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Boston 

MEDICAL  LIBRARY 


8  THE  FENWAY 


i 


THE  MONTHLY 


HOMEOPATHIC    REVIEW. 


.^^'' 


EDITED  BT 

ALFRED  C.  POPE,  M.D., 
D.  DICE  BROWN,  M.A^  M.D.J 

AMD 

A.  &  KENNEDY,  LRC.P.  EDIN. 


VOL.  XXVI. 


90nb;on: 


£.    60X7LD  &     SON,    69,    MOOBGATE    STREET, 

1882. 


,-:<ON  MEo^ 


rinv  5  r 


^/QRAB^,. 


LOHDON  : 

STBAKRft  BIOS,  'ft  <X>^    PBDrTBBS, 

36)  CBUIOIIILB  BnUEBTy  B.C. 


NCV    51918 


BvvwWf  1J6S.  If  18b* 


INDEX. 


m 


INDEX. 


Beviews  of  Books  will  be  foxmd  only  andar  tha  mud  "Bmiffm ;  *' 
sobjecks  from  ExtzBctsfrom  Medical  LitetatuxeTuidBr  themnd  "  EztnGBts ;  * ' 
and  AssoeiationB  under  the  word  ''  Hbm<Bqpatliic»'' 


A. 

AconiU  mTtaatA  AMeetioDB.,,  289 

Addreu  deliyered  before  the 
BntiahHomoBopathioSociefy, 
by  Alfred  C.  Pope,  MJ>.   ...  456 

AdTantages  of  HomcBopathy 
in  tiie  Treatment  of  the 
Insane,  by  Belden  H.  Taloott, 
MJ). 402 

Advertising  ..••••••••••^.•••..«.*.  662 

Allopathic  vemst  HomoBO- 
^thic  Theories,  by  Dr.  John 
Wilde    226 

Amateur  Dramatic  Perfor- 
mance   242,  804 

Amflrican      Ophthalmological 

and  Otological  Society  421 

480 


B. 


Bcptwta  in  Typhoid  FeF«r,  bf 
Dr.  Dyoe  Brown,  M.D.  ••^..  206 

Bathis,  Donald,  M.D,,  on 
Elaotzicity  115, 178, 228, 822»  548 

B^Uodonna  Poisoning   426 

BI.4KX,  8»  H.,  Esq.,  dinical 
Caaeip   with   Bemaziks,  by 

92,  890,  670 


.,  0.  H.,  M.D.^  On 
the  Influence  d[  Infinitesi- 
mal Quantities  in  tTiiin<p«g 
Pbysiological  Aotien,  by  ..» 
Blacxukt,  J.  G.,  M.B.,  Clinical 
X«ctore  on  EzysipelaSy  h|y.«. 


604 
188 


BAac 

Blindnsn,  A  Price  Esny  an 
tiie  Causes  and  Prevention  of   52 

Blindness,  Hints  for  the  Pre- 
Tentian  of  the  mcst  oonxmon 
Accidents  caosing  , 568 

Bluubeeg,  H.,  M.D.,  J.P.,  The 
Medicine  of  the  Fatnre,  hr  881 

Bnght*s  Disease,  hj  T.  E. 
Pnidom,  M.D.  •••«• .••  785 

British  Medical  AssodatifStr 
The  510 

Bbown,  D.  Dtcb,  MJ).,  Can 
BapHsia  cut  short  tnxe 
l^yphoid  Perer  ?  by  —• 208 

BuTOHXB,  W.  D.,  Esq.,  Perio- 
dicity of  Disease  and  of  Drug 
Action,  by J 654 


.^ 


0. 


Cardiac  Tfaanpeniiea,  Iqr  'SL 
Wkxid  PoEBtBT,  Esq... .^.^^^  846 

Case  of  dasftBO-lniBBtinal 
Hrnnmrhaga,  by  Dr.  ProelL    40 

Case  ol  MyooaioditiB  In  Bhaa- 
matic  Fever,  with  Bphygmo- 
gnqphio  Tracings,  by  Edward 
M.  Madden,  MJB.,  Bixmint- 

Case  of  ObnmB  Disane  of 
Stomach,  by  ^  JJayd 
TuKikBy,  MJ3.,  OJL  ^......  582 

Gases  of  Pericaiditai,  with 
Effmion,  by  J.  Hamiltnir 
jA^v;<ift}tniA^  ifn  ^,,^^,^  619 


IV 


INDEX. 


Monthly  HomoBopaflde 
Baview,  Deo.  l,  1883« 


Case  of  Pouoning  by  Sulphur, 
byEobortT.  Cooper,MJ)...    89 

Caseii,  Glixdcal,  with  Bemarks, 
I7  S.  H.  Blake,  Esq.   ...92, 

809, 890, 670 

Oastor-Ofl  Plant  as  a  Ply- 
KiUer    426 

Caetor-Oil,  Poisoning  by  427 

Chronio   Deafness,  Bemedies 
for,  by  T.  Cooper,  M.D....  729 

Clabkb,  JoBir  H.,  M J).,  Notes 
on  the  Antagonistio  Action 
of  Medicines,  with  some  Be- 
marks  on  Ohzonio  Poison- 
ings, by ^...,  688 

Clabxz,  Johx  H.,  M.D.,  Two 
Spirits  in  Medicine,  by 164 

Ci*iUDB,  Dr 662 

Clinical  Cases,  with  Bemarks, 
by  S.  H.  Blake,  Esq.  ...  92, 

209,  890,  670 

Clinical  Leoinre  on  Erysipelas, 
by  J.  Galley  Blackly,  M.B..  188 

Clinical  Proofs  of  the  Efficacy 
of  Infiniiesiinal  Doses,  by 
Dr.  P.  Jonsset 409 

Colds,  «*  A  Mere  Noth^*'   ...  240 

Congenital  Deformity,  A  Case 
of,  Beported  by  Dr.  Morxis- 
Bon    288 

Congress,  The  Approaching...  609 

Convalescent  Home,  Slon^...  761 

COOPSB,  BOBXBT  T.,  MJ).,  A 
Case  of  Poisoning  by 
Sulphur,  by 89 


D. 


<*  Death  of  HomoBopathy  "   ...  248 
Diploma  of  the  London  School 
of   HomcBopathy,  Bemarks 
on  the  Proposedy  by  Alfred 

C.  Pope,  M.D 274 

Dispensaries,  Onr  197 

Drug  Selection,  On  the  Prin- 
ciples of,  by  Alfred  C.  Pope, 

M.D 9 

Dmgs,  On  the  Study  of  the 
Effects  and  Mode  of  Aetien 
of.  by  Alfred  0.  Pope,  M.D.    77 

«<  Drank  or  Dying'*    668 

DauiT,  WxLLUK  v.,  MJ)., 
The  Search  after  Troth,  by  677 


E. 


PACK 


Ebxtbt,  Lord,  Testimonial  to...  286 

Electricity,  Its  Physiological 
Actions  and  Therapeutic 
Uses,  by  Donald  Baynes, 
M.D 116. 178, 223,  322, 648 

Eiysipelas,  Clinical  Lecture  on 
by  J.  GaU^  Blackly,  M3.   188 

ETil,  The  King's 668 


F. 


FoBSTEB,  E.  Wood,  Esq., 
Cardiac  Therapeutics,  by  ...  846 

FsiNKLiN,  E.  C,  M.D.,  Lupus 
audits  Treatment  with  Hy- 
droeotyle  AiioHea,  by    81 


G. 

Gastro-Intestinal  Hemorr- 
hage. A  Case  of,  Inr  Dr. 
ProeU   


40' 


H. 

HahuemanTi  CouYalesoent 
Home,  Boumemoutii 867 

Hahnemann  Publishing  So- 
ciety  669,  690 

*<  Hahnemannians,"    671,  696 

Hair,  The  Trade  in  False 669 

Harper,  Testimonial  to  Dr.  606,  660 

Hemorrhage,  Gastro-Intes- 
tinal, A  Case  of,  by  Dr.  ProeU    40 

Hering's  latest  Works,  Con- 
stantino      442 

HomoBopathio  Congress,  The 
British 601,  620 

Homoeopathic  Convention, 
International,  Transactions 
of  the     876,  421 

Homoeopathic  Diplonm,  llie 
London 818,  879 

Homoeopathic  Dispensary, 
Bournemouth,  Beport  of  the 
Hahnemann  Convalescent 
Home  and    867 


MonlUy  HmnflBopiitliio 
BfliioWt  D60. 1)  1689« 


INDEX. 


PAoa 
HonuBopatliio        Dispenaaxy, 

DeYon  and  OoxnwaU  S67 

HomiBopsihio        Dispensaiy, 

HastingB    and     St.    Leon- 

arda  198,  234 

HomoBopathio        Diepensaxy, 

liiretpool 233 

HoouBopalhio  J>i8pen8az7, 
Neweaatle-on-Tyxia,  1881  ...  867 

Homoeopaihio  DispenBaiy, 
Oxford  884 

Homodopathio  DispenBariefl, 
Bed  urn  and  Beigate 192 

HomoBopathio      Engineering, 

Wicked 486.  507 

HomoBopathie  Hospital,  Bath  288 
HomcBopathio   Hospital,  Bir- 
min^m 128 

HomcBopathio  Hospital,  Lon- 
don (Notes  on),  58, 155, 245, 
304,  817,  857,  867,  421, 

505,  558,  685,  750 
HanuBopathio  Hospital,  Mel-- 
boome 867 

Homoeqpathio  Institution,  Not- 
tinghamshire    130 

flomoBopathio  Medioo-Ohimr- 
gioal  Society,  Liyerpool, 
Meeting  of  the 235 

HomoBopathic  Patients,  One 
Way  of  Treating  (r)  699 

HomoBpathio  Physicians  and 
German  Watering  Places  ...  568 

HomoBopatiiic  Ftaotice,  by  Dr. 
B.  Hughes    480 

HomoBopathio  Pnbliidiing  So- 
eiety,  Amerioan 448 

BomoBopathic  Society,  British, 
55,  180,  191,  245,  806,  867, 

456,  505 

HomflBopathy  and  Medical 
Ethioa  in  the  State  of  New 
York 414 

HomoBopaihy  and  the  New 
Medical  BiU 188 

HomoBopathy  and  "HomoBO- 
pathy"  877,  439 

«'HomoBopathy,  Death  of"  ...  248 

Homceopathy,  Experiences 
with,  by  Ide  Stettin,  M.D.  264 

fiomiOBopathy,  **  HomoBopathy  " 
and  Sisientific  Pbysicians  ...  307 

HonuBopathy  in  Cleveland  ...  421 

Homoeopathy  in  India   687 

HomcBopathy  in  Spain,  lay 
Ghailfis  Lloyd  Tnckey,  M3.  826 


PAOB 

HomoBopathy  in  the  State  of 
New  York 253 

Homceopathy  in  the  UniteHd 
States 867,  421 

HomcBopaihy,  Eer,  Dr.,  On 
the  Propagation  of 505 

HomoBopathy,  London  School 

of  (Notes  on),  50,56, 129, 242, 

274,  298,  806, 367,  421, 

575,  655,  698 

HomoBopathy,  Posology  in  Eo- 
lation to,  by  Alfred  G.  Pope, 
M.D 139 

HomoBopatby,  Progress  of 53 

HomoBopathy,  the  American 
Institute  of  502 

Homceopathy,  TA«  Lancet  on  555 

HomcBopathy,  Tbe  Licentiate 
in  ...194,  246,  247,  248,  249,  250 

Homoeopathy,  the  Boyal  College 
of  Physicians  on 65 

HomoeopaUiy  vemu  Allopathy 
in  the  Denver  Almshouse  ...  241 

Horses,  The  Treatment  of 
Splints  in,  by  W.  B.  B. 
Scriven,  M.D 87 

How  Infectious  Disease  is 
Spread  248 

Eydrocotyle  Asiatiea,  Lupus 
and  its  Treatment  with,  by 
E.  C.  Franklin,  M.D 31 

Hygiene,  An  Address  on,  by 
M.  Both,  MJ) 66 

Hyoieiamia  in  Mental  De- 
rangement   288 

HUGHBS,      Dr.     BiCHARD,      ou 

HomoBOpathlc  Practice  480 

HnsHDAUi,  J.  S.,  Esq., 
M.B.C.Y.S.,  Veterinary 
Sdence 712 


L 


lodoforMt  Oaution  in  the  Use  of  429 

Infinitesimal  Doses,  Proofs  of 
the  EfELcaqy  of,  by  Dr.  P. 
Jousset 409 

Infinitesimal  Quantities.  On 
the  Influence  of,  in  inducing 
Physiological  Action,  by 
C.  H.  Blackley,  M.D 604 

Insane,    The   Advantages   of  - 
Homoeopathy  in  the  Treat- 
ment of  the,  by  Selden  H. 
Tatoott,M.D 402 


71 


Un^EX. 


Monthly  HoBKBopi^thie 
Bflviow,  Deo.  1«  IfiOL 


PAOB 


InteBtinsl  Obstrnoticm,  An 
Aooonnt  of  a  Bare  Case  of, 
with  BenuurkB,  by  £.  IL 
Madden,  M.B. 494 

Iri$  V&nioolor,  Bpurioxu  ....^  608 


J. 


JmaEB,*B,     Professor,     Neural 

Ajxalysifl,  by  Percy  B.  Wilde,. 

M3 841 

JonsasT,  Dr.  P.,  Clinical  Ihroofti 

of  the  £f&cacy  of  Infiniteai. 

mallkaaB,  by .^....^  409 


Eeb,  Dr.,  On  the  Propagation: 

of  Homceopathy 505 

Eing'B  Evil,  The .,  568 


L. 


Lancet  on  EomoDopathy,  The  555 

Lead  Poisoning  421 

LeaTee,  Poisonous 567 

Iilgaoy  to  the  London  Homoo* 

pathic  Hospital   505 

Lnpns  and  its  Treatment  with 
Hydrocotyle  Anatica,  by 
E.  C.  Franklin,  M.D SI 


MagKxcbrib,  J.  H.,  M.D., 
Gases  of  Pericarditis  with 
Eflusion,  by 519 

Maddbn,  E.  M.,  M.B.,  Case  of 
Intestinal  Obstruction,  by...  494 

Maddxv,  E.  M.,  M.B.,  Myo- 
carditis in  Bheumatic  Feyer, 
by 173 


FAGS 

Medical  Acts  Commission 445 

Medical  Ethics  and  HomcBO- 
pathy  in  the  State  of  New 
York ^ 414 

Medicine  as  a  Civilising  Agent  481 

Medicine  of  the  Future,  The, 
by  H.  Blumberg,  M.D.,  J.P.  Sftl 

Medicine,  Two  Spirits  in,  A 
Beview  by  John  H.  Cladce, 
M.D 164 

Medicines,  Notes  on  tiie  Anta- 
gonistic Action  of,  by  John 
H.  Clarke,  M.D 588 

Mental  Derangement,  Hyotci- 
amtain 238 

Mind  and  Matter,  A  Case  of 
Congenital  Deformity,  Be- 
portedby  Dr.  Morrisson  ...  288 

Mineral  Waters,  Falsification 
of 486 

Modern  Scaentifio  Therapeor 
tics    695 

MoBBiflBON,  Dr.,  Mind  and 
Matter,  A  Case  of  Congeni- 
tal Deformity,  Beported  by  288 

Movement  Cups,  The     128 

Myocarditis  in  Bheumatio 
Fever,  by  E.  M.  Madden, 
M3.,  Binningham «».*.*  178 


N. 

Nephritis,  Acute  Suppurative, 
by  Walter  T.  P.  Wolston, 
M.D ^ 

Neural- Analysis,  Professor 
JaBger's,  by  Percy  B.  Wilde, 
M.B 

New  Preparations 


.••«•...••»••. a 


642 


841 
807 


0. 


Ophthalmologieal  and  Otolo- 
gioal  Society,  The  American  421 

Opiates  and  Peristalsis 480 

Otological  and  Ophthalmc^ogi- 
cal  Society,  The  American...  421 

Obituabt  : — 
Cronin,  Edward,  MJ>....  193,  245 
Gray,  John  Franklin.  MJX   486 


-  -      1,   - 


INDBX. 


TO 


P. 

PAOK. 

IPiKrifl,  Some  Kotes  of  a  Becent 
Yimt  to,  by  M.  Both,  M.D.    406 

••PamileB" 236 

^•Pathies"  ^ 430 

Pathology 482 

Pericarditis,  with  'Effusion, 
Gases  of,  by  J.   Hamilton 

MacKeehnie,  M.D 519 

PeriodioBisordeiB,  by  L.Salzer, 

M.D.,  Calcutta    664 

Periodicity  of  Disease  and  of 
Dnig  Action,  byW.  Deane 

Batcher,  Esq 654 

Peristalsis  and  Opiates 480 

Thofphonu   in    Ether,    Solu- 
bility of,  by  J.  M.  Wybom. . .    44 
Physicians,  The  Besolution  of 

the  College  of 128 

FodaphyUin,    Effects    of    an 

Oyerdoseof 428 

PolBonons  LeaYos  *  567 

PopB,  A.  C,  M.D.,An  Address 
deliTered  before  the  British 
HomcBopathio  Society,  by...  456 
PopB,  A.  C,  M.D.,    On  the 
Prineii^esof  Drug  Selection,      9 

by 

Pops,  a.  0.,  M.D.,  On  the 
Study  of  the  Effects  and 
Mode  of  Action  of  Drugs,  by    77 

Pops,  A.  0.,  M.D.,  Posology 
in  Belation  to  Homoeopathy, 
by 139 

Pqfb,  a.  C.«  M.D.,  Bemarks 
on  tiie  Proposed  Diploma  of 
the  Iiondon  School  of  Homos- 
opatfay,  by    274 

Poflology  in  jEtelation  to  Homoe- 
opathy, \fj  A.  C.  Pq>e,  M  J).  189 

Practitianers,  Unqualt&ed 432 

Prise  Essay 686 

^BOBLL,  Dr.,  A  Case  of  Gastro- 
Litestinsl  Hwmorr hage,  by     40 

PuBDOx,  T.  B.,  Esq.,  Bright^i 
Disease 785 

Pbitfaig  sway  the  Pattues 867 


PAGE 

Both,  M.,  M.D.,  Some  Notes 

of  a  Becent  Visit  to  Paris,  by  406 
BsTixws : — 

A  Letter  to  the  Medical  Acts 
Commission,  by  Di. 
William  Bayes 121 

American  Medicinal  Plants, 
by  Charles  F.  Millspan^ 
M.D 619 

A  Treatise  on  Diseases  of 
the  Bye,  by  Henry  C. 
Angell,  MJO ^  fiOD 

A  Treatise  on  the  MedioBl 
and  Surgical  Diseases  of 
Women,  by  Morton  Monro 
Eaton,  M.D ^  351 

Comparative  Therapeutics, 
By  Samuel  0.  Potter,  M  J).  558 

Faulkner's  Yisiting  List    •••  738 

Hahnemann  as  a  Medical 
Philosopher;  TheOr^afwrn. 
Being  the  Second  Hahne- 
mannian  Lecture,  1881, 1^ 
Biohard  Hughes,  L.B.C.P. 
Bdin 289 

Insanity  and  its  Treatment, 
by  Samuel  Worcester,M.D.  386 

Ophthalmic  Therapeutics, 
by  G.  S.  Norton,  M.D.  ^  290 

Bheumatism,byT.  Maclagan, 
M.D 46 

SpedalPathology  and  Thoa- 
peutic  Hints,  Baue 190 

Sopersalinity  of  the  Blood, 
by  J.  Compton  Buznett, 
M.D 419 

The  Delegates  from  the 
United  States  of  America 
to  the  InternationflJ 
Homoeopathic  Convention 
held  in  London,  July,  1881  191 

The  Human  Ear '  and  its 
Diseases,  by  W.  H.  Win- 
slow,  MJ).,  Ph.D.  849 

The  new  Handbook  of  Doso- 
metric  Therapeutics,  by 
Dr.  Ad.  Burggrave 420 


Bepoct  of  fhe  Medical  Acts 
Commission 445 

fioiB,  M.,  M.D.,  An  Address 
on  Hyi^ene,  by  105 


S. 


Salzsb,  L.,  M.D.,  Calcutta, 
Periodic  Disorders,  by    664 

SoBivEN,  W.  B.  B.,  M.D.,  The 
Treatment  of  Splints  in 
Horses,  by 87 


"VUl 


INDEX. 


Monthly  HonMBopstlito 


PA  OK 

Slough,  ConTalesoent  Home  at  761 

Small  Pox  in  Chicago 55 

Smith,    J.    Edwabds,    M.D., 

Gleyeland,    Ohio,   Bemarks 

and  Suggestions  Conoeming 

Certain  Homceopathio  Tritn- 

rations,  by ..•■  682 

Solnbility   of    Photphanti   in 

Bthir,  by  J.  M.  Wyborn  ...  44 
Spain,   Homoeopathy   in,    by 

0.  L.  Tuckey,  M.B.,  CM....  826 
Splints  in  Hones,  Treatment 

of,  by  W.  B.  B.  Scriyen,  M J).  87 
Snlphnr,  A  Case  of  Poisoning, 

by  Bobert  T.  Cooper,  M.D.    39 

Snzgery  versus  Medicine    484 

Stomach,    Case    of    Obsooie 

Disease  of   the,   by  0.  L. 

Tnekey,  M.B.,  CM 532 


T. 

Talcott,  Sbldbk  H.,  M.D., 
The  Advantages  of  Homoeo- 
pathy in  the  Treatment  of 
the  Lisane,  by 402 

Testimonial  to  Dr.  Harper,  505,  560 

Testimonial  to  Lord  Ebnry  ...  235 

Thein,  The  Headache  of,  by 
Bobert  T.  Cooper,  M.D.    ...  689 

Therapeutics,  Modem  Scien- 
tific      695 

Therapeutics,  The  Importance 
of  54 

Throat  Affections,  Aennite  in  239 

Treatment  of  Splints  in 
Horses,  by  W.  B.  B.  Scriven, 
M.D 37 

Tritmrations,  Bemarks  and 
Suggestions  Concerning 
certain  Homoeopathic,  by 
J.  Edwards  Smith,  M.D., 
Cleveland,  Ohio   682,  721 

Truth,  The  Search  after,  by 
W.V.Drury,M.D.,M.B.IJL  577 


PAoa 

Two  Corrections  —  Degrees, 
PalliativeB    570 

Two  Spirits  in  Medicine,  A 
Beview,  by  John  H.  Clarke, 
MJ) 164 

TucxsT,  C.  L.,  M.B.,  Case  of 
Obscure  Disease  of  Stomach, 
by 632 

TncKBT,  C  L.,  M.B.,  Homoeo- 
pathy in  Spain    326 

T;^hoid  Fever?  Can  BapHsia 
Cut  Short  True,  by  D.  Dyce 
Brown,  M.A.,  M.D 203 


U. 


UrethritiBr  Is  there  a  Specific  696 


V. 


Vaccination,    Protecting   In-; 

fluence  of 857 

Veterinary  Science,  by  J.  S., 
Humdall,EBq.,M.B.CV.S.,  712 


W. 

Weather   245 

Wilds,  Pebot  B.,  M.B.,  Ptof. 
J»ger*8  Neural  Analysis,  by  341 

WzLDX,  Dr.  John,  Allopathic 
versus  Homoeopathic  Theo- 
ries, by 226 

WoLBTON,  Waltbb,T.  P.,  M.D., 
A  Case  of  Suppurative 
Nephritis,  with  Bemarks,  by  642 

Wtbobn,  J.  M.,  Note  on  the 
Solubility  of  Phosphorus  in 
Sther,  by 44 


2!SSiS'STS»*'  A  twelve-month's  teachihos. 


I  ,--  '^N   ^iEC- 


J 


1^    1  r/^^gfii  LI  r  "IT 


HOMOEOPATHIC    REVIEW^ 


A  TWELVE-MONTH'S  TEACHINGS. 

The  year  1881,  with  its  niunerons  eventfal  episodes,  has 
passed  into  history,  and  has  been  franght  more  than  most 
of  its  predecessors  with  lessons  well  worthy  of  the  carefal 
thought  of  all  true-hearted,  honest  homoeopaths. 

Great  military  commanders  have  commended  to  their 
subordinates  the  frequent  and  careful  study  of  bygone 
campaigns,  knowing  well  that  it  is  only  by  a  thorough 
insight  into  the  fiedlings  of  others,  that  we  can  attain  to 
snoeess  in  the  future.  While  no  man  can  command  success, 
it  is  in  the  power  of  many  to  prevent  failure  by  forethought* 

Let  us,  then,  lay  on  our  oars  for  awhile,  and  scan  the 
way  by  which  we  have  come  these  past  twelve  months. 

The  most  noteworthy  event  of  the  year,  without  doubt, 
has  been  the  Intbbnational  HoMoaoPATHio  Cokventiok, 
which  assembled  in  London  in  July  last.  We  can  easily 
conceive  that  the  presence  of  so  many  homoeopathic  prac* 
titioners  in  the  metropolis,  representing  such  a  large 
number  of  brethren  in  all  lands,  must  have  been  a  rude 
blow  to  those  ostriches  of  the  profession  who  would  fain 
have  their  little  world  believe  with  than  that  homoeopathy 
is  like  that  extinct  bird,  the  Dodo.  All  we  can  say  is,  tiiat 
the  extinct  system  showed  itself  pretty  lively  at  the  Con- 
vention. 

Yol.  36,  No.  h  B 


^ 


4  A  TWSLTE-HOirrH's  TEACHINGS.  '%^'^S|!'?i8aL 

A  more  BeriooB,  because  a  more  direct  attack  on  homiBO- 
pathy,  was  an  anonymous  letter  thereon  which  appeared  in 
the  Times  of  Good  Friday  last.  Evidently  written  by  a 
medical  man,  it  contained  certain  charges  against  the 
character  of  homcBopaths,  as  such^  which,  had  they  been 
written  regarding  a  private  individual  by  one  who  had  had 
sufficient  honesty  to  sign  his  name,  would  to  a  certainty 
have  insured  his  appearance  in  a  court  of  law  at  no  very 
distant  date.  Several  homcsopathio  practitioners  replied  to- 
these  letters,  but  a  collective  protest  passed  by  the  Bbhish 
HoM<BOPATHia  SodETTy'at  a  special  meeting,  was  refused 
admission,  and  the  high-souled  author  of  the  original  letter 
remains  hidden  under  the  wing  of  the  editor  of  '^  the  leading 
journal." 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  turn  from  this  picture  of  bigotry  and 
ignorance  to  take  a  glance  at  a  more  liberal  phase  of  pro- 
fessional opinion  as  expressed  at  the  meeting  of  the  British 
Medical  Association  at  Byde.  What  a  stride  has  been 
made  by  this  body  since  1861 !  Surely  some  of  the 
departed  worthies  must  have  shuddered  in  their  graves  to 
hear  such  a  liberal  speech  as  the  following  from  the  Presi* 
dent,  Mr.  Bahbow  : — 

"  I  fail  to  see  how  a  homcBopath  can  be  called  a  quack, 
or  why  he  should  be  tabooed  by  the  profession,  as  it  were, 
cut  off  from  a  position  amongst  medical  men,  forbidden  to 
gather  with  them,  and  prevented  from  discussing  publicly 
his  system  and  hearing  the  contrary  from  those  practising 
legitimate  medicine.  The  benefit  would  be  mutual,  and 
these  discussions  would  be  of  benefit  to  the  public,  and  an 
additional  proof  to  them  that  their  weal  was  uppermost  in 
our  minds." 

Similar  opinions  were  expressed  by  Mr.  Jonathan  Hutch- 
INSOK  and  Dr.  Bbistow  ;  a  sufficient  rebuke,  we  fanoyi 


BfJBWt  JflB.  %  IflBS. 


A  twxlve-honth'b  teaohinob. 


to  flie  anogance  and  insolence  so  noently  displayed  by 
Dr.  QuAiN  and  Sir  WnuAU  Jbnnib. 

This  policy  of  toleration  seems  to  have  ill  accorded  with 
ihe  feelings  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  Association,  for 
we  find  that»  on  September  21sty  a  specially  convened 
meeting  of  the  Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Branch  was  held 
at  Liverpool  for  the  pnrpose  of  once  more  condemning 
honuBopathy  and  homoBopaths  to  perpetnal  ostracism.  Alas 
for  poor  homc9opathy,  always  either  extinct,  or  aboub  to 
be  extingoished !  Fancy  the  Prime  Minister's  pertarbation 
on  being  informed  that  his  policy  had  been  severely 
eensnred  by  the  vestrymen  of  Slocnm  Podger ! !  Or  to  use 
a  simile  which  we  borrow  firom  an  allopathic  con/r^e,  fancy 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  being  excommunicated  by  an 
African  fetish. 

The  result  of  the  meeting  must  have  been  a  rude  shock 
to  the  exclusives;  an  amendment  according  freedom  of 
consultation — aye,  and  more  than  that,  freedom  of  opinion 
to  all  practitioners,  was  only  lost  by  a  vote  of  26  to  28,  and 
on  the  previous  question  being  moved,  the  fossilized  reso- 
Intion  was  withdrawn,  wheezing  and  gasping  after  its 
encounter  with  the  unexpected  shock  of  toleration.  To  its 
introducer  we  commend  a  little  speech  made  by  Mr.  Hawabd, 
of  St.  Oeorge's  Hospital.  ''Intolerance,*'  said  he,  ''has 
always  been  associated  with  ignorance."  Dr.  Lowkdes,  of 
Liverpool,  who  proposed  the  amendment,  deserves  much 
credit  for  giving  practical  utterance  to  a  feeling  which  we 
are  sure  is  to  be  found  in  a  large  portion  of  the  profession. 
The  day  has  long  gone  by  when  trades  unionism  can  force 
a  man  to  hold  any  one  particular  set  of  opinions.  Dr. 
.LowHBBS,  in  a  letter  to  the  BritUh  Medical  Joumaly  very 
clearly  enunciates  this  sentiment.  He  says,  "that  an 
association  founded  for  scientific  and  social  purposes 
degraded    itself  into  a  trades    union,   or  a  Boycotting 


6  A  twelve-month's  TBACHINOB.  ""^^^injiaBf 

machine^  when  it  hampered  and  haraased  its  members  by 
telling  them  what  line  of  practice  they  were  not  to  adopts 
and  what  kind  of  practitioners  they  were  not  to  meet." 

It  is  to  men  like  this  that  the  profession  will  look  for 
leaders  in  the  future,  and  not  to  those  who  by  luck  or 
favour  are  pitchforked  into  the  van  of  the  profession,  with- 
but  scant  scientific  claims  to  the  position. 

From  the  events  of  the  year,  it  must  be  evident  to  a 
careful  onlooker  that  a  more  liberal  spirit  of  enquiry  is 
gradually  diffusing  itself  through  the  profession  generally, 
and  we  have  every  reason  to  hope  that  at  the  commence- 
ment of  next  year  we  shall  have  to  congratulate  ourselves 
on  still  further  advances  on  the  road  to  recognition. 

The  word  ''  recognition"  brings  us  by  an  easy  transition 
to  the  London  School  of  Hom<eopathy.  This  institution 
seems  to  be  emerging  from  its  trials  and  promises  to  be  of 
signal  usefulness.  There  have  been  more  students  during 
this  than  in  any  previous  year,  and  the  interest  felt  by  the 
profession,  even  by  some  of  the  allopaths,  is  increasing, 
while  it  constitutes  what  we  have  long  wanted,  a  centre  at 
which  enquiry  may  be  made  regarding  homoeopathy. 

The  Hahnemann  Lecture  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Bichaei> 
Hughes,  who  took  for  his  subject,  ''Hahnemann  as  a  Medical 
Philosopher,**  as  shown  in  the  Organon,  The  Board-room 
of  the  Hospital  was  crowded  with  an  attentive  audience, 
amongst  whom  were  some  who  probably  had  never  trod 
on  homoeopathic  ground  before.  Dr.  Hughes'  lecture  was. 
a  masterly  exposition  and  vindication  of  the  therapeutic 
method  of  Hahnemann. 

The  School,  as  originally  constituted,  was  intended  as  a 
five  years'  experiment.  This  term  ended  at  the  close  of 
the  past  year.  By  some  it  was  advised  to  allow  the  School, 
to  lapse,  on  the  ground  that  it  had  not  proved  as  successful 


ItSS^^T^^^  A  twblvb-month's  teachings. 


JUificw,  Jan.  S,  1S8I. 


$B  it  was  hoped  that  it  would  do,  bat  it  has  been  wisely 
decided  to  carry  it  on  as.  heretofore.  The  number  of 
students  is  considerably  greater  than  it  ever  has  been,  and 
we  yentnre  to  prognosticate  a  steady  increase  in  numbers 
as  the  spirit  of  enquiry  makes  itself  more  and  more  felt 
amongst  students  and  practitioners.  We  feel  sure  that 
there  are  many  who  would  willingly  attend  the  lectures  if 
they  only  knew  of  their  existence. 

The  hospital,  too,  has  been  literally  undergoing  re-con- 
struction. It  was  found  by  the  surveyor  that  one  of  the 
outer  walls  was  in  an  unsafe  condition.  To  remedy  this 
the  wall  has  been  almost  entirely  rebuilt  from  the  founda- 
tion, and  structural  improvements  introduced  by  which  two 
wards  have  been  thrown  into  one,  both  on  the  first  and 
second  floors.  By  this  means  increased  accommodation 
has  been  obtained,  besides  improved  ventilation,  and  a 
greater  facility  in  the  nursing  arrangements  of  the  wards  ; 
while  the  large  amount  of  care  and  thought  which  is 
bestowed  upon  its  management,  as  a  letter  from  the 
treasurer  in  our  present  number  fully  shows,  gives  to  it 
additional  claims  upon  the  support  of  all  who  are  interested 
in  propagating  a  knowledge  of  homoeopathy,  and  of  extend- 
ing its  advantages  to  the  sick  poor. 

A  testimonial  has  been  arranged  to  that  staunch  supporter 
of  the  hospital  and  school.  Lord  Ebury.  A  full  length 
portrait  of  the  noble  lord  is  to  be  presented  to  Lady 
Ebuby  at  an  early  date.  This  testimonial  is  but  a  feeble 
expression  of  the  gratitude  which  we  feel  to  Lord  Ebury 
for  his  life-long  service  in  the  cause  of  homoeopathy.  It 
was  he  who,  on  the  only  occasion  when  the  system  had  a 
fiance  of  being  brought  before  Parliament,  successfully 
defeated  the  determined  effort  which  was  made  to  prevent 
the  voice  of  truth  being  heard,  and  obtained  the  publication 
of  the  cholera  returns  presented  to  the  Board  of  Health  by 


8  A  TWBLYE-MOKTHS'  TEACHINGS.  ^'bSw^SZ^^wSl 

the  medical  officera  of  the  hospital,  but  whieh  were  by  that 
board  endeayonred  to  be  stifled. 

Whilst  on  the  subject  of  testimonials^  we  mnst  not  omit 
mention  of  the  complimentary  dinner  which  was  given  to 
Dr.  Bayes  at  the  Orosrenor  GhiUery  on  the  27th  of  April, 
on  the  occasion  of  his  leaving  London  for  Brighton.  Dr. 
Bayes*  long  professional  career,  and  his  ardnons  labours  on 
behalf  of  the  good  cause,  have  entitled  him  to  the  best 
wishes  of  all  who  know  him.  A  handsome  album,  with  an 
illuminated  inscription,  was  presented  as  a  token  of  regard 
from  about  fiffcy  of  his  brethren.  The  dinner  was  most 
successful,  and  cannot  fail  to  have  done  something  towards 
establishing  a  healthy  esprit  de  corps^  a  feeling  by  the  way 
in  which  we  fear  many  homoeopaths  are  lamentably  deficient. 

The  appointment  of  Mr.  Ejyox  Shaw  as  Medical  Officer 
of  Health  for  Hastings,  proves  that  there  is  nothing  but 
medical  trades  unionism  to  prevent  homoBopaths  from 
obtaining  any  post  which  a  legally  qualified  medical  man 
can  fill,  and  we  trust  that  others  will  be  encouraged  to  try 
in  their  respective  districts  to  secure  some  such  position. 
There  is  no  reason  why  in  England,  as  in  America,  homoeo- 
paths should  not,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  be  regarded  as  in 
every  way  the  legal  equals  of  allopaths. 

After  every  campaign  comes  the  sad  duty  of  calling  the 
roll  of  the  missing ;  since  last  New  Year  several  gaps  have 
been  made  in  our  ranks. 

The  names  of  Dalzell,  Laubie,  and  Leadam  will  be 
looked  back  upon  with  regret  by  all  who  came  within  their 
circle.  Each  was  well  known  as  an  earnest  worker,  and 
although  of  late  years  through  various  causes,  not  so  often 
heard  of,  yet  their  efforts,  each  in  his  own  way,  to  promote 
the  advancement  of  scientific  medicine  will  prove  their 
lasting  memorial. 


Xafiev,  Jan.  %  Ifltt. 


DBUa  BXLECTION.  9 


Not  BO  widely  known^  yet  not  the  less  missed,  were 
Dr.  Hale  Txtdoe,  Mr.  G.  Williams  and  Mr.  H.  Bobebtson. 

In  condnsiony  we  would  nrge  upon  all  the  duty  of  giving 
not  only  a  passiye,  bat  an  active  support  to  our  literature. 
It  is  not  sufficient  merely  to  subscribe  to  one  of  the 
journals,  and  to  read  and  enjoy  the  fruits  of  other  men's 
labours;  far  better  would  the  result  be,  if  each  would 
look  out  for  eases  of  interest  and  instruction,  with  a 
▼iew  to.  their  being  recorded  for  the  future  benefit  of 
homoeopathy.  There  is  a  sad  lack  of  that  element  which 
Abounds  in  the  earlier  volumes  of  the  Review, — clinical 
cases,  and  drug  indications. 

The  laity,  too,  are  quite  capable  of  reading  with  enjoy- 
ment much  which  medical  men  are  apt  to  think  is  too 
scientific  for  them,  and  a  word  from  the  physician  would 
ofttimes  induce  an  extended  circulation  in  this  direction. 

We  look  forward  to  1882  with  hopeful  confidence,  sure 
that  if  we  only  use  a  little  personal  exertion,  homoeopathy 
at  its  close  will  stand  in  even  a  better  position  than  at  the 
dose  of  1881.  Much  has  been  done,  and  well  done ;  but 
more  may  be  done  without  much  difficulty.  Public  opinion 
must  be  formed,  prejudice  gently  combated,  enquiry 
encouraged,  and  in  good  time  we  shall  see  the  full  daylight 
of  which  we  are  even  now  experiencing  the  dawn. 

ON  THE  PRINCIPLES  OP  DRUG  SELECTION.* 

By  AiiFimD  C.  Pope,  M.D., 

Lecturer  on  Materia  Madioa  at  tMe  LoDdon  School  of  HomoBopathy,  Aq. 

In  commencing  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  medicinal 
properties  of  drugs,  I  think  it  may  be  both  appropriate  and 
convenient  to  devote  some  little  time  to  the  consideration 
of  those  principles  which  are  calculated  to  guide  the 
physician  in  the  selection  of  the  drug  remedies  he  employs 

*  A  Lecture  delivered  at  the  London  Sohool  of  Homoaopathy,  October 
6th,  1681. 


10  DBUO  SBLBCTION.         *'S!J£lSS??TSr 


B«vieir,  Jan.  9,  IStt. 


in  his  endeayonrs  to  cure  or  relieve  disease.  This  appears 
to  me  to  be  specially  desirable  at  the  present  time,  in  view 
of  the  yarious  letters  and  essays  bearing  upon  homoeopathy 
which  haye  appeared,  during  the  last  few  months,  in  the 
general  as  well  as  in  the  medical  press. 

The  Lancet^  for  example,  told  its  readers  in  an  ''  anno- 
tation "  on  the  11th  of  Jane,  that  it  was  "  a  matter  of 
perfect  indifference  to  a  sick  man  or  his  friends  how  the 
physician  selects  his  dmgs."  A  statement  like  this  is  too 
absurd  to  require  refutation.  The  real  secret  of  success  in 
prescribing  drugs  consists  in  making  a  correct  selection  of 
them.  Whatever  views  we  may  hold  as  to  the  modus- 
operandi  of  a  drug,  certain  definite  principles  are  operative 
when  medicinal  agents  are  chosen  and  prescribed. 

These  I  propose  to  consider  briefly  to  day. 

The  principles  of  drug  selection  will  be  found  to  be  six 
in  number — ^the  analeptic,  the  anti-parasitic,  the  empirical^ 
the  antipathic,  the  allopathic  and  the  homoeopathic. 

On  one  or  other  of  these  principles  drugs  are  prescribed 
by  all  physicians. 

A  certain  number  of  remedies  are  given  as  analeptics — 

substances  with   supply  material,  the  lack  of  which  the 

physician  presumes  is  the  causa  morbi.     For  example,  in 

ansemia  iron  is  known  to  be  in  diminished  amount  in  the 

blood — hence,  iron  is  prescribed  medicinally.     Again,  in 

other  states,  certain  salts  of  lime,  such  as  phosphates,  are 

defective  in  amount,  and  hypo-phosphites  are  accordingly 

introduced  into  the  body.    At  the  first  blush  this  basi9  of 

drug  selection  appears  thoroughly  rational  in  the  class  of 

cases  in  which  it  is  adopted.      We  know,  for  example,  that 

in  rickets  and  mollitus  ossium  certain  of  the  constituents 

of  bone  are  wanting ;  these  being  so,  what  proceeding  can, 

apparently,  be  more  in  harmony  witib  common  sense  than 

to  give  such  salts  to  the  patient.     But  when  we  come  to 

ask  ourselves  why  these  salts  are  not  present  in  the  bones, 

why  the  food  which  is  adequate  to  provide  them  in  one 

child  is  incapable  of  doing  so  in  another,  we  are  compelled 

to  trace  their  absence,  not  merely  to  a  defective  supply,  but 

to   an   inadequate  power   on   the   part  of  the  patient  to 

assimilate  or  appropriate  them  when  supplied.     Hence  it 

is  not  simply  a  lack  of  the  salts  that  we  have  to  make  good, 

but  it  is  a  defective  power  of  assimilating  such  salts  that- 

we  have  to  cure.      As  Dr.  Henry  Madden  puts  it :  "  The 

same  viands  may  form  the  daily  food  of  the  healthful  rosy 


jfiSSfST'^^i^       DBUG  SBLECnON.  11 


JUmew,  Jan.  %  18B8. 


maiden  and  the  pale  chlorotio  girl,  and  the  same  breast 
may  noarish  the  strong  child  and  its  pnny  rachitic 
brother ;  the  pabolom  supplied  to  both  may  be  precisely 
similar,  but  tiie  appropriating  power  being  diYerse,  the 
results  prove  widely  different.''* 

On  the  other  hand,  experience  has  shown  (or  perhaps  I 
should  say  has  appeared  to  show)  that  good  results  may  be 
obtained  by  prescribing  materials  the  want  of  which  is  the 
most  palpable  manifestation  of  the  morbid  state.  This  is 
explicable  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  best  stimulus  to  any 
oi^an  is  the  presence  of  the  material  on  which  it  is  intended 
to  act.  This  being  so,  the  dose  of  the  medicine  is  not 
necessarily  a  large  or  physiological  dose,  but  one  just  suffi- 
cient, and  no  more  than  sufficient,  to  rouse  the  tissues  tO' 
increased  action. 

Of  the  possibility  of  acting  efficiently  upon  the  human 
organism  by  supplying  material  in  which  it  is  evidently 
wanting,  we  have  had  of  late  years  some  interesting  evi- 
dence in  papers  by  Dr.  Tuckey,  of  Cork,  in  the  Procrittoner, 
1878,  and  by  Dr.  Burnett  in  the  Monthly  HonuBopathie 
Review  for  1880.  The  mod/as  operandi  of  such  remedies 
is  probably  that  of  a  specific  stimulus.  But  after  all,  when 
we  have  said  all  that  can  be  said  in  favour  of  remedies  of 
this  class  in  certain  forms  of  disease,  there  still  remains 
the  objection  to  our  rehance  upon  it,  save  perhaps  in  iso- 
lated cases,  that  the  defect  lies  in  an  imperfect  power  of 
assimilating  certain  salts  provided  by  the  food,  rather  than 
in  an  insufficiency  of  the  salts  themselves.  Hence,  rational 
medicine  would  direct  us  to  consider,  in  our  selection  of 
suitable  drug-remedies,  such  as  are  competent  to  deal  with 
the  imperfect  power  of  nutrition. 

Secondly,  In  a  limited  class  of  cases  the  maxim  cavsd 
iuUatd  toUitur  effecius  is  capable  of  being  acted  upon.  The 
cause  of  disease,  in  such  instances,  is  mainly,  if  not  entirely, 
the  presence  of  some  form  of  parasite.  Herein  are  com- 
monly, and  so  far  appropriately,  used  substances  which 
destroy  directly  the  parasitic  growths  of  ringworm,  lice,^ 
acarus  scabei  and  other  epizoa,  which  obtain  a  habitat  on 
the  surface  of  the  body,  and  worms,  whose  host  is  the 
intestinal  canal.  Of  the  value  of  these  there  can  be  no 
difference  of  opinion.  They  enable  us  to  apply  the  maxim 
toUe  causam,  and  that  in  a  very  efficient  manner  in  many 

*  Britith  Jowmal  of  Homaopathift  yoL  yiIL,  p.  194. 


12  DRUG  SBLBOnOF.         ^£S^?jST«S 


eafles.  Neverihelesfly  there  is  here  one  point  whidi,  in  the 
treatment  of  sach  eases,  is  Tery  generally  overlooked,  one 
that  suggests  the  necessity  of  some  additional  means  of 
core  being  applied  in  these  cases.  It  is  this — that  for  a 
parasite  to  thrive  in  a  given  person — a  certain  undefined 
and  not  easily  described  state  of  iU-health  is  necessary.  In 
some  natnrally  healthy  children,  for  example,  a  parasiticide 
such  as  carbolic  acid  will  extinguish  a  ringworm  in  a  very 
brief  period — ^in  others,  the  most  efficient  of  such  prepara^ 
tions  will  prove  useless  for  months.  The  difference  is  to  be 
found  by  a  careful  study  of  the  indications  of  ill-health 
other  than  those  presented  by  the  appearance  on  the  scalp. 
80,  too,  in  itch.  Some  cases  cannot  be  cured  for  a  consider- 
able length  of  time  by  the  usual  methods  of  destroying  the 
insect.  On  the  other  hand,  persons  there  are  who  may  be 
exposed  to  infection  in  the  most  direct  manner  that  is 
possible,  and  that  for  a  long  period  of  time,  and  will  remain 
proof  against  it.  The  difference  is  one  of  health.  It  is  a 
difference  which  the  parasiticide  will  not  meet,  which  purely 
hygienic  conditions  will  not  counteract,  but  one  that  must 
be  remedied  by  medicinal  agents  appropriately  selected.  It 
is  this  state  of  ill-health  that  Hahnemann  termed  psora. 

Thirdly.  Medicines  are  selected  empiricaUy.  That  is 
to  say,  in  a  given  condition,  a  medicine  which  has  in  the 
past  appeared  to  have  assisted  in  promoting  its  cure,  is 
prescribed  whenever  a  similar  condition  of  disordered  health 
presents  itself.  This  is  a  plan  which  finds  more  favour, 
perhaps,  in  the  present  day  than  is  commonly  admitted. 
''  The  practice  of  medicine  "  wrote  the  editor  of  the  Medical 
Times  and  Gazette  some  fifteen  years  ago  ''had  its  origin 
in  empiricism,  and  by  empiricism  it  is  nourished  still. 
Empirical  were  its  foundations  in  the  days  of  old  and 
empirical  it  is  now."  In  a  letter  published  in  the  Lancet 
a  few  weeks  ago,  Dr.  DonMn  stated  that  our  best  remedies 
are  and  ever  have  been  empirical. 

Think  for  one  moment  of  the  differences,  the  many 
differences,  which  are  met  with  in  practice  in  a  series  of 
4)ases  of  a  disease  so  well  defined  as  pneumonia — differences 
juising  from  constitutional  causes,  modifications  produced 
by  the  localiiy,  degree  and  extent  of  the  inflammatory 
processes,  differences  attributable  to  age,  to  the  epidemic 
-constitution  and  pre-existing  states  of  health — and  who 
shall  say  that  one  medicine,  however  valuable  tradition 
may  assert  that  it  has  been  found,  shall  be  useful  in  all 


r 


cases  ?   Qainine  is  good  in  Bgae,    True ;  but  not  by  any 
means  in  all  cases  of  ague — ^in  not  a  few  cases  it  is  nseless* 

Dr.  Bristowe,  in  his  recently  delivered  address  before  the 
British  Medicid  Association,  disputed  this.  He*  denies 
that  quinine  produces  a  condition  similar  to  ague.  He 
denies  that  it  is  prejudicial  in  ague,  and  he  denies  that 
Ague  ever  yields  to  infinitesimal  doses  of  quinine.  That 
quinine  does  produce  a  febrile  condition  similar  to  ague  is 
ibe  testimony  of  many  authors  of  good  repufce,t — of 
physicians  who  have  witnessed  this  property  exhibited  in 
the  qvinine  factories  in  the  south  of  France  and  Germany. 
That  quinine  is  answerable  for  many  cases  of  enlarged 
^leen  is  the  opinion  of  not  a  few  American  physicians  who- 
lutve  used  it  extensively.  That  ague  does  yield  to  small 
doses — such  doses  as  Dr.  Bristowe  and  Indian  physicians 
would  regard  as  infinitesimal — ^has  been  testified  to  by  Dr. 
BayeSyl  from  his  experience  in  Cambridgeshire,  and  by 
numerous  American  physicians  residing  in  malariouft- 
districts.  While  that  some  cases  of  ague  will  not  yield  to 
qmnine  when  they  will  to  arsenic  is  a  thoroughly  well* 
known  and  admitted  feust— just  as  is  the  reverse. 

Ague,  from  a  pathological  point  of  view,  may  be  one  and 
the  same  disease  in  all  instances,  but  for  therapeutic 
purposes  each  case  must  be  studied  by  itself. 

Ipecacuanha  is  by  some  given  empirically — given,  that  is, 
because  someone  has  said  ^t  he  has  found  it  to  be  useful- 
in  some  cases  of  vomiting — but  true  though  it  is  that  it 
is  a  prompt  and  efiicient  curative  agent  in  many  such 
cases,  it  is  hopelessly  disappointing  in  its  action  in  others. 
To  select  a  medicine,  then,  on  empirical  grounds,  to  pre- 
scribe traditionally,  to  see  a  case  of  disease  which  is  well 
marked,  and  label  it  with  the  name  of  some  medicine,  is,. 
at  the  best,  a  very  uncertain  method  of  selecting  a  remedy. 
To  being  a  scientific  method  it  has,  and,  indeed,  makes  no- 
pretension.  Empiricism  has,  and  empirical  remedies  have, 
however,  their  uses — ^but  then  their  uses  are  educational 
rather  than  anything  else.  It  is  by  a  carefid  examination 
of  the  results  and  teadiings  of  empiricism  that  we  may  hope 
to  learn  something  better — that  we  may  reasonably  look 

for  hints  from  which  we  may  derive  a  knowledge  of  how  to 

I  11  I    I  ■       I     I  ■  -  I  111  ■      ^i^-^^»^ 

•  BritUh  Medical  JowmaX^  August  13th,  1881. 
t  Dr.  Weitenweber,  (EsterreiehUehe    Wocheruehrift^  March,  1844; 
Br.  O^liB,  Med.  Zeit.  Bu8$€,  1861;  Dr.  GhevaUer,  Arm.  dPHyg.,  July,  1881. 
t  AnmOe  of  th»  BrUUh  H<nttaqpaihic  Society.    Vol.  L,  p.  469, 


14  BBUO  SELEGTION.        ^^^t^H^STVlS^ 


BtfvinFf  Jm.  St  loBL 


-select  medicines  on  a  more  tmstiwoiihy,  a  more  precise, 
and  more  accurate  basis  than  that  of  tradition. 

But  of  this  I  shall  speak  more  at  length  presently,  and 
I  will  now  proceed  to  consider  the  fourth  basis  of  drug 
selection,  Tiz. : — 

The  antipathic  method. — On  this  principle  medicines  are 
fielected  on  the  gronnd  that  they  will  produce  symptoms 
directly  opposite  to  those  which  reflect  the  morbid  condition 
to  be  cured.  The  chief  classifications  of  drugs  have  their 
origin  in  the  general  application  of  this  principle.  Thus 
we  find  the  larger  proportion  of  medicines  divided  by 
authors  of  works  on  Materia  Medica  into  purgatives,  diu- 
retics, sedatives,  diaphoretics,  expectorants,  stimulants, 
•emmenagogues,  and  tonics.  Where,  for  example,  constipa- 
tion is  a  prominent,  troublesome,  or  may  be  anxious 
symptom,  a  drug  such  as  sulphate  of  magnesia  or  croton  oil 
is  ordered,  to  produce  an  evacuation  of  the  contents  of  the 
bowel.  Is  a  patient  sleepless  ?  opiums  or  its  chief  alkaloid, 
morphia,  is  given  ;  is  the  skin  abnormally  dry,  as  in  febrile 
states  ?  James's  powder  is  prescribed. 

The  objections  which  may  be  raised  to  this  plan  of 
selecting  a  medicine  are  various. 

In  the  first  place,  it  necessitates  the  prescribing  of  a  dose 
which  approaches  the  pdsonous,  and  being  so,  introduces  a 
new  element  into  the  morbid  state.  The  purgation,  for 
example,  irritates  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  intestine, 
and  exhausts  the  tone  of  its  muscular  fibre.  The  bowel  is 
unloaded,  truly — ^but,  save  in  persons  otherwise  healthy, 
the  reaction  of  exhaustion  necessarily  tends  to  confirm  the 
tendency  to  the  constipation,  and  to  require  the  repetition 
of  the  medicine.  How  often  do  we  meet  with  persons  who, 
having  at  one  time  suffered  from  inactivity  of  the  bowel, 
have  sought  relief  in  the  aperient  with  the  result  of  being 
obliged  to  continue  its  more  or  less  frequent  use  during  the 
remainder  of  life !  The  sleep,  too,  which  opium  gives  to 
the  otherwise  sleepless,  is  grateful  only  because  obUvion  is 
preferable  to  wakefol  tossing  to  and  fro.  It  is  not  the  sleep 
which  is  restorative,  but  narcotic,  a  condition  of  stupor,  of 
cerebral  congestion  for  the  time  being — a  partial  poisoning, 
in  point  of  fact. 

Hence  the  antipathic  remedy  is  a  palliative  merely — ^it  is 
not  directly  curative,  not  specific.  Again,  the  antipathic 
principle  is  capable  of  being  employed  to  meet  only  in- 
dividual symptoms— not  the  entire  condition  constituting 


ifiSS'ST'SS^       l>EUa  SELECTION.  15 


B«fiew,  Jan.  2, 1888. 


disease,  not  one  which  is  expressed  by  the  whole  of  thcL 
symptoms  present  in  any  given  case.     Constipation  is  but 
A   symptom,    sleeplessness    is    bat    a    symptom.      This 
^LifiBcolty    is    supposed    to    be    overcome   by    what    Dr. 
Fother^ll  calls  ''building  ap  a  prescription'' — a  process 
which  he  illustrates  very  fully  in  his  Practitioner's  Hand- 
took  of  Treatment  (pp.  15-18.)   Thus  he  supposes  a  case  of 
anaemia  with  constipation.    For  the  former  he  gives  iron, 
for  the  latter  sulphate  of  magnesia;  to  this  he  adds  some 
Uneture  of  eapsieum,  to  induce  the  stomach  to  tolerate  the 
two  former  ingredients.     Possibly,  however,  he  suggests, 
the  patient  may  be  one  who  is  too  easily  purged,  and,  being 
.ansdmic,   may  be  supposed  to  require  a  tonic,,  so  that 
the  sulphate  of  magnesia  is  omitted,   and  quinine  with 
hydrochloric  (icid  substituted  for  it,  while  the  bowels  are 
looked  after  by  a  pill  of  aioes  and  myrrh  at  bed-time. 
Perhaps  the  patient  may  also  have  piles,  then  gaU 
cintment  is  applied.       Maybe    she    has    leucorrhcea    in 
jKldition,  and  then  an  injection  of  stUphaie  of  alum  must  be 
used.    It  is  not  unlikely,  he  suggests,  that  such  a  patient 
may  have  some  palpitation  at  ti^e  same  time,  and  then 
belladonna  plaster  is  to  be  applied.    Are  the  pUes  painful 
.and  preventive  of  sleep,  then  add  a  quarter-of«a-graia  of 
morphia  to  the  gall  ointment. 

Dr.  Fothergill  describes  this  as  a  *' fairly  exhaustive 
treatment,"  and  such  it  undoubtedly  is,  possibly,  however, 
it  may  be  so  in  more  senses  than  one.  At  any  rate  it  is 
pure  symptom  treatment,  and  therefore  not  scientific.  It 
4Sonsists  in  the  introduction  into  the  body  in  tolerably  full 
doses  of  no  less  than  ten  drugs,  not  counting  the  infusion 
•of  quassia  which  is  the  vehide,  in  the  course  of  the  day ! 
•Of  ten  substances  which  have  a  more  or  less  irritating  action 
upon  some  portion  or  other  of  the  body. 

But  yet  again,  we  may  know  what  is  the  action  of  any 
<me  of  these  substances  per  se,  but  how  can  we  predicate 
what,  this  wUl  be  of  all  mixed  up  together,  or  of  all  intro- 
duced into  the  body  in  the  course  of  the  same  day  ? 

It  is  supposed  that  each  drug  will  perform  the  part  the. 
prescriber  luus .  designed  for  it,  provided  that  he  has  been 
•careful  to  avoid  introducing  into  his  prescription  substances 
i^hich  are  known  to  be  incompatible.  But  who  shall  say 
a  priori  what  drugs  are,  and  what  are  not  incompatibles  ? 
Some  are  known  to  be  so,  but  have  all  their  combinations 
been  tested,  have  all  been  experimented  with  ?  Verily  no — 


16  DBUG  SELECTION.       ^"S^l^rTSJ! 

and  yet,  wiihoat  experiment,  positiye  knowledge  is  impos- 
sible— ^without  experiment  notibing  remains  bnt  hypothesis* 

Once  more,  is  this  method  of  symptom  prescribing, 
fascinating  and  **  exhanstive "  as  it  may  appear — ^is  this 
piling  of  palliative  upon  paUiative  satisfiEtctory  in  its  results? 
Does  it  tend  to  promote  the  cure  of  disease  ?  It  has  been 
the  basis  of  drug  therapeutics  for  long  enough  to  enable  us 
to  reply  to  these  questions  without  any  resort  to  statistics. 
We  may  estimate  its  value  by  the  effect  its  results  have  had 
upon  the  minds  of  physicians  who  have  carefuUy  reflected 
upon  their  experience  in  therapeutics.  From  Sir  John 
Forbes  five  and  thirty  years  ago  down  to  Dr.  Andrew 
Clark*  in  our  day  its  effect  has  been  to  discredit  the  action 
of  medicinal  agents  as  being  directly  curative  of  disease. 
Eighty  years  ago  Hahnemann  denounced  it  together  with 
the  then  common  practice  of  venesection  and  mercurialisa- 
tion,  which  happily  require  no  denunciation  now,  in  terms 
scarcely  stronger  than  those  used  by  Forbes,  Mathews, 
Duncant  and  Andrew  Clark.  It  has  been  by  reliance  upon 
palliatives  that  the  art  of  prescribing  drugs  has  become  so 
discredited  by  physicians  of  large  and  ripe  experience  in 
these  latter  days.  It  is  irom  this  cause  that  it  has  come 
to  be  believed  that  not  only  the  specific  fevers,  but  more 
or  less  all  acute  diseases  have  a  definite  course  to  run,  a 
course  which  can  neither  be  checked  or  abbreviated  by  the 
physician. 

It  is  from  this  cause  that  chronic  disease  is  looked  upon 
as  a  state  which  we  can  scarcely  expect  to  cure,  one  the 
sufferings  from  which  can  only  be  relieved  from  time  to 
time. 

Nevertheless,  merely  palliative  treatment  cannot  be 
wholly  ignored.  There  are  cases  of  severely  painful  and 
entirely  incurable  disease  where  relief  can  only  be  obtained 
by  palliatives  of  this  kind — cases  where  suffering  depends 
upon  mechanical  obstructions  which  are  irremediable. 
Here  the  opiate  or  the  aperient  find  their  uses*  It 
is  not  for  the  cure  of  disease  that  the  antipathioally 
selected  drug  is  useful,  but  to  obtain  a  diminution  of 
suffering,  the  cause  of  which  is  irremovable. 

A  Jifth  principle  of  drug  selection  directs  the  pre^ 
seription  of  a  medicine  calcidated  to  excite  irritation  in  tf 
part  of  the  body  presumably  or,  at  any  rate,  comparatively 

*  BriHih  Medical  Journal,  Angost  9ih,  1879. 

t  Edinburgh  Monthly  Journal  of  Medical  Science,  1877. 


tS^^%vSb^      mug  selection.  17 

healthy,  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  existmg  morbid  con- 
dition will  be  redueed  by  exciting  determinatioD  of  blood 
elsewhere — '^deriving/'  as  it  is  termed,  the  blood  from  a 
part  where  it  is  doing  obvioos  mischief  towards  one  where 
its  excess  will  be  less  hnrtfol.  This  is  the  aUopathie 
prindpley  and  is  seen  in  action  when  an  active  pnrgative  is 
given  in  cerebral  congestion — ^when  in  pelvic  congestion 
tile  feet  are  soaked  in  hot  water  or  mnstaid  and  water. 

Formerly  this  principle  of  drug  selection  was  largely 
used  by  the  physician.  At  the  present  day  it  is  regarded 
with  little  favonr,  and  is  comparatively  rarely  resorted  to, 
and,  save  in  snch  methods  as  hot  applications  to  the  ex- 
tremities, it  is  one  that  is  of  littie  or  no  value.  Purging 
for  cerebral  congestion,  for  example,  irritates  the  bowels, 
complicates  existing  disease,  and  exhausts  the  strength  of 
a  patient  when  on  tiie  conservation  of  that  his  chances  of 
recovery  are  so  generally  contingent,  and  it  does  so  without 
any  adequate  advantage  being  gained.     Though  so  seldom 

2 plied  in  practice,  it  is  not  a  littie  singular  that  it  is  by 
is  term  that  the  basis  of  therapeutics  generally  employed 
is  known !  I  apprehend  that  tiiis  arises  from  the  much 
greater  frequency  with  which  it  was  relied  upon  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  present  century  than  it  is  now. 

The  gixtii  and  last  principle  upon  which  drugs  can  be 
selected,  is  the  hornoeopatMc — that  which  directs  us  to 
prescribe  medicines  capable  of  producing  symptoms  similar 
to  those  which  characterise  or  egress  tiie  morbid  state  we 
desire  to  remedy. 

It  is  not,  mark  you,  the  prescribing  a  medicine  which 
produces  one  symptom  like  one  more  or  less  prominent  in 
a  disease  we  desire  to  cure,  but  the  entire  group  present  in 
a  given  case,  what  Hahnemann  called  ''the  totality." 
Hence,  if  constipaticm  is  especially  remarked  on  by  the 
patient,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference  what  drug  capable 
of  producing  constipation  in  a  healthy  person  is  prescribed, 
(mly  that  one  can  be  regarded  as  homoaopathically  indicated 
which  gives  rise  not  o^y  to  the  constipation  but  also  to 
the  other  symptoms  arising  from  the  condition  which  has 
excited  the  inactivity  of  the  bowel« 

In  estimating  the  value  of  this  principle  of  drug  selection, 
we  have  first  to  consider  its  po$mbility.  Is  it,  we  ask  our- 
selves, possible  that  a  substance  which,  in  a  larger  dose, 
wiU  excite  a  certain  state  of  ill-health,  will  core  a  similar 
condition  when  arising  from  other  causes. 

YoL  26,  No.  1.  0 


18  DBUa  SELECTION.         ^"SS^^fl^^^^ 


Beview,Jaji.  2,1883. 


I  referred  jast  now  to  empiricism  as  having  an  educa- 
tional value — as  affording  us  material  out  of  which  we 
Bright  frame  a  more  or  less  exact  method  of  drug  selection. 
A  little  research  will  Bhow  you  that  in  very  many  instances 
in  the  past  history  of  medicine  a  drug  which  had  obtained 
a  reputation — ^not  as  a  purgative,  sudorific,  or  emetic,  but 
as  having  a  curative  power  over  a  given  form  of  disease, 
was  also  known  to  have  caused  a  similar  condition 
in  healthy  persons.  Indeed  one  of  Hahnemann's  earliest 
essays,  setting  forth  the  therapeutic  value  of  the  principle 
similia  similibtLs  curantur,  was  entitled  The  Aledicine  of 
Experience*  This  was  published  in  Hufeland's  Joumsd 
in  1805.  While  in  an  essay  published  in  1796,  entitled 
Suggestions  for  Ascertaining  the  Curative  Powers  of  Drugs^ 
and,  fourteen  years  later,  in  the  introduction  to  the  Organon 
der  HeUkunst,  Hahnemann  gives  a  very  considerable  collec- 
tion of  illustrations  of  drugs  curing  diseases  similar  to  the 
conditions  they  themselves  will  produce  derived  from  the 
literature  of  medicine.  Again,  to  come  to  more  recent 
times,  the  works  of  all  authors  on  Materia  Medica  of  the 
present  day  are  full  of  the  applications  of  drugs  derived 
from  the  works  of  homcBopathic  physicians — of  applications 
which  were  discovered  through  this  principle  of  similars. 
Furtheir,  in  somewhat  older  authors,  you  will  find  that  the 
only  instances  in  which  drugs  are  described  as  competent 
to  cure  certain  conditions  are  examples  of  conditions  like 
those  they  are  stated  to  produce.  In  Christison's  Dis- 
pensatory,  published  in  1846,  you  will  find  many  such. 

Thus  arsenic  is  referred  to  as  causing  and  curing 
epilepsy ;  colehieum  as  producing  suppression  of  urine  and 
acting  therapeutically  as  a  diuretic ;  creosote  as  producing 
nausea  and  vomiting,  and  on  the  other  hand  as  allaying 
vomiting  from  frmctional  disturbance  of  the  stomach ; 
digitalis  is  said  to  produce  suppression  of  urine  and  also  to 
act  as  a  diuretic ;  turpentine  is  described  as  frequently 
giving  rise  to  violent  strangury,  bloody  urine,  and  other 
symptoms  of  irritation  of  the  kidneys  or  bladder,  and  on 
the  next  page  is  said  to  be  especially  useful  in  chronic 
inflammation  of  the  bladder.  Now,  I  feel  sure  that 
Piofessor  Ghristison  did  not  perceive  that  connection 
between  these  fiiets  which  appeared  so  clear  to  the  mind  of 


*  Tk€  Leu€r  WHting$  ftf  Sammel  Hakmmum.    ts^iuJmI^  I7  B.  S. 
Dudgeon,  If  J).    Headland. 


IS^SrS"?!^'         DBUO  SELBCTION.  19 


fieriev,  Jan.  S,  1888. 


Hahnemann.  That  it  is  equally  obscure  to  more  modem 
writers  is  more  than  I  should  like  to  vouch  for. 

Then,  Bgam^  my  colleague.  Dr.  Dyce  Brown,  in  an 
appendix  to  an  essay,  entitled  Homosopathy :  Its  Nature 
and  Relative  Valuer  published  in  1869,  gives  a  similar 
collection,  culled  from  the  works  of  Trousseau  and  Pidoux, 
Pereira,  Wood,  Waring,  Christison,  Taylor,  aud  Graves. 
Dr.  Brown's  illustrations  are  derived  from  forty  drugs; 
Hahnemann's  from  forty-three.  Dr.  Brown  refers  to 
thirteen  of  the  latter,  so  that  we  have  in  all  seventy 
substances,  which  have  been  noticed  as  having  cured 
4>onditions  more  or  less  similar  to  such  as  they  have  been 
observed  to  produce. 

Surely  if  the  observation  of  natural  phenomena  can  be 
utilised  by  comparison  and  analysis  for  the  formulation  of 
an  expression  of  mutual  relation,  those  recorded  of  seventy 
drugs  may  be  safely  employed  to  ascertain  that  which 
subsists  between  the  disease-exciting  and  disease-curing 
powers  of  a  drug  in  general.  Throughout  the  entire  series 
of  observations  there  runs  one  fact  common  to  all — one 
phenomenon  characteristic  of  all,  viz.,  that  the  drug,  which 
had  been  observed  to  cure  a  given  disease,  had,  in  every 
instance,  been  observed  to  produce  a  similar  morbid  con- 
ilition  in  a  healthy  person. 

To  Hahnemann's  observations  herein  referred  to  Dr. 
Bristowe,  in  the  address  alluded  to,  makes  exceptions.  He 
says  **  that  while  a  large  number  of  them  are  merely  loose 
And  untrustworthy  statements  of  supposed  flEtcts,  nearly  all 
of  them  prove  notiiing  whatever,  to  any  unbiassed  mind,  in 
reference  to  those  homoeopathic  principles  which  they  are 
assumed  to  support." 

In  the  first  place,  all  of  Hahnemann's  illustrations  are 
far  from  being  of  equal  value.  The  very  one — that  of  the 
sweating  sickness  cured  by  tydorifiea — selected  as  the 
example  by  Dr.  Bristowe,  is  one  as  Little  exact,  of  as  little 
value,  save  as  being  suggestive,  as  any.  It  is,  as  Dr. 
Hayle,  of  Bochdale,  had  stated  at  the  International 
Homoeopathic  Convention  a  few  days  before  Dr.  Bristowe 
delivered  his  address — ^it  is  one  of  the  ''  rough  and  ready 
^lass/'*  To  reply  adequately  to  Dr.  Bristowe's  general 
criticism,  one  would  need  to  go  through  each  of  Hahne- 
mann's illustrations.     This  is,  of  course,  impossible  here, 

*  TraniOcHonM  of  the  IntemaHonal  HomotopatJUe  CongresSt  1881.— P.  5, 
pftrtiv.    London:  Adlard. 

0 — 2 


20  BBUO  BSLBCnOH.         ^'^SSL 


.J«m.4» 


ftnd  I  must  content  m jself  with  saying  thst  a  lepernsal  of 
these  illnstrations  does  not  seem  to  me  to  justify  in  any 
way  the  description  Dr.  Bristowe  has  giyen  of  them. 
Those  collected  by  Dr.  Brown  and  by  Dr.  Drommond,  of 
Manchester,*  are,  however,  mnch  more  exact,  maoh  more 
eondnsiYe.  JPnrther,  in  some  instances,  they  cany  ns  into 
Dr.  Bristowe's  Cayonrite  place  of  study,  the  po$t^mortem 
room,  and  show  how  similar,  for  example,  are  the  po$t» 
mortem  appearances  of  arsenical  poisoning,  and  gastritis, 
and  cholera ;  how  mnch  alike  are  the  appearances  in  the 
Inngs  presented  after  death  from  tartar  emetic  and  those 
which  result  from  congestion  of  those  organs.  These,  at 
any  rate,  are  not  **  merely  euperficud  rdation$hip8y  easily 
obserred,  between  the  effects  of  certain  mori>id  conditions 
and  the  efiiBcts  of  certain  drugs."  t 

I  do  not,  however,  wish  to  attach  any  higher  degree  of 
importance  to  observations  of  this  class  than  they  deserve ; 
but,  I  do  contend  that  they  prove  the  poseibiUiy  of  the 
principle  of  similars  being  a  trustworthy  principle  of  drug 
selection. 

In  the  methods  of  drug  selection  I  briefly  reviewed  a 
few  minutes  ago,  the  empirical  and  the  antipathic  were 
those  which  alone  appeared  to  be  capable  of  general  appli* 
cation.  The  latter  I  showed  to  you  was  palliative  of  certain 
symptoms,  of  pronounced  features  of  disease,  rather  than  of 
morbid  conditions  in  their  entirety,  or,  when  disease  as  a 
whole  was  encountered  by  drugs  so  selected,  the  process  of 
doing  so  involved  the  prescription  of  a  number  <a  different 
drugs  taken  simultaneously,  and  for  the  most  part  in 
mixture,  of  the  combined  action  of  which  it  was  impossible 
to  foresee  the  result.  Further,  it  was  necessary  tiiat  the 
dose  should  be  large,  that  in  point  of  fact  it  should  approxi- 
mate the  poisonous  with  as  much  regard  to  safety  as  was 
compatible  with  its  producing  the  effect  desired. 

Now  in  putting  into  practice  the  homoeopathic  method 
of  drug  selection,  it  is  not  an  individual  symptom,  however 
important  it  may  be,  that  is  regsided,  but  the  morbid  con- 
dition as  reflected  in  the  whole  series  of  symptoms. 

Homodopathy  has  been  most  erroneously  described  as 
mere  symptom  treatment.  It  is  indeed  the  antipathic 
method  which  alone  is  exposed  to  such  criticism.  It  is 
true  that  the  homoeopathic  physician  is  guided  by  the 

*  Honutopathy  among  the  Allopaths.    Tomer  A  Co.,  ManohftHter. 
t  BrUtowe,  op.  Ht. 


bSSS'jETmS*        ^>»^<»  MLBCrnON.  21 


symptoms  in  seleeting  his  drag-remedy,  jast  as  he  is  so 
directed  in  making  his  diagnosis  or  forming  a  prognosis-— 
bat  in  so  doing  he  is  in  the  sorest  possible  manner  treating, 
thai  iSy  applying  his  remedy  to  the  condition — ^to  the 
morbid  state  expressed  by  or  reflected  in  the  symptoms, 
objectiye  and  sabjective. 

Certain  forms  of  disease  are  well  defined  in  their  mani- 
festations or  at  any  rate  in  those  of  a  more  obyions  kind. 
Meeting  with  one  of  these  we  feel  assored  from  oar 
knowledge  of  the  action  of  drags,  and  from  that  we  have  of 
the  diseased  process  we  desire  to  check,  that  the  most 
appropriate  medicine  will  be  foand  among  a  comparatively 
small  groap  of  drags.  Take,  for  example,  pneamonia. 
Phosphorus,  bryoma  and  tartar  emetic  aU  excite  inflam- 
mation of  the  air  cells  of  the  Ixmgs.  Oar  inyestigation  of 
oar  patient's  case  has  told  as  that  he  has  pneamonia,  and 
we  tiierefore  feel  assared  that  one  of  these  three  remedies 
will  be  asefal  in  promoting  its  resolution.  Bat  which  are 
we  to  give?  All  are  more  or  less  homoeopathic,  each 
prodaces  in  the  healthy  sabject  a  morbid  condition  like 
that  to  be  cared — ^the  qaestion  we  have  to  sohe  is,  which 
of  the  three  prodaces  a  morbid  condition  most  like  that 
indiyidaal  specimen  before  as.  This  is  determined,  can 
only  be  determined  by  a  carefol  comparison,  not  merely  of 
the  coarser,  the  more  obvioas,  the  pathognomonic  symptoms 
of  the  disease  with  those  of  the  drug,  for  each  drag  has 
probably  prodaced  all  of  these,  bat  by  a  carefal  comparison 
of  the  finer,  the  less  marked,  bat  yet,  for  all  that,  the  most 
•characteristic  symptoms  of  the  indiyidaal  case,  with  sach 
as  the  drag  has  been  foand  to  give  rise  to. 

