhus tox. 200, 4, §, one dose daily.
Sept. 21. Not improved; constant delirium; loss of hearing;
aggravated in the morning, 1, Sulphur 200; 2, 4, § 3, Rhus tox.,
one dose every twenty-four hours. (I would here remark that
not infrequently in psoric individuals, where the medicine does
not act at all, a dose of Sulphur is necessary, and is usually very
effective in removing the deficiency in the reaction of the vital
force. )
Sept. 25. No results. There is violent delirium and she con-
stantly desires to run away; much thirst. In the evening and at
night there is much aggravation; she cannot hear yet; she keeps
beating about with her arms: 1, 3, Belladonna; 2, Stramonium
200; 4, § a dose every twenty-four hours
Sept. 28. Increased beating about with the arms; she does not
recognize her friends; she sees nothing but snakes around her;
face is a deeper red; constant dry cough at night; grasping at
flocks. Only now I hear that the people in the house have used
as a prophylactic, Calamus in brandy, and occasionally also gave
some to the patient: 1, 3, Hyoscyamus\ 2, Belladonna 200, every
twelve hours.
Sept. 30. After No 2 {Belladonna) the patient had rest, ly-
ing quietly looking forward, with involuntary discharge of urine
and faeces and in the morning a quiet death.
^Hahnemann used this sign ( § ) to indicate in his journal the indifferent
powders, containing merely sugar of milk, and for many years I have used
the same mark. If this should be considered mere imitation or as a ridicu-
lous regard for my dear departed friend, anyone may do so, it will not affect
me.
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30 TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
I must leave it ta everyone whether he will share my conviction
that the remedies given were disturbed in their action or not.
Nor would I contradict, if anyone will assert that drops of the
tincture given every hour or every two hours would have over-
come the action of the Calamus. I am satisfied to communicate
the facts without entering on suppositions after the event, the
value or worthlessness of which cannot now be demonstrated.
II. Francis Schl., in H., a robust farmer, aged fifty-eight
years. Six days before, a servant-girl who had been treated (al-
lopathically) for typhoid fever had died in his house; a second
girl treated in the same way was lying sick (she died a few days
later). For several days he has felt himself affected and com-
plains of tearing in all the limbs, aggravated in the evening and
while resting. Fullness and ringing in the head; this up to now
would improve in the open air while moving about in moderation.
In the morning a bitter taste in the mouth. Ill effects from
vegetables and fat in the evening; no thirst at all. In the even-
ing some chill; oppressed and uncomfortable in a warm room; a
hard stool, only becoming easier through coffee; formerly he had
suffered from stomach troubles (owing to intemperance), and he
has used much medicine on that account. Also now he has taken
medicine once, but it caused aggravation and the death of his ser-
vant-girl finally moved him to take his refuge with me.
March 21, 1853. 1, Pulsatilla 200; 2, § 3, Bryonia 200, a dose
every other evening.
March 30. He felt quite well after these medicines, but yester-
day, after taking too much veal, ham, beer and brandy, he had a
relapse and has now colic, chills and violent pains in the limbs:
1, Ipecac. 200.
March 31. Rather worse than better. Great anguish and rest-
lessness, constipation, colic, a chill: i, Pulsat.; 2, 4, §, 3, Arsenic.
200. A dose every twelve hours.
April 2. Dreadful anguish and hard, knotty stools. In the
evening everything is much worse: 1, Sulphur; 2, 4, §, 3,
Arsenic. 200. A dose every twelve hours.
April 5. Ke was better, but to help his stools he has again
drunk coffee and so last night was worse again, with great an-
guish and alternating chills and heat; no sleep at all; hard,
knotty stool: 1, Rhus; 2, 4, §, 3, Bryonia. A dose every twelve
hours.
April 7. Much improved. In the morning he still felt press-
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TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES. 31
ure in the abdomen, improved by moving. In the morning still
some heat, then a chill: i, Rhus 200; 2, 4, §, every twelve hours.
April 1 1 . About cured. Still some perspiration and weakness,
but he complains of nothing else: 1-4, §, so that he may not
yield to his customary intemperance. Since then he has been
quite well.
Besides this case, I had several, where, after rapid improve-
ment, often in consequence of a violent, insatiable hunger (in
which Pulsatilla is generally the most useful remedy) a relapse
took place, which for its complete cure usually required more
time than the original disease.
III. Anton Schl., in H., fifteen years old, son of the above,
also infected with typhoid fever; for five days he has had colic,
worse in the early morning; in the evening headache in the fore-
head increased by motion; much chill; deep-red face; aversion to
meat; dry heat; cough in the morning with more expectoration;
the stool normal; violent vertigo, so that he cannot stay up.
March 23, 1853. 1, Bryonia 200; 2-4 §, every twenty-four
hours.
March 27. Improvement has set in; much sleep and in the
evening in bed, headache; redness of the cheeks; dizziness in the
head, worse in the evening; no more cough: 1, Rhus 200; 2-4, §,
every other evening.
April 3. Feels nothing more of his former ailment, not even
weariness; he has an insatiable hunger. 1, Pulsatilla 200; 2, 4 §,
every other evening.
On the second day everything was normal.
IV. Heinrich Schl., in H., four years old, also a little son of
the farmer (No. II.), also now took sick, but in a different way.
For more than six days, every afternoon from three to six o'clock,
severe, dry heat with violent thirst, but without any thirst, fol-
lowed by a deep sleep; all night, delirium; he often asks for food,
but rejects what is brought; sudden weariness and prostration;
during the fever, great dyspnoea and strikingly hot breath; stool,
soft; no nocturnal perspiration and generally dry, hot skin.
June 12, 1853. 1, Phosphorus 200; 2, 4 §; once a day. Con-
valescence immediately followed and nothing else was needed.
V. Wilhelm A., in H., twenty years old, has been sick for tw
weeks, and is now quite confined to his bed. In the beginning
there was weariness and painful stiffness of the neck (a very cus-
tomary symptom of incipient typhoid fever), now he has also in-
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32 TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
tolerable pains in the head and in the abdomen, and stitches in
the left side of the chest, aggravated by the least motion, and in
the evening all symptoms were worse; much thirst, copious noc-
turnal perspiration. For fifteen years he has been suffering from
a severe moist eruption on the whole of his scalp, which has sud-
denly dried up; since then he has also had much delirium.
August 7, 1853. 1, Bryonia 200; 2, 4 §: every twelve hours.
August 9. The colic, the lancinating pains in the side and the
delirium have quite disappeared; the headache is as yet but little
better, and is worse on moving; about noon there is a sour-smell-
ing perspiration; sour-smelling, diarrhceic stools; great restless-
ness while in bed. 1, Rhus 200; .2, 4 §; every twelve hours.
August 11. Further improvement in all symptoms; very mod-
erate thirst; perspiration and diarrhoea have disappeared, but
there is still great weakness and no appetite for eating at all. 1,
Sulphur 200; 2, 4 §; every twelve hours.
August 14. Further improvement, also the head is a little
moist again, but there is again some diarrhoea and colic while at
rest, and great weakness; the pulse is much accelerated in the
morning, but slower again in the evening.* 1, Arsen. 200; 2, 4
§; every twenty-four hours.
August 20. As good as well; some malaise yet in the morn-
ing; the appetite is good. . 1, Nux^vomica 200; 2, 4 §; every two
days. After this there was good health; indeed, he felt better
than for years.
VI. Gertrude K., in H., twenty-two years old, had been in the
house where several typhoid fever patients were, and had been in-
fected for a week. Violent tearing pains in all the limbs, aggra-
vated in the evening and from every motion; headache on moving
and on raising up; at night, violent thirst, no diarrhoea; tearing
in the abdomen; copious perspiration while sleeping; for some
time she has had an eruption on the side of her nose; strong fever.
August 24, 1853. 1, Aconitum; 2, Bryonia 200; 3, 4 §; every
twenty-four hours.
August 29. I had looked with much confidence for a consider-
able improvement, but was quite disappointed in my expectations;
hardly anything had improved and some new ailments were added.
There was now no stool at all; the colic was very violent; loud
* I know no sign which points more decidedly to Arsenic, than the above
mentioned one, nor any remedy which shows it so definitely among its
characteristic symptoms.
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TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES. 33
rumbling and noises in the abdomen, especially after drinking
water; the fever still strong, i, Phosphorus 200; 2, 4 §; every
twenty-four hours.
September 3. Again no success. Now, besides the violent
colic, there was vomiting in the evening, as soon as she rises or
raises up, but merely watery masses, not the ingesta, were vom-
ited. 1, Sulphur; 2, 4 §; 3, Arsenicum 200; every twenty-four
hours.
September 10. On this there followed a great and decided im-
provement in all symptoms, so that she considered herself re-
stored, but during the last days, especially during the morning
and in motion, there was dizziness and some colic. 1, Nux vom.
200; 2, 4 §; every two days.
September 30. Since then she has felt well until two days ago,
when she, besides an eruption on her face, and especially about
the mouth, had thirst in the morning and frequent vomiting of all
the ingesta. 1, Calc. card. 200; 2, 4 §; every two days. Since
then she has felt perfectly well.
VII. Heinrich D., in H., twenty-four years old (the brother of
patient No. I, who had died), was now also seized, but was not
deterred by the death (caused by herself) of his sister from seek-
ing aid from me. In the morning and forenoon, diarrhoea pre-
ceded by colic; pains in the head, neck and shoulder-blades, ag-
gravated in the evening and from every movement; in the even-
ing, a violent chill; little thirst by day, but more in the evening
after lying down; at night, dreams and delirium.
August 28, 1853. l > Bryonia 200; 2, 4 §; every twenty-four
hours.
September 1. Incipient improvement. There is still colic, but
less diarrhoea; sour-smelling perspiration; pain in the right arm
and the right shoulder (about which I could find out no further
particulars). 1, Rhus 200; 2, 4 §; every twenty-four hours.
September 5. The pains in the right arm and shoulder are
worse when he lies on them in bed; now there is also diarrhoea in
the early morning and in the evening; thirst in the morning. 1,
Kali card. 200; 2, 4 §; every twenty-four hours. Followed by
complete restoration.
VIII. Francis C, in H., nineteen years old, has been unwell
for several days, and had finally to lie down. First a chill, then
dry heat with headache; excessive bloatedness and fulness of the
abdomen; great dryness in the mouth, but without any consider-
3
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34 TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
able thirst; vomiting of water with a sour taste; at night and in
the morning repeated diarrhoeic stools; no pains, but great weari-
ness in all the limbs; while resting he feels tolerably easy, but
every movement aggravates his condition.
August 31, 1853. I » Phosphor, ac. 200; 2, 4 §; 3, Arsenic.;
every twenty-four hours. In four days he does not complain
about anything, and is so far restored that on the fifth day he
resumes his rural labors.
IX. William W., in H., thirty-two h years old, being infected
with typhoid fever, which afflicts his home, and from which al-
ready two persons there have died (under allopathic treatment),
complains of chills and tearing in the limbs, aggravated early in
the morning and while at rest, improved as he got warmer, worst
in the cold and when he gets cold; great dizziness in the head,
no appetite at all, sleeplessness owing to restlessness while lying
down, diarrhoea, no thirst.
September 12, 1853. 1, Rhus 200; 2, 4 §; every twenty-four
hours.
September 17. A little improvement, but not much; the old
symptoms. 1, Bryonia; 2, 4 §; 3, Rhus 200; every twenty- four
hours.
September 21. Now there is quite a considerable improvement,
and most of the symptoms have quite disappeared; he only com-
plains now of lack of appetite and sleep, and feels somewhat worse
in the evening than in the morning. 1, Sulphur 200; 2, 4 §;
every twenty-four hours.
September 27. Since yesterday, when he made a gross error
in diet, with coffee and brandy, he has had a relapse and is very
sick; worse after 4 p. m. i, Pulsat.; 2, 4 §; 3, Bryonia; every
twenty-four hours.
October 1. Better again, but there is still a tendency to swoon-
ing and vertigo when raising up, and pains in both legs, not in
the arms, as it were, a drawing, worse when at rest. 1, Tarax.
30;* 2, 4 §; every twenty-four hours.
October 8. The pains in the legs disappeared at once and he
* According to much experience, Tarax. is an indispensable remedy in the
above-mentioned case, not infrequent, where only the legs, and not the arms,
are affected. I am out of Tarax. 200, else I would have as lief given that
potency. So, also, Kali card, is often very useful after the fever has been
removed, as a winding-up remedy, but, of course, only where it is homoeo-
pathically indicated.
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TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES. 35
now feels well, only some weariness, i, Kali 200; 2, 4 §; every
two days. Followed by complete restoration.
X. Elizabeth Sohl, 21 years old, a servant- girl in St., has been
sick for five days, no doubt infected by a typhoid patient whom she
had nursed. In the beginning, violent pain in the limbs; these
pains have now disappeared; dizziness in the head and vertigo,
even so as to fall down, worst when she raises herself; deep red-
ness of the face, much heat and perspiration, constant somnolent
lying-down; slight deliria, like dreams with talking; in the even-
ing, restlessness and throwing herself about in the bed without
waking up; she does not complain about any pain when ques-
tioned.
September 17, 1853. 1, Phosphor, ac; 2, 4 §; 3, Belladonna
200; every twenty-four hours.
September 22. Quite restored, needs nothing more.
XI. Maria Anna L , in H., a country girl, eighteen years old,
has been complaining for four days about the usual incipient
symptoms of typhoid fever, and now, confined to bed, she pre-
sents the following symptoms: Violent headache in the evening,
aggravated when raising up and from motion; vertigo and dizzi-
ness on raising herself up; pains in the limbs in the afternoon,
worse when perspiring and resting; constant restlessness and
change of position in bed, moderate thirst, tardy stool, sour taste
of foods and even of milk; splenetic pains, aggravated when lying
on the left side; much sleep; towards evening, aggravation.
(The connoisseur will at once see that the ordinary remedies were
not here suitable.)
October 5. 1, Sulphur; 2, 4 §; 3, Calcarea 200; every twenty-
four hours.
October 9. Quite considerable improvement, but is still some-
what dizzy; pains in the limbs both when at rest and in motion,
much thirst early in the morning and in the evening, sour after-
taste after every meal. 1, Nux vom. 200; 2, 4 §; every twenty-
four hours.
October 13. Further improvement, but there are pains in the
limbs in the evening and while at rest; in the evening, after the
fever, thirst; bitter after-taste after every meal. 1, Pulsat. 200;
2, 4 §; every twenty-four hours.
October 17. Perfectly restored. (I have communicated this
case in order to present a rare deviation from the usual symptoms
of the disease and the remedies accordingly chosen, but also to
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36 TYPHOID FEVER AND HIGH POTENCIES.
indicate that the sour after-taste of food usually points to Nux
vom. y but the bitter to Pulsal.
XII. Bernard D., twenty-four years old, living in R., has been
infected for a week with the typhoid fever raging there very vio-
lently. Violent pains in the limbs, worse in the evening and
from motion; constant violent thirst, much thirst, feels as if there
was a stone in the abdomen, constipation for several days with
distension of the abdomen, red urine, the tongue is chapped.
September 20, 1853. 1 and 3, Bryonia; 2, Rhus 200; every
twenty-four hours.
September 25. Decided improvement, but there are pains still
in the limbs when moving and red urine. 1, Sulphur 200; 2, 4
§; 3, Bryonia 200; every twenty-four hours.
October 10. After this he was quite well and could work again,
but since yesterday he had a relapse owing to excessive drinking
of coffee (five cups), and now he complains of dreadful tearing in
the lower limbs, not in the arms, and bloatedness of the abdomen.
1, Tarax. ioooQenichen's); 2, 4 §; every twelve hours. (I took
this high potency this time, though I had not used it before, in
order to institute a test of its efficacy in this disobedient patient,
since the disease. was not of a kind demanding instant help.)
October 13. The pain in the legs and the distension of the ab-
domen have quite disappeared, but now there are pretty severe
pains in the back, constipation and difficult urination, with thick
brown urine. 1, Nux vom. 200; 2, 4 §; every twenty-four hours.
October 18. Complete cure.
These twelve cases, to which I might add more than thirty
more, where a single dose of Bryonia 200 or Rhus 200 sufficed for
a complete cure, will be sufficient to put the efficacy of high po-
tencies beyond all doubt, and this would accomplish my present
purpose. If anyone has been able with low tinctures and oft-
repeated doses to secure quicker and more perfect cures in this
kind of disease, I would request them in the cause of science to
make as open and faithful a communication about it as I have
done here. But in case that massive and repeated doses should
only reach the same goal as I have reached I would retain my
small and rare doses, and only go back to the mother tinctures if
these should be found a considerable gain for the patient, for I
consider it foolish to use much where little will do, and to knock a
fly dead with a heavy stone where a slight pressure of the finger
will suffice. Besides, my journals and extended experience will
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TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES. 37
show that the patient will recover after well- selected high po-
tencies more quickly than after the low dilutions, which are often
followed by a slow reconvalescence, an advantage which I also
value highly.
Minister, November p, 1853,
Traumatic Ailments and High Potencies.
[By Royal Connc. Dr. C. von Boenninghausen in Miinster.
Allg. horn. Zeit. t Vol. 48, p. 43, 51, 61.
The insufficiency of high potencies in traumatic ailments is with
many if not most homoeopaths an axiom even more indubitable
than their insufficiency in acute diseases. In such cases, especially
in most recent times, one homoeopath has outdone the other in
the application of undiluted tinctures in very large, frequently
repeated external and internal doses. They seem to think that in
such cases too much of what was good could not be done, because
the matter had such an altogether material appearance, and, there-
fore, seems to call for a merely mechanical material aid. It was
manifestly only a very moderate step (forward or backward?) in
the much beloved manner, now to employ again vigorous abluents,
ointments and plasters, and it is said that not unfrequently the
action of the internal medicine given is assumedly reinforced by
some external (allopathic) application, an action which can as-
suredly only be justified if we believe, according to the old popu-
lar opinion, that medicine is something generally and absolutely
useful and beneficial to the organism.
On this account we need not wonder that of late we nowhere
see cures of traumatic cases with high potencies reported, and if
anyone should ever have the " weakness* ' of trusting the assur-
ances of the founder of the new school more than the abuses and
bold assertions of some of the specificists of to-day, it is natural
enough that he should lack the " boldness" of speaking out
openly and frankly.
Although I myself have neither the time nor the inclination to
engage in useless polemics on account of manifold open and cov-
ered personal attacks, I nevertheless consider it continually as a
sacred duty not to keep silent from cowardice, but rather to tes-
tify as to the truth where the fullest conviction, founded on many
years' careful observations and experience, has allowed me to see
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38 TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES.
such truth with irrefragible certainty. I do not, therefore, be-
grudge a few leisure hours, which else would have been devoted
to recreation, to extract from my Patients' -Journal such facts as
will demonstrate most clearly that also in traumatic troubles the
high potencies used in a correct homoeopathic manner, will do
everything that can be justly expected from the homoeopathic
healing art. If anyone should carry his skepticism to the un-
worthy extreme of considering my statements inexact — as some
persons, indeed, have actually not been ashamed to do — he can
convince himself by an examination of my journal, if he should
think it worth his trouble, that I have only given actual and
faithful copies, and in order to facilitate verification, I have in
every case adduced volume and page. Besides this, in order to
meet the supposition that I have only selected some successful
cures, but concealed the unsuccessful ones, I give all the cases of
the kind according to their time and series; but on this account I
cannot avoid putting in some that are of little importance.
But before passing to the facts, it might be appropriate to ad-
duce from the more than half forgotten and neglected Organon*
what belongs to this subject, u <?., §§ 185 and 186 (of the 5th
ed.) which read as follows:
§ 185. Among the onesided diseases, the so-called local ailments
occupy an important place. Among these are included changes
and ailments appearing in the external parts of the body, by
which, as has been taught hitherto, these parts alone are said to
be affected, while the rest of the body has no part in them — a
theoretical, inconsistent proposition, which has led men astray to
the most pernicious medical treatment.
§ 186. Those so-called local ailments which have resulted re-
cently from an external injury, seem best to deserve the name of
* The last edition of 5. Hahnemann' s Organon of the Healing Art is the
fifth, published in 1833, it is therefore to be supposed, that this important
work so indispensable for everyone who would become a homoeopath, has
long been out of print, and cannot be bought in book -stores. A sixth edi-
tion, essentially improved and more complete, was not only ready for the
printer during the lifetime of the venerable author (in Paris), but the latter
had already begun to print, when the widow at his death took back the
work and the sheets already printed, and she has not so far been willing to
publish the manuscript. The above mentioned fifth edition is, therefore,
now already more than twenty years old, and if ever an unchanged reprint,
perhaps by the original publisher, should find indubitable excuse and be
sanctioned by many, it ought to be in this case; supposing that the previous
contract with the author does not contain aught in opposition to such
action.
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TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES. 39
local ailments. But in such a case the injury inflicted ought to
be very slight, and would not then be of any particular moment.
For injuries inflicted from without, if they are of any moment,
already draw the whole living organism into sympathetic suffer-
ing; fevers, etc., arise. Surgery occupies itself with these, but
justly only in so far as mechanical assistance is to be given,
whereby the external obstacles to the cure which we can only
hope for from the vital force, may be mechanically overcome, c.
g. } setting a joint, bandages uniting the lips of wounds, the ex-
traction of foreign bodies that have penetrated the living parts,
opening a cavity of the body in order to take out a burdensome
substance, or to give issue to effusions of extravasated or gathered
fluids, to draw together the broken ends of a broken bone and to
fit and fasten on a suitable bandage, etc. But where in such in-
juries, as is constantly the case, the whole organism demands dy-
namic assistance, in order that it may be enabled to complete the
work of healing, <?. g. y where the stormy fever caused by large
contusions, torn flesh, tendons and vessels must be removed by
internal medicines, or where the external pain of burned or cor-
roded parts should be homoeopathically removed, there the func-
tion of the dynamic physician and his homoeopathic aid come in.*
Since it seems to be pretty near indifferent from what period of
time the descriptions o£ such cases may be taken, I will choose
the year 1852, and adduce all the cases of this kind, as they are
found in the Journal, with the single exception of cases that had
been treated by me before that time, and whose story would be
found in earlier volumes, where I could find them only by the
expenditure of much time and trouble, since the register belong-
ing to the Journal merely gives the names with their volume and
page.
I.
Vol. 81, p. 104. Miss S., an unmarried girl, aged 21 years,
living in L., had overlifted herself three weeks ago, and in con-
sequence of this she had violent pains in the liver, and dyspnoea,
which was worse in the evening and when lying in bed, worst
when lying on the left side (where there was no pain), but better
* Compare with the contents of this paragraph the absurd assertions, by
which many a professional opponent, who ought to know better, endeavors
to make homoeopathy ludicrous in the eyes of the ignorant. Does such a
malicious mocker not deserve even a stronger designation than that of a
silly wit?
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40 TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES.
when lying on the right (the painful) side; but she feels
easiest while lying on the back. It is also worse when sitting
(and walking). The pain then crosses through the abdomen
even to the left side. Constipation. Her menses are very copious.
Everything is aggravated in the evening.
Several plasters that had been applied, had brought no im-
provement.
January 3, 1852. 1 and 3, Bryonia 200, 2, Rhus 200, 4 §, every
third evening one of the powders was to be taken in its sequence.
Complete cure.*
II.
Vol. 81, p. 115. B. St. in O., a farmer, 52 years of age, had
fallen eight days before with the right side of his chest on a sharp
edge, and this caused violent pains in this side of his chest, which
are aggravated towards evening, and also by the cough of which
he had suffered already before, but which now increased. The
old habitual cough only brought up mucus (as to its special na-
ture and taste I could not find out anything, as the patient living,
fifteen miles from here, was not able to come here himself).
A physician who had been called in, had at once ordered vene-
section and medicines and given him a laxative, all without re-
sult.
Jan. 4, 1852. 1, Arn. 200, 2, 4 § (Sacch. lactis), 3, Bryonia,
one powder to be taken every other day.
Jan. 11. Some improvement, but insufficient. The expector-
ation is mucous and has a salty taste. The pains in the chest
continue night and day, but are most violent after every sleep, I
prescribed 1 , Kalicarb. 200, 2-4 §, one powder every third evening.
After this there was a cure, also of the cough.
III.
Vol. 81, p. 133. Kat. L., living here, an aged but otherwise
vigorous woman, 70 years of age, in consequence of a pretty se-
vere lesion, ten months ago, had first a wound on the heel, which
after treatment with various ointments had turned into an ulcer
of malignant appearance, and which burned and stung, especially
of evenings and at night. Otherwise she complained of nothing.
* It is in general, and here on account of the end in view, quite indiffer-
ent, whether we count overlifting and sprains among the traumatic ailments
or not.
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TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES. 41
I could not find out anything about the plasters and ointments
used.
Jan. 15, 1852. 1, 2, Silicea 200, 3, Hcpar sulph. c. 200, 4 §, one
powder every five evenings; the ulcer was covered with tallow on
a piece of linen.
Feb. 25, 1852. A perfect cure without any other medicine.
IV.
Vol. 81, p. 151. William A., a young farmer, 24 years old,
had fallen from a wagon half a year ago, and had lit on his head.
Since that time he has suffered from violent pains in the chest,
whenever he pressed on his chest, or made a greater exertion ;
worse in the evening and morning on beginning work, also while
lying quietly in bed; relieved by working slowly. For eight years
hennas had a cough, attended in the morning with copious expector-
ation of sweetish taste. Much perspiration especially while work-
ing in the morning, but not in bed. Feet perspire constantly.
Better in the open air. Many things had been used, also domes-
tic remedies, without result.
Jan. 20, 1852. 1, Arnica 200, 2, 4 §, 3, Pulsat, 200, one powder
every five evenings.
On Feb. 9th there was a considerable improvement in all symp-
toms, but he was not yet quite restored. So I gave him 1 , Cal-
carea carb. 200, 2-4 §.
On March 2, everything was cured, also the cough, and since
then the patient has been in good health.
V.
Vol. 81, p. 194. Gertrude O., the wife of the teacher in K.,
36 years of age, had a severe lesion of her hand two weeks ago,
the skin having been abraded; after using various domestic reme-
dies, compresses, ointments and plasters, this has become ex-
tremely malignant. The whole hand, but most of all its dorsum,
was swollen thick, and covered with fretting sores, secreting yel-
low, ill-smelling matter, and burning especially at night, with
stinging and tensive pains. In other respects the woman was in
good health. I could not find out what remedies she had used.
Feb. 3, 1852. 1, Silicea 200, 2-4 §, one powder every third
evening, the ulcerated places to be covered merely with a linen
cloth spread with tallow.
Feb. 13. Considerable improvement in all the symptoms, and
the pains had much diminished. 1, Lachesis 200, 2-4 §.
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42 TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES.
Feb. 28. Occasionally there are still lancinations in the dor-
sum of the hand, where the skin has grown fast to the bones,
where the sores have healed. Lycopod. 200, 2-4 §, every three
evenings.
March 17. The ulcers have all healed and the skin is no more
fast to the bones, nor is the dorsum of the hand swollen any more,
but in the evening, when in a warm room, there is at times an
ulcerative pain in these places. 1 , Pulsat. 200, 2-4 §, every three
evenings.
After this all was well and remained well.
VI.
Vol. 81, p. 196. Theresa Sch. in Gl., a girl 18 years of age
(whom I did not see), scalded her foot and leg with boiling water,
three days ago, and had first treated the parts burned with do-
mestic remedies, and then with Unguentum Basil, and thereby
had so much aggravated the burn that she could not rest day or
night for the burning and formication in it.
Feb. 3, 1852. 1, 2 [or 3], Arsenic., 2, Canthar. 200, 4 § One
powder every other evening, the foot to be kept dry.
Only on Feb. 21, I received the report, that the burn had
healed up in a week, but that she now had an eruption on the
face, and here and there pustules with matter, and that her skin
in general was unhealthy. 1, Caustic. 200, 2-4 §, one powder
every three evenings.
This also improved quickly and she remained quite well, until
Sept. 17th, 1853, when her suppressed menses caused an aberra-
tion of mind, with restlessness, anguish, and a tendency to sui-
cide. This also was cured in a few days by one dose of Pulsatilla
200, and a dose of Sulphur 200.
VII.
Vol. 81, p 207. Ferd. S. at Gl., a young farmer, aged 27
years, had lodged a splinter of wood in his hand; this had been
drawn out, indeed, but a severe and very painful swelling of the
whole hand with constant burning had followed.
Feb. 9, 1852. 1, 3, Lachesis 200, 2, Silicea 200, 4 §, one
powder every two evenings.
In a week all was well.
VIII.
Vol. 81, p. 228. Ferdin. F., a boy living here, four years of
age, had fallen several weeks ago on his head, and since then he
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TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES. 43
had a red, bloody extravasation in the conjunctiva of the right
eye, like a clot of blood which would not go away. Otherwise
quite sound and strong. I could not find out what had been used
outside of cold water compresses.
Feb. 17, 1852. The boy received 1 and 3, Arnica 200, 2, Nux
vomica 200, 4 §, one powder every fourth evening.
After the third powder, the spot had vanished.
IX.
Vol. 81, p. 260. Mary B., living here, a servant-girl, 27 years
of age, had been suffering from overlifling herself and carrying
heavy burdens, with the following symptoms: burning, pressure
and lancination, extending from the middle of the chest down in-
to the stomach, better after eructations. Stitches in the splenetic
region. Heaviness in the stomach, and sensitiveness of the same
to every pressure. Menses much too copious and lasting ten
days; at their commencement every time, headache, nausea vom-
iting, colic, and pain in the small of the back; before and after
the same some leucorrhcea. Formerly an eruption; this comes
out even now quite severely on the shoulder-blades. Often a
sensation of itching and formication in the heart. I could not
find out anything as to the medicines used, as the recipes have
been lost.
March 2, 1852, she received 1, Sulphur 200, 2-4 §; 3, Calca-
?ea carb. 200, one powder to be taken every eight days (except-
ing the menstrual period).
On April 12th she reported herself as perfectly restored, and
therefore received nothing else.
X.
Vol. 82, p. 9. A. Kath. U. in Gl., a farmer's wife, 46 years
old, had allowed a quack to tear out with violence a supposed
corn on the middle toe; in consequence the whole foot was in-
flamed with a severe swelling and violent burning in it, which
was worse in the evening, especially after lying -down in bed.
The ulcer which has formed on the joint of the toe suppurates
copiously. When the foot gets cold it is more painful, better
when warm. Constant chill. No thirst. Aversion to fat and to
pork. Constipation.
Besides compresses of rye-flour and chamomile, also ointments
had been used with constant aggravation.
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44 TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES.
March 15, 1852, she received Sepia 200, 2-4 §, one powder
every three evenings, with the usual direction to cover the ulcer
with a linen cloth with tallow.
April 9th there was a considerable improvement; the ulcer
healed, and there only remained a tense swelling of the dorsum
and ankle of the foot, i, Pulsat. 200, 2-4 §, one powder every
three evenings.
The cure followed in two weeks.
XI.
Vol. 82, p. 47. M. Kath. M. in GL, a child, one and one-half
years old, had fallen against a red- hot stove and had burned the
left side of the face so severely that part of the skin had re-
mained adhering to the stove. She starts up in her sleep, other-
wise well.
Linseed-oil and raw cotton had been used, without relief.
March 27, 1852, she received 1, 2, Arsenic. 200, 3, Hepar sulph.
200, 4 §, one powder every other evening, without any external
application.
Complete cure without any other medicine.
XII.
Vol. 82, p. 71. M. Kathr. R., a day-laborer's wife, 32 years
old, had the misfortune five days ago of having the whole of her
right hand crushed in a stamp-mill (for preparing hemp), so that
it was feared the bones were broken. Sugar of lead, applied in
solution, and compresses of herbs, instead of appeasing the pains,
had heightened them, so they became intolerable, and the last
two days there had been a violent burning in the whole hand.
For six years she has been suffering from a prolapsus of the
uterus. I could not find out anything else of moment, as the pa-
tient lived 25 miles from here and could not come over.
April 4, 1852, she received 1, 3, Arnica 200, 2, Arsenic. 200,
4 §, one powder every 24 hours, no external application except a
rag with tallow.
April 8. The pains had soon much moderated, but the whole
hand was red, suppurating and burning. 1, 3, Hepar sulph. c.
200, 2, Mercurius 200, 4 §, one powder every 24 hours.
April 15. Violent tension and tearing in the crushed hand fol-
lowed, and, as it were, a sensation of numbness, worst at night,
while lying in bed, while the arm was hanging down. Some
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TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES. 45
bones in the fingers are said to be much injured. Prescription:
i, Silicea 200, 2-4 §, one powder every evening.
April 26. Improvement, but there is still twitching and burn-
ing in the hand. A tense sinew shows in the hand. 1, Calcarea
200, 2-4 §, one powder every three evenings.
May 9. Considerable improvement. The pains are almost
gone, but there is still a severe suppuration of the fingers and of
the hand. 1, SiL 200, 2-4 §, one powder every three evenings.
May 24. After the last powder, a few splinters of the bone of
the finger passed off in the suppuration, which caused renewed
pain, but now at last it is much better; in the last ulcers theie is
some proud flesh. 1, Sulphur 200, 2-4 §, every three evenings.
This was followed by a cure, onl> the middle finger, which had
discharged splinters of bone, remained stiff.
XIII.
Vol. 82, p. 79. D. W., a farmer, aged 42 years, had four days
ago a similar mishap as the woman mentioned in No. 12, as the
stamp mashed the anterior half of the right index-finger. Con-
stant compresses of cold water have been applied to it so far, but
the pains have continually increased during the last two days; and
since the injured half of the finger has turned quite black, with
lancinating pains (not burning), they were afraid of gangrene
and hastened to me.
April 10, 1852. I gave 1, 3, Arnica 200, 2, Can. 200, 4 §,
one powder every 24 hours, externally nothing but a dry band-
age.
April 14. Considerable improvement. The finger has re-
gained its natural color and is nearly without pain; only occa-
sional lancinations in its tip. i, Sulphur 200, 2, Arnica 200, 3,
Silicea 200, 4 §, one powder every second evening. No external
application.
April 21. The cure is progressing finely and the lancinations
have vanished. 1* Sulphur 200, 2 and 4 §, 3, Silicea 200. One
powder every two evenings.
Complete cure, and a new nail is growing up, so that nothing
else was needed.
XIV.
Vol. 82, p. 114. H. H. C, a farmer, 40 years old, had re-
ceived a kick from a horse, two weeks ago, just below the knee.
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46 TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES.
This place pained continually, and especially while walking, so
that he could hardly walk with a cane. Leeches and ointments
of various kinds had been applied, but without result.
April 2, 1852, he received from me 1, 3, Arnica 200, 2, Sulphur
acidum 200, 4 §, a powder to be taken every two evenings, with-
out any external application.
In a week all the pain had disappeared.
XV.
Vol. 82, p. 224. Henry G. in G., a child, five weeks old, was
burned yesterday evening in the most fearful mariner as follows:
The mother has been suffering from epilepsy for years, and was
sitting by the fire to undress the baby, and was seized with an
attack while doing so; so she herself fell from the chair, but the
baby fell on the left side into the fire. As no one else was in the
house, the baby remained actually roasting in the glowing coals,
and a neighbor who accidentally came in and first discovered the
misfortune, asserted that the baby must have lain in the fire for
at least ten minutes. The whole left side of the baby is burned
in deeply, and her clothes on that side had altogether been burned
to ashes. Its life — so my Journal states— can hardly be saved.
Nothing was used but raw cotton, as a messenger was at once
sent to me.
June 13, 1852. 1, 3, Arsenic. 200, 2, Carbo veg. 200. One
powder every other evening. The application of dry, raw cot-
ton was continued and where this should stick fast, it was to be
allowed to remain.
June 20. The child is not only still alive, but has improved
quite considerably. The left arm and the left side of the head
are still suppurating, but apparently painless, as the child takes
the breast just as before and sleeps undisturbed. 1, Caustic, 200,
2-4 §, 3, Arsenic. 200, one powder every three evenings.
I did not hear again of this child until the end of 1853, when I
heard that this child which had been saved so wonderfully, had
died a few days before of 4< termins," a sort or cramps, which fre-
quently originate in inflammation of the brain.
Among all the remedies in greater or lesser burns, Arsenicum
since a long time has been valued by me most highly, especially
in its higher potencies and in small doses.
XVI.
Vol. 82, p. 253. Gustav v. B., a boy, nine years old, living
here in Miinster, had fallen from an ass, a week ago, falling on
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TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES. 47
his occiput. Since then, after taking allopathic remedies, there
has been an increasing illness. The head feels very dull, the
tongue is thickly coated yellow, nausea, soreness of both corners
of the mouth, ill-smelling breath; the last days there has been
fever increasing towards evening with salivation.
He had received first an ordinary emetic of Tartar stib. and
Ipecac, then Tartar natron., Kali carb. y Acet. vini, Aqua Fceniculi,
El. aur. compos. , Aqua oxymuriat.
June 24, 1852, he received from me 1, 3, Aconit. 200, 2, Arnica
200, one powder every other evening.
These powders proved sufficient to remove the above symp-
toms, and only towards the end of July, when a coarse (psoric)
eruption broke out on his lower arm, he received a dose of
Sulphur 200, after which the eruption soon vanished.
XVII.
Vol. 83, p. 62. Anna F. von L. had burned her foot, a week
ago, and after using domestic remedies, the nature of which I can
not discover, the spot was covered with a white crust, with dry
burning, and all around it was red and swollen.
On the 31st,* 1852, she received from me a dose of Arsenic.
200, and 2-4 §, one powder to be taken every other evening; no
external application.
Nothing else was needed and in a week it was cured.
XVIII.
Vol. 83, p. 97. Jos. Mi. in R., Osnabruecken, a young farmer,
29 years old, had while chopping, cut his right knee, more than
half a year ago. The severe lesion had been treated allopathic-
ally, and in consequence he had a swelling and stiffness of the
knee. The swelling extended above and below the knee, and
felt very hard. When walking, there were lancinations below
the knee-cap, at other times the pain was moderate. Otherwise
he is healthy. I could not find out what ointments, plasters and
rubbings had been made.
August 14, 1852, I gave him 1 and 3, Arnica 200, 2, Sulphur
200, 4 §; each powder in turn was to be dissolved in six teaspoon-
fuls of water; this was to be taken for three evenings, each even-
ing one teaspoonful more than the other, then two days' pause.
No external application.
* No month given in the German print.
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48 TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES.
On September 23d, when he came to consult me about an-
other patient, the swelling and stiffness had all disappeared, and
he was quite restored.
XIX.
Vol. 83, p. 117. Joseph Sch. in Gl., a boy nine years old, had
burned his face this evening at 7 o'clock, by breaking a bottle of
Sulphuric acid. In consequence he had the most violent pains,
especially in the two eyelids. (The messenger was here at 10
o'clock, having made 15 miles in two and a half hours on horse-
back.)
August 22, 1852: 1 and 3, Pulsatilla, 2, Rhus, 4, Sepia, each
one of the 200 potency, one powder every 24 hours, no external
application.
August 28th. Quite a considerable improvement, the eyes
were preserved. In the places more deeply corroded, crusts were
still to be seen, but without pain. 1, Pulsat. 200, 2, 4 §, 3,
Arsenic. 200, one powder every two days.
In a week, a perfect cure.
XX.
Vol. 83, p. 122. Beruh. D. B. in O., a farmer, 35 years of
age, had mashed his hand a few weeks back on the handle of a
gardening-tool, had received a quack treatment from an old
woman, and finally when the pains had become altogether un-
bearable, he had his hand lanced and covered with plaster, which
had made the ailment only larger and more painful. I could not
find out the remedies used.
Aug. 28, 1852: 1 and 2, Arnica 200, 3, Silicea 200, 4 §, one
powder every 24 hours, no external application.
Aug. 31st. The pain is gone and the hand is discharging a
mild pus. 1, Sulphur 200, 2, 4 §, 3, Silicea 200, a powder every
two evenings.
Nothing more was needed, and in the middle of September the
hand had healed perfectly.
XXI.
Vol. 83, p. 204. Karl R. in Gl., a child a year and a half of
age, scalded its hand in boiling water.
Sept. 28, 1852. 1, Arsenic. 200, 2, 4 §, 3, Carbo veg. 200, a
powder every two days.
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TRAUMATIC AILMENTS AND HIGH POTENCIES. 49
Oct. 4. The pains improved at once. There is still suppura-
tion between the fingers. Diarrhoea: i, Arsenic, 200, 2, 4 §, 3
Caustic. 200, again every two evenings.
Cured after a week.
XXII.
Vol. 84, p. 60. Bernh. D., living here, a child ten years old,
yesterday fell d<rwn in running, striking his head on a paving-
stone. Immediately there ensued retching and choking and vio-
lent pains in the right side of the head on which he had fallen.
These pains continue to-day and he is besides dizzy , as if drunken,
and tired in all limbs as if he had been beaten.
Dec. 5, 1852. 1, 3, Arnica 200, 2, Belladon., 4 §, a powder
every 12 hours. In 24 hours he had recovered.
XXIII.
Vol. 84, p. 109. Karl R., a dyer in H., 43 years of age, after
lifting a sick person three weeks ago, was seized with violent
pains in the small of the back, as if sprained, and a tensive pain
there, aggravated from stooping and when sitting in his chair and
stooping forward. Frequent stitches in both the hypochondria.
During. the last two years, he frequently had colicky pains, always
improved in a warm room, and especially when getting warm in
bed. Much inclined to perspiration. Otherwise well.
Rubbing his back, especially with Camphor and Opodeldoc,
did not help it any.
Dec. 27, 1852. 1 and 3, Rhus 200, 2, Nux vom. 200, 3 §, a
powder every three evenings.
It was cured quickly and needed no other remedy.
The preceding accurate and faithful extracts from my Journal
give sufficient account of my treatment and successes in traumatic
ailments. I would only state in addition, that I only noted down
so much concerning every case as seemed necessary to individ-
ualize it; and that my Journal is by no means written with a view
to later publication, and that I have neither here nor elsewhere
added anything from memory which is so apt to deceive. I must,
therefore, expressly repeat, that these communications have solely
for their end to show that with a proper use of high potencies
the cure really proceeds according to the motto citof tuto etjucun-
dof Whoever asserts that he can reach this only goal of curing
more perfectly with lower potencies and frequent doses, let him
4
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50 CONCERNING THE DURATION OF THE ACTION.
demonstrate this in a like manner faithfully and truly; but let
him not limit himself to a selection of the most favorable results,
but let him communicate as I have done all the cases occurring
within a definite, not too brief period. If any one should wish
for my cases in any other period since 1844, since which time I
have used high potencies almost exclusively (from pharmaceutist
Lehrmann in Schceninger near Brunswick), he need only express
this wish. For only by such comparisons can we determine which
method actually deserves the preference.
At the same time I would permit myself to request my friend
of many years* standing, the revered M. R. Dr. Stapf, in Naum-
burg, who is revered by every homoeopath, to repeat once in this
Journal, what he has assured me of so frequently in his letters:
1 4 That he owes his finest cures to the high potencies ! ' '
Concerning the Duration of the Action.
By Dr. C. von Boenninghausen.
Allg. horn. Zeit., Vol. 49, p. 81.
In Science as well as in social and political life there are occa-
sionally questions, whose consideration and answer are most ap-
propriately left to every individual, because objections and con-
tradictions do not, at the time, admit of unanimity. Among
these seem to be the questions of Dose and Repetition^ the com-
plete solution of which must be left to some later time.
In the meantime it seems permissible to consider other ques-
tions, which in a certain way are connected therewith, and when
these questions, which are less subject to opposing opinions, are
satisfactorily answered, this will constitute a considerable contri-
bution toward the determination of the former questions. I think
the present question is one of these.
The duration of the action of the medicines used by us is very
various. While with some medicines this may merely extend to
some minutes and hours, with others it must be counted by weeks
and months.
Still greater will this variety be, even in the same remedies,
as is well known, when used in the various diseases in which they
may be homoeopathically indicated. For it is not infrequently
the case that we must select in acute diseases medicines which act a
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CONCERNING THE DURATION OF THE ACTION. 51
long time, and in chronic disease remedies whose action is a short
one, because, according to the principles of Homoeopathy, they
correspond to the disease. But in chronic diseases the medicines
of short duration will show curative powers much longer than
in acute diseases and vice versa.
In view of these facts, which have never as yet been disputed
by any homoeopath who observes carefully, the question presses
on us: What overpowering reasons and experiences are there
why, as is done frequently of late, even the medicines of long-
continued action are repeated so often and in such brief intervals?
A question with which another is closely conjoined: Whether
the teachings concerning the first effects and the after-effects as
we see it developed in the Organon (§ 63xsy.)i and on which our
provings and our curative method essentially rest, are false or
rest upon the nature of things and are therefore true ?
But I cannot follow out these consequences any further, because
they would only lead to polemics which are at present as yet use-
less, and it will be enough for me to have brought up into
memory what everyone knows, but what seems to have been for-
gotten in part. May what is said form the subject-matter of
some unprejudiced after- thoughts !
In now turning to the proper subject of my present dissertation,
I must premise, that according to what has been already said, the
duration of action of no one remedy remains altogether the same
under all circumstances; so that when it is spoken of only a rela-
tively longer or shorter period can be understood, which is still
subject to great modifications.
Nevertheless, it is of considerable importance for the practice
and treatment of acute and chronic diseases, to know this dura-
tion of action of concurrent remedies even, though it be merely
not only in order that we may, in cases of threatened danger,
bring the quickest possible assistance, but also that we may not
in inveterate cases, by doing too much, aggravate the evil and
finally make it even incurable. This last named result of
medicines given too frequently or changed too often is not so
rare as some may think, and very many homoeopaths have prob-
ably found, as I have, and as Hahnemann himself found, that the
most difficult and thankless treatments of chronic invalidism are
found in those cases which have been treated for a longer period
with an excess of medicines more or less homoeopathically suit-
able, whether by homoeopaths or by allopaths.
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52 CONCERNING THE DURATION OF THE ACTION.
If we would make too many divisions in dividing medicines as
to the duration of their action, not only the general oversight
would be rendered more difficult, but the difficulties would be ag-
gravated. I, therefore, believe, that we can do with five classes,
though we shall every time meet some remedies which might be
included in the preceding class or in the one following. But we
can thus gain an easy oversight and the mistakes cannot be verjr
great.
Commencing with the medicines of brief action and gradually
progressing to those of longer duration, the
I Class would contain the following medicines having the brief-
est action: Aeon., Camphor, Coffea, Ipecac, Laur., Mosch., Opium y
Par., Rheum, Samb., Stram., and Tar. Of these medicines, most
corresponding to the acutest diseases and a necessarily rapid
aid in chronic diseases, no use can be made except only as rare in-
termediate remedies.
The II Class includes the following medicines whose action is
of brief duration; Am., Asar., Bryon., Calad., Cann., Canth. y
Caps., Chamom., Chelid., Chin., Cina, Cocc, Creos., Croc, Cycl.,
Dros. , Euphras. , Hyosc. , Ignat. , Mgs. , M. arct. , M. austr. , Mar. y
Men., Nux mosch., Nuxvom., Pulsat., Ran bulb., Ruta, Sabad. y
Scill., Secale corn., Valer., Veratr., Verb., Viola od., Viola trie
Also from these remedies in. properly chronic (psoric) diseases
little result will be obtained. Only as intermediate remedies,
or where the tedious invalidism has its ground in the abuse of
medicines, we may, in lack of more suitable remedies, expect a
partial amelioration from these remedies; e.g., from Bryonia in
pulmonary patients, from Canthar. in Bright' s disease, from
Drosera in affections in the larynx, from Nux vom. and Pulsat.
in various ailments, which are not infrequently found in common
life and are frequently protracted for a lengthy period. But how
Chelid. in many (of Rademacher's) recipes should keep equal
step and duration with other remedies of long-continued action
which are prescribed at the same time, is an inexplicable riddle
to the true homoeopath. In the
III Class the medicines of medium duration of action would be-
long, among which I count the following: Agar., Ambr., Am.
mur., Anac, Ang., Ant. tart., Arg., Asaf, Bell., Bor., Bov.,
Brom., Cic, Clem., Colch., Coloc, Con., Cupr., Dig., Dulcam.,
Euphorb.,Guai., Hell.,fod., Lach., Led., Magn. mur., Mercur.,
Mezer., Mur. ac, Natr. mur., Nitr. ac, Oleand., Phos. ac. y
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CONCERNING THE DURATION OF THE ACTION. 53
Plum , Ran. seel., Rhodon., Rhus, Sadin., Sarsap., Senega
Spigel., Spong., Staph.* Sulph. ac, Thuja, Zinc. The remedies
here adduced may nearly all of them be used in acute as well as
in chronic diseases with decided usefulness, if only with the
former their course is not too rapid, or with the latter the ailment
is not too inveterate and, therefore, too firmly inrooted. In my
many years' practice it has* been as striking to me as curious,
that substances combined with an acid such as, e. g., Am. mur.,
Ant. tart., Magn. mur., Natr. mur., Nitr. ac, Phosphor ac. and
Sulph. ac. had. as it seemed to me, a much briefer duration of
action than the simple basis (Amm. card., Ant. crud., Magn.
card., Natr. card., Phosph. and Sulph.). I cannot, indeed, after
so many careful observations, consider this a delusion; still it
would be desirable if other careful observers would also express
themselves (in this journal) about it.
The IV Class would then receive the following ones of the
medicines of long duration: Alum., Amm. card., Arsen., Aur ,
Bism. % Card. a?i. y Card, veg., Ferr., Fluoric ac, Lycop., Magn.
card., Mang., Natr. card., Nitrum {Kali nitric), Petr., Plat.,
Selen., Stann., Stront. These remedies all belong to the so-called
anti-psoric remedies, a designation which many are unwilling at
this day to accept, but for which no more suitable term is
known to me. With proper diet, and once brought into activity,
their action will extend over several weeks and I have always ob-
served disadvantageous results arising when during this period
premature disturbance was caused by a repetition of the same
remedy or by giving another. Most of all we should guard against
their action as extinct, when a second (or more rarely a third)
primary action should develop itself. So long as the old ailments
show a renewed aggravation, without the appearance of essentially
new symptoms, which lie outside of the sphere of action of the
remedy and mirrors itself in the total- image of the last medicine,
so long we must carefully guard against giving another medicine
or repeating the same remedy again, unless we would soon rue
our precipitancy. Such a course I have found most injurious
among those remedies, which, like the anti-psories, have many
reciprocal actions, which in addition seem to be multiplied by be-
ing raised to higher potencies. Finally the
V Class contains those remedies which contain the most long-
continued action of all, namely: A7it. crud., Bar., Calcar. card.,
Caustic, Graphit., Hepar sulph. c, Kali card., Phospho?., Sepia,
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54 CONCERNING THE GENUINE GINSENG ROOT.
Silic. and Sulph. Where these remedies, the real heroes of our
medicinal treasury for chronic disease, are accurately suitable
and are used, they will actually perform wonders, if they are
only granted the necessary time to unfold their full powers.
Fortunately they all also belong to the anti-psoric poljchrests
and, therefore, they find the most frequent average use. But far
more than even with the preceding we shall have to guard against
causing premature disturbances, since the injury caused by them
is not easily made good again. What has been said above of
Class IV applies here in a double measure, and my Journal con-
tains many cases where a single dose continued to act beneficently
for many months most manifestly, and eventually the many-
yeared chronic disease had disappeard with all its traces so com-
pletely that nothing more remained to be done.
I close this brief article with the wish that the readers may
examine the statements presented without prejudice, and if they
are found correct, may act according to them, so that we may get
rid of the unhomceopathic action which is spreading ever more
generally of repeating doses, so that such action may, as before,,
be left to allopaths.
Something Concerning the Genuine Ginseng Root.
Allg. horn. Zeit.) Vol. 50, p. 53, 60.
It is well known that there are few homoeopaths, who at the
same time are botanists. At least, among the Germans, I found
outside of my own name only that of my never- to-be- forgotten
friend, Weihe (in Herford), who have so far received the honor
of having their name transferred to genera of plants.
More rare still, perhaps, might be the case of a botanical amateur,,
whose library should extend beyond his usual domestic needs, so
as to include precious works of no use for the study of his coun-
try's flora, as the Amboinic flora of the so-called Indian Pliny.
This work, consisting of four folios of large size — entitled,.
G. C. Rhumphii Herbarium Amboineuse, cura et studio, L Bur-
manni, 1741 — 1755 — contains twelve books and an appendix
(Auduarium) , and, besides the two portraits of Rumph and Bur-
tnann, and the copper- plate title pages, it contains 695 copper-
plate illustrations, of the same size as the folios, all beautifully
delineated and cut, which make it manifest that even the second-
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CONCERNING THE GENUINE GINSENG ROOT% 55
hand price must be very high, so that this work is hardly in the
possession of any other homoeopath than myself.
Owing to this cause it may be easily explained, why in the
literature of the day about the Ginseng root, so much that is
manifestly incorrect has been published; for only in this one work
can be found the oldest and most reliable accounts, gathered in
its own place and locality with the utmost industry, and as to
every detail. This information is contained in the Auctuarium,
Cap. 56, Fol 42, ad 50, together with a picture of the plant with
all its parts on Table XXI.
In thinking it useful to give in this journal a summarized ac-.
count of the treatise of Rumphius, which is somewhat diffuse,
concerning the true Ginseng root, I must first of all express my
surprise that this has lately been considered identical with the
Panax quinquefolium, L., which occurs not rarely also in
America, and that it has been confounded with it. Neither
Wildenow nor Roemer and Schultes, who never fail to cite
Rumphius with all plants described by him, cite him either in this
Panax or any otht r, as little as Decandolle, who only saw the dry
plant brought from America, and on the authority of strangers,
gave it out as the true Ginseng or Nintin. Besides this, the
description of Panax quinquefolium, L. , does not at all fit in with
that of the Ginseng of Rumphius, and as little do the well-known
pictures of that plant (e. g., that by Jac. Sims, Joh. Woodward,
Mich. Catesby, Jac. Breyn, Christ. Jac. Trew, and others,) with
tlje delineation hy' Rumphius. It is, therefore, quite inexplicable,
and by no means justified, that of late both these plants should
have been thrown together, and if we should prove the peculiar
properties of this Chinese root so highly famed from the farthest
antiquity, according to our homoeopathic method, we shall have
to carefully guard against ordering the root from America, and
should procure it instead by a reliable method, though it may be
more laborious and expensive, directly from China.
Passing over the various names of this plant in China and in
Japan, as well as the various localities where it is said to occur,
I shall now communicate verbatim in translation what Rumphius
says concerning the use, the virtues and the properties of this
root:
" The Chinese make a great to-do about the excellence of this
root and esteem it of great value. Fine, large and well-forme4
pieces are esteemed by them as a precious rarity and are almost
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56 CONCERNING THE GENUINE GINSENG ROOT.
revered like household -gods (instar Laris). But even the in-
ferior roots are considered by them as a most precious panacea in
various severe diseases, with which no violent fever is combined.
Experience has taught in numerous cases, that when the strength
is exhausted and the body emaciated, owing to severe and long-
continued diseases, this root possesses the wonderful property of
bringing rapid and great aid. For this purpose one drachm of
the root is cut up small, hot water is poured over it in a tea-pot,
and then it is allowed to. stand for several hours without applying
any more heat. This infusion is drunk by the patient like com -
- mon tea, and he will then in a short time regain his strength.
The marrow and the bones, with the joints, are especially re-
freshed and strengthened by a slight warmth, for it is of a tem-
pered nature, not at heat, as some erroneously believe, and it is
this gentle warmth which takes away the swelling and gradually
dries up the cold and thickened juices.
" In making this use of it we should guard against having the
stomach overloaded with food, for this not only obstructs the
action of the root, but it also overexcites the internal heat, so
that fever and emaciation then may ensue. On this account
young people are forbidden to use it, as well as those who are of
an ardent nature, while it is especially useful for old people.
Travelers who must expose themselves to great cold and to the
inclemency of the weather are accustomed to take the above men-
tioned quantity of the root in the morning and are then protected
all day from hunger, thirst and cold.
" In an old manuscript, in the possession of our merchants and
of the Portuguese merchants, which is supposed to contain what is
known concerning the peculiar effects of this root, according to
the communication of the Chinese themselves, as to this root, we
find the following information. Still, I doubt whether our peo-
ple have correctly understood the Chinese in all cases." (The
Iyatin text is given to avoid any possible double meaning.)*
i. It purifies the pale and watery blood and brings it back to
its pristine form.
2. It is useful in palpitation of the heart, tempers furious ani-
mosity, warms up the heart, spirit and soul.
3. It supplements and renews what is lacking in any medicine
present. (Accordingly it would be a most desirable adjuvans and
corrigens for allopathy. — B.) or " excellent. " — T.
*I translate the I^atiu here, L. H. Tafel.
CONCERNINO THE GENUINE GINSENG ROOT. 57
4. It prolongs life with those who are in danger of losing it
from a vehement disease.
5. It -strengthens the mind of the forgetful.
6. It hinders all corruptions, lest an ulcer degenerate into ma-
lignancy and similar ills, which are contracted from too much
intercourse with common strumpets.
7. It increases and nourishes the blood and renders the body
of men active, or properly, it impedes and drives away melan-
choly.
8. It restores and excites the prostrate appetite
9. It induces a weakened man into gentle perspiration, if this
is useful for him.
10. It is useful in the vertigo sculorum (of scholars ?) and their
feebleness in leipothymia [i. e., swooning], apoplexy, epilepsy,
contractions or spasms of the nerves, insensibility and similar
ailments.
11. It hinders the eructations of the stomach, and expels the
super-abundant bile.
12. It produces a soft skin and takes away its too great red-
ness.
13. It softens and mollifies the stomach, if it is too full with
food, it consumes the phlegmatic humors and hinders vomiting.
14. It takes away fever.
15. It assuages hsemoptoe and haemorrhage and stops the
blood which frequently is excreted per anum.
16. It is useful in childbirth and strengthens those giving birth,
both during parturition and afterwards.
17. It sustains [or holds up, delays — T., Latin, sustentat\ the
seven primary elements, which rule the temperament of men,
which are gladness, anger, desire, sad meditations or melancholy,
sadness or grief (dolor), terror or confusion, submission or fear.
"So that," so the above-mentioned manuscript continues, "it
may be considered the best and first (firimarium) medicine that
can be found. But it is to be known that it not only of itself op-
erates these virtues, but it also contributes to the action of other
medicines with which it is joined, so that these may produce a
good result; and it may thence be compared to messengers who
carry precious gifts into foreign regions; and this is eaten two or
three times a day, of the size of a pea, for the preservation and
restoration of feeble parts."
" I will now,'/ continues Rumphius, "add yet what the learned
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58 CONCERNING THE GENUINE GINSENG ROOT.
Pater Afartinus, who learned to know this root in its own father-
land, writes about it in his Atlantis, page 35:
11 * The leaves of this plant,' he says, * I have not yet been able
to get to see. The root is yellowish, almost quite bare of sucking
fibers, but round about it there are blackish veins, as if they were
drawn on it with black ink. In chewing it has an agreeable,
sweet taste, combined with some, but very weak, bitterness. It
increases to a high degree the vital spirits, although rarely quite
one-twelfth part of an ounce is given. If somewhat more is taken,
with enfeebled persons, their lost strength and the natural warmth
of the body are restored.'
'It is cooked in a Mary's bath (in Balneo Marias) with water,
when it spreads a pleasant, spicy odor. Those who have a very
hot and violent temperament, at times take it not without danger
to their life as it excites [them] too much. On the other hand, it
has a wonderful power to restore enfeebled and weary men, or
those who have been brought low by severe diseases.
"To those who are dying it sometimes imparts so much vital
force that time is gained to take other remedies, so as frequently
to be restored again. The Chinese boast many other wonderful
things of this root, which is paid with thrice its weight in silver."
The rest in the text of our Rumphius concerns a learned inquiry
whether this Ginseng was also known to the ancients, but that
does not concern us.
In the appended note by Burmann this writer insists that • the
picture given in No. i, Plate XXI, represents the true plant, and
quite agrees with a picture communicated by burgomaster N.
Wilson, which had been made at his request in China itself. Al-
though in it, as in all the older pictures of plants, the sexual parts
and the parts producing fructification are unrecognizable and de-
fective, it can be seen at the first glance that it is not a Panax nor
one of the Umbelliferce . The stem, up to the highest flower, is
nearly eight inches high and has only one branch on the side, but
several divided axillate pedunclts. The calyxes as well as the
seed-capsules are three- parted with the tips reflected, which causes
us to suppose a flower with three styles. The corolla has five
petals, of the size and form of Myosotis palustris or sylvatica. The
peduncles are three- fold, at the top they are twice parted in three
and twice or three times the length of the calyx or the seed-cap-
sule. The lanceolate leaves, decreasing in size as they rise up,
stand in pairs, opposite to each other on the stem, and are neither
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SOMETHING ABOUT BORAX. 59
serrate nor dentate, tapering uniformly toward each end. The
fresh root is smooth and spindle-shaped, somewhat like the root
of our wild Daucus carota, L. The dry root, which is also de-
picted, has below a few branch-roots and externally a few ir.
regular, double, fine cross-lines.
I ought perhaps to add to this description that I hope to receive
this famous Ginseng-root, genuine and reliable, frcm its native
fatherland, and this, indeed, through a friend, a Dutch sea cap-
tain who visits China. As soon as I shall obtain it, which will
not probably be before next Fall, I shall send some of it to my
friend v the druggist Lehrmann, in Schoeningen, near Brunswick,
to be used for homoeopathic preparations, and shall then simul-
taneously publish it in this journal.*
Concerning the Relative Value of Symptoms, and
Something About Borax.
Allg. horn, Zeit^ Vol. 53, page 60.
Among the manifold criticisms which have been made in super-
abundant manner of the old Hahnemannian Materia Medica Pura
I miss one, the appropriateness of which has only become really
clear to me during the last years. This is the statement as to the
time after the first taking of the medicine before the symptom in
question appeared. While leaving all the other assumed defects
unquestioned — though the younger critics have not so far pro-
duced anything better or more useful — I desire to say something
merely about this point, because it seems to me of no little impor-
tance for practice.
If my old (seventy-two years old) memory does not deceive me,
it was first and till now only the genial Dr. C. Hering who — I do
not now remember where or when — suggested that the provi?ig-
symptoms appearing last are the most important, and far from be •
ing useless to therapy.
*We just now receive information from our revered author that he re-
ceived a few days ago a piece of ginseng root weighing seventy-eight grains,
which came directly from China with a Dutch ship this spring, and the
genuineness of which is, besides, proved by its exact agreement with the
description of the root, as given here by Rumphius. Dr. von Boenning-
hausen will,* at once, send the greater part of it to Druggist Lehrmann, in
Schoeningen, who will prepare for sale from it the homoeopathic preparations
as well with alcohol as with sugar of milk. A proving of this genuine Gin-
seng would, therefore, be very desirable.
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60 SOMETHING ABOUT BORAX.
There does, indeed, at first appearance seem to be a paradox in
this remark as in manv others made by this indefatigable investi-
gator. But to condemn apodictically from the mere appearance
at first sight would in this case show little reason, since every ho-
moeopath can without great difficulty convince himself satisfac-
torily at the fountain-head as to the correctness or falsity of this
assertion. He need only compare the symptoms observed last in
the four volumes of (the second edition) the antipsoric remedies
with the brief hints given by Hahnemann himself in consequence
of his own experience for the excellent adaptation of these rem-
edies, and which are found throughout to be thoroughly reliable
in our practice. He will then probably convince himself that in
most cases an analogue to this, frequently with a more close com-
pletion of the symptoms, is often preferentially contained in such
symptoms as were observed late.
The assertion of Hering seems therefore to be founded on a
truth which has been too little regarded hitherto, and which
makes us feel sorry that in many of the newer, as well as of the
older, provings so little attention has been given to this statement
as to the time when the symptom appeared after taking the medi-
cine, and this especially in the "peculiar" and "particular"
symptoms in which the characteristic of the remedy is especially
to be found. One fact serves, indeed, to excuse the earlier
provers, that the recognition of the importance of the statement
of the time, of necessity had to await the state of comparative
study; nevertheless, this lack is none the less to be deplored, and
we are often compelled to learn only by the long way of experi-
ence what might have been at that time so easily supplemented
by the addition of a few numbers and letters.
It might be of interest to draw into consideration this appercep-
tion mentioned above, also with respect to other remedies, espe-
cially with such as are used more rarely, and about which Hahne-
mann has left no special instructions in this respect.
Borax seems, more than others, suitable for such a considera-
tion {Chronic Diseases, Vol. II, page 281), since with nearly all
the symptoms observed by Dr. Schriter, in Lemberg, the time of
the appearance is exactly indicated. I think, therefore, that I
might be allowed to make a few remarks on it as a proof of what
has been abjve mentioned in a general way; this may at the same
time serve as a contribution to the more exact characterization of
this remedy, which has been perhaps too much neglected. If I
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SOMETHING ABOUT BORAX. 61
deviate from the later (assumedly more scientific) way of elabo-
rating this, I would beg you to consider that my aim here is spe-
cial and limited, and especially that I make no concealment of the
fact that I belong to the old (almost extinct) school of Hahne-
mann.*
With Respect to Borax.
i. At the very beginning, in # the symptoms four and five, of
which the first was observed during five weeks and the second
during three weeks \ we meet with a peculiarity which does not be.
long to any other remedy in the same manner. This is anxiety
while moving quickly downward. This is in no way to be con-
founded with the only distantly similar symptoms which we know
of in Carbo veg., Sepia and Sulphur. This anxiety, according to
my experience, is very clearly pronounced in the case of swing-
ing, and especially in the movement when the swing starts for-
ward, hardly ever while it is moving backward. I have noticed
this indication, which is not rare, not only in children, but also
with two ladies already ad tilt, and every time I have considered it
as a useful indication, the worth of which was not only proved by
the success against this ailment, but also against the other ail-
ments present. f Illness from riding in a carriage, especially
white riding backwards, as also sea-sickness, have little in com-
mon therewith, and Borax will probably be of little use in those
cases, though in some varieties of the latter disease it might well
be tried.
2. No less characteristic appears to be symptom seven (without
any statement as to its time) with respect to being violently fright-
ened at a shot, even when heard at a distance, and I only mention
it, as it were, in passing, because, according to my experience, it
is an excellent remedy for hunting-dogs who shy at a shot, a fault
which, as my colleagues who are fond of hunting-dogs know, oc-
curs not infrequently and is difficult to correct. But there are
also children who shrink at every shot and have a great and un-
natural fear from it. The over-great fear of thunder also would
seem to belong here.
*We, and surely many others, shall always give a full recognition to this
"old school," which has done so much for Homoeopathy. — Ed.
tl would exceed the limits of this article if I shbuld adduce in the case of
such short indications the image of the whole disease. I, therefore, limit
myself to stating briefly that the one lady, thirty years of age, was suffering
from a menstrual trouble, and the other, well advanced in the forties, from
oft-recurring erysipelas of the face.
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62 SOMETHING ABOUT BORAX.
3. Among the symptoms referring to the eyes we find two
symptoms, namely, 77 and 78, which belong especially to this one
remedy, and have so far been only noticed besides among the
effects of Silicea and Pulsatilla. This is that especial kind of
inflammation of the eyes which causes and is sustained by the
ingrowing of the eyelashes, which constantly irritate the pupils,
and which are not even permanently cured when, in the good old
allopathic way, the corpus delecii is removed and the hairs are
plucked out. Everyone of us has probably noticed in a number
of cases the excellent effect of Borax in this kind of inflammation
of the eyes — of course, only when also the other symptoms cor-
responded, and I need only add that symptom 77 was only ob-
served after six weeks and No. 78 after thirty-five days.
4. Among the morbid symptoms in the ears, from symptom 88
to 106, and symptoms 51 and 60 may well be combined with them,
those have proved themselves most decidedly by healing effects,
which were combined with a flow of pus from the ears. But
these are Nos 95, 96 and 97, which were only noticed on the
twenty-seventh day, after the thirty-second day, and on the nine-
teenth day. Symptom 51, which I have also mentioned in this
connection, only appeared after thirty- two days, thus at the same
time with 96.
5. The crusts in the nasal cavities, with inflammation and shin-
ing redness of the tip of the nose, which is found not infrequently
with (psoric) patients who have neither been syphilitic at any
time nor have abused Mercury, often find their remedy (besides
Sepia or Silicea) in Borax, as many a one of us may have found
out. The symptoms here concerned, 109, m and 112, are not,
however, among those appearing in the first days after trying the
medicine, but date from the tenth, sixteenth and eighteenth days.
6. So, probably several among us have had opportunity with
myself to cure with this remedy the painful erysipelas, usually on
the left side of the face (the similar Bellado?ina erysipelas usually
occupies either the whole face or only the right half of it). This
kind becomes intolerably painful when drawing together the mus-
cles for laughing. The two symptoms pointing to this, 120 and
121, were not observed before the thirty-first and thirty-fourth day.
7. Of the toothaches that received a quick and permanent cure
through Borax, I only remember those corresponding with symp-
toms 137 and 139, in connection with No. 133, on account of the
influence of wet, cold weather, and with symptom 136 on account
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SOMETHING ABOUT BORAX. 63
of aggravation through cold water. I would here call attention
to the fact that both these symptoms appeared on the fortieth day.
Besides this, Borax , on account of symptoms 147 and 148, and in
connection with No. 125, is not infrequently used successfully in
the teething of children , where it must rank among the most suc-
cessful remedies, especially in the cases where the indications
under symptoms 150 to 153 are also present. Also, here I would
mention that the two symptoms 147 and 148 were observed after
forty and after thirty-six days.
8. Borax has been known to allopathy for a considerable time
as a remedy useful in the aphtha of children, whose mouths are
washed or penciled with a solution of it. Also, every one of us
has, no doubt, seen it successfully used in this disease of children,
which is often very troublesome, of course, only when it is other-
wise homceopathically chosen, i. e., when there are no opposing
indications. Thus there can be no doubt as to the relative cura-
tive power of this remedy. Nevertheless the four symptoms re-
ferring to this ailment all appeared late: Symptom 150, after four
weeks; No. 151, after thirty days; No. 152, after thirty -three days;
No. 153, after five weeks.
9. Symptoms 218 to 223 describe with great definiteness a cer-
tain ailment of the spleen, and, indeed, with clear atfd pretty ac-
curate indications, which seem to secure the correct selection in a
concrete case. Nevertheless I must confess that I have never
seen any noticeable result in any kind of ailment of the spleen
from the use of this remedy, and I only mention this at present
because these observations were observed on an average at a very
early period of the provings and only a few days after taking the
remedy, only symptom 22 having arisen after fifteen days. Even
this negative fact seems noteworthy.
10. Among the urinary ailments, from symptom 267 to 280,
conjoined with symptom 434, at least those which appeared late
have been best and most frequently verified in practice. Espe-
cially should here be mentioned frequent micturition at night,
which, as symptom 268 shows, occurred after twenty-four days,
and No. 434 observed after thirty-four days. The same may be
said of troubles after micturition, mentioned in Nos. 275 to 280.
Of these I have found most frequently the chaps in the urethra,
as given in No. 276 from the thirtieth day on, and No. 278, from
the twenty-sixth day on.
11. Among the symptoms concerning the menses, the ones
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64 SOMETHING ABOUT BORAX.
which regard the too early and too protracted menses, according to
experience, deserve the preference, although also in this, as in
many other remedies, too late an appearance or too short a dura-
tion does not really present a contra-indication. The former irreg-
ularity is indicated, however, in No. 294, observed after twenty-
five days, and in No. 295, observed after seven weeks.
12. Among the chest troubles the most prominent is a very pain-
ful affection of the intercostal muscles, especially on the right side;
closely related to this are also the cough and the respiratory trou-
bles, and even sneezing (symptom 311) and irregularity of sleep
(symptom 435). Although the greater number of these are en-
tered as having appeared in the first week after taking the medi-
cine, it is yet to be noted that a, comparatively speaking, acute
disease is here spoken of, and that, nevertheless, symptom 349,
according to which the aggravation takes place when lying on the
(right) painful side, lasted four full weeks. The contradictory
symptom, 435, which states the opposite, has, according to expe-
rience, a much less value, and has never been verified with me;
this was observed already after seven days. I have, therefore,
reason to suppose that it can only be effectively used in new and
acute attacks of this kind, where I have not tested it, as in such
cases other and approved remedies are at our disposal.
13. Although the running out of milk from the breasts of a nurs-
ing woman is found in various other remedies {Aeon., Bell., Bry.,
Calcarea, China, Con., lod., Lye, Phos., Puis, and Rhus) I have,
nevertheless, had repeated opportunity to verify symptom 360,
which appeared after thirty-two days, especially where, beside
other coinciding concomitants, also symptom 360 was present, i.
e., a disagreeable sensation of emptiness in the breast which had
been emptied in ?iursing; this we find in no other remedy.
14. Hitherto we have had only one remedy, so far as I know,
namely, Sepia, which corresponds with the sores on the upper side
of the joints of the fingers and toes in chronic (psoric) patients, for
Nux vomica will benefit only sores on the joints of fingers, and its
action is not permanent. Borax furnishes us a second very useful
medicine in accordance with symptom 385 (no time mentioned),
symptom 387 observed after thirty days and symptom 405 ob-
served after fifteen days. It is worth noting also that in indica-
tions which do not conflict Borax deserves the preference when,
according to symptom 408, the skin in general heals up with great
difficulty and when the sore keeps spreading, which is not at least
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SOMETHING ABOUT BORAX. 65
so much the case in such sores with Sepia. It is especially fre-
quently useful with children.
15. Finally we ought yet briefly to mention the predominant
sensation of cold, which is quite peculiar to this remedy, and
which offers an excellent indication for its selection. This symp-
tom also appeared quite late, i. e. s after twenty-three, fourteen ,
thirty -three days, and even after five weeks.
In order that I may not commingle what is uncertain with what
is well attested I have in the foregoing extracts confined myself
to the comparatively small number of well attested cases, though
no doubt there are many other curative features among the
virtues of Borax. Nevertheless what has been said will suffice
to accomplish my proximate end and to show that the dictum of
Hering mentioned in the beginning of this article has a real basis
and is confirmed in a striking manner by experience. There is,
therefore, a sufficient reason for warning earnestly, especially in
remedies having a long duration of action, against the practice of
some provers of accounting the symptoms which are late in ap-
pearing to be mere after-effects or mere curative effects. This
was a rashness which even Hahnemann can be shown to have
been guilty of, though most cases were corrected later on, and
these cases are only found among the oldest provings. At that
time he could not anticipate this, and some symptoms marked
with this cautionary warning have still remained among the
provings.
Even at the risk of being proclaimed a heretic by some of the
young colleagues, who, in spite of the warning of Hahnemann,
only operate with low dilutions and with doses frequently re-
peated, I do not hesitate to add from my many years' and pains-
taking experience the definite assurance that the very symptoms
which are most deeply inrooted are cured in the quickest, surest
and most permanent manner by using such remedies as, while
perfectly suitable, offer in the symptoms last discovered the cor-
responding indications, and especially when these remedies are
used in very high potencies and in small and infrequent doses.
Whoever has experienced the reverse of this should report that
fact openly, faithfully and frankly, for only through a frank and
open exchange of many, even contradictory, experiences can the
whole pure truth be discovered, and only by such means will
Homoeopathy either fall into deserved oblivion or finally trium-
phant will it unite all the world of medicine under its banner.
5
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66 CONCERNING EXPECTORATION.
Concerning Some of the Rarer Varieties of
Expectoration.
Allg. horn. ZeiL, Vol. 53, p. 77.
Every one of you, my dear colleagues, knows well how indis-
pensable it is to have characteristic symptoms for the selection of
remedies in every case of disease, especially where there are very
many concurrent remedies, suitable to the general indications,,
and where the choice, therefore, offers the greater difficulty.
Among such diseases we may number cough, which is found in
the symptom-list of nearly every remedy, but which is very fre-
quently poor in peculiarities, which plainly point to the healing,
medicine or is attended by only such concomitant symptoms as
make a sure decision almost impossible.
We are, of course, already in the possession of a very valuable
•treasury of characteristic indications which belong to the various
categories of cough, e. g., the nature of the cough itself, the ex-
pectoration, the time of day, the position and circumstances of its
excitation or aggravation and a considerable multitude of attend-
ant ailments. Nevertheless, each one of you has no doubt fre-
quently experienced the fact that these are insufficient, and yon
eagerly looked around for some additional symptom to secure the
selection of the right remedy.
I, therefore, thought I might hope that a small contribution to
these indications, as the result of many years' careful observa-
tions, would not be unwelcome.
In order that I might not exceed a proper limit, nor repeat
what is known to all homoeopaths, I pass in silence what pertains
more to the general and less to the peculiar and rare, e. g., the
bloody, purulent, yellow, green, salty, slimy expectoration, etc.
I, therefore, shall here confine myself to the taste and smell, and
also some of the rarer forms of expectoration, concerning which
when we properly direct our questions, especially by considering*
the individual indications of the patient already known, we shall
gain more frequently than might be supposed the most satisfac-
tory statements.
By far the greater number of them deserve, in a prominent
measure, the title of characteristic, and I am indebted to many of
them, since they pointed to remedies more rarely used and which
I hardly would have thought of, for the thorough cure of malig-
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CONCERNING EXPECTORATION. 67
nant ailments of the chest and neck, which, without these char-
acteristics, I could hardly have cured.
I therefore give in alphabetical order what my experience has
taught me, and what I mostly tried myself.
Characteristic Expectorations.
Almonds. Like sweet almonds or nuts: Coffea, Digitalis.
Biting (sharp): Ars., Asa/.,. Aur., Bell., Fluor. , Laur., Merc,
Natr., Puis., Rhus, Staph., Thuja, Veratr.
Blackish: Chin., Lye, Nux vom., Rhus.
Bluish: Kali, Nux vom., Plumb.
Blood, bluish: Con.
black: Aeon., Amm., Ant. cr., Arn., Asar., Bell., Bism. r
Bryonia, Canth., Carb. veg., Caust., Cham., Chin., Cocc,
Con., Creos., Croc, Dros., Ferr., Graph., /gnat., Kali,
Lach., Led., Lye, Magn., Magn. mur., Nitr., Nitr. ac,
Nux mosch. , Nux vom. , Phosph. , Phosph. ac. , Plat. , Pulsat. ,
Sec. corn., Selen., Sepia, Silic, Slram., Sulph.
bright red (watery ) : Amm., Ant. tar., Arn., Arsen., Bell.,
Bor., Bryonia, Calcarea, Canth., Car bo an., Carbo veg.,
Chin., Dig., Dros., Dulc, Ferr., Graph., Hyosc, Ipecac,
Led., M. austrae., Mag. mur., Merc, Natr., Nitr., Nux
mosch., Phosph., Phosph. ac, Puis., Rhus, Sabad., Sabin.,
Sec. corn., Selen., Sep., Silic, Stram., Stront., Sulph.,
Zinc
brown: Bryonia, Rhus.
coagulated (in lumps) : Arn. , Bell. , Bryon. , Canth. , Carb. an.,
Caust., Cham., Chin., Con., Creos., Croc, Dros., Ferr.,
Hyosc, /gnat., Ipecac, Magn. mur., Merc, Nitr. ac,
Nux vom., Phos. ac, Plat., Puis., Rhus, Sabin., Sec corn.,
Sepia, Spong., Stram., Stront., Sulph.
foaming: Arn., Ars., Dros., Ferr., Hepar, Led., Opium,
Phosph., Silic.
ill- smelling: Bell., Bryon., Carb. an., Carb. veg., Caust.,
Cham., Creos., Croc, /gnat., Kali, Merc, Phosph., Plat.,
Sabin., Sec. corn., Silic.
sharp: Amm., Carb. veg., Kali, Nitr., Sarsap., Silic,
Sulph.
sour- smelling: Sulph., Tar.
sticky: Cann., Magn., Phosph., Phosph. ac, Plat., Ran*
bulb., Rhus, Samb., Scill., Seneg., Vit.
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68 CONCERNING EXPECTORATION.
thick: Am., Asar., Card. veg., Creos., Croc, Cupr., Dig.,
Ferr., Graph. , Lachi, Nux mosch.,Nux vom., Plat., Puis,
thin: Card, an., Card. veg., Creos., Ferr., Graph. , Laur.,
Merc, Nuxmosch., Puis., Sabin., Sec. corn., Stram.
tough: Croc, Cupr., Magn., Sec. corn,
uncoagulated (incoagulable): Alum., Ant. tar., Bov.,
Bryonia, Dulc, M. austr., Magn. mur., Phosph., Phosph.
ac, Sec. corn., Stram., Stront., Sulphur.
Broth, tasting like: Jod.
Brownish: Bisrn., Bryon., Calcar., Carbo veg., Phosph., Puis.,
Silic.
Burnt, smelling: Cycl., Nux vom., Pulsat., Ran. bulb., Sabad.,
Scill., Sulph.
Burnt, tasting: Dros., Puis.
Cabbage, tasting like cooked: Sulph.
Catarrh, tasting like old: Bell., Ign., Mezer.,Nux vom., Phosph.,
Puis., Sabin., Sulph., Zinc.
Chalk, tasting like: Amm., /gnat., Nux vom.
Cheese, tasting like: Chin., Lye.
Cheese, tasting like rotten: Aur., Kali, Zinc.
Clay, tasting like: Cann., Chin., Phosph., Puis.
Cold: Asa/., Bryon., Cann., Caust., Coral, rubr., Kali, Merc,
Nux vom. , Phosph. , Rhus, Sulph. , Veratr.
Dung, tasting like: Calcar., Carb. an., Sepia, Veratr.
Dust, as if mixed with: Ambr., Creos., Nux vom., Phosph.
Eartjt, tasting like: Arsen., Cann., Caps., Chin., Ferr., Hepar,
/gnat., Mang., Merc, Nux mosch., Puis., Stront.
Faces, like: Merc. .
Fatty, tastes: Alum., Asa/., Caust., Cham., Fluor., Kali, Lycop.,
Magn. mur., Mang., Merc, corr., Mur. acid, Petr., Puis.,
Rhus, Sabad., Sabin., Silic.
Fish, tastes after: Aconite.
Flour, tastes like: Lachesis.
Foaming: Arsen., Bell., Bryon., Hepar, Nux vom., Opium,
Phosph., Plumb., Puis., Sabin., Silic, Sulph.
Garlic, smelling like: Arsen., Petr.
Grains, in: Chin., Nitr. ac, Phosph., Sepia.
Gray: Ambr., Anac, Arsen., Carb. an., Creos., Kali, Lye,
Mang., Nux vom., Seneg., Sepia, Thuja.
Hard: Hepar, Jod.
Herby, tasting: Calad., Nux vom., Phosph. ac, Puis., Sarsap.,
Stann., Veratr.
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CONCERNING EXPECTORATION. 69
Herrings, tasting like: Nux mosch.
Zfttf (burning) : Asar., Mosch. , Sabad., Silic
Ingesta, tasting like the: Amm., Ant. cr., Ant. tart., Bell.,
Bryon., Card. veg., Chin., Cocc, Con., Hepar, /gnat.,
Lycop., Magn. mur., Mar., Nux vom., Phosph., Puis.,
Rhus, Sepia, Silic, Sulfih., Thuja.