Thas,  in  well-defined  disease,  the  pathological  process  of 
which  is  well  and  clearly  anderstood,  it  is  perfectly  possible 
to  niime  a  series  of  medicines,  one  of  whi^  wiU  bi  found 
to  be  the  remedy,  while  the  nltimate  appeal  in  ascertaining 
which  mast  be  directed  to  the  indicationes  morbi — ^the 
symptoms  alone. 

Bat  all  diseases  are  not  well  defined ;  some  are  obscare, 
many  are  complex.  In  sach  the  difficulty  of  finding  the 
exact  remedy  is  often  considerable,  while  generalising  from 
pathological  data  is  in  sach  too  freqaently  hardly  available. 
Still,  in  most  instances,  disease  has  its  centre  in  some  one 
organ  or  another,  while  each  drag  has  a  special  affinity  for 
some  one  or  more  organs  in  preference  to  others.  Here  a 
groap  of  medicines,  more  or  less  considerable  in  namber, 


22  DBIXG  8SLECTIOR.  iSeS^Jm^^xtS 


will  attract  attention,  and  from  this  group  that  which  is 
hest  adapted  to  core  wiU  be  foond  in  the  same  manner, 
Tiz.,  by  a  eaiefdl  comparison  of  all  the  symptomsof  disease 
presented  by  the  patient  with  those  the  drog  has  prodnced 
in  a  healthy  person. 

By  selecting  onr  medicine  on  the  principle  of  similars,  it 
is  clear  then  that  we  obtain  one  which  has  a  direct  in- 
fluence over  the  very  tissues  which  form  the  seat  of  disease, 
and  not  only  so,  but  an  influence  so  similar  that  it  is 
expressed  in  a  manner  more  or  less  exactly  like  that  which 
constitutes  the  disorder. 

Thus  the  homoeopathic  method  of  drug  selection  has  the 
great  adTantage  of  pointing  us  to  a  medicine  whose  action 
is  direct  or  specific — ^not  to  one  that  is  merely  palliatiTe. 

Further,  in  prescribing  a  medicine,  selected  on  the  ground 
that  it  has  a  direct  influence  over  the  part  diseased,  it  is 
obviously  nccessaiy  that  the  dose  given  should  be  com- 
paratively small.  Thus,  Professor  Jorg  of  Leipsic,  in 
discussing  the  relation  of  disease  and  its  remedy,  s<iys : 

''  On  the  other  hand,  medicines  operate  most  powerfully 
upon  the  sick  when  the  symptoms  correspond  wiUi  those  of 
the  disease.  A  very  small  quantity  of  medicinal  camica  will 
produce  a  violent  effect  upon  persons  who  have  an  irritable 
state  of  the  oesophagus  and  stomach.  Mercurial  prepara- 
tions have,  in  very  small  doses,  given  rise  to  pains  and 
loose  stools,  when  administered  in  inflammatory  states  of 
the  intestines  .  .  .  yet  why,"  he  exclaims,  '^  why  should 
I  occupy  time  by  adducing  more  examples  of  a  similar 
operation  of  medicines,  since  it  is  the  very  nature  of  the 
thing  that  a  medicine  must  produce  a  much  greater  effiect 
when  it  is  applied  to  a  body  already  sufiiering  under  an 
aflection  similar  to  that  which  the  medicine  itself  is  capa- 
ble of  producing  ?  "* 

It  is,  then,  not  only  unnecessary,  but  impossible  to  pre- 
scribe medicines  selected  on  the  homoeopathic  principle  in 
a  dose  which  approaches  the  poisonous — the  very  object  of 
prescribing  at  all  would  be  defeated  by  so  doing. 

I  am  not  going  at  present  into  an  argument  in  support 
of  infinitesimal  doses,  but  I  refer  here  to  the  necessity  of 
the  small  dose  simply  as  one  of  the  advantages  derived  from 

*  Contributions  to  a  Future  Materia  Medica  from  Experiments  witJi 
Medicinea  on  Persom  in  Health.  Obtained  and  ooUeoted  by  Dr.  John  0^ 
G.  Jorg,  LeipBio,  1825.— P.  16. 


^S^^TS'^S^        DBUO  SELECTION.  28 


Beffiew,  Jaa.  i»  ISBSt. 


the  application  of  the  homodopathic  principle  of  drug  selec- 
tion in  the  treatment  of  disease. 

We  have  seen,  then,  that  homoopathy  enables  ns  to 
treat  disease  with  directness  and  accuracy,  we  know  that 
onr  remedy  acts  npon  the  part  that  is  diseased,  and  we 
have  also  seen  that  it  enables  ns,  nay  compels  us  to  pre- 
scribe oar  medicines  in  doses  that  cannot  be  injurious. 

Another  adyantage  possessed  by  the  homoeopathic  prin- 
ciple of  drug-selection  is,  that  by  it  we  are  enabled  to 
predicate  the  remedy  in  any  new  form  of  disease  that  may 
appear.  Thus  in  1829  cholera  was  entirely  new  to  the 
European  physician,  and  Hahnemann,  without  having  ever 
seen  a  case,  and  simply  from  a  written  description  of  the 
phenomena  cholera  presented,  was  able  to  indicate  the 
medicines  that  would  be  of  greatest  service.*  He  then 
pointed  to  camiphor,  to  copper,  and  to  white  hellebore  as  the 
chief  medicines  in  such  cases — and  these  have  ever  since 
proved  themselves  to  be  especially  worthy  of  reliance  in 
this  formidable  disease. 

Again,  some  thirty  years  ago,  an  epidemic  of  purulent 
meningitis  broke  out  among  the  soldiers  in  the  barracks  at 
Avignon.  The  mortality  was  considerable,  the  resources 
of  medicine  powerless  in  the  contest.  Two  physicians, 
practising  homoeopathy  in  the  town,  prepared  themselves 
to  meet  it,  should  it  appear  among  the  civil  population,  by 
a  careful  study  of  the  symptoms  of  the  disease  with  those 
produced  by  drugs.  They  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
hyosq^amus  and  ipecacuanlia  were  those,  the  action  of 
which  presented  the  closest  analogy  to  that  of  the  epidemic. 
Presently  three  cases  occurred  in  the  practice  of  one  of 
them  (Dr.  Denis),  and  all  three  recovered.  Subsequently 
more  than  150  cases  were  treated  successfully  by  them  with 
these  two  drugs.  By  and  by  the  medical  officer  of  the 
regiment  which  had  been  so  seriously  attacked,  discovered 
and  announced  as  the  result  of  his  own  researches  that 
ipeccLcwanha  was  capable  of  controlling  the  scourge  by 
which  he  was  surrounded.  From  the  moment,  he  said,  that 
he  began  to  prescribe  ipecacuanha,  the  mortality  among  his 
patients  diminished  in  the  most  extraordinary  manner,  f 

No  stronger  evidence  of  the  value  of  a  principle  of  drug 
selection  could  be  given  than  that  it  will  enable  a  physician 

*  Leuer  Writingif  p.  841. 

f  De  la  Mtningite  purvlente  Epidimique  qui  a  Regne  h  Avignon  dant^ 
VEiver  1846-7.    Par  le  Dr.  J.  J.  B^chet.    Paris  :  BaiUidre,  1852. 


24  DBUG  SEIfCnON. 


1,188^ 


to  predict  what  medioine  will  be  luefiil  in  rafieving  a 
diBesLBe  previoosly  unknown. 

This  power  tbuB  principle  of  sinulan  does  confer,  as  the 
illnstrationB  I  hsTO  recited  pro^e. 

Bnty  after  all,  gentlemen,  the  great  advantage  of  homoso- 
pathy — of  being  guided  in  prescribing  by  the  homcdopathio 
law  of  drag  selection  is  seen  in,  is  i^oided  by  the  cUnical 
test  Unless  it  can  be  shown  that  prescribing  on  this 
basis  is  more  snecessfiil  in  abbreviating  illness,  in  con- 
tending with  chronic  disease,  and  in  diminishing  mortality, 
any  other  advantage  it  may  apparently  present  is  dearly 
purchased.  As  Dr.  Bordon  Sanderson  has  somewhere 
said,  ''  In  jndging  of  the  value  of  a  therapentical  method, 
the  one  and  only  criterion  is  success."  The  great  end  of 
our  lives,  as  physicians,  is  the  cure  and  prevention  of 
disease.  It  is  a  good  thing  and  a  useful  to  be  an  accom- 
plished physiologist;  equally  so  is  it  to  be  a  profound 
pathologist,  to  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  all  the 
phases  of  disease ;  but  it  is  far  better,  for  more  useful  that 
we  should  be  good  therapeutists;  that  our  knowledge 
should  bear  good  fruit  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick.  What- 
ever tends  to  cure  disease,  cUo,  tuto  et  jucunde,  it  should 
ever  be  the  aim  of  the  physician  to  know. 

The  homoeopathic  method  of  drug  selection  has  now 
been  put  into  practice  carefully  and  carelessly,  with  medi- 
cines prescribed  in  doses  of  a  very  wide  range,  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  in  every  form  of  disease,  and  in  every 
class  of  society,  for  more  than  eighty  years  ;  and  homoeo- 
pathy has  a  greater,  a  more  numerous  body  of  adherents 
to-day  than  at  any  former  period  of  its  history.  Had  the 
success  attending  its  practice  not  been  greater  than  that  of 
rival,  and  far  more  influentially  supported  methods,  this 
would  not  have  been  its  position  now.  But  further,  the 
records  of  eighty  years  provide  us  with  an  abundance  of 
material  for  making  a  survey  of  the  relative  success  of 
homoeopathy,  and  the  ordinary  therapeutics  of  the  schools; 
an  abundance  so  great  as  by  the  very  magnitude  of  the 
numbers  to  preclude  erroneous  inferences  being  drawn 
from  them.  Touching  lightly  upon  this  method  of  demon- 
strating the  value  of  homoeopathy.  Dr.  Bristowe  asks, 
'*  What  evidence  is  there  that  any  internal  inflammation, 
any  internal  growth,  any  specific  fever,  has  ever  been  cured 
or  ameliorated  by  homoeopathic  remedies?"  And  then 
adds,  ^*  Of  course,  affirmative  assertions  will  be  made ;  of 


iKSS^STSS**      mug  selection.  25 

course,  statistical  evidenee  will  be  forthcoming.  But  mere 
assertions,  and  statistics  which  are  merely  tabulated  asser- 
tions, are  not  evidence  which  a  man  possessing  scientific 
cantion  would  accept  in  snch  a  case." 

Now,  I  can  scarcely  suppose  that  even  Dr:  Bristowe 
would  summarily  reject  aU  statistical  eyidence  bearing  upon 
therapeutics.  I  admit  willingly,  and  at  once,  that  there  is 
no  kmd  of  evidence  which  requires  to  be  received  with 
greater  caution  than  does  statistical.  Further,  there  is  no 
form  of  statistical  evidence  which  demands  more  carefnl 
exiMnination  than  such  as  relates  to  therapeutics.  Allowing 
aU  this,  I  at  the  same  time  assert  that  statistics  may  be 
usefully  applied  in  ascertaining  therapeutic  truth.  Given 
observers  competent  for  their  task,  and  honest  in  its  per- 
formance— cases  in  large  numbers  occurring  at  the  same 
time,  in  the  same  locality,  drawn  from  persons  in  a  similar 
social  position,  the  treatment  of  whose  disease  or  diseases 
differed  in  nothing  save  in  the  medicines  prescribed,  and 
you  have  conditions  from  which  you  may  derive  statistics 
having  a  value  in  the  determination  of  tiierapeutic  questions. 

And  here  let  me  refer  for  a  minute  to  the  question  of 
Dr.  Bristowe  suggesting  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  any 
*^  internal  inflammation  has  been  cured  or  ameliorated  by 
homoeopathic  remedies.''  Time  prevents  my  entering  upon 
this  point  with  anything  like  the  fulness  which  the 
material  at  my  disposal  would  allow.  But  I  must,  in 
reply,  refer  to  a  singularly  able  paper  by  the  late  Professor 
Henderson,  of  Edinburgh,  in  the  British  Journal  of 
Homoeopathy  for  1862,  entitled  Pneumonia  under  HomoeO' 
pathic,  Allopathic,  and  Dietetic  Treatment.  Herein,  Pro- 
fessor Henderson,  with  ail  the  caution  the  most  scrupulous 
critic  could  desire,  and  with  that  fulness  of  pathological 
learning  for  which  he  was  so  justiy  distinguished,  examines 
a  series  of  carefully  observed  cases  of  pneumonia  occurring 
in  his  own  practice  and  in  that  of  M.  Tessier,  of  Paris,  and 
compares  them  with  a  large  series,  the  results  of  which 
were  published  by  M.  I>ietl  of  Vienna.  The  entire  cases 
on  both  sides  were  unselected.  So  far  as  Dr.  Henderson 
and  M.  Tessier  were  concerned,  they  were  aU  that  had 
occurred  to  them  during  the  time  they  had  practised 
homoBopathy.     M.  Dietl's  were  also  complete  series. 

Henderson's  and  Tessier's  cases  were  50  in  number,  of 
these  8,  or  6  per  cent,  died,  and  the  duration  of  illness, 
reckoning  until  complete  restoration  had  occurred  was 


26  DRUa  SELECTION.         ''SSL^^^T^ 


Beriew,  Jan.  2,  1868. 


11  2-8rd  days.  M.  Dieti  treated  85  eases  by  venesection, 
of  these  17,  or  20.4  per  cent,  died,  the  average  duration  of 
illness  in  the  recovered  cases  being  35  days..  He  treated 
106  cases  by  tartar  emetic,  the  mortsJity  was  20.7  per  cent., 
and  the  doration  of  illness  28.9  days.  He  left  to  natore 
— ^gave  no  medicine  and  drew  no  blood — 129  cases,  of  these 
14,  or  7.4  per  cent,  died,  the  duration  of  illness  being  an 
average  of  28  days  for  each  case. 

Now  here,  in  an  acute  internal  inflammation,  while  homoe- 
opathic treatment  is  infinitely  more  successful  in  saving  life 
than  the  old-fashioned  method  of  blood-letting  and  heavily 
dosing  with  tartar  emetic,  and  while  it  is  but  slightly,  only 
1.4  per  cent.,  better  in  this  regard  than  pure  expectancy,  the 
average  duration  of  the  disease  under  homoeopathic  treatment 
is  seventeen  days  less,  a  result  which,  as  Professor  Hender- 
son states,  ''  places  beyond  all  rational  doubt  the  claim  of 
homoeopathy  to  a  very  high  degree  of  active  curative  power 
in  pneumonia."  I  can  do  no  more  here  than  commend  thi? 
very  able  paper  of  Dr.  Henderson's  to  the  careful  study  of 
every  sceptic  as  to  the  power  of  homoeopathy  over  an  acute 
internal  inflammation. 

A  few  statistics  of  the  kind  I  just  now  referred  to  I  will 
proceed  to  notice.  First  of  all  let  me  direct  your  attention 
to  the  results  obtained  by  the  late  M.  Tessier,  at  THopital 
Beaujon,*  in  Paris.  (M.  Tessier  has  been  dead  so  many 
years  that  I  may  be  excused  for  remarking  that  he  was  a 
physician  whose  high  capacity  and  sense  of  honour  no  one 
ever  called  in  question.)  Here  he  investigated  homoeo- 
pathic treatment  clinically — ^the  only  way  in  which  it  can 
be  inquired  into  with  any  degree  of  satisfaction. 

In  the  year  1849-50-51,  there  were  admitted  into  the 
two  wards  under  his  care  4,663  cases.  The  number  of 
deaths  during  this  time  was  893,  or  8.55  per  cent.,  or  85 
per  1,000.  In  the  same  hospital  and  during  the  sam^ 
period  of  time  there  were  in  the  other  wards  8,724 
admissions,  with  a  mortality  of  411,  or  11.08  per  cent.,  or 
110  per  1000. 

M.  Tessier  had  100  beds  under  his  charge,  his  allo- 
pathic colleagues  99.  With  only  one  additional  bed  he 
was  able  to  receive  during  the  three  years  989  more  cases 
than  they  were.  There  could  be  no  reason  for  this  other 
than  the  greater  rapidity  with  which  M.  Tessier  was  able 
to  fit  his  patients  for  leaving  the  hospital.     Again,  any 

*Dela  MMcatian,  dtc. :  Ballidre,  Paris,  1852. 


^A^j^HISf^        DBUa   BBLEOTION.  27 


Benew,  Jan.  S,  1882. 


selection  of  oases  was  impossible.  In  this,  as  in  all  the 
public  hospitals  of  Paris,  the  admissions  were  entirely 
independent  of  the  physicians,  save  in  a  very  small  number 
of  cases.  The  patients  were  sent  in  regular  rotation  to 
such  wards  as  had  vacant  beds,  and  this  by  the  officials,  not 
by  the  physicians. 

In  this  instance  we  have  a  large  number  of  cases,  occur- 
ring during  the  same  period  of  time,  in  the  same  hospital, 
under  sinular  circumstances,  the  only  difference  in  the 
condition  bearing  upon  recovery  from  illness  is,  that  one 
set  is  treated  with  medicines  selected  on  the  homoeopathic 
principle  and  given  in  small  doses,  while  the  other  received 
medicines  either  of  the  palliative  or  expectant  class,  and 
this,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  in  considerable  doses.  The 
practical  result  to  the  patients  was,  that  the  mortality 
among  the  former  was  2*48  less  than  it  was  among  the 
latter,  and  the  duration  of  illness  was  so  much  shorter 
among  the  former  that,  during  three  years,  each  bed  under 
M.  Tessier's  care  received  46  patients,  while  those  under 
the  direction  of  his  colleagues  could  only  receive  87. 

Another  and  very  interesting  illustration  of  the  results 
of  homoBopathic  treatment  occurred  some  years  ago  in 
another  part  of  France.  At  Boubaix,  M.  Liagre  was  the 
physician  to  the  general  hospital  of  the  town.*  From  1856- 
to  1862  the  patients  under  his  care  were  treated  in  the 
manner  ordinarily  taught  in  the  schools,  viz.,  as  a  rule, 
by  large  doses  of  antipathically  selected  drugs.  The 
mortality  was  during  this  period  at  the  rate  of  19'26.  In 
1868  M.  Liagre  changed  his  therapeutics,  and  now  selected 
his  remedies  on  the  homoeopathic  principle ;  during  this 
year  the  hospital  mortality  fell  to  18'70,  while  during  the 
following  year  it  was  reduced  to  12*97.  In  his  report  to 
the  administrators  of  the  hospital,  M.  Liagre  noticed  that 
the  greater  rapidity  with  which  his  patients  recovered  after 
he  adopted  homoeopathy  enabled  him  to  admit  a  much 
larger  number  of  patients  into  his  40  beds  than  he  had 
previously  been  able  to  do.  In  1862  he  had  only  848 
admissions ;  in  1868,  416 ;  and  in  1864,  479.  It  must 
also  be  observed  that  his  beds  were  always  full  during  each 
year.  So  that,  as  he  himself  remarks,  ''  in  1868,  68 
patients,  and  in  1864,  130  patients  could  be  received  into 

*  Official  Beport  of  the  BeealtB  obtained  by  the  Homoeopathic  Treatment 
at  the  Hoflpital  of  Boubaix  (Nord.).  Bull,  de  la  Soe,  M4d.  Rom,  de  France^ 
October,  1865. 


28 PBUQ  jgBLEOTioH.      '^BSSSrSSTat! 

the  hospital  in  consequence  of  homoeopathic  treatment, 
who  wonld  ha^e  been  excluded  for  want  of  room  had  the 
old  system  been  continued." 

Here,  then,  you  will  see  is  a  long  series  of  cases  treated 
by  the  same  physician  in  the  same  hospital,  in  which  by 
a  change  in  the  method  of  drug  selection,  and  by  this  only, 
a  saying  of  life  to  the  extent  of  seven  per  cent,  was  effected, 
while  the  rate  at  which  the  sick  recovered  was  so  greatly 
increased  in  rapidity,  that  he  was  able  to  receive  into  the 
same  number  of  beds  more  than  one  third  more  cases  of 
disease  than  he  had  been  able  to  do  before  he  altered  his 
manner  of  choosing  drugs. 

Take  now  a  somewhat  different  class  of  observations  and 
compare  the  results  of  the  different  methods  of  drug 
selection  in  two  similar  public  institutions.  The  subjects 
of  the  experiment  are  derived  from  the  same  class  of  the 
population,  and  frt>m  the  same  city,  and  occurred  during 
the  same  period  of  time.* 

In  the  city  of  New  York  there  were  during  the  twelve 
years  ending  in  1854  five  Orphan  Asylums.  In  four  the 
medical  treatment  was  non-homoeopathic,  and  during  these 
twelve  years  the  average  number  of  orphans  received  into 
each  asylum  was  8568*5— the  mortality  in  these  was  at  the 
rate  of  1  in  41  or  2.10  per  cent.  In  the  Protestant  Half- 
Orphan  Asylum,  where  the  treatment  was  homoeopathic, 
the  number  received  in  the  twelve  years  ending  with  1854 
was  8,075,  the  mortality  1  in  146  or  .68  per  cent.  Showing 
the  rates  of  mortality  under  the  different  modes  of  drug 
selection  to  be  more  than  8  to  1. 

In  another  class  of  cases  the  evidence  is  unquestionably 
less  exact,  and  therefore  more  open  to  criticism ;  but  the 
numbers  dealt  with  are  so  considerable,  the  authorities  to 
whom  we  are  indebted  for  them  are  so  thoroughly  reliable, 
and  they  afford  such  striking  evidence  of  the  therapeutic 
value  of  the  homoeopathic  law  of  drug  selection,  that  I 
must  not  omit  them  from  our  consideration.  I  refer  to 
the  results  which  have  followed  homoeopathic  treatment  in 
cholera  and  yellow  fever. 

The  practice  of  homoeopathy  was,  some  fifty  years  ago, 
forbidden  in  Austria,  but  the  imperial  edict  failing  to 
suppress    it,    a    commission    of   twelve    physicians  was 

*  From  the  Beport  of  the  Minority  of  a  Coxnmittee  ftppointed  to  enqttize 
into  the  propriety  of  introdnoing  Homoeopathy  into  BelleTue  Hospital, 
Kew  York.    North  American  Journal  of  Homaopatky,  May,  1858. 


2SS^Sr?S^        MUa  SELECTION.  29 

appointed  to  enquire  into  it  at  the  Josephinam  Military 
Hospital.  AH  the  members  of  this  court  of  enquiry  were 
strenaooflly  opposed  to'  homceopathy.  Dr.  Marenzeller^  a 
Teteran  homoBopathist  and  contemporary  of  Hahnemann's, 
was  appointed  the  physician,  and  two  members  of  the 
commission  attended  with  him  daily,  reporting  the  pro- 
gress of  the  cases  at  the  expiration  of  every  ten  days.  The 
only  part  of  the  report  published  was  that  by  Dr.  Jaeger 
and  Dr.  Zang.  It  contained  a  very  brief  outline  of  Uie 
eases  and  their  treatment,  and  expressed  the  surprise  of 
these  eminent  physicians  at  the  happy  issue  of  some  of 
them.  The  commission,  however,  as  a  body,  came  to  the 
oonoluaion  that,  from  the  results  of  their  investigation,  it 
was  impossible  to  declare  either  for  or  against  homoeo- 
pathy. One  of  them,  however,  subsequently  stated  his 
conviction  of  the  efficacy  of  the  system  from  these  trials, 
and  subsequently  became  an  open  adherent  of  the  system. 

When  cholera  prevailed  in  Vienna  in  1836,  the  Leo- 
poldstadt  hospital,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Fleischmann, 
was  ordered  to  be  fitted  up  for  the  reception  of  cholera 
patients.  On  comparing  the  report  of  the  results  obtained 
in  this  hospital  with  those  of  otiier  hospitals  in  Vienna,  it 
was  found  that  whereas  in  the  former,  two  thirds  recovered, 
in  the  latter,  two  thirds  died.  These  results  led  to  the 
repeal  of  the  edict  prohibiting  the  practice  of  homcdopathy 
in  the  empire.  These  facts  I  give  on  the  authority  of  the 
late  Sir  Wm.  Wilde,  the  eminent  ophthalmic  surgeon,  who 
records  them  in  his  book  entitled  Austria  and  its  Insti' 
iutions,  published  about  80  years  ago.  There  must  have 
been  an  irresistible  degree  of  reality  in  these  results  of 
Dr.  Ileischmann  to  have  elicited  so  signal  an  expression  of 
opinion  from  so  autocratic  a  government  as  that  of  Austria. 

So,  too,  in  Edinburgh  in  1848-49,  out  of  236  cases  of  well 
marked  cholera,  attended  by  the  physician  of  the  homodo- 
pathio  dispensary,  67  or  24.6  died,  while  of  876  cases, 
occurring  at  the  same  time,  treated  in  the  ordinary  way,  646 
or  62  per  cent,  died.*  In  Liverpool  in  1849,  out  of  179 
eases,  45  or  25.7  per  cent,  died;  the  cholera  mortality 
throughout  the  town,  being  stated  by  the  medical  officer  of 
health,  to  have  been  46  per  cent.t  At  the  London  Homceo*^ 
pathic  Hospital  in  1864,  88  cases — ^28  being  in  a  state  of 
eoUi^Mie — ^were  admitted,  7  died,  one  discontinued   the 

^  Ruuell  on  Cholera.    Londoii:  HMuUftnd. 
t  BrUUk  JmHmal  of  BomoNgMlAy,  1860. 


•80  DRUG  SELECTION.         "S^^ST^lSi" 


Beyiev,  Jan.  2, 1882. 


treatment,  leaying  the  mortality  at  21  per  cent.  These 
cases,  though  too  few  in  number  ^o  be  of  much  value,  if 
taken  alone,  have  an  additional  importance  attaching  them 
from  their  having  been  watched  by  a  Medical  Inspector  of 
the  Board  of  Health,  the  late  Dr.  Macloughlin,  who,  in  a 
report  he  made  upon  his  visits,  said  that  all  the  cases  were 
true  cholera  in  various  stages  of  the  disease,  and  that  he 
saw  several  which  did  well,  that  he  had  no  hesitation  in  say- 
ing would  have  died  under  any  other  treatment. 

Similar  results  have  been  obtained  in  other  towns  in 
England  and  in  the  Barbadoes. 

In  the  chief  cities  of  the  Southern  States  of  America  the 
success  of  homoeopathy  in  various  epidemics  of  yellow  fever 
during  the  last  thirty  years  has  been  simply  remarkable — 
the  mortality  in  a  large  series  of  cases  being  generally 
about  6  or  7,  and  never  exceeding  10  per  cent. 

Those  on  whose  authority  these  results  are  given  are 
physicians  of  large  experience  in  several  epidemics,  physi- 
cians living  in  localities  where  they  have  occurred — men 
whose  honour  and  veracity  are  as  indisputable  as  are  those 
of  any  physicians  in  the  world. 

Dr.  Bristowe,  I  just  now  remarked,  has  stated  that  the 
statistics  which  would  be  adduced  to  rebut  his  estimate  of 
the  practical  worthlessness  of  homoeopathy  were  such  as  no 
cautious  scientific  observer  could  accept.  The  scientific 
observer  is  not,  however,  the  only  cautious  student  of 
statistics  or  of  statistics  bearing  upon  the  chances  of  life. 
The  commercial  man  is  a  singularly  cautious  student  of 
such  statistics,  and  perhaps  no  commercial  man  is  more 
cautious  in  drawing  inferences  having  a  money  value  than 
is  the  New  Yorker.  In  New  York  we  find  a  Life  Assurance 
company  doing  a  good  and  profitable  business,  the  chief 
feature  of  which  is  that  persons  who,  when  ill,  pledge  them- 
selves to  be  treated  homoeopathically  are  assured  at  10  per 
cent,  lower  rates  than  are  those  who  will  not  do  so. 
During  the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence  8,882  policies 
were  issued  to  homoeopathists,  of  which  112,  or  1  in  74, 
terminated  by  death  ;  and  2,860  were  non-homoeopathic — 
of  these  75,  or  1  in  81,  terminated  by  death. 
'  In  all  American  insurance  offices  the  books  and 
securities  are  liable  to  examination  at  any  moment,  and  if 
found  unsafe  the  office  is  compulsorily  closed.  Repeated 
examinations  of  this  kind  have  resulted  in  showing  that 
the  New  York  Homoeopathic  Mutual  Insurance  Company 


^^j^sra^       i-^^s. 31 

is  doing  a  good  and  safe  business.  Statistics  which  are 
reliable  enough  for  a  New  York  merchant,  after  thirteen 
years'  experience  of  placing  confidence  in  them,  may  surely 
be  regarded  as  worthy  the  attention  of  a  scientific  observer. 

These  statistics  of  the  results  of  homoeopathic  drug 
selection  in  the  treatment  of  formidable  disease  might  be 
Teiy  widely  extended,  but  I  think  I  have  adduced  sufficient 
to  assure  you  that  comparative  success  in  the  treatment  of 
-disease  warrants  us  in  relying  upon  homoBopathy  in 
4shoosing  our  drug  remedies. 

Further,  these  statistics  appear  to  me  to  do  far  more 
ihan  this.  They  are  so  striking,  so  incontestable,  that 
they  ought  to  make  it  a  matter  of  duty  with  every  medical 
man,  to  test  for  himself  the  plan  of  drug  selection  to 
which  the  results  they  record  are  due.  Sir  William  Gull 
said  the  other  day,  in  opening  the  section  of  Practical 
Medicine  at  the  International  Medical  Congress,  that  while 
we  call  ourselves  physicians,  and  should  be  jealous  of  the 
title,  we  must  remember  that  we  are  medici,  or  curers 
of  disease.  Yes,  to  cure  disease  is  the  mission  of  us 
all,  and  he  best  fulfils  that  mission  who  most  thoroughly 
investigates  all  methods  of  relieving  suffering  which  are 
presented  to  him,  with  well-sustained  evidence  of  their 
value. 

The  thorough  clinical  study  of  the  homoeopathic  method 
of  drug  selection  is,  then,  I  contend,  the  duty  of  every  prac- 
titioner and  student  of  medicine. 

To  this  study,  we  invite  you  in  this  lecture  room,  and  in 
the  wards  of  this  hospital. 

21,  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  W. 

LUPUS  AND  ITS  TREATMENT  WITH  HYDROCO- 

TYLE  ASIATICA.* 

By  E.  C.  Fbaneun,  M.D.,  University  of  Michigan. 

I  HAVB  had  in  my  surgical  clinic  five  well  marked  cases  of 
lupus  non  exedens  in  patients  who  exceeded  the  fortieth  year. 
I  propose  to  give  the  treatment  that  has  been  eminently 
successful  in  all  but  one  case,  which,  from  the  general 
impairment  of  constitution  and  extreme  old  age  of  the 
patient,  does  not  promise  such  good  results  as  I  had  hoped 

•  Beprmted  horn  the  New  York  Medical  Timet. 


82    LUPUB.         "i^fsryga! 

for,  in  considering  the  beaatifol  cures  in  the  other  cases. 
This  latter  case  is  still  under  treatment,  and  is  the  last  of 
the  series.  The  others  are  cured  and  have  left  the  clinic 
for  a  period  of  time  varying  from  three  to  sixteen  months. 

D^nition.  Under  the  term  lupus — a  heterogeneous 
neoplasm  of  the  skin,  which  consists  of  a  deposit  in  the 
corium  of  ''  granulation  tissue/'  the  elements  of  which 
resemble  the  cells  of  the  Malpighian  layer — ^I  shall  include 
all  the  varieties  of  this  disease,  viz. :  lupus  non  exedens, 
the  exedens^  and  the  erythematodes.  This  term  has  been 
vaguely  applied  to  other  forms  of  cutaneous  ulceration, 
which  has  tended  very  materially  not  only  to  embarrass 
the  nosology  of  diseases,  but  to  confuse  their  curative 
treatment. 

Lupus  exedenSf  says  Helmuth,  ''first  appears  in  the 
form  of  a  tubercle  on  the  ala  of  the  nose ;  it  is  hard  and 
dusky  red ;  quite  sore,  the  soreness  sometimes  extending 
into  the  nostril."  A  thick  scab  first  covers  the  ulcerated 
spot ;  this  in  time  fiedls  off  and  shows  the  ulcer  extending 
inwards  and  rapidly  destroying  the  alae,  tip,  and  columna. 
At  this  period  &ere  seems  a  respite  to  its  advance  inwards, 
and  the  spreading  is  rather  on  tne  surfieice  than  among  the 
deep  lying  tissues.  This  deceptive  pause  soon  yields, 
however,  to  a  greater  erosion  than  before,  and  all  the  struc- 
tures that  lie  in  its  path  inwards,  whether  of  bone,  muscle, 
connective,  cartilaginous,  fibrous,  or  mucous  tissues,  melt 
away  before  it,  presenting  a  deep,  clean-cut  excavation, 
without  fetor,  swelling,  or  redness,  but  enveloped  in  a 
dark-brown  or  blackish  crust,  the  surrounding  skin  being 
unimplicated  to  the  very  margin  of  the  ulcer* 

When  it  attacks  a  patient  of  scrofulous  habit,  the  exten- 
sion of  the  ulcer  is  more  superficial  than  deep,  and  more 
rapid  in  its  progress,  destroying  the  whole  nose  in  two  or 
three  weeks.  In  the  non-sorofulous  patient  the  disease 
moves  on  with  scarcely  any  perceptible  advance,  occupying 
years  in  completing  its  devastation. 

Occasionally  it  is  associated  with  a  syphilitic  taint,  and 
presents  all  the  evidence  of  venereal  infection. 

A  very  interesting  case  of  the  first  variety  of  this  disease 
came  under  my  observation  while  in  joint  attendance  with 
Dr.  Helmuth*  in  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital,  St.  Louis, 
Mo.,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for  interesting  details 

*  Sm  Hdmath'f  Qyftan  of  Sngery,  p.  8S8. 


of  description  and  treatment.    It  is  rare  in  old  age,  and 
frequently  is  seen  between  the  10th  and  80th  year. 

Lnpns  non  exedens  is  a  milder  type  of  the  disease,  and 
appears  in  the  shape  of  a  red  patch,  or  a  small,  soft  nodnle 
occupying  the  nose,  face,  or  chin,  which  is  covered  by  a 
fine,  brawny,  superficial  desquamation,  or  white  scales  of 
detached  epidermis.  It  often  remains  stationary  for  years, 
producing  a  contracted  appearance  of  the  skin,  with  a 
feeling  of  stiffiiess  or  drawing  in  of  the  features,  resembling 
the  cicatrix  following  a  bum.  It  is  covered  with  a  slight 
scaly  covering,  which,  dropping  off,  shows  a  reddened, 
brawny  appearance  of  the  integument  beneath.  In  time 
these  patches  increase  in  size  and  depth,  which  sometimes 
undergo  fatty  degeneration  and  become  absorbed,  leaving  a 
superficial  or  depressed  scar,  according  to  the  degree  of 
deposit.  At  other  times  the  ulceration  extends  superficially, 
involving  the  entire  thickness  of  the  skin,  which  is  covered 
with  a  continuous  crust. 

iMjms  erythematodes.  This  is  a  peculiar  variety  of  tho 
disease,  and  unlike  the  two  preceding,  in  its  characteristics. 
It  begins  as  a  small  reddish  macule  in  the  walls  of  the 
sebaceous  follicles,  and  extends  to  the  adjacent  structures, 
and  spreads  superficially  at  the  periphery  while  it  is  healing 
in  the  central  point.  The  patches  are  studded  with  pearl- 
coloured  or  grayish  points  of  sebum,  which  shoot  up  from 
the  implicated  follicles,  without  producing  deep  ulceration. 
Upon  the  subsidence  of  the  disease  there  appears  a  thin, 
shining,  depressed,  cicatrix,  showing  the  atrophic  changes 
going  on  in  the  skin. 

An  acute  form  of  the  disease,  more  common  in  Germany 
than  elsewhere,  according  to  Hebra  and  Kaposi,  has  a  large 
number  of  these  macules  scattered  over  the  face,  in  some 
cases  being  confluent,  and  occasionally  involving  the  trunk 
and  extremities.  They  are  painfrd  and  increase  with  con- 
siderable rapidity,  and  give  to  the  disease  the  appearance 
of  acuteness.  Its  leading  characteristics  are,  the  primitive 
macule,  the  colour,  the  slight  brawny  scales,  tiie  chronic  and 
slow  course,  and  the  tendency  to  scarring.  No  pain  or 
pruritue,  but  a  sUght  itching,  marks  the  course  of  lupus  in 
all  its  varieties. 

Histological  dementi.  ''  The  lupus  tubercle  consists  of 
an  aggregation  of  small  cells,  among  which  larger  poly- 
nucleated  ones,  known  as  'giant  cells,'  are  sometimes 
found."    In  the  lupus  exedens,  **  the  ohuracteristic  micro- 

YoL  S6,  No.  1.  9 


Oil  T-rmTTa  Montlily  HoaiOMpatiilO 

O^  ItUPUB.  Bavicnr.  Jan.  «.  isn. 


Boopic  feature  is  the  ocenrrence  of  sharply  defined  aggrega- 
tions of  small  non-stratified  cells,  withont  much  or  any 
diffuse  cellular  infiltration."     (Piffard.) 

Etiology,  The  proposition  is  almost  universally  held  in 
England,  France,  and  Italy,  that  lupus  may  properly  he 
considered  an  expression  of  the  scroAilous  diathesis.  On 
the  contrary,  the  Vienna  school  and  its  adherents  oppose 
the  scrofulous  participation.  Thompson,  who  is  excellent 
authority  on  this  point,  maintains  that  it  is  **  hut  the  local 
manifestation  of  a  general  disease,"  a  view  indorsed  hy 
Dr.  Piffard,  a  late  writer  on  the  therapeutics  of  the  skin, 
as  well  as  other  dermatologists  whose  opinions  are  entitled 
to  great  weight. 

Prognosis.  Before  any  special  lesion  is  concerned,  the 
prognosis  of  this  disease  is  good,  and  I  helieve  better  results 
have  followed  homoeopathic  treatment  than  any  other  known 
therapeutics.  In  the  early  stages  of  the  disease  it  yields 
readily  to  internal  and  local  medication.  If  it  has  progressed 
80  far  as  to  produce  a  lesion  of  considerable  size,  the  cure 
will  be  correspondingly  protracted.  If  it  has  been  neglected 
and  has  gone  on  to  involve  the  deep  structures,  thereby 
placing  the  disease  beyond  the  hope  of  surgical  means,  with 
^constitutional  impairment  which  is  the  rule  in  these  cases, 
then  the  prognosis  is  proportionately  doubtful,  more  from 
the  cachectic  condition  developed  than  the  extent  of  the 
lesion.  In  two  cases  I  am  sure  that  I  have  seen  epithelioma 
developed  upon  the  site  of  an  old  lupoid  ulceration,  when 
all  the  characters  of  the  disease  were  changed. 

Treatment.  The  treatment  of  lupus  must  be  considered, 
first,  with  reference  to  the  genius  of  the  disease,  viz.,  a 
constitutional  dyscrasia ;  secondly,  to  the  cure  of  the  local 
disorder  by  externally  applied  medicinal  agents.  It  cannot 
be  doubted  that,  if  the  constitutional  diathesis  presents  well 
pronounced  symptoms,  our  chief  reliance  must  be  placed 
upon  those  remedies  that  expend  their  curative  action  over 
those  internal  and  physiological  processes  most  deeply 
involved  in  the  disease.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  no  systemic 
impairment  can  be  detected,  and  the  lupus  shows  no  evidence 
of  acuteness,  the  local  manifestations  being  the  most 
prominent  indications  for  treatment,  attention  to  the  external 
lesion  will  be  ordinarily  sufficient.  It  is  just  here  where  the 
higher  potencies  effect  so  much  good  and  so  firequently 
bring  about  a  happy  issue  in  these  cases,  where  the  best 


directed  efix)rtfl  of  the  dlopathio  physician  have  most 
signally  fttiled  in  effecting  a  cure. 

The  remedies  which  I  have  employed  the  most  success* 
folly  in  the  non  exedens  and  the  erythematodes,  as  well  as  in 
the  earty  stages  of  the  exedens,  are  Ars,  iod.,  Calc.  iod., 
Ferr.  iod.,  Kali,  iod.,  Merc,  iod.,  KalL  bich.,  HydrocotyU 
Anat.y  Silica. 

I  have  tried  most  faithfully  the  remedies  proposed  by 
Gilchrist  in  his  Surgical  Therapeutics  in  various  potencies, 
and  regret  to  say  the  patients  were  not  benefited  in  the 
least  by  either  one  of  the  following :  Caust.,  Staph.,  Lyc.^ 
C&niwn.j  Baryt,,  Graph.,  Phot.,  and  Sulph.  My  experi- 
ence has  led  me  to  remark  that  the  iodides  and  their  bases 
have  effected  better  results  with  me  than  either  of  the 
preceding  remedies,  yet  I  have  sometimes  been  disappointed 
in  their  use.  Of  all  the  remedies  which  have  given  me  the 
most  successful  results  is  the  Hydrocotyle  Agiatica,  and  I 
can  testify  my  commendation  of  this  remedy  which  Helmuth 
has  called  the  attention  of  the  profession  to  in  his  recent 
work  on  Surgery,  and  which  acquired  such  "  great  reputa- 
tion in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Boileau,  resident  in  the  Mauritius." 
"  Of  57  persons  suffering  from  lupus  who  were  treated  by 
the  remedy,  in  aU  trithout  exception,  the  disease  was 
arrested  and  in  a  veiy  short  time." 

I  have  heard  the  statement  made,  I  think  by  Dr.  Qilchrist, 
tbat  Hydrocotyle  was  not  curative  of  lupus ;  that  the  rela- 
tions of  the  drug  pointed  to  elephantiasis  arabum  alone. 
My  opinion  differs  widely  from  this,  and  I  have  the  record 
of  three  cases  to  prove  its  efficacy  in  lupus,  and  I  am  sure 
the  profession  can  rely  upon  it  with  certainty  in  all  cases 
where  constitotional  dia&iesis  does  not  develop  a  marked 
mdication  for  treatment. 

ABSTKACT   OF   CASES   TREATED   IN   CUNIG  AND   HOSPITAL   THE 

PAST  TWO  YBABS. 

Case  1.  Sarah  C,  st.  86.  May  6, 1880.  Had  ulcer  on 
rig^t  side  of  cheek  covered  with  scab  size  of  half-dollar. 
Qui  been  suffering  with  the  disease  more  or  less  for  three 
years.  Removal  of  scab  shows  the  characters  of  lupus. 
Sharp  stitching  pain  in  part.  For  the  past  year  growth 
has  ceased  till  three  months  ago,  when  it  began  to  increase 
sensibly.  Diagnosis,  lupus  non  exedens.  Prescription, 
Hydrocotyle  As.  6z,  three  times  a  day  internally  and  ten 
dxops  in  one  ounce  of  water  locally.    May  12.  Feels  a  little 


86 LviroB.  "g^^Srg^ 

better;  parts  do  not  feel  so  stiff;  no  pain;  O.T.  May  12. 
Beports  herself  decidedly  improved ;  G.T.  Jane  10.  Scab 
shows  no  tendency  to  return ;  skin  feels  a  trifle  indurated, 
but  shows  marked  improvement ;  G.  T. ;  medicine  to  be 
given  twice  a  day.  Jnne  22.  Beports  herself  perfectly 
cured.    Discharged. 

Case  2.  Mrs.  T.  Webster.  Entered  clinic  May  18. 
History.  Seven  years  ago  had  small  pimple  on  right  side 
of  nos6y  red  and  elevated,  which  ulcerated  and  spread,  and 
for  nearly  two  years  it  stopped  growing.  The  size  of  a 
silver  dollar  now,  and  extending  over  the  skin  surface.  It 
began  to  grow  from  being  overheated,  attended  with  itching. 
The  scabs  would  grow  and  fall  off,  leaving  a  reddish  base. 
Diagnosis,  lupus  non  exedens.  Prescription,  Hydrocotyle 
As.  6x,  three  times  a  day  and  first  cUlution  of  remedy 
applied  locally.  June  1.  Patient  improving;  G.  T. 
June  28.  Improvement  continues;  G.  T.  This  case  con- 
tinued the  remedy  till  all  was  taken,  and  in  consequence  of 
my  absence  from  the  city  did  not  see  her  till  my  return 
in  October,  when  she  reported  herself  cured. 

Gase  8.  Mrs.  P.  Entered  hospital  November  27, 1880. 
History  like  the  preeeding.  Gave  her  Are.  iod.  6th,  three 
times  a  day,  and  ten  drops  of  iodine  in  one  oxmce  of  water 
applied  externally*  In  three  weeks  she  returned  very  little 
benefited  if  any.  Gave  ferrum  iod,  8d,  twice  a  day,  and 
the  same  application  locally.  Returned  in  two  weeks  not 
improved.  Ordered  no  medicine  for  one  week,  and  Hydro- 
cotyle As.  6th,  three  times  a  day  for  two  weeks,  and  the 
Hyd.  externally  as  in  the  preceding  cases.  She  reported  in 
the  three  weeks  that  she  felt  *^  a  hundred  per  cent,  better;*' 
C.  T.     To  report  in  three  weeks  more.    Beported  cured. 

Gase  4.  J.  W.  H.,  sBt.  70,  male.  March  22,  1881. 
Had  growth  under  left  eye.  Began  as  a  red,  elevated 
pimple  in  the  skin.  The  physician  treated  it  with  es- 
charotics,  which  resulted  in  complete  ectropion,  which  was 
subsequently  operated  upon  and  cured.  Now  has  a  similar 
growth  on  nose.  Diagnosis,  Lupus  non  exedens,  Gave- 
Hydrocotyle  As.  6th,  three  times  a  day,  and  the  external 
lotion.  April  7.  Beturned  with  slight  improvement. 
Ordered  medicine  continued.  Have  not  seen  him  since  and 
do  not  know  positively  the  result  of  treatment. 

I  shall  look  at  this  case  with  a  considerable  interest,  for 
I  was  a  little  in  doubt  about  the  diagnosis,  although  the 
previous  surgeon  expressed  himself  with  great  positivenesS' 


aS^jS!fSS^      BPLINTS  IN  H0B8BS.  87 

as  to  the  disease,  and  pronounced  it  unhesitatingly  the  non 
exedeng  variety  of  Inpns. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  the  disease  was  implicating  the 
skin  too  deeply ;  the  scab  was  a  little  too  hard  for  Inpns, 
and  the  adjacent  skin  too  mnch  infiltrated  for  a  po9itiv$ 
diagnosis  of  Inpns.  We  shall  see  soon  and  report  the 
result. 


THE  TKEATMENT  OF  SPLINTS  IN  HORSES. 

By  W.  B.  B.  ScBiVEN,  M.D. 

Etebt  bondjide  example  of  the  genuine  action  of  the  law 
of  similars  is  valuable  and  worth  recording.  This  is  more 
especially  the  case  when  the  subject  is  an  unimaginative 
pachyderm,  who  is  ignorant  of  the  object  of  the  treatment 
of  which  he  or  she  may  be  the  victim.  I  may  here  observe 
that  the  lower  animals  have  in  several  instances  been 
instrumental  in  convincing  some  of  the  most  powerful 
intellects  of  the  truth  and  superiority  of  our  system  of 
cure.  Archbishop  Whately  was  converted  in  this  wise. 
My  late  friend,  Dr.  Charles  Luther,  had  attended  with 
success,  one  of  the  Misses  Whately.  Her  father,  then  a 
candid  unbeliever,  could  not  refuse  his  assent  to  the  fact 
that  the  health  of  his  daughter  had  been  quite  re-estab- 
lished under  Dr.  Luther's  treatment,  after  a  long  period  of 
delicacy  and  active  medication  secundem  artem.  His  Grace, 
still  sceptical  as  to  the  efficacy  of  infinitesimals,  remarked 
that  Dr.  Luther's  success  might,  in  a  great  measure,  be  due 
to  the  action  of  "mind  on  matter,''  but  said,  that  if  he  (Dr. 
Luther)  would  cure  his  favourite  dog,  a  brown  Irish  water- 
spaniel,  who  was  almost  depilated  by  mange,  and  had 
been  under  the  care  of  the  most  distinguished  vets,  in 
London  and  Dublin,  he  would  believe.  Luther  accepted 
the  challenge :  the  dog  recovered  his  hair  and  his  health 
in  six  or  eight  weeks;  the  great  logician  became  a  firm 
homoeopath,  ajid  continued  so  till  death. 

We  have  now  to  do  with  a  larger,  if  not  nobler  animal. 
About  three  years  ago,  I  bought  a  well-bred  mare,  five 
years  old,  with  a  very  prominent  splint,  the  size  of  a 
walnut,  on  the  inside  of  the  near  fore  leg,  about  three 
inches  below  the  knee.  From  its  position  and  its  having, 
become  thoroughly  ossified,  it  did  not  cause  lameness  or 


68  SPLINTS  IN  HOKSBS.      ''^SSSiSS!??^ 


Beview,  Jml.  S,  188t, 


coDBtitate  '' nnsQUQdness/'  but  was  a  blemish  wliich  I 
hoped  to  remove.  Dr.  Garth  Wilkinson  has  drawn  atten- 
tion to  the  action  of  the  lava  of  Mount  Heela  on  the  cattle 
find  ponies  which  grasse  on  the  slopes  of  the  monntain, 
giving  rise  in  them  to  various  bony  deformities. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  if  the  lava  could  produce  exos- 
tosis it  ought  to  cure  splint.  I  got  our  friend,  Mr.  Gould, 
to  prepare  an  ointment  of  one  drachm  of  1st  trit.  <^  lava  to 
an  ounce  of  lard.  This  was  rubbed  on  the  splint  night  and 
morning,  and  five  grains  of  the  Srd  dec.  trit.  was  put  on 
the  mare's  tongue  twice  a  day.  In  three  weeks  the  splint 
began  to  soften,  and  in  three  or  four  more  had  quite  dis- 
appeared. The  next  case  was  that  of  a  valuable  high- 
stepping  harness  mare^  twelve  years  old,  who,  when  young, 
had  thrown  out  a  large  splint,  which,  after  hard  work, 
used  to  inflame,  and  lame  her,  but  latterly  had  given  us 
little  [trouble.  As  an  experiment,  I  ordered  the  same 
treatment  to  be  resorted  to  with  her,  and  in  a  few  days 
the  splint  became  so  tender  that  we  desisted,  and  when  the 
aggravation  passed  off,  the  splint  had  become  smaller,  and 
now  causes  no  inconvenience.  Last  summer,  a  military 
friend  told  me  he  had  a  very  valuable  hunter  which  had 
become  lame  from  ossification  of  the  cartilages  of  both  fore 
feet.  I  mentioned  my  success  with  the  lava,  and  advised 
him  to  try  it.  He  afterwards  went  abroad,  and  when  in 
London  en  route  for  Cannes,  wrote  to  me  as  follows  from 
the  Army  and  Navy  Club,  Pall  Mall:  "My  horse  was 
afiected  in  both  fore  feet  with  a  considerable  enlargement 
and  hardness  of  the  cartilages  from  ossification.  I  applied 
your  remedy  both  internally  and  externally  for  three  weeks, 
before  I  perceived  any  improvement,  but  after  that  time  the 
benefit  was  very  marked,  both  in  removing  the  enlarge- 
ment, and  also  taking  away  the  hardness  at  the  heels  and 
restoring  their  springy  feel.  Whether  the  cure  will  be 
perfect,  time  alone  will  tell,  but  so  far  nothing  can  be  more 
satisfactory.  I  am  still  going  on  with  the  treatment* 
Again  thanking  you  much  for  your  kindness,  &c.,  &c." 

I  called  some  days  ago  at  the  stables  of  my  friend,  and 
saw  the  horse,  who  has  now  no  trace  of  hardness,  and  goes 
perfectly  sound. 

Dublin,  28rd  Nov.,  1881. 


ISrtSl^jSTaSL*  PoisoNma  bt  solphdr.  89 

A  CASE  OF  POISONING  BY  SULPHUR. 
By  Robert  T.  Coopeb,  M.D., 

Physician,  Difieases  of  Ear,  London  HomGdopatbio  Hospital. 

The  diffuaion  of  JuZj?At4r-con8titaents  thronghont  nature 
is  so  extensive  that  it  probably  happens  there  are  more 
cases  of  poisoning  by  sulphur  and  its  deriratives  than  by 
any  of  the  other  chemical  elementary  bodies,  phosphorus 
and  arsenic  even,  not  being  excepted. 

And  yet  scattered  through  medical  literature  there  would 
probably  be  found  a  hundred  cases  of  arsenic  poisoning 
for  one  of  sulphur,  the  reason  being  that  arsenical  effects 
thrust  themselves  upon  us,  and  in  a  way  compel  us  to 
notice  them.  Considerations  such  as  this  show  the  need 
there  is  for  following,  in  this  respect  at  all  events,  the 
instructions  of  the  illustrious  Hahnemann,  and  noting  down 
all  the  circumstances  connected  with  our  patients'  cases, 
whether  these  appear  at  the  time  to  be  calculated  to  help 
us  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  case  or  not. 

A  collection  of  such  cases,  carefolly  studied,  would,  I 
feel  sure,  lead  to  the  inference  that  many  of  i^em  must 
have  been  under  the  influence  of  ^_p/if^r-bearing  substances. 

Ehzabeth  D — ,  a  housemaid,  aged  26,  consulted  me 
15th  November,  1881,  for  weakness,  with  inter-scapular 
pains ;  she  assures  me  she  never  has  been  strong,  though 
much  worse  the  last  two  months.  She  has  suffered  a  good 
deal  from  irregular  action  of  the  heart,  and  complains  of 
an  unpleasant  taste  and  confined  bowels,  her  appetite, 
notwithstanding,  being  good.  Observing  the  peculiar  atra* 
bilious  complexion  and  roughness  of  skin  that  I  have  for 
long  been  in  the  habit  of  considering  an  indication  for 
sulphur,  I  prescribed  our  sulphur  mother-tincture,  and  was 
just  handing  her  the  prescription,  when  she  gave  me  the 
following  interesting  particulars : — 

A  year  and  a  half  ago,  not  feeUng  well,  was  induced  to 
take  a  teaspoonful  of  sulphur  in  a  little  treacle,  and  has 
never  felt  well  since.  This  quantity  was  taken  during  the 
catamenia,  and  inmiediately  afterwards  a  change  took  place 
in  the  colour  of  the  discharge.  From  being  natural,  it 
changed  to  a  pale  yellow  discharge,  exactly  Uxe  colour  of 
the  sulphur  itself,  and  so  it  continued  for  at  least  three 
months.  Ever  since  then,  for  a  week  before  each  monthly 
illness,  she  is  troubled  with  this  nasty  yellow  discharge, 
which  smells  and  looks  exactly  like  sulphur. 


40   GASTR0-INTE8TINAL  HiEMOBRHAGE.  ^^S^^SSSIifi^. 

Moreover,  she  says  that  soon  after  taking  the  sulphur f 
abscesses  formed  about  the  teeth,  which  until  they  dis- 
charged, would  occasion  a  great  deal  of  pain. 

Still  further,  any  purgative  medicine,  instead  of  acting 
upon  her  bowels,  will,  since  taking  the  sulphur,  be  suc- 
ceeded not  by  purgation,  but  by  an  increase  of  this  horrid 
discharge,  and  the  urine,  too,  will  at  the  same  time  smell 
strongly  of  sulphur.  The  discharge  leaves  a  yellow  stain, 
with  sulphur-VkQ  odour  upon  her  linen.  Her  teeth, 
especially  the  back  teeth,  upper  and  lower,  are  much 
decayed,  in  fact  they  are  perfectly  useless,  while  before 
taking  the  sulphur  they  were  very  good  indeed. 

Hearing  all  this,  I  naturally  altered  my  prescription,  and 
gave  ten  grains  of  mercurius  soluhUis,  Srd  dec.  to  go  over 
the  week. 

November  22nd. — ^Feels  stronger,  and  is  clearer  in  her 
complexion.  Has  had  an  increase  of  discharge  since  taking 
the  medicine,  and  it  smells  even  more  sulphury  than  before. 
Inter-scapular  pain  gone,  bowels  still  confined. 

November  29. — Very  much  better  in  all  respects,  bowels 
act  all  right,  monthly  illness  on — natural. 

Briefly,  the  case  shows — ^(ij  the  antidotal  power  of  mer- 
curius  over  sulphur  (''in  such  cases  (i.e.,  where  much 
sulphur  had  been  used)  a  dose  of  m^curius  x  ought  to  be 
given  first,  before  the  sulphur  is  exhibited. — Chronic 
Diseases,  Hahnemann,  vol.  i.,  p.  162) ;  ('bj  that  sulphur 
acting  injuriously  leads  to  decay  of  the  teeth,  thereby  con- 
firming both  Hahnemann  and  the  Vienna  provings ;  and 
lastly,  re  J  it  seems  to  prove  that  under  some  circumstances 
there  may  grow  up  in  the  system  a  manufactory  of  sulphur, 
just  as  we  know  occurs  with  carbon. — {Vide  Mackellar, 
Edinhwrgh  Monthly  Journal  of  Medical  Science,  1846). 

A    CASE    OF    GASTEO-INTESTINAL 
HAEMORRHAGE. 

By  Dr.  Proell,  Nice  and  Gastein. 

Last  March,  whilst  the  Sirocco  wind  was  blowing,  I  was 
called  to  go  as  quickly  as  possible  to  a  gentleman  suffering 
severely  from  violent  vomiting  and  colic.  I  found  him  in 
bed,  complaining  of  continual  sickness  and  great  anxiety, 
and  trying  to  alleviate  his  sufferings  by  compressing  his 
bowels  with  both  hands ;  great  giddiness  when  raising  his 
head. 


Xeview,  Jan.  s,  18tt.      OABTBO-INTESTINAL  HJEMOBBHAGB.   41 

Present  State. — ^A  tall  man,  70  jesetB  of  ag6>  light  eyes, 
fiice  extremely  pale,  tongue  white,  boot  odour  from  the 
breath.  He  Tomited  with  great  effort  a  vessel  full  of  a 
ihick  poultice-like  substance,  resembling  chocolate  or 
•coffee-dregs,  of  a  very  offensive  odour ;  no  thirst ;  burning 
-and  pricMng  pain  in  the  abdomen,  which  was  much 
swoUen ;  great  difBculty  in  speaking ;  pulse  80,  and  hard ; 
breathing  accelerated ;  urine  normid ;  skin  cool. 

Prescription. — 2'rit.  earbo.  veget.  5-  A  pinch  every 
half-hour. 

Diet. — ^Nothing  but  cold  milk,  and  a  little  water  in  case 
thirst  should  return. 

Legs  and  feet  to  be  enveloped  in  flannel. 

After  an  absence  of  two  hours  I  returned,  and  found  the 
'Colic  and  vomiting  much  lessened,  the  temperature  higher. 

The  following  morning  I  was  told  that  he  had  passed  a 
better  night.  He  had  vomited  several  times,  but  only 
towards  morning,  when  the  vessel  was  again  filled  with  the 
same  kind  of  bluish-black  poultice-looking  material.  Colic 
much  lessened,  but  still  the  same  painful  moaning. 

Prescription. — Trit.  earbo.  veget.  Ix:  A  pinch  every 
two  hours.  Gold  milk  every  hour,  but  only  a  teaspoonfid 
in  order  not  to  fatigue  the  exhausted  stomach. 

Evening  Visit. — ^During  the  day  appetite  returned,  but 
only  momentarily.  Great  weakness,  with  sticking  burning 
pains,  and  increased  violent  vomiting  towards  evening. 
Much  thirst,  but  satisfied  with  small  draughts  of 
water.  Vomiting  of  the  same  quantity  and  quaJity  as 
before.     Urine  normal. 

Prescription. — Arsen.  6  dilut. :  2  drops  on  the  tongue 
every  half-hour  until  a  change  occurs,  then  less  frequently. 

March  12. — The  next  morning  I  learned  that  soon  after 
the  second  dose  of  arsen^  the  burning  pain  was  lessened. 
After  the  third  dose  the  vomiting  and  tlurst  decreased,  and 
the  patient  slept  from  1  a.m.  till  7  a.m.  In  the  morning 
he  awoke  with  a  bitter  taste  in  the  mouth  and  offensive 
smeU  from  the  breath ;  no  appetite ;  tongue  covered  with  a 
thick  yellow  coating ;  no  thnrst ;  nausea  and  hiccup ;  sen- 
sation of  fulness  in  the  stomach ;  vomiting  and  burning 
pain  entirely  passed  away ;  no  evacuation  for  four  days. 

Prescription, — ^It  was  now  desirable  to  empty  the  bowels, 
and  I  first  ordered  an  injection  of  lukewarm  water.  To 
this  the  patient  made  great  objection,  and  as  there  was  no 
instrument  in  the  house,  and  no  one  capable  of  managing 


42  GASTBO-nrrEBTINAL  H£MOBRHAOB.  ^'t^ 


Bvfww,  Jan.  S,  ISBS. 


one,  I  was  obliged  ta  give  up  thai  way  of  helping  him,  and 
prescribed  instead  tisiciure  qfnvx,  vani.  6^  2  drops  every  3 
hoars.  I  chose  nux,  rom.^  not  only  on  account  of  the  new 
symptoms^  bat  also  because  he  had  been  accastomed  all 
his  fife  to  good  living  {bon  vivant  de  ftemiere  cUuge),  In 
the  evening  I  was  sent  for  harriedly,  as  the  invalid  had 
been  found  stretched  senseless  upon  the  floor  of  his  room, 
by  the  bedside,  in  the  midst  of  involuntary  evacuations^ 
His  friend,  who  lived  in  the  same  pension,  had  come  by 
chance  into  his  room,  and  after  washing  him,  whilst  lying 
on  the  floor,  put  him  back  into  bed,  with  the  help  of  others. 
Whilst  lying  on  the  floor,  the  patient  was  quite  cold,  and 
of  a  deatibly  hue,  but  when  returned  to  bed,  be  became  of  a 
burning  heat,  and  quite  red  with  fever.  He  had  again 
much  thirst,  with  anxiety,  and  a  fieiy  sensation  in  the 
bowels.  Symptoms. — tongue  blackiah,  mouth  very  dry, 
breathing  short,  thirst  inextinguishable,  but  satisfied  with 
small  quantities  of  water.  Pulse,  84,  and  very  weak.  No 
vomiting. 

Prescription. — Tinct.  arsen.y  Ix.  dilut.,  2  drops  on  the 
tongue  every  hour ;  to  be  stopped  when  the  diarrhoea 
ceased. 

Diet. — Bice  and  rice  water  alternately,  with  tea,  to  be 
given  often,  but  in  very  small  quantities. 

March  18th. — ^Morning  visit.  Found  the  patient  had 
slept  better.  No  vomiting.  Two  evacuations  of  the  same 
kind  as  before.  All  the  above-mentioned  symptoms 
lessened.  Less  apathetic.  Breathing  still  short.  Pulse^ 
80.     Swelling  of  the  abdomen.     No  longer  thirsty. 

Prescription. — Carbo.  veget.,  Ix,  trit.,  a  pinch  on  the 
tongue  every  three  hours. 

Evening. — Still  better  in  every  respect, 

Diet.^  No  longer  milk  alone,  but  mixed  with  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  Cognac. 

March  14th. — Morning. — Had  slept  tolerably  during  the 
night.  Five  evacuations,  but  these,  for  the  first  time, 
were  more  brown  than  black.  Abdomen  swelled,  but  less- 
painful.     Breathing  easier. 

Prescription. — Carbo.  veget.,  Ix. 

Evening  visit.  Only  one  -evacuation.  All  symptoms 
better.  Carbo.  to  be  given  once  only,  just  before  going  to- 
sleep. 

March  15,  morning.  Passed  a  good  night.  No  evacua* 
tion.     Same  prescription  and  diet. 


lt!SS^SrS!wS^  OASTB0-INTB8TINAL  H2B1I0EEHAGB.  4S 

March  16,  morning.  Had  no  sleep  dariBg  night.  Ten 
attacks  of  diarrhoea,  hnt  colour  browner,  and  of  a  firmer 
consistence.  Prescription. — Carbo  30.  No  longer  milk, 
but  tea  and  biscuit^  also  a  little  weak  brandy  and  water  to 
be  given  when  thirsty. 

March  17.  Passed  a  good  night.  No  evacuation. 
Patient  fresher,  but  pulse  still  80,  and  very  weak.  Pre^ 
9cripiian.  No  more  medicine.  Beef  tea  with  toasted 
bread,  and  instead  of  brandy,  Bordeaux  in  small  quantities. 

March  2S.  The  first  normal  evacuation  after  three  days 
costiveness.  Patient  now  allowed  to  get  up,  take  a  drive  in 
the  carriage,  and  eat  regular  dinners.  I  now  ordered  him 
to  take  Gastein  water,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  bowels. 
At  the  end  of  April  he  left  Nice,  completely  cured,  and  his 
face  had  then  lost  its  pallid  hue. 

This  case  is  interesting  on  account  of  the  uncertainty 
surrounding  its  pathology.  It  was  only  during  the  last 
few  days  of  his  convalescence  that  I  was  made  acquainted 
with  the  full  history  of  the  disease,  which  is  somewhat  as 
follows : — 

When  an  officer  in  a  cavalry  regiment  in  his  17th  year, 
he  suffered  greatly  from  piles  and  gout,  and,  during  the 
bombardment  of  Venice,  from  malaria.  Some  months  after- 
wards he  had  a  dangerous  attack  of  inflammation  of  the 
bowels,  and  at  Vienna  dropsy  of  the  abdomen.  In  his  48rd 
year  he  married,  and  remained  three  years  longer  in  the 
eavaliy.  He  then  had  an  attack  of  gastralgia  and  gout, 
and  went  to  Carlsbad.  The  death  of  two  children  threw 
him  into  a  state  of  nervous  debility  and  chronic  gastric 
disorder.  It  was  not  until  he  attained  the  age  of  60  that 
he  had  the  first  internal  bleeding,  when  he  lost  7  lbs.  of 
blood.  This  attack,  which  threatened  his  life,  was,  he 
thinks,  brought  on  by  too  hard  and  excessive  riding  on 
horseback.  The  enormous  loss  of  blood  was  checked,  and 
he  went  to  Naples  for  recovery.  There  he  lost  his  wife>  and 
suffered  greatly  from  continual  colic,  but  the  summer 
brought  relief.  The  next  spring  he  went  to  Marienbad,  but 
soon  afterwards  he  had  again  internal  bleeding,  with  faint- 
ing. Weak  during  two  months.  He  came  to  Nice  in 
February,  1861,  and  the  11th  of  March  following  began 
the  disease  just  related. 


Nice,  Nov.  15,  1881. 


44  SOLUBILITT  OF  PHOSPHOBUS.  M-^^JJ^wpj^ 


Bafiev,  Jan.  t»  ifln. 


NOTE  ON  THE  SOLUBILITY  OF  PHOSPHORUS 

m  ETHEB. 

By  J.  M.  W-iBOBN. 

The  gravimetric  estimation  otphogphorus  in  ethereal  soln- 
tions  being  a  matter  of  great  difficulty,  the  following 
experiments  were  made  with  a  view  to  ascertain  somewhat 
exactly  the  extent  to  which  the  substance  is  soluble  in  this 
medium  at  the  ordinary  laboratory  temperature,  viz.,  60^ 
Fahr. 

The  precautions  described  in  a  note  on  alcohoUc  solutions 
of  this  medicine  (this  Journal,  vol.  xxi,  p.  748)  were 
observed — 

1.  Solutions  in  absolute  ether  were  first  prepared  to 
determine  approximately  the  proportion  of  vitreous  phog- 
phorus  soluble,  and  this  was  found  to  be,  while  the 
solutions  remained  clear,  about  one  grain  in  between  200 
and  250  minims,  but  the  Uquid  quickly  became  opalescent 
and  began  to  deposit  a  half  liquid,  half  pulverulent  mass, 
varying  in  colour  from  that  of  straw  to  red,  and  which 
finally  became  solid  and  adhered  to  the  glass  firmly. 

2.  Common  ether  having  a  specific  gravity  of  0.7S5  at 
60^  (ascertained  by  the  balance  immediately  before  and 
4kfter  the  experiment)  was  used  in  this  case.  2,000  grain 
measures  were  measured  by  the  specific  gravity  bottle,  and 
placed  in  an  ether  capped,  white  glass  bottie,  holding  little 
more  than  this  quantity,  and  kept  during  the  operation  in  a 
boxwood  case  to  guard  it  from  the  light.  8.10  grains  of 
phosphorus  chips  were  placed  in  this  and  completely  dis- 
solved in  a  few  days,  the  solution  remaining  clear.  1.10 
grain  was  then  added  and  in  due  course  dissolved.  1.80 
grain  was  afterwards  added,  but  only  a  little  more  than  half 
this  quantity  was  taken  up,  and  tiie  solution  ultimately 
.became  turbid,  so  that  the  operation  could  not  be  carried 
further.  It  was,  however,  calculated  that  10  grains  in  all 
had  dissolved,  the  proportion  being  equal  to  a  grain  in 
about  219  minims.     The  temperature  remained  at  about 

'60^  during  this  experiment. 

8.  A  block  oi  phosphorus  from  the  same  sample,  weigh- 
ing 16.8  grains,  was  placed  in  2,000  grain  measures  of  the 
same  ether,  and  after  maceration  and  occasional  shaking  for 
five  days,  was  re-weighed,  and  the  net  weight  found  to  be 
6.4  grains,  10.4  grains  being  left  in  the  solution,  corres- 


SSSTjiST^m^  solubility  of  phosphorus:  4& 

ponding  to  the  proportion  of  one  grain  in  211  minims. 
Temperatnre  was  maintained  at  60^. 

4.  A  block  of  phosphorus  weighing  84.16  grains  from  a 
different  sample  to  that  preyionsly  used,  was  placed  in 
2,000  grain  measures  of  ether  haying  a  speciJSc  gravity  of 
0.788,  and  macerated  with  occasional  shaking  for  six  days. 
Between  the  third  and  fifth  day  it  remained  onshaken,  the 
temperature  in  the  meantime  falling  to  55? ;  in  consequence 
of  tliis,  a  quantity  of  crystals  formed  from  the  solution, 
which  were  only  partially  re-dissolred,  after  thorough  shaking 
and  further  maceration  at  60^  for  five  hours,  and  the  ex^ 
periment  was  abandoned.  The  block  when  re-weighed 
contained  22.56  grains,  having  therefore  lost  11.60  grains 
in  weight,  and  the  residuary  crystals  were  roughly  estimated, 
by  the  quantity  of  ether  required  to  dissolve  them,  at  about 
a  grain,  leaving  about  10.6  graina  dissolved,  and  proving 
that  the  maximum  amount  in  solution  was  less  than  11.60' 
grains. 

5.  A  block  o{  phosphorus  weighing  20.02  grains,  from 
the  same  sample  as  that  used  in  tiie  last  experiment,  was 
placed  in  2,000  grain  measures  of  the  same  ether,  and 
macerated  as  before  for  five  days.  The  lowest  temperature 
reached  was  56^,  and  the  solution  showed  a  tendency  tO' 
crystallise  on  the  fifth  day,  some  vety  minute  crystals  form- 
ing, which  were  nearly  all  re-dissolved  by  shaking  and 
further  maceration  for  some  hours  at  60^.  The  block  re- 
maining weighed  8.69  grains,  having  lost  11.88  grains,  and 
the  solution  remained  clear. 

The  mean  results  of  experiments  2,  8  and  5,  would 
probably  represent  the  average  degree  of  solubility  of 
different  samples  oi  phosphorus  in  common  ether,  varying, 
as  it  usually  does  in  the  pharmaceutical  laboratory,  between. 
n>ecific  gravity  0.788  and  0.785.  The  proportions  would 
tnen  be  as  under : — 

No.  2.         No.  8.  No.5.  Mean. 

Ptoportioii  in  mmimfl  lin219...  1  in  211  ...  1  in  194  ...  1  in  208 
„  gr.  meainxeB  lin200...  1  in  192  ...  1  in  177  ...  1  in  189 
,,     gn.  weight      linl47...  lln  141  ...  1  in  129    ...1  in  139 

For  medicinal  purposes  the  saturated  solution  of  phos- 
phorus in  common  ether  might  be  considered  as  containing 
a  grain  in  about  200  minims. 

It  also  appears  that  absolute  ether  is  an  unsuitable 
solvent  of  this  drug. 


46  BS¥IBW8. 


Bvfww.  J«L  %  IBBB. 


REVIEWS. 

Bkenmaium.    Bj  T.  J.  MiciAOAir,  M.I>.    Pickering  &  Co. 

IjOndoii. 

Undes  this  titie  we  reeeive  an  exhanstive  monograph  on  this 
most  fonnidable  disease.  From  Dr.  Ifachigan's  standpoint  the 
snbjeet  is  treated  with  a  masterly  hand,  ahnost  the  whole  Utera- 
tore  of  rheumatism  being  laid  under  oontribation  to  fomish 
TnaiariiJ  in  fJRYoiir  of  his  YiewB. 

The  first  three  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  biology  of  the 
disease  and  the  symptoms  of  the  different  Yarieties ;  also  to  the 
special  characteristics  of  rheumatic  inflammation,  from  whioh  the 
anthor  draws  the  condosion  that  "  this  inflammation  is  the  result 
of  the  action  of  a  special  poison  circulating  in  the  blood."  From 
this  the  transition  is  easy  to  the  consideration  of  the  nature  of 
this  poison.  Starting  with  the  generally  receiyed  idea,  that 
iheumatism  is  due  to  excesd  of  lactic  acid.  Dr.  Maclagan  points 
out  that  this  idea,  although  it  possesses  a  definite  foundation  for 
a  rational  line  of  treatment^  has  of  late  years  been  somewhat  dis- 
credited. The  failure  of  the  routine  treatment  by  alkalies  having 
tended  more  than  any  other  cause  to  bring  about  this  result. 
The  presence  of  lactic  acid  in  excess  cannot  be  denied,  but  the 
author  cannot  see  that  it  necessarily  is  the  cause  of  the  rheu- 
matism. He  says,  **  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  morbid  action 
which  constitutes  the  rheumatism  may  give  rise  to  an  excess  of 
acid,"  pointing  to  a  similar  relationship  between  urea  and  the 
specific  fevers.  One  of  the  chief  arguments  against  the  lactic 
acid  theory  of  causation  is  the  fact  that  the  administration  of 
alkalies,  however  early,  exercises  littie  or  no  power  over  the 
disease;  but  for  want  of  a  better  treatment  they  have  till 
recently  continued  to  be  the  chief  remedies.  We  pause  here  to 
wonder  at  the  professional  morality  which  will  continue  to 
administer  drugs  confessedly  inert,  and  would  contemptuously 
refuse  to  make  any  trial  of  such  well-tried  remedial  measures  as 
aeanitef  bryonia  or  rhus.  The  author's  chain  of  reasoning  is  as 
follows :  '*  The  excess  of  lactic  acid  which  occurs  in  acute 
rheumatism  results  directly  from  increased  metamorphosis  of 
muscular  tissue :  this  in  its  turn  is  a  result  of  the  disturbance  of 
the  vasomotor  system  of  the  locomotor  apparatus  of  the  affected 
joints ;  the  cause  of  this  is  inflammation  of  the  white  fibrous 
textures  of  these  joints ;  and  the  cause  of  this  inflammation  is, 
as  ahready  explained,  the  action  of  the  rheumatic  poison."  And 
the  nature  of  this  poison  the  author  proceeds  to  show  in  the 
•chapter  on  <<  The  Miasmatic  Theory  of  Bheumatism."  Taking 
up  the  law  that  the  poisons  entering  the  system  from  without  are 
•of  two  kinds,  the  contagia  axid  the  miasmata ,  he  points  oat  the 


SrtggfjSTil^  M8VIEW8. 47 

wemt  of  resemblance  between  iSie  rhenmatie  poison  and  the 
general  features  of  the  eontagia,  namelj,  their  power  of  repro- 
dnotion,  and  commnnicability  from  the  sick  to  Qxe  healthy,  and 
their  fixed  and  definite  period  of  duration.  **  The  rheomatic 
-poison,  therefore,  does  not  possess  the  properties  of  a  contagium. 
There  remain  only  the  miasmata," 

Dr.  Maclagan  admits  that  all  that  is  known  on  this  point  is 
extremely  vagae,  their  existence  being  only  known  to  us  by  their 
^ects. 

'*  The  poison  has  never  been  separated ;  and  examination  of 
the  soil,  water,  and  air  supposed  to  contain  it,  has  given  only 
negative  restilts.'' 

We  have  some  difficnlfy  in  reconciling  these  statements  with 
those  on  page  74. 

**  The  researches  of  Lanzi  and  Terrigi,  and  the  more  recent 
ones  of  Professor  Elebs  and  Signer  Tommasi-Oradeli,  made  in 
the  malarial  district  of  the  Agro  Romano,  near  Rome,  point  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  malarial  poison  is  an  organism  which  may 
be  obtained  from  the  soil  and  may  be  cultivated  in  the  bodies  of 
animals.  Tbjs  organism,  say  the  last  two  observers,  belongs  to 
the  genus  haeiUua,  and  exists  in  the  soil  of  malarial  districts  in 
the  form  of  shining  ovoid  spores ;  ....  By  inoculating 
rabbits  with  liquids  taken  directly  from  malarial  soil,  and  con- 
taining this  bacillus,  there  was  produced  fever,  often  of  an  inter- 
mittent type." 

After  pointing  out  the  similarity  in  the  course  of  symptoms 
between  rheumatism  and  the  malarial  type  of  diseases,  the  author 
goes  on  to  a  very  careful  and  difiuse  description  of  the  symptoms 
and  pathology  of  rheumatism  with  the  complications  of  endocar- 
ditis, pericarditiB,  and  myocarditis.  This  portion  of  the  book 
bears  witness  to  long  and  careful  study  of  disease,  and  is  stamped 
as  the  work  of  a  master  hand  in  pathology.  We  next  come  to  a 
retrospect  of  the  various  treatments  for  rheumatism  even  as  far 
back  as  Sydenham,  in  1666,  and,  written  as  it  is  by  an  allopath, 
with  all  tiie  angularities  toned  down,  we  can  only  say  that  it 
is  a  pitiful  history  of  barbarous  leechdom.  Sydenham  at  first 
adyooated  profuse  bleedings,  but  ten  years  later  seems  to  have 
seen  the  error  of  his  ways,  and  advised  instead  light  and 
nutritious  diet,  and  that  the  patient  should  be  kept  cool,  showing 
that  the  gospel  of  expeetancy  as  preached  by  its  apostle, 
Dr.  Andrew  Clark,  is  none  of  the  newest,  and  if  age  be  any 
criterion  of  wori^,  should  be  even  more  successful  than  it  is. 

Pttrgatives,  Diaphoreties^  opiums  cinchona,  qmrdne,  cohhtcum^ 
and  nitrate  of  potass  have  all  had  their  admirers,  and  in  their 
day  have  been  lauded  to  the  skies,  only  to  be  deposed  when 
Bome  other  drug  was  brought  into  notice. 

Omaeum^  too,  has  long  enjoyed  favour  as  a  remedy  for 


48  BEViBWB.  »2^=5SrS^* 


Beyjew,  JaiL  i,  1889^ 


rheumatism,  "  Any  good  effects  which  it  produces  are  probably 
due  to  its  stimulant  action  on  the  skin.**  So  much  for  ignorance> 
of  drug  proving.  Listen  to  what  Phillips  says  (and  strangely 
enough,  possibly  a  coincidence,  TTftlw^^ir^ftnTi  also)  of  large  doses^ 

**  Sti&ess  of  a  rheumatic  character  is  felt  in  the  nape  of  the> 
neck  and  small  of  the  back,  with  pains  in  the  bones  of  the  legs- 
.  .  .  .  darting  pains,  apparently  of  a  rheumatic  neuralgic 
character,  extend  also  from  the  feet  to  the  knees."  To  this^ 
then,  and  not  to  its  action  on  the  skin,  is  any  good  result 
probably  attributable. 

We  now  come  to  the  first  attempt  at  rationality  in  the  course 
of  two  centuries  of  medical  practice,  and  after  wading  through 
P00I3  of  blood,  and  violent  antiphlogistic  treatment,  it  is  really 
refreshing  to  find  something  approaching  to  scientific  thera- 
peutics ;  we  would  commend  a  careful  perusal  of  the  literature 
of  rheumatic  fever  to  those  venerable  medical  practitioners  who 
cHng  tenaciously  to  the  antiquated  allopathy  of  Iheir  great  grand 
fathers,  pleading  for  its  efficacy  on  account  of  its  age. 

How  delicious  it  is  to  read  of  sage  physicians  carefully  treating 
rheumatic  fever  with  mint  water  in  default  of  a  better  remedy, 
and  carefully  recording  their  results  in  the  medical  press.. 
Dr.  Maclagui  significantly  adds  that  **this  treatment  has  as 
satisfactory  results  as  more  active  measures.'* 

Dr.  Maclagan*s  views  of  the  history  of  the  therapeutics  of  rheu- 
matism deserve  quotation,  coming  as  they  do  from  an  eminent- 
allopath,  and  covering  as  they  do  with  ignominy  and  contempt  the 
treatment  which  has  been  till  lately  the  sheet  anchor  of  that  portion 
of  the  profession  who  delight  to  term  themselves  scientific  prac- 
titioners. **  Antiphlogistic  treatment  was  practised,  not  because 
of  the  proved  excellence  of  its  results — for  two  hundred  years  ago, 
these  were  regarded  as  unsatisfactory  by  Sydenham,  and  have 
frequently  since  then  been  called  in  question  by  others — but 
because  such  treatment  was  the  legitimate  outcome  of  the  view& 
held  regarding  the  nature  and  mode  of  production  of  rheumatism.. 
The  expectant  treatment  was  the  practical  expression  of  the 
opinion  which  had  graduaUy  been  gaioing  ground,  that  the 
results  of  the  alkaline  treatment  were  not  satii^actory.  It  suc- 
ceeded the  failure  of  the  alkaline  treatment  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  just  as  in  the  hands  of  Sydenham,  it  succeeded  the 
fjEolure  of  the  antiphlogistic  in  the  seventeenth,**  and  will,  with 
all  due  deference  to  sctUcin  and  its  admirers,  again  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  succeed  to  this  latest  fashion  in  medicine. 

Having  now  disposed  of  the  lactic  acid  theory  of  causation^ 
and  the  chemico-therapeutic  method  of  treatment,  Dr.  Maclagan 
proceeds  to  the  unfolding  of  the  remedy  which  he  has  proposed 
for  the  cure  of  rheumatism,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  of  miasmatic 
origin.    The  author  maintains  that  saUcin  cures  rheumatism  in 


Si^JSrae?*        beviews,  4» 


Bensur,  Jan.  fl,  188i« 


the  same  xnanDer  that  cinchona  cures  agae.  And  with  regard  to 
this  same  therapeutic  action  of  cinchona^  we  are  treated  to  some 
curious  remarks.     '*  That  the  cinchona  alkaloids  arrest  the  course 

of  intermittent  fever,  is  an  established  fact How  they  do- 

80  has  never  been  explained.  The  cinchona  compounds  ar» 
possessed  of  no  physiological  action  by  which  their  power  ta 
arrest  the  course  of  intermittent  fever  may  be  explained."  Ever 
seeking  for  a  physiological  explanation,  the  modem  therapeutist 
ignores  the  wonderful  chain  of  thought  which  flashed  through  the 
brain  of  one,  Samuel  Hahnemann,  with  regard  to  this  very  drug^ 
cinchona  • 

Dr.  Maclagan  gives  a  long  series  of  cases  bearing  out  his 
proposition  th&t  saiicyl  compounds  cure  rheumatic  fever ;  but  da 
they  really  do  so  as  a  general  practical  rule?  Let  us  look  at  the 
sul]gect  now  from  another  and  still  allopathic  standpoint. 

Dr.  Greenhow,  in  May,  1880,  read  a  paper  on  the  treatment 
of  rheumatic  fever  before  the  Clinical  Society.  His  remarks 
induce  us  to  think  that  saUcin  and  saUcyUUe  of  soda  might  justly 
be  added  to  Dr.  Madagan's  long  list  of  therapeutic  failures. 
The  conclusion  he  comes  to  from  a  series  of  sixty  cases,  is  that 
these  drugs  **  cannot  be  regarded  as,  in  any  respect,  specifics  in 
the  treatment  of  rheumatic  fever.  The  temperature  is  brought 
down  and  the  pains  relieved  pretty  quickly,  at  first,  at  least,  but 
neither  of  these  results  is  uniform.  In  some  cases  the  temper- 
ature went  up  in  spite  of  the  medicines,  and  the  pains  were  not 
relieved,  while  one  or  several  relapses  were  unusually  frequent. 
Complications  of  pericarditis  and  pleurisy  occurred  during  the  use 
of  the  drugs,  and  more  frequently  than  the  average  under  other 
treatment.  Deafness,  vertigo,  headache,  vomiting  and  diarrhoea 
were  often  produced.  The  heart's  action  was  rendered  so  weak 
in  many  cases,  as  to  require  the  administration  of  stimulants. 
Convalescence  was  unusually  long,  the  average  stay  in  hospital 
being  55  to  57  days,  while  even  tiien  the  patients  were  sent  out 
in  a  state  in  which  they  were  unfit  for  work. 

As  homoeopaths  we  have  no  opportunity  of  judging  of  the 
results  of  sctHcin  in  actual  practice,  but  Dr.  Gxeenhow  does  not 
stand  in  an  isolated  position.  The  one  or  two  cases  which  we 
have  seen  treated  by  this  method,  fully  bear  out  his  statements 
SaUcin  has  nearly  shot  its  bolt,  and  we  shall  soon  have  an  inter- 
regnum until  the  next  discovery  is  heralded  into  the  medical 
worid.  With  medicine  as  with  courts,  it  is  **  Le  Boi  est  mortf 
twe  le  EoiJ^    For  Boi  read  "  the  specific" 

The  last  two  chapters  of  Dr.  Maclagan's  book  are  of  great 
interest,  launching  ihe  reader  into  a  subject  of  which  but  little  is 
known,  but  of  which  we  would  like  to  know  more.  *'  The 
Belation  between  Bheumatism  and  Chorea"  is  at  present 
shrouded  in  some  mystery,  and  offers  a  wide  field  for  inquiry. 

YoL  36,  No.  1.  a 


yj.S       V,  £:  .    . 


MoBtUy  HaahaBopfttliio 


OV  \^         FQTABILI^y  Beriew,  Jan.  8. 1882. 


The  ablest  theory  is  thai  of  Kirkes,  Hngfalings  Jackson  and 
Bioadbent,  attributing  choreic  symptoms  to  embolic  plugging  of 
the  minute  vessels  of  the  motor  ganglia.  It  is  however  but  a 
theory,  and  not  nmeh  satisfactory  evidence  has  been  advanced  in 
its  favour.  The  volume  closes  with  an  interesting  chapter  on 
Hyperpyrexia. 

In  conclusion,  we  may  remark  that  however  we  may  diner  from 
the  writer  on  therapeutic  grounds  we  have  derived  much  satisfac- 
tion from  perusal  of  this  work,  and  can  commend  it  as  being, 
from  Dr.  Maclagan's  loctts  standi  at  any  rate,  a  most  acceptable 
addition  to  the  literature  of  rheumatic  fever. 


NOTABILIA. 


LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMOEOPATHY. 

At  the  special  meeting  of  the  Subscribers  and  Donors  to  this 
Institution,  held  in  the  Lecture-room,  Great  Ormond  Street,  on 
Thursday,  the  15th  December,  Major  Wm.  Yaughan  Morgan  in 
the  chair  (in  the  unavoidable  absence  of  the  President,  Lobd 
Ebubt). 

We  are  unable,  in  the  present  number,  to  insert  the  full 
report,  which,  however,  we  hope  to  be  able  to  print  in  our  next 
issue. 

The  chief  business  of  the  meeting  was  to  receive  the  report  of 
the  Sub-Committee  which  was  appointed  to  revise  the  Bules  and 
Xiaws,  and  to  determine  several  points  connected  with  the  sim- 
plification of  the  Executive  of  tiie  School,  and  to  decide  the 
future  courses  of  instruction,  &c. 

The  first  point  which  came  before  the  meeting  was  the  resolu- 
tion that  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy  should  be  con- 
tinued :  this  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  new  Bules  and  Laws,  as  revised  by  the  Committee,  were 
then  considered,  and,  with  some  slight  modifications,  adopted. 

The  most  important  business  was  a  new  Bule  proposed  by 
Dr.  Hughes: — 

''  That  any  student  who  has  diligently  attended  the  lectures 
during  one  winter  and  one  summer  session  of  the  School,  and 
who  has  passed  satisfactorily  an  examination  in  the  Principles, 
Materia  Medica,  and  Practice  of  Homoeopathy,  and  who  has 
passed  a  Clinical  examination  in  the  Wards  of  the  Hospital,  shall 
be  awarded  the  diploma  of  *  Licentiate  in  Homoeopathy,*  and 
shall  be  entitled  to  add  <  L.H.*  to  such  titles  qualifying  him  to 
practice  as  he  may  possess  or  hereafter  obtain/* 

This  resolution  was  seconded,  and  passed  unanimously,  on  the 
understanding  that  it  only  applied  to  such  students  as  were 


SSSS'jSTHS?*'  notabilia.  51 


BerkrWf  Jan.  2, 1882. 


already  possessed  of  a  qualification  to  practise  medicine,  either 
in  Great  Britain  or  in  the  country  to  which  they  belong. 

The  names  of  the  following  gentlemen  were  proposed  and 
imanimonsly  appointed  the  examiners  : — 

Dr.  William  Bayes,  of  88,  Lansdowne  Place,  Brighton. 

Dr.  J.  Galley  Blackley,  of  2,  Gordon  Street,  London. 

Dr.   D.   Dyce  Brown,  of  29,   Seymour   Street,   Portman 

Square,  London. 
Dr.  J.  Compton  Burnett,  of  5,  Holies  Street,  Cavendish 

Square,  London. 
Dr.  Richard  Hughes,  of  86,  Sillwood  Road,  Brighton. 
Dr.  A.  G.  Pope,  of  21,  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendish  Square, 

London. 

The  following  addition  was  then  passed  : — 

"  For  the  diploma,  so  obtained,  a  fee  shall  be  paid ;  the 
amount  of  such  fee  to  be  determined  hereafter  by  the  Committee 
and  Council  from  time  to  time. 

Dr.  Bayes  then  proposed  that : — 

*'  Physicians  and  Surgeons  who  are  of  good  repute,  and  who 
have  practised  homoeopathy  for  five  consecutive  years  preceding 
the  25th  of  December,  1881,  may  be  elected,  without  examina- 
tion, to  the  title  of  L.H.,  provided  they  apply  to  the  Medical 
Council  of  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy  before  the  end  of 
December,  1888,  and  are  elected  by  the  vote  of  the  majority  of 
the  members  of  ihe  Medical  Council." 

The  following  resolutions  relating  to  the  general  business  of 
the  School  were  also  passed. 

1.  That  a  sum  not  exceeding  Jg200  shall  remain  in  the  bank 
as  a  current  balance  for  the  present ;  that  after  paying  all  debts, 
if  a  balance  of  over  £200  shall  remain  on  the  81st  of  December, 
it  shall  be  invested  in  the  names  of  the  Trustees.'' 

We  understand  that  the  moneys  at  present  invested,  and 
standing  in  the  names  of  the  Trustees,  amount  to  about  or  above 
d£l,800.  It  is  not  intended  to  draw  upon  this  fund,  but  should 
any  emergency  arise  it  will  be  within  the  power  of  the  executive 
of  the  School  to  apply  any  portion  of  it  that  may  be  required, 
provided  the  governors  and  subscribers  give  their  consent  at  a 
special  general  or  annual  meeting. 

It  was  further  resolved : — 

2.  '*  That  the  present  Subscribers  to  the  School  be  requested 
to  continue  to  subscribe,  and  that  their  attention  be  directed  to 
the  necessity  which  exists  for  their  efforts  to  obtain  increased 
subBcriptions  from  those  interested  in  sustaming  and  developing 
the  educational  effort  which  has  been  inaugurated  by  the  London 
fichool  of  Homoeopathy ;  this  effort  comprises  two  great  divisions 
of  medical  scholastic  procedure,  both  of  equal  importance. 

l2 


52  HOTABUJA.  ^^SSSL^S!''?^^!' 


BflfiBv,  Jn.^  Ifltt. 


The  firai  is  the  inerease  of  the  effideney  of  the  Hospital  as  a 
dinieal  school ;  for  this  purpose,  a  great  effort  should  he  made 
towards  endowing  the  Hospital  with,  at  least,  £70»000  more  than 
it  at  present  possesses.  The  seeond  is  the  fBrther  enlargement 
of  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy,  until  it  shall  heoome  a 
complete  medical  school,  with  the  full  eomplement  of  lecturers 
and  of  aU  the  necessary  adjuncts,  such  as  a  complete  hbraiy, 
museum,  and  aU  that  appertains  to  the  construction  of  a  first- 
class  medical  school ;  to  do  this  efficiently  it  is  computed  that 
not  less  than  £30,000  will  be  required.'* 

Lastly,  the  following  was  proposed  and  earned : — 

"  That  it  is  recommended  that  evezy  medical  praetiiioner  of 
homceopathy  within  Great  Britain  and  L'eland,  be  once  more 
urged  to  exert  a  great  effort,  to  establish  in  the  metropolis  a 
central  Homoeopi^hie  School  as  aboye  indicated,  and  to  bring 
before  his  patients  and  friends  the  claims  of  the  central  Insti- 
tutions above-named.  We  cannot  but  believe  that  if  this  were 
done  earnestly  the  aims  which  we  have  in  view  would  be  speedily 
reached."  W.  B. 


A  PRIZE  ESSAY  ON  THE  CAUSES  AKD  PREVENTION 

OF  BLINDNESS. 

OuB  energetic  colleague,  Dr.  Roth,  has  been  for  a  long  while 
engaged  in  making  enquiries  throughout  Europe  as  to  the  causes 
which  have  led  to  800,000  persons  being  hopelessly  blind.  The 
results  of  his  investigations  have  proved  to  him  that  two-thirds 
of  these  cases  need  not  have  occurred  had  proper  hygienic  pre- 
cautions been  taken.  He  now  proposes  to  stimulate  enquiry  by 
the  offer  of  a  prize  of  2,000  francs  for  an  essay  on  the  "  Study 
of  the  Causes  of  Blindness."  The  better  to  carry  out  his  purpose 
he  has  laid  his  prqject  before  various  European  Societies,  soliciting 
their  advice  in  drawing  up  a  basis  for  the  guidance  of  the  com- 
petitors. Among  other  societies  consulted  has  been  the  Societe 
Fran^aise  d*Hygiene.  This  association  appointed  a  committee 
to  consider  the  questions  to  be  enquired  into.  After  two  meetings 
the  following  programme  was  agreed  upon  to  be  submitted  to 
Dr.  Roth  :— 

Programme  of  the  Societe  Frangaise  d'Hygiene, 

Past  I. 

Study  of  the  Causes  of  Blindness. 

A. — Hereditary  causes,  consanguineous  marriages,  syphilis,  and 

other  constitutional  diseases. 
B. — ^Diseases  in  infancy  and  childhood,  the  various  inflammations 

of  the  eye. 


bS^jSmSS^  hotabilia. 63 

C — ^Inflaences  of  eraptive  fevers. 

JD. — Period  of  life  from  the  8th  to  the  18th  year.  The  school, 
college,  the  workshop,  woonds  and  accidents,  sympathetic 
ophthalmia,  &e. 

E, — ^Adnlt  and  old  age. 

JP. — ^Neglected,  had,  and  misuitable  treatment  of  eye  diseases  by 
quacks  and  ignorant  or  inexperienced  medical  men.  Pro- 
gressiye  myopia,  diathetic,  professional,  climatic  and  other 
influences,  as  for  instance  of  various  injurious  trades,  and 
of  poisoning,  &c. 

Pabt  n. 

An  outline  of  the  most  practical  means  for  preventing  blindness 
with  reference  to  the  various  groups  of  causes  mentioned 
in  Part  I. — a,  legislative,  6,  educational,  c,  hygienic,  d, 
medical  means. 


LONDON  HOMCEOPATmC  HOSPITAL. 

An  opportuniiy  presents  itself  for  doing  a  really  charitable  and 
kind  action  on  the  part  of  those  of  our  readers  who  possess 
votes  for  the  Boyal  Hospital  for  Licurables,  Putney.  Miss  Tarr, 
for  many  years  housekeeper  of  the  hospital,  a  position  which,  we 
understand,  she  filled  with  great  zeal  and  efficiency,  and  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  hospital  authorities,  has  become  almost 
entirely  incapacitated  owing  to  contraction  of  the  tendons  of  the 
ankle  joints,  with  ulceration. 

The  helpless  state  she  has  arrived  at  is,  to  a  great  extent, 
traceable  to  the  severe  work  which  a  proper  performance  of  the 
duties  of  housekeeper  at  the  hospital  entails,  owing  to  the  great 
number  of  steps  from  the  basement  to  the  upper  story,  and 
which  must  be  surmounted  frequently  in  the  course  of  every  day 
in  carrying  out  a  close  supervision  over  the  servants  of  the 
establishment.  We  are  pleased  to  draw  attention  to  this 
deserving  case,  and  recommend  it  to  our  homoBopathic  brethren. 
Miss  Tarr  is  seeking  to  obtain  one  of  the  out-pensions  of  £20  a 
year,  granted  in  such  cases. 

PROGRESS  OF  HOMOEOPATHY. 

'*  You  are  all  aware  that  homoeopathy  has  been  a  very  great 
puzzle  to  a  large  class  of  deeply  interested  persons  for  about  a 
hundred  years.  Its  funeral  has  been  cheerfully  anticipated 
daily  during  all  that  period  ;  but  notwithstanding  the  amount  of 
'  regular '  surgery  to  which  it  has  been  subjected,  there  are  still 
no  positive  signs  of  its  early  demise.  Poets  have  sung  its 
requiem.  Prophets  have  foretold  its  destruction.  Savants  have 
criticised  its  philosophy  adversely.     And  medical  scientists  have 


KA  vnTAmTTA  Monthly  HomoBopa^ 

0*t  XHOTAHiljiA.  Sa-vipw.  Jan.  2. 1881. 


Review,  Jan.  2, 1881. 


pronounced  it  a  delusion.  At  first,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
homoeopathy  was  purely  a  doctrine.  Wait,  said  its  opponents, 
until  it  is  hrought  to  the  test  of  practice.  That  will  end  it.  But 
that  was  the  thing  which  precisely  did  not  end  it.  It  grew 
stronger.  Introduced  into  famihes  it  soon  made  for  itself  there 
a  domestic  stronghold.  Wait  longer,  said  its  opponents.  It 
may  flourish  in  private  and  grow  fat  upon  domestic  ignorance, 
hut  let  it  be  brought  to  the  pubhc  test  in  hospital  and  other 
pubhc  service ;  then  it  will  assuredly  collapse.  But  now  for 
many  years  homoeopathy  has  been  increasingly  represented  in 
armies,  and  public  hospitals,  and  everywhere  its  history  has  been 
the  same.  Not  one  word  drawn  from  its  practical  results  in 
these  departments  has  ever  been  uttered  against  it.  Further- 
more, the  death  records  of  great  cities  are  open  to  the  inspection 
of  all  men.  If  homoeopathy  were  a  failure  in  practice,  those 
records  would  show  it,  and  we  and  our  patients  alike  would 
desert  it  in  terror.  Now,  if  the  theory  of  any  system  of  thera- 
peutics were  to  be  proved  absurd  in  a  hundred  different  ways,  it 
would  not  avail,  so  long  as  the  practical  results  all  point  the 
other  way.  Neither  wSl  any  amount  of  demonstration  of  the 
scientific  superiority  of  a  medical  system  avail  anything,  so  long 
as  practical  results  fail  to  attest  such  superiority.  Of  course, 
this  proves  nothing  for  or  against  the  theory  of  our  school.  It 
simply  declares  its  practical  success." — Dr.  Foster ,  Chicago, 


THE  BIPORTANCE  OF  THERAPEUTICS. 

**  The  International  Convention  (old-school),  which  followed  our 
own  in  London,  was  notable  for  the  poverty  of  papers  and  dis^ 
cussions  upon  the  subject  of  therapeutics;  indeed,  in  this 
particular  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  almost  a  blank.  Pathology 
and  kindred  sciences  were  splendidly  represented,  but  on  the 
subject  of  therapeutics  these  learned  men  from  all  parts  of  the 
globe  were  silent.  One  would  imagine  that  the  medical  treat- 
ment of  disease  was  no  part  of  a  physician^s  duty.  This  was  in 
marked  contrast  with  our  own.  General  medical  science  was  for 
the  time  waived  aside,  and  attention  strictly  devoted  to  the 
subject  of  internal  therapeutics.  I  refer  to'  this  to  illustrate 
marked  characteristics  of  the  two  schools.  The  unsatisfiictory 
results  obtained  from  drugs  as  administered  bv  the  ordinary 
praclice  has  had  the  cftoct  of  creating  widespread  scepticism  in 
their  nmks  as  to  the  value  of  medication  at  all  (giving  rise  to  the 
common  remark  that  *  such  a  doctor  gives  little  or  no  medicine,') 
the  profession  devoting  themselves  to  the  study  of  pathology, 
Burgery,  hygiene,  and  other  practical  branches,  and  pursuing 
vhat  is  called  the  *  expectant  method.*  On  the  other  hand,  the 
practitioners  of  homoeopathy,  with  the  clear  light  of  a  guiding 


^^rJ^^%!^  NOTABILIA.  55 

principle  of  drag  action  to  direct  them,  have  become  more  and 
more  convinced  of  the  efficacy  of  drags  in  the  core  of  disease,  and 
since  the  days  of  Hahnemann  have  devoted  themselves  to  the 
reconstraction  of  the  Materia  Medica  upon  a  physiological  basis, 
in  order  to  make  every  known  medicine  available  for  the  core  of 
disease." — Br.  MeCUlland^  of  Pittsburgh. 


SMALL  POX  IN  CHICAGO. 

The  New  York  Medical  Becord  says  that  of  1,859  cases  of  small- 
pox in  Chicago  since  January  1st,  40  per  cent,  have  proved 
fatal.  Most  of  the  cases  have  occarred  in  those  districts  where 
the  more  degraded  portion  of  the  foreign  element  lives,  and 
where  attempts  at  vaccination  have  at  times  been  met  by  open 
violence.  In  that  part  of  the  city  there  are  40,000  persons  who 
have  not  been  vaccinated,  and  of  the  108  deaths  in  September, 
81  occurred  amongst  these. 


OUR  REVIEW. 

Drs.  Pope  and  Dtce  Bbown  have  much  pleasure  in  stating 
that  Dr.  Abthxjb  Kennedy,  of  Blackheath,  has,  at  their  request, 
joined  them  in  the  editorial  management  of  this  journal. 

Dr.  Kennedy^s  intimate  knowledge  of  the  practice  and  litera- 
ture of  his  profession,  his  thorough  comiction  and  open  avowal 
of  the  truth  of  homoeopathy,  as  well  as  his  proved  literary  ability^ 
assure  them  that  his  accession  to  the  staff  of  the  Eeview  will  be  to 
the  advantage,  both  of  homoeopathy  and  of  the  periodical  which 
has  endeavoured  to  represent  its  interests  during  the  last  twenty- 
five  years. 


BRITISH  HOM(EOPATHIC   SOCIETY. 

The  next  meeting  of  this  Society  will  be  held  on  Thursday  next, 
the  5th  instant,  at  7  o'clock,  when  a  paper  will  be  read  by 
Dr.  Meyhoffer,  of  Nice,  on  An  Unusual  Case  of  Acute  Pulmonary 
Disease,  with  Remarks. 

Dr.  Roth  has  kindly  invited  the  Members  of  the  Society  to 
witness  a  demonstration  of  the  Movement- Cure,  and  a  meeting 
for  the  purpose  wiU  be  held  at  his  house,  48,  Wimpole  Street, 
on  Thursday,  January  19th,  at  7.80  p.m.  Dr.  Roth  will  be  glad 
to  have  a  card  of  intimation  beforehand  from  such  Members  as 
purpose  to  be  present. 


66  OOREKBPONDBNOE.       ""^^J^SSfT?^ 


Beyi6w,  Jan.  2, 1882. 


CORRESPONDENCE, 

THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  LONDON  HOMOEOPATHIC 

HOSPITAL. 
To  the  Editors  of  the  Monthly  Homeeopathic  Review. 

Gbntlbmem, — I  have  always  endeayonred  to  stimnlate  the 
medical  profession  into  taking  a  more  active  interest  in  the  wel- 
fare of  onr  hospital.  The  members  of  the  medical  profession, 
and  they  only,  are  able  to  influence  effectually  the  homoeopathic 
section  of  the  public,  and  it  must  be  principally  through  their 
exertions  that  we  can  look  forward  to  seeing  the  72  beds  which 
the  hospital  now  accommodates  occupied  by  patients.  The 
notice  of  a  recent  meeting  of  some  of  the  medical  subscribers 
to  the  hospital,  which  reached  me  through  the  courtesy  of  our 
much  esteemed  senior  medical  officers,  induces  me  to  ask  you  to 
find  space  for  this  letter  in  your  next  issue.  It  is  written  with 
the  simple  view  of  affording  all  the  information  in  my  power,  for 
it  appears  that  the  position  and  modus  operandi  of  those  who  are 
responsible  for  the  working  of  the  hospital  are  not  sufficiently 
well-known  to  the  profession  generally. 

In  order  that  good  may  result  from  any  discussions  re  the 
hospital  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  our  friends  should  not  be 
led  astray  on  a  false  issue ;  but  that  they  should  know  the  exact 
facts  which  have  to  be  dealt  with. 

It  is  a  collateral  advantage  accruing  to  the  hospitals  from  the 
existence  of  the  **  Saturday  "  and  "  Sunday  "  Funds  that  they 
impose  the  necessity  of  a  close  supervision  of  the  expenditure  of 
the  institutions  to  which  they  make  awards.  Extravagantly 
conducted  hospitals  do  not  reap  the  full  benefit  of  these  funds, 
and  the  returns  published  furnish  an  excellent  basis  for  a  general 
comparison  of  the  working  of  similar  institutions.  How,  then, 
does  the  working  expenditure  of  our  hospital  compare  with  that 
of  its  contemporaries  9  The  following  table,  which  speaks  for 
itself,  and  the  figures  in  which  are  those  furnished  in  the  1880 
Beport  of  the  Hospital  Saturday  Fund,  answers  the  question  in 
a  favourable  way :  while  under  the  heading  **  Observations  "  will 
be  found  my  own  calculation,  based  upon  the  average  annual 
ordinary  expenditure,  and  the  average  annual  cost  of  manage- 
ment, with  the  proportion  the  latter  bears  to  the  former.f    Even 

Obbkbvations. 
t  Average  axmual  ordinary  expenditure — calculated  on  the 
last  six  years,  1875  to  1880-81  inclusive. (including  salaries 

and  costs  of  management) '       £3,692 

Average  annual  cost  of  management — 

A. — Salaries £444 

B. — Advertising,  printing,    postage,    petty   ex- 
penses, and  stationery 181 


•626 

*  Equal  to  17  per  cent,  of  the  total  expenditure. 
Note. — Under  the  heading  A  are  included  salaries  of  the  official 


K^SrSaf^        00BBB8P0NDBN0B. 


57 


ihe  percentage  thas  shown  will  be  considerably  reduced  during  the 
•current  year,  as  will  be  seen  by  another  paragraph  of  this  letter : — 

TABULAB   STATEMENT— L 
CoKPAaAiiva    Tablb    of    ths    Cost    of   MAKA0BIIENT   of  sbybral 

HoaPITAIf  WIIH    AM    ApPBOXIIUTSLT    CORBBBFONDINa    KUMBSB     OF 

In-Patuntb.     (Taken    fsok    ths    Hospital    Satubdat    Fund 
Bktubn  fob  1880.) ___^_^ 


Kajb. 


Cancer 

Great  Northern ^ 

Hospital  for  Women... 
London  Homoeopathic 

Metropolitan  Fr^ 

Poplar 

Boyal,  for  Diseases  ) 

of  the  Chest j 

Samaritan,  Free    

West  London.. m»>* 


Adduss. 


Brompton 

Caledonian  Boad . . . 

Soho  Square 

Great  Ormond  St. . 
Commercial  St.,  E. 
EastLidiaDookBd. 

City  Boad,  E.O.   ... 

Lower  Seymour  St. 
Hammersmith  Bd. . 


No.  of 

In- 
Patienta^ 


306 
350 
440 
494 
279 
463 

249 

446 
569 


Cortof 
Management. 


No.  of 

Ont- 

PatientB 


£  8.   d. 

1,413  14    4 

508  15     7 

878  13    9 

468  18  11 

851  13     5 

407  8  11 

574  18    0 


1,145  11 
653  13 


0 
8 


721 
8,152 
3,565 
6,903 
48,122 
4,564 

6,872 

5,197 
21,532 


Committees  have  heen  from  time  to  time  appointed — one  in 
1878,  to  consider  the  dietary  and  other  expenses  of  the  hospital. 
A  chief  resolt  of  the  lahonrs  of  this  committee  was  a  con- 
fiiderable  reduction  in  the  cost  of  **  Ward  washing,"  which  had 
attained  a  very  high  figure.  Economies  effected  under  the  head 
of  "Provisions,"  *'  Coals  and  wood,"  and  **  Gas,"  caused  a  total 
reduction  in  the  expenditure  of  the  year  1878,  as  compared  with 
1877,  of  £S61 ;  although  21  more  in-patients  were  treated  in 
1878  than  in  the  previous  year. 

Another  committee,  in  the  month  of  February  last,  went  fuUy 
into  the  question  of  the  expenditure  generally,  and  some  reduc- 
tion has  been  effected  in  tiie  staff  of  servants,  and  by  the  em- 
ployment of  a  boy  in  the  dispensary  at  lower  wages  than  the 
youth  previously  engaged. 

For  making  a  comparison  of  the  present  cost  of  maintaining 
the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital — (including  in  that  term  the 
cost  of  management) — with  that  of  the  previous  years,  it  must 
be  noted  that,  although  the  cost  of  several  important  items  under 
the  heading  '< Expenditure"  has  been  reduced  by  entering  into 
favourable  contracts  and  dealing  at  the  Civil  Service  Stores,  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  nurses  for  the  more  efficient  working 
of  the  hospital  wards,  and  the  supply  to  the  nurses  of  uniforms 
(the  total  cost  of  which  for  the  whole  staff,  since  the  measure 
was  first  sanctioned  in  October,  1877,  has  been  £126  15s.  lid.) 
ogether  with  an  unavoidable  enlargement  of  the  domestic  staff 

manager  and  secretary,  and  pomidage  to  the  collector.  And  under  B  are 
included  expenses  for  each  item  chargeable  to  the  medical  staff  and 
nursing  institute. 


68  COBBESPONDBNCB.         '^^SJL^SfTtSJf 


Beview,  Jan.  2, 1888; 


(chiefly  in  consequence  of  additions  to  the  hospital  hnildings)  have 
prevented  a  greater  reduction  being  made  in  the  gross  expenditure. 

Besides,  it  is  notorious  that  the  general  cost  of  living,  of 
servants,  taxes,  &c.,  has  materially  increased  within  the  last  ten 
years  or  so,  and  consequently  it  is  fallacious  to  suppose  that  an 
increase  of,  say,  one-third  to  the  annual  income  of  the  hospital 
enables  the  Board  of  Management  to  maintain  a  correspondingly 
increased  number  of  patients.  The  nurses  now  employed  in  the 
wards  of  the  hospital  also  cost  more  in  maintenance,  and  the  ex- 
penditure on  account  of  the  Internal  Staff  of  the  hospital  is  much 
higher  than  formerly. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  income,  which  remained  almost 
stationary  for  some  years  prior  to  1875,  has  been  steadily 
increased  by  efforts  made  to  that  end ;  but  the  benefit  of  such 
increase  has  not  hitherto  been  folly  felt  on  account  of  the  arrears 
due  upon  the  accounts  of  former  years,  which  have  had  to  be 
gradually  extinguished,  and  the  large  and,  until  now,  increasing 
expenditure  under  the  heading  of  "  Repairs,"  which,  from  the 
nature  and  character  of  the  bmldings  forming  the  hospital,^  and 
the  fact  that  repairs  of  all  kinds  had  been,  as  much  as  possible, 
deferred  from  year  to  year  until  they  could  no  longer  be  avoided^ 
has  formed  a  large  item  in  the  yearly  balance  sheet,  wholly 
independent,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  of  the  special  expenses 
incurred  for  drainage  and  other  works  paid  for  out  of  the 
'' Reser\'e  Fund." 

In  considering  the  cost  of  management^  it  is,  of  course,  neces- 
sary to  distinguish  between  gi'oss  expenditure  and  that  incurred 
for  management. 

The  expenditure  incurred  for  mamtmance  is  comprised  under 
the  following  headings  : — Repairs,  rates,  taxes,  provisions,  clean- 
ing, washing,  fuel  and  light,  dispensary,  surgical  appliances^ 
salaries  of  chaplain,  resident  medical  officer,  lady  superintendent 
of  nursing,  dispenser,  housekeeper,  wages  of  nurses  and  of  servants 
and  porters.  And  that  of  management  is  composed  of  salaries  of 
the  official  manager  and  the  secretary,  poundage  on  collections  to 
the  collector,  and  advertising,  printing,  postage,  petty  expenses,, 
and  stationery. 

The  ordinary  income  of  the  hospital  consists  of  dividends  on 
stocks ;  donations ;  subscriptions ;  Dr.  Quin's  annuity  (since 
1879  inclusive) ;  registration  fees  ;  Hospital  Sunday  and  Saturday 
Funds  ;  rents ;  and  nursing  fund. 

The  ordinary  expenditure  is  included  under  two  headings  : 
(A)  maintenance,  and  (B)  management.  The  following  tabular 
statement  (11.)  shows,  in  detail,  the  amount  expended  under  each 
heading  since  1875,  inclusive ;  that  is,  for  the  last  six  years,  for 
which,  as  usual,  the  official  annual  reports  have  been  published 
with  balance  sheets  audited  by  public  accountants  : — 


Mkmthljr  HamoBopathio 
Beviev,  Jan.  2, 1882. 


OOBBESPONDENCE. 


69 


TABULAB  STATEMENT  H. 


1876 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879^ 

1880-81 

Patiekts. 

■ 

Total  Number  of  Patients  id 
xear  «••         ••«        •*■         ••• 

|395 

461 

631 

662 

494 

484 

Daily  Average  for  the  Tear  ... 

a 

60 

46 

46 

39 

89 

Number  of  Days  each  Patient 
wasBesident          

a 

i 

89 

87 

36 

27 

27 

NUBSING   StAPF. 

Average  Number  of  Nurses  on 

\ 

the  Staff  doring  the  Tear 

.    6 

h 

h 

18 

22 

18 

(including  the  Lady  Super- 

A^ 

intendent  of  Nursing) 

i 

Average     Number     employed 

6 

h 

h 

7 

10 

7 

constantly  in  Out-Nursing... 

V 

Average     Number     otherwise 
maintained  ••• 

6 

h 

b 

11 

12 

11 

DoMEBTio  Staff. 

Average  Number  of  Servants, 

) 

Porters,  &c.  (including  the, 

s 

9 

10 

10 

12 

12 

Housekeeper)          

) 

EXPENDITUKE 

Provisions. 

£ 

£ 

£ 

£ 

£ 

£ 

Meat     ...        ...        ...        ... 

616 

662 

727 

606 

652 

646 

Bread    ... 

103 

103 

134 

116 

126 

115 

Butter,  Eggs,  and  Cheese 

111 

119 

162 

137 

166 

149 

209 

238 

314 

257 

189 

204 

Grocery... 

104 

112 

126 

120 

137 

111 

J>  XoU           ••«                ■••               •■•               ■». 

60 

66 

74 

63 

69 

66 

Greengrocery 

64 

68 

77 

64 

61 

46 

■Docr       ...          ■••          ...          ... 

64 

41 

62 

31 

36 

38 

Wines,  Spirits,  <fec 

89 

62 

63 

24 

34 

36 

Housekeeper's  Sundries 

28 

26 

26 

16 

14 

19 

Cleaning          

8 

20 

13 

11 

12 

18 

66 

66 

69 

77 

79 

75 

61 

74 

148 

125 

98 

96 

£ 

1,498 

1,636 

1,964 

^1,646 

1,651 

1,606 

Obsbbvations. 

a  For  the  year  1876  no  statistics  or  records  are  in  existence,  from 
'which  the  required  information  can  with  certainty  be  given. 

h  In  1876  and  1877  the  Lady  Superintendent  of  Nursing  did  not  furnish 
a  weekly  return  of  nurses  (as  is  now  done),  and  consequently  there  are  no- 
flgnrea  or  documents  available  for  calculating  the  required  averages. 


60 


OOBBEBPONDENOE. 


Be?iew,  Jan.  S,  188i. 


1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879^ 

1880-1 

Bzotight  forward     £ 

FUML  AXD  LlOBT. 

Coals  and  Wood        

UbB           ••■             ■••             •••            •«■ 

1.498 

1,636 

1,964 

£ 
1,646 

1,651 

£ 
1,506 

134 
91 

167 

108 

154 
119 

115 
114 

170 
183 

129 
111 

Mbsical. 

£225 

275 

273 

58 
22 

229 

353 

240 

Dispenaaiy      •••        •••        ••« 

Siu^;ical  AppUanoes 

58 

53 
54 

60 
60 

69 
90 

81 
32 

OmciAi.. 

£58 

107 

80 

120 

89 

111c 
34 
60 

113 

Printiiig  and  Stationaiy 

Advertising 

Postage  and  Petty  Expenses... 

57 
23 
27 

82 
54 
40 

99 
48 
64 

67 
19 
48 

148e 
44 
75 

HOUSB. 

£107 

176 

211 

124 

205 

267 

Famitnre        ...        ••> 
Aepaifa ...        •••        •*.        ... 
Bates,  Taxes,  and  Insurance 

181 

170 
86 

69 
79 
87 

137 
203 

79 

247 
221 
105 

289 
191 

78 

203 
143 
122 

Batj^rtkr  and  Wagks. 

Medical  Salaries— 
Resident  Medical  Officer     d 

Lady  Dispenser      

Dispensaiy  Boy      

£437 

235 

419 

573 

99 
70 
17 

558 

118 
71 
19 

468 

100 
50 
14 

96 
50 
10 

106 
61 
16 

116 
76 
25« 

Nursing  Salanes— 

£164 

[    50 
171 

156 

183 

186 

208 

75 
377 

216 

Lady    Superintendent    of 
Nursing    ••■        .*•        ... 

JDI  uxBCS               ■••             •••             .*• 

66 
157 

75 
261 

75 
306 

75 
360 

T^OTiiefftic  ^Iftrif^fl — 

£221 

223 

326 

381 

452 

436 

Housekeeper           

oervants       ...        .*•        •»• 
Porters         ^ 

36 
64 
62 

35 
77 
62 

39 
97 
62 

42 

104 

62 

42 

117 

69 

89/ 
121 
69^ 

£162 

174 

198 

208 

228 

229 

Chaplain     ...        ... 

25 

25 

25 

25 

25 

25A 

Gross  Totals £ 

2,897 

3,007 

3,679 

3,492 

3,669 

3,499 

Obsebtationb. 
e  The  increase  in  these  two  years  is  due  to : — 

1.  Sums  overdue  from  the  year  1878. 

2.  A  new  set  of  account  books,  and  reprint  of  other  books. 

3.  Fuller  annual  reports,  and  greater  publicity  given  to  the  Institution. 
d  The  cost  of  the  Assistant  Besident  Medical  Officer  is  distributed 

over  the  provisions. 

e  Bednced  in  the  year  1881-2. 

/  The  present  salary  of  the  Housekeeper  is  £36. 

g  The  wages  of  the  Porters  at  the  present  time  are  at  the  rate  of  £40 
a  year. 

h  A  Special  Fund  is  annually  raised  towards  meeting  the  salary  of  tha 
Chaplain. 


MdBtUf  HomoBopathie 
Bevi0ir,  Jan.  %  188S. 


COBBESPONDEHGE* 


61 


OmciAL  Staif. 


1875 


Official  ICanager 
Socrotuy 

Golleetor 


£800 

100 

84 


Grofls  Income  from  all  sooroes  £ 


INCOlfE  m  DETAIL— 


Donations 
Sabscriptions  ... 
BegiBiration  Fees 
Nnrsing  Fnnd ... 
DnrningBeds  ... 


.••        •■• 

•  •r 


•  •• 

•  *. 


Total... 


••♦^       ••. 


Bazaar ... 
Special  ParpoBes  Fund 
B'hie  Art  Distribution.. • 
Dramatio  Ferformanoea 

Total... 


.. . 
*. 


£884 


2,699 


1876 


300 

182 

76 


1877 


♦166 

169 

86 


3,727 


487 

1,019 

807 

180 


1,998 
91 


... 
... 
... 


... 
... 


Dividends        ••• 

XbBDCB       ...  ... 

Dr.  Qoin  Annuity  Fund 
Hospital  Sunday  Fund 
Hondtal  Saturday  Fund 
Faymg  Patients 


•  a. 

••• 

.*•  ••* 


Gross  Totals  £ 


498 

1,218 

287 

190 


2,188 


3.084 
272 


247 

96n 


3,699 


2,188 
289 


1878 


820 

160 

88 


407       899       668       462 


1879-80 


227 

160 

86 


3,441 


617 

1,674 

264 

202 


4,749 


804 

1,661 

286 

899 


2,657 
266 


••• 
... 


... 
... 


260 


2,727 


2,822 

290 
26 

... 
216 
88nl 


2,660 


1,377 
102 


4,681 


888 

1,703 

310 

612 


1880-1 


276 
150 
88i 


60S 


4,380 


4,129 

223 
180 

•  •  • 

210 
67 


8,441  1 4,749 


8,008 


577TO 
88 


8,678 

243 
180 
240 
216 
68 
76 


495 
1,482X; 
272 
6261 
420 


3,294 


110 


222 
180 
260 
245 

47 
82 


4,681    4,880 


The  Legacies  reoeiyed  in  these  years  were : — 

1877         A700 

xOfV'OU      ...            •«•            •••            •.•  ^Uv 

IcSoV-pX      ...          •••          ...          •••  vU 


£960 


Obsxbyixioks. 

*  Tear  of  Mr.  Tmeman's  retirement* 
i  Appearing  in  balance-sheet  ••• 

Buanoe  due  from  previous  year  ••• 

Actual  Amount 


••• 


£74    8  10 
9  12    5 

£88  16  8 


k  In  1880-81  the  subscription  of  the  London  School  of  Homooopathyr 
£867  10a,  was  not  paid. 

Z  Gross  total  of  Iffursinff  Fund  Beoeipts,  without  deducting  Nurses'  wages. 

SI  Including  £448,  which  appeared  in  the  separate  balanoe-sheet 
published  for  the  first  three  months  of  1879. 

II  Two  years'  Awards  paid  in  one  sum. 


€2 


corkbspondbnce; 


Monthly  Eomoaoitathie 
BeTiew,  Jan.  2,  1882. 


The  following  tabular  statement  shows  the  "  ordinary"  income 
and  *'  ordinary"  expenditure  during  the  same  six  years.  It  will 
be  observed  that,  for  the  first  four  years,  there  was  a  deficU ;  for 
ihe  last  two  years  a  surplus : — 

TABULAB  STATEMENT— m. 


YSAB. 

1876 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879-80 

1880-1 

Ordinary  Income       

Ordinary  Expenditure 

£ 
2,602 

3,108 

£ 
2,729 

3,394 

3,180 
4,029 

3,272 
3,843 

£ 
3,971 

3,897 

£ 
3,767* 

3,367t 

Deficit 

506 

665 

849 

671 

— 

Surplus 

»        ••• 

£74 

£390 

The  income  from  special  efforts  during  the  past  four  years  has 
amounted,  in  the  aggregate,  to  d62,620,  and  it  has  been  applied 
towards  extinguishmg  the  deficits  just  mentioned  and  oth^ 
expenses. 

The  expenditure  for  the  current  year  will,  it  is  estimated,  show 
further  reductions,  and  in  future  years  under  the  heading  of 
"  Management y''  a  saving  of  about  JSIOO  will  be  effected,  owing 
to  the  Official  Manager  having,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
present  financial  year,  spontaneously  and  for  the  good  of  the 
hospital,  waived  his  claim  to  future  commission  upon  new 
income  traceable  to  his  exertions.  This  commission  was  accorded 
to  him  at  the  date  of  his  appointment. 

The  cost  of  management  will  then  be  at  the  rate  of  £50  a  year 
more  than  in  1875,  and  previous  years,  owing  to  the  pay  of  the 
Secretary  being  higher  than  that  of  the  clerk  then  employed ; 
but  such  increase  of  pay  is  fuUy  justified  both  by  the  very  great 
amount  of  additional  work  performed  now,  and  the  fact  that  the 
present  Secretary  has  largely  and  successfully  exerted  himself  to 
increase  the  income  of  the  hospital  by  means  of  donations  and 
subscriptions.  When  he  was  &rst  appointed  his  salary  was  fixed 
at  the  old  rate  (£100  a  year),  with  a  commission  of  10  per  cent, 
upon  new  income  traceable  to  his  exertions,  and  within  the  first 
half-year  after  his  appointment  he  received  commission  upon 

*  In  this  amount  is  included  only  the  profit  derived  from  the  Nursing 
Fund.  If  the  whole  receipts  are  included — m  in  the  case  of  the  former 
■^ye  years— the  total  ordinary  income  becomes  £4,192. 

f  The  salary  of  the  Lady  Superintendent  of  Nursing,  and  the  wages  of 
the  nurses,  amounting,  in  idi,  to  £435,  are  not  included.  If  that  sum  be 
added  to  £3,367,  the  total   rdmary  expenditure  becomes  £8,802. 


S^JSnS^         COBRESPONDENOB.  63 

£65,  chiefly  new  subscriptions.  In  the  next  eight  months,  until 
the  appointment  of  the  present  Official  Manager,  he  received  com- 
mission upon  £486  odd.  It  was  then  thought  better  to  increase 
the  fixed  salary  of  the  Secretary  from  £100  to  £150  a  year,  and 
to  cease  to  pay  any  commission,  and  this  has  been  found  to  work 
yery  satis&ctorily,  while  the  Secretary  has  still  continued  to  exert 
himself  to  obtain  additional  support  for  the  hospital.  It  should 
also  be  stated  that,  within  the  first  year  after  his  appointment, 
Mr.  Cross  recovered  annual  subscriptions  in  arrear  to  tiie  amount 
of  £56  2s.,  which  would  otherwise  have  been  lost  to  the  hospital. 

It  is  true  that  there  is  an  increase  due  to  the  higher  amount 
paid  to  the  collector ;  but  that  is  entirely  owing  to  the  fact  that 
his  remuneration  is  dependent  upon  the  amount  collected. 

Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  to  point  out  that  the  medical  pro* 
fession  can  best  assist  in  the  progress  and  efficiency  of  the 
hospital,  first,  by  inducing  their  patients  and  Mends  to  subscribe 
to  the  funds  ;  secondly,  by  helping  to  fill  the  beds  with  interest- 
ing eases ;  and,  finally,  by  proposing  new  members  of  the  Board 
of  Management.  The  Board  is  always  ready  to  welcome  a  new  and 
useful  member,  and  if  medical  governors  could  recommend  any  of 
their  body  for  appointment  to  ^e  Board,  I  am  perfectly  sure  that 
the  present  members  of  the  Board  would  be  sensible  of  the  value 
of  such  additions.  What  is  there,  for  example,  that  should 
prevent  the  utilisation  on  the  Board  of  the  experience  of  such 
well-known  members  of  the  medical  profession  as  Dr.  Black 
and  Dr.  Dunn,  who  are  no  longer  in  active  practice  ? 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Yours  teuly, 

Wm.  Vaughan  Morgan, 
Treasurer  of  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital. 

Ghreat  Ormond  Street,  W.C, 
December  12th,  1881. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  Monthly  HomcBopathic  Review, 

GsNTLEMSN, — ^Dr.  Berridge  has  kindly  directed  my  attention  to 
page  786  of  your  last  number  of  the  Beview.  The  symptom 
"  singing  noises  "  is  the  one  which  first  directed  my  notice  to 
sanffuinaria,  and  this  symptom  occurred  in  my  case-book, 
together  with  the  symptom  ''voice  seems  to  come  from  a 
distance ;  "  the  former  being  the  one  noted  in  the  Cypher 
Repertory,  The  two  symptoms  should  have  been  written  in  full, 
and  conjoined  and  placed  before  the  reference  to  the  Repertory 
in  the  case  reported. 

18,  St.  James'  Boad,  I  am,  yours,  &o., 

Liverpool.  S.  H.  Blake. 

December  6th,  1881. 


64  GOBBBSPONBENTS.        ""ffiL^JS!*?^ 


Bcnrieir,  Jan.  f ,  18B2. 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 


^\  We  eanncA  tmdertaie  to  retmn  r^jtcUd  montciertjptc. 

Dr.  MooBB  (of  Liverpool),  TrMumrer  of  the  Wright  fond— writes  to  say 
that  he  feels  greatly  obliged  to  those  friends  who  haye  responded  so 
promptly  to  "the  Gircnlar."  He  is  still  Teiy  far  short  of  the  smn 
required,  and  hopes  the  arrival  of  the  New  Year  will  excite  ImieTolent 
emotions  in  the  hearts  of  many  others  towards  the  widow  and  the  father- 
less. 

Commmucations,  Ao.,  have  been  reeeived  from  Dr.  Both;  Bilajor 
Yauohah-Mobgar  ;  Captain  1£atoocx;  Mr.  Cboss,  and  Mr.  Wxborx 
(London) ;  Dr.  Batxs  (Brighton) ;  Dr.  Batnbb  (Ganterbmy) ;  Mr.  8.  H. 
Blaex  (Liyezpool) ;  Dr.  Scbivxh  (Dnhlin) ;  &c. 


BOOKS  RECEIVED. 


IwumHy  and  iu  TreatmanL  By  8.  Wocoester,  MJ).  Boerioke  di  Tafel 
New  York. 

Special  Patholoffy  and  DiagnotU.  By  C.  G.  Bane,  M.D.  2nd  edition. 
PKdkdelphia :  Boerioke  A  Tatfel.    London':  Trittmer  Ss  Go. 

TrantacHom  of  the  American  IneUtute  of  Homaopathy.    1881. 

Address  before  tJie  PermsyUMmian  State  Homaopathie  Society.  By  Dr. 
M*Glelland,  of  Pittsburgh. 

The  HonuBopathic  World. 

The  Student's  Journal, 

The  Medical  News  and  Collegiate  Herald, 

The  Chemist  and  Druggist. 

Burgoyne's  Magcuine  of  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry. 

The  New  England  Medical  GoMette. 

Vaccination  Inquirer. 

The  Hahnemannian  Monthly. 

The  New  York  Medical  Times. 

The  Medical  Advance. 

The  Clinique. 

The  Therapeutic  Gazette. 

The  Medical  Counsellor. 

The  Homesopathic  Physician. 

Boericke  and  TafeVs  Quarterly  BuUeHn. 

Bibliothtque  Homoeopathique. 

Progr^  MedxctUe. 

AUgemeine  Hom.  Zeitung. 

Horn.  Rundschau. 

Boletino  Clinico. 

La  Reforma  Medica. 


Papers,  Dispensary  Beports,  and  Books  for  Beview  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pope,  21,  Henrietta  Street,  Gavendish  Square,  W.;  Dr.  D.  Dtob 
Bbowh,  29,  Seymour  Street,  Portman  Square,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  Ebriiidt, 
16,  Montpelier  Bow,  Blaokheath,  S.E.  Advertisements  and  Businees 
oommmiioatians  to  be  sent  to  Messrs.  B.  Gouza  dt  Soa.  59.  MoorgSite 
Street,  E.C.  i      .         •^ 


S^^^VT^i^    COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS.  *  '        65 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMOEOPATHIC    REVIEW- 


THE  ROYAL  COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  ON 

HOMOEOPATHY. 

On  the  27th  of  December,  1881,  an  "  Extraordinary '* 
meeting  of  the  Fellows  of  the  College  of  Physicians  was 
held  for  the  purpose  of  placing  a  sort  of  collegiate  ban  upon 
homceopathy.  The  promoter  of  this  proposal  was  Dr. 
WiLKs,  of  Guy's  Hospital.  In  bringing  forward  his  reso- 
lution, he  admitted  that  any  attempt  upon  the  part  of  the 
College  to  prohibit  its  Fellows  from  meeting  homoeopathists 
in  consultation  would  be  inoperative ;  and  urged,  that  ''  it 
would  be  ridiculous  for  the  College  to  pass  a  strong  reso- 
lution one  day,  and  find  that  some  of  its  leading  Fellows 
disregarded  it  the  next  day.  And,"  he  added,  "  it  might 
also  be  said,  that  there  are  some  members  and  licentiates 
of  the  College  who  are  homoeopaths,  and  a  penal  clause 
<;ould  not  be  enforced  against  them.  Moreover,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  there  would  be  a  legal  difficulty  in  such  enforce- 
ment. It  was  imperative  on  any  College  like  that  to  grant 
its  licence  to  every  one  who  passed  its  examination,  irre- 
spective of  his  opinions.  The  College  could  not  hand  a 
candidate  his  diploma  one  day,  and  the  next  take  it  from 
him ;  and  if  the  College  could  not  deal  with  those  who  hold 
its  diploma  and  practise  homoeopathy,  how  could  it  deal 
with  others  who  err  less  grossly  ?  " 

VoL  26,  No.  2.  p 


66  COLLEGE  OF  PHTSICUHS.     ^^B^^I^Mffi* 

It  being  thus  perfectly  dear  that  the  College  conld  not 
deal  with  a  Fellow  who  practises  homcBopathj  as  it  could 
some  two  hundred  years  ago,  when  it  committed  Dr.  Gb(EN- 
VELT  to  Newgate  for  prescribing  cantharides  in  inflamma- 
tion of  bladder,  jost  as  hcmMBopathists  have  done  for  the 
last  eighty  years,  and  as  Dr.  Rixgeb,  in  imitation  of  them, 
does  to-day,  it  became  necessary  to  find  oat  some  other 
method  of  proscribing  members  of  the  profession,  who 
openly  acknowledge  that  they  practise  homoeopathically. 

The  objection  to  homoeopathy,  was  not,  Dr.  Wiles 
urged,  one  of  doctrine.  He  added  that  for  his  part  he 
repudiated  the  notion  that  there  was  any  medical  doctrine 
in  reference  to  therapentics.  "  It  was  a  device  of  the  enemy 
to  say  that  there  was  a  doctrine."  Dr.  Wilks,  ten  years 
ago,  announced  the  &ct  that  he  had  no  therapeutic 
principles.  Indeed,  like  Mr.  Hosea  Biglow's  friend,  he 
gloried 

•*  In  hran'  nothin'  o*  the  sort." 

Dr.  Wiles  not  only  has  no  therapeutic  principles  him- 
self, but  he  thinks  it  impossible  that  anyone  should  have 
any  such  principles — nay  more,  that  the  existence  of  such 
principles  is  impossible !  This  is,  however,  the  opinion 
only  of  Dr.  Wiles  and  a  few  of  his  friends.  Another  of 
his  coUeagues,  Dr.  Moxon,  has  openly  sneered  at  the  use 
of  drugs  as  curative  agents,  describing  them  as  merely 
*'  stepping  stones  to  &ith  in  the  weaiy  time/'  Dr.  Akdbem' 
Glabe,  who  also  took  part  in  the  discussion  at  the  Col- 
lege, has  recorded  in  his  address  at  the  British  Medical 
Association,  1879,  his  most  emphatic  contempt  for  medi- 
cines as  aids  to  recovery  in  illness.  Dr.  Matthews 
DnvcAN  has  poured  ridicule  upon  their  prescription* 
Whence  comes  all  this  scepticism  ?  We  believe  that  it 
is  entirely  due  to  the  want  of  recognition  of  the  fact, 
unblushingly  repudiated  by  Dr.  Wiles,  that  there  is  a 


iT^TSffi!***    COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS.  67 

medical  doctrine  in  therapeutics.  That  there  is  such  a 
dodaJne,  the  experience  of  many  thousands  of  physicians 
practising  in  different  parts  of  the  world  during  the  last 
ei^ty  years,  testifies.  Dr.  Wilks  refuses  to  examine  the 
efidence  on  which  it  is  based.  He  wilfully  closes  his  eyes 
against  it.     Therefore,  for  him,  it  has  no  existence. 

Having  then,  to  his  own  satisfaction,  at  least,  protested 
agUBst  the  idea  that  the  dispute  between  homoeopaths  and 
noQ-faomcaopaths  was  not  one  of  doctrine,  he  proceeded  to 
slate  that  the  question  at  issue  was  one  of  mordU,  The 
immcmdity  of  the  homoeopathist  consists,  according  to  our 
ceouBor,  in  openly  declaring  that  he  believes  in  the  existence 
of  a  therapeutic  doctrine,  and  endeavours  to  the  best  of  his 
ability  to  practise  in  harmony  with  it.  According  to  the 
ethical  views  of  Dr.  Wilks,  it  may  be  eminently  proper  for 
a  physician  to  practise  homoaopathy,  but  extremely  im- 
moral for  him  to  admit  that  he  does  so.  For  Dr.  Wiles 
to  proclaim  to  the  world  that  he  has  no  therapeutic  principle 
is  perfectly  right,  but  for  any  other  physician  to  assert 
that  he  does  believe  in  one,  and  that  he  acts  accordingly,  is, 
afortiari,  immoral. 

Sir  THOHiB  Watsom  once  described  therapeutics,  or 
treatment,  as  being  ''the  supreme  end  of  our  profession." 
Dr.  Wilks  regards  looking  upon  treatment  only,  as  a 
*' tradesman-like  view  of  medicine."  ''What,"  asks  Dr. 
Wilks,  "is  a  quack?  A  quack,"  he  said,  "is  one  who 
has  to  do  with  treatment  only."  For  what,  we  would  ask, 
do  the  sick  public  consult  physicians,  if  not  for  treatment  ? 
Treatment  is  the  sole  object  with  which  a  patient  goes  to 
his  doctor.  "  Homceopathy,"  he  added,  "  says  that  medi- 
cixie  is  simply  a  question  of  treatment."  Homoeopathy 
says  nothing  of  the  sort.  What  homcBopathists  do  say  is 
that  treatment  is  the  sole  end  of  medicine.  It  is  for  the 
purposes  of  treatment  that  the  various  branches  of  learning 


68  COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS.    ^S^'wfpSl^riS^ 

which  go  to  make  up  medical  science  are  studied.  .  Then, 
bursting  with  indignation,  he  insolently  describes  homoBo- 
pathy  as  *'  nothing  more  than  a  glorified  quackery,  to  suit 
the  superior  intellects  of  lord  chancellors  and  archbishops." 
A  physician  who  can  thus  describe  a  therapeutic  method, 
to  which  he  and  many  others  are  indebted  for  the  most 
successful  therapeutic  hints  they  have  ever  obtained,  can 
excite  no  other  feelings  than  those  of  pity  and  contempt. 

The  next  few  sentences  of  his  speech  explain  somewhat 
the  cause  of  this  ignorant  exhibition  of  wrath.  From 
these  it  appears  that  Dr.  Wiles  was  about  to  be  consulted 
by  a  gentleman  sufifering  from  heart  disease  and  dropsy, 
when  a  homoeopath  was  preferred  before  him.  The  patient 
got  better.  Learning  afterwards  that  he  had  received 
digitalis  and  iron  as  medicines.  Dr.  Wiles  said  that  he 
would  have  given  the  same  medicines  had  he  been  consulted. 
The  patient  replied  that  he  preferred  the  homoeopath 
because  he  was  guided  by  a  principle.  This  was  doubtless 
very  annoying  to  Dr.  Wiles,  but  that  a  sick  man  should 
prefer  a  physician  who  was  directed  by  a  definite  thera- 
peutic principle  to  one  who  boasted  that  he  had  none,  that 
he  was  in  fact  a  pure  empiricist,  is  after  all  not  very 
surprising. 

Dr.  Wiles  has  the  insolence  and  audacity  to  rank 
physicians  who  practise  homoeopathically,  with  advertising 
pill-mongers !  He  ignores  the  fact  that  the  wares  of  such 
persons  correspond  closely  with  the  prescriptions  which  he, 
for  want  of  a  therapeutic  principle,  orders  daily  for  those 
who  consult  him.  The  advertising  pill-monger  is  much 
more  nearly  allied  to  the  non-homoeopathic  physician  than 
he  is  to  the  homoeopathist.  The  recipes  from  which  his 
ventures  are  compounded  are  mostly  those  of  physicians  of 
the  Wiles  type  !  Then,  again,  he  fails  to  recognise  that 
the  essence  of  quackery  consists  in  its  secrecy.     "  Buy  my 


B^r^bTiaK^'''    COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS.  69 

pills/'  says  the  quack,  and  you  will  be  cured  of  whatsoeyer 
ails  yon."  The  customer  asks  what  the  pill  is  made  of, 
and  no  answer  is  vouchsafed.  The  homodopathist  has 
never  advocated  the  use  of  a  drug,  but  of  a  principle  of 
drug  selection.  This,  so  far  from  keeping  secret,  he  has 
announced  with  every  form  of  publicity  ;  and  this  publicity 
it  is  which  constitutes  Dr.  Wiles'  ground  of  complaint 
against  him! 

In  the  version  of  Dr.  Wilks'  speech,  given  in  the  British 
Medical  Journal  of  the  81st  December,  he  is  said  to  have 
renoarked  :  ''  The  homoeopaths  abused  everybody  else,  and 
brought  forward  wonderful  cases  which  no  one  else,  could 
cure.''  After  the  amount  of  abuse  which  has  been  showered 
upon  homoeopaths  during  the  last  half-century,  it  sounds 
rather  strange  to  find  one  of  their  systematic  abusers  com- 
plaining that  the  very  feeble  retaliation,  ''  You're  another," 
has  been  at  times  employed.  In  this  controversy,  we  have 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  individuals ;  all  that  we  con- 
tend for  is  principle.  We  oppose  nothing  save  methods  of 
treatment  that  experience  and  observation  have  convinced 
us  are  ineffective,  imperfect,  or  injurious,  and,  in  proportion 
as  they  are  either  the  one  or  the  other,  do  we  strive  to 
enforce  our  views  with  clearness.  For  persons  who  practise 
homceopathicaUy  every  day  of  their  lives,  and  yet  never 
leave  an  opportunity  of  traducing  homoeopathy  unutilised, 
we  confess  thai  we  have  no  respect  whatever.  Nay,  more, 
we  believe  that  they  are,  to  a  large  extent,  impeding  the 
development  of  scientific  therapeutics.  Then  it  is  alleged 
that  we  bring  forward  ''  wonderful  cases  which  no  one  else 
can  cure."  That  "wonderful  cases"  which  have  refused 
to  yield  to  any  but  homceopathicaUy  selected  medicines  are 
frequently  reported  in  our  journals  is  true  enough ;  but  that 
they  are  such  as  "  no  one  else  can  cure  "  is  not  true.  Any 
physician  could  cure  such  cases,  if  he  would  but  use  the 


70  COLLEGE  OF  PHTSICIAl^S.    ^tS&^SS^UiSaL 

same  means.  It  is  to  imdace  the  use  of  snck  rneus  thsi 
they  are  published.  They  form  not  only  the  praeticai 
eTidenee  of  the  tmth  of  our  mMhod,  but  illustrations  of 
how  it  may  be  put  into  practice.  Did  we  withhold  the 
knowledge  of  the  remediea  emfdoyed,  did  we  keep  silent  as 
to  how  they  were  discoTered,  the  charge  of  secrecy  woold 
be  all^[ed  against  ns,  and  we  might  well  then  be  looked 
upon  as  qnacks.  But  oar  offence  in  the  eyes  of  Dr.  Wilkb 
is  that  with  ns  everything  is  done  openly.  HomcBopathistfl 
do  not  blow  individnal  tnunpets,  or  proclaim  indindnal 
snperiority.  The  saperiority  of  their  clinical  results  over 
those  which  Dr.  Wilkb  and  similarly  practising  ^ysicians 
can  show,  is  entirely  due  to  the  therapeutic  method  they 
adopt.  This  therapeutic  method  is  open  to  all,  may  be 
known  by  all,  studied  by  all,  and  practised  by  alL  Whea 
it  is  so,  the  superiority  of  one  physician  to  another  will  be  a 
matter  of  individual  ability,  or  of  popularily. 

The  Lancety  when  announcing  the  meeting  we  are 
commenting  upon,  wrote  as  follows : — '*  No  one  has  a 
right  to  dictate  how  a  man  shall  practise  his  art.  That 
rests  with  himself,  both  in  the  mode  and  in  the  le^onsi- 
bility.  But,  whilst  each  has  full  liberty  to  act  in  hia 
practice  as  he  pleases,  it  is  an  abuse  of  liberty  to  eooe 
tenance  his  assumption  of  a  title  in  order  to  c<mvey  to  the 
laity  the  impression  that  his  art  differs  irom  the  art  of 
medicine  as  practised  by  his  fellows ;  that  he  is  possessed 
of  special  virtues  of  which  they  are  ignorant;  that  by 
coming  to  him  people  will  be  dealt  with  in  a  more  en- 
lightlied  way  than  if  they  went  to  others."  Here,  again, 
personality  is  confounded  with  a  therapeutic  method. 
That  homcQopathy  does  differ  firom  medicine  as  commonly 
practised  is  true.  It  is  because  the  difference  consists  in 
the  greater  control  oyer  disease  which  it  enables  the 
physician  to  have,  that  we  have  adopted  it.    A  physietan 


SSSn^JSTaff^    COLLEGE  OP  PHYBICUNS.  71 

idio  knows  that  homoBopatby  is  trae,  and  who  feels  that  it 
is  a  truth  of  very  great  importance,  one  with  which  all 
physicians  shonld  be  familiar^  and  who  recognises  the  fact 
that  a  large  proportion  of  hi^  medical  brethren  are  ignorant 
of  it,  is  bonnd  to  testify  to  its  tmth*  That  homoeopathy  does 
present  a  more  enlightened  way  of  dealing  with  disease  is 
the  testimony  of  aU  who  have  tried  it,  and  compared  the 
resolts  they  have  obtained  with  those  they  were  wont  to 
meet  with  when  practising  after  the  manner  taught  in  the 
schools* 

We  assume  no  special  designation.  Those  who  practise 
homcBopathically  rarely  announce  the  fact  either  on  door- 
plate  or  Tisiting  card.  The  doing  so  has  been  at  all  times 
diBconntenanoed  by  the  British  Homoeopathic  and  other 
societies.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  a  physician  answers 
affirmatiyely  to  the  question,  ''Do  you  practise  homoeo- 
pathy ?"  he  is  at  once  told  that  he  is  a  homoBopathist, 
and  so  in  point  of  fact  he  is ;  but  this  does  not  constitute 
the  ''assumption  of  a  title."  It  merely  indicates  the 
phyfflcian's  belief  in  a  medical  doctrine  which  is  not 
generally  accepted  as  yet,  just  as  in  years  gone  by  ihe 
disciple  of  Bboussais  was  called  a  Bboussaisist,  and  this, 
whether  he  "  accepted ''  the  "  title  "  or  not. 

We  have  given  the  College  no  excuse  whatever  for 
asserting  that  we  have  assxmied  a  title  for  trade  purposes. 
We  indignantly  spurn  the  charge  as  one  utterly  and 
entirely  fsdee  and  incapable  of  justification. 

Indeed,  laying  so  much  stress  upon  this,  so-eaUed^ 
assumption  of  a  distinctive  title  appears  to  us  to  have  for 
its  object  the  encouragement  of  that  crypto-homoeopathy 
which  is  so  rapidly  on  the  increase.  Addressing  in  this 
resolution  their  members  and  licentiates,  the  Fellows  seem 
to  say, — "Practise  howsoever  you  like,  but  say  nothing 
about  homoeopathy.    We  know  nothing  about  it,  except 


72  COLLEGE  OP  PHYSICIANS.    ^'S^^^rS^S©! 

that  we  hate  it,  and  if  it  gets  known  that  yon  practise 
homoeopathy  we  ahall  be  injured  professionaUy.  Great  iff 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians  !  "  This  is,  in  reality,  the  inter- 
pretation of  Dr.  WiLKs'  resolution. 

Dr.  WiLKS  objeets  very  much  to  what  he  calls  the 
assumption  of  titles,  but  he  appears  to  have  none  to  the 
assumption,  at  any  rate,  by  himself,  of  impure  motives  on 
the  part  of  those  who  practise  homcBopathy.  He  said  that 
the  College,  by  agreeing  to  his  resolution,  "  would  help  to 
remove  difficulties  from  the  way  of  hesitating  students, 
some  of  whom,  more  worldly  minded  than  others,  were 
induced  to  start  as  homoeopathists  from  motives  of  trade- 
rather  than  anything  else."  How  does  he  know  that  any 
do  so  ?  What  evidence  has  he  to  adduce  in  support  of  his 
base  charge  ?    None  whatever. 