Ink, tasting like: Calcar., Fluor.
Iron, tasting after: Calcar., Cuprum.
Knots, in little brown: Phosph.
Lumps, in small round: Calad., Kali, Plumb.
Metallic taste: Alum., Amm., Bism., Calcarea, Coloc.- t Cocc,
Cupr., Hepar, Lach., Merc, cort., Natr., Natr. mur., Nux
vom., Ran. bulb., Rhus, Sassap., Seneg., Sulph., Vit.,
Zinc.
Milk, smelling like fresh : Dros. , Spong.
Milky; Aur., Phosph., Sepia.
Mouldy, tasting: Lycop., Mar., Merc.< Rhus, Thuja.
Musty, tasting: Borax, Magnes., Phosph. ac.
Oil, tasting like: Caust., Mang., Phosph. ac, Silic.
Onion, tasting like: Asa/.
Peas, tasting like raw: Pulsat., Zinc.
Pepper, lasting like: Aeon., Mezer.
Pitch, tasting like: Canth.
Rancid, tasting: Alum., Ambr., Asa/., Bryon., Cham., Euphorb.,
Ipecac, Lach., Mur. ac, Petr., Phosph., Rhodod., Thuja.
Rosin, tasting of: . Thuja.
Rotten eggs, tasting like: Aeon., Am., Graph., Hepar, Merc,
Mezer., Mur. ac, Phosphor., Phosph. ac.
Rotten wood, tasting like: Sulphur.
Russian leather, smelling like: Arnica.
Rust-colored: Phosphorus.
Smoky, smelling: Bryonia, Nux vom., Puis., Rhus.
Soapy taste: Bryonia, Dulc,/od., Merc
Sour- smelling; Bor. , Calcar. , Cham. , Dulcam. , Hell. , Merc , Nitr. ,
Nux vom., Sulph. ac.
Starchy: Argent., Am., Arsen., Bar., Chin., Dig., Ferr., Laur.,
Seneg., Silicea.
Sugar, tasting like: Calcar., Lycop., Sepia.
Sulphur, tasting of : Cocc, Nux vom., Phosph. ac, Plumb., Sul-
phur.
Tallow, tasting like: Valer.
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70 CONCERNING EXPECTORATION.
Tar, tasting like: Conium.
Tobacco -juice, tasting like: Pulsat.
Unripe fruit, tasting harsh, like: Alum,, Apis, Arsen., Caps.,
Euphorb., Lack., Mur. ac, Sabad.
Urine, tasting like: Graph., Seneg.
Violets, smelling like: Valerian.
Watery: Arg., Ars., Calcar., Caps., Carb. an., Cupr., /gnat.,
Afagn., Magn. mur., Merc, Natr. mur., Stann.
Water, tasting like putrid: Aconite.
Wine, tasting somewhat like: Bell., Bryonia.
Yolk of eggs, tasting like: Kali, Phosphor., Phosph. ac, Sepia,
Staph., Suiph., Thuja.
Zitron yellow: Kali, Lycop., Pulsat.
For you, my dear colleagues, it might be superfluous, but for
many incipient homoeopaths who may see this, it may be neces-
sary, with respect to the use of the observations herewith given,
to give the following two cautions:
i. That the peculiar symptoms enumerated are far from ex-
hausting everything that lies within the sphere of action of the
medicine mentioned. This is already manifest from the fact that
observation in practice has brought to light many things and has
afterwards confirmed them, of which not a syllable was mentioned
in the provings of the remedy on healthy persons. From this it
follows that a remedy which perfectly corresponds with the rest
of the symptoms must not be rejected merely because in this list
the symptom mentioned is not enumerated. For the same reason
I must also warn
2. Against giving to these symptoms, although they are
throughout very characteristic, a too great and almost decisive
weight, where other indications that are quite valid indicate an-
other remedy not given here. In general, we must never forget
that one symptom can never be considered as a sufficient indica-
tion that every time the whole complex of characteristic morbid
symptoms must correspond and that, therefore, the peculiarities
adduced by no means make up for every other consideration, but
that they can only serve to point in many cases to medicines
which might perhaps be found suitable, and also to serve to con-
firm the selection after all the circumstances have been duly
weighed.
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CONCERNING WHOOPING-COUGH. 71
Something Concerning Whooping-Cough.
Allg. horn. Zeit., Vol. 53, p. 85.
In the epidemy of whooping-cough which has been raging this
year and which is not yet at an end, and which has again de-
manded numerous victims, the superiority of homoeopathy, as
compared with allopathy, has again been brilliantly proved. The
sincere and honest adherents of the latter — and there are many
such — acknowledge themselves, openly, that this dangerous chil-
dren's disease cannot be healed, nor even shortened by them, and
I have learned of several instances where an allopathic domestic
physician directed the sorrowing parents to me. It is, therefore,
inexplicable how there may yet be physicians who, with this
self-confessed impotence of the old school, nevertheless still con-
tinue to prescribe their mixtures in whooping-cough, though they
never help, but very frequently are of mediate or immediate in-
jury. For though the fatal nature of this disease is not especially
increased thereby, still a good deal of time is thereby uselessly
wasted, and what is worse for us, the natural indications on which
the selection of our remedies must be founded are, thereby, fre-
quently so mixed up, perverted and obscured, that an unnatural
monster of a disease arises, which does not correspond to any one
homoeopathic remedy, and, therefore, requires several consecu-
tively.
This last may, in part, be the chief reason why, as I have
heard, homoeopaths are not so successful in their treatment of
whooping-cough as the present state of our science might justly
lead us to expect. We can not, indeed, deny that this difficulty
suggested presents quite a considerable obstruction, and that a
■disease which has thus been muddled up is much more difficult
to cure than a natural one. But with a careful selection of the
remedies the cure of such a disease, though somewhat delayed,
should, nevertheless, proceed safely and in a period not too ex-
tended, and we must, therefore, especially take care not to be mis-
led by indications of no moment, but should always strenuously
keep in view the characteristics of every individual case.
To facilitate the selection I have established the following thera-
peutical diagnoses in agreement with the experience gained in the
present epidemy as well as in some preceding ones. These con-
tain in every case what is most essential for this disease, can easily
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72 CONCERNING WHOOPING-COUGH.
be looked over and, therefore, simplify as well as make sure the
selection of the remedy.
As a result from the latest experience, I would only add that
the end is gained most rapidly if the suitable remedy is given in
a high potency and in a minimal dose, dissolved in water, a tea-
spoonful being given morning and evening.
Therapeutic Diagnosis for Whooping-Cough.
i. Carbo veg. — Whooping-cough in less frequent attacks (3 to
5 a day), most violent in the evening and before midnight, with
flowing catarrh , sneezing, lachrymation of the eyes, and hoarseness,
dyspnoea while walking in the open air, and sore throat while
swallowing. (Often indicated after Veratrum.)
2. Cina. — Attacks of whooping-cough, preceded by rigid rais-
ing up in bed, as if unconscious, and with palenees of the face.
After the attacks, noise in the chest, as if swallowing a liquid,
moaning, gasping for breath, sneezing and vomiting. (Often
after Drosera.)
3. Cuprum. — Whooping-cough in long uninterrupted attacks
(without stopping), the breath stops, succeeded by hoarseness, with
vomiting of only solid food (aggravated by taking solid food), re-
lieved by drinking water, with chilliness all day. (Often after
Veratrum.}
4. Drosera. — Whooping-cough, most violent after midnight \
with ringing, quickly succeeding shocks, not allowing one to take
breath, face bluish-blackish; a sensation of constriction in the chest
and hypochondria, compelling one to press on them with the hand;
bleeding from nose or mouth, worse from drinking and from the
smoke of tobacco, at the end vomiting, first of food, then of mucus.
(Often after Sulphur.}
5. Ferrum. — Spasmodic whooping-cough, dry in the evening,
in the morning with much purulent expectoratioyi, streaked with
blood, with sour vomiting of the ingesta, stopped immediately by eat-
ing a little.
6. Hepar sulph. c. — Whooping- cough in dry, hoarse attacks in-
creasing from evening to midnight, with anxious, whistling respira-
tion, as if about to suffocate, compelling one to raise up quickly
and bend back the head; swelling under the larynx and strong
beating of the carotids; aggravated by getting cold and by drink-
ing. (First noticed this summer. )
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ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 73
7/ Pulsatilla, — Whooping-cough (at first) in the evening and
night dry, in the morning with much expectoration , mostly bitter;
aggravated in the warmth and in a warm room, with dyspnoea in
the lower part of the chest, relieved by raising up, or by getting up
out of bed.
8. Sulphur. — Whooping-cough (of scrofulous children) with
short, successive shocks, at night without, during the day with
expectoration, paleness of the face, asthma and retching aggravated
during moist, cold weather, and during cold weather.
9. Veratrum. — Whooping-cough with tightness of the chest,
and vomiting of tough watery mucus, with cold perspiration on the
forehead, and with involuntary urination, aggravated when com-
ing from the cold into a warm room and from drinking.
Aluminium Metallicum.
Allg. horn. Zeit., Vol. 54. pp. 89 and 97.
Among the remedies which undeservedly seem to be but rarely
used, Alumina, no doubt, occupies the first place.
I intentionally say, undeservedly, for Alumina is one of the
remedies possessing, besides the ordinary healing virtues, also
others which are peculiarly its own and not found elsewhere.
And we know hardly any homoeopathic medicine which has been
proved with equal care and completeness, which is mentioned
so rarely.
To show the indispensable nature of this remedy, it will be
sufficient to confine myself to the following brief three indica-
tions:
1. Symptom 21 (Hahnem. Chronic Dis., 2d ed., II, p. 37)
presents the image of a depression of mind and spirit not infre-
quently met in women, and which is not found to the same degree
in any other remedy, and which, in my practice, has produced
the most complete and permanent cure.
2. Of great importance and of still more frequent applicability
are the eye-symptoms and those of the face, 158-214, which have
approved themselves in practice in numerous cases most completely
and which show peculiarities which secure for it a suitable appli-
cation.
3. Symptom 981, in connection with symptoms 821, 831, 924,
1 002, 1,012 and several others, promises aid and has also given
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74 ALUMINIUM METALLICUM.
it to me in a disease — tabes dorsalis vera — which all allopaths
have unanimously declared to be quite incurable.
No one, indeed, who has studied the indications of this vigor-
ous medicine properly, and who has thoroughly caught its genius,
can acknowledge in a therapeutical sense the naught (o) with
which chemistry has designated this substance.
We may, therefore, properly ask, why this undeserved neglect?
While every week provings of new remedies appear, which con-
tain nothing characteristic for use, and which, therefore, in a
short time are discarded among the old rubbish and forgotten.
According to my opinion, two causes are chiefly at fault,
namely :
i. The favorite mode of using the low potencies, which, be-
sides this are now prepared, according to the decimal scale, where-
by the peculiar, deeply penetrating virtue of the medicine is not
yet sufficiently developed, as may easily be seen by those who de-
sire to see in the case, especially of several minerals and metals,
and
2. The use of the oxide instead of the metallic Aluminium, the
preparation of which, of course, belongs to this later date and was
not known in the lifetime of Hahnemann,
Since I. for a long series of years have used almost exclusively
high potencies, the former reason cannot be offered by me, when
results sometimes stay behind my expectations, although the se-
lection of the remedy seemed to be homceopathically a fitting one.
In considering the decided preference of Hahnemann for the
preparations made from the metals themselves, and in order to
draw my answer to the second question from experience itself, I
sought to get some chemically pure Aluminium in which I was
successful eventually in England.
Of this pure Aluminium metallicum, the very reliable druggist,
Mr. W. Lehrmann, in Schoeningen, near Brunswick, from whom
I usually get all my remedies (always receiving them of excellent
quality}, made preparations according to the still valid prescrip-
tion* of Hahnemann, and carried them up to the 200 centesimal
*Tn the new edition of the Organon which will probably appear yet in the
course of this year, improved and completed by Hahnemann himself, a new
simplified procedure for the potentizing of medicines will be taught, which
has considerable advantages over the former and yields a preparation as to
the efficacy of which I can, from my own experience, give full praise. I
know this procedure, but according to my pledged word of honor, am not,
as yet, permitted to communicate it to any one.
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ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 75
potency. Whoever desires to be supplied with this medicine can
get any desired potency, both genuine and reliable, from him, and
I may still add that the 200 potency which I have been using
since February of this year has not only proved itself completely ef-
fective, but has far exceeded the former preparations of Aluminium
in its curative powers.
Hoping that some of my honored colleagues may feel induced
by this communication to also institute experiments with the
Aluminium metallicum, it might not be inappropriate to relate
some of the results already obtained from it in the above-men-
tioned brief time.
I. Vol. XCII, p. 93, CI. H., the wife of a merchant here,
thirty-two years old, during her confinement in the summer of
1854, had an inflammation of the eyes, which, under allopathic
treatment, turned into amaurosis, or gutta serena of the left eye,
and it had also begun to show itself on the right eye, when my
aid was invoked on July 20, 1855. In my journal I find the re-
mark that the eyes are most darkened in the bright sunlight, and
that even in the dark and during twilight she can only see enough
to find her way alone on the street.
'She sees no colors, but everything is black and dark. At the
same time she suffers from almost constant headache, worse in
the evening and from motion. She is ill affected by pork, by all
cabbage and by food causing flatulence. She easily perspires.
Stool and menses are normal.
She had continually used many remedies, especially also oint-
ments, to which she ascribed the worst aggravation, but I could
not learn their constituents.
In order to save, if possible, at least, the right eye, I first gave
Belladonna with the most decided success, then Conium, which
acted also considerably on the left eye, and then again Belladonna,
since clouds appeared again before the right eye, but which soon
disappeared again.
In the meantime she was again pregnant since the beginning
of August and several attendant ailments required intermediate
relief, while the eyes progressed in their improvement.
In November she especially complained of a yellow spot before
the eye when looking at anything white; this soon disappeared
after a dose of Amm. carb.
Toward the end of March, 1856, she was happily delivered of a
healthy child, but some of the ailments usual with women in
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76 ALUMINIUM METALLICUM.
confinement set in which could, indeed, be quickly removed, but
which again caused an aggravation of the eye-symptoms. These
.were improved by the use of Sulphur and Calcarea carb., but
owing to manifold disturbances during the summer, producing
toothache and stomach -troubles, and again demanding inter-
mediate remedies, there was no satisfactory progress.
This may have contributed to her following the advice of a
relative, an allopathic doctor, so that she confided herself to his
care. By giving her Coccinella, Nux vom. f Ferrum and Mag-
nesia powders in large doses, he made the poor woman stone-
blind within six weeks, and she was brought back to me by
her husband as a repentant sinner, since now all hope was
gone. This occurred on Jan. i, 1857. By consecutive doses of
Sulphur •, Calcarea , Caust. and Sepia her improvement had con-
siderably advanced again by February 21, so that she could again
go out without a guide. But her eyes were still very misty, the
sleep disturbed by many dreams, and there was constipation and
headache.
On the day before, I had received from Mr. Lehrmann the
preparations made from Aluminium metallicum, and I now gave
her a dose of Alum, metal. 200, to be dissolved in six spoonfuls
of water and to be taken three days in succession, well shaken,
one spoonful in the morning and one in the evening.
The effect exceeded all my expectations, the eyes had become
as clear as before and also the concomitant ailments had all
vanished.
A second dose of Alum. met. 200, on March 2, continued the
improvement in the same way, while she had again become preg-
nant. On the 12 th of March Sulphur 200 and on the 20th of
March again Alum. met. 200, whereby the eyes have now been
altogether restored, and only the concomitants of pregnancy re-
quire to be attended to.'
II. Vol. 9, p. 170, Elis. B. in- A., the wife of a land-owner, 61
years of age, had been suffering for a long time from an inguinal
hernia on the left side, which since three days has been strangu-
lated, with complete constipation and the most violent pains.
Before that she had much pain in the stomach, bitter vomiting
and bitter eructation, with redness of the face. The (allopathic)
doctor treating her, having ineffectually used Bellad., Plumb. ,
Magn., Laurocer., and 01. Ricini, now declared that an immedi-
ate operation was absolutely necessary, but the aged woman could
not agree to this.
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ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 77
Feb. 22, 1857: 1, Nux vom., 2, Cocc. 200, alternately in solu-
tion, one spoonful every two hours.
Feb. 24. No stool as yet, but discharge of flatulence. No
more vomiting but still bitter eructation. Now Alum. met. 200,
in water,* one spoonful every three hours.
Febr. 26. In the evening till midnight, violent colicky pain,
but then a stool. — Acid, sulph. 200, as in the case above.
Feb. 28. In consequence, the rupture became much smaller,
and again a proper stool, but violent vomiting of bitter mucus
and water. Much burning in the stomach. Often a chill from
the stomach to the back. Last night, rest and sleep and no more
vomiting. Frequent drinking, but little at a time. Sulphur 200,
taken as above.
March 2d. Last night much cutting pain in the abdomen, but
the stool is now quite normal. Before midnight, her condition
was good. Sulph. 200 as before, but only thrice a day.
March 7. Now the pains in the stomach only come in the even-
ing, aggravated by pressure and touch. The stools since the 24th
of February have been perfectly good and regular. Nux vom. 200,
in water, morning and evening, one spoonful. Since then all the
ailments have disappeared, and the woman feels better than she
has for years.
This short case may serve for a confirmation, that Alum, metal. ,
like Alumina belongs among the most excellent remedies for
a permanent aid on account of inaction of the bowels, and works
even through other remedies in this direction in a curative
manner.
III. Vol. XCIV, p. 239, J. P. C, aged 33 years, the wife of an
official in G. in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has been suffer-
ing for fourteen years from a chronic cough, said to have arisen
from a cold. After an attack of Cholera, treated allopathically
seven years ago, this cough had been much aggravated. The
cough is provoked by an irritation in the throat, as if from a
cuticle suspended loosely at that point, accompanied by an ex-
pectoration, putrid of taste and difficult to detach, and by stitches
in the splenic region, most aggravated in the cold, open air, by
the smoke of tobacco and by weariness from speaking; much
alleviated by warmth, hoarseness from much speaking and in
lively company. Eating onions gives sore throat. Also irritating
substances such as salt, wine, vinegar and pepper and the like at
once excite the cough. The menses are very copious and long
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78 ALUMINIUM METALLICUM.
continued. Chills and much thirst. The condition is better dur-
ing rest. At night she feels pretty well; but on account of her
cough she can not lie on the right side. Riding in a carriage
gives her pain in the chest. She has used by this time an endless
list of substances, but most frequently Nitr., Ipecac, , Sambuc,
Hyosc, Dulc, Dig., Lam., Bell., Opium, Chin, sulph. and the
modern favorite that does so much injury, Kali hydrojod. Her
treatment was begun by me on May 6th, 1856, with a dose of
Arsen. 200, with a few accompanying powders of Sacch. lactis.
June 8. Some improvement in the cough, but there is still the
sensation as of a cuticle in the throat. Before the menses, a chill
and headache. At the least exertion, profuse perspiration. At
night, stitches in the shoulder on which she lies. Calc. 200.
July 4. Little result from it. The stitches have their seat in
the shoulder and in the shoulder-blade on the left side. Head-
ache above the left eye. A pappy taste. The cough has not im-
proved any further. Sulphur 200.
July 28. The improvement advanced, though she had taken
cold, and from it had chills and heat in alternation for a few days.
The menses are preceded by pain in the back. Still some stitches
in the left shoulder. Phos. 200.
Aug. 24. Now there is quite a considerable improvement and
she has become much more vigorous. The menses are still too
early and too copious, and this time they were preceded by haem-.
optoe and pain in the chest. Ill-effects from melons. Phos. 200
repeated.
Not to become too diffuse, I would only briefly state that the
cough, through the successive use of Sulph., Puis., Lye. and
Sepia, continued to improve, but the improvement made only very
slow and insufficient progress. On the 26th of February I sent
the patient a dose of Alum. met. 200, to be dissolved in water and
taken in three days. On this there at once appeared a far greater
improvement than with any of the former remedies, so that the
pains now only remained in the left shoulder. Even a severe cold,
taken on a journey to Rotterdam, with heavy fluent coryza, head-
ache and eye- ache, and inflammation of the nose and lips, which
was quickly healed with Cham. 200, had no further ill-effects, and
an additional dose of Alum. met. 200, given on March 26th, re-
moved, according to a report of April 21st, all the rest of this fif-
teen year old ailment.
IV. Vol. LIV, p. 12. G. D., in L., a farmers wife, still vig-
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ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 79
orous at the age of fifty-five years, who has been treated success-
fully by me before (1843) on account of an ailment of the stom-
ach, has now been suffering for six weeks from a moist eruption
on both forearms; to this yet had been added, by smearing and
anointing (probably with Mercury), ulcers on these places. Also*
the stomach, which up to that time had remained well, is disor-
dered since two weeks, but I could get no further information from
the messenger. Since we possess only a few remedies which cause
a moist eruption only on the forearms, and Alumina among these
stands in the front rank, I sent the woman, on March 7th of this
year, a dose of Alum, met. 200, to be dissolved in six spoonfuls of
water, a spoonful to be taken every morning and evening. for three
days, after stirring it well every time.
On March 26th I heard the report that in the first days after
taking the medicine the eruption had somewhat extended itself
and become worse, but then it had quickly dried up, and a week
afterwards had wholly disappeared. The ailment of the stomach
also had vanished. Sulph. 200, to be taken in the same way.
Since then I have heard nothing more from her.
V. Vol. XCVII, p. 187. G. St., thirty years old, an unmarried
seamstress, had contracted an ailment of the eyes two months and
a half ago by taking cold, and especially by sleeping by an ill-
fitting window. This ailment every day became more burden-
some to her in her employment as seamstress. Especially in the
morning and when the light is bright she suffers from violent lan-
cinations in both eyes, with copious lachrymation, continually ag-
gravated from the strain on her eyes, and only transitorily im-
proved by closing the eyes. Besides this she suffered much from
frightful dreams, mostly after midnight and in the morning;
severe perspiration on the sexual organs; and, beginning with the
time of her rather scanty menses, a violent distension of the abdo-
men and violent urging downward.
Feb. 28, 1857. Euphras. 200, to be dissolved in water, and for
three days one spoonful to be taken every morning and evening.
March 4. The eyes have improved, especially in the open air,
but now in the evening there is much headache. . Puis. 200, given
as before.
March 15. Progressive improvement of the eyes. The head-
ache has altogether disappeared. The rest, with exception of the
menstrual troubles, as the period has not yet re- appeared, are also
improved, but are still present. Alum. met. 200, taken as before.
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80 ALUMINIUM METALLICUM.
April 2. Now there is a decided and considerable improvement
in all the symptoms. The menses appeared without any concom-
itant ailments, the perspiration on the sexual parts has altogether
ceased and the general condition is excellent. Only the eyes suf-
fer yet from somewhat strenuous work. The outside canthi are
somewhat inflamed. Lye. 200, given as above. This is still act-
ing, and will probably have to be followed by a dose of Sulphur
to complete the cure.
VI. Though the following cure has not yet been completed, I
feel impelled to adduce here what has been attained so far in a
very desperate case, being the experience made in. a case of tabes
dorsalis, which is unique in its kind and illustrates what I stated
above in paragraph 3.
Vol. XCVI, p. 163. J. G. P., a carpenter, aged 35 years, liv-
ing in G., has now been sick for .eight or nine years, and under
allopathic treatment has become more and more wretched. * His
disease began with pains in the left side of the abdomen and with
constipation, attended with a cough which made the abdominal
pains unbearable. Gradually a paralysis of both legs had set in,
these being constantly hot and swollen in the evening from the
knees to the feet. At last, also, ischuria set in, in which the urine
first discharged appears like buttermilk. As the man lives nearly
thirty-five miles from here I could not visit him, and could only
hear what is given here. As little could I get the former recipes;
still while the paralysis was increasing nothing had finally been
used but various domestic remedies and cod liver oil.
On Nov. 2d., 1856, he received from me: i, Puis. 200; 2,
Sulph. 200, one powder to be dissolved every ten days in water
and a spoonful to be taken every three days. Between times,
Sac. lactis.
Nov. 23. I heard of an incipient improvement in the general
condition, not only of the paralysis, but also of the urine, which
still was milky. Phos. ac. 200, given as above.
Dec. 14. Progressive improvement, no other symptoms, so
Phos. ac. was continued.
Jan. 5, 1857. The passage of the urine is still more difficult
and the urine still of the same description. Besides this there are
sudden shootings in the legs, which are not described more accur-
ately. Sulphur 200, to be taken as before, and the urgent request
to send me next time some one from the house to give me an oral
account, and whom I might question.
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ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 81
Jan. 16. Now, at last, I received a more exact account, and
with it the well-known symptoms of genuine Tabes dor sails, es-
pecially the peculiar softness and insensibility of the soles of the
feet, and the loss of power over the lower limbs, especially in the
dark, so that he does not know where they are lying. The paral-
ysis of the legs, indeed, had remained altogether unchanged, that
of the right leg having rather increased. Frequent burning and
chapping of the calves and thighs. While at rest and in the cold
the paralysis as well as the general state was worst. Stool and
urine had improved, as well as the general health. Rhus 200, to
be given as above.
Feb. 15. This time again the brief and unsatisfactory report
that from the last remedy an eruption (without description) had
arisen and some improvement (without any detail). At present
the condition is worst in the evening. Lye, 200, given as before.
March 8. The eruption has disappeared, but otherwise every-
thing is unchanged. Puis. 200, to be given as before.
March 29. After this the eruption again appeared and the gen-
eral health was much improved, but the paralysis of the legs had
increased and the swelling remained. Now I gave Alum, met*
200 , to be given as before.
April 19. The last remedy had acted very favorably. He cam
again walk around in his room with a cane and is full of hope.
When he moves his legs while sitting, which he can now do at
will, they draw crooked. When he stands up he feels as if his
legs were too long (Pkos.). In the evening his legs still swell
up. Once more Alum. met. 200, given as before. No further
news since.*
As mentioned before, the treatment is still .far from complete,
and probably several remedies will still have to be used to com-
plete it. In the meantime the great and striking action of Alu-
minium metallicum in this case is indisputable, and is the more
worthy of mention as we have so few remedies at our disposal
with which to meet this ailment.
*By letter the author informs us since that the patient on May 10th in-
formed him that he could again stand for whole hours at his planitig-bench
and work. — Ed.
6
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82 TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM METALLICUM.
Tabes dorsalis and Aluminium metallicum.
Allg. horn. Zeit.t Vol. 57, page 3.
"No patient of this kind/' the learned Privy Medical Coun-
cilor Dr. Romberg avers in his Manual on Nervous Diseases, Vol.
I, part III, p. 91 of the second edition, where he treats of tabes
dorsalis: l * No patient of this kind can ever have any hope of get-
ting welt; they are all doomed. The only consolation, at least for
those who desire to live, is the long duration of the disease. If
the restless activity of the physician in any one case aggravates the
sufferings of the patient, this is the case in tabes dorsalis. Only
seldom do we see an unfortunate of this kind, whose back is not
fullof cicatrices, who is without a large roll of prescriptions, and
who has not made a round of all the Springs, having everywhere
sought a cure in vain. Humanity therefore at once compels us to
declare, that therapeutic treatment can only injure, not benefit; and
that merely a regulation of the diet in all its bearings is able to
protect the patient from too early great sufferings. ' '
Farther testimony with respect to this incurability without any
exception of this not very rare disease, which at the same time is
unmistakably and sharply diagnosed, is unnecessary; though it
might be quoted from almost every pathology of more ancient as
well as of more modern time. The more, therefore, may the
younger, genuinely German sister of the two thousand years' old
foreign allopathy felicitate herself, if she in agreement with the
law of nature discovered by her founder: Similia similibus! has
found a remedy which has already proved its efficiency in the most
decided manner in several cases.
If then oh the one side the importance of the discovery is great
enough, to now speak of it a second time, and since on the other
hand the distance of the first patient, treated of in this Journal
(Vol. LI V., p. 99), from his physician might induce some skeptics
to doubt the diagnosis of that case, as well as that of two
others treated somewhat later with the same favorable result, I
may consider myself sufficiently justified in giving with some de-
tail a newer case of this kind, which I had the opportunity of
viewing with my own eyes, and treated with the same remedy
and with the same good fortune.
Miss Francisca v. W., belonging to one of the most honored
families in Miinster, now nearly nineteen years of age, and liv-
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TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 83
ing here with her relatives for ten years, had often suffered from
various ailments (even before her coming here) which bear the
most manifest indication of a chronic (psoric) dyscrasy. She
had, therefore, in her former place of residence, besides the in-
evitable codliver oil, also received from a homoeopathic physician
now deceased several homoeopathic remedies, namely, Puis.,
Sulph., Calcar. card., Carbo veg., Silk, and Lycop. with only par-
tial and insufficient success.
In my Journal (Vol. LXXL, p. 89), I find first enumerated
under her name, and dated Dec. 27, 1848, the following: Since
four weeks she has had a moist eruption on the head, especially
behind both the ears and above both the external ears, which
aches most of all and mo^t violently in the evening and in the
morning. The abdomen thick and hard. Aversion to meat.
Desire for milk, bread and butter and all vegetables of the cab-
bage and kale kind. She sleeps altogether too long and even till
late in the day. Pretty strong curvature of the spine and pro-
tuberance of one shoulder-blade. Chilblains on the toes (not on
the hands). She feels worse early in the morning; better in the
evening.
It would lead too far from my purpose and lead to useless diffu-
siveness to relate in detail the former treatment of this child,
who was manifestly scrofulous, and it will be enough to observe
here that these ailments were very stubborn, and that the erup-
tion at first extended further, not only over the head and neck,
but even down to the sexual parts, and only after the course of
two years it was brought to a cure, together with the curvature
of the spine, so that nothing abnormal could any more be found.
Still, in the years following, i. e., 185 1 and 1852, there again
appeared ailments from time to time, which were not very consid-
erable and were soon removed, but which caused it to be plainly
seen that the scrofulosis which was manifestly deeply inrooted
was not yet completely exterminated.
In the spring of 1853 she was taken sick with a pretty violent
gastric fever, while she had an unconquerable longing for ink,
while every time after taking milk she would vomit. Nevertheless,
her cure soon followed and she remained well until the winter
1853 to l8 54» when the old eruption together with the chilblains
on the feet again appeared, which were only fully removed with
the beginning of March.
In the beginning of 1855 the same eruption reappeared, but
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84 TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM METALLICUM.
lasted this time only till about the middle of February. The
menses now also appeared and, indeed, with unusual violence.
In the summer of this year she was seized with a violent case of
grippe, which was removed in a few days, and soon afterward by
a violent, convulsive colic with excessive menses (quickly cured
by a dose of Zincum) followed by a lengthy period of apparently
compltte health
In the meanwhile, she had been removed to an educational in-
stitution, twenty miles from here, where about the middle of
September, 1857, she was taken ill again, and, indeed, first with
violent headache with bleeding of the nose and much too copious
a flow of blood with the menses, appearing prematurely; all these
symptoms were aggravated: in the evening from motion, and
from every mental or bodily exertion Bellad., Bryonia and
Phosphor., each in a high potency and in a single djse, relieved
this, all excepting a few symptoms, which appeared in the even-
ing, while sitting in the warm room, and which also yielded to a
similar dose of Pulsatilla.
About the middle of January, 1858, quite a new ailment ap-
peared, concerning which a teacher of the institution gave only a
very sparing and incomplete account. According to her account
the patient suffered from violent pains in the back, aggravated
by every motion, disappearing at night, and which had once
caused a real tonic spa^m. Nothing further could be deduced
from the written report. Nux vom. 200, dissolved in water,
taken three times a day for thrre days, produced 4 ' considerable
and still progressing improvement; " but the patient now com-
plained of " pains in the pit of the neck and inability to swallow,"
without any further description. I directed the repetition of Nux
vom. a dose dissolved in water taken for six days, twice a day,
morning and evening, every time a spoonful.
This second dose of Nux vom. not only remained without any
effect, but the (quite undefined) pains in the back had again re-
turned, and a new symptom was announced, namely, an "aphony,"
which is most decided in the morning and evening, and which
" made it impossible to ut*er any loud word." At the same time
and only now I was informed that even while using the former
remedy speech had become daily more difficult and more of a
strain, as "from a paralysis of the tongue," so that the patient
was obliged "to catch a breath with every word, and that she
was inordinately wearied by even a little talking."
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TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 85
Causl. did not affect these ailme'nts, but Septa, given a week
later, caused the voice to return for hours, as was stated, but
always soft and subdued. But all the rest remained almost
unchanged, only, according to the description of the patient her-
self, ** somewhat better.' '
A dose of Sulphur 200, sent on February 3d, had the effect
th^t every night after midnight she had headache (without any
further description) with epistaxis, onlv improved by sitting up
in bed. All the rest was merely described with the stereotyped
phrase, "somewhat better," showing that it was still present;
but not a syllable was added which could have secured a proper
selection of the remedy.
Under such circumstances, sufficient to lead to despair, I sent
on February 17, a dose of Belladonna 200, to be taken as the pre-
ceding medicine, but then I demanded with decision, that the pa-
tient should be brought here, so that I might see her, which
might be done without danger, considering the short distance and
the nature of the disease, manifestly chronic. It is noteworthy,
that especially among the higher classes and, especially in nerv-
ous diseases, the stereotype euphemism is always li somewhat
better/ ' while the improvement makes no essential progress, but
on the contrary, new symptoms are continually addtd, which
complicate the matter without offering any hold for the selection
of the remedy.
According to my decidedly pronounced desire, the patient was
brought here on February 24 and in the evening I called on her.
Great was my astonishment at recognizing at once the most de-
cided image of a genuine lades dorsalis, to which nothing re-
ported so far had pointed at all. Especially the aphony which
was always emphasized as the chief characteristic and which is
only exceptionally observed in this disease had caused no
suspicion of the real state of the case, since the paralysis of the
lower extremities, which was already far advanced, had not been
mentioned in any one of the letters.
Wh.n I saw the patient, the aphony was. indeed, so great and
the pronunciation so indistinct that I had to incline my ear close
to her mouth to understand her whispers. But all the other
symptoms spoke too plainly to allow the real character of the dis-
ease to be mistaken and the last-named symptom could only per-
mit the supposition that the affection of the spinal marrow had
reached an unusual extent.
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86 TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM MBTALLICUM.
What I discovered at once at my first visit and immediately
noted down more carefully and circumstantially than usual was
the following:
The patient had for a long time noticed an ever increasing
weakness of the lower extremities, connected with which she had
always felt a more or less pronounced pain in the back.
The sensation in the back was a sort of burning, as if a hot
iron had been pushed up from the small of the back up through
the spine. In the beginning this had often only been a disagree-
able formication extending upward.
At the same time the soles of her feet had appeared as if soft or
padded, as if the feet were resting on a soft woolen cover or on a
pillow.
Gradually all sensation in the soles of her feet had been more
and more lost, so much even that she did not feel the ground under
her feet any more, nor did she know whether her feet rested on
it unless her sight assured htr of it.
So long as she still was able to walk, which she had not, how-
ever, been able to do for several weeks, she had only been able to
do this by day in a bright light and with her eyes open. When
her eyes were closed, or in the dark, she had tottered and stag-
ered so much that she had immediately had to take hold of some-
thing to keep from falling. Now she was quite unable to stand
in the dark and had even to lean against something in bright day-
light
When she was lying in bed she had no sensation at all of the
position and situation of her feet and legs, which, often unknown
to her, occupied the most varied positions.
During the beginning of the disease, if she made the attempt
to wa ! k a few steps in the dark, even in rooms well-known to her,
she would always unconsciously and involuntarily turn to the
left and thus miss her aim.
Very frequently she had a sensation of contraction in the abdo-
men, as if it was drawn together with a band; this sensation as
well as the pains in the back were always worse when beginning
to move after a long rest.
The aphony mentioned above still continues, but it is painless,
but it is conjoined with a striking and excessive weariness if she
speaks at all, so that she assured me that she was frequently
compelled to rest herself.
As for the rest, I found the patient well-nourished, with a
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TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM METAIXICUM. 87
blooming complexion, complaining but little, and not in the least
disquieted about her condition; yea, even with the clearly pro-
nounced inclination to consider her ailment as by no means dan-
gerous or serious. Appetite and digestion good. Stool somewhat
hard and inert. The menses appear at the right time, but pretty
copious. In the evening the condition is worse than in the morn-
ing.
These symptoms, which were at once and completely written
out, and which had for me a double importance because they were
the first that I had an opportunity of investigating with respect to
this disease after my particular study of Aluminium, left no room
for the least doubt that the case was a pronounced case of tabes
dorsalis, and on the basis of my earlier experience I did not hesi-
tate to give her at once a dose of Aluminium met. 200, from the
pharmacy of druggist Lehrmann, in Schoeningen. This was to
be dissolved in six tablespoonfuls of water, and three times a day
for two days a tablespoonful was to be taken.
On the 26th of February, when I again visited my patient, the
improvement was already so manifest and decided that I did not
wish as yet to disturb the after-effects.
A second dose of Alum. met. 200, taken in the same manner on
March 1st, continued the improvement, and since in the mean-
while the menses had appeared without any concomitant trouble
. I followed it up with a third dose of the same remedy, given in
the same way on March 5th. According to my journal the im-
provement progressed steadily and regularly. The patient is al-
ready able to stay up all day, and she walks about all over the
house in the bright daylight. She can even go up and down
stairs without any particular trouble. Only when she closes her
eyes she cannot as yet walk straight, but she still constantly turns
to the left, as I found out on making the trial; noi can she walk
as yet in the dark without holding on to something.
March 10. Again Alum. met. 200 as before. The lower limbs
do very well, but the voice is still often lost in the evenings,
and talking is difficult and wearisome. Thus it seems that too
frequent a repetition of this remedy without intervening remedies
does not advance the cure quickly enough. This is a result which
not infrequently appears in chronic ailments, where the symptoms
only become milder, without any essential change. Accordingly,
on
March 15 I gave Natrum mur. 200, to be taken in the same
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88 TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM METALUCUM.
way. The action was good, still not as favorable as that of the
prior remedy. Perhaps the similarity between the effects of
Natrum mur. and of Alum. met. is too great, a fact which is occa-
sionally seen when two remedies too closely related immediately
follow on each other (compare Ignat., Nux vom. and Puis.).
Nevertheless, the improvement had again progressed so much
that the patient on
March 21 could without any strain come to see me, and called
on me. She now received Alumina 3000 (Jenichen's), when the
improvement again advanced more manifestly. Only the pains in
the back and in the small of the back increased again. Thus the
action was not as specific as that of Alum. met.
On March 28 she received Caust. 200, which caused all these
pains to vanish, while her voice and speech improved. On the
other hand, the soft feeling in the soles of the feet and the weak-
ness of the legs increased, showing that this remedy does not suf-
ficiently correspond to the proper essential character of tabes
dor salts.
On April 1 1 I returned again to Alum. met. 200. Now, also,
the last considerable remnants of the disease vanished almost com-
pletely, and even her speech became again as sonorous and unob-
structed as in her days of health. Only on account of a rarely-
occurring formication, appearing especially in the evening, with
a transitory insensibility in the soles of the feet,
On April 20 I gave another dose of Alum. met. 200, and
On April 28 one dose of Pulsatilla 200, and, finally,
On May 7 a dose of Sulphur 200. The three medicines were
taken as the former ones, when the last traces of the disease com-
pletely disappeared and nothing of the kind has since been seen.
From this account, which I have given thus circumstantially,
and the course of which I followed with lively interest and with
the utmost attention, may be manifest the vigorous and truly spe-
cific action of Alum. met. in the genuine tabes dorsalis in so in-
dubitable a manner that I do not see what tenable objections
might be made to it.
Since it is well known that I have been accustomed to use only
the higher dynamizations in the finest doses I am equally unable
to affirm or to deny whether lower potencies of this remedy, which
the old school rejects as indifferent and ineffective as it does many
others, might not have as good or even stronger effects. Nor can
the fact that I secure more sure and quick cures even in the acut-
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TABES DORSALIS AND ALUMINIUM METALLICUM. 89
est diseases with my high potencies (used since 1843) tb an before
when operating with lower dynamizations prove much, since my
longer practice and more exact knowledge of Materia Medica en-
able me now in most cases to find out the most suitable remedy.
But so much at least I am unalterably convinced of, that even in
the most difficult diseases cures may be effected with the high po-
tencies, and that these cures, especially in chronic diseases, are
more thorough and lasting than those effected with the lower po-
tencies. But to test this more closely by experience I hope that
some of my honored colleagues who prefer the lower potencies
may prove Alum. met. in a disease so inaccessible to allopathy
and yet so accurately diagnosed as tabes dorsalis, and may report
to us the results. For only in independent diseases and with spe-
cific remedies can we with certainty establish the superior excel-
lence of the higher over the lower potencies. This, as is well
known, was done by Hahnemann in the case of Mercurius and
Thuja, and only under such circumstances we cannot properly
make any further objection when experience decides for the one
or for the other.
Finally, it may well be mentioned here that of late years there
has developed, especially in France under the leadership of a
learned man of genius, a school, which, though it counts itself
among the homoeopaths, nevertheless denies the general validity
of the application of the symptoms observed on healthy persons;
thus it denies that similia similibus is a law of nature. Neverthe-
less the discovery of the remedy for tabes dorsalis is derived solely
and alone from the study of Alumina (in Hahnemann' s Chronic
Diseases), as this medicine among all that have so far been
sufficiently proved is the only one presenting the most essential
and the most characteristic symptoms of this disease. We must,
indeed, acknowledge that the provings of Alumina are not among
the best we possess, that much that is indefinite as well as many
(reciprocal (?) and) after-effects are enumerated in it, and that
much in it only receives its true value and accurate determination
and completion through an attentive practice. But it is only by
recognizing and pointing out these useless and often misguiding
symptoms, which only obstruct the study of the remedy, that
physicians will be able to remove everything delusive and useless
from our Materia Medica, and thus, as it were, clear out the over-
grown bushes and undergrowth out of the woods, and enable us
to pass through it freely and clearly see the chief trees which else
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90 THE VEGETABLE ALKAIXHDS.
might be overlooked. This, indeed, ought to be a leading object
with our physicians.
I have reason to think that in a similar manner I have suc-
ceeded in just this same way in discovering the chief remedy
against diabetes mellitus, but I will delay a report on this matter
until repeated experiments and tests have removed every doubt.
The Vegetable Alkaloids.
Allg. horn. Zeit. t Vol. 57, No. 15.
The oldr r homoeopaths, who have grown gray in practice,
whose number, indeed, is much diminished, and whose voices are,
therefore, but rarely heard, deem it a sort of retrogression when
many of their younger colleagues bluntly reject dynamizations
and potmt'zing, and again prescribe the low dilutions which
were used in the first infancy of Homoeopathy by their author
and his first pupils.
But in a still higher degree is this the case in their eyes, and it
appears also unjustified in other respects, if the latter use instead
of the vegetable substances that have been properly proved and
become known as to their own proper effects, their alkaloids,
under the supposition that the medicinal strength of the remedies
is contained solely and unchanged in these alkaloids.
So long as such a supposition has not been proved most co-
gently it would need first of all a very earnest and careful prov-
ing, ui less we are unwilling to leave to chemistry a decision, of
which it is unable, and which it is not empowered to make from
its knowledge, thus proceeding in a careless fashion endangering
the life of the patients.
Much progress as chemistry has made, especially in the last
decennia, all of which is to be recognized, it can only be con-
si lered as a baseless assumption if it asserts that substances hav-
ing the same chemical relation to others must also exercise the
same dynamic action on the living organism.
This indisputably purely dynamic property of medical sub-
stances, more sublimated and spiritual than that of the imponder-
ables, in virtue of which they are able either to cause or to re-
move discordances in the living organism, lies just as far outside
of the limits of chemistry as it lies outside of those of botany,
and it forms a basis of science by itself, which rests purely and
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THE VEGETABLE ALKALOIDS. 91
alone on the provings and experience on the living body, never
on a dead body.
For we must never forget in medical science — (as it is, never-
theless, frequently done)— that the spiritual invisible force, which
we call vital force, keeps substances combined together within
the organism subject to its sway, which according to the laws of
chemistry can never in the world remain in combination, while
others remain within it side by side uncombined, which according
to these same laws ought necessarily to combine.
These laws of chemistry only enter on their dominion when
life has departed and the body is given over to decomposition.
These laws, therefore, and the laws of organic vitality are not
only totally different and distinct from one another, but they also
present to the observant investigator both in the animal and in
the vegetable kingdom many phenomena which show actual con-
trarieties of the two.
In the allopathic works on Materia Medica we often find state-
ments which show a distinction with respect to the medicinal ac-
tion of the alkaloids and other plants from which they are ex-
tracted. I may be permitted to adduce a few passages in point
from the well known, much praised and much used ** Manual of
Materia Medica," by Dr. Fr. Oesterlen (3d ed.):
Aconitin differs not only in its external appearance, but also in
its action; it is white, grayish-yellow, translucent; in form of a
powder, or somewhat crystalline, and it does not act as intensively,
at least when applied locally, as Aconite itself (ibid, p. 629).
A tropin infused into the eye in solution, is said not to dilate the
pupil in all cases, as Belladonna does (ibid, p. 648).
Coniin, in distinction from the leaves of the hemlock, seems to
affect merely or chiefly the spinal marrow (ibid, p. 643).
Daturin acts in a quite similar manner with Atropin, to which
it is also chemically closely related (ibid, p. 649).
Veratrin is found in the seeds of Sabadilla and in the root of
Veratrum album (ibid, p. 620).
Most manifestly, however, is this confirmed in what is said with
respect to Quinine and Opium.
From Quinine two quite distinct alkaloids are made, namely,
Chinium and Cinchonium; among various differences between
these it may be mentioned that the first is easily soluble in ether,
but the latter with great difficulty (ibid, p. 389 sq.).
Opium furnishes us besides the Morphium purum and its much
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92 THE VEGETABLE ALKALOIDS.
used combinations (M acet. t M. sulphur. , and M. muriat.) also
several other alkaloids: Paramorphin, Codein, Opium, Marcei?i %
Pseudo-morphin and Meconium, all of which differ not only
chemically, but also, as is said, therapeutically (ibid, p. 682 sq.).
In the meantime among all the numerous alkaloids discovered of
late by chemistry and which are proved with great zeal by the
young ^Ssculapi in corpore vili — on their patients and on animals,
(rarely on themselves), hardly another furnishes a better oppor-
tunity for answering the important question that presses upon us
in this matter than Strychnine.
From this alkaloid is gained:
1. From two different plants, namely, from Nux vomica and
from Ignatia amara, the actions of which are better known to us
than those of many others, and which differ from each other in
very essential points and which, when separated from it, 2,
under the name of Strychninum purum (being freed from Brucine
and Igasuric acid t which are combined with it in unequal propor-
tions and which, perhaps, modify its action), can be presented as
a substance which whether gained from the one plant or from the
other does not offer the least (chemical) difference.
So in this Strychninum purum we have a chemically pure
substance, which is preeminently suitable, through provings on
healthy persons, to answer first of all these two questions:
1. Whether each one of these two alkaloids also contains
wholly and unchanged the medicinal virtue of these two plants
{Nux vom. and Ignatia) from which they are extracted; and
whether they contain this with their full characteristic peculi-
arity ?
2. Whether the medicinal effect of these two has become just
as identical as their chemical relation, i. e. t whether each one of
them has through its chemical treatment received a radical
change, and thus presents a medicine, the virtues of which do
not perfectly correspond to either .of these original drugs ?
The answer to these questions would seem to be of serious sci-
entific importance, but would establish for practice first of all the
following:
If the first question is answered affirmatively, and it should
thus be proved that the alkaloids have not lost the individual
peculiarities of each one of these plants from which they are ob-
tained, it would follow that these latter still contain something
which chemistry has not succeeded in discovering and recognizing,
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THE VEGETABLE ALKALOIDS. 93
and that, therefore, this science must be denied any and every
authority to decide authoritatively concerning the peculiar medi-
cinal (dynamic) virtues of drugs.
But if, on the other hand, the provings on living organisms
should affirm the second question, then the demonstration would
be given that at most only a part of the medicinal virtue, perhaps
quite a different one, or one differently modified, is cdntained in
the new preparation, while the characteristic and peculiar prop-
erty and thus what is most important, has been lost, so that the
substitution of the alkaloid for the plant itself appears to be totally
inadmissible.
The answer to the two questions, whichever way it may result,
will surely establish the fact that chemistry
i . Does not in any way guarantee that the alkaloid of a medicinal
plant contains unchanged all its medicinal virtue.
2. That an equal chemical relation of alkaloids by no means
furnishes a sure guarantee that their action on the healthy and on
the diseased organisms will be in all respects the same.
3. And in consequence that the assertions and pretended
demonstrations of chemistry with respect to medicinal or poison-
ous (and probably also other) properties and virtues of plants,
in so far as the same are brought into communication with the
living animal body, must be rejected as an entirely unfounded as-
sumption, and that,
4. So far the carefully made provings on healthy persons as
presented by Homoeopathy can solely and alone give a reliable
information concerning it. Therefore the alkaloids, even of
the medicinal plants most used, cannot be used by us before they
have been just as carefully proved as all the other drugs used for
this purpose.
Although the solution of the questions presented above are of
little importance to us, so long as we are satisfied to use the simple
undecomposed medicinal plants, their solution might, neverthe-
less, be desirable in various scientific respects. Especially would
it contribute to show more plainly the inadmissibility of the sur-
rogates and substitutes which we have already rejected, and also
establish our right and authority to properly repel the encroach-
ments of chemistry on a domain foreign to it.
Whoever, therefore, should be able to reliably prove, if possi-
ble, on several persons and under our well-known precautionary
measures, not only the two preparations of Strychnine (if possible
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94 THE CHOICE OF THE REMEDY.
prepared under his own eyes), both the one made from Nux
vomica and the one from Ignaiia amara, but also the Strychninurn
purum, made from the twoysuch a person would indisputably
deserve our thanks if he would in this way serve to throw light
on a point in science which as yet lies in deep darkness, and thus
put an end to the uncertainty prevailing in this direction. A re-
peated and pretty complete proving of this kind with respect to
this alkaloid and also to other alkaloids would perhaps, yea, in
all probability, give disclosures in medicinal matters which would
more closely characterize their actual nature and their (dynamic)
action, and thus lead to a more exact knowledge of their general
and individual properties in the most suitable and certain manner.
The writer is really sorry that he is not in a position favor-
able to this investigation, and he must, therefore, confine himself
to the wish that zealous investigators in the domain of Homoe-
opathy, of which I am thankful that there are so many, and who
are offered this opportunity, may turn their attention to this
problem rather than to many other less valuable provings, and
may communicate their result in the Allgemeine hom&opaihishe
Zeilung, which has so wide a circulation.
After the numerous disorderly encroachments lately made by
chemistry, when compared with its great progress, it is high time
that the science of medicine should decidedly raise its head in op-
position, as has been done long ago in agriculture by Hlubeck,
Koppe and others.
The Choice of the Remedy.
Address delivered before the Meeting of the Homoeopathic Physicians of
Rheinland and Westphalia, at Dortmund, July 28, 1859.
The choice of the remedy in any concrete case of disease can-
not be made too carefully or too cautiously. No less in the
healing art than in morals, the motto holds good: " Bonum
ex omni parte y malum ex quorumque defectum Many failures
occur, especially with unpracticed beginners, because in examin-
ing the symptoms the one or the other was overlooked. Even
with older and more experienced homoeopathic physicians, espe-
cially such as are very busy, such an occurrence occasionally takes
place.
This cannot, however, prove either the insufficiency of Homce-
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THE CHOICE OF THE REMEDY. 95
opathy in general nor the inadequacy of the small and rare doses,
and the experienced practitioner, who always looks with sus-
picion on such excuses, will in such cases first of all subject the
image of the disease which he has formed to a new revision, and
look for the lack of his success in his medication first in this di-
rection.
It is not, indeed, my intention to offer anything new here to the
practiced and experienctd physician. But it does j-eeni to me as
if an incidental warning to such as are about to enter on this field
might not be altogether superfluous, and I consider it on that ac-
count allowable to introduce a case that happened lately, and
which will put what I desire to say into its proper light I
do not intend to speak here of curing merely by the name of the
disease, the so-called " Medicina nominalist which is altogether
a different matter, and which is still doing untold mischief, for
such a treatment is the very acme of irrational and unconcion-
able routine, and warning against such a practice would justly
be considered an insult even by the youngest of our colleagues.
Merchant Ph. M , thirty years of age, had caught a cold last
winter while travelling; he did not at first pay any attention to it,
but the increasing ailments demanded medical assistance. Treat-
ment by an allopath had remained without effect; in fact, during
this treatment, lasting three months, nearly all the symptoms had
grown considerably worse, so that now, as is so frequently done,
the homoeopath was called on for aid. The following symptoms
formed the image of the disease:
For the last three to four weeks there has been a hollow, dry
cough with hoarseness and much touuhness in the larynx, most
violent during the night. Constriction of the chest with stitches'
in the left side while lying on that side. Internal heat, without
thirst. Severe exhausting perspirations. Striking timidity. Great
drowsiness, but restless sleep, waking up frequently, while an in-
ternal anxiety prevents his going to sletp again. The face pale
and collapsed, with a circumscribed redness of the cheeks.
Pressure in the stomach after eating, especially after milk, often
with vomiting, first of the ingesta and then of gall. Augmented,
watery urine. Extraordinary emaciation. He prefers warmth,
and it agrees best with him. He feels better in moderate
motion than in continuous rest. He had never been unwell much,
and had never been actually sick. He could take a deep breath
without any trouble, and frequently he felt impelled thereto. I
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96 THE CHOICE OF THE REMEDY.
could not find out anything about the allopathic remedies which
he had used.
After careful consideration and a protracted comparison of all
the symptoms present with our Materia Medica, every homoeo-
path will agree with me that Phosphorus seemed most indicated of
all the remedies, and this so decidedly that none of the other rem-
edies could at all compete with it. I, therefore, felt no hesitation
at all to give to the patient my usual dose (a high potency) of
this very efficient remedy, and to direct its administration in the
usual manner (dissolved in water), recommending to him the
usual diet, and directing him to report to me in person in two
weeks
But I was cruelly and painfully disappointed when the patient
after this period appeared before me, for he was not improved in
any respect; on the contrary, his sickly appearance and the threat-
ening redness of the cheeks had increased and the feverish symp-
toms had been suspiciously augmented. In the meantime the
remedy had been used exactly according to my directions, and
nothing had been overlooked either in diet or in his mode of life.
What then had been the reason of my total failure ? Under such
circumstances the only reason could be the defective or incorrect
examination of the symptoms, so I went over them again care-
fully, one by one. The mistake then appeared in the feverish
symptoms, which were only superficially indicated, and which in
the patient had an unsual and, therefore, unrecognized form,
which was at the same time very characteristic. For while sleep-
ing he was suffering continually from a dry, burning heat, which on
his waking up immediately passed into a very profuse perspiration,
which continued without interruption while he was awake, until he
fell asleep again, when at once the dry heat reappeared. Thus the
conundrum was solved. This symptom is found only in Sambucus,
while in Phosphorus just the opposite is found. Since all the
other symptoms coincided my patient received at once a dose of the
high potency I usually employ, and the result was then so com-
plete that in two weeks he was freed from all his ailments and
felt as well as ever before.
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THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIES. 97
The Advantages of the High Potencies.
In a preceding number (No. 22, Vol. 58) of this journal I
have endeavored to show that the high potencies of our medicines
have :
1. Their origin in the farther development of science and in
experience, and that
2. Their efficiency cannot any more be drawn in doubt.
This then proves two things, namely: First of all a certain
kind of progress in science, and then also the discovery of a law of
nature hitherto unknown, which shows that the medicinal force,
in the strict sense, is not at all one of the grossly material bodies,
and, therefore, also it is not subject to the realm of chemistry.
Nevertheless, viewed from the standpoint of practice, these high
potencies might be viewed as a sort of useless toy, if they did not
also offer other advantages which are not found in lower poten-
cies. They might, indeed, be of considerable interest from the
standpoint of physics, but would seem to be quite dispensable in
practice and would not deserve the great expense of time and
trouble which is required for their manufacture. A number of
persons seem to have started from this point of view, who from
the first had nothing but a bold condemnatory sentence to pro-
nounce about everything approaching high potencies, and who in-
stead of following the example of Hahnemann and many of his
older pupils, who were more closely acquainted with him by con-
tinually refining and diminishing the doses, have instead made
a manifest backsliding to th» lower potencies as used in the be-
ginning of Homoeopathy.
The first thing will, therefore, be to consider briefly some of
the assertions and declarations that have been made of late with
respect to the higher and highest dynamizations. Being de-
cidedly averse to all polemics, and still more so to all personal at-
tacks, I shall, therefore, confine myself solely to facts, and will
make no. especial mention of the hateful and unworthy manner
in which those who happen to have other views are frequently
treated. I wish only to express my grief that such heresies and
false assertions have found so many adherent and followers, with-
out their having been submitted to any experiment; while the as-
surances of men just as honorable and trustworthy are simply
ignored, nor even sought to be satisfied with arguments, but
with ridicule and abuse.
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98 THK ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIE8.
Some one, it does not matter now who, made the assertion: " The
higher dynamizations are to be used only in chronic diseases, but in
acute diseases either lower dilutions or even strong tinctures have
to be used." This assertion, which so far lacks as yet any actual
demonstration and is in no way confirmed by experience, has
for a long time been considered as an axiom, and is still so con**
sidered by many, and what is yet more, one repeats it after the
other, without thinking or asking for any experience about it.
But the latter is the more important, as Hahnemann has so decidely
pronounced for the opposite view. For in paragraph 287 of the
Organon (5th ed.) at the conclusion there is a remark, in which
we find the following words: "The higher the attenuation by
means of potentizing (by two concussive strokes) is carried the
more quickly and penetratingly the preparation seems to trans-
form the vital force, and to change the state, and the strenghth is
but little diminished, even if the potentizing is carried very far,
instead of carrying it on, as is usually the case (and as is usually
sufficient) to the tenth, even to the twentieth, the fiftieth, the one
hundredth and higher,* only th^t the duration then seems to be
less enduring.' '
The swifter and more penetrative the action of the higher and
highest dynamization, here so expressly emphasized, has shown
itself most decidedly during the fifteen years during which I have
used them almost exclusively; and I can confirm it with the full-
est conviction on the basis of many thousand fold experience.
While referring to the examples adduced in the article mentioned
above, I herewith add the following:
In ten cases of croup with children, in at least nine cases the
first or the first two powders of my high potencies suffice to pro-
duce a complete cure, if used right away. It is rarely the case
that three powders are necessary, and in three hundred cases
there have not been ten in which it was necessary to give all the
five powders which I provide. The quick alleviation of wounds
from burning by the use of Arsenicum 200th, and of the pains re*
suiting from contusions by Arnica 200th, borders on the mar-
vellous, and can never be so fully attained by the use of lower
•dynamizations nor so completely. Even more striking is the
* It is well known that Hahnemann* s tenth attenuation is equal to 30th C,
the twentieth, therefore, to the 60th C, the 50th to the 150th C. and the
100th to the 300th C. The decimal scale is also a useless retrogression of
modern time.
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THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIES. 99
quick action- with animals; when a cow distended from eating wet
clover receives three drops of Colchicum 3d it recovers, but it rarely
requires less than two hours before it is entirely restored; but after
taking Colchicum 200th this takes place in half an hour. The
fatal white diarrhoea of young pigs, which with Mercur. 3d usually
drags along for two days, is cured by Mercurius 200th in five to
six hours, etc. By these and numerous other similar experiences,
which have been continued long enough to exclude the possibility
of individual delusion, the above statement of Hahnemann must
be considered to have been conclusively proved. Only his con.
elusion as to the brief duration of the action, especially in chronic
diseases, does not agree unconditionally and in general with my
experience Other homoeopaths of modern times have laid down the
position: " That the higher dynamizations of medicines which are
violent in their action, especially when earthy or metallic sub-
stances, may still act, but this cannot be the case with the milder
medicines made of plants, and these soon become inactive. ' ' I know
not and cannot comprehend how and whence they have drawn this
wisdom. This teaching cannot be founded on their own experi-
ence by means of careful comparative experiments, for these in
no way confirm this position. So we again find here a mere
dictum, arbitrarily invented and put forward, but which, never-
theless, has found its followers. But these have by such action
become guilty of the rejected practice of li fur are in verba mag*
istri," and this, indeed, in direct opposition to what the first
magister has taught us about it in his first writings. Opening,
e.g., the first two volumes of the "Materia Medica Pura," in
the second and third edition,* we find the following status of the
case: In the second edition (of 1822 and 1824) we find the fol-
lowing given as the proper doses: With five remedies the 30th di-
lution; with two the 24th; with four the 12th; with three the 6th;
and with two the tincture. In the third edition, however (of
1830 and 1833)' in all remedies (with the exception of Oleander,
where the exact number is not given, but only a high potency
mentioned) the thirtieth dynamization, and generally only a
minute part of a drop is indicated as a most suitable and always
sufficient dose. But among the remedies treated of in these two
volumes there are but few very strong and heroic remedies, such
* The first edition is not in my possession, and the last four volumes did
not appear in a third edition.
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100 THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIES.
as Bellad., Nux vom., Arsen., Rhus tox. and Bryonia, in which
already in the second edition the 30th potency is indicated as the
most suitable; but by far the greatest number of the remedies
from the vegetable kingdom are of much lower power, as Cina,
Cannabis, Opium, Arnica, Ignatia, Pulsatilla and Rheum; and
yet also with these everywhere in the third edition the thirtieth
potency is given as the best fend almost always a small drop as the
sufficient dose.* It may be remembered that of late when phy-
sicians have commenced to take it more easy with the selection of
remedies, some homoeopaths have endeavored to spread the opin-
ion that: " Hahnemann in the latter years of his life again re-
turned to the lower dilutions and the drop doses.' ' It is hardly
imaginable that anyone should have the boldness to suddenly
promulgate an untruth without any foundation and so gratuitous.
The author of this statement is, indeed, so far as I know un-
known, and we can only felicitate ourselves as to this fact.
Probably this untruth, as frequently happens, has been gradually
prepared and slowly grown up to its full dastardliness. The first
one who desires something of the kind starts with a: " Perhaps!"
or " Possibly !" A second one changes it to: " Probably!' ' The
third one then claims to have it from good authority; and then
when such an untruth suits the minds of many it is not long be-
fore it is received as an indubitable fact and believed by every,
body, who either wishes it or does not know any better; while no
one takes the trouble to enquire after the origin of such a belief.
Such a course of procedure cannot, however, make a truth out of
an untruth; and I feel myself in duty bound, owing to constant
correspondence with the founder of Homoeopathy, to give the
most absolute assurance: "That the whole assertion is nothing
but a falsehood." In direct contradiction to it I can demon-
strate by his letters, which I have carefully preserved, that, espe-
cially in the last years of his life, he was most zealous and in-
sistent in carrying on the dynamization higher and higher and to
diminish more the materiality of the dose. I therefore challenge
anyone to prove the contrary in any manner valid before human
*It may be worth mentioning on account of historic truth, that Hahne-
mann in the second vol. of Mat. Med. Pura already in the second edition,
thus as early as 1824, under Arsenicum, makes mention of pellets, in order
that the doses might be minimized as much as possible, while at this day
many again return to the whole drops of the low dilutions, so that also in
this respect there is a manifest backsliding.
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THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIES. 101
reason. I must in conclusion make mention of one class of op-
ponents of the high potencies, who at least have a semblance of
justification in rejecting them. I mean those who know of no
other high potencies than those prepared by the late Jenichen in
Wismar, for a period of several years, while the mode in which
they were prepared has remained a secret till now, and will
probably remain so. But if this objection is regarded without preju-
dice, it can only be said that something unessential has been sub-
stituted for the real question, and the use and the abuse have
been condemned together. Who compels these opponents to use
this particular preparation when they give high potencies a trial ?
Hahnemann from the beginning rightly urged every homoeopath
to make his own medicines. Why is this direction yot followed,
at least in those cases where there is believed to be cause to draw
in doubt the reliability of another's preparations, and where the
question involved is the investigation of a controversy which is
not without its importance ? I myself made my first investiga-
tions not with Jenichen's or any other potencies, but with such as
were made by myself (up to the 200th in the centesimal scale)
and only later on I procured them from the pharmacy of Mr.
Lehrmann, in Schceningen, after I had convinced myself thor-
oughly that these, as well as the former preparations procured
from him, were always uniform and strong preparations, so that
I could absolutely recommend them to every one. On my own
high potencies and those of Lehrmann my conviction as to the
excellence of the action of high potencies is based, not on those
of Jenichen, into the possession of which I came much later, and
which I have used but rarely, because I myself as Well as others
have taken umbrage at the air of mystery which undeniably
cleaves to them. The above objection must, therefore, be re-
garded as an empty (almost a malignant) one, and it can in no way
excuse a homoeopath, who is honestly striving forward, from the
duty of repeating with his own preparations those experiments
the favorable results of which have been reported and confirmed
by several honorable men in the most emphatic manner.
In all the many contests waged with allopathy for so many
years Homoeopathy has always victoriously maintained the stand-
point of experience. This was the indestructible bulwark which
offered an irrefragible resistance to all attacks, and which, there-
fore, with us, is the sole and only form and protection against all
presumptions and heresies. In this high esteem which we all pay
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102 THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIES.
to experiment and to experience we must, indeed, wonder that
this internal conflict keeps merely revolving around assertions
and counter-assertions, and, as it were, intentionally avoids ex-
periments And yet no homoeopath will deny that all a priori
deductions, all suppositions and probabilities, yea, even all so-
called incomprehensibilities and impossibilities have no place
where experience contradicts. Why, then, should this contention
about high potencies not be finally settled in this manner? These
experiments demand only two essential cautions, which may easily
be fulfilled, namely:
i. The assurance as to the reliability of the medicinal prepara-
tions, concerning which all that is needful has already been said
above, and *
2. The correct homoeopathic application of the same.
With regard to this second point it will suffice for the present
to indicate with a few words that every experiment which is to be
submitted to the homoeopathic public must be presented with such
clearness and definiteness as to all its essential and characteristic
momenta that not the least doubt as to the correct (homoeopathic)
choice of the remedy can exist. There are, as is well known,
cases, and these are not so rare, where, on account of the insuffi-
ciency and defectiveness of the symptoms, which cannot always
be sufficiently completed, there remains considerable doubt, and
where the choice of the remedy is not assured. But such cases
are not suited for such experiments and may be excluded, the
more easily as there will always be a sufficient number of cases
which do not involve such defects. Let the latter alone, there-
fore, be selected, to prove on them the effects of the high po-
tencies, and let the image of the disease as well as the medicine
given be communicated, as also the results and effects of the
latter, both to the affirmative and the negative side; but every-
thing with such clearness and completeness that everyone conver-
sant with the matter may be able to form to himself a reliable
judgment about it. In this way, and only in this one way, of
experiment, the truth will come to light in a short space of time,
supposing that a sufficient number of practiced hands be put to
work, and then, at one and the same time, all doubts, as well as
all disharmony and contention, will be dissolved into conviction
and unanimity.
Since I, among living homoeopaths, have had the greatest and
most extended experience with high potencies, and since my care-
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THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIES. 103
fully-conducted journals remove all uncertainty as to the results,
I consider myself sufficiently equipped to give here, first of all to
my friends, the chief results in concise and general outlines. The
advantage$ of these higher dynamizations as compared with the
lower potencies, and even with the thirtieth potency, which have
appeared to me ever more clearly for the last fifteen years, have
alone induced me to use them almost exclusively, not only in
chronic, but also in acute, cases, not only with men, but also with
animals of all kinds, and everywhere with the most favorable re-
sults. If under such circumstances I may believe that some re-
gard ought to be paid to my faithful assurance, I may also be per-
mitted to call the attention of such as intend to put this subject to
the proof to some of the essential advantages of the high potencies
as developed in my experience, so that they may not overlook
them in the experiments which they may institute.
These advantages as observed also by others are especially the
following:
i. The sphere of action of a medicine continually enlarges the
higher the dynamization is carried. This is most striking in those
remedies which in their raw state excite few symptoms, e.g., Cal-
carta, Silicea, Natrum mur. , Aurum met. , Argentunt met. , Alumin.
met., etc. While these effect already more in their thirtieth po-
tency than in their first or second trituration, which no attentive
observer will deny, their powers develop further with every addi-
tional dynamization. The immediate consequence of this is that
they correspond to an ever-increasing number of ailments as their
homoeopathic simile, and therefore in chronic ailments they hasten
the cure.
2. In acute diseases the after-effects or curative effects appear
more quickly. This peculiarity of the high potencies, which has
frequently been denied, is so certain that everyone will find it ver-
ified. Besides the few facts adduced above, I might bring innu-
merable more out of my sick- journals There is therefore noth-
ing worse to be found than the exclusion of high potencies from
the treatment of acute, and even of the most acute, cases, and
whoever has had the opportunity of witnessing their rapid effects
will soon see the baselessness of the opposite allegations. Whether
their effect in chronic cases is more prolonged I do not yet dare to
affirm as so much depends on other circumstances in this matter.
I can show cases where one dose has continued to act for three
months; but this not only in the 200th potency, but also in the
30th, generally used.
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104 THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HIGH POTENCIES.
3. By continual dynamization, remedies are more and more
withdrawn from the laws of chemistry. Hahnemann calls atten-
tion to this in vol. I. of the Chronic Diseases (second edition,
page 181), and adduces the following fact as an example: "A
dose of Phosphorus thus highly potentized can lie in a paper en-
velope in a desk, and will, nevertheless, show, if taken after a
year, the full medicinal power, not of Phosphoric acid, but of the
unchanged, undecomposed Phosphorus itself.' ' I have frequently
had opportunity to make the same experience with the croup-
powders, which many families keep on hand, because their effect
may be expected to be earlier and more complete the sooner they
are employed. Such powders, preserved in simple paper envel-
opes, and protected from the wet and from strong- smelling sub-
stances in a bureau, have proved their undiminished virtue even
after twelve years and more, and had their full success.
4. A defective diet, which especially in cities and in the higher
ranks frequently spoils the best cures, always does less damage
the higher the dynamization is, and least of all if a minute dose,
dissolved in water, and every time shaken anew, is taken several
days in succession. I am very glad to see that my learned friend,
Dr. v. Meyer, of Leipzig, stated this advantage of high potencies
in the session of "Free Union for Homoeopathy," May 10 of this
year, and this without contradiction, and that he published this
in No. 13 of this Journal.
5. The avoidance of the first effects, which are merely mate-
rial, and thus the avoidance of all the dangerous concomitant
symptoms, which lie outside the symptomatic sphere of the dis-
ease in question. Especially will it be found that only the spe-
cific dynamic powers (which in provings on healthy people gen-
erally manifest themselves later than the others) will become
active, while the gross material (poisonous and destructive) prop-
erties are not manifested. How great this advantage is must be
manifest to every one who knows how injurious for the life and
health even the smaller but unpotentized doses of these medicines
prove, which are numbered among the most virulent poisons.
6. Finally, it must yet be considered a particular excellence of
the higher dynamizations, that they can never be used as decep-
tive palliatives, which are useless as to any real curative effects,
and always extremely injurious.
All these advantages, to which I might add several others,
which are not yet quite surely proved as constantly present, must,
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CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS. 105
as I think, appear important enough to more and more draw at-
tention to them. If these really exist, as I can assure from my
fullest conviction, since I daily see them before me, they deserve
in the fullest measure the predicate of a true and significant ad-
vance in Homoeopathy, and they should be carefully proved by
all those who truly have at heart the welfare of suffering human-
ity and the development of our science so rich in blessings.
A Contribution to the Judgement Concerning the Char-
acteristic Value of Symptoms.
{Allg. horn. Zeit. y Vol. 60, p. 73 ff.)
It is now over three years since the great Homoeopathic Con-
gress was held in Brussels, Germany being, I am sorry to say,
but little represented. In the last session of this meeting, after
several propositions had been read, my resolution was adopted
and a prize- question was proposed, to answer which a period of
two years was granted. This prize essay, as the Homoeopathic
journals have also made known, was intended to call out a
14 Treatise concerning the greater or lesser (characteristic) value
of the symptoms occurring in a disease, to aid as a norm or basis
in the therapeutical selection of the remedy.' ' The answer to
this question was not limited to Belgium or to France, but it was
handed over to the competition of the whole medical world, and
it was thus unanimously acknowledged to be a subject of the
greatest importance. Nevertheless, this question, in spite of the
daily increase of the homoeopathic literature, has thus far re-
mained unsolved. This silence extending far over the time set,
which was computed liberally enough, seems to justify the as-
sumption that the solution of the question has met with consider-
able difficulties, though every homoeopath must every moment
find himself in the position to ask himself this question, and to
have to answer it. It might not appear altogether proper for me,
the author of the question, to also now enter among the competi-
tors for this prize. But the old practitioner will be pardoned for
furnishing at least some contribution to the solution, and thereby
again calling attention to the question.
The teaching of the Organon in this matter really contains the
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106 CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS,
proper, true kernel of the answer, and this, of course, deserves
to be first premised. It is found in the great Paragraph No. 153
(5th Ed.) and is as follows:
" In seeking for the specific homoeopathic remedy, 2. <r., in this
juxtaposition of the phenomena of the natural disease and the list
of symptoms of the medicines, in order to discover a morbid po-
tency corresponding in similitude to the evil to be cured, the
more striking, particular, unusual and peculiar (characteristic)
signs and symptoms of the case should especially and almost
solely be kept in view; for there must especially be some symp-
toms in the list of the medicine sought for corresponding to this,
if the remedy should be the one most suitable to effect the cure.
The more general and indefinite symptoms, such as lack of ap-
petite, headache, weariness, disturbed sleep, uncomfortableness,
etc., in their generalness and undefinedness deserve but little,
attention, unless they are more especially pronounced, as some-
thing of such a general nature is seen in almost every disease and
in almost every medicine."
It is seen, however, that it is here left to the physician to judge
what is understood by the "more striking, particular, unusual
and peculiar M symptoms, and it might, indeed, be difficult to fur-
nish a commentary to this definition, which would not be too
diffuse and, therefore, easily understood, and on the other hand
would be complete enough to be properly applied to all these
cases. Whence is it that we are unable to show any such defini-
tion in our literature ? Even what Hahnemann adduces in § 86,
and those that follow, only contains some examples which are
given without any systematic order, and are therefore but little
suited to impress themselves on the memory, a requirement which
in all such matters must appear to be of very great importance.
After looking about in the whole of the medical writings, allo-
pathic as well as homoeopathic, for an aid, I remembered that in
the middle ages they were accustomed to bring all such matters
into the form of verses, in order that the memory might thus be
assisted. The modern learned world knows, e. g. , the diet of
the Schola sodernitana y dating from the beginning of the twelfth
century, drawn up in leonine verses, as is supposed, by a certain
John of Milan, from which some parts are quoted even to this day.
But though I did not find here anything for the present purpose,
I yet found something which, as it seemed, might prove useful
with writers of quite a different doctrine. There is, namely, a
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CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OV SYMPTOMS. 107
hexameter dating from this same period but from the theologic
scholastics; this is, indeed, of a somewhat jilting construction,
nevertheless it contains briefly and completely the various mo-,
menta according to which a moral disease is to be judged as to its
peculiarity and grievousness. The verse is the following: ' * Quis f
quid? ubif quibus auxiliisf cur? quomodof qttando?"
The seven rubrics designated in this maxim seem to contain all
the essential momenta which are required in the list of the com-
plete image of a disease. May I be allowed, therefore, to attach
my remarks to this scheme with the desire that this hexameter,
which was formerly used only by theologians, may now be also
impressed on the memory of homoeopaths and be put to use by
them.
i. Quisf — As a matter of course the personality, the individu-
ality of the patient, must stand at the head of the image of the
disease, for the natural disposition rests on it.
To this belongs first of all the sex and the age; then the bodily
constitution and the temperament; both if possible, separated,
according to his sick and his well days i. e. , in so far as an ap-
preciable difference has appeared in them. In all these peculiari-
ties whatever differs little or not at all from the usual natural
state needs little attention; but everything that differs in a strik-
ing or rare way therefrom deserves a proportionate notice. The
greatest and most important variations are here found mostly in
the states of the mind and spirit, which must be scanned all the
more carefully, if they are not only sharply distinct, but also of
rare occurrence and, therefore, correspond to only few remedies.
In all such cases we have all the more cause to fathom these
states with all possible exactness, as in them frequently the bodily
ailments recede to the background, and for this very reason offer
but few points for our grasp, so that we may be able to make a
sure selection among the remedies which compete.
Paragraph 104 of the Organon makes it the duty of the homoeo-
path to make a written scheme of the image of the disease, and
whoever has once acquired a certain facility in this will easily
know how to satisfy this requirement and gradually acquire a
certain specializing penetration, which will prove to him of ever
increasing usefulness. For as every man presents an individual
nature different from every other one, and as every medicine must
be exactly adapted to this individuality, in agreement with the
symptoms, which it is able to produce in the total man, so, at
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108 ' CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.
once, at this first investigation as to the Quis f a great number of
medicines are thrust aside, just because they do not correspond
to the personality of the patient.
The spiritual and dispositional individuality of the patient here
gives the most important, often almost the only deciding points
for the selection of the remedy, where the disease involved is one
of the mind or spirit, and generally the two disturbances present
themselves so conjoined into one that the signs of the one only
receive their full and definite character from the other. Hahne-
mann, indeed, recognized the importance of these two momenta
from the beginning, but the necessity of weighing the two in
their connection with one another he only recognized later on
in its full measure; and he then placed the symptoms proper to
the two, which in the first provings had been separated, one
making the beginning and the other the end, in the ' ' Chronic
Diseases" immediately one after the other, an improved arrange-
ment, which we also find in the best works on Materia Medica
Pura of later times.
Many qther things belonging to this rubric, but concerning the
bodily individuality and presenting, as it were, the chief features
in the portrait of the patient, are contained in those books under
the heading of " general.' ' It would be desirable and would
greatly facilitate the use if everything not pertaining thereto
should be excluded, and the former be brought under a particu-
lar rubric denominated either " Individual" or "Personal," in
such a way that the corporeal would present a separate picture,
as has been done with respect to the spiritual and mental.
2. Quid? — Of course this question refers to the disease, i. e. t
to its nature and peculiarity.
It may be unquestionably received as an axiom that we must
first know an evil accurately before we are able to give any
effectual aid against it. That occasionally relief may be given,
without having first recognized the nature of the evil, as little
refutes this axiom as the fact that an unexpected event occurs
frequently which lies outside of our computation, and which
either leads to good or evil, while neither the good will, nor the
knowledge of the physician have the least to do with it.
But this axiom must be associated with another, .which is no
less true and no less important, namely this: That we must also
know and possess the means which are able to relieve the evil
when it is recognized. Where these are lacking, the former are
of course of no avail.
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CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS. 109
Since the times of Hippocrates, thus since more than two
thousand years, very much has been done with respect to the
first point, and we have especially enjoyed a great progress and
enlightenment within the last century and up to modern times.
The path of pure observation and experience, which for a time
had been pretty much forsaken, and on which that ancient
Father of the healing art had gathered his valuable material, has.
again been entered upon. At the same time our cotemporaries
possess and use the great advantage enuring to them from the
fact that they stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, and
can thus view a greater circle of vision and, more especially, that
astonishing progress has been made in all the subsidiary sciences,
especially in chemistry and anatomy; so also they have had the
advantage offered• them by many physical instruments, which it
t must be confessed they have used with industry and care. By
these means the modern physiological school, and, at the same
time, the diagnostics of diseases, have reached an excellence not
attained in earlier times.
The only thing of which every Homoeopath has to complain
in this matter, is that things are conducted in too general a man- '
ner for his doctrine, and that almost universally diseases are de-
scribed and treated of under the same name, which differ essen-
tially in their nature, and require for their cure very different
medicines.
An immediate result of this failing is, that Homoeopaths can
make only a very limited use of the great advance made by the
dominant school in diagnostics, since their generality excludes
every special direction as to the suitable remedy.
Now since the modern Materia Medica of allopathy, as well as
the older one, moves in the same generality, the conclusion fol-
lows almost inevitably that even the most cultivated allopath
often stands undecided when he is to make a choice of remedies,
so that almost every one of them will order something different,
and that he is usually compelled to mix many things together in
order to cover the various indications.
More about this will be found in the course of this short treatise
in a more suitable place, where the other questions are also dis-
cussed. Here I can only say so much about it:
a. That the most penetrating and most indubitable diagnostic
as offered by the best allopathic manuals is rarely if ever sufficient
for the Homoeopath, so as to enable him to make a sure selection
of the remedy, and that
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110 CHARACTERISTIC VAL,UB OF SYMPTOMS.
b. Such a diagnostic at most, and even then not always, may
serve to exclude all those remedies from the competition which
do not correspond with the common genius of the disease, but
seem to act chiefly on other parts of the organism.
3. Ubif — The seat of the disease really makes a part of the
former question, but it ^nevertheless deserves to be more particu-
larly emphasized, as it frequently furnishes a characteristic
symptom, since almost every medicine acts more and also more
decidedly on certain particular parts of the living organism.
These differences not only enter into consideration in certain
so-called local diseases, but also in those diseases which are
called by more general names, as affecting the whole body, e. g. t
gout and rheumatism. For it is probably never or very rarely
the case that all parts of the body are affected in the same de-
gree; even if it should be merely the case that the right side is
more affected tfyan the. left or the reverse. But the examination
of the parts affected is most necessary and most required when
the whole to which they belong is larger, and is described merely
in that general way which allopaths seem to delight in. Such
names as headache, eyeache, toothache, colic and the like can in
no way contribute to a rational choice of a remedy, not even
when also the kind of pain is indicated.
Of course, the exact individualization of the ubi is most neces-
sary in local ailments. Every Homcepath knows from experi-
ence how necessary it is, e. g. , in treating toothache, to select a
remedy which in accordance with its provings on healthy per-
sons has shown its action on the especial tooth to be treated.
Among the most striking and decisive phenomena in this respect
we should especially number the sores on the upper side of the
joints of fingers and toes, which under allopathic treatment fre-
quently prove very obstinate, and not un frequently become
malignant, and necessitate an amputation, and, as I had an op-
portunity of witnessing here in two cases, may even have a fatal
result. Every Homoeopath knows the efficacy of Sepia in these
ulcers of the joints, which have no otherwise distinguishable
features when this remedy is taken internally; without any ex-
ternal medication it will have a sure effect. Medicines which
correspond to similar ulcers on other parts of the body in such
cases are utterly useless.