The  resolution  itself  is  as  feeble  as  was  the  effort  to 
justify  it.     It  runs  as  follows : — 

*'  While  the  College  has  no  desire"^'  to  fetter  the  opinions  of 
its  members  in  reference  to  any  theories  they  may  see  fit 
to  adopt  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  it  nevertheless  thinks 
it  desirable  to  express  its  opinion  that  the  assmnption  or 
acceptance  by  members  of  the  profession  of  designations  im- 
plying the  adoption  of  special  modes  of  treatment  is  opposed  to 
those  principles  of  the  freedom  and  dignity  of  the  profession, 
which  should  govern  the  relations  of  its  members  to  each  other 
and  to  the  public.  The  College  therefore  expects  that  all  its 
Fellows,  Members,  and  liceniaates  will  uphold  these  principles 
by  discountenancing  those  who  trade  upon  such  designations." 

It  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Beale. 

The  resolution  was  objected  to  by  Dr.  Alexandeb,  of 
Halifax,  who  moved  the  previous  question,  but  both  the 

•  Would  not  the  word  "  power  *'  have  expressed  the  true  position  and 
feeUng  of  the  GoUege  more  accurately  than  "  desire  "  ? 


S^f^T^^    COLLEGE  OP  PHYSICUNS.  73 

Lancet  and  BritUh  Medical  Journal  carefully  and  signifi- 
cantly abstain  from  reporting  his  remarks. 

Dr.  Andrew  Clabe  did  not  regard  Dr.  Wilkb'  moral 
groond  as  the  right  one.  *'  The  trne  ground  was  that  when 
two  men  meet  in  consultation  holding  radically  different 
opinions  as  to  principles  of  treatment,  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  hold  any  true  consultation.  No  harmony  and  no 
good  result  could  accrue  from  such  a  consultation.  It  must 
be  a  false  one,  and  anyone  sharing  in  it  was  guilty  of  an 
immoral  act,  and  if  the  College  permitted  this  it  was  par- 
ticipating in  an  immoral  act."  Considering  that  Dr.  Clare 
has  little  or  no  faith  in  the  power  of  drugs  to  cure  disease, 
we  do  not  see  that  he  need  have  any  scruples  about 
sanddoning  such  as  a  homoeopathist  would  select.  The 
only  question  that  occurs  to  us  here  is,  how  anyone  so 
sceptical  as  to  ihe  curative  virtues  of  drugs,  as  Dr.  Clare 
is  reported  to  be,  and,  indeed,  has  avowed  himself  to  be, 
can  ever  prescribe  any  at  all ! 

Dr.  BucENiLL — a  lunacy  expert'—said  that  his  ground 
of  refusal  to  meet  a  homoeopath  was  that  '^  he  could  not 
believe  that  a  well  educated  medical  man,  fully  instructed 
in  physiology  and  pathology,  could,  if  honest,  be  a  homoBO- 
path;"  and  thereupon  he  moved  an  amendment  to  the 
effect  that  **  the  College,  considering  that  no  competent 
medical  man  can  honestly  practise  the  so-called  homoBO- 
pathie  system,  is  of  opinion  that  no  Fellow,  Member  or 
Licentiate  of  the  CoUege  should  consult  with  any  who 
adopt  that  system."  This  is  rather  a  roundabout  way  of 
saying,  as  has  oftentimes  been  said  before,  that  all  homoeo- 
paths are  either  knaves  or  fools !  Of  one  thing  we  are 
sure,  that  no  person  competent  by  study  and  experience  to 
pronounce  an  opinion  on  homoeopathy  could  honestly  make 
such  an  assertion.  Dr.  Bucenill  is,  we  have  no  doubt, 
perfectly  ignorant  of  the  subject  of  his  criticism.    At  any 


74  COLLEGE  OF  PHTSICIAHS.     '^^'i 


1. 


rate,  this  is  the  only  exense  irtiieh  can  be  offered  for  his 
making  a  statement  which  reflects  open  no  one  but  himself. 
To  the  credit  of  the  Collie,  be  it  said.  Dr.  Bucknill  was 
persnaded  to  withdraw  his  atrocionsly  shmderons  amend- 
ment. It  is  not  a  little  singolar  that  Dr.  Wilson  Fox's 
remarks  on  this  amendment,  as  reported  by  the  Lancet  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  BrUUk  Medical  Journal  on  the  other, 
are  directly  opposite  !  The  Lancet  makes  him  say  that  "  He 
did  not  think  any  man  coold  honestly  practise  homoeopathy." 
According  to  the  BrUi$h  Medical  Journal,  he  said,  '*  The 
College  certainly  coold  not  accept  Dr.  Bucenill's  amend- 
ment.    What  conld  not  a  man  honestly  believe  ?  " 

The  British  Medical  JoumoTs  report  was  pnUished  on 
the  81st  December ;  that  in  the  Lancet  on  the  7th  olt.  It 
wonld  appear  as  though  the  speeches  had  undergone  a 
certain  amount  of  '*  cooking  "  during  the  interval ! 

Sir  WiujAM  Jenner  posed,  as  usual,  as  the  narrow- 
minded  bigot  he  is  well  known  to  be.  He  objected  to 
consultations  with  homoeopaths  because  they  were  not  for 
the  good  of  the  patient.  That,  after  all,  is  a  question  to 
be  decided  by  the  patient  and  the  medical  attendant*.  If 
they  think  that  such  a  consultation  would  be  for  the  good 
of  the  patient,  the  physician  may  fairly  assume  that  it  will 
be  so,  until  experience  has  proved  that  it  is  not.  Then  it 
will  be  time  for  him  to  withdraw.  **  It  had  been  said/' 
Sir  William  remarked,  **  that  we  should  meet  them  for 
purposes  of  diagnosis.  Am  I,"  he  added,  ^'a  mere  puzzle- 
Holver  ?  Am  I  to  be  paid  so  much  for  solving  a  pnaszle  ?  I 
go  to  do  good  to  the  patient,  to  ease  or  prolong  his  life." 
We  never  heard  of  a  pathologist  of  the  reputation  of  Sir 
William  Jenner  speak  so  contemptuously  of  the  diagnostic 
art  before.  We  will  venture  to  say  that  Sir  William 
Jenner*s  opinion  on  diagnosis  is  much  better  ^\  orth  paying 
for  than  is  his  therapeutic  advice. 


•SrtSlJrSrrM^  college  op  physicians.  75 

Dr.  Andbxw  Clabk  asked  Dr.  Wilis  at  the  dose  of  the 
meeting  to  state  in  his  reply  what  the  Fellows  were  to  do 
in  regard  to  consultations  with  those  who  neither  assume 
nor  accept  a  distinctive  title,  bnt  practise  one  system  one 
4ay  and  another  the  next. 

We  are  not,  however,  permitted  to  learn  in  what  way 
Dr.  WiLKs  proposed  to  solve  this  pnzzle ! 

Sir  William  Oull,  we  mnst  not  omit  to  notice^  seems 
to  have  been  a  little  ashamed  of  the  whole  affair,  or, 
perhaps,  afraid  of  its  effect  upon  the  public,  for  he  said, 
**  The  question  should  be  discussed  only  intra  muros ;  no 
vesolution  should  be  published."  There  are,  as  is  well 
known,  some  deeds  that  don't  bear  daylight.  This,  we 
quite  agree  with  Sir  Willum,  is  one  of  them.  Neverthe- 
less, we  hope  that  full  publicity  will  be  given  to  it,  that 
the  public  may  know  on  what  sort  of  men  it  is  that  it  is 
accustomed  to  rely  in  sickness.  Men  who  boast  that 
they  have  no  therapeutic  principles ;  men  who  in  medical 
societies  talk  of  the  utter  worthlessness  of  medicines  and 
write  prescriptions  for  medicine  all  day  long ;  men  who  are 
utterly  ignorant  of  the  most  scientific  therapeutic  method 
of  the  day,  and  denounce  as  dishonest  those  who  have 
studied  and  now  practise  it:  such  are  the  leaders  in 
medicine  at  the  commencement  of  1882 ! 

It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  Dr.  Wilson  Fox  casually 
^ve  the  very  best  possible  reason  tor  the  use  of  the  word 
homcBopathy — "  to  testify  for  the  truth."  Herein  lies 
the  sole  necessity  for  the  retentimi  of  a  distinctive  name  for 
•a  distinctive  therapeutic  method. 

The  doctrine,  to  the  truth  of  which  we  testify,  of  which 
w«  are  witnesses,  fw  the  defence  and  propagation  of  which 
we  are  responsible,  is  one,  it  must  be  remembered,  which 
is  not  merely  denied  by  a  large  portion  of  the  profession, 
4»ut.it8  very  discussion  is  prohibited.    It  is  not  permissible 


76  COLLEGE  OP  PHYSICIANS.     ^^:^,^STJ^^ 

to  allude  to  it  in  a  medical  society  save  in  terms  of  con- 
tempt. No  medical  journal  which  is  not  devoted  especially 
to  the  interests  of  homoeopathy,  will  allow  the  appearance 
in  its  columns  of  any  paper  based  upon  or  clinically  illus- 
trating it.  While  the  editorial  articles  regarding  it  have^ 
with  one  or  two  exceptions,  ever  been  devoted  to  studied 
misrepresentations  of  the  doctrine  and  vilification  of  its. 
supporters.  The  very  last  article  we  have  read — ^that  in 
the  Lancet  of  the  7th  ult. — is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  lengths^ 
to  which  our  opponents  will  go  in  deliberate  misrepresen- 
tation. **  Nothing,"  says  the  Lancet,  "  now  remains  but 
the  name.  The  infinitesimal  dose  has  been  repudiated  and 
the  doctrine  of  similars  given  up."  To  suppose  that  any 
medical  man  capable  of  writing  an  article  in  a  medical 
journal  did  not  know  that,  in  making  such  st-atements  as. 
these,  he  was  publishing  what  was  false  and  misleading, 
would  be  carrying  charity  into  the  region  of  credulity.  Dr. 
Wtld's  letters,  published  in  1877,  which  are  referred  to,  give 
no  support  to  these  assertions.  And  if  they  did,  they  could 
but  refer  to  Dr.  Wtld.  For  though  his  mode  of  expressing 
his  ideas  of  the  limitation  of  homoeopathy  was  very  far 
from  amounting  to  repudiation,  either  of  the  infinitesimal 
dose  or  of  the  law  of  similars,  still,  even  the  extent  of  limi- 
tation to  which  he  was  prepared  to  go  met  with  no- 
sympathy  at  all  from  any  but  a  very  small  minority — an 
infinitesimal  minority  of  his  homoeopathic  Mends. 

Such,  then,  being  the  position  in  which  homoeopathy 
stands  as  a  therapeutic  doctrine,  and  homoeopathists  as 
the  witnesses  of  that  doctrine,  it  is  our  duty  while  pro- 
testing against  the  unfounded,  unproven,  and  disgraceful 
charge  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  that  we  are  actuated 
by  trade  motives  in  using  the  words  homoeopathy,  homoeo- 
pathic, and  homoeopathist,  when  referring  to  the  doctrine 
itself,  to  the  institutions  established  to  support  or  illustrate 


JS^fF^nrSg"!       ACTION  OF  DBUQS. 77 

it,  and  to  the  persons  who  defend  and  practise  it — it  is  our 
lK)imden  daty  to  defend  and  propagate  this  doctrine  by 
every  means  in  our  power ;  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  to 
draw  the  attention  of  the  profession  and  of  the  public  to  it — 
to  make  homoeopathy  known  and  appreciated  is  as  much 
our  duty  as  it  is  to  practise  it.  The  use  of  the  words, 
which  are  so  highly  objectionable  to  Dr.  Wilks,  is  one 
means  by  which  we  may  keep  the  doctrine  constantly  in 
sight ;  and  it  is  almost  the  only  means  left  to  us.  Excluded 
from  the  ordinary  channels  of  communicating  our  views, 
we  have  created  channels  of  our  own,  and  the  names  they 
bear  indicate  their  raison  d'etre.  The  case  of  our  School, 
Hospitals,  Dispensaries,  and  Societies  is  in  all  respects 
similar.  Until  Dr.  Wilks  and  those,  who,  in  medicine, 
regard  homoeopathy  much  in  the  same  light  as  he  does, 
are  prepared  to  withdraw  all  impediments  to  the  discussion, 
teaching,  and  practice  of  homoeopathy,  we  should  be  the 
most  contemptible  of  cowards  were  we  to  do  otherwise  than 
maintain  our  position  without  the  slightest  regard  to  the 
feelings  of  the  College  of  Physicians  or  the  professional 
interests  of  its  Fellows. 


ON  THE   STUDY  OF  THE   EFFECTS  AND   MODE 

OF  ACTION   OF  DRUGS.* 

By  Alfred  C.  Pope,  M.D., 

President  of  the  British  Homceopathic  Society ;  Lecturer  on  Materia 
Medica  at  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy. 

In  my  lecture  on  Thursday  last,  I  endeavoured  to  set 
before  you  the  chief  principles  which  guide  the  physician  in 
the  selection  of  his  drug  remedies.  To-day  I  must  ask  you 
to  follow  me  while  I  endeayour  to  examine  the  methods  of 
studying  the  effects  and  the  action  of  drugs  upon  the  body 
in  health. 

Prior  to  the  time  of  Hahnemann,  the  properties  and  uses 
of  drugs  as  medicines  had  been  guessed  at  rather  than  in- 

*  Deliyered  at  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy,  October  10, 1881. 


78  ACTION  OF  DRUGS.      "gS^^^ST?^' 


Beriew,  Feb.  1, 1662. 


vestigated — imagined  rather  than  enquired  into.  Trne^ 
Stahl  and  Yon  Stoerck  had  noted  the  great  want  of  exact 
knowledge  respecting  them,  and  had,  in  no  ohsciure  or 
doubtful  language,  hinted  at  the  track  along  which  those 
must  travel  who  desired  such  information.  To  Hahnemann, 
however,  accurate  knowledge  of  the  effects  of  drugs  upon 
the  health  of  man  was  a  matter  of  importance  of  the  first 
order.  Without  it  the  method  of  drug  selection  he  had 
drawn  attention  to  was  practically  useless — was  indeed 
impossible.  Hence  the  earnestness  and  zeal  with  which  he 
pursued,  and  endeavoured  to  persuade  others  to  pursue,, 
experiments  with  drugs. 

"In  studying  the  properties  of  a  medicine,"  wrote  the 
editor  of  the  Lancet,  on  the  21st  of  last  May,  "it  is  always 
tried  upon  the  healthy."  If  this  is  true,  and  I  hope  that 
it  is  so,  it  is  to  Hahnemann  that  medicine  is  indebted  for 
the  development  of  the  method.  Before  his  researches: 
were  made,  the  only  observers  by  whom  this  plan  bad  been 
adopted  were  some  three  or  four — Haller,*  Von  Stocrck,t 
Alexander,!  a  Scotch  physician,  and  another,  who  made 
some  experiments  on  opium,  were  the  only  persons  who 
had  resorted  to  this  plan  of  studying  the  effects  of  drugs 
with  a  view  to  using  them  as  remedies  in  disease.  Their 
experiments  were  few  in  number,  and  their  example  had 
no  result.  Neither  is  there  anything  remarkable  in  this,, 
for,  as  Dr.  Bristowe  recently  said,  "  We  must  admit  the 
truth  of  the  homoeopathic  view  of  the  relations  between 
medicines  and  diseases,  before  we  can  admit  the  special 
value  of  investigations  conducted  only  on  the  healthy 
body."  §  How,  I  would  ask,  can  we  know  what  a  drug 
will  effect  in  disease  without  a  previous  knowledge  of  the 
distmbances  it  will  work  in  the  healthy  body  ?  Manifold 
experiments  have  been  made  with  drugs  since  the  days  of 
Magendie  upon  the  bodies  of  cats,  dogs,  rabbits,  and  other 
animals  ;  the  results  have  not  been  without  their  value,  it 
is  true,  but  this  has  not  been  seen  in  improved  methods  of 
treating  disease.  It  is  upon  man  that  such  experiments 
must  be  performed  if  they  are  to  be  of  any  service  to  man. 
Poisoning  the  lower  animals  with  divers  drugs,  watching 
their  effects,  and  comparing  them  with  the  alterations  in 

♦  Preface  to  the  Swiss  Pharmacqpaia, 

t  LiUUut  d€  Stramonio,  dsc,  \  Experimental  Essays, 

§  British  Medical  Journal,  AT3giist,  1881. 


iKSSf^nX*!^       ACTION  OF  DRUGS.  79 

tissue  observed  after  death,  are  useful  in  supplementing 
investigations  made  upon  the  human  subject  by  showing 
the  parts  that  ultimately  become  affected,  how  they  lead  on 
to  death,  but  they  are  in  many  ways  misleading  when 
relied  on  solely.  They  are  so  by  reason  of  the  different 
degrees  in  which  different  species  of  animals  are  affected 
by  the  same  substance,  as  well  as  by  the  various  ways  in 
which  the  functions  of  life  are  performed  by  different 
animals.  What  we  require  to  know  in  order  to  use  a  drug 
rationally  in  the  treatment  of  disease  in  the  human  subject 
are  the  effects  it  will  produce  on  the  human  subject  when 
in  health- 

To  obtain  this  knowledge  Hahnemann  instituted  a  largo 
number  of  experiments  upon  men  and  women.  For  the 
conduct  of  such  experiments  he  laid  down  a  series  of  rules 
^liiich  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  Organon.  That  you  may 
possess  a  clear  understanding  of  his  method  I  will  here 
summarise  his  rules.* 

In  the  first  place,  he  insisted  on  the  importance  of  the 
drug  being  absolutely  pure  and  genuine ;  that  it  should  be 
taken  in  the  simplest  possible  form ;  that,  during  all  the 
time  the  experiment  lasted,  the  diet  should  be  strictly 
regulated,  and  that,  not  only  should  the  observer  abstain 
entirely  during  the  experiments  from  all  medicinal  stimu- 
lants, such  as  wine,  brandy,  coffee  or  tea,  but  that  he  must 
have  done  so  previously  for  some  considerable  time.  Ho 
especially  insisted  on  an  absolute  state  of  good  health  at 
the  time  the  experiments  commence.  Describing  the 
qualifications  for  a  prover,  he  writes  :  "  His  body  must  be 
in  what  is,  for  him,  a  good  state  of  health,  and  ho  must 
possess  a  sufficient  amoxmt  of  intelligence  to  be  able  to 
express  and  describe  his  sensations  in  accurate  terms." 
Then,  again,  he  directs  that  the  medicine  shall  be  tested 
upon  both  men  and  women,  in  order  to  reveal  the  alterations 
in  health  they  produce  upon  the  sexual  systems. 

The  doses  used  by  Hahnemann  in  proving  or  experi- 
menting with  medicines,  varied  at  different  periods  of  his 
career.  One  of  his  earliest  instructions  in  this  matter  was 
thus  worded :  *'  In  order  to  ascertain  the  effects  of  medicinal 
agents,  we  must  give  only  one  pretty  strong  dose  to  the 

*  Organon  of  the  Healing  Art,    Fifth  edition.     Translated  by  B.  E. 
Dudgeon,  M.P.    Ss.  cxxi.— cxl. 


80  ACTION  OF  DRUGS,       ""S^^fSSTif;^ 

temperate,  healthy  person  who  is  the  snhject  of  the  experi- 
ment, and  it  is  best  to  give  it  in  solution,  if  we  wish  to 
ascertain  the  remaining  symptoms  which  were  not  revealed 
by  the  first  trial,  we  may  give  to  another  person,  or  to  the 
same  individual,  bat  to  the  latter  only  after  the  lapse  of 
several  days,  when  the  action  of  the  first  dose  is  folly  over, 
a  similar  or  even  stronger  portion,  and  note  the  symptoms 
of  irritation,  thence  resulting,  in  the  same  careful  and 
sceptical  manner.  For  medicines  that  are  weaker  we 
require,  in  addition  to  a  considerable  dose,  individuals  that 
are  healthy,  it  is  true,  but  of  a  very  irritable  delicate  con- 
stitution.* 

Such,  then,  are  the  leading  features  of  the  rules  laid 
down  by  Hahnemann  for  the  use  of  those  who  assisted  bim 
in  the  work  of  investigating  the  effects  of  drugs  upon  the 
human  body.  That  they  evince  the  greatest  caution  in  ob- 
serving, no  one,  I  think,  will  deny.  That  they  were  carried 
out  to  the  letter  every  one,  who  is  at  all  acquainted  with  the 
exacting  character  of  their  author,  will  readily  admit.  The 
son  of  one  of  his  provers,  now  a  physician  practising  in 
Boston,  in  the  United  States,  ]ias  assured  me  that  his  father 
was  most  precise  in  observing  the  minutest  of  the  rules 
enjoined  by  Hahnemann.  Hahnemann's  character  was  of 
itself  a  guarantee  that  what  he  directed  was  carried  out  to 
the  letter.  He  was,  before  all  things,  a  man  having  authority, 
and  how  sternly  he  exercised  this  authority,  how  severely 
he  rebuked  and  resented  the  slightest  divergence  from  his 
instructions  on  the  part  of  any  of  his  disciples,  the  history 
of  homoeopathy,  during  the  first  half  of  this  century,  presents 
many  instances.  That  he  had  exercised  the  greatest  care 
in  collecting  his  observations,  that  he  had  studied  them  in 
a  sceptical  spirit,  is  shown  by  the  late  Dr.  Constantino 
Hering,  of  Philadelphia,  who  thus  describes  Hahnemann's 
way  of  conducting  provings :  "After,"  he  says,  "he  had 
lectured  to  his  fellow-workers  on  the  rules  of  proving,  he 
handed  them  the  bottles  with  the  tincture,  and  when  they 
afterwards  brought  him  their  day-books" — that  is  to  say,  the 
record  of  the  symptoms  of  disordered  health  that  day  by 
day  were  observed  and  attributed  to  the  medicine  they  were 
taking,  "  when  they  afterwards  brought  him  their  day-books, 
he  examined  every  prover  carefully  about  evei^  particular 
symptom,  continually  calling  attention  to  the  necessary 

*  The  Medicine  of  Experience,    Lesser  Writings  of  Samuel  Hahnemann. 


^^^rrS^        ACTION  OF  DRUGS.  81 


BcfTiew,  Feb.  1, 1882. 


accuracy  in  expressing  the  kind  of  feeling,  the  point  or 
locality  of  the  observation;  and  the  mentioning  of  everything 
that  influenced  their  feelings,  the  time  of  day,  &c.  When 
handing  him  their  papers  after  they  had  been  cress- 
examined,  they  had  to  afi&rm  that  it  was  the  truth  and 
nothing  but  the  truth,  to  the  best  of  their  knowledge,  by 
offering  their  hands  to  him — ^the  customary  pledge  of  the 
German  Universities  instead  of  an  oath.  This,"  adds 
Hering,  ''was  the  way  in  which  our  master  built  up  his 
Materia  Medica."  * 

So  Csir,  then,  we  have  good  reason  for  believing  that 
Hahnemann's  experiments  on  the  effects  of  drugs  were 
made  with  as  much  caution  as  could  be  desired,  and  as 
thoroughly  as  the  opportunities  of  the  time  allowed. 

Voluntary  experiments  are  not,  however,  the  only  sources 
whence  we  may  derive  our  knowledge  of  the  effects  of  drugs. 
Cases  of  poisoning  are,  in  many  points,  of  equal,  and  in 
some  cases,  of  greater  value ;  while  instances  of  overdosing 
in  illness  are  to  a  certain  extent,  and  when  carefully  and 
cautiously  examined,  also  of  use. 

Hence,  Hahnemann,  in  addition  to  his  systematic  ex- 
periments, made  an  extensive  series  of  researches  into  the 
literature  of  medicine,  and  drew  therefrom  a  number  of 
cases  of  poisoning  and  of  overdosing,  which  have  materially 
aided  us  in  our  means  of  applying  remedies.  They  are,  in 
the  earlier  editions  of  the  Materia  Medica  Pura,  published 
separately  from  the  details  of  experiments,  under  the  title. 
Observations  of  others.  These  have  of  late  years  undergone 
both  revision  and  addition.  Dr.  Hughes  has  examined, 
with  much  care,  all  the  original  details  of  these  excerpts  by 
Hahnemann,  and  he  has  both  corrected,  and  in  some 
instances  explained  the  nature  of  the  cases  whence  the 
recorded  symptoms  were  drawn.  These  corrections,  with 
numerous  additional  cases  derived  from  modern  medical 
literature,  are  all  presented  in  that  magnum  opus,  Allen's 
Encyclopedia  of  Materia  Medica. 

It  was,  be  it  remembered,  almost  exclusively  from  the 
facts  given  in  this  Materia  Medica  of  Hahnemann  that  the 
adherents  of  his  method  during  the  first  half  of  this  century 
were  enabled  to  obtain  those  results,  which  have  led  to  the 
sound  and  wide  basis  upon  which  the  reputation  of  homoe- 
opathy as  a  method  of  drug  selection  has  been  reared. 

*  A  McM/aal  of  Pharmacodynamics.  By  Richard  Hughes,  M.D.  Fourth 
edition,  p.  28. 

Vol.  2G,  No.  2.  o 


82  ACTION  OF  DRUGS.         ^"^^JF^SSST^ 


Dr.  Bristowe  regards  the  method  pursued  by  Hahne- 
raann  as  one  espeeiidly  calculated  to  promote  self-deceptioii. 
''  Think,"  he  says,  '*  of  the  innumerable  phenomena  whidi 
a  hypochondriacal  old  man,  a  youthful  enthusiast  in  experi- 
mental research,  or  a  credulous  believer  would  find  un4«r 
such  circumstances  arising  from  inconceivable  doses  of  the 
most  inert  substances ;  the  itching  at  this  point,  the  aching 
at  that,  the  variations  in  the  pulse,  the  watering  of  the 
eyes,  the  noises  in  the  ears,  the  muscular  startings,  the 
eructations,  the  rumbling  in  the  bowels,  and  many  otiier 
matters  of  the  same  kind/'* 

This  is  not  the  first  time  we  have  heard  of  criticism  &t 
this  kind.  M.  Trousseau,  when  on  one  occasion  he  was 
lecturing  upon  arsenic,  said,  ''  We  will  not  here  speak  of 
the  singular  reveries  of  hypochondriac  homoeopaths,  nmd 
the  innnmerable  symptoms  they  have  discovered  in  ar^eme: 
we  leave  them  in  the  ideas  which  they  cherish  and  which 
they  force  themselves  to  believe." 

To  him  replied  another  professor  of  Materia  Medica, 
M.  Imbcrt-Gourbeyre,  of  Clermont-Ferrand,  who  at  the 
time  when  M.  Trousseau's  lecture  was  pubhshed  wa'< 
investigating  homoeopathy.  He  thought,  and  rightly,  that 
as  M.  Trousseau  had  announced  arsenic  as  a  inxgy  the 
Hahnemannic  symptomatology  of  which  was  full  of 
^^  singular  reveries "  that  he  would  compare  the  reoofd 
given  by  Hahnemann  with  the  observations  regarding 
arsenical  poisoning  in  medical  literature.  To  this  end,  a» 
he  says,  he  "  consulted  all  the  books,  monographs,  essays, 
and  ^eses  on  arsenic.  There  does  not,"  he  adds,  ''  exist 
the  smallest  observation  of  arsenical  poisoning  in  aN 
degrees  which  I  have  not  verified.  I  have  given  a  place  ia 
my  library  to  all  that  has  been  published  on  this  subject 
in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  America ;  in  France,  as  well  aH 
in  Germany ;  in  England,  in  Sweden,  Eussia,  in  Italy,  and 
everywhere.  Not  only  did  I  wish  to  read  everything,  hot 
I  desired  to  see  and  repeat  for  myself  the  experiments  with 
arsenic  in  doses  varying  from  that  commonly  used,  up  to 
the  highest  infinitesimal  degree;  and  after  this  arduous 
work,  which  has  lasted  now  nearly  fifteen  years,  and  which 
goes  on  yet,  what  was  my  astonishment  when  £  saw  that 
Hahnemann  in  describing  these  numerous  symptoms  of 
arsenic,  was  in   agreement  with    all    tradition,   with    m 


*■  British  Medical  Journal^  August  15th,  1881. 


rS^'^^^T^SS^       action  of  drugs.  83 


Banem,  Feb.  1, 1888. 


thoQsand  observations  of  poisoning  published  by  toxicolo- 
gists,  with  a  thousand  physiological  facts^  published  by  the 
allopaths  themselyes ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  I  saw  tiie 
same  hcts  perpetually  repeated  in  my  personal  experiments. 

My  labours  even  show  that  the  number  of 

symptoms  caused  by  arsenic  is  still  greater  than  that  given 
by  Hahnemann."^ 

While^  then,  the  researches  of  M.  Lnbert-Gourbeyre 
famish  us  with,  so  far,  a  suf&cient  reply  to  the  objections 
of  Dr.  Bristowe,  we  may  add  here,  that  however  plausible 
such  criticism  might  have  been  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  it 
is  all  too  late  now.  During  this  time  clinical  observation 
has  repeatedly  and  abundantly  verified  the  general  and,  for 
ail  practical  purposes,  the  sufficient  accuracy  of  Hahne- 
mann's observations,  and  has  fully  justified  the  correctness 
of  his  method. 

I  alluded  just  now  to  experiments  on  living  animals  as 
affording  us  means  of  tracing  the  effects  of  drugs  until 
these  are  seen  post  mortem  in  alterations  of  structure.  At 
the  same  time  such  observations  constitute  but  supple- 
mentary, confirmatory  evidence  ;  they  arc  not  at  all  essen- 
tial— and  when  useful  in  any  degree  are  only  imperfoctly 
so — ^in  selecting  medicinal  remedies. 

Take,  for  example,  the  illustration  Dr.  Lauder  Bnmton 
gives  of  the  value  of  pharmacological  research  by  experi- 
ments on  living  animals.  In  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  work 
on  Pharmacology  and  Therapeutics,  he  gives  a  full  account 
of  Magendie's  researches  into  the  action  of  upas  poison. 
These  involved  the  slaughter  of  a  large  number  of  frogs, 
and  the  experiments  were,  it  must  be  allowed,  both  in- 
genious and  exhaustive.  He  proved  the  absorption  of  the 
poison,  that  it  reached  its  ultimate  destination  through  the 
circulation,  and  lastly,  that  it  acted  directly  on  the  spinal 
cord ;  while  that  to  its  action  on  this  structure  its  most 
marked  effects  were  due.  Dr.  Brunton  then  quotes  a  pas- 
sage in  which  Magendie  suggests  what  Dr.  Brunton  terms 
'Hhe  therapeutical  employment  of  the  first-fruits  of  phar- 
maoological  research."  '*  Medicine  would  perhaps,"  writes 
the  physiologist,  '^  derive  advantages  iroxfi  the  knowledge 
of  a  substance  whose  property  is  to  act  especially  on  the 

*  Lectures  PnbliqneB  stir  1*  Homoeopathie  faites  au  Palais  des  Faealt^i 
de  Clermonk-Fernuid,  par  A.  Imbert-Gonrbeyre,  Profesaeor  de  Mati^ra 
MWoide  &  rSooIe  de  Medioine  de  Clermont-Ferrand.  Paris :  Baillidre. 


84  ACTION  OF  DRUGS.         ^^^^L^SfbT^' 


B«Tiew,  Feb.  1, 1882. 


spinal  cordy  for  we  know  that  many  very  seTere  diBeases 
have  their  seat  in  this  part  of  the  neryons  system ;  but 
upas  does  not  occur  in  commerce,  and  even  though  experi- 
ence should  show  it  to  be  a  precious  medicine,  how  is  it  to 
be  procured  ?  "  Such  being  the  case,  Magendie  proceeded 
to  repeat  his  experiments  with  nux  vomica,  which  he  found 
to  have  an  action  almost  exactly  like  that  of  upas.  "  While 
seeking  "  writes  Dr.  Brunton  *'  an  opportunity  to  apply  this 
in  practice,  his  intention  was  forestalled  by  M.  Fouquier, 
who  was  induced,  probably  by  the  publication  of  Magendie's 
research,  to  use  nux  vomica  in  cases  of  paralysis.  His 
success  was  great,  and  the  results  he  obtained  were  shortly 
afterwards  confirmed  by  Magendie  himself,  who  had  used 
the  drug  as  he  originally  intended  before  becoming  aware 
of  Fouquier's  experiments.  To  pharmacological  research, 
therefore,"  adds  Dr.  Brunton,  "  we  owe  one  of  the  most 
valuable  remedies  we  possess."  In  the  first  place, 
Magendie's  pharmacological  researches  were  published  by 
him  in  1809 — ^Hahnemann's  in  1805.  Secondly,  Magendie 
suggested  ntu;  vomica  in  paralysis  because  it  had  a  well 
marked  action  on  the  spinal  cord,  in  which,  as  he  says, 
many  severe  diseases  have  their  seat.  Fouquier's  idea  was 
that  it  would  create  an  artificial  tetanus,  which  would  be 
advantageous  to  the  patient;  and  when  describing  the 
efiect  of  a  full  dose  upon  a  paralytic,  he  says  it  produces  a 
state  having  all  the  features  of  an  irritable  tetanus.  In 
short  he  endeavoured  to  stimulate  the  paralysed  muscles  to 
unwonted  action,  he  spurred  the  tired  horse,  but  he  did  not 
cure  the  disease  upon  which  the  paralysis  depended.  It 
was,  in  point  of  fact,  an  endeavour  to  develop  muscle  by 
motion.  The  tetanic  movements  excited  by  the  strychnia 
were  apparently  regarded  in  the  same  light  as  those  pro- 
duced by  galvanism  or  Ling's  movement  cure.  The  action 
of  nu^  vomica  in  paralysis  is  therefore  anti-pathic,  and  as 
such  is  surrounded  by  all  the  dangers  incident  to  the 
induction  of  the  kind  of  action  arising  &om  the  anti-pathic 
selection  of  a  powerful  drug.  It  is  now  generally  admitted 
that  any  value  which  mix  vomica  or  strychnia  may  have  in 
paralysis  is  limited  to  cases  of  a  chronic  character,  cases 
which  are  insusceptible  of  cure,  cases  which  admit  only  of 
relief.  This  they  obtain — when  they  do  obtain  it — ^through 
the  undue  exercise  of  the  stimulant  properties  of  the  drug 
upon  healthy  tissue  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  which  is 
diseased — not  in  any  sense  by  the  remedying  of  diseased 
tissue. 


l£S5friSTSf^"         ACTION  OF  DRUGS.  85 

But  suppose  it  were  otherwise,  suppose  that  these  experi- 
ments of  Magendie  had  led  to  the  discovery  of  a  remedy  in 
paralysis — ^paralysis  is  a  condition  depending  upon  several 
morbid  processes,  all  differing  one  from  another,  all 
requiring  different  remedial  measures.  To  which  of  these 
did  Magendie's  experiments  point,  as  that  in  which  niLx 
vomica  would  prove  curative  ?  To  neither.  The  conclusion 
that  it  was  useful  in  chronic  paralysis  was  arrived  at 
through  clinical  experiment.  And  it  was  only  after  it  bad 
been  given  in  cases  of  recent  disease,  and  had  resulted  in 
increasing  its  intensity,  as  Trousseau  and  Pidoux*  show, 
that  it  was  reserved  for  chronic  cases.  It  is,  then,  only  in 
the  roughest  and  crudest  manner  that  Magendie's  experi- 
ments can  be  credited  with  having  given  us  a  novel  appli- 
cation of  a  drug. 

By  the  observation  of  the  effects  of  a  drug  upon  healthy 
men  and  women,  and  by  taking  them  as  a  basis  of  selection 
under  the  guidance  of  the  principle  of  similars,  Hahne- 
mann was  able  to  predicate  the  exact  case  of  a  given  form 
of  disease  in  which  a  drug  would  prove  curative.  This 
such  experiments  as  Magendie' s  never  have  done  and  never 
could  do. 

They  are  undoubtedly  of  great  interest  and  utility  in 
demonstrating  the  locaUty  on  which  a  drug  acts,  and  the 
precise  tissues,  disorder  in  which  gives  rise  to  the  symptoms 
we  observe,  but  they  are  far  too  inadequate  to  enable  us  to 
prescribe  on  homoeopathic  indications.  They  explain  very 
many  of  the  symptoms  produced  by  ntux;  vomica^  and 
especially  that  irregular  muscular  action — ^that  spasm — 
which  is  seen  so  frequently  in  the  course  of  studying  its 
effects  upon  health. 

Dr.  Brunton  is  then,  I  hold,  in  error — and  Professor 
Fraser,  at  the  recent  International  Congress,  followed  him 
here — in  attributing  to  Magendie  the  credit  of  originating 
pharmacological  research.  Hahnemann  was  more  than 
ten  years  before  him  in  this  work.  He  errs  also  in  attach- 
ing an  undue  value  to  the  work  he  did  accomplish. 

By  looking  to  the  effects  of  drugs  upon  the  human  body 
as  the  sources  of  our  knowledge  regarding  their  action  we 
are  able  to  put  to  a  useful  purpose  the  many  accidents 
which  occur  from  time  to  time  in  cases  of  poisoning  and  of 


*  Traits  de  TMrapeutiqxu^  et  de  Mati^e  M^dicale,    Ninth  edition,  p.  21. 


86  ACTION  OF  DRUGS.         "'SSSL^SKT?^" 


,  Pob.  1, 1882. 


over-dosmg.  Previously  to  this  method  of  studying  drug 
action  and  of  selecting  drugs  as  remedies,  such  cases  had 
simply  a  passing  interest,  teaching  us  what  to  avoid  rath^ 
than  what  to  use.  Many  a  useful  remedy,  like  veratrum 
album,  for  example,  has  in  the  course  of  the  history  of 
medicine  dropped  out  of  use  because  too  dangerous  to  be 
handled.  When,  however,  its  effects  have  been  thoroughly 
examined,  after  the  manner  of  Hahnemann,  and  the  homodo- 
pathic  principle  of  drug  selection  is  applied,  they  become, 
as  veratrtim  albvm  has  become,  valuable  remedies. 

That  the  method  of  Hahnemann — ^the  studying  of  the 
effects  of  drugs  upon  healthy  men  and  women,  for  the 
purpose  of  knowing  how  to  prescribe  them  in  the  diseases 
of  men  and  women,  was  a  correct  one,  seems  to  me 
unquestionable  ;  it  is  simply  a  common  sense  proceeding ; 
one  presenting  the  only  way  in  which  the  requisite  know- 
ledge can  be  obtained ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  results 
which  have  followed  the  utilisation  of  the  information  thus 
secured  have,  as  I  showed  to  you  in  my  last  lecture,  given 
ample  evidence  of  its  value. 

We  must  however  recollect  that  the  means  for  enquiring 
into  the  nature  and  character  of  disturbances  in  health, 
whether  such  disturbances  proceed  from  the  ordinary 
causes  of  disease  or  from  the  use  of  drugs  were,  in  Hahne- 
mann's time,  very  limited  indeed.  Physical  diagnosis  had 
scarcely  any  existence  fifty  years  ago.  The  stethoscope, 
even,  was  unknown  when  these  enquiries  of  Hahnemann 
were  made.  Now,  however,  we  have  ample  resources  for 
additional  investigations.  Hence,  in  the  more  recettt 
provings  of  drugs,  chemistry,  the  microscope,  and  oiher 
measures  for  ascertaining  objective  phenomena  have  been 
brought  into  use.  The  studies  which  Dr.  Sidney  Ringer, 
Dr.  Murrell,  and  others  have  made  of  gelsemium  and  some 
other  drugs  have  added  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
effects  they  produce.  The  symptoms  which  should  guide 
us  in  choosing  our  remedies  are  not  merely  subjective,  but 
also  objective;  and  one  aim  which  the  student  of  drug 
action  should  keep  constantly  in  view  is  the  careful  investi- 
gation of  the  latter  kind  of  phenomena  as  an  especially 
important  class  of  drug  effects*  Our  aim  in  all  such 
enquiries  should  be  greater  and  yet  greater  precision, 
greater  exactitude,  greater  completeness. 

The  example  set  by  Hahnemann  has  been  extensively 
followed,  so  extensively,  indeed,  that  the  number  of  sub- 


ItS^^rr!^        ACTION  OF  DRUGS.  87 


Aeview,  Feb.  1, 18B2. 


flttfices  which  have  been  made  the  subject  of  experiment 
is  BOW  very  couBiderable. 

Of  these,  some  were  made  by  Profcsser  Jorg,  of  Leipsic, 
in  1881,  and  very  &ir  provings  they  are.  "  The  several  drugn 
were,"  says  Dr.  Hughes  in  describing  Jorg's  enquiries, 
''taken  in  moderate  doses,  repeated  (and  if  necessary 
jacreased)  until  a  decided  impression  was  made.  The 
expefiments  of  each  prover  are  related  in  full,  just  as  they 
wore  made,  and  aa  the  symptoms  occurred.  In  the  preface 
a  description  is  given  of  the  age,  temperament,  and  consti- 
tution of  those  engaged  in  the  work,  and  the  assurance 
aSHded  that  all  were  in  good  health.'' 

Largely,  too,  have  the  resources  of  Materia  Medica  been 
added  to  by  the  researches  of  American  physicians  from 
whom  we  have  received  many  valuable  collections  of 
experiments. 

By  British  physicians,  little  has  so  far  been  accomplished. 
The  investigation  into  the  effects  of  the  bichromate  of 
p0fashy  by  Dr.  Drysdale,  is  £he  most  important  of  any,  and 
this  is  perhaps  the  best  proved  drug  in  the  entire  Materia 
Medica. 

farther  contributions  to  our  knowledge  of  Materia 
Medica  were  made  in  1842  by  a  society  of  Viennese  physi- 
cians. These  were  for  the  most  part  re-provinga  of  drugs 
jpreviously  experimented  with  by  Hahnemann.  In  these 
experiments  full  details  are  given  of  the  alterations  in 
fa«ttlth  occurring  in  each  person  while  taking  the  medicine. 
While  confirming  the  results  recorded  by  Hahnemann,  they 
enable  us  to  obtain  a  clearer  insight  into  the  action  of  each 
drag  than  his  method  of  arranging  the  symptoms  permits 
OS  to  do. 

This  notice  brin^  me  to  say  a  word  about  Hahnemann's 
anrangement.  Hahnemann^  in  my  opinion,  and  I  believe  in 
that  of  most  physicians  who  practise  homceopathy,  com- 
mitted a  great  error  when  he  contented  himself  with  pub- 
lishing mere  Usts  of  symptoms,  separating  them  from  their 
coBiuction  one  with  another.  For  as  complete  a  knowledge 
uf  a  drag  as  is  attainable,  we  require  the  details  of  each 
espeiimant^  the  relation  of  the  phenomena  as  they  occurred 
ID  each  individual.  The  placing  of  all  the  symptoms  of 
4iffdieat  piovers  relating  to  one  organ  under  the  heading  of 
&Kt  orgaUy  had  done  more  than  anything  else,  perhaps,  to 
ntfd.  an  enquirer,  to  confuse  a  student,  and  to  embarrass 


88  ACTION  OP  DRUGS.       ^'^I^^^r?^^ 


Beyiew,  Feb.  1, 188S. 


a  practitioner.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  also  that  others 
should  have  presented  the  results  of  their  experiments  in 
the  same  manner.  All  disjointed  as  they  are,  however, 
these  catalogues  of  symptoms  have  done  admirable  service ; 
while  the  difiGiculties  they  present  in  the  way  of  studying 
the  general  action,  and  getting  to  know  the  chief  points  of 
attack  of  each  medicine,  are  rapidly  disappearing  before  the 
publication  of  such  works  as  Dr.  Hughes'  Pliarmacody- 
namics,  and  monographs  on  different  drugs  which  appear 
from  time  to  time  in  our  serial  literature. 

Again,  another  difficulty  which  presents  itself  to  the 
student  of  the  Materia  Medica  consists  in  the  vast  number 
of  symptoms  recorded  as  the  effect  of  some  drugs.  This, 
however,  admits  of  easy  explanation.  A  little  study  and 
reflection  will  soon  show  that  the  number  appears  much 
greater  than  it  really  is.  Thus,  Hahnemann,  it  must  be 
remembered,  carefully  noted  every  apparent  disturbance  of 
health  in  every  one  of  his  provers.  He  published  every 
symptom  that  he  could  find  attributed,  with  apparent  jus- 
tice, to  every  case  of  poisoning  he  could  meet  with  in  medical 
literature.  Hence  we  are  perpetually  finding  the  same 
symptom  repeated  in  slightly  different  words,  each  being 
numbered  as  though  it  were  a  different  symptom,  or  in- 
dicative of  another  form  of  ill-health. 

Further,  we  often  hear  objections  raised  to  the  trivial 
and  apparently  fanciful  symptoms  which  are  set  down  as 
the  effects  of  certain  drugs.  These,  too,  it  may  be  remarked, 
contribute  somewhat  to  the  apparently  considerable  number 
of  symptoms  in  the  several  records.  Nothing  perhaps 
impresses  a  physician  who  has  been  accustomed  to  pay 
attention  only  to  the  grosser  and  more  obvious  indications  of 
drug  action  more  unfavourably  than  the  record  of  such  symp- 
toms as  these.  Of  this,  the  passage  which  I  read  to  you  from 
Dr.  Bristowe's  recent  address  just  now  is  evidence.  But 
that  they  are  often  important,  that  they  are  indeed  real 
manifestations  of  morbid  action,  experience  has  proven, 
and  that  abundantly.  I,  for  one,  attach  much  more  im- 
portance to  them  now  than  I  did  some  years  ago.  I 
remember  very  well  a  poor,  withered,  nervous  looking 
army  tailor  coming  one  evening  to  see  me  in  York  many 
years  ago.  He  complained  simply  and  solely  that  after  a 
short  sleep  he  was  suddenly  awoke  by  a  noise  in  one  ear 
like  the  crack  of  a  pistol.  After  that  he  could  get  no 
sleep.     Beyond  feeling  weak  and  nervous  from  the  loss  of 


SSSS^Srr/S?^'         ACTION  OP  DRUGS.  89 


Beyitfw,  Heb.  1, 1882. 


his  night's  rest,  I  could  get  no  indication  of  ill-health  from 
him.  I  thought,  here  is  a  case  to  test  the  value  of  some 
of  these  qneer  looking,  trivial  symptoms ;  is  there  snch  an 
one  as  this  attributed  to  any  drug  ?  I  turned  to  the  Reper- 
tory— the  index  of  all  the  symptoms — and  found  that  a 
precisely  similar  symptom  had  been  remarked  as  the  pro- 
duct of  rhu8  toxicodendron.  I  gave  the  man  a  few  pilules 
which  had  been  soaked  in  the  third  decimal  tincture  of  this 
drug,  and  after  taking  a  couple  he  never  had  a  return  of 
the  symptom,  secured  his  night's  rest,  and  rapidly  re- 
covered his  strength.  This  case  had,  I  remember,  much 
to  do  with  curing  me  of  neglecting  symptoms  that  were 
apparently  trivial.  That  such  symptoms  are  often  impor- 
ant,  that  they  are  indeed  real  manifestations  of  morbid  action, 
and  that  they  have  proved  of  value  in  deciding  the  relative 
claims  of  two  otherwise  similarly  acting  remedies,  is  the 
testimony  of  every  physician  who  has  surmounted  those 
prejudices  of  education  which  run  counter  to  taking  notice 
of  phenomena  of  this  kind,  and  has  been  ultimately  guided 
in  his  drug  selection  by  them. 

We  are  indebted  to  Hahnemann  for  the  development,  as 
fully  as  was  possible  in  his  day,  of  the  method  of  learning 
the  effects  of  drugs  by  experiments  on  healthy  persons. 
His  enquiries  have  been  fruitful  in  good  results.  They 
are,  with  the  additional  means  of  research  within  our 
reach,  doubtless  capable  of  being  made  still  more  useful. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  offer  you  a  few  observations  on  the 
nature  of  drug  action. 

Homoeopathy,  strictly  speaking,  has  no  concern  with  the 
modus  operandi  of  drugs.  It  relates  simply  to  a  principle 
or  method  of  selection  in  prescribing.  Whatever  views  we 
may  hold  as  to  the  action  of  drugs,  when  once  introduced 
into  the  body,  if  we  select  as  our  medicines  such  as  are 
similar  in  their  effects  upon  the  healthy  body  to  those  of 
the  disease  we  desire  to  cure,  we  practise  homoeopathy. 

The  explanations  which  have  been  given  from  time  to 
time  of  Uie  mode  in  which  a  homoeopathically  selected 
medicine  operates  in  promoting  a  restoration  of  healthy 
tone  in  a  disordered  condition,  have  been  both  many  and 
various.  I  do  not  propose  to  detain  you  by  discussing 
them.  This  has  been  well  done  already  by  Dr.  Dudgeon, 
in  his  Lectures  on  Homoeopathy ^  published  nearly  thirty 
jears  ago,  and  of  which  I,  for  one^  and  I  know  that  many 


90  ACTION  OF  DRUGS.        ^*SiSiL°iSS*?^' 


Eeviev,  Feb.  1,1882. 


are  like-minded,  heartily  desire  that  he  would  give  ii&  a 
revised  edition. 

The  view  taken  by  Hahnemann  was  that  a  medi/eiBal 
disease  was  exeited  by  the  remedy  similar  to,  but  stronger 
than,  that  which  was  natural,  and  that  the  stronger  over- 
came the  weaker.     This,  of  course,  is  pure  hypothesis,  and ' 
that,  too,  of  a  highly  speculative  order.    It  is,  moreover,., 
one  which  no  experiment  has  ever  endorsed ;  there  ia,  in. 
short,  no  evidence  either  of  its  truth  or  of  its  probability. 

Dr.  John  Fletcher,*  of  Edinburgh,  a  very  learned  and' 
much-esteemed  teacher  of  medicine  of  forty  years  ago, 
came  much  nearer  to  the  probable  solution  of  the  question, 
how  a  homoBppafchically  selected  medicine  operates,  when 
he  said  that  it  consisted  in  exciting  in  the  diseased  tissues 
a  condition  exactly  opposite  to  that  which  constituted  them 
morbid. 

Inflammation  may,  as  has  often  been  said,  be  regarded 
as  the  initial  type  of  disease.  The  primary  phenomenon  of 
inflammation  is  a  paralysis  of  the  vaso-motor  nerves  of  a. 
part,  leading  to  dilatation  of  its  vessels.  They  have  lost 
their  normal  stimulus,  and,  until  this  is  restored,  health 
cannot  be  recovered. 

The  action  of  a  drug  is  now  pretty  generally  recognised 
as  two-fold.    Hahnemann,  years  ago,  wrote  of  the  primary 
and  secondary  action  of  drugs ;  the  latter  being  the  opposite 
of  the  former.     The  primary  eflect  is  usually  to  stimulate, . 
while  the  secondary  is  to  depress.     If,  then,  we  give  a, 
medicine  in  a  small  dose,  the  effect  of  which,  taken  in 
health  in  considerable  quantity,  is  to  produce  a  condition 
like  that  we  have  to  cure,  w^e  are,  in  so  doing,  bringing  into 
play  the  stimulating — ^ihe    specifically    stimulating  pro- 
perty of  the  substance.     In  such  a  dose  it  will  stimulate 
the  dilated  vessels  to  contract — will  restore  their  lost  tone  r 
— will  enable  absorption  of  morbid  matters  to  take  place. 

It  is,  then,  as  a  stimulant — a  specific  stimulant  to  healthy 
action — ^that  I  am  inclined  to  view  the  mode  in  which  a 
homcBopathically  selected  medicine  operates,  when  given  in* 
an  appropriate  dose. 

I  say  a  specific  stimulant.  By  experiments  on  healthy 
persons,  and  by  cases  of  poisoning,  we  know,  as  I  have- 


*  ElemenU  of  Pathology.     By   John   Fletcher,    M.D.     Edinbnigh 
Maclachlftn  &  Stewart. 


iii^SS^^TS^        MOTION  OF  DEUGS.  91 

jmt  pointed  out,  the  parts  the  drug  will  affect,  we  know  the 
tissues  it  will  disorder,  or,  perhaps,  I  shoald  say,  if  we 
folly  understood  the  meaning  of  all  symptoms,  if  we  had  it 
in  our  power  to  trace  all  back  to  the  exact  tissue  affected, 
we  should  do  so.  But  herein  we  are  able  so  to  do  quite  as 
much,  when  studying  the  symptoms  of  disease,  as  we  are 
when  investigating  those  produced  by  drags.  At  the  same 
time  we  know  full  well  that  groups  of  symptoms,  which 
are  similar  in  kind  and  locality,  are  alike  in  their  source. 
We  therefore  feel  assured,  whether  we  can  demonstrate  as 
fully  as  we  would,  both  the  seat  and  kind  of  action  which 
is  going  on  in  a  diseased  body,  or  whether  we  cannot,  that 
if  we  give  a  medicine  producing  a  series  of  symptoms 
precisely  similar  to  that  expressing  the  disease,  we  are  in 
very  deed  influencing  the  discnrdercd  tissues,  whatever  they 
may  be.  Further,  when  we  do  so  with  a  smaller  dose,  wc 
are  directly  stimulating  these  tissues  to  renewed  vigour. 

Homoeopathy,  as  I  have  already  stated,  is  a  method  of 
drug  selection,  and  does  not  define  a  mode  of  drug  action. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  the  editor  of  the  Lancet*  in  a  very 
interesting  and  suggestive  article  on  homoeopathy,  seemed 
to  plume  himself  on  informing  homcBopathists  that  drugs 
selected  because  of  the  similarity  of  their  effects  to  those 
of  disease  cured  by  reason  of  their  contrary  effects.  This 
I  have  shown  you  has  been  recognised  for  ftdly  forty  years ! 
Throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  homoeopathic  literature, 
during  this  period,  whenever  the  modus  operandi  of  a 
homceopathically  selected  drug  has  been  discussed,  it  has 
been  very  firequently  argued  that  the  action  of  such  a 
selected  remedy  was  precisely  opposite  to  that  of  the 
diseased  process ! 

The  mode  in  which  a  drug  acts  is  very  much  a  matter  of 
speculation,  doubtless  yerj  interesting,  and  very  useful  so 
£ur  as  it  goes.  Bui,  a  method  of  drug  selection  is  9k  fact ; 
one  eapabk  of  demonstration,  without  any  theorising, 
withooi  any  speculation.  Hahnemann's  idea  of  the  mode 
in  which  a  homoeopathic  remedy  acted  was  doubtless 
enoneous,  certainly,  it  was  unsubstantial — ^but  when  he 
prescribed  homceopathically,  selecting  his  medicine  on  the 
ground  of  the  similarity  of  its  effects  to  those  of  the  disease, 


•  May  21, 1881. 


92  CLINICAL   CASES.  ^S2^.=igr??lS' 


Beview,  Feb.  1, 1882. 


the  results  were  as  froitftd  as  though  his  theory  of  its  mode 
of  operating  had  been  true  to  the  letter. 

Whether  then^  as  is  probable  enough,  the  homoeopath- 
ically  selected  medicine  act  on  the  principle  of  contraries 
or  noty  if  it  is  chosen  on  that  of  similars,  the  whole  idea 
of  homoeopathy  is  fulfilled. 

21,  Henrietta  Street, 

Cavendish  Square,  W. 


CLINICAL     CASES,     WITH    EEMAEKS.* 
By  S.  H.  Blake,  M.R.C.S.,  LiverpooU 

Case  IV. 
Neuralgia  cured  by  arseniciim. 

Feb.  26.  Sarah  C,  set.  28,  of  fair  complexion  and 
sanguine  temperament.  Temper  irritable  of  late  years 
since  haying  a  family  (five  children).  No  ansemia.  Colour 
of  lips  and  face  has  been  even  better  and  more  sanguine 
since  her  marriage.  She  complains  of  pain  beginning  at 
the  top  of  the  left  frontal  eminence  near  the  temple, 
descending  quickly  thence  to  the  left  eye,  ''  making  the 
eye  jump  and  dart,"  and  at  the  same  time  rendering  "the 
head  sore."  She  describes  the  pain  as  "  shooting,"  and 
when  it  comes  on  it  will  last  for  hours.  She  also  describes 
the  pain  as  a  ''  shooting  and  burning  pain  like  needles,'* 
also  like  "  a  cutting  of  the  bones  with  hot  knives,"  and 
at  the  time  of  the  prevalence  of  the  pain  she  cannot  see 
with  the  left  eye,  but  only  sees  as  it  were  '^  fire  coming  out 
of  it."  At  the  same  time  the  eye  seems  to  go  back  into 
the  head.  The  left  eye  also  becomes  bloodshot  and  **  runs 
water ; "  but  the  right  eye  remains  intact.  With  the  pain 
she  is  very  restless,  and  "  buries  her  h«ad  "  in  pillows  and 
clothes,  &c.,  pressing  and  covering  it  in  the  endeavour  to 
get  relief,  and  thinks  she  is  going  mad  when  sufiering  in 
this  way. 

Concomitants  are  loss  of  appetite  and  white  coated, 
tremulous  tongue,  all  more  marked  during  the  pain.  The 
attack  begins  at  6.80  a.m.,  and  lasts  to  8.80  p.m.,  or  it 

*  Being  part  of  a  series  of  cases,  the  record  of  which  gained  for 
Mr.  Blake  the  "Bpps*'  prize  of  £10. 


SSSS^STT!^       clinical  cases.  93 


B«Tiew,  Feb.  1, 1882. 


may  begin  at  10.80  and  go  on  to  4  p.m.    It  never  occurs 
at  nighty  at  which  time  she  feels  quite  well. 

She  is  feverish  during  the  attacks,  and  is  then  rather 
thirsty,  but  only  then.  The  tongue  is  still  tremulous  in 
the  absence  of  the  attack.    Arsen.  cM.  8.c.  pil.  8.h* 

Mnstard  and  linseed  poultice  is  the  only  thing  she  has 
tried  which  has  given  reHef. 

She  is  suckling  a  baby,  now  four  months  old* 

Feb.  28th.  She  reports  that  she  has  been  a  great  deal 
better  after  the  medicine,  for  the  **  shooting "  and 
''burning"  pains  have  been  stopped 'since  the  26th,  and 
did  not  occur  after  the  first  dose ;  whereas  before  coining 
for  advice  they  had  recurred  daily,  and  always  lasted  for 
hours. 

Although  the  symptoms  had  been  thus  bad  for  a  week, 
they  had  also  existed,  though  in  a  less  severe  degree,  for 
some  considerable  time  prior  to  the  time  referred  to.  All 
the  symptoms  having  subsided,  she  has  nothing  further  to 
complain  of;  but  I  considered  it  best  to  continue  the 
medicine  for  a  few  days  more.    Repeat  are.  8  t.d. 

Both  terms,  "shooting"  and  "burning,"  were  used 
voluntarily  by  the  patient  when  asked  to  name  the  kind  of 
pain.  When  questioning  very  partially  educated  persons  it 
does  not  seem  very  wise  to  rely  solely  on  their  statements 
and  lay  too  much  emphasis  upon  the  terms  they  use  when 
describing  them.  It  is,  I  think,  quite  common  for  persons 
subject  to  any  rapidly  passing  pain  to  describe  this  as 
shooting.  Our  great  difficulty  is  to  know  what  each  person 
actually  means  by  a  term  of  this  kind  when  so  used  by 
them.  Not  unfrequently  patients  will  absolutely  refuse  to 
describe  the  character  of  the  pain  at  all,  or  repeatedly 
declare  their  inability  to  do  so.  One  would  suppose  that 
education  is  the  only  remedy  for  this  difficulty. 

The  ^'  burning "  characteristic  of  arsenicum  is  so  well 
known  as  a  generalisation  that  it  hardly  needs  refereoce. 
But  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  so  well  worked  out  and 
noted  in  provings  in  reference  to  neuralgia  of  the  head,  as 
in  some  other  parts — the  rectum  and  anus  for  example. 
There  was  a  time  when  the  provings  had  a  beginning. 
Then  progression  came,  and  it  is  still  going  on.  Com- 
pletion has  not  arrived  yet.  When  will  it  arrive  ?  It  may 
approach  that  much  to  be  desired  consummation  soon,  but 
in  the  meantime,  generalisations  are  of  no  little  aid,  and 


94  CLINICAL   CASES.         ^S^L^SS.'TSS' 


Reriew,  Feb.  1, 1682. 


come  in  at  times  to  the  assistance  of  the  "  not  to  he  done 
without ''  localisation  and  its  specification  in  quality. 

Hence  it  is  that  wherever  we  find  the  characteristic  nerve 
pain  of  arsenic,  together  with  its  concomitants,  we  oon- 
jecture  that  that  medicine  may  effect  a  cnre.  How  can  we 
always  localise  the  pain  in  a  patient  in  the  very  identical 
nerve  in  which  it  may  have  occurred  only  once  in  a  prover  ? 
If  the  drug  have  not  been  thoroughly  proved  or  be  a  new 
medicine,  it  is  a  fact  of  most  valuable  import  that  it  should 
have  caused  a  pain  of  some  special  characteristic  in  any 
one  nerve.  This  one  link  may  be  the  key  to  its  action  with 
which  it  is  consistent  everywhere  else.  This  diagnostic 
prescience  is  like  that  of  the  decision  into  which  class  or 
group  an  extinct  animal  should  be  placed  when  only  ono 
of  its  extremities,  or  its  jaw  and  teeth  have  been  discovered. 
Though  open  to  some  doubt,  this  plan  of  decision  i^pears 
to  become  sometimes  useful,  and  therefore  necessary.  Yet 
even  if  we  generalise  the  local  head  symptoms  of  arsenic, 
they  are  like  enough  to  those  of  the  woman  cured  to  show 
the  homcBopathic  relationship.  In  what  consists  the 
necessity  of  this  intimate  relationship  in  order  that  a  drug 
should  be  in  the  first  rank  and  cure  as  homoeopathic  ?  The 
law  ^'  similia  s.  curantur,"  even  *'  similia  similibus  curen- 
tur,'*  does  not  prescribe  this  application,  yet  both  include 
it.  "Like  cures  like,"  but  in  what  respect  must  they  be 
like  in  order  that  they  shall  cure  it,  other  opposing  laws 
not  rendering  this  event  impossible  ?  What  conditions  or 
what  concomitants  must  be  fulfilled  in  order  that  we  may 
render  our  account  to  this  law  and  anticipate  its  payment 
in  full  ?  And  again,  in  what  manner  or  conditions  must 
the  weight  be  placed  in  the  scale  in  order  to  prevent  the 
opposite  weight  from  obeying  the  law  of  gravitation  ?  If 
we  knew  the  replies  to  these  questions  we  could  apply  the 
law  of  similia  with  the  greatest  precision  in  cases  where 
without  method  we  shall  fail  in  its  correct  application. 
Are  we  able  to  say  that,  setting  aside  other  opposing 
laws  and  co-existing  causes  of  disease,  if  we  obtain  the 
seat  and  character  of  a  pain,  together  with  its  conditional 
symptoms,  if  any,  and  its  concomitants,  if  any  (belonging 
directly  to  it),  that  with  the  temperament  corresponding  in 
"  contingent  homoeopathy,"  and  in  any  person  with  "  abso- 
lute homoeopathy,"  irrespective  of  temperament,  we  are 
able  for  certain  to  cure,  so  far  as  that  is  compatible  with  fhe 
intactness  of  physiological  persistency?     An  important 


^^^ir^^'  CLINICAL   CASES.  96 


-element  comes  in  here  as  to  the  anticipated  result,  namely, 
the  proportional  quantity  of  disease  present  in  respect  of 
the  size  of  the  body  and  organs  diseased,  and  the  vitality 
and  age  of  the  patients,  for  the  same  amount  of  disease 
curable  in  one  patient  would  appear  to  be  sufficient  to 
.produce  a  fatal  result  in  another,  in  spite  of  any  medication. 

Taken  from  the  provings,  the  sufferings  from  argenic  are 
thus  described :  *'  Anguish  and  despair,  driving  from  one 
place  to  another  for  relief.  The  anxiety  and  restlessness  are 
indescribable.  *  Kill  me,'  he  cried,  *  or  relieve  my  pains.' 
Violent  headache.  Severe  headache,  getting  worse  all  day, 
^ith  constricted  feeling  at  the  temples.  Headache  on  rising 
in  the  morning,  worse  on  the  left  side.  (But  arsenicum 
does  also  cause  right  cephalalgia  as  well  as  left). 
Increase  of  headache  at  11  p.m.,  with  C(dd  hands  and  face. 
Headache  increased  by  light  and  noise  (are  we  to  ascribe 
the  onset  of  the  diurnal  headache  of  ar$en.  to  this  relation- 
ship to  sun,  light,  and  noises,  for  these  are  absent  at 
night  ?)  Burning  pain  in  the  head.  Pain  as  if  bruised  in 
external  head,  worse  when  touched,  pain  as  if  sore.  Ago- 
nising pains  about  forehead  and  temples.  Headache  over 
left  eye,  violent  at  evening  and  night.  Constrictive  (drawing 
together)  pain  above  eyes  and  in  temples.  (In  my  patient 
the  left  eye  was,  as  it  were,  drawn  backwards).  Tearing 
stitches  in  the  left  temple.  Dull  beating  pain  in  one  half 
of  the  head,  as  far  as  above  the  eye.  Violent  neuralgia  on 
left  side  of  head,  followed  by  lame  feeling.  Tearing  pains. 
Violent  pain  in  left  eye.  Burning  pain.  Distorted  or 
sunken  eye.  Suborbital  pains,  with  prickings  as  vnth 
needles,  sometimes  quite  severe  ;  stitching  pains.  Sensa- 
tion round  eyes  and  temples  as  if  pricked  with  innumerable 
red-hot  needles.  At  1  p.m.  sudden  severe  pain  in  lids, 
with  painful  prickings  and  lachrymation,  lasting  ten 
minutes ;  burning  in  margin  of  upper  eyelids.  Eyes  red, 
watery  lachrymation.  Inflammation  of  conjunctiva,  mth 
snffusion  and  intolerance  of  light.  Inflammation,  violent 
and  frequently  recurring." 

Here  again  is  the  periodicity  of  the  arsenical  action : 
^*Eyes  very  red;  bloodshot."  *'Eyes  retracted,"  the 
symptom  cured  in  the  case  recorded. 

There  is  a  neuralgia  beginning  in  the  jaw  and  extending 
thence  up  the  temple  and  over  the  whold  head,  which 
closely  resembles  arsenical  neuralgia,  but  which  is  relieved 
«Jways  on  going  into  the  open  air,  for  which  nwx  vomica  is 


96  CLINICAL   OASES.        ^'^IFSSl^?^' 


Beview,  Feb.  1»  1862. 


more  snited  than  arsenic,  and  if  mental  grieyance  be  the 
cause  I  think  ignatia  might  be  preferred.  Phosphorus, 
which  also  has  relief  in  the  open  air^  has  pulsating  pain  in 
the  left  temple,  with  burning,  stinging  pains  commencing 
in  the  occiput. 

The  medicines  causing  pain  from  the  forehead  to  the  left 
eye  are  badiaga,  and  agntis  casius. 

From  forehead  or  temple  to  eyes,  berheris. 

From  forehead  to  eye,  apis. 

Case  V. 
Cure  of  hemicrania  by  zinciim. 

May  Slst.  A.  C,  a  woman  of  25,  has  suffered  for 
months  from  what  she  calls  "  neuralgia,"  a  yery  severe 
pain,  of  which  she  cannot  well  describe  the  character, 
affecting  the  right  side  of  the  head,  and  the  pain  extends 
through  the  temple  on  the  same  side.  It  comes  on  in 
violent  paroxysms,  and  the  attacks  are  attended  by  vomiting 
and  by  a  watering  of  the  right  eye.  She  suffers  likewise 
from  monorrhagia.  If  she  take  milk,  it  is  soon  expelled 
from  the  stomach  in  curds.  Also  during  the  attacks 
other  kinds  of  food  are  vomited.  She  has  had  frequent 
attacks  during  the  past  fortnight,  and  she  is  not  only 
affected  during  the  menstrual  periods  but  during  the 
intervals  also.  The  menses  are  both  too  early  and  too 
profuse. 

Zincum  S  x  gr.  i.  ter  die. 

June  3rd.  Beports  herself  much  better.  "  The  neu- 
ralgia '*  has  now  entirely  gone.  Since  taking  the  medicine 
the  attacks  of  pain  duninished  in  frequency,  and  soon 
disappeared  altogether.  She  has  had  no  pain  to  complain 
of  during  the  past  three  days.     Bepeat  medicine. 

June  10th.     No  return  of  pain.     Bepeat. 

After  this  the  patient  did  not  require  any  further  treat- 
ment. 

The  Materia  Medica  (and  provings)  supply  us  with  the 
indications  for  zinctMn : — 

**  Hemicrania  worse  after  dinner,  tearing  and  stinging 
(note  the  association  with  food  and  the  vomiting  in  the 
case  cured  by  it).  Cramp-like  tearing  pain  in  right  temple. 
Pressure  on  vertex  worse  after  dinner ;  frequent  vertigo, 
then  nausea  and  vomiting  of  bile;  face  pale;  costive; 
cerebral  depression.      Bight  hemicrania — ^internal  head- 


^^'5rfi^^^  CLINICAL  CASES.  97 


Beview,  Feb.  1, 1682. 


-aches,  mostly  semi-lateral ;  worse  from  wine,  warm  room, 
and  after  eating. 

''  Eyes  dim  and  watery ;  fiEtce  pale ;  alternating  with 
redness.    After  milk  sonr  eructations. 

''Nausea  in  stomach,  with  retching  and  vomiting  of 
bitter  mucus. 

'*  Menses  early  and  profuse ;  lumps  of  coagulum  pass 
•away  when  walking ;  flow  profuse  at  night.  Ulceration  of 
cervix ;  acrid  discharges  and  irritation  of  vulva." 

*'  Hemicrania  is  a  disease  which  requires  to  be  closely 
individualised." — ^Dr.  Hughes. 

The  eye  symptoms  referable  to  zincum  are  apt  to  bs 
■associated  with  cerebral  or  central  nervous  lesions;  thus 
the  eye  sympathises  with  neuralgic  pain  or  the  hemicrania 
occurring  &om  the  nervous  centres  on  the  same  side  of  the 
brain.  In  this  case,  cured  by  zinc.,  we  observe  that  the  eye 
watered  on  the  side  of  the  head  affected  by  pain  during  the 
paroxysm.  The  attacks  of  pain  also  were  described  as  very 
severe.  One  of  the  maladies  to  which  zincum  is  thus 
appropriate  would  appear  to  be  a  neurosis ;  not  necessarily 
confined,  however,  to  the  right  side  of  the  head. 

Bight-sided  and  semi-lateral  headaches  have  been  pro- 
'duced  by  a  great  number  of  medicines.  The  number  of 
drugs  also  which  have  caused  nausea,  vomiting,  or  both, 
with  the  headache  are  also  very  numerous.  Bovista 
.and  conium  are  noted  as  having  produced  headache  with 
lachrymation.  For  right  hemicrania,  with  nausea,  vomiting, 
we  may  refer  to  alm.^  bov,,  ch-s.y  con.,  coc,  phyto.,  tab,, 
mez.y  nux.  vom.  {sepia,  san.,  noted  as  left-sided),  also 
kali  bic,  asr.  (bursting  pain,  with  watering  of  the  eyes), 
ghn.,  cavst.,  graph,,  K.  carb.  (frontal),  lack,  and  athusa. 

Alumina,  stitches  in  brain,  with  nausea,  or  throbbing 
frontal  pain. 

Bovista,  deep  headache,  as  if  enlarged. 

Cincliona,  tearing,  throbbing,  bursting,  or  as  if  bruised. 

Conium,  bursting,  stitching,  tearing;  sensation  in  right 
half  of  brain,  as  of  a  large  foreign  body.  Pain  moving  on 
awaking. 

CoccuLus,  pain  as  if  eyes  were  being  torn  out ;  head  as 
if  screwed  together,  or  pressed  from  within  outwards; 
worse  by  eating,  drinking,  sleeping,  and  riding;  better 
•during  rest  indoors. 

Phyto.,  soreness  deep  in  brain,  or  as  if  brain  were 

VoL  26,  No.  2.  a 


98 CLIKICAL  CASES.  '^gS^^Sni^ 

braised ;  megrim^  with  backache  and  bearing  down  onoe  a 
week. 

Tab.,  early  morning  sick  headache  and  worse  by  noon ; 
nausea  and  vomiting,  aggravated  by  noise  and  light ;  better 
in  the  open  air. 

Mez.y  after  exertion  and  talking  much ;  sensitiveness  to 
slight  contact,  relieved  by  stooping ;  sensation  as  if  upper 
part  of  head  were  pithy. 

Nux  vom.,  pressive,  boring  pain,  with  sour  vomiting 
and  palpitation,  worse  from  mental  exertion,  noise,  coffee, 
and  eating.  Pressing  down  into  head  from  vertex  as  if 
skull  were  pressed  asunder.  Bruised,  sore  pain;  brain 
seems  to  shake  when  walking ;  pain  better  in  the  open  air. 

K.  bich.y  semi-lateral  headache  in  small  spots ;  sharp 
stitches  in  the  bones. 

Glonoin,  throbbing ;  relief  only  when  quiet,  the  head 
and  upper  part  of  the  body  being  elevated. 

Causticum^  stitches,  worse  sitting  or  reading;  also 
pressive  pain;  sensation  as  of  an  empty  space  between 
forehead  and  brain. 

Graph.y  tearing  or  throbbing,  or  as  if  constricted  with  a 
cord ;  violent  pain,  with  nausea  during  menses. 

Kali  carb.,  congestive;  worse  by  riding,  coughing, 
sneezing,  on  awaking  from  sleep,  and  from  coryza. 

Lach.f  pressing  or  bursting;  better  lying  down;  pale 
face,  yet  throbbing  temples. 

jEthuM  cyn.,  violent  pain,  as  if  the  braia  were  dashed 
to  pieces ;  headache  ceases  with  discharge  of  flatus  from 
the  bowel ;  stitches  and  pulsations. 

Sepia^  stinging  pain  from  within  outwards  (left  side 
especially),  with  contraction  of  pupils;  worse  indoors  and 
when  walking  feist ;  better  in  the  open  air  and  when  lying 
on  the  painful  side  of  the  head  {nux,  vomica  the  reverse, 
right-sided  pain  better  when  lying  on  the  painless  fiide) ; 
sweat  of  feet  and  axilla) ;  uterine  relationship. 

With  these  medicines  the  pain  is  closely  associated  with 
nausea  and  vomiting.  There  are  other  medicines,  however, 
in  which  at  present  I  am  not  able  to  assume  that  this 
Implies,  but  which  may  apply  to  hemicrania.  Thus,  there 
is  heU,  with  throbbing  and  pain  as  if  the  bones  were 
lifted  up. 

Calc.  c,  with  coldness  in  the  head  and  much  acid  in  the 
eructations  and  vomiting ;  also  calc.  acet. 


SSi^Srr5S4"'        clinical  cases.  99 


Seview,  Feb.  1, 18H2 


Tgnatia,  clavus,  **  clonic  spasms  and  tho  paroxysms 
ealminating  in  diuresis" — Hughes.  Pain,  as  of  a  nail 
driven  oat  through  the  side  of  the  head,  better  when  lying 
on  it  (nux  vam,)  Pain  like  a  hard  pressure  on  upper 
BurfiEice  of  brain.  In  other  respects  symptoms  very  much 
like  those  under  niij:  vomica. 