If the practice of auscultation and percussion, as well as the
use of the stethoscope, the plessimeter, etc., had been as well
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CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS. Ill
known to Hahnemann and his pupils as to our young physicians,
they would no doubt have made the most extended use of the
same for gaining a more exact knowledge and delimitation of in-
terior ailments. They would have found out in lung troubles, e.
g. f definite local signs pointing to the use of certain remedies,
and would have indicated them more accurately, and would not
have limited themselves to defining them as being on the left or
on the right side or at the top or below. To bring up to date and
to specify more closely might be one of the chief duties for those
who make additional provings at the present time, and might
serve to an important and essential enrichment and completion of
our Materia Medica more than a whole mass of confirmations of
older symptoms or the finding out of new ones, which mostly
have a lack of individuality.
At the same time it will be conceded from the allopathic side
that the closer delimitation of the part affected, even though it
may be of moment in the completion of the diagnosis, will be of
no use to allopathic therapy, because this school is unacquainted
with the peculiarities of the various medicines. No allopathic
Materia Medica gives any information that the one remedy, e. £-.,
corresponds more to the anterior or the posterior lobe of the
liver, more to the upper or the lower part of the lungs, on the
right or the left side, according to which the choice of the remedy
may be made. Even if we Homoeopaths do not as yet know this •
as to all remedies, we do know it with respect to many of them,
and for what is lacking we find a substitute in other signs, since,
as is well known, all of these correspond to the remedy to be
selected, at least they must not be opposed to it. Thence it may
be seen that these new inventions, the value of which I am not
in any way inclined to undervalue, have far less value in a
therapeutic direction than in prognosis, where they show the ex-
tent and the dangerous nature of the malady.
Finally, we must yet consider in this question that neither the
internal changes, which can be determined by these instruments,
nor the material external changes, which manifest themselves
openly to our notice, ever present the dynamic disease itself, but
are only its products, and are only developed in the course of the
disease. When, therefore, these first beginnings are checked by
the suitable remedy before those disorganizations take place, then
these latter would not come to be developed, and it would be an H
inexcusable procedure to allow these sufferings to advance to a
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112 CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.
point where these material changes can be recognized in an artifi-
cial manner. It was necessary to mention this, in passing, in
order that it may be shown how Homoeopathy proceeds, and to
deny most decidedly the objection sometimes made that Homoe-
opathy is merely an expectative method, which allows the dis-
ease to develop without hindrance until it is too late to help.
On the contrary, Homoeopathy knows and uses in infectious dis-
eases sure prophylactic remedies, which are always and exclusive-
ly such as have the power to heal the disease itself, and they
never omit their use for the protection of those around the
patient.
4. Quibus Auxiliis ? — If the hexameter which we are following
had been originally written for our doctrine, probably a more
suitable expression would have been used in this instance, e. g. t
quibus sociis or quibus comitibus f Still the name does not matter,
and it is manifest that it must refer to the accompanying symp-
toms.
Now since in Homoeopathy the chief aim consists in ascertain-
ing the remedy which most completely corresponds to the totality
of the symptoms, it is evident that this point is of the greatest
importance and deserves the most careful consideration.
For. every disease presents in its recognizable phenomena a
more or less numerous group of symptoms, and it is only their
totality which presents its complete image. This image may be
compared to a portrait, which can only then claim to be a striking
likeness when all the features of the original are faithfully pre-
sented in it. It is not sufficient that mouth, nose, eyes, ears,
etc. , should be presented in such a manner as characterizes man,
and distinguishes him from the monkey and other animals but
as every human physiognomy possesses its peculiarities and is
distinguished from every other, so also here the more or less
strongly pronounced abnormalities must most carefully and with
the greatest faithfulness and truthfulness be presented and given
their prominence. If, therefore, retaining our former compari-
son, the nose should have almost peculiar form, color or size, it
would not be sufficient to present this alone, though it should be
most lifelike, and to add all the rest according to fancy, but also
the secondary parts, which, as it were, form the back-ground,
must present a whole, such as it exists in reality, in order to give
a perfect likeness
It is from this point of view that the concomitant ailments are
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CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS. 113
to be regarded when we select a remedy according to the motto:
Similia similibus. Thence it is evident that the rare, striking
and peculiar symptoms which present themselves demand a more
prominent place than the common ones, because on them chiefly
though not exclusively the similitude depends.
From this it naturally follows that the value of such concomi-
tant symptoms for the purpose intended varies widely. But it
would too far transcend the purpose of this contribution if I
should adduce and explain all the many categories of value. I
shall therefore limit myself to the presentation of a few of the
most important points here involved:
First of all, those symptoms which are found in almost all dis-
eases may be left out of our count, unless they manifest them-
selves in a striking manner.
The same obtains as to those ailments which are wont to ap-
pear as constant concomitants or at least as usual in the disease
under consideration, unless they should be distinguished by some
rare peculiarity and in this respect offer something characteristic.
On the other hand, all those attendant symptoms should be
carefully noted which (a) rarely appear in connection with the
leading disease, and are, therefore, also found rarely among the
provings; (&) those which belong to another sphere of disease
than the chief ailment, and (c) lastly, those which have more or
less of the characteristic signs of one of the medicines, even in
case they have not before been noticed in the present juxtaposi-
tion.
Now if besides this among the last mentioned concomitant
symptoms there should be one or another in which the genius of
one of the remedies should be plainly and definitely portrayed, so
that it would be plainly pointed out, this one symptom thereby
would acquire such an importance that it would even outweigh
those of the chief ailment, and may then be at once considered as
the most suitable. Such a symptom would be included among
those which Hahnemann calls "striking, strange, unusual and
peculiar (characteristic) signs," and which are then "almost
alone to be considered" because they ^preeminently give to the
whole disease its individual character.
One circumstance deserves to be particularly mentioned here
which particularly shows the importance and value of concomi-
tant symptoms, namely, that several very efficient and in part
specific remedies in certain diseases were discovered almost ex-
8
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114 CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.
clusively through them, the other symptoms indicating the main
disease not having pointed in that direction, nor indeed could they
have given such an indication, because the noticeable proximate
signs could not sufficiently indicate the real peculiarity of the
disease. This same system of concomitant symptoms also gives
to Homoeopathy a much greater sureness in the treatment of dis-
eases as compared with Allopathy, which first constructs for itself
a frequently deceptive diagnosis of the disease, which at most
only points out the genus of this disease, and where there are im-
portant attendant symptoms it endeavors to help itself by adding
to the leading remedy given for the genus of the disease one or
another additional remedy to cover the concomitant ailments.
5. Cur? — Why? The causes of the disease play a prominent
part in pathological books, and .justly. But a large part of this
amounts only to guesses and attempts at explanation, which
mostly have only a very subordinate value or none at all in the
proper therapy of the disease, ancl which are too remote for our
doctrine which is directed merely to the practical.
The causes of diseases are most generally and, indeed, very
properly divided into external and internal.
The internal causes properly refer only to the general natural
disposition, which in some cases amounts to a peculiar supersen-
sitiveness (idiosyncrasy). The external causes or occasional
causes embrace everything which, where there is such an inter-
nal disposition to disease, may produce disease.
The general natural disposition which is also called the proxi-
mate cause, really belongs to the first question (Quis?) which
respect,s the individuality of the patient. It only belongs here
in so far as the consequences of a former disease may have modi-
fied the original natural disposition, and thus it deserves mention.
The occasional cause, however, is the matter with which the
present question occupies itself and which deserves to be more
closely considered. As to the natural disposition notified through
previous diseases, this either depends on the miasmatic-chronic
nature of those diseases as yet unexterminated, among which in
agreement with the teachings of Hahnemann many homoeopaths
even at this day count psora, syphilis and sycosis, or it is derived
from the remains and after-effects of acute diseases, which when
they do not belong to the former, as is frequently the case, con-
stitute the numerous class of medicinal diseases or poisonings.
Not unfrequently, however, we meet with cases wjiere both these
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CHARACTERISTIC VAX,UB OF SYMPTOMS. 115
momenta have cooperated to undermine the natural health, thus
producing a monster of a disease which is even more deeply in-
rooted and more difficult to combat.
As to the recognition and treatment of the first mentioned
miasmatic diseases and their complications, Hahnemann himself
in his masterly work on Jthe Chronic Diseases left us the most
complete directions, founded on many years' experience. The
much disputed division of medicines into antipsorics and non-anti-
psorics need not be considered here. It is enough to know that
the former far excel the latter in their effectiveness in chronic
diseases, and that their originator has nowhere excluded them
from use in acute diseases. Later Experience has also taught us
that additional medicines from our medical treasury should be
numbered in this category which have not been thus treated of
in that excellent work. I am only sorry that Hahnemann has not
been able to fulfill the promise which he gave me in writing, that
he would treat as thoroughly and completely the images of syph-
ilis and sycosis with his accustomed mastership as he had done
in the above mentioned work (Vol. I, p. 58 ff. of the Second Ed.)
with respect to latent and re-awakened psora. Whether we may
believe in what many somewhat derisively call Hahnemann's
Psora-theory, or reject the same, the attentive practitioner must
frequently have found cases where even the remedy chosen with
perfect correctness, in some acute disease, did not unfold its
proper and decided effect before one of the so much criticised
antipsorics— frequently Sulphur — had first been used, when psora
had been involved, or an antisyphilitic or antisycotic when syph-
ilis or sycosis had been present before and had remained uncured.
It must, however, be confessed to be one of the most difficult
tasks of the physician to always make the most suitable choice
among the antipsoric remedies, as most of them have almost the
same symptoms and very few truly characteristic symptoms are
found with the different remedies. The more necessary is it for
the homoeopath to study with continuous industry these lists of
symptoms and to compare them with each other in order that he
may pick up the scattered grains of gold for his use.
Poisonings and medicinal diseases are in one line, and it makes
no difference by whose hand any one has been deprived of his
health by means of a substance injurious to his organism; among
these substances medicines as well as poisons find their place.
Of course, it is always of the greatest importance to know in
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116 CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.
every case the medicines or poisons, in order that they may be
met by the proper well-known antidotes. The simple poisons
may be pretty easily and surely recognized by their effects ! It
would have required but one case of poisoning occurring before
the eyes of a Homoeopath for him to have recognized the effects
of Arsenic, which yet remained unknown to all the allopathic
physicians, in the case of the thirty murders of Gessina Timme in
Bremen, until the facts were obtained. In the medicinal diseases
this is much more difficult, because seldom or never is one
medicine given by itself, but always mixed with others; it can
not, therefore, yield a clear and definite image. With these,
therefore, it is necessary, as in the other case it is desirable, and
it facilitates the treatment, if we can have a reliable account of
what has preceded, and to be able to look over the prescriptions.
Since this may be of use even later on, as the treatment proceeds,
the journals of many Homoeopaths have a special rubric reserved
for this subject. We must consider these symptoms, called
anamnestic, as being of special importance in this question.
Although the ordinary consequences of such morbiferous circum-
stances and events are mostly already contained in the lists of
symptoms of the medicines proved on healthy people, yet homoe-
opathic practice has long ago shortened and made sure the tedious
and troublesome path of such investigations, and indicated for
most of these cases the remedies which are foremost in their use-
fulness in such cases. This is, e. g. t very much simplified in
cases of contusions, sprains, burns and the like. In other cases,
e. £*., in colds, the matter is already somewhat more complicated,
since the kind of a cold and the part of the body affected offer
differences which again point to different remedies. Thus there
is a great difference in this respect as to whether the person has
been simply exposed to the cold, or whether this took place while
the body was in a perspiration, or if he at the same time got wet
through. So also it is well t known that different remedies are in-
dicated when internal parts (stomach, abdomen, chest) have been
exposed, or merely external parts (head, feet, back), and this
must be carefully weighed in every case. All this, as before
said, is found among the symptoms in the Materia Medica\ but
when once it is known that a cold in the head from exposure to
cold air, after previously being in a heated room, or after having
the hair cut, points to Belladonna or Sepia; after taking cold in
the feet, to Baryta or Silicea t and when at the same time there
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CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS. 117
has been a wetting, to certain other remedies, then the attention
will first of all be directed to these, and only comparison be made
with others which are also occasionally indicated when the first
are not sufficiently suitable.
Finally we must yet add a word under this question about in-
fectious diseases, about which in pathological manuals we read so
much that is contradictory and unreliable; the influence of which
teachings is, however, much more far reaching than is generally
supposed. To meet these diseases, which. often spread until they
become a real calamity, Homoeopathy has the most sure and ap-
proved prophylactics, and these, indeed, are the very same which
have the power of healing those diseases when they have de-
veloped. Therefore, when we find in a family a case of infectious
typhoid fever, there the same remedy, which has been given the
patient in accordance with his symptoms, will also be sure to pro-
tect those in the house from infection, as it destroys the natural
disposition thereto, and it will even in the shortest time restore
those with whom there may have already been apparent the be-
# ginning of the disease. This last fact is the more important, as
these first beginnings are usually so poor in symptoms that no
certain choice can be founded on them; but the known occasional
cause fully makes up for what is lacking. Of course, such a
cure is not so brilliant as when the patient has been at the verge
of the grave, but the gain for him and the consciousness of the
physician is his sufficient reward.
6. Quomodo f — From its etymology, this preposition excellent-
ly describes the essence and the scope of the question before us.
For the word Modus in the old classics not only refers to the
manner and mode in general, but also to all the modifications
which can take place in anything, thus the measure, the rule,
the aim, the relations, changes, etc.; thus whatever, with the ex-
ception of time, which is included in our last question (Quando),
possesses the ability to produce a modification, aggravation or
improvement with the patient, naturally belongs, according to the
usage of the language, to this rubric. This question has a
double importance to Homoeopathy, first, because it was first dis-
covered and developed by Homoeopaths, and is, therefore, their
indisputable and exclusive property, and secondly, because all
the results of provings and of experience, without exception, be-
long to the more or less characteristic signs, of which no one is a
matter of indifference, not even those of a negative kind.
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118 CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.
Allopathy has never given any general attention, which might
have been of use to therapy, to these moments. At least its
manuals on Pathology, Therapy and Materia Medica contain
nothing of importance on this subject. Homoeopathy, on the
other hand, soon after its discovery, recognized its great ther-
apeutic value, and we find the first but already clear traces of it
in Hahnemann's " Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum posi-
tivis" which appeared in the year 1805. But during the progress-
ive development of our science its importance appeared more
manifest, and it was soon declared to be indispensable, so that in
the later provings the attention was more and more directed upon
it. On this account the latter provings are the more complete,
with the exception of those made by Hahnemann in the Materia
Medica Pura, which were elaborated.with especial industry and
on account of their constant use accompanied with copious notes.
If we compare the lists of symptoms of the medicines which
have been proved somewhat fully, even a superficial survey will
show that we find in almost every one of them the general indi-
cations of almost every disease; headache, colic, pain in the chest,
diarrhoea, constipation, as well as dyspnoea, pains in the limbs,
fever and cutaneous ailments, etc., are in no case quite absent.
But if we study these indications somewhat mpre closely, with re-
spect to the special parts of the body and the different sensations,
then, indeed, differences will appear, and we frequently discover
symptoms which appear more or less frequently in one remedy
and are totally lacking in another. But the number continues
too large to bring the decision to a sure and indubitable point,
and we soon feel the need of securing additional points in order
that we may find the true and suitable simile among the
competing medicines. But the Quomodo with the Quando gener-
ally solves the riddle in the most satisfactory manner, and not
only removes every doubt, but also furnishes the proof for the
solution which we may have before supposed to be the right one.
That in such investigations and comparisons we must also, as in
what precedes, occupy the special standpoint, is a matter of
course. It is not sufficient, e. £\,to merely consider motion in
general in contrast with rest in the body, or in the part affected,
we must also consider incipient and continuous motion, as well as
the different kinds and degrees of motion. The same applies to
lying down, we must not only consider the kind of position (on
the back, on the side, doubled up, horizontal, etc.), but also
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CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS. 119
aggravation or improvement in the parts affected by lying on the
painful part, or the part not painful; all this is to be found out
accurately and adapted to the remedy.
Quite a prominent part in this rubric is occupied by the par-
taking of food and drink, and this not only in diseases of the di-
gestive organs, but also in fevers and other internal and external
affections. Here it is not so much the amount of appetite, or
thirsty to which also allopathy in some cases gives a proper im-
portance, but especially the dislike or the desire for particular
kinds of food and drink, and more especially also the change of
condition after partaking of one or another article of food that
often gives the most important hints as to the medicine to be
selected. All experienced Homoeopaths have therefore always
given the greatest attention to this subject, and it is very much
to be desired that whatever different persons have discovered in
this direction should be collected and published.
It was mentioned above, in passing, that even negative signs,
so far as they belong to this rubric, should not be neglected. An
example will show best what is meant by this: when a patient,
for whose condition Pulsatilla seems suitable according to the five
preceding questions, feels best while at rest in a warm room,
while he feels uncomfortable in the open cool air, and also is fond
of fat foods and bears them well, or offers other peculiarities
which are in conflict with the characteristics of Pulsatilla, this
would give an urgent cause to doubt the applicability of it to his
case and to look for another remedy which also in these points
corresponds with the symptoms.
I am sorry that the space for these contributions, which any-
ways may seem to have been already greatly exceeded, does not
permit me to enter more in detail on one and another matter be-
longing to this division, as I may openly confess that I consider
the indications obtained from this and the following question as
the most important, indubitable, and therefore the decisive ones
for therapeutical purposes. Even the numerous class of reflex
actions, almost all of which fall into these two rubrics, do not by
their internal contradictions diminish this importance, as soon as
we know their mutual value, and are, therefore, enabled to esti-
mate properly the worth of each.
7. Quandof — This last question concerns the time of the ap-
pearance, of the aggravation or the improvement of the ailments,
and follows in natural order after the preceding, and is hardly of
less importance in therapy than the last one.
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120 CHARACTERISTIC VALUE OF SYMPTOMS.
From the time of Hippocrates and his commentators up to our
times great attention has been bestowed on the periods of time
in the various phases and stadia of the disease. The endeavor
has been made to fix the period and continuance of the beginning,
of the increase, the acme, the decrease and of the end of the dis-
ease This would, -indeed, make a useful contribution to the
recognition and the characterization of the disease. But only in
case it should be left altogether to itself and not be modified by
medical interference. But on the other hand it can not be denied
that this cannot give the least aid in the selection of the remedy,
if only owing to the fact that the medicines cause disturbances in
the natural course of the disease, which frequently lie altogether
outside of all computation. Least of all can they be of any ad-
vantage to allopathic therapy, because it lacks all criteria from
which to indicate the one or the other. I hope that I may not
here hear the objection that, c. g. 9 the periodical return of a fever
points to an actual or a disguised intermittent fever and therefore
indicates Quinine in its various preparations; for we are not likely
to find a homoeopath who has not in his practice had to treat
numerous victims of this error.
Homoeopathy intends something quite different in this ques-
tion, having nothing in common with what precedes. But it is
concerned with two momenta which have an immediate effect on
the choice of the remedies, namely: (a), the periodical return of
morbid symptoms after a longer or shorter cessation, and (£), the
aggravations and alleviations depending on the time of the day.
These two will require but a few words.
The periodical return of morbid phenomena often coincides
with periods of time which carry with them particular occasional
causes. Among these are to be numbered the menstrual ail-
ments, as well as those which are conditioned by the seasons, the
weather, etc. Where such definite secondary causes cannot be
discovered, and where as is mostly the case, the attacks are not
closely bound to any sharply defined periods, they have no thera-
peutic value for homoeopaths as they lack the quality of a useful
indication.
But of the greater importance are the aggravations and allevia-
tions at particular times of the day, and this with respect to those
which refer to single symptoms as well as those that refer to the
general health. In this respect Homoeopathy possesses a great
and valuable treasury of well proved experiences which are being
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CONCERNING PHILOPOSIA. 121
more and more enlarged by careful observations. For there is
hardly any disease, from the malignant internal fevers down to
local ailments, in which during the different times of the day
there does not manifest itself a more or less decided and distinct
aggravation or alleviation. Now since homoeopaths have learned
these peculiarities also in the various medicines during their prov-
ings on healthy persons, they are enabled to make extensive and
blessed use of this peculiarity in their therapeutics, and they are
obliged to do this in order that they may satisfy the rule Similia
similibus also in this respect.
To demonstrate the preceding with some special facts, I will
only adduce here the importance which the time of the day has
on coughs with respect to the expectoration, as well with respect
to the greater ease with which it is discharged, as also the con-
sistence and the taste. Something similar we know about the
stools, and although most of the remedies have diarrhoea among
their indications, we so far know only of two (Conium and Kali
card. ) where this takes place only by day and not by night.
With respect to the ailments which have a typical return, inde-
pendent of other causes, we have a considerable series of remedies
corresponding to this, without on that account excluding others,
when they are indubitably indicated by their symptoms. Only
in cases where this return is sharply and definitely pronounced,
as for example in the evening from 4 to 8 o'clock {Helleborus and
Lycopodium) , or exactly at the same hour (Antimon. crud., Igna-
tia and SabaMlla) , we should give it a special importance and
only be careful that there may be no contra-indications.
I conclude these contributions, which I have only hastily
sketched down, with the hope that I may have succeeded in put-
ting into the true light the difference between Allopathy and
Homoeopathy and to incite my colleagues on their part to treat
these important themes more at length, even if this be done only
with respect to some one of the questions indicated at a time.
Concerning Philoposia.
Allg. horn. Zeit. t Vol. 60, p. 171.
May it be allowed us to give this classic name to a kind of dis-
ease which belongs to one of the most lamentable as well as the
most frequent ones, and for which, nevertheless, our science has
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122 CONCERNING PHILOPOSIA.
no proper name, probably because it was hitherto thought to be
incurable by medicine.
The Greeks of old denoted by Philoposia pretty much what we
call mania for drinking,, and they distinguished between it and
between drunkenness and thirst. The Latin tongue, however,
has no similar expression, and has to use, like the French lan-
guage, a circumlocution. Is it possible that they had no knowl-
edge of it ?
We may well presuppose that a brief communication on this
subject may deserve a place in this Journal, since the subject it-
self is of considerable importance and of general use, and no one
can deny that the mania for drinking is a real disease, and there-
fore its cure must fall in the province of the physician and of
science.
We refrain from describing this passion which occurs only too
frequently, as well as the frightful consequence which it inflicts
not only on the drunkard himself but also on his whole family.
Every one knows from examples from his own proximate sur-
roundings the one as well as the other, and he also knows how
rare are the cases where even in the twelfth hour after the loss
of health and of property a salvation generally too late has been
effected.
So also we would only in passing mention in a few words what
every Homoeopath knows or has to know; namely, how a drunken
person is to be treated. Concerning this subject I have given
more particular directions in my " Domestic Physician/'
Even if this name had not been handed down to us from
antiquity, and is, therefore, to be considered classic, it would yet
have to be acknowledged, since it is customary and permitted to
create learned designations by compounding Greek words, while
this is not customary with Latin words (or only exceptionally, as
in the objectionable word : abiturient).
The quickest &nd surest relief from Intoxication: (a) When
caused by beer, supposing this beer to have been pure and not
adulterated and poisoned with medicinal substance; the abundant
drinking of Chinese tea and afterwards according to the indica-
tions, either Rhus or Nux vom.
(b) When caused by drinking brandy; drink salt water and
later take Pulsatilla.
(c) When caused by wine; first a bitter almond, and afterwards
Nux vom. t unless after wines containing acids Antimonium
crud. better corresponds to the indications.
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CONCERNING PHILOPOSIA. 123
Only in the case where the drunken person is lying with a dark
red face, staring eyes and twitching in the muscles of the face; in
such a case give every quarter of an hour in alternation Opium
and Belladonna until he recovers, and then whatever the symp-
toms call for.
In the same way will be found in the before mentioned pamph-
let more in detail the treatment of delirium tremens, in which
first HyoscyamuSy Opium, Nux vom. and Stramonium, but in
other cases also Anacardium y Aurum, Belladonna and Thuja will
be found suitable and useful.
Different from all the preceding is real philoposia, i. e. y that
disease, the essence of which lies in the moral and physical neces-
sity of a new falling into the vice of drunkenness, as soon as the
previous intoxication has passed off, and a relaxation of mind and
body has come on, which obliges the drunkard irresistibly to a re-
newal of the use of spirituous liquors, as experience has taught
him that only thus can he, though only temporarily, gain a re-
lief from his wretched and unbearable state. In this desire for
drink, which has with him become a real passion, is found the
greatest difficulty of curing this philoposia; since in spite of all
warnings and all better knowledge it has 'finally become impos-
sible to him to endure the state of sobriety, and at the same time
the power of the will is paralyzed, which might enable him with
courage and firmness to bring those initial sacrifices, without
which it is impossible to attain his end. The physician, there-
fore, in this case has to solve the double problem of first improv-
ing the bodily condition, and then causing an antipathy to spirit-
uous liquors in general. With respect to the first problem, i. e. t
the cure of the bodily mania for drinking, there is no doubt that
Poppy-juice {Opium) stands at the head of all the remedies of this
class. The results of the provings of this very vigorous sub-
stance give us an image of this disease with respect to both the
body and to the soul, such as no other medicine affords. With
incipient drinkers the repeated use of this remedy alone will give
great results, as in such cases it is sufficient of itself to extinguish
not only the ill effects of intoxication, but also to induce a sort of
repugnance to spirituous liquors in general.
The Orient furnishes us with a striking proof of the truth of
Homoeopathy. For here among the numerous opium eaters and
opium- smokers we never find a man who is given to the use of
spirituous drinks. On the contrary, all testify the most pro-
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124 "concerning philoposia.
nounced aversion, although they are lavish enough in the use of
sharp spices of all kinds as condiments to their food, so that this
aversion is not merely dependent on their overstimulated palate.
The author of this article has in consequence succeeded in de-
livering several persons, who could already be numbered in the
class of habitual drunkards, by merely giving them two or three
drops at a dose of the Tinctura Opii> while they were unconscious
of it, since such persons are mostly averse to taking medicine
this dose was administered in their morning cup of coffee. This
remedy, however, leaving out of view the disadvantages which
the continued use of such powerful medicines would unfailingly
produce, is not of lasting or even of long continued use, and,
therefore, least of all in the case of persons who, in company of
other friends devoted to drink, are continually anew seduced to
the use of spirituous liquors. Even if the Poppy-juice at the first
relapses in their vice might still prove of use, its beneficent
effects would — as is the case in all such remedies — gradually grow
ever 'weaker and more transitory, and in the end it would cease
entirely, and this even if the doses should continually be in-
creased.
Under such circumstances, which are by no means rare, we
have to take our refuge in a dietetic remedy, and one, indeed,
which continued for a length of time, continually increases the
aversion to spirituous drinks \ without in the least injuring the
health. This remedy is milk/
Every Homoeopath knows, or ought to know, that every remedy
which has aversion to spirituous liquors among its indications
also shows aversion to milk or troubles from its use, and vice
versa. We know this experimentally and with certainty of
Arnica, Arsenic, Bovista, Bryonia, Calcarea, Carbo veg., China,
Ignatia, Lachesis, Mercurius, Natrum mur., Nux mosch., Nux
vom. t Pulsatilla , Rhus, Sepia , Silicea and Sulphur. ac. t and as to
others we have a good reason to suppose it. It is with this as
with the peculiarity of some diseases which do not bear the use
of certain otherwise quite unmedicinal and therefore quite harm-
less articles of food and drink, and which show quite considerable
aggravations from their use. We would only mention here
bread, meat, eggs and vegetables of various kinds, potatoes,
pulse, and even pure water, which can not be borne by some
patients, while healthy persons and even those sick of other dis-
eases do not feel the slightest ill effects from them. This might
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CONCERNING PHILOPOSIA. 125
be called a sort of idiosyncracy in a more extended sense, which,
indeed, has no relation to the greater or less degree of danger in
the disease, but the knowledge of which is of the greatest use to
the physician, who knows how to make use of such indications,
especially in cases where other usable symptoms are lacking.
Now if we consider that the pure milk of healthy animals fed on
wholesome food .must surely be counted among the most harmless
foods, since it is the first and only food destined by nature for the
% tender, new-born child, and that, therefore, only a morbid condi-
tion can make it unbearable, we also in this case as in so many
others meet with contradictions in the allopathic school, which
would be incredible, if they were not actual facts.* Homoe-
opaths, however, who only investigate the phenomena of nature,
but leave their explanation to the theorists, seek to use these for
the benefit of humanity.
Now if Homoeopaths have found in the daily use or rather the
frequent use during the day of pure sweet milk as well as the sour
milk a useful dietetic remedy against philoposia, this is again a re-
sult of the theory of their science which is in agreement with
nature; and this remedy is one which is everywhere confirmed by
experience. For if we look around in our whole environment
with the proper carefulness, we shall find that the man who is
given up to the abuse of spirituous liquors, wine as well as
brandy, shows an aversion to milk and usually cannot bear it
well; and also, on the other hand, that the person who uses much
milk is ever more averse to the use of spirituous liquors, and will
only take one or two glasses when urgently invited, and even
then only with repugnance, after which he generally feels
more or less uncomfortable.
From what has been premised, we conclude what is the most
suitable and the most successful mode of treating philoposia.
First of all we should extinguish by small but repeated doses of
* What should we, e. g. f say of prescribing a whey-treatment to a patient
who is suffering from a far advanced and incurable case of tuberculosis ?
when the physician prescribes also besides the milk of mares and o£ asses,
especially the milk of goats; when we consider that the goat without injury
eats many poisonous plants, while the medicinal effects of these plants al-
ways passes over into the milk, then the advice of the physician, which
might appear at least harmless, becomes thoughtless and dangerous, since
the milk of the goat, which is frequently actually poisonous, can only make
the disease worse, if this milk is not rendered innocuous by boiling and thus
deprived of its accidental medicinal quality.
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126 THE LONG DURATION OF ACTION.
Poppy -juice {Opium) the disturbances already caused in the
organism. If the evil has not continued too long and become too
much inrooted, this should be attained in not too long a period.
But then we should prescribe milk as the chief article of diet,
and, indeed, the oftener during the day the better; not only in
soups, but also instead of coffee, and as the standing beverage.
The aversion felt against it at first has already been removed by
the Poppy-juice^ or a few small doses of Ignatia will serve to ac-
complish the desired effect.* Gradually he will more and more
enjoy this healthy food, and in the^same proportion he will lose
the desire for spirituous drinks, so that after a few weeks he will
have an actual aversion to wine and brandy, and the man, now
saved both as to his mind and body, will thus again become a use-
ful member of human society.
May these few words fall on a fruitful soil and contribute to
the removal of the sorrow and grief brought by the vice of drunk- %
enness over whole families, and do this thoroughly and perma-
nently in an inexpensive and easy manner!
The Long Duration of Action.
Translated from the Allgetn. horn. Zeitung % Vol. 63, p. 117, 1861.
The long duration of action of many homoeopathic medicines
hardly seems to receive notice in these days, when oft repeated
doses in the lowest dilutions are more and more coming into
fashion. The faithful warnings of Hahnemann and his most ex-
perienced pupils are forgotten or even decried as erroneous with
derision and contumely, and just because many obstinately pursue
their devious ways, they have no experience of their own, though
they do not allow themselves to be in the least deterred thereby
from offering their opinions most confidently and decisively.
Although in acute diseases the "too much and too often" is
less dangerous and injurious, this must not, therefore, be ex-
tended also to real and chronic diseases, in the thorough and per-
manent cure of which Homoeopathy must .find its chief advantage
* This last mentioned remedy {Ignatia) will be especially indispensable,
and will be of the greatest efficacy where with returning soberness and the
clear perception of the condemnation incurred there is, as occurs not in-
frequently the case, a depth of grief, sorrow and remorse, which oppose an
obstruction to the progress of recovery, and thus delay the end to be gained.
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THE LONG DURATION OF ACTION. 127
over the Old School, because in such cases we can never expect
any great matter from the mere aid of nature.
It may, therefore, be opportune to bring this matter again up for
consideration, and at the same time to vindicate for one of pur new
remedies which so far has never been used but in acute troubles
its claims for a long duration of action. I, therefore, take the
liberty of communicating in the following report some facts
which may seem noteworthy for several reasons:
C. (the daughter of one of my older patients in the Nether-
lands, who sought my aid in the year 1843, when Homoeopathy
was known there only through my efforts, who had been given
up as a haemoptysic, but who lives to, this day in good health)
was entrusted to my care on account of amaurotic blindness of the
left eye and dimness of vision in the right eye. This was very
much improved by the use of Calcarea 200. at long intervals, but
of course it was not completely or thoroughly cured.
As was to be expected, therefore, the ailment later on was
again aggravated, and in the summer of 1855 a great improve-
ment was again attained by the use of Sulphur ; followed by Cal-
carea, each in the 200., one dose of each, but in spite of my ad-
vice the treatment was not continued.
In the meantime Homoeopathy had gained representatives in
the Netherlands both from native and foreign sources, and when
with the end of the year 1857 *h e trouble in the eyes again be-
came worse aid was sought from the nearest homoeopath, who
gave at short intervals Aconite, Belladonna, Ipec, Phosph., Arnica,
Hepar, Sulphur, Lycop., Rhus, Pulsat. and Calcarea, as I was
told, in the order here set down, with the result that the power of
vision on the left eye was altogether gone and on the right eye
nearly so.
So I was again called on in June, 1858, and the suffering child
was brought to me, when I discovered some additional symptoms,
which in the beginning indicated Sulphur, which also again in-
troduced an amelioration.
On the 24th of August I prescribed a dose of Phosphorus 200.,
which also advanced the improvement and regulated the menstru-
ation. But another very undesirable symptom now set in, a great
short sightedness and a considerable diminution in the size of the
objects seen.
A greater improvement was produced by a dose of Platina 200.,
whereby the power of vision on both eyes was restored so far that
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128 THE LONG DURATION OF ACTION.
everything now appeared clear but of somewhat smaller size; and
after using the eyes for a short time everything appeared obscurely
white, like effervescent water, the turbidity of which was continu-
ally settling downward.
Before this remedy had completed its beneficent action, the
patient was seized with smallpox and was treated by the nearest
homoeopath with Thuja , Mercur., Stramon., Muriat. ac. t China,
Calcarea and Nitric ac. I know not in what doses and at what
intervals, I only heard on May 12th that she was now again totally
blind.
On the latter day she received Cann. 200., and on th$ 7th of
June the 2000. of Cann. (Jenichen's high potencies), and these
to some degree restored her power of vision, after everything at
first had seemed to her green\ only her circle of vision remained
very limited and objects appeared much too near.
One dose of Bov. 200. on the 18th of August, 1859, continued
the improvement in an encouraging manner, until' in the begin-
ning of November a cough caused by a cold appeared, against
which without my knowledge Hepar was used, in consequence of
which there was a sensation as of a splinter in the eye, which sen-
sation had not appeared before.
So I sent her on November 13th a dose of Nux vom. 200 , after
which the cough disappeared in a few days and a dose of Nitti
ac. 200. , which, indeed, removed the new pain as of a splinter in
the eye, but did not have any influence either on the green color
of objects nor on their diminished size.
A dose of Phosphorus 200., which was prescribed on January
25th, i860, brought a considerable improvement. The green
color disappeared entirely, the eyes became clear, only in the even-
ing sin candle-light white objects became yellowish and when the eyes
were used for some time there appeared the turbidity of vision men-
tioned above, but by closing the eyes for a while it would pass
away again.
This improvement continued to progress until October, thus
more than seven months, when the turbidity before the eyes and
the yellow color again began to increase. I, therefore, prescribed
on October 20th Apis mell. 200., which caused another improve,
ment, much strengthening the visual powers, and had this
peculiar effect, that, instead of the previous diminution, there was
now caused an enlargement of the objects. This remedy also
showed a continuation of action of great duration, since the im-
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MY TREATMENT OF MEMBRANOUS CROUP. 129
provement really only set in plainly in December and lasted till the
end of May of this year, thus again for seven months. Now
the turbidity as from effervescent water again showed itself
after long continued reading and white objects again began to ap-
pear yellow, especially after previously looking into a bright light,
but now they were surrounded with a bluish border. I have not
yet received a report as to the dose of Stront. 200. sent in the be-
ginning of June, this remedy alone showing this symptom.
This exact excerpt from my books does not seem to call for any
comments. I would only emphasize the fact that even the Bee-
poison, which has hitherto been used almost exclusively in acute
diseases, when used in chronic cases has as long a duration c-f
action as our polychrests among the remedies especially adapted
to chronic cases and which Hahnemann specially designated as
"antipsoric."
My Treatment of Membranous Croup.
Translated from the Allgemeine horn. Zeit., Vol. 63, p. 127 of 1861.
My honored colleague: On page 103 of your excellent journal,
which I have just received, I see mention made of njy cures of
croup as these are discussed in the Am. Horn. Review. Since my
treatment is incorrectly reported there, I sent on August 17, at
which date I received that journal, a correction, directed to my
friend Dr. A. I/ippe, in Philadelphia, and this no doubt will ap-
pear in some future number of that journal.
In the meantime you may perhaps think it well to say some-
thing in your much read journal, and I, therefore, hasten to
send you my directions for the use of the croup-powders (see
below), which will of itself correct the inaccuracy mentioned:
1. Numbers / and 2 are both intended for the removal of the in-
flammatory condition, thus they are both Aconite, No. 1, 200
pellets of the 1. potency, and No. 2, 200 pellets of the 2. potency.
2. We can without uneasiness give the first powder a few hours
to work, and this should, therefore, be done, (do not, therefore, by
any means give it every half hour), and No*. 2,
3. should not be given before two hours have elapsed, and then
only if the former symptoms should return.
4. The other three powdSrs which contain Hepar and Spongia
have a longer duration of action, and they must be allowed three
to five hours before a new dose is given.
9
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130 jenichen's high potencies.
The exact obedience to these directions has always proved itself
most perfectly effective, and I can give you my honest assurance
that up to this day I have not had a single case which turned out
unfavorably. Thence comes the great confidence I enjoy, and
the great dissemination of this powder also in foreign parts, so
that I have been obliged to print these directions also in the
French and Dutch tongues.
In any event, the chief thing is the careful selection of the high
potencies in minute doses, and this I never entrust to any one
else, but always attend to myself; and giving every' dose the
proper time to act, and this, as you see, I have particularly in-
sisted on.
If this is not properly attended to, let no one say that he has
proceeded according to my directions, and I have the right to de-
cline all responsibility.
I leave it entirely to you whether you desire to print this cor-
rection, or if you prefer to wait until the Americans have been
heard from.
Your devoted
Dr. C. v. Boenninghausen.
Afunster, Oct. i t 1861.
Jenichen's High Potencies.
Translated from the A llgem. horn. Zeit. y Vol. 61 , p. 70.
Jenichen's high potencies, which had been nearly forgotten,
have of late been again mentioned here and there, but mostly in
a manner calculated to throw suspicion on them. The most com-
mon objection to them is that Jenichen nowhere publicly made a
declaration as to the mode of their preparation. On this account
it seems to be thought that we are entitled to the supposition
that Jenichen adopted some technique varying from the direction
of Hahnemann, and the attempt is made to prove this by the doc-
trine of probabilities and ex absurdo. The hope that Hering
might throw some light on the subject, because Jenichen was
supposed to have communicated to him his procedure, has not so
far been realized, and no one else was able to publish anything
on the subject. Thus we have been and are still in doubt as to
this point which is of course of much importance; but skepticism
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jenichen's high potencies. 131
has been carried way beyond all measure, and the assertion was
at last made that the whole matter is nothing else than a mystifi-
cation of an unworthy nature, which ought to be met in a de-
termined manner. We will not repeat in what way even reason-
able men who are zealously devoted to our science have extended
this suspicion after it had once been started far beyond all reason;
and in spite of so many and weighty voices which give all praise
to these preparations they have even refused to make any experi-
ments with them, merely because they have not this knowledge.
This obstinacy, which really goes too far, will nevertheless have
to be excused with those who are urged to it merely by the zeal
for scientific truth and frankness. But many, and, we are com-
pelled to say, very many, have another reason for their rejection,
though they will rarely confess it, namely, the use of the lower
dilutions, which is becoming more and more prevalent mostly
conjoined with disparagement for those who have remained faith-
ful to the gradual progress of Hahnemann.
Under these circumstances we feel called upon to contribute
even if it should prove to be only a slight elucidation by a letter
from Jenichen himself, of which no one will suppose that it was
written for this purpose, or for publication at all. We will give
his words so far as they refer to this subject without interruption,
merely indicating by numbers the passages to which we refer in
our appended notes. The letter itself is dated:
Wismar, January 2, 1846, and is written in Jenichen* s wel
known handwriting; it is, therefore, an original, and is directed
to our universally known and respected Stapf, from whose hand
I received it long ago. The passage in point is the following:
4 ' The words of our Gross: Where does all this tend to ? (he
was referring to the high potencies), where is the limit? ex-
cited in me, since we know nothing a priori and can only become
enlightened by experiment. ( 1 ) The determination to potentize
Arsenicum from the 2500. to the 8000., and the faithful power of
my arm executed this by 165,000 doughty strokes. (2) These
preparations, which as it would seem exceeded all measure,
namely, the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8000. potencies, I herewith enclose.
(3>The intervening potencies the 35, 45, 55, 65 and 7500. (4)
I shall send later, if there should be any call for them. Now it
will surely be very interesting for you (I sent the same potencies
yesterday to Gross, and to Hering I shall send them yet to-day)
to find out whether Arsenicum 8000. will still act or whether here
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132 jenichen's high potencies.
or at some anterior point the border line has already been over-
passed. (5) It will take but little time to determine this; for if
there should be no result after twelve hours (as in the other high
potencies where the wrong remedy had been selected) then
Arsenicum 8000. has no effect. (6) Arsenicum 8000. was born at
two and a half o'clock early in the morning of January 1, 1846.
(7) And I am now very eager to know whether this baby will die
soon, or whether it will reach an age of centuries, which will be
shown by the fact that it can do something or nothing or whether
it may perhaps do very much. (8) I believe the latter, though that
does not amount to hardly anything with us, because mere belief
does not amount to anything. The experiment must decide; (9)
and so I would entreat you to give Arsenicum only in such cases
where Arsenicum is indicated without any doubt. So I would also
request you if you write anyhow to him shortly to send to our
Boenninghausen'a part of each one of the six preparations, so that
also he may prove them in his experience and so may also contri-
bute his share to the elucidation of this surely most interesting
subject. (10) When we shall be but a month older we shall be
able to allow ourselves to draw conclusions in the realm of poten-
cies. (11) If Arsenicum 8000. cures I shall potentize Chamomilla
to the 4000., so that we may see farther. But the triumph I hope
for does not belong tome, but to Hering's: " Every year higher!"
It will not, however, be enough that Arsenicum 8000. cures; we
must and then surely shall find cases where Arsenicum 3000. or
4000. could not do anything, but Arsenicum 8000. will do every-
thing. On this account I am very glad that the next number of
the " Archiv" will not come out before three months from now."
Such is the text of Jenichen's letter. so far as it. relates to this
matter. m We subjoin the following notes and explanations:
Note to 1. We desire to point to the experiment, to experi-
ence, with merely a word added. If it were correct what many
of the opponents of Jenichen (and of ourselves) have asserted
without any reason, yea, without any probability, that by his
higher potencies he meant only such preparations as would arise
from multiplying the percussions given to the same dilution; if that
had been the case, he would not have needed to wait for experi-
ence to decide as to the efficiency of the higher potencies, becattse
there is not a single fact which would even in the remotest mode
indicate that continued shaking or triturating would in any way
diminish or abolish the former efficient power. But as to the
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jenichen's high potencies. 133
other there are thousands of experiences, which moved even
Hahnemann to warn against extremes.
Note to 2. From the 22d of December to the ist of January
there are nine days and if we add the part of the night till 2:30
a. m. , there is that much more. This space of nine days Jenichen
had used to raise the 2500. potency to the 8000., i. e. t to add
5500 new potencies. If he used for this purpose, as he expressly
says 165,000 strokes of his arm, this, according to a very
simple computation, would give to every potency thirty strokes.
So also we would compute for each day (the last day being con-
tinued to 2:30 a. m.) about 18,000 strokes for each hour; if we
assume only twelve, 1500, and thus for each minute only 25
strokes, while with some practice we may easily give 180. For
an experienced hand, as Jenichen was, there would, therefore, have
been ample time to empty the vial and by means of a measuring
glass to pour in the fresh alcohol. There is, therefore, as it seems
to us nothing improbable in these statements, as some arithme-
ticians have endeavored to figure out.
" What Jenichen says of the faithful power of his arm refers to
his unusual strength and perseverance, which was well known to
all his friends and of which he has given manifold astonishing
proofs. For a further elucidation of his actions in his potentizing,
the following part of a letter from Jenichen to me, dated Novem-
ber 18, 1845, may contribute and we, therefore, adduce it:"
" I wish that the preparation of the high potencies, especially
the highest, might not be so troublesome and did not take so
much time. The excessively tedious uniformity is also a burden-
some addition. And yet, we are not allowed while potentizing to
think of anything else (on account of counting the strokes); if
we would secure uniform preparations, it would not be at all
strange if the enthusiasm should give out long before the time.
But the certain knowledge that I am making medicinal prepara-
tions for the whole sick world will spread thus — and that these
preparations are such that no other person can prepare them thus,
that is what keeps up my courage and continually vivifies anew
my bodily powers; and I do not therefore deserve any particular
praise for I do nothing but my duty. ' '
Whoever is not satisfied with these words of an honorable man
as given in a familiar letter, for such a one we have nothing to
add.
Note to 3. The six preparations mentioned Jenichen actually
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134 jenic hen's high potencies.
sent to our friend, Stapf, who according to his wish divided the
amount sent with me, and at the same time sent to me the letter
above mentioned.
Note to 4. But Jenichen also preserved the" intervening poten-
cies, and later on gave us some of them. Herein lies another
for assuming that Jenichen prepared the potencies strictly accord-
ing to the manner prescribed by Hahnemann, and according to the
centesimal scale. The decimal scale was, indeed, an innovation,
then almost unknown, introduced by young homoeopaths on their
authority, which never found entrance with the strict adherents
of Hahnemann, to whom Jenichen belonged, and it probably
never will. But if Jenichen as may be supposed followed Korsa-
koff's method, in which the contents of the vial are every time
emptied out (if the potencies are not to be preserved), and 99 or
100 drops are every time added to the liquid which adheres to the
vial, this would make no difference worth mentioning, and the
proportion would still remain the same as if in an expensive and
unnecessary manner every potency were given a new vial with
alcohol.
Note to 5. Experience alone, as Jenichen here quite correctly
states, can decide where the limit to the action of potentized
medicine lies. But he could not then have had the inkling of the
enlarged sphere of action produced by every additional potentiz-
ing, through the awakening or development of ever new as yet
undisclosed powers. Such a wonderful and a priori incredible
truth could only be experienced by those few homoeopaths who
have used high potencies for a series of years, with an exact
record kept in their Patients' journals. With respect to this
matter, it is very much to be lamented that in defending the
doctrine of the high potencies and their great advantage we miss
the assistance and the testimony of two friends who had become
very familiar therewith, one of whom (Gross) has died, while the
other (Stapf) has become disabled for further service. Neverthe-
less, their testimony in the three volumes of the l Neue Archiv
fuer die Homceopathische Heilkunst" remains a precious heir- loom
to posterity, and it is to be hoped that it will at some time lead to
further researches.
Note to 6. What Jenichen relates here as to the quick healing
power of the high potencies is so perfectly true and correct that
after many years' experience we have no hesitation in expressing
our assent to it. But if this is correct, and is confirmed by all
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jenichen's high potencies. 135
without exception, who have tested it by long continued experi-
ence, it is unintelligible how many who have no experience in it
can have the presumption to admit the usefulness of the higher
dynamizations in chronic diseases but not in acute diseases where
rapid help is frequently so important. And yet we find this
thoroughly- false and erroneous opinion repeated daily, of course
without support in fact, and this with an assurance as if it was
impossible to gainsay it. But when we examine this absurd as-
sertion more closely, we soon recognize that it does not rest on
any actual experience and that only blind repetition causes any
one to repeat such statements from some one who pretends to be
a master of the art, and who has not to fear any contradiction
from the unexperienced. Such conceited and over-bold dissemi-
nators of untruth are the most dangerous foes of Science and they
deserve to be put in the pillory as forgers.
Note to 7. This has already been taken up in the consideration
of No. 2.
Note to 8. In spite of all the trouble taken by some persons to
put away this little babe, this attempted murder has been unsuc-
cessful, and has been only able to effect so much that this babe
is for the present, until better times come, being brought up in a
quiet hiding-place where it is only accessible to a few initiated.
Homoeopathy itself seems in the last years to have entered into a
process of fermentation and purification, which will serve to sep*
arate the truth from the false. That for the present everyone
cleaves to his own views and opinions is natural and excusable,
even if the reasons are not always the most tenable. But consist-
ency ought not to degenerate into obstinacy, and the decision
must in every case be left to continued experiments. Whatever
this experience repeatedly sanctions as truth mere ratiocinations
cannot make untrue, and as we at this day discuss the errors of
our ancestors so posterity hereafter will do the same with the
errors of our times. Then we are convinced the babe of Jenichen
will come forth from its temporary hiding place and occupy the
place due to it.
Note to 9. Yes! experiment, and experiment alone, must give
the decision, and since Hahnemann himself always appeals to it
and always repeats the warning: " Repeat my experiments but
with exactness!" — this applies to everything that Homoeopathy
teaches and asserts. In these doctrines we already possess so
many things which are not only incomprehensible, but which
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136 jenichen's high potencies.
seem opposed to sound reason, but which no sound homoeopath
now doubts. Can he then be justified in rejecting the little ad
dition to what is incomprehensible and which also is drawn from
experience for no more valid reason than this ?
Note to 10. This communication was especially called out by
the fact that we had first (in the " Neue Archivfur hombopathische
Therapie" No. 2, p. 36) and already in the year 1844 publicly
discussed the higher potency of 200. A number of opponents of
this movement, some of whom are still living, have made a poin*
of reviling myself and # my friends, Stapf and Gross, who had in
that article declared our agreement with the idea which they de-
nounced as unheard of and irrational.
Note to 11. In this point Jenichen was mistaken.. Not one
month, nor several months, but years are required to gather to-
gether facts in sufficient number to fully confirm the experiment.
Hahnemann has left us in this respect an example which is well
worth noticing. In the first edition of his Materia Medica Pura
of 18 1 1 (first volume) he only indicates the dose in Czna t (three
grains for a child of two years, and six grains for a child of four
years), but with the other remedies he does not indicate the dose
and therefore seemed to sanction the old established doses. In
the second edition of 1822 we already find in all remedies very
much smaller but still varying doses. But in the third edition of
1839 he gives with all remedies the smallest part of a drop of the
30. (centesimal) dilution as the most suitable and everywhere
sufficient dose. That he might not anticipate experience, he had
taken twenty years to arrive at this unheard of diminution of
dose, which some of our young Homoeopaths, however, pro-
claim unsatisfactory after a trial of hardly six weeks. A suffi-
cient assurance as to the high potencies will hardly be attained in
a less time than this, and since we, ourselves, only began our ex-
periments in the year 1843, there are now still lacking three years
from that period. Still we may even now give the certain assur-
ance that since that time we have been so well satisfied with the
results that we decidedly prefer them to all lower dynamizations,
and shall never return to the latter; but we have even had a num-
ber of cases in which the usual potency with us, the 200. , did not
suffice and the cure was only effected through Jenichen* s high
potencies.
If any one will draw a conclusion from the two letters com-
municated and from our notes, this can only be that Jenichen
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THE YALrUE OF HIGH POTENCIES. 137
prepared his potencies exactly according to Hahnemann's direc-
tions, and in the centesimal scale, and that he potentized every
dilution with thirty strokes of an unusually powerful arm. To
refute this conclusion in a satisfactory manner facts would have
to be adduced which deserve full confidence, and so long as these
are lacking we are entitled to consider the above presentation as
alone correct.
To this communication we would only add that, all which
Jenichen has left behind, together with all the preparations which
he had prepared with his own hands, are in the hands of Dr.
Rentsch, in Wismar, on the Baltic Sea (in Mecklenburg), and
that he has bound himself by contract to provide every one at
reasonable prices with these high potencies.
The Value of High Potencies.
Translated from the AUgem. horn. 2Zeit. % Vol. 61, p. 134.
In the monthly, "The American Homoeopathic Review," in
the number for March of this year (i860), on pages 282 to 288,
and in the April number, pages 327 to 336, we find a copious and
curious communication of cures from Dr. B. Fincke, in Brooklyn,
N. Y. , treated with high potencies and usually with one dose.
Owing to the discussion as to dosology which still goes on, this
communication is of much interest, as it presents most striking
and convincing facts, the truth of wjiich cannot well be dpubted,
as they have been received into that Journal, edited only by men
of honor. To us it may be of chief interest to consider more care-
fully the conclusions drawn by the author. For this reason we
have translated accurately the several sentences, and where it
seems appropriate to us we add a few notes. The translations
bear the numbers found in the original, while the notes follow im-
mediately after them.
But first we would add what the author states as to these high
potencies in the opening of his article, which bears the weighty
motto: "The dose can hardly ever be too small," (Hahnemann's
Chron. Dis., Kr. 2, Ed. 1, p. 149).
The potencies have all been made by himself within a period of
ten years, according to the centesimal scale, and, indeed, in part
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138 THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES.
by trituration, partly from the liquid tincture, partly through
percussion from a strong steel spring, and finally, in part through
percussions with the hand. There is not here, therefore, any-
thing even unintentionally mysterious; points which have been
used by an exaggerated skepticism in order to throw suspicion
on Jenicken? s preparations.
In his prescriptions . the numerator designates the number of
pellets of the size of a mustard-seed, and the denominator the ex-
act centesimal dynamization in all these modes of preparation.
Thus also in this matter all doubts are prevented.
The nosological names of the diseases are only used, as is
proper, for the easier registration of the cases.
A complete communication of all the 32 cures there described
would hardly be in place here. But nearly all of them are so
noteworthy that we do not hesitate to call attention to the article
of the Journal mentioned, which contains besides numerous very
important original articles.
1: "The strength and efficacy of homoeopathic remedies is nei-
ther confined to the low dilutions, nor to the 30. or the 200. po-
tency, but it is maintained through a long series of higher dyna-
mizations, as may appear from the 20,000 centesimal dilution of
Sulphur. 1 '
This conclusion is based on four cures effected with Sulphur
20,000 and described in the previous communication, viz. : In
No. 7, a case of angina faucium; in No. 9, of an ophthalmia
rheumatica; in No. 10, a Corneitis, and in No. 21, a tussis
stomachica; all these four cases were cured with a single dose of
the high potency mentioned, the dose in Nos. 7 and 9 being two
pellets, and in Nos. 10 and 21 only one pellet, and they were
cured so completely that no further medicine was needed*
2. " The question at what stage of potentizing the power and
efficacy of homoeopathic medicines comes to an end is not as yet
solved. ' '
Dr. Fincke has carried the potencies to a height which, in con-
sideration of the surprising efficacy of his remedies, perfectly jus-
tifies him in this declaration; for in the cures enumerated we find
the following numbers: Aconitum 1100, Arnica m. 1 100 , Bella-
donna 1400 and 6,000, Bryonia 9,000, Cantharis 1600, Carbo an. f
1000, Cham. 1730, China 8000, Hepar s. c. 1750, Mercur. 3,000,
Nux vom. 5,000, Phosphorus 5,000, Pulsatilla 5,000 and 7,000,
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THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES. 139
Rhus tox. 10,000, Sulphur 20,000 and Veratrum 2,400. We our-
selves possess of Jenichen's preparations: Arsenicum 40,000 and
Phosphorus 19,000, and have seen the most plain signs of the
curative effects of both of them, with men as well as with animals.
So it would seem that the medicinal power proper may be pro-
pagated to infinity, if the manipulations are properly conducted,,
perhaps in the same way that the magnetic force may be com-
municated to an indefinite number of steel rods, without the
original rod losing any of its force or being weakened.
3. * 4 The high potencies show themselves effective in a single
dose."
From the beginning of the use of high potencies, nearly all at-
tentive observers have experienced that as a rule they require no
repetition immediately, but a division of the dose in a solution of
water, if this is shaken before giving it, may be admitted. A
satisfactory solution of this question may perhaps be found in the
fact which we shall adduce in a note with respect to No. 7.
4. ' ' The high potencies present at times the phenomenon of a
homoeopathic aggravation."
From our eighteen years' experience with potencies, somewhat
lower indeed, we can not only confirm this, but also show the
proof from numerous cases in our medical Journals. Most con-
clusive in this matter are the cases by no means rare where either
we ourselves had intentionally to give an antidote, or where the
patients according to their own confession had nullified the action
of the medicine through faults in their diet. In occurrences of
this kind a delusion is not easily conceivable.
5. "High potencies which have been potentized by hand by
only one percussion prove to be perfectly active and curative.' '
Concerning this point we have no experience of our own, be-
cause we have always given to the preparations prepared by our-
selves ten such percussions in potentizing. But there is not the
slightest reason for drawing in doubt this observation of the honor-
able Dr. Fincke; on the contrary we owe him thanks for an ob-
servation which may find a useful application in a technical direc-
tion. This experience, however, in no way contradicts the ex-
perience of Hahnemann and of many of his pupils, viz. , that con-
tinued trituration or percussion makes the dilutions ever more
powerful. It is also advisable to give a few shakes to the vial
containing the liquid medicine before moistening the pellets with
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140 THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES.
the liquid, especially when the vial has been standing for some-
time. So also in giving the solutions in water, which method we
originally to Dr. Aegidi, it is advisable to shake the same every
time before taking it; Hahnemann ascribes the usefullness of this
to the desirability of changing the degree of dynamization, but
we would be inclined to ascribe it at the same time to a widening
of the medicinal sphere of action thereby. Whatever may be the
reason, the advantage of this process has been abundantly proved
by experience.
6. "High potencies which have been produced by strong
strokes of the arm frequently cause no Homoeopathic aggra-
vation.' '
We also have often made this experience, but not in those
cases where these percussions have been long continued Then
usually, and at times very violently, the phenomenon of No. 4 ap-
pears. Only where the selection of the medicine was wrong
this may be otherwise.
7. " The higher potencies seem to offer a means of making the
medicine more assimilable, an$i, therefore, homceopathically more
effective.' '
The author seems to have lacked a perfectly suitable word to
express fully his idea. Likely he, as well as some others of us,
had made the experience that the higher dynamizations even
with an imperfect similitude still bring us some very good results,
while the lower dilutions of the same medicine refuse to act.
By the conclusion of his sentence it is manifest that he desired
to state this observation, and that he chose an expression
for this purpose which at the same time reminds us of our law of
similars. We, and some of our old friends, have made the same
experience in many years, where an exactly suitable homoe-
opathic remedy was not to be discovered, and we then discovered
that the most valuable peculiarity of high potencies probably lies
in this, that in every higher dynamization new forces, which be-
fore were, as it were, slumbering are disclosed, and thus the
sphere of the action of the medicine is continually widened. This
gradual multiplication of symptoms through potentizing has be-
come so indubitable with us through longer observation that we
regard it as a new, before unknown, law of nature, which is as
wonderful as it is advantageous in practice. Some hint of this
law is already given by the medicinal activity of Homoeopathic
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THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES. 141
preparations of substances, which, without this preparation, are
quite, or almost quite, indifferent, as several of the earths and
metals, which do not become useful as medicines before they are
brought to some potency; but through this, as is well known,
they attain to very powerful and extensive curative powers. In
this we recognize the careful benignity of the Creator of nature,
who has given to almost everything a medicinal virtue, but closed
up and enveloped like fire, in order that when they are not in-
tentionally awakened they may not exercise an injurious effect
when they are daily consumed with our food. The increase of
this medicinal power in proportion with the increased dynamiz-
ation is, however, so striking that it must force itself on every
attentive observer. It manifests itself most frequently and most
strikingly in symptoms which have not before been noticed in the
provings, but with reference to their location and to their sensa-
tion have some analogy with what is already known. On this is
mainly founded the arrangement of our " Therapeutical Manual"
and its use for fourteen years has perfectly confirmed what has
just been said. Only with reference to aggravations and allevi-
ations of symptoms according to time, position and circumstances
the higher and the lower potencies ever remain the same, and this
constant uniformity ought to urge Homoeopaths to study these
momenta with particular industry, and to pay especial attention
to the same when selecting a remedy. We are sorry that we are
compelled to here break off the discussion of this most important
. subject, and shall at a more fitting occasion adduce our experi-
ence on this subject more in detail; but we desired to call, already
at this time, the attention of our friends and colleagues to this
question.
Of the numerous facts bearing on this subject the following
from our experience may serve as an example:
A few weeks ago there appeared in the neighborhood of Darup
a disease among the cattle, which distinguished itself by a sudden
but complete paralysis of all the limbs. Of nine or ten cows
seized with this distemper, so far as is known, only two were
kept alive, but, also, these are to this day stiff in all their limbs
and can hardly walk. Two weeks ago a cow on our farm at
Darup was also seized by it, and all attempts to get her on her
legs again were in vain. A messenger was at once dispatched to
us for aid. He could give no additional symptom and took with
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142 THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES.
him two powders, namely, .one powder Pulsatilla 200. and two
Nux vomica 200., with the direction to give the second only after
twelve hours (as always, dissolved in water), in case that number
one should up to that time not have shown any effect. The mes-
senger who returned the same night to Darup arrived there in the
morning at 4:30 a. m., and about 5 o'clock the cow, which still
lay in the same condition, received powder number one, according
to our prescription About ten o'clock in the forenoon, thus five
hours later, the maid-servant found the cow, much to her as-
tonishment, standing up in her stable eating her fodder with
good appetite. When the cow was led out there was not the
slightest sign of lameness or stiffness, and the cure was complete,
and still remains so. So Pulsatilla had been the right remedy.
A few days later a cow of a neighboring farmer (Nagel) was
seized by the same disease. Since the rapid cure of our cow had
caused a great deal of a stir in the neighborhood, the man asked
for the other powder, number two {Nux vom.) t and the cow re-
ceived the same, and this cow was also cured, though not so
quickly as ours, but also within twelve hours, and it has since
then remained in good health. Since the disease was altogether
the same in both cases, and there had not been a single case of
spontaneous healing, and since both of these remedies, though so
different from each other, nevertheless had the same strikingly
favorable result, the conclusion is very near that only on account
of the high dynamization the curative power of each of them had
reached such an extension that both of them were homoeopathic-
ally suitable, and could equally, though not in the same short
time, but still in a short period, produce a complete and lasting
cure. Another equally fitting solution of this question, which is
by no means, however, isolated, might be difficult to find.
[According to this idea, the high potencies would diminish the
necessity of exact individualization ? This would be a deplorable
result.— Ed.]
8. " The curative power and effect of Homoeopathic remedies,
as Hahnemann himself foresaw (see Organon, fifth edition, § 275),
is in every case conditioned and determined as well by the size of
the dose as by the Homoeopathic appropriateness of the same."
The reference of this item to the paragraph in the Organon
gives the proper meaning to this dictum. For Hahnemann there
warns not against too small, but only against too large doses, and
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THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES. 14?3
he in addition italicizes "too strong doses." A still more special
explanation is given in § 276, which follows, in which he ex-
pressly calls the larger doses of the higher potencies the most in-
jurious. For many a young homoeopath of our time the note ap-
pended to this paragraph may be very noteworthy; it is the fol-
lowing: "The praise given of late by a few homoeopaths to
larger doses rests partly on the fact, that they select too low
potencies of the medicine to be selected, as I myself gave some
twenty years ago, from lack of better knowledge, partly because
the remedies were not selected homoeopathically." We would
mention here in passing, that these words were written in the
year 1833, therefore, the twenty years back of it would point to
181 3, the first youthful period of Homoeopathy. But how Hah-
nemann gradually arrived at smaller doses and higher potencies,
of this the various editions of the Materia Medica Pur a testify.
What progress he made in this respect in his later years, up to
his death (1843), thus ten years later, is only known to his more
intimate friends, among whom we, ourselves, had the good for-
tune of being reckoned, and thus we are entitled to the assurance
that everything that has been boldly asserted as to his relapse in
this respect, is utterly untrue and fabricated.
9/ " Since the curative power and effect of the high potency is
a fact, every potency, and therefore, also every high potency, may
serve as a dose in a given case."
10. " Thence arises the necessity of individualizing the dose as
you do the remedy. 1 '
11. "The ability to individualize the dose increases with the
number of the various potencies which may be used."
12. "In this respect the posological question gains a consider-
able extension, and as this can only be solved through "experi-
ments, careful observation, and correct experiments (Organon, §
278), it is of the greatest importance to multiply the experiments
with the high potencies."
13. "Such experiments must be made with preparations made
by the provers themselves on the human organism, and, indeed,
so long as these show themselves as a reagent, or touch-stone, be-
ing in a morbid state, and sufficiently sensitive for substances as
subtle as these medicines are."
With reference to the preceding five propositions, which fol-
low one from the other, and mutually supplement and explain
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144 THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES.
each other, we need only to emphasize the one point, which is
stated in No. 12, from the Organon, concerning experiments and
experience. Just as we cannot accept anything on mere asser-
tion or even supposition, so we trust firmly in constant and in-
dubitable experience, and this even when the results are of
such a nature that we cannot comprehend them. On this account
we consider ourselves perfectly justified in doubting every prop-
osition of our Therapy, until we have a complete propf of it.
Among these propositions which are strongly drawn in doubt we
especially number the frequently repeated assertion that the
higher potencies are only adapted to chronic diseases, but that
acute ailments must be treated with low dilutions. All who have
so far asserted this, and who would like to raise it to an axiom,
have left us without any proof in point; on the other hand, all
those who have instituted comparative experiments as to it have
soon convinced themselves of the opposite. It needs, indeed, but
few such experiments in order to find out that the higher po-
tencies act much more quickly than the lower, as may appear
from the cures of our author, and if in acute diseases the quickest
cure is the one most desired then these high potencies must in
consequence receive the preference.
Very often we find the statement in articles treating of posol-
ogy that the physician must have at his disposal the whole
series of dynamizations in order that he may be able to select
what may be the best and most suitable in the circumstances and
requirements. This, indeed, sounds very plausible and reason-
able to the uninitiated; but we others regard it as an empty
phrase, deceiving the unwary, so long as there is a lack of sure
rules resting on irrefragable experience, according to which the
one or the other potency deserves the preference and ought to be
chosen. Of such decisive rules we have not so far been able to
find any, except the one given above, the incorrectness of which
is manifest, and which besides that is current with but few
persons.
14. "Homoeopathic potencies, i. *., those fine preparations of
medicine which are prepared according to the method and prac-
tice of Hahnemann, are, in fact, when strictly examined by no
means mere sub-division of the medicines, but rather differenti-
ations and progressions, and at the same time, so to say, a
gradual generation and extension of the medicinal qualities of the
medicines and of the part given to the patient.*'
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THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES. 145
This position we regard as perfectly correct, it agrees with
what we set forth somewhat more in detail in our note to No. 7.
We need, therefore, only refer to it at this time.
15. "As to the computation instituted, a mere mathematical
. fraction of the medicinal parts which are contained in such po-
tentizing in the dose, it is insufficient and ambiguous, and will
lead to error and confusion, as has already been the case; further-
more, the immense series of numbers obtained in the computation
surpasses our comprehension, and finally this, by no means, cor-
responds to the real peculiarities of matter.
In agreeing with this proposition, we would refer in addition to
§ 284 of the Organon (5' Ed..), and to the note appended.
16. " For the theory ( technique) of poten tizing we are indebted
to the labors of Korsakoff and of Joslin, which are of great
value."
Korsakoff's Method is well known, that of Joslin we here find
mentioned for the first time. The former consists essentially in
emptying out the contents of the vial after it has been properly
shaken, and pouring in 100 drops of distilled water or alcohol.
Since in emptying out the vial at least one drop will remain adher-
ing to it, which serves as the unit from the preceding potentiation
for the following one, it may, indeed, be objected that thus it is im-
possible to maintain with mathematical exactness the proportion
of one to one hundred. But it would be an excessive scrupu-
losity and clinging to minutiae if we should take offense at such
a minute defect, the influence of which is sure to disappear the
longer this manipulation is continued. On the other hand, the
saving in the number of vials, and, when for the intervening
stages water is taken, the saving in alcohol, is quite considerable,
and the results have always, when they have been compared with
the procedure of Hahnemann, proved to be identical. Of # course
for the potencies which are to be preserved, as well on account of
their perfect preservation, as on account of moistening the pellets
therewith, only alcohol must be taken. There is therefore noth-
ing to be said against the recommendation of Korsakoff's method,
and if Joslin* s method agrees with it the same may be said of it.
As is well known the late Jenichen, of Wismar, spent a series of
years in making high potencies of all the homoeopathic remedies
commonly used, and these are still preserved and are in the pos-
session of Dr. Rentsch, in Wismar, who has obligated himself to
10
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146 THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES.
furnish these for a moderate price to homoeopathic physicians.
There is a certain obscurity as to the method used by this honor-
able man, who was truly enthusiastic for the cause of Homoe-
opathy, and this has kept some from using these preparations.
But that he preserved essentially the directions of Hahnemann
as well as the centesimal scale is sufficiently established by two
letters which have been preserved, and which we have communi-
cated and discussed in a particular appendix.
17. " In the use of high potencies we should, according to ex-
perience, follow the following rule : The more receptive the or-
ganism, the higher the potency and the smaller the dose."
In our note to No. 13 we have already expressed our conviction
founded on many years' experience, and we shall hold fast to this
conviction until our error— : which we do not comprehend — has
been completely shown, also, by experience. Till then we shall
quietly wait and see whether our numerous opponents will main-
tain their position without any comparative experiments, or
whether they will at least give so much faith to the asseverations
of experienced and honorable men as to make such experiments
rather than maintain blind assertions which are unproved, and
defend them.
18. " For a scientific establishment of the curative power and
efficiency of the high potencies, we cite the well-established law
of nature, discovered by Maupertuis and mathematically proved
by him; this we apply to Therapy. This is the law of the least
effects, by others called the Lex parsimonies; mocked, indeed, by
Voltaire, but defended and explained by Euler, and given its true
place again by Franklin. The discoverer stated it in the follow-
ing words: ' La quantity d* action nicessaire pour causer quelque
changement dans la nature est la plus petite qu'll soit possible,'
i. e., the quantity of action necessary to produce any change in
nature is the smallest that is possible."
" In agreement with this general principle the deciding weight
rests on a minimum, on something infinitesimally comminuted.
Applying this to our therapy, the highest potency contains the
most minute dose and is amply sufficient to cause the scale of the
balance to sink down, i. e., to effect a cure, if only care has been
taken that it is homoeopathically suitable."
Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (born 1697, died 1759)
was called to Berlin by King Frederick the Great in the year
1740 to fill the position of president of the Academy of Berlin.
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THE VALUE OF HIGH POTENCIES. 147
In the memoirs of this Academy there appeared in the year 1746
his treatise " Concerning the Laws of Motion and of Rest accord-
ing to the (Metaphysical) Law of the Least Effects," which in-
volved him in 1 numerous literary feuds. Among his most bitter
opponents was the frivolous Voltaire, who had formerly called
him his revered teacher, a sublime genius, an Archimedes, a
Colombo, but who now decried him as a bizarre head and an ec-
centric philosopher, but who, nevertheless, was finally compelled
to yield the field in Berlin to him. I my Self am too much of an
empiric to follow the learned Euler and Franklin into the mazes
of philosophy in the defense of the Lex parsimonies and would
rather keep to the processes taking place in the upper world be-
fore everybody's eyes. For also here there are a multitude of
phenomena which are instructive enough for every one will-
ing to listen to reason. We see here everywhere the oppo-
sites (to which both are subject and which differ so much from
one another) come forth plainly and show their effects. But just
as unmistakably the same nature works before our eyes in quite
a varying manner in her gentle and almost unnoticed activity,
and in the evolution of her mighty, immeasurable forces. Where
the warm, mild skies spread abroad in rich abundance, prosperity
and blessings all over the world, where the hurricane with its
lightning, hail and cloudbursts brings but destruction. While
the plant in moderate heat flourishes and matures its fruits, it
burns up in the fervent heat of the tropics, while in the arctic
cold of the North it congeals. We might adduce many such con-
trasts, if we are able to look for them, and they all prove by strik-
ing facts the general rule that the mild is always the best, while
violence leads to the worst.
19. "This law of effects (minimis maxima) appears therefore
to be an essential and necessary complement to the law of Homoe-
opathy (Similia similibus) and to occupy a similar place with it."
We can also affirm our perfect agreement with this conclusion,
and find in these two principles of similitude and of the minute-
ness of the dose the essential difference between Allopathy and
Homoeopathy. Just as the Contraria contrariis of the Allopaths
forms an immediate antagonism to our Similia similibus^ so there
is also an opposition between the size of the dose, for while they
give as large a dose as the strength of the patient is able to bear,
we administer a dose ag minute as may suffice for the cure, with-
out causing any danger or other molestation.
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148 ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS. •
Anamnesis of Sycosis.
Translated from the Allg. horn. Zeit^ Vol. 65, page 100.
Every homoeopathic physician, old-fashioned or new-fashioned,
knows and understands the importance of what is called
anamnesis. This anamnesis does not, as is well known, confine
itself to external injuries, as from a fall, a blow, a contusion, a
sprain, a burn, a wetting, etc., nor to antecedent diseases, such as
measles, scarlatina, etc., nor to various emotions or all other
manifold occurrences which are wont to be followed by severe
diseases. It is used as well, and with the most decided results,
in prophylactic treatment, in infectious epidemics, without wait-
ing for the appearance, much less the severe stage of a disease, as
soon as from a fully developed case of the disease in the neighbor-
hood the remedy for the disease may be determined with cer-
tainty; this remedy being also the surest prophylactic against in-
fection from the same disease. If the correctness of these views
is granted, and according to our constant experience up to this
time this must be granted, sound reason will see a great lack of
consistency, if we would deny in chronic diseases what has been
proved and verified in acute diseases. And yet the much reviled
and ridiculed theory of the three miasmas (psora, syphilis and
sycosis) laid down by the founder of our Homoeopathy is nothing
else than a consequential application of the doctrine of anamnesis
to chronic diseases, as this is most plainly laid down in § 5 and
§ 206 of the Organon (5th Ed. ). It is therefore totally incompre-
hensible how this has been so entirely overlooked, unless other
by no means praiseworthy motives have been brought into play.
For all the fair phrases about the exact obedience to the funda-
mental principles of homoeopathic Therapy cannot deceive the ex-
perienced practician and persuade him that he may at all times
select the most- appropriate remedy by means of whole sheets of
images of the disease in which there is nothing therapeutically
characteristic.
I do not wish to deny by any means that tjiere may be perhaps
beside the three above mentioned anamnestic indications, and be-
side the medicinal diseases, one or another additional miasm to
which may be ascribed a similar influence on health. Neverthe-
less such a miasm has not been so far proved by means of demon-
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ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS. 149
strative documents and it must therefore be left to future investi-
gations. But if we confine ourselves to what we have at present
before our eyes, and contemplate the successes of homoeopathic
practice in the treatment of chronic diseases by following the
teachings of Hahnemann, and if we do this in an impartial
manner, it cannot be disputed that the performances of our young
science excel those of our older sister.
The sagacious investigations and their results, which our Wolf
has laid down in his "Homoeopathic Experiences ' ' (Nos. 2-5),
and in which the domain of sycosis has been so much enlarged,
sufficiently explains the failure of the treatment of many cases of
this kind, because the true anamnesis was not known and could
not therefore be employed But now when the identity of small-
pox with sycosis has been, as it seems, sufficiently proved, and
the great diffusion given to the miasma through vaccination has
been put out of doubt, the treatment of many chronic cases, the
anamnesis of which had before been erroneously attributed to
psora, has received another form and far more certainty. Never-
theless it is on the other hand not to be denied that this circum-
stance has given an additional difficulty to our practice, as we
have not so far any certain signs by which we can distinguish
certainly the domain of the one miasma from, that of the other.
For by far the greatest number of the symptoms in chronic dis-
eases are found among all the three, and we lack as yet the re-
quisite sifting and separation of these symptoms, in so far as one
or the other of them belongs exclusively to the one or the other of
these miasmas, and may therefore serve for the determination of
this very important amnestic particular.
Since I have used probably longer and in greater extension
than any homoeopath now living the medicine Thuja, and also
first discovered its (almost) specific curative power in the case of
smallpox, in the sugar-disease, in some malignant aphthae of chil-
dren, in volvulus, etc., it will not be viewed as an assumption on
my part if I take the liberty in what follows of giving a contri-
bution to the symptoms . which are common to Thuja and to this
enlarged sycosis, which may serve in many cases to recognize the
nature of the miasma in question, and thus enable us to at once
start the treatment in the proper manner. In this investigation
it will be less a matter of investigation what symptoms, though
prominent, may be common to two or three of these fundamental
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150 ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS.
. diseases, than that which is peculiar to one or the other. Such a
separation of the special must of course have the consequence
that the image of the disease must be very incomplete and defec-
tive, but it will bring out more plainly those particular symptoms
which characterize the anamnestic miasma. In this work I have
of course first of all compared the chief remedies for the simple
above mentioned three miasms (Sulphur, Mercurius and Thuja)
and omitted everything that the first two offer of the same kind
with the other. But this very comparison has shown at the same
time that several of those remedies which Hahnemann counted
among the antipsoric may as well be counted among the antisy-
cotic. These are, therefore, added in parenthesis with those
symptoms, where they are found, and in this manner they enlarge
the series of antisycotic remedies by a goodly number, which is of
especial importance where we have a complication of the original
miasmas, and where, therefore, one chief remedy is not sufficient.
When we shall have made a similar comparison of the chief
antisyphilitic (Mercurius) and the image of psora as Hahnemann
has presented it in the chronic diseases (Vol. I, p. 58 and 67,
etc. ) shall have been limited to its own closer characteristic, by
separating from it the symptoms of Quicksilver and of Thuja,
then I think the treatment of chronic diseases must be rendered
much easier and more certain. I believe, therefore, that I may
hope that this view and also the modest essay here presented witf
not be refused all applause, but that the whole will be further
purified and developed on the basis of further experience.
Special Symptoms of Thuja.
MIND.
A fixed idea, that a stranger is always at his side (Anac.).
A fixed idea, that the spirit and body are separated from each
other (Anac).
A fixed idea, that the body and especially the limbs are of glass
and easily broken (?).
VERTIGO.
Vertigo when closing the eyes, and passing away again as soon
as they are opened (Ap. t Lach.).
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ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS. 151
INTERNAL HEADACHE.
i
5. Numbness and sensation of emptiness, solely in the top of
the head and in the vertex (?).
Pain in the vertex as if a nail were driven into it (/fell.,
Staph.).
The pains in the head are generally improved by moving in the
open air, by looking up and by moving the head backwards '(Ap. ,
Bell., Rhus).
OUTER HEAD.
Painfulness of the scalp when touched and in the parts on
which he lies (Nitr. ac. % Rhus).
He always wants to have his head tightly wrapped up (Lack.,
Rhus).
EYES.
10. Lachrymation of the eyes, especially in the open air, but
the tears are not discharged but stand in the eyes (Caust., Nitr m
ac.y Sep.).
Inflammatory loosening of the inner surface of the lids (Rhus).
VISION.
Sideways from the eyes, in the dark, there are seen lightnings
or sparks falling down in the bright light by day like dark
drops (?).
Objects always appear smaller (Plat., Stramon.).
HEARING.
Noises in the ear like boiling water (Dig.).
NOSE.
15. Warts on the nose (Caust.).
Eruptions in the angles of the nose (Euphras., Rhus).
Swelling and hardness of the nostrils (?).
SMELL.
Smell in the nose as from herring-brine, or as from fermenting
beer (Bell.).
FACE.
Glowing redness of the whole face, with a fine netting of
veins as if marbled (Calcar. % Card, veg., Lye).
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1 52 ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS.
20. Eruption in the face, leaving blue spots behind {Ferr.,
Lack.).
Light brown spots (freckles) in the face {Ant. cr., Calc,
Graph. , Kali, Natr., Nitr. ac, Phosph.).
Fatty skin of the face {Natr. mur., Selen.).
Scaling off of the skin in the face {Ap.). „
The veins on the temples are distended {Chin., Ferr.).
LIPS AND CHIN.
25. Flat, whitish sores on the inner sides of the lips and in the
corners of the mouth {Graph., Mezer.).
Cracking in the joint of the jaws {Nitr. ac, Rhus).
TEKTH.
The teeth crumble {Bor., Loch., Staph.).
The roots of the teeth rot {Mezer.).
The teeth become hollow on the sides, while the crowns remain
whole {Mezer., Staph.).
30. Corroding gnawing in the hollow teeth, aggravated by
cold things {Rhus, Staph.).
Toothache from drinking tea {Ferr., Selen.).
INNER MOUTH.
Painful swallowing, most of all when swallowing empty, or
when swallowing saliva {Loch., Rhus).
Jelly-like ranula {Mezer., Nitr. ac, Staph.).
Dislike to potatoes {Alum., ?).
35. Injuriously affected by tea {Chin., Ferr., Sden.)\ by sugar
{Merc, Selen.), and by onions {Lye, Puis.).
TASTE.
Food tastes as if salted too little {Ars., Calc., Cocc).
Bread tastes dry and bitter {Ferr., Rhus).
Taste as if from rotten eggs in the mouth early in the morning
{Arn., Hep., Phosph., Phosph. ac.).
ERUCTATION.
Constant eructation while eating \Nilr. ac).
STOMACH.
Induration of the stomach {Mezer.).
Liquids fall into the stomach with a noise (a thud) (?).
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ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS. 153
ABDOMEN.
The upper part of the abdomen is drawn in (Ap., Staph.).
INTEGUMENTS OP THE ABDOMEN.
Soreness of the navel (Rhus).
4*5. Zoster (Graph., Rhus).
Yellow or brownish spots on the belly (Sepia).
ANNULUS ABDOMINALIS.
Swelling of the inguinal glands (Calc., Nitr. ac, Rhus.,
Staph.).
FLATULENCE.
Like an animal crying in the belly (Arg., ?). .
stool.
Ineffectual tenesmus with erections (Ignat.).
50. In the morning or forenoon diarrhoea returning at the same
hour (Ap., Sabad.).
Fat,. oily stools (.Caust.).
ANUS.
Ill-smelling perspiration on the anus and between the nates (?).
Painful contraction of the anus during the stool (Staph.).
Condylomata on the anus (Nitr. ac. % Staph.).
PERINEUM.
Perspiration on the perinaeum (Alum., Card. an.).
Knotty swellings and soreness on the perinaeum (?).
urine.
Foaming urine (Kali, Lach., Lye).
Urine contains sugar (Chin., Phosph.).
The urine keeps dripping after micturition (Loch., Selen.).
SEXUAL ORGANS.
60. Copious perspiration on the sexual organs, smelling sweet
like honey and staining yellow (?).
MENSTRUATION.
Copious perspiration before the menses ( Veratr.).
Abortion in the third month (Apis, Sabin., Sec. corn.).
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154 ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS.
CATARRH.
Running catarrh in the open air and stuffed coryza in the room
(Jod. % Plat, Puis.).
Much m,ucus in the choanes (Euphr. y Nitr. ac. t Zincum).
65. Fluent coryza and sneezing at once bring relief {Lack.)
RESPIRATION.
Dyspnoea as if the lungs had grown fast to the chest (Mezer.).
Shortness of breath as from fulness and contraction in the hy-
pochondria and in the epigastrium (Staph.).
Dyspnoea from accumulation of mucus in the wind-pipe
(Selen.).
COUGH.
He coughs only by day, also in the morning when rising and
in the evening after lying down, but rarely by night (Euphras.,
Fer. % Loch., Nitr. ac. t Staph.).
70. When coughing in the evening after lying down, the ex-
pectoration is loose, when he turns from the left side to the right
(Kali, Lyc. % Phosph., Sepia).
The expectoration always tastes like old cheese (China , Kali,
Lye).
THROAT.
Swelling and sensation of constriction in the throat (Ap. t
Mezer.).
Sensation as of a membrane in the trachea (Loch., Phosph.).
NECK.
Veins of the neck blue and distended (<4rs. t Loch.).
75. Fatty and brown skin on the neck (Ap. y Lye.).
THE INNER CHEST.
Hot rising in the chest (Phosph.).
As if drops were falling down in the chest.
Lancinations in the chest after drinking anything cold
(Staph.).
Rush of blood and audible palpitations (Dig., Jod. t Spigelia).
80. Anxious palpitations in the morning on awakening (Rhus,
Spig.).
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ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS. 156
EXTERNAL CHEST.
Blueness about the clavicle {Lack.).
Brownish spots on the chest (Lye, Phospk., Sepia).
BACK.
Burning from the small of the back up to the shoulder-blades
{Phospk., Septa).
Beating and pulsations in the back {Bar., Lye, Phospk.).
85. Blood-boil on the back {Caustic., Graph., Hepar).
UPPER uhbs v
Herpes on the elbow {Phospk., Sepia, Staph.).
Brown color of the dorsum of the hand {Jod.).
Herpes with white crusts on the dorsum of the hands and on
the fingers {Lye, Sepia).
90. Warts on the hands {Lack,, Nitr. ax,, Rhus).
Swelling of the finger-tips like erysipelas, with formication
therein {Rhus).
Crippled, crumpling and discolored finger-nails {Graph., Nitr.
ac. 9 Sil.)
LOWER LIMBS.
Looseness in the hip- joints {Ap., Cole., Staph.).-
In walking the legs feel like wood {Plumb., Rhus).
Aching of the hip with elongation of the leg {Coloc, Rhus).
Brown skin on the legs especially on the inner side of the
thigh(?).
Net of veins on the dorsum of the foot, as if marbled {Caust.,
Lye).
Burning corns {Ammon., Bar., Phospk. ac., Rhus).
Red swelling of the tips of the toes {Chin., Mur. ac).
100. Crumbling crippled toe- nails {Ars., Graph,, Sabad.,
Sepia).
Ill-smelling perspiration on the toes {Bar,, Graph., Kali, Nitr.
ac., Puis., Sil.).
Suppressed perspiration of the feet {Ap., Kali, Rhus, Sepia,
Sil.).
GENERAL SYMPTOMS.
Emaciation and dying off of the parts affected {Ars., Carb. veg.,
Graph., Mezer., Plumb., Selen.).
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156 ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS.
Frequent twitching of the upper part of the body {Natr. mur.,
Nitr. ac, Sepia).
105. The flesh feels as if beaten loose from the bones (Ap.,
Lach. y Nitr. ac, Rhus).
Feeling of lightness in the body when walking {Chin., Rhus,
Spig.)
Sensation as if from tenderness and fragility in the body(?).
Cracking of the joints when stretching them {Lye, Rhus).
Abuse of Sulphur and Quicksilver {Caust., Puis., Sepia).
no. Return of ailments after a year's time {Ars.).
Aggravation in the evening and at night.
Aggravation of some of the ailments about 3 o'clock a. m.
Cold wet aggravates, warm wet alleviates.
Eructation, as also coryza, are soon followed by an alleviation.
Many internal and external ailments are alleviated when he
turns from the left to lie on the right side.
Injurious effects from beer, fat acid, sweets, tobacco, tea, wine
and onions {Ars., Chin., Fer., Loch., Sepia).
BONES.
Rachitic ailments of the bones. •
SKIN.
Dirty brownish color of the skin {Ferr., Jod.).
Brown-reddish {Nitr. ac, Phosph.), or brownish- white spots
{Ars., Phos., Sep., Sil.).
Brownish spots on the skin {Ant. cr., Card, veg., Lye, Mezer. %
Nitr. ac, Phosph., Sepia).
A fine netting of veins, as if marbled {Card, veg., Caust., Lye,
Plat.).
An eruption only on the parts which are covered {Led.).
Small-pox {Ant. cr., Ant. tart., Ars., Bell., Nitr. ac., Merc,
Rhus).
Chicken-pox {Ant. cr., Ant. tart., Card, veg., Puis., Sepia).
125. All the eruptions burn violently after washing them in
cold water (?).
Condylomata which often smell like old cheese or herring-brine
{Calc, Graph., Hepar).
Large, indented warts often with peduncles, humid and bleed-
ing easily {Caust., Lye, Nitr. ac, Phosph. ac, Rhus, Staph).
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ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS. 157
Itching, tetters covered with crusts {Graph. , Rhus, Sepia).
Whitish, scaling, dry, mealy tetters {Ars., Calc, Dulc, Lye,
Sep., Sil.).
130. Herpes circinnatus {Graph., Jod., Natr., Septa). Flat
sores with bluish white fundus {Ars., Lach., Lye, Sep., Sil.).
Crippled nails on fingers and toes {Caust., Graph., Nitr. ac,
Sabad., Sil.).
Corroding itching in the skin, improved by scratching, but yet
burning {Caust., Loch., Mezer., Rhus, Sulph.).
Abundant growth of hair on parts usually hairless (?).
SLEEP.
135. Long continued sleeplessness, with pains in the parts on
which a person lies {Hepar).
Sleeplessness with seeing ghosts, as soon as the eyes are closed,
and disappearing as soon as they are opened {Ap. (?), Lach. (?)).
Late in going to sleep, owing to restlessness and heat {Bryon. ,
Phosph., Rhus).
Anxious dreams when he lies on the left side {Lye, Phosph.,
Puis , Sepia).
FEVERISH BLOOD.
A rush of blood in the evening {Lye).
FEVERISH CHILL.
140. In the evening and at night a chill often runs down the
back {Ars. t Puis., Rhus).
Chill, as if cold water were poured over the person {Merc,
Mezer., Puis., Rhus).
FEVER HEAT.
Dry heat while sleeping {Samb.).
FEVER-PERSPIRATION.
Perspiration smells sweet like honey {Bryon. (?), Puis., (?)
Selen.{7)).
Perspiration dyes things a brownish yellow {Ars., Bell., Card,
an., Graph., Magn., Lach., Selen.).
145. Cadaverous exhalation from the skin(?).
General perspiration with the exception of the head {Bell.,
Rhus, Samb.).
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158 ANAMNESIS OF SYCOSIS.
In the morning, when walking in the open air, copious perspi-
ration most of all on the head (Calc).
Perspiration most copious on the upper part of the body (Carb.
ieg. % Nitr. ac, Nux v., Sec. corn., Sep., Sulph. ac.).
Perspiration, either only on the covered or on the uncovered
parts of the body(?).
150. Perspiration while sleeping, stooping, as soon as one wakes
up (Euphr., Nux v., Phosph., Puis.).
From the preceding series of symptoms, which may be consid-
ered as the essential substance of all that is known of the peculiar
symptoms of Thuja (and of pure sycosis(?)), we see the greater
or lesser relationship that exists with the following remedies :
Anacard., Ant. cr. f Apis, Ars., Bar., Bell., Calc, Card, an.,
Card, veg., Caust., Chin., Euphr., Ferr., Graph., Hepar, Jod.,
Kali, Lach., Lye, Mezer., Nitr. ac, Phosh., Phosph. ac, Plat.,
Plumb., Puis., Rhus, Sabad., Selen., Sepia, Sil., Spig., Staph.
Just as such a coincidence points to a sycotic anamnesis, so ex-
perience has also confirmed that in numerous cases thfe use of
these remedies has been found especially useful in ailments which
can be proved to have originated in this source when they have
been also otherwise correctly selected according to the fundamen-
tal homoeopathic principle. For it hardly ever is possible to de-
stroy the whole of the many-formed sycotic miasma by the use of
Thuja alone, just as little as Sulphur alone can destroy psora or
Quicksilver can destroy syphilis and its manifold sequelae by itself
alone. Still less can this be expected where, as is often the case,
there are complications of two or three of the miasms, of which
Hahnemann speaks in his "Chronic Diseases" (I., page 115,
2d edition), and these complications are by no means as rare as
some people might suppose. Least of all can the cure be effected
with only a few remedies, when many remedies have already been
used, and where as it is described in the " Organon § 75," " the
human health has been utterly ruined,' ' which, when it has been
carried to a certain height, "must be declared to be incurable by
medicines alone and therefore requiring a long treatment.' '
It is very curipus that in such cases the above mentioned medi-
cines regularly deserve the preference, even before those remedies
which have sycotic symptoms and especially condylomata (though
generally of a different kind) among their symptoms. Among
these are to be mentioned especially: Ant. tart., Apis, Bar., Bell.,
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CONCERNING MOTION AND REST. 159
Bryon., Cole., Caust, Cham., Dulc, Euphr., Hepar, Jod., Lach. t
Lye, Mezer., Nitr. ac., Nnx v., Petr., Phosph. ac., Rhus, Sabin.,
Sec. corn., Selen., Sepia, Sil., Staph., Suiph. Is it possible that
there should be also condylomata which, like some cases of gon-
orrhoea, are not really of a sycotic nature, and in their essentials
have nothing in common with it ? For great and striking as is
the similarity as a whole between these two middle series, there
are yet considerable differences, not only with respect to the rem-
edies themselves, but also as to their relative value. In the mean-
while we should not forget that sycotic anamnesis is a later result
of Homoeopathy developing into greater bloom and that in the
course of a few more years, when additional experience will have
been collected on this subject, many alterations and supplements
may be expected.
Every orie, however, must see that this subject is of the great-
est importance, and that we have every reason to turn to it our
careful attention, as it is more than probable that the purely
homoeopathic anamnesis will lead us on the right path to enable
us to achieve the cure of some chronic diseases which even to us
have hitherto been incurable. Whoever therefore sincerely and
earnestly desires to further develop our blessed science and thus
relieve many desperate diseases of our fellowmen will not lay
aside this communication altogether unnoticed and unproved.
Concerning Motion and Rest.
Translated from the Allg\ horn. Zeit., Vol. 6$, p. 141.
In reading and studying through the long rows of symptoms
of the medicines that have been thoroughly proved, there will be
found in them, even without any forced interpretation, the ma-
terial for a great multitude of the most various diseases. This
abundance of symptoms nearly all the remedies have in common,
and it is repeated not only in the oldest but in the newest provings.
Only now and then we meet with a symptom which is peculiar
to only one or two of the remedies, but this seldom suffices to
characterize an ailment, much less a disease.
This fact of which any one having eyes can convince himself,
makes it very intelligible, that besides the properly morbid
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160 CONCERNING MOTION AND REST.
symptoms and sensations, also other momenta have to be regarded
in order to secure the proper selection t>f a remedy in a concrete
case. But these momenta proximately and chiefly lie in the
peculiarities of the diseases as well as the medicines, and the great
point is to investigate both of these and to seize upon them with
sagacity, and to combine them, in order to fully satisfy the
principle Similia similibus!
To what degree the founder of Homoeopathy and his first im-
mediate pupils recognized and followed this, appears every where in
their writings in the most unmistakable manner. Many of the
younger Homoeopaths do not seem to have recognized the impor-
tance and necessity of this part of therapy and instead of this they
lay a particular stress on general physiology and pathology which
of late have flourished in an admirable manner and which are able,
indeed, to recognize a disease with the most admirabfe certainty
but are unable to heal it. We need only to read and compare the
later accounts of cures with the earlier ones, and even with the
most vaunted ones, in order to see the correctness of my state-
ments.
It would lead us too far, however, if I should treat even in the
briefest manner of the pecularities of the Homcepathic therapy,
and wherein it differs from the allopathic mode, and thus show
how the former must be practised. But it may not be without
its use to touch on one especial point which is generally left un-
noticed by allopaths, because they know not how to use it< but
which with us is used constantly, because it always shows a great
influence on internal as well as external ailments and therefore
deserves a great deal of attention as a necessary constituent of
the simile. I mean the influence of motion and rest on' the
aggravation of diseases.
The origin or aggravation of (internal as well as external) dis-
eases by the motion of the body or merely of the part affected,
in contrast with rest, is doubtless known in a general way to
every Homoeopath. No one will e. g, give Bryonia in so called
typhoid fever when the patient keeps throwing himself about
restlessly and cannot find any rest, owing to pains in the limbs,
which can only be alleviated through movement. As little will
he give in the disease which bears this pathological name Rhus >
when every motion, even the slightest, aggravates the pains in
the limbs so as to become unbearable, and alleviation is only ob-
tained by the greatest amount of rest.
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CONCERNING MOTION AND REST. 161
It would, however, be a great mistake to suppose that the
general names of rest and motion exhaust the matter. Just in
this matter it appears most plainly as also in many other influenc-
ing circumstances, with what penetration and determination the
• investigation of the patient must proceed, if we would select the
remedy with confidence and thus surely cure the patient. The
following essay is devoted to th closer consideration of motion
and rest, which I would present to the attention of my colleagues
after studying the subject carefully and for many years.
When the patient answers the question whether motion aggra-
vates his disease, in the affirmative manner, this answer may
contain three different meanings. For the aggravation of ailments
may either take place first on commencing or in continuing, or
lastly immediately after the motion, all essential differences,
which are ail wont to be referred to motion and as a consequence
of it, and yet each of these differences point to a different remedy.
For where the aggravation only appears at the beginning of the
motion while it diminishes more and more as it is continued,
there Capsicum, Carbo veg., Caust., Euphorbium, Ferrum, Fluor.
ac. y Lycop. y Pulsatilla , Rhus t., Sabad., Samb. and Silicea are
most frequently indicated, but when continued motion aggra-
vates, the choice will more proximately fall on Belladonna,
Bryonia, Cocculus, Colchicum, Ledum, Nux vom. y etc. Other
remedies again will be first considered when the aggravation
comes on after previous motion only during the following rest;
then we would proximately look for Agaricus, Anac, Arsen.,
Cannabis, Hyoscyamus. Kali, Pulsatilla, Rhus t., Ruta t Sepia,
Spongia, Stannum, Stram. , Valerianum and Zincum.
Important as is the distinction pointed out, in very many cases
even this is not yet sufficient, for there are with respect to rest
and motion several other momenta which deserve as well to be
considered, because just like the differences already recorded,
they correspond to the individual genius of different medicines.
First of all, it makes a considerable difference whether the
motion is violent and combined with an exertion of the body
when we would have to especially consider Aconite, Arsenicum,
Arnica, Bryonia, Calcarea, Cannabis, Lycopodium, Nux vom. y
Rhus, Ruta, Silicea and Sulphur.
On the other hand, if the person has been overheated, the
following will especially be considered: Aconite, Ant. crud.,
ii
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162 CONCERNING MOTION AND REST.
Belladonna, Bryonia , Camphora, Car bo veg., Digit., Kali, Opium,
Phosphor., Sepia, Silic, Thuja and Zinc. We have not the
room here to further consider what might be added as to taking
cold immediately ' or soon afterwards, either in the whole body
or in single parts, so also whether this was attended with a wet-
ting or not, and then what remedies this would call into play.
But in addition it is necessary to note that the kind of motion
also offers its additional indications. We have e. g., for aggrava-
tion when raising oneself Aconitum, belladonna, Bryonia, Ignatia,
Nux vom., Opium, Rhus, Staph., and Sulphur, while aggra-
vation from stooping down corresponds more to Alum., Ammon.
card., Arnica, Calcarea, Lachesis, Mang,, Sepia, Spigelia, Thuja
and Valer. , although we may also hope for results from some of
the other medicines, especially from such as have reciprocal
actions when there is a Homoeopathic suitableness in the other
symptoms.
Something similar may be said about rising up, first from a
seat for which Aconite ., Apis mell., Caps., Conium, Fluor, ac,
Lycopodium, Phosph., Pulsatilla, Rhus t., Spigelia, and then
again from bed, for which Apis mell., Bryonia, Car bo veg.,
Conium, Lachesis, Sulphur are especially appropriate. It is of
course to be understood that the beginning of the motions as well
as the rising up, and in the latter not least of all the aggravation
after sleeping, and thence also numerous other remedies are to be
considered. Besides this with both the first varieties it is to be
noted whether the aggravation of symptoms comes at the time or
after the time of rising from the bed or seat, because in both
these cases, as has been mentioned above of motion in general,
different remedies come into competition.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that the kind of motion shown
in an aggravation from stretching out the part affected gives an in-
dication for Alum., Calcarea, Colocynth, Rhus t., Sepia, Staph.,
Sulphur and Thuja and the motion of bending or turning of the
same, Ammon. mur., Cicuta vir., Ignatia, Kali, Lycopod., Nux
vom., Spigelia, Pulsatilla and Spongia, with the latter there is
besides a considerable difference whether this bending takes place
in an outward direction (Capsicum, Causticum), or inwards
(Ignatia, Staph)., or backwards (Calcarea, Kali, Pulsatilla,
Sepia, Sulphur), or sideways (Belladonna, Natr. mur)., or for-
wards (Coffea, Thuja), ox finally, from maintaining a bent position
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CONCERNING MOTION AND REST. 163
{Hyoscy., Spongia, Valer). Among the former motions (stretch-
ing) we would also reckon extending and stretching oneself, which
also has its own remedies indicated, i. e., Ammon. carb. y Ran.
bulb. , and Rhus t. , as also drawing up the limb, which frequently
points to Ant. tart., Rhus U, or Secale corn. Also lifting up the
limb for which Arnica, Baryta, Belladonna, Ferrum, Kali, Ledum,
Rhus t. , and Silicea are suitable. Then especially for spraining
in lifting for which Arnica, Borax, Bryonia, Calcarca, Cocculus,
Graph., Ignat., Lycop., Natr. card., Nux vom., Phosph. ac,
Rhus t. % Sepia, Sulphur, and Silicea are indicated in the first
place. All these belong here and they, together with some other
remedies which though more rarely used, are still among those to
be selected.
Although we must count walking among the motions and
therefore the differences as to aggravation at the beginning,
when continued and when it has ceased are subject to the same
rules as motion in general, still some particular kinds of walking
ought to be specially considered, which owing to their circum-
stances offer some special indications. Among these we especially
count walking in the open air, which indeed causes an aggrava-
tion in a number of ailments and therefore is found in a great
number of remedies, but is found most decidedly in Anac, Bella-
•donna, Card, vcg., Cocculus, Colchicum, Coniutn, Fluor, ac, Hepar,
Nux vom., Phosph. ac, Selen., Spigelia and Sulphur.
But this by no means exhausts our therapeutic treasury. For
we must examine still further whether such aggravation comes on
from walking in moist air or during rain, when Ammon. card.,
Calc, Colch., Dulc, Fluor, ac, Lach., Lycopodium, Nux mosch.,
Rhus tox., Sulphur or Veratrum are suitable, or in dry air, when
Asar., Belladonna, Bryonia, Caust., Hepar, Nux vom. and
Pulsatilla are usually indicated. Beside this staying in the
hot sun points to Ant. cr., Belladonna, Bryonia, Lach., Natr. card.,
Pulsatilla, Selenium and Valer., while aggravation from walk-
ing in a thunder storm points to Agar., Natr. card., Phosph.,
Rhodod. and Silicea; in snowy air to Calc, Conium, Lycopod.,
Phosph.; and in fog, Bryonia, Cham., China, Mang., Nux
mosch., Rhodod., Rhus t., Sepia, Sulphur and Veratr. are par-
ticularly indicated. So also walking in the wind belongs to these
symptoms in which the remedies Arsen., Asar., Bell., Calc,
Cham., China, Euphrasia, Graphit., Lach., Lycop., Nux vom.,
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164 CONCERNING MOTION AND REST.
Phosph., Pulsat., Rhus L, Spigelia and Thuja are suitable, as
they are indicated in a strong wind.
Besides the preceding circumstances, which have a therapeuti-
cal effect on the motion of walking, there are several others which
at times in various ailments furnish an indication all the more use-
ful, as in them there is often lack of any other leading attendant
symptom. Among these are vertigo, the increase of which, while
walking over a narrow bridge ', points to Baryt. , Ferr. and Sulphur;
or along the water or across it, pointing to Ang., Ferr. and
Sulph. So also pains in the soles of the feet aggravated by walk-
ing on hard ground ox on a stone pavement point to Ant. crud.,
Arsen., Conium omd Hepar. Quite particularly should we give
attention to climbing, and here not alone climbing up, for aggra-
vation from which the chief remedies indicated are Arnica, Arsen.,
Bryonia, Cuprum, Nux vom., Senega, Spigelia, Spongia and
Sepia, but also climbing down, in which Arg., Conium, Ferr.,
Lye, Rhodod*, Ruta, Sabina and Veratrum have proved useful in
many cases.
Among motions we must also enumerate riding on horseback
and driving in a carriage. Driving in a carriage causes a num-
ber of ailments, or it increases them, which find their remedy
chiefly in Arsen., Bryonia, Cocc., Colchic., Hepar, Hyosc.,Ignatia,
Loch., Nux mosch., Opium, Petr., Rhus t., Selen., Sepia, Silicea
and Sulphur. Sea sickness while going in a ship is mostly limited
to Arsen., Cocc., Colch., Ferr., Hyosc, Opium, Petr., Sil. and
Tabac. Though nausea from swinging, which would seem to be
closely allied to it, is only suitable for Borax and Carbo veg. As
a curiosity, we would yet add that many ailments are improved
by riding in a carriage, and in such cases Arsen., Graph., jNitr.
ac. and Phosph. are usually indicated.
With respect to those persons who cannot stand riding on
horseback, it will generally be found that their disease is of such
a kind that Graph., Natr. carb., Sepia, Spigelia and Ac. sulph.
are the suitable remedies. Also here we meet with the peculiar-
ity that in very painful, inflamed and external haemorrhoids there
are cases where riding causes the greatest relief and where then
a single minimal dose of Kali carbon, is sufficient to cure the ail-
ment quickly and permanently.
A very useful indication is afforded by the fact that change of
position aggravates certain ailments and this is a very striking in-
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CONCERNING MOTION AND REST. 165
dication for the use of Caps.,, Carbo veg. 9 Conium, Euphorb.,
Lach. y Lycop., Phosph.,Puls. and Samb.; but the same cause may
also serve to alleviate it, and in such a case Chanty Ignatia,
Phosph. ac. , Valer. or Zincum are characteristically indicated.
Turning in bed is also a motion in which various remedies pro-
duce either more or less of an aggravation, and these are indicated
particularly with Aconite \ Arsen. f Borax, Bryonia, Cann., Capsic,
Carbo veg. t Conium, Ferr., Hepar, Lycop., Natr. mur., Nux
vom., Pulsate Rhus t., Sil., Staph, and Sulphur. Nearly related
to it is looking around, an aggravation from which has, so far,
been noticed only in Calc. , Cicuta vir. , Conium, Ipecac, and Kali.
Besides the various kinds of motion above described, there are
many others, which may the more readily be passed over in this
connection, as in them frequently only single parts of the body
are set in motion, which of themselves have something individual
in them and where the motion is rather secondary; among these
is respiration, as well inspiration, as expiration, swallowing
saliva or empty swallowing, as well as the swallowing of food or of
4rinks, sneezing , yawning , coughing, speaking, writing, etc. Con-
cerning all these various circumstances in so far as they show an
influence on the aggravation or alleviation of ailments, our Ma-
teria Medica Pura contains a copious abundance of experience,
first discovered by provings on healthy persons and then confirmed
by their use with the sick. They have, therefore, a double proof,
so to say, as it were, a priori and a posteriori, and they deserve to
be considered in the selection of remedies no less than all the
other symptoms. If this is not done much at the present time,
and if the pathological general symptoms are more regarded and
the incidental symptoms which are generally very characteristic
are on that account neglected, it cannot be denied that such a
laxity and omission in putting to use our fundamental principles
is in no way to be approved of, and that we need not be astonished
that u experiments on the sick," greatly to their injury, are be-
ing substituted, while pu*e experience becomes more and more
rare.
I have thought it useful and necessary to say this much about
the influence of motion and its various kinds on the symptoms of
diseases, and, therefore, also on the importance of noting them
and adapting our medicines to them, in order to show to what
extent and with what critical acumen they ought to be used.
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166 CONCERNING MOTION AND REST.
This will at the same time show with what industry our therapeu-
tical edifice has been constructed for fifty years, for the first
volume of the Materia Medica Pura appeared in the year 1811
with 248 pages, while the third edition appeared in the year 1830
with 504 pages; while from that time on every properly docu-
mented new experience and discovery finds in it its appropriate
place and must contribute to its further extension and completion.
As to what may be said with respect to rest, as causing aggra-
vation of symptoms, I may be brief, since the essential points are
already contained in what precedes when taken by contraries; it
need not, therefore, be especially enumerated. Only one kind of
rest may deserve a few words, as it contains a truly indispensable
characteristic for many external and internal diseases, and yet
when we read through the newer descriptions of cases it causes
astonishment that it is hardly deemed worthy of any considera-
tion — I mean lying dawn.
I will pass here over lying down, simply in opposition to mo-
tion, so also over lying in bed, in order to pass on to the different
positions, which may be assumed in this respect.
First among these is aggravation through stretching out in contra-
distinction to lying curled up; among the remedies showing aggra-
vation by the former there are Cham., Colch., Coloc, Platina, Pul-
satilla, Rheum, Rhus /.and Staph.; while with the latter Hyosc %
Lycop., Mar., Sfiong. and Voter, are most frequently indicated.
It is otherwise with lying deep with the head; when this causes
aggravation, then Ant. tart., Arg., Arsen., Caps., Chin., Colch. %
Hepar, LacH., Nitr., Pulsat. and Spigelia aie to be considered,
while Ap. mell. , Arnica, Be Had. and Sfiongia come in when the
horizontal position is the most comfortable.
Of greater importance than the former are the positions on the
back and on the side. When lying on the back causes aggravation %
it points especially to Ammon. mur., Arsen., Caust., Cham., Chin %%
Colch., Cupr., Cycl., Jod., Nitr., Nux vom., Phosph., Plumb. %
Rhus I. , Sepia, Silic. or Spigelia. But if it causes improvement
then the remedy will usually be found among Aconite, Anac %
Bryonia, Calc. carb., Carb. an., Kalicarb., Lycop., Merc, Puls. %
Seneg., Stann. or Thuja.
The case where the side position causes aggravation and which,
in general, points to Aconite, Anacard., Bryonia, Calc, Carb. an. %
Kali carb., Lycop., Phosph., Pulsat., Stann.,, Sulphur and
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CONCERNING MOTION AND REST. 167
Thuja offers two further varieties, which are of considerable im-
portance, namely, the position on the right or the left side, and
secondly, on the painful or on the painless side. Where these
differences are not noticed, we grope in the dark in many ail-
ments of the head, chest and abdomen, and only find the right
thing after long experimenting, where the cure might have been
easily effected at the first.
The following medicines have proved their value in aggravation
from lying on the right side: Amm. mur., Borax, Caust., Magn.
mur., Mercur., Nux vom. and Spongia; and from lying on the
left side: Aconite, Amm. card., Baryta, Bryonia, Colch., Ipec,
Natr. card., Natr. mur., Petr., Phosph^, Pulsat., ♦ Sepia, Sil. }
Sulphur and Thuja. But where this comes into collision with
the following, the latter ought to have the preference.
The most important and most frequently used difference is what
is noticed in lying on the painful and the painless side. In the
first case the most important medicines are Aconite, Amm. card.,
Arsen., Baryta, Calad., CycL, Bros., Graphit., Hepar, fod.,
Loch., Lye, Magn. mur., Mosch., Nitr. ac, Nux vom., Nux
mosch., Par., Phosphor., Phosph. ac, Rheum, Ruta, Sabad.,
Selen., Sil., Spongia, Staph, and Thuja. In contradistinction to
these an aggravation from lying on the painless side is found in
Calc, Cann., Caust., Cham., Coloc, Fluor, ac, Ignatia, Kali
card., Pulsat., Rhus t, Sec. corn., Sepia, Stann. and Viola tr.
All these indications are so reliable and proved by so many
thousands of experiments that there are hardly any others which
equal them, much less surpass them. The most important point
in this is that this characteristic is not limited to one or the other
ailment, but like a red thread, it passes through nearly all morbid
symptoms connected with any pain or even any sensation of un-
easiness, and it is, therefore, of avail fcr all internal, as well as
external, ailments of the most varied nature.
It is, therefore, much to be wondered at, that a point of such
general application and so manifestly useful for determining the
selection of remedies in mafiy of the latest" and otherwise carefully
presented cases of disease has been so totally left out of considera-
tion, while the results of auscultation and of percussion are
enumerated with the most painstaking exactness, although the
symptoms of our old and thoroughly tried Materia Medica con-
tain nothing about these methods, then unknown, and, therefore,
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168 CONCERNING MOTION AND REST.
these indications are of very little value in determining the selec-
tion of the remedies. As the conscientious homoeopathic physi-
cian must be chiefly concerned with restoring his patient as much
as possible citoet tute % rather than parade before him his scholastic
attainments and thus impose upon him, it is his duty, first of all, to
find out those therapeutical pathological symptoms which secure the
correct selection of the remedy and then only in second place should
he seek to determine those physiologico-pathological phenomena
where these can do no damage. And should he then, in a praise-
worthy manner, seek to secure a useful application of the stetho-
scope and the plessimeter for the future, he should endeavor to
bring these new instruments into combination with the old and
tried symptoms, so that the two may in the future be applied
jointly to secure a more certain cure.
But he that does net follow this method, but in opposition to
§ 153 of the Organon proceeds over the sterile void of a pathology
without character, must not ask of us that we should acknowledge
him as a true homoeopathist, just as little as those who in opposi-
tion to § 245, etc , by doses unnecessarily massive, give our op-
ponents cause — as has been done in part not without reason in
the Allg. Preuss. Med. Zeitung of 1861 — to declare that the dis-
tinction between homoeopathic and allopathic physicians have
been obliterated, and to conclude thence, that it is needless to
give us the privilege to.dispense our own medicines, as the neces-
sity, therefore, is denftd. If anybody, whoever he may be, is
not ashamed to publish to the world that Hahnemann himself,
toward the end of his life, had returned to the use of massive
doses and only pretended from corrupt motives that he still main-
tained the use of his potencies, such a person is nothing else than
a mean slanderer, who must lose all credibility with every honor-
able man, whether he be allopath or homoeopath, and he should
be exposed in the public pillory as a malicious liar, and this will
be effected through the publication of original articles from the
sick journals of the great Master which we expect to effect in the.
near future.
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THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS. 169
The Use of High Attenuations in Homoeopathic
Practice,
The great medicinal virtue and curative efficacy of the high
and highest attenuations, or, more correctly speaking, dynamiza-
tion of conscientiously-prepared homoeopathic remedies have been
so thoroughly and convincingly tried and proved by some of the
most experienced and honorable practitioners, that one really
cannot help feeling some surprise at the strange obstinacy with
which so many professed homoeopaths not only refuse to employ
high attenuations in their practice, but even pronounce them
a priori, as totally inefficient, and endeavor to ridicule the notion
that would ascribe the slightest medicinal action or virtue.
And yet no one who has impartially put the question to the
only reliable test, that of experience, will deny that the discovery
of the high dynamization is one of the most marvellous progresses
of the homoeopathic science, and that no other improvement, in
homoeopathic technics can compete with it.
The immortal Hahnemann, whose talent really looks some-
times like an inspiration from above, had, in the last years of his
life, arrived at a profound conviction of the efficacy of high at-
tenuations, and had accordingly for some time followed, in the
preparation of his remedies and in his doses, a method different
from that which he had recommended to the public in bis former
works; the modifications then introduced he intended to publish
to the world in the last edition of his " Organon. M
This edition has, unfortunately, never appeared, though I
know, from several letters of Hahnemann, to a certainty, that he
had completed the work, and that the MS. was ready for the
printer, when death struck him. The world knows well by whose
means the publication of that most important work has been pre-
vented. But from the same letters of the great master, with
which he honored and rejoiced me during a period of more than
fourteen years, and of which the last was dictated scarce two
months before his death, and signed with already trembling hand,
I know pretty well what he thought of high dynamizations, and
that he unreservedly approved of the notions and proceedings in
this matter of myself and of my friends (Stapf and Gross). It
was, therefore, by no means a mere inconsiderate desire of inno-
vation that prompted me first to call the attention of homoeopathic
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170 THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS.
practitioners to the important subject, in an article which appeared
in the New Archives for Homoeopathic Medicine (Vol. I., No. 2, p.
36), "and to which my friend Stapf appended some remarks rela-
tive to several cases of Gross and his own, fully confirmatory of
my views and experience.
I should think that homceopathists, at all events those who pro-
fess to have used with the greatest success our remedial agents up
to the 30th attenuation, have no right to reject a priori the
higher attenuations. Assuredly no one will venture to affirm
that a material medicinal substance continues still to be present
in the 20th attenuation; the homoeopathic practitioner knows that
no perceptible difference can be discerned betweer the action of
the 1 8th and the 24th, or between that of the 24th and the 30th
attenuation, although materially the differences are great enough
in all conscience. This fact alone should suffice to prove con-
vincingly, or at all events raise a stroig presumption, that the
medicinal virtue of a remedial agent, though (if we may be per-
mitted to use the expression) in-dwelling in the matters is by
no means inherent in that matter or identical with it, and that
this mysterious principle which eludes the grasp of the chemist,
must not be measured by the rule applied to ponderable sub-
stances, but in its evolution and propagation rather akin to
the imponderable principles (light, heat, electricity, magnetism).
I have this very year commenced a series of comparative ex-
periments on the influence on vegetation which matters, indiffer-
ent in themselves, may acquire by being shaken or strongly rub-
bed together with substances exercising a certain action upon
vegetation. These experiments, which I intend to continue,
even now already give the most positive and conclusive results,
showing that vegetable life is highly susceptible of being acted
upon by high attenuations. I intend shortly to publish my ex-
periments on this subject, and the results to which they have led.
I have a sanguine hope that these results may finally lead to the
deduction of a new hitherto unknown law for animated nature,
as startling as the " similia similibus M All experiments of this,
intelligently and accurately conducted, are questions asked of
nature, and to which " the honest inquirer " is sure to receive an
answer; they are of infinitely higher value than all the " opinions "
and theoretical views in the world, which, if the truth must be
confessed, are worth mostly the one as much as the other — i. e. f
nothing.
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THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS. 171
Mindful of the motto of our great master, ik Audete sapere"
every homceopathist, sincerely desirous of furthering the prog-
ress of our sublime science, ought, therefore, at least, to conde-
scend to subject to the test of experiment the statement and sug-
gestions of his professional brethren, instead of rejecting them
a priori, and for no other reason than that they do not happen to
accord with what he may be pleased to call "common sense,' ' and
of combatting them with weapons such as the ultra- allopaths of
former days used to wield against Homoeopathy, and which surely
are not fair, and often even scarcely honorable or decent.
We have never dreamt of exacting or demanding a blind faith
in the truth and correctness of our statements and allegations; all
we ask of our professional brethren is, that they will condescend
to put these statements and allegations to the only reliable test,
that of experience; and we appeal to them, and request them,
in the words of the immortal Hahnemann, to repeat our experi-
ments, but to repeat them accurately, and exactly in the manner
in which they are laid before you, and you will speedily discern
with your own eyes whether our statements rest upon the basis
of truth or upon that of error. It must, however, also be ad-
mitted, that a correct and accurate repetition of homoeopathic ex-
periments is by no means without its difficulties, and yet these
difficulties must be thoroughly overcome ere the results obtained
can be considered trustworthy and conclusive.
The homoeopathic experimenter should possess a thorough
knowledge of homoeopathic science, more particularly of the Ma-
teria Medica, and should strictly and scrupulously adhere to the in-
structions of the great founder of the homoeopathic doctrine. The
most important point is, of course, always the selection of the
proper remedy; but it is almost of equal importance to guard
carefully against inconsiderate repetition of the doses of the rem-
edy administered, or hasty substitution of other agents instead of
rapid alternation between different medicinal substances.
The higher dynamizations of homoeopathic remedies require
more particular caution in this respect, since experience has
proved that they are slower and more continuous and more lasting
in their action than the lower attenuations, and that they can the
least bear repetitions without appropriate intervening medicines.
Accordingly, if a homoeopathic practitioner is not in the posi-
tion to select with exactitude the proper remedy, or does not
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172 THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS.
deem himself possessed of moral strength sufficient to let him
wait calmly the action of the remedy administered, though
some time should elapse before that action becomes manifest,
let him not expect safe and reliable results from his experiments,
nor ascribe his failure to the method or agent recommended by
others, but frankly and honestly attribute it to the obstacles, sub-
jective or objective, that have opposed the experiment. But every
homoeopathic practitioner of any experience and practice will find
plenty of cases where he may satisfy every requirement to a suc-
cessful trial, and to such cases he may, without the slightest preju-
dice to his patients or his reputation, at first limit his experiments.
As this is the first time I have had the honor to address myself
directly to my esteemed British colleagues, I must crave permis-
sion to offer a few explanatory remarks before I proceed to the
narration of my cases.
I have made it an inviolable rule, in accordance with the ex-
ample and precepts of Hahnemann, to keep a register of every
case. Now, as my practice happens to be very extensive, it will
be readily perceived that, as I can scarcely have time to note
down minutely every fact, symptom or indication, I am therefore
obliged to confine myself to those symptoms and characteristic
indications which bear more immediately upon the choice of the
remedy, and which can only be acquired after a lengthened and
constant study of the homoeopathic Materia Afedica Pura.
My pathological descriptions and delineations are therefore
always rather brief, yet, I trust, sufficiently clear and pointed,
and affording all the indications requisite to explain the reason
why the remedy administered was selected.
Now, as I do not like to make any addition from memory,
which is mostly treacherous, I hope no one will blame me for
confining myself to a literal reproduction of the respective cases
as they are extracted from my case- books.
I add volume and page, simply for the reason that any one who
may choose to call my statements in question, and who may feel
inclined to honor me with a personal visit, may convince himself
from the original case-book of the correctness of my statement.
My case-books already number eighty volumes quarto, and I have
therefore, for sake of reference, made an accurate alphabetical in-
dex to them, which enables me to put my hand readily upon any
case which I may happen to search for. With respect to the long
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THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS. 173
and minutely detailed description of cases, which occupy several
pages, I cannot help remarking that they look but too frequently
like some historical romance, based on fact in the main, but vastly
embellished in the accessories.
But in homoeopathic practice, the selection of the proper remedy
from amongst a group of medicines, seemingly equally indicated
against the main features of these accessories, depends, in a great
measure, upon the occasions and their proper estimation ; it will,
therefore, readily be granted that poetic additions to them, or
reminiscences that smack but too often of the generalizing pathol-
ogies of the old school, can only tend to confuse and confound.
Having premised this much by way of introduction, I will now
proceed to give a few cases from my books, in compliance with
the request of my excellent colleague and friend, Mr. Wilson, of
London ; a request to which I the more readily respond, as I am
fully convinced that it is from Great Britain principally that our
noble science will spread and diffuse its blessings over a considerable
portion of the civilized world. I am perfectly aware that the
young doctrine in Great Britain has also had to pass, and will
still have to pass, through many struggles and persecutions, par-
ticularly on the part of some of the. universities, which sounds
rather odd, considering the boasted freedom of teaching.
But I entertain no doubt of its ultimate triumph there, relying
as I do on the all-conquering power of truth, and on the generous
ardor of Englishmen to aid and advance everything good and
useful.
Germany has indeed been from old the cradle of most inven-
tions, but they have all been somehow compelled to seek beyond
its boundaries — more particularly in England — a soil in which to
develop themselves, to ripen, and to spread.
Therefore, my dear British colleagues, I tender you, from the dis-
tance that separates us, the hand of a brother, and address to you
once more the motto of our departed teacher and master, ' ' Audete
sapere ! "
Cases.
Case I (Vol. 78, p. 116). W. Soh. W., farmer, aged 37
years, suffered since three or four months from stitches in the left
side, which grow worse when the patient moves much about,
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174 THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS.
works hard, or gets excited; rest produces a beneficial influence;
palpitation of the heart, particularly on washing.
In the morning, cough, with putrid, yellowish expectoration
(formerly streaked black); oppressed respiration in a warm room.
{About eighteen months ago the patient got wet through in the
fields, which was the original cause of his illness; subsequently,
last summer, he had a fever, after which he felt tolerably well for
a few months.) Feels worse in the limbs in the evening; cold
makes him feel worse. Itching on the shoulder-blades and on
the chest. The patient can give no account of the allopathic
preparations he has taken.
March ioth, 1851. — 1, Rhus toxicodendron; 2, Bryonia; 3,
Rhus tox. 2c (/. e. f of each remedy two globules, moistened with
the 200th dynamization of the centesimal scale) . One dose every
fifth morning.
March 30th. — Amelioration of all the. symptoms, but without
complete removal of any. 1, Calc. carb. 2m (Jen.); 2 to 4 §
(Sacch. lact. — the symbol § was the one which Hahnemann used
to employ for this substance). One dose to be taken every fifth
evening.
April 1 8th. — Considerably better. 1 to 4, Sac. lac. One dose
every fifth evening.
May 8th. — No further improvement. Anxiety and oppression
when lying down after meals. Sleeplessness in early part of the
night. 1, Lycopodiiim 2m (Jen.). 2 to 4, Sac. lac. One dose
every fifth evening.
May 30th. — A few boils on the arms; in other respects quite
well. 1 to 4, Sac. lac. One dose every fifth evening. Perfectly
cured.
Case II (Vol. 78, p. 120). — L. G , housekeeper, aet. 39,
spinster, resident in Miinster. Has been suffering for the last
fifteen months from gastric fever (so-called by the allopathic
school), accompanied by copious perspirations (internal, also, on
that account, sweating fever) . In the morning, at rising, vomit-
ing of phlegm. All fat food disagrees with her. Obstinate con-
stipation; is compelled to have recourse to pills to have alvine
evacuations. Pain in small of the back, both when walking abopt
and when sitting or lying. Heaviness in the forehead. Perspira-
tions in bed in the middle of the night, and early in the morning;
perspiration when sitting down, after the least exercise, most
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THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATION?. 175
copious in the back, under the arm-pits, and about the sexual
parts. No thirst. Sensation of lassitude early in the morning.
Headache after meals. Melancholy disposition. She despairs of
her recovery. Since the commencement of her illness up to the
time she applied to me, the patient has been under allopathic
treatment, and has been literally drenched with all sorts of medi-
cines, which, however, have only had the effect of making her
worse. The prescriptions showed a most liberal use more par-
ticularly of the following preparations: Potio riveri, Spir.
mindereri, Rheum , Spirit, salisdulcis, Ammonium muriate
Acidum muriaticum, Senna, Colchicum autumnale, Kali acet. and
Sulphur, Valeriana, etc.
March 12th, 1851. — 1, Sepia 2m (Jen.); Sac. lac., 2 to 4. The
powder to be dissolved in three teaspoonfuls of water; one tea-
spoonful to be taken every night.
March 29th. — Considerably better in every respect. 1, Sepia
4m (Jen.); 2 to 4, Sac. lac. To be taken as before.
April 16th. — Still some pain in the small of the back, and head-
ache after any exertion; for the last four days, perspiration dur-
ing sleep. 1, Sulphur 4m (Jen.); 2 to 4, Sac. lac. To be taken
as before.
May 5th. — The fever which she had last year, at the beginning
of her illness, returned yesterday, with thirst at night, and head-
ache; she is, however, better today. 1, Sepia 6m; 2 to 4, Sac.
lac. Taken as before. Perfect recovery. She feels better than
ever before in her life.
Case III (Vol. 78, p. 127). B. B , a girl, aet. 16, resi-
dent in Miinster; affected since three years with a running
from the left ear, of a fetid, sanguinopurulent matter; the
running is unattended with pain. Cutting pain in the forehead.
Chronic inflammation of the eyes, though less severe than for-
merly. Diarrhoea, with protrusion of the rectum. Monthly
period regular, but of too long duration ; preceded by violent
abdominal pains. (The mother had a protracted attack of nerv-
ous fever during her pregnancy with the child. )
The patient had been treated for some time by a homoeopathic
practitioner, of this place, now dead, but she had experienced only
trifling benefit from the treatment, some slight amelioration hav-
ing been effected in the diarrhoea and ophthalmia.
March 18th, 1851. — 1, Sulphur 2m. ; 2, Sac. lac.; 3, Sulphur;
4, Sac. lac. To be taken, one powder every fifth evening.
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176 THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS.
April 13th. — Considerable amelioration in all the symptoms.
The running from the ear diminished, though not yet altogether
removed. 1, Calc. 2c ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Taken as before. Per-
fectly cured.
Case IV (Vol. 80, p. 138). H. h. , of H , painter and
glazier, aet. 20 ; suffered since last summer from stitches in right
side of chest, accompanied by traction in the limbs, and beating
in the forehead, particularly over the left eye ; the symptoms are
worse during wet, stormy weather, snow, hoar-frost, and in the
evening when retiring to rest, and also when the patient takes a
walk, or exerts himself in any way. Cannot sleep before mid-
night on account of a distressing cough, with spasms and difficult
expectoration of saline mucus ; after this expectoration, the patient
feels his chest somewhat relieved. He can only lie on the left
side. (Phthisis tuberculosa !) Bread, soups, pancakes, pork and
all fat food disagree with him. He feels very cold, and is worse
in the cold. Little thirst. His strength is completely gone ; he
can no longer work.
The patient has been for nine months under allopathic treat-
ment, and has been made to cultivate an extensive acquaintance
with the preparations of the pharmacopoeia.
Amnion, muriat. and Tart. stib. seemed to have been the prin-
cipal favorites.
His case had, however, grown worse and worse, until at length
his physician left him to the curative virtues of copious draughts
of tea of Lichen Islandicus, but with the same bad success.
March 16th, 1851. — 1, Kali card. 2c ; 2, Sulphur 20. \ 3, Kali
card. 2c ; 4, Sac. lac. One powder every fifth evening.
April 7th. — Considerable improvement in all the symptoms,
although not one of them has yet completely disappeared. The
expectoration has lost its saline taste, and is now perfectly taste-
less. In the evening, oppression of the chest when sitting. 1,
Phosphorus 2m ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac.
April 30th. — The Phosphorus has not made a favorable impres-
sion upon the system ; the oppression of the chest in the evening
is worse than before. 1, Nux vomica 2c; 2, Kali car b. 2m ; 4,
Sac. lac. One powder every fifth evening.
After these remedies the patient recovered his health completely.
This is one of the serious cases witnessed by Dr. Dunham, of
New York, during his stay here.
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THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS. 177
Case V (Vol. 78, p. 142). B. H. , a student, aet. 24, resi-
dent of Miinster ; has been laboring for about a year under a
peculiar kind of difficulty of breathing ; he feels as if there was a
valve 4n the throat, intercepting the breath ; this grows worse in
the evening in bed, when the patient often feels as if he were
on the point of suffocation. Cough unattended with pain ; scanty
expectoration, brought up with difficulty. Sensation of lassitude
in the chest ; when drawing in the breath, the patient has a sen-
sation as if the chest were too narrow. In the early part of the
morning he feels better.
The patient has been under allopathic treatment. The last
remedy recommended by his physician was Lichen Island. , but
he has not derived the slightest benefit from this or from any
other medicine administered.
March 19th, 1851. — 1, Spongia 2c; 2, Hepar sulph. calc. 2c; 3,
Spongia ; -4, Sac. lac. One powder to be taken every eighth day.
April i6th.-^-The sensation of presence of a valve in throat is
completely gone. The difficulty of breathing is considerably less,
and confined entirely to the morning. Cough when drawing a
deep breath. Headache in the morning. Sensation of cold in
the stomach. * 1, Phosphorus 2m ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. One powder
every eighth day.
May 14th. — Improvement in all the symptoms. 1, Kali card.
2m; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. One powder every eighth day.
June 1 8th. — The Kali car b. seemed to have been badly chosen;
perhaps its exhibition was premature.
The patient feels very cold and chilly, particularly in the morn-
ing; the sensation of a valve in the throat has returned, and is
more strongly felt now in the act of exhaling. Palpitation of the
heart has come on. i, Spongia 2m; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. One pow-
der every eighth day.
Perfect recovery took place after these remedies. I beg to call
the attention of my homoeopathic colleagues to the consequence
of the ill-advised administration of Kali card, in this case, as in
Case 4 of that of Phosphorus.
The injurious consequences of these two doses clearly prove the
powerful action of high dynamization upon the system.
Cask VI (Vol. 78, page 145). Sophia S , an infant, six
months old, was suddenly seized with an attack of quinsy, which
speedily gained ground, threatening the life of the child. When
12
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178 THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS.
I was called in, the case exhibited every sign of gravity and
danger, which was the more serious as two hours had already
elapsed since it had taken this turn.
I found all the usual symptoms, such as heat and redness ot
the face, hoarseness, cough sounding like croup, rattling in the
throat, when the child falls asleep.
March 21st, 1851. — 1, Aeon. 2c; 2,Hepar sulph. calc. 2c; 3,
Spongia 2c; 4, Hepar sulph. calc. 2c. One powder every five
hours.
After the second powder the infant was already perfectly cured,
jand there was accordingly no need to administer 3 and 4. I men- '
tion this case here to show that high dynamizations are quite in
their place in acute diseases.
For several years I have invariably used, in croup and other
acute diseases, the 200th attenuation, and this without ever fail-
ing once in my object
CASE VII (Vol. 78, page 153). A. C, a boy, aet. 13, has been
affected since two years with tinea favosa, on the hairy scalp, and
with herpes farinosus (pityriasis), spread in small, isolated spots
all over the body. In other respects the boy is well. In this case
various ointments, oils and soaps had been used, and also Mer~
cury y but all without the desired effect.
March 23d, 1851. — 1, Sulphur 2m; 2, Sulphur 4m; 3, Sac. lac.
One powder every eighth day.
April 19th. — Considerable improvement, i, Sulphur 6m; 2 to
4, Sac. lac. One powder every eighth day.
May 25th. — Improvement, but less marked than last time. 1,
Calc. card. 2m; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Take as before.
July 7th. — Further considerable improvement. Most of the
spots are completely healed. i t Silic. 4m; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Taken
as before. After this the eruption vanished completely. The
skin assumed the natural healthy color, and up to this day the
boy continues in good health.
Case VIII (Vol. 78, p. 174). A. A., an infant, about 12
months old, son of a teacher; about six months ago reddish spots
appeared on his face, about the ears first, and then on face, hands
and arms.
The allopathic medicines which were given only caused the
eruption to spread over the body. The way in which the erup-
tion proceeds and runs its course is as follows: At first the skin
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THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS. 179
gets red, and a little discharge makes its appearance; afterwards
a yellow crust forms, with purulent matter underneath it; in the
course of a few days the crust turns to a dark brown or blackish
color, and finally scales off, but is speedily replaced by another
red spot, which then goes through th,e same course, and so on.
The father, mother and grandmother of the child had, in their
turn, suffered from a similar eruption.
March 29th, 1851. — 1, Sulphur 3m; 2, Psora 2m; 3, Sulphur
4m; 4, Sac, lac. One powder to be taken every fifth day.
April / 26th. Considerable improvement in all the symptoms,
i, Calc. card. 2m; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Taken as before. After this
the eruption disappeared altogether, and the child continued well.
Case IX (Vol. 78, p. 220). T. P — >— , an unmarried lady, aet.
50. Has suffered since youth from headache. Having con-
sulted many physicians without receiving the least benefit; she
submitted to her fate, and took no more medicine. She was ad-
vised by her friends to consult me. She called, but was incredu-
lous in the highest degree. The headache before mentioned still
exists. Pressure on the top of the head, generally worse before
noon, but often increasing towards evening; also during motion ;
worse in a warm room ; vomiting of everything except animal
food ; Shortness of breath in walking ; sleep good ; the menses,
which have now ceased, were formerly scanty ; much overpower-
ing heat ; violent and irritable temper, and during the headache
much crying. She has been subject to fits of vomiting from her
youth.
April 12th, 1851. — 1, Nux vom. im ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. One
every fifth evening.
May 1 2th. — She remained free from headache until the end of
last week, to her great astonishment. It again appeared with
violent shooting (not pressing) on top of head, accompanied with
sour and bitter vomiting ; eruption on the right eyebrow. 1 ,
Sepia 3c ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Of each powder, dissolved in water,
during three consecutive evenings, a spoonful ; nothing the two
following evenings.
May 29th. — She had a very severe attack, which lasted but one
day ; some headache ; but in the morning, in bed, a creeping,
crawling sensation in the hands. 1, Sepia 2m ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac.
Taken as before.
June 20th. — No headache, and is now quite well. 1, Sepia
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180 THE USE OF HIGH ATTENUATIONS.
4m ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Taken as before. Nothing more was neces-
sary ; all the sufferings she has had for so many years have en-
tirely ceased. She has now fnll confidence in our mode of
practice.
Cask X (Vol. 78, p. 225). C. W. — —; a girl, aet 14, from
the country. She is confined to bed, and has been in oad health
for a year ; she formerly suffered from an eruption on top of the
head, which has been suppressed allopath ically by ointments ;
since that time constant headache, with sickness, worse in the
evening and when moving ; pain in the hips, worse in evening
and during motion ; sickness after every meal ; chilliness ; no per-
spiration while in bed ; a desire for salt ; an aversion to milk ;
great weakness, so that she can scarcely bear being out of bed for
a few moments. She was drugged allopathically for a long time
without the least benefit.
April 14th, 1851. — 1, Sulphur 2m ; 2, Sulphur 4m; 3 and 4,
Sac. lac. A powder every fifth evening.
May 12th. — Considerably better. 1, Sulphur 6m ; 2 to 4, Sac.
lac. Take as formerly.
This long suffering person is now in excellent health. Sulphur y
in a high dynamization, was the only remedy used.
Cask XI (Vol. 78, p. 575). H. H. , aet. 22; suffered for
ten years from caries and enlargement of the bone of the whole
right leg, with its toes ; the leg is considerably swollen, which
aches and burns, and from six holes there runs constantly a
watery, sometimes bloody, and very ichorous discharge. During
the winter the pain in the leg ceases, when he suffers from a
severe cough. At the approach of spring the pains in the leg in-
crease, and the cough ceases. He has been cpmpelled to walk
with crutches. He has been under allopathic treatment ten
years without receiving any benefit.
April 27th, 1851. — 1 and 3, Silk. 2c ; 2, Hepar sulph. calc. 2c;
4, Sac. lac. One powder every fifth evening, and to cover the
suppurating holes with tallow and lint.
May 25th. — Much improved. 1, Hepar sulph. calc. 2m ; 2 to 4,
Sac. lac. To be taken as the former.
June 15th. — Continued improvement ; suppuration continues.
1, Silic. 4m ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Taken as the former.
July 6th. — Great improvement, as expected ; several holes
closed ; the pains have entirely ceased. He has put aside the
crutches. 1 to 4, Sac. lac. Taken as the former.
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CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS. 181
August 31st. — Again considerable progress. He does not only
go without crutches, but has walked a distance of six miles, and
will walk the same distance in the afternoon. 1 to 4, Sac. lac.
As before.
September 28th. — Much improved in health ; but two holes still
suppurate, particularly that of the great toe ; all others are closed,
and the foot which was swollen has now assumed its usual size.
1 to 4, Sac. lac. As the former.
October 19th. — Since eight days there seems to be a check in
the improvement ; there is still a hole which suppurates ; the pain
has entirely ceased, he takes much exercise. 1, Hcpar sulph.
calc. 3m ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac.
Although the cure is not completed, yet we have no doubt that
the result will be favorable. My object in communicating this
case is to show that even in similar complaints the high potencies
exert their action.
Cask XII (Vol. 78, p. 299). H. B , a young man, aet.
18, suffered for two years (his brother died of consumption, he
slept with him till the last moment) from shortness of breath, as
if the chest was tightened by a bandage ; expectorating in the
morning some sweetish, putrid matter ; great hunger, with general
decline ; after a meal, he is a little better for half an hour ; other-
wise he is worse from nine o'clock in the morning until seven in
the evening, when he rests. He has taken much medicine for
two years, but I could not ascertain of what kind.
• April 28th. — 1, Phosphorus 2m ; 2 to 4, Sac. lac. Each powder
to be dissolved in three teaspoonf uls of water, and to take one for
three consecutive evenings, and then stop two evenings.
May 1.5th. — Was much better, however, and took coffee after
the use of the four powders, and now complains of shooting pains
in the chest and a sensation as if something had been torn away ;
worse in the morning and at noon ; better after a meal. 1, Nux
vomica 2m ; 2 and 4, Sac. lac. ; 3, Phosphorus 4m. Taken as for-
merly.
Clinical Observations.
We find in the Journal de la MSdicine Homaeopathique for Janu-
ary, 1850, a clinical note, containing the substance of several
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182 CLINICAL OBSERVATIONS.
conversations held with Dr. Von Bcenninghausen by Dr. De
Bonneval. We give the results not as facts, but as suggestions
worthy of record that the indications pointed out by our venerable
colleague may be subjected to the test of experience. Dr. Von
Bcenninghausen states it as a result of his observation, that :
i. The more chronic the affection, the longer must be the in-
terval between the administration of the drugs.
2. In those subjects in whom the remedies do not seem to act
promptly, we must ascertain the cause that prevents their action.
(a) Psora. Administer a dose of Psorinum before giving the
remedy corresponding to the totality.
(b) Want of susceptibility. Opium, especially in plethoric sub-
jects.
(c) In weak and emaciated patients with small pulse. Carbo
vegetabilis.
(d) Nervous excitement. Laurocerasus.
3. Where the character of an affection has been disguised by
successive administration of a large number of homoeopathic reme-
dies, which, without curing, have only altered the symptoms, a
single dose of Psorinum a few days (ordinarily the fourth) before
giving the medicine indicated.
4. Dr. Von Boenninghausen's practice is to give the remedy
dry, and in a single dose — most frequently alternating two reme-
dies every fourth day.
He recommends the following specifics :
Asthma. Evening attacks, Puis.; morning ditto, Ars.; if the
symptoms are principally in the throat, Spong.; in the chest,
Phosph.; spasmodic, Ipec.
Bones, diseases of. Merc. sol. is the principal remedy.
Diabetes. Coloc. is a specific.
Drunkenness, habitual. The best mode of causing disgust of
wine is to administer three drops of Laudanum or Tincture of
Opium in a cup of coffee. Ant. crud. is the best antidote to the
effects of sour wine.
Erysipelas. It is the belief of M. Von Bcenninghausen that
Camphor, administered every fifteen minutes, will cure even a
severe erysipelas in the course of a few hours.
Fistula lachrymalis. A cure may sometimes be obtained by
the aid of Petrol, and Silic. in alternation. Petrol, and Caust.
act very slowly.
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THREE PRECAUTIONARY RULES OF HAHNEMANN. 183
Muscles, diseases of Am. is the principal remedy.
Myelitis. Calc. carb. and Silic, given at intervals of five
months, have cured five cases of myelitis.
Panaris. Sulph. and Silic, four days apart.
Paralysis of the tongue. Mezer. acts very well.
Paralysis of the pharynx. Baryt. carb., Mur. ac, Caust.,
Con., Ars., Calc. carb., Hep., Sulph., Iod. This last is especially
indicated when solids cannot be swallowed.
Polypus nasi. i. Calc. carb.> Con., Phosph. 2. Aur., Bell.,
Graph., Merc, Nitr. ac, Silic, Sulph., Staph., Teuc
Periosteum, diseases of. Merc, cor., Phos. ac, Sabina. '
Petroleum is recommended for urethral contraction.
Variola. Von Boenninghausen recommends Thuja occidentalis
as the specific against the disease. He gives it in the 200th, £nd
eight days after the administration of a single dose not a trace of
the disease remains. So sanguine is he in reference to its cura-
tive power, that he speaks confidently of its superseding vaccina-
tion ! The announcement seems to have excited some attention
on the part of Parisian homoeopaths, as in subsequent numbers
of the same Journal we find the experience referred to and con-
firmed by Drs. Croserio and Moroche. The experiment is easily
made, and we should be happy to hear from any of our corre-
spondents, whether they have been able to perceive that the ordi-
nary course of smallpox has been at all affected by the adminis-
tration of Thuja. The cases reported, which are very few,
exceedingly meagre, and far from conclusive, were all treated
with " Hochpotenzen," 200 and 300. — N. A. Horn. four.
Three Precautionary Rules of Hahnemann. .
Translated from Neues Archiv f. horn. Heilkunst, Vol. I, No. 1 (1844), p. 69.
The author of Homoeopathy, now deceased, in his work " On
Chronic Diseases'* (Vol. I, page 146, and ff. in the second edi-
tion), uttered especially three warnings, and particularly enjoined
them upon his followers and declared that a neglect of the same
was the greatest fault that a homoeopathic physician could be-
come guilty of {ibid, page 149). These warnings are the follow-
ing
1. "To suppose that the doses indicated in every antipsoric
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184 THREE PRECAUTIONARY RULES OF HAHNEMANN.
medicine and moderated by me (Hahnemann) after much expe-
rience, and compelled by experience, to be too small.
2. " The wrong choice of the medicine, and
3. "The excessive hurry which does not allow every dose to
finish its action. ' '
Whether it be superfluous and out of time to call back to mind
these particular teachings and warnings just now I mity well
leave to the judgment of every true homoeopath, since it is espe-
cially these three warnings, and especially the first and third, are
points in which the practice of this later time is confessedly most
at variance with the original teaching.
When some time ago the lamentable schism arose among
homoeopaths and it seemed as if the ambiguous specificism of
Griesselich and Co. had already carried off the victory over the
so-called Hahnemannism, the part of Homoeopathy which had
remained true to their recognized truths for the time drew back
from the theatre of action, hoping for bettter times to come, and
wearied out by ceaseless empty discussions, and they left it to
the loquacious champions of the newly developed school who
seemed to be possessed with the itch of writing, and they prac-
ticed as if it were a matter of conscience, the denial of the doc-
trinal propositions established after long experience and provings
by the author of Homoeopathy. Instead of perusing the Organon
of the conscientious and able author, which had been uninter-
ruptedly filed and perfected for thirty years, they read the Or-
ganon of Rau, which had sprung up like a mushroom and as
quickly passed into oblivion, and instead of the twenty years'
investigations laid down in the work on Chronic Diseases they
studied the hypotheses and contradictions in the ephemeral sheets
of the Hygeia. Who can deny and who need be astonished that
in consequence of this destructive tendency, Homoeopathy in Ger-
many lost a great part of the domain which the first adherents of
Homoeopathy had conquered with their successful and honorable
efforts ? For almost every homoeopath was seized by the whirl-
pool and torn along by it. I myself owe my speedy return to
well established principles only to the warnings of my never-to-
be-forgotten teacher and friend, who in an uninterrupted corre-
spondence gave me directions how to distinguish the truth from
falsity, through careful comparative experiments and unpreju-
diced observations.
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THREE PRECAUTIONARY RULES OF HAHNEMANN. 185
Many others must have passed through similar experiences
with myself, though with some they may have taken longer ; for
of late a number of voices have been heard, warning against the
errors committed, and which endeavored to secure again to the
old teachings of the Founder of Homoeopathy their former au-
thority, a matter which about a year ago hardly anyone would
have dared. For the positive, bold manner of the so-called spe-
cificists, not infrequently spiced with rudeness, had so intimi-
dated even the most able and experienced men that they not
only kept their better convictions for themselves, but even — and
here the editors of the Archiv may contradict me if this is not the
exact truth — gave the advice that it would be best on account of
these "strong men" to conceal great cures effected by minimal
and rare doses.
In these times full of disgrace and weakness, where I would
have so gladly offered a friendly hand to others of the same con-
victions, my circumstances had entered such a phase that I was
unable to enter with open visor into the combat for right and
truth. My contributions to some numbers of this Journal had
therefore to appear under a pseudonym,* and although the edi-
tors gave a not undeserved testimony as to my love of truth, and
finally my untarnished name was given as that of the author,
there were some men at that time cowardly enough to draw in
doubt my simple statement of facts, which I can at any time prove
by my physician's record. I was not so much aggrieved at the
time about these insinuations as to my reputation and my honor,
which cannot be injured by such attacks, but by these undeniable
signs of the great decay of Homoeopathy in Germany, where
cures were drawn in doubt, which even in the times when the
teachings were still more imperfect had found unhesitating
credence.
If all signs do not prove deceptive, we now are at the entrance
of a new epoch introduced by the death of the founder of Homoe-
opathy, whose genius now hovers near us, where divisions will
be healed, excrescences excised and the scoriae be separated,
* All of these are signed: Dr. B. in D., and to show that even in minor
matters I remain faithful to the truth, I would state that D. stands for
Darup, the name of my country place, three and a half miles from Munster,
which I visit for my recreation almost every week for a few days, and where
I, less surrounded by patients, find the time to write out such contributions
and in general to devote myself undisturbed to the study of Homoeopathy.
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186 THE SMALLNESS OF THE DOSE.
which hitherto have been obstructive to the progress of our
Sciences. Let us then from this time onwards form a closer
union, which shall embrace all who honestly desire the common
good, but which will rigidly exclude all those who mock the
good cause, who cause division, or who seek to put individual-
views and opinions in the place of careful observation. At the
same time let us honor the memory of the immortalized reformer
in a manner as useful as it is appropriate by submitting the re-
sults of his more than fifty years' investigations (and these car-
ried on by a man of rare talents) to a repeated and manifold ex-
amination, and communicate the results to each other faithfully
and honestly. This will be the best preparation for a memorial
which the great man has richly deserved from Science and from
suffering humanity.
After this digression which was not only indicated by the times
and the circumstances, but demanded by them, I return to my
original theme, only calling to remembrance some items having
relation thereto.
I. Warning: The Smallness of the Dose.
The transactions as to the smallness of the dose are more than
ever far from being closed. The more there has been written of
late years about this subject, the more contradictions have
been heaped upon contradictions, and what is really remark-
able, though not in the better use of that phrase, is the fact that
the gradual diminution of the dose and what Hahnemann has
taught about it at various times, in agreement with his continued
experiments, observation and experience, has been altogether
ignored. All the more, it seems to me, that the time has come
to recall at last the declarations of the great Master.
The kind reader will no doubt release me from the trouble of
proving from the various editions of the Organon, from the first to
the fifth, how it was experience which brought the carefully ob-
serving author slowly, step by step, to that minuteness of dose,
which has now become the laughing- stock of the specificists. As
I may presume that this book is in the hands of all those who
deserve the name of homoeopaths, the reader will be able to read
in sees. 275 to 278 (of the fifth edition) what is there said about it.
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THE SMALLNESS OF THE DOSE. 187
Somewhat less likely it may be, that also Hahnemann's work
on Chronic Diseases, and especially the second edition of this
work, is in everybody's hands, as just about that time views about
it appeared which need not be mentioned here, and which the
author two years later indicated in the preface to the third part
(which appeared, published by another publisher) in a manner
sufficiently plain to those familiar with the history of Homoe-
opathy. It may be therefore advisable to adduce here the words
of the experienced investigator.
After Hahnemann had mentioned (on page 148) homoeopathic
aggravation, he thus continues :
1 ' But when these aggravated original symptoms appear later
on in the same strength as at the beginning, or even more strongly
later on, this is a sign that the dose of this antipsoric remedy,
although it was correctly selected, was too great, and caused the
fear that no cure could be effected through it, since medicines
given in so large a dose are able to establish a disease which in
some respects is similar, but even greater and more troublesome,
without extinguishing the old disease. This is caused by the
fact that the medicine used in so large a dose unfolds also its other
symptoms which nullify its similarity and thus establishes another
dissimilar disease, also chronic, in place of the former. ' '
In the words here italicized lies a great truth, which has never
been impugned and has been verified by numerous results of the
allopathic treatment of chronic diseases, and which is well worth
careful attention. Even in syphilis, which is much easier to cure,
we see similar results from the. abuse of quicksilver, which are
then denominated secondary syphilis. But this appears even
more plainly and most frequently from the treatment as common
as it is destructive of primary itch by using simultaneously Sul-
phur internally and quicksilver externally, both in excessive doses,
whereby there is produced a monster of a chronic disease, which
in the most cases would be incurable even by Homoeopathy with-
out the use of Causticum and Sepia.
Hahnemann then continues in his text (ibid.):
"This — (J. e., the large dose of medicine) — finds its decision
already in the first 16, 18 or 20 days of the effect of the medicine
given in too large a dose, as it must then be checked, either by
prescribing its antidote, or when this is not yet known, by giving
another antipsoric medicine, as suitable as possible to the symp-
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188 THE SMALLNESS OF THE DOSE.
toms then prevailing, and this in a very moderate dose, and when
this is not yet sufficient for abolishing this sinister medicinal
disease by prescribing a second medicine as suitable as possible
at that time." To confirm this warning and to shQw that it was
drawn from experience, he adds in a note : — "I have myself had
an experience of this mistake which offers so serious an obstacle
to a cure and which therefore cannot be too cautiously avoided,
when I gave Sepia, while still unacquainted with its powers, in
too large a dose ; but in a still more striking manner when I gave
Lycopodium and Silicea in their billionth dilution in four to six
pellets (although only of the size of poppy-seeds), Discite moniti."
What specificist, furnished with the same amount of sagacity
and the same gift of observation, has shown by experience that
Hahnemann in this point, which he proved so carefully, was in-
volved in error? But so long as a proof is not given with satis-
factory fullness, it seems to me at least a ridiculous assumption
to suppose that we should accept an unproved assertion to the
contrary without questioning, and deny our lengthy experience.
How little an excessive dose of medicine is able to unfold its
curative efficiency is manifest from the statement made by the
author of Homoeopathy. immediately afterwards {ibid, p. 149).
" When the stormy assault of the excessive dose of even a cor-
rectly selected homoeopathic remedy has been assuaged by the
following use of an antidote or the later use of some other anti-
psoric remedy, then this remedy which had only proved injurious
through its excessive strength may be used again, and indeed as
soon as it is homoeopathically indicated with the best success,
only in a far smaller dose and in a far more highly potentized
attenuation. 1 ' But it would remain without any effect, if it had
already at the first strong dose effected everything that lay within
its power.
Finally Hahnemann says in addition {ibid. p. 149), " No harm
will be done if the dose given is even smaller than I have indi-
cated. // can hardly be made too small if only everything is
avoided that might interfere with the action of the medicine or
obstruct it ; this refers as well to the diet, as to the other circum-
stances. They will even then do everything of good that can in
general be expected of medicine, if only the antipsoric was selected
correctly in all respects as to the carefully examined symptoms of
the disease and was thus homoeopathic, and the patient did not
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THE SMALLNESS OF THE DOSE. 189
by his actions disturb the medicine in its action. On the other
hand we have the great advantage, that even if in some case the
selection should not have been made quite suitably^ we have the
great advantage that we can easily put out of action the wrong
medicine in its minimal dose in the manner indicated above, when
the treatment can be continued with a suitable antipsoric without
delay.* ' This declaration should especially be heeded by begin-
ners and should be acted on, and the urgent warning of Hahne-
mann in the preface of his work on " Chronic Diseases' ' should
not be lightly neglected, where he says in reference to this mat-
ter : — " What would they have risked if they had at once heeded
my words and had first made use of these small doses? Could
anything worse have happened than that these doses might have
proved ineffectual ? They could not have injured anybody ! But
in their unintelligent self-willed use of large doses in homoeopathic
practice they only passed again through the same round-about
route, so dangerous to their patients, which I in order to save
them the trouble had already passed through with trembling,
but successfully, and after doing much mischief and having wasted
much time they had eventually if they wanted to cure to arrive
at the only correct goal, which I had made known to them long
before faithfully and openly, giving to them the reasons therefore.' '
It would be testing the patience of the reader too much if I
should further continue this subject. Whoever cares to know
my opinion in this matter may find this with further details
in my book: "Homoeopathy, a reader for the cultivated, non-
medical piublic (Minister at Coppenett's, 1834). M On page 203
they will find a special chapter devoted to the smallness of the
doses which I must subscribe to also at this day with an experi-
ence of so many more years, which has only more strongly con-
firmed my convictions : since also I, led by the almost unanimous
assertions as to the untenableness of this teaching, gave, though
only for a short time, larger doses and with bad success, espe-
cially in chronic diseases. The proofs of this are to be found in my
Physician's Record, which since the year 1835 have now already
grown to 55 thick quarto volumes, as also in my communications
to this Journal, which are signed lt Dr. B. in D." and of which I
now have no more reason to conceal the authorship. Only one
thing must not remain unmentioned, namely, the unproved asser-
tion made by the specificists that the author of Homoeopathy
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190 THE SMALLNESS OF THE DOSE.
himself had in the later years of his life come back from what
they call the extravagant smallness of the doses, and gave larger
ones, as in the first epoch of Homoeopathy.
Even leaving out of view the fact that the preface to the last
volume of the Chronic Diseases (Second Edition) written about
the year 1838 says just the opposite, I am otherwise enabled by
a correspondence carried on with him since the middle of the year
1830 up to May of this year, thus within about two months of his
death, which correspondence was carried on without interruption
and with diligence, that there is not only nothing true in this
ascertion, but that he even up to the last continued to diminish
the doses.
Since very little has become known as to the cures of our de-
ceased Master, hardly more than two cases in the preface to the
second volume of the Materia Medica Pura, and a few other cures
only incidentally mentioned, I may suppose that the communi-
cation of a few extracts from the latest Physician's Records,
which he sent me on the 24th of April of this year and which confirm
what I have just mentioned, will be of considerable interest to
most genuine homoeopaths. I therefore give in the following a
diplomatically faithful copy of it* and I would direct the reader
in order that I may not add anything of my own. with respect to
some designations not yet generally known to the sixth edition
of the Organon, which was completed by Hahnemann before his
death and will appear as he himself informed me at least in the
French language in a short time.f I would only premise that
wherever nothing else is mentioned the sixtieth dynamization
(potency or dilution) is meant.
Julia M., a girl from the country, fourteen years of age, has
not yet menstruated. September 12, 1842. A month before she
had slept in the sun. Four days after this sleeping in the sun
she had the dreadful notion that she saw a wolf, and again six
days later she felt as if she had received a severe stroke on her
head. Now her mind wandered, she became as it were insane,
* Since Hahnemann did not write these two extracts himself, I suppose,
from many insertions and abbreviations, that he dictated it to his secretary.
t Just this moment, when I was about to send off these pages, I hear
from a Spaniard from Madrid, who lately has come under my treatment, and
who is well acquainted with affairs in Paris, that so many mistakes have
crept into the French translation of the Organon that it has been deter-
mined to provide a new, more correct reprint.
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THE SMAIXNESS OF THE DOSE. 191
wept much, at times she had difficulty in her respiration, she
spits out white phlegm, and could not describe her sensations.
She received Belladonna : the dynamization being rendered
milder in seven spoonfuls, after shaking this, one spoonful of this
was put into a tumblerful of , water, and after shaking this, one
coffeespoonful was to be taken" in the morning.
September 16. Somewhat more quiet ; she was able to blow
her nose, which she could not do while insane ; she still talks de-
liriously, but does not use so many gestures. Yesterday in the
evening she wept much. Good stool. Pretty good sleep. She
still moves around much ; but this was much worse before receiv-
ing Belladonna, The white of the eye is full of reddish veins.
Sne seems to have pain in the neck.
From the tumbler into which a spoonful was stirred she is to
stir a coffeespoonf ul into a second tumblerful and take from it two
to four coffeespoonfuls (increasing daily by one spoonful) in the
morning.
September 20. Much better, speaks more rationally, wants to
do something ; she recognizes me, calls me by name and wishes to
kiss a lady who is present. From then she began to grow tender;
— she easily gets cross and takes things ill, — she sleeps well,
weeps frequently, but gets angry about trifles, she eats more than
usual ; when she becomes conscious, she loves to play, but only
like the children.
Belladonna, one pellet of a higher potency, seven spoonfuls
shaken in two tumblers full of water, six coffeespoonfuls from the
second tumbler. Early in the morning.*
September 28. On the 22d, 23d and 24th, very much excited
day and night. Great voluptuousness in gestures and words,
she lifts up her dress and wishes to touch the parts of others; she
gets angry quickly and beats everybody.
Hyoscyamus X. Seven tablespoonfuls, etc., one tablespoonful
into one tumblerful of water; in the morning one coffeespoonful.
October 5. For five days she would not eat anything; she
* The preceding article, through some omission (on the part of the copy-
ist?), has become unintelligible. The sense, as I know from the letter of
our Hahnemann, is that from the first solution of the pellet of Belladonna
in seven tablespoonfuls of water, one spoonful was put into a second tum-
blerful of water, mixed and stirred, and from this second tumblerful the
dose mentioned was to be given, and indeed daily only one coffee-spoonful
up to the sixth day. — C. v. B.
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192 THE SMALLNESS OF THE DOSE.
complains of colic. Since several days she has not been so ma-
licious and less lewd, also more rational. The stool is too soft;
itching all over the body, especially on the sexual parts. Sleep
is good.
October 10. On the 7th she had a violent attack of malignity,
she wished to beat everybody. On the following day, the 8th,
she had an attack of timidity and fear, almost as it had been in
the beginning of her disease (afraid of an imaginary wolf). She
fears that she will be burned up. Since then she has become
quiet and talks rationally, and there has been nothing unseemly
during the last two days.
. Sacch. lactis.
October 14. Perfectly well and rational; on
October 18. Equally so, but she often has some headache, is
inclined to sleep by day, less cheerful.
Now Sulphur (a new dynamization from a minimal quantity),
one pellet in three tumblersful; early in the morning one coffee-
spoonful.
October 22. Very well, but little headache.
Sulphur - f the next dynamization in two tumblers.
She then continued to use some Sulphur with interruptions up
to November, and she remained a healthy, rational, dear girl.
O 1, an actor, 33 years old, unmarried.
January 14, 1843. For several years he has had a sore throat,
so now for a month. The last time his sore throat had lasted six
weeks. When swallowing saliva, he feels a pricking sensation of
constriction and soreness.
When he is not afflicted with this sore throat, he suffers from a
fissure of the anus, with violent pain as from a chap; then the
anus is inflamed, swollen and constricted, he can then discharge
Jhis stool with great exertions, while swollen hemorrhoidal veins
extrude.
January 15. He took early before breakfast a coffeespoonful of
a solution of one pellet of Belladonna. in seven tablespoonfuls of
water, from which solution one tablespoonful was put into a
tumblerful of water and stirred.
January 15. In the evening the throat was worse
January 16. The throatache is gone, but the ailment of the
anus has returned, as described, an open fissure with pain as from
a chap, swelling, beating pain and constricture. Nevertheless he
had a painful stool in the evening.
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THE SMALLNESS OF THE DOSE. 193
He acknowledged that eight years ago he had a chancre which
had been as usual destroyed with a corrosive, after which all
these ailments had set in.
On January 10 he received one pellet of Mercurius vivus I. of
the lowest new dynamization (which contains immensely less sub-
stance than the present) prepared for being taken as before and
taken as before (after shaking the bottle every time) , one spoon-
ful in one tumblerful of water, as with the Belladonna, well
stirred.
January 20. Almost all the toothache gone. The anus Is bet-
ter; but he still feels a soreness there after the stools; but there
is no more pulsation there, no swelling of the anus and no inflam-
mation. Less constricted. One pellet of Mercurius viv. , 2 dyna-
mization, prepared and taken in the same manner in the morning.
I did not note down whether he took the Mercurius (2) once or
twice a day; usually only once early in the morning before break-
fast.
January 25. The throat is almost altogether well, but in the
anus there is a pain as from a chap, and severe lancinations , severe
pain in the anus after stool, there is still some constriction and
heat.
January 30. In the afternoon he received the last dose (one
coffeespoonful). On the 28th the anus was better, the throatache
had returned; sevefe chaps in the throat.
One pellet in sugar of milk for seven days, prepared and taken
as before.
February 7. Severe pain as from ulceration in the throat.
Colic, but good stools, but several times in succession, with great
thirst. But everything is well at the anus. Sulphur 2-0 in seven
tablespoonfuls of water as above.
February 13. He had ulcerative pains in his throat, especially
when swallowing saliva of which he now has a great quantity,
especially much on the nth and 12th. Some constriction of the
anus, especially since yesterday.
Now I let him smell of Mercurius and gave him. Mercurius
vivus 2-0, one pellet, as always in seven tablespoons, one- half
spoonful of brandy and to be taken as before.
February 20. The throat is better since the 18th; he suffered
much at the anus; the stool pains him when discharged; less
thirst.
§-0 Sugar of milk in seven tablespoonfuls.
13
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194 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
March 3. No more throatache. In going to the stool a hem-
orrhoidal vein but bloodless extrudes (formerly this caused burn-
ing and pains as from chaps), now there is only itching in that
spot. I let him smell of Ac. nitr.
March 20. Hardly any more pain after the stool; yesterday
some blood was discharged with the stool (an old symptom).
The throat is well, only when drinking anything cold there is
some sensation.
Now he is allowed to smell of Ac. nitr. The smelling is di-
rected after opening a little vial containing half an ounce of low
grade alcohol or brandy, in which one pellet with medicine is dis-
solved; he smells at it one or two moments.
His health was permanently restored.
While I allow my indulgent readers, also according to their
good pleasure the specificists who are not so kindly disposed to-
wards me, to make their comments on these two cases, and cures
which Hahnemann himself in his letter of the 24th of April,
styles " not the most instructive ones," I go on to the
II. Warning, Namely, the Selection of the Right Remedy.
First we must see what our Hahnemann says about it {ibid )
page 150 :
11 The Second great mistake is made in the treatment of chronic
diseases by the unhontceopathic 'selection of medicines; this is chiefly
the case with incipient homoeopaths. (many, I am sorry to say, re-
main all their life such beginners) through inexactness, negligence
and love of ease."
With great conscientiousness, which more than anything else in
the world the restoration of a sick person in danger ot his life
calls for the homoeopath, who would prove worthy of his calling
should first of all note down the whole condition of the patient,
the cause, as far as it can be discovered, and the reasons which
sustain this condition, his mode of life, the quality of his mind,
disposition and body, together with all the symptoms (according to
the directions of the Organon), and then endeavor to discover in
the book of "Chronic Diseases" and in the "Materia Medica
Pura" the medicine covering all these momenta, or at least the
most striking and peculiar; for this purpose he should not content
himself with the repertories 'that have been prepared, a very fre-
quent carelessness, for these books contain only slight hints as to m
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THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 195
one or the other remedy that might be selected, but can never
take the place of the careful reading up of the fountain sources.