Stannumy  every  morning  headache  over  one  or  the  other 
eye,  mostly  left  side,  increasing  and  decreasing  gradually ; 
or  painful  jerks  leaving  a  dull  pressure,  worse  during  rest, 
better  from  motion ;  or  throbbing  in  the  temples. 

Case  VI. 
Heart  Disease, 

On  March  10th,  James  E.,  aged  14  years,  first  came 
under  my  treatment  in  a  very  serious  condition  indeed. 
That  he  would  live  many  days  was,  at  this  time,  very 
xmcertain. 

Previovs  history. — Has  been  for  the  past  three  months 
in  the  infirmary,  in  which  institution  he  has  formed  an 
excellent  example  for  clinical  study.  His  condition,  how- 
ever, has  not  been  improving  during  his  residence  there, 
and  therefore  he  has  been  removed,  says  his  mother,  to  see 
if  anything  could  be  done  for  him  at  home.  On  a  former 
occasion  he  had  an  attack  of  *'  heart  disease/'  and  was 
visited  by  one  of  our  colleagues  for  that  complaint,  and  got 
better,  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  parents ;  but  subsequently, 
at  a  future  time,  another  illness  came  on,  and  on  this 
occasion,  by  the  advice  of  her  friends,  she  thought  it  best 
to  get  him  into  the  infirmary  if  possible.  When  taken  to 
him  for  treatment,  the  physician  in  attendance  did  not  omit 
to  seriously  caution  the  mother  on  the  danger  and  injury 
likely  to  accrue  from  having  on  a  former  occasion  relied  on 
homceopathy  for  his  treatment.  How  wise  or  unwise  this 
statement  may  seem  to  be  is  best  learned  by  observing  the 
results  of  two  days  treatment  by  homoeopathy,  and  this 
may  be  learned  without  disparaging  in  any  way  the  care, 
attention,  and  skill  bestowed  upon  such  a  case  minus 
bomoBopathic  treatment.  He  is  the  subject  of  hip-joint 
disease. 

Present  Condition. — March.  He  is  kept  sitting,  propped 
up  in  a  chair  with  pillows,  for  he  cannot  lie  down  night  or 
day  for  the  dyspnoea. 

n— 2 


100  oLiNioAL  CASKS.      "CSJ^STT,^': 


Beview,  Feb.  1, 18B2. 


He  is  pale  and  pasty-looking,  with  an  expression  as  of 
long-coniinned  pain,  and  has  been  losing  flesh  rapidly  of 
late,  for  he  has  lost  appetite,  and  the  tongue,  which  is 
dry,  is  covered  with  a  <firty  brownish  white  fur.  There 
is  marked  thirst  for  water  and  cooling  drinks,  and  he 
drinks  plentifully  if  permitted  to  do  so  {arsenic,  bryonia). 

His  suffering  is  and  has  been  very  great,  the  anxiety  and 
pain  in  the  cardiac  region  are  continuous,  and  sometimes 
extreme.  If  anything  be  said  which  makes  him  inclined  to 
laugh,  the  attempt  at  the  commencement  of  laughing 
causes  intolerable  pain  at  the  heart.  Bowels  relaxed, 
from  one  to  two  loose  fetid  evacuations  daily.  Frequently 
vomits  food  taken. 

The  cardiac  area  of  dulness  is  enlarged ;  action  of  heart 
heaving,  forcible ;  and  there  is  a  visible,  very  broad,  and 
palpable  apex  beat  perceptible  at  a  position  two  inches  below 
and  two  inches  to  the  left  side  of  the  left  nipple.  Hyper- 
trophy, with  displacement  of  apex  beat  downwards,  and  to 
the  left  of  the  normal  position.  Loud  mitral  regurgitant 
murmur  displacing  the  flrst  sound,  distinguished  most 
plainly  over  the  ventricular  region,  and  second  sound, 
purer  than  the  first,  but  still  somewhat  obscured  and 
deficient  in  distinction  and  accentuation  as  heard  at  the 
second  and  third  intercostal  spaces  near  the  sternum.  I 
diagnosed  endocarditis,  and  possibly  fresh  deposition  or 
inflammatory  exudation  going  on  in  the  endocardial 
lining  and  on  the  valves.  That  this  cardiac  disease  may 
have  been  originally  connected  with  and  at  the  present 
attack  promoted  by  the  long-continued  hip-joint  disease, 
wherein  the  femur  had  been  displaced,  and  pus  or 
detritus  locked  up,  is  a  possible  conjecture.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  heart  symptoms,  the  right  side  of  the  chest 
is  affected,  and  has  been  so  for  some  time  during  his 
hospital  residence.  The  entire  right  chest  is  bulged 
out,  especially  so  in  the  posterior  region  and  towards 
the  spine.  The  intercostal  spaces  are  pressed  outwards. 
The  signs  of  hydrothorax  of  extensive  amount,  bulging 
out  and  deforming  the  entire  right  chest,  are  present. 
The  liver  also  is  enlarged,  owing,  doubtless,  to  the 
degeneration  so  often  found  in  association  with  chronic 
bone  disease. 

The  urine  is  scanty,  very  high-coloured,  but  forms  no 
coagulum — with  heat  and  nitric  acid  (non-albuminous). 


^t^Srr^^'  CLINICAL  OASES.  101 


Review,  Feb.  1,1882 


The  feet  and  legs,  which  he  is  obliged,  in  order  to  get 
relief  at  all,  to  support  on  a  chair,  pit  deeply  on  pressure. 
The  oedema  extends  up  to  the  knees,  or  even  higher  on 
both  sides.  The  lower  eyelids  are  very  (edematous.  There 
is  retraction  of  the  muscles  of  the  abdomen  under  and  to 
the  left  of  the  apex  beat,  as  if  the  diaphragmatic  attachments 
of  the  ribs,  and  abdominal  structures,  are  drawn  inwards  and 
upwards  towards  the  heart,  because  of  the  abnormal  action 
of  this  organ.  Pulse  small,  quick,  thready,  irregular,  180 
per  minute.  Respiration  difficult,  shallow,  and  short,  as  if 
afraid  to  breathe  for  pain  and  difficulty.  A  long  breath  is 
painful  and  seems  impossible. 

He  does  not  sleep  at  night,  or  very  little;  or,  if  he  doses 
off,  starts  and  screams  out. 

Arsen.  aZb.^  3  x,  gtt.  x.,  to  water  f  tumblerful.  A 
dessert-spoonful  every  two  hours. 

March  — .  Forty-eight  hours  after  the  first  prescription 
I  find  the  patient  greatly  relieyed.  Not  nearly  so  much 
distress  in  the  expression  of  the  face.  Appearance  stronger 
and  healthier.  (Edema  almost  entirely  gone  from  the  legs 
and  feet.  Bight  side  of  chest  reduced  to  almost  its  usual 
dimensions.  Intercostal  spaces  now  very  little  distended. 
He  is  able,  without  inconvenience,  to  place  the  feet  to  the 
groond  without  their  swelling,  and  to  move  more  freely  in 
the  chair  without  cardiac  distress.  (Edema  of  eyelids  gone 
altogether.  Heart  sotmds  decidedly  purer,  action  less 
violent  and  less  heaving,  murmur  with  first  sound  has 
become  more  modified  and  not  so  continued. 

Urine,  instead  of  being  concentrated,  and  almost  "  blood 
colour,"  is  now  pale  straw  colour,  copiously  passed,  and 
still  non-albuminous.  Diarrhoea  and  vomiting  cured.  Bep. 
ar$.  as  before. 

March  14th. — Does  not  improve  so  rapidly  as  during  the 
first  two  days  of  the  a/rsenicum  treatment.  The  dyspnoea 
has  become  extreme  at  times,  and  has  become  the  most 
prominent  symptom.  Had  hardly  any  sleep  in  the  night 
for  it*  He  passed  a  very  restless  night,  and  was  in  so 
much  pain  and  difficulty  of  breathing,  with  palpitation, 
which  is  at  times  fluttering,  at  others  violent,  that  they 
thought  he  would  have  died  during  the  night.  Never- 
theless, I  find  the  heart  sounds  improved;  action  more 
regular,  less  forcible  and  heaving.  Murmur  less  prolonged, 
and  better  distinction  can  be  drawn  between  the  first  and 


102  CLINICAL  CASES.         ^'SSS 


Review,  Keb.  1,  IflOL 


second  Boands.  The  cardiac  symptoms  have  been  more 
distressing,  bat  on  the  whole  he  look&  much  better. 

Tongae  much  cleaner.    Pulse  120. 

Considering  now  that  arsenicum,  whose  sphere  of  aotton 
is  endocardial,  had  been  doing  material  good  there,  besides 
removing  the  dropsical  effusions,  but  ceased  to  correspond 
to  some  of  the  more  urgent  symptoms,  particularly  to  the 
now  very  marked  cardinc  dyspnoea  and  palpitation,  I  altered 
and  gave  verat.  viride  A  gtt.  ii.  0.2.  h,  ex.  aqua. 

This  was  prescribed  especially  for  the  paroxysms  of 
nocturnal  excitement,  with  dyspnoea  and  palpitation  of 
fluttering  character  as  the  more  prominent  symptoms.  It 
has  appeared  to  me  to  regulate  vnth  great  certainty  ihe 
nervo-motor  loss  of  balance  between  the  cardiac  and 
respiratory  nerve  centres,  when  occurring  with  the  above- 
named  symptoms. 

March  15th.  Has  passed  a  better  night.  Dyspnoaa 
much  relieved  :  less  restlessness  during  the  night ;  and  in 
other  respects  better.     Continue  medicine. 

March  16th.  No  screaming  out  at  night  since  taking 
the  medicine,  able  to  get  good  sleep  now,  still  in  the 
sitting-up  posture  ;  the  hands  being  rested  on  the  palms, 
and  the  head  and  neck  dropped  downwards,  as  it  were  for 
rest,  between  the  shoulders.  He  cannot  lie  down  to  sleep 
yet,  for  if  he  does  so  there  occurs  a  throbbing  sensation 
upwards  in  the  laiyngeal  region,  causing  great  distress. 
Feels  much  relieved ;  appetite  much  improved ;  no  trouble- 
some dyspnoea  now,  and  no  visible  cardiac  movements,  nor 
any  palpitation  with  dyspnoea.  The  urgency  of  the  latter 
symptoms  has  entirely  disappeared.  In  other  respects 
continues  to  improve. 

To  omit  medicine  for  twenty-four  hours. 

March  17th.  Has  passed  another  very  good  night, 
sleeping  soundly,  though  for  sleep  he  has  still  to  sopport 
his  thorax  by  making  straightening  the  arms  downwards, 
with  the  palms  placed  flat  on  the  chair.  Is  greatly  relieved 
in  every  respect.  Urine  still  copious,  but  somewhat  more 
concentrated  than  it  was  after  the  arseyiictim  treatment. 

Pulse  now  only  &om  96  to  100  (sitting  posture),  regolar ; 
but  yet  is  even  weaker  and  smaller  than  before^  being 
counted  with  great  difficulty  on  account  of.  its  smallness ; 
although  its  rate  per  minute  has  become  much  reduced,  as 
above  noted.  He  is  now  able  to  rest  the  tieet  on  the  grouiid. 
There  is  no  sign  of  any  return  of  the  oedema,  and  tiie  fiuaa 


SSSSr^hTSS?**  CLINICAL  CASES.  103 


has  lost  all  appearance  of  pain.  The  retracted  state  of  the 
abdomen  below  the  heart  gone,  and  the  contoor  of  the 
ehest  in  front  has  assumed  a  natnral  aspect.  Area  of 
impulse  diminished,  less  forcible,  and  without  the  agitation 
which  was  so  very  marked  when  first  seen,  and  which 
was  still  visible  tluree  days  ago.  Heart's  action  regular, 
though  stiU  characteristic  of  hypertrophy.  Seat  of  apex 
beat  is  now  two  inches  below  and  about  an  inch  to  the  leffc 
of  the  nipple.  Right  posterior  part  of  chest  presents  only 
the  deformity  present  formerly,  on  account  of  spinal  curva- 
ture from  disease  of  right  hip  joint,  which  has  not  at  present 
any  fistulous  opening,  though  the  head  of  the  femur,  or  the 
end  of  the  bone  which  represents  it,  is  dislocated  far 
upwards  on  the  ilium. 

He  is  eating  very  heartily;  the  tongue  is  cleaning 
rapidly — only  two  patches  of  whitish  coat  are  visible 
towards  its  dorsum  ;  bowels  acting  well.  There  is  now  no 
reasonable  doubt  of  his  making  an  excellent  recovery. 
Murmur  still  plain,  but  the  sounds  are  more  natural. 

Verat.  viride  A.  gtt.  v. ;  water  twelve  dessert-spoonfuls ; 
a  spoonful  every  third  hour. 

The  effects  of  these  medicines  is  beyond  dispute,  and 
further  explanation  is  superfluous.  However,  we  note 
these  two  much-to-be  desired  results: — The  arsenicum 
removed  the  oedema,  diarrhoea,  and  vomiting.  The  verat. 
vir.  removed  the  palpitation,  dyspnoea,  and  irregular  action 
of  the  heart,  with  the  excitement  and  sleeplessness.  In 
consequence  of  the  great  improvement  thus  effected,  all 
diflBculty  in  the  case,  and  doubt  as  to  its  issue  has  now 
passed  away. 

That  digitaUs  was  not  the  most  suitable  medicine  is 
easily  seen  by  a  glance  at  the  symptoms  proven  by  that 
drug  on  the  mind,  disposition,  and  circulation,  as  well  as 
by  the  prominence  of  gastro-enteric  symptoms  of  the  case. 
In  vain  we  look  to  the  general  teaching  of  the  majority  of 
the  schools  of  medicine  for  those  indications  for  this  and 
other  drugs  which  can  be  found  only  in  the  provings  on 
the  healthy. 

The  action  of  arsenic  on  the  endocardium  is  well  known. 

'*  The  heart  beats  more  quickly  when  lying  on  the  back,** 
hence  the  patient  sits  up  for  relief,  and  should  this  con- 
dition be  a  prominent  one,  is  an  indication  for  a/rsenic. 
Subsequently  to  the  previous  notes  the  patient  was  treated 
for  symptoms  resembling  those  of  aconite.    Great  restless- 


104  CUHICAL   CASES.         "'iSSflS^TS^ 


11688  and  agitation  at  night,  with  strong  palpitation  and 
dyspnoM,  '^ jumping  and  kicking"  sensation  referred  to> 
the  trachial  region,  with  pnlse  qnick,  fiill,  and  strong. 
Aconite  A  gave  him  erery  relief,  especially  at  night,  pro- 
curing sleep,  and  stopping  the  '*  screaming  out "  at  night« 
On  March  23rd  I  again  saw  him  after  the  aconite  treatment, 
and  fonnd  him  still  improving,  and  the  heart  sounds  very 
mnch  better.  Both  sounds  fiairly  perceptible  at  apex,  and 
the  murmur  with  first  sound  at  this  time  so  far  lessened.as 
to  cause  very  little  obscuration,  or  rather,  displacement  of 
the  first  sound. 

It  would  appear  from  the  alternating  action  and  different 
effects  in  different  doses  of  some  drugs,  that  the  same 
medicine  may  come  to  be  indicated  in  the  actually  different 
conditions  of  undue  hypertrophy  on  the  one  hand,  with 
strong  action,  and  of  degeneration,  and  dilatation  on  the 
other,  with  weak  action,'  provided  always  that  the  symptoms  • 
characteristic  of  the  medicine  be  present.  Hence  the 
difficulty  of  fEurly  classifying  in  all  the  various  abnor- 
malities of  cardiac  action  becomes  very  great.  Again,, 
each  drug  may  correspond  to  alternating,  opposite,  and 
different  phases  of  the  same  disease,  and  yet  be  the  curative 
remedy.  Thus  phosphorus  may  become  indicated  in 
states  occurring  with  hypertrophy,  or  with  degeneration ; 
and  belladonna  in  states  with  a  full  and  quick,  or  full 
and  slow,  or  a  weak,  small  and  soft  pulse,  according  to  the 
associations  in  the  provings.  My  first  recollections  of  the 
application  of  arsenic  to  endo-cardial  symptoms  are  asso- 
ciated with  an  excellent  account  of  the  symptoms  in  a  thick 
volume  by  Dr.  Laurie.  Therein  he  goes  on  to  describe, 
under  the  heading  of  '^  Pathological  anatomy,"  indications- 
for  arsenic,  but  we  are  not  told  whether  the  pathological 
appearances  referred  to  are  truly  post  niorteni  effects 
observed  after  arsenical  poisoning.  On  first  reading 
them,  I  took  them  for  such,  and  so  believed  them  to  be ; 
but  have  been  rather  disappointed  at  not  finding  them 
in  Allen's  work.  I  quote  from  Laurie :  ''  Very  much 
relaxed,  or  violently  contracted  heart ;  thick  fluid,  tar-like 
blood  in  the  right  ventricle;  opalescent  spots  upon  the 
inner  surface  of  ihe  left  ventricle,  from  the  presence  of  false 
membranes ;  violet  red  spots  wifli  softening  of  the  endocar- 
dium ;  red-marbled  spots  in  the  left  auricle  and  ventricle ;. 
smaller  carmine  red  spots,  especially  on  the  papillary 
muscles,  and  penetrating  into  the  substance  of  the  heart ; 


gggrraf°      hyqiese. 105 

mncb  darker  rednesB,  almost  blackness  of  the  right  cavities 
of  the  heart,  and  some  spots  on  bho  papillary  muscles ;  red 
or  black  broad  spots  in  the  left  Tentricle,  inflammation  of 
the  semilunar  vahes  of  the  aorta." 

If  these  symptoms  be  really  pathogenetic,  they  speak  for 
themselveSy  and  throw  a  considerable  and  convincing  light 
on  the  power  of  arsenic  in  endocarditis  with  the  appropriate 
symptoms,  which  I  will  now  quote  from  Allen :  ''  Inflam- 
mation of  the  heart  and  its  results,  dilatation,  and  cedema 
of  the  feet.  Great  irregularity  of  heart  and  breathing. 
Irritable  heart.  Action  feeble  and  hurried.  Violent^ 
tumultuous  and  painful  palpitation,  especially  at  night. 
Strong,  visible,  audible  pulsations,  chiefly  at  night,  worse 
when  lying  on  the  back,  when  it  beats  stronger  and  faster. 
Violent  blowing  sound,  with  full  pulse,  110  beats  per 
minute.  Or,  violent  palpitation,  with  small  irregular  pulse. 
Palpitation  and  anxiety.  Nocturnal  anguish,  with  palpi- 
tation. Pulse  quick,  hard  and  full ;  or  again,  weak,  small 
and  quick,  or  scarcely  perceptible.  PiUse  restless  and 
smaU,  yet  increased  after  repeated  vomiting." 

On  comparing  these  conditions  with  those  of  the  boy 
treated  by  arsenic^  we  observe  that  it  is  just  this  array  of 
phenomena  as  caused  by  the  drug,  which  were  so  much 
ameliorated  by  the  treatment. 

AN  ADDRESS  ON  HYGIENE.* 

By  M.  Roth,  M.D. 

In  all  parts  of  the  world,  both  among  the  most  civilised 
nations  as  well  as  among  the  most  ignorant  tribes,  man  is 
surrounded  by  many  injurious  influences,  exposing  him  to 
a  number  of  preventible  acute  and  chronic  diseases,  as  well 
as  to  premature  death. 

In  order  to  remove  these  injurious  influences,  or  rather,, 
when  this  is  impossible,  to  counteract  their  bad  effects,  we 
must  have  recourse  to  hygiene,  a  science  dating  so  far 
back  as  4000  years  ago,  as  proved  by  the  Egyptian  and 
Mosaic  sanitary  laws.  Although  the  science  itself  has 
made  considerable  progress  in  the  present  century,  its 
practical  application  has  taken  but  slight  root  among  the 
people  at  large  as  well  as  among  the  medical  profession,. 

*  Bepristed  from  The  Transactions  of  the  International  Homosopathic 
Convention,  1881. 


106  HTQIENB.  "S^^SfffSU 


Benev,  FM>.  1,  Iflfit. 


the  majority  of  whom  are  tanght  to  cure  diseases  hnt  not 
to  preyent  them.  E^en  our  friends  who  have  prepared  the 
programme  of  the  first  and  present  International  Homoao- 
pathic  Convention  have  either  forgotten  or  neglected  to 
name  hygiene  as  a  subject  of  an  essay  or  discnssion. 

Being  convinced  that  the  highest  aim  of  medicine  is  the 
prevention  of  disease  and  increase  of  the  average  duration 
of  life,  by  permission  of  yonr  Committee  I  have  taken  the 
liberty  of  addressing  you  on  the  oft-neglected  subject  of 
hygiene,  in  order  to  elicit  your  opinions  concerning  the 
most  practical  means  of  preventing  disease  and  prolonging 
life.  Those  who  might  object  that  this  Convention  has 
nothing  to  do  with  prophylactics^  I  will  remind  that  the 
knowledge  of  the  physiological  effects  of  medicines  has 
enabled  us  to  use  belladonna  as  a  prophylactic  against 
scarlatina,  aconite  against  measles,  and  quinine  against 
the  various  forms  of  intermittent  and  remittent  malignant 
fevers.  Dr.  Hutchinson,  a  naval  surgeon,  whom  I  met 
last  year  at  the  International  Congress  of  Hygiene  at 
Turin,  told  me  that,  being  at  the  head  of  an  expedition  up 
the  Niger,  he  gave  every  man  on  board  a  dwly  dose  of 
quinine  for  at  least  three  weeks  before  reaching  the  coast 
of  Africa;  he  continued  this  medicine  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  the  expedition,  and  even  for  some  weeks 
after,  and  did  not  lose  a  single  man  out  of  more  than  a 
hundred  that  he  had  with  him.  Drunkards  take  consider- 
able doses  of  strychnine  as  soon  as  they  feel  the  first 
symptoms  of  delirium  tremens;  our  American  friends 
probably  know  Dr.  Morey's  report,  published  in  the  Pacific 
Medical  Journal,  upon  the  case  of  a  man  who,  being  in 
the  habit  of  taking  large  quantities  of  strychnine,  after 
drinking  whisky  in  immoderate  quantities  for  a  fortnight, 
was  able  to  prevent  the  attacks  of  delirium  tremens.  Wine 
and  brandy  tasters  and  merchants,  bottlers  and  other 
persons  obliged,  on  account  of  their  business,  to  live  in  an 
atmosphere  impregnated  with  alcoholic  vapours,  counteract 
the  bad  effect  of  these  vapours  by  means  of  strong  and 
unadulterated  coffee.  Pasteur  has  shown  that  the  diluted 
poison  of  the  poultry  cholera,  and  of  the  anthrax  in  sheep, 
-either  diminishes  the  intensity  of  or  actually  prevents  the 
disease,  probably  in  the  same  manner  as  vaccine  modifies 
or  prevents  smallpox. 

These  few  instances  are  sufficient  proof  that  the  study 
•of  the  physiological  effects  of  medicines  may  lead  to  tlw 


BiiviAw.  F^  Lima.  UitrlJJjJNJK.  ±\Jt 


Beview,  F^.  1,  IflBI. 


prevention  of  diBease,  which  mast  he  preceded  by  the  study 
of  the  causes  of  the  various  diseases,  as  well  as  of  the 
^conditions  most  favourable  for  preserving  health. 

The  most  important  conditions  for  preserving  health  are 
pure  air,  good  soil,  pure  water,  and  unadulterated  food. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  authorities,  to  whom  public  hygiene 
is  entrusted,  to  provide  these  conditions  for  the  public  in 
general,  and  especially  for  all  public  establishments,  such 
as  churches,  schools,  workhouses,  prisons,  reformatories, 
barracks,  courts  of  justice,  theatres,  and  other  places  of 
amusement,  and  where  a  large  number  of  people  resort. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  legislative  assemblies  to  bring  forward 
such  laws  as  would  enable  the  authorities  to  prevent  and 
remove  all  injurious  influences  affecting  the  purity  of  the 
air,  soil,  water,  and  food,  both  in  town  as  well  as  in  the 
country.  Unfortunately,  we  have  only  amateur  hygienic 
legislators  in  the  House  of  Lords ;  this  august  body  has 
hitherto  not  admitted  any  learned  physician  who  could 
advise  practical  measures  for  the  public  health,  although 
no  objection  has  been  made  to  the  admission  of  members 
of  the  other  learned  professions,  as  well  as  to  bankers, 
manufacturers,  soldiers,  and  landed  proprietors.  In  the 
House  of  Commons  the  number  of  medical  members  is  yet 
too  small  to  give  sufficient  weight  to  the  introduction  of 
such  measures  as  affect  the  health  of  the  public  at  large. 
It  is  owing  to  this  legislative  neglect  of  hygienic  measures 
that  nxany  diseases  must  and  will  still  continue  to  spread 
and  to  cause  premature  death.  Architects,  surveyors, 
builders,  and  engineers,  who  plan  and  build  our  houses, 
have  not  as  yet  been  sufficiently  trained  in  hygiene  as  to  be 
enabled  to  build  houses  and  homos  which  in  every  respect 
answer  to  the  conditions  of  health.  There  is,  then,  only 
the  medical  man  left,  and  it  is*  he  who  has  the  most 
respofnsible  duty  to  fulfil,  namely  to  enquire  into  the  causes 
of  disease  and  premature  death,  and  to  discover  the  means 
of  counteracting  them.  Hitherto  the  great  aim  pursued 
in  the  training  of  a  medical  man  has  been  to  enable  him  to 
cure  diseases  while  the  study  of  hygiene  or  the  preservation 
of  health  has  been  almost  everywhere  more  or  less  neglected. 
This  is  an  additional  reason  why  the  public  are  so  ignorant 
of  a  practical  and  popular  knowledge  of  hygiene,  with  which 
every  human  being  should  be  acquainted. 

It  is  not  enough  that  the  best  sanitary  laws  or  special 
regulations  regarding  public  health  should  be  inscribed  on 


108  HYGIENE.  "?£S1J:%TSS^ 


Beriew.Feb.  1,1882. 


paper,  they  mast  also  be  carried  out  into  practice;  for 
example  I  may  mention  how  badly  the  duties  of  the 
inspectors  of  health  are  performed*  and  how  little  attention) 
is  paid  to  the  reports  and  suggestions  of  the  medical 
officers  of  health. 

Everybody  knows  how  the  regulation  for  having  closed 
Davy  lamps  for  the  prevention  of  explosions  in  mines  is 
neglected,  and  how  many  lives  are  yearly  sacrificed  through 
this  neglect.  Mr.  Ouido  Komer  in  Freiburg  last  year 
invented  a  h'groin  lamp  (ligroin  is  one  of  the  liquid 
carburetted  hydrogens  similar  to  benzine  and  petroleum 
ether)  in  which  capsules  of  asbestos,  previously  covered 
with  a  layer  of  palladium,  are  placed  over  the  wick ;  this 
lamp  consumes  per  minute  from  one  to  one  and  half  cubic 
metres  of  the  noxious  vapours,  and  is  at  present  considered 
to  be  the  most  successftd  apparatus  for  preventing 
explosions  in  mines. 

Again,  in  the  fen  districts  the  basement  and  cellars  of 
numerous  houses  are  almost  always  filled  with  stagnant 
water ;  the  inhabitants  are  weakened,  while  the  children 
suffer  from  general  debility,  swollen  glands,  fever,  head- 
aches, as  well  as  rheumatic  and  other  complaints,  caused 
by  constant  exposure  to  the  damp.  Now,  although  it  is 
well  known  that  covering  the  ground  with  asphalte  and 
other  impermeable  materials  would  prevent  the  percolation 
of  the  water,  this  precautionary  matter  is  almost  entirely 
neglected  except  in  the  subterranean  and  subaqueous  bomb 
and  shell-proof  compartments  of  our  fortresses.  The  inser- 
tion of  layers  of  asphalte  cement  in  the  humid  walls  of  older 
buildings  is  an  easy  and  not  expensive  process,  but  how 
rarely  is  it  used  to  improve  the  unhealthy  conditions  of 
habitations  built  on  clay,  or  on  land  exposed  to  inundation  I 

It  has  been  found  that  the  malaria  fever  is  due  to  the 
Bacillus  malarise,  a  microscopic  organism  which  Corvelli 
has  found  to  be  propagated  by  spores,  and  which  Marchia- 
fava  found  in  the  blood  of  three  patients  who  died  during 
the  cold  stage  of  the  fever.  We  know  at  present  that 
draining  the  malaria  countries  and  the  planting  of  the 
eucalyptus  counteract  the  effects  of  the  fever ;  the  appli- 
cation of  these  two  measures  belongs  to  the  authorities 
presiding  over  public  hygiene. 

*  In  a  pamphlet  entitled  The  Fever  Dens  in  the  North  Weetem  and 
Wett  Central  Districtt  of  Lond^m^  I  have  published  some  more  notes  on. 
this  subject. 


iSSSS^^rf^S^  HYGIENE.  109 


Beriew,  Feb.  1,  isas. 


Among   the  objects    of  public  hygiene^  cremation  is 
now  attracting  much  attention.     While  other  ooontries, 
especially  Italy,  are  progressing  in  diminishing  the  noxious 
and  most  injurious  influences  arising  from  tihe  decompo- 
sition and  putrefSoM^ion  of  bodies  buried  according  to  the 
present  anti-hygienic  system,  we  are  prevented  in  England 
by  legal  difficulties  from  making  use  of  the  crematorium 
At  Woking.     The  fear  of  poisoned  bodies  being  destroyed 
and  thus   of  preventing  the   detection   of  crime,  is  the 
principal  obstacle  in  England  to  one  of  the  most  important 
sanitary  measures ;  an  obstacle  which,  in  Italy,  has  been 
removed  without  any  difficulty  by  means  of  a  preliminary 
post-mortem  examination.     Happening  to  be  present  last 
year  at  two  cremations  in  Milan,  I  had  several  opportunities 
of  studying  publications  on  the  subject.    I  also  saw  a 
coffin  opened  in  which  a  body  had  been  buried  for  six 
months ;  the  millions  oi  insects  and  the  putrid  body  com- 
pared with  the  calcined  bones  of  the  cremated  body  are 
quite  sufficient  to  convince  the  most  incredulous  of  the 
hygienic  advantages  of  cremation  and  the  anti-hygienic 
conditions  of  interment.      Again,  the  researches  of  Pro- 
fessor Selmi  on  ptomaines,  the  fixed  alkaloids  developed  in 
the  human  body  after  putrefaction,  show  still  more  how 
desirable  and  necessary  cremation  is  from  a  hygienic  point 
of  view.      The  symptoms  of  animals  poisoned  by  these 
ptomaines  are,  dilatation  of  the  pupils  with  subsequent 
contraction,  instantaneous  retarding  and  irregularity  of  the 
pulse,  together  with   some  convulsive  movements  which 
leave  the  heart  after  death  absolutely  empty  and  in  systole. 
Some  of  these  poisons  are  as  venomous  as  the  most  toxic 
vegetable  alkaloids ;  some  have  been  found  analogous  to 
veratrine^  while  in  a  person  who  bad  died  from  asphyxia 
similar  poisons  were  found  only  eight  days  afber  death.    It 
appears  that  many  of  the  cases  of  poisoning  by  diseased 
meat  and  fish  are  due  to  the  presence  of  ptomaines,  which 
in  certain  fish  are  produced  a  few  hours  after  death.     In 
the  torrid  zone  certain  species  of  mackerel,  perch,   and 
herring  produce  poisonous  effects  at  certain  seasons;  in 
Japan,  the  eating  of  the  fish  fugu  (petrodon)  is  forbidden 
at  different  times  of  the  year  by  a  special  law.     The  know- 
ledge of  the  development  of  these  poisonous  alkaloids  in 
the  human  body  so  soon  after  death  will,  I  hope,  consider- 
ably accelerate  the  general  introduction  of  cremation,and  thus 
remove  a  very  fertile  cause  of  disease  and  premature  death* 


110  HYGIENE.        "s2!SL=srr?2^ 


Beriew,  Feb.  1, 1882. 


Another  of  the  problems  to  be  solved  by  the  sanitary 
authorities,  is  the  disinfection  and  utilisation  of  the  f&ecal 
matters  accumulating  in  the  severs  of  large  and  small 
towns  ;  the  latest  experiments,  by  passing  smoke  through 
the  substances  to  be  disinfected,  have  succeeded  on  a  small 
scale,  but  whether  it  can  or  will  be  successfully  carried  out 
on  a  large  scale  has  not  yet  been  proved. 

Again,  one  of  the  objects  of  public  hygiene  is  to  prevent 
accidents  and  diseases  arising  from  various  trades  and 
occupations;  for  instance,  the  law  does  not  permit  any 
children  to  be  employed  as  chimney-sweeps,  an  occupation 
which  would  constantly  expose  them  to  various  accidents. 
Last  year  I  read  a  paper  at  the  International  Congress  of 
Hygiene  on  the  anti-hygienic  conditions  under  which  the 
engineers  work  in  the  Scotch  shipbuilding  yards ;  however, 
there  is  no  hope  for  any  improvement  until  legislative 
measures  are  brought  forward. 

During  the  last  thirty  years  the  use  of  compressed  air 
for  industrial  purposes  while  constructing  bridges  has 
become  more  general,  the  men  working  at  a  depth  of  from 
thirty  to  seventy  feet  under  water,  in  a  caisson,  with 
compressed  air  When  the  bridge  near  St.  Louis,  over 
the  Mississippi,  was  built,  the  men  had  to  descend  to  a 
depth  of  a  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet,  which  is  the 
greatest  depth  hitherto  known  in  which  men  have  worked 
under  water.  After  the  air  in  the  caisson  has  been  com- 
pressed to  three,  four,  and  even  more  atmospheres,  the 
men  enter  a  kind  of  ante-room  which  communicates  with 
the  open  air.  When  the  door  is  hermetically  closed, 
the  atmospheric  pressure  in  this  ante-room  is  by  degrees 
iiicrcased  till  it  has  the  same  pressure  as  the  caisson ;  then 
the  door  communicating  with  the  caisson  is  opened  for  the 
entrance  of  the  working  men, — ^behind  them  it  is  imme- 
diately closed.  When  the  men  leave  the  caisson  after 
their  work,  in  the  ante-room  the  atmospheric  pressure  is 
vciy  slowly  diminished ;  this  diminution  lasts  half  an  hour, 
when  the  previous  pressure  did  not  exceed  two  atmo- 
spheres, but  it  should  last  an  hour  if  the  previous  pressure 
was  of  four  atmospheres. 

The  effects  of  the  compressed  air  are  sometimes  very 
serious,  for  example,  the  workman  may  feel,  during  the 
slightly  increasing  pressure,  a  general  painful  sensation, 
noises  in  the  ear,  accompanied  with  intense  pain  ;  hearing 
is  very  much  diminished,  and  the  power  of  whistling  gone ; 


J£siS»F^rr5af^        HToiENE.  Ill 


Beriew,  Feb.  1, 1882. 


breathing  is  first  of  all  much  quicker,  afterwards  slower ; 
inspiration  diminishes,  the  capacity  of  the  thorax  as  well 
as  of  the  lungs  is  increased;  at  the  same   time  cough 
begins,    with   oppression   of   the   chest,    the    circulation 
languishes,  the  pulse  can  scarcely  be  felt,  and  the  com- 
bination of  the  oxygen  with  the  blood  increases.    Beyond 
a  pressure  of  four  atmospheres  very  dangerous,  and  eTen 
fatal,  accidents  take  place,  while  a  pressure  of  more  than 
six  atmospheres  causes  asphyxia,  through  congestion,  as 
well  as  convulsions  and  that  special  tetanus  which  is  due 
to  oxygen-poisoning.    In  the  mines  of  Douchy,  with  a 
pressure  of  four  atmospheres,  the  pathological  and  physio- 
logical effects  have  been  very  marked,  causing  the  death  of 
two  men  through  congestion,  destroying  the  eyesight  and 
hearing  of  several  others,  while  one  man   suffered  from 
diplopia,  and  two  remained  deaf  and  amblyopic.     Out  of 
643  men  working  at  Toulon,  under  a  pressure  of  three 
atmospheres,  according  to  Dr.  Michels,  2  died,  48  were 
sent  to  hospital,  and  123  to  the  infirmary ;  while  out  of  115 
men  who  worked  regularly  under  the  same  pressure,  from 
the  22nd  of  August  to  the  13th  September,  43  of  them,  or 
88  per  cent.,  had  some  ailment  or  other,  such  as  paralysis, 
paraplegia,  convulsions,  pains  in  the  ears  and  head,  as  well 
as  painful   sweUings  in   the  joints   and  muscles.      The 
pressure  amounts  to  more  than  400  lbs.  on  every  square 
decimetre  when  a  man  works  at  a  depth  of  fifty  feet,  and 
two  effects  are  produced,  one  due  to  the  pressure  and  the 
other   to  the   increase   of  the  oxygen  ;    changes  in  the 
rhythm  and  amplitudes  of  the  respirations  occur,  while, 
according  to  Dr.  Grand,  the  body  is  in  a  state  of  hyperox- 
ffimia,  and  as  the  quantity  of  gas  dissolved  in  the  serum  of 
the  blood  is  much  greater  than  under  the  normal  atmos-* 
pheric  pressure,  the  oxidation  of  the  haemoglobin  is  more 
active,  changes  take  place  in  the  tissues,  the  quantity  of 
urea  and  carbonic  acid  is  increased,  the  temperature  raised, 
and  the  movements  of  the  heart  accelerated.     Compressed 
air  also  causes  pulmonary  ansmia,  less  blood  flows  to  the 
left  ventricle,  so  that  the  arterial  work  and  tension  are 
diminished,   while  the  blood  accumulates    in  the    right 
ventricle,  the  work  and  venous  tension  of  which  is  increased. 
The  dangers  of  the  too  sudden  or  too  violent  diminution  in 
the  previously  increased  pressure  are  greater  than  those 
caused  by  protracted  increased  pressure ;  thus  the  shock 
causes  active  congestion  of  several  organs,  cerebral,  pul- 


1 1 Q  T7vr<TT?'Kri?  Monthly  Homoaopathio 

•''^^  HYGIENE.  fieview.  Feb.  1, 1862. 

monary,  and  spinal  apopleiy,  violent  itching  of  the  skin, 
deafness  and  blindness,  as  well  as  paralysis  of  the  limbs, 
bladder,  and  rectum,  which  may  be  of  short  or  long 
duration  or  it  may  cause  death  by  asphyxia  within  a  few 
hours.  These  accidents  can  be  prevented  by  a  minute 
examination  of  the  working  men,  who  must  be  young,  in 
good  health,  very  temperate,  with  regular  and  good  habits  ; 
the  heart,  large  vessels,  and  lungs  must  be  subjected  to  a 
minute  auscultation,  and  must  be  proved  to  be  in  a  perfect 
condition ;  the  men  must  be  cautioned  not  to  expose 
themselves  to  the  intense  cold  and  humidity  caused  by  the 
c{<?compre8sion ;  they  should  be  dressed  in  woollen  garments 
and  take  small  quantities  of  wine  or  punch,  and  not  expose 
themselves  too  quickly  to  the  external  air. 

Having  given  instances  how  public  hygiene  can  con- 
tribute to  the  prevention  of  disease  and  accidents,  I  shall 
give  some  instances  how  private  hygiene  can  prevent 
diseases. 

A  large  number  of  infantile  diseases,  of  abnormal  derange- 
ments, of  the  very  dangerous  infantile  diarrhoea,  and  the 
concomitant  fits,  convulsions,  and  paralytic  affections  are 
mostly  caused  by  improper  management,  unsuitable  food, 
want  of  cleanliness  and  fresh  air.  It  is  an  absolute 
necessity  that  every  child  should  be  brought  up  by  the 
mother's  milk,  and  only  in  cases  of  disease  should  the 
mother's  milk  be  substituted  by  cows*  or  asses'  milk ;  the 
supervision  of  all  dairies,  the  daily  medical  inspection  of 
the  cows,  of  the  stables,  of  the  vessels  for  transporting  the 
milk,  of  the  place  of  the  sale,  and  of  the  distribution  of 
the  milk,  is  of  the  greatest  importance ;  frequent  analysis 
•of  the  milk,  and  the  constant  use  of  the  lactometer,  and 
the  most  scrupulous  cleanliness  of  feeding  jbottleSi  and 
regulations  for  feeding,  are  indispensable  conditions  for 
diminishing  the  still  prevailing  infant  mortality ;  the 
acidity  of  tiie  milk,  and  the  development  of  vegetable  and 
animal  micro-organisms  caused  by  want  of  cleanhness  of 
feeding  bottles  and  the  elastic  tubes,  which  should  be 
entirely  abolished,  are  quite  sufficient  to  account  for  the 
-so-called  infantile  diarrhoea.  To  these  may  be  added  the 
mixing  of  milk-food  with  beer,  brandy,  wine,  buns  and 
cakes,  sugar,  oranges — as  it  can  be  observed  daily  in  the 
streets  of  London.  As  long  as  mothers  are  left  in  their 
present  ignorance,  the  excessive  infant  mortality  must 
^continue.    Adulterated  milk  acts  not  only  on  the  present 


UbQthJjr  HonuBopoUiic  irvn.TVWV*  lift 


Beriew,  f^b.  1, 1882 


generation  but  also  on  the  future.  Infants  and  children 
consume  a  great  quantity  of  milk.  The  brain,  nerves  and 
muscles  do  not  obtain  the  necessary  material,  and  the 
chUdren's  power  of  resisting  iUness  is  considerably 
diminished. 

Half  of  the  blindness  of  the  children  found  in  all  European 
blind  institutions  is  caused  by  a  similar  ignorance  of 
mothers  regarding  the  necessity  of  babies'  eyes  being  kept 
scrupulously  clean,  and  of  seelang  medical  advice  as  soon 
as  the  first  traces  of  the  inflammation  of  the  eyes  of  new 
bom  babies  manifest  themselves.  The  ignorance  of  school- 
masters and  schoolmistresses  with  regard  to  the  infectious 
character  of  the  various  purulent  eye  diseases ;  the  igno- 
rance and  neglect  of  the  working  people  in  protecting  their 
eyes  while  engaged  in  trades  where  mineral,  vegetable  and 
animal  dust  is  floating  constantly  in  the  air ;  the  ignorance 
of  the  majority  of  professional  men  in  the  treatment  of  eye 
complaints ;  the  objection  of  patients  to  the  extirpation  of 
an  eye  lost  by  accident  or  by  some  disease  which  endangers 
the  loss  of  the  other  eye,  are  additional  and  preventible 
causes  of  the  blindness  from  which  800,000  persons  in 
Europe  sufiiBr. 

Children  as  well  as  adults  are  suffering  frequently  from 
the  irritation  caused  by  worms.  Hygiene  can  do  much  for 
the  prevention  of  these  parasites,  which  are  often  caused  by 
eating  raw  minced  meat,  recommended  in  some  wasting 
diseases;  by  insufficiently  cooked  meat,  sausages,  and 
ham — the  two  last  only  smoked,  by  salads  and  cresses 
which  are  not  well  washed ;  eggs  of  parasites  and  snails 
adhere  to  these  vegetables,  which  are  mostly  consumed 
raw  (these  snails  cause  the  distoma  hepaticum) ;  impure 
water-courses  and  dirty  bathing  tanks;  accumulations  of 
dirt — ^raw  vegetables  and  animal  food — in  dark  kitchens 
and  dark  store  rooms ;  by  dogs  and  cats  admitted  to 
kitchens  and  dining  rooms.  Dogs  and  cats  should  be  fed 
on  cooked  meat,  and  not  eat  the  falling  off  of  butchers' 
shops  and  of  abattoirs.  Bats  infest  pigs  with  trichinae, 
therefore  pigsties  must  be  kept  clean  and  no  rats  admitted. 
All  these  contribute  to  the  development  of  worms  which, 
in  various  ways,  find  their  way  into  the  human  organism. 

We  establish  homes  for  cripples  instead  of  preventing  the 

development  of  rickets  and  the  consequent  deformities, 

although  the  hygienic  laws  are  sufficiently  known  which 

would  prevent  the  artificial  development  of  cripples.     The 

Vol.  26.  Ko.  2.  I 


114 HYomiii;.       'xa.^rna 

Italian  eohool  for  rickety  children  in  Turin,  and  a  similar 
institute  in  Milan,  have  already  practically  proved  that 
even  nnder  unfavonrablo  conditions,  half  of  the  rickety 
children  are  cured,  and  the  development  of  cripplcu  pre- 
vented. Many  deformitiea  and  complaints  caused  in 
schools  can  bo  prevented. 

Although  tho  number  of  instancoB  in  which  private 
hygiene  can  prevent  disease  can  be  considerably  increased, 
those  I  have  named  will  be  sufficient  for  admitting  the 
desirability  of  popularising  hygiene  amongst  all  classes  of 
society,  whilo  professional  men  must  pursue  this  science 
in  all  its  bearings  on  the  public  and  private  health  ;  to  be 
able  to  advance  with  their  hygienic  knowledge,  and  to 
teach  tho  public  how  to  obtain,  in  a  healthy  state,  the 
longest  period  of  homan  life. 

Besides  public  hygiene,  the  knowledge  of  private  and 
individual    hygiene    is  of   the    ^eatcst    importance ;  no 
medical  student  should  therefore  be  permitted  to  obtain  a 
degree  withoat  having  passed  an  examination  in  theoretical 
and  practical  hygiene,  which  at  present  is  only  required  by 
the  very  smallest  number  of  examining  bodies.     How  can 
we  expect  the  introduction  of  the  obligatory  study  of  the 
elements  of  hygiene  into  training  colleges  for  teachers  as 
long  as  yonng  medical  men  are  permitted  to  practise  with- 
out  having   given  proofs   of  their   hygienic    knowledge? 
Every  school-teacher  should  be  taught  how  to  impart  to 
tho   pupils   popular    practical   knowledge  conccruiug  air, 
water,  food,  drink,  dress,  &c. ;  how  to  develop  their  mind 
and  body  harmoniously ;  bow  to  prevent  them  from  acquiring 
the  normal  school  complaints,  such  as  headache,  short- 
sight,  bleeding  from  the  nose,  all  kinds    of  cold,  crooked 
spines,  high,  round,  and  projecting  shoulders,  flat  chests, 
and  contracted  necks.     The  teacher  should  also  know  the 
preliminary   symptoms   of  smallpox,   measles,  scarlatina, 
Durolent  iuflammatiou  of  the  eyes,  whooping-cough,  ring- 
I,  and  of  the  other  common  infectious  diiiUHses,  as  well 
lilepsy,   catalepsy,  and  St.  Vitus'  dance  (which  are 
d  by  imitation),  and  have  a  slight  knowledge  con- 
ig  rickets,  scrofula,  and  chronic  catarrh  of  the  respi- 
f  organs,  which  are  still  curable  in  the  early  stages ; 
^t  also  to  know  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  school, 
ot-boildings,  and   furniture;   the   diETerent  modes  of 
ng,  warming,  and  ventilating  it ;  the  cleanliness  both 
I  school  as  well  as  of  the  bodies  and  clothing  of  the 


a^SS^^SSmS^  BLECTBIOITT.  116 


fisTiew,  ftt>.  If  1881. 


papils,  together  with  the  most  fayonrable  means  of 
preserving  health,  the  suitable  length  of  time  for  exercise 
and  study,  and,  in  fact,  all  other  sanitary  requirements. 

Besides  the  hygienic  knowledge  just  mentioned  the 
training  colleges  for  schoolmistresses  should  have  model 
nurseries  attached  to  them,  where  a  few  motherless  babes 
and  infants  could  be  brought  up  according  to  the  best 
hitherto  known  methods.  These  model  nurseries  would 
serre  as  schools  to  medical  students,  to  young  mothers, 
nursery  governesses,  nurses,  and  all  tibose  who  have  to  do 
with  the  management  of  infants  and  children.  The 
elements  of  popular  hygiene  in  their  practical  application 
to  ventilation,  warming,  clothing,  food  and  drink,  should 
form  an  obhgatory  branch  of  pqpular  education ;  the  more 
advanced  parts  of  hygiene  a  necessary  branch  of  education 
in  all  higher  schools,  colleges,  academies  and  universites.^ 

While  thanking  you  for  having  listened  with  much 
patience  to  this  long  address,  I  beg  you  to  assist  by  your 
experience  and  advice  the  introduction  into  this  and  other 
countries  of  the  great  science  of  hygiene,  which  is  usefhl 
to  everybody,  and  contributes  to  the  well-being  of  our 
fellow-creatures  by  diminishing  disease  and  misery. 


ON  ELECTRICITY :  ITS  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION 

AND  THERAPEUTIC  USES. 

By  DoNAiiD  Batnes,  M.A.,  M.D.,  F.R.G.S. 

Having  found  from  experience  what  valuable  and  powerful 
therapeutic  agents  we  possess  in  the  various  forms  of  elec- 
tricity, I  purpose  in  a  few  short  papers  drawing  the  attention 
of  my  professional  brethren  to  their  nature,  and  shall 
endearvour  to  point  out  the  indications  for  their  practical 
application  iii  the  treatment  of  disease. 

"  Electricity  is  now  regarded  as  a  force,  correlated  to  the 
other  great  forces  of  nature — ^heat,  light,  &c. — and,  like 

*  For  the  ptirpoee  of  popnlarising  hygienic  knowledge  Dr.  Both 
originated  about  twenty-five  years  ago  the  Ladies*  Sanitary  Association, 
which  has  distiihated  abont  1,500,000  sanitary  tracts.  Lady  Mount- 
Temple  (at  that  time  the  Hon.  Birs.  W.  Cowper),  Lady  Shnry  ^at  that 
time  Lady  Bobert  Grosvenor),  and  Mdmo.  la  Gomtcsse  do  Noaiiles  {m!e 
Trevelyan),  are  the  first  ladies  who  assisted  Dr.  Koth.  For  farther 
nformation  apply  to  the  office  of  the  Ladies'  Sanitary  Aisaociation,  22, 
Bemera  Street,  Oxford  Street,  W. 

1—9 


116  ELECTRICITY,  ^"SS^Iy^vSt^^^ 

them,  is  simply  a  mode  of  motion,  a  form  of  vibration." — 
(Beard  and  Rockwell.) 

The  name  is  derived  from  the  word  *E\eK7pov,  signifying 
amber;  this  sabstance  being  the  first  observed  by  the 
anoients  to  exhibit  electrical  properties  or  phenomena.  The 
general  divisions,  or  forms,  in  which  electricity  is  mani- 
fested, are : — 

1st.    Magnetism. 

2nd.    Static,  Frictional,  or  Franklinic. 

8rd.    Dynamic,  Voltaic,  or  Galvanic. 

By  combination  and  induction  we  get  other  forms  or 
SHb-divisiotis,  as — 

(a).  Electro-magnetic,  usually  called  Faradic. 

(b).  Magneto-electricity. 

(c).  Thermo-electricity. 

Of  these,  the  galvanic  is  the  form  I  shall  chiefly  dweD 
upon. 

Magnetism,  so  called  from  the  city  Magnesia,  in  Asia 
Minor,  near  which  certain  iron  ores  were  found  which  had 
the  property  of  attracting  iron.  These  pieces  q{  iron  ore 
were  called  magnets.  Eventually  it  was  discovered  that 
other  pieces  of  iron  could  be  endowed  with  the  same  power ; 
these  were  called  artificial  magnets,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  former,  which  were  called  natural  magnets,  or  lode, 
more  properly  load-stones.  Artificial  magnets  are  usually 
made  of  steel  bars  that  have  been  magnetised  by  a  galvanic 
current  or  by  other  magnets.  These  bars  may  be  either 
straight  or  bent.  We  usually  see  them  in  the  form  of  a 
horse-shoe.  Each  end  of  a  magnet  is  a  pole,  and  each  pole 
manifests  an  opposite  kind  of  magnetism  ;  this  property  is 
called  the  polarity  of  a  magnet.  If  a  magnetic  needle  be 
suspended,  so  that  its  movements  are  quite  free,  one  pole 
will  point  to  the  north,  and  is  called  the  north  pole ;  the 
other  will  point  to  the  south,  and  is  called  the  south  pole. 
The  greatest  attractive  power  of  a  magnet  is  situated  at  the 
ends  or  poles;  this  attractive  power  gradually  becomes 
less  as  we  approach  the  middle,  and  is  lost  altogether  at 
the  median  line,  which  is  called  the  neutral  point,  or 
magnetic  equator. 

Experience  has  shown  that  like  poles  repel  each  other, 
while  unlike  poles  attract.  This  may  be  proved  by  sus- 
pending a  magnetic  bar,  so  that  it  may  move  freely  in  the 
air ;  now,  if  another  magnet  be  brought  near  it,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  north  pole  of  the  one  is  attracted  to  the 


SSS^^STJC  ELECTRICITY.  117 


soath  pole  of  the  other,  and  vice  versd^  Some  substances 
are  attracted,  and  others  repeUed,  when  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  a  magnet;  the  former  are  caUed  magnetic,  and  the 
latter  diamagnetic.  The  magnetic  are — Iron,  nickel,  cobalt, 
manganese,  platinam,  &c. ;  the  diamagnetic — ^Bismath, 
antimony,  zinc,  tin,  mercury,  lead,  silver,  gold,  &c.  If  a 
magnet  be  broken  in  two,  each  half  will  be  a  perfect 
magnet,  having  two  poles  and  a  neutral  line;  this  property 
is  retained,  if  each  half  be  again  broken,  and  will  be 
manifested,  so  long  as  the  division  can  be  carried  out.  If  a 
bar  of  soft  iron  is  brought  near  or  in  contact  with  one  of  the 
poles  of  a  magnet,  it  becomes  itself  magnetic  for  the  time 
being,  and  presents  the  usual  properties  of  a  magnet.  This 
power  it  obtains  by  induction.  If  it  now  be  removed  from 
the  magnet,  it  loses  all  its  magnetic  power,  and  is  for  this 
reason  called  a  temporary  magnet.  If,  however,  a  bar  of 
steel  be  treated  in  the  same  way,  it  also  becomes 
magnetic,  but  to  a  less  degree,  and  taldng  a  longer  time  to 
become  so.  It  differs,  however,  from  the  bar  of  soft  iron, 
in  not  losing  its  power,  but  permanently  retaining  it,  hence 
it  is  called  a  permanent  magnet. 

Static  Electricity,  also  called  Frictional  or  Franklinic. — 
This,  in  its  simplest  form  may  be  exhibited  by  rubbing 
briskly  a  glass  rod  with  silk,  when  it  acquires  the  property 
of  attracting  light  substances.  If  a  pith  ball  be  suspended 
by  a  silk  thread,  and  the  excited  glass  rod  be  brought  near, 
it  will  attract  it;  after,  however,  being  in  contact  for  a  short 
time,  the  pith  ball  also  becomes  charged  with  the  electricity, 
and  will  then  be  repelled,  instead  of  being  attracted  by  it. 
This  electricity  is  called  vitreous,  positive  or  +  electricity. 

A  piece  of  sealing-wax  rubbed  with  flannel  also  acquires 
the  property  of  attracting  light  substances.  If,  now,  we 
bring  the  excited  sealing-wax  near  the  pith-ball  charged 
by  the  glass  rod,  it  will  immediately  attract  it ;  however, 
as  soon  as  it  has  been  in  contact  long  enough  to  acquire 
electricity  from  the  wax,  repulsion  will  again  occur.  This 
form  is  called  resinous,  negative,  or  —  electricity.  If  we, 
however,  reverse  the  experiment,  and  charge  the  pith-ball 
with  resinous  electricity,  we  find  the  ball  will  be  repelled 
by  the  wax,  and  attracted  by  the  glass.  From  these 
experiments  we  deduce  the  law  that ''unlike  electricities 
attract,  like  electricities  repel."  Frictional  electricity  may 
Also  be  developed  by  cleavage  or  by  pressure.  An  example  of 
this  may  be  noticed  on  cleaving  a  piece  of  mica  in  the 


118  ELECTRICITY.  "^SSL^SKT?^ 


Beyiew,  Feb.  1,  1888. 


dark,  when  a  light  is  observed  at  the  moment  of  separation. 
Each  plate  may  be  proved  to  contain  an  electricity  of  an 
opposite  kind.  The  light  seen  on  breaking  a  piece  of  loaf 
sugar  is  dtie  to  the  development  of  electricity  by  cleavage. 
Again,  if  a  thin  piece  of  cork  be  pressed  against  a  slice  of 
orange,  by  means  of  insulating  hemdles,  one  will  exhibit 
positive  and  the  other  negative  electricity ;  these,  however, 
are  not  the  only  substances  which  develop  electricity  by 
cleavage  or  pressure. 

These  phenomena  led  to  further  enquiries,  and  apparatus 
more  or  less  perfect  was,  from  time  to  time,  invented  to 
conduct  these  experiments.  The  first  electric  machine 
was  that  invented  by  Otto  Von  Guericke,  of  Magdeburg,  in 
1672,  and  consisted  simply  of  a  globe  of  sulphur  turned  on 
its  axis  by  one  hand,  and  pressed  against  the  other.  Sub- 
sequently a  glass  cylinder  was  substituted  for  the  sulphur 
ball.  In  1740,  Winckles  made  a  great  improvement, 
using  cushions  of  horsehair  as  rubbers.  In  1760,  Bamsden 
80  far  improved  on  the  former  machines,  as  to  substitute  a 
circular  glass  plate  for  the  glass  cylhider.  He  so  far 
perfected  the  electric  machine  that  those  used  at  the 
present  day  are  simply  modifications  of  it.  The  best  and 
latest  electric  machine  is  that  introduced  by  Holtz,  of 
Berlin,  and  invented  by  him  in  1865.  This  has  lately 
been  greatly  improved  by  what  is  called  "  The  Toepler 
Modification." 

Bodies  may  be  charged  with  electricity  in  two  ways, 
viz.,  by  condu<;tion — actual  contact — and  by  induction — at 
a  distance.  In  conduction,  the  body  giving  the  electricity 
loses  a  portion  of  its  electricity,  whereas  in  induction  it 
loses  none.  In  conduction,  the  electricity  given  to  the  body 
is  of  the  same  kind  as  that  which  gives  it,  but  in  induction 
it  is  of  an  opposite  kind. 

Bodies  are  divided,   as  regards  their  electrical  action, 
into  two   great  groups,   viz.,  condactors  and  insulatara. 
Conductors  are  metals,  charcoal,  graphite,  acids,  water,. 
&c.,  &c.    InsnlatorSy  caoutchouc,  silk,  glass,  wax,  sulphur, 
resins,  &c.,  &c. 

Certain  substances,  although  they  do  not  conduct 
electricity,  yet  allow  it  to  pass  through  them ;  they  are 
transparent  to  electricity,  as  glass  is  to  light ;  for  instance, 
if  electricity  be  excited  on  one  side  of  a  plate  of  glass,  the 
other  side  will  exhibit  electrical  phenomena.  These 
substances  are  called  dialectric. 


SS^fF^g-nT"  ELECTMCm. 119 

Electricity  spreads  itself  over  the  surface  of  a  body,  but 
does  not  penetrate  to  its  interior. 

Electric  density,  or  thickness,  is  the  quantity  of  elec- 
tricity on  a  given  surface  at  a  given  time. 

Electricity  tends  to  accumulate  at  points,  hence  light- 
ning rods  are  made  to  terminate  in  sharp  points.  If  a  body 
in  the  shape  of  an  egg  be  charged  with  electricity,  the 
density  will  be  greater  at  the  ends,  and  greatest  at  tho 
small  end.  In  circular  discs,  the  density  is  greatest  at  the 
edges. 

The  electrical  machine  chiefly  used  for  medical  purposes, 
is  very  simple,  its  essential  parts  being  three,  viz. :  the 
rubber,  the  rubber  body,  and  the  prime  conductor — tho 
rubber  being  usually  a  pair  of  leather  cushions,  amalga- 
mated with  a  paste,  made  of  zinc  and  tin  turnings,  rubbed 
down  with  mercury  and  lard ;  the  rubbed  body,  a  large 
circular  plate  of  glass,  mounted  on  a  glass  axle,  and 
turned  by  a  handle  between  the  cushions ;  and  the  prime 
conductor,  usually  an  insulated  metal  cylinder,  intended  to 
receive  the  kind  of  electricity  required.  This  form  of 
electricity  is  used  for  medical  purposes  in  three  ways,  viz. — 
The  electric  bath,  electrization  by  sparks,  and  the  Leyden 
jar.  The  electric  bath  is  of  two  kinds,  electro-positive  and 
electro-negative.  The  former  increases  tho  vital  forces, 
the  latter  decreases  them.  In  the  electro-positive  bath  the 
electricity  is  gathered  from  the  glass  plate,  on  to  the 
prime  conductor,  while  the  negative  electricity  is  carried 
away  by  a  chain  from  the  cushions  to  the  floor.  The 
patient  being  placed  on  an  insulated  stool  or  chair>  is 
connected  with  the  prime  conductor.  The  whole  surface  of 
the  patient's  body  is  thus  charged  with  positive  electricity, 
while  the  surrounding  air  is  rendered  negative.  If  the 
electric  bath  be  given  in  a  dark  room,  a  luminous  appearance 
is  produced  by  the  escape  of  electricity  into  the  air.  The 
electro-negative  bath  is  given  in  the  same  way,  but  with  this 
difierence,  that  the  negative  electricity  from  the  cushions 
is  coUected,  while  the  positive  is  liberated  and  carried  to 
the  ground  by  a  chain.  The  electro-negative  is  said  to 
have  a  debilitating  effect,  by  reducing  the  natural  electricity 
of  the  patient,  thus  acting  like  blood-letting — the  pulse 
being  retarded. 

These  baths  have  been  found  very  useful  in  old  standing 
neuralgias,  sciaticas,  and  unpleasant  flutterings  about  the 
heart,  depending  on  weak  innervation  ;  tremors  of  the  limbs 


120  ELECTRICITY.  "^&?Sr?»:^ 


Review,  Feb.  1, 188S. 


have  been  removed  by  simply  charging  a  patient,  as  it  is 
called,  even  when  other  forms  of  electricity  have  failed. 

Electrization  by  sparks. — The  patient  is  charged  in  the 
manner  jast  described  as  an  electric  bath.  The  operator 
bringing  his  hand  near  the  patient,  the  same  becomes 
negatively  electric.  The  negative  electricity  of  the  hand 
combines  with  the  positive  electricity  of  the  patient ;  this 
produces  a  flash  of  light,  accompanied  by  a  snap,  and  this 
is  called  the  electric  spark.  These  sparks  may  be  drawn 
from  the  body  by  metallic  conductors,  and  produce  a  sharp 
pricking  at  the  part;  if  continued,  the  skin  becomes 
reddened,  and  white  wheals  are  produced.  At  some 
hospitals  and  in  the  consulting  rooms  of  electric  specialists, 
a  chain  or  moveable  wire  is  suspended  from  the  ceiling 
and  connected  with  the  ground,  to  which  is  attached  a 
brass  ball  which  slides  up  and  down  the  chain  or  wire : 
this  is  brought  close  to  the  patient,  about  an  inch  from 
the  spine ;  l^e  patient  is  now  charged,  and  the  ball  passed 
up  and  down  in  a  line  with  the  spine ;  sparks  now  pass  to 
the  ball,  and  thence  to  the  ground  by  the  wire.  In  this 
way  a  rapid  succession  of  sparks  can  be  obtained.  Cavallo 
has  recommended  the  drawing  of  the  sparks  through 
flannel.  If  the  sparks  follow  each  other  rapidly,  they  may 
cause  slight  vibration  of  the  muscles  which  are  close  under 
the  skin.  This  form  has  been  used  with  success  in 
urticaria,  paralysis,  choreai  impotence,  some  kinds  of 
amenorrhoea,  and  in  some  spasmodic  affections.  Static 
electricity  is  also  very  useful  in  spinal  irritation,  and  in 
phthisis,  &c. 

The  Leyden  jar  consists  of  a  glass  jar,  coated  inside  and 
outside  with  zinc  foil  to  within  a  quarter  of  the  top;  it  has 
a  varnished  wooden  cover,  through  which  passes  a  wire 
connected  to  the  foil  inside ;  outside,  this  wire  terminates 
in  a  knob.  The  inside  of  the  jar  is  charged  with  electricity 
by  means  of  the  wire :  as  the  glass  is  dialectric,  the  out- 
side of  the  jar  also  becomes  charged  with  electricity,  but  of 
an  opposite  kind.  The  jar  is  now  said  to  be  charged.  It 
is  discharged  when  communication  takes  place  between  the 
knob  and  the  outside  coating.  This  takes  place  with  a  bright 
flash  of  light  and  a  loud  report.  The  discharge  is  usually 
effected  by  means  of  a  discharging  rod.  This  is  generally 
a  curved  brass  rod,  terminating  in  knobs,  and  provided 
with  insulating  handles.  For  medical  purposes  it  may  be 
used  as  follows : — ^A  conductor  communicates  with   the 


^S^^f^r^^  BEVIEW8.  121 


Bariew,  Feb.  1, 188S. 


inner  surface  of  the  jar,  by  means  of  the  wire  knob,  to  the 
part  to  be  electrified ;  the  outer  surface  is  then  connected 
to  the  opposite  side  of  the  part  to  be  electrified ;  a  spark  is 
produced,  and  the  neutralisation  of  the  opposite  electricities 
takes  place  through  the  part  of  the  body  between  the  two 
^conductors.  A  battery  of  Leyden  jars  is  made  by  con- 
necting a  number  of  these  jars  together.  By  this  means  a 
very  large  quantity  of  electricity  may  be  stored  up. 
This  form  is  rarely  used  for  medical  purposes. 

{To  be  continued^) 
Canterbury, 

December  24th,  1881. 


REVIEWS. 

A  Letter  to  the  Medical  Acts  Commission  on  the  Claims  of  the 
Hmnaopathic  Public  and  Homcsopathic  Physicians  to  comidera- 
lion  under  any  new  Medical  Act.  By  Dr.  William  Bayes. 
London  :  Hamilton,  Adams  &  Co. 

We  have  had  abundant  eiddence  during  the  last  few  years  of  the 
zeal  of  oar  colleague,  Dr.  Bayes,  in  the  work  of  propagating 
homoeopathy.  In  the  letter  before  us  additional  illustration  of 
his  energy  in  this  direction  is  supplied.  The  Medical  Acts 
Commission  was  appointed  some  time  back  to  collect  evidence 
regarding  the  amendments  and  additions  which  may  be  required 
in  any  new  Medical  Act,  and  to  report  them  to  the  House  of 
Commons.  Dr.  Bayes  has  endeavoured  to  take  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  thus  presented  to  press  upon  the  attention  of  the 
Commissioners  the  claims  of  all  who  are  interested  in  homoeo- 
pathy to  some  sort  of  recognition.  He  has  done  so  simply  in  his 
individual  capacity,  and  in  this  way  has  been  able  to  bring 
forward  his  own  views  without  in  the  very  least  compromising 
any  society  or  association. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  about  two  things.  First,  that  a  much 
larger  prc^ortion  of  persons  desire  skilled  homoeopalhic  treatment 
than  are  able  to  obtain  it.  And  secondly,  that  those  who  do  desire 
homoeopathic  treatment  are  entitled  to  some  better  guarantee  of 
the  competency  of  those  who  are  supposed  to  practise  homoeo- 
patbically  than  they  have  at  present.  That  both  of  these  points 
ought  to  be  considered  by  any  Commission  enquiring  into  medical 
legislation  is  incontrovertible. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Commission,  Dr.  Bayes  draws  attention  to 
these  points,  offers  certain  suggestions  as  to  the  best  means  of 
-satis^^g  the  legitimate  claims  of  homoeopathists,  and  concludes 


122  REVIEWS.       "T^jfjsnnSr 


bj  enforcing  them  by  a  brief  account  of  the  state  of  homoeopathy 
in  England,  the  organisation  of  the  London  School  of  Homoeo- 
pathy, and  the  condition  of  homoeopathy  in  the  United  States^ 
Canada,  Spain  and  France. 

The  plans  which  Dr.  Bayes  submits  to  the  Commission,  as 
those  one  or  other  of  which  would,  in  his  opinion,  meet  the 
requirements  of  homoeopathists,  are  either — 

First.  The  institution  of  a  complete  medical  school,  within 
which  the  professors  and  teachers  of  medicine  and  surgery 
should  bo  men  who  practise  homoeopathy.  This  plan  would,  we 
apprehend,  involve  also  a  new  licensing  board. 

Second.  The  appointment  of  homoeopathic  lecturers  and 
teachers  in  certain  medical  schools  or  colleges,  in  addition  to 
those  of  the  ordinary  allopathic  school.  This  will,  doubtless, 
be  adopted  in  the  future.  But  its  adoption  will  also  require  ex- 
amination in  homoeopathic  therapeutics  by  the  licensing  boards. 
Dr.  Wilks,  in  his  speech  at  the  College  of  Physicians  the  other 
day,  made  the  following  remark :  **  There  were  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  the  recognition  of  homoeopathy  of  a  practical  kind.  A 
general  practitioner,  a  licentiate  of  the  College,  who  had  been 
much  exercised  by  the  homoeopaths,  had  said  to  him,  that  if 
Fellows  of  the  College  consulted  with  such,  ho  could  sec  no 
reason  why  he  should  not ;  and  what  would  he  do  then,  supposing 
he  had  a  homoeopathic  prescription  before  him,  which  he  would 
not  know  how  to  read  ?  He  would  have  to  ask  the  College  to- 
widen  its  curriculum,  to  insist  that  homooopfithy  should  be 
taught  in  the  medical  schools,  and  that  candidates  for  the  license 
should  be  examined  in  it ;  so  that  they  might  understand  such 
things,  and  not  be  placed  in  a  dilemma  when  they  became 
practitioners."  There  is  really  no  **  practical "  difficulty  about 
the  carrying  out  of  such  a  scheme  as  this.  All  that  is  necessary 
is  that  the  College  should  exercise  a  little  common  sense,  show 
a  little  higher  degree  of  intelligence  than  they  ordinarily  display^ 
and  the  very  excellent  plan  shadowed  forth  by  Dr.  Wilks  could 
easily  become  un  fait  accompli.  So  long  as  medical  educatior 
does  not  comprise  the  study  of  homoeopathy,  it  is  imperfect ; 
and  so  long  as  an  examination  for  a  medical  diploma  does  not 
involve  an  inquiry  into  the  candidate's  knowledge  of  homoeopathy » 
it  is  inadequate. 

Dr.  Bayes'  third  plan  is  a  proposal  that  the  lectures  of 
private  lecturers  should  be  recognised  as  qualifying  students  to 
present  themselves  for  examination  before  the  central  board. 

Dr.  Bayes  has  so  completely  omitted  to  define  what  he  means 
by  a  private  lecturer,  that  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  have 
been  generally  supposed  to  have  meant  that  any  one  should, 
from  tiie  mere  fact  of  his  undertaking  to  lecture,  have  a  claim 
on  the  central  board  for  recognition  of  his  lectures.     This  we 


^^^SSrr^'  NOTABILIA.  12S 


B43viefW,  Feb.  1. 1882. 


believe  is  not  the  case ;  but  rather  that  some  snch  plan  as  thai 
recently  proposed  by  the  University  of  Edinburgh  for  ascer- 
taining the  qnalifications  of  a  man  for  the  duties  of  a  private 
lectnrer  should  be  enforced  by  a  suitable  authority.  These  new 
r^nlations  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh  were  published  in 
extenso  in  the  Medical  Press  and  Circular  of  the  21st  of  Decem- 
ber. They  are  very  comprehensive  and  would  ensure  the  fitness 
of  a  man  for  the  duties  of  private  lectnrer  as  completely  as  any- 
thing can  do.  Such  lecturers  would  be  similar  to  the  ^*  Privat- 
Doeents'*  of  a  German  University  town,  from  whom  professors 
are  generally  selected.  To  lecturers  so  appointed  no  reasonable 
objection  could  be  made.  By  ^his  means  some  movement  might 
be  effected  towards  what  Dr.  Drysdale  terms  **  recognition." 

The  whole  question  involved  in  Dr.  Bayes'  Letter  needs  dis- 
cussion ;  and  we  doubt  not  but  that,  in  bringing  tho  subject 
forward  as  he  has  done,  the  first  step  has  been  taken  towards 
securing  what  must  eventually  be  granted,  viz.,  that  the  subject 
of  homoeopathy  shall  form  a  part  of  all  medical  education,  and  a 
knowledge  of  homoeopathy  be  one  of  the  conditions  on  which  a 
diploma  is  granted. 


NOTABILIA. 


THE     RESOLUTION     OF    THE     COLLEGE     OF 

PHYSICIANS. 

The  following  clever  letter  from  Dr.  Dudgeon,  regarding  the 
resolution  we  have  discussed  at  some  length  in  our  leading 
article,  appears  in  the  Medical  Times  and  Gazette  of  the  14th 
inst. : — 

"  Tho  acknowledged  aim  and  object  of  this  resolution  was  to 
pass  a  censure  upon  those  members  of  the  profession  who 
consider  the  homoeopathic  therapeutic  rule  the  best  guide  for  tho 
selection  of  remedies  in  their  treatment  of  the  sick.  This  we 
learn  without  any  doubt  whatever  from  the  discussion  or  con- 
versation that  ensued  among  those  present  at  the  meeting.  But 
the  resolution  has  no  application  to  the  practitioners  aimed  at» 
though  it  may  perhaps  hit  some  practitioners  it  was  never 
intended  for.  Practitioners  who  have  studied  and  who  practise 
homoeopathy  in  preference  to  any  other  method,  when  they  meet 
with  cases  for  which  it  is  adapted,  neither  assume  nor  accept  the 
nickname  of  *  homoeopath '  that  has  been  bestowed  on  them, 
and  which  is  commonly  applied  to  them  for  tho  sake  of  brevity 
and  to  avoid  circumlocution ;  just  as  we  speak  of  antiseptic 
Burgeons,  meaning  those  who  commonly  adopt  the  antiseptic 
treatment,  or  as  we  call  one  who  makes  a  speciality  of  electricity; 


124  NOTABILIA.  "S^=SfWSf 


Beriew,  Feb.  1,  tSBS. 


a  ''medical  eleeiaician."  But  that  is  quite  a  different  thing 
from  trading  upon  a  particular  designation.  We  cannot  conceal 
from  our  colleagues  or  the  world  that  we  have  a  faith  in  the 
homoeopathic  method,  for  every  prescription  we  write  hetrays 
our  therapeutic  faith.  Nor  do  we  affect  any  conceahnent ;  on 
the  contrary,  we  endeavour  in  every  legitimate  way  to  convince 
our  colleagues  of  the  excellence  of  the  homoeopathic  method,  and 
we  would  justly  incur  their  censure  did  we  keep  that  method  a 
secret  to  ourselves.  And  is  not  this  precisely  what  the  hest  men 
of  the  profession  do  when  they  know  of  a  good  method  or  a  good 
remedy  ?  Did  Mr.  Lister,  or  his  predecessor  Dr.  D^lat,  keep 
the  antiseptic  method  to  himself?  On  the  contrary,  he  has  put  it 
so  persistently  before  the  profession  and  the  public,  that  the 
method  is  now  very  commonly  called  'Listerism.*  Do  those 
surgeons  who  practise  this  *  listerism '  trade  on  the  designation  ? 
Certainly  they  do  so,  quite  as  much  as  those  who  practise 
homoeopathy.  Dr.  Wilkes  is  disgusted  Uiat  a  patient  left  him 
for  another  doctor  because  the  latter  '  had  a  principle  guiding 
his  practice.*  In  like  manner  a  surgeon  who  did  not  believe  in 
antiseptic  surgery  might  feel  disgusted  at  being  abandoned  by  a 
patient  who  preferred  an  antiseptic  surgeon. 

**  The  resolution  passed  by  the  College  of  Physicians  has  thus 
completely  missed  its  aim.  If  I  were  a  Fellow,  Member,  or 
Licentiate  of  the  College,  I  could  subscribe  to  ihis  resolution 
with  perfect  good  faith,  Uiough  I  am  one  of  those  against  whom 
it  is  aimed.  I  neither  assume  nor  accept  any  other  designation 
than  that  of  '  physician,'  and  as  a  physician  I  yield  to  no  one 
in  upholding  *  those  principles  of  the  freedom  and  dignity  of  the 
profession  which  should  govern  the  relations  of  its  members  to 
each  other  and  the  public* 

The  resolution  of  the  College  applies  far  more  to  the  tribe  of 
specialists  in  the  profession  than  to  those  who  endeavour  to  give 
their  patients  the  benefit  of  the  discovery  of  Hahnemann.  The 
oculists,  aurists,  gynaecologists,  electricians,  et  hoc  genus  omnef 
trade  upon  their  designations  much  more  than  we  do.  They, 
of  all  members  of  the  profession,  have  a  right  to  complain  of  the 
milk-and-water  resolution  of  the  College.  '  Our  withers  are 
unwmng ; '  the  resolution  does  not  affect  us. 

''  Why  did  not  the  College  adopt  Dr.  Buckniirs  amendment  ? 
That  at  least  went  to  the  root  of  the  matter.  In  declaring  that 
'  no  competent  medical  man  can  honestly  practise  the  homoeo- 
pathic system,*  it  spoke  out  the  sentiments  of  the  great  majority 
of  the  profession.  But  there  were  some  objections  to  passing 
such  an  amendment.  It  so  happens  that  a  goodly  number  of 
the  members  or  licentiates  of  the  College  consider  ^e  homoeo- 
pathic to  be  the  best  therapeutic  rule  out,  and  practise 
accordingly.    To  doubt  the  competency  of  those  the  College  had 


SSS^^STS^  NOTABILU.  125 


B6fl9W*  SW>.  If  188S. 


admitted  into  its  bosom  after  testing  them  by  examination^ 
would  have  been  to  condemn  themselves ;  and  to  accuse  them  of 
dishonesty  might  have  been  to  bring  themselves  within  measure- 
able  distance  of  an  action  for  libel.  The  condemnation  to  a 
heavy  fine  of  several  German  doctors  who  lately  indulged  in 
similar  imputations  on  their  colleagues  who  practised  '  tiie  so- 
called  homoeopathic  system  *  was  not  very  encouraging  to  those 
who  wished  to  impugn  the  honesty  of  certain  of  their  colleagues. 
So  Dr.  Bucknill's  amendment  was  dropped  hastily  like  a  hot 
potato. 

**  As  for  consultations  between  those  who  know  and  use  the 
homoeopathic  method  and  those  who  do  not,  I  quite  agree  with 
Sir  W.  Jenner  that  they  are  to  be  deprecated.  Like  hun,  *  I  go 
to  do  the  patient  good,  to  ease  or  prolong  his  life,'  and  I  ehoidd 
be  very  unwilling  to  relinquish  what  I  hold  to  be  the  better 
treatment  in  order  to  adopt  what  I  consider  the  worse.  I  do  not 
admit  that  Sir  W.  Jenner  has  any  monopoly  of  the  wish  to  do  the 
patient  good,  but  if  his  good  wishes  are  never  disappointed,  if 
the  patient  about  whom  he  is  consulted  is  never  rather  the  worse- 
than  the  better  for  his  advice,  then  he  is  a  much  more  successful 
consultant  than  any  I  have  yet  heard  of.*' 

To  the  Lancet  of  the  same  date,  Dr.  Dudgeon  sent  the 
following  communication,  which  appears  in  the  correspondence 
columns  of  that  journal. 

**  The  resolution  passed  unanimously  by  the  members  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Physicians  at  their  meeting  on  the  27th  ult.  is 
one  that  will  meet  ihe  approbation  of  almost  all  practitioners 
who  think  with  me  that  the  therapeutic  law  discovered  by 
HftlinATKiftTin  is  the  best  that  has  yet  been  revealed  for  our 
guidance  in  practice.  We — that  is,  those  who  think  as  I  do  on 
therapeutic  matters — ^as  a  rule  neither  assume  nor  accept  any 
designation  implying  the  adoption  of  a  special  mode  of  treat- 
ment, and  indeed  most  of  us  have  protested  in  our  published 
writings  against  the  habit  that  prevails  among  our  colleagues 
and  the  public  of  giving  us  designations  of  this  character.  Still 
we  do  not  hesitate  to  express  our  belief  on  any  opportunity  that 
the  homoeopathic  therapeutic  rule  is  the  best,  some  say  the  only 
real  therapeutic  rule  that  medicine  can  offer,  and  we  do  our  best 
to  impress  our  views  on  the  medical  profession.  We  have  cer- 
tainly our  homoeopathic  societies,  for  it  is  a  necessity  with  us  to 
meet  and  discuss  subjects  connected  with  homoeopathy,  and  such 
subjects  are  not  allowed  to  be  discussed  in  the  ordinary  medical 
societies.  We  have  our  special  periodicals,  for  the  same  reason. 
But  we  assume  no  such  designation  as  that  the  College  of 
Physicians  objects  to,  and,  like  the  College,  we  scorn  those  who 
trade  on  such  designations.     For  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  allow 


126  NOTABIUA.  "'S!!^=S5fT?S' 


Review,  Feb.  1, 1888. 


onr  adversaries  in  discussing  therapentic  subjects  to  speak  of  us 
who  practise  homoeopathy,  when  the  case  seems  to  admit  of  it,  as 
*  homoeopaths ; '  but  we  do  not  put  this  name  on  our  cards,  our 
door-plates,  or  the  books  we  write. 

*'  As  regards  consultations  with  those  who  think  differentlj 
from  us  on  therapeutic  matters,  we  hold  them  to  ba  absurd,  and 
quite  agree  with  Sir  W.  Jenner,  that  as  they  can  be  of  no  use  to 
ike  patient,  they  should  not  be  held.  It  may  be  different  with 
respect  to  consultations  for  purposes  of  diagnosis,  and  as  such 
consultations  may  be  of  use  to  the  patient,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  there  would  be  any  insuperable  differences  of 
opinion  between  the  consultants,  we  do  not  see  why  they  should 
not  take  place  if  wished  by  patients. 

*'  It  was  well  the  college  did  not  adopt  Dr.  Bucknill's  amend- 
ment, impeaching  the  honesty  of  those  who  practise  homoeo- 
pathy, for  that  would  have  been  to  calumniate  all  those  members 
and  Ucentiates  of  the  College  who  have  adopted  the  homoeopathic 
method  firom  conviction. 

'*  I  rejoice  to  think  that  the  meeting  of  the  College,  which  was 
expected  to  pass  a  severe  censure  on  those  who  take  the  liberty 
to  think  for  themselves  and  to  practise  the  system  they  tliink 
best  for  their  patients,  has  resulted  in  the  passing  of  a  resolution 
to  which  we  can  all  cordially  subscribe.'' 

Dr.  Bayes,  who  is  an  extra-licentiate  of  the  College,  has 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  Dr.  Wilks,  the  Senior  Censor, 
who  moved  the  resolution  in  question :— • 

Utk  January,  1882. 

88,  Lansdowne  Place, 
Brighton. 

Deab  Sir — Thanks  for  your  note.  I  have  carefully  read  the 
report  of  your  speech,  to  which  I  feel  it  will  be  needfdl  to  reply 
more  fully  hereafter.  It  seems  to  me  altogether  an  anachronism 
that  a  body  of  educated  men  should  bind  themselves  together  in 
an  endeavour  to  fetter  thought  and  to  impose  penalties  on  men 
equally  educated,  whose  only  difference  from  themselves  lies  in 
a  question  of  therapeutics. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  attempt  to  avoid  this  point  on  the  pretence 
that  your  resolution  is  aimed  at  a^  *'  special  treatment,*'  or  at 
the  '*  avowal  '*  of  any  *'  special  treatment." 

It  is  useless  to  gloss  over  the  real  question  at  issue.  It  is  an 
attempt  to  justify  the  refusal  by  Sir  William  Jenner  to  meet 
Dr.  I^dd  in  the  case  of  the  late  £arl  of  Beaconsfield. 

The  true  point  is,  whether  the  Medical  Profession  is  to  be 
governed  by  laws  made  by  Parliament  or  by  bye-laws  enforced  by 
an  arbitrary  body  of  Fellows,  which  laws  are  made  in  private  con- 


l^™',grnS2?^  NOTABILIA.  127 


Beview,  Feb.  1, 1H82. 


«lavey  to  over-ride  by  organised  attempts  the  Jree  will  and  judg- 
ment of  the  individual  members  of  the  medical  profession,  and 
to  impose  restrictions  upon  them  which  are  contrary  to  the 
whole  spirit  of  the  XXIQ  and  other  clauses  of  the  Medical  Act. 

I  thmk  you  will  soe,  upon  reflection,  the  inconsbtency  in  a 
Boyal  (Chartered)  College,  in  thus  attempting  to  deprive  its 
members  of  the  liberty  given  to  them  by  Parliamentary  Law ; 
which  liberty  is  essential  to  the  true  progress  of  medical  science. 

All  other  issues  arc  futile,  and,  I  may  say,  short-sighted. 

Your  resolution  of  December  the  27th  may  show  the  necessity 
of  surrounding  medical  freedom,  in  science,  with  further  guaran- 
tees under  the  proposed  New  Medical  Act,  and  so  far  may  do 
real  service ;  but  that  is  all. 

I  forward  you  a  letter  I  have  written  to  the  Medical  Commis- 
sioners, and  i  you  give  fair  and  full  consideration  to  the  subject, 
you  will,  I  hope,  admit  that  a  system  of  medicine  numbering 
among  its  adherents  in  England  and  in  other  countries,  especially 
in  America,  so  many  medical  supporters,  cannot  be  put  aside  as 
a  quackery ;  nor  can  the  term  **  dishonest ''  be  applied  by  '*  tjen- 
Uemen  '*  to  professional  brethren  who  only  differ  from  themselves 
in  a  point  of  therapeutic  belief. 

I  practised  the  first  thirteen  years  of  my  professional  Hfe 
(after  becoming  legally  qualified)  on  the  ordinary  lines  ;  circum- 
stances drew  my  attention  to  the  greater  curative  power  of 
Hahnemann's  method,  and  after  careM  experiment  I  adopted  it. 
This  is  now  twenty-five  years  since,  and  in  spite  of  all  the 
obstacles  and  unpleasantnesses  thrown  in  my  way  by  the  kind 
of  opposition  I  have  met  with,  both  socially  and  medically,  I 
have  never  once  seen  cause  to  regret  my  adoption  of  tiie 
Homoiopathic  system  of  therapeutics. 

I  fully  beheve  in  thus  acting  I  was  carrying  out  the  highest 
duty  of  my  profession,  as  embodied  in  the  words  contained  in 
the  first  proposition  in  Hahnemann's  Organon  of  Medicine. 

''  The  physician's  high  and  only  mission  is  to  restore  the  sick 
to  health  ;  to  cure,  as  it  is  termed." 

In  following  out  this  direction  I  believe  I  have  fulfilled  the 
promise  which  I  gave  both  to  the  College  of  Physicians,  and  to 
the  British  Homoeopathic  Society,  to  do  my  uttermost  to  uphold 
the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  profession. 

Whether  I  am  mistaken  or  not  in  my  readings  of  foists,  and  in 
my  deductions,  I  claim  at  least  as  great  a  love  and  reverence  for 
the  duties  of  a  physician  as  any  man,  and  I  protest  earnestly 
against  any  attempt  to  coerce  the  liberty  of  the  scientific 
physician,  whether  by  the  silken  thread  of  resolutions  such  as 
yours,  or  by  the  vxdgar  cart-rope  which  so  long  bound  the 
members  of  the  enslaved  British  Medical  Association. 

In  establishing  a  School  of  Homoeopathy  and  a  Homoeopathic 


128  NOTABILIA.  "S^=Sr?'?Sl5? 


Beview,  Feb.  1, 1882. 


Hospital  I  believe  we  are  doing  our  best  to  winnow  out  any 
errors  which  may  have  existed  or  may  exist.  Those  institutions 
are  open  to  the  whole  profession,  and  they  both  shall  have  my 
warmest  support  till  they  have  completed  the  estabhshment  of 
Truth  and  the  exposure  of  Error.  In  either  result  you  and 
other  earnest  physicians  ought  to  help  us  forward.  For  myself 
and  my  colleagues  I  claim  that  we  are  acting  as  scientific 
physicians  should  do,  and  using  the  liberty  granted  us  by 
the  law  of  England,  which  you  and  some  others  are  attempting 
to  deprive  us  of. 

Yours  faithfully, 


(Signed)  William  Bates. 


BIRMINGHAM  HOMCEOPATHIC  HOSPITAL. 

We  have  heard  with  much  pleasure  that  at  a  meeting  of  ike- 
trustees  of  the  WiUiam  Dudley  charity,  held  at  Birmingham,  on 
December  28rd,  for  the  purpose  of  distributing  their  surplus 
income  in  Christmas  gifts  to  charitable  institutions— out  of  the 
J6500  thus  awarded,  a  sum  of  JS200  was  devoted  to  the  Homoeo- 
pathic Hospital. 

From  a  notice  of  the  hospital  given  in  the  Birmingham  Daily 
Post,  we  learn  that  during  1880,  24,000  patients  were  received^ 
being  an  increase  of  4,000  over  1879.  This  newspaper  adds 
that  '*  in  giving  £200  to  the  Homoeopathic  Hospital,  the  trustees 
have  only  looked  to  the  simple  fact  tiiat  that  hospital  is  engaged 
in  a  good  work,  and  one — apparently  from  the  number  of  patients 
applying  for  relief — of  considerable  importance  to  the  town,  and 
that  it  is,  therefore,  entitled  in  its  turn  to  share  in  the  benefits 
of  the  charity.'* 


THE  MOVEMENT  CURE. 

On  Thursday,  the  19th  ult.,  Dr.  Both  gave  a  demonstration  of 
the  method  of  treatment  known  as  the  Movement  Cure,  or  Ling's 
System,  to  the  members  of  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society  and 
some  other  medical  friends. 

Dr.  Both  commenced  the  proceedings  by  a  short  sketch  of  the 
career  of  Ling,  who  developed  the  method.  He  then  described 
the  various  gymnastics  of  Ling  as  divisible  into  Educational, 
Military,  Esthetic  and  Medical,  The  various  kinds  of  move- 
ments and  of  nuusags  were  detailed,  and  the  limited  amount  of 
machinery  used  was  shown.  In  exhibiting  the  kinds  of  move- 
ments Dr.  Both  had  the  aid  of  two  assistants.    He  concluded  a 


NOTABUiU. 


129 


most  interantifig  leeiore  by  poiiilbg  oat  the  physiological  effects 
of  the  yarioas  movemente,  including  those  of  the  mauage, 

A  hearty  vote  of  thanks,  proposed  by  the  President  of  the 
British  Honueopathic  Society,  seconded  by  Br.  Dudgeon  (V.  P.) 
terminated  the  proceedings,  after  which  Dr.  Both  hospitably 
entertained  his  Mends  at  a  sapper. 

LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 


Lest  of  Sabsciiptions 
HonuBopaihy,  reeeiyed 
1882:— 


in  sapport  of  the  London  School  of 
or  promised,  to  date,  14th  January, 


£ 

8. 

d. 

Dr.  Hayward • 

5 

6 

0 

lliaB  Hodgskins    .. 

1 

0 

Dr.  Baynes     

1 

0 

W.  Bevan,  Esq.     ... 

8 

0 

Bev.  8.  Hildywd  .:. 

1 

0 

Wx  G.  MiUeU     ... 

2 

0 

IGss  H.  A.  Pearson 

1 

0 

Dr.  C.  L.  Tuck«y  ... 

1 

0 

Mr.  Walbancke  Ghilders 

1 

0 

Dr.  Bxyee       

6 

0 

liajor  Morgan 

8 

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Dr.  Dixon       

1 

0 

Mr.  A.  E.  E.  Baker 

1 

0 

Ber.B.K.  Elliott... 

1 

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Bey.  B.  H.  Gobbold 

1 

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1 

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Mr.  J.  Harper 

1 

0 

Mrs.  H.  Boaher     ... 

1 

0 

Miss  Boaher 

1 

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O.  Bosher,  Esq.    ... 

5 

5 

0 

Alfred  Boaher,  Baq. 

1 

1 

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£ 

8. 

d. 

F.  Boaher,  Esq.     ... 

•«• 

2 

2 

0 

Dr.  Madden    

... 

1 

1 

0 

G.  Wingfield-Digby,  Esq. 

2  10 

0 

IGss  Barton   

1 

1 

0 

Dr.  Matheaon 

2 

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0 

Mr.  Wybom 

2 

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Dr.  Holland   

1 

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Dr.  Bayea       

8 

8 

0 

Dr.  Bnmett    

2 

2 

0 

Dr.  Dyoe  Brown    . . . 

2 

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Dr.  Pope 

2 

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Dr.  J.  G.  Blaokley... 

1 

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Dr.  J.  Boche 

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T.  Moilliet,  Eaq.    ... 

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A.  B.  Pite,  Eaq.     ... 

... 
i 

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^9 

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SOGI£t£  FEANOAISE  D'HYGIENE. 

CompOiJtMnifor  1882. 

I. — ^Hygiene  akdPhtsical  Education  of  Childben  fbom  6  to  12 

YEABS  OLD. 

Home  life,  school  life,  country  life,  and  life  in  the  workshop 
to  be  discnesed  separately. 

n. — ^PiBaoNAii  AMD  Domestic  GuBAiajNBas. 
A  stady  of  personal  and  domestic  cleanliness  of  rich  and  poor 
of  both  sexes  and  all  ages,  in  town  and  country. 

O&neral  BuIsb  applying  to  both  CampetUums. 
1. — The  essays  not  to  exceed  80  to  40  pages  of  printed  matter 

in  12mo. 
2. — ^The  essays  to  be  sent,  distingoished  only  by  a  motto,  to  the. 
office  of  the  Society,  **  80,  Bue  du  Dragon,''  before  Sep- 
tember 1st,   1882.      (Candidates  who  make  tbemselves' 
Imo^fn  in  any  way  will  be  excluded  from  the  c<mipetitions}» 


TeL  26,  No.  2. 


180  HOTABOLU  iSlRfSSTiS 


8* — The  sofieessiiil  eaMys  beeome  liw  pioparty  (tf  tte  Soeiety, 

and  inll  be  pnbtighed  either  m  «rtfiuo,  or  in  a&  abridged  Ibnn, 

the  names  of  alisnecesflfiileoiiipetilontobeinthetEyepage 

of  the  published  pamphlet,  ndueh  wili  be  Ingelj  eiiviilated. 

The  aboTe  are  two  dirtinet  oompetitkms,  in  each  of  idiieh  a 

gold,  silver,  and  two  bronze  medate  are  offend. 

Puis,  15th  December,  1881. 

NOTTINGHAMSHmE  HOMCEOPATHIC  INSTTrUTION. 

Wb  have  reodyed  a  report  of  the  above  nseliil  institotion  from 
Dr.  Stanust  Wiij>b.  Considering  the  small  nnmber  of  sob- 
seiibeni.  Dr.  Bbadsha.w  and  his  coUeagae  are  to  be  congratulated 
on  the  large  nnmber  of  patients  who  have  availed  themselves  of 
the  dispensaxy  during  the  past  year,  no  less  than  1,084  having 
presented  themselves  for  treatment ;  the  nnmber  of  attendances 
being  9,245.  These  figures  are  no  mean  total  for  an  institution 
irfaose  honoraiy  snbsoriptions  only  amonnted  to  abont  £30  for 
the  year. 

Dr.  Bradshaw  having  retired  from  practice,  the  work  of  the 
dispensary  has  now  devolved  on  his  successor,  Dr.  Stanley 
Wilde,  to  whom  we  wish  as  suecessfiil  a  career  as  his  honoured 
predecessor. 

It  must  be  gratifying,  indeed,  to  Dr.  Bradshaw  to  know  that 
**  he  has  carried  away  with  him  in  his  retirement  the  regrets  and 
hearty  good  wishes  of  all  who  were  in  any  way  associated  with 
him  in  his  long  career  of  practice  in  Nottingham ;  and  none 
have  been  more  earnest  in  their  expressions  of  gratitude  and 
regard  than  the  poor  attending  tins  institution,  between  whom 
and  Dr.  Bradshaw  a  sincere  and  mutual  attachment  existed." 

The  report  draws  the  attention  of  local  scoffers  to  the  number  of 
patients  attending  the  dispensary,  asking  whether  "  patients  would 
attend  in  such  numbers  i  they  derived  no  benefit  tiierefrom  ?  " 

We  trust  that  this  institution  will  continue  to  flourish  in  the 
future,  and  that  the  next  report  may  show  a  still  frirther  increase 
in  its  already  very  creditable  number  of  patients. 

BEmSH  HOMCEOPATHIO   SOdfiTY. 

Thb  Fifth  Ordinazy  Meeting  of  the  present  session  will  be  held 
on  Thursday,  February  2nd,  1882,  at  Seven  o'doek. 

A  paper  will  be  read  by  Dr.  Hayward,  of  Liverpool,  entitled, 
«The  Dose  of  Crotdlui  Venom, ^ — ^Toxieologioal,  Pathogenetic 
and  Therapeutic." 

Of  this  contribution  the  following  abstract  has  been  printed,  in 
order  to  facilitate  discussion : — 

"  That  some  of  the  pathogenetic  effeets  are  €Am>luU  and  can 
be  produoed  at  will ;  otiiera  are  only  conUnffmt^  and  can  be  pro- 
dueed  only  in  eome  persons.  That  the  different  kinds  (tf  absolute 


^SSS^^HnSS^        COEKBSPOHDENOB.  181 


IBeflsWf  iFsb.  It  IflBS. 


symptoms  ean  be  produced  by  different  doses,  but  caainot  be 
produced  by  iufimtesinial  doses.  The  same  facts  as  to  some 
other  drugs.  That  contingent  effects  may  be  developed  by  any 
dose,  eren  infinitesimal :  thai  they  bear  no  relationship  to  the 
size  of  the  dose,  but  depend  upon  the  presence  of  <  special 
susceptibility.'  Illustrations  from  other  drags.  Special  suscep- 
tibility. Distinction  of  symptoms  into  absolute  and  contingent, 
vide  Dr.  Drysdale,  in  B.  J.  H.  zxvi.,  p.  76. 

**  That  the  above  facts  in  pathogenesy  may  be  used  as  keys  to 

*  the  dose '  in  therapeutics  That  contingent  symptoms  are  the 
sphere  of  infinitesimal  doses ;  that  they  can  be  cured  by  any  and 
every  dose;  there  being  no  quantitative  relationship  here  between 
dose  and  cure.  Contingent  symptoms  are  the  most  important 
of  all  symptoms  in  a  therapeutic  point  of  view,  furnishing  the 

*  characteristics '  in  diseases  and  in  pathogenetics.  That  special 
susceptibility  is  furnished  by  the  natural  state  of  the  organism 
in  pa&ogenetics,  but  is  induced  by  the  disease  in  therapeutics. 

**  That  there  is  danger  of  breaking  up  the  particles  of  the 
irenom  by  continued  dilution,  and  that  the  extent  of  attenuation 
should  be  limited  by  the  twelfth  centesimal.  That  there  is 
quantitative  relationship  between  dose  and  cure  in  absolute 
symptoms.  That  the  sixth  centesimal  should  be  used  for  the 
contingent  symptoms,  and  the  lower  for  the  absolute.  lUustra- 
tions  with  other  drugs." 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

DR.  FRANKLIN  ON  HYDROCOTYLE. 
To  the  Editors  of  the  **  Monthly  Homaopathie  Beview.** 
OsHTiiXicEM, — ^In  the  paper  of  Dr.  Franklin's,  which  you  have 
reprinted  in  your  last  issue,  there  is  a  grave  error,  which  I  ask 
jour  permission  to  correct.  It  is  the  statement  that  Dr. 
Boileau's  cases,  reported  as  cured  by  hydrocotyle^  were  of  lupus, 
whereas  they  were  really  of  elephantiasis,  as  a  reference  to 
Dr.  Audouit's  monograph  on  the  drug  will  show.  The  mistake 
originated  with  Dr.  Hehnuth,*  and  was  pointed  out  in  a  note  to 
the  article  on  hydroeotyle  in  the  fourth  edition  of  my  Pharmaeo- 
dynamics.  I  also  called  Dr.  Franklin's  attention  to  it,  on  the 
appearance  of  his  article  in  the  New  York  Medical  Times^  in  a 
inivaie  letter.    It  should  not  go  any  farther. 

I  fear,  however,  that  the  con^Bction  will  not  do  much  to 
advance  our  knowledge  of  the  treatment  of  elephantiasis  itself, 
as  Dr.  Bofleau  could  not,  in  spite  of  his  hydroeotyle^  avert  his 
own  death  firom  this  very  disease. 

I  am,  Gtontiemen, 

Faithfully  yours, 

Brighton,  Jan.  18, 1882.  Riohabd  Huobbs. 

—  -  ^— ^^^^^^— ^^— ^— ^. 

*  System  of  Surgery^  4th  Ed.,  p.  1861. 

s-8 


182  COBEEBPOHDENTS.        "SrtSir^^ifwSu 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 


«%  We  cannot  und&rtake  to  return  r^eeted  mannuenptt. 

GoBBSOTXON. — ^We  have  been  Teqaested  by  Dr.  Both  to  state  that  the 
pxiie  offered  for  the  best  essay  on  the  Stady  of  the  Causes  of  Blindness 
is  to  be  given  not  as  our  paxagraph  might  lead  people  to  suppose,  by 
Dr.  Both  himself,  bnt  by  the  Society  far  the  Prevention  of  Blin^iess,  of 
whioh  he  is  (pro  tern,)  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

Commnnioations  have  been  received  from  Dr.  Both,  Dr.  Goopsb, 
Dr.  BulCXlst,  Dr.  Clabk,  Captain  Mazoocx,  Mr.  Chakbb6  (London)  ^ 
Dr.  Bates,  Dr.  Hughes  (Brighton);  Dr.  Hakhaii  Smith  (Bamsgate); 
Dr.  Batnbs  (Canterbury),  &c. 


BOOKS  RECEIVED. 


Chronic  Sore  Throat,  Second  edition.  By  E.  B.  Sholdham,  MJ), 
London.    Gould  Sb  Son. 

Ophthalmic  Therapeutict,  By  Dr.  Norton.  NewTork.  Boericke  <fi;  TaleL 

The  Ophthalmoicope,  lU  Theory  and  JPractUal  XJeea.  ByC.H.  Yilas, 
M.A.,  M  J).    Chicago.    Duncan  Bros. 

Visiting  Li$t  and  Prescribing  Record.    Otis  Clapp  k,  Son.    Boston. 

British  Journal  of  Hofnotopathy, 

Dublin  Journal  of  Medical  Science, 

The  Honusopaihic  World. 

The  StudenVi  Journal  and  Hospital  0€U$tte. 

The  Midland  Medical  MisceUany. 

The  Medical  News  and  Collegiate  Herald. 

Burgoyne*e  Mag<uine  of  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry, 

The  New  York  Medical  Times. 

The  Medical  Advance. 

Medical  Press  and  Cireular.    Jan.  18. 

The  United  States  Medical  Investigator. 

The  American  Observer. 

The  Medical  Counsellor. 

The  HomcBopathie  Physician. 

The  Hahnemannian  Monthly. 

Martin's  Chemist  and  Druggisi's  BulUtim,    New  Totk. 

Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  Med,  Homaopathique  de  France. 

BihUothi^ue  Homcsopathique. 

Bevue  HommopaMque  Beige. 

AUgemeine  Horn. 

El  Criteria  Medica. 

Bolletino  Clinico. 


Papers,  Dispensary  Beports,  and  Books  for  Bevisw  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pope,  81,  Heniietto  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  W. ;  Dr.  D.  Dtcs 
BmowK,  S9,  Seymour  Street,  Portman  Square,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  Ebkkbdt, 
16,  Montpelier  Bow,  BlacUieath,  S.B.  Advertisements  and  Business 
oommunicatioiui  to  be  sent  to  Messn.  E.  Gould  &  Boh,  69,  Moorgata 
6trset>£.a 


ISlSa^^ul^      KBW  MEDICAL  BILL.  183 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMGEOPATHIC    REYIEW- 


HOMOEOPATHY  AND  THE  NEW  MEDICAL  BHiL. 

It  is  expected  that,  dnring  the  present  session  of  Parlia- 
menty  after  the  more  argent  business  has  been  disposed  of, 
a  new  Medical  Bill  will  be  introduced.  The  Medical  Acts 
Commission,  which  was  appointed  to  take  evidence  on 
various  points  on  which  there  was  difference  of  opinion,  has 
concluded  its  sittings,  and  sent  in  its  report  to  Parlia- 
ment. 

Keeping  in  recollection  how  vitally  important  were  the 
provisions  for  the  protection  of  homoeopaths  in  the  Act 
which  is  at  present  in  force,  and  that  they  were  only  intro- 
duced by  members  of  both  Houses  in  the  interests  of  homoeo- 
pathy, and  after  this  Bill  had  been  drawn  out  by  men  acting 
in  the  interests  of  the  old  school,  it  behoves  practitioners 
of  homoeopathy,  and  the  public  who  so  largely  avail  them- 
selves of  this  enlightened  and  scientific  mode  of  treat- 
ment, to  consider,  at  the  present  juncture,  what  ought  to  be 
the  course  adopted  in  regard  to  the  new  Bill. 

The  general  opinion,  we  apprehend,  will  be  that  we 

ought  to  stand  on  the  defensive.    One  mode  of  so  doing 

will  be,  we  &ncy,  advocated  by  some  of  our  body,  namely, 

to  sit  still,  and  let  those  of  the  old  school  who  manage 

Vol.  26.  No.  8.  L 


134  NEW  MEDICAL  BILL.     ^^^^gXlflSSr 

the  Bill  and  pull  the  wires  do  as  they  like,  and  only  inter- 
fere when  anything  subversive  of  the  interests  of  homoeo- 
pathy is  proposed,  when,  perhaps,  it  may  be  too  late  to- 
prevent  mischievous  legislation.  This  is  not  what  we, 
however,  understand  by  remaining  on  the  defensive.  It  is 
simply  putting  off  our  uniform,  and  going  to  sleep.  What 
every  one  means  in  war  by  acting  on  the  defensive  is 
standing  in  a  strong  position,  fully  armed,  and  fortifying 
the  camp  ready  to  meet  any  attack.  We  have  to  make 
sure  that  we  take  every  means  in  our  power  to  hold  and 
keep  .the  position  we  now  have,  and  strengthen  it  in  every 
possible  way.  We  are  so  assailed  on  eveiy  side  that  unless 
our  defensive  position  is  a  fully  armed  one,  we  must  be 
crushed  out.  One  wing  of  the  opposing  army  attacks  us 
by  telling  the  public  and  ourselves  that  our  chief  cusiu 
hdli  is  an  ethical  one,  that  while  our  principle  is  not  ob- 
jectionable in  itself,  we  hold  to  the  name  *'  homoeopathy  " 
and  use  it  for  ''  trade  purposes."  A  second  battalion  assails 
us  by  asserting  that  our  principle  is  no  principle  at  all,. 
but  unscientific,  and,  in  fact,  nonsense.  On  a  third  side 
we  are  told  that  our  doses  are  absurd  and  useless,  and 
that  our  system  is,  therefore,  only  quackery;  while  a 
fourth  wing,  the  most  dangerous  of  all,  make  use  of  our 
principles  and  our  medicines,  while  they  ignore  us  altor 
gether,  and,  still  worse,  ignore  the  great  founder  of  homoe- 
opathy and  his  diBcoveries.  These  sharpshooters  infomn 
the  public  that  there  is  now  no  difference  between  allopathy 
and  homoeopathy,  and,  in  fact,  that  homoeopathy  does  not 
now  exist. 

Between  these  cross  fires  we  have  difficulty  in  holding 
our  own.  Spies  in  the  camp  hold  out  the  bribe  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes  of  the  old  school  as  an  inducement  to 
lower  the  flag  and  drop  the  name  of  homoeopathy*  To  act 
on  the  defensive  in  suoh  circumstances  means  the  assump* 


aUS^SSHi^.       »BW  MEBICAE  BILL.  186 

I 

tioB  of  a  folly  armed  and  fortified  pogition^  maintained 
ocoasionally  by  sorties  into  the  enemy's  camp.  To  drop 
metflfphor  we  must,  in  the  first  plaoe,  resoWe  to  maintain 
the  honoured  name  of  homoBopatby.  We  all  agree  to  fight 
for  the  principle  and  the  liberty  to  practise  homceopathy, 
bnt  we  cannot  too  dearly  make  it  understood  that  the 
pmctiee  of  the  homodopath  is  essentially  different  from 
that  of  the  old  school,  and  that  while  this  differatoe  exists, 
as  it  most  do  nntil  our  prindples  and  practice  become 
not  only  generally  adopted,  bnt  adopted  openly  and  with 
foil  recognition  of  the  correctness  of  both,  there  mast  be  a 
name  to  distinguish  the  one  practice  from  the  other.  No 
better  word  than  the  time-honoured  one  of  "  homoeopathy*' 
has  ever  been  suggested.  We,  therefore,  must  retain  it, 
and  call  ourselves  homoeopaths,  glorying  in  the  name,  as 
indicating  our  belief  that  we  have  found  the  most  im- 
portant guide  in  the  labyrinth  of  disease  ever  discovered, 
and  that,  till  it  is  universally  recognised,  it  is  an  honour 
to  be  the  custodians  of  a  great  truth,  and  not  even  to  seem 
to  be  ashamed  of  the  word  descriptive  of  it. 

Next,  we  must  strengthen  our  defensive  position  by 
letting  it  be  as  widely  known  as  possible  what  homoeopathy 
really  consists  of,  and  how  different  it  is  to  that  which  our 
opponents  choose  to  describe  as  such.  Besides  maintain- 
ing our  journals,  hospitals,  and  dispensaries,  we  must  keep 
up  the  School  as  a  place  where  those  who  wish  to  inquire 
into  the  subject  can  have  information  given  to  them,  not 
only  as  to  what  homoeopathy  means,  but  how  to  practise  it. 

Such,  we  apprehend,  is  the  general  feeling  as  to  how  we 
should  conduct  ourselves  at  the  present  juncture  ;  and  to 
give  as  clear  a  notion  as  possible  of  this,  our  defensive 
position,  to  the  Legislature,  it  was  proposed  by  Dr.  Bates, 
who  is  always  in  the  front  in  energy  and  activity  when  an 
ofvportxBitty  offers  of  aiding  the  cause  of  homoeopathy,  to 

L-2 


186  HBW  MEDICAL  BIJJ,.     SS^SS^^^ 

send  ft  petttion  to  Parliament,  to  be  signed  hy  the  membra 
of  the  profession  praotiaing  homceopathically,  &nd  hy  those 
of  the  laify  interested  in  the  spread  of  this  benign  system. 
The  form  he  drew  out  was  sabmitted  to  a  meeting  of 
medical  men,  and,  with  some  modifications,  adopted  as 
expressing  the  views  and  wishes  of  the  new  Bobool.  This 
petition  will  be  sent  to  all  practitioners  of  homueopatby  for 
their  approval  and  signature.  The  points  taken  ap  in  the 
petition  are  the  logical  sequence  of  a  determination  to 
maintain  the  armed  defensive  position  we  have  described. 

The  preamble  states  that  onr  claims  deserve  serions 
consideration  in  the  new  Bill. 

The  first  clause  of  the  petition  prays  that  the  clanses  of 
the  Act  of  1868,  which  protected  the  student  holding 
homoeopathic  beliefs  from  being  rejected  in  his  examination 
on  that  account,  be  continued :  and  that,  in  addition,  the 
right  to  teach  such  views  be  permitted  without  fear  of 
refusal  of  recognition  by  the  Medical  Council  on  that 
score. 

2.  That  it  be  made  illegal  to  exclude  any  man  from  the 
stafi*  of  a  hospital  or  dispensary,  or  a  professorial  chair,  on 
account  of  his  holding  homceopathic  beliefs. 

3.  That  it  be  made  illegal  for  any  medical  corporation  to 
pass  laws,  or  bye-laws,  advising  its  members  to  refuse  to 
consult  with  homceopaths,  aa  such,  or  to  attempt  to  enforce 
any  penalties  on  their  members  for  so  doing.  In  other 
words,  to  prevent  medical  "  boycotting." 

That  fnU  liberty  of  thought  and  action  shall  be 
litted  in  the  practice  of  the  profesmon,  and  that 
binations  to  prevent  this  be  rendered  illegal. 

That  in  the  Medical  Council  faomteopathy -be  full; 
i^ented. 

That  in  order  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  London 


i£SS?'&Tm1!     new  medical  bill.  187 

School    of   HomcBopathy,  a  charter  of  incorporation  be 
graniecL 

7*  That  this  School  should  be  empowered  to  grant  to 
those  stadents  who  satisfactorily  pass  an  examination  in 
homoeopathy  a  diploma  or  certificate  of  such  knowledge, 
to  be  called  the  ''  L.H."  or  Licentiate  in  HomoBopathy. 

Lastly,  that  provision  be  made  for  the  establishment  of 
new  schools  of  medicine,  which  are  not  to  be  refused  recog- 
nition on  account  of  theories  of  practice  being  there  taught 
other  than  those  at  present  taught  in  the  schools. 

Such  claims  of  the  petition  seem  to  us  to  be  only  the 
logical  and    practical  outcome  of  our   determination  to 
hold  our  ground,  and  not  to  be  snuffed  out  or  absorbed  in 
any  new  Medical  Bill.     The  only  point  in  which  there  may 
be  a  difference  of  opinion,  will,  we  fiemcy,  be  the  appli- 
cation to    empower    the   School  to  grant  the   ^'L.H." 
diploma.    We  may  be  told  that  this  tends  to  the  keeping 
up  of  the  sectarian  position  of  homoeopathy,  or  putting  it 
into  this  position.    Now,  a  litUe  consideration  will  show 
that  such  is  not  the  case.    It  is  not  proposed  to  give  this 
as  a  license  to  practise.    On  the  contrary,  it  is  not  to  be 
granted  to  any  one  who  is  not  legally  qualified  to  practice. 
It  is  simply  a  tangible   assurance  of   the  knowledge  of 
homcBopathy  on  the  part  of  any  one  who  professes  to  prac- 
tise on  this  method — ^merely  the  official  stamp  of  study  and 
necessary  training,  while  it  protects  the  public  from  being 
taken  in  by  a  man  who,  from  any  motive,  professes  to  prac- 
tise a  system  of  which  he  knows  nothing.     Those  who 
already  practise  homoeopathy  are  well  aware  of  the  amount 
of  study  required  to  do  so  satisfactorily,  and  that  it  can  not 
be  taken  up  by  any  novice  without  careful  study  and  train* 
ing.    It  behoves  them,  therefore,  to  do  all  in  their  power 
to  prevent  their  benign  and  scientific  system  being  brought 
into  disrepute  by  men  who  know  nothing  of  it.  It  is  there- 


188  NEW  MEDICAL  BILL.    fiS^M^IfttS! 

fore  simply  a  defensive  measaie — defensive  for  the  already 
existing  practitioners,  defensive  for  the  public,  and  defen- 
sive also  for  the  commencing  practitioner.  The  possessor 
of  the  ''L.H."  is  received  into  the  fireemasonry  of  homceo- 
pathy  as  a  brother,  instead  of  being  regarded  with  suspicion 
by  the  public  or  the  profession.  In  order  to  given  an 
immediate  value  of  this  nature  to  the  ^'  L.H./'  it  is  pro- 
posed to  ask  those  already  in  homoeopathic  practice  to 
apply  for  the  honorary  diploma,  not  to  enhance  their  already 
existing  position,  but  to  serve  as  an  example  to  the  young 
men,  and  to  render  the  possession  of  it  by  a  man  commen- 
cing practice  absolutely  necessary,  and  the  non-possession 
of  it  a  ground  of  suspicion  of  his  knowledge  of  this  mode 
of  treatment.  Unless  the  main  body  of  the  practitioneirs 
of  homoeopathy  accept  this  honorary  diploma,  any  one  com- 
mencing to  practise  homceopathically  may  snap  his  fingers 
at  it,  as  being  a  certificate  which  very  few  have  or  care  to 
have.  It  is,  then,  not  an  aggressive  or  sectarian  move,  but 
simply  a  measure  of  defence. 

Whether  this  view  of  the  **  L.H."  carry  practical  convic- 
tion to  the  minds  of  our  confreres  or  not,  we  trust  that, 
at  all  events,  they  will  to  a  man  sign  the  petition.  A  peti- 
tion largely  signed  will  carry  great  weight,  whUe  the  reverse 
will  always  look  like  a  flag  of  distress,  and  seem  to  show 
how  little  we  care  for  the  principles  we  live  to  promulgate 
and  practise.  We  are  satisfied  that  the  true  way  to  gain 
the  position  in  the  profession  at  large  which  we  are  entitled 
to,  and  which  we  shall  have  one  day,  is  to  maintain  an 
armed  resistance,  resolved  not  to  yield  an  iota  of  what  we 
deem  vital  in  the  honourable  struggle  we  have  so  long 
maintained,  while  weak  knees  and  indifierence  to  our  claims 
will  only  end  in  annihilation,  and  consequent  retrogression 
of  medical  science. 


^t^SSSu^  P080LOOY,  <180 


P080L0GY  IN  RELATION  TO  HOMCEOPATHY .♦ 

By  AiiFred  C.  Popx^  M.D. 

Pierident  of  the  Britiflh  Homoeopathio  Sodeiy.    Leetarer  on  ICMoria 
Medioa  at  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy. 

On  Monday  last  I  discussed  the  method  of  ascertaining 
the  effects  of  drags  with  the  Tiew  of  ntilising  them  in  the 
treatment  of  disease,  and  also  endeavoured  to  explain  the 
action — ^the  modus  operandi — of  ahomoeopathically  selected 
medicine.  To-day,  I  propose  to  consider  the  question'  of 
the  dose  in  which  snch  a  medicine  should' be  prescribed. 

The  size  of  dose  in  which  medicines  are  given  is,  catlsrU 
paribus  and  within  certain  Hmits,  contingent  npon  the 
principle  on  which  they  are  selected.  Thus  an  analeptic 
remedy  is  given  in  a  dose  capable  of  being  easily  digested, 
or  in  one  adequate  to  produce  that  degree  of  stimulatiom 
which  is  required.  An  anti-parasitic  must  be  applied  in 'a 
quantity  such  as  experiment  has  shown  will  render  germ 
Sfe  impossible,  and  a  vermicide  should  be  administered 
with  reference  to  the  species  of  worm  it  is  desired  to  get 
rid  of ;  an  empirical  medicine  should  be  prescribed  in  that 
dose  in  which  it  first  acquired  its  reputation  ;  one  that  is 
antipathic  or  allopathic  requires  to  be  given  in  as  large'  a 
quantity  as  is  sufficient  to  excite  the  abnormal  action  it  fjs 
designed  to  promote ;  wiiile,  of  a  homoeopathically  selected 
remedy,  a  quantity  must  be  given  smaller  than  that  which 
will  suffice  to  excite  tiie  pathogenetic  action  of  the  drug. 

Such,  then,  are  the  principles  of  posology.  It  now 
becomes  our  business  to  enquire  more  particularly  into  the 
-dosage  which  is  desirable — ^that  which  has  been  found  most 
advisable  in  practice,  when  a  homceopathicaUy  selected 
medicine  is  prescribed. 

The  general  principle  which  I  have  just  laid  down  is 
midoubtodly  sound,  out  we  have  to  leom  how  much 
smaller  than  that  necessary  to  excite  pathogenetic  effects 
may  the  dose  be,  and  how  much  Bmsller  shotUd  it  be. 

The  infinitesimally  small  doses  in  which,  from  compava- 
tively  early  in  the  history  of  honuBopathy,  medicines  have 
been  prescribed,  has  led  many  to  suppose  that  they -were 
necessary,  were  essential  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  prin- 
eiple.     That  this  is  contrary  to  fact  has  now  been  abim- 


txtWAi 


Delivered  at  the  London  School  of  HomcBopathy,  October  134k,  ISlL 


140  posoLOGY.  ?£^J£r?St 


Bemw,]f]urahl.iaaL 


dantly  proven.  Between  the  requisite  smaliness  and  the 
possible  smaUness  is  a  very  wide  range  indeed;  while 
between  this,  and  that  degree  of  minateness  it  has  been 
sought  to  obtain,  the  range  is  Teiy  much  more  considerable 
stiU. 

Hahnemann/  during  the  first  four  or  five  years  in  which 
he  treated  disease  homoeopathicaUy,  used  8-4  grain  doses 
of  such  medicines  as  nux  vomica  and  veratrum  album: 
arnica  in  a  few  grains ;  of  ignaiia,  8  to  7  grains;  of  opium, 
from  l-6th  to  1^  a  grain ;  camphor,  in  from  80  to  40  grains ; 
ledum  palustri,  in  from  6  to  7  grains ;  cinchona^  in  half 
drachm  and  drachm  doses.  After  this  time  we  find  him 
giving  heUadmna  in  the  432,000th  of  a  grain,  and  some 
other  medicines  in  similarly  small  proportions.!  In  1806, 
he  writes  of  hundredths,  thousandths,  and  millionths  of 
an  ordinaiy  dose.t  From  this  time  forwards  he  gradually 
diminished  his  dose,  until  in  1829  he  arrived  at  the  con- 
clusion that  the  80th  dilution  or  the  decillionth  part  of  a 
grain  was  the  best  possible  dose  in  all  cases.  §  Albeit,  this 
is  dogmatically  stated  in  the  Organon  as  applying  to  aU 
medicines,  it  is,  at  the  same  time,  perfectly  clear  that  he 
recognised  exceptions,  for  in  1881,  when  writing  his  direc- 
tions for  the  treatment  of  cholera  |1  he  directed  camphor  to 
be  given  in  two  or  three  drop  doses  of  a  solution  of  one 
part  of  camphor  to  six  of  alcohol,  and  repeated  every  few 
minutes.  Indeed,  throughout  the  whole  thirty-'five  years, 
during  which  he  had  been  gradually  giving  less  and  less 
medicine,  whenever  camphor  is  referred  to,  it  is  always 
directed  to  be  given  in  such  a  dose. 

Hahnemann  rests  his  claim  to  pronounce  thus  dog- 
matically on  the  size  of  the  dose  upon  his  *'  experience.'* 
On  no  better  basis  could  a  conclusion  of  this  kind  rest. 
By  no  other  means  than  by  experiment  can  we  learn  the 
proper  dose  of  any  medicine.  At  the  same  time,  in  order 
that  we  may  accept  a  conclusion  so  broadly  and  unreservedly 
expressed,  one  which  must  inevitably  be  influenced  by  so 


*  Lesser  WriHngs.—^UB.yB  published   from  1797-1800.      London: 
Headland, 
t  On  the  Cure  and  Prerention  of  Scarlet  Feveac,— Lesser  WriHngs, 

iThe  Medicine  of  Experience. — Lesser  Writings. 
The  Orgaium  of  Medicine.   Fifth  Edition.    Note  to  §  ocxItI,  page  S89. 
Dodman's  Tranalatiop. 

I  On  the  Cure  and  Prevention  of  Asiatic  Cholera.     1881.— LeiMr 
WriHngs. 


ggygaySg  POSOLOQY, 141 

many  and  Buoh  varioos  eircamstanoes,  we  ought  to  be  in  a 
position  to  examine  this  experience.  We  shonld  like  to 
lead  the  notes  of  some  of  those  cases  which  convinced 
Hahnemann  that  his  early  doses  were  excessiye.  Un- 
fortunately, we  are  not  in  a  position  to  do  this.  Two 
cases,  and  two  only,  were  left  by  him.*  The  ojie  is  a  case 
cored  by  drop  doses  of  the  pure  tincture  of  bryoniay  the 
other,  one  where  the  12ih  dilution  of  pidsatiUa  was  used. 
Not  having  the  eyidence  before  us  that  satisfied  him,  we 
are  unable  t5  form  an  estimate  of  its  value.  Hahnemann's 
experience  is  one  we  cannot  criticise,  and  therefore  cannot 
appreciate  the  force  of.  However  justifiably  we  may  appeal 
to  it  in  support  of  general  propositions,  it  is  not  available 
to  demonstrate  such  as  are  particular.  It  points  to  the 
general  adequacy  of  homoeopatiiy  to  meet  the  necessities  of 
disease,  so  &r  as  the  administration  of  medicine  is 
concerned,  and  it  affords  abundant  reason  for  putting 
homcBopatiiy  to  the  test  of  clinical  investigation.  But  it 
does  not  supply  us  with  evidence  that  the  80th  dilution  is 
the  proper  dose  under  every  circumstance.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  impossible  to  study  cM  his  directions  about  the 
dose  without  being  struck  witib  the  frequent  contradictions 
in  which  he  involves  himself;  the  hasty  conclusions,  so 
emphatically  pronounced,  at  which  he  occasionally  arrives, 
and  the  marked  influence  which  theoretical  speculations  of 
doubtfol  validity  exercised  on  all  his  practical  work. 

Hence,  I  conclude  that,  not  only  are  we  not,  as  homoeo- 
pathically  practising  physicians,  bound  by  the  conclusions 
arrived  at  by  Hahnemann,  but  we  ought  not,  in  justice  to 
ourselves  or  to  medical  science,  to  rest  satisfied  with  his 
teaching  on  the  question  of  the  dose.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  our  duty  to  bring  to  beur  upon  its  solution,  the  observa* 
tions  of  sdl  who  have  carefully  examined  and  recorded  the 
results  of  their  experience  in  the  use  of  homoeopathically 
selected  medicines. 

Taking  it  then  as  proved  that  the  curative  dose  of  a 
homoeopathically  selected  remedy  is  smaller  than  one  that 
is  pathogenetic,  I  will  proceed  to  consider  the  circum- 
stances which  general  experience  has  served  to  show  may 
in  some  measure  regulate  the  degree  of  smallness. 


*  Materia  MedUa  Pwra,  vol.  i.,  page  20-23.    Hahnenuuin  PabHshiBg 
Bodefy's  Ttuulation. 


142  POSOLOGT.  iS^'^SSffSS 


Bevi0ir,]fWBbl,1 


The  size  of  the  dose  will  be  influMieed  by  ciienmstaiMfe 
hsTing  referenoe  to  the  pttaent,  to  the  dMease,  and  to'4he 
medicine* 

1.  The  Patient.  Bxperienoe  has  ftiUy  pnyfed  Imw 
Tarionsly  different  individiials  are  afiected  by  certain  medi- 
cines ;  and  not  only  so,  but  in  some  instances  a  person  will 
be  markedly  afiected  by  a  given  drag  in  a  certain  dose  at 
one  time,  while  on  another  occasion  he  will  be  qnite  insus- 
ceptible to  its  action  in  such  a  qoantity.  In  disease,  agaan, 
special  susceptibility  exists  in  certain  organs  to  drags  for 
which  they  possefit  an  deotive  affinity.  Thus  a  medicine 
which  in  a  healthy  person  will  excite  congestion  of  the 
kidney,  will,  in  one  saffeiing  from  this  condition,  act  upon 
the  ladney  in  a  mncfa  smaller  dose  than  it  woald  do  in 
health.  The  kidney  has,  throagh  being  congested,  become 
especially  sendtire  to  the  inflaence  of  tiiat  <fa*ag. 

Temperament,  too,  modifies  indiyidnal  sasceptibility  to 
the  action  of  drags.  Thns  Trinks  says  that  the  melan- 
cholic, sanguine,  and  choleric  temperaments  display  the 
greatest  susceptibility,  the  lymphatic  the  least;  and  all 
writers  agree  in  recognising  the  fact  of  the  existence  of 
special  sensibility  to  medicinal  action  in  persons  of  a 
nervous  temperament. 

Sex  and  age  both  modify  the  degree  of  susceptibility  to 
the  action  of  medicine.  Cateris  paribus  the  female  and 
the  two  extremes  of  life  are  more  easUy  acted  upon  than 
the  male  and  the  middle-aged. 

Climate,  again,  has  been  found  to  be  a  &ctor  in  deter- 
mining medicinal  power.  A  very  dry  climate  increases  sus- 
ceptibility to  medicinal  influence,  while  in  one  that  is  damp 
it  is  diminished. 

Occupation,  diet,  indulgence  in  the  use  of  stimulants  and 
narcotics,  the  long  continued  or  habitual  use  of  drugs,  such 
as  opium  or  tobacco,  all  tend  to  modify  the  power  of 
resistance  to  the  action  of  drugs. 

These  reflections  will  serve  to  show  how  impossible  it  is 
that  one  dose  should  be  suitable  to  all  persons,  and  how 
certain  it  becomes,  that  in  determining  a  dose  of  medicine, 
we  must  take  into  account  the  constitutional  disposition 
and  social  habits  of  a  patient,  as  well  as  the  locality  in 
which  he  lives.  In  short,  in  considering  the  dose  of  the 
medicine  we  propose  to  give,  we  must  endeavour  to  farm 
an  estimate  of  the  effect  the  circumstances  amid  which  a 


XSSil'SrTflS?  P080L0OT.  148 


Beriew,  Manfa  1, 1802. 


patient  liyee  is  likely  to  have  upon  his  power  of  resistanoe 
to  dmgs  in  general,  as  well  as  to  certain  drags  in  porticmkr. 

2.  The  nature  of  disease  has  its  influence  in  determining 
the  dose.  No  role  has  met  with  more  general  acceptance 
than  that  which  enjoins  the  use  of  low  cUIntions,  and  eren 
small  doses  of  the  erode  drag,  inacnte,  and  of  infinitesimals^ 
properly  so  called,  in  chronic  disease. 

The  late  Dr.  Phillips,  of  Manchester,  read  a  paper  at 
the  Congress,  held  at  Edinburgh,  in  1862,  in  which  he 
argued  the  general  propriety  of  this  rule.  He  based  his 
^yooacj  of  it  on  his  haying,  in  the  course  of  a  somewhat 
extensiye  experience,  compared  the  effects  of  different 
•dilutions  of  the  same  mechciae  in  persons  liable  to  occa- 
sional attacks  of  the  same  form  of  disease,  such  as  ulcerated 
sore  throat,  acute  dyspeptic  headadie,  &c.  In  chronic 
disease,  he  adduced  clinical  eyidenoe  to  show  that  the  same 
medicines  which  had  fiedled  to  giye  any  relief  in  the  Srd  and 
'Gth  dilution,  had  proyed  ouratiye  in  the  80th.* 

The  late  Dr.  Trinks,t  a  highly  practical  physician, 
thought  that,  with  a  few  exceptions,  this  rale  was  a  correct 
one.     iBg^  and  Glotar  Muller,  of  Leipsic,  on  the  other 
hand,   doubted    its   yalue;    while  the  late    Dr.   Carroll 
Dunham,  t  of  New  York,  contended   that    the    highest 
dilutions  were  preferable  to — ^more  rapidly  curatiye  than  the 
low,  both  in  acute  and  in  chronic  disease.    And  only  a  few 
days  ago,  I  met  at  a  consultation  in  the  country,  a  phy- 
sician, who  I  know  to  be  a  singularly  careful  practitioner, 
and  he  assured  me  that  his  most  marked  success  in  acute 
disease  had  been  obtained  with  medicine  in  comparatiyely 
high  dilutions,  such  as  6th  and  12th. 
'    Going  from  generals  to  particulars,  we  find  Dr.Neidhard,§ 
of  Philadelphia,  saying  that  his  experience  pointed  to  the 
special  adaptability  of  the  higher  and  highest  dilutions  to 
all  diseases  of  the  brain,  spine,  and  neryous  system,  and  as 
a  general  rule,  to  diseases  of  the  skin ;  while  the  lower 
dilutions  and  material  preparations  he  had  found  more 
useful  in  diseases  of  mucous  membrane,  particularly  that 
of  the  bronchi  and  lungs ;  that  all  chronic  diseases  of 


*  British  Journal  of  HomoBopathyt  vol.  x.,  p.  660. 
t  (Est.  ZeiUch.,  pp.  1,  3,  286. 

t  On  the  use  of  High  and  Low  PoienoieB  in  the  Treatment  of  Diieftse. 
American  Honueopathie  Review,  Tol.  iv. 
}  British  J<mrfuU  of  HomoBopathyt  Tol.  xxvii.,  p.  58S. 


144  POSOLOGT.  ^^^tSSr?^ 


BoTiew,  lianh  1,  ises: 


the  liyer  require  the  largest  doses,  and  that  syphilitic 
disease  he  had  never  been  able  to  cure  without  the  emploj- 
ment  of  the  lower  preparations. 

Dr.  Trinksy*  who  always  manifested  a  preference  for  the 
lower  dilutions,  regarded  the  nature  and  character  of 
disease,  rather  than  its  situation,  as  a  determining  circum- 
stance. Diseases  that  display  in  all  their  phenomena  great 
energy,  and  intensity  and  rapidity  of  eyolutioui  attack  the 
most  important  organs,  betray  much  malignancy,  and 
threaten  the  integrity  of  the  whole  organism  or  of  certain 
parts  of  it,  demand,  he  says,  an  energetic  and  rapid  medi- 
cinal influence.  Higher  dilutions  he  seems  only  to  regard 
as  useful  in  some  cases  of  hysteria  and  neuralgia,  in  some 
spasmodic  affections,  and  chronic  gout. 

Dr.  Sharp  thinks  that  '*  different  doses  of  the  same  drug 
are  sometimes  characterised  ...  by  acting  upon  diffe- 
rent organs.^'t  This  seems  to  me  to  be  likely,  with  carefid 
study,  to  prove  a  somewhat  fruitful  idea,  and  certainly  it  is 
one  that  is  deserving  of  much  more  examination  than  it  has 
yet  received.  It  is  perfectly  possible  to  examine  the 
provings  of  the  Austrian  Provers'  Society,  for  example,  and 
note  the  organs  which,  with  different  doses  ol^  the  same 
medicine,  give  rise  to  symptoms.  So,  too,  with  drugs  like 
arsenic  and  mercury,  for  instance,  of  which  examples  of 
their  action  upon  the  body  may  be  met  with  from  doses  of 
very  wide  degrees  of  magnitude.  Well  worked  out,  on  a 
somewhat  considerable  scale,  I  think  this  view  of  Dr. 
Sharp's  would  do  much  towards  enabling  us  to  regulate  our 
posology,  with  far  greater  accuracy  than  we  can  do  at 
present. 

Then  Dr.  Henry  Madden  has  endeavoured  to  show  "  that 
different  doses  of  the  same  drug  will  be  found  suitable  i» 
different  phases  of  the  action  of  that  drug."t  That  is  to 
say  that  a  medicine,  the  pathogenesy  of  which  may  bear  a 
likeness  to  several  forms  of  disease,  will  meet  each  in  a 
different  dilution,  far  better  than  it  will  in  one  that  is 
uniform.  What  Dr.  Sharp's  suggestion  is  from  the  physio- 
logical side,  Dr.  Madden's  is  from  the  pathological.  The 
latter  has  also  a  hopeful  look  about  it ;  and  perhaps,  if  a 
veiy  extensive  series  of  observations  of  the  necessary  kind 


*  Dr.  Dadgeon'fl  Ijeeturet  on  Homceopathy,  p.  424. 
t  Homaopathie  Review,  vol.  xi.,  p.  741. 
}  BritUh  Journal  of  Hotnceopathy,  vol.  xxvi. 


Beview,  ICareh  1, 1882.  POSOLOGY,  i.40 

conld  be  made,  it  might  have  a  practical  Talue.  At  present 
the  evidence  respecting  it  is  contradictory;  for  example. 
Dr.  Bayes*  and  Dr.  Madden  have  both  asserted  that  the 
12th  dilation  of  chamomiUa  is  that  best  adapted  to  meet 
those  eases  of  reflex  irritability  of  the  gastric  and  intestinal 
mncoas  membranes  in  childhood  for  which  it  is  indicated. 
On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Hirsch  strongly  recommends  a 
weak  infusion  of  the  flowers  in  snch  cases.!  Again,  Dr. 
Bayes  regards  the  18th  dilution  of  bryonia  as  that  which 
is  most  useful  in  acute  rheumatism ;  I  while  Dr.  Yeldbam 
thinks  that  one,  two,  or  three  drop  doses  of  the  pure 
tincture  none  too  much ;  and  Dr.  Black  and  others  tell  us 
that  the  1st,  2nd,  and  8rd  dec.  are  far  more  useful  than  a 
higher  dilution.  In  Dr.  Bayes'  very  excellent  work  on 
Applied  Homceopathy,  he  has  endeavoured  to  work  out 
tids  line  of  thought,  and  has,  in  referring  to  each  form  of 
disease  influenced  by  a  given  medicine,  stated  the  dose  or 
dilution  in  which  he  has  found  it  to  be  most  serviceable. 

From  what  I  have  now  laid  before  you,  you  will  see  how 
much  thought  has  been  brought  to  bear  upon  the  deter- 
mination of  the  very  diflicult  question.  What  is  the  best 
dose  of  a  homoeopathically  indicated  medicine?  How 
various  are  the  views  held  regarding  it  I  And  yet,  if  you 
read  books  such  as  Simpson's  Homoeopathy ^  its  Tenets  and 
Tendencies,  you  will  be  led  to  believe  that  a  globule  of  the 
80th  dilution  is  the  one  dose  used  by  all  homoeopaths. 
And  until  quite  recently  such  was  the  teaching  of  the 
medical  Press.  Some  years  ago  the  Lancet,  in  order  to 
put  the  misrepresentation  concisely,  invented  the  term 
'' globulists,"  to  designate  physicians  practising  homoBO- 
pathy.  And  yet,  notwithstanding  all  the  discussion  and 
all  our  experience,  all  we  learn  from  the  evidence  is,  in  the 
first  place,  that  such  or  such  a  medicine  has  been  found 
useful  in  a  very  wide  variety  of  dose ;  and  secondly,  that 
there  has  during  the  last  five-and-twenty  years  been  a 
growing  conviction  that  the  lower  dilutions — ^preparations 
containing  the  10th,  the  100th,  and  the  1,000th  part  of  a 
grain  or  drop  of  the  original  substance  are  more  generally 
applicable  to  meet  the  necessities  of  disease — especially  of 
such  as  are  acute — than  are  more  infinitesimal  quantities. 

—  -  ■ - ■ — ~ — I — — ■ ■ — — — - — - 

*  Applied  Homoeopathy.    London :  Tomer  &  Co. 
t  British  Journal  of  Homceopathy  ^  voL  zzv.,  p.  892. 
X  Op,  eit. 


140  POSOLOGY.  isssjfSrjSf 

Thirdly^  we  haye  to  enqmre  how  far  the  dose  is  inflaeneed 
by  the  medicine  itself. 

That  certain  medicines  are  more  serviceable  in  a  low 
dilation,  or  even  in  the  crude  state,  while  others  are  so  in 
high  dilutions,  is  a  proposition  which  has  met  with  a  large 
amount  of  consent  from  practical  writers.  Hahnemann 
himself,  before  he  had  committed  himself  to  the  statement 
that  the  80th  dilution  was  the  best  in  all  cases,  recognised 
this  as  may  be  seen  in  his  Materia  Medica  Pura.  Thus, 
gmacum  is  ordered  in  drop  doses  of  the  pure  tincture,, 
camphor  in  the  eighth  of  a  grain,  sarsapariUa  in  the  pure 
tincture,  svlphur^  hepar  sniphuris,  and  argentum  in  grain 
doses  of  the  2nd  trituration,  euphratia^  menyanthes,  and 
Bamhwcm  in  the  pure  tincture,  so  too  taraxacum^ 
ipecacuanha  in  the  8rd  dilution,  stramonium  in  ihe  9th, 
digitdUa  in  the  16th,  arsenic  in  the  80th,  beUadanna 
in  the  80th ;  and  so  on.  There  was,  until  1829,  a  great 
yariety  in  the  dilutions  advised  by  Hahnemann.  Dr. 
Goullon,  in  an  essay  on  the  dose,  published  in  the  British 
Jowmal  of  Hom4Xopathy  five-and-thirty  years  ago,  says 
that  certain  medicines  act  equally  weU  in  the  undiluted 
state  and  in  the  80th  dilution.  Others,  again,  require 
dilutions  before  they  will  evince  medicinal  properties;  while 
a  third  class  must  be  given  in  the  1st  or  2nd  dilution  or  in 
the  pure  tincture  to  produce  any  effect  at  all.  Dr.  Hirsch  * 
also  says  that  his  experience  assures  him  that  certain 
medicines  manifest  their  healing  virtues  better  in  an  undi* 
luted  state,  while  others  act  more  promptly  in  dilution. 
So  also  with  Trinks.f  He  divides  the  Materia  Medica 
into  three  classes :  one  comprising  medicines  that  ought 
to  be  given  in  the  high  dilutions,  one  in  which  the  medium 
dilutions  should  be  used,  and  a  third  composed  of  those 
which  are  best  prescribed  in  the  lowest  dilutions,  or  in  the 
pure  substance. 

Of  medicines  which  require  trituration  before  evincing 
medicinal  properties  at  all,  are  such  as  Ume,  silica^  lyco- 
podiumy  and  common  salt.  With  regard  to  lycopodium^ 
the  explanation  of  the  necessity  for  this  trituration  is  easily 
found.  An  examination  of  the  lycopodivm  powder  shows 
that  it  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  littie  particles  about  the 
eight*hundredth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  having  all  the 


t  Dudgeon's  Ltctwru  on  Homoeopathy. 


abape  and  firmness  of  a  nut.  After  prolonged  trituration 
is  an  agate  mortar^  these  dense  particles  are  fractured, 
and  their  contents— -oil  globules — dispersed.  It  is  in  this 
oleaginous  matter  that  the  medicinal  power  of  lyeopodium 
is  believed  to  reside.  Mr.  Isaac  Thompson,  of  Liverpool,^ 
who  drew  attention  to  this  fact  some  years  ago,  found  that, 
for  complete  fracture  of  all  the  particles,  trituration  with 
sugar  of  milk  required  to  be  prolonged  for  two  hours.  In 
pr^aring  a  tincture  ether  is  essential. 

With  regard  to  the  otiier  substances  named,  an  explana- 
tion of  their  having  medicinal  influence  after  prolonged 
trituratiou,  and  either  none  or  at  all,  or  very  little  in  their 
crude  state,  and  of  the  further  £&ct,  that  they  manifest 
their  mftdioinal  properties,  even  when  very  highly  diluted, 
the  interpretation  is  not  so  ectsy.  Hahnemann,  in  his 
desire  to  account  for  the  facts,  advanced  l:he  doctrine  known 
as  dynamisation,  or  development  of  properties.  He  held 
that  prolonged  trituration  and  succession  increased  and 
developed  lat^it  medicinal  properties. 

Unfortunately,  he  associated  with  this,  in  itself,  not 
improbable  theory  the  idea  that  the  development  of 
properties  produced  by  trituration,  proceeded  at  so  great  a 
rate  that  diminution  of  matter  became  essential  to  prevent 
oyer-action  of  the  drag,  and  this  to  a  very  extreme  degree 
of  infinitesimality.  While  there  is,  as  I  shall  show 
presently,  sk. prima  fade  probability  of  prolonged  trituration 
developing  latent  force,  that  it  renders  actual  that  which 
previously  was  potential,  there  is  no  evidence  whatever 
that  any  advantage  accrues,  any  additional  development  of 
properties  obtains,  by  any  extensive  diminution  of  dose,  or 
any  very  lengthy  trituration. 

Of  the  fact  that,  in.  a  well  triturated  and  diluted  state, 
such  substances  as  those  I  have  named  do  possess  medicinal 
power,  I  have  not  the  shadow  of  a  doubt.  My  own  clinical 
expisrieQce,  and  that  of  all  homoBopathic  physicians,  assure 
me  that  they  have.  While  it  only  remains  for  those  who 
doubt  their  having  such  properties,  to  try  these  medicines 
in  cases  to  which  they  are  homoeopathic  to  have  the 
same  assurance. 

The  effect  of  prolonged  rubbing  upon  some  substances, 
whioh,  in  their  ordinary  state*  are  for  all  practical  purposes 
inert,  is,  as  I  have  said,  to  develop  latent  force,  and  by  so 


*  Britiih  Journal  of  Hommpathy^  vol.  xxziv.,  p.  188. 


148  P080L0OY.  ^£-2i'22Sf?Sli? 


Renew,  Mndi  1, 18tt. 


doing  to  admit  of  the  display  of  medioinal  action  enabling 
the  drug  to  influence  tissue.  This  view  is  well  set  forth 
by  Mr.  Sonstadt,  in  a  paper  published  in  the  Homasopathie 
Review  (yoI.  xiy.),  in  which  he  discussed  the  effects  of 
trituration  upon  matter.  Every  molecule  of  all  simple  or 
chemically  combined  substances,  he  writes,  when  ''  in  its 
entire  state  contains  most  of  its  energy  in  a  closed  circuit 
(somewhat  as  does  a  magnet  with  its  keeper  on),  and  while 
in  this  state,  so  much  of  its  energy  is  potential,  not  actual. 
Every  such  molecule  may  be  torn  asunder,  and,  when 
divided,  the  energy  before  latent  becomes  apparent  as 
force,  and  able  to  do  work."  After  some  comment  on 
this,  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  In  the  homoeopathic  triturations, 
at  a  certain  stage  of  the  process,  the  molecules  are  torn 
asunder  by  mechanical  force  (or  by  forces  engendered  by 
mechanical  force),  and  retained  asunder,  thereby  keeping 
an  active  virtue  which  appears  only  momentarily  in  chem- 
ical processes."  The  whole  advantage  then  of  trituration, 
according  to  this  theory,  consists  in  the  setting  free  of 
latent  force  by  mechanical  molecular  rupture.  If  this  be 
so,  trituration  beyond  the  6th  decimal  would  not  seem  to 
be  necessary ;  while  trituration  on  the  decimal  scale  would 
be  more  effective  than  it  is  on  the  centesimal  scale.  Both 
these  conclusions  are,  I  think,  justified  by  clinical 
experience. 

Again,  the  class  of  symptoms  has  been  thought  to  give 
a  clue  to  the  right  dose.  Thus  Dr.  Drysdale  divides  the 
symptoms  producible  by  a  drug  into  such  as  are  absolute 
and  those  which  are  contingent.  The  former  include  such 
as  are  produced  at  will,  those  that  will  occur  in  almost 
everyone  who  takes  the  drug  in  a  full  dose;  while  the 
latter  are  symptoms  which  will  occur  only  in  persons 
specially  susceptible  to  the  action  of  that  drug.  In  pre- 
scribing to  meet  symptoms  of  the  former  class.  Dr. 
Drysdale  is  of  opinion  that  -we  should  keep  as  little  below 
the  physiological  dose  as  will  allow  of  our  avoiding  any 
aggravation ;  while,  when  the  symptoms  are  of  the  contin- 
gent order,  the  dilution  should  be  high;  but  he,  at  the 
same  time,  says  that  the  sixth  is  high  enough.  While 
there  is  much  probability  in  the  truth  of  this  suggestion, 
it  is,  after  all,  only  a  more  exact  way  of  stating  the  empi- 
rical rule  of  low  dilution  in  acute,  and  high  dilution  in 
chronic  disease. 

From  this  part  of  our  subject  we  may  infer,  then,  that 


JSSl^SSf?^*"  POSOLOGY.  •  149 


Bfiview,  Much  I,  laft*. 


experience  has  shown  that,  within  certain  limits,  differeut 
medicines  act  better  in  different  doses.  This,  from  what 
we  know  of  the  varying  degree  of  activity  in  different 
medicines  taken  in  health,  is  what  might  be  anticipated. 

Our  examination  of  this  qaestion  so  far  has  shown  as 
that,  beyond  the  very  rough  role  that  our  dose  in  each 
instance  should  be  one  smaller  than  the  physiological  or 
pathogenetic,  there  is,  in  the  meantime,  no  sure  guide  to 
the  selection  of  the  exact  or  precise  dose. 

Practically,  our  business  as  physicians  is  to  prescribe 
medicine  in  sufficient  and  not  excessiye  quantities.  How, 
then,  are  we  to  determine  what  is  sufficient  and  what  is 
excessiye  ? 

The  only  justification  that  can  be  urged  for  using  medi- 
cine in  a  highly  diluted  form  is  the  rucessity  for  doing  so. 
If  a  high  dilution  is  unnecessary,  if  as  good  results  can  be 
obtained,  I  will  not  say  uniformly,  but  generally,  with 
small  doses  of  the  crude  substance,  or  with  the  lower 
dilutions,  as  with  such  as  are  high,  there  are,  I  think,  good 
soxmd  reasons  to  be  urged  why  we  should  prefer  the 
former.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  medicines,  in  what  may 
be  termed  the  higher  dilutions,  are  capable,  when  homoeo- 
paihically  selected,  of  curing  disease,  and  that  rapidly. 
All  the  earlier  triumphs  of  homoeopathy  were  won  wiUi 
medicine  given  in  this  form.  But  that  is  not  sufficient  to 
justify  our  persisting  in  confining  ourselves  to  their  use,  if 
it  can  be  shown  that  more  mat^ial  quantities  act  equally 
well. 

Preference,  I  think,  should  be  given  to  the  lower  dilutions 
where  these  are  of  equal  therapeutic  value  with  the  higher, 
because  the  delicacy  of  the  latter  renders  them  especially 
exposed  to  sources  of  injury  from  physical  causes,  such  as 
light,  exposure  to  the  air,  and  so  on.  These,  of  course, 
can  be  guarded  against  by  care,  but  such  sensitive  agents 
are  ever  of  doubtful  integrity,  and  it  it  undesirable  to  add 
to  possible  causes  of  disappointment  already  existing  in 
using  a  medicine. 

Again,  it  is  a  matter  of  great  interest  and  satisfaction 
that  the  dose  of  medicine  we  prescribe  should  be  capable 
of  physical  demonstration.  The  researches  which  have 
been  made  of  later  years  by  Dr.  Conrad  Wesselhoft,  of 
Boston,  Dr.  Edward  Smith,  of  Cleveland,  and  others,  have 
shown  that  beyond  the  twelfth  dilution  it  is  impossible  to 


Yo).  36,  No.  8. 