Whoever in critical and complicated cases is not willing to take
this course with all due care and intelligence is not worthy of the
honorable name of homoeopath. A man who thus is satisfied
with the vague hints of a repertory in the selection of a remedy,
,and quickly gets through with one patient after the other, is rather a
quack, and will then have to give a new remedy every minute, un-
til the patient loses his patience, and his ailments having been, as
may easily be understood, aggravated, he leaves such an aggra-
vator of disease who throws discredit on the art instead of merely
the unworthy disciple of this art."
" This disgraceful love of ease (just think of it in a profession
which of all others ought to be the most conscientious) causes
such a would-be-homoeopath frequently to give the remedy merely
from its use (ab usu in morbis) , as they are enumerated in the in-
troduction to the medicines, an erroneous procedure which seems
to savor very strongly of allopathy, since those definitions of use
mostly indicate merely some single symptoms, and should only
serve to confirm the selection made according to the pure effect of the
medicines, but never to permit ourselves to be solely determined
through these (often only problematical) statements of the use in
the selection of a remedy, which can only cure when there is a
similitude of the homoeopathic symptoms. There are, I am sorry
to say, even writers who advise this empiric error f"
The words of our Hahnemann, in which the leading ideas are
emphasized by italics, when combined with what is said about it
in the Organon, might suffice, if in considering this caution there
were not also something to be said in favor of the disciple of the
art, which in order to be impartial must not be concealed.
Looking back over former years allows us to find without long
search a period where the communications made about cases and
cures offer a great difference from those of the present time. A
great part of the results gained in the later time shows an uncer-
tainty and fluctuation in the selection of remedies, which we do
not find at least in the same measure in the former time of the
so-called childhood of Homoeopathy, and when we look at the
matter more closely, we cannot deny the fact that the increase in
the size and multitude of the doses kept equal pace with this.
Can and dare we to call this chance a progress ? And if not,
then where are we to look for the cause ?
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196 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
The answer to the latter question may be found in the above
quoted words of the founder of Homoeopathy, where he warns
against inexactness ■, negligence and love of ease in the selection of
the remedies, and those who are guilty of this justly deserve only
contempt and disgrace. But it would be unjust and not equitable
to blame merely the will, for what in part is also dependent on
the ability, and I am convinced that the size and the condition of
our Materia Medica has a considerable part in this fault.
While leaving it to others to pronounce as to the uselesstfess of
most of the later provings, and also the fragments of symptoms
of medicines otherwise unknown in their medicinal effects, which
fragments are published in various quarters and concerning the
treatises as to the mode of action of the various medicines which
are surcharged with hypotheses, I would only desire to say a few
words as to the arrangement of the Materia Medica Pura, which
embody the results of a diligent study of the same as well as those
of an extensive practice which has been blessed by Providence.
Almost every incipient homoeopath will have had a similar ex-
perience with myself and many of my acquaintances, namely, that
he would think to find in almost every fully proved remedy the
elements of almost every disease. This delusion, which, how-
ever, only in part deserves this name, will not disappear before
by a comparison of the proving symptoms of two or more medi-
cines we have found the differences which exist between them.'
These differences appear still more plainly when we come to their
application, and only then we See the complete inadequacy and
incompleteness of the former pathologies, which, even at best,
only sketch a scanty outline of the genus of the disease, but never
designate the varieties and the finer shadings with the individ-
uals, according to which alone the correct selection of the remedy
suitable for the genus of every disease can be made. What Allop-
athy means by an indicated remedy is quite different from what we
call a homosopathically suitable remedy. Of the former there are.
mostly a great number for every concrete case, the latter can only
be one, and even if there should be several under the former,
which in various cases of disease, which are summarized under one
generic name, which might be of use in a homoeopathic, and not
in an antipathic manner, this is in no way true of every case.of
this kind, but the choice, if it should be homceopathically suit-
able, must be so made that the remedy not only corresponds in a
general manner to the name of the disease, but also just as ex-
actly to the accessory symptoms and circumstances.
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THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 197
Although the preceding is known to every homoepath, never-
theless mention had to be made of it, because from it necessary
rules are derived as well for the study of the Materia Medica
Pura/as also for the selection of the remedies, rules which espe-
cially in these later days have not been sufficiently observed and
obeyed, and which in fact offer some difficulties.
In repeated and many-sided comparison of the symptoms ob-
served by provers in several medicines it is not indeed difficult to
discover very soon quite a number of differences, but their value
is not of the same amount, and what is far worse, of very many
remedies there is a lack, just where we need it most, of that part
in the observation which would serve best as a control in the
comparison. This defect which could not possibly have been
thought of by the provers, in every case, because, the momenta of
the comparison were not yet before them, or it was hardly pos-
sible to think of everything belonging thereto, being a lack indeed
which cleaves to everything human; this has to be supplied now,
during the comparison itself, and indeed proximately from the
totality of the symptoms of every medicine and from the genius
of the same as recognized thereby. This, however, is a matter
not only difficult, but also laborious, and can only be satisfactorily
accomplished by persons who combine with the requisite mental
qualifications sufficient perseverance and industry to acquire
thereby gradually a certain sort of facility in such investigations.
To make myself more intelligible, I will have to take an illus-
tration to my aid, and I select for this purpose (from Archiv.f.
d. horn, Heilk. y Vol. I, No. 3) an article by the late Franz, who
died all too early, the proving of Asafostida, and indeed so as not
to exceed a reasonable limit the lancinating pains peculiar to this
remedy. This pain, which is so characteristic for Asaf&lida, is
not at all emphasized by the author in the preface {ibid., pp. 193
and 194), and I remark particularly in order to call attention to
the fact that we cannot rely upon the same, even where they are
written by distinguished men. Now if we consider what is
said twenty years later in the most complete work about it,
i. *., in the " Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, by
Noack and Tanks,' ' and in the " Symptom Codex by Jahr, M
we find in the first on page 146 under Asafaetida; "Lancinating
pains, pointed prickings as from the pricking of needles, or dull,
boring, often connected with attendant symptoms; paralyzing,
pinching, convulsive, pressive, tensive, twitching, drawing pains,
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198 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
which readily change into different ones." Jahr says (ibid. 9
page 113): ' ' Intermittent ', pulsating, or pressive stitching, also tear-
ing pains, passing from within outwards, changed by touch into
different pains or diminished,' ' etc. But when the symptoms ob-
served in this remedy are closely compared, then the pains which
occur as well in the inner as in the external parts, lancinating
frequent pains are mostly dull and intermittent, most usual burn-
ing, more rarely pressive or tensive, most -rarely drawing and tear-
ing, and they all have the peculiar characteristic that they pass
from within outward. . Therefore, the symptoms 35, 47, 48, 58, 85,
86, 88, 89, 90, 91, etc., where this is not particularly noted, have
to be completed and made more exact, as they speak merely of
lancinations without any closer particularization. Furthermore
when under nose, ears, lips, chin, teeth, etc., no symptoms of
lancination are noted and mentioned, we are by no means to con-
clude thence that in lancinating pains in these parts, when they
otherwise correspond to the peculiarities of this remedy and the other
symptoms agree, Asafostida might not be the remedy, and in fact
I have brought quick and permanent relief by means of this rem-
edy even in lancinating-burning pains in the teeth, ear and face,
which were intermittent, and which felt as if they came from
within outward, and where otherwise the symptoms were in agree-
ment or there was nothing contra-indicated.
Of almost greater importance than the variety in the sensations
and external symptoms is the aggravation and amelioration of
ailments according to time, position and circumstances. Many,
yea, we might say, most of the medicines at the provings give
almost all the most usual sensations of pain, it is true, in more or
less peculiar modifications, so that if we were merely confined to
this we would very often be altogether unable to determine with
certainty the remedy exactly suitable homoeopathically. Here
these peculiarities usually determine the matter as easily as re-
liably. While, therefore, it is of the utmost importance always
to consider each one of these conditions of aggravation and of
amelioration in the most exact manner, and while without an
accurate statement as to them the image of the disease can never
be said to be complete and sufficient for the selection of a remedy,
the same trouble and the same necessity of completing according
to the measure of the medicine takes place as is mentioned above,
and in this case all the more, since just in this matter the defi-
ciencies and gaps in the symptoms of proving are far greater than
in the other.
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•THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 199
In thus completing and more closely determining the symptoms
of the provings, three points are especially to be regarded. The
first is the peculiarity constituting the characteristic of the medi-
cine not in increasing the totality of the symptoms at the same
time or under the same circumstances, but at the one time the one
symptom, at the other time another. To give an example : In
Ammonium muriaticum the ailments in the breast and head are in-
creased in the morning, the ailments in the abdomen, in the after-
noon, and the pains in the limbs, the skin and the fever in the even-
ing. The second point consists in considering which are of two
opposite ailments and circumstances, which are both of a morbid
nature (213) actually deserves the predicate of aggravation. So
as is well known Nux vom has most of its aggravations in the
open air. But the coryza peculiar to this remedy is frequently of
such a nature that in the room there is a very violent fluent coryza,
but in the open air this at once changes to the less incommoding
obstruction of the nose ; the latter, as in general the suppression of
secretion, is one of the first effects of this valuable remedy, so that
the fluent coryza in itself is to be considered as an alleviation of
the ailment. A third point, which especially where several reme-
dies compete, considerably furthers the selection, is the careful*
investigation as to the special parts not only of the body but even
of every subdivision, every organ or every limb, also of the single
parts of the mind and reason, on which every medicine chiefly
exercises its virtue, an examination of which with some medicines
is the most difficult, and in which only after many years' sedulous
exertion and continued observation a certain facility and certainty
can be attained.
In this and no other manner, unless I am totally in error, and
if my never to be forgotten friend and teacher Hahnemann
showed me the right course, the Materia Medica Pura ought to
be not only read but also studied; and only then when the homoeo-
path who is to be has faithfully and persistently passed through
this study he will be able even without spelling together the
symptoms, which as to a large part are incomplete, to find out in
every case the suitable remedy with certainty. He will also be
able to find out the differences and characteristics of the antipsoric
medicines which offer so extraordinarily many similarities-— just
because they correspond to one and the same great division of
diseases, and he will not be obliged in this case, where long ac-
tion is so important and necessary, to change every moment, but
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200 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.*
his errors may be counted among the rare exceptions. Finally
he will not need to immerse himself in hypotheses, and in the
genuine allopathic manner (as in the Manual of Noack and
Trinks, where, with words sounding learned and with numerous
defamations and others, applications in quite a general manner
are given of a remedy wbi~h -sound almost verbatim the same in
several dozens of other remedies, which are nevertheless quite
different) again institute experiments on patients which we have
striven so carefully to avoid, and instead of finding the remedy
exactly suitable homozopathically seek out one of the remedies indi-
cated in an allopathic manner.
III. Caution.
I come now to the third caution, namely, the warning of the
old and experienced master against the precipitation which pre-
vents us from allowing every homceopathically selected remedy
from finishing its action.
Let us hear first of all how Hahnemann expresses himself
{ibid, page 151): —
" The third great fault, which the homoeopathic physician can-
not avoid too carefully nor too steadfastly in treating chronic
diseases, is the precipitance and thoughtlessness, in giving another
remedy, so long as a carefully selected antipsoric medicine, given
in a dose small enough, has proved itself active for several days,
under the erroneous supposition that so small a dose could hardly
act more than 8 to 10 days, which delusion is sought to be sup-
ported by the fact that on the one or other of the days that the
medicine was allowed to act the morbid symptoms which it was
desired to eradicate had again showed itself from time to time."
"But if the medicine, because it had been selected homceo-
pathically, acted well and advantageously, which was seen already
on the eighth and tenth /days, there may nevertheless be an hour
here or there or half a day where a moderate homoeopathic aggra-
vation may appear; the good consequence will nevertheless not fail
to appear ; but these often show themselves not before the 24th or
the 30th day in their best light ; such a dose will then usually not
have completed its favorable action before the 40th or 50th day,
and before this day has arrived it would be irrational and obstruc-
tive to the progress of the improvement to'give another medicine
Let no one think that we ought to barely wait until the period of
action assumed shall have passed before another antipsoric medi-
cine should be given — that we ought therefore to hasten with the
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THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 201
change in order to hasten the cure. Experience altogether contra-
dicts this opinion and in such a way that we cannot more surely
hasten a cure than by allowing the suitable antipsoric medicine to
act, as long as it continues the improvement, (even if this were
several and many days*) beyond the set putative time of its
operation ; we should in such cases, therefore, give as late as
possible a dose of new medicine. Whoever is able to moderate
his precipitance in this point will the more quickly reach this
point. Only when finally the symptoms diminished by the. last
and former doses begin for a few days to show up again, or to be
notably aggravated, then only the point of time has surely come
that a dose of the medicine most suitable homoeopathically should
be given. Experience solely and alone and careful observation
can determine this matter and in my manifold and exact observa-
tions it has so decided that there is no doubt left in my mind."
11 As a rule, therefore, antipsoric medicines act in protracted
diseases the longer the more protracted these are, but also the re-
verse, etc. — Hahnemann adds in a note to this {ibid, page 153).
'The avoidance of these two faults* — (namely with respect to
the small dose and its long duration) will scarcely make its way
among physicians. These great and pure truths will for some
time be drawn in doubt and not exactly observed in practice. M f
Nevertheless this true proposition does not belong among those
that need to be comprehended nor again among those for which I
ask a blind faith. I do not demand any faith in it nor ask that
any one should comprehend it. I myself do not comprehend it ;
but it is enough that it is a fact, and is not otherwise. It is
merely experience that says so, and I believe it more than I do
my intelligence. Yet who would dare to weigh and determine
the invisible powers hitherto hidden in the lap of nature, or to
draw them in doubt if only they are brought out of the raw state
* Note by Hahnemann. E. g. in a case where Sepia was perfectly homoeo-
pathically indicated, and had diminished a headache appearing in attacks,
both in its strength and in duration, and also had lengthened considerably
the intervals in the appearance of the attacks ; when another attack ap-
peared I have prescribed the same medicine in another dose, which again
caused the attacks to cease for 100 days (thus acted for that length of lime),
when a little of it appeared again, necessitating another dose, after which
no other attack showed itself, while the health for the rest remained per-
fect, and this* now for 7 years.
f That this prophecy of the deceased master has also been verified, may
appear from nine-tenths of the works of later date.— C. v. Boenninghausen.
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202 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
of substance appearing dead by some heretofore unknown in-
vention, such as is potentizing through prolonged trituration or
shaking, as is now. taught by Homoeopathy. But he who is not
willing to follow and to imitate what I am now doing after many
years' trial and experience, — what then will a physician risk if
he should imitate me exactly? He who is not willing to imitate
me exactly, he can leave the great, yea, the greatest problem of
art unsolved, he can leave the important tedious diseases uncured,
as they remained up to the time when I began to teach. More
than this I shall not say. I have thought it.to be my duty to give
these great truths to the world, that stands in need of them, nor
caring whether they can gain it over themselves to act exactly in
accordance therewith or not. If it is not done exactly, then let
them not boast of having imitated me, nor let them expect any
great effect/ '
Then finally the man of experience and rare gift of observation
adds {ibid. pp. 154 and 155) the following words, worthy of be-
ing heeded : — " If, however, the suitably selected antipsoric medi-
cines do not act out their full time, while they are still acting,
the whole cure will amount to nothing. The new antipsoric pre-
scribed too early and before the last has completed its action, may
it be ever so excellent in itself, or the new dose of the same anti-
psoric still acting so favorably cannot make good the benefit which
would have been derived by the full and complete action of the
previous dose, and this will not in all probability be made good
by anything that can be done.
The fundamental rule in the treatment of chronic diseases in
this respect remains : To allow the dose of the medicine selected
homceopathically \ suitable for the case carefully examined to its
symptoms, to complete its action undisturbed, so long as it visibly
furthers the cure, and the improvement of the ailment noticeably
progresses — a process which forbids every new prescription, every
interruption through a new remedy, as also the immediate repeti-
tion of the same remedy.*
If there are any truths in these words of a man grown gray in
his art, to whom no one can deny an eminent gift of observation
especially in this department, truths which surely very many of
*On calm and unprejudiced consideration it will be found, that what H.
here says about repetition of the remedy is not in conflict with what he
teaches afterwards, when we duly consider the words : so long as it visibly
furthers, etc.. and compares his own cures communicated above.
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THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 203
his adherents will confirm from their own experience, it is actu-
ally incapable of explanation how specificists with their assertions
to the contrary, without any sufficient proofs, have been able to
find credence with so many beginners. And why do not the older
homoeopaths make use of their rights given them by long expe-
rience, and raise their voices loud and high in warning against
directions in the latest works, where we see directions for giving
in remedies like Calc. card., Caust., Graph. , etc., the first to the
third trit., repeated daily once or twice, and where the special in-
dications as given by Hahnemann are given, but neither his doses
nor the duration of their action are mentioned ? And why are
they silent, when in their many years' practice they cannot fail
to have numerous proofs of the truth of Hahnemann's teachings,
in view of the manifest tendency of the specificists, to overthrow
all the former observations and to introduce their assertions by
means of tales of cures, which surely cannot serve as patterns ?
I would finally ask these gentlemen, homoeopaths as well as the
specificists, who formerly were homoeopaths, on their honor and
conscience, whether they, especially in the chronic diseases, since
they are giving more massive doses in quick repetition, cure more
successfully, more quickly and more permanently than before, when
they walked exactly in the paths laid down openly and faithfully
by the founder of Homoeopathy.
In the beginning of this paper I have already mentioned that I
barely escaped the almost general fate of German homoeopaths in
giving larger and more frequent doses. I think therefore that I
owe it to my readers to make known here as briefly as possible
what two cases very closely concerning myself, besides the unin-
terrupted warnings of my friend and teacher, Hahnemann, to-
gether with many other experiences, soon led me to again return
to minimal and rare doses of medicine selected exactly after the
homoeopathic method, and indeed with such conviction that all
the later assertions to the contrary were without effect upon my
actions.
The first case concerned myself in May, 1833. After excessive
mental exertions, •too much sedentary occupation, and night-
watches in the course of the winter, caused by multiplied official
duties, which were then incumbent upon me, as I then filled a
very busy station, during which I, as it were, for recreation had
pushed my studies in Homoeopathy and in botany, by the end of
February felt unwell, with loss of appetite, emaciation, indolent
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204 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
stool, etc., without being actually sick. Owing to the lack of any
definite symptoms, I took no remedy, but only changed my mode
of living and my diet, in the hope of thereby regaining what had
been lost by manifest errors "therein before. Still my expecta-
tions* were disappointed; my ailments increased from day to day,
and were- increased by a convulsively constricting, very violent
pain in the right side of the abdomen, with severe distention of
the same, and total constipation. Now I once tried smelling of
Nux vom. 30, but without any success. Yea, there was an aggra-
vation. My sufferings in the meantime continually increased; I
had now not had a stool in eleven days, the pains in the side of
the abdomen were dreadful, and other signs gave clear indication
that I was suffering from a crossing of the bowels (ileus) in the re-
gion where I suffered from these pains. This condition was the
more desperate as the image of the symptoms which I had kept
with great exactness during the latter half of my disease, com-
pleting it from day to day (though I cannot now find it, because
it was written on a separate sheet), did not resemble any of the
homoeopathic remedies which had hitherto proved useful in this
kind of disease. In this distress, which now had reached the
highest point, I was visited besides the two older physicians here
whom I had converted to Homoeopathy, also by two other friends
living at a distance, (who when they shall read this will remem-
ber it with pleasure) , and all of them advised me to take Nux
vom. in larger doses, 'as the remedy which in such cases had most
frequently proved of use. I followed this unanimous advice,
though it ran contrary to my own conviction, and took on the
nth day a whole drop of the 12th of Nux vom. t but not only
without success, but with an aggravation and the addition of new
symptoms which could be recognized as first symptoms of this
remedy, proving as I had foreseen the inappropriateness of the
medicine. On the following day (the 12th) my friends came
back, acknowledged their mistake, and now advised Cocculus, of
which I then immediately took a drop of the 6th potency. This
medicine, which also did not correspond to the symptoms, had no
effect, and at the visit which they repeated in.the afternoon, and
where they with the best intentions proposed also other unsuitable
medicines for a trial, I declared to them squarely that I would not
again take a homoeopathic remedy until the correct homoeopathic
selection was plainly shown to me. Thus matters stood on the
evening of the 12th, and there remained but little hope to see me
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THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 205
preserved to my numerous family, when, with an exertion of my
whole will power, overcoming the enormous pains in the abdo-
men which were continually increasing, I took the image of my
symptoms in hand, determined not to quit until I had either found
the suitable remedy, or was delivered by death from my torments.
It had come to be midnight before I was enabled to find in Thuja
the medicine that contained the characteristics of my ailment so
clearly that I had them hand me the medicine-case at once, and
smelled once with each nostril at the pellets which had been
moistened a year before with the thirtieth dilution. What can
describe the joy of the man in despair when he sees himself
saved ? In five minutes the pains began to diminish in the pain-
ful spot of the abdomen, and in ten minutes I had a most copious
discharge of the bowels, after a constipation of thirteen days. I
at once fell into a refreshing sleep which I had missed for so long,
and when my friends visited me next day they were as much
astonished as rejoiced when I told them of the events of the night
before. The improvement of my condition now progressed stead-
ily without any further medicine, and only a few days later I was
able to advise my dear friend and teacher t Hahnemann, of my
rescue from threatened death. I might here close tt^is account, so
instructive to myself and friends, if I was not impelled to give the
admirers of our late father Hahnemann a new proof of his rare
medical insight, which was called out by this very incident. My
last named letter arrived, namely, at a time in Coethen, when
Hahnemann himself was very sick, so that his answer of the 28th"
of April came into my hands in the first days of May, 1833.
What he wrote there about his own sickness and about mine, I
shall give in his own words :
"In spite of the great care I took, some vexation about
* * *(*) may have contributed to my getting a suffocative ca-
tarrh, which for seven days before the 10th of April, f and for
fourteen days afterwards, threatened to choke me, in momentary
attacks of an unbearable tickling in the larynx, which wanted to
compel me to a convulsive cough, but took all my breath away;
only exciting vomiturition with my finger brought back the
breath, with other severe morbid symptoms, very short breath
(without constriction of the chest), a total lack of appetite and
thirst, aversion to tobacco, soreness and weariness in all my
* I do not consider myself authorized to name the persons here indicated.
t As is well known the birthday of Hahnemann.
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206 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
limbs, constant somnolence, inability to follow my calling, and a
presentiment of death. The whole neighborhood showed me so
great a love that I felt ashamed, through their frequent inquiries
as to my health. Only since the last four days I feel myself
saved. First by smelling twice of Coffea cr. X-o, then of Calcarea;
also Ambra contributed its share. And so the Supreme Protector
of all that is true and good will give me so much more life as
seems best to His wisdom. * * *
I was sorry from all my heart, that you have been so sick,
and * * *(*) Now if you would have an additional advice
for the restoration of the activity of your bowels, I would call
your attention to Conium and to Lycopodium, and to taking daily
walks in the open air. I am glad to see that by your example
you have done justice to the useful Thuja. * * * I would
add here that a few days after sending off my letter in which I
had neither asked for his advice nor spoken of any additional
treatment* I had taken the homceopathicaliy indicated Lycopodium,
and so also about eight days before receiving the letter from our
Hahnemann Conium, each in a minimal and single dose, and
nothing else at all, and next year I took once more a single dose
(minimal) of Lycopodium, after which every trace of this ailment
forever disappeared. What a mass of observations and of expe-
rience was required, together with what a rare divining power, in
order to give in advance (in a disease which had only been com-
municated as to. its leading characteristics and as to the mere
"naming of the first remedy used) , two remedies which only subse-
quently, through their symptoms, were so distinctly and de-
terminedly indicated, as homoeopathicaliy suitable, that of all the
other remedies none could come into competition and the result
had already proved the correctness of the advice before it had be-
come known to me !
The second case concerned my eldest son, born on the 15th of
September, 18 14, and at present referendary with the royal gov-
ernment here.
A few months after his birth there appeared in his face an
eruption like milk scurf, which quickly increased and soon cov-
ered it with a thick crust, as this eruption is wont to appear when
in its worst form. At the same time the mother was afflicted
with an ulcerating breast, which went over into suppuration and
which was only imperfectly restored after a considerable time.
*Modesty forbids me to communicate the conclusion of this sentence and
the whole of the next one.
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THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 207
In spite of my repeated and urgent warnings — because I was
well acquainted with several cases where injurious consequences
had appeared from the allopathic way of suppressing such erup-
tions, — various good and skillful physicians recommended various
remedies; " blood-purifying infusions of herbs/ ' " innocent oint-
ments of cream and oil," "worm- killing purgatives, ' ' baths for
"strengthening the skin/' etc., were proposed and some of them
applied without my knowledge. Obstinate as the eruption showed
itself, it had at least to yield to so manifold attacks, to the great
joy of the mother. But this joy did not last long. A few months
after the disappearance of the milk-crust and when the places
which had remained red for a long time had at last begun to re-
sume their natural color there appeared at first slight but gradu-
ally more severe attacks of dyspnoea, which after the lapse of half
a year reached such a height that during the 8 or 14 days of the
several attacks we expected every hour to be his last.
Against this ailment, endangering the life so seriously, we sought
help far and near with celebrated and uncelebrated physicians,
but found none. The attacks always returned in the same man-
ner, and although in later years they only appeared every four to
eight weeks they would last six, eight and often more days dur-
ing which the patient could only breathe while sitting and with
the greatest efforts, which pressed out a clammy perspiration.
Then he would be unable to speak nor to move at all without
aggravating the convulsive asthma, as the physicians called it ;
and he had to pass the whole of the eight days sitting on a chair,
with the upper part of the body leaning forward, almost entirely
without sleep.
While I was afflicted with this trouble in my son, then my
only one, and even in case he should survive the attacks, could
not foresee any but a sad future for him, as this trouble seemed
to mock all medical art ; in this sad time, the second misfortune
came upon us in the fact that a scirrhus formed in the breast of
my wife that had formerly been ulcerated. All the physicians
consulted urged a speedy operation, "in order that the bad blood
formed only by the scirrhus (?) might not spread further and
make the case incurable. M I knew, indeed, that the extirpation
of the scirrhous mamma could not bring any cure, but as yet un-
acquainted with Homoeopathy, I knew nothing better to advise,
and allowed to be done what was unavoidable. The result was
as usual ; after the lapse of a year and a half I was a widower
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208 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
and the father of a boy whose death was threatened every three
or four weeks.
I now pass over a period of several years, during which I had
entered marriage a second time, had become father of several
children, and had come into circumstances which permitted me to
consult very many other allopathic physicians as to the asthmatic
condition of my son which had remained unchanged ; but with-
out seeing the least result.
Finally in the year 1822 I was so fortunate not only to hear
about the excellences and achievements of Homoeopathy, but
also to see myself, who had been given up by distinguished allo-
pathic physicians, saved from death. But there was a total lack
of homoeopaths, the allopaths showed a determined and obstinate
opposition against Homoeopathy, of which they did not under-
stand anything, and after repeated vain efforts to induce anyone
of the former physicians to take up the study of £he new curative
method, nothing remained but to put my hand to the work and
to devote all my leisure hours to the study of this difficult science,
for which I was better fitted than most others who have not
chosen the healing art for their profession, through my studies in
natural history which I had pursued with preference from my
youth, and by a pretty accurate knowledge of the Old School of
medicine, as I had formerly visited most of the lectures in the
University.
Finally the time approached when my son was to attend the
University, and since a few remedies of .short duration of action
which I had given him as it were tentatively were without suc-
cess, and the ailment remained in its customary t bounds, and I
had become convinced that the cure could only be effected through
a continual and carefully conducted treatment, I determined to
wait until he should have returned to the bosom of our family,
and I myself should have in the meantime so enlarged my knowl-
edge of Homoeopathy that I might be safe from error.
When then finally the moment approached, it was just at the
time when the misfortune — I can not call it otherwise — of the
large and oft repeated doses had broken in on Germany and had
also seized upon me. I must indeed call it a real misfortune for
me ; for in spite of having selected the right medicine, which was
Phosphorus, I not only saw no result from the doses of the low
potencies which I repeated every eight days, but considerable
aggravations and the appearance of a number of Phosphorus symp-
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THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY. 209
toms never before noticed by my son. Of the latter I should only
mention (counting by the second edit.) No. 10, 17, 21, 44, 87,
190, 105, 118, 141, 147, 245, 300, 390, 455, 580, 625, 665, 668,
93i> 933> 950, 97i> ioo9> 1012, 1032, 1034, 1075, io 8 4> "26,
1140, 1140, 1153, 1202, 1303, 1210, 1221, 1225, 1226, 1232, 1252,
1266, 1508, 1530, 1555, 1615, 1670, 1685, 1686, 1725, 1753, 1781,
1791, 1822, 1823 and 1886 ; and I would at the same time remark
that the chest-symptoms there adduced were not present before
this time outside of the asthma- periods, or only in a very slight
measure, but now they continued without interruption.
I was insensate enough to continue in this manner and only
then noticed the great mistake which I had made. What bitter
repentence would I have been spared, if a warning friend had
then been by my side ! For acquainted w.ith the views and teach-
ings of Hahnemann who continued to be closely intimate with
me,* I had not dared at first to tell him, and later on I was still
more loth to do it. The whole illness of my son was through my
fault very much aggravated and the attacks which now returned
at every slight cause, and more frequently and more violently
than ever, even outside of the customary time, and which agitated
my mind most severely, may have contributed to make me
recognize my fault sooner. May a kind Providence protect every
homoeopath from such remorse as I had to suffer at that time.
But the next thing was to make good the injury which I had
caused. Repeated doses of Coffea dnd Nux vom. t then later on
Ipecac, Chin., Veratr. and Arsenicum, all did something but only
a little, and many months passed before all the attendant symp-
toms which had not before been noticed had again disappeared
and the old asthma stood there again in its former form.
When this condition at last appeared, I left my son for three
months quite without medicine, and only after this period had
passed I began the treatment anew, which I initiated with a
small dose of Sulphur 60 for four weeks and a dose of Nux vom.
30 for fourteen days (only two pellets of each). Then I again
took up an exact image of the disease, which coincided exactly
with the one taken up a year before, for a sure sign, not only
that Phosphorus was indicated now as before, but also that Phos-
phorus had made no improvement in the large doses I had repeatedly
given before. Not without trembling and fear of an action too
violent, I now gave him immediately after an attack of the usual
kind a small dose of Phosphorus 30, namely, two pellets of the
14
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210 THE SELECTION OF THE RIGHT REMEDY.
smallest size,* and the result showed that my apprehension had
not been without foundation, for after five days a violent first
action of the old ailment and also of the symptoms of Phosphorus,
all those italicized, i. e., Nos. 21, 100, 105, 118, 245, 625, 933,
971, 1202, 1203, 1210, 1221, 1225, 1226, 1232, 1252, 1686 and
1 791, and several of the others reappeared Still this homoeo-
pathic aggravation did not last long, and immediately afterwards
a visible improvement set in, which, with only a few interruptions
lasting only a few hours, and with a decrease of the duration and
violence of the usual asthmatic attacks, continued for over three
-months.
Thus Phosphorus which, in the excessive doses, although in com-
parison with allopathic prescription doses of unheard of minute-
ness , had made so great .and so lasting an injury, was still the true
.homoeopathic remedy as being the most suitable homoeopathic med-
icine and proved completely what the sagacious Father of Homoe-
opathy has taught in the first volume of his book on " Chronic
Diseases," page 149, for such cases.
I will now only add in a few words that Phosphorus remained,
to the end of this treatment, the only indicated remedy and the
only one furthering the cure. This was continued, after three to
four months, such a minimal dose being given, with a few inter-
posed doses as they seemed needed of Nux vom. and Hepar su/ph.
caic. t each in just as high an attenuation and as small a dose.
After a year and a half I had the great joy of seeing my son so
thoroughly cured from his asthmatic ailment of the chest, al-
though Allopathy had not been able to touch it, and this cure is
so perfect and permanent that at present not the least trace of it '
can be seen. He can now undergo any exertion, foot-tours,
hunting and dancing, without any injury; he can expose himself
to heat or to cold, can drink a glass of wine extra with friends;
all this which formerly always brought on an attack of asthma
now does not injure him in the least. Even the peculiar habitus
of asthmatic persons, the sunken breast, the drawn up shoulders,
the forward stoop of the body, etc. , have all disappeared in the
course of the treatment, so that no one now seeing him would
dream that he had from his youth up suffered from such an ail-
ment.
* I usually give two pellets, not because I regard one as being insufficient,
but because I am afraid that in moistening a quantity of them at a time, one
or another might have remained dry and thus unmedicated.
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HAHNEMANN'S DOSES OF MEDICINES. 211
From the preceding the unprejudiced reader, though he will
have seen only a small part of my numerous experiences as to
the three warnings of Hahnemann, will nevertheless be easily
convinced that I have had all possible cause to hold fast to these
teachings as well as to many others lately rejected by many, and
which have been promulgated by the experienced sage. Whether
others, and especially the so-called specificists, have as weighty
and tenable reasons for their contrary belief, neither they nor we,
but posterity, will have to decide, for they will be able to compare
whole masses of facts. Only so much is plain, that there is no
cause of persecuting us, who have remained true to the original
teachings of Homoeopathy, with contumely and mockery and to
demand of us that we should follow the course of the renegades,
before these have indisputably proved their superiority. We, on
the other hand, are fully within our rights in offering a vigorous
resistance, in revealing the shortcomings of our opponents with
frankness, as they ate doing, and to demand instead of bold asser-
tions facts, and in ignoring injurious witticisms and insolent de-
famations, so long as they are meant to supply the part of bind-
ing demonstrations. But we have no desire of avoiding the open
and honest combat for the truth, which is wont to ever appear
more plainly after such contests, so long as we are convinced that
the truth is on our side. Therefore I would meet every cham-
pion with the motto of our Master: Aude sapere.
Hahnemann's Doses of Medicines.
Translated from the Neues Archiv der horn. Heilkunst, Vol. I., No. 2, 1844
The question-marks appended by our honored Medical Coun-
selor, Dr. Stapf, to my extracts from the Journal of our late
Master Hahnemann impose upon me the duty of solving these
questions, all the more since according to my note on page 79 of
the last number of the Archiv, owing to the delay in the publica-
tion of the 6th edition of the Otganon, no assistance in that direc-
tion is to be expected for the present.
In order to be quite sure as to the matter I applied to those
homoeopaths in Paris, who were most intimate with Hahnemann,
visited him almost daily, and, in consequence, were best informed
as to his practice during the last times, namely, to Dr. Croserio,
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212 HAHNEMANN'S DOSES OF MEDICINES.
from whom I had before had a very friendly communication, and
could therefore also feel sure that he would give me as detailed
an account as possible.
The following is the faithful and verbatim translation of his
answer of the 28th of January of this year, from which I only
omit what has no reference to this matter, and some courtesies
which concern only myself personally, and I keep back the notes
which seem called for, until the conclusion, so as not to interrupt
the text:
Dear Sir and most honored colleague: Your communication
has surprized me in such an agreeable manner that I cannot ex-
press to you warmly enough my thanks, and in order to give you
a proof of my great joy, which the kind expressions of a man
(who ) have made on me, I at once went to Mrs. Hahne-
mann to ask her about the mode of preparing medicines, which
our honored Master during the last time considered the best, and
accordingly practised. But she gave me a decidedly evasive
answer, and this because she considered it unsuitable {pas con-
venable) to publish this new discovery in any other way than in
the 6th edition of the Organon, in which as she stated they were
laid ddwn. 1 . To be frank, I do not lay any great weight on
this matter. 2. Perhaps the whole difference may consist in a
greater number of concussions given on an elastic object, thus in-
creasing the action of the substance. 3. As to the mode in
which he prescribed the medicines to be taken I am able to give
you all the information that you may wish, as I have quite fre-
quently been a witness of it. Hahnemann at all times used only
the well known small pellets, which were usually moistened with
the 30th dilution, and this in acute as well as in chronic diseases.
4. Of these pellets he would dissolve one or at most two in eight
to fifteen tablespoonfuls of water and a half or whole tablespoon-
ful of French brandy in a bottle and thoroughly shake it up.
Only one tablespoonful of this solution was put in a tumblerful of
water, and of this latter the patient would take only a coffee-
spoonful, on the second two, on third day three and so forth, in-
creasing by one coffeespoonful until he observed some action.
5. Then he would diminish the dose or would stop the medicine.
In other cases where he had a patient who was very excitable he
would take a tablespoonful from the first tumbler into a second
and from this into a third and so on even into a sixth, and only take
a coffeespoonful out of the last glass. Only in rare cases he would
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HAHNEMANN'S DOSES OF MEDICINES. 213
give daily a tablespoonful or coffeespoouful of the first solution in
eight or fifteen tablespoonfuls of water. 6. If he gave a powder
to be taken at once in a tablespoonful of water, this was never
anything else than mere sugar of milk. 7. He never prescribed
two different remedies, to be used in alternation or one after the
other, he always wanted to see first the effect of the one remedy,
before he gave another, and this even with patients whom he
treated at a distance of two or three hundred miles. Nor would
he change. Even in acute diseases it was a rare case to see him
allow the patient to take more than one spoonful in 24 hours.
8. In order to pacify the patients or their relatives he frequently
allowed them to take simple sugar of milk. 9. Hahnemann in
the last years of his practice seemed to devote his whole dexterity
to continually diminish the doses of his medicines. On this ac-
count he in the last years frequently contented himself to allow
his patients to smell of the medicine. For this purpose he would
putone or two pellets into a small vial with two drams of alcohol,
diluted with equal parts of water, at which he directed the
patient to smell once or twice with each nostril ; never oftener.
10. My own wife was cured by him in the space of five hours
from a violent pleurisy. In chronic diseases he would in no case
allow the patient to smell at the medicine oftener than once a
week, and would give nothing but sugar of milk besides; and in
this way he would make the most admirable cures, even in cases
where we others had not been able to do anything. 11. It would
be impossible for me to give in a letter all the shadings of his
treatment. By your constant correspondence with the learned
sage you have had abundant opportunity to learn to appreciate
his rare powers of observation, and you will therefore easily see
that his mode of action was not always the same. But I can
assure you that he was most fully convinced that it was not neces-
sary in any case, or under any circumstances y nor even useful, to
give drop doses of the medicines, and that he from day to day
more clearly saw the injury of giving larger doses, 12. The an-
nouncement of a work from your hands is at all times a godsend
for Homoeopathy, and if you have succeeded in giving to your
repertory an arrangement which facilitates the selection of the
remedy, as you show by your cures, you will contribute more to
the advance of Homoeopathy than all that has hitherto appeared
in this direction, and you will have the fullest claim to the grate-
fulness of all of us. I know full well how highly our Master ap-
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214 HAHNEMANN'S DOSES OF MEDICINES.
predated your former repertory, which he continually kept at
hand. By your labors etc. 13. etc.
In elucidation of this communication I will now give in
sequence my remarks and other statements which seem to me
useful as to the points tfhich are noted above with numerals:
1 . The question to which this serves as an answer referred in
fact to two points, t. e. t not only the mode of preparing the
medicines, but also the nomenclature of the different potencies
adopted by the late Hahnemann, because just in this particular
there was the most obscurity in the cases which he reported. I
was more concerned to receive some information as to his nomen-
clature, which varied from what we were accustomed to, than
about the mode of preparation, concerning which the late Hahne-
mann had already communicated the necessary information in the
preface to the fifth volume of the "Chronic Diseases M at the
close of the year 1838. We shall now have to content ourselves
until the 6th edition of the Organon appears, as I can hardly hope
that a communication I lately directed to Mrs. Hahnemann her-
self will have any satisfactory result.
2. Although all Homoeopaths agree that the right selection of
the remedy is more important than the degree of dynamization
and the size of the dose, yet we can not regard the latter as a
matter of indifference. We can neglect this factor all the less,
since very many attentive observers beside Hahnemann have
noted that while by the so-called attenuations the strength of the
effect is indeed moderated, yet the sphere of its action is immensely
increased, and if our deceased Master was right in his statement,
that too large doses, especially of high attenuations, frequently
prove ineffective, because they cause many other virtues of the
medicine to become effective, diminish or nullify the simile in that
special case.
3. The increase of strength by additional and increased shak-
ing is a fact which is acknowledged by every Homoeopath, who,
as really ought always to be done, i l forges and sharpens his
weapons against the. diseases/ ' (Cf. Preface to the 5th Vol. of
the Chronic Diseases, the 2d edition.) Hence also the warning
of Hahnemann of an earlier date, not to exceed a certain limit in
this matter. But after he had gained the conviction that he
could reduce the excessive power of medicines potentized by con-
tinuous trituration or shaking, by dissolving them in water, with-
out at the same time reducing the forces which had once been
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Hahnemann's doses of medicines. 215
fully developed, according to communications made to me at an
earlier date, he potentized in the last years all his medicines with
many, at least with 25 percussions.
4 I do not know whether it is an error or a slip of the pen of
Dr. Croserio, when he says that Hahnemann used the 30th dilu-
tion in every disease. To me Hahnemann repeatedly stated that
he generally used the 60th dilution, which afforded him all that
he desired, and that in very excitable patients and in chronic dis-
eases he often used much higher ones with the desired effect.
Since then I also have used e. g. of Sulphur almost always only
this 60th potency, giving two pellets as a dose, and my success
with this has been so great that the use of the 30th potency with
me is exceptional. If any one of my readers should be inclined
to laugh and to ridicule this I will give him still greater, reason
for it by adding the assurance that in cases of great sensitiveness
to medicinal action I not infrequently, in cases where there is a
great susceptibility for medicinal impressions, use the 120th
potency, and am perfectly content with its action, as I am also
with the 200th, which I have experimented with lately in chronic
diseases of the worst kind, but as to the effect of the latter I shall
not as yet report. I would request every one to give his experi-
ence on this point as frankly as I am doing.*
5. This passage in the communication of Dr. Croserio gives the
most clear and complete exposition of the mode practiced by the
closely observing Master of the art during the last times, on his
patients, and explains most satisfactorily what might have
appeared obscure in the two cases lately reported. The addition :
" until he felt an effect/ ' is of the greatest importance, and must
always be closely observed, in order that nothing may be spoiled
afterwards by giving too much or too often.
6. From this it is evident, with what circumspection the ex-
perienced sage took care to adapt the dose to the greater or lesser
susceptibility of the patient, which can rarely be determined in
advance with any certainty, and how he endeavored to avoid too
strong an action. The largest dose which he prescribed and
which he only used " in rare cases" of great lack of sensibility
was always still less than the smallest dose which we have been
accustomed to give in our " pellet-practice," and
7. The phrase which follows confirms this fact by a peculiar
addition.
^Concerning this very important subject, very curious communications
will also appear from Dr. Gross and myself in a short time. — Stapf.
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216 HAHNEMANN'S DOSES OF MEDICINES.
8. Being ever ckreful not to stand in the way of the reaction
of the vital force by giving not only too strong but also too
frequent doses, he observed even in acute cases a precedure on
which our present spokesmen have laid their anathema, and,
which curious to relate, even those who have previously had so
much experience have not felt it incumbent on them to
contradict.
9. With impatient patients or relatives, especially with such as
had been accustomed to the allopathic "every two hours,' ' and
do not yet give to Homoeopathy the confidence it deserves, sugar
of milk is a very valuable gift of Heaven. Hahnemann's mark
for sugar of milk was always g.
10. Smelling of medicines is, as we see here, by no means a
method which has long been given up again, as some parties
would have us believe, and I may now openly confess that in
very painful diseases, e. g. t in toothache, tic douloureux, convul-
sions and the like, where we desire to given relief as quickly as
possible, I have for a long time used almost exclusively this
method, which often instantaneously brings the desired relief,
especially when only the highest potencies are used for this pur-
pose.
11. When a physician who is acknowledged to be a lover of
ruth and gifted with knowledge, as our worthy colleague, Dr.
Croserio, happens to be, gives our old Master such testimony, this
will be all the less questioned when he at the same time confesse s
that his own successes and those of his colleagues are over-
shadowed by those of the Master, and besides strengthens our
confidence in Hahnemann "by confessing that in the severe illness
of his wife he consulted him and saw the admirable success of this
counsel.
12. Such a statement as to the size of the doses, made by a
man to whom no one has denied a most rare faculty of observa-
tion, made at the conclusion of his earthly career, has at least, for •
me, a greater importance than all the bald assertions and un-
proved contradictions with which his opponents have flooded us.
13. Although this part of the letter of Dr. Croserio does not
belong to this particular subject, I have nevertheless added it, to
connect with it some information as to a book which is just now
going through the press, and which will presently appear under
the title: "Therapeutical Manual for Homoeopathic Physicians,
for use at the sick-bed and in studying the Materia Medica Pura. M
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 217
Many years' use of the Repertory, which I first introduced in the
year 1832 and which others have since appropriated for them-
selves, has enabled me to fully recognize its defects, which seem
inseparable from its present form. For several years I have
therefore studied over an entirely new arrangement of it. Al-
though I finally discovered a form which corresponded with my
intentions and which found the fullest approval of the late Hah-
nemann, I first desired to consult experience so as not to expose
myself to the danger of increasing worthless Homoeopathic litera-
ture. This year of probation has now turned out to my satisfac-
tion, and I do not think that I have any more reason to hesitate
about publishing the work. May my work which required almost
three years' application, and which besides contains the result of
all my practice, find a friendly reception and a just judgment.*
The Physician's Record-Book. f
Translated from the Allg. horn. Zeit.^ Vol. 67, pp. 1 13-165.
The Physician's Record is without doubt a subject which de-
serves for many reasons and in many respects to be seriously con-
sidered and discussed. That it /is indispensable to every true
Homoeopathic physician follows undeniably from the necessity of
individualizing all the characteristic symptoms in every case of
disease, since they in their totality cannot be preserved even in
the most faithful memory as to all the essential traits, even if the
practice is only a moderately extended one.
* We are sure that all true friends of Homoeopathy will be very glad to
hear that, by the grace of our illustrious King, the author of the article here
printed by an order of the Royal Cabinet, dated July 11, 1843, has received
permission freely to practice Homoeopathy. This order is here reprinted :
4 'Owing to the favorable testimonies submitted by you, His Royal
Majesty herewith grants that whenever patients from their personal confi"
dence in you come to you to obtain Homoeopathic advice and Homoeopathic
Medicines, no obstruction shall be placed in your way from the lack of the
legal qualifications for this purpose. ' '
In this act we joyfully recognize the just acknowledgment of extraordi"
nary merits and would testify to it as a very pleasant sign of the high and
Royal disposition to honor and protect what is really good and true, wher-
ever it may be found, even if it does not present itself under the forms and
privileges to which we are accustomed. Long live the King !
f This most interesting work, which in the report of the Meeting at Dort-
mund (No. 12) is marked as appendix C, we do not desire to withhold from
our readers any longer and therefore subjoin it here. (Ed.)
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218 THE physician's record-book.
The advantage of an exact Record is at the same time of great
importance, both for one's own instruction and for quieting the
conscience of the Physician, and also for a possible future defence,
and finally to satisfy a legal requirement the demand for. which
may be expected, and to which in all probability all Homoeopathic
physicians may be subjected, who would claim for themselves the
right and privilege of dispensing their own medicines.
If I therefore take the liberty of submitting some observations
on this subject this will hardly be regarded as presumptuous,
since I, with an extensive and blessed practice for more than one
third of a century and with a record which has already grown to
the 115th quarto volume, have probably had more opportunity to
gather experience than others of the older Homoeopaths, who are
still living, few of whom would probably be able to say with me
next year : ' ' Sic multas hiemes atque octogesima vidi solstitia ' *
(Juvenal).
If to this should be added that I have had the invaluable ad-
vantage of having had a continuous correspondence with the
founder of our school, from the beginning of the thirties up to his
death (in 1843), and also enjoyed the constant instruction of our
late confreres (Stapf Gross, Nuehlenbein, Rummel), I can
scarcely be denied a certain right to utter advisory and warning
words.
Furthermore, since the " Organon " of our Hahnemann is out
of print, and in consequence many of our younger Homoeopaths,
without their fault, are unable to read and take to heart the lead-
ing principles there laid down, and which have especially to be
considered here, it will not be superfluous to quote from the
paragraphs of this masterly work verbatim what is needed for this
discussion. The notes which may be required I shall subjoin at
the close of every paragraph, pointing to them by numbers in
continuous series in the text. These paragraphs (83-104) accord-
ing to the 5th. (last) edition are as follows :
§83. This individualizing examination of a case of disease, for
which I here give a general direction, of which the examiner will
only apply what is suitable in the case before him, requires noth-
ing of the physician but an unprejudiced eye and sound senses,
carefulness in observation, and faithfulness in noting down the
image of the disease. (1)
Note 1. What is said in the very beginning of noting down,
i. e. t writing down the image of the disease, is repeated with the
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 219
same definiteness in the paragraphs that follow, i. <?., sections 84,
85, 86, 90, 91, 102, 104, and we nowhere find any statement
which would permit an omission of this direction. Whoever
therefore does not follow it, violates the distinct directions of the
author of Homoeopathy and falls under the dictum of the note to
§67 of the Organon as follows : ' ' There are some who would
save themselves the trouble of being Homoeopathic physicians and
who would nevertheless like to appear such.*
§84. The patient is to give an account of his troubles ; his at-
tendants relate his complaints, his behaviour and whatever they
have noticed ; the physician will see, hear and observe through
his other senses whatever is changed and unusual in him. He
will write down everything exactly (2), and with the same expres-
sions used by the patient and his attendants. Keeping silent
himself, he will allow them to have their say, if possible without
interruption, unless they go off their subject. He should only
advise them in the very beginning to speak slowly so that he may
be able to follow the speakers with his notes.
Note 2. Appropriate as are the directions given in this para-
graph and useful as it will prove, especially to beginners in their
practice, to follow these directions in every point, a physician of
experience, furnished with a proper knowledge of* his Materia
Medica Pura, will only rarely find himself in the position to apply
these directions in all their detail. This is already indicated in
the previous paragraphs in the words that ' ' the examiner should
only retain what is applicable to each case." But besides the
passage here adduced, there are also others in the Organon which
even more clearly contain the important instruction that — as we
read especially in §153 — "we should almost alone consider the
striking, peculiar, unusual and individual {characteristic) signs
and symptoms of the disease ; for especially these must correspond
to very similar symptoms in the series of symptoms in the medicine
if they should be the most suitable for effecting a cure." The
discovery, of such characteristic symptoms is therefore the
main task, and everything tending in this direction should be
* Kopp relates {Aerztliche Bemerk., p. 186) that the physicians in a cer"
tain German state brought in a resolution *' obliging the apothecaries to
enter all the perscriptions, no matter how many, that came in during the
day, in a book kept for that particular purpose or be subject to punishment."
This would have proved a great aid in advancing the carelessness of physi-
cians and have much advanced the " lively jokes " of old Mekel in Halle, and
such as he.
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220 THE physician's record-book.
most carefully entered in the Record. One single symptom of
this kind, characteristic and complete in all directions, weighs far
more usually in the selection of the remedy than a long series
of general symptoms which are found almost with every patient
and also in the results of the provings of almost all the medicines.
The facility of sketching short but perfectly sufficient images of
the disease which shall be easy to survey can only be acquired by
a longer practice and best by endeavoring to recognize at once,
during the examination, the importance of every statement and
modifying the entry in accordance therewith. Whoever takes
this method in an intelligent manner will in not too long a time
acquire the faculty of shortening in the most cases his report in
an incredible manner without omitting anything essential whereby
the correct selection of the remedy would be endangered.
If we compare with this the descriptions often extending to a
sheet, as we see not infrequently, the critical view is often entirely
lacking and we cannot help suspecting that the proceeding in it is
somewhat like what it is in the historical novels, which are so
much admired at this day, where the kernel indeed rests on
historical facts, but the whole presentation-equipment in the
accessories,- which are quite essential, is drawn merely from
the phantasy of the relator. At least it is quite doubtful that
any such detailed account is taken verbatim from the physi-
cian's record, as it was written down in the presence of the
patient, and we cannot therefore put any reliance in its details,
such as would be due to the unvarnished tale from the mouth of
the patient or his attendants.
§85. With every statement of the patient he begins a new line,
so that the single symptoms .fall in, one below the other. Thus
he will also be enabled to add in every symptom what at first
was stated too indefinitely, but is afterwards defined more
closely. (3)
Note 3. Also this direction may and will suffer many excep-
tions, especially where the image of the disease consists of very
few symptoms, but which in large part are very characteristic and
in which we find little to add. In selecting the remedies in such
cases, but few medicines compete, among which the most suitable
may easily be determined, if only the time and conditions of ag-
gravation or of alleviation are defined clearly and distinctly.
§86. When the parties have told all they are ready to state of
themselves, the physician adds in with every single symptom the
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 221
closer definitions, which he ascertains in the following manner :
He reads over the symptoms given him singly and inquires with
each one as to the particulars, etc.
§87. Thus the physician finds out by questioning as to every
particular without putting the answer into the mouth of the
patient, so that the patient has not merely to answer yes or no:
else he may be led to affirm or deny something untrue or half
true, or something which is really otherwise, merely from love of
ease or from a desire to please the questioner, from which will
then be gathered a wrong picture of the disease, followed by an
unsuitable manner of treatment. (4)
Note 4. The caution contained in this paragraph is of the
utmost importance, we must always keep it carefully before
us. The physician too easily comes to think soon after the begin-
ning of the investigation that he has an inkling of the true remedy,
and thi£ the practiced physician will be even more apt to suppose
than the beginner, and will be thereby led to ask suggestive ques-
tions, which are merely to be answered with yes or no. Here then
the above mentioned danger occurs, that he may obtain symptoms,
half or wholly false, which may lead him to select the wrong
remedy. The conscientious physician will therefore always avoid
yielding in such cases to the itching to give way to medical
boasting or displays, as if he were able after a few questions to
guess himself all the rest; and he must possess enough self-denial
to prefer the certainty of the cure to his own glory. Many other-
wise able and efficient physicians make shipwreck on this cliff,
and this is more apt to be the case when the disease is one of the
more . frequent ones and seems to have its simile in a polychrest.
An example of this may be found in the preface to my ' l Thera-
peutical Manual" pp. XVIII to XXII. Now when the physician
at the first examination has taken only incomplete notes or none
at all, and later on, as is natural, does not see the results he ex-
pected from the medicine, he will then be all the more perplexed,
and this all the more as the characteristics of the case are laid
down incompletely in his journal, and he lacks the necessary basis
from which to discover his error by means of more exact inquiries
as to the particular symptoms and their especial characteristics.
In such cases we find only too frequently that according to the
true allopathic method, which however hardly ever carries its
point, the attempt is made to force the point by increasing or by a
frequent repetition of the dose.
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222 the physician's record^book.
§88. If in the voluntary statements several parts and functions
of the body have not been mentioned, nor the state of mind, the
physician will then inquire with respect to these parts or func-
tions, as well as if there is anything to be said as to his state of
mind or his mood ; but this should be done in general terms in
order that the report will have to be given in a special manner. (5)
Note 5. Usually the voluntary statements of the patient and of
the attendant are limited to the most burdensome of the symp-
toms and to those which are most prominent, which, however, in
very few cases give a sufficient characteristic of its totality and of
its individuality. Here then it will be required to add what is
necessary to insure completeness,, which can be done all the more
easily, since the questions asked will at all times follow the
symptoms already enumerated, whereby the latter will be com-
pleted and individualized. Especially we should in this connec-
tion accurately find out and enter the altogether necessary char-
acteristic of time, position and circumstances with exactness. No
less should we have regard to the state of the mind and the mood,
especially as to the changes that have been produced by the dis-
ease ; the great importance of these symptoms to the Homoeopath
are already indicated by the fact that they stand at the head of all
the proving symptoms. Where these, as well as the signs of ag-
gravation and alleviation, do not agree, we need not expect much
from a medicine, however much it may otherwise seem to be
suitable; the careful enumeration of the symptoms belonging here
is all the more essential and important, as in the course of the dis-
ease the first and most important changes will appear in this re-
spect, and this will then generally also cause other remedies to be
selected.
§89.> When the patient (for he is most to be believed with re-
spect to his sensations, except in cases where the disease is merely
a pretended one) has given sufficient information to the physician
through these voluntary statements and the ones drawn from him
by questions of a merely general nature, and the image of the dis-
ease has thus become pretty complete, then the physician is per-
mitted, and it is even necessary (in case that he feels that he is
not yet sufficiently informed) to put more proximate and special
questions. (6)
§90. When the physician has completed writing down these
statements, then he notes down what he himself observes in the
patient, and he will inquire what features were peculiar to the
patient when he was well. (7)
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 223
Note 6 and 7. What was said in the note to §88 is also appli-
cable in full measure to §89 and 90. The inquiry as to what had
been peculiar to the patient in his healthy state is often quite
difficult and not infrequently requires round about questions, the
answers to which do not always turn out satisfactorily. Still we
must not try to escape this trouble, because the changes which
arise on account of, and during the present disease, both in mind
and in body, are always characteristic symptoms, and are there-
fore of great importance.
§91. The symptoms and the condition of the patient after the
previous use of a medicine do not give the pure image of his dis-
ease ; but those symptoms and ailments from which he had
-suffered before taking this medicine , or after discontinuing the same
for several days, will give the correct fundamental notion of the
original form of the disease (8), and this especially the physician
should note down. He may also, if the disease is a tedious one,
leave the patient, if he has not yet taken any medicine, for some
days without any medicine, or give him some doses of sugar of
milk, unmedicated, and defer for a short time the more exact ex-
amination of the image of the disease in order to get at the last-
ing, unmixed symptoms of the old disease in their purity, so as
to be able to gain for himself a reliable image of the disease. (9)
Note 8. The previous use of allopathic medicines is no doubt
one of the greatest obstacles in the treatment of such patients,
who now, as is frequently the case, desire to give Homoeopathy a
trial, after everything used before has been in vain. Here we
have not only to treat an old and inveterate disease, but one the
image of which no more presents itself in its original form, but
also frequently exhibits symptoms which are alien to the original
disease and have their cause solely in the medicines used. Owing
to this cause, the Homoeopathic physician will
Note 9. not only frequently be compelled to put into practice
the advice here given,. to wait, but also see himself compelled to
first use antidotes to the medicines used before, in order that he
may eliminate the foreign admixtures in the signs which obscure
the image of the disease. If we are enabled by an examination
of the prescriptions to find out the remedies used, this will serve
to facilitate this work, and will contribute to our sureness ; for it
then becomes easier with a knowledge of the other symptoms to
make a judicious selection among the antidotes that are known.
But where this is not the case, we may often have to content our-
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224 THE physician's record-book.
selves with using the two antidotes which are the most important
and are at the same time of more rapid action, namely, Camphor
and Coffea, * in which case it will be found most useful to use
also these remedies in the high potencies in minimal doses, but to
give several of these at shorter intervals (of 2, 4 and 6 days) and
then take up again the image of the disease as taken up at first in
its details. . By using this method it will not unfrequently be
found that several symptoms assume quite another form, which
can only be found out by a careful comparison with what was
noted down at first.
§92. But if the disease is of a nature that will quickly run its
course, and if its urgent nature does not allow of any delay, the
physician will have to be satisfied with the image of the disease*
as it has been modified by the medicines, unless he can find out
the symptoms observed before the use of the medicines — so as to
gather into one collective image the present form of the disease,
/. e. , the medicinal disease conjointly with the original ailment ;
the medicinal disease having become through the use of remedies
(often unsuitable) more prominent and dangerous than the
original one, and therefore requiring often urgently a suitable
aid, so that the patient may not die from the injurious medicine,
but the whole may be overcome with a suitable Homoeopathic
remedy. (10)
Note 10. Even in diseases of a quick course, we may often
have an occasion (unless Aconitum should be required in the ap-
propriate inflammatory fevers) to use the above mentioned two
chief antidotes {Camphor and Coffed) in cases transmitted to our
care after an allopathic treatment ; since by the minimal doses of
the highest dynamizations the effect follows so rapidly that the
loss of time is hardly of any weight. I must herewith expressly
observe on the basis of my own repeated experience that in such
high potencies even Camphor \ which as a rule is only used in the
form of the spirits satiated with it, by no means loses its pene-
trating effect in the higher dilutions, but, on the contrary, gains
considerably in the extent and in the rapidity of its action as has
* By rare good fortune I succeeded last May in getting a sample of genuine
Mocha coffee-beans, and this from the last harvest. Pharmaceutist Lehr-
mann in Schoeningen, to whom I gave a part, praises its unusual strong
aroma, while it was being prepared, and I myself can affirm its great action,
also in the higher dynamizations. Since the. genuine Mocha beans are
rarely seen in Germany, and still more rarely such fresh beans, this infor-
mation may rejoice many, who may desire to get this preparation.
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 225
also been observed by many observing Homoeopaths with the
other preparations. In this way there will be an opportunity of
putting to proof this matter of experience ; for we must ever re-
ject a denial when not founded on any experiments.
§93. If the disease has been caused by a striking event a short
time before, or in case of a chronic ailment some time before, the
patient will be apt to state it — or at least his relatives if they are
privately questioned — either of their own impulse or with careful
questioning. (11) If there are disgraceful causes which the
patient or his relatives will not willingly acknowledge, not at least
of their own volition, the physician must try to discover this by
giving the questions a skillful turn, or by private inquiry. (12)
Note n. I have before this taken the opportunity of our meet-
ings and again at our last annual meeting to call attention to the
great importance of anamnestic signs. I may therefore here con-
fine myself to reminding you that this anamnesis is quite differ-
ent from aetiology, and makes an important part of a complete
and satisfactory image of a disease, and frequently contributes
essentially to a correct selection of the remedy. This applies as
well to the chronic as to the acute diseases, and if it is of import-
ance to know, if the exciting cause was a cold, a bodily lesion, a
mental emotion or something of the kind, so it is no less import-
ant to know whether a chronic miasma (psora, syphilis or sycosis)
was the original cause. This fact has been altogether overlooked
and neglected when some years ago and even yet of late many
Homoeopathic physicians overwhelmed the last and most excellent
work of the immortal Hahnemann, entitled "The Chronic Dis
eases" with blame, contumely and bile. And nevertheless these
critics, who are as shortsighted as they are ungrateful, see every
day the extraordinary, beneficent effects of the remedies which
were first proved in their completeness and thus became applicable
in this work, and this in all cases where the selection has been
made correctly also in agreement with the anamnesis.
Note 12. Among the " disgraceful causes " we may enumerate
especially and perhaps most frequently, the secret (onanistic)
errors of youth in both sexes, which occur more frequently than
any one might suppose, and to the supposition of which the prac-
tised physician is not unfrequently led by the symptoms of
Calcarea, Con.. Lack., Lye, Phos. ac, Sep., Staph., or Thuja.
In order to avoid other disadvantages and indecorum, great cau-
tion and care are to be exercised, and it is better to omit all the
15
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226 THE physician's record-book.
more special inquiries, where the image of the disease can be com-
pleted sufficiently in some other manner, a matter which is not
usually very difficult. The same may be said of dietetic direc-
tions.
§94. In inquiries as to chronic diseases, we must well weigh
and examine the peculiar relations of the patient as to his cus-
tomary occupations, his usual habits of life, diet; domestic condi-
tion, so as to see what there is in them that may serve to excite
and sustain disease, in order to forward by their removal the
patients recovery. (13)
Note 13. Also these matters which Hahnemann here had in
view as fomenting causes of disease look in large degree to the ex-
tended domain of anamnesis. The end of this inquiry is, there-
fore, not only to remove what may excite or foment disease, as it
were dietetically for the future, but also to select the remedies in
accordance therewith, and to come to the aid of the natural vital
force, for which purpose our medical treasury affords us such
valuable material. Among these are, e. g. y our proved remedies
against effects of gluttony, drunkenness, night-watches, grief and
vexation, abuse of the sexual instinct, damp dwellings, infected
clothes, paints or papering of rooms, etc., which even with the
most careful avoidance of such ill effects continue to show their
ill consequences for some time unless the proper medicine aids in
this work.
§95. The investigation of the above mentioned and of all other
signs of disease in chronic diseases must therefore be as minute
and as careful as possible and extended to the most minute par-
ticulars, partly because they are most peculiar in these diseases
and thus quite different from those in transitory diseases, and if
the treatment should be successful they cannot be treated too
carefully ; and also because the patients get so accustomed to their
long continued ailments that they pay but little attention to the
minor symptoms, which are often very important (characteristic),
and frequently have much to do with the selection of the remedy ;
while they give little attention to them, and almost regard them
as a part of their necessary condition, almost as a part of their
healthy state, so that during the fifteen or twenty years' continu-
ance of their ailments they have pretty well forgotten them, so
that they do not think that these attendant symptoms, these
smaller or greater deviations from a healthy state can in any way
have a connection with their leading ailment. (14)
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 227
Note 14. In these chronic diseases it is also of consequence to
recognize from the beginning the miasma on the anamnestic soil
of which the present troubles may be said to have their root.
But. this can only in rare cases be reliably known from the state-
ments of the patient and his .attendants and hardly ever where
two or three of these are complicated. On account of the great
importance of this knowledge, I repeatedly requested the late
Hahnemann most urgently to give us a systematic presentation
of the signs of syphilis and of sycosis, as in the first volume of
the Chronic Diseases he had done with the psora while still latent
and when awakened, as he through his thoroughly kept journals
would have been able to do better than any one else. He had
indeed favorably received my request and spoke of fulfilling it.
But advancing age and an increasing throng of patients made this
impossible for him, and the heritage remains to us to attend to
this work ourselves. With respect to sycosis the experienced
and sagacious Wolf has already given us a contribution all the
more valuable, as by it he has also shown the extraordinary ex-
tension of this miasm in the form of small pox, and this in the
most cogent manner. But a clear, systematic presentation of the
signs and of whatever extends indubitably and according to ex-
perience beyond the sphere of Thuja* is still lacking, and the
brief attempt which I myself laid before you at our last annual
meeting can by no means be considered sufficient, and is at most
a mere temporary makeshift.
We have almost as little that is purely characteristic concern-
ing the extent of the so-called primary and secondary syphilitic
diseases and concerning the symptoms which indicate the influ-
ence of this miasma on manifold chronic diseases, at least these
are not known with any reliability. Although the number of the
diseases caused by the latter hardly will reach the number of the
two mentioned before, nevertheless the customary previous abuse
* I cannot escape the conjecture that there must be some remedy beside
Thuja, which like Sulphur in psora, and Mercury in syphilis, may yet bet-
ter correspond to the whole extent of sycosis and may possess the power of
curing this disease in its entirety. Since Thuja appeared much later in
Europe than sycosis, and was brought over from a newly discovered part of
the world, and still much later became known as to its medicinal virtues,.
we are enabled, to think, from this circumstance alone, that there must be
some other perhaps still more effective remedy (perhaps from the mineral
or animal kingdom) which might fill out the undeniable lacunae which are
seen in that remedy.
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228 THE physician's record-book.
of Mercury, as with psora the previous abuse of Sulphur, fre-
quently completes the difficulties.
In all these studies and investigations of these three funda-
mental causes of the chronic diseases nothing in the world can be
considered more necessary and indispensable than careful and
sagaciously conducted physicians* records, which frequently con-
tain the essential symptoms in a sharp characteristic, together
with the remedies used, presenting thus the synthetic and the
.analytic materials, which, being confirmed by repeated experience,
must finally lead to the recognition of the truth. Here therefore
there is a great field, almost uncultivated, which ought to be
tilled and in which many hands would find employment, though
this might at first be merely by the collection of documentary
facts, on which we might afterwards build with surety.
Finally I would yet remark with respect to this paragraph 95,
that all the so-called antipsoric remedies have, so to say, the
greatest family likeness, and that for this reason the differences
offered in their symptoms are mostly confined to secondary symp-
toms and to conditions which must be sought oui with all pene-
tration and be made prominent, if we would do* full justice to the
motto : Similia similibus! The miasmatic characteristic passes
Mike a scarlet thread through all the proving symptoms, and it is
imore than probable that this may also be the case in a similar
unanner with the antisyphilitic and antisycotic remedies. Since
these three miasms also possess among themselves a great and
undeniable relationship, which alone also makes their easy com-
bination possible and intelligible, several of the remedies suitable
for the one must be able to extend their curative action also into
the sphere of the other miasma, and this we actually find to be
*he case. But in this also there is a further reason for separating
and distinguishing the characteristic symptoms of every remedy
belonging to this group in so far as it pertains to the one or the
•other of these three chronic miasmas. But how all this may be
done without exact physicians' records, exceeds all common sense
to imagine.
§96. Besides this, the patients are also of such varying disposi-
tion that some of them, especially hypochondriacs and other sen-
sitive and plaintive persons, present their ailments in too glaring
co 1 ors, in order that they may stimulate fhe physician to bring aid,
and they therefore describe their troubles with exaggerated ex-
pressions.
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 229
§97, But other persons of opposite temperament, partty from
inertia, partly from a wrong kind of modesty or from too mild and
diffident a nature, keep back a number of their symptoms, de-
scribe them in obscure manner or state tint some of them do not
trouble them much. (15)
Note 15. The two classes of patients described in these two
paragraphs furnish us with an additional reason for writing down
their complaints. The superlatives of the first class (§96) may
indeed be put down in more moderate terms, but no part of it
ought to be entirely left out, because later on, when the particular
points are reviewed with the patient, we find only too often that
various things were not stated correctly, and that other things
were passed over by them as being of little consequence, while
they really belonged to the more important and characteristic
symptoms. This is usually an unavoidable consequence of the
fact that such hypochondriacs or hysterical patients can not be
interrupted in their complaints for fear of distracting them and
thus causing them to stray still more. The others described in
§97 will not state everything of themselves or will even deny
some troubles which to them seem unimportant, which neverthe-
less are often of a nature that they will more than others com-
plete the image of the disease and secure a correct selection. In
both cases, however, it is, as may easily be seen, of the utmost
importance to have a sure, written guide, when in the course of
the disease we desire to follow it up with additional examinations
and from which we can find out in what way the previous medi-
cines have acted. With respect to the former, the patience of the
physician will be continually tried less, while the list of symp-
toms will ever become more complete, and both classes will grad-
ually find out how they should express themselves before the
physician in order that they may obtain from him most surely
the desired aid.
§98. Certain as it is that we must especially hear the patient
and give especial credence to his statement as to his troubles and
sensations, and especially to his own expressions, in which he
presents his ailments, because they are usually changed and dis-
torted in the mouth of his relatives and attendants, nevertheless,
the investigation of the true and complete image of the disease
requires in all diseases, but especially in the tedious ones, com-
plete sagacity, thoughtfulness, knowledge of men and cautious-
ness in questioning, in a high degree, in order to secure all the
particulars. (16)
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230 THE physician's record-book.
Note 1 6. The requirements from the examining physician in
investigating the image of the disease, as indicated in the previ-
ous paragraph, result from the nature* of the case and from the
Homoeopathic mode of procedure itself, but they include the
necessity of written notes, but the required trouble in view of the
caution to be exercised is not appreciably increased, while on the
other hand it gives to the treatment a great certainty and makes
easier further action.
§99. On the whole the investigation of acute diseases, or such
as have lately started, will be easier for the physician, because all
the symptoms and all the deviations from the state of /health but
lately lost will be fresh in the memory and still new and striking.
It is necessary indeed for the physician to find out everything
also in these, but he has less to investigate, and everything is
usually told him without his inquiring. (17)
Note 17. In the investigation of many acute diseases the phy-
sician can also simplify the matter and much abbreviate the image
of the disease by putting the collective names — which are as a
whole disallowed, but are nevertheless permitted conditionally in
the note to §82 of the Organon (p. 157) — at the head of his
image of the disease, appending to this general and otherwise
altogether insufficient denouncination for the necessary individ-
ualization all those symptoms which distinguish the present case
from all others, which else may be similar. The deception in-
volved in the name then ceases of itself, and the characteristic image
of the disease thus sketched is sufficient to secure a correct selec-
tion of the remedy. Still there are not a few cases, where such a
seemingly acute disease is merely the beginning of a chronic in-
validism, and where we are compelled later on to do that which
was omitted at first.
§100. In investigating the summary conception of the symp-
toms of epidemic diseases and of sporadic cases, it is a matter of
indifference whether before this time something similar has ap-
peared in the world under the same or* another name. The new-
ness or peculiarity of such an epidemic makes no difference either
in the investigation or the cure, since the physician has in any
case to presuppose the pure image of every disease now regnant
as new and unknown, and has to examine it thoroughly for him-
self, if he would be a genuine thorough disciple of healing, who
can never put guesswork in the place of apperception, nor can
assume that any case entrusted to him is altogether or in part
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 231
known, without exploring it carefully in all its manifestations,
and this the more in this case, since every ruling epidemic is in
many respects a phenomenon of its own peculiar kind, and is
fouud very diverse from ail that' preceded it, and were falsely
called with certain names, as will be seen when they are carefully
examined ; among these we would however except the epidemics
resulting from certain infective tinder, which always remains the
same, such as smallpox, measles, etc. (18)
Note 1 8. We cannot deny that Homoeopaths also frequently
and grossly sin against this mest important direction. And yet
one of the greatest advantages, if not the greatest, lies in the fact
that Homoeopathy teaches us to cure not only the known diseases,
but also such as have just arisen and which were unknown before,
a superiority which is only a consequence of the accurate individ-
ualization of every single case, in connection with acquaintance
with the various symptoms of the medicines and the fundamental
principles of their application; this stands forth so uniquely in the
history of medicine, raising the new doctrine far above the old
one, so that we may truly claim for it the quality of being pro-
gressive. By these means our Hahnemann was able in advance
to point out the remedies in Asiatic Cholera, which afterwards
were so gloriously verified, and this even before that devastating
universal epidemic had passed into our borders. But for the same
reason many young Homoeopaths were cruely disappointed when
they hoped the same success from Apis mellifica in Dysentery in
the second year which they had enjoyed in the preceding year.
Still more frequently, yea, almost every year the same takes place
with respect to chills and fever, which fact drives many a Homoe-
opath almost to distraction and misleads some to the use of
Quinine, which is usually only a palliative; and then there fol-
low loud, but utterly unjust complaints against Homoeopathy.
The success of the later Homoeopaths, which despite the many
later provings are by no means equal to those of the old pioneers,
would make a far better showing if they obeyed the golden
direction in the paragraph quoted above with the requisite strict-
ness and perseverance, at all times, and if they faithfully kept
their records according to the demands of their science and as the
author of the system made it the duty of every conscientious
practitioner of Homoeopathy to do.
§101. It may easily happen that the physician does not per-
ceive at once in the first case of an epidemic its perfect image
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232 the physician's record-book.
since every such collective disease only unfolds the complex of its
signs and symptoms after a close observation of several cases.
Nevertheless, the carefully investigating physician can. even
with the first and second patients perceive the true state so
accurately that he will gain a characteristic image of it and will
even then find out a suitable Homoeopathically fitting remedy for
the disease.
§102. In writing down the symptoms of several cases of this
kind, the image of the disease sketched out at first becomes ever
more clear and distinct, not more verbose, but more definite
(characteristic) and embracing more fully all the peculiarities of
this collective disease ; the general symptoms (e. g. y loss of appe-
tite, insomnia etc.) receive their own proper and exact definitions,
and on the other side the more distinguishing, peculiar and at
least in this connection more rare symptoms, peculiar to only few
diseases, become more prominent and form the characteristic of
the epidemic. All the patients sick of the epidemic at that time
have, indeed, the same disease sprung from one and the same
source ; but the whole complex of such an epidemic disease and
the totality of its symptoms (the knowledge of which is necessary
to the complete image of the disease, in order that we may select
the most suitable Homoeopathic remedy suitable for this complex
of symptoms) can not be taken in with one patient, but only from
the sufferings of several patients of different bodily constitution ;
only thus will they appear in their completeness. (19)
Note 19. According to these cautions, drawn from many years*
experience and laid down in these paragraphs 101 and 102, the
exact and circumstantial noting down of symptoms is most neces-
sary where an epidemic breaks out or where an endemic disease
is widely disseminated, where a complete characteristic can only
be obtained by gathering together all the characteristic signs
found out from the various patients and forming therefrom a gen-
eral image which will then point in an unmistakable and definite
manner to the medicine best corresponding to this complete image.
In such cases it will often be found advantageous to start for
such an epidemic a particular collective blank book, wherein every-
thing that has taken place with the various patients is recorded in
systematic sequence, i. <?., all that may be considered to be char-
acteristic, so that we may at all times have the whole before our
eyes, and not be so easily led astray by personal and individual
traits. For the individual personality is often very different from
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 233
the individual genius of the disease, and although the former may
frequently cause a variance in the choice of the remedy neverthe-
less this selection must always be so made as to lie within the
sphere of action of the genius of the disease. Every one will
readily see how important, for such a purpose, is a sufficient
knowledge of the mode of action of the medicines that are related
to each other. But it will also be readily seen how important it
is to continually complete the total image of the disease by addi-
tions and corrections, and to use for this purpose the results of
our practice up to date.
§103. In a similar manner as here taught as to epidemics, which
are mostly acute diseases, we should also act in the miasmatic
chrdnic diseases, which retain their essence unchanged, especially
also in Psora, This disease ought to be explored much more
accurately than has been done hitherto as to the extent of its
symptoms for also in it the patient bears only a part of them on
his own body, a second, a third person, etc., will suffer from
some other symptoms, which also form only a (as it were de-
tached) portion. of the entirety of those symptotns which form
the whole extent of the disease; so that the whole totality of the
symptoms belonging to such a miasmatic chronic disease could
only be deduced from a goodly number of patients thus chronically
diseased ; still without such a general survey and the formation of
such a complex image, the medicine curing homceopathically the
whole disease (especially the antipsoric medicines) could not have
been discovered, which at the same time are the true remedies in
the case of all the single patients suffering from such chronic
diseases. (20)
Note 20. The question has often been mooted, as to what may
have been the cause, why Hahnemann reckoned some of the
medicines as antipsoric, while others of very similar effects were
excluded. Every one desirous of information w y ould have been
able to obtain from this §103 the answer, and a further confirma-
tion of the same could have been found in the first volume of
'* Chronic Diseases/ ' especially in the copious index of the signs
of latent and of awakened psora in that place. A very remark-
able example of the conscientiousness of the old Master may be
seen in the case of Arsenicum, which has already been proved in
detail in the II. volume of Materia Medica Pura, where it had
been provided with a very interesting foreword. This remedy is
entirely lacking in the first edition of " Chronic Diseases"
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234 THE physician's record-book.
among the antipsoric remedies enumerated; but in the second
edition it is found as an appendix at the close of the last (the 5th)
volume and thus outside of its alphabetic order. It has taken a
whole number of years and of provings before Hahnemann could
gain the conviction that Arsenicum actually possessed true anti-
psoric virtues, and a correspondence carried on with him by my-
self respecting this subject expresses his scruples, and at the
same time the great conscientiousness, with which he subjected
the various medicines to the most careful trials before he thought
he could give them this rank. For in all these remedies he insti-
tuted a double proving, first, a comparison with the complex
image of the psora and, secondly, with the results in its use with
respect to the symptoms which he had recognized as distinctly
psoric. If this investigator, who was as honest as he was thor-
ough, had already then recognized the immense extent of sycosis
and its frequent combination on the one hand with psora and on
the other with syphilis, it is probable that his division would have
become somewhat different, and perhaps he would have formed a
division containing those remedies which have the power of ex-
erting a curative action in several chronic miasmas. But it would
be unjust to raise an objection against a man who has performed
so great things although, standing on his shoulders, we are now
enabled to survey a larger field than he did then; but even then
we are only able to see and recognize remote objects by using the
discoveries and views which we owe to him.
§104. When once the totality of the symptoms, which especially
characterize and define a case of disease, or, in other words, the
image of any disease has been accurately noted down, — with re-
spect to this note the remark appended in the Organoji, which is
subjoined below — then also the hardest work is done. (21) The
practitioner will then during the treatment make it the basis,
especially in a chronic disease, and have it before his eyes; he
can view it over in all its parts, and make prominent the charac-
teristic signs in order to oppose to it in the selected remedy a
medicine directed against the disease itself, a strikingly similar
artificial medicinal power, selected according to the series of
symptoms of the medicines that have been proved as to their pure
effects. And when the physician, during the process of the cure,
inquires as to the success of the medicine and the changes in the
condition of the patient, he only needs, in his new record, to omit
from the original symptoms in his book those that have improved
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK. 235
and add to it a statement as to what is still present x or perchance
what new ailments have arisen. (22)
Note in the Organon to §104. As to this matter the doctors of
the old school took it very easy in their treatments. You would
not with them hear any exact questions as to everything in the
patient's condition, yea, the physician would frequently interrupt
the patient in the statement of his ailments in their detail, in
order that he might finish more quickly writing out the prescrip-
tion, composed of a number of substances, the true action of
which he is ignorant of. No allopathic physician cares about
hearing about all the particulars of the patient, much less would
he take the trouble to write them down. When he then comes back
to the patient after a few days he knows little or nothing more
of the particulars, having since then seen so many other patients
he has suffered it to go in at one ear and out at the other. And
in his additional calls he may make a few general questions, will
pretend to feel the pulse at the wrist, look at the tongue, and in
the next moment he will without any ratioual cause write out
another remedy, or he will allow the patient to continue using
the same remedy (several times a day in considerable portions),
and then he will hasten with graceful gestures to the fiftieth or
sixtieth patient, whom he has to visit in this thoughtless fashion
in the forenoon. Thus the really most thoughtful of all callings,
the conscientious, careful investigation of the condition of every
single patient and the special treatment to be founded on it, is
carried on by men who call themselves physicians, rational dis-
ciples of the healing art. The result, as was natural, was almost
without exception bad; and nevertheless the patients had to go
to them, partly because there was nothing better and partly from
etiquette.
Note 21. The first phrase of this paragraph is well to be con-
sidered. A complete image of the disease written down with all
its essential and characteristic symptoms, but divested of every-
thing superfluous, offers extraordinarily man} 7 and great advan-
tages. Without considering the fact, that we thereby gain a
lasting document, which also in later times in other diseases of
the same individual may give the most important information and
cannot contain any incorrectness or omissions owing to a deceitful
or defective memory, it furnishes a firm and secure basis which
from the first prevents us from taking the wrong road in the
treatment and also enables us to estimate according to their true
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236 THE physician's record-book.
value and according to their special indications the changes as
they occur in the course of the treatment. The selection of the
most suitable homoeopathic remedy is also, as everybody knows,
and as has been said a thousand times, the simplest m ltter in the
world, as soon as the necessary material lies before us in the de-
cisive symptoms. At the same time we secure thereby the fact
which is so quieting for the patient and infuses confidence, that
in the face of an image of the disease which lies before us com-
plete in all its requirements all well instructed homoeopathic
physicians are perfectly agreed as to the medicine indicated, a
fact which will happen rarely or never in the consultation of a
number of allopathic physicians.