160  PosoLOCFY.  ^^S'SSSr?^' 


Review,  March  1, 188S. 


demonstrate  the  presence  of  matter.*  That  it  exists  in 
some  form  or  other  in  higher  dilations  than  this,  clinical 
evidence  of  the  power  to  control  disease  of  tsr  higher 
dilations  than  the  twelfth  assares  me.  Bat,  below  the 
twelfth,  we  have  it  in  oar  power  to  demonstrate  the 
presence  of  drag  matter.  And  this,  I  maintain,  is  a  very 
important  position  for  as  to  hold ;  while  the  nearer  we  get 
to  the  orade  sabstance  the  greater  the  control  we  have  over 
the  parity  of  the  preparations  we  employ.  That  we  shoald 
be  able  to  examine  and  test  oar  pharmaceatical  preparations 
is,  I  apprehend,  a  matter  of  serioas  importance.  In 
asing  the  lower  dilations  we  have  this  power ;  when  em- 
ploying the  higher  we  are  entirely  destitate  of  it. 

Farther,  every  medical  man  who  knows  and  feels  that 
homoeopathy  is  trae  is,  before  all  things,  anxioaa  that  bis 
medical  brethren  who  are  ignorant  of  its  method  shoold 
test  it — test  it  clinically.  The  existence  of  this  School  is 
evidence  that  fltich  is  oar  desire.  Oar  fiteratore  is  sas- 
tained  to  this  end.  If,  then,  we  create  a  stambling-^blook 
in  the  way  of  the  professional  examination  of  homoeopathy 
by  maintaining  the  importance  of  a  dose  so  infinitesimal 
as  to  render  its  existence  almost  incredible — when  so  smaU 
a  dose,  however  sufficient,  is  vfwnecessary — we  are,  I  think, 
impeding  the  progress  of  therapeatics,  and  diminishing 
the  valae  of  our  special  work. 

I  would  be  the  last  man  to  advocate  any  denial,  or 
apparent  denial,  of  that  which  is  essential  to  the  de- 
velopment  of  trath  in  order  to  increase  the  rate  at 
which  an  appreciation  of  homoeopathy  is  advancing  in 
the  profession.  At  the  same  time»  so  firmly  con- 
vinoed  am  I  of  the  sapreme  importance  of  homoeo- 
pathy as  a  method  of  drag  selection;  so  sore  am  I 
that,  after  a  certain  point  has  been  reached,  and  thence 
within  certain  moderate  and  very  tangible  limits,  the  aise 
4>f  the  dose  is  of  comparatively  small  importance  in  any 
but  exceptional  instances,  that  I  think  we  are  perfectly 
jastified  in  laying  stress  upon,  and  attaching  importance 
to,  ofidy  that  d^rte  of  drag  4ittenuatum  which  has  been 
ffooed  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  avoid  aggravation,  and  to 
ansore  that  the  amoont  of  tissue  stimolfiiion  we  desire  to 
evoke  will  not  be  exceeded. 


•  TrtmmcH<mM  of  th$  Awmican  InsHhOe  of  Eomeeopath^,  1879  and  1880. 


iSS^£5MSf  POBOLQgY. 161 

In  considering  what  is  neoeBSftry  in  the  matter  of  doeage, 
.we  oan  bat  appeal  to  the  experience  of  men  who  have 
practised  homoeopathy,  nsing  daring  a  long  series  of  years 
srell  nigh  every  variety  of  dilation  and  of  dose.  Of  pre- 
fwations  odled ''  potencies/'  and  described  as  the  1,000th, 
the  10,000th,  and  the  100,000th,  and  so  on,  I  hav^ 
nothing  whatever  to  say.  This  simply  beeanse  I  have  yet 
in  be  convinced  that  sach  dilations  were  ever  made  in  the 
flense  in  which  we  have  the  third,  the  sixth,  or  the  twelfth. 
To  make  the  millionth  dilation  of  one  medicine,  after 
Hahnemann's  manner — and  no  other  is  reliable — ^wottld 
-ocoapy  more  than  a  year  of  time,  devoting  twelve  hoars  a 
^y  and  six  days  a  week  to  the  occapation.  Farther, 
Dr.  Bardick,  of  New  York,  has  oonclasively  shown,  by 
daborate  ealealations  and  microseopieal  investigations,  that 
meh  is  the  mode  of  preparation  adopted  in  making  these 
''^  potencies,"  that  the  so-called  millionth  potency  ef 
Dr.  Swan  *'  cannot  exceed  ihe  tenth  centesimal  of 
Hahnemann,  and  is  liable  to  be  mach  lower." 

The  observers  to  whom  I  propose  to  refer  in  assisting  as 
in  determining  the  necessary  dose  are  physicians  who  have 
nsed  the  crade  drag,  and  dilations  ap  to  the  thirtieth. 

In  the  first  place  let  me  lay  before  yoa  the  conclasions 
arrived  at  by  Dr.  Wilhelm  Arnold,  of  Heidelberg,  who, 
writing  thirty  years  ago,  gave  the  following  as  the  results 
of  his  twenty  years'  practice  of  homoeopathy : — 

"After,"  he  says,  "I was  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
Hafandmann's  law  of  cure,  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  listen  to 
tlierepeatedly  expressed  desire  of  the  Beformer,  and  repeat  his 
experiments  exactly.  Asfar  as  the  doses  were  concerned,  I  did 
this  with  great  unwillingness,  and  with  great  scepticism  as 
to  the  iwmlts.  Nevertibekss  I  saw  not  a  few  cases  recover 
jAer  the  administoition  of  medicineiS  in  the  tenth,  twentieth, 
aad  even  tiiirtietii  centesimal  dilation.  I  observed  not 
only  speedy  «are  of  acute  disease,  but  also  frequently  a 
wmmiaiAe  diaa^e  in  many  chronic  cases.  I  grant  readily 
tliat  many  of  the  cures  wbach  encouraged  me  in  the  com- 
meneenMnt  of  my  homcsopathic  experiments  were  not  due 
to  the  sn^iall  doses  of  medicine  ;  but  that  all  tiie  results 
aire  to  be  ascribed  to  the  healing  power  of  nature  alone,  I 
-can  by  no  means  convince  myself,  even  with  all  the  forees 
of  scepticism.    I  saw  in  not  a  ifew  eases  which  had  resisted 


152  P080L0OY.  "t^SSSmf^ 


BoTioWf  Mudi  If  188i« 


the  most  different  modes  of  treatment,  cure  take  place  after 
a  small  dose  of  a  carefully-chosen  homoeopathic  medicine. 
In  not  a  few  cases,  however,  I  waited  in  vain  for  any 
cnrative  result  from  the  small  doses;  but  neverthelesSy 
distrusting  myself  rather  than  the  precepts  of  Hahnemann, 
I  at  first  sought  the  cause  of  fidlure,  not  in  the  insufficiency 
of  the  dese,  but  in  error  in  the  choice  of  the  medicine. 
This  brought  on  me  many  cares  and  troubles,  until  I  saw 
myself  obliged  to  descend  to  lower  dilutions.  I  was  soon 
convinced  that  these  yielded  much  more  certain  results, 
without  the  so-much-dreaded  disadvantages.  In  this 
manner,  guided  by  experience,  I  arrived  step  by  step  at 
the  position  that  it  is  never  neeessaiy  to  administer 
medicine  in  any  dilution  or  trituration  higher  than  the 
sixth  dec.  (third  cent.),  and  I  have  never  had  to  complain 
of  any  hurtful  collateral  action,  or  any  primary  action,  that 
disturbed  the  cure.  But  I  must  add  that  it  is  only  very 
seldom,  and  with  very  powerful  medicines,  and  in  very 
susceptible  patients,  thiat  I  ever  go  as  high  as  the  fifth  or 
sixth  dec.  dilution,  that  in  geneial  I  confine  myself  to  the 
first  or  second  dilution  or  trituration,  though  not  unfre- 
quently  I  find  it  necessary  to  go  up  to  the  l^ird  or  fourth 
dec.  dilution  for  these  purposes.  In  the  six  lowest  decimal 
dilutions  and  triturations  I  consider  that  we  possess  a  scale 
suitable  to  afford  the  corresponding  doses  for  all  the  present 
known  diseases. 

In  a  period  of  ten  years  I  have  never  found  it  necessary 
to  go  above  the  sixth  dec.  dilution,  but  I  have  often  been 
obliged  to  give  the  specific  remedy  in  stronger  doses,  such 
as  several  drops  of  the  pure  tincture,  or  one-fourth,  one, 
or  even  sevenJ  grains  of  the  original  preparation."* 

Then,  again.  Dr.  Black  writes,  after  thirty  years'  expe- 
rience, and  says :  "  I  began  the  practice  of  homoeopathy  by 
using  the  higher  dilutions,  encouraged  by  the  personal 
exhortations  of  Hahnemann ;  but  the  exigencies  of  practice 
soon  led  me  to  reduce  the  scale.  I  now  think  the  suitable 
therapeutic  dose  so  near  that  dose  which  can  excite  physio- 
logical action  in  the  healthy  body,  that  a  range  from  the 
crude  substance  to  the  third  centesimal  dilution  is  amply 
sufficient  to  meet  all  the  requirements  of  practice."!    So, 


•  Dm  RaHmUa  SpetiJUeke  o4er  Uiepaiki$eke  HHherfakren,  <le.,  bj 
Br.  Wilhelm  Arnold,  fleidfllbaq|»  ISfiL. 
t  Britiih  Jcmnal  of  Homoeopathy^  TdL  zxtz.,  p.  581. 


SSSS^SSSJW^  POBOLOGT.  168 


StvisWt  llinrah  It  18ttt 


also,  Dr.  DiyBdale,  who  has  frequently  described  the  sixth 
dilation  as  that  beyond  which  it  is  never  necessary  to  go. 

Dr.  Yeldham,  who  has  for  many  years  evinced  a  great 
interest  in  the  discussion  of  suitable  doses,  rarely,  I 
believe,  thinks  it  necessary  to  give  a  smaller  dose  than  a 
few  drops  of  the  third  decimal. 

Then,  again,  among  medical  men  who  do  not  recognise 
the  homoeopathic  principle  as  a  basis  of  drag  selection,  bat 
who,  nevertheless,  prescribe  homoBopathically  with  increas- 
ing frequency  from  year  to  year,  we  find  that  their  homoBO- 
pathio  prescriptions  answer  admirably  well,  when  they 
restrict  themsialves  to  small  doses  of  the  crade  drug. 
Thus  drop  doses  of  ipeccLcwmha  answer  perfectly  in  the 
cases  of  vomiting,  to  which  that  medicine  is  homoBopathic ; 
so,  too,  does  cantharides,  in  drop  doses,  in  cystitis ;  simi- 
lar quantities  of  aconite  in  inflammatory  fever  are  equally 
serviceable.  The  results  thus  achieved  are  at  least  as  good 
as  those  we  secure  with  dilutions  of  the  same  drugs.  Are 
we  to  decline  to  profit  by  experience  of  this  sort  because  it 
eomes  from  men  who,  while  anathematising  us  when  they 
preach,  imitate  us  so  considerably  when  they  practise? 
Certainly  not — Fas  est  ah  hosts  doceri  f 

When,  however,  gentlemen  make  use  of  a  homoBopathi- 
eally  indicated  memcine  in  a  dose  suited  to  fulfil  anti- 
pathic indications,  they  generally  come  to  grief  as  signally 
as  did  a  friend  of  mine  who  gave  a  drachm  of  the  tincture 
of  gelsemium  to  a  lady  si&ering  from  a  headache  very 
similar  to  that  gelsemium  will  produce. 

It  is  possible  enough  that  now  and  again  in  especially 
susceptible  people  there  is  a  risk  of  produciug  aggravation 
0^  or  increase  in  the  symptoms  present  from  tiie  use  of 
doses  of  the  strength  I  just  now  referred  to  ;  but  after  all 
the  risk  is  not  great,  and  the  result  of  no  real  consequence 
when  it  does  occur.  The  remark  of  Hahnemann  in  one  of 
his  earliest  papers,  that  *'  scarlet  fever  is  a  much  more 
serious  evU  tiian  a  few  troublesome  symptoms  produced  by 
somewhat  too  large  a  dose  of  beUadonnay''  may  be  applied 
to  all  diseases  and  all  medicines. 

Then,  gentlemen,  I  conclude  that  experience  does  not 
endorse  the  necessity,  in  order  to  cany  out  the  homoeo- 
pathic principle  of  ^rug  selection,  of  infinitesimal  doses. 
It  does,  indeed,  assure  us  that  very  small  doses  are  neces- 
sary; that  doses  much  smaller   than    those  which  are 


164  P08Ck£A«T.  M^JbSTiTSi!! 

leqnired  "whem  a  drag  is  anlipflihieally  or  allopathicaMy 
chosen,  are  really  esseittial.  Bat  in  prescribing  there  ia 
no  absolute  need  to  go  beyond  the  range  in  which  physical 
tests  will  determine  tiie  presence  of  matter. 

It  would,  however,  appear  that  it  is  impossible  to  speak 
absolutely  on  this  matter  of  the  dose.  For  I  tiunk  it  is 
^  experience  of  moat  homosopathio  physicians,  who  have 
not  committed  themselyes  to  any  distinct  line  on  thin 
qpestion,  that  now  and  again  cases  do  occur  which  will  nofe 
respond  to  any  but  a  high  dilution.  How  to  recognise 
them  I  caimot  instruct  you ;  that  they  doooeur  I  £9el  sure, 
and  that  they  are  very  rare  I  am  equally  certain.  Hence, 
I  think  that  it  is  good  practice,  when  prescribing  a  carep 
fully  selected  medicine,  to  give  it  in  a  small,  but  nofc 
necessarily  infinitesimal,  dose  ;  and  should  no  good  resuU 
follow,  and  a  re-examination  of  the  case  convince  you  thab 
the  medicine  chosen  is  thoroughly  h<»ncBopathic — change 
the  dilution  rather  than  the  medicine,  giving  it  higher 
or  lower  as  the  circumstances  may  seen  to  indicate* 
Because,  however,  the  lower  dilutions  are  more  generally 
useful,  and  because  those  which  are  higher  are  not  necessary 
to  the  carrying  out  of  the  homoBopathio  principle  of  selection 
when  prescribing,  do  not  lose  sight  of  the  higher  dilutions. 
They  will  occasionally  help  you  when  you  may  least  expect 
help  from  such  a  source. 

In  conclusion,  then,  I  think  that  when  prescribing 
homoeopathically  you  will  generally  find  the  most  suitable 
dose  to  be  one  or  two  itope  of  the  second  or  third  decimal 
-^that  is  to  sagr,  about  the  lOOtib  or  1,000th  of  a  grain ; 
^diile  a  few  medicines  require  to  be  given  in  the  crude 
state.  In  certain  cases  of  disease,  when  susceptibility  te 
specific  medication  is  considerable,  you  will  find  it  to  your 
advauM^  to  give  much  less  medicine  and  to  prescribe  tiba 
sixth  diecimal,  or  eien  the  sixth  centesimal.  Similar 
variations  in  dosage  will  also  be  necessitated  by  the  droum- 
stances  and  habits  of  a  patient^  and  also  by  tiie  nature  o£ 
the  drug  itself.  Baxely,  too,  you  will  find  it  necessary  ta 
resort  to  one  of  those  highsr  dilutions,  whose  power  ta 
influence  disease  Hahnemann  was  the  first  to  recognise. 

Finally,  I  would  commend  to  those  who  are  anxioua  to* 
do  good  service  in  endeavouring  to  determine  the  questioitti 
involved  in  the  consideration  of  the  best  dose  of  a  homceo* 
pathioally  selected  medicine,  the  study  of  the  eflects  of 


r 


£2li^S3?7?SS?        CLINICAL  NOTES.  155 


1> 


dmg&  on  tbe  healthy  from  different  doses.  The  materialB 
abound  for  saeh  enquiries  in  nnmfflrons  recorded  oases  of 
poooning  and  OYer-dosing. 

From  SQoh  a  stndy  as  this  we  might  derive  some 
principle  directing  the  selection  of  an  accnrately  soitable 
dose.    At  present  we  have  none. 

21,  Hionrietta  Street, 

GaYGndish  Square,  W. 


CLINICAL    NOTES    FROM    THE    LONDON 
HOMCEOPATHIC  HOSPITAL. 

Reported  by  G.    Scrivbn,  B.A.,  M.B.,  B.Ch.,  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  Resident  Medical  Officer. 

The  following  three  cases  are  of  interest  individaally,  but 
their  interost  is  much  enhanced  when  they  are  considered 
in  relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  common  origin  of  the 
different  forms  of  disease  in  all.  Before  relating  each  case 
in  detail,  it  may  therefore  bo  well  to  consider  l£e  circum- 
stances under  which  they  all  occurred,  as  illustrating  how 
from  the  same  unhealthy  conditions  of  life  different  diseases 
arise  in  different  individuals. 

The  three  patients  referred  to  live  in  the  same  house, 
whioh  is  let  in  iSats,  or  single  rooms,  the  unsanitaiy  state 
of  which  is  unpleasantly  obvious  to  the  most  casual  olfactory 
obsenrstion.  On  the  basement  resides  a  woman  whose  con- 
tempt for  sanitaiy  science  is  shown  by  keeping  a  large 
bofiket  for  the  reception  of  various  household  filth  in  aeon* 
venient  comer  of  her  apartment ;  this  bucket  is  not  emptied 
tfll  it  is  incapable  of  containing  another  ounce  of  **  slops  *' 
or  another  scrap  of  refuse. 

The  ground  floor  is  occupied  by  a  family  consisting  of 
fiAer,  mother,  and  eight  children,  of  whom  the  mother 
and  one  child  furnish  two  of  the  cases  above  referred  to. 

The  mother,  thirty-fire  years  of  age,  after  suffering  for 
some  time  from  symptoms  of  on  indefinite  character,  was 
admiiaked  to  the  hospital,  and  went  through  a  well-marked 
attack  of  diphtheria. 

The  child,  seven  years  old,  admitted  to  hospital  a  few 
days  after  the  mother,  suffered  from  tjrphoid  fever. 

The  third  case  was  that  of  a  woman  twenty-seven  years 
of  age,  who,  with  her  husband  and  two  young  children, 


156  CLINICAL  NOTES.  ^t^.^SS^^TSt. 


Seview,  UuA  1,  Utt. 


lived  in  one  room  on  the  first  floor  of  the  same  house ;  she 
was  admitted  to  hospital  a  week  after  the  last  patient.  In 
her  the  disease  took  the  form  of  hronchitisy  of  an  acate 
type,  characterised  by  much  greater  febrile  excitement  than 
is  nsoal  in  ordinary  forms  of  this  disease,  by  veiy  marked 
depression  and  adynamia,  and  by  the  appearance  for  a  few 
days  of  a  petechial  purpuric  eruption  most  marked  on  the 
limbs,  but  scattered  also  over  the  abdomen  and  chest. 

Such  being  a  general  outline  of  these  cases  in  their  rela- 
tion to  each  other  and  their  common  origin,  we  will  now 
proceed  to  a  detailed  account  of  each. 

Case  I. 

L.  P.,  aged  thirty-five,  married,  eight  children,  was 
admitted  to  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital,  under  Dr. 
Blackley,  on  Nov.  28th,  1881,  with  the  following  history 
and  symptoms : — 

About  three  weeks  ago,  just  before  the  catamenial  period, 
she  felt  pains  in  her  shoulders  and  sides  of  an  aching 
character,  and  sudden  sharp  pains  from  time  to  time  in  her 
limbs.  During  this  ''  period  "  she  thinks  that  she  caught 
cold,  as,  on  the  cessation  of  the  menstrual  discharge,  she 
suffered  from  attacks  of  shivering,  followed  by  flushes  of 
heat,  and  from  severe  frontal  headache.  On  Nov.  26th 
she  became  so  much  worse  that  she  was  obliged  to  go  to 
bed,  sufiering  from  shivering  and  ''  pains  all  over."  Next 
day  she  was  worse,  and  sent  for  the  house-surgeon  of  the 
London  Homoeopathic  Hospital,  who  found  her  complaining 
of  the  foregoing  symptoms ;  temperature  102  ;  pulse  92 ; 
tongue  smooth,  and  inclined  to  be  dry.  There  was  great 
tenderness  on  pressure  over  the  abdomen,  especially  in  the 
middle  line.  Ordered  Aeon.  1  x,  Bryon.  1  x,  mj.  alty.  2 
hrs. 

On  the  28th  she  was  no  better,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
hospital  under  care  of  Dr.  Blackley,  when  the  following 
notes  were  taken : — ^Patient  complains  of  severe  pain  all 
over  the  abdomen,  which  is  very  tender,  especially  in  the 
middle  line ;  pain  in  the  back ;  severe  frontal  headache. 
The  tongue  is  coated,  except  at  the  tip,  which  is  bright 
red.  There  are  no  spots  on  the  abdomen,  and  no  gurgling 
or  special  tenderness  on  pressure  in  the  iliac  fossa ;  the 
spleen  is  normal  in  size.  She  states  that  there  has  been 
no  action  of  the  bowels  for  three  days.  Examination  per 
vaginam  showed  that  the  uteniB  was  nonaal  in  position,  but 


bSSS!SSS^^I^.      cunical  notbs.  157 

.somewhat  fixed^  and  yeiy  tender  on  pressnre ;  there  was  no 
OYarian  tenderness  or  enlargement.  Temp.  102;  pnlse, 
92y  weak.  Ordered  milk  and  beef  tea,  and  to  continue 
Bry,  and  Aeon.  For  the  next  two  days  there  was  little 
'Change  in  her  condition,  except  that  the  abdominal  tender- 
ness diminished  considerably,  though  the  temperature  con- 
idnued  102  night  and  morning,  and  she  slept  httle. 

Nov.  30th. — Bell.  1  x,  gttj.  alty.  every  2  hrs.,  with 
Aeon.  1  X,  was  substituted  for  Bryan.  1  x. 

Dec.  Ist. — M.  T.  102 ;  p.  92 ;  very  weak ;  slept  very 
little,  owing  to  pain  in  the  back ;  her  bowels  were  moved 
yesterday  stfter  two  enemas,  the  stool  being  loose  and  dark, 
with  hard  masses ;  abdominal  tenderness  much  less,  but 
continues  in  the  uterine  region.    E.  T.  108.6. 

Dec.  2nd.— M.  T.  102.2 ;  p.  92 ;  did  not  sleep  at  all  ; 
complains  of  headache,  and  is  very  dull  and  stupid.  E.  T. 
108.2, 

Dec.  Srd. — ^M.  T.  102 ;  p.  92,  and  very  weak ;  pain  in 
back  less,  but  she  did  not  sleep ;  tongue  red  and  dry  in 
the  centre.    E.  T.  102.6. 

Dec.  4th. — ^M.  T.  101 ;  p.  96 ;  slept  4  hrs. ;  pain  in 
back  returned  yesterday  afternoon;  tongue  more  moist; 
bowels  moved  by  enema ;  stool  constipated  and  natural  in 
colour.  Sphygmographic  tracing  of  radial  pulse  shows 
^eat  feebleness  of  heart's  impulse,  and  some  irregularity, 
but  no  intermission  or  dicrotism.    £.  T.  108.6. 

Dec.  6th.— M.  T.  101.2;  p.  88;  very  weak;  slept 
6  hrs. ;  throat  sore  and  dry ;  fauces  much  congested,  sticky 
with  mucus  clinging  to  them ;  much  pain  on  swallowing ; 
tongue  dry  and  glazed  at  tip  and  in  the  centre ;  coated 
posteriorly;  some  muttering  delirium  at  intervals; 
expression  anxious ;  clammy  sweat.  Ordered  Rhus  1  x, 
mj.  every  2  hrs. ;  to  get  brandy  and  champagne.  E.  T. 
102.8. 

Dec.  6th.— M.T.  102 ;  p.  92 ;  extremely  feeble.  Was 
very  restless  during  the  night  and  slept  little,  but  no 
delirium ;  fauces  much  inflamed,  and  coated  with  sticky 
tnucos.  There  is  a  dark  patch  of  fidse  membrane  on  the 
{Aiarynx;  swaUowing  less  painful.  Ordered  Mercuriui 
eyanatus  8  x,  grj.  every  two  hours.  Poultices  to  be  applied 
round  the  throat,  and  the  pharynx  to  be  sponged  with  a 
week  solution  of  Argent,  niir.    E.  T.  102.2. 

Dec.  7th.— M.  T.  101.6;  p.  100;  somewhat  stronger ; 
psin  on  swallowing  less ;  has  slept  8  hrs. ;  coughed  up  a 


158  cauraoAL  notes.      ^SS^SSS^?^ 


Beview,  Ifazch  1, 18B». 


great  deal  of  sticky  mnfiUBj  and  some  shreda  of  greyish 
membrane.    E.  T.  103.4* 

Dec.  eth.— M.  T.  108.6  ;  p,  116 ;  ozdy  slept  about  half 
an  hour;  perspired  reiy  freely  in  the  night;  membrane 
not  so  thick  on  the  pharynx,  but  has  spr^  over  the 
fances ;  tongue  moist ;  can  swallow  more  easily.  Ordered 
port  wine,  chicken  jelly^  and  eggs  beaten  up,  and  Rkvs  1  x, 
mj.,  alternately  with  Soda.  saliq^L  grs.  5,  every  2  hrs. 
E.  T.  102.6. 

Deo.  9th.— M.  T.  101.6 ;  p.  120 ;  weak ;  slept  little ; 
mouth  very  dry ;  membrane  hanging  to  fauees  in  shreds; 
passed  one  stool  this  morning,  consisting  of  a  large  quantity 
of  dark  blood;  no  pain  with  the  motion.  Ordered 
Hamamelis  1  x,  mj.  every  2  hrs. 

She  passed  another  stool  of  dark  blood  at  12.30,  and 
again  at  7.46 ;   no  pain.    E.  T.  108. 

Dec.  10th.— M.  T.  108.4 ;  p.  120 ;  very  feeble  ;  slept 
8  hrs. ;  bowels  moved  twice  in  the  night,  the  stools 
each  time  being  loose  and  light  in  colour ;  membrane  still 
adhering  to  fauces  and  pharynx.  Bhu%  and  Soda  9aL 
repeated.    E.  T.  103.8. 

Dec.  11th.— M.  T.  108.8 ;  p.  120 ;  slept  4  hrs. ;  bowels 
have  not  been  moved  since  6  a.m.  yesterday ;  mouth  very 
dry  and  tongue  sore.    E.T.  108.8. 

Dec.  12th.— M.  T.  102.4 ;  p.  120 ;  slept  better.  E.  T. 
103.2. 

Dec.  13th.— M.  T.  102.4  ;  p.  112 ;  slept  little  owing  to 
the  bowels  being  moved  twice  in  the  night  with  consider- 
able pain,  and  after  two  oil  enamata,  stools  extremely  hard 
and  dry;  no  blood;  bowels  acted  again  this  morning; 
motion  not  so  hard ;  deposit  thick  on  the  pharynx ;  tongue 
more  moist.    E.  T.  101.8. 

Dec.  14th.— M.  T.  101.4 ;  p.  108 ;  slept  8  hrs. ;  per- 
spired  very  freely  in  the  night ;  deposit  of  thin  white  mem- 
brane on  &uces ;  tongue  much  more  moist ;  swallows  veiy 
comfortably.    E.  T.  lOliJ. 

Dec.  16th.— M.  T.  101.2;  p.  100;  slept  well;  mem- 
brane thick  on  the  jdiaiynx ;  tongue  quite  moist ;  bowels 
moved  naturally  this  morning ;  stool  dark  and  loose.  E.  T. 
101.8. 

Dec.  16th.— M.  T.  102.4;  p.  120;  slept  very  well; 
deposit  on  pharynx  continues.  One  loose  and  dark  stool 
last  night.    E.  T.  101.4. 

Dec.  17th.— M.T.  101.8 ;  p.  124 ;  slept  well  tiU  8  a.m., 


nSSS^SSST^        (OtlNICAL  HOTBB.  159 


BsvisWt  BEudi  1)  18ffi. 


btrfc  was  restless  afterwsTds.  One  stool  in  night,  formed 
and  dark ;  pharynx  freer  of  deposit.  To  return  to  Mere, 
egtm.  8  x,  gij.,  erery  three  brs.,  and  the  pharynx  to 
be  sprayed  with  a  saturated  sointion  of  boracic  acid  in 
gfyoerine  onee  a  day^  and  the  sponging  with  Argent,  nitr. 
oontinQed.     To  have  arrowroot.    E.  T.  101. 

•Dec.  18th.— M.  T.  100.2 ;  p.  124  ;  slept  vdry  well ;  less 
membrane  on  pharynx.    E.  T.  100.4. 

Dec.  19th.— M.  T.  99.8  ;  p.  108 ;  slept  well ;  bowels 
moved  natnrally  yesterday.  Ordered  two  eggs  and  chicken. 
E.  T.  99.6. 

Dec.  20th.— M.  T.  99.8 ;  p.  112 ;  slept  well ;  bowels 
moTed  naturally;  pharynx  much  clearer;  tongue  moist. 
From  this  time  she  progressed  steadily  to  recovery. 

On  the  22ndy  she  was  ordered  a  chop  and  bitter  ale,  and 
to  have  China  (p  mjjj*  every  4  hrs.,  and  her  temperature 
was  normal  night  and  morning.  She  remained,  however, 
very  weak  for  some  days,  and  was  not  discharged  tiU 
Jan.  7th.  She  had  only  been  at  home  a  few  days  when  she 
was  obliged  to  take  to  bed  again  owing  to  great  prostration 
and  vomiting,  while  her  temperature  rose  to  102. 

She  was  re-admitted  to  the  hospital  on  Jan.  13th,  and 
suffered  for  some  days  from  vomiting  and  a  return  of  some 
of  tba  old  symptoms ;  her  temperature  rising  again  to 
108.6 ;  her  throat  was  extremely  sore,  the  pharynx  being 
injected  and  covered  with  viscid  mucus*  She  was  treated 
with  Nux  vom,  1  x,  and,  after  the  vomiting  was  checked, 
with  Merc,  biniod  8  x.  The  temperature  was  normal  night 
aod  morning,  on  Jan.  28rd|  ten  days  after  re-admission ; 
and  on  Feb.  4th,  she  was  sent  to  the  country  for  change 
of  air. 

Gasb  II. 

Florrie  P.,  danghter  of  preceding  patient,  aged  seven, 
was  admitted  into  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital  on 
Decfith^  1881,  under  Dr.  Blackley,  with  the  following  his- 
tory and  symptoms : — 

Ha0  been  atrtended  at  home  for  three  days  by  the  house- 
surgeon:  She  complained  of  slight  t^iderness  over  the 
Adatoeakf  and  was  very  low  and  prostrate;  the  bowels 
mtiier  eonfined;  temp.  102  at  night.  She  was  treated 
wih  Baptis.  <f>  mj.  every  8  hrs.  As  she  did  not  improve, 
she  was  admitted  to  the  hospital  on  Dec.  5th. 


160  CUHIGAL  H0TE8. 


On  admiuian* — Patient  oompbdns  of  pain  on  swallow- 
ing; dull  headache;  is  drowsy,  and  the  face  flushed.  The 
tongue  is  coated,  with  red  papillsB  protruding  through  the 
fur;  there  is  some  distension  of  the  abdomen,  but  no 
tenderness  on  pressure,  and  no  spots.  Heart  and  lungs 
normal.  Ordered  milk  and  beef  tea,  and  continue  JBop^.f. 
E.  T.  101.4.  . 

Dec.  6th.— M.  T.  102 ;  p.  128 ;  slept  in  the  night,  but 
rather  restlessly ;  tongue  foul ;  the  &uce8  are  swollen  and 
congested.  Ordered  Merc.  cor.  8  x,  gij.  eveiy  2  hrs., 
alternately  with  BaptU.  f.   E.  T.  102.4 

Dec.  7th.— M.  T.  108 ;  p.  124 ;  slept  very  well,  but 
talks  in  her  sleep ;  &uces  less  inflame^  no  ulceration. 
E.  T.  104. 

Dec.  8th.— M.  T.  102 ;  p.  124  ;  slept  very  well,  and  did 
not  talk  in  her  sleep.  Tongue  clean  at  the  tip,  white- 
coated  posteriorly.  There  is  a  greyish  patch  on  the  pharynx. 
She  swallows  well.  The  bowels  have  not  acted  for  three  days. 
The  urine  is  acid,  sp.  gr.  1088. ;  contains  no  albumen. 
Ordered  Merc,  biniod.  8  x,  grj.  every  2  hrs.,  and  to  get  white 
wine  whey.    E.  T.  102,4. 

Dec.  9th,— M.  T.  102 ;  p.  120 ;  slept  very  weU,  Patch 
on  pharynx  unchanged.  Bowels  moYed  four  times  since 
yesterday  morning ;  stools  loose.    E.  T.  102.6. 

Dec.  10th,— M.  T.  102;  p.  116;  slept  very  well.  There 
is  no  exudation  on  the  pharynx.  Bowels  have  been  moved 
six  times  in  the  last  24  hrs. ;  stools  loose,  light,  and  of  a 
typhoid  character.  There  is  no  tenderness  over  the  abdo- 
men, and  no  increase  of  splenic  dulness.  One  pink  spot  is 
visible  on  the  abdomen.  Ordered  Soda  saUcyL,  grs.  2j^ 
every  2  hrs.     E.  T.  102.6. 

Dec.  11th.— M.  T.  97.8;  p.  112;  bowels  moved  eight 
times  in  24  hrs. ;  stools  of  same  character.  Soda  saUcyl. 
was  discontinued,  and  Arsen.  8  x,  mj.  every  8  hrs.  substi- 
tuted. She  was  given  arrowroot  and  (EtUi's  milk  food. 
m.  T.  101.8. 

Dec.  12th. — ^M.  T.  101 ;  p.  112 ;  bowels  moved  fourtimes 
in  24  hrs.    £.  T.  100. 

Dec.  18th.— M.  T.  100.6 ;  p.  112  ;  bowels  moved  four 
times.    E.  T.  101. 

From  this  time  she  progressed  to  recovery,  although 
on  the  14th  and  16th  the  evening  temperature 
rose  again  to  108^,  and  five  loose  stools  were 
passed  in  24  hrs.     She   perspired   freely    every    night. 


5S£^S;ST:2?      clinical  notes.  161 


1. 


On  the  18ih  the  bowels  were  moved  once,  and  the 
stool  formed.  On  the  20th  her  temperature  was  normal 
night  and  morning,  16  days  after  admission ;  she  had  no 
return  of  diarrhoea ;  was  ordered  Chin,  0  mj.  ter.  die.  She 
was  discharged  on  Jan.  7th,  1882,  and  has  had  no  relapse, 
although  she  retomed  to  the  same  house  from  whence  she 
came. 

Case  III. 

Eliza  J.y  aged  27)  married,  two  children,  was  admitted 
into  the  London  Homcsopathic  Hospital,  under  Dr.  Blackley, 
on  Dec.  12th,  1881,  with  the  following  history  and 
symptoms : — 

Patient  lives  on  the  drawing-room  floor  of  the  same 
house  as  the  preceding  patients.  Has  been  attended  at 
home  by  the  house-surgeon  since  Dec.  2nd,  since  which 
date  she  has  complained  of  lassitude,  inability  for  exertion, 
and,  within  the  last  week,  of  a  severe  cough.  She  has 
been  getting  steadily  worse,  and  for  the  last  few  days  has 
been  confined  to  bed;  the  temperature  has  gradually  risen 
to  102. 

On  admis$ion, — ^Patient  is  extremely  weak,  the  face  is 
much  flushed,  and  the  expression  anxious;  cough  very 
troublesome,  and  expectoration  difficult. 

Ex0minatian. — There  is  no  dulness  on  either  side  of  the 
chest,  anteriorly  or  posteriorly.  Bronchitic  rales  are  heard 
all  over  both  sides.  The  abdomen  is  somewhat  distended, 
and  there  is  general  tenderness  on  pressure  over  the  surface. 
The  bowels  have  not  acted  for  some  days ;  tongue  coated. 
Ordered  beef  tea,  milk,  veal  jelly,  and  brandy  S  ii.  in 
24  hrs.  and  Antim.  tart*  8  x,  grj.  every  8  hrs.  M.  T. 
108.2 ;  p.  186,  with  a  tendency  to  dicrotism,  as  shown  by 
the  sphygmograph ;  respirations  86.    E.  T.  108.4. 

Dec.  18th.— M.  T.  108.2 ;  p.  112 ;  r.  82 ;  slept  very 
well;  cough  extremely  troublesome,  and  expectoration 
difficult  this  morning.  Physical  signs  unchanged.  There 
is  an  eruption  of  small  bright  red  petechisB  scattered 
thickly  over  the  limbs,  and  more  sparsely  over  the  abdomen 
and  chest ;  a  few  spots  about  the  size  of  a  pea,  and  of  a 
dark  purple  colour,  are  mixed  with  these;  none  of  the 
spots  disappear  on  pressure.  The  fauces  and  pharynx  are 
darkly  congested,  and  there  is  a  whitish  patch  on  the  right 
anterior  pillar  of  the  fiauces.  No  difficulty  in  swallowing. 
The  bowels  were  moved  yesterday  by  enema ;  stool  natund 


162  CLINICAL  NOTES.        2b^! 


Eevtow,  Mtfdi !» 


in  colour  aiid  conidstenoe.    PatiaDt  haa  beoome  Yary  deaf* 
E.  T.  102.4. 

Dec.  14Ui.— M.  T.  100.2 ;  p.  116 ;  r.  36 ;  did  not  deep 
well.  Physical  signs  in  chest  continue.  Peteohi»  not 
quite  so  bright ;  tongue  thickly  coated  posterioiiy.  The 
patch  on  the  fiwaoes  is  more  di0linot«  Ordered  Cupr.  tvoeL 
3  X,  grj.  every  8  hrs.    E.  T.  102. 

Dec.  15th.— M.  T.  103  ;  p.  120 ;  r.  36  ;  has  slept  very 
well.  The  petechia  are  fading ;  patch  on  fauces  continues. 
Bowels  moved  by  enema  yest^day.  The  deafness  is  less. 
Cvipmm  stopped  and  Aniitn.  tart,  repeated.    E.  T.  104^6* 

Dec.  16th.— M.  T.  98 ;  p.  116  ;  r.  86 ;  slept  about  an 
hour ;  the  patch  on  the  fauces  is  less  distinct ;  squeaking 
rales  are  heard  all  over  the  chest.    E.  T.  102.6. 

Dec.  17th.— M.  T.  101.2  ;  p.  180;  r.  82 ;  slept  all  night ; 
cough  very  troublesome  at  times ;  expectoration  pro* 
fuse,  muco*pujulent  and  frothy;  the  petechias  have  diB** 
appeared.    E.  T.  102. 

Dec.  18th.— M.  T.  100.2  ;  p.  120 ;  r.  86 ;  slept  very 
well ;  cough  easier.    E.  T.  99.8. 

Dec.  19th. — ^M.  T.  99;  p.  112;  r.  36;  improving;  there 
is  nothing  to  be  seen  on  the  fauoes  or  pharynx.  E.  T. 
101.8. 

From  this  date  she  progsessed  steadily  to  recovery; 
notwithstanding  that  her  temperature  rose  on  the  morning 
of  the  22nd  to  102.4 ;  p.  136  ;  r.  40;  Phm.  8  x,  mj.  was 
then  ordered  alternately  with  Antim.  This,  however,  was  a 
merely  temporary  exacerbation^  as  on  the  same  ermm^ 
the  temperature  fell  again  to  99^,  and  on  the  28rd  was 
normal  night  and  morning.  The  bronchitic  ncmoAa 
gradually  disappeaied  firom  the  chest,  whidi  was  quite  five 
from  abnormal  sounds  on  the  SSth,  when  she  was  ordered 
Hepar  9ulph.  3  x,  grj.  every  4  hns*  She  was,  however,  very 
weak,  and  was  not  disdhaiged  from  the  hospitd  till  Jan. 
7th,  1882. 

Cask  17. 

AaUe  Glosiitis. 

Eliia  G.,  age  47,  a  lady's  maid,  was  a<knitled  into  die 
London  HomoBopathic  Hoq>ital  Jan.  28rd,  1888,  uadar 
oare  of  Dr.  Dyoe  Brown,  with  the  following  hintory  aal 
symptoms : — 

Patient  has  genesally  eqoyed  good  health.  Six  yeast 
ago  aha  had  an  attack  of  faoiaJ  erysipelas  afiter  taking 


SSJrS5??i8S!  CLINICAL  HOTBS.  168 

eold.      Last  Christmas  was  hid  np  for    fourteen  days 
mih  ''jaundice.'' 

On  Saturday  night,  Jan.  2l8t,  she  thinks  she  oaught 
«old,  as  she  suffered  from  shiYering  and  aching  in  the 
limbsy  and  slept  Uttle.  Next  morning  her  tongue,  espe- 
isially  the  right  half,  was  much  swollen,  and  she  had  pain 
•on  swallowing  on  the  right  side  of  the  tiiroat.  The  tongue 
Gontinned  to  become  more  swollen  and  painful  during  the 
day.  She  slept  badly  on  Sunday  night,  and  on  Monday 
morning  had  an  attack  of  painless  diarrhoBa,  and  suffered 
from  severe  frontal  headache,  with  pain  of  a  pricking 
43haracter  in  the  right  half  of  the  tongue  and  down  the 
throat.     She  was  admitted  to  hospital  on  Monday  evening. 

On  admission. — Patient  complains  of  aching  pain  in  the 
frontal  region.  She  is  unable  to  speak  plainly  owing  to 
the  swellmg  of  the  tongue,  and  the  effort  to  speak  or 
swallow  is  attended  with  much  pain  in  this  organ.  Pain 
and  tenderness  in  the  right  sub-maxillary  region,  extend- 
ing to  the  angle  of  the  jaw,  where  there  is  some  amount  of 
brawny  swelling.  The  forehead  and  right  side  of  the  face 
and  neck  are  suffused  with  a  pink  blush,  disappearing  on 
pressure.     There  is  no  oedema  of  the  &ce. 

The  tongue  is  enlarged  in  its  right  half  and  of  a  hard 
brawny  consistence ;  it  is  very  tender ;  the  patient  cannot 
protrude  it  farther  than  just  to  the  edge  of  the  teeth.  It 
is  thickly  coated  all  over  except  along  the  edge,  which  is 
pink  in  colour,  with  dark  red  papillas  standing  out.  The 
breath  is  extremely  foul,  and  speech  difficult  and  indistinct. 
There  is  pain  on  swallowing,  even  liquids ;  referred  to  the 
**  back  of  the  tongue,"  and  right  side  of  throat.  Ordered 
milk  and  beef  tea,  and  Aeon,  1  mj.,  Apis  1  mj.  alternately 
every  2  hours.    E.  T.  100.4. 

Jan.  24th.— M.  T.  98.4 ;  p.  124 ;  did  not  sleep,  but 
was  not  restless ;  tongue  still  very  painfnf  and  swollen ; 
less  pain  in  throat  on  swallowing ;  no  difficulty  in  breathing. 
E.  T.  98.4. 

Jan.  26th.— M.T.  98.4;  p.  104;  slept  weU;  tongue 
less  swollen  and  not  so  tender ;  no  pain  in  throat.  The 
Aeon,  was  now  stopped,  and  Apis  continued  every  8  hrs. 
E.  T.  98.4. 

Jan.  20th.— M.T.  98.4 ;  p.  92. ;  did  not  sleep  so  well, 
but  is  much  better  tiiis  morning.  The  'tongue  is  less 
swollen,  still  red  rooad  the  edge  and  ftirred  over  £he 
.surfiBu^e;    is  marked  by  the   teeth  along  the  right  side. 


164  TWO  SPIBITS  IN  MEDICINE.    iSd^SSSofiML 

Patient  can  speak  maoh  more  distinctly;  breath  still  very 
fonl ;  bowels  moved  in  the  morning  naturally.  E.  T.  OS.'^ 
Jan.  27th. — The  temperature  did  not  rise  again  above 
98.4.  The  tongne  gradually  diminished  in  size  and  the  pain 
and  tenderness  disappeared,  the  white  furred  coat  cleaned 
off  from  the  tip,  and  on  Feb.  8rd  all  trace  of  the  disease 
was  gone,  except  a  slight  stiffness  along  the  right  side  of 
the  tongue.  On  this  day  she  was  ordered  a  fdU  diet,  and 
Chin.  1  X,  No.  Y.  ter  die.  She  was  discharged  perfectly  well 
on  Feb.  9th. 


TWO  SPIRITS  IN  MEDICINE.* 

A  Review. 

By  John  H.  Clabee^  M.D. 

From  many  points  of  view  besides  the  strictly  professional 
one,  the  history  of  medicine  presents  a  study  of  surpassing 
interest.  In  it  the  lover  of  history  finds  the  leading  traits 
of  our  conmiou  human  nature  prominently  brought  out ; 
the  philanthropist  views  the  beginnings  and  course  of  the 
long  struggle  of  men  to  overcome  the  Uls  that  oppress  their 
fellows — ^a  struggle  in  which  he  at  the  present  day  is 
bearing  his  part;  the  humorist  sees  displayed  in  abundance 
those  touches  of  nature — ^half  absurd*  half  pathetic — ^which 
make  the  whole  world  kin ;  the  satirist  finds  a  glorious 
quany  of  baseless  assumptions,  overweening  pretensions, 
flat  contradictions,  and  hopeless  inconsistencies,  to  hew  in 
pieces  with  his  keen  and  pitiless  blade.  Dr.  Mellen  Gate, 
of  Washington,  has  given  us  a  new  and  original  view.  He 
has  studied  the  history  of  medicine  in  its  length  and 
breadth,  and  in  his  book  has  traced  the  rise,  development, 
and  fatal  operation  of  the  class-spirit  that  has  dominated 
the  medical  world  from  the  remotest  times.  This  is  the 
spirit  of  dogmatism.  He  also  shows  how  from  time  to  time 
men  have  arisen  to  protest  against  the  slavery  of  submission 
to  dogma,  and  how  they  have  Cured ;  and  lastly,  in  the  rise 
of  the  homoBopathic  school,  the  first  successful  protest 
against  the  tyranny,  and  the  rise  of  a  truer,  gentler  spirit 
in  medicine,  the  spirit  of  the  medicine  of  pure  experience. 


*  Tht  CkiU  of  PrmUe,  ^y  WmiMa  Hdton  Oile^  MJ>.  WMhington, 
D.G.   H.  B.  Bnzobam  d^  Co. 


Sii^riES?^!   TWO  SPIBITS  IN  MEDICINE.  165 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  book  is  not  so  maeh  a  sketch 
of  the  history  of  the  whole  of  medicine,  as  it  is  of  the  pro- 
fession and  the  professional  spirit*  And  a  yery  able  sketch 
it  is,  as  interesting  and  instractive  as  the  treatment  is  novel. 
Dr.  Gate  introduces  the  allegorical  into  his  work.  The  fall 
title  is  as  follows :  The  Child  of  Promise ;  or,  the  Isaac  of 
Medicine,  and  Ishmasl,  the  Half-Brother,  being  a  covi- 
prehensive  Glance  at  tlie  Inetincts  and  Pr&iilections  of  the 
Bival  Schools  of  Medicine. 

This  title  is  more  f ally  explained  by  the  following  quota- 
ticm  which  appears  on  a  page  to  itself,  between  the  title- 
page  and  the  preface. 

'*  Aad  he  shall  dwell  with  wild  men."  ''  His  hand  shall  be 
against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  him." 

'* For  Isbmael *'  ''I  have  blessed  him,  and  will  make  him 
firoitfnl,  and  will  mnltiply  him  exceedingly ; "  "  Bat  my  covenant 
will  I  establish  with  Isaac,"  **  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  and 
with  his  seed  after  him." 

**  And  Sarah  saw  the  son  of  Hagar,  which  she  had  borne  unto 
Abraham,  mockino  t !  " 

''Wherefore  she  said  onto  Abraham,  'cast  out  this  bond- 
woman and  her  son.'  " 

For  "  He  (Isaac)  was  a  man  of  oemtlb  natube  ...  of 
devoat  and  blameless  life." 

After  this  the  allegorical  is  chiefly  confined  to  the 
headings  of  the  chapters,  bat  the  fittingness  of  it  becomes 
very  marked  as  the  work  progresses,  and  the  story  he  has 
to  tell  fally  jastifies  the  author's  boldness  in  the  selection 
of  the  title  and  form  of  his  book.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
its  oddness  will  attract  many  readers,  who  will  not  be 
disappointed  with  their  fare,  though  it  is  to  be  feared  some 
may  be  repelled,  and  leave  the  contents  of  the  volume 
nntasted  because  they  cannot  digest  the  outside. 

Dr.  Gate  tells  us  that  his  reasons  for  publishing  this 
treatise  are  three. 

First.  He  has  observed  that  lay  homoeopathists  know 
only  the  practical  claims  of  the  system  they  believe  in,  and 
he  desires  to  provide  them  with  some  knowledge  of  its 
historical  claims  as  well,  that  they  may  be  able  to  rebut  the 
thousand  calumnies  that  are  always  being  heaped  upon  it. 

Second.  A  work,  Medical  Heresies,  has  lately  been 
published  by  a  Professor  Smyth,  which  contains  "  perhaps 
the  most  able  of  the  many  constantly  appearing  attacks 
upon  this  school,''  and  deserves  attention. 

YoL  26,  No.  8.  n 


166  TWO  SPIRITS  IN  MBDICINE.   ^SSJ^SSTiIuS 

Third.  Recent  standard  works  on  medical  history  maioe 
no  allasion  to  Hahnemann  or  homoDopathy. 

Dr.  Cate  has  laid  the  homoeopathic  world  under  obliga- 
tion by  the  pleasing  and  effectiye  way  in  which  he  has  met 
each  of  these  wants.  He  does  not  appear  to  be  acquainted 
with  The  History  and  Heroes  of  Medicine,  by  the  late 
Dr.  Rutherford  Russell — a  book  deserving  a  place  on  eveiy 
medical  man's  shelf — ^in  which  Hahnemann  and  homoeo- 
pathy find  their  proper  place,  and  due  consideration.  But 
even  this  can  hardly  be  described  as  among  the  "  more 
recent  standard  works  "  on  the  history  of  medicine,  and 
Dr.  Gate's  book,  which  has  no  pretensions  to  the  calibre  of 
that  of  Dr.  Russell,  and  which  runs  on  somewhat  different 
lines,  will  doubtless  penetrate  much  further,  and  in  many 
more  directions  than  the  other  has,  or  could  have  done. 

I  will  now  endeavour  to  indicate  the  author's  line  of 
thought. 

The  art  of  medicine,  he  says,  is  as  old  as  man  himself — 
at  least  as  old  as  his  pains  and  aches.  The  first  doctors  by 
profession  appear  to  have  been  the  Brahmins.  The  first 
medical  book  appeared  in  China  B.C.  2700.  This  is  still 
the  standard  medical  authority  in  that  conservative  country. 
It  gives  elaborate  instructions  for  feeling  the  pulse  with 
several  fingers  at  a  time,  used  as  a  performer  on  the  piano- 
forte uses  his,  now  on  one  arm  and  now  on  the  other,  by 
which  procedure  diseases  were  to  be  discovered.  This 
may  seem  astonishing,  but  there  is  a  story  told  of  a  pro- 
fessor of  medicine  in  recent  years  who,  in  a  case  where 
there  was  a  doubt  as  to  whether  the  disease  was  peri-  or 
^mZo-carditis,  with  his  fingers  on  the  patient's  pulse,  after 
a  few  moments'  profound  consideration,  exclaimed  with 
confidence  to  his  admiring  class,  ''Pm-carditis !"  and  this 
was  final.  This  occurred,  as  the  story  goes,  in  a  British 
University. 

After  the  Chinese  the  Egyptians  next  claim  consideration 

for  their  doings  in  medicine.     Their  great  authority  is  one 

Thoth,  but  whether  he  wrote  all  that  goes  by  his  name  is 

not  certain.    The  principal  thing  to  note  is  that  the  lore 

and  practice  of  medicine  feU  to  the  hereditary  possession  of 

the  inferior  priests.     "  He  who  was  bom  a  physician  was 

prohibited  equally  by  heaven  and  the  laws  from  abandoning 

_ibe  occupation  of  his  ancestors."  "  Furthermore,"  says  our 

or,  and  this  is  important  to  note,  ''the  pastophori 

it-physicians)  were  confined  to  the  doctrines  of  Thoth 


^SSSS^SSS"?^?  TWO  SPIBITS  IN  MEDICINE.  167 

tor  hints  as  to  the  management  of  the  sick ;  for,  if  disease 
-were  met  after  a  method  not  expressly  prescribed  in  the 
.works  of  Thothy  should  the  patient  die,  the  priest  respon- 
4sible  for  this  departure  from  the  authorised  practices  was 
jjpuniflhed  with  death."    What  a  glorious  text-book  ! 

From  the  Egyptians  the  Greeks  derived,  among  other 
things,  medical  ideas  and  practices.  The  Asclepiadse,  the 
oldest  doctors  amongst  the  Greeks,  were  an  exclusive  caste, 
handing  down  their  secrets  from  one  generation  to  another, 
jmd  having  recourse,  like  the  Egyptian  pastophori,  to  mys- 
terious incantations. 

About  570  B.C.,  Pythagoras,  the  first  Philosopher, 
appeared  on  the  scene.  Not  only  was  he  endowed  with  an 
intense  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  ''love  of  wisdom,'*  but 
he  was  also  possessed  with  the  passion  for  divulging  all  the 
knowledge  he  gained,  as  being  the  conmion  property  of  all. 
Among  other  things  he  studied  medicine,  and  made  no 
secret  of  what  he  learned.  This  was  too  much  for  the 
professional  spirit  of  that  day,  and  probably  cost  him  his 
life.  But  he  had  done  his  worL  He  had  broken  the  ice, 
and  made  way  for  all  who  would  to  draw  of  the  waters  of 
knowledge*  Thus  by  the  time  Hippocrates  appeared, 
460  B.C.,  it  was  not  a  mortal  offence  to  tell  tales  out  of 
school. 

Hippocrates  fully  deserves  his  title  of  Father  of  Medicine. 
"With  his  fiuthful  descriptions  of  disease,  his  accurate 
observations  of  the  operations  of  nature  and  the  workings 
of  her  laws,  medicine  proper  may  be  said  to  begin.  He  is 
the  father  of  the  two  leading  spirits  in  medicine.  His 
theories  of  the  four  elements,  and  the  four  humours,  his 
enuBciation  of  the  therapeutic  law  ''contraria  contrariis 
corantur,"  formed  on  these  theories,  and  his  therapeutic 
indications  inferred  from  them,  prove  him  to  be  the  father 
of  the  Ishmael  of  medicine — ^the  dogmatic  spirit  embodied 
in  the  allopathic  school.  On  the  other  hand,  his  own 
injunction  "  that  the  nature  of  man  cannot  be  well  knovm 
mthout  the  aid  of  medical  observation^  and  that  nothing 
should  be  affirmed  concerning  that  nature  until  after  having 
acquired  a  certainty  of  it  by  the  aid  of  the  senses,^*  together 
wi£b  his  observation  that  most  diseases  get  well  of  them- 
selves, and  that  many  diseases  are  cured  by  drugs  that  have 
icansed  the  like,  prove  him  to  be  the  father  of  the  ^'  Child 
of  Promise,"  the  Isaac  of  Medicine,  the  spirit  of  pure 
eiferienoe  and  honest  open-minded  observation,  from  which 

N— 3 


168  TWO  SPIRITS  IN  MEDICINE.   ^g^^SSfifMST 

alone  we  hope  for  perfection  in  oar  art,  and  to  which  we 
confidently  look  for  advance.  With  the  departnre  of 
Hippocrates  came  an  era  of  confusion.  Ont  of  this  oon-^ 
fusion  arose  the  do^^matic  school.  All  ori^nality  was 
quenched,  and  the  reign  of  another  Thoth  began.  Ishmad 
entered  on  his  career.  Medicine  now  was  not  the  possession 
of  a  priestly  caste.  It  was  part  of  the  education  of  all  the 
learned.  Hence  the  part  Aristotle  has  played  in  medical 
history,  though  he  never  practised  medicine.  He  could 
theorise  and  assume  with  the  best  and  boldest,  and  all  the 
weight  of  his  great  authority  went  to  support  dogmatism^ 
He  assumed  a  communication  between  the  heart  and 
trachea  for  the  passage  of  a  current  of  inhaled  air  into  the 
cavity  of  the  heart !  He  reasoned  on  the  expulsion  of  the 
fcBtus,  that,  as  it  was  oval  shaped,  it  could  only  come  out 
head  foremost,  reasoning  on  the  analogy  of  an  olive  in  a 
narrow-necked  bottle.  The  inference  was  that  in  all  breech 
and  cross-births  the  attempt  should  be  made  to  bring  down 
the  head.  He  did  not  notice  that  as  the  olive  could  get  out 
of  the  bottle  whichever  end  might  happen  to  come  first, 
though  it  could  not  if  it  fell  across,  so  the  fcBtus  might  get 
out  whichever  end  of  the  oval  presented.  Consequently, 
relying  on  this  great  but  unpractised  authority,  the  learned 
for  centuries  did  their  best  to  prevent  the  natural  deliveiy 
of  infants  which  they  discovered  to  be  coming  by  the  breech, 
and  the  simple  operation  of  turning  in  cross-births  never 
entered  their  thoughts. 

The  Empirics  of  Alexandria  and  the  Methodists  made  a 
stand  for  a  short  time  against  the  power  of  dogmatism, 
but  with  the  overthrow  of  Alexandria  their  resistance  came 
to  an  end,  though  the  labours  of  the  Empirics,  especially  in 
the  field  of  anatomy,  were  not  without  good  effect  on  the 
subsequent  course  of  medical  history. 

In  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  era  appeared 
Celsus  and  Galen,  both  dogmatists,  the  latter  a  man  of 
surpassing  talents,  whose  word  was  law  in  the  medical 
world  for  centuries  after  his  death.  He  accepted  the  theory 
of  four  elements,  he  endorsed  Aristotle's  division  of  the 
human  soul  into  three  parts — ^vegetative,  irascible,  rational — 
and  from  these  data  explained  all  phenomena  of  the  economy, 
declaring  his  colleagues  to  be  "ignorant  or  punctilious 
dialecticians  whose  discussions  are  frequently  repugnant  to 
the  most  common  sense."  He  uplifted  the  insignia  of 
dogmatism,  contraria  conirariig  curantur,  as  the  distinctive- 


ShSS^SSk"?*^  two  bpibits  in  medicine.  169 


Bmkm,  Mmh  1, 1S6S 


symbol  of  the  school,  and  by  him  "  dogmatism,  amplified, 
explained,  was  pushed  to  its  last  consequences." 

In  that  wonderful  movement  amongst  the  descendants  of 
the  veritable  Ishmael,  the  Arabs,  which  followed  the  ap- 
pearance and  mission  of  Mahomet,  among  all  the  arts  and 
sciences  that  grew  to  great  perfection,  the  art  of  medicine 
and  its  cognate  science,  chemistry,  and,  as  it  then  was 
so  thought  to  be,  astrology,  received  their  share  of  advance- 
ment. But  the  blight  of  dogmatism  was  over  it  even  there ; 
the  authority  of  Aristotle  barred  the  progress  that  should 
have  been  made,  and  threw  the  weight  of  the  Arabian 
savants  into  the  scale  of  dogmatism. 

This  state  of  things  continued  till  the  twelfth  century, 
during  which  time  medicine  had  again  become  the  property 
of  priests,  and  when  at  length  Yesalius  arose  and  dared 
to  state  anatomical  truths  in  opposition  to  the  theories  of 
the  ancients,  he  came  imder  the  ma  of  the  Inquisition,  for 
holding  the  heretical  notion  that  there  could  possibly  be 
error  in  the  writings  of  Aristotle  or  Galen.  It  mattered 
not  that  there  was  no  bone  in  any  of  the  hearts  Yesalius 
examined,  Galen  said  there  was  a  bone  in  the  anatomy  of 
the  heart,  and  it  was  heresy  to  contradict  that. 

After  him,  Paracelsus  dared  to  think  for  himself  and  use 
his  own  eyes,  scorning  the  authority  of  the  ancients,  and 
iie  was  branded  as  '*  Uie  quack."  How  our  own  Harvey's 
discoveries  were  received  is  well  known,  and  Sydenham, 
the  English  Hippocrates,  was  looked  on  with  disfavour  in 
London,  the  College  of  Physicians  refusing  him  their 
fellowship,  and  granting  him  the  licentiate  only. 

Oar  autiior  thus  brings  us  down  to  more  modem  days.  He 
then  tells  us  the  story  of  Hahnemann's  early  life,  studies, 
and  labours,  of  his  great  discovery,  and  how  he  worked 
it  out.  He  compares  the  labours  of  Hahnemann  with  those 
of  Yesalius  and  Harvey,  and  shows  how  much  more 
difficult  the  former  were  than  the  latter,  as  being  so  much 
more  complicated,  and  so  much  less  easy  of  demonstration. 

He  then  traces  the  rise  of  the  homoeopathic  school,  and 
the  fierce  antagonism  it  aroused  on  the  part  of  the  dogma- 
tists. He  compares  the  spirit  of  the  two  schools,  and  the 
two  systems  of  medicine,  and  the  force  of  the  allegory 
needs  no  pointing  out.  He  gives  an  account  of  the 
''  heresy-hunt "  undertaken  by  the  allopathic  body  in  this 
country,  and  an  instance  of  the  same  in  America.  It 
appears  in  that  land  of  the  free,  there  is  an  American 


170  TWO  SPmiTS  IN  MBDIOINB.  ^nS^.wSS^SHSSt 

Medical  Association  whicli  exercises  absolute  despotism 
oyer  all  provincial  affiliated  associations,  and  forces  on  them 
its  definitions  and  codes  of  ethics.  The  example  given  of 
how  it  exercises  this  prerogative  is  too  delicious  to  curtail, 
and  I  must  refer  readers  to  the  book  itself.  Our  author 
has  condensed  the  spirit  of  the  transaction  into  verse,  which 
is  quite  worthy  of  the  sentiment  it  embodies,  and  expresses 
so  perfectly. 

'*  Believe  as  we  believe,  no  more,  no  less, 
That  we  are  right,  and  nothing  less  confess ; 
By  the  code  of  ethics  and  its  mandates  we  abide, 
And  concede  such  other  things  as  with  it  coincide. 
Think  ye  as  we  think,  and  do  as  we  do, 
And  then,  and  only  then,  well  fellowship  with  yon. 

"  That  we  are  right,  and  always  right,  we  know, 
For  the  '  assembled  wisdom  of  the  ages  *  tells  us  so, 
And  to  be  right  is  simply  this,  to  be 
Entirely  and  in  all  respects  as  we ; 
To  deviate  a  hair's  breadth,  or  begin 
To  question,  or  to  doubt,  is  sin. 

*<  'Twere  better  that  the  sick  should  die  than  live. 
Unless  they  take  the  medicine  we  give ; 
Let  sink  the  drowning,  if  he  will  not  swim 
Upon  the  plank  that  we  throw  out  to  him ; 
'Twere  better  that  the  world  stand  still  than  move 
In  any  other  way  than  that  which  we  approve." 

The  author  then  proceeds  to  expose  in  masterly  fashion 
the  falseness  of  the  arguments  brought  against  the  new 
system  and  its  adherents  by  the  dominant  school,  and  to 
cftiow  how,  with  true  Ishmaelitic  spirit,  it  has  recourse  to 
mockery  when  reasoning  fails,  and  at  the  same  time  is  not 
above  **  feeding  on  the  meat  it  mocks,"  adopting  homoeo- 
pathic remedies  and  procedures  wholesale. 

One  of  the  charges  made  against  homoeopathists  by  that 
august  body,  the  American  Medical  Association,  is  that 
they  have  spoken  contemptuously  of  medicine  as  regularly 
practised.  How  is  it  that  they  still  tolerate  Oliver  WendeU 
Holmes,  and  allow  him  an  honoured  place  in  their  midst? 
Surely,  they  should  have  expelled  him  with  every  mark  of 
ignominy,  after  saying,  as  our  author  [reports : — "  With 
the  exception  of  Tnorphine  and  stdphtmc  ether,  I  firmly 
believe  that  if  the  whole  Materia  Medica  could  be  sunk  to 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  it  would  be  all  the  better  for  man- 
kind, and  all  the  worse  for  the  fishes."    Hufeland  said^ 


SS^SSS^uSS^  TWO  BPmiTS  IN  MEDIOIKE*  171 


46 


HomcBopathy  is  the  grave  of  soience."  He  might  have 
said  with  much  more  truth,  "Medicine  is  the  grave  of 
science."  Science,  we  have  been  lately  told  by  one  of  its 
greatest  exponents,  has  taught  ns  (in  medicine)  what  not 
to  do,  and  he  hopes  now  that  it  will  soon  tell  us  something 
on  the  positive  side*  As  yet  it  has  told  us  nothing. 
Physics,  chemistry,  botany,  the  life-sciences,  and  the  new 
science  of  disordered  life,  pathology,  pave  tiie  way  for  us 
to  a  right  understanding  of  the  condition  of  our  patients, 
but  medidne,  in  its  accurate  sense,  how  to  heal — which 
should  be  the  end  and  fruition  of  all  these  sciences — is  for 
them  a  dark  and  pathless  waste.  Whenever  science 
attempts  to  enter  this  region  she  falls  into  a  bottomless 
pit.  There  is  a  narrow  track  through  the  darkness — ^the 
path  of  pure  experience ;  and  there  is  a  clue  to  keep  us  in 
the  path — ^the  discovery  of  Hahnemann.  Keeping  to  these 
we  are  on  solid  ground.  But  this  ground  has  not  been 
won  by  physics,  by  chemistry,  by  botany,  or  the  sciences 
of  life  in  health  and  disease.  Science  cannot  claim  it  as 
her  own.  Science  does  much  for  us  at  the  bedside  of  our 
patient,  but  when  we  ask  her  how  to  cure  him  she  has  no 
answer  to  give.  Experience  can  tell  us  something,  and 
with  Hahnemann  to  interpret  can  tell  us  much,  Homoeo- 
pathists  may  have  spoken  contemptuously  of  the  old  way 
of  practice,  but  not  more  so  than  have  its  own  followers ; 
and  the  facts  of  its  history  speak  more  contemptuously 
still.  And  then, — dwellers  in  glass  houses  should  not 
throw  stones.  How  much  contempt  has  homoeopathy  had 
to  endure — ^blind,  unreasoning  contempt — ^from  the  other 
side? 

In  his  closing  chapters  Dr.  Gate  deals  more  particularly 
with  Professor  Smyth  and  his  arguments.  It  does  not 
appear  that  he  has  anything  fresh  to  urge  against  the 
homoeopathic  heresy,  but  he  adopts  a  more  reasonable  tone 
tiian  most  of  his  fellows.  Like  the  Boyal  College  of 
Physicians  in  the  days  of  their  conflict  with  Dr.  Quin,  like 
0.  W.  Holmes  five-and-twenty  years  ago,  Professor  Smyth 
assumes  the  role  of  the  prophet,  and  asserts,  as  they  did, 
that  homoeopathy  **  in  a  few  short  years  '*  will  be  non  est. 
Doubtless  he  will  turn  out  to  be  as  true  a  prophet  as  his 
predecessors !  Dr.  Gate  tells  a  delightful  little  story  of  the 
Michigan  University,  and  how  the  bomcBopathic  chair  was 
founded  and  occupied  after  a  struggle  with  the  Ishmaelites 
of  medicinCi  as  we  may  now  call  them,  which  readers  will 


172  TWO   8P1BIT8  IN  MEDICINE.    aSS^SSSIf^ 

find  Tory  diverting.    His  oonoluding  words  shall  be  giyen 

entire : — 

"This  medieal  faith  (allopathy)  which  is  grounded  in  the  ever 
shifting  sands  of  popular  prejadice,  this  Ishmael  of  mediciney  for 
a  reason  as  competont  as  that  relating  to  the  joonger  half-brother 
in  medicine,  will  not '  cross  the  Stygian  ferry ; '  on  the  contrary, 
'  I  •  .  .  will  make  frcdtfal,  and  multiply  him  exceedingly.' 
However,  at  this  epoch,  he  has  been  and  still  poses  before  us  as 
a  mocker.  Therefore  firom  the  pale  of  civilisation  will  he  be  ea$t 
out,  to  dwell  and  exercise  his  peculiar  offices  with  the  paganic 
and  barbarous  races;  for  the  hand  of  every  educated  mind  mH  be 
against  this  Ishmael,  while  this  outcast  will,  as  his  instincts  and 
predilections  have  ever  influenced  him  to  act  in  the  past,  con- 
tinue to  raise  his  band  against  everything  that  opposes  his 
assumption  of  power  and  of  rule. 

'*  The  civilised  world  will  thereupon  assert  its  preference  for 
employing  the  good  offices  of  the  Isaac  in  medicine  in  overcoming 
disease,  that  man  of  gentie  nature,  a  clear  definition  of  whose 
exponent  was  so  many  years  ago  concisely  set  forth  by  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  eloquent  authors — William  H.  Holoombe, 
M.D. — in  the  ranks  of  tbe  homoeopathic  profession. 

*'  Dr.  Holcombe  tells  us  that  a  homoeopathic  physician  is  one 
who  uses  all  the  surgical,  obstetrical,  mechanical,  and  chemical 
measures  where  indicated,  and  who  in  the  vital  or  dynamic 
sphere  is  guided  by  the  homoeopathic  law — 

^*  iimUia  HmiWm$  airantur.'* 

In  taking  leave  of  Dr.  Cate  and  his  book,  I  cannot  con- 
clude without  thanking  him  for  the  pleasure  it  has  given 
me  to  read  it.  I  trust  he  will  find  a  wide  circle  of  readers, 
both  in  and  out  of  the  profession.  I  shall  be  glad  if  this 
very  meagre  sketch  should  make  the  work  known,  and  send 
readers  of  it,  eager  for  more>  to  the  book  itself.  The  get- 
np  of  the  book  is  excellent,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  expect 
in  books  from  across  the  Atlantic,  and  reflects  credit  on 
printer  and  publisher  alike.  In  a  future  edition,  which  I 
hope  will  soon  be  called  for.  Dr.  Cate  must  not  let  con- 
traribus  do  duty  for  contrariia,  whatever  the  printers  may 
think.  It  would  be  well  also  if  he  gave  his  authority  for 
the  statement  that  Hippocrates  was  the  first  to  use  obste- 
trical forceps.  The  honour  is  usually  ascribed  to  the 
Arabian  physicians. 

16,  St.  George's  Terrace, 

Gloucester  Road,  London,  S.W. 


i^^SSSlIf^.         MYOOABDITIS.  ITS 

CASE  OF  MYOCARDITIS  IN  RHEUMATIC  FEVER. 

With  Sphygtnographic  Tracings* 

By  Edwabd  M.  Maddbn,  M.B.y  Birmingham. 

The  following  case  is  of  interest,  as  showing  the  diagnostic 
^ralne  of  the  sphygmograph,  and  the  benefit  following  the 
nse  of  digitalis  in  material  doses. 

Miss  Edith ,  tet.  16,  one  of  a  large  family,  all 

healthy  children,  and  living  in  a  yery  healthy,  though 
exposed,  country  house,  about  nine  miles  from  Birmingham, 
•caught  a  chill  on  the  eyening  of  December  7th,  1881,  but 
went  to  school  as  usual  the  next  day.  On  the  9th  she 
stayed  at  home,  and  complained  of  pains  all  oyer  her,  and 
<<on  the  10th,  as  she  was  feyerish,  her  father  asked  me  to  go 
and  see  her.  I  then  found  that  she  had  an  undoubted 
iittack  of  acute  rheumatism,  with  a  pulse  of  105,  and 
temperature  101^.8,  pain  in  all  the  joints,  and  a  slight 
blush  oyer  both  ankles  and  wrists.  The  tongue  was  white 
and  furred,  but  there  was  no  thirst  nor  sweat.  The  bowels 
were  confined,  and  the  urine  scanty,  dark  and  lithic. 

She  went  on  yery  satisfactorily  for  the  first  ten  days, 
ttaking  aconite  and  bryonia,  chiefly  the  latter,  in  the  mother 
tincture  fiye  drops  for  a  dose.  Under  this  treatment  the 
pains  left  the  joints,  there  was  no  swelling,  the  feyer  neyer 
rose  above  102^,  and  auscultation  showed  no  implication 
of  the  heart,  though  on  the  21st  she  was  breathing  rather 
faster  than  nsual,  and  the  pulse  was  120. 

I  did  not  see  her  after  this  till  the  24th,  and  I  then 
found  the  following  state  of  affairs.  There  was  no  pain  or 
swelling  in  any  of  the  joints,  but  rather  a  severe  pain  over 
ihe  region  of  the  liver  (?  diaphragm),  but  only  on  move- 
ment or  deep  breathing.  The  breathing  was  very  short  and 
gasping,  60  per  minute,  the  face  very  flushed.  Tempera- 
ture 101*^.5.  Pulse  180  and  unsteady.  The  respiration 
'was  harsh  at  both  bases,  and  the  left  base  was  dull  on 
percussion.  I  could,  however,  still  discover  no  abnormal 
sounds  with  the  stethoscope,  and  there  was  certainly  no 
j)ericarditis.  I  now  began  to  get  very  anxious  for  my 
patient,  and  gave  her  phosphorus  5  x  every  two  hours, 
believing  that  the  condition  of  the  lungs  was  the  cause  of 
her  being  so  much  worse ;  however,  I  determined  to  take 
Dr.  Dudgeon's  sphygmograph  with  me  the  next  day,  to 
determine  the  condition  of  the  heart. 


174  MTOflAEDina.         SSS?£S*?^ 

The  next  day,  GhriBbuaB  dsj,  I  fmmd  ber  do  better ;  tbe 
respiration  64.  Pnlae  very  nneteady,  and  nearly  200; 
temperature  100P.5;  and  I  obtained  the  following  tracing — 


which  enabled  me  to  dia^^ose  myocarditis,  without  any 
doabt,  and  of  considerable  severity  too.  It  will  be  sees 
that  the  different  parts  of  the  normal  pnlse  trace  ore  at 
most  entirely  wanting,  only  occasionally  do  we  get  a  fJoint 
suspicion  of  the  tidal  ware  or  the  dicrotic  notch,  bnt  in 
their  place  we  get  a  single  weak  unsteady  wave,  with  a 
very  unequal  elevation  and  mieven  base  line,  showing 
unmistakably  that  the  heart  muscle  wag  acting  in  a 
tumultuous,  weak  and  irregular  manner,  and  probably  that 
the  different  fibres  of  the  ventricles  contracted  vrith  a 
different  rhythm.  The  breath  sounds  in  the  right  lung  were 
now  normal,  but  there  was  evidence  of  pleural  effnsion  at 
the  left  base,  though  not  extensive.  I  now  gave  her 
cactus  2x  and  digitalis  Sx  (trit.}  in  alternation. 