Note 22. Whoever has through experience learned to know
the many and great advantages which are afforded by a carefully
conducted written physician's record will surely not shun the
slight trouble of starting such a record-book, but continue it regu-
larly, and work continually that the same may be arranged more
and more practically. I may therefore hope that some strenuous
and conscientious beginners in Homoeopathy will feel grateful if
I communicate to them the scheme according to which I at pres-
ent, after an experience of more than thirty years, am conducting
my Record. Its usefulness may be confirmed by the fact that
several skilful homoeopaths who have honored me with a visit
awarded to it their undivided approval and took with them a copy
for their own use. Any filled out scheme will suffice for an ex-
ample For convenience in referring to it a special register is
needed, a folio volume having the following arrangement: Every
page is divided into three columns, containing as much as possible,
in alphabetical order \ first, the house ox family name, then the Chris-
tian name y the dwelling-place and age, and lastly the volume and
page in numbers. The first column contains the names of the
patients who were on the list when the book was started; the
second is for new patients, bearing the same family name; the
third is for those whose family name is not found among those
entered. With such an arrangement the register will last a long
time and will not need to be copied off so frequently:
SCHEME EOR A PHYSICIAN'S RECORD.
Vol. 114. Page 14.
Name: Dr. D St g, teacher.
Dwelling-place: Here before the D Gate.
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THE PHYSICIAN'S RECORD-BOOK.
237
Image of the disease: From his youth up he has suffered from
crusts in the eyelids, which for the last three years has been ag-
gravated in attacks,, lasting in the beginning some days, then
longer and the last for five weeks. Stitches in the eyes with hot
tears, worst in the morning in the warm bed, better during the
day. In the evening dry burning in the eyes, better in the open
air, only not in the wind. Great photophobia. No colors be-
fore the eyes. The letters in reading appear indistinct and double;
the double line is seen beside or below the other. (Formerly he
had liver trouble, and two years ago he had herpes in the face.)
Extraordinary anxiety about his sight, anguish, and constant
complaints.
Allopathic medicines used: I could not find out, but lately he
has used much Mercury and Sulphate of Zinc, For his herpes he
had used the Rehmer Springs,
DATE.
1862
Oct. 15
No. 3.
Nov. 3
No. 2.
Dec. 1
u. a.
PRESCRIP-
TION.
1. Aconite)
2. Bell J
3. I
1. Pulsat.
2-4 *
1. Sulph\
2-4 2 I
DOSE.
RESULTS AND NEW SYMPTOMS.
Very considerably improved: — When he lies
on the one side, it gets worse on the other. In
the evening there is still dry burning in the
eyes. The double vision is gone and he can
read again, v. v.
Same result. — In the evening in the warm
room there is still some dryness in the eyes;
the eyelids are also still somewhat swollen.
Wakes up early in the morning, v. v.
Has been well ever since ! (up to this hour,
when this was copied; as he passes my house
every day. )
REMARKS.
i. The marks n. v, and v. v., non vidi and vidi vivum, are bor-
rowed from botany, and signify that I had or* had not seen the
patient personally.
2. The marks No. 3 and No. 2 in the first column {Date) in-
dicate the numbers of the lithograph direction- cards, of which I
have jive; and concerning which I may report another time.
3. The letters u. a. {uti ante) signify that the powders were
taken in the same manner as those immediately preceding.
4. The mark of the paragraph (§) signifies sacch, lactis % sl des-
ignation used by Hahnemann which I have adopted out of regard
for him.
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238 CURES OF ANIMALS WITH HIGH POTENCIES.
5. In the third column {Dose) the dose is noted, i. e., the po-
tency and the number of pellets, here as almost always, two pellets
of the 200 potency, centesimal.
6. Where in long continued treatments the reverse side of the
leaf is not sufficient, the continuation is entered on one of the
neighboring reverse pages, the fact being indicated at the foot of
the page.
Cures of Animals With High Potencies.
Translated from the Allgem. horn. Zeitung, Vol. 67, p. 204.
In sciences dependent on experience, only experience can solve
doubts and establish what is true and correct. Where experience
speaks with decision, and everywhere brings before our eyes facts
in the same way, so as to be clearly seen, there human reason
nfhst humbly bow before it and would only become ridiculous in
its egotism by obstinately denying or upholding the opposite.
Such experiences, however, in order to avail, must be founded
on pure observations, without the influence of artificial systems,
and without hunting for hidden causes. The resulting lack of
scientific precision is only apparent, and can well exist by the
side of a rational empiricism; wherefore already 250 B. C. the
then existing coryphei of the empiritic school (Herophilus
Serapion, Philimes) accepted epilogism; as we have been endeav-
oring since the time of Bacon, to enlarge pure experience through
Induction.
Homoeopathy binds itself in all strictness to pure experience
and excludes everything lying on the one side or the other of its
border-line. Its therapy is therefore exclusively based on the
actual results of proving the medicines on oneself, and in doseology
it is .based on the actual effects on patients. With the latter it
therefore equally rejects epilogism and induction, and everything
in its teachings that has been received in this respect, within the
rubrics of small doses, attenuations, dynamizations and potencies
is nothing more and nothing less than the bare results of pure ex-
perience and of carefully conducted experiments.
Great as is the unanimity of all true homoeopaths in by far the
most essential of its principles, there is nevertheless a consider-
able dispute as to doseology \ as well with respect to the potentiz-
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CURES OF ANIMALS WITH HIGH POTENCIES. 239
ing and the smallness of the dose, as with respect to the repeti-
tion of the same. In this point, therefore, we especially need yet
the pure experience of many and reliable investigators, to bring
to an agreement the dissenting views and opinions; so as to pro-
duce also on the plane of this more technical application of the
remedies the desirable harmony.
In order that such experience and such experiments may utter
nothing more and nothing less than the truth and may give this
perfectly pure and indubitable, excluding every kind of skeptical
interpretation, and may nowhere offer an excuse for ascribing the
results to other, perhaps foreign influences, the cures on animals
seem of all to be the most appropriate and reliable. The possible
influences of imagination and of diet, which are so often objected
to, are in such cases especially lacking, and in this respect they
much surpass the cures of little children, though these probably
stand next to them, since much that is told about the influence of
mothers and of nurses on children belongs to the realm of fables
and fairy tales.
When I first began twenty years ago (in 1843) mv experiments
with the 200 potency, I limited these experiments both for these
reasons (and also for others) exclusively to animals, but by the
most surprising successes I soon gained the courage to transfer
them also to men. The successes were of such a kind, and they
still remain of such a kind, that I at this day never descend as
low as the 30th potency, while I only rise to Jenichen's highest
potencies when compelled by necessity. The material carefully
collected in this long series of years in my carefully kept records
. shows much that is curious and convincing, but I shall leave it
to my successors later on to make a use of them which will bene-
fit science, if it should be deemed best.
At this time I merely desire to communicate some of the en-
tries from my veterinary records, which are much briefer, and
which I communicate without special selection, but which will
serve to confirm what I have stated above. In order to be better
understood, I will only add the following :
1. The cases communicated are all from the first half of this
year (1863) as the dates prefixed indicate.
2. Only such cases are cited from which I later on have re-
ceived a report, but these are given without exception, so that
such as were not improved were by no means excluded.
3. The disease is everywhere given in a few words and copied
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240 CURES OF ANIMALS WITH HIGH POTENCIES.
verbatim so that nothing is added anywhere from memory. The
facts are therefore stated baldly but are perfectly sufficient for the
purpose.
4. In all animals, great or small, the dose used was always the
200th potency.
5. The dose was dissolved in pure cold spring water or river
water* by shaking it up for the horse in half a bottle of water,
for the others in a quantity proportioned to their size; this shak-
ing was continued for one minute and the solution was given in
one dose.
6. In all cases the persons were strictly enjoined not to use
anything external in connection with the medicine.
7. So also the diet and mode of living remained in all cases en-
tirely unchanged, but of course every medicinal application was
strictly forbidden and only the homoeopathic medicine was used.
Cures of Animals.
1. Jan. 9. — Laumann's cow had a calf a week ago and the after-
birth had remained behind: 1., 3. Sabina\ 2. Seeale cornut. every
24 hours. Cured.
2. Jan. 12. — Sieveneck's mare, restlessness from desire for the
horse: Platina, Cured.
3. Jan. 15. — Mennemann's horse (it had received on Dec. 11
last on account of glanders, with sore throat, which had lasted
eight months, and was worse in the evening, Belladonna), was
now considerably improved, only in the evening there was still
some coughing: Hepar sulph. calc. Cured.
4. Jan. 22. — Kemper's horse has been broken-winded for nine
months, worse from getting cold: Arsen. Cured.
5. Jan. 25. — Reer's colt had inflammation of the throat from
which its mother had also suffered: 1. Aconitum; 2. Bellad.; 3.
Hepar s. c, every twelve hours. On the 31st of January, much
better, but it now has glanders with a sharp secretion from the
nose: Arsen. Cured.
* A medical counselor and his pharmaceutical assistant in revising a stock
of homoeopathic medicines gave an official reprimand, because in such solu-
tions distilled water was not used and was not kept at hand for this purpose.
This has never been prescribed in any legal pharmacopoeia, and that there
is no need for it clearly appears from the following cures. These hyper-
critical scruples are just as superfluous and ludicrous as the reprimand ex-
pressed at the same time on account of the inequality in the size of the
pellets.
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CURES OF ANIMALS WITH HIGH POTENCIES. 241
6. Jan. 28. — The cow of the pastor of Altenberge is bloated and
has no appetite at all; she has on that account received Chamo-
milla. I gave 1. Nux vom.; 2. Arsen. y every two days, with
slight improvement. Jan. 30. There is a loud cracking of the
joints and continual rubbing, owing to itching of the body: Sul-
phur. Cured.
7. Jan. 31. — Bruening's mare has been lame for two weeks,
from a swelling of the coronet: Lachesis. Cured.
8. Feb. 10. — Eilker's alphas been quite lame for several days,
and now it is not able to stand up; worse in the evening: 1. Nux
vom,; 2. Bryonia, every two days. Cured.
9. Feb. 14. — Schrceder's cow, after having a calf, the after-birth
is delayed: Q., 3. Sabina, 2. Secale corn., every twelve hours.
Cured.
10. Feb. 16. — Kinnebrock's pigs have a white diarrhoea: Mer-
curius in two doses, one for every four pigs. Cured.
n. Feb. 23. — Twenhoever's hog had "dropping out of the
bristles' ' around the neck and had quite lost its appetite: Arsen.
Cured.
12. March 7. — Werlemann's cow had born a dead calf, and the
after- birth stayed behind: 1. 3. Secale corn.; 2. Sabina, every
eight hours. Cured.
13. March 9. — SudhoiPs pigs have for some days been ailing
with white diarrhcea: Mercurius. Cured.
14. Nettmann's horse had received Thuja for worms on the
nth of July, 1862, and had since then been well. On the 10th
of March the ailment had returned: Sulphur. Cured.
15. March n. — IyUelPs horse has been broken-winded since two
months, with cough and a very hot temperament: Niix vom.
On the 24th of March it was improved, especially the cough, but
the asthma was still present, though in a less degree: Arsen.
April 15. The cough has returned and now it comes more
while at rest after feeding: Pulsatilla. April 28. Now the
cough is worse in the morning: Nux vom. May 23. Much im-
proved, but the cough is still there and there is mucus from the
nose: Pulsatilla. June 2. The cough comes but rarely, but the
mucus from the nose, which now is corroding, is increased:
Arsen. Cured.
16. March 14. — Samson's seven year old horse is asthmatic:
Arsen. April 3. Much improved, and only shows its ailment
when starting out: Thuj\ Cured.
17. March 24. — IyUelf s mare for the last two years has had,
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242 CURES OF ANIMALS WITH HIGH POTENCIES.
in spring, itching and loss of the hair: Sulphur. April 28. It
was better but now it starts in again: Thuja. May 23. Not im-
proved by Thuja, and is much tormented by flies: Sulphur.
June 2. Neither was there a success this time, and it bleeds
where it rubs itself: Mercurius. This finally effected a cure.
18. March 26. — Strobaud's cow after calving has violent (puer-
peral?) fever, the milk stopped, and there was trembling: 1.
Aconit.; 2. Cham., a dose every six hours. March 27. The
milk has come back, but now she is paralyzed in her whole body,
so that she can neither stand nor eat: Pulsatilla. Next day she
was quite well.
19. April n. — Heissing's horse had a sun-stroke: Helleborus.
Cured.
20. April 25. — Borgert's gelding, afflicted with the quiet stag-
gers, only in the stable, with trembling: Pulsatilla. Cured.
21. May 7. — Kriesekamp's horse, inflammation of the left eye:
1. Arnica; 2. Bellad. , one dose every other day. Cured.
22. Gr. Scbuermann's horse is again asthmatic, after it had been
cured from it last year on July 26, with Nux vom., and on August
19, with Bryonia; now on the 16th of May this year it received
Arsenicum, which had to be repeated on July 25. Since then it
has been well.
23. Waltermann's mare had been cured on October 10, 1862,
from an old eruption in the mane and tail, with Sulphur. This
eruption reappeared on May 17 : Sulphur. Cured.
24. May 19. — Cildeg's cow, after having a severe calving, had
retention of urine: Arnica. May 21. She now has diarrhoea
and a swelling on the lower part of the belly: Sulphur. Cured.
25. May 21. — Baronet v. TwickePs mare was lamed after get-
ting wet while perspiring. She had been treated with Giinther's
remedies according to Giinther's directions. She received Rhus.
May 26. Without success; when she starts to walk, her paralysis
is worse: Arsenicum. June 21. On this she got much better,
but there is still some lameness, when beginning to walk and also
afterwards: Arsenicum. Cured.
26. May 21. — Hoelling's cow had a calf two weeks ago, and
since then she is lame and does not eat: Pulsatilla. Cured.
27. May 29. — Wolmer's mare has itching in the tail and the
mane: Sepia. Cured.
28. May 29. June 3. — Several animals, horses, cows and hogs
were bitten by a mad dog: 1., 3. Belladonna; 2. Hyoscyamus, one
dose every five days. They remained well.
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CURES OF ANIMALS WITH HIGH POTENCIES. 243
29. June 5. — Bolten' s yearling heifer had hematuria; 1. Ipecac-
uanha, 2. Nux vom. t once a day. Cured.
30. June 9. — Stegemoeller's cow is constipated, bloated, and
quite lame. The veterinary surgeon has given her up: 1. Nux
vom., 2. Puis., every twelve hours. June 10. Improvement,
but a severe prolapsus of the rectum: 1. Ignatia, 2. iVkr zw».,
every twelve hours.
31. June 10. — Milte's war* has become asthmatic and coughs,
(after receiving a medicine from the veterinary surgeon):
Arsenicum. June 27. Considerable improvement, but she has
grown worse again: Thuja. July 9. Almost wholly restored,
but she still coughs: Arsenicum. Cured.
32. June 16. — Schening's four pigs have the hogs* disease;
their hind quarters are paralyzed and they drag their hind legs
after them; total loss of appetite: 1. Ran. seel., 2. Spongia, 3.
Arsenicum, one dose every four days. July 9. Very decided
improvement. 1. Ran. seel., 2. Sulphur. Cured.
33. June 17. — Hermann's bullock has first hematuria, then
obstinate constipation: Nux vom. , every twelve hours. Cured.
34. June 20. Borchert's three cows and one calf were bitten by
a mad cat; every animal was given 1., 3. Belladonna, 2. Hyos-
cyamus. There were no ill consequences, they remained healthy.
35. June 27. — Hermann's cow had hematuria since this morn-
ing: 1. Ipecac, 2. Nux vom., every twelve hours. Cured.
36. July 1. — General v. Hobe's saddle-horse had been shoulder-
shotten for ten weeks on the right side and several veterinary
surgeons had been called in without success: Arsen. July 26.
Strikingly better and only becomes lame a little when trotting on
a pavement or on hard ground: Arsenic. Aug. 11. As good as
cured but as a caution: Thuja.
37. July 21. — Leppermann's cow was seized with the malignant
mouth and hoof diseases: 1. Arsenic, 2. Thuja, one dose every
three days. In eight days she was perfectly restored. During
the last years there have been several such cases here, which
were quickly cured in the same way.
I believe it quite unnecessary to add any notes or remarks to
the preceding facts, which have been faithfully recorded; but if I
would make a selection from former years, I could report quite a
number of cases of great interest. The cases here reported will
however suffice for my present purpose of giving a contribution
to the results obtained by giving high potencies in minimal doses.
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244 EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES.
Experience and the High Potencies.
Translated from Neues Archiv f. horn. HHlkunst, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1846, p. 25.
When we read the clearly pronounced contradictions as to the
efficacy of the high potencies, we have again and again to think
of the saying of M. Herz: "It is only late in life that we find out
how much experience it requires to have one true experience. ' '
This is to be lamented all the more if what another wise man of
our time has said is true, namely, that "an ounce of experience
is worth more than a pound of theory.' '
Although Homoeopathy has not fared so badly in this respect
as allopathy, which has new and unsurmountable difficulties
from its practice of mixing together various medicines which
causes an ignorance as to the primary effects and the after
effects of remedies, nevertheless, even in Homoeopathy, the
difficulty of gaining valid experience must not be so easily
surmounted when we see that one and the same proposition
is decidedly affirmed by the one and altogether denied by the
other. For where the one denies nearly all action to the high
potencies, and endeavors to throw ridicule upon them as folly,
another exalts their action most decidedly above that of the low
potencies, and each party claims to rest on experience ; still there
is this one hitherto unnoticed difference, in that the adherents of
the high potencies have published their experience so completely
that we are able to judge as to the suitability of the means used,
while their opponents have omitted this and confine themselves
to generalities, from which nothing certain can be deduced as to
the special power of the medicines.
In the midst of these contradictions we see ourselves put back
into the primitive times of Homoeopathy, where the combat be-
tween this and allopathy began, and the latter as now adduces
pretended experience in its favor, or endeavored to throw sus-
picion on the former in order to subvert the new doctrine which
they assault. What was then said as to the insufficiency of many
so-called matters of experience is true also to-day, and now, as at
that time, many of the opponents, who made their experiments
unbiased and unprejudiced and supplied with the necessary
knowledge of Materia Medica, and who acted exactly according
to the directions, have recognized the truth of the matter, and
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EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES. 245
have, therefore, gone over to the other party. At that time the
thirtieth potency was no less incredible and wonderful to the
common mind than the 200 potency is at present, and for a long
time we heard it recounted as one of the absurdities of Homoe-
opathy that the adherents pf Homoeopathy ascribed a vast
activity to the higher potencies of Natrum muriaticum while we
daily consume large quantities of it in our food. Also in this
matter experience stood opposed to experience, and indeed a
general experience in pounds against an experience which as to
its number was quite inconsiderable, and besides this through the
slips of some inexperienced Homoeopaths had become ambiguous
as to this number of atoms, and, nevertheless, the truth was, as no
one at this day will deny, on the side of the minority. Yes,
surely, Aristotle is right, when he says (Metaph. 1, 2): " Ig-
norance can only attain to science through the knowledge of
what is wonderful and incredible in nature." There is about the
same proportion between the adherents of the high potencies and
their opponents as there then was between homoeopaths and
allopaths. But just as little now as then can it be proved through
numbers, who is in the right, and just as little now as then will
it be granted that truth lies in the middle of the way, for then
both would be wrong. Now as then the decision must be en-
trusted to experience as deserves that name and which is com-
municated with all the circumstances belonging to it, so that
every expert will be able to render a judgement abdut its worth
or worthlessness which will have a sound basis to rest upon.
The latter is necessary if we would find belief; since every
Homoeopath will be able to show quite a number of cases in his
practice that it was not the lack of power in his remedy but the
imprudent choice which was to blame for his lack of success. In
the present dispute as to the excellence of the one or the other
potency, the question cannot well be whether the one or the other
potency has the power to produce a cure. That both of them
have the power has been proved by innumerable facts, and just
as little can it be denied as this must be admitted with many
allopathic mixtures given in large doses frequently repeated.
The question can only be what potency has the greater excellence,
not only with respect to the " cito tuto ct jucundc" but especially
as to the thoroughness and durability of the cure. In acute dis-
eases this matter is of far less importance than in chronic diseases,
the cure of which is especially able to demonstrate the correctness
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246 EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES.
of a method. Acute diseases will pass over into a cure with or
without any medicine. But chronic diseases never, and even
when these, owing to remedies, change their form, owing to the
imperfectly curing remedies, or even disappear entirely for a time
to return later in the same or another, often a worse, form, no ex-
perienced physician will have the assurance to assert that the
first had been really cured and that a new chronic disease after-
wards arose without cause of itself.
Now since the cure of the chronic diseases regularly requires
more time and after the disappearance of all the symptoms of the
disease a lengthy period must elapse before we can be sure that
the cure is really thorough and permanent, it is also manifest
that cases' just cured are subject to many doubts and older ones
proved by time are decidedly to be preferred.
This last requirement it would be at present almost impossible
to satisfy and to show a sufficient number of old cures proved by the
lapse of time, which have been effected with high potencies, so as
to establish by them a valid experience, unless we can secure
from the passed time something useful. Such are the experi-
ments which doubtless many older homoeopaths still living have
made in consequence of the communication of Royal Councilor
v. Korsakoff in the first series of this " Archiv " (XI. 2, p. 87,
sq.) and have put down in their journals. Since then a period
of twelve to fifteen years has elapsed, in which these high
potencies have scarcely been used, but many of these physicians
will have since then seen their patients who were treated at that
time, and although these high potencies of Korsakoff can in no way
be compared with those of fenichen as to their efficacy, we may
nevertheless draw some conclusion from the permanence of the
effects of the one to that of the other.
As to myself, I also at that time made some experiments with
them, induced by my friend Dr. Aegidi, but only in chronic dis-
eases, and their results were indeed satisfactory enough. Never-
theless the views of our never to be forgotten Hahnemann, which
may be read as a postscript after that communication in the
" Archiv " and also a certain peculiarity of those high potencies,
which according to my present views gives to them a higher
value for chronic diseases, but which I did not then recognize nor
know how to value, namely, the unusual long duration of the first
action as well as the secondary action, caused me for a time
to give no further attention to this very remarkable discovery,
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EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES. 247
until I later on in treating very inveterate chronic diseases or
such as had been spoiled by allopathic treatment, or which had
been inherited, came back to it, and then found opportunity to
recognize its great excellencies at least in many of the worst
cases, in which our art at first failed.
Now when it is necessary to settle a difference of opinion among
homoeopaths themselves and a schism, in which since then the
combat has been waged with weapons not always allowable or be-
coming, I think that I need no excuse in particular when I re-
quest my colleagues to communicate the results obtained in time
past with the high potencies of Korsakoff, and to make myself
the beginning by subjoining some of my own conservations.
I.
I made my first experiment on April 16, 1835, with a girl ten
years of age, D. St., living here, whose parents sought my help
owing to a severe swelling on the bone of the metatarsus of the
right hand, suppuration of the thumb-joint and hardness of hear-
ing. The child had received from me on the 12th of January and
on the 9th of March, 1835, each time a dose of Silicea 30c., and
this had been followed by improvement. On the 16th of April
she received, on account of a painful drawing in the hand, a
badly selected dose of Sepia 1500c, which on that account was
without effect, but on the 15th of May she received Calcarea 1000;
on this without any further medicine there followed a complete
cure which lasts to this day.
II.
Cath. H., a servant girl in E., had been suffering for several
years from a badly treated itch, which gave her a violent head-
ache with buzzing in the ear.* From November 15, 1834, she
had received from me Sulphur t Calc. , Lycopod. and Silic. , of each
one dose of the 30c. , and this with some success, but this was not
permanent. But on April 21, 1835, she received one dose of
Sepia 1500, which had a slow but long enduring effect and so good
that on the first of June the headache had disappeared entirely
and there only remained some buzzing in the ear, which finally
disappeared after Sulphur 60, Calcarea 30 and Lycopod. 30, by the
end of October. '
* Owing to a great pressure of patients, and at the same time a pressure
of official business, I had to keep my record at this time very briefly, which
I remark here and for which I am very sorry.
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248 EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES.
III.
Jos. F., from this place, 16 years old, has been suffering for
several years from a chronic swelling of the knee, with stiffness
and stitches and impulsive pains in it; he first received on April
8, 1835, Acid sulph. 30, after which the impulsive pain ceased,
but the rest remained unchanged and a suppurating j>lace opened.
On the 22d of April he received Silicea 1500, after which the
stitches disappeared by the 7th of May, the pus became mild, but
there was often a very painful beating in the sore, wherefore I
gave him (as I see now, much too early) a dose of Sulphur 30,
which was followed on June 25th by a dose of Silicea 30, both
with the desired effect. Not long after the latter remedy, he had
the misfortune of breaking his leg, whereby he again came into
allopathic hands and now goes on crutches, although after
several years' interruption he in the fall of 1842 came again on
account of this knee, which had now become quite stiff, for a short
time to Homoeopathy for aid, but without effect.
IV.
Alex. P., from this place, two and a half years old, was suffer-
ing from chronic inflammation of the eyes, scab on the head and
an eruption on the neck. On the 9th of April, 1835, he received
Sulphur 60 with manifest improvement, only the eruption on the
neck was worse. On the 23d of April he received Calcarea 1500,
after which within twenty-four hours there appeared convulsions,
nocturnal fever and violent thirst, which called for Chamom, 6,
and twelve hours later for Belladonna 30. Then the Calcarea be-
gan plainly to put in its work, and in six weeks all had healed up
without returning up to this time,
V.
Mrs. L., from hereabout, forty years old, had been cured on
the 15th of April, 1835, by a dose of Pulsatilla 30, from a sort of
intermittent fever, when there appeared on the 25th of April an
inflammation with swelling in the sexual parts. A dose of Sepia
1500 cured this swelling in a few days, but excited a copious and
constant perspiration, which only ceased on the 18th of May
without additional medicine of itself. This woman has since
suffered from rheumatic and hysterical troubles, which kept re-
turning; only the trouble cured with Sepia did not return.
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EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES. 249
VI.
L. F., from here, a pretty girl of fourteen years, quiet, gentle
and inclined to weeping, menstruating copiously, is suffering
from a rush of blood to the head and face, and from epileptic at-
tacks, mostly before the appearance of the menses. After Bella-
donna 30, taken on April 24th, 1835, there was a slight aggrava-
tion of the rush of blood to the head, without any improvement,
so that on the sixth of May the same remedy in a like dose was
given, but also with but slight effect. Therefore, she received on
the 1 6th of May Sepia 1500; after two days there arose the first
effect, which on the 18th of May called for the use of Aconite \
this I had to follow up with a dose of Sulphur 30, and later on
tome remedies in the usual potencies, without being able to say
anything further as to the effect of the Sepia given.
VII.
P. L., from here, a girl seven years of age, had been treated
allopathically for three years for scrofulous inflammation of the
eyes, with white spots on the cornea of both eyes, and had grown
worse, when on the 18th of March, 1835, my aid was sought.
During the treatment a dose of Pulsatilla 30 did the most good,
but only for a few days. On the 20th of May she received Phos-
phorus 1000, which acted excellently on the eyes, but on account
of a swelling of the nose which I ascribed to this remedy it was
so disturbed by Aconite 30, and by a dose of Phosphorus 1000
given erroneously on May 27th it was spoiled still more. So also
a dose of Calcarea 1500 given on May 29 brought at first an
aggravation, then an improvement, and by June 5 th again an
aggravation, which led me again too early to give a dose of
Arsenicum 30, which after a brief first effect restored the child
and till this day permanently. The repeated mistakes at that
time by too rapid a change or repetition of the remedies was a
consequence of my ignorance at that time as to the long duration
of action of the high potencies, which I only learned to know
and value later on more fully.
VIII.
Mrs. N., in G., a farmer's wife, pregnant in the fifth month,
has several times suffered from jaundice and is now again suffer-
ing from it. At the same time she has a dry cough from the
least movement, with headache and involuntary discharge of
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250 EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES.
urine, chilliness and thirst. After receiving a dose of Bryonia 30
on May 2, 1835, while coughing, there were added concussions
in the region of the liver, which did not improve any more than
the first symptoms from a dose of Pulsat. and of Sulphur in the
same potency. On the 27th of May she received a dose of Phos-
phorus 1000, which was followed by a complete and till now per-
manent cure.
IX.
A. W., in N, a farmer, whose age was not noted down, had
been suffering for some years from a lameness of the small of the
back without any pain in it, much thirst and weariness in the
evening. He received from the 28th of January to the 7th of
July the following series of medicines: Cocc. % Sulphur, Cocc. t
Oleander, Rhus (on the latter there followed an eruption of
blisters on the hands), Bry. % Arsen. (on account of a burn on his
arm which was quickly cured by it) and then again Rhus, all in
the 30, with some improvement, but this was neither sufficient
nor permanent. On the 7th of July he received Natrum mur.
1000, which was followed by a complete and permanent cure.
X.
On the 7th of November, 1834, I was asked for aid by the un-
married Marie £., here; she was about 40 years old, and had been
suffering for a year from an open cancerous sore on the right
breast, which had the peculiarity that the violent lancinations in
it subsided every time at the appearance of perspiration, when an
eruption appeared on the whole breast. This was accompanied
with severe haemorrhage and restlessness at night. Formerly she
had led a very licentious life. I had no success* with her as
was to be anticipated, and she died on the 23d of November.
The only circumstance worth noting was that of all the medicines
given her only the high potencies of Korsakoff produced a distinct
improvement lasting for several weeks (namely, on the 18th of
April Sepia 1500 and on July 16 Phosphorus 1500).
XI.
On the 20th of May, 1835, merchant, G. S., living here, com-
plained to me of his ailments, consisting of a severe falling out of
* The treatment miscarried, as I now believe, because I did not give the
right remedy (which here was evidently Arsenicum) in the suitable high
potency, giving it time to complete its action. Given repeatedly in the
lower dilutions, Arsenicum effected no more than the other remedies.
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EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGH POTENCIES. 251
the hair, redness, swelling and chronic inflammation of the eye-
lids, with a sensation of heaviness therein; frequent, exhausting
pollutions, scaling off of the skin of the head and violent rush of
blood to the same. After Sulphur 60, and a week later Sepia
1500, a decided and great improvement set in and the pollutions
ceased entirely \ A later dose of Silicea 30 completed the cure,
and he remained well until October 14, 1844, when I cured him
by a dose of Causticum 200 of toothache with a fistula in the
tooth.
XII.
B. H. T., of M., nine years of age; in his fourth year he had
had what is called the "scourings," and immediately afterwards
attacks of epilepsy. These have been since repeated four to ten
times a day most frequent and most violent about the equinoctial
time; they are preceded by vertigo and succeeded by hunger.
The boy has otherwise a blooming complexion and a vigorous
appearance; but he is very capricious and obstinate and his intel-
ligence is very much dulled. On the 4th of June I gave him a
dose of Sulphur 60, and a week later a dose of Calcarea 1500,
after which immediately there set in an immediate cure, which so
far as I know has not since been disturbed.
These twelve cases which I copy from the first two volumes of
my Records, which now amounts to 68 volumes, taking them in
their order just as they are entered there, and excepting merely
those cases of which I never heard the outcome, will suffice to
confirm the statement made before, but it will serve at the same
time to call down on me the reproach that I then paid too little
regard to the dawning light of the blessed action of the now so-
called high potencies, and later on entirely lost sight of them.
But only few choice spirits, like Hahnemann, have the grace
granted them to discover the spark of eternal truth in trifling
occurrences which seem unessential and to preserve this in a
faithful memory and to follow out its tracks for the benefit of
humanity.
Similar instances like those enumerated by me may doubtless
be found in the Physicians 1 Records of those days, and it is cer-
tainly not unnecessary to bring this forward for the refutation or
for the confirmation of the opinions of to-day with respect to the
high potencies. For these facts form properly the first germ from
which after nearly twelve years the use of the high potencies has
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252 A LETTER TO STAFF.
developed; and this doctrine is not now as it seems perfectly
understood, and therefore, imperfectly carried out, and it has not
yet found that unprejudiced consideration which it indisputably
deserves.
I therefore repeat again my request made above to my older
colleagues to report faithfully,- truly and fearlessly the results of
their experiments made on the discovery of Korsakoff, especially
giving the condition of these patients long afterwards, so that the
later results from the high potencies, such as we possess now,
may be appended. These in my case have so well approved them-
selves that since the last three years with a steadily increasing
throng of patients I have used them almost solely and only ex-
ceptionally a lower potency.
P. S. — It is surely now time for the older Homoeopaths, who
some ten or twelve years ago tried the effect of Korsakoff's high
potencies in their practice, to heed this invitation of our author
and make known their results. I think here especially of
the Royal Councilor Dr. Weber in Lich (cfr. Archiv, XVI, 2)
and the staff-surgeon Dr. Starke in Silberberg. I myself, I am
sorry to say, did not at that time make use of this important dis-
covery, so that I cannot communicate anything from my experi-
ence — Stapf.
From a Letter of Councilor C. v. Bcenninghausen in
Muenster to Dr. Stapf.
Translated from •' Neues Archiv y fuet homoopathische \Heilkunst Vol. II,
No. 1, p. 89.
It is now more than a year since I began to give my patients
as a rule high potencies and only exceptionally the lower dilutions,
and I have now gathered enough experience to be able to say a
word in the matter. On account of the importance of this real
progress, which seems fraught with consequences, I am very sorry
that the little leisure left me from my very extended and blessed
practice is so much taken up by reading the proof and superin-
tending the edition of my Manual (announced in "Neues Archiv.
I. 2, p. 39, where also the high potencies are mentioned) that it
has been quite impossible to communicate according to your
wishes a series of these cures for your excellent journal, though
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A LETTER TO STAPF. 253
this would merely require copying them out of the last volumes
of my Record. When even at an earlier day my publication
' ' Triduum homceopathicum, ' * the contents of which had been deter-
mined by lot, caused several specialists to accuse me of falsification
and deceit, what would these gentlemen n >w say when I with
far higher dynamizations and still smaller doses not only attain my
ends much better, but even more frequently than before, and still
observe first effects and Homceopathic aggravations ? But this will
not deter me from telling the truth wherever and however I may
find it, nor will it make me mind the slanderous talk of people,
who would not be so ready to take a man of unblemished reputa-
tion for a deceiver if they themselves were not capable of such
action. You may therefore depend upon it that I shall not keep
back where it may be useful to speak, and that as soon as I have
my hands free I shall send communications to } r our "Archiv"
which will be worth printing and show that we frequently can
cure with high potencies where the same medicine in lower dilu-
tions was unable to effect a cure.
First of all it seems to me to be necessary to prove by facts that
high potencies are still effectual. The genuine Homoeopath who has
convinced himself innumerable times that the 30. dilution acts
will give sufficient belief to our assurances to repeat our experi-
ments and will consider that the experience acquired so far un-
deniably proves that the dynamic efficiency of medicinal sub-
stances by no means finds their limit where chemical reaction
ceases. With the specificists, who are afraid of making them-
selves ridiculous with their fellow- believers by repeating our ex-
periments, the truth will not in this way find any entrance ; they
will rather go to the extreme in their skepticism so as to represent
that what they are unwilling to believe is a priori incredible.
But what will they say when even the high potencies, and even
the smallest doses of them, are still able to produce first effects,
plain and violent first effects f
Concerning this point, I would like to communicate to you, my
dear friend, a few cases which seem to me to be well worthy of
consideration.
1. Since the 9th of July, 1842, a farmer has been under my treat-
ment, whose chronic cough had under allopathic treatment for 17
to 18 years been so much aggravated that both the physicians as
well as his relatives all thought him consumptive in the highest
degree, and had given him up. My Record has the express
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254 A LETTER TO STAPF.
remark : " He seems to be beyond saving;' ' it contains only a
few lines as of one of whom there is no hope, recording besides
the duration of the cough for 17 to 1 8 years a white, tough, sweet-
ish, unboiled expectoration, the severe dyspnoea preceding every
attack of coughing, its aggravation from every movement, and as
a secondary symptom that his nose is stopped up every morning,
much itching in the anus, that sour-krout causes much flatulence,
and that his condition improves toward evening. From this time
on he receives every two or three months a dose of Phosphorus,
Sulph.,/od., Arsen., Lye. (the latter on account of an excrescence
on the knee which disappeared after it), Sepia, Natrum mur., all
in the 30. potency, two pellets of each, several of these twice,
Phosphorus three times without any further success than that he
remained alive, and at least did not grow worse. Still at the end
of September, 1844, the matter seemed to take a turn for the
worse, and I then gave him a dose of Phosphorus 200. to be dis-
solved in a cup of water and to take of it every evening for five
evenings a teaspoonful. Even after the third dose there arose so
violent an aggravation that his relatives expected every hour to
be his last. So I directed him to cease taking it and gave him
\S. Lact. Now he gradually improved, and in six weeks this
patient, already given up by allopathy for two and a half years
from consumption % is so completely cured that he is one of the
healthiest and most vigorous persons around here.
2. On the 23d of May, 1840, a robust young man, 23 years old,
H. H. V., from Hanover, sought relief from me on account of epi-
lepsy, with which he had been afflicted for five years. The attacks
came on every four to five weeks. Before every attack he had a
shaking and a bending of the left arm, losing his consciousness.
After it headache and bilious vomiting. Even in healthy days, he
frequently had to vomit after eating carrots, sour-krout or beans.
He received one dose of Sulphur 30. and two doses of Calcarea 30.
and between these two doses one dose of Lycop. 30. ; after this the
attacks were intermittent till the end of October, when he got a
sort of typhoid fever, which (owing to his distance from here) was
treated allopathically. One dose of Calcarea 30. sufficed to
remove this attack until April 17, 1841, when the use of liquor at
a Kirmess again brought on a few attacks which were removed
for another half year by a dose of Agar. muse. 30. and following
it with another of Calcarea 30. Still his condition did not remain
undisturbed permanently and I had to give him every five or six
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A LETTER TO STAPF. 256
months either a dose of Calc. or Silic. 30., according to circum-
stances. Finally he received on March 30, 1844, a dose of Sil-
icea 200., after which there set in for a week a violent aggravation,
so that every day he had one or two unusually strong attacks, always
worse in the night, and since then he has had no more attacks up to
this time, as he himself informed me in November last, and through
a neighbor a short time ago.
3. Without consulting experience, as it seems to me, the asser-
tion has been made that in accute diseases the lower potencies are
to be preferred to the high potencies. My journals prove the con-
trary.
a. C. E. W. von H., thirty-eight years of age, cured by me
before this (with Sepia) of chronfc headache with the closing up
of both her eyes when in childhood, about the middle of last De-
cember had a violent inflammation of the left mamma with the
most unbearable pains. One dose of Phosphorus 200. dissolved in
a cup full of water, of which she daily took one teaspoonful, com-
pletely removed the whole ailment in forty -eight hours.
b. Mme. H., in M., the wife of a high official, had been suffering
for several weeks from a violent pain in the face, which under
allopathic treatment had driven her almost to despair; and which
exactly fitted in with Spigelia. As the lady was so severely
affected, I dissolved Spigelia 200. in a cup full of water, after
stirring this around, I put one teaspoonful of this solution into a
second cupful of water, and let her take of the latter solution one
spoonful at once. In spite of my precaution the effect was extra-
ordinarily violent. Immediately after taking it there appeared
an attack of such violence as she had not felt before, and lasting
about five minutes ; but this was the last, and that same evening
she was so completely freed from her ailment that she attended a
meeting of friends, where this success caused not a little sensa-
tion, and since then eight months have passed and the ailment
has not returned.
c. Mme. F., the daughter and sister of two medical councillors,
who are not very kindly disposed to Homoeopathy, was seized
three months ago with a pain in the face and with toothache of a
tearing kind, which under allopathic treatment rose to such a
violence that the father bit into the sour apple and called me in.
Bryonia was undoubtedly the remedy indicated, and partly on
account of the violence of the case, and also to give the allopathic
physicians a striking proof of the power of our dilutions, I gave
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256 A LETTER TO STAPF.
her Bryonia 200., to be dissolved as in case b. , and prescribed only
one teaspoonf ul from the second cup. As intended so I did ! But
to dilute still further such a "nothing" a material allopathic
head could not comprehend, but in order not to go contrary to all
my orders they gave the patient a teaspoonful from the first cup.
Ten minutes later on account of the violent aggravation the hus-
band of the young wife was again with me and full of repentance
acknowledged the self-willed deviation from my direction. I now
gave S. Lactis in water, and next morning the husband appeared
with the glad news that the violent attack of the previous even-
ing had quickly passed over, that his wife had slept quietly all
night, and that the pains had altogether passed away. The cure
was permanent.
The most striking proofs of the great efficacy of the high poten-
cies, when correctly selected, are furnished by the epistolary re-
ports of distant allopaths, who in their despair cast themselves into
the arms of Homoeopathy, and of whom I myself have about a
dozen under my treatment. Of these I will give one.
4. S. W. V., living in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has
given up his allopathic practice several years ago, owing to dis-
appointment and remorse of conscience, and has taken up another
employment. Some years ago he had driven away a chancre with
Mercury, and a bubo with Iodine. Since then he has spitting up
of blood, cough, palpitation of the heart, etc., and under allo-
pathic treatment which he himself in part directed he steadily
grew worse. On the 19th of March, 1843, De entrusted himself to
my treatment, but through measures of his own and the advice of
a half-homceopath of that region he so frequently spoiled my
prescriptions that no improvement was secured till the beginning
of 1844, when I seriously threatened him that if he would not
punctually observe my directions I would leave him to his un-
avoidable fate. His improvement, which now by the use of Lye. ,
Sulph.y Lye. and Phosphor. , given in this series and always in the
200. potency, has progressed without interruption, and has trans-
formed the ailment in such a way that Sepia was now indicated.
So I sent him on Dec. 1, 1844, (1) Nux vom. 200, (2) and (4)
S. Lact. t (3) Sepia 200., directing him to dissolve every week one
of the powders in water and to take a teaspoonful every evening
for five evenings. Some days ago, I received a written account
of the result, in which he says: Six days after taking No. 3
(Sepia) there appeared total lack of appetite, pains in the limbs,
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A LETTER TO STAPF. 257
great distention of the abdomen, ineffective urging to stool, vomituria
in the evenings, deadly constriction of the chest with perspiration and
cramps in the abdomen, chilliness alternating with heat, etc., which
continued for the next three days, with increasing perspiration and
striking indifference, but then a great dual and decided improve-
ment such as he had not felt before. I was very glad to see that in
spite of the urging of his family he did not allow himself to be
carried away so as to disturb the action by the use of other rem-
edies, and he will be sure to reap the fruits of his constancy.
5. About half a year ago Dr. Nunez, a Spanish physician of
Barcelona, asked my advice as to the surest way of curing inveter-
ate chronic diseases which have been spoiled by allopathic treatment,
and I especially recommended also the use of high potencies in
such cases. A short time ago I received from him the following
communication: " I received your honored letter in Madrid and
would at once have begun the trial of the high potencies if I had
not been too much overloaded with patients to find time for mak-
ing them. Still I have now made some of Calcarea and of Silicea
and especially for Dr. J., the dean of the faculty at Barcelona,
who has suffered for twenty-four years, without anyone's having
been able to diagnose his disease with certainty. I found an
organic lesion of the marrow (une Lesion organique de la moelle)
and decided on the use of Calcarea, which has a great action in
this direction; I gave him two pellets of the 200. dynamization of
this remedy, and was not a little astonished to see as the proxi-
mate effect of this remedy on the 2rst day after taking the remedy
violent thrusts near the heart and on the 23d day the passage oj
ascarides. It is to be noted that Dr. f. has not for twenty years felt
the ordinary beat of the heart, and when he spoke of it I in vain
applied my ear to his chest and could not hear it. Of course in
the after effects by far the greater number of the symptoms dis-
appeared and the patient himself is quite enthusiastic at this
result. After Calcarea has been acting undisturbed for forty days,
he has just begun to take the Silicea and I am awaiting the
results. I have not yet been able to make any other experiments
with the high potencies, because I have not the time to prepare
them, therefore I would entreat you urgently, etc." He desires
to get a complete collection of the high potencies. Of the further
contents of the letter, I think, I ought to state yet for your
pleasure, that through his cure in his clinique of persons in high
positions, he has effected, that five professors in Madrid have been
17
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258 ON TOOTHACHE.
gained to oar Science and that the Spanish government is at pres-
ent taking measures to establish professorships of it. He is at
present at the request of the Minister of the Interior writing a
memorial on medicines, which may be a foundation for the gen-
eral introduction of Homoeopathy and which he promises to send
me, though it is written in Spanish. Probably it will contain some
things of interest for the Archiv.
So much for the present; soon more!
Yours devotedly,
Afunsier, February 20, 184.5. C. von Bcbnninghausbn.
On Toothache.
An Essay read by him, in 1835, before the Allopathic Medical Society \ of
Miinster.*
American Journal of Homoeopathy (Kirby), Vol. Vi t page 170; Ameri-
can Homoeopathic Review^ Vol. VI, page g/ t 133; Homoeopathic Times
{London).
I believe that this learned society, of which I have the honor to
be a member, expects that the subject of my paper will bear some
relation to homoeopathy. In answer to this supposed expectation,
I will endeavor, briefly, to prove how a medicine, producing a
disease in a healthy subject, will relieve a like natural disease.
To fix your attention on a suitable instance, I choose a complaint
which, indeed, is not dangerous, but often, from the intensity of
pain, reduces the patient almost to despair. This complaint, under
ordinary treatment, can only be cured completely by the removal
of the offending part; but for its relief the Materia Medica con-
tains a great number of remedies, and it will never permanently
disappear without the application of the specific remedy — I mean
the toothache.
* [Translated from the fifteenth volume of Archives, by Dr. Suss, to whom
we tender our best thanks. It would redound much to our credit if we, in
1852, could show such available and comprehensive acquaintance with the
Materia Medica as the veteran Bcenninghaupen showed himself master of
in 1835.— Editor of the American Journal of Homoeopathy.]
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ON TOOTHACHE. 259
There are certainly not many in the civilized world who are not
more or less affected by this complaint, and it is well known how
little relief can be brought by the so-called rational medicine. In
addition to the extraction of the bad tooth there are very few
other remedies, and these are applicable only in some cases, and
even in these the results are very uncertain. Therefore all the
known house-remedies are at first applied, often to the great detri-
ment of the health, and when they have been taken without relief,
the patient goes to a dentist, to get relief by the extraction,
though he knows that it is a tooth lost for his whole life, and ex-
perience has shown us that after such sort of relief the next tooth
often becomes affected.
Homoeopathy does not pretend to cure all the different kinds of
toothache, either quickly or forever, but it can give relief in the
greatest number of cases, and acts in the same manner as in the
cure of all other diseases. According to the principles of homoe-
opathy, the toothache is merely a symptom of an internal uneasi-
ness of the vital power, which never exists alone, but is followed
by many other symptoms, though the latter are so few and
obscure, that they are not remarked but by accurate observation.
The totality of the symptoms of a disease gives a perfect picture
of the disease itself, and indicates the most useful remedy in
accordance with the great principle " similia similibus curantur."
As a painter cannot draw a perfect picture by the delineation of
one feature, as the eyes, or nose, or mouth, so neither can the
homoeopathist cure a disease by looking only at one symptom .
The great characteristic of a good homoeopathic practitioner is to
take together all the present symptoms, and then to analyze the
most prominent of them. The difference, therefore, between allo-
pathy and homoeopathy is that, in the former, numbers of reme-
dies are mixed together for a cure of disease, and in the latter
only one remedy is employed, which meets the demands of the
case, that is, of the symptoms present. It is therefore necessary
that the homoeopathist should know all the pathogenetic effects
of the remedy he selects.
Homoeopathy has many remedies which in the healthy state
will produce toothache. As it is impossible to enumerate now all
the different kinds of toothache, and their homoeopathic treatment,
I will only give a few examples how Homoeopathy acts in such
cases. I choose for this purpose a peculiar kind of toothache,
but still of common occurrence, viz., the throbbing pains in the
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260 ON TOOTHACHE.
teeth, the pulsative pains, which are produced by thirty- five reme-
dies, but for the relief of which kind of toothache I have used
only sixteen, and with the best result.
I. After a cold, produced by exposure to an easterly wind, a
fever with great congestion towards the head frequently takes
place, together with a burning heat in the face, frequent and hard
pulse, and great agitation of body and mind. To these symp-
toms may be added, violent throbbing toothache, chiefly on one
side, and occupying the whole jaw, with redness of the cheek. In
such cases Aconite is the only specific.
II. Another kind of throbbing pain in the teeth, produced also
very often by cold, but without fever, will be cured by Causticum.
It is almost always accompanied by painful sensibility, swelling
and ready bleeding of the gums, with dragging pains id the
muscles of the face, in the eyes and ears.
I was myself affected last winter for several days with this com-
plaint, because I did not understand, from the absence of the
other principal symptoms, which was the right remedy to select.
After having employed, without relief, many remedies, I was
cured in two hours by taking one dose of Causticum, and from
that time I have not suffered from a similar toothache. The tooth-
ache to which Causticum is appropriate is always of a chronic
nature, Causticum having a long medicinal action; but remedies
whose actions are limited to a short period will never affect this
kind of toothache.
III. Chamomilla is very useful in throbbing toothache, affect-
ing especially women and children. The kind of toothache which
is relieved by this remedy is almost always insupportable at night,
and increased by the warmth of the bed, and causing despair to
the patient, who runs about, and keeps moaning; there is gener
ally redness and swelling of one cheek ; the hair is moist* ; there
is great thirst, and swelling of the submaxillary glands.
Some years ago I remember my wife was seized with violent
toothache of the kind I have just described. As I was absent
from home Dr. B., who attended at that time my suffering wife,
gave her at first Aconite, in consequence of the feverish symptoms;
as they were not diminished, on che next day he gave her Pulsa-
tilla, which did not produce the slightest effect; the third day
Bryonia was administered; but this remedy also gave no relief.
Dr. B., who now thought that Homoeopathy was insufficient,
applied, on the fourth day, eighteen leeches, and gave a mixture,
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which produced for the first a short time relief; but after a quarter
of an hour the same violent toothache returned, and became insup-
portable. The fifth day I returned, at four P. M., from my
journey, and found my wife suffering from the intensest pain.
After having inquired into what had been done for her, and hav-
ing well examined her state, I gave her at once a dose of Cham-~
omilla. At five o'clock the pain ceased and the swelling of the
cheek disappeared.
IV. The kind of throbbing toothache cured by China is not of
frequent occurrence.
I remember chiefly one case which happened to me whilst
travelling through the country. A young girl, well featured and
pleasant to look at, had become, when I saw her again, pale and
thin. She suffered from violent throbbings in the teeth, increased
chiefly after meals and at night, and were slightly relieved by
strong pressure and biting on the teeth, while a slight touch
rendered the pains insupportable. In the meantime she had con-
tinual diarrhoea, and profuse night-sweats ; she was very weak
and could scarcely walk about. As she begged me to relieve her
suffering, I gave her a small dose of China, and the next morning,
when I set off, she told me, highly delighted, that she had had a
very good night, had no toothache, and had been free from night-
sweat; and when I called on her some months afterwards, I found
her again nice-looking and handsome. A quite similar toothache
can be produced by the abuse of China, as I have observed
already twice, in young men who were in the habit of taking
every morning China- brandy. It is clear in such a case China
would not be very applicable.
All the symptoms were cured, in one case, by Arnica, in
another by Pulsatilla, two remedies which answered more the
general symptoms than the throbbings.
V. Persons who are accustomed to suffering very often from a
throbbing pain in the teeth are, after the nature of the accom-
panying symptoms, almost always cured by Aconite, Chamontilla,
Ignatia, Nux or Pulsatilla. But there are also throbbings in
persons who never take coffee, and for which toothache the Tinc-
ture of Coffea cruda is the specific.
Last Christmas I called upon a friend's family, who lived
strictly according to the rules of the homoeopathic diet, and
never took coffee. I found the housewife suffering from violent
toothache ; the pain was throbbing, and the patient ran crying
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262 ON TOOTHACHE. *
from one room to another, complaining of insupportable pain;
though she confessed that sometimes the pains were not so
intense, yet they affected her very much. The account of her
sufferings was interrupted by crying, and she behaved herself
with a certain hastiness, like a person distracted, which last
symptom struck me the more, as I knew her consistent and firm
character when she was in health.
I gave her at once a small dose of Coffea cruda 6, and after two
minutes the throbbings disappeared, and the remaining sensibility
of the part affected was taken off in five minutes afterwards by
Ignatia. The whole evening now passed in the usual way, and
during the week I stopped there nothing similar happened. Some
days ago I saw her again, when she told me that she had not had
any attack of toothache since.
VI. A remarkably quick- acting remedy for a kind of throbbing
pain in the teeth is the north pole of the magnet.
This throbbing is almost always accompanied by burning, and
has its seat in the lower jaw> followed by a hot and red cheek; it
becomes worse from warmth, and after meals. Generally there
is a chilliness over * the wholfe body; great irritability; trembling
and quivering of the limbs. In spring and autumn this kind of
toothache is very frequent. Its cure is soon accomplished, the
patient touching with the forefinger the north pole of the magnet
as long as the pain seems to be increased.
I cannot forbear mentioning an application of the magnet,
which, however, was not followed by success, yet shows its strong
effect.
A servant of mine came into my study one evening and begged
me to give him some relief for his toothache, which had pained
him since four P. M., and was always increasing. The pain was
throbbing, and was in the upper jaw. As all the symptoms,
except the last one, indicated the north pole of the magnet, I
applied it at once (power of magnet capable of lifting two oz.);
hut he had scarcely touched it with his finger, when he grasped
nis cheek with his other hand, and cried out, "Oh ! it springs
downwards !" The pain was merely removed from the upper
jaw to the lower one, but continued with the same intensity. It
is certain that this metastasis was produced by the north pole,
and cure could not be expected from it. I then allowed him to
touch the south pole, which, by experience, we know takes away
the effect of the north pole. What I expected happened; he had
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ON TOOTHACHE. 263
only just touched the south pole, when h^ cried out, "Oh ! it
springs again upwards ! M So my purpose was answered; and
shortly afterwards I gave him Pulsatilla, which cured him com-
pletely; that was no imagination.
VII. I do not know whether there is a syphilitic toothache of a
throbbing character for which Mercurius would be the specific,
because it has the power to produce in a healthy person all the
chief symptoms of syphilis; but there is a throbbing in the teeth,
which comes on from abuse of Mercury \ and is worse toward the
evening, in bed, until midnight, and even through the whole
night, and prevents the patient from sleeping. Acidum nitricum
is generally the specific for this kind.
I attended, two months ago, a young man, who had some time
before contracted gonorrhoea, and had applied for relief to a
young physician, who had probably very little experience in such
cases. This patient came into my room in the greatest despair;
talked at first only of his unfortunate position, without mention-
ing his complaint, and spoke of committing suicide. After hav-
ing consoled and encouraged him, he told me his sufferings, and
showed me his palate, which was corroded by chancres, his gums
lacerated by ulcers, and covered with thick, swollen, yellow,
colored crusts, and his tongue with ulcerous margins, with a sen-
sation of the tongue falling off; the dread of the loss of this organ,
which he thought could not be avoided, gave him the greatest
anxiety, and impelled him to think of suicide. The gonorrhoea
had disappeared, but in its stead the above-mentioned symptoms
occurred. I perceived at once that this was a case of mecurialism.
I therefore gave him at first a small dose of Hepar sulpha
after which remedy the palate and gums looked quite different
the next day, and the patient began again to enjoy his life.
Two days afterwards the above mentioned kind of toothache
came on, for which I ordered him Acidum nitricum, in a high
dilution, and the fourth day the hitherto suffering patient called
on me, comparatively cured. I saw him again several times,
when he felt himself as well as ever, after I had cured in eight
days, with one dose of Petroleum, the gonorrhoea, which had
again made its appearance.
VIII. In only one case of throbbing in the teeth was Platina
the specific remedy. The pain was like a pulsative digging
through the whole right jaw, increased especially towards the
evening, and by rest, whilst the patient several times began in-
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264 ON TOOTHACHE.
voluntarily to cry out. At first Pulsatilla seemed to me indicated,
but it did not answer.
The next day, when a friend of hers brought me the report of
the case, I asked her more particularly for the accompanying
symptoms, and I soon perceived why Pulsatilla had no effect.
The throbbing was followed by a clammy numbness, which
affected the whole suffering part. In the mean time the monthly
period was too early and abundant, and in her mind had been
lately observed a pride, with conceit, and contempt of all about
her, which had never before been seen. Here every homoeopath-
ist would have administered, as I did, Platina, which cured in a
few hours, riot only the whole toothache, but ameliorated her
spirits, and restored the catamenia to their former regularity.
IX. With a cure of throbbings in the teeth by Pulsatilla, which
frequently occurs, is connected a very pleasing recollection, which
I will now relate.
About three years ago, when traveling, I arrived towards even-
ing at a hotel, where I found some friends from the neighbor-
hood assembled, and among them the landlord's doctor. Some
minutes after my arrival, the eldest daughter of the family
begged me to relieve her toothache, telling me that for more
than a fortnight she had experienced an attack, which came on
after sunset, and lasted till midnight ; that nothing hacl been
found to give permanent relief, only that by walking in the open
air, or standing at an open window, the pain was somewhat
mitigated. This statement was confirmed by the doctor. As it
was not the proper place to question her minutely about her other
complaints, I gave her from my own box one dose of Pulsatilla
30. The result exceeded my expectation ; for before I could re-
turn the box to my pocket, she cried out, to the astonishment of
the whole company, "The pain is all gone. M The young phy-
sician, who had but lately taken his degree, surprised by this
fact, said that this cure, if it should last, would be most remark-
able.
I then reasoned backwards : where Pulsatilla acted so quickly,
there must be also its characteristic symptoms ; and replied to
him, if the patient followed only a week the rules for the homoe-
opathic diet, she would not only lose the toothache for good, but
be cured of any other complaints she might have. The young
^Ssculapius was quite puzzled at this, and asked what complaints.
I told him now some characteristic symptoms of this remedy,
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viz.: the prevalent shivering, great thirst, low spirits, insupport-
able heat, want of sleep before midnight, want of appetite, and
dislike to fat food, etc. He then pretended I had ascertained all
these particulars before, and when it was proved that I had just
arrived, and had not previously examined the patient, he ex-
claimed, in some displeasure, that her relatives agreed with me
out of courtesy. I replied that I would tell him something more
in private, and he should afterwards ask if it was true. On his
assenting, I told him that the patient was also suffering from
mucous diarrhoea ; that her monthly periods appeared too late, at
intervals of five weeks, and were only of a few days' duration,
with pain in the back and cramps in the abdomen. He then went
to her, and pretended I had told him that she suffered from con-
stipation, and that the catamenia were too early and abundant ;
to which she replied that in these respects I was mistaken, for
she complained just of the contrary, and all that she answered to
his inquiries agreed exactly with what I had before told him.
Some months afterwards, when I saw this young lady again, she
joyfully thanked me for having cured her of all her complaints.
Whether this young physician afterwards studied Homoeopathy I
do not know, but I doubt it, as I have never heard of him since.
X. To the more rarely-employed remedies against the throb-
bing in the teeth belongs Sabina. Several cases occurred to me
in which it was the only specific. This kind of toothache Ap-
peared also towards the evening and in the night, especially when
the patient was warm in bed,. and after meals, and with a sensa-
tion as if the tooth would burst, followed by a throbbing in all
the vessels, frequent empty retching, and especially in females ;
abundant discharge of light-colored blood, even not at the time of
the catamenia. In one case, a pain like that of gout in the right
toe was taken off by an external remedy, and afterwards this
kind of toothache appeared, which by one dose of Sabtna was
quickly cured, and neither the toothache nor the pain in the toe
ever returned, precisely as I had foretold, the pain in the toe as
well as the toothache being covered by Sabtna.
XI. A malady of more frequent occurrence is a chronic throb-
bing in the teeth, with shooting pain, for which Sepia (not ossa
but succus sepia) is the only specific. This kind of toothache
occurs generally in persons of a yellowish complexion, and ex-
tends to the ears, down the arms to the fingers, with a tingling in
the latter, and is very often accompanied by difficulty in breath-
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ing, swelling of the cheeks, cough, and swelling of the submaxil-
lary glands. This remedy is particularly indicated in throbbings
affecting pregnant women. The patient will soon get relief from
even the smallest dose.
XII. Nearly connected with this Sepia toothache, both by sen-
sation and the other symptoms, is the throbbing cured by Silicea,
but the latter is known by the swelling of the lower jaw and its
periosteum, instead of the glands. The pains are more in the
bone of the jaw than in the tooth itself, and the patient cannot
sleep, on account of general heat. Connected with this is usually
an unhealthy skin, which festers on the slighest injury, I my-
self was complaining some months ago of such a toothache, ac-
companied by a swelling of the lower jawbone to the size of a
walnut. As soon as I perceived it, I took one small dose of
Silicea, on which the pain immediately ceased, and the swelling
of the bone the next morning had disappeared.
XIII. One of the most efficacious remedies against throbbing
in the teeth is Spigdia. Where this remedy is the specific, a
kind of prosopalgia is always found, with a stirring, griping, and
burning pain in the zygomatic bone, accompanied by paleness
and swelling of the face, with a yellowish areola round the lower
eyelid. Besides this, the patient suffers generally from an aching
pain in the eyes ; violent beating of the heart, often with a sensa-
tion in the chest like the purring of a cat ; frequent desire to
urinate, with abundant secretion of urine ; shivering, with inquie-
tude. I^ast year I cured, by a single and very small dose of this
remedy, a robust woman, who was affected with the above-men-
tioned symptoms, among which the toothache and the prosopalgia
were the most prominent ; both of which symptoms, and especially
the latter, had for some years returned twice every week, and
were almost insupportable. Neither of them has recurred since I
gave her the dose of Spigelia.
XIV. A more frequent kind of throbbing is that for which
Hyoscyamus is the specific. It appears generally in the morning,
and is almost always caused by a cold. There is throbbing in
the tooth itself, whilst in the gums a tearing sensation prevails,
and in masticating, the tooth seems loose, as if it would fall out.
There is always a congestion of blood towards the head, with
great heat all over the body. In violent attacks there is a sense
of strangulation, with difficulty of deglutition, and cramps, with
a sense of mental fatigue. One small dose of Hyoscyamus will
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cure this complaint in a very short time. Two years ago, when
traveling, I cured, with this remedy, a young lady, who had be-
come very ill on account of jealousy and rage about her former
lover, by whom she had been forsaken. She complained of
throbbing in the teeth, especially after midnight ; she had fever,
with great redness of face, and long fits of delirium, in which she
tried to run away, so that it was necessary to watch her. The
first dose of Hyoscyamus took away the toothache and delirium ;
the second dose, which I left for her, to be taken a week after the
first, cured her of all the other complaints.
XV. Sulphur is also a very good remedy for throbbing in the
teeth, especially when eruptions of the skin have been suppressed
by any kind of ointment. The gums are almost always swollen,
and throb like the tooth itself. There is connected with this a
great irritability of the crown of the tooth, congestion of blood to
the head, and pulsative headache ; towards evening red in-
flamed eyes and nose ; shooting in the ears, frequent but in-
sufficient desire to go to stool, constipation, and shivering. But
it happens often that all these symptoms are caused by abuse of
Sulphur, and in such a case Sulphur would aggravate all the
symptoms.
XVI. Lastly I will mention Veratrum, a remedy very seldom
indicated in throbbing in the teeth. It is useful in cases ac-
companied by swelling of the face, cold perspiration on the fore-
head, sickness, and vomiting of bile ; a bruised sensation in the
limbs, great prostration of strength almost to fainting, and cold-
ness of the whole body, with internal heat, and great desire for
cold drinks. All these symptoms were completely cured by
Veratrum,
As this brief exposition of the different kinds of throbbing in
the teeth has already given a great variety, it is easy to be under-
stood how much this variety, together with the difficulty of de-
termining the proper medicine, must increase, when other kinds of
toothache, pressing, burning, shooting, cutting, boring, etc., are
added, which embrace a far larger circle of remedies. Hence
may be drawn two conclusions : —
First. That there is no reason for pretending that Homoeopathy
requires no study, and that to spell through a mass of symptoms,
in order to select the appointed remedy, is a mere pastime, un-
worthy a man of intelligence.
Second. That it is never the fault of the principle of Homce-
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268 HOMCBOPATHIC DIET.
opathy, when the remedy, erroneously selected, does not answer.
"That many remarkable facts have been collected," says Pro-
fessor Eshmeyer, of Tubingen, in his pamphlet, "The Principles
of Allopathy and Homoeopathy Compared/ ' " is beyond all doubt;
but notwithstanding that the science is in its infancy, and the
reasonable and intelligent man cannot and will not expect from it
what he is entitled to demand from a doctrine that has borne the
examination of centuries, Homoeopathy not only stands the test
of a strict scientific examination, but presents us with several new
principles, which introduce us to a higher physiology and pathol-
ogy. Let us therefore acknowledge what it is able to do ." With
these words, " Let us therefore acknowledge what it is able to do,"
I finish my short and too imperfect paper, with the cheerful
acknowledgment of the noble and worthy conduct of all those
members who, though not yet favorable to the new doctrine, in
harmony with the words of that philosopher, acknowledge what
Homoeopathy can do, until the truth or error of the doctrine is
more clearly shown.
Homoeopathic Diet and the Sketch of a Complete
Image of the Disease so as to Make Possible
its Cure by Homoeopathy.
Published for the Lay Public.
Second Augmented Edition, Miinster, 1833.
Friedrich Regensberg.
Preface.
In answer to a frequently expressed wish, we have in this re-
print of the two pamphlets which formerly appeared separately
(namely, on Homoeopathic Diet and the sketch of this complete
image of the disease) joined the two together, after having made
such additions and changes as appeared useful or necessary.
The continued lack of Homoeopathic physicians, in spite of the
continued spread of this curative method, may have been the
cause why a large edition of these pamphlets was so soon ex-
hausted, and that there is a frequent call for the work. Patients
who live at a distance from Homoeopathic physicians have contin-
ual need both of the one pamphlet and the other, since the Ho-
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HOMOEOPATHIC DIET. 269
moeopathic physicians are so busily occupied that it is absolutely
impossible for them to satisfy all the calls for information on
these heads by written direction.
It is of course always best if the physician can see the patient
himself, as he will then notice many things which cannot so well
be expressed so distinctly and definitely in any report; he will also
then be able to confine himself to some few questions which will
decide the choice of the remedy that is most suitable. Such a sep-
aration of the essential from the non-essential cannot be expected
from one who is not a physician, and he must on that account
communicate everything at all morbid which he has observed in
himself. Nevertheless it is always advisable that the physician,
wherever it is at all feasible, should draw up the first sketch of
the image of the disease (especially in chronic troubles), after
this by the help of this guide the later communications can easily
be given with the necessary completeness.
As to diet, of late a certain indulgence has been granted, which
is not always to be approved of, and where there is any doubt, it
is surely better to be a little too strict than to be too indulgent, as
experience has frequently shown that the injuries caused by in-
dulgence are difficult to repair.
Minister, June, 1833.
C. V. B.
General Homoeopathic Diet.
" In view of the minimal doses of medicines which are at once
so necessary and so useful in Homoeopathic treatment, it may easily
be understood that everything in the diet and the order of man's
life must be removed which might at all have a medicinal effect,
in order that the minimal doses may not be overcome and extin-
guished or at least be disturbed." — 5. Hahnemann's Organon,
§259.
It is not the diet which the Homoeopathic physician prescribes
which restores the patient's health. Only gross ignorance or the
intentional spreading of an untruth can claim that, as opponents
of this curative method sometimes do, that it is merely the Ho-
moeopathic diet which avails; to which the humiliating answer is
frequently given that in such a case the allopaths act in an inde-
fensible manner in not imposing an equally strict diet.
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270 HOMOEOPATHIC DIET.
Although it is undeniable that certain diseases (limited in their
period) pass over without danger if the proper diet is observed,
yet this cannot be called a cure, since its duration is not short-
ened in this manner. But these very diseases are the ones which
most allopaths keep for themselves, while they are willing to
hand over the chronic diseases (i. <?., those diseases which, with-
out a healing medicine at most, only change their form, but only
come to an end with, the last breath of the patient), for they
know that the cure in such cases is difficult and can be expected
to result not from the diet, but only from an effective medicine.
The paragraph of the Organon which we have quoted above
gives us the only point of view from which the Diet of Homoeo-
pathy is to be considered. This ought to bring back man, espe-
cially the sick man, to a natural mode of living and should prevent
the disturbance of the action of the medicine prescribed for his
cure by other medicinal irritants. On this account there is no
prescription as to the quantity of food to be taken, since the
wants and the inclination of the patient in this respect supply the
correct standard. Only the kind of food to be taken is defined by
the physician, and this the more since in the usual mode of living
of civilized people the medicinal condiments, with articles of food
otherwise harmless, are so customary that we seldom find them
pure. And yet it is plain that every article of food ought to be
free from medicinal virtue, since this causes variations in his con-
dition, and thus must make healthy men more or less ill, even if
this should be only transitory.
Starting from this position, Homoeopaths in their dietetic
directions would at first naturally forbid many things which
later experience caused them to see are less injurious. The long
continued use of. many medicinal substances in many cases dulls
the susceptibility for them, so that the vital force eventually is no
more affected thereby. Even more important in this direction is
the observation frequently made, that as a rule only such medici-
nal substances act in a disturbing manner, on substances given
before as have Homoeopathic relation to it, i. e. , which have the
virtue and tendency of producing similar effects on healthy per-
sons. On this alone the antidotal virtue rests which a number of
medicines show, and by this may be explained how it comes
that many an otherwise antidotal substance passes by without caus-
ing any disturbance, if it only leaves untouched the present mor-
bidly excited parts of the organism on which the medicine is in-
tended to act.
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HOMOEOPATHIC DIET. 271
Otherwise it has become known by many facts and observa-
tions that even the potencies which are at this day carried higher,
and which are the especial offence and object of ridicule of in-
vestigators, who merely speculate and have become alienated
from quiet experiments, have so much increased the intensity
(doubtless immaterial) of the medicinal virtue that all grossly
material influences can affect it but little or not at all.
All this is now, of course, taken into consideration in the diet to
be observed, and Homoeopaths have on this account been able to
yield a good deal of late, which they had to forbid before, from
fear of doing harm. This is especially the case with chronic
patients, who are forbidden, besides the actual medicines of all
kinds, only coffee and strong tea, heating drinks, imported spices
and strong odors, especially that of Camphor.
Nevertheless, it may not be without its use to enumerate for the
patient, as well as for healthy persons, everything which in any
way has medicinal virtues, and which in consequence may act in-
juriously on the health or which may injuriously act on the
medicines taken. There are also so many acute diseases, as also
some of the chronic diseases, which cause a great susceptibility
for such disturbing influences and the excess of which even at
times amounts to actual idiosyncracies. We, therefore, subjoin a
pretty complete list, as well of things allowed as of things forbid-
den, with the remark that the exceptions permitted according to
the nature of the disease and the Homoeopathic medicines used is
left most safely to the physician in charge; but whatever is
printed in capitals (J. e., doubly underscored) must usually be
entirely avoided.
Food Permitted.
I. MEAT.
•
Beef, mutton, venison of all kinds (but it must not have the
haut gout), even the meat of the wild boars and their young,
raw hams, not the fat, chickens, turkeys, capons (which have
not been fattened too much), grown pigeons, not too young, and,
with patients who are not suffering from troubles of the stomach
or the bowels, also occasionally some roast veal is not in-
jurious. But these meats, as well as all other food permitted,
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272 HOMOEOPATHIC DIET.
must not be spoiled by being seasoned with medicinal sub*
stances (e. g., spices). Jelly, also prepared without spices, as
well as smoked and pickled meat, are also permitted.
Fish are to be eaten only in moderation, and only at noon, not
in the evening. The fish most easily borne are carp, pike, trout,
crucian, barbel, tench, white fish, gudgeons, mullet, etc., if
they are quite fresh and prepared in a simple manner. Less to
be recommended, especially where there are stomach or cutaneous
troubles, are the seafish, as well the pickled and smoke kinds, as
also oysters are only admissible if they have been properly soaked
in fresh water, and all have to be partaken of very sparingly.
Of other animal food there are also permitted butter, raw or
soft-boiled eggs, milk, which is most safe if first boiled (since it
frequently contains medicinal virtues from the food of the
animals), butter-milk, clabber, whey, fresh cheese (not odor-
ous), and unseasoned, or, still better, cottage-cheese.
II. VEGETABLES.
Well-baked and unspiced bread of clean wheat, without any
harmful admixtures of ergot and darnel, and baked without the
addition of potash, as also all dishes made of flour without spices
and not too fat, are harmless. Rye-bread generally agrees better
with patients than wheat-bread; even pumpernickel does not
harm those that have been used to it.
Among the vegetables permitted are potatoes, ground-nuts,
cole-rabi, beets, cauliflower, cabbage and kale, spinach, legu-
minous plants, carrots, oyster-plants, parsnips and turnips, when
they are prepared without spices and with only a moderate
amount of fat. So also the prepared vegetables, as sour-krout,
pickled beans, etc. , are harmless. To this class also belong rice,
maize, grits and groats of wheat, oats and barley, as also millet,
peas, lentils and beans; the latter, because they cause flatulence,
must often be used very moderately; then also sago and salep.
Also the salads which are cooked, but nc*t the raw salads, may
be eaten; so also some of the potherbs lose their medicinal virtues
by cooking, and may then be used without injury, though it will
be safest to do without them.
III. FRUIT.
As a rule, all fruit when fully ripe, if the sweet varieties, are
chosen, may be safely eaten, either cooked or raw. Among these
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HOMOEOPATHIC DIET. 273
we would especially enumerate: cherries, peaches, apricots (but
all these cooked without their stones), apples, pears, grapes,
raspberries, mulberries, melons, pumpkins, oranges (used with-
out their peelings), pineapples, dates, figs and gooseberries. In
most cases, but not always, currants may be eaten, as also straw-
berries, cooked cranberries and whortleberries, cooked quinces
and fresh walnuts and hazelnuts. Just as harmless are preserved
fruits, when put up with pure sugar, as also iced fruits, unless
the same should be forbidden, owing to their coldness, where
there is weakness of the stomach.
IV. BEVERAGES.
The most natural and harmless drink is pure water that has
been boiled and afterward cooled again; this may be rendered
agreeable to the taste by adding sugar, raspberry juice, toast, or
any condiments which are not forbidden.
Next to this we would place milk, with butter-milk and whey,
though the latter must be freed from its medicinal qualities by
boiling.
Besides these there are permitted small- beer, which is not
brewed too strong and has well fermented, as also the other
beers similarly prepared, unspiced hot beer, decoctions of dried
fruits, the gruel of oats, barley or rice, unspiced chocolate, tea of
cocoa shells, milk of almonds (but without any bitter almonds in
it); then also broth of beef, of chickens and of pigeons, which
must also be unseasoned and not too fat.
Whoever thinks that they cannot do without some drink like
coffee, besides chocolate, may without ill effects drink a decoction
of toasted carrots, wheat, rye or barley, but there must not be
any addition of coffee, chickory or Swedish coffee- vetches.
In most of the chronic diseases a mixture of five parts of water
with one part of wine may be used as a daily beverage.
Vinegar, even if quite pure and unadulterated, can never be
used as a beverage and seldom as an addition to it.
V. TOILET ARTICLES.
Among these but few can be granted to the Homoeopathic
public.
Instead of pomade a piece of raw pork-fat, where a great dry-
ness of the hair sets in.
18 "
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274 HOMOEOPATHIC DIET.
For cleaning the teeth, the patient should use pure water and
finely powdered charcoal, or the coal from burned bread, without
the addition of any perfume.
Instead of fumigating the rooms, a frequent airing of the rooms
and cleanliness in the same must serve.
For baths we substitute a quick washing off with clear water
and unperf umed white soap.
Finally whoever is accustomed to the use of tobacco need not
give it up altogether, but it will be well to moderate an excessive
use of the same.
VI. CIX)THING AND MODE OF LIFE.
The clothing of the patient ought to be comfortable, and no
warmer and thicker than feels comfortable to him.
Moderate exercise, especially in the open air, is very desirable;'
even a dance in pleasant company, if not too exhausting, and
when the strength permits it, will not as a rule prove harmful to
the chronic patient.
As a rule he ought to retain as much as possible his accustomed
mode of living, in so far as this is not opposed to the express di-
rections; he should sleep, eat and drink according to his desire,
neither more nor less;, he should not withdraw from any innocent
social amusement; the endeavor should be to keep the mind as
well as the body in as comfortable a state as possible, which
furthers the cure more surely than any compulsion would do.
He should seek to fill out his time as far as possible with light
and pleasant employments.
Rare exceptions from the present general rules must be left to
the determination of the physician in the particular cases.
Forbidden Food.
i. meat.
Very young or soft boiled veal, fat pork, the meat of ducks and
geese (the latter three are especially harmful in cutaneous dis-
orders), liver, kidneys and brain; any meat which is very fat or
such as has become medicinal by the addition of spices or piquant
sauces, e. g. t sausages, sour roast of rabbits or geese, beefsteak,
carbonades, field fares, larks and all animals that have become
excessively fat through fattening.
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HOMOEOPATHIC DIET. 275
As to fish, it is safest to avoid them altogether. The most in-
jurious are eel and salmon, both when fresh and when smoked or
pickled; caviar, cod-fish, turtles and shrimps. The roe and the
milt of certain fish have been found particularly harmful, espe-
cially those of herrings, perch and barbs.
Other animal food that must be avoided is hard boiled eggs,
things baked from eggs, raw milk, cream, old stinking or highly
seasoned cheese, especially Limburger cheese and green cheese,
and honey.
II. vegetables.
First of all, all vegetable food and salads which are not cooked
are forbidden, with the single exception of the fruit which was
not excepted above. Then also all bread which has not been well
fermented, or is sticky, or badly raised, or such as is impure from
spices, potash, soap, ergot, darnel or cockle. So also all cakes
and cookies, especially such as are very rich, or prepared with
spices, honey and the like, and such as are decorated with metallio
leaflets or colors, which are often actually poisonous.
Among the injurious vegetables are chestnuts, old cole-rabi,
beets, artichokes, asparagus, shoots of hops, corn-salad, parsley,
chervil, chickory, rue, garden-cress, water-cress, horse-radish (so
long as it remains sharp), onions of all kinds, wood-sorrel,
orache celery, purslane, mustard, large and small radishes,
truffles, morils and champignons, etc.
So also all spices whatever name they may have and whether
belonging to the exotic and dry class or to the potherbs, are all
to be avoided, as they all have more or less medicinal properties.
Among the former are cinnamon, saffron, ginger, pepper,
NUTMEG, VANILLA, RED PEPPER, BAY LEAVES, SOYA, LEMONS,
citron, bitter almonds, etc. ; but in the latter class we enumer-
ate marjoram, thyme, sage, basilicum, balm-mint, etc. All food
(also sauces, cakes, preserves and ice-creams) containing such in-
gredients thereby acquire more or less medicinal powers, which
can only act in a disturbing or even 'destructive manner on the
dose of Homoeopathic medicine, and they must therefore be
avoided.
III. FRUIT. •
Unripe fruit and frequently also acid fruit does not agree with
Homoeopathic treatment. The patient must, therefore, not only
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276 HOMOEOPATHIC DIET.
abstain from unripe fruit, but also, in cases which will be more
closely pointed out by the physician, from currants, strawberries
and medlars, as also from the acid varieties of apples, pears and
cherries, and from lemons.
To this class also belong cucumbers, which must usually be
forbidden, as also raw cranberries and whortleberries, haws,
elderberries, raw quinces, old English walnuts, stale hazelnuts,
almonds (especially the bitter ones), olives and St. John's
bread.
IV. BEVERAGES.
Among beverages, coffee, distinguished by its quality of anti-
doting by far the greater number of medicines and powerfully
affecting the whole organism, stands first as forbidden, and can
never be permitted. The same must be said of the coffee which
is prepared from chickory, from acorns or from the Swedish
coffee- vetch.
Less injurious, but nevertheless but rarely permitted, is the
common Chinese tea, whether green or black. So also all the
decoctions prepared from elder-flowers, chamomilla, bal-
DRIAN, SPEEDWELL, MILLEFOLIUM, MELISSA. PEPPERMINT, FEN-
NEL, ANISE, COUCHGRASS, LIPER'S HERBS, PECTORAL TEA, ICE-
LANDIC moss, are among the forbidden enjoyments, as all of them
have more or less medicinal qualities, and would also counteract
the Homoeopathic doses.
Furtheimore, we have to avoid all the so-called strong
DRINKS, e. g. WINE, COGNAC, ARAC, BRANDY, RUM, LIQUERS OF
ALL KINDS, BISHOP, PUNCH, CARDINAL, GROG, CHANDEAU,
spiced wine, birch-beer, mead etc., and especially all the
elixirs, cordials, bitters, which are often injurious even to
healthy persons, and all of which contain more or less of medi-
cinal virtue.
Beer, which is otherwise quite harmless, when pure and un-
adulterated, often has imparted to it deleterious qualities by the
addition of stupefying, intoxicating and heating herbs, which
make it injurious to the health. Therefore, such beers, as well
as double beer, and beers compounded with ginger, ledum
or other spices, are forbidden.
Furthermore, during Homoeopathic treatment all vegetable
acids (the juice of lemons, wood-sorrel, common sorrel, bar-
berries, sour apples, sour cherries, etc.), and all kinds of vin-
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HOMOEOPATHIC DIET. 277
EGAR, herb-vinegars, compounded with sharp substances or
spices, as also the sauces prepared therewith, or salads and other
dishes, are vetoed.
V. TOILET ARTICLES.
Besides the substances above mentioned, luxury and fashion
have introduced many things into life, especially into the life of
the well-to-do portion of humanity, which not only in no way
comport with Homoeopathic diet, but exert even a hurtful in-
fluence on healthy persons, while many are ignorant of their
cause.
Among these are the many kinds 'of perfumes made of amber-
gris, musk and many kinds of ethereal oils, as also similar
pomades, soaps, smelling mixtures and washes, naphthas, eau de
cologne, oil of macassar, rouge and other paints and whatever
else these superfluities may be called.
Besides these, we find tooth powders, tooth washes and
ESSENCES made from medicinal substances (quinine, sandal-wood,
cascarilla, ambergris, cream of tartar, magnesia, etc.), and these
must be avoided.
Then also all fumigation by whatever means this may be
effected (fumigating powder, pastils, vinegar, juniper berries, in-
cense, etc.), and even the smelling of lighted sulphur matches
and other matches, or the smoke of extinguished tapers and
lamps ought to be avoided. Snuff also is disallowed all the more
since it usually contains also other ingredients of a medicinal
nature.
Finally we should abstain from baths of all kinds, even the
warm foot-baths, and especially such as have herbs, ashes or
similar substances added to the water, so all in all, external ap-
plications, OINTMENTS, EMBROCATIONS, PILLOWS OF HERBS, FO-
MENTATIONS, vesiCatoriks, etc., which are all of them injurious,
or, at best, useless. The same applies without exception to all
domestic remedies. Most carefully should we guard against
the smell of camphor, which suppresses nearly all medicines.
VI. CLOTHING AND MODE OF LIFE.
In general, all excess is injurious, as well in having the cloth-
ing too light as in having it too heavy, the comfort of the patient
is almost the only criterion.
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278 THE CURE OF ASIATIC CHOLERA.
Besides this, ear-rings and necklaces of amber, corals, jet, hips,
fruits of various kinds, or perfumed substances, even those made
of metals, are injurious, because they are not without medicinal
virtues, and they must therefore be avoided. In rare cases the
same may be said of dyed clothes, especially those dyed black, as
these frequently act in a disturbing manner, so that it is advisable
never to bring them into juxtaposition with the body without
intervening linen.
With respect to the mind and spirit, everything passionate and
straining is very injurious, and should be carefully avoided. Not
only vexation, grief, fright, anger, etc., but also excessive joy
and other pleasant affections act in a disturbing manner. So also
every strenuous exertion of the mind through reading, and espe-
cially through card- playing, is forbidden ; but also ennui, which
induces all manner of thoughts about the state of health.
The Cure of Asiatic Cholera.
Translated from a pamphlet, the full title of which is: " The Cure of
Asiatic Cholera and the Surest Prophylactic Against the Same, According
to the Latest Communication of the Royal Councilor, Dr. S. Hahnemann,
to the Royal Councilor, Dr. C. v. Bcenninghausen, Miinster, 1831.
. Preface.
The item communicated in No. 210 of the " Westfcelische
Merkur" concerning the prophylactic discovered by the Royal
Councilor Hahnemann against Asiatic Cholera was only copied
from the Preussische Staatszeitung \ No. 235, as the Gothaische
Allgemeine Anzeiger was not at hand, which is said to contain
under date of August 20th the unmutilated article of this inde-
fatigable investigator. I have just now received an original
essay dated September 10th, thus probably still more complete,
even if it should be the same article; this is accompanied by a
letter containing several interesting facts as to this epidemy,
which is so much dreaded; this letter is also from the hands x>f
the revered writer himself, and I deem it a duty to publish the
one as well as the other.
C. V. BCENNINGHAUSEN.
Munster, Sept. 23, 183 1.
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THE CURE OF ASIATIC CHOLERA. 279
The Cure of Asiatic Cholera and Protection from
the Same.
Introduction.
A prescription has been published, which is reported to have
been so effective in Duenaburg against Cholera that onty one case
out of ten is said to have died. The chief remedy is Camphor \ of
which ten times the amount of the other ingredients is used. But
not one-tenth, not one out of a hundred patients would have
died, if the injurious and obstructive ingredients were taken
away and the Camphor alone would have been used and used im-
mediately at the start ; for it is only so useful if used alone and at
the beginning of the disease. But when the physicians as usual
come too late to the patients when the favorable time for the use
of Camphor has already passed, and the second stage has come in
which Camphor is of no more use, then the physicians use their
Camphor in vain; the patients have to die even though the Cam*
phor is used.
Therefore everyone must use Camphor at once as soon as any
of his family are taken sick with Cholera, and must not wait for
the help of the physician, which, though it might be good, would
3 T et be too late. I have received quite a number of accounts from
Galicia and Hungary from persons not physicians who restored
their beloved ones as by a miracle by means of the Camphor
which I had recommended.
Wherever Cholera comes first, it usually in its first stage ap-
pears in its tonic convulsive character: suddenly all the vital
force of the patient collapses, he can not stand up any more, his
expression is perturbed, the eyes sunken, the face is bluish and
icy cold as well as the hands, also the rest Of the body being
cold. There is a helpless despondency and anguish as if he
would suffocate expressed in all his gestures; half benumbed and
insensible he moans or cries out in a hollow, hoarse tone, without
making a definite complaint, except when questioned; burning in
the stomach and the throat; cramps in the calves and in other
muscles; when touched in the pit of the stomach he cries out; he
is without thirst, without nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea.
In this first stage rapid help by Camphor is possible; but the
family of the patient must themselves attend to the matter, as
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280 THE CURE OF ASIATIC CHOLERA.
this time quickly passes, either being followed by death or by the
second stage, which then is much more difficult and cannot be
cured with Camphor, In this first stage the patient must receive
as frequently as possible, at least every five minutes, a drop of
Spirits of Camphor (made by dissolving half an ounce of Camphor
in six ounces of alcohol) on a lump of sugar or in a spoonful of
water. Spirits of Camphor is poured in the palm of the hand and •
rubbed into the skin of the arms, the chest and the legs; he may
also receive a clyster of half a pound of water to two good coffee-
spoonfuls of Spirits of Camphor injected into the rectum; now
and then some Camphor may be evaporated on a hot tin,
so that if the mouth is already partly closed by cramps of the
jaws, and he is unable to take things by the mouth, he neverthe-
less receives enough vapors of Camphor with his respiration.
The more quickly all this is done at the very first sign of the
primary symptoms of the disease, the more quickly and surely
the patient will get well, often in a few hours*; he again receives
warmth, strength, consciousness, rest and sleep and is saved.
But if this stage so favorable for recovery has been allowed to
pass without the use of Camphor \ then the outlook is worse.
Then Camphor will no more do any good. There are, however,
cases of Cholera, especially in the northern regions, where we can
see but little of this first stage of a tonic convulsive character,
and the disease almost from the first appears in its second stage,
of a clonic convulsive character: Frequent discharges of a watery
fluid with whitish, yellowish or sometimes with reddish flakes
mixed in, and attended with insatiable thirst and loud rumbling
in the stomach, great masses of a "similar watery fluid are vomited
up with increasing anxiety, groaning and yawning, icy coldness
of the whole body even of the tongue and a marble like blueness
of the arms, the hands and the face, with staring sunken eyes,
diminution of all the senses, slow pulse, very painful cramp of
the calves and of the limbs. In such cases the Camphor-spirits,
given every five minutes, must be continued only so long as there
results from it a manifest improvement (which in a remedy which
acts as quickly as does Camphor, will show already within a
* There were cases in which from lack of the use of Camphor in the first
stage a person- who may seem to have passed away and been removed as
dead, still might move a finger; in such a case a little spirits of Camphor
mixed with oil, put into the mouth is said to have recalled the person seem-
ingly dead back to life.
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THE CURE OF ASIATIC CHOLERA. 281
quarter of an hour). So if there is not very soon a striking im-
provement we must not hesitate a moment to at once proceed to
the remedy for the second stage, i. e. , two or three pellets of the
medicine of refined Copper, *
This is prepared from metallic Copper according to the directions
given in part 2 of my work on " Chronic Diseases ; " of this we
give the 4. potency, moistened with a little water, on a spoon
every hour or half hour, until the vomiting and diarrhoea cease,
and warmth and restfulness return. But during this time no
other medicine must be used, no herb-tea, nor baths, nor Spanish
flies, nor fumigation, no venesection, etc., else the remedy will be
of no effect. A like good effect will be obtained from white
hellebore jX Veratrum alb. 4. potency; but the preparation of
Copper is far preferable, and more effective, and sometimes one
dose will be sufficient for a cure; this medicine should be allowed
to act undisturbed so long as the patient continues to improve
under it"), f
All the patient's wants should be supplied with moderation.
If the aid ,has been delayed for several hours, or the patient has
first taken wrong medicines, the state passes over into a kind of
typhoid fever with delirium. Then Bryonia 2. or Rhus tox. 2.
will do most good.
The preparation of Copper will also be of use joined with good,
very moderate dietetic living and proper cleanliness for a sure
protection and prophylaxis. When Cholera has come tc the
place, or is very near it, a person should take a pellet of Cuprum
1. every day before breakfast for a week, without drinking any-
thing immediately after it. A healthy person's health will be in
no way affected thereby. I myself or any other Homoeopathic
physician will give information where the above medicine can be
* If the expensive and rare (and often adulterated) oil of Cajeput is really
so useful in cholera that out of 100 hardly one dies, it owes this virtue to its
resemblance to Camphor (it is merely to be valued as a fluid Camphor ; and
the other fact that it comes from the East Indies in copper bottles from
which it takes up particles of copper, wherefore in its unrefined state it has
a bluish-green color). In Hungary it is also asserted that whoever wears a
piece of copper sheeting on the bare skin, remains free from cholera.
t Similar diseases, but caused by immoderate eating of indigestible food
are best removed by several cups of strong coffee.
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282 THE CURE OF ASIATIC CHOLERA.
found, excepting the Camphor, which as already mentioned can
be found in every drug store.*
Camphor will not protect persons who are still in good health
from the attack of cholera, but only the preparation of Copper.
After taking the Copper the vapors of Camphor must be avoided,
as these antidote the Copper, f
Dr. Sam. Hahnemann, Aulic Councillor.
Ccethen, Sept. 10, 1831.
Extract From a Letter From Dr. Hahnemarfn to the Editor.
The enclosed directions will show you that the same pellets of
Cuprum, which have been used for the sake of prevention, also
best serve to cure Cholera in its second stage.
If in spite of the use of this preventive the patient should be
seized with Cholera (from his own fault, if, e. g., he should have
drunk too much liquor or should have been overpowered by men-
tal emotions, or if by inhaling the fumes of Camphor he should
have antidoted the dose of Copper) , he must at once when taken
sick, I mean in the first moments or minutes where always though
it be only for a short time, the first stage is present, be neverthe-
less treated with Camphor (as the chief antipathic remedy). Usu-
ally in this way we quickly reach the end intended; in a short
time the patient regains his warmth and cheerfulness and loses
his anxiety. Then we must at once cease with the use of the
Camphor, the patient must be loosely covered with a large blanket,
while windows and doors are opened to allow free egress to the
vapors of Camphor or we bring the patient to another room, free
from the smell of Camphor, because the antipathic Camphor, as
soon as it has done its services, to restore the vital forces to their
former level, when used or abused further begins to injure. If
the second stage could not be avoided, either because of the abuse
of Camphor, beyond the limits of a considerable improvement, or
*So long as the drug stores of Westphalia do not keep homoeopathic
medicines prepared according to the directions, they can only be procured
from Homoeopathic physicians (e. g., from Dr. Weihe in Herford, Dr.
Fuisting and Dr. Lutterbeck here in Munster, Gauwerky in Soest, Dr.
Kropp in Olsberg, Dr. Weber in Brilon) who will no doubt furnish them to
the public on repayment of the slight cost.
t Of course when the Copper medicine is used as a preventive, every other
vaunted prophylactic must be avoided; for the one would alter arid destroy
the virtues of the other.
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THE CURE OF ASIATIC CHOLERA. 283
because it was applied to its use too late*, and if diarrhoea and
vomiting set in in a threatening manner, the patient should at
once receive the same Copper Medicine, one or two pellets every
hour (or after they become effective every hour), given with a
few drops of water, until both of these symptoms are relieved;
no longer.
Everyone can use the Camphor with his family without any
danger, since through the vapors of the Camphor % so long as this
is continued, he is secured against the infection, without contract-
ing any other ailment from the Camphor,
I do not forbid the use of highly diluted and potentized Arsenic
in a minimal dose in appropriate cases, or also Veratrum in the
place of Cuprum, but Cuprum even from the few symptoms ob-
served in it (Archivf. d. Horn. Ill, i, Symptom 91 and 92) alone
causes the vomiting of watery and ill-smelling matter, and the
vomiting of stinking, watery matter is a leading indication of
Cholera, which I forgot to mention above. The symptom of
thickening of the blood is also only to be found in Cuprum
(Symptom 250).
If you should desire to again print my communication as to
Cholera you will please add what is given in the letter. In the
press of my engagements it was. impossible for me to have regard
to everything.
S. Hahnemann.
Coethen, Sept. 18, 183 1.
Pitch-plaster applied to the abdomen, if no other medicinal in-
gredients are added to it, can do no injury and may be used by the
side of the other. Whoever should have more confidence in other
preventives and would want to use several of them at the same
time, would only injure himself.
v. B.
Appendix.
The following may be a welcome addition for many, coming
as it does from a physician well acquainted, both with allopathy
and Homoeopathy, and owing his life and health to the latter.
He had an opportunity to see a very great number of Cholera
*On this account it is absolutely necessary that every one should treat the
members of his family who fall sick, himself, and for this purpose should
keep on hand always the Spirits of Camphor.
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284 THE CURE OF ASIATIC CHOLERA.
cases in Poland, and treated a number homoeopathically with the
most decided success, without having heard anything of the later
communication of Councilor Hahnemann. Since this experienced
physician generally came too late to the patients to extinguish the
disease yet in the first stage by the use of Camphor, but vomiting
and diarrhoea had generally set in, the reconvalescents after the
cure of the disease were generally in a condition which was as
yet far from healthy. The most common consequence was a sort
of typhoid fever, the best treatment of which is given in the pre-
ceding communication, and the prompt aid afforded by which has
been proved innumerable times, as it also proved itself in his
hands, as it was known to all Homoeopaths, having been made
known already in the year 1814 in the Allgemeine Anzeiger der
Deutschen, No. 6, by Aulic Councilor Hahnemann.
But often the after-effects are of another kind, perhaps less
dangerous, but still sufficiently serious to make help desirable
after the body has been so much afflicted, and here three forms
chiefly appeared:
1 . A general insensibility with vanishing of the consciousness and
repeated swooning. In such cases, as is well-known, Nux mosch.
in the minimal dose is the best remedy and its curative effect is
visible within an hour.
2. Severe vertigo with nausea and anxiety, here a minimal dose
of the tincture of tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacutn) taken internally
is quickly and with certainty a cure.
3 Morbid supersensitiveness of the organic activities, with great
excitement of mind, insomnia, supersensitiveness to pain and
noise and inability to bear the open air. In this condition Coffee
is of unexpectedly rapid action, some cups of it being taken pre-
pared in the usual manner, or still more effective, a small dose of
the highest potency of the tincture of the raw bean (Coffea).
Such prescriptions, corresponding to an unchangeable curative
principle and confirmed by experience, seem to deserve the pref-
erence to many others which have not yet been tested.
C
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DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE. 285
Brief Directions for Forming a Complete Image of a
Disease for the Sake of Homoeopathic Treatment.
"The invisible, morbid mutation in man's internal and the
change in condition perceptible to our senses in the external (the
complex of symptoms), form before the eyes of creative Omnipo-
tence what we call disease; but only the totality of the symptoms is
the side of the disease, which is turned to the disciple of healing; only
this is perceptible and is the main thing which he can know about
the disease, and what he needs to know for the purpose of cure "
— Sam. Hahnemann, Org anon of Healing. §<5, Fourth Ed.
11 The invisible morbid change within and the complex of the
symptoms perceptible from without and belonging to the disease are
as necessarily conditioned the one by the other and constitute the
disease in such a unity \ that the latter stand and fall with t e
former, that they must exist together and disappear together,
etc' '—Ibid. §iz.
"The physician who would investigate the hidden relations in
the internal of the organs, may daily make his mistakes; but the
Homoeopath, if he with proper care seizes upon the true image of
the complete group of symptoms % has a sure director ■, and if he suc-
ceeds in removing the entire group of symptoms, then he will have
surely removed the hidden cause of the disease.' 1 — Royal Councilor
jRau, " The Homoeopathic Method of Healing'' Heidelberg, 1824,
p. 103.
From the words quoted, which contain an important part of the
principles of Homoeopathic Practice, we not only see what the
physician must know about the patient, in order that he may be
able to make a sure selection among the known remedies, but also
why he must know it. One single symptom may it be ever so
complete and plainly pronounced can never be the complex of all
the signs of a disease, which are externally perceptible (*". e. t the
whole complex of symptoms), nor enable us to guess the rest.
Still less is this possible if our aid is asked against quite a general
name of a disease, which is not otherwise defined (e. g., headache,
eytache, toothache or bellyache), or against an ailment which in-
cludes quite a variety of diseases (as, e. g. , convulsions, fever,
gout, eruptions or against some troubles like lack of appetite
weakness, aptness to take cold, insomnia, etc.). which belong to
the common symptoms of disease, which are therefore seldom
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286 DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE.
characteristic. Homoeopathy can only promise a gentle, sure and
permanent cure where it is enabled to oppose to a disease that
remedy which corresponds with the greatest similitude to all its
perceptible symptoms, thus where the physician is completely in-
formed of everything with the patient, which is other than should
occur with a patient who is in complete health and is of his age and
sex. Of course there are cases where the physician is able after a
few questions and answers to determine with certainty the selec-
tion of the remedy. But in such a case these must refer to
the characteristic points of the remedy, which to the experienced
Homoeopath not infrequently are so plainly pronounced that he
cannot be in doubt. But only the physician who is familiar with
the pure virtues of the remedies and the peculiar sphere of action
of each one can judge of this, as in one case a symptom else
hardly considered may be characteristic, while in another case it
may not have any particular value, and will deserve less consider-
ation.
If, therefore, a patient wishes to report his illness to a physician
living at a distance, and enable him to select the suitable remedy,
he has to act in the following manner:
i. He should give a general image of the patient by stating
the age % the sex t the constitution, mode of living, occupation and
especially the disposition when the person was well. In many
cases it is also of importance to know other peculiarities, such as,
e.g., the complexion, the color of the hair, leanness or corpulence,
whether slender or thickset, etc. , and this should be added.
2. Then a brief mention should be made of former sicknesses
passed through, together with their course and cure, with a re-
mark as to any sequelae they may have left. Then it is very
desirable to know the kind of treatment used and the medicines
that were prescribed, and if this can be shown by enclosing the
prescriptions used this should be given briefly but plainly and
clearly.
3. Then the present disease should be described, first in its general
outlines, emphasizing the most prominent or the most troublesome
symptoms; then should be given exactly and circumstantially ac-
cording to the whole extent all the symptoms, describing in every
case just how the patient himself feels, or how those around him
observe the matter, abstaining from the use of technical terms and
learned names as far as possible, as these are general in their
nature, while Homoeopathy must individualize most strenuously.
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DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE. 287
4. Then let him give a complete register of all the morbid symp-
toms, i. e., an enumeration of all the sensations and phenomena
with the patient which are not seen in a healthy person. To
avoid all unnecessary prolixity and countless repetitions, every
symptom should be given clearly and completely. With respect to
clearness the usual conversational language in which the internal
sensations of the patient may be expressed is at all times the best,
and we need only take care that all indefinite and therefore inex-
pressive words, such as pain and ache, be omitted, and instead of
them the kind of pain be described in the best known and most
unequivocal expressions.
With respect to completeness in every case the exact location of
the pain in the body (e. g., on the head: the forehead, the
temples, the sides of the head, the vertex, the occiput ; then also
whether on the right or the left side, in the half or the whole of
the head) ; so also the time and circumstances should be enumer-
ated, which have an influence on the aggravation or amelioration
of the pains. As to the time the exact times of the day (whether
morning/ forenoon, afternoon, evening, night, before midnight,
after midnight) should be enumerated. So also the periodical
aggravation or amelioration as to hours, days, or seasons should
be exactly reported. Among the circumstances it should always
be stated what influence is exerted by rest or by motion, and by
particular modes of the same, {e.g., lying, sitting, standing,
walking, running, riding on horseback or in a vehicle, etc .), so
also the influence exerted by warmth or cold, the open air and
the room, by various enjoyments, by touch, by baring the body,
by overheating, by eating and drinking in general, by emotions,
by dry or wet weather, by thunderstorms by daylight or candle-
light, etc., as to the aggravation or amelioration of the symptoms.
In order that there may be a natural sequence in the symptoms
and that nothing may be omitted, the subjoined rubric of the
condition of the patient should be followed, and in every case it
should be noted what there is of morbid; in those cases, where
there is nothing morbid, we pass it over, but that which is especially
marked, should be underscored. Every new symptom begins a
new line. The reporter must consider that every special symptom
belongs always to one and the same disease, and that the Homoeo-
pathic physician must view and weigh every group of symptoms
even in epidemic diseases, as if it had never before existed in the
world, and now appeared for the first time.
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288 DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE.
The subjects to be considered and the order in which they are
to be given are the following:
I. Vertigo.
a. According to its nature (whirling around, falling forward,
> to the side, backward, in a circle, etc.).
b. According to the time of the day (morning, forenoon, after-
noon, evening, night, before midnight, after midnight).
c. According to position and circumstances.
i. Aggravated.
2. Improved (e. g.> on rising from bed or from a seat, on rais-
ing oneself up, while moving, while at rest, when stooping, on
awaking, before, during or after eating, while riding, during
the chill, during the heat, in the open air, in the room, while
walking, riding, ascending, while lying on the back, on the side,
while looking upward, during warmth, during cold, during or
after stool, after drinking alcoholic beverages, etc.).
d. Attendant troubles (e. g. , it becomes black before the eyes,
nausea and vomiting, yawning, flushes of heat, various pains in
the head or the body, bleeding in the nose, weariness and swoon-
ing, trembling, etc.).
II. Obscuration.
a. According to the sensations (e. g. t numbness, unconscious-
ness, stupidity and dizziness, dullness of the head, staggering,
drunkenness, chaos in the head, etc.).
b. According to the time of day.
c. According to the position and circumstances.
i. Aggravated.
2. Relieved.
III. Impairment of the Understanding.
a. According to its nature (e.g., exhausted by mental work,
nervousness, difficulty in comprehending, inability to think,
stupidity, delirium, fixed ideas, lack of thoughts, weakness of
thoughts, excited phantasy, fanciful illusions, delusions of the
senses, inability to remember, distraction, insanity, etc.).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. According to the position and circumstances ', aggravated or re-
lieved.
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IV. Loss of Memory.
a. As to its nature : diminution in the memory, weakness, loss,
forgetfulness.
V. Internal Headache.
a. According to the sensations (rush of blood, boring, burning,
pressure inwards or outwards, pulsation, heat, cold, sensation of
looseness, crawling, pressing together, pressing apart, tearing,
lancinating, with tension, numbness, digging, as if bruised,
drawing, twitching, etc. — every time stating with exactness
whether the pain occupies the whole head, or is in the forehead,
the temples, the sides, the vertex, the occiput, predominantly on
the right side or on the left).
b. With respect to the time of the day.
c. With respect to position and circumstances.
i. Aggravated.
2. Relieved.
d. Accompanying ailments.
VI. Outer head.
a. As to sensations {e. g. , dandruff on the scalp, eruptions of
various kinds, burning, painful sensitiveness of the skin, swell-
ing, falling out of the hair, painfulness of the hair, sensation of
pulling on the hairs, and on the scalp, heat, coldness, twitching,
knots and bumps, pain of various kinds in the bones, shudder-
ing, perspiration, tension, lancination, drawing, twitching, con-
traction, etc.). 9
b. With respect to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances ', worse or better.
VII. Ailments of the Eyes.
a. As to the sensations.
i. On the pupil and on the eye in general.
2. In the eyebrows.
3. In the cavity of the eyes.
4. On the eyelids.
5. In the corners of the eyes (everywhere not only with ex-
actness the kind of sensation, as in the preceding, but also ex-
actly the locality, e.g., on the upper and lower eyelids, in the
inner or outer corner of the eye, etc.).
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290 DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE.
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to the position and circumstances.
i. Improved.
2. Aggravated.
VIII. Sight, Vision.
a. As to the sensations (dazzling of the eyes, blindness, flicker-
ing before the eyes, delusion of the sight as to colors, or as to
objects which are not at all present, spots, sparks, mist, fog, etc.,
shortsightedness, farsightedness, photophobia, weakness of the
eyes, amaurosis, or cataract, dimness of vision, blackness before
the eyes, etc.).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to the position and circumstances.
i. Aggravated.
2. Improved.
IX. Ears and Hearing.
a. As to sensations.
i. In the ears, various issues from the ear, boring, burning,
pressure in and on the ears, changes and sensations in the glands
of the ears, heat, cold, itching, pinching, crawling, tearing, lan-
cinating, tension, drawing, clawing, consistence of the ear-wax,
etc.
2. In the hearing (e. g., sensitiveness to noise, delusions of
the hearing, buzzing, ringing, tingling, hissing, singing, deton-
ations, etc. — diminution in the hearing, hardness of hearing, deaf-
ness, etc.).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances.
X. Nose and Smeujng.
a. As to sensations.
i. On the nose (<?. g., bleeding of the nose, bleeding when
blowing the nose, eruption in or on the nose, various issues from
the nose, ulceration, burning, swelling, redness, itching of the
nose, crawling sensation, tension, warts or other excrescences,
etc.).
2. With respect to smelling (e g., dulness or total lack of the
sense of smelling, sensitiveness of the smell, various delusions as
to smelling, etc.).
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b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances.
XI. Face.
a. As to color and external appearance (e. g. , paleness, redness,
various spots, freckles, blue rings around the eyes, yellowness of
the face, etc.).
b. As to the sensations.
i. In the face in general (e. g. t eruptions of various kinds,
swelling, burning, heat, coldness, perspiration, itching, tearing,
lancination, drawing, etc.).
2. On the lips (e. g. t peeling off, cracking open, bleeding,
eruptions, ulcers, burning, itching, spots, swellings, knots, ten-
sion, lancination, tearing, etc.).
3. On the lower jaw {e.g., convulsive pain, lockjaw, crackling
or getting out of joint, various sensations in the glands of the
lower jaw, swelling of the bones, tearing, lancination, etc.)
4. On the chin (e. g., tearing, lancinations, eruptions of various
kinds, itching, burning, etc.).
c. As to the time of the day.
d. As to position and circumstances ', worse or better.
XI I. Teeth and Gums.
a. As to sensations.
1. On the teeth (e. g. 9 boring, burning, pressure, painful sensi-
tiveness, breaking off and becoming rotten, becoming hollow,
yellow or black; itching, cold, heat, pulsation, becoming too long,
looseness, gnawing and fretting, crawling, tearing, lancinations,
twitches and blows, dullness of the teeth, soreness, .drawing,
jerking, etc. — stating in every case what teeth are implicated).
2. On the gums (e. g. , bleeding, swelling, ulceration, redness,
paleness, itching, drawing, tearing, etc.).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances.
1. Aggravated.
2. Improved.
d. As to the ailments connected therewith, and into what parts,
if any, the pain extends.
XIII. Mouth.
a. As to the sensations.*
* After what has been given so far, further specifications will be unneces-
sary.
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292 DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE.
i. In the buccal cavity.
2. On the hard or the soft palate.
3. In the fauces.
4. With regard to the saliva.
5. On the tongue.
6. With regard to language.
b. According to the time of the day.
c. According to position and circumstances, worse or better.
XIV. Appetite.
a. As to sensations (e. g., aversion to certain kinds of food or
drinks, or special fondness therefor, voracity, quick satiety,
some kinds of food or of beverages disagree, troubles appearing
after eating, etc.).
b. As to the times of the day.
XV. Thirst.
a. As to sensations and circumstances (e. g. , during chill, heat
or perspiration, thirstlessness, etc.).
b. As to the times of the day.
XVI. Taste.
a. As to the sensations (various tastes in the mouth, as well
during eating as also at other times, and strange taste of some
things).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. According to circumstances > aggravated or relieved.
XVII. Beaching Up.
a. As to sensations (among these things, belching up of food, of
water, etc. — with, or without, any special taste, gathering of
water in the mouth, heart burn, rising up in the throat, etc).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances.
XVIII. Hiccough. *
a. As to sensations.
b. As. to the times of the day.
c. As to the position and circumstances ; worse or better.
XIX. Nausea.
a. As to sensations (vomituria, retching, vomiting of various
taste, flabbiness, nausea with a statement as to the part where
this is particularly situated, etc.).
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DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE. 293
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances,
i. Aggravated.
2. Relieved.
XX. Stomach and Cardiac Region.
a. According to the sensations.
i . In the stomach.
2. In the pit of the stomach (also here in every case should be
accurately stated the sensations, with an avoidance of all indefinite
expressions).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances, worse or better.
XXI. Abdomen.
a. As to the sensations.
i. In the epigastrium.
2. In the umbilical region.
3. In the side of the abdomen and the hypochondria.
4. In the region of the hips and loins
5. In the hypogastrium.
6. In the whole of the abdomen.
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances ', worse or better.
XXII. The Outer Abdomen (the abdominal walls),
a. As to the sensations.
XXIII. Lap and Abdominal Ring.
a. As to the sensations (among these are also ruptures).
XXIV. Flatulence.
a. As to the sensations, flatulence, its accumulation, incarcera-
tion and discharge, with various smells, noise in the stomach,
colic. n
b. As to the times of the day. *
c. As to position and circumstances, worse or better.
XXV. Stool.
a. As to quality (diarrhoea, constipation, hard, soft, bloody,
knotty, sharp, of especial color or smell, mucous, watery, etc.).
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294 DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE.
b. As to the accompanying troubles.
i. Before the stool.
2. During the stool.
3. After the stool.
XXVI. Anus and Rectum.
a. As to the sensations (nature of the piles and the sensations in
them, as in general on the inner and outer parts of the anus).
XXVII. Perineum.
a. As to the sensations.
XXVIII. Urine.
a. As to its quality.
b. As to the sediment.
c. As to the discharge (difference in the tenesmus and the mictu-
rition).
d. As to the accompanying ailments,
1. Before the micturition.
2. In the beginning of micturition.
3. During micturition.
4. When concluding micturition.
5. After micturition.
XXIX. Urinary Organs.
a. In the bladder.
b. In the urethra.
XXX. Sexual Organs.
a. As to the sensations.
1 . On the sexual organs in general.
2. On the glans.
3. On the prepuce.
4. On the penis.
5. On the testicles.
6. On the scrotum.
7. On the spermatic cords.
8. On the female sexual organs.
XXXI. Sexual Instinct.
a. As to the sensations (excitation of the sexual instinct, lack of
it, impotence and weakness of the potency, seminal emissions,
emission of the prostatic fluid, abuse, etc.).
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DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE. 295
b. As to the concomitant troubles.
i. During and after coition.
2. After pollutions.
XXXII. Menstruation. .
a. As to its quality (returning too early, too late, too weak, too
copious, too brief, too long lasting, blood is discharged outside of
the period, suppressed menses, quality of the blood discharged,
leucorrhceas of various kinds, etc.).
b. As to the accompanying troubles.
i. Before the menses.
2. When the menses appear.
3. During the menses.
4. When the menses are concluded.
c. Troubles connected with the leucorrhceas.
XXXIII. Catarrh.
a. As to the sensations (running coryza, stuffed coryza, quality
of the mucus, sneezing, dryness of the nose, nose stuffed up with-
out a cold, etc.).
b. As to the times of the day, worse or better.
c. As. to the accompanying troubles.
XXXIV. Respiration.
a. As to the sensations (nature of the respiration as to the smell
or sound during respiration, retention of the breath, shortness of
breath, with deep respiration, dyspnoea, angina, etc.).
b. As to the prevention of the respiration.
c. As to the time of the day.
d. As to position and circumstances, better or worse.
XXXV. Cough.
a. As to quality (with or without expectoration, husky, deep,
hollow, convulsive, a small dry cough, hooping cough, tickling
cough, etc.).
b. As to the expectoration (with respect to consistence, color,
taste, smell and abundance).
c. As to the time of the day.
d. As to the excitation (as well with respect to the part where
the irritation is located as the external circumstances which call
forth the cough).
e. As to the accompanying troubles.
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XXXVI. Larynx and Trachea.
a. As to the sensations.
b. As to the time of the day.
XXXVII. Outer Throat and Neck.
a. As to the sensation in it, with an accurate description of the
parts affected (the skin, glands, muscles, bones, etc.).
XXXVIII. Chest.
a. As to the sensations.
i. On the inner chest.
2. In the outer chest.
3. In the axillary glands.
4. In the glands and nipples of the breast.
5. In the heart and the cardiac region.
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances, worse or better.
XXXIX. Back.
a. As to the sensations.
1. On the shoulder-blades.
2. In the back proper.
3. In the small of the back and the coccyx.
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances, worse or better.
XL. Upper Limbs (arms).
a. As to the sensations (in this case we must not only distinguish
the exact spot, the shoulder, upper arm, lower arm, hand, finger,
the joints of the shoulder, the elbow, the wrist, and the joints of
the fingers, but also distinguish whether the sensation is more in
the skin, the muscles or in the bones).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances, worse or better.
XLI. Lower Limbs.
a. As to the sensations (here should be observed what was said
above as to the upper arm).
b. As to the time of the day.
c. As to position and circumstances \ worse or better.
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XLII. General Ailments.
a. As to the sensations, here may be enumerated what would
not find a suitable place elsewhere, so, also, a general description
of the kind of pains or other morbid phenomena (<?. g., emaciation,
bodily exhaustion, varices, trembling and quivering, attacks of
epilepsy, or other illness, lack of sensibility, or supersensitiveness,
convulsions, paralysis, swoons, restlessness in the body, tendency
to colds, twitches, etc.)i state this with the necessary clearness,
definiteness and completeness.
b. As to the time of the day, keeping in view more the general
state of health.
c. As to position and circumstances \ worse or better; under which
heading would fittingly be given a recapitulation of all that be-
longs here, having an influence on the whole as well as on the
parts.
XLIII. Diseases of the Bones.
a. As to the sensations, in so far as they have not before been
enumerated, in which case it is sufficient to refer to that.
XLIV. Glandular Diseases.
a. As to sensations, with remarks as given in the preceding
rubric.
XLV. Cutaneous Diseases.
a. As to the sensations, especially in those cases where the ail-
ment extends over several parts, with an exact description of the
kind of cutaneous disease, the eruptions, itching, burning, ulcers,
tumors, blisters, spots, herpes, erysipelas, excrescences etc., and
their progression according to the time and external circumstances.
It is of especial importance to know in ulcers, herpes and itching
what change occurs after touching, scratching or rubbing of the
same and also the nature of the pus in the ulcers.
XLVI. Disturbed Sleep.
a. As to sensations, time, position and circumstances (stretching
and yawning, late in falling asleep, waking up at night, insomnia
with its well known causes, sleepiness at various times during
the day, morbid sleep, troubles during sleep, somnolence, etc.).
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298 DIRECTIONS FOR FORMING A COMPLETE IMAGE.
b. As to the quality of the dreams with respect to their number,
time and subject.
XLVII. States of Fever.
a. Circulation of the blood, as to its nature, time, and the cir-
cumstances influencing the same.
b. Chill, as to its quality, time of day, circumstances and ac-
companying troubles.
c. Heat) in the same way.
d. Shuddering^ in the same way.
e. Sweat y in the same way, but especially with respect to the
quality of the sweat, as to its color, consistence and smell.
f . Composite fevers, as to their whole characteristic, not only as
to the sequence of chill, heat and sweat, but also as to the time
of the dav, duration, accompanying troubles, and such as precede
and follow the attack.
XLVIII. Mental Disposition.
a. As to its peculiarity (cheerfulness, changeableness, imagin-
ary state of disease, impatience and hastiness, indifference and in-
sensibility, suspicion and misanthropy, lack of determination,
irresolution, anxiety and desperation, timidity and fearfulness,
dejection and melancholy, sadness and weeping mood, vexation
and obstinacy, excitement and irritability, quarrelsomeness, and
passionateness, insanity, fury, etc.); for a sure selection of the
right remedy, the most plain and definite information is necessary
and it should always be particularly mentioned what was the
patient's disposition when well, and how changed through his
disease.
b. As to the time of day,
c. As to position and circumstances, worse or better.
The more complete and faithful the image of the disease is
composed in this way, the more safely can the selection of the
most suitable medicine for the present group of symptoms be
made, and the more surely we may expect help for the same.
Only in cases where diseases have been treated with large quanti-
ties of allopathic or domestic remedies, there will generally be
added to the disease the effects of the medicines, disturbing the
image, and in such a case it is absolutely necessary, as stated
above, to also inform the homoeopathic physician by communi-
cating to him the prescriptions or telling him about them.
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INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ASIATIC CHOLERA. 299
In conclusion, I would remark that every time after the com-
pletion of the full action of a medicine a new image of the disease
should be taken. It happens at times, though not often, that the
symptoms throughout remain unchanged. In such a case at the
first presentation one thing or another has been overlooked, and
the image had not been presented quite correctly, and the rem-
edy which accordingly was incorrectly selected remained without
effect. In such a case it will therefore be necessary to go over
the whole image of the disease, one point after the other, and to
supplement the presentation by the necessary corrections or ex-
planations.
Most frequently it will be found that in chronic cases which
are inveterate, the chief ailing has only been diminished, but
still continues, nevertheless when the medicine has completed its
action, the concomitant symptoms have suffered such a change
that the former remedy will not appear at all applicable any
more. In such a case the homoeopathic physician can only make
a sure selection after having been informed of these changes by a
new complete image of the disease. For it is not only taught by
experience, but it lies in the nature of all chronic diseases which
have in consequence been interwoven with the whole organism,
that rarely or never one remedy will cover the whole complex of
symptoms; so that it will be necessary in order to destroy the
whole malady fundamentally to let several medicines, selected
after each report, operate, until nothing morbid may be left.
Brief Instructions for Non-Physicians Concerning the
Prophylaxis and Treatment. of Asiatic Cholera.
Printed according to a resolution of the Meeting of Homoeopathic Physi-
cians of Rheinlaad and Westphalia of August 10, 1849.
• ' Principiis obsta . ' '
Printed by Coppenrath, Miinster, 1849.
PORE- WORD.
The following pages were originally merely written to be read
before the coming meeting of the homoeopathic physicians of
Rhineland and Westphalia (August 10 of this year) as a basis
for a consultation concerning this subject, the matter having
already been introduced in the previous annual meeting! Already
then it was very prqbable that this universal epidemy would
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300 INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING ASIATIC CHOLERA.
spread farther and perhaps also visit us that this very fact would
give us the opportunity of gathering, examining and comparing
the present experience and curative success of the old as well as
the new school, and so enable us to communicate what had been
proved best by both of them for those needing advice and aid
within the circle of our operations.
Although several physicians, who had already agreed to come,
had been detained by their inability to get away or to get substi-
tutes (a foreign member even, owing to the refusal of the author-
ities to grant him a passport, because they thought that they
ought not to withdraw the blessing of homoeopathic treatment
from his community, which was severely visited by the cholera),
the assembly not only numbered among those present a sufficient
number of men of great experience, but also two members, of
whom one was a physician from Russia, who had been travelling
for two years in the most enlightened countries of Europe, and
who had observed with his own eyes in the North and East both
the allopathic and the homoeopathic treatment of cholera and
their success, while the other, a highly cultivated French physi-
cian from Nantes, had made similar observations in the South
and West. There ought not, therefore, to be any doubt as to
whether this assembly was fully competent to pronounce a valid
judgment as to what is the most excellent and successful treat-
ment of this epideray, and that there is therefore sufficient reason
to give to their declaration more weight than usual. According
to the extract from their proceedings, given below from their
meeting of the ioth of this mouth, this sketch in all its parts was
unanimously agreed to, and it was not deemed necessary to make
any changes or additions; the author, therefore, sees no reason
for hesitating to fulfill the wishes of the meeting: to print at once
and without any change the treatise in question, in order that the
regions already infested may get aid as soon as possible, and also
to offer to those endangered comfort and assurance, and we pray
that a kind Providence may graciously give its all-powerful aid to
this endeavor !
C. V. BCENNINGHAUSEN.
Munster, August ij , 1849.
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FOR THE PREVENTION OF CHOLERA. 301
Extract from the Journal of Proceedings of the Meeting of
the Homoeopathic Physicians of Rheinland and West-
phalian Deutz, August 10, 1849.
No. 3. Reading of a brief address for the non-medical public,
concerning the Prophylaxis and Treatment of Asiatic Cholera, by
its president-, Royal Counselor Dr. C. v. Boenninghausen. This
met with the undivided applause of the meeting, and it was
unanimously held to be very useful, especially in the present
time of a cholera-epidemy, to spread the address by printing it,
and the desire was expressed that the Royal Government iu
Rheinland and Westphalia should be informed of this in the name
of this Society by sending it copies of this Treatise.
Attested by
Dr. Kirsch, of Wiesbaden,
Secretary of the Meeting.
I. For the Prevention of Cholera.
In the beginning of the thirties in this century, as well as in
the epidemy of cholera now raging, it has been shown indubitably
that nothing favors the spread of this disease more than the fear
of it. Even the seeming malignancy of this epidemy in the first
period of its appearance (during which, with the usual allopathic
treatment, generally far more than half of the persons seized with
it die, as also the fact that one case of it in a house is usually fol-
lowed by several others, although the pro erly contagious nature
of this disease may for many excellent reasons be doubted) may
almost be solely explained by the anxiety and terror caused by
its appearance.
I. The first duty, therefore, must be, also, as far as this may be
effected by sanitary and police regulations, to remove everything
which might cause fear and anxiety. Among such measures we
would enumerate quarantines, warning- tablets and unusual forms
of funerals, as also all measures and proceedings which would
present this disease in the eyes of the public as particularly dan-
gerous and deadly. Even the establishment of cholera hospitals
has proved itself deleterious, as cholera patients usually show a
decided opposition for them, and the transportation to these places
usually advances the disease by a whole stage, so that for this
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302 FOR THE PREVENTION OF CHOLERA.
very reason the sphere of action of the resident physician in a
cholera hospital becomes a very sad one. At the approach or at
the breaking out of an epidemy of cholera, we would, therefore,
urgently advise carefully to avoid everything which might tend
to cause despondency > fear, terror and anxiety.*
II. A second adjuvant of cholera is recognized generally to con-
sist in the erroneous diet and mode of living. Among these feat-
ures are not only to be enumerated all excesses in eating and
drinking, and, indeed, excesses of every kind, but also especially
the use of certain articles of diet, of which we should especially
avoid the following: Cold meats and drink, all sour and unripe
fruit, cucumbers and melons, young or foaming wines, fresh, un-
fermented cider, fresh or imperfectly fermented beer, especially
foaming beer, and water containing carbonic acid, such as Seltzer-
water, Heppinger- water and water from like mineral springs;
then coffee, tea, brandy, very fatty food, all sorts of spices, and,
finally, all medicines in a more extended sense of the word, what-
ever name may be given to them, such as infusions or tea made
from elder-flowers, Chamomile, Baldrian,etc. , which are also recom-
mended as drops, bitters and elixirs against cholera. The health-
iest and best diet is the simple food prescribed by Homoeopathy,
free from all substances containing medicinal powers and which
thereby exert an influence, though often unnoticed, on the human
health. For drinking, well fermented beer may be used, and,
whoever can afford it, a few glasses of red wine quite free from
acids, properly aged and not too young.
III. Many physicians are furthermore of the opinion that a
high degree of continuous heat, with the consequent severe cool-
ing of the air, and the colds thus caused, are a frequent cause of
the outbreak of cholera; and it is really a fact that in many
places the majority of men have been seized in the evening or at
night after a hot day. In any case it will be advisable to arrange
* What then should we say of the fact that the newspapers of a city,
which considers itself as the seat of intelligence and science, display de-
scriptions of the cruel malignancy of the present epidemy of cholera which
defies all the efforts of the healing art; that physicians, instead of opposing
this by word an I deed, are silent and in familiar conversation either speak
of the unconquerable malignancy and incurability of the disease, or seek to
excuse and cover up their lack of success by alleging a pretended poisonous
quality of the well- water (of which the mobs in the previous cholera epi-
demy had already spoken) and by such means increase and spread the fear
caused by the disease ? The sad results of such cruel errors will, we fear,
soon show themselves.
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FOR THE PREVENTION OF CHOLERA. 303
the clothing accordingly, so as not to expose oneself to such
colds, and not to neglect the proper precautions when exposed to
the cool evening air and especially while bathing.
IV. Finally, it is well to notice that, during the prevalence of a
cholera epidemy, most men generally feel a certain uncomfortable
feeling in the abdomen and many are then seized by a diarrhoea,
mostly painless, but accompanied with much rumbling noise in
the abdomen, which, when neglected, or erroneously treated,
often develops into real cholera, and then generally into an ad-
vanced stage of the same, where a cure is already more difficult
and uncertain. This peculiar diarrhoea, which has been called
Cholerine, and which at other times would be of but little mo-
ment, is not so during the prevalence of cholera, and at once
calls for medical aid if we would not expose ourselves to great
danger, and the specific remedy, known to every homoeopathic
physician, and which is in his hands, cannot on account of the
possible abuse be entrusted into everybody's hands.
Whoever will note and observe the above mentioned four
points may calmly view the approach of an epidemy of cholera,
and will not in all probability be touched by it. At the same
time we homoeopaths are convinced that we possess prophylactics
which have the power of preventing the outbreak of cholera. Of
course, these are and can be only such remedies as are able to
cure the disease after it has broken out, which indeed is the first
and most necessary requisite of all prophylactics, and without
which they would not deserve the least confidence.* Although
the circumstance that thousands of men have through the use of
these homoeopathic prophylactics escaped cholera, as has been
actually proved, does not incontestably prove that these afford an
absolute protection, since it might have been that these very per-
sons might have been the ones who would in any case not have
been touched by the disease, nevertheless these facts speak at
least very much for the probability of such a salutary action, and
it will be that much easier for homoeopaths to preserve the neces-
sary calm and fortitude. From this we would draw the fact that
there are preponderant reasons for recommending these prophy-
* Since it has been proved repeatedly, and only lately again by Dr.
Varlez, in Brussels (in his Coup d y oeil sur le Cholera morbus Asiatique)
from extensive averages that allopaths have on the average lost forty-nine
out of a hundred patients, while homoeopaths have only lost 7.5 out of a
hundred, the latter may well claim to possess remedies against this disease.
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304 THE TREATMENT OF CHOLERA.
lactics to all those at least who find in them a comfort which they
would not find in any other way.
II. The Treatment of Cholera.
There is a form of cholera which is wont to appear frequently,
especially at the outbreak of an epidemy, in preponderant num-
bers,* and the course of which is so rapid that it is absolutely
necessary to have immediate help. This circumstance makes it
necessary to instruct the non-medical public how it is to proceed
in cases of this kind, so as not to allow the time in which assist-
ance can be rendered to pass by. and by omission to cause a mis-
fortune which at first might easily have been prevented.
This form of cholera shows itself by the following symptoms,
which are found in great part in every case of this kind : The
disease appears as a rule very suddenly, without any premonitions,
with a tonic convulsive character. Every minute the strength
of the patient sinks lower, so that in a very brief time he is un-
able to stand or even to sit up, and he falls helpless to the ground.
The expression of the face is perturbed, the eyes sunken and
directed upwards, the face is bluish, cold, at times covered with
a clammy perspiration, the jaws are frequently convulsively
closed. The whole body as well as the extremities are cold, and
the skin is bluish. Vertigo even to falling over. Great anguish
and despondency are visible in all the gestures and in the facial
expression. Respiration is troublesome and cold, often quite in-
terrupted as in suffocation from sulphur vapors The patient is
as if numb, and without sensation, moans and cries in a hollow
and peculiarly hoarse voice, but without complaining about any-
thing. On being questioned, he will usually mention a burning
or pressive feeling in the stomach and fauces and often will cry
out when the pit of the stomach is touched This is usually com-
bined with retention of urine with ineffectual urging in the blad-
der, a convulsive pain in the muscles, especially in the calves;
and a weak, almost vanishing pulse. The patient has usually
neither nausea nor thirst, and has then usually neither vomiting
* Reports that have been lately received from various regions have ren-
dered it indubitable that by far the most of the cases of cholera which
quickly have a fatal issue belong to the form more particularly described
below, and that their number was proportionately still greater than in the
first epidemy eighteen years ago.
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THE TREATMENT OF CHOLERA. 305
nor diarrhoea, though there is already frequently a constant inef-
fectual urging to stool.
In this first stage, a safe and quick cure is yet possible, but it
requires at the same time a most rapid aid if the patient should
not succumb in this stage or the disease pass over into another
stage, where the cure is immeasurably more difficult and uncer-
tain. When in such a case often at night, we should first have
to send for a doctor, and then get the prescribed medicine from
the apothecary, the most favorable time for a cure has already
elapsed. Therefore it is absolutely necessary not only to have
the remedy in the house, but also so near at hand that it may be
found at any hour by day or by night. The only remedy in this
case costs but little — it is the Spirits of Camphor (Spiritus vini
camphoratus), consisting of one part Camphor and twelve parts
of Alcohol, and is found ready prepared in every drug store.
Of this Spirits of Camphor the patient receives one or two drops
on a lump of sugar or in a spoonful of clear, cold water, and this
dose is repeated every three, four or at most five minutes, until
the ailment is abated, when it is given in ever increasing inter-
vals, and when the patient falls asleep, we cease. If the mouth
should be closed up by a cramp of the jaws (lock-jaw), and the
patient be on that account unable to take any medicine, the drop
of Camphor is infused between the teeth and lips, or the Spirits
of Camphor is rubbed in into the breast and the limbs, or a clys-
ter of half a pound of water containing about two teaspoonfuls of
Spirits of Camphor is given, or again some Camphor may be
evaporated on a hot tin, in order that this remedy may do its
work even without being internally administered. The sooner
this can be done after the symptoms of disease have appeared the
more surely and quickly the patient will recover, sometimes even
in a few hours. He will gradually regain warmth, strength,
consciousness, rest and sleep and be saved.* Even in the most
* There have been cases where, owing to the lack of Camphor, a man had
died in the first stage, and had been taken away as dead, but could still
move a finger; some Spirits of Camphor, mixed with oil, being put into the
mouth of the person apparently dead, he was brought back to life and saved
(see Hahnemann's publication concerning Asiatic Cholera, Sept. 10, 1831).
One among a number of men so saved is a man still living, Field- Marshal
L Clam Gallas, at present commanding in Siebenbuergen, who, having ap-
parently died in the year 1831, and lying without any sign of life, was
brought back into life by the late Count Lazansky merely by Spirits of
Camphor.
20 : ; *'- ° —
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306 THE TREATMENT OF CHOLERA.
unfavorable case, by this treatment not only is the disease checked
in its progress, but at the same time we have gained time to call
in additional medical help, while the intervening time may be
used for airing the room and removing the vapors of Camphor \
which now are not only of no more use, but are also in the way
of the action of the other remedies.
It is only the use of this remedy, which can and must be en-
trusted to the hands of a non-physician. This may be done, be-
cause the application described above can never prove injurious;
and it must be done, because only by rapid action can any aid be
given. For all the other cases and forms of cholera it is not ad-
visable to make known the other medicines that may prove use-
ful, as in them there is time enough to consult medical aid; espe-
cially as also in other cases of cholera the Camphor may be used
in the manner indicated, since manifold experience has shown
that a previous use of Camphor has proved itself of great advan-
tage even for the action of the subsequent medicines.
In his treatise of September 18, 1831, Hahnemann says:
' ' Every one can use Camphor with his own people when they fall
sick, because he himself will be protected by the vapors of
Camphor \ and so long as he continues to use it he will remain
unharmed." " But in order to make sure that the infection and
spread of cholera will be impossible" — so he writes on June 18 of
the same year — 'the clothing, wash, bedding, etc., should be ex-
posed to oven-heat of about 8o° Reatnur (212 Fahrenheit), a
heat which causes water to boil, as such a heat most surely de-
stroys infectious matter as also the known miasms.' '
To satisfy the call of tl suum cuique," I shall yet answer the
claim of the opponents. of Homoeopathy that Camphor, given in
the manner prescribed, ceases to be a homoeopathic remedy, be-
cause the dose would be too large and too quickly repeated-
Even leaving out the f ict that the claim of having discovered this
specific remedy for the first stage of Asiatic cholera must be de-
servedly claimed for Homoepathy, we must also consider that the
fundamental law of this therapy, Similia similibus, does not say
anything about the size of the dose, and this must be specially
determined according to experience for every medicine and every
disease." In this connection it is well to note, as the author of
Homoeopathy states under date of July 11, 1831, "that Camphor
is so peculiar a drug that one might easily be tempted to regard
it as an exception from all the rest; for though it makes a mighty
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DURING CONVALESCENCE. 307
impression on the human body, this is only superficial, and is at
the same time so transitory, as we see it in no other case, so that in
its Homoeopathic use the dose must be repeated almost immedi-
ately, if the treatment should have any lasting restllt. ,, *
III. During Convalescence.
When the disease has been broken, through the timely use of
Camphor according to prescription, the recovery and convalescence
usually proceeds without the further help of any medicine and,
where the diet is suitable, it advances quickly and easily, espe-
cially when a refreshing sleep has been secured. But at times
sequelae of a peculiar nature will appear, generally less danger-
ous, but yet troublesome enough, to make aid desirable, espe-
cially when the body has been violently affected by the power of
the disease; of these there are especially three forms:
I. General callousness with vanishing of consciousness and re-
peated swoonings; this is relieved, and within an hour, by a lit-
tle nutmeg which is strewed on the tongue of the patient, or he
is made to smell of it repeatedly.
II. Morbid snpersensitiveness of the organic activity, with
great excitement of the mind, insomnia, supersensitive as to pain
and noise; he is unable to bear the open air; this is relieved un-
expectedly soon by a few cups of coffee.
III. Severe vertigo with nausea and anxiety; this is relieved
by smoking a cigar or chewing some tobacco.
In all other sequelae, as also in the above mentioned, if they do
not quickly yield to the remedies indicated, the speedy employ-
ment of medical aid should not be neglected. Most necessary is
this in typhoid fever, which however appears very rarely when a
case has been treated Homceopathically ; for this is very malig-
nant after great exhaustion and considerable loss of fluids.
There is no doubt that in convalescence homoeopathic diet is
the best, and therefore strictly to be observed. But it is not
necessary in any case to extend abstinence beyond a moderate
measure; on the contrary, this is often injurious and only delays
*"This is also evident," Hahnemann continues in the same pamphlet,
"from the homoeopathic use of Camphor \n influenza (now called grippe) %
for which it is the homoeopathic remedy. In this the patient has to smell
almost momentarily at the solution of Camphor -, if he wishes to be cured
soon and completely, which is then effected completely in 24 hours.* '
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308 bcenninghausen's last work.
full recovery. We may begin with a few spoonfuls of broth with-
out fat, to which, if it is borne without injury, some bread may
be added. Gradually we may pass to the meat itself, to soft-
boiled eggs and some vegetables, well boiled, if the patient should
desire it For a drink the patient should have at first only water
reddened with a little wine, later more, as much as he desires,
and finally some pure, well aged, red wine, free from acids. Of
course, all excess must be avoided; but he should not be allowed
to suffer from hunger, as Homoeopathy banishes everything like
hunger-cure from its dieting, because homoeopaths are convinced
that medicine is only mediately effective in curing, but the re-
active vital force is the immediate agent in curing diseases and
must not be weakened in any manner, or hindered in its energy.
Bcenninghausen's Last Work. -
Translated from the Allgem. horn. Zeit., Vol. 68, page 57.
With deep sadness we publish the following article of our now
departed Nestor of Homoeopathy. It is his last work, written
with the shadows of death already consciously hanging over him.
The spirit of conciliation and of true cultivation, which animates
all his labors, is also here most pronounced. One of the most
faithful pupils of Hahnemann, he yet was not in the belief that
his work was already completed. He also desired progress and
worked for it; but he sought for it not outside but inside our
special science, not in the bitter and satirical assaults on others,
as he himself had often enough to endure at their hands, but in
the mildest and most dignified instruction. He himself was con-
scious of having with the most honorable motives and without
any selfish thought devoted the greater part of his life to the
study and the development of our Homoeopathy. A new, but we
are sorry to say, the last proof of this we have in the present
treatise, which we could not help accompanying with the few in-
troductory words, as these were also the last communications
from our venerable colleague, and show the youthful vigor and
unabated love of work animating the sage in his eightieth year.
On this account we not only give the part relating to the article
in question, but as it contains many interesting particulars, we
give it in its entirety, as follows:
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bcenninghausen's last work. 309
4 * Honored Friend and Colleague!
lt By giving the preference in the order of printing to my little
article on the ' Physicians* Record,' and giving it a more promi-
nent place in your valued Allgemeine hombopathische Zeitung y
than the one naturally belonging to it .as an * appendix,' you
have proved to me that you are in sympathy with the warning
contained in it. I need not tell you, the zealous advancer and
cultivator of our young and most promising science, how much
your recognition of my endeavors in the same direction have re-
joiced me. The more our pseudo-teachers increase, and the
louder they raise their voices, to allow their wisdom to shine
forth in a matter of mere experience, in which they themselves
have not had a mature experience the more urgently is it, as I
think, the duty of us old adherents who have, as it were, grown
up with the science, not to let our hands hang down inactive, but
unabashed to raise our warning, advising and ipstructive voices.
"I have the full consciousness of this duty, because I am
nearly the only one still remaining of the oldest pupils of our de-
parted Master and because my days are numbered For with the
beginning of next March I shall be entering my 8oth year, and
you know that Pythagoras does not count people of that age
among the living, even if they are not as yet dead. The brief
time, therefore, which is still before me I must use as well as I
may. I have, on that account, used the present long evenings
for a new article for your journal, and herewith forward it to you.
Under the heading of ' Old and New Matters, ' I endeavor to pre-
sent from the sources at our disposal a part of the progress made
in our science since its origin, and which most of the younger
homoeopaths are endeavoring to undo. Perhaps this may be the
very time to again point to these undeniable facts, and to call the
attention of our younger colleagues (and also perhaps of some of
the older ones) to a chapter of the history of Homoeopathy which
is not unessential. May these lines also find some impartial
listeners!
"The print of my 'Therapy of Fevers,' the manuscript of
which has been in the hands of my publisher, Gustav J. Purfiirst,
is making a progress which is desperately slow, as I have just
lately received the tenth sheet. [We are sorry to say that he did
not live to see the completion of this work.] And yet this work
may be welcome to many a one, because it is not only written
from the principles of pure Homoeopathy, but also supplies more
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310 bcenninghausen's last work.
facts from experience than will easily be found in any other
monograph.
" Since you doubtlessly receive all our homoeopathic papers
and journals, you would do me a favor by telling me in a few
words which of these journals in this country have reported
favorably or unfavorably on my ' Aphorisms of Homoeopathy/
and which ones have not noticed them at all. [Owing to the de-
lay of the other journals we were only able to report the latter,
greatly to our disappointment and his.]
u As a continuation of what I reported to you last time about
Cocculusy I can now report that its suitableness seems to be ap-
proaching the vanishing point, though lately I still had a few
cases of severe typhoid fever which called for it and were im-
proved by it. As something characteristic I found in all cases
where Cocculus is suitable and helpful only two symptoms which
are never lacking, namely, (i) the light colored pale stool, which
only comes by day either in the form of a diarrhoea or also as a
hard evacuation, and (2), that the patients, pretty much as in
Nux vom.,at night enjoyed an undisturbed sleep and felt much bet"
ter than by day. Therefore in the Materia Medica Pur a (Vol I,
page 172, 3d ed.), symptom 204, the parenthesis ought to be
omitted.
' ' Without doubt you have given your attention to sycosis,
which according to Wolf is so widely spread owing to vaccina-
tion, and I would like to know what ground the other colleagues
in Leipzig think about it. As to myself, I am in essential agree-
ment with Wolf as to the chronic miasma, although I differ from
him in the treatment of the diseases springing thence. But this
may be a consequence of the fact that pure> uncomplicated and
completely primary sycosis rarely comes under our treatment, and
that of course Thuja can as little extinguish the whole ailment as
Sulphur or Quicksilver can alone extinguish other chronical dis-
eases. But I am becoming more and more convinced that many
of Hahnemann's antipsoric remedies belong more or less in the
domain of sycosis, and can only exert their whole action where
they find sycotic soil. What I said last year (at our meeting) is
being confirmed more and more, and I think it might be worth
while to prove the matter carefully. I might be able to furnish
several cases of diseases and their cure involving this principle,
and these would not be devoid of interest.
" My piper is again at an end, and I have only sufficient space
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OLD AND NEW MATTERS. 311
left me to beg your pardon for this gossiping and commend my-
self to your further favor.
4 'Yours,
"C. V. BCENNINGHAUSEN."
We now bring the article:
Old and New Matters.
It would be very unjust to object to a busy physician, because
he, as a recuperation from his toilsome day's work, in the evening
may drink a glass of wine in company with his friends or play a
rubber of whist. There may be, indeed, some recreations still
more suitable for a man of education than the bottle and cards;
still no one should be put under compulsion, but every one
should be allowed to follow his own taste.
But outside of these regular hours of recreation now and then,
according as his time is more or less occupied by those seeking
his aid, he now and then will find some moments of leisure,
which his profession makes it his duty to employ in enlarging
and perfecting his knowledge of his self-selected calling. This
would seem with the physician to be all the more a holy matter
of conscience, as it is not only a fact, that his science is continu-
ally progressing, but there is also a very considerable part of the
work which is a matter of memory and needs repeated freshen-
ing up.
We may with considerable certainty recognize from their pre-
scriptions those physicians who slight their calling. As one allo-
path will have in almost every prescription Quinine, the other a
preparation of Iodine, and the third continually Natrum bicarbon-
icum, or some other modern fashionable remedy, so many a
homoeopath not unfrequently tries Aconite, Nux vom., Pulsat. or
some other one of our polychrests without any sufficient indica-
tion And where that is done, we may be sure that we find ' * a
routine practice, which in no way keeps pace with the advance
of the science. In such cases the physician has devoted his
leisure hours merely to pleasure, or filled it with an employment
which is foreign to his profession.
There is, however, for many physicians of both schools a fre-
quent excuse in the fact that their means have been largely con-
sumed by their studies at the university, and their means do not
permit them to purchase a library which is sufficient to furnish
them the requisite aids for progressive studies. The young
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312 ATROPA BELLADONNA L.
homoeopath has the additional disadvantage that the works which
first appeared in his department of study are mostly out of print,
and cannot therefore be purchased, and thus he is unable to study
the gradual development of Homoeopathy which is very instruct-
ive. The most indispensable works in this direction are the
oldest works of the founder of Homoeopathy, which later ap-
peared in new, improved and more complete editions: these are
especially the "Organon," the " Materia Medica Pura," the
' * Chronic Diseases, ' ' and we might also number among them the
' ' Fragmenta de Viribus Medicamentorum Positivis. " As is well
known, there are now five editions of the Organon, three editions
of the first two volumes of the Materia Medica, two editions of
the last four volumes, and also two editions of the Chronic Dis-
eases, all published by the author himself.
Only a person who is in possession of all these various editions,
and can compare them with each other, will be able to see fully
how in a few years (as was the case with botany through the
labors of L,inn6) the material useful for Homoeopathy has been
increased in a really unexpected manner by the genial Hahne-
mann, and has also been at the same time sifted, and how the
first construction which showed some poverty gradually has
gained a form which is astonishing.
Some admirers of this new method of healing, which is still
making such fine progress, might be interested in finding in these
remarks on the Old and the New some points which are fre-
quently overlooked in these times; and this may induce them
also to devote to the subject some of their leisure hours. May
these labors therefore find a modest place assigned to them.
Atropa Belladonna L.
This is the first medicine treated of in the Materia Medica
Pura.
I. The number of the symptoms in the different editions is as
follows:
a. In the Fragmenta of 1805 there are 101 of his own symptoms
and 315 gathered by others, altogether 416.
b. M.M.P. of 1811: contains 176 of his own, 474 by others,
altogether 650.
c. M.M.P. second edition of 1822: 380 of his own symptoms,
1,042 from others, together 1,422.
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ATROPA BELLADONNA L. 313
d. Ibid, third edition, 1830: (There the symptoms are not kept
separate), together 1,440.
From this it may appear that the proving of this remedy is
sufficient, since from 1822 to 1830, in a space of eight years, the
number of symptoms was increased by Only 18, while in the 11
years from 181 1 to 1822 the number had more than doubled.
II. With respect to the parts of the Belladonna plant subjected
to proving, we read:
a. In the "Fragmenta:" The juice of the whole herb inspis-
sated by the heat of the sun. Only in the appended remarks of
others we find in twelve authors: from the berries, in one; from
the root; in one, in water; and in one, the leaves, while the oth-
ers have no remark on the subject.
b. In the first edition of the M.M.P. we read: " The freshly
expressed juice of the leaves, either thickened in the sun, or mixed
with equal parts of alcohol.' '
c. In the second edition: " The freshly expressed juice of the
whole plant in the beginning of its bloom, mixed with equal parts
of alcohol."
d. The third edition is the same as the second.
From this it appears that the proper and most reliable symp-
toms are obtained from the juice expressed from the whole plant
or from the leaves, but not from the berries. In these original
provings of Belladonna there is therefore no reason for taking by
preference the berries for the medicine, nor even for putting it on
a level with the juice of the green plant, and it is surprising that
fenichen, who otherwise was so strict, prepared beside the high
potencies from the juice of the leaves (200, 400, 800, 900, 1,100,
and 2,000 potencies), also some from the berries (1,000, 1,600,
and the 2,000 potencies). My own experiments have, however,
demonstrated the efficacy of the latter, and where it was neces-
sary to repeat the remedy in rising potencies, I have found it use-
ful in several instances to alternate with the preparations of the
leaves and those from the berries.
The added words "at the time of their bloom," refer to the ex-
perience that in this stage of vegetation the juice is most active.
III. Concerning the duration of the action of a dose of Belladonna
we read:
a. In the "Fragmenta:" Its force lasts at least for 58 hours
and at most 72 hours. (In the "classic" work of Noack-Trinks
of 1843 the duration of action of smaller doses in diseases is given
as lasting 2, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24 hours!)
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314 ATROPA BELLADONNA L.
b„ In the first edition of the M. M. P. we read: ' * I conclude from
indubitable experiments that the action continues for more than
ii days." Here the careful observer immediately afterwards re-
marks: "There is no other medicine having so long enduring an
action, which acts in So many varying (double and triple) alter-
nating conditions as Belladonna. Of none of these alternating
conditions can it be said that it lies outside of the primary effect.' '
c. The second edition of the M. M. Pura contains the follow-
ing statement in this respect: " In the above mentioned minimal
dose" — the particulars of which will be given below — ''Bella-
donna, when the case of disease calls for it, is curative even in
the most acute diseases, although it serves on the other hand no
less in the most chronic ailments since its duration of action in
larger doses exceeds three weeks and over."
d. In the third edition we find the same passage, but with two
important additions, which are here emphasized by italics; it
reads as follows: "In the same minimal dose Belladonna, when
the case calls for it homceopathically, is curative even in the most
acute diseases {in which it produces its action with the same rapid-
ity in agreement with the nature of the disease), as on the other
hand it will act no less in the chronic diseases, where its period
of action, even in the least dose, will rise to three weeks and over.
In view of these definite statements of the great Master in ob-
servation, whose affirmation no one will be inclined to doubt, it
must appear strange that in the space of twenty-five years (from
1805 to 1830) the duration of action of a dose has increased in the
same proportion as the size of it has been diminished, as we shall
presently see.
How can this be reconciled with the rash statements of many
of our young homoeopaths?
IV. In the statement as to the size of the dose we find the same
progress as in the statement just adduced as to the duration of
action.
a. In the "Fragmcnta" we do not indeed find any statement
either in this or in any of the other medicines as to the most suit-
able size of the dose.
b. Just as little do we find any statement as to this point in the
first edition of the M. M. P. The practice at that time seems to
have been to give whole drops of the strong tinctures or of any of
the low potencies, just as it seems now to be again favored after
fifty years.
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ATROPA BELLADONNA L. 315
c. It is only in the second edition that Hahnemann expresses
himself as to the matter in the following words: " By hundreds
of experiments with patients I have tyeen compelled to descend to
the decillionth dilution and find the smallest part of a drop quite
sufficient for a dose, to fulfill every curative intention with this
medicine/ ' This is followed by the well known direction for
preparing this decillionth dilution (by the centesimal scale), every
dilution being shaken by ten downward strokes of the arm.
d. This statement from experience as to the sufficient size of
the dose is repeated unchanged and verbatim in the third edition*
and only a remark is added in explanation of what he means by
" the smallest part of a drop." This reads as follows: ".In giv-
ing a pellet as large as a poppy-seed (three hundred of which
weigh a grain), moistened with it as a dose, we give less than a
thousandth part of a drop of the decillionth dilution, spiritualized
(potentized) by shaking, for with one such drop more than a
thousand such fine pellets can be moistened ' '
These statements are so plain and based by the truth-loving
author of our school as he expressly assures us on so many facts
repeated for years that we could not rationally doubt their cor-
rectness, even if we were unable to prove them again by our own
experiments. Of course, the effects of this and other very power-
ful medicines remain very great in the lower dilutions or in the
strong tincture. But since every medicine without any excep-
tion is in itself a substance making the human body sick, thus
injurious: "it is without doubt advisable to use no more of
it to produce every curative effect intended with this medicine."
Now when a number of exact observers have found out by nu-
merous and continued experiments that these smallest doses of
high dynamizations when used in the proper homoeopathic man-
ner act not only just as well, but even more extensively than the
lowest potencies, it would appear indubitable that rationally this
progress exclusively peculiar to Homoeopathy should receive the
most decided preference. Is it necessary to add yet a word as to
the totally unproved and altogether untrue assertion, that Hahne-
mann in the later years of his life returned to the more massive
doses and to the lower dilutions? The answer to this belongs to
the new things in contrariety to the old things cited from the in-
fancy of our science; and it ought not to be passed over in silence
here, as the fountain from which it must be drawn may not be
accessible to many.
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316 ATROPA BELLADONNA L.
The only thing authentic that we know about the last cures of
Hahnemann is what I have communicated in the " Neues Archiv
fuer die hombopathische Heilkunst" (1844), Vol. 1, No. I, page
69, under the title "Three Warnings, by Hahnemann.' ' In this
paper we find printed verbatim (p. 8o, etc.) an enclosure from
the last letter of my never-to-be-forgotten teacher and friend of
April 24, 1843 (thus only a few days more than two months be-
fore his death), signed by himself with a trembling hand, and
provided by him with the date and with my name for the address.
In this enclosure, which I preserved as well as many other let-
ters from him with the utmost care, he communicated to me at
my request two of his latest cures. These testify that of the
medicine he used first Belladonna and Hyoscyamus x (30th po-
tency) , with the dose of one little pellet, was the lowest dynamization,
but that besides this, the single pellet was dissolved in seven
tablespoonfuls of water and shaken, and of this solution one table-
spoonful was stirred into a tumblerful of water, and from this only
once a day {in the morning} a coffee spoonful was to be taken. Af-
ter a few days there was taken from this first tumblerful one coffee-
spoonful, and this was stirred into a second tumblerful of water,
and from this there was taken, increasing by one spoonful every
day, but also only once a day. Of the other remedies used in
these: two cures {Sulphur, Mercurius and Acidnitri), new dynam-
izations were used, which will be described in the next edition
of the Organon, the peculiar preparation of which is known to
me and which requires less time and trouble, but essentially pre-
sents our present high and highest potencies, but having given my
word of honor, I am not as yet at liberty to publish the same.
Also these preparations were given in the dose of one single pel-
let either dissolved in just as much water, or applied by simply
smelling of it. By means of these before unheard of minimal
doses, there was effected a restoration of both these cases in a
comparatively short time: the first of these cases was an acute
ailment of the brain, the other a chronic complicated disease. It
is especially curious that the proper action of these remedies, and
even their first action, could be clearly distinguished in the course
of the disease.
Whoever draws in doubt or even denies these and thousands of
other facts reported by men worthy of belief, merely because he
cannot comprehend them — well, such a man is not to be con-
vinced, and he must be left to his gross materialism, which allows
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ATROPA BELLADONNA L. 317
just as little a demonstration of the fact by a priori reasoning
that a single spark of fire can set a whole city afire and consume
it. It would be indeed a useless undertaking to prove to a blind
man the light of the sun, and to a deaf man the noise of thunder;
but both would have to be pitied if they would deny the one and
the other because their notions and perceptions do not reach that
far
V. Concerning the antidotes of Belladonna, which, excepting
the cases of poisoning, are only found necessary where it is given
in too great doses.
a. The Fra^menta contain nothing.
b. In the first edition of the M. M. P., Hahnemann assures us
that vinegar, which has hitherto been taught, and is at present
almost universally taught, to be an antidote to its ill effects, not
only does not alleviate them, but rather aggravates them. On
the other hand, Tartar emetic given as an emetic, where a quantity
of Belladonna berries have been swallowed, so also strong coffee
also drunk in large quantities, and later on Pulsatilla, wine and
Camphor are mentioned as useful, the latter, however, only as
probably so. The more specific statements I shall omit until I
describe the third edition, which also restates the old, completed
by later experience.
c. In the second edition the remarks as to the injurious effects
of vinegar is repeated, and is con firmed by Stapf's observations.
On the other hand, there is no further mention made of Tartar
emetic, which would be probably excelled in its action by Camphor
or Opium, for the sake of causing vomiting, after the previous
drinking of strong coffee which here operates antipathically, tick-
ling the throat with a feather is given as sufficient. Besides this
there are mentioned as antidotes: poppy-juice (Opium), Hyoscya-
mus, wine, Pulsatilla and Calcareous Sulphuret of Lime (Hepar
sulph. calc.) as being able to counteract various ill effects of Bella
donna,
d. The third edition of the M. M P. contains in its preface to
Belladonna a considerably enlarged statement as to the antidotes
of this medicine which have proved most effective, to these I shall
subjoin in brackets my own experience
At the head of the list we again find the ill effects of vinegar
noted together with the confirmation from Stapf. (I also have
found the same with patients several times who at the advice of
others applied cloths with vinegar to assuage headache, Bellrose
and red swelling of the arm.)
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318 ATROPA BELLADONNA L.
Poppy • juice > it is then added, calms the paralyzing attacks and
the pains in the abdomen, and perhaps also the somnolence re-
sulting from Belladonna. (According to my experience and that
of others this latter is always the case; but not always the former,
and perhaps for the reason that also vinegar shows no effects on
these and indeed on most of the ill effects resulting from poppy-
juice, and does not therefore fully correspond with the homoeo-
pathic principle.)
The benumbing effects, frenzy and fury are soon relieved by a
few doses of henbane {Hyoscyamus) the intoxication by wine.
(Of the correctness of the former statement I retain a pleasant
memory, owing to the fact that this remedy saved and entirely
restored a person who had already had hydrophobia for several
days and had received Belladonna in excessive allopathic doses
and was already near death.) Several persons have found wine
useful. To counteract the first symptom jimson weed {Stra-
monium) might be occasionally indicated.
A tearful state with chilliness and headache, so it proceeds,
soon disappears after a small dose of Pulsatilla (but occasionally
more quickly from a small dose of Cqffea, which in this case acts
homoeopathically, not antipathically, especially where a great
supersensitiveness of the nerves is connected with it as is fre-
quently the case.
After swallowing the berries, a large quantity of strong coffee
ought first to be drunk, to restore antipathically the irritability of
the stomach, but then the throat ought to be tickled with a
feather, on which the berries will be thrown up (this would but
rarely happen after the tartar emetic which was first advised).
After this, a few doses of Hyoscyamus, best given in rising po-
tencies and small quantities, will be required. But if after throw-
ing up the berries the vomiting will not stop, Nux vom. t which
will then be homoeopathic, will help.
The swelling resulting from Belladonna, and resembling erysip-
elas, will soon be removed by Hepar sulph. calc. (or by Lackesis,
if it is bluish and transparent, or by Aconite , if there is stroug
fever and restlessness with it).
Camphor also shows much antidotic power against some of the
morbid states produced by Belladonna.
At the head of all the antidotes against the ailments resulting
from Belladonna^ undoubtedly stands henbane (Hyoscyamus nig. )
But besides the cases mentioned above there are cases which call
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ATROPA BELLADONNA L. 319
for Moschus or Sepia, without excluding some others, which, ac-
cording to their proved symptoms, correspond more homoeopath-
ically to some of the rarer troubles. For in their homoepathic
action is also contained their antidotic power, as being the other
curative power of the medicine. We are therefore also perfectly
entitled to the conclusion that the remedy which possesses the
ability to moderate or extinguish antidotically the action of most
medicines or of very many of them also possesses the most mani-
fold virtues, and must therefore attract especially our attention.
I here feel called upon to bring this fact to renewed consideration,
and to point especially to Camphor, which, according to expe-
rience, can be used as the first antidote for two-thirds of our
medicines, and I also feel called upon to state that the compre-
hensive virtue of this remedy can only be recognized in its great
and polychrestic power, when it is used in the higher and highest
dynamizations; this I know from my own manifold experience.
I have seen the best results not only from my own usual 200th
potency, but also from Jenichen's i.oooth potency of Camphor in
diseases which have been complicated through the use of many
unsuitable and violent remedies; I have also seen the action of
this remedy, which is usually considered to extend at most to fif-
teen minutes, extend over more than forty-eight hours, and I
have also been able to repeat it after an intervening dose of
Opium with the most favorable effect. These experiences are the
less to be disregarded, as we receive only too many patients who
have been inundated with allopathic remedies, where such a help
is required.
VI. It would too far exceed the limits of this article, if I
would endeavor to enumerate even the most prominent virtues of
Belladonna, and would prove them with the symptoms relating
thereto. Whoever would read about it in extenso I would refer
to the " Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica," by Noack
and Trinks, which I have mentioned before, where under this
heading he will find on page 239, etc., vol. 1, four pages in small
type what may fully satisfy his desire for information.
I shall therefore confine myself at the conclusion to briefly state
the requirements of a useful symptom as these have come to be
more known and considered in the course of time.
It needs only a cursory glance at the "Fragmenta" and the
symptoms enumerated there and in the first edition of the M. M.
P., to convince ourselves that the well known: quis, quid, ubi,
quibus, auxiliis, cur, quomodo, quando f have there received but a
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320 ATROPA BELLADONNA L.
very defective consideration. But it was impossible at the first
entrance on the course of provings by Hahnemann to know that
almost every medicine acts on most of the parts of the living
organism, frequently indeed in a very similar manner, and that
the individual differences between the different kinds of action
are almost only indicated by the various combinations of the
symptoms with each other, but most distinctly in their modifica-
tions which cause a difference in the time, the position, and the
circumstances with respect to the alleviation or aggravation of the
ailments caused. As Hahnemann assured us, the inveterate
prejudice expressed in the prescriptions could only be overcome
gradually, namely, that every remedy influences in a curative
manner one or the other general disease, and that therefore sev-
eral would have to be prescribed together in one prescription, in
order to satisfy all the so-called indications.
This readily explains why the symptoms first investigated were
most scantily provided with such characteristic conditions, and
that most of the secondary circumstances referred to the time
which had expired after taking the medicine until the symptom
in question appeared. Only the continued practice and the
steadily increasing number of similar indications from the various
medicines more and more produced the desire to keep these differ-
ences in eye and to investigate them with the greatest care.
If we examine with this knowledge in view the different prov-
ings of earlier and later times, we easily discover that the later
ones distinguish themselves from the earlier ones in a very de-
cided and advantageous manner, and that the newly added symp-
toms offer such a supplement and such useful matter as suits the
requirements. This is especially the case in the remedies treated
by Hahnemann in the second edition of the " Chronic Diseases,"
and which had in part been proved earlier, but which leave but
little additional to be desired in this new form, although even
these have not been left untouched by the revising fingers of our
young disputants. Would that our learned, experienced and
diligent colleagues, who dedicate their powers to the purification
of the Materia Medica Pura, direct their activities rather to this
kind of a completion, than squander their time in hunting up an
unimportant and mostly useless citation! For every single symp-
tom complete in all directions may be considered as a diagnosis in
itself, which presents a characteristic of a remedy, such as a hundred
general symptoms, which are common to many remedies, and are
detached, can never afford us.
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SIDES OF BODY AND DRUG AFFINITIES. 321
The Sides of the Body and Drug Affinities.
Homoeopathic Exercises.
PREFACE.
At the annual convention of the homoeopathic physicians of
the Rhenish Provinces and Westphalia, which was held at Dtis-
seldorf on the 28th of July of the present year, the necessity of
strictly individualising every case of disease, and of studying with
a corresponding accuracy the characteristic symptoms and pecu-
liarities of drugs, was discussed among a variety of other subjects.
Unless we are intimately acquainted with the character of the
symptoms, which, like the red thread in the ropes of the English
Navy, runs through the whole pathogenesis of every single drug,
the process of individualising the phenomena of disease would
lose its real value, inasmuch as the practitioner would be deprived
of the means of applying his remedies to the case before him with
positive certainty and precision. It seems therefore of the utmost
importance to carefully collect, examine and verify all the facts
which, in one way or another, are capable of leading to this desir-
able knowledge of the natural morbid symptoms as well as the
physiological effects of our drugs.
To accomplish this end I had, originally for my own use, per-
fected the subsequent arrangement concerning the characteristic
action of drugs on the right or left side of the body, and in numer-
ous cases, where the want of decisive symptoms rendered the selec-
tion of the proper remedy doubtful, I had derived great advantages
from it. The members of the convention, to whom this arrange-
ment was shown, expressed their entire approbation with my plan,
which was considered superior to the existing homoeopathic publi-
cations in which this subject is not treated with sufficient com-
pleteness; and all expressed a desire that this little work might
be given to the press for the benefit of the profession generally.
This gave rise to the publication of the present pages, which
are few in number, but full of deep significance, and which it has
cost me a great deal of labor to achieve. Any one who will take
the trouble to study the characteristic peculiarities of our drugs
in the original provings on the healthy, will find, that the records
of such peculiarities are exceedingly scanty, and that it is pre-
cisely in the provings of our polychrests, which are constantly
used in daily practice, that this want of all accurate distinction
21
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322 SIDES OF BODY AND DRUG AFFINITIES.
between the right and left side of the body, although frequent
mention is made of semi-lateral ailments, is principally percep-
tible. In order to increase my materials, and to obtain a con-
firmation of my statements and data by experience, it became
necessary to consult my own cases of cure, as well as those of
other practitioners, and to devote a considerable deal of time and
labor to this business which I could not have accomplished if I
had not had carefully-conducted records of diseases to refer to.
In spite of all the care and attention which I have bestowed upon
this execution of my plan, I am not sure that I may pot have
committed a mistake or an oversight, especially in regard to the
remedies that are not much used in the practice. As regards the
vast majority of my indications, especially as far as the more fre-
quently used remedies are concerned, I believe I can safely say
that no errors need be apprehended.
Most drugs having manifested their action more or less on either
side of the body, both during the proving and during their use in
disease, the great question is, on which side this action was more
particularly manifest. This distinction as well as the degrees of
this action seemed to me best indicated by different print. The
same plan was pursued in my repertories of the anti-psoric and
non-anti-psoric drugs, and the public seemed to be pleased with it.
For the benefit of those who do not possess these repertories which
are partly out of the market, or have been replaced by the later
works of Jahr, Mueller, Possart, and others, I will state that I
used four different kinds of type.
i. Common type, like: Agar.. Alum., Ang., Ant. tart., Aur.,
etc., under left side; this kind of type indicates the lowest de-
gree of action.
2. Clarendon, such as: Aeon., Amm,, Anac, etc.; this kind of
print indicates the next higher degree of action.
3. Italics, such as: Amdr. t Amm. mur., Ant. crud., etc.;
this kind of print indicates the third degree, which is pretty thor-
oughly verified and confirmed by experience; and lastly
4. Antique, such as: Brom., Sep., etc.; th^ is the highest
and most distinguished degree.
It seems impossible that, in such an arrangement as this, in-
correct statements should have occurred; on the other hand, the
finding a remedy is facilitated by the alphabetical order which has
uniformly been observed.
In the second part of this work, the drug-affinities, the reme-
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SIDES OF THE BODY.
323
dies which belong to the lowest degree, have been omitted for the
purpose of avoiding all unnecessary crowding of mere names,
which would simply tend to embarrass the reader; the other three
degrees have been distinguished by the same varieties of print as
in the first part. This second part contains the result of the ex-
amination to which I have subjected, for a number of years past,
my former labors in reference to the same subject, and which has
convinced me that an excessive number of remedies rendered
their proper application in disease so much more difficult.