The  next  day,  December  26th,  the  respiration  varied 
&om  48  to  60;  the  temperature  was  lOO^'S,  and  the 
following  was  the  pulse  t 


ahowing  the  same  features  as  the  first,  if  poasibie,  in  an 
aggravated  degree,  especially  the  upper  one. 

The  condition  of  the  cheat  remained  the  same.  I  may 
as  well  say  there  was  no  cough,  or  any  evidence  of  true 
pneumonia  all  through.     Bepeat  the  medicines. 

December  27th.  Bespiration  60,  temperature  99.9,  and. 
the  following  tracing,  which  shows  no  essential  improve- 
ment— 


Strrlew,  MwA  1,  ISM. 


UTOOABDITIB. 


I  now  gave  her  dt^talu  0,  m.  xt.  every  two  hours. 

December  28tb.  Bespiration  86,  temperature  99*7,  and 
feele  better  in  herself;  there  is  a  little  pais  in  the  left 
lower  ribs,  where  there  is  still  dnlness  oo  percassioa,  and 
distant  breathing  to  be  found. 

The  following  is  the  tracing  for  this  day^ 


December  29th.  BeHpiration  £2 ;  temperature  100 ; 
pulse  1S2,  thoagh  still  tety  irregolar,  as  the  folloving 
bracings  ahow.  Hoverez,  it  will  be  observed  how  verj 
mncb  more  clearly  the  traoiiig  is  shown ;  the  dicrotic  wan 
showing  at  each  beat,  thongh  frequently  cnt  short  hj  the- 
next  np-Btroke — 


December  30th.  Respiration  38 ;  temperature  99 ; 
poise  102,  with  the  foUowing  tracing,  which  shows  for  the 
first  time  complete  regularity  of  beats  as  to  time,  thoagh 
not  qnite  as  to  strength— 


She  was  feeling  much  better  in  herself,  and  the  urine  v 
for  the  first  time,  clear. 


176  UTOCABDITIS. 


I  DOW  reduced  the  dose  of  tUgitalis,  whicli  hmd  bean 
given  regalarly  since  the  27th,  to  m.  x,  every  three  boon. 

December  Slst.  Respiration  86;  temperature  99.3; 
pulse  108 ;  with  the  following  tracing — 


which  shows  a  still  further  improvement,  in  so  &r  as  the 
tidal  wave  ia  quite  perceptible  and  the  dicrotic  wave  is  not 
nearly  so  high.  I  now  reduced  the  dose  of  digUaUt  to 
m.  V.  every  3  hours. 

January  2nd,  1882.    Respiration  40;  temperature  99.6; 
pulse  120 ;  with  the  following  tracing. — 


She  is  evidently  not  quite  so  well,  possibly  due  to  some 
extra  excitement  yeBterday.  Also  for  the  first  time  there 
has  become  evident  a  soft  mitral  sj'stolic  bruit.  How- 
ever, the  urine  has  become  clear  and  pale,  and  the  effusion 
at  the  left  base  is  nearly  absorbed. 

I  now  ceased  the  digitalia  altogether,  and  gave  her 
bry.  0  and  cactus  2x  in  aJteraation. 

January  4th.  The  fever  has  now  quite  gone,  the  chest 
is  clear,  and  she  feels  much  better  in  herself;  the  respira' 
tion  is  26,  and  the  pulse  120,  with  the  following  tracing. — 


From  this  time  she  bae  got  steadily  better  without  any 
drawbacks,  though  the  mitral  bruit  still  remains.  She  sat 
out  of  bed  on  the  12th,  and  began  to  walk  on  the  14th. 


MT0CABDITI8.  177 


Tbo  lasi  tracing  I  took  waa  od  Janaarj  14ib,  wban  the 
reBpintioD  was  16,  and  the  pulse  100. 


It  will  be  Been  that  siace  the  Slet,  the  tidal  wave  has 
agUD  been  lost  in  the  ap-atroke,  and  tbat  the  pulse  is  atill 
highly  dicrotic,  evideocing  great  relaxation  of  the  arteries, 
a  condition  which  is  iavariably  fonnd  doting  fevers,  and 
dnring  convalescence  for  some  time  after.  Mitral  Btenosis 
does  not  give  any  distinctive  poise  trace,  bo  the  present 
tracing  is  simply  that  of  an  exhansted  arterial  system,  and 
somewhat  enfeebled  heart  moscle. 

Of  course  my  patient  is  by  no  means  well  yet,  bnt,  con- 
sidering the  very  serioos  nature  of  the  complication,  I  am 
very  wedl  satisfied  at  the  fever  having  leil  her,  and  her 
being  able  to  sit  ap  fire  weeks  after  she  first  took  to  her 
bed.  The  mitral  broit  is  by  no  means  a  loud  one,  and  I 
have  good  hopes  that  it  may  disappear  onder  treatment,  or 
at  all  events,  not  be  the  caose  of  any  appreciable  ill-healtli 
in  later  years. 

The  Msistance  I  reoeived  from  the  spbygmograph  in 
estiioating  the  amoont  of  heart  mischief,  and  its  progress 
from  day  to  day  was  most  gratifying,  and  cannot  &U  to  be 
evident,  even  to  those  only  slightly  acquainted  with  its 
traoingB,  and  not  less  so  was  the  improvement  onder  the 
nee  of  digitalis,  for  the  cachu  2x  and  diffiuUii  3z  were  given 
<Hi  December  25th  and  26th,  and  then  the  tincture  of  digi- 
UUit  alone  in  pretty  foil  doses  with  the  result  ttiat  by 
December  80th  the  pulse  was  reduced  from  nearly  200, 
and  a  most  irregolar  and  almost  oninteUii^ble  tracing,  to  a 
little  over  100  utd  perfectly  regolar,  whioE  it  has  remained 
ever  siooe. 

NovB. — Thetiaoiiiga  bb  printed  ue  not  ftltogetfaM  MttsfMtorf,  thoagli 
tbej  nu7  pooalb];  be  m  good  m  nnytliing  but  a  photograph  oan  be. 
Tbn,  howevBT,  give  a  vety  lair  general  tepreBenttttion  of  the  originals, 
■Bfflcimt  to  indicate  the  alterations  tiom  daj  to  day,  bnt  in  the  flnt  two 
tradngB  th«  dtveraitiei  both  ai  to  time  and  Tolnme  are  made  leM  obvious 
thm  they  IMII7  were,  while  in  the  last  one  the  itrokei  ahoold  have  beam 
more  ersn  and  regular,  and  vithoQt  the  wavineei  there  ahown  in  a  few  of 
Ihelinef. 


I 


178  ON  BLECTWCITT.        ^^'S2:??»Sar 


Bttview,  Harch  1, 188RI. 


ON  ELECTKICITY :  ITS  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION 

AND  THEKAPEUTIC  USES. 

By  Donald  Batnes,  M.A.,  M.D.y  F.R.G.S. 

(Contifmed.) 

QaJxanic  or  Voltaic  Electricity :  So-called  from  its  dis- 
-ooverer  and  earliest  chief  investigator.  Also  called  dynamic 
electricity,  the  battery  current,  &c. 

In  1790  Galvani,  Professor  of  Anatomy  at  Bologna,  dis- 
covered this  form  of  electricity  while  investigating  the 
influence  of  electricity  on  the  nervous  excitability  of 
animals.  He  noticed  that  when  the  lumbar  nerves  of  a 
dead  frog  were  connected,  by  means  of  a  metallic  conductor, 
with  the  crural  muscles,  these  latter  were  contracted.  He 
also  noticed  that  the  energy  of  the  contractions  greatly 
depended  on  the  conductor  being  composed  of  two 
different  metals. 

He  explained  this  phenomenon  by  assuming  that  the 
electricity  was  inherent  in  the  animal  (calling  it  the  vital 
fluid),  and  simply  passed  from  the  lumbar  nerves  to  the 
muscles  by  means  of  the  metallic  conductor,  thus  causing 
the  contractions.  This  theory,  though  supported  by  many 
eminent  men  of  his  day,  was  denied  by  others,  notably  Volta, 
of  Pavia,  who  attributed  the  contractions  in  the  frog's  leg  to 
ihe  influence  of  the  metallic  conductor,  strengthening  his 
theory  by  Galvani's  own  statement,  that  the  contractions 
depended,  to  a  great  extent,  on .  the  conductor  being  com* 
posed  of  two  metals,  and  that  the  electricity  was  evolved 
from  the  contact  of  tiie  two  metals ;  that  the  frog's  body 
was  only  a  conductor,  and  at  the  same  time  a  very  sensitive 
electroscope.  Yolta,  by  a  series  of  experiments  with  an 
electroscope  invented  by  himself,  proved  that  electricity 
was  developed  by  the  contact  of  different  metals  under 
favourable  circumstances,  the  famous  Yoltaic  pile  being 
the  result  of  his  experiments.  A  long  controversy  was 
carried  on  between  Galvani  and  Yolta,  each  having  a 
numerous  party  of  supporters,  and  each  conducting 
elaborate  experiments  to  prove  his  respective  theories. 
Volta  finally  propounded  the  following  principle,  viz., 
"  That  when  two  heterogeneous  substances  are  placed  in 
contact,  one  of  them  always  assumes  the  positive  and  the 
other  tiie  negative  electrical  condition."    Other  invest!- 


ItS^^^^^         ON  ELECTBIOITY.  179 


B«view,  March  1, 18BS. 


gators  followed;  who  in  turn  challenged  Yolta's  theories, 
advancing  their  own,  or  modifying  his.  Among  the  most 
notable  may  be  mentioned  Fabroni,  WoUaston,  Davy, 
De  la  Rive,  and  the  immortal  Faraday.  In  the  present 
day  earnest  investigations  are  being  diligently  carried  on 
in  this  interesting  field,  with  the  magnificent  results  that 
are  now  being  daily  seen  at  the  various  electrical  exhibi- 
tions or  conferences. 

The  galvanic,  or  battery  current  as  it  is  called,  may  be 
produced  in  its  simplest  form  by  the  contact  of  two  metals 
in  one  exciting  fiuid,  which  acts  chemically  on  the  one,  but 
has  no  action,  or  at  any  rate  a  lesser  action,  on  the  other. 
Take  an  earthenware  or  glass  jar  containing  a  solution  of 
sulphuric  acid  and  water  (one  part  of  the  former  to  eight 
or  ten  of  the  latter).  Now,  partially  immerse  in  the  solu* 
tion  a  plate  of  copper  and  a  plate  of  zinc,  a  piece  of  copper 
wire  being  attached  to  the  free,  or  unimmersed  end  of  each 
plate.  No  electrical  or  chemical  action  can  be  noticed 
beyond  a  few  bubbles  of  hydrogen  disengaged  from  the  zinc 
plate;  if,  however,  the  ends  of  the  wires  are  brought 
together,  violent  chemical  action  is  immediately  set  up.  A 
^sonsiderable  quantity  of  hydrogen  is  disengaged,  which  is 
not  now  noticed  at  the  zinc,  but  at  the  copper  plate.  The 
connecting  wires  present  many  magnetic,  thermal,  and 
other  properties.  If  a  galvanometer  be  interposed  in  the 
wires  or  circuit,  the  needle  will  immediately  be  deflected, 
thus  proving  the  existence  of  an  electric  current.  The  zinc 
plate,  being  the  one  chemically  acted  on,  is  called  the  gene- 
rating plate,  while  the  copper  plate,  which  sustains  little 
if  any  chemical  action,  is  called  the  collecting  plate.  The 
electricity  produced  at  the  zinc  passes  through  the  liquid 
to  the  copper  plate;  and,  as  it  always  takes  a  definite 
•course,  it  follows  on  in  the  same  direction  outside  the  cell, 
passing  over  the  copper  along  the  wires  to  the  zinc  plate, 
thus  completing  its  circuit.  The  current  flowing  within 
the  cell  through  the  liquid  from  the  zinc  or  positive  to  the 
oopper  or  negative  plate,  is  positive.  At  the  same  time,  a 
current  of  negative  electricity  is  supposed  to  start  from  the 
copper,  travelling  in  an  opposite  direction  through  the 
liquid  to  the  zinc  plate,  and  continues  over  the  zinc  and  out 
of  the  cell  back  to  the  copper  plate,  thus  completing  its 
circuit.  Thus  the  positive  current  generated  within  the 
cell  at  the  zinc  is  obtained  outside  the  cell  from  a  conductor 
attached  to  the  copper  plate,  and  vice  versa. 


180  ON  ELBOTMOITr.         S^^52S?^ 


Bcview,  Uandi  1, 186K. 


A  battery  is  formed  by  uniting  sevend  such  ceUs 
together,  the  copper  pkte  of  the  first  cell  being  connected 
with  the  zinc  plate  of  the  second  cell,  and  so  on  throughout 
the  series.  Iliis  form  of  battery  is  called  a  single  fluid 
battery,  and  is  what  is  called  inconstant,  i.e.,  subject  to  a 
rapid  decrease  of  power  during  use,  and  for  this  reason  is 
but  little  adapted  for  medical  purposes.  This  decrease  of 
power  is  due  chiefly  to  the  formation  of  sulphate  of  zinc, 
from  the  chemical  action  of  the  dilute  sulphuric  acid  on  the 
zinc,  which  renders  the  exciting  fluid  less  acid,  and  there- 
fore less  able  to  produce  the  original  active  chemical  action ; 
and  to  what  is  called  polarisation  of  the  copper  plate,  which 
is  due  to  the  deposition  of  part  of  the  hydrogen  on  the 
copper,  evolyed  during  the  action  of  the  dilute  sulphuric 
acid  on  the  zinc.  This  deposit  of  hydrogen  ofiiers  consider- 
able resistance  to  the  passage  of  the  electric  current,  and, 
in  addition,  causes  a  deposit  of  metallic  zinc  on  the  copper, 
by  reducing  the  sulphate  of  zinc  in  solution,  which  prac- 
tically gives  us  two  zinc  plates  instead  of  one,  and  of 
necessity  destroys  the  conditions  necessary  to  tbe  produc- 
tion of  the  electric  current.  This  trouble  hiui  been 
overcome  by  the  introduction  of  elements  which  will  give 
a  steady  and  constant  supply  of  electricity  for  a  very  long 
time.     These  elements  are  **  double  fluid." 

The  following  batteries  are  those  chiefly  used  for 
medical  purposes: — The  Smee  combination. — ^Here  the 
elements  consist  of  zinc  and  platinum,  the  exciting  fluid 
being  dilute  sulphuric  acid.  This  combination,  as  is  the 
case  with  all  single-fluid  batteries,  soon  loses  its  power. 

The  Grenet  combination,  which  is  perhaps  the  best  of 
all  single-fluid  batteries,  consists  of  zinc  and  carbon 
elements,  an  acid  solution  of  bichromate  of  potash  being 
the  exciting  fluid.  This  battery  is  much  more  constant 
than  Smee's.  In  Stohrer's  batteries  the  same  elements 
and  exciting  fluid  are  used.  In  the  constant,  or  two-fluid 
batteries,  polarisation  is  prevented  by  chemical  reaction 
and  mechanical  means. 

Grove's  battery  consists  of  an  outer  and  an  inner  cup, 
the  inner  being  porous.  In  the  outer  cup  is  a  zinc  plate, 
immersed  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid;  the  inner  contains 
nitric  acid,  in  which  a  platinum  plate  is  suspended.  In 
this  case  polarisation  of  the  hydrogen  is  prevented  by  its 
combining  with  some  of  the  oxygen  of  the  nitric  acid 
passing  off  in  fumes,  which  are  easily  noticed  when  the 


?£S^SiSJr^         ON  BLECTBICITY.  181 


Befkfw,  March  1, 1882 


1)atter7  is  working ;  the  porous  cup  acts  as  a  diaphragm, 
preyenting  the  deposit  of  zinc  on  the  platinum. 

Bunsen^B  battery  is  very  similar  to  Grove's,  the  only 
difference  being  that  the  negatiye  element  is  carbon  instead 
of  platinum.  One  of  the  best  of  the  two  fluid  batteries  is 
the  Daniell,  the  elements  being  zinc  and  copper,  separated 
bj  a  diaphragm  of  porous  earthenware.  The  zinc  is  im- 
mersed in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  copper  in  a  satu- 
rated solution  of  sulphate  of  copper.  The  hydrogen 
evolved  in  the  zinc  compartment  traverses  the  porous 
diaphragm,  reduces  the  sulphate  of  copper,  thus  causing  a 
dei>osit  of  metallic  copper  on  the  copper  plate ;  the  sul- 
phuric acid,  set  free  from  the  copper  solution,  also  traverses 
the  porous  diaphragm,  and  helps  to  keep  up  the  strength 
of  the  dilute  sulphuric  acid  in  tiie  zinc  chamber. 

Two  modifications  of  the  Daniell,  the  Siemens-Eblske 
and  the  Becker-Muirhead,  are  used  to  a  great  extent. 
Another  constant  battery  is  the  Leclanch6,  which  consists 
of  zinc  and  gas  carbon.  The  carbon  is  packed  in  a 
porous  cell  with  powdered  carbon  and  peroxide  of 
manganese ;  this  cell  is  placed  in  another,  containing  a 
saturated  solution  of  sal-ammoniac,  in  which  is  immersed 
a  zinc  rod.  In  this  element  chloride  of  zinc  is  formed, 
and  hydrogen  and  ammonia  set  free. 

The  elements  I  usually  employ  for  stationary  batteries 
are  "  Hill's  Gravity  Cells."  They  are  very  inexpensive, 
and  work  well  for  a  long  time,  with  little,  if  any,  attention. 
The  element  consists  of  a  glass  or  earthenware  cell,  circular 
in  shape ;  at  the  bottom  is  placed  a  roll  of  copper,  covered 
with  crystals  of  sulphate  of  copper;  water  is  added 
till  the  cell  is  one-third  full,  a  saturated  solution  of  sul- 
phate of  zinc  is  carefully  poured  over  this  till  the  cell  is 
about  two-thirds  full ;  suspended  from  the  top  of  the  cell 
and  just  touching  the  upper  solution  is  a  zinc  disc,  usually 
made  with  a  large  aperture  in  the  centre.  The  only  atten- 
tion necessary  is  occasionally  to  add  a  little  water,  to 
replace  any  loss  by  evaporation ;  a  layer  of  paraffin 
covering  the  zinc  solution  will  almost  entirely  prevent  any 
loss  from  this  cause.  The  solutions  of  sulphate  of  zinc 
and  copper  are  kept  apart  by  the  difference  in  their  specific 
gravities.  Care  must  be  taken  not  to  shake  the  cells,  or 
the  solutions  will  become  mixed. 

The  smallest  element  in  use  is  Gaiffe's,  which  consists 
^f  a  plate  of  zinc  and  a  plate  of  chloride  of  silver,  separated 

YoL  26,  No.  8.  o 


182  ON  ELECTBICITY.         f2S^52»??nSir 


Bevibw,  MATch  1,  VBBL. 


by  some  bibulous  paper,  moistened  with  salt  and  water.  As 
we  have  seen,  a  galvanic  battery  consists  of  a  number  of 
elements  joined  together  in  a  series  by  metallic  connections ; 
the  collecting  plate  of  the  first  element  is  connected  to  the 
generating  plate  of  the  next,  and  so  on,  the  last  collecting 
being  joined  to  the  first  generating  plate.  These  con- 
nections consist  of  good  conductors,  that  is,  of  bodies  that 
ofier  but  little  resistance  to  the  passage  of  the  electrio 
current.  Most  metals,  charcoal,  and  acidulated  liquids,  are 
good  conductors.  The  best  metallic  conductors  are  gold^ 
silver,  and  copper,  the  last  being  chiefly  employed  owing  to  its 
cheapness.  Even  the  best  conductors  resist  the  passage  of 
the  electric  current  more  or  less.  Non-conductors,  or 
insulators,  are  substances  which  ofier  very  great  resistance, 
or  almost  entirely  prevent  the  passage  of  the  electric 
current,  as  gutta-percha,  porcelain,  wood,  resin,  &c.  This 
brings  us  to  the  subject  of  electrical  resistance,  which  may 
be  defined  as  being  that  quality  of  a  body  which  tends  to 
retard,  or  obstruct,  the  flow  of  the  electric  current,  and  it 
is  found  to  be  directly  proportional  to  its  length ;  that  is, 
the  resistance  ofiered  by  a  wire,  for  example,  a  mile  long, 
would  be  double  that  ofiered  by  the  same  wire  half  a  mile 
long. 

Different  substances  have  each  a  resistance  peculiar  to 
itself,  which,  by  comparison  with  fixed  standards, 
has  been  measured,  and  is  called  the  '^  specific  resistsmce'* 
of  the  body.  The  resistance  of  a  body  also  depends  on  its 
cross  section,  and  is  inversely  proportional  to  it.  A  copper 
wire,  for  instance,  of  large  calibre,  offers  less  resistance  to 
an  electric  current  than  a  similar  one  of  smaller  calibre. 
In  a  galvanic  battery  the  resistance  to  the  electric  current 
consists — In  the  first  place,  of  that  offered  within  the  cell, 
which  depends  on  the  exciting  fluid,  the  distance  between 
the  plates,  the  size  of  the  plates,  and  any  polarisation  that 
may  be  going  on.  This  is  called  the  essential,  internal,  or 
intrabatterial  resistance.  In  the  second  place  to  tiiat 
occurring  outside  the  cell,  due  to  the  connections,  conducting 
wires,  or  other  media  that  may  be  introduced  in  the  circuit ; 
this  is  called  external,  extrabatterial,  interpolar,  or  non* 
essential  resistance. 

To  sum  up  :  The  resistance  within  the  battery  is  directly 
as  the  distance  between  the  plates,  and  inversely  as  the 
surface  acted  on.  In  the  connecting  wires  the  resistance 
is  directly  as  its  length,  and  inversely  as  its  cross-section* 


S^aSTf^'  EBTBIEELAa, 18ft 

These  principles  are  brought  out  in  the  different  arrange- . 
nients  of  the  elements  in  a  battery.  They  may  be  arranged 
in  two  ways ;  first,  when  the  collecting  plate  of  the  first 
element  is  joined  to  the  generating  plate  of  the  second,  and 
so  on  throughout  the  series,  as  already  described;  this 
arrangement  is  calculated  to  overcome  great  external 
resistance,  and  it  is  said  to  be  'Sn  series,*'  or  an  "  intensity 
arrangement^  If^  however,  we  connect  all  the  collecting 
plates  together,  and  all  the  generating  plates  together,  we 
practically  get  one  large  element  of  each  kind,  instead  of 
aeveral  small  ones ;  that  is  to  say,  we  increase  the  area  of  the 
plates,  and  the  quantity  of  galvanism  obtained  is  very  great. 
This  is  technically  described  as  ^*  quantity  arrangement.** 
Electro-motive  force  may  be  described  as  the  power  a 
battery  possesses  of  generating  and  propelling  an  electric 
current.  This  is  found  to  be  proportional  to  the  chemical 
action  taking  place  in  the  battery ;  the  greater  the  amount 
of  chemical  action,  the  greater  the  electro-motive  force. 
Thus  a  Bunsen  element  has  a  far  greater  electro-motive 
force  than  a  Smee. 

By  the  intensity^  or  strength  of  a  current,  we  mean  the 
qiiantity  of  electricity  which  flows  through  a  section  of  the 
circuit  in  a  unit  of  time.  It  is  proved  to  be  proportional 
to  the  electro-motive  force.  This  is  Ohm's  law,  and  may 
be  stated  as  follows  : — "  The  intensity,  or  strength  of  the 
current,  is  equal  to  tlie  electro-motive  force,  divided  by  the 
resistance" 

Or  expressing  it  as  a  formula — 

R 
(2V>  be  continued.) 

I^OTB. — In  the  ifarst  paper,  thenno-eleotrieity  has  b«en  printed  as  snb- 
diTision  (c),  whereas  it  was  intended  to  be  division  4th. 


CLINICAL  LECTURE  ON  ERYSIPELAS. 

Delivered  at  the  London  HomoBopathic  Hospital,  Jan.  28rd, 
1882,  by  J.  Galley  Blaoklby,  M.B.,  Physician  in 
charge  of  the  Skin  Department. 

Gentlemen, — ^Those  of  you  who  have  accompanied  me 
round  the  wards  during  the  last  few  weeks  will  have  seen 
the  man  A.  B.,  an  occupant  of  Hahnemann  ward,  the 
subject  of  phlegmonous  erysipelas.     As  the  case  possesses 

0 — 8 


fQ4  T?T>vaTT)T?T  AQ  Monthly HamoBopAffcic 


Beview,  March  1, 18fc2. 


more  than  ordinary  interest,  I  would  invite  yonr  attention 
for  a  few  moments  to  the  notes^  as  famished  by  our 
resident  medical  officer,  Dr.  Scriven. 

"The  patient,  a  cab-driver,  aged  54,  was  admitted 
December  9th,  1881,  stating  that,  except  for  winter  coagh, 
he  had  always  enjoyed  good  health,  until  four  days  ago, 
when  he  noticed  a  stiffness  in  the  calf  of  the  right  leg, 
which  became  the  same  night  very  painful,  the  pain  being 
of  a  burning  character.  On  the  following  day  the  leg 
began  to  swell,  and  the  pain  became  worse.  On  the  day 
but  one  previous  to  his  admission  he  noticed  blisters 
appearing  along  the  tibia ;  these  gradually  coalesced,  and 
on  the  following  day  fresh  ones  appeared  on  the  outer  side 
of  the  leg,  the  earlier  ones  meanwhile  beginning  to  burst. 

At  the  time  of  his  admission  to  the  hospital  the  whole 
tibial  aspect  of  the  leg  was  covered  with  large  bullsB  of  the 
size  of  a  half-crown,  two  or  three  being  apparently  on  the 
point  of  coalescing,  the  contents  being  large  pustular, 
whilst  the  outer  side  of  the  leg  was  occupied  by  a  single 
large  bulla,  containing  pure  serum.  There  were  several 
smaller  buUse  about  the  ankle.  All  these  were  surrounded 
by  an  erythematous  blush,  which  disappeared,  however,  on 
pressure,  and  the  whole  leg  was  very  tender  to  the  touch. 

Pulse  is  120  full  and  throbbing,  temperature  99.6. 
Tongue  beefy,  but  inclined  to  be  coated  in  the  centre.  To 
have  tr.  rhus  tox.,  1  x,  a  drop  every  four  hours,  the  bulla 
to  be  pricked,  and  poulticed  with  bread  and  water,  and  the 
patient  placed  on  a  full  meat  diet. 

Dec.  11th. — Pulse  124 ;  temp.  100  morning  and  evening. 
Tongue  now  thickly  coated  in  centre.  Leg  and  foot  both 
slightly  oedematous.  Has  not  slept  since  his  admission, 
owing  to  pain  in  the  leg.  To  have  canth.  1  x,  gttj.,  4tay 
quaque  hora. 

Dec.  12th. — Temp.  100  morning  and  evening.  Leg  and 
foot  more  oedematous.  There  is  a  hard  brawny  swelling 
in  the  popliteal  space,  and  some  tenderness  along  the 
course  of  the  int.  saphenous  vein.  Tongue  very  thickly 
coated  in  centre,  fiery  red  round  the  edges.  Has  had 
several  sharp  rigors,  and  cannot  sleep  owing  to  gnawing 
pain  in  the  leg.  Linseed  poultices  were  ordered  to  the 
leg  and  knee,  and  chin,  0  gttj.  every  four  hours  was 
substituted  for  the  last  medicine.  A  generous  diet  was 
ordered,  with  the  addition  of  a  pint  of  bitter  ale  daily. 

Dej.    13th. — Temp,  last  night  101.6;   this  morning 


SsSS'iSsr?^*'        EBYsnPBLAS.  185 


BtvriflVy  SfAvdi  1*  1683 


98.6 ;  pain  less ;  has  slept  a  little.  For  some  days  the 
temp,  kept  up,  yarying  from  100.2  to  101.2,  the  leg  con- 
tiiming  meanwhile  very  painful,  though  the  swelling  and 
hardness  were  less.  The  tongue  was  red  and  fiery  at 
the  tip. 

Dec.  19th. — Temp.  last  night  102 ;  had  a  smart  rigor 
in  the  eyening.  As  the  swelling  was  now  '*  boggy "  and 
showed  signs  of  pointing,  free  incisions  were  made  on  the 
inner  and  outer  aspect  of  the  calf,  and  a  couple  of  drainage 
tubes  inserted.     The  poulticing  to  be  continued. 

Dec.  20th. — Temp.  102.2  last  night,  99.6  this  morning ; 
discharge  of  pus  very  free,  especially  from  the  internal 
incision.     Has  slept  better. 

Dec.  22nd. — ^Evening  temperature  still  high ;  discharge 
free;  tongue  more  moist.  The  dose  of  china  was 
increased  to  gtt.  t.  ter  die.  Four  ounces  of  port  wine  were 
substituted  for  one  half-pint  of  ale." 

During  the  following  week  the  eyeniug  temperature  fell 
to  100.  The  discharge  diminished  and  the  wounds  ap- 
peared to  be  granulating  in  a  healthy  manner.  Long 
sinuses  could,  howeyer,  still  be  felt  amongst  the  muscles 
inside  the  leg.  A  small  phlegmon  formed  oyer  the  outer 
condyle  of  the  femur;  this  was  opened,  and  a  quantity  of 
^sanious  pus  was  eyacuated.  The  patient  is  meanwhile 
gaining  eyery  day  in  flesh  and  strength.  The  tongue  is 
clean,  and  the  patient  eats  yoraciously.  The  poultices 
haye  now  been  left  off  and  the  wounds  dressed  with  carbolic 
acid  lotion. 

Jan.  6th. — Temp,  normal  night  and  morning ;  small 
sinus  outside  the  knee  still  discharging  thin  ichorous 
matter.  The  other  openings  are  looloug  healthy,  thoagh 
a  probe  still  passes  1^  inches  between  the  muscles. 
9  silic.  8  grj.  t.  d.,  the  wounds  to  be  packed  with  pledgets 
of  lint  dipped  in  carbolic  acid  lotion. 

The  second  case  is  that  of  Caroline  F.,  st.  27,  senrant, 
whom  some  of  you  may  remember  as  being  admitted  an 
inmate  of  Cambridge  ward  on  Noy.  22nd :  '*  Says  she  had 
an  attack  of  erysipelas  in  the  face  three  years  ago  but  has 
otherwise  enjoyed  yery  good  health.  Has  been  working  in 
a  hot  kitchen  and  exposed  to  draughts."  On  admission 
the  face  and  anterior  part  of  the  hairy  scalp  were  occupied 
by  the  characteristic  smooth,  shiny,  fiery  red  swelling, 
known  popularly  as  St.  Anthony's  fire.  The  temperature 
on  admission  was  103.4,  and  the  same  eyening  rose  to 


186  UBYSIPELAS:  ^SS^.S^?^, 


104.  Was  seen  by  the  house  surgeon,  who  prescribed 
aeon,  and  beUad.,  in  drop  doses  of  the  first  decimal  dilution 
every  two  hours  alternately,  and  a  lotion  consisting  of  a 
drachm  of  tr,  veraL  vir.  to  six  ounces  of  water,  to  be  applied 
to  the  face  on  a  mask  of  lint ;  the  diet  to  consist  of  milk, 
beef  tea,  arrowroot,  and  cocoa  ad  libitum* 

"Nov.  23rd. — ^Temp.  104.2;  tongue  dry  and  cracked; 
has  been  delirious  all  night,  and  required  closely  watching 
to  keep  her  in  bed.     Continue  the  remedies. 

Nov.  24th. — Temp,  last  night  105  ;  this  mormng  108  ; 
delirium  not  so  violent.     Takes  nourishment  well. 

Nov.  25th.— Temp.  103.6  last  night ;  102  this  morning; 
swelling  in  the  feuse  has  increased  very  much,  and  has 
spread  to  the  neck  and  scalp ;  is  now  hard  and  brawny, 
and  is  showing  signs  of  vesiculating  on  the  surface.  BEas 
now  been  steadily  unconscious  for  two  days.  Tongue  diy 
and  brown;  sordes  round  teeth.  Was  ordered  i  iv.  of 
port  wine,  and  a  couple  of  eggs  beaten  up  with  brandy  in 
addition  to  the  above  diet,  which  she  continues  to  take 
wen.  The  lotion  was  replaced  by  a  mixture  of  olive  oil 
and  tincture  of  veratum  viride,  and  the  aconite  was 
omitted. 


102  4- 
Nov.  27th. — ^Temp.  Tq2^  ^*  '^^^ '  ^^  wandered  all 

night,  but  is  semi-conscious  again  this  morning.    The 

lower  part  of  the  face  is  much  swollen ;  tongue  dry,  brown 

and  slimy ;  passes  urine  involuntarily ;  takes  nourishment 

welL      The  beUad.  was  replaced  by  rhus  1  x,^tj,  2da 

quaque  hora. 

102.8 ' 
Nov.  28th. — Temp,  qq/   '  pulse  96 ;  slept  for  a  few 

hours  during  the  night,  but  is  unconscious  this  morning, 

and  is  muttering  constantly.    One  stool  passed  in  bed ; 

swelling  has  now  spread  down  left  side  of  neck. 

102.6  • 
Nov.  29th, — ^Temp.  qq/   *  pulse  96 ;  in  other  respects 

the  aaxne.  To  have  five  drops  of  mother  tincture  of 
china  every  three  hours  and  a  pint  of  champagne  per 
diem  in  place  of  the  port  wine. 

Nov.  30th. — Temp.  99.6  night  and  morning ;  pulse  J2 ; 
is  quite  conscious  this  morning.  Face  not  so  much 
BwoUen.    Passed  a  stool  unconsciously  during  the  night. 

Dec.  1st. — Temp.  99.4  at  night,  99.2  this  morning; 
pulse  78 ;  slept  very  quietly  during  tibe  night,  and  is  quite 


^tSSS^^tSP?^^  BBYSIPELAB.  187 


i. 


eoiiBcioiis  this  morning.  Swelling  maoh  less  in  the  faoe, 
and  has  not  spread  below  the  neck.  Bowels  acting 
iiatorally,  and  does  not  pass  nrine  in  bed.  Bedsore  on 
right  buttock.  To  discontinue  china  and  have  apis  8  x., 
gjttj.  evGTj  two  honrs. 

Dec. 2nd. — ^Temp.  iqqq\  pnlse  78,  feeble;  was  very 

•drowsy  all  yesterday  and  during  the  night;  breathing 
stertorous  at  times.  Was  ordered  15  minims  of  tp.  ammon* 
'Orom,  every  four  hours.  Seems  much  brighter  this 
morning ;  tongue  moist  and  cleaner.  Is  taking  nourish- 
ment well.    Face  desquamating. 

Dec.  8rd. — Ten:^.  100.6  last  night,  normal  this  morning; 
idapt  well  all  night  without  wandering.  Tongue  moist, 
and  much  cleaner.  Pnlse  72,  much  stronger.  Passed  one 
stool  during  sleep." 

It  is  needless  to  give  you  the  subsequent  details  from  day 
to  day.  She  made  a  straight  progress  towards  recovery ; 
was  out  of  bed  for  the  first  time  on  Dec.  19th,  and  was 
discharged  cured  on  the  22nd,  exactly  a  month  from  the 
•day  of  her  admission. 

The  third  case — one  that  several  of  you  have  seen  in  my 
out-patient  room — ^is  that  of  Mary  S.,  aged  21,  teacher, 
who  came  on  April  21st,  stating  that  she  had  for  years  had 
periodical  attacks  of  erysipelas,  commencing  in  the  nose, 
4uid  invading  subsequently  the  &ce  and  head.  The  case 
is  interesting,  from  tiie  fact  that  she  suffers  in  the  intervals 
with  neuralgia  of  the  head  and  face,  and  that  she  is  the 
subject  of  complete  alopecia,  extending  to  eyebrows  and 
eyelashes,  dating  from  the  first  attack  of  erysipelas.  She 
wears  a  wig,  and  has  had  the  head  shaved  at  times.  For 
the  slight  erysipelatous  redness  present  at  the  time  of  her 
visit  she  received  bdL  1  x.,  a  pilule  three  times  a  day ;  and 
-when  this  had  subsided  at  the  end  of  a  fortnight,  although 
but  very  few  traces  of  hair  follicles  could  be  made  out  with 
a  lens,  she  was  given  ac.  jluor.  S  gttj.  t.  d.,  which  Ae 
took  steadily  for  two  months,  with  instructions  to  keep  the 
head  shaved  once  a  week.  At  the  end  of  June  she  came 
43omplaining  of  a  small  patch  of  indurated  skin  on  the 
left  ala  nasi,  which  she  said  had  always  been  the  foous  from 
which  the  erysipelas  commenced.  On  examination  it  was 
seen  to  be  slightly  raised  above  the  surrounding  skm, 
smooth  and  soft,  slightly  scaly  round  the  edges,  resembliag^ 
in  fact,  a  small  patch  of  lupus  folliculans.    For  thk  I  gave 


188  EBTSIPELAS.  «2S*lf52°??T2Sr 


Review,  Harch  1,  ISOL 


her  Hydrocotyle  Asiatica  1  x.,  gttj.  t.  d.  This  she  took 
steadily  for  three  monthsi  but  without  any  manifest 
improvement  other  than  that  nnmerons  downy  hairs  haye 
begun  to  appear  on  the  scalp.  She  is  now  taking  kal.  bich., 
and  the  growth  of  hair  continues  slowly,  but  steadily,  the 
downy  hairs  being  interspersed  here  and  there  with 
vigorous,  dark-coloured  shafts. 

These  three  cases  will  perhaps  serve  to  give  you  a  fair 
general  idea  of  the  symptoms  and  treatment  of  the  more 
severe  forms  of  erysipelas.  The  milder  forms  do  not  pre- 
sent themselves  very  frequently  in  hospital  practice,  owing^^ 
to  the  fact  that  they  generally  improve  spontaneously*. 
When  they  do,  however,  there  is  usually  little  difficulty  in 
nipping  the  malady  in  the  bud.  The  patch  of  rosy  red 
sUn,  tense  and  shining,  slightly  elevated  above  the  sur*- 
rounding  skin,  hot  to  the  touch,  and  tender  on  pressure,  is 
easily  recognised,  and  as  easily  met  by  belladonna  (drop 
doses  of  the  first  dec.)  every  two  hours.  I  have  quite 
given  up  the  use  of  aconite  in  &is  as  in  all  specific  fevers, 
for  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  erysipelas  belongs  to  the 
specific  infectious  diseases.  Should  the  attack  not  subside 
within  48  hours,  vesiculation  of  the  surface  commences, 
and  the  patch  may  spread  at  the  same  time.  Here  rkm 
tax.  1  z,  gttj.  2  dis  hor.  is  the  remedy,  with  perhaps  bellad, 
at  night,  if  delirium  or  great  restlessness  are  present,  as  is 
frequently  the  case.  The  skin  should  be  rigorousty- 
excluded  from  the  air,  either  by  oil  or  collodion. 

In  the  more  severe  forms  many  authorities  recommend 
compression  as  a  means  of  preventing  or  aborting  the* 
phlegmonous  form.    Yelpeau,  in  his  lessons  on  clinical' 
surgery,  says  "  That  when  the  phlegmonous  erysipelas  is^ 
only  of  three  days'  duration,   compression  wUl  almost 
always  produce  resolution,  and  that  it  is  still  useful  eveui 
when  pus  has  formed,  and  the  cellular  tissue  has  become 
mortified."*   Subsequent  experience  has,  however,  failed  tO' 
ratify  Yelpeau's  suggestions,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  where  simple  means  have  fedled,  and  we  are  conscious 
of  the  presence  of  pus,  it  should  be  speedily  evacuated. 

In  the  graver  varieties  of  erysipelas,  of  which  my  first 
two  cases  are  examples,  no  time  should  be  lost  in  subject* 
ing  the  patient  to  tike  remedy  more  distinctly  adapted  to 

*  Le^om  Ora/«f  d4  Clinique  OMrurffieaU,  vol.  iii.,  p.  271. 


SS^^JjSr:^  RBTSIPBLAS.  189 


B0Tiew,  ICarofa  1, 1862 


the  indiyidual  case.  For  this  reason,  as  a  rule,  the  use  of 
beUadanna  is  rather  a  waste  of  time.  Where  yesiculatioa 
or  bollsB  are  present,  rhvs  is  the  drug  to  be  exhibited ;  and 
the  same  may  bo  said  of  all  cases  which  lapse  into  a  low 
typhoid  condition,  evidenced  by  the  condition  of  the  tongae, 
the  low  muttering  delirium,  and  the  persistent  high  tern* 
perature.  Where  the  indications  are  rather  those  of 
toxsBmia,  especially  with  very  extensive  oedema,  and  gene- 
rally dusky  colour  of  skin,  and  temperature  not  very  high, 
apia  is  the  drug  to  be  tried.  If,  however,  we  have  rigors 
from  time  to  time,  and  very  high  temperature,  with  con- 
siderable difference  between  the  morning  and  evening,  we 
have  in  cinchona  bark  a  most  valuable  adjuvant,  whether 
the  case  go  on  to  suppuration  or  not/  The  drug  must, 
however,  not  be  given  in  infinitesimal  doses.  You  will 
have  noticed  the  very  satisfactory  fall  in  temperature  in 
the  case  of  Caroline  F.  after  the  administration  of  a  few 
five-drop  doses  of  the  strong  tincture.  On  the  subject  of 
diet,  wnat  I  have  said  as  to  the  dietary  of  the  two  patients, 
should  suffice.  It  should,  in  all  cases  of  erysipelas,  be 
generous  and  easily  digested.  Stimulants  should  also  be 
exhibited  freely,  and  in  some  conditions,  where  there  is 
profound  adynamia,  and  alcohol  fails  to  give  the  necessary 
fillip,  the  spirits  of  saUvolatile,  as  given  in  our  second 
ease,  is  a  very  useful  and  reliable  stimulant. 


*  China,  as  a  remedy  in  eryBipelas,  has  hardly  received  the  attention 
it  deserves  at  the  hands  of  recent  writers  on  homoeopathic  therapeutics. 
The  anatomical  changes  in  the  skin  and  sabcntaneons  connective  tissne, 
atthoQgh  few  in  number,  are  yet  sufficiently  characteristic  to  lead  one  to 
«zpeet  good  results  from  the  exhibition  of  the  drug  where  the  febrile 
and  other  symptoms  present  are  in  accord  with'  the  pathogeuesis  of 
eJdna  (vide  AllerCi  Encyelopadia,  voL  iii.,  pp.  204  and  206).  Hahnemann 
Mmears  to  have  been  fully  cognisant  of  the  beneficial  eifects  of  china  in 
pmegmonoos  erysipelas,  for  in  the  introduction  to  his  account  of  the 
dmg  (Materia  Mediea  Fwra^  Dudgeon's  translation,  voL  i.,  p.  416)  he 
says: — 

«» So  also  in  those  cases  where  we  have  to  do  with  io-ealled  moist 
gangrene  in  the  external  parts,  we  shaU  generally  notice  in  the  remainder 
of  the  patient*s  ailments,  morbid  symptoms  similar  to  the  symptoms 
peenUar  to  cinchona  bark;  hence  it  is  so  useful  in  such  cases." 

Jousset  ("  Du  Quinquina  et  du  Sulfate  de  Quinine  dans  le  Traitement 
de  l^Erysipele/'  L*Art  Medical,  Jan.  1880,  p.  11)  cites  two  cases  of  severe 
eiysipdias  cured  by  eMna,  In  one,  substantial  doses  of  the  viman 
cinchona  were  administered. 


190  BBViBws.  B2^'22Sfi?i2? 


BeYiew,  2Citch  1,  IttS. 


REVIEWS. 

Special  Pathology  and  Therapeutic  Hints,      IUtte.     Boericke 
and  Tafel,  New  Tork. 

The  second  edition  of  this  work  is  a  decided  improvement  on 
the  first.  The  author  tells  ns  that  the  first  had  become  old* 
Views  on  pathalogy  which  were  almost  startling  when  it  first  saw 
the  light,  have  become  musty  and  antiquated  since  then,  many 
of  them  have  even  been  proved  to  be  fallacious ;  hence  the  need 
of  a  new  edition,  which  appears  in  the  form  of  a  very  handsome 
volume  of  nearly  1,100  pages. 

To  those  who  have  not  the  time  to  put  on  their  literary  sea- 
boots  and  wade  chin  deep  througli  Allen,  this  book  will  profve  a 
storehouse  of  information. 

Without  having  to  wander  wearily  through  pages  of  symptoitts, 
many  of  which  may  be  of  questionable  value,  we  are  enabled  to 
turn  at  once  to  the  disease  we  want  to  study,  and  find  all  the 
principal  remedies  alphabetically  arranged,  with  their  patho- 
genetic indications  concisely  described. 

The  pathology  of  the  work  is  carefully  brought  up  to  modem 
standard.  Some  few  errors  in  nomenclature  have  slipped  in, 
which,  but  for  their  recurrence,  we  should  have  attributed  to  the 
much  maligned  printers.  For  instance  "  metastic  meningitis  " 
from  the  context  is  evidently  meant  for  ''  metastatic,"  and  again 
the  word  '*  insulatio  "  is  applied  to  sunstroke  ;  were  the  patient 
to  be  exposed  to  the  electric  current  we  could  understand  tb.e  use 
of  this  word,  but  not  when  used  in  reference  to  Father  "  Sol." 

These,  however,  are  but  of  minor  importance,  and  detract  but 
little  firom  the  value  of  the  work  to  the  homoeopathic  practitioner. 
The  section  on  kidney  diseases  is  well  written,  and  abounds  with 
useful  information.  Brain  and  spinal  diseases,  too,  have  been 
carefdlly  studied.  Whilst  old  physic  is  almost  helpless  in  this 
class  of  diseases,  homoeopathy  is  fertile  in  resource. 

The  homoeopathic  physician,  by  means  of  the  laws  of  similars, 
can  avail  himself  of  the  lai^ge  class  of  drugs  acting  on  the  brain 
and  cord,  which  the  allopath  dare  not  tamper  with  for  fear  of 
producing  aggravation. 

Dr.  Bane  deserves  our  best  wishes  for  the  catholicity  of  his 
opinions.    We  quote  from  the  preface : — 

''This  book  does  not  give  any  prescription  in  regard  to  the 
dose,  because  that  is  still  an  open  question,  and  must  be  left 
entirely  to  the  free  judgment  of  the  practitioner."  "I,  myselfi 
prefer  the  highest  potencies  ;  others  may  think  differently.  So 
much  is  certain,  that  there  are  undoubted  facts  which  seem  to 
favour  both  sides  of  the  question     •  .     .     Judge  then  for 

thyself." 


iSSS'JKS??^^  NOTABILIA.  191 


fienew,  3Caieh  1, 1883. 


Such  liberal  views  an  a  weighty  qnestioii  do  much  to  cBsarm 
criticism,  and  with  the  exception  of  a  £bw  experiments  in  nomen- 
«latiure,  to  whioh  oar  English  eaocs  have  not  yet  become 
aecnstooied,  this  book  will  jnnk  high  as  a  reliable  referee  in 
doubtful 


The  Delegates  from  the  United  States  of  America  to  the  Interna- 
tional HomcBopathiti  Oonvention,  held  in  London,  July,  1881  • 
Barrand,  96,  Gloucester  Place,  Portman  Bqoare. 
"Wb  have  in  ^s  very  well  arranged  group  the  photographio 
portraits  of  twenty-five  of  our  transatlantic  colleagues  who  took 
80  active  and  useM  a  part  in  the  business  of  our  Convention  last 
summer.  The  portraits  are  on  the  whole  excellent.  The 
majority  are  admirable  likenesses,  while  two  or  three  only  are 
lees  striking.  This  was  of  course  inevitable.  Among  the  best 
are  Dr.  Talbot,  Dr.  Dake,  Dr.  Breyfogle,  Mrs.  Dr.  Baker, 
Dr.  Ordway,  Dr.  Higbee,  Dr.  Eaton,  Dr.  Cooper,  Dr.  Benjamin, 
Dr.  MitcheU,  Dr.  de  Gexisdoff  and  Dr.  Foster.  Mr.  Barraud  may 
fairly  be  congratulated  on  having  produced  a  very  interesting 
and  successful  group.  It  is  one^^di  we  are  sure  our  colleagues 
would  wnh  to  possess  ;  and  when  we  add  that  three  half  crowns 
will  enable  them  to  have  it,  we  oaonet  doubt  that  a  large  sale 
will  be  secured  for  it. 


NOTABILIA. 


BRITISH  HOMCBOPATHIC  SOCIETY. 

The  Sixth  Ordinary  Meeting  of  the  present  Session  will  be  held 
on  Thursday,  March  2nd,  1882,  at  seven  o'dook,  when  the 
following  motions  win  be  discussed  : — 

Proposed  by  Dr.  Huohbs,  seconded  by  Dr.  Yrldham — 

**  1.  That,  in  view  of  the  considerations  as  to  the  state  of  our 
Materia  Medica,  lately  adduced  by  Drs.  Yeldham  and  Black  in 
this  country,  and  Dr.  J.  P.  Dake  in  America,  the  British  Homoeo- 
pathic Society  feels  that  the  time  has  come  for  its  reconstruction, 
and  is  prepared  to  undertake  the  task. 

"  2.  ThsA,  for  this  purpose,  a  Committee  of  seven  of  its 
members,  including  the  President  and  Secretary,  be  appointed. 

*'  8.  That  this  Committee  be  instructed  to  take  for  the  basis 
of  its  work  the  Encychpadia  of  Dr.  Allen,  in  the  light  of  the 
criticisms  made  upon  it  by  its  e£tor  in  the  NbriJi  American,  and 
by  Dr.  Hughes  in  the  British  Journal  of  Homoeopathy , 

*'  4.  That  the  translation  of  Hahnemann*s  Materia  Medica 
JPura,  recently  issued  by  the  Society,  be  regarded  as  the  first 


192  KOTABiuA.  S5«'5^!?l£^ 


ICanli  1, 18H8» 


instalment  of  its  work ;  and  that  the  symptoms  furnished  thereto* 
by  Hahnemann  and  his  fellow-provers  be  not  again  presented 
nnder  the  medicines  to  which  they  belong. 

"  5.  That  the  aim  of  the  Committee  shall  be  to  exponge  tSl 
nntmstworthy  and  irrelevant  matter,  and  to  present  what  remedns 
in  the  most  accurate,  concise,  and  intelligible  form, — ^all  repe- 
titions being  avoided,  and  All  provings  being  given,  where  possible^ 
in  consecutive  order  as  related  by  the  experimenters." 

Proposed  by  Dr.  Dudgeon,  seconded  by  Dr.  Hale — 

'<  That  the  proposed  diploma  and  title  of  Licentiate  of  Homoeo- 
pathy, resolved  on  by  the  London  School  of  Homceopathy,  is^ 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  laws  of  this  Society,  and  calculated 
to  damage  our  position  as  members  of  the  medical  profession.*' 

At  eight  o'clock,  a  paper  will  be  read  by  Dr.  Roth,  of  London, 
on  <*  The  Treatment  of  Various  Uterine  Complaints  by  Move- 
ments." 


ANNUAL  REPORT  OP   THE  RED  HILL  AND  REIGATE 

DISPENSARIES. 

We  have  received  from  Dr.  Woodgates  the  First  Annual  Report 
of  the  Red  Hill  and  Reigate  Public  Homoeopathic  Dispensaries. 
Seldom  have  we  seen  sueh  good  results  attending  a  first  year's 
operations.  The  subscriptions  and  tickets  amounted  to  £Gi  lis. ; 
and  after  all  disbursements  there  remains  a  balance  in  hand  of 
£1  ds.  7d.  There  are  few  public  institutions  of  this  nature  which,, 
after  twelve  months'  existence,  can  show  such  financial  sound- 
ness. We  would  draw  particular  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the 
Dispensary  Committee  voted  a  donation  of  two  guineas  to  the 
London  Homoeopathic  Hospital,  and  a  similar  sum  to  the  Hahne- 
mann Convalescent  Home,  Bournemouth ;  thus  securing  to  their 
honorary  medical  officer  the  power  of  sending  serious  cases  ta 
either  the  hospital  or  the  home,  and  thereby  increasing  the 
benefits  derivable  from  the  local  institution.  The  medical  officer'^ 
report  shows  that  three  cases  were  thus  dealt  with  in  the  course 
of  the  year,  and  derived  great  benefit  from  their  treatment  while 
in  hospital. 

Dispensaries,  properly  conducted  and  efficiently  managed,  are 
the  very  siege  train  of  the  armament  of  homoeopathy.  Work* 
ing,  as  they  do,  amongst  a  class  of  people  who  judge  more  than 
most  from  results,  the  cures  wrought  by  homoeopathy  act  aa 
most  convincing  arguments,  far  outdoing  in  their  effect  any 
amount  of  literary  proselytism  or  verbal  controversy. 

We  are  glad  to  see  that  Dr.  Woodgates  is  as  active  in  spread- 
ing homoeopathy  in  Reigate  as  he  proved  himself  to  be  in  Exeter, 
and  we  cordially  wish  every  success  to  this  young  and  flourish- 
ing institution. 


K^Si^SSn^lSJ"  OBITUABT.  198 


B«Tiew,  Mareh  1,  IBSS 


HASTINGS    AND   ST.  LEONARDS  HOMCEOPATfflO 

DISPENSARY. 

Thb  following  extract  from  the  recently  issued  annual  report  of 
this  tnstitation  is  both  gratifying  and  interesting : — 

**  Daring  the  year,  552  patients  have  presented  themselves  at 
the  dispensary  for  teeatment,  and  the  total  number  of  attend- 
jmces  recorded  is  4,200,  making  an  average  weekly  attendance 
•of  80  patients.  One  hundred  and  eleven  patients  suffering  from 
diseases  of  the  eye  presented  themselves  for  treatment  during 
^e  year. 

'*  These  figures,  compared  with  those  published  in  the  last 
report,  show  an  increase  in  the  number  of  attendances  of  1,579. 
This  fiaot  emphatically  bears  testimony  to  the  appreciation  of  the 
iastitution  by  the  poor/ 


fi 


OBITUARY. 


EDWARD  CRONIN,  M.D. 

The  late  Dr.  Cronin,  of  Brixton,  whose  death  occurred  on  the 
1st  February,  was  born  in  Cork  in  1801.  He  studied  for  the 
profession  of  medicine  at  the  Meath  Hospital,  Dublin.  During 
the  earlier  portion  of  his  career  Dr.  Cronin  devoted  himself  to 
missionary  work.  In  1828,  in  coDJunction  with  his  friends,  Mr. 
John  Pumell  (now  Lord  Congleton),  Professor  F.  Newman,  and 
Dr.  Eitto,  he  took  an  active  part  in  constituting  the  religious 
body  now  known  as  the  Plymouth  Brethren.  His  first  wife 
having  died  in  1829 — ^a  year  after  marriage — Dr.  Cronin,  in 
company  with  the  friends  we  have  named,  went  to  the  East  as  a 
missionary.  When  in  Bagdad  an  epidemic  of  the  plague  broke 
out,  and  Dr.  Cronin  exerted  himself  strenuously  to  relieve  the 
physical  wants  of  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded.  In  1885 
he  left  Syria  for  the  Madias  Presidency  of  India,  when  he  again 
devoted  himself  to  religious  and  medical  work.  In  1887  he 
returned  to  England,  and  now  his  acquaintance  with  homoeo- 
pathy commenced.  In  1888  he  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Kennaway,  Bart.,  of  Escot,  Devon,  and  after  practising  for  a 
short  time  in  Islington  and  in  Stafford,  he  finally  settled  in 
Brixton,  where  he  has  since  resided,  and  been  engaged  in  a  very 
extensive  practice,  ei^'oying  not  only  the  confidence  but  the 
warm  affiaction  of  a  large  circle  of  friends. 

Dr.  Cronin's  eldest  son.  Dr.  Eugene  Cronin,  is  the  well-known 
homoeopathic  physician  at  Clapham,  while  another  is  the 
honorary  dentist  to  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital. 


194  COaBESPONDBNCE,      ^^Kte^f^ 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

THE  UCENTIATESHIP  IN  HOMOEOPATHY. 

To  the  Editors  of  ike  **  Montfily  Homaopathic  Review" 

Gentlemen, — As  I  find  that  the  action  of  the  School  in  offering^ 
a  diploma  to  its  students  has  dissatisfied  a  few  (I  hope  a  very 
few)  of  our  colleagues,  I  would  ask  you  to  allow  me — as  ita 
initiator — to  say  a  few  words  in  explanation  and  Tindicatiaa 
of  it. 

Its  primary  object  is  to  increase  the  School's  opportunities  of 
usefulness  by  holding  out  an  additional  inducement  to  students, 
to  attend  its  instruction.  We  have  been  crippled  hitherto  in 
this  respect  £rom  being  unable  to  give  a  qualification  for  practice,, 
or  to  have  our  lectures  counted  as  part  of  the  required  curricu- 
lum. The  institution  of  the  '<  L.H. "  will  do  something  to* 
supply  this  deficiency.  In  it  the  student  will  have  an  addition 
to  those  significant  letters  which  other  institutions  enable  him 
to  append  to  his  name,  and  which  are  his  passport  to  the  practice 
at  which  he  aims. 

But,  secondly,  we  hereby  supply  that  great  desideratum — a 
means  whereby  the  laity  may  know  a  man's  qualification  to  treat 
them  homoeopathically.  They  have  it  for  medicine,  surgery, 
veterinary,  and  dental  surgery,  pharmacy,  &c.,  in  the  L.R.C.P., 
M.R.C.S.,  and  such  like  designations,  bestowed  by  various 
examining  bodies.  It  is  confessed  to  be  a  duty  on  our  part  to 
provide  them  with  practitioners  instructed  in  homoeopathy :  it  is 
a  logical  inference  that  we  should  certify  them  of  that  instruc* 
tion  having  been  gained,  and  should  do  so  in  the  usual  manner. 

These  are  the  objects  of  the  step  just  taken  by  the  School^ 
and  I  hold  them  to  be  such  as  to  warrant  it  well.  But  were 
there  anything  unprofessional  in  the  mode  of  proceeding  adopted 
to  promote  them,  I,  for  one,  would  have  had  no  part  in  it.  I 
maintain  it  to  be  quite  otherwise.  It  is  said  that  if  we  accept 
this  titie  we  forfeit  our  power  to  disclaim  the  censure  pro- 
nounced by  the  College  of  Physicians  on  those  who  *'  trade  upon 
a  name.'*  But  to  assume  a  distinctive  appellation — as  by 
putting  '*  HomoBopathist "  on  card  or  door-plate — is  one  thing : 
to  receive  and  use  a  diploma  of  competency  in  the  practice  of  a 
special  method  is  quite  another*  No  one  deprecates  the  former 
more  than  I  do.  I  joined  my  colleagues  in  this  town  some  years 
ago  in  requesting  that  the  word  ''  Homoeopathic  "  might  not  be 
(as  heretofore)  affixed  to  our  names  in  the  local  directory.  But 
a  man  must  have — if  he  be  a  beginner  or  a  settier  in  a  new  place 
— some  mode  of  making  it  known  that  he  is  prepared  to  treat 
patients  homoeopathically.  At  present  he  is  tempted  to  do- 
this  by  illegitimate  means.  In  the  ''  L.H.  "  we  give  him  one 
which  is  just  the  reverse,  which  stands  on  the  same  footing  as 


S^5^S??'1^         CJOBBBSPOHDENCE.  196 


BerioWy  March  ij  1882. 


his  "M.E.C.S.,"  luB^  "L.B.C.P.,"  or— more  particularly— his 
*^  L.M.,'*  of  which  it  is  in  almost  every  respect  an  analogae. 

Again,  it  is  urged  that  to  designate  ourselves  in  this  way  is  to 
brand  ourselves  as  sectarian,  and  hind  ourselves  to  an  exclusive 
practice.  I  must  answer  that  it  does  nothing  of  the  kind.  It  is 
aimply  an  evidence  of  proficiency.  A  licentiate  in  homoeopathy 
must  know  something  ahout  the  method  ;  hut  how  far  he  shaU 
use  it  in  the  treatment  of  his  patients  is  still  a  matter  entirely  in 
his  own  judgment.  That  a  man  shall  put  '*  L.H."  to  his  name 
does  indeed  avow  his  belief  in  homoeopathy,  as  far  as  it  goes ; 
and  this  will  be  no  small  collateral  advantage  of  the  diploma. 
The  Lancety  unable  to  convict  us  of  assuming  distinctive  appella- 
tions, now  charges  us  with  dishonesty  because  we  refrain  from  so 
doing.  The  accusation  is  ridiculous  ;  but  it  is  not  the  less  a 
gain  to  be  able  to  meet  it  point  blank.  To  take  and  use  the 
*'  L.H."  will  be  avowal  plain  enough,  though  within  strictly  pro- 
fessional limits.  For  this  purpose  even  established  practitioners, 
who  do  not  need  it  as  a  passport  to  practice,  may  well  apply  for 
it,  as  it  will  give  them  a  means  of  showing  that  they  are  not 
Mhamed  of  tiie  method  to  which  they  owe  allegiance.  I  have 
sought  it  myself  accordingly. 

The  new  diploma  has  &us  much  in  its  favour  even  at  the  pre- 
sent time,  but  still  more  marked  may  be  its  advantage  in  the 
fiitnre.  I  am  one  of  those  who  hope  to  see  ere  long  a  complete 
absorption  of  the  homoeopathic  body  in  that  of  the  profession  at 
large.  It  can  only  come  when  the  method  of  Hahnemann  is 
recognised  as  legitimate ;  but  such  recognition  cannot  much 
longer  be  delayed.  When  this  re-union,  so  devoutly  to  be 
wished  for,  comes  about,  there  are  two  dangers  to  be  avoided. 
One  is  that  our  method  itself  shall  suffer  absorption — shall  lose 
its  distmctive  outlines,  and  survive  only  as  a  sort  of  Ringerism. 
The  other  is  that  the  homoeopathic  laity  shall  lose  the  few  means 
they  now  have  of  knowing  those  from  whom  they  can  have  the 
treatment  they  desire,  ^e  **  L.H."  will  obviously  preclude  the 
latter  danger ;  and  a  Httle  thought  will  show  that  it  operates  no 
less  actively  against  the  former.  As  long  as  there  is  a  licentiate- 
ship  in  homoeopathy,  so  long  there  must  be  a  teaching  of  the 
system,  and  it  will  run  no  risk  of  bemg  swallowed  up. 

We  are  thus  exercising  a  wise  foresight,  as  well  as  providing 
for  present  necessities,  in  instituting  this  diploma ;  and  I  hope 
that  in  good  time  there  will  not  be  a  single  believer  in  the  value 
of  homoeopathy  who  will  not  be  willing  and  proud  to  wear  it. 

I  am.  Gentleman, 

Faithfully  yours, 

BiCHABD  HUOHXS. 

Brighton,  Feb.  8,  1882. 


196  C0BRB8P0NDBNT8.      ShSJ^SSK^Jw! 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 


«*«  We  cannot  undertake  to  return  rejected  manuteripte. 

Dr.  Pr5xll  (Gaatein).— Yonr  pnckage  has  arrived.  Many  thanks  for  it. 

Br.  Gramk  (Philadelphia).— We  shall  he  happy  to  oomply  with  the 
nqnest  of  your  Association,  and  have  given  instmotions  to  our  publishers 
accordingly. 

Commtmications,  &c.,  have  been  leoeived  f rom  Dr.  Both,  Dr.  BiiACKLST 
(London);  Dr.  Bayes,  Dr.  Hughes  (Brighton);  Dr.  Batnbs  (Canferboiy); 
Dr.  Madden  (Birmingham) ;  Dr.  Maffret  (Bradford). 


BOOKS  RECEIVED. 


Materia  Medica  Pura,  By  Samnel  Hahnemann.  T^»nslated  from  the 
latest  (German  Edition  by  B.  E.  Dudgeon,  M.D.,  with  Annotations  1^ 
Biehard  Hughes,  L.B.G.P.,  Edin.  YoL  ii.  Hahnemann  Publishing 
Society. 

Hahnemann  as  a  Medical  Philosopher.    By  Biehard  Hughes,  L.B.G.P. 
Edin.    London :  Gk>uld  Ss  Son. 

Companion  to  the  Britith  Homteopathic  PJiarmacopcda,     Eeene  and 
Ashwell,  Bond  Street,  London. 
AnnaXe  of  the  British  Homaopathic  Society, 
The  Homaopathic  World. 

Report  of  the  BucJutnan  Ophthalmic  and  Cottage  Hospital,  Hastings^ 
Report  of  the  Liverpool  Homotopathic  Dispensaries. 
The  Student's  Journal  and  Hospital  Gasette. 
Burgoyne*s  Magazine  of  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry. 
Tlve  New  York  Medical  Times. 
The  New  England  Medical  Gazette. 
Tlie  United  States  Medical  Investigator. 
Tlie  American  Observer. 
The  America/a  Homanpath. 
TJie  Medical  Counsellor. 
Bulletin  de  la  Soc.  Med,  de  France, 
Revue  Homaeopathique  Beige, 
AUgemeine  Horn.  Zeitung. 


Papers,  Dispensary  Beports,  and  Books  for  Beview  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pope,  21,  Henrietta  Street,  GaTondish  Square,  W.;  Dr.  D.  Dtcob 
Bbown,  29,  Seymour  Street,  Portman  Square,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  Ebnnsdt, 
16,  Montpelier  Bow,  BlaoUieath,  S.E.  Advertisements  and  Business 
communications  to  be  sent  to  Messrs.  E.  Gould  &  Son,  69,  Moorgata 
Street,  E.G. 


l£S^fS3lT?Sr    .  OUB  0ISPBN8ABIBS.  197 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMCEOPATHIC    REYIEAV- 


OUR  DISPENSARIES. 

Much  attention  has  recently  been  drawn  to  oar  School,  oar 
Society,  oar  MagazineB,  and  oar  Literatore,  bat  Dispen- 
saries have,  as  a  rale,  been  allowed  to  drag  along  withoat 
mnch  organised  assistance.  That  some  of  them  are  able  to 
give  sach  a  good  accoant  of  themselves  is  more  dae  to  the 
energy  of  their  medical  officers,  and  the  inherent  saccess 
of  homcBopathy,  than  to  any  extraneoas  aid  or  encoarage- 
ment  they  have  received.  This  is  not  as  it  shoald  be.  A 
Pispensary  forms  the  most  efficient  and  onfailing  method 
of  spreading  a  knowledge  of  homcBopathy;  the  rich  are 
reached  throagh  the  poor,  and  the  poor  are  benefited  by 
the  process.  It  will  be  a  good  day  for  the  pablio  when 
every  town  has  its  Homoeopathic  Pablic  Dispensary,  where 
the  necessitons  poor  can  be  treated  in  the  trae  therapeatic 
method,  their  time  saved,  and  their  health  preserved  to 
them.  The  poor  man  loses  mach  more  by  ill-health  than 
his  richer  neighboar ;  a  week  withoat  work  oftimes  brings 
the  wolf  very  near  the  door,  and  the  prolonged  illness  of  the 
bread-winner  causes  pale  sunken  cheeks  in  the  little  ones, 
and  a  wan  careworn  look  in  the  poor  mother, 

Yo].  26.  No.  4.  p 


198 oroPMBBreAMEe.   "ff^j^.^ff^ 

All  praise,  then,  to  any  institntiony  whatever  be  its 
therapeutic  method,  which  mitigates  the  severity  of  disease 
among  tJie  poor.  Allopathic  dispensaries  have  long  done 
a  good  work  amongst  the  fever  dens  and  slams  of  our 
great  cities,  and  for  their  hard- worked  medical  officers  we 
have  nothing  but  praise.  Knowing,  as  we  all  do,  the 
superior  curative  power  of  homoeopathy,  is  it  not  incum- 
bent on  us  to  fulfil  the  high  moral  duty  imposed  on  us  of 
endeavouring  to  hold  out  a  helping  hand  to  tiie  poor  of  our 
land  ?  As  homcBopaths,  are  we  not  bound  to  extend  the 
knowledge  of  the  benefits  of  our  system  to  those  who, 
from  ignorance  or  inability^  are  unable  to  seek  them  for 
themselves?  The  well-to-do  oan  pick  and  choose  for 
themselves  amongst  the  various  medical  men  of  the 
district  in  which  they  reside,  and  select  whichever  form  of 
treatment  they  prefer ;  the  very  poor,  on  the  other  hand, 
are,  in  many  cases,  restricted  to  what  the  Frenchman 
once  termed,  ''  Le  choix  de  M.  Hobson."  UnaUe  to  pay 
tiro  ordinary  medical  fees,  they  nrast  have  cither  the  union 
doctor  or  the  dispensary  medical  officer  of  their  district. 
Now,  how  ever  kind  and  talented  these  gentlemen  may  be 
— ^and  many  of  them  are  true  friends  to  the  poor — ibe 
fauetB  for  our  consideration  remain,  that  their  method  of 
treatment  is  not  that  which  many  of  the  rich  prefer,  and 
tiiat  from  that  mode  of  treatment  the  poor  may  nxit 
dtBsent. 

In  most  towns,  with  few  exceptionB,  the  poor  must 
either  hove  allopotiiy,  or  do  without  treatment.  Now  this 
order  of  things  is  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  freedom  and 
lAeraiity  which  we,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  are  apt  to 
fride  ourBelves  on  exhibiting.  In  no  othw  £reetion  are 
fte  poor  forced  to  adopt  a  partieular  fixed  opinion.  They 
mKf  efaoose  thdr  own  ministers  now,  altfaough  ibmierly 
ihey  could  not ;  they  may  dioose  tiieir  own  lawyer^  soch  of 


SSSSfJ^rSS!"  OUE  M8PBNSABIES.  19© 

tkem  as  ha?e  slomaeh  for  law ;  and  ihey  may  patronke 
any  particular  pablid-hoaBe  that  may  be  a  favimrite  in;  the 
BflighboarlMMd.  Tke  only  person  whose  war^s  av« 
Jiterally,  in  isany  poor  chiMrens'  cases,  stuffed  down  tikeir 
ihxoats,  is  tke  Atebn. 

The  proper  remedt^  for  this  state  <tf  affairs  k,  withoot 
doabi,  the  establishneiit»  in  e^ery  town  which  can  boast  of 
•a  homoBopathic  praetilioner,  of  a  well  orgamsod,  propwJ^ 
conducted,  Homoeopathic  Dispensary. 

If  our  brethren  like  to  take  a  little  trouble  at  the  outeet, 
a  dispensary  may  soon  be  set  a*going  T^ich  will  beneftt 
4dike  the  poor,  homeopathy,  and  the  practitioner. 

The  methods  of  working  Dispensaries  have  been  Yari^NUS-; 
the  first,  and  most  effeacious,  in  our  opinion,  is  the  Publie 
Free  Dispensary  system.     This,  unfortunately,  is  seen  tM 
seldom ;  the  best  eaamples  being  found  in  Birmingham^ 
Liverpool,   and  London.      The  report  of  the  Liverpwi 
Dispensaries,   which  is  noticed  in  another  part  of  thus 
Review^  shows  bow  much  can  be  done  by  patient  wophia^ 
in  the  right  direction.     Where  the  medical  men  of  a  town 
have  a  sufficient  number  of  the  upper  classes  in  their 
-clientele  who  are  willing  to  give  a  little  time  and  moaef 
to  aid  the  good  work,  there   should  be   no  difficulty  itt 
forming  a  strong  committee  to  organise  a  Free  Dispensary. 
If  a  cottage  can  be  secured,  to  be  devoted  entirely  to  tine 
use  of  the  Dispensary,  so  much  the  better.     Should  this, 
however,  from  any  cause,  be  unattainable,  suitable  loome 
should  be  secured  in  a  populous  neighbourhood.     The 
position  of  the  Dispensary  is  of  the  greatest  importance. 
It  hes  been  found  that  the  poor  will  not  go  any  great  dis- 
tance to  a  new  institution ;  therefore  the  more  eeiKtral  the 
situation  the  better  for  the  futmre  of  the  Dispensary.     The 
composition  of  the  committee,  too>  should  be  earefuUjr 
studied.    It  is  generally  found  that  one  or  two  of  the 

p-2 


200  OUR  MBPBHBAWBS.     ISS^.^S^SiJfM^ 

clergy  in  most  towns  are  favourable  to  homcBopatby^ 
Their  co-operation  should  be  at  once  secured,  as,  through 
their  influence,  the  most  influential  and  charitable  per8on» 
in  the  neighbourhood  may  generally  be  reached.  Once  let 
it  be  understood  that  the  Dispensary  is  to  be  really  a  free 
and  charitable  institution,  and  that  the  medical  men  are 
going  to  devote  themselves  to  the  good  work  as  honorary- 
medical  officers,  and  many  friends  will  step  forward  to 
assist  who  otherwise  might  not  do  so. 

The  committee  once  formed,  and  a  suitable  habitat 
obtained,  the  young  Dispensary  will  soon  acquire  reputa- 
tion.  Patients  will  not  be  lacking,  and  if  cures  are 
wrought,  the  recipients  of  the  benefit  will  not  be  backward 
in  spreading  the  good  news  amongst  fellow  sufferers*  In 
the  course  of  time  the  sphere  of  the  Dispensary  will  be  bo 
enlarged  that  a  visiting  medical  officer  will  be  required* 
Where  actual  good  work  is  being  done,  its  supporters  are 
seldom  slow  in  providing  funds,  and  any  special  appeal 
will  rarely  faH  to  meet  with  generous  support. 

Such  a  Dispensary  may  be  seen  in  Liverpool,  in 
Birmingham,  and  at  the  out-patient  department  of  the 
London  Homoeopathic  Hospital ;  at  each  large  numbers  of 
patients  are  constantly  in  attendance. 

In  the  report  of  the  Liverpool  Dispensaries,  a  notice  ol 
which  appears  in  the  pages  of  this  number,  we  see  the  veiy 
satisfactory  number  of  66,126  separate  attendances  regis- 
tered for  the  past  year,  the  funds  for  defraying  the  expenses 
being  entirely  of  a  charitable  nature.  Consider  what  an 
incalculable  benefit  this  means  to  the  poor  !  Homoeopathy 
brought  to  their  doors,  their  illnesses  shortened,  their 
means  of  living  in  many  cases  saved  to  them.  Who  shall 
say  in  the  face  of  these  figures  that  homoeopathy  is  not 
acceptable  to  the  poor  ? 

The  second  form  of  Dispensary  is  that  of  the  semi-publia 


iSSS^AffySa!"      OPR  DISPENSARIES, 201 

institution.  In  most  towns,  which  possess  a  homoeopathic 
chemist,  one  of  these  Dispensaries  may  be  foond.  There 
is  generally  a  committee,  and  a  varying  number  of  sub- 
scribers, who  get  for  their  subscriptions  tickets  to  distribute. 
There  is,  however,  this  difference  between  it  and  the 
Public  Free  Dispensary — ^that  many  patients,  who  are  either 
unable  to  obtain  a  ticket,  or  who  are  scarcely  objects  for 
charitable  relief,  go  directly