In conclusion I need scarcely remark that both parts of this
little work, should only be looked upon and used as means of
facilitating the selection of the proper remedy, and that the homoeo-
pathic law similia similibus should always remain the supreme
guide in the treatment of disease whenever the characteristic
symptoms of the drug are indicated with sufficient clearness to
enable us to decide that the spirit of the remedy which we select,
is in harmony with the character of the disease.
MUBNSTER, August, 1853.
C. v. BCENNINGHAUSEN.
The Sides of the Body.
INTERNAL HEAD.
I,EFT SIDE.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
Ant. crud., Ant. tart., Ap.,
Arg., Arn., Ars., Asa/., Asar.,
Aur., Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor.,
Bov., Brom., Bry., Calad.,
Calc, Camph., Cann., Canth.,
Caps., C. an., C. veg., Caust.,
Cham., Chel., Chin., Cic. t Cina,
Clem., Cocc. , Coff. , Colch., Coloc. ,
Con., Creos., Croc, Cupr., Cycl.,
Dig., Dros., Dulc, Euph.,
Euphr., Ferr., Fluor., Graph.,
Guaj., Hell., Hep., Hyosc,
Igti2Lt.,/od., Ipec, Kali, Lach.,
RIGHT SIDE.
Aeon,, Agar., Alum., Ambr.,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
Ant. crud., Ant. tart., Ap.,
Arg., Arn., Ars., Asaf., Asar.,
Aur., Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor.,
Bov., Brom., Bry., Calad.,
Oalc, Camph., Cann., Canth.,
Caps., C. an., 0. veg., Caust.,
Cham., Chel., Chin., Cic, Cina,
Clem., Cocc, Coff., Colch.,
Coloc, Con., Creos., Croc,
Cupr. , Cycl. , Dig. , Dros., Dulc. ,
Euph., Euphr., Ferr., Fluor.,
Graph., Guaj., Hell., Hep.,
Hyos., Ignat., Jod., Kali,
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324
SIDES OP THE BODY.
UtPT SIDE.
Laur., Led., Lye, M. arct., M.
austr., Magn., Hang., Mar.,
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
Mosch., M. ac, Natr., N. mur.,
Nitr.,iV; ac, N. mosch. , N. vom.,
Oleand., Op., Par., Petr.,
Phosph , Ph. ac, Plat, Plumb.,
Psor., Puis., R. bulb., R. seel.,
Rheum, Rhod., Rhus, Ruta,
Sabad., Sabin., Samb., Sarsap.,
Scill., S. corn., Selen., Seneg.,
Sep., Sil., Spig., Spong., 8tann.,
8taph., Stram., Stront., Sulph.,
8. ac, Tar., Thuj., Valer.,
Veratr., Verb., V. od., Viol,
trie, Vit., Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Lach., Laur., Led., Lye, M,
arct., M. austr., Magn., Mang.,
Mar,, Men., Merc, Mezer.,
Millef., Mosch., M. ac, Natr.,
N. mur.,Nitr.,N. ac, N. mosch.,
N. vom., Oleand., Op., Par.,
Petr. , Phosph., Phosph. ac, Plat.,
Plumb., Psor., Puis., R. bulb.,
R. seel., Rheum, Rhod,, Rhus
Ruta, Sabad., Sabin., Samb.,
Sarsap., Scill., S. corn., Selen.,
Seneg., Sep., Sil., Spig., Spong.,
Stann., Staph., Stram., Stront.,
Sulph., S. ac., Tar., Thuj.,
Valer., Veratr., Verb., Viol,
od , Viol, trie, Vit., Zinc
EXTERNAL HEAD.
Aeon., Agar. , Alum. , Ammon.,
Anac, Ang., Ant. crud., Ant.
tart., Arg., Ars., Asar., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bor., Calc, Caps.,
C. an., C. veg., Gaust., Cham.,
Chel., Chin., Clem., Cocc,
Coloc, Dig., Dulc, Euph.,
Graph., Hep., Jod., Kali, Laur. ,
Lye, Magn., M. mur., Mang.,
Men., Merc, Millef., M. ac,
Natr., N. mur., Nitr., N. ac,
Oleand., Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac,
Plat., Rhod., Rhus, Ruta,
Seneg., Sep., Sil., Spig., Staph.,
Stront., Sulph., Tar., Thuj.,
Verb., V. trie, Zinc
Agar., Alum., Ambr., Amm.,
A. mur., Anac., Ang., Aur.,
Bell., Bor., Brom., Bry., Oalc,
Oanth., Caps., C. an., C. veg.,
Caust., Chel., Chin., Clem.,
Coloc, Con., Creos., Dig.,
Bros., Graph., Guaj., Hep.,
Jod., Kali, Laur., Led., Lye,
M. mur., Mang., Men., Merc,
Mezer., M. ac, Natr., N. mur.,
Nitr,, N. ac., Petr., Phosph.,
Ph. ac, Plat., Psor., Puis.,
R. bulb., R. seel., Rhod., Rhus,
Sabad., Sarsap., Sep., Sil.,
Spig., Spong., Stann., Staph } ,
Stront, Thuj., Veratr., V.
trie, Vit., Zinc.
EYES.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, A. cr.,
A. tart., Ap., Am*, Ars., Asa/.,
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
A. cr., A. tart., Ap., Am., Ars.,
Digitized by
Google
SIDES OF THE BODY.
325
LEFT SIDE.
Asar., Aur., Bar., Bell., Bor.,
Bov., Brom., Bry., Calad.,
Calc, Camph., Canth., Caps.,
C an., C. veg., Caust., Chel.,
Chin., Cina, Clem., Colch., Con ,
Croc, Bros., Euph., Euphr.,
Ferr., Fluor., Hell., Hep.,
Ignat., Jod., Kali, Laur., Lye,
M. arct., M. austr. , Magn., Mar.,
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
M. ac, N. mur., Nitr., N. ac,
N. vom., Oleand., Op., Par,,
Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat.,
Plumb., Psor., Puis., R. bulb.,
R. seel., Bheum, Rhod., Bhus,
Rut a, Sabad., Sabin., Sarsap.,
Sail., Selen, Seneg., Sep., Sil.,
Spig. % Spong., Stann,, Staph.,
Stram., Stront., Sulph., S. ac,
Tar., Thuj., Valer., Veratr.,
7. od., V. tr„ Zinc
RIGHT SIDE.
Asaf., Asar., Aur., Bar., Bell.,
Biim., Bor., Bov., Brom., Bry.,
Calad., Calc, Camph., Cann.,
Canth., Caps., C. an., C veg.,
Caust., Cham., Chel., Chin.,
Cic, Cina, Clem., Coff., Colch.,
Ooloc, Con., Creos., Croc,
Cycl., Dig., Dros., Euph.,
Euphr., Ferr., Fluor., Graph,,
Guaj., Hep., Hyosc, Ignat., Jod.,
Kali, Laur., Led., Lye., M.
art , M. austr., M. mur., Mang.,
Mar., Merc, Millef., M. ac,
Natr., N. mar., Nitr., N. ac,
N. mosch., N. vom., Oleand.,
Par., Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac,
Plat., Plumb., Psor., Puis., B.
bnlb., R. seel., Rheum, Rhod.,
Bhus, Ruta, Sabad., Sarsap.,
Scil., Selen., Seneg., Sep., Sil.,
Spig., Spong., Stanu., Staph.,
Stram., Sulpha S. ac, Tar.,
Thuj., Valer., Veratr., V. tr.,
Vit., Zinc.
EARS.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
A. cr., Ap., Arg., Am., Arc,
Asaf., Asar., Aur., Bar., Bell.,
Bism., Bor., Brom., Bry.,
Calad., Calc, Camph., Cann.,
Canth., Cape, C. an., 0. veg.,
Caust., Chel., Chin., Cic,
Clem., Colch., Con., Creos.,
Croc, Cupr., Cycl., Dig., Dros.,
Dulc, Euph., Euphr., Ferr.,
Fluor., Graph., Guaj., Hep.,
Ignat., Jod., Kali, Lach.,
Laur., Lye., Mang., Mar.,
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr,,
Amm,, A. mur., Anac, Ang,,
A. crud., Ap., Arg., Arn., Ars.,
Asaf., Asar., Bar., Bell,, Bor.,
Bov., Brom., Bry., Calad., Calc,
Cann., Canth., C. an., C. veg.,
Caust., Cham., Chel., Chin., Cic,
Clem., Cocc, Colch., Coloc,
Con., Creos., Croc, Cupr., Cycl.,
Dig., Dros,, Dulc, Euph.,
Euphr., Ferr., Fluor,, Graph.,
Hell,, Hep., Hyosc, Jod., Ipec,
Kali, Lach., Laur., Led., Lye,
M. arct., Magn., M. mur., Mang.,
Digitized by
Google
326
SIDES OF THE BODY.
I.BFT SIDE.
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
M. ac, Natr., N. mur., Nitr.,
N. ac, N. mosch., Oleand.,
Par, Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac,
Plat., Plumb., Psor., Puis., R.
bulb., R. seel., Rheum, Bhod.,
Bhus, Sabad , Sabin., Sarsap.,
Scill., Selen., Seneg., 8ep., Sil.,
Spig., Spong., Stann., Staph.,
Sulph., Tar., Thuj., Valer.,
Veratr., Verb., Viol, od., Viol,
trie, Vit., Zinc.
right side.
Mar., Men., Merc, Mezer.,
Millef., M. ac, Natr., N. mur.,
Nitr., N. ac, N. mosch., N.
vom., Par., Petr., Phosph.,
Ph. ac, Plat., Plumb., Psor.,
Puis. , B. bulb., R. seel. , Rheum,
Rhod., Rhus, Ruta, Sabad.,
Sabin., Samb., Sarsap., Sciil.,
Selen., Seneg., Sep., Sil., Spig.,
Spong. , Stann. , Staph. ,Sulph. ,
S. ac., Tar., Thuj., Valer.,
Veratr., Verb., Zinc.
NOSE.
Agar., Amm., A. mur., Anac,
A. cr., Ap., Ars., Asar., Aur.,
Bell., Bor., Bov., Brom., Bry.,
Calc, Canth., Caps., C. an.,
0. veg., Caust., Chel., Chin.,
Cina, Cocc, Coff., Coloc, Dros.,
Dulc, Fluor., Graph., Hell.,
Hep., Kali, I^aur., Lye, M.
arct., Magn., M. mur., Mar.,
Merc, N. mur., N. ac, N.
mosch. . N. vom., Oleand., Petr.,
Phosph., Plat., Psor., Puis.,
Bhod., Bhus, Sabin., Sarsap.,
Sep., Sil., Spong., Stann.,
Staph., Sulph., Tar., Thuj., V.
tr., Zinc.
Aeon., Alum., Ambr., Amm.,
A. mur., Anac, A. crud., Asaf.,
Aur., Brom., Bry., Calad., Calc,
Canth., O. an., C. veg., Caust.,
Chel., Cic, Cocc, Colch,, Con.,
Croc, Dros., Fluor., Graph.,
Hep , Jod., Kali, Laur., Lyc t
M. arct., Mang., Mar., Merc,
Natr., N. mur., Nitr., N. ac,
N. vom., Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac,
Plat., Psor., Puis., R. bulb., R,
seel., Rhus, Sabin., Sarsap.,
Sep., Sil., Spig., Stann.,
Sulph., S. ac, Tar., Thuj.,
Veratr., V. od., V. tr., Vit.,
Zinc.
Acori., Alum., Amm., Anac,
A. cr., A. tart., Ap., Arg., Arn.,
Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur., Bar.,
Bell., Bor., Bov., Brom., Bry.,
Calc, Cann., Canth., Caps., C.
an., C. veg., Caust., Cham.,
Chel., Chin., Cic, Cina, Clem.,
Cocc, Coff., Colch., Coloc, Con.,
FACE.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Amm.,
A. mur., Anac, A. cr., A. tart.,
Ap., Arg., Arn., Ars., Asaf.,
Asar., Aur., Bar., Bell., Bism.,
Bor., Brom., Bry., Calc,
Cann., Canth., Caps., C. an.,
C. veg., Caust., Cham., Chel.,
Chin., Cina, Cocc, Colch.,
Digitized by
Google
SIDES OF THE BODY.
327
I.BF? SIDE.
Creos., Cupr., Dig., Dros.,
Dulc, Enph., Euphr., Fluor.,
Graph., Guaj., Hell., Hep.,
Hyosc, Ignat., Jod., Kali,
Lach., Laur., Led., Lye, M.
arct., Magn., M. mur., Mang.,
Mar., Men., Merc, Mezer.,
Millef., Mosch., M. ac, Natr.,
N. mur,, Nitr., N. ac, N.
mosch. , N. vom. , Oleand. , Par. ,
Petr., Phosph., Ph, ac., Plat.,
Plumb., Psor., Puis., R. bulb*,
Rhod., Rhus, Ruta, Sabad.,
Sabin , Samb., Seneg., Sep., Sil.,
Spig., Sponge Stann., Staph.,
Stram., Stront., Sulph., S. ac,
Tar., Thuj., Valer., Veratr.,
Verb., V od., V. tr., Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Coloc, Con., Creos. , Cupr.,
Cycl., Dig., Dros., Dulc.,
Euph., Fluor., Graph., Gu%j.,
Hep., Hyosc, Jod., Kali, Lach.,
Laur., Led., Lye, M. arct.,
Magn., M. mur., Mang., Mar.,
Men., Merc., Mezer., Millef.,
Mosch., Natr., N. mur., Nitr.,
N. ac., N. mosch., N. vom.,
Oleand., Par., Petr., Phosph.,
Ph. ac, Plat., Plumb,, Psor.,
Puis., R. bulb., R. seel.,
Rheum, Rhus, Sabad., Sabin.,
Sarsap., Sep., Sil., Spig.,
Spong., Stann., Staph., Stram.,
Stront., Snlph., S. ac, Tar.,
Thuj., Valer., Veratr., Verb.,
Vit., Zinc.
TEETH.
Aeon. , Agar. , Alum. , Ambr. ,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ap.,
Am., Asaf., Asar., Aur. f Bar.,
Bell., Bor., Brom., Bry., Calc,
Cann., Canth., C. an., C. veg.,
Oaust., Cham., Chel., Chin.,
Clem., • Colch., Con., Creos.,
Croc, Cycl., Euph., Fluor.,
Graph., Guaj., Hyosc, Jod.,
Kali, Laur., Led., Lye, M.
arct., Mar., Merc, Mezer.,
Millef., N. mur., Nitr., N.
mosch., N. vom., Oleand.,
Phosph., Puis., R. seel., Bheum,
Rhod., Rhus, Sabad., Sabin.,
Samb., Selen., Seneg.,- Sep.,
Sil., Spig., Spong., Staph.,
Stront. , Sulph. , Thi^j., Veratr. ,
Verb., Zinc.
Agar., Alum., Ambr., Amm.,
Anac, Ang., Ap., Anr., Bar.,
Bell., Bov., Brom., Bry., Calc,
Camph., Cann., Canth., C an.,
C. veg., Canst., Chin., Coff.,
Colch., Coloc, Con., Creos.,
Fluor., Graph., Hell., Jod.,
Kali, Lach., Laur., Lye,
Magn., Mang., Mar., Merc,
Mezer., Natr., N. mur., N. ac,
N. vom. , Oleand. , Petr. , Ph. ac. ,
Psor,, Puis., R. bulb.,R. seel.,
Rhod., Rhus, Rnta, Sabad.,
Sarsap., Sep., Sil., Spig.,
Spong., Staph.,Stront., Sulph.,
Tar., Thuj., Valer., Verb.,
Vit., Zinc
Digitized by
Google
328
SIDES OF THE BODY.
MOUTH AND FAUCES.
I,Etf* SIDE.
Aeon. , Alum. , Ang. , A. crud. ,
A. tart., Ap., Aur., Bar., Bell.,
Bov., Calc, C. an., C. veg.,
Caust., Colch., Creos., Croc,
Cupr., Dros., Euph., Fluor.,
Graph, , Hep. , Jod., Kali, Loch. ,
Lye, M. austr., Mar., Men.,
Mezer., Millef., N. mur., N. ac. f
N. mosch., N. vom., Oleand.,
Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat., Psor.,
Puis., Ehod., Rhus, Sabad.,
Sabin. , Seneg. , Sep., Sil. , Spig. ,
Sulpha Tar., Thnj., Veratr.,
Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Alum., Amm., A. crud., Ars.,
Aur., Bov., Bronx., Calc, C.
veg., Caust., Chin., Coloc.,
Creos., Dros., Fluor., Graph.,
Jod., Lach., M. arct., Mar.,
Merc, Millef., N. mnr., N. ac.,
N. vom., Petr., Plat., Plumb.,
Psor., E. bulb., Rhus, Sabad.,
Sep., Sil., Spig., Stann., Snlph.,
Thuj., Zinc.
HYPOCHONDRIA.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Amm.
A. mur., Anac, A. crud., Ap.
Arg.,Am. % Ars., Asaf., Asar.
Aur., Bell., Bor., Brom., Bry.
Calad., Gale., Cann., C. an.
C. veg., Caust., Cham., Chel.
Chin., Coco., Coff., Con., Creoi.
Cupr., Dig., Dulc, Euph.
Ferr., Fluor., Graph., Hep.
Ignat., Jod., Ipec., Kali, Laur.
Lye, Mang., Mar., Merc.
Mezer., Millef., Mosch., M. ac.
Natr., N. mur , Nitr., N. ac.
N. vom., Oleand., Par., Petr.
Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat., Plnmb.
Puis., Psor., R. bulb., E. seel.
Rheum, Ehod., Rhus, Euta
Sabad., Sarsap., Scill., S. corn.
Seneg., Sep., Sil., Spig., Stann.
Staph., Sulph., S. ac., Valer.
Verb., V. trie, Vit., Zinc.
Aeon., Agar. , Alum. ,Ambr. ,
Amm., A. mur., Anac. 9 Ang.,
A. crud., Ap., Am., Ars., Asaf.,
Bar., Bell., Bor. , Bry., Calad. ,
Calc., Canth., C. an., C. veg.,
Caust., Chel., Chin., Clem.,
Coca, Colch., Con., Creos.,
Dig., Dulc, Ferr., Fluor.,
Graph., Hep., Hyosc, Ignat.,
Jod., Kali, Lach., Laur., Led.,
Lyc, M. arct., M. austr., M.
mur., Mang., Mar., Merc. %
Millef., Mosch., Natr., N. mur.,
N. ac, H. mosch., N. vom.,
Par., Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac,
Plat., Plumb., Psor., Puis., E.
bulb., E. seel., Rhod., Ehus,
Euta, Sabad., Sabin., 5. corn.,
Selen., Sep., Sil., Spig., Stann.,
Staph., Sulph., S. ac, Valer.,
Veratr., Verb., Vit., Zinc.
Digitized by
Google
SIDES OF THE BODY.
329
ABDOMEN.
LEFT SIDE.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.
A. crud., A. tart., Ap., Arg.
Am., Ars., Asaf., Ajar., Aur.
Bar., Bell., Bov., Brom., Bry.
Calc, Camph., Cann., Canth.
Caps., C. veg., Caust., Cham.
Chel., Chin., Cina, Cocc.
Colch., Coloc., Con., Creos.
Croc., Cupr., Dig., Dulc.
Buphr., Fluor. , Graph., Guaj.
Hep., Ignat. , Jod. , Kali, Laur.
Led., Lye, M. arct., M. austr.
M. mur., Mang., Mar., Men.
Merc, Mezer., MUlef., M. ae.
Hatr., N. mur., N. ae., N
mosch., H. vom., Oleand., Op.
Par., Petr., Ph. ae., Plat.
Plumb., Paor., Puis., R. bulb.
Rheum, Rhod., Rhus, Ruta
Sabad., Sabin., Samb., Sarsmp.
Scill., Selen., Sep., SiL, Spig.
Spong., Stann., Staph. , Sulph.
8. ac, Tar., Thuj., Valer.
Verb., V. trie, Vit., Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Agar., Ambr., A. mur.,
Anac, Ang., A. crud., Ap.,
Arg., Arn., Ars., Asaf., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bism., Bry., Calad.,
Calc, Camph., Cann., Canth.,
C. an., C. veg., Caust., Chel.,
Chin. , Cic. , Clem. , Cocc. , Colch. ,
Coloc, Con., Creos., Croc.,
Cupr., Cycl., Dig., Dros., Dulc,
Fluor., Graph., Guaj., Ignat.,
Jod., Ipec, Kali, Lach., Laur.,
Lye, M. austr., M. mur., Mar.,
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
Moich., Natr., N. mur., Nitr.,
N. ac, N. mosch., N. vom.,
Oleand., Petr., Phosph., Ph.
ac, Plat., Plumb., Psor.,Puls.,
R. bulb., R. seel., Rhod., Rhus,
Sabad., Sabin., Samb., Scill.,
Seneg. , Sep. , Sil. , Spig. , Spong. ,
Stann., Stront., Sulph., Tar.,
Thuj., Verb., V. trie., Vit.,
Zinc
ABDOMINAL RINGS.
Agar., Alum., Ambr., Amm.,
A. mur., A. crud., Ap., Arg.,
Arn., Asar., Aur., Bell., Calc,
Camph., Cann., Canth., C. an.,
Chel., Cocc, Dig., Dulc.,
Euph., Fluor., Graph., Ignat.,
Kali, Laur., Lye, M. arct.,
M. austr., Magn., M. mur.,
Merc., N. ac, N. mosch., N.
vom., Par., Phosph., Rhod.,
Rhus, Sabad., Sabin., Sarsap.,
Alum., Amm., A. mur., Ap.,
Ars., Aur., Bell., Bor., Calc,
Camph., Cann., Canth., C. an.,
C. veg., Cic, Clem., Cocc,
Coloc, Con., Dig., Dros., Dulc,
Fluor., Graph., Hell., Jod.,
Ipec, Kali, Lach., Laur.,
Lye, Mang., Mar., Merc,
Mezer., N. vom., Op., Petr.,
Ph. ac, Psor., Puis., B,. bulb.,
Rhod., Rhus, Buta, Sabin.,
Digitized by
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330
SIDES OF THE BODY.
I,EFT SIDE.
Sep. , Sil. , Spig. , Spong. , Stann. ,
Staph., Sulph., S. ac, Tar.,
Veratr., V. tr., Vit., Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Sarsap., Senega Sep., Sil.,
Spig., Spong., Stann., Staph.,
Stront. t Sulph., S. ac, Tlutj.,
Valer., Veratr., Vit., Zinc.
SEXUAL ORGANS.
Agar., Alum., Ambr., A.
mur., Aug., A. cr., Ap., Arg.,
Anr., Bar., Brom., Bry., Calc,
Cann., Chin., Clem., Colch.,
Con., Euph., Fluor., Graph.,
Kali, Lye, M. arct., Magn.,
Mar., Men., Merc., Mezer.,
Natr., N. ac., Petr., Ph. ac,
Plumb., Puis., Rhod., Bhus,
Sabad., Selen., Sep., Sil., Spig.,
Staph., Tar., Thuj , Zinc.
Aeon., Alum., Ap., Arn.,
Aur., Bism., Calc., Cann.,
Canth., Oaust., Clem., Coff.,
Coloc, Con., Croc, Graph.,
Hep., Jod.; Lach., Lye, M.
arct., Mar., Men., Merc,
Mezer., M. ac, N. ac, N.
vom., Petr., Puis., Rhod.,
Sabin., S. corn., Selen., Sil.,
Spig., Spong., Staph., Sulph.,
S. ac, Tar., Valer., Veratr.,
Zinc
NECK AND NAPE OF THE NECK.
Alum., Amm., Anac, Ang.,
A. cr., A. tart., Ag., Arg.,
Asaf., Aur., Bell., Bism., Bry.,
Calc, Camph., Canth., Caps.,
C. veg., Oaust., Chel., Chin.,
Cina, Cocc, Colch., Coloc,
Con., Cupr., Dulc, Fluor.,
Guaj., Hep., Jod., Kali, Lach.,
Laur., Led., Lye, M. austr.,
Mar., Men., Merc, Mezer.,
Natr., K. mur., Nitr., N. ac,
N. vom., Oleand., Petr., Ph.
ac, Plat., Plumb., Puis., Rhod.,
Sabin., Sarsap., Seneg., Sil.,
Spig., Spong., Staph., Sulph.,
S. ac, Thuj., Vit., Zinc
Aeon. , Alum. , A. mur. , Anac ,
Ang., Ap., A. crud., Arg.,
Arn., Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bor., Bov., Brom.,
Bry., Calc, Canth., C. an.,
C. veg., Caust., Cic, Cocc,
Colch., Coloc, Croc, Cycl.,
Fluor., Guaj., Hyosc, Ignat.,
Kali, Lach. , L,aur. , Lye , Mar. ,
Merc, Mezer., Mosch., N. vom.,
Oleand., Par., Ph. ac, Psor.,
Rhod., Rhus, Sabin., Scil.,
Selen., Sep., Sil., Spig., Spong.,
Staph., Stram., Sulph., S. ac,
Tar., Thuj., Veratr., V. tr.,
Vit., Zinc.
Digitized by
Google
SIDES OF THE BODY.
331
CHEST.
I,BFT SIDE.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.
A. cr. f A. tart,, Ap., Arg,
Arn., Asaf., Asar., Aur., Bar.
Bell., Bism., Bor.,Bov., Brom.
Bry., Calad., Oalc, Camph.
Cann., Canth., Caps., C. an.
C. veg., Caust., Cham., Chel.
Chin., Cic, Cina, Clem., Cocc.
Colch., Coloc, Con., Creos.
Croc, Cnpr., Cycl., Dig., Bros.
Dulc, Euph., Pluor., Graph.
Guaj., Hep., Hyosc, Ignat.
Kali, Lach., Laur., Led.
Lye, Mgs. , M. ard. , M. austr.
Magn., Mang., Mar., Men.
Merc, Mezer., Millef., Mosch.
M. ac, Natr., N. mur.. Nitr.
N. ac, N. mosch., N. vom.
Oleand., Par., Petr., Phosph.
Ph. ac, Plat., Plumb., Psor.
TuU. t R.duld., R. seel., Rheum
Rhod., Rhus, Ruta, Sabad.
Sabin., Sarsap., Scill., Seneg.
Sep., Sil., Spig., Spang.
Stann., Staph., Stront.
Sulph., 5. ac, Tar., Thuj.
VaUr., Veratr., Verb., V. tr.
Vit., Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Aeon., Agar., Alnm., Ambr.
Amm,, A. mur., Anac., Ang.
A. cr., A. tart., Arg., Am.
Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur., Bar.
Bell., Bism., Bor., Bov., Brom.
Bry., Calad., Calc., Camph.
Cann., Canth., Caps., 0. ail.
C veg., Caust., Cham., Chel.
Chin., Cic, Cina, Clem., Cocc.
Colch., Coloc, Con., Creos.
Croc, Cupr., Cycl., Dig.
Dros., Dnlc, Euph., Fluor.
Graph., Hep., Hyos., Ignat.
Jod., I pec., Kali, Lach.
Laur., Led., Lye, Mgs., M
arct., M. austr., M. mur.
Mang., Mar., Men., Merc.
Mezer., Millef., M. ac, Natr.
N. mnr., Nitr., N. ac, H
mosch., K. yom., Oleand., Op.
Par., Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac.
Plat., Plumb., Psor., Puis.
R. bulb., R. seel., Rheum
Rhus, Ruta, Sabad., Sabin.
Sarsap., Scill., Seneg., Sep.
Sil., Spig., Spotag., Stann.
Staph., Stront., Sulph., S. ac.
Tar., Thuj., Valer., Veratr.
V. trie, Vit., Zinc.
Aeon. , Agar. , Alum. , Ambr. ,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
A. cr., A. tart., Ap., Arg.,
Ars., Asaf., Aur., Bar., Bell.,
Bism., Bry., Calc, Cann.,
Canth., C. an., C. veg., Caust.,
Chel., Chin., Cina, Cocc,
BACK.
Aeon. , Agar. , Alum. , Ambr. ,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
A. cr., A. tart., A p., Arg., Arn.,
Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur., Bar.,
Bell., Bor., Brom., Bry., Oalc,
Cann., Canth., C. an., C. veg.,
Caust., Chel., Chin., Cic, Cina,
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Google
332
SIDES OF THE BODY.
XEFT SIDE.
Colch., Coloc, Con., Creos.,
Croc. , Cupr. , Dig. , Dros., Dulc ,
Euph., Ferr., Fluor., Graph.,
Guaj., Hell., Hep., Ignat.,
Jod., Kali, Laur., Lad., Lye,
Mgc, M. austr., Mang., Mar.,
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
Moich., M. ac, N. mur., Nitr.,
N. ac, N. vom., Oleand., Par.,
Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat.,
Plumb., Psor., Puis., R. seel.,
Bhod., Ehui, Ruta, Sabad.,
Sabin., Sarsap., Still., Seneg.,
Sep. , Sil. , Spig. , Spang., Stann. ,
"Staph., Stront., Sulph., S. ac,
Tar., Thuj., Valer., Veratr.,
Verb., V. trie, Vit., Zinc
RIGHT SIDE.
Cocc, Colch., Coloc., Con.,
Cupr., Dig., Dros., Dulc,
Euph., Fluor., Guaj., Hep.,
Jod., Kali, Laur., Lye, M.
arci., M. austr., Mar., Men.,
Merc, Mezer., Millef., Mur.
ac, N. mur., N. ac, N. vom. t
Oleand., Petr., Phosph., Plat.,
Plumb., R. bulb., R. seel.,
Rhod., Rhus, Ruta, Sabad.,
Samb. , Sarsap. , Sep. , Sil, , Spig. ,
Spong., Stann., Staph., Sulph.,
S. ac, Tar., Thuj., Verb.,
V. trie, Vit., Ziuc.
UPPBR EXTREMITIES.
Aeon. , Agar. , Alum. , Ambr. ,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Aug.,
A. crud., A. tart., Ap., Arg.,
Am., Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor., Bov.,
Bronx., Bry., Calad., Calc,
Camph., Cann., Canth., Caps.,
C. an., C. veg., Caust., Cham.,
Chel., Chin., Cic, Cina, Clem.,
Cocc. , Coff. , Colch. , Coloc. , Con. ,
Creos. , Croc. , Cupr. , Cycl. , Dig. ,
Dros., Dulc, Euph., Euphr.,
Ferr., Fluor., Graph., Guaj.,
Hell., Hep., Hyosc, Ignat.,
Jod., Ipec, Kali, Lach., Led.,
Lye. , Mgs. , M. arct. , M. austr.,
Magn., M. mur., Mang., Mar.,
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
Moich., M. ac, Natr., H. mur.,
Nitr., N. ac, N. mosch., N.
vom., Oleand., Op., Par., Petr.,
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr. t
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
A. crud., A. tart., Ap., Arg.,
Arn., Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor., Bov.,
Brom., Bry., Calad., Oalc,
Camph., Cann., Canth., Caps.,
C. an., C. veg., Caust., Cham.,
Chel., Chin., Cic, Cina, Clem.,
Cocc., Coflf., Colch., Coloc.,
Con., Creos., Croc, Cupr.,
Cycl. , Dig. , Dros. , Dulc. ,Euph. ,
Euphr., Ferr., Fluor , Graph.,
Guaj., Hell., Hep., Hyosc,
Ignat., Jod., Ipec, Kali, Lach. r
Laur., Led., Lye, Mgc, M.
arct., M. austr., Magn., M»
mur., Mang., Mar., Men.,
Merc, Mezer., Millef., Mosch.,
M. ac, Natr., N. mur., Nitr.,
N. ac, N. mosch., N. vom. Y
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Google
SIDES OF THE BODY.
333
I.BFT SIDE.
Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat., Plumb.,
Psor., Puis., R. bulb., R. seel.,
Rheum, Rhod., Rhus, Ruta,
Sabad. , Sabil}., Samb. , Sarsap. ,
Scill., S. corn., Selen., Senega
Sep., Sil., Spig., Spong.,
Stann., Staph. , Strain. , Stront. ,
Sulph., S. ac, Tar., Thuj.,
Valer., Veratr., Verb., Viol,
od., V. trie, Vit., Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Oleatid., Op., Par., Petr.,
Phosph., Ph. ac. , Plat. ,Plumb. ,
Psor., Puis., R. bulb., R. seel.,
Rheum, Rhod., Rhus, Ruta,
Sabad., Sabin., Samb., Sarsap.,
Scill., S. corn., Selen., Seneg.,
Sep., Sil., Spig., Spong.,
Stann., Staph., Stram., Stront.,
Sulph., 5. ac, Tar., Thuj.,
Valer., Veratr., Verb., Viol,
od., V. tr., Vit., Zinc.
LOWER EXTREMITIES.
Aeon. , Agar. , Alum. , Ambr.
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.
A. crud., A. tart., Ap., Arg.
Arn., Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur.
Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor., Bo v.
Brom., Bry., Calad., Oalc.
Camph., Cann., Canth., Caps.
C. an., C. veg., Caust., Cham.
Chel., Chin., Cic, Oina, Clem.
Cocc, Coff., Colch., Coloc.
Con., Creos., Croc., Cupr., Cycl.
Dig., Dros., Dulc, Euph.
Euphr., Ferr., Fluor., Graph.
Guaj., Hell., Hep., Hyosc.
Ignat.,/<*£, Ipec, Kali, Lach.
Laur., Led., Lye, Mgs., M
arct., M. austr., Magn., M
mur., Mang., Mar., Men.
Merc., Mezer., Millef., Mosch.
M. ac, Natr., N. mur., Nitr.
N. ac, N. mosch., N. vom.
Oleand., Op., Par., Petr.
Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat., Plumb.
Psor., Puis., R. bulb., R. seel
Rheum, Rhod., Rhus, Ruta
Sabad., Sabin., Samb. , Sarsap.
Scill., S. corn., Selen., Seneg.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.
A. crud.. A. tart., Ap., Arg.
Am., Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur.
Bar. , Bell., Bism. , s Bor. , Bov.
Brom., Bry., Calad., Calc
Camph., Cann., Canth., Caps.
C. an., C. veg., Canst., Cham.
Chel., Chin., Cic, Cina, Clem.
Cocc, Coff., Colch., Ooloc.
Con., Creos., Croc,. Cupr.
Cycl., Dig., Bros., Dulc
Euph., Ferr., Fluor., Graph.
Guaj., Hell., Hep., Hyosc
Ignat., Jod., Ipec, Kali
Lach., Laur., Led., Lye, Mgs.
M. arct., M. austr., Magn.
M. mur., Mang., Mar., Men.
Merc, Mezer., Millef., Mosch.
M. ac, Natr., N. mur., Nitr.
N. ac, N. niosch., N. vom.
Oleand., Op., Par., Petr.
Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat.
Plumb., Psor., Puis., R. bulb.
R. seel, Rheum, Rhod., Rhus
Ruta, Sabad., Sabin., Samb.
Sarsap., Scill., S. corn.
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Google
334
SIDES OF THE BODY.
I,BFT SIDE.
Sep. , SiL, Spig. , Spong. , 8tann. ,
Staph. , Stram. , Stront. ,Sulph.,
S. ac, Tar., Thuj., Valer.,
Verat., Verb., V. od., V. tr.,
Vit., Zinc.
RIGHT SIDE.
Selen., Seneg., Sep., Sil.,Spig.,
Spong., Stann., Staph., Stram.,
Stront., Sulph., S. ac, Tar.,
Thuj., Valer., Veratr., Verb.,
V. od., V. tr., Vit., Zinc.
GENERAI, SYMPTOMS.
Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr.,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
A. crud., A. tart., Ap., Arg.,
Arn., Ars., Asaf. , Asar., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor., Bov.,
Brom. y Bry., Calad., Calc,
Camph., Cann., Canth., Caps.,
C. an., C. veg., Caust., Cham.,
Chel., Chin., Cic, Oina,Clem.,
Cocc, Coff., Colch., Coloc,
Con., Creos., Oroc, Cnpr.,
Cycl., Dig., Dros., Dulc,
Euph., Euphr., Ferr., Fluor.,
Graph., Guaj., Hell., Hep.,
Hyosc, Ignat., Jod., Ipec,
Kali, Lach., Laur., Led., Lye,
Mgs., M. arct., M. austr.,
Magn., M. mur., Mang., Mar.,
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
Mosch., M. ac., Natr., N. mur.,
Nitr., N. ac, N. mosch., N.
vom., Oleand., Op., Par.,
Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat.,
Plumb., Psor., Puis., R. bulb.,
R. seel., Rheum, Rhod., Rhus,
Ruta, Sabad., Sabin., Samb.,
Sarsap. , Scill. , S. corn. , Selen.,
Seneg., Sep., SiL, Spig.,
Spong., Stann., Staph., Stram.,
Stront., Sulph., S. ac, Tar.,
Thnj., Valer., Veratr., Verb.,
V. odor., V. trie, Vit., Zinc.
Aeon., Agar., Alnm., Ambr.,
Amm., A. mur., Anac, Ang.,
A. cr., A. tart., Ap., Arg.,
Arn., Ars., Asaf., Asar., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor., Bov.,
Brom., Bry., Calad., Calc,
Camph., Cann., Oanth., Caps.,
C. an., C. veg., Canst., Cham.,
Chel., Chin., Cic, Cina, Clem.,
Cocc., Coff., Colch., Coloc.,
Con., Creos., Croc, Cupr.,
Cycl., Dig., Bros., Dulc,
Euph., Euphr., Ferr., Fluor.,
Graph., Guaj., Hell., Hep.,
Hyosc, Ignat., Jod., Ipec,
Kali, Lach., Laur., Led.,
Lyc, Mgs., M. arct., M. austr.,
Magn. , M. mur. , Mang. , Mar. ,
Men., Merc, Mezer., Millef.,
Mosch., M. ac, Natr., N. mur.,
Nitr., N. ac, N. mosch., N.
vom., Oleand. , Op. , Par. , Petr. ,
Phosph., Ph. ac, Plat., Plumb.,
Psor., Puis., R. bulb., R. seel.,
Rheum, Rhod., Rhus, Ruta,
Sabad. , Sabin . , Samb. , Sarsap . f
Scill., S. corn., Selen., Seneg.,
Sep., SiL, Spig., Spong.,
Stann., Staph., Stram., Stront..
Sulph., S. ac, Tar., Thuj,,
Valer., Veratr., Verb., Viol,
od., Viol, trie, Vit., Zinc.
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Google
DRUG AFFINITIES.
335
CROSS- WISE.
I^FT UPPER SIDE.
RIGHT I.OWER SIDE.
Alum., Anac, Atn., Ars.,
Bar., Bell., Brom. f| Camph.,
Caps., C. an., Cham., Chin.,
Coff., Con., Cycl., Euphr.,
Fluor., Hep., Kali, Lach.,
Laur., Led., M. arct., M.
austr., M. mur., Mar., Men.,
Merc, Millef., M. ac, N. mur.,
Nitr.,.N. ac, N. mosch., N.
vom., Oleand., Op., Par., Ph.
ac, Puis., R. seel., Rhod.,
Rhus, Sabad., Sabin., Samb.,
Sarsap., Sail., S. corn., Seneg.,
Spong., Stann., Staph., Stram.,
Sulph., Tar., Thuj., Valer.,
Veratr., Verb., V. inc.
I,EFT U)WER SIDE.
RIGHT UPPER SIDE.
Aeon. , Agar. , Ambr., Amm. ,
A. mur., Ang., A. crud., A.
tart., Arg., Asar., Bism., Bor.,
Bov., Bry., Calad., Calc., Cann.,
C. veg., Caust., Chel., Cic.,
Cina, Colch., Coloc, Croc.,
Cupr., Dig., Dulc., Euph.,
Enphr., Ferr., Graph., Hell.,
Hyosc., Ignat., Jod., Ipec.,
Lye, Mgs., Magn., Mang.,
Mezer., M. ac., Natr., N. yom.,
Phosph., Plat., Plumb., R.
bulb., Rheum, Rhus, Ruta,
Selen., Sil., Spig., S. ac, V.
od.,'vit. •
FEBRILE SYMPTOMS.
LEFT SIDE. RIGHT SIDE.
Agar. , Ambr. , A. crud. , Arn. ,
Bar., Caust., Cham., Chin.,
Dig., Lye, Par., Plat., Puis.,
Rhus, Ruta, Spig., Stann.,
Sulph., Thuj., Verb., Vit.
Ambr., Bell., Bry., Cauit.,
Chin., Cocc, Fluor., Nat., N.
vom., Phosph., Puis., R.
bulb., Sabin., Spig., Verb.
Drug Affinities.
ACON.— Am., Ars., Bell., Bry., Oanth., Cham., Coft., Croc,
Dulc, Graph., Lye, Merc, Millef., N. vom., Op., Phosph.,
Ph. ac, Puis., Rhus, Ruta, Sep., Sulph., Valer., Veratr.
AGAR.-— Bell., Oalc, Cocc., Coff., Lye, N. ac, N. vom., Petr.,
Phosph., Puis., Sep., Sil., Sulph.
ALUM.— Bry., Calc, Cham., Ignat., Ipec, Lach., Lye, N. mur.,
Phosph., Jflumb., Puis., Veratr.
AMBR.— Bell., Calc, Lye, N. vom., Puis., Staph., Sulph.
AMM. — Brom., Calc, Fluor., Hep., Phosph., S. corn.
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Google
336 DRUG AFFINITIES.
A. MUR.— Ars., If. vom., Puis., Rhus.
AN AC— Calc, Coff., Co?i., N. mur.
ANG.— Bry., Calc, Lye, Rhus, Verb.
A. CRUD.— Ars., Bism., Brom., Hep v Ipec, Merc, Puis., Sep.,
Sulph.
A. TART.— BelL, Chin., Cocc, Con., Ipec., Op., Puis., Sep.
APIS M.— Ars., Bell., Canth., Chin., Ferr., Graph., Hep., Jod.,
Kali, Lach., Lyc, Merc, Millef., Puis., Sep., Sulph.
ARC— Merc
ARN. — Aeon., Am., Bry., Cann., Caps., Chin., Oic, Ferr.,Ignat.,
Ipec, Merc, Millef., Puis., Bhus, Sabin., Samb., Scill., Seneg.,
Veratr., Zinc.
ARS. — Aeon., A. mur., Ant. cr., Arn., Ap., Bar., Brom., Bry.,
Calc, C veg., Oham., Ohin., Coflf., Dig., Colch., Dulc,
Euph., Perr., Graph., Hep., Ignat., Jod., Ipec, Kali,
Lach., Lyc, Magn., Merc, Mosch., M. ac, N. mur.,N.
vom., Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac., Plumb., R. seel., Samb., Scill.,
S. corn., Sep., Sil., Stann., Staph., Sulph., S. ac, Veratr.
A&AF.— Aur., Caust., Ohin., Men., Merc, N. ac., Ph. ac, Plat.,
Puis., Sep.
ASAR.— Cupr., N.vom., Phosph.
AUR.— Asaf., Calc, Coflf., Merc, N. vom., Puis., Phosph.
BAR/— Ars., Calc, N. vom., Sep., Zinc.
BELL.— Aeon., Agar.,Ambr., A. tart., Ap.,Bry., Oalc, Cann.,
Canth., Caust., Cham , Chin., Cic, Cina, Coft., Colch., Coloc,
Croc, Cupr., Dig., Graph., Hell., Hep., Kjonc.,Jod., Lach.,
Merc, Mosch., N. ac, N. vom., Op., Ph. ac, Plat., Plumb.,
Puis., Rheum, Rhus, Sarsap., Seneg., Sep., Sil., Stram.,
Sulph., Valer.
BISM. — A. crud., Oalc, Cocc, Ignat., Spig., Staph.
BOR.— Bry., Calc, Cham., Coff., Sil., Sulph.
BOV— N. ac, Selen., Sil.
BROM.— Amm., A. crud., Ars., Camph., Coflf., Hep., Jod., Magn.,
N. mur., Op., Phosph., Spong.
BRY.— Aeon., Alum., Ang., Ars., Bell., Bor., Calc, C. veg.,
Caust., Chin., Clem., Coloc, Dulc, Guaj., Jod., Ipec, Kali,
Led., Lyc, Mezer., Millef., Phosph., R. bulb., Puis.,
Rhod., Rhus, Scill., Seneg., Sep., Veratr.
CALAD.— Canth., Caps., Ignat., N. vom.
CALC. — Agar., Alum., Ambr., Amm., Anac, Ang., Ars., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Bism., Bor., Bry., Cann., Caust., Chel., Chin.,
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DRUG AFFINITIES. 337
Cocc, Cupr., Fluor. , Graph., Ignat., Jod., Ipec, Kali, Lyc,
M. mur., Men., Merc, Natr., Nitr., N. ac, N. vom.,
Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac, Puis., Rhus, Sabin., Sarsap., Selen.,
Sep., Sil., Sulph., Veratr., Vit.
CAMPH.— Brom. ; Canth., Op., Veratr.
CANN.— Arn., Bell., Calc, Canth., Coloc, Euph., Men., N. mur.,
N. ac, Puis., Thuj.
CANTH.— Aeon., Ap., Bell., Calad., Camph., Cann., Laur.,
Lyc, Puis.
CAPS.— Arn., Oalad., Cham., Chin., Oina, Ignat., N. vom.,
Puis.
C. AN.— C. veg., Rhod., Thig.
C. VEG. — Ars., Bry., C. an., Ohin., Dulc., Ferr., Ignat., Ipec,
Kali, Loch., Merc, N. mur., N. ac, AT. vom., Op., Petr.,
Puis., Rhod., Sep., Sulph., Veratr.
CAUST.— Asa/., Bell., Bry., Calc, Cocc, Clem., Coloc, Creos.,
Cupr., Graph., Hep., Ignat., Lach., Lyc, Natr., N. vom.,-
Phosph., Plat., Puis., Rhod., Rhus, Sep., Sil., Sulph.
CHAM.— Aeon., Alum., Ars., Bell., Bor., Caps., Chin., Cina,
Ooco., Coff., Coloc, Hep., Ignat., Ipec, Lyc, Magn., N.
vom., Petr., Puis., Rheum, Rhus, Stram., Sulph., Valer.
CHEL. —Calc, Lyc, Puis., Sulph.
CHIN.— Amm., A. tart., Ap., Arn., Ars., Asaf., Bell., Bry.,
Calc., Caps., 0. veg., Cham., Cina, Cupr., Cycl., Dig.,
Ferr., Fluor., Hell., Jod., Ipec, Lach., Merc, Millef.,
N. mur., N. vom., Phosph., Ph. ac., Plumb., Puis , Samb.,
Sep., Stann., Sulph., S. ac, Veratr.
CIC— Arn., Bell., Dulc, Lyc, Merc, Op., Rhus, Stram., Veratr.
CINA.— Bell., Caps., Chin., Bros., Hyosc, Merc, Phosph.,
Veratr.
CLEM.— Bry., Graph., Merc, Rhod., Rhus.
COCC— Agar., A. tart., Bism., Calc, Canst., Cham., Cupr.,
Ignat., Ipec, Kali, Mosch., N. mosoh., N, vom., Oleand.
COFF. — Aeon., Agar., Anac, Ars., Aur., Bell., Bor., Brom.,
Caps., Cham., Ooloc, Con., Ignat., Magn., Mar., Merc,
Mosch., N. vom., Op., Puis., Sulph., Valer., Veratr.
COLCH.— Ars., Bell., Fluor., Merc, N. vom., Op., Puis.
COLOC— Bell., Bry., Cann., Caust., Cham., Ooff., Magn ,
Rheum, S. corn., Staph.
CON.— Anac, A. tart., Coff., Cupr., Cycl., Dig., Dulc, Lach.,
Lyc, N. ac, N. vom., Puis., Vit.
CREOS.— Caust., N. mur., N. vom., Sep., Sulph.
22
Digitized by CjOOQLC
338 DRUG AFFINITIES.
CROC— Aeon., Bell., Op., Plat.
CUPR.— Bell., Calc., Caust, Chin., Cocc, Con., Dulc, Hep.,
Hyosc, Ignat., Ipec, Lye, Merc, N. vom., Op., Ph. ac.,
Puis., Sep., Sil., 8ulph., Veratr.
CYCL.— Con., Puis.
T>IQ.—Ars., Bell., Chin., Con., Merc., N. vom., Op., Phosph.,
Ph. ac., Hat., Puis., Spig., 8. ac.
DROS— Cina, Hep., Ipec, K. vom., 8ep., Spong., Veratr.
DULC— Aeon., Ars., Bry., Cic, Con., Cupr., Led., Merc's.
vom., Ph. ac, Puis., Rhus, Sep., Snlph.
EUPH.— Ars., Lye, Merc, Mezer., Puis., Rhus, 8ep., Zinc.
EUPHR.— Cann., Hep., N. vom., 8pig. '
FERR.— Ap., Arn., Ars., C. veg., Chin., Hep., Ipec, Puis.,
Sulph., 8. ac, Veratr.
FLUOR.— Amm., Calc, Chin., Colch., Graph., N. ac, Sil.
GRAPH.— Aeon., Ap., Ars., Bell., Calc, Caust., Fluor., Guaj.,
Kali, Lye, Magn., Natr., N. ac. N. vom., Phosph., Puis.,
Sep., Sil., Snlph., Thuj., Vit.
GUAJ.— Bry., Graph., Merc.
HELL.— Bell., Chin., Phosph.
HEP.— Amm., A. crud., Ap., Ars., Bell., Brom., Caust.,
Cham., Oupr., Bros., Euphr., Ferr., Ignat., Jod., Lach.,
Lye, Merc, N. ac, Rhus, Sep., Sil., Spong., Sulph.,
Thuj., Zinc.
HYOSC— Bell., Cina, Cupr., Op., Phi ac, Plumb., Stram.,
Valer., Veratr.
IGNAT.— Alum., Am., Ars., Bism., Calad., Calc, Caps., C.
veg., Caust., Oham., Cocc, Cofi., Cupr.,Bx^. y Ipec, Lye,
Mar., Mgs., M. arct., M. austr., N. vom., Ph. ac, Plat.,
Puis., Ruta, Selen., Stram., Valer., Zinc.
JOD.— Ap., Ars., Bell., Brom., Bry., Calc, Chin., Hep., Kali,
Lye, Merc, Par., Phosph., Sil., Spong., Snlph.
IttC.—Alum., A. crud., A. tart., Arn., Ars., Bry., Oalc,
C. veg., Cham., Chin., Cocc, Cupr., Bros., Ferr., Ignat.,
Laur., Nitr., N. vom., Op., Phosph., Puis., 8. ac, Veratr.
KALI. — Ap., Ars., Bry., Calc, C. veg., Cocc, Laur., Lye,
Magn., Natr., N. mur., N. ac, N. vom., Phosph., Puis.,
Sil.
LACH.— Alum., Ap., Ars., Bell., 0. veg., Oaust., Chin., Con.,
Hep., Lye, Merc, N. vom., Ph. ac, Plat., Puis., Stann.,
Zinc.
LAUR.— Canth., Ipec, Kali, Merc, Spig.
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DRUG AFFINITIES. 339
LED.— Bry., Dulc., Lye, Puis.
I,YC— Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr., Aug,, Ap., Ars., Bry. t
Oalc, Oanth., Caust., Oham., Chel., Chin., Cic, Con.,
Cupr., Enph., Graph., Hep., Ignat., Jod., Kali, Lach.,Led.,
M. mur., Mang., Merc, M. ac, Natr., N. ac, N. vom.,
Petr., Phosph., Ph. ac, Puis., Rhus, Sep* Sil., Vit.
MGS.— Ignat., Zinc.
M. ARCT.— Bell., Ignat.,. M. austr., Puis., Zinc.
M. AUSTR.— Ignat., M. ard., N. vom., Zinc.
MAGN.— Ars., Brom., Cham., Coff., Coloc, Graph., Kali, M.
mur., N. vom., Puis., Rheum.
M. MUR.— Calc, Lye, Magn., N. vom., Sep., 8ulph.
MANG.— Bry . , Lye. , Puis.
MAR.— Coff., Ignat.
MEN.— Asaf., Calc, Cann., Plat., Sep.
MERC— Aeon., A. crud., Ap., Arg., Am., Ars., Asaf., Aur.,
Bell., Bry., Calc., O veg., Ohin., Cic, Cina, Clem., Coff.,
Colch., Cupr., Dig., Dulc, Euph., Guaj., Rep.,Jod., Lach.,
Laur., Lye, Mezer., N. ac, N. vom., Op., Ph. ac, Plat.,
Puis., Rheum, Rhod., Rhus, Sarsap., Selen., Sep., Sil.,
Spig., Staph., Sulph., Thuj., Valer., Veratr., Vit., Zinc.
MEZER.— Bry., Euph., Merc., M. ac, AT. ac, Rhus, Sil., Verb.
MILLER— Aeon., Ap., Arn., Bry., Chin., N. vom., Puis-,
Scill.
MOSCH.— Bell., Cocc, Coff., K. vom., Op., Phoaph.
M. AC— Ars.. Bry., Lye, M. ac.
NATR.— Oalc, Caust., Graph., Kali, Lye, N. mur., Puis.,
Sep., Sil., Spig., Sulph.
N. MUR. — Alum., Anac, Ars., Brom., Cann., C. veg., Chin.,
Creos., Kali, Natr., K. vom., Petr., Puis., Ruta, Spig., Vit.
NITR. -Calc, ipec
N. AC — Agar., Asaf., Bell., Bov., Oalc, Cann., C. veg., Con.,
Fluor., Graph., Hep., Kali, Lye, Merc, Meaer., Petr.,
Puis., Rhus, Sep., Sulph., Thuj.
N. MOSCH.— Cocc, Ignat., N. vom., Sep.
N. VOM.— Aeon., Agar., Ambr., A. mur., Ars., Asar., Aur.,
Bar., Bell., Calad., Oalc, Caps., C. veg., Caust., Oham.,
Chin., Cocc, Coff., Colch., Con., Ore OS., Cupr., Dig., Bros.,
Dulc, Euphr., Graph., Guaj., Ignat., Ipec, Kali, Lach.,
Lyc, M. austr., Magn., Merc., Millef., Mosch., M. ac, N.
mur., Op., Par., Petr., Phosph., Plumb., Puis., Rheum,
Rhus, Selen., Sep., Sil., Stram., Sulph., Valer.
Digitized by
Google
340 DRUG AFFINITIES.
OLEAND.— Cocc, Vit.
OF.— Aeon., A. tart., Bell., Brom., Oamph., 0. veg.,Cic, Corf.,
Colch., Croc, Cupr., Dig., Hyosc., Ipec, Merc, Mosch.,
N. vom., Phosph., Ph. ac, Plumb., 8tram.
PAR.— /od., N. vom., Phosph.
PETR.— Agar., Ars., Calc, C. vcg., Cham., Lye, N. mur., N.
ac, N. vom., Phosph., Pals., Sil. t Sulph., Thuj.
PHOSPH. — Aeon., Agar., Alum., Amm., Ars., Aur., Brom.,
Calc, Caust., Chin., Cina, Dig., Graph., Hell. y /od., Ipec,
Kali, Lye, Mosch., N. vom., Op., Par., Petr., Puis., 8.
corn., Sep., Sil., Stront., Veratr., Verb.
PH. AC— Aeon., Ars. y Asa/., BelL, Calc, Chin., Cupr., Dig.,
Dulc, Hyosc, Ignat., Lach., Lye , Merc., Op., Rheum, Rhus,
Staph., Veratr., Zinc
PLAT.— Asaf., Bell., Caust., Croc, Dig., Ignat., Lach., Men.,
Merc, Plumb., Puis., Sabad., Sabin., Stront., Vit.
PLUMB.— Alum., Ars., Bell., Chin., Hyosc, N. mur., N. vom.,
Op., Plat., Stram., 8ulph., S. ac.
PULS. — Aeon., Agar., Alum., Ambr., A. mur., A. crud., A. tart.,
Ap., Arn., Asa/., Aur., Bell., Bry., Calc, Cann., Oanth.,
Caps., C. veg., Caust, Oham., Chel., Chin., Coff., Colch.,
Con., Oupr., Cycl., Dig., Bulc, Euph., Ferr., Graph.,
Ignat., Ipec, Kali, Lach., Led., Lye, M. arct., Magn.,
Mang., Merc, Millef., Natr., N. mur., N. ac, N. vom.,
Petr., Phosph., Plat., R. bulb., Rheum, Rhus, Sabad., Sep.,
Sil., Spig., Stann,, Sulph., S. ac, Valer., Verb., Vit.
R. BULB.— Bry., Puis., Staph., 8ulph., Verb.
R. SCEL.— Ars., Puis., Veratr.
RHEUM.— Bell., Cham., Coloc, Magn., Merc, N. vom., Ph. ac,
Puis.
RHOD.— Bry., Calc, C. an., C. veg., Caust., Clem., Merc, N.
▼om., Rhus, Sep.
RHUS.— Aeon., A. mur., Ang., Am., Ars., Bell., Bry., Calc,
Caust., Cham., Cic, Clem., Coff., Dulc, Euph., Hep., Lye,
Merc, Mezer., N. ac, N. vom., Phosph., Ph. ac, Puis.,
Rhod., Samb., Sep., Sil., Sulph., Veratr.
RUT A.— Ignat., N. mur.
SABAD.— Plat., Puis.
SABIN.— Am., Calc, Plat.
SAMB.— Arn., Ars., Chin., Rhus.
SARSAP.— Bell., Calc, Merc, Sulph.
SCILL.— Am., Ars., Bry., Mille/
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DRUG AFFINITIES. 341
S. CORN.— Amm., Ars., Bell., Coloc, Phosph., Veratr.
SELEN.— Alum., Bry., Bov., Calc, Ignat., Merc., N. vom.,
Puis., Sep., Sulph., Thuj.
SENEG.— Arn., Bell., Bry., Stann.
SEP.— Aeon., Agar., A. crud., A. tart, Ap., Ars. t Asaf., Bar.,
Bell., Bry., Calc, C. veg., Oaust., Ohin., Clem., Creos.,
Cupr., Dros., Dulc, Euph., Graph., Hep., Lye, M. mur.,
Men., Merc , Natr., N. ac, N. vom., Phosph., Puis., Rhod.,
Rhus, 8elen., Sil., Sulph., Veratr., Vit.
Sit,.— Agar., Are., Bell., Bor., Oalc, Caust., Cupr., Fluor.,
Graph. , Hep. , Jod. , Kali, Lye, Merc, Mezer., Natr., N. vom,,
Petr., Phosph., Puis., Rhus, Sep., Staph,, Sulph.
SPIG.— Bism., Dig., Euph., Laur., Merc, Natr., N. mur., Puis.,
Veratr.
SPONG.— Brom., Bros., Hep., Jod.
STANN.— Ars., Chin.. Lach., Puis., Seneg.. 8ulph., Valer.
STAPH.— Ars., Bism., Ooloc, Merc, Ph. ac, R. bulb., Sil.,
Sulph , Thuj.
STRAM.— Bell., Cham., Cic, Hell., Hyosc, Ignat., N. vom.,
Op., Plumb., Veratr.
STRONT.— Phosph., Plat., Sulph.
SULPH.— Aeon., Ambr., A. crud., Ap., Ars., Bell., Bor., Oalc,
C. veg., Oaust., Cham., Chel.., Chin., Coff., Creos., Dulc.,
Ferr., Graph., Hep., Jod., Merc, N. ac, N. vom., Petr.,
Puis., R. bulb., Rhus, Sarsap., Selen., Sep., Sil., Stann.,
Staph., Stront., Thuj., Valer., Vit.
S. AC— Ars., Chin., Dig., Ferr., Ipec, Plumb., Puis.
TAR.— Con., Kali, Puis., Valer.
THUJ.— Cann., 0. an., Hep., Graph., Merc, N. ac, Petr., Puis.,
Selen., Staph., Sulph.
VALER.— Aeon., Bell., Cham., Coff., Hyos., Ignat., Merc, N.
vom., Puis., Stann., Sulph.
VERATR.— Aeon., Alum., Arn., Ars., Bry.. Calc, Camph., C,
veg. , Ohin. , Cic , Cina, Coff. ,Oupr. ,Dros. , Ferr. , Hyos. , Ipec. ,
Merc, Phosph., Ph. ac, 8. corn., Sep., Spig., Stram.
VERB.— Ang., Mezer., Phosph., Puis., R. bulb.
VIOL. OD.— N. vom., Phosph.
VIOL. TR.— Bar., K. ac. Rhus.
VIT.— Calc, Con., Graph., Lye, Merc, N. vom., Oleand., Puis.,
Rhod., Sep., Sulph.
ZINC— Arn., Bar., C. veg., Euph., Hep., Ignat., Lach., Mgs. t
M. arct., M. austr., Merc, Ph. ac.
Digitized by CjOCKJLC
342 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Bibliography.
BOOKS.
Versuch einer homoopathischen Therapie der Wechselfieber, zunachst fiir
angehende Hotnoopafhischer. Miinster: Regensburg. 1833. Second
edition. Leipzig. Purfurst. 1864.
Essai d'une Therapie Homoeopathique des Pievres Intermittentes. Paris:
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Fevers. Translated and edited by Charles Julius Hempel, M. D., New
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Reviews of: Allg. hom. Zeitung, Vol. 2, P. 146. Vol.68, P. 166. Horn.
Examiner, n. s., Vol. 1, P. 95. Bibliotheque Homoeopathique, Vol. 2.
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Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Eigenthutnlichkeiten aller bisher vollstandiger
gepriiften homoopathischen Arzneien in betreff Erhohung oder Linde-
rung ihrer Beschwerden nach Tageszeit und Umstanden und den von
ihnen erbegten Gemuthsbeschaffenheiten. Miinster: Regensburg. ^831.
P. 55- Second edition. T833.
Contributions towards a knowledge of the Peculiarities of all Homoeopathic
Remedies which have been thus far fully proved, in regard to Aggrava-
tion or Amelioration of their Complaints according to the Time of Day
and Circumstances, and their State of Mind. Second edition. Translated
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burg. 1831. 12 mo. P. 16.
(Cure of Asiatic Cholera and the surest Prophylactic against the same ac-
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BIBLIOGRAPHY. 343
Review of: Allg. horn. Zeitung. Vol. 4. P. 137. Vol. 66. P. 95.
Repertorium der antipsorischen Arzneien nebst einem Vorworte Hahne-
manns, iiber Wiederholung der Gabe eines homoeopathischen Heilmit-
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(Repertory of the Antipsoric Medicines, with a Preface by Hahnemann
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Precis des Medicaments Antipsoriques Homoeopathiques. Paris: Bailliere.
1834.
Systematisches Alphabetisches Repertorium der antipsorischen Arzneien mit
Einschluss der antisyphilitic und antipsorischen Arzneien, oder: Syste-
matisch- Alphabetisches Repertorium der homoeopathischen Arzneien.
2d Thl. enthaltend die (sogenannten) nicht-antipsorischen Arzneien.
Miinster: Coppenrath. 1835. P. 28. 256.
A Systematic, Alphabetic Repertory of Homoeopathic Remedies. Part
First^ Embracing the Antipsoric, Antisyphilitic, and Antisycotic
Remedies. Translated from the Second German Edition. By C. M.
Boger, M. D., Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel. 1900. P. 269.
(Dr. Boger only edited Part I. of this work.)
Reviews: Allg. hom. Zeitung.' Vol. 8. P. 216. Vol. 7. P. 374. Brit. Jl.
Hom. Vol. 4. P. 439.
Uebersicht der Haupt-Wirkungs-Sphare der Antipsorischen Arzneien, so
wie der antisyphilitischen und antipsorischen, (welche in der zweiten
Ausgabe des Repertoriums nachgetragen sind) und ihrer charakterischen
Eigenthumlichkeiten, als Anhang zum Repertorium derselben. Miins-
ter: Coppenrath. 1833. P. 39.
(Summary View of the Chief Sphere of Operation of the Antipsoric Reme-
dies and of their Characteristic Peculiarities, as an Appendix to the
Repertory.)
Reviews of: Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 2. P. 102. Biblioth. Hom'que. Vol.
3. P. 60. 182.
Tableau de la principale sphere d' action et des proprietes caracteristiques
des remedes antipsoriques, precede d'un memoire sur la repetition des
doses du Dr. Hering, et de considerations generales sur les remedes
homoeopathiques, par T. Rapou, Paris: Bailliere. 1834 P. 352.
Versuch iiber die Verwantschaften der homoeopathischen Arzneien nebst
einer abgekiirtzten Uebersicht ihrer Eigenthumlichkeiten und Haupt-
wirkungen. Miinster: Coppenrath. 1836. P. 16. 266.
(Relative Kinship of Homoeopathic Remedies.)
Reviews of: Hygea. Vol. 4. P. 369. Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 8. P. 347.
Therapeutischea Taschenbuch fur homoeopathische Aerzte, zum Gebrauche
am Krankenbette und beim Studium der reinen Arzneimittellehre.
Miinster: Coppenrath. 1846. P. 510.
(Therapeutic Pocket Book.)
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344 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Bcenninghausen's Therapeutic Pocket Book for Homceopathists; to be used
at the Bedside of the Patient and in the Study of the Materia Medica.
Edited by A. Howard Okie, M. D., Boston: Otis Clapp. 1847. P. 180.
Therapeutic Pocket Book for Homoeopathic Physicians to be used at the
Bedside of the Patient and in studying the Materia Medica Pura«
Edited by Chas. J. Hempel, M. D., New York. Wm. Radde. 1847.
Bcenninghauseu's Therapeutic Pocket Book for Homoeopathic Physicians;
to use at the Bedside and in the Study of the Materia Medica. A new
American edition, by T. F. Allen, M. D., Philadelphia Hahnemann
Publ. House. 1891.
Manual of Homoeopathic Therapeutics intended as a Guide in the Study of
the Materia Medica. Translated from Dr. Roth's Improved French
edition. By J. Laurie, M. D., London: H. Bailliere. 1847. P. 493.
Manual Therapeutique a Tusage des Medicins homoeopathique destine a
servir de memorial pour la Clinique et de Guide pour V Etude de la
Matiere Medicale. Trad par Dr. Roth, Paris: Bailliere. 1846.
Boenninghausen (C. de) Manuel de therapeutique homoeopathique pour
servir de guide au lit des malades et a l'etude de la matiere medicale
pure. Traduit de l'allemand par le docteur D. Roth. Paris, 1846, 1
Vol. in-8, de lvi-570 p.
Reviews: Kirby's Amer. Jl. Hom'y. Vol. 1. Pp. 236, 248 (adv't. of). Horn.
Exam. n. ser. Vol. 2. P. 293. Brit. Jl. Horn. Vol. 6. P. 251. A.
H. Z. Vol 30. P. 364.
Kurze Belehrung fur Nicht-Aerzte iiber die Verhutung und Behandlung der
asiatischen Cholera, zufolge Beschlusses der Versammlung homoeopa-
thischer Aerzte Rheinlands und Westfalens vom 10 August, 1849.
Miinster: Coppenrath. 1849. P- I2 »
(Prevention and Cure of Asiatic Cholera.)
Der Homoeopathische Hausarzt in kurzen therapeutischen Diagnosen. Ein
Versuch. Miinster: Regensburg. 1853. P. 30, 142.
(Horn. Domestic Physician in Brief Therapeutic Diagnoses. An Attempt.)
Reviews: (notice) Quar. Horn. Jl. n. ser. Vol. 2. P. 188. A. H. Z. Vol.
42. P. 304. A. H. Z. Vol. 46. P. 212.
Beknopt onderrigt in het opmaken van een volledig ziektebeeld, en in de
kennis der met de natuur overeenstemmende dieet, ten behoeve der
homeopatische behandeling voor lecken in the geneeskunde. Amster-
dam. 1853. Ellermann.
De homeopatische huis-en-scheepdoctor, in korte therapeutische Diagnosen.
Uit het Hoogduitsch. Rotterdam. 1854. H. Nijgh.
Caracteristique des Expectorations des Medicaments Homceopathiques.
Trad, de Allemand par P. de Molinari. Bruzelles. 1857.
Los Lados del cuerpo, como tambten las affinidades de los medicametos
Estudios homeopaticos. Vertida del frances al castellano po. Ant.
Alvarez Peralta. Madrid, C. Bailliere. 1857. 4 to. P. 32.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY. 345
Die homoopathische Behandlung des Keuchhustens in seinen verschiedenen
For men. Miinster: Coppenrath. i860. P. 24, 130.
(Whooping Cough.)
The Homoeopathic Treatment of Whooping Cough. Trans, with additions
by Carroll Dunham, M. D., New York: H. M. Smith & Bro. 1870.
12 mo. P. 199.
Also published in Amer. Horn. Review. Vol. 6.
Reviews: N. Amer. Jl. Horn. Vol. 9. P. 330. Vol. 19. P. 136. Brit. Jl.
Horn. Vol. 18. P. 472. A. H. Z. Vol. 60. P. in.
Die Korperseiten und Verwandschaften Homoeopathie Studien. Miinster
9 Regensburg. 1853. P. 22.
(Sides of the Human Body and Relationships.)
The Sides of the Body and Drug Affinities. Homoeopathic Exercises.
Edited by Charles J. Hempel, M. D., Philadelphia: Rademacher &
Sheek. 1854. 12 mo. P. 28.
Les Cotes du Corps ainsi que les affinites des Medicaments. Etudes Homoe-
opathiques. Traduit de TAllemand par Ph. de Molinari. Bruxelles:
J. B. Tircher. 1857. P. 8, 22.
Reviews of: Allg. horn. Zeit. Vol. 46. P. 328. Brit. Jl. Horn. Vol. 12.
P. 301.
Sur la Valeur des Symptomes. Bailliere. Paris. 1864. P. 8.
Die Aphorismen des Hippocrates nebst den Glossen eines Homoeopathen.
Leipzig: Purfurst. 1863.
Les Aphorismes d'Hippocrate, accompagnes des Gloses d'un Homoppathe.
Trad, par Mourmans. Paris: Bailliere. 1864.
Reviews of: Brit. Jl. Horn. Vol. 21. P. 666. Allg. horn. Zeit. Vol. 65.
P. 88. Vol. 66. P. 64, 72, 152. Vol. 67. P. 13.
Bcenninghausen's Homoeopathic Therapia of Intermittent and other Fevers.
Translated with the Addition of New Remedies by A. Korndoerfer,-M.
D., New York. Boericke & Tafel. 1873. P- 243.
Bcenninghausen's Repertory to Intermittent Fever was translated by Dr. P.
P. Wells, and published in 189 r, as a Supplement to The Homoeopathic
Physician , Philadelphia.
The Sides of the Body and Kindred Remedies, Translated for The Homceo-
pathie Physician % and issued as a Supplement to Volume Twelfth ( 1892)
by J. D. Tyrrell, M. D., Philadelphia: The Horn. Physician. 1892.
P. 27.
MAGAZINE ARTICLES.
A Reproof. (Ruge.) Allg. hom. Zeitung. Vol.12. P. 359.
Concerning the Curative effects of Thuja in Smallpox. ( Ueber die Heil-
kraft der Thuja gegen Menschenblattern.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 37.
P. 21. Jl. de la Med. Hom. Vol. 4. 1848. P. 680.
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•346 BIBLIOGRAPHjf.
The High Potencies. (Die Hochpotenzen.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 38. P. 358.
Letter from Dr. Boenninghausen to Dr. Rummel. (Briefliche Mittheilung
des Herrn R — Raths Dr. von Boenninghausen an Dr. Rummel.) Allg.
hom. Zeit. Vol. 39. P. 98.
Contribution to the History of Homoeopathy. (Zur Geschichte der Homoe-
opathic.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 39. P. 339. Vol. 40. P. 96. Vol. 42.
P. 13.
Idea of a Systems Nosologicum. (Idee eines Systems nosologicum. j Allg.
hom. Zeit. Vol. 40. P. 17.
Typhoid Fever and High Potencies. (Nervenfieber und Hochpotenzen.)
Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 47. P. 57, 65.
Traumatic Ailments and High Potencies. (Traumatische Beschwerden und
Hochpotenzen.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 48. P. 43, 51, 61.
Concerning the Duration of the Action of Medicines. (Ueber die Wirkungs-
dauerder Arzneien.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 49. P. 81.
Something concerning the Genuine Ginseng Root. (Etwas iiber die wahre
Ginsenwurzel. ) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 50. P. 53, 61.
Concerning the Relative Value of Symptoms, and something about Bora*.
(Ueber den relativen Werth der Symptome, nebst Einigem iiber Borax.)
Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 52. P. 60, 68. Am. Hom. Rev. Vol 2. P. 147,
149.
Concerning some of the Rarer Varieties of Expectoration. (Einiges iiber
seltnere Arten von Hustenauswurf.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 53. p. 77.
Concerning Motion and Rest. (Ueber Bewegung und Rune. ) Allg. hom.
Zeit. Vol. 65. P. 141, 149. Am. Hom. Rev. V. 3. P. 289, 351.
Hom. Phys. Vol. 2. P. 479. V. 3. P. 26.
The Physician's Record Book. (Das Krankenjournal.) Allg. hom. Zeit.
Vol. 67. Pp. 129, 147, 163.
Cures of Animals and High Potencies. (Thierheilungen und Hochpotenzen.)
Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 67. P. 204.
Boenninghausen 's Last Work. ( Boenninghausen' s letzte Arbeit.) Allg.
hom. Zeit. Vol. 68. P. 57, 65, 73.
Hahnemann's Doses of Medicines. (Hahnemann's Arzneigaben.) Neues
Archiv. f. d. hom. Heilkunst. Vol. 1, pt. 2. P. 30.
Experience and the High Potencies (Die Erfahrung und die Hochpoten-
zen.) Neues Archiv. f. d. hom. Heilkunst (1846).- Vol. 3, pt. 2. P. 25.
From a Letter of Dr. Boenninghausen to Dr. Stapf. (Aus einem Briefe des
Herrn Regierungs-Rath D. v. Boenninghausen in Miinster an D. Stapf.)
Neues Archiv. f. d. hom. Heilkunst. Vol. 2, pt. 1. P. 89.
Three Precautionary Rules of Hahnemann. ( Drei Gautelen Hahnemann's.)
Neues Archiv. f. d. hom. Heilkuflst. Vol. 1, pt. 1. P. 69.
Also: Hom. Examiner, n. s. Vol. 1. P. 194. N. Am. Jl. Hom. Vol.
28. P. 201. Kirby's Amer. Jl. Hom. Vol. 7. P. 174. Vol. 8. P. 1.
Am. Hom. Rev. Vol. 5. P. 193, 252, 298.
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IBLN
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 347
Essay upon the Homoeopathic Treatment of Toothache. (Vortrag iiber
homoeopathische Heilung der Zahnschmerzen, gehalten am Februar
1835 in der (Allopathisch-) Aerztlichen Gesellschaft zu Miinster in
Westphalen.) Archiv. f. d. bom. Heilkunst. Vol. 15, pt. 2. P. 1.
Also in: (Kirny's) Amer. Jl. Horn. Vol. 6. P. 170. Trans, by G.
Lingen for Amer. Jl. Horn. 1838. P. 84.
Something concerning the Whooping Cough. (Etwas iiber den Keuchhus-
ten.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 53. P. 85.
Aluminium metallicum. Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 54. P 89, 97.
Tabes dorsales and Aluminium metallicum. Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol.57. P. 3,
12. Am. Horn. Rev. V. 1. P. 107.
The Vegetable Alkaloids. (Die vegetabilischen Alkaloide. ) Allg. hom.
Zeit. Vol. 57. P. 115.
The Choice of the Remedy. (Die Wahl des Heilmittels ) Allg. hom. Zeit.
Vol. 59. P. 125. Am. Hom. Rev. V. 2. P. 121.
The advantages of the High Potencies. (Die Vorziige der Hochpotenzen.)
Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 59. P. 171. Am. Hom Rev. Vol. 2. P. 209.
Contribution to the Judgment concerning the Characteristic Value of
Symptoms. (Ein Beitrag zur Beurtheilung des charakteristischen
Werths der Symptome.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 60. P. 73, 81, 89, 97.
Concerning Philoposia. (Ueber die Philoposie.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol.
60. P. 171.
Jenichen's High Potencies. (Die Jenichen'schen Hochpotenzen.) Allg.
hom. Zeit. Vol. 61. P. 70, 85.
The Value of High Potencies. (Zur Wiirdigung der Hochpotenzen.) Allg.
hom. Zeit. Vol. 61. P. 134, 140, 159, 164.
The Long Duration of Action. (Die lange Wirkungsdauer.) Allg. hom.
Zeit. Vol. 63. P. 117.
My Treatment of Membraneous Croup. (Mein Verfahren bei der hautigen
Braune.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 63. P. 127. Am. Hom. Rev. Vol. 2.
P. 561.
Anamnesis of Sycosis. (Zur Anamese der Sykosis.) Allg hom. Zeit. Vol.
65. P. 100. Am. Hom. Rev. Vol. 3. P. 241. Hom. Phys. Vol. 3. P.
321.
Advice of the Rhenish and Westphalian Homoeopathic Society concerning
questions relating to Vaccination. (Avis de la societe homoeopath i que
Rhenane at Westphalienne concernant les questions relatives a la Vac-
cine.) Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 48. P. 173.
Also: Brit. Jl. Hom. Vol. 13. P. 172. (Review and Criticism )
The Use of High Potencies in Homoeopathic Practice. Amer. Jl. Hom.
Vol. 7. P. 25, 41. N. Am. Jl. Hom. Vol. 28. P. 81. Hom. Times,
London. Vol. 3. P. 655, 669, 683.
Clinical Observations. Conversation with Dr. Bonneval. Jl. de la Med
Hom. Jan. 1850. Hom. Times, London. Vol. 2. P. 469. Amer. Jl.
Hom. Vol. 6. P. 38. N. Amer. Jl. Hom. Vol. I. P. 127.
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348 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Are the Highest Potencies capable of producing Exacerbation of the Symp-
toms? Horn. Exam. n. s. Vol. I. P. 326. Amer. Jl. Horn. Vol. 8.
P. 54.
Thuja as an Intercurrent Remedy. Allg. hom. Zeit. Vol. 63. P. 149. Am.
Horn. Rev. Vol. 3. P. 117.
On Toothache. Archiv. f. d. hom. Heilk. Vol. 15. Amer. Jl. Hom.
Vol. 6. P. 170. Amer. Hom. Rev. Vol. 6. P. 97, 133.
Written about two months before death. Sent to Dr. Mouremann, of
Brussels, for 1/ riomceopathe Beige. Trans, for American Hom. Review
from Re vista Omiopatica.
Career of. Brit. Jl. Hom. Vol. 12. P. 301.
Death of. Brit. Jl. Hom. Vol. 22. P. 351.
Biography. Bradford's Pioneers of Homoeopathy. P. 167.
Defects of his works. Brit. Jl. Hom. Vol. 12. P. 303.
Poem on, by Dr. Stens. A. H. Z. Vol. 68. P. 64.
Analytical Symptomatology. Index. By T. F. Allen, M. D. Publ. by
the Student Co., New York. (n. d.)
4 'To provide a ready reference to the subjects which constitute accord-
ing to the Bcenninghausen Idea the elements of the Symptomatology
of the Hom. Mat. Medica." P. 31. (Worked by card slips.)
Dr. Wm. Jefferson Guernsey in 1889 issued a box of cards to symplify the
study of the Pocket Book. See for description, Bradford's Bibliog-
raphy. P. 99.
References to Boenninghausen's Ther. Pocket Book. Grauvogl. Text
Book of Homoeopathy. Part II. P. 144.
Explanation of Boenninghausen's Concordances. Grauvogl. Text
Book. Part II. P. 194.
Concomitant Circumstances. Grauvogl. Part II. P. 211, 219.
Diplomas. A. H. Z. Vol. 42. P. 207. Vol. 62. P. 200.
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INDEX.
Action of Medicines 50
Long duration of 126
Of Belladonna . . ... 312
Affinities of Drugs and Sides of
Body . .321
Alkaloids, the Vegetable ... 90
Aluminium Metallicum 73
In tabes dorsalis 82
Anamnesis of Sycosis . 148
Animals, cure of with high
potencies .... ... 238
Asiatic Cholera, cure of . ... 278
Instructions to non-physicians 299
Prophylaxis of 299
Treatment of . . 299
Prevention 301
Attenuations, use of high . .169
Atropa Belladonna, action of . 312
Belladonna, action of 1 312
Bibliography 342
Body, sides of 321
Bcenninghausen, last work of . 308
Borax, Something about . . .59
Characteristic Value of Symp-
toms 105
Choice of the Remedy ... .94
Cholera, cure of Asiatic . . . 278
Instructions to non-physicians 299
Prophylaxis of 299
Treatment of 299
Prevention of 301
Clinical Observations . . . .181
Croup, Treatment of Membran-
ous 129
Diet, on Homoeopathic 268
Disease, Complete Image of the . 268
Direction for Forming Image
of 285
Dose, Smallness of the .... 186
Of Hahnemann 211
Expectoration, Rare Varieties of 66
Characteristic 67
Experience and High Potencies 244
Food, useful and forbidden . . . 268
Ginsing Root, Concerning Gen-
uine .54
Hahnemann, Three Precaution-
ary Rules of . . 183
Doses of Medicine of . . . . 211
High Potencies, Experience
and 244
In Typhoid Fever 22
Essay on . . 4
In Traumatic Ailments ... . 37
Advantages of 97
Jenichen's 130
Value of 137
Use of 169
Cure of Animals with 238
History of Homoeopathy . 14, 19
Homoeopathy, Cures by . ... 268
Contributions to History of 14, 19
Homoeopathic Diet 268
Image of Disease 268, 285
Jenichen, High Potencies of, . . 130
Letter to Staff 252
Rummel 11
Matters, old and new 311
Medicines, Long Duration of
Action of 126
Smelling of 1
Duration of Action 50
Hahnemann's Doses of . . . 211
Motion and Rest 159
Nosology, New System of ... 20
Observations, Clinical 181
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350
INDEX.
Old and New Matters 311
Philiposia, Concerning 121
Physician's Record Book .... 217
Prophylaxis of Cholera 299
Record Book, the Physician's .217
Remedy, Selection of the . . 194
Choice of the 94
Reproof, A 1
Rest, Concerning . . . . . 159
Rules, Three Precautionary of
Hahnemann 183
Rummel, letter to 11
Sides of body and drug affinities 321
Smallpox, Thuja in . . . 3
Staff, letter to 252
Sycosis, Anamnesis of • . . 148
Symptoms, Relative Value of . . 59
Characteristic Value of ... . 105
Systema Nosologica, New 20
Tabes dorsalis, Aluminium met.
in _ 82
Three Precautionary Rules of
Hahnemann 183
Thuja, Curative in Smallpox . . 3
Special Symptoms of 150
Toothache, .Essay on 258
Traumatic Ailments and High
Potencies 37
Typhoid Fever, High Potencies
in . . . 22
Vegetable Alkaloids 90
Veterinary Practice, Notice to
Cease From 14
Whooping Cough, Concerning . 71
Therapeutic Diagnosis . . 72
Work, last, of Boenninghausen . 308
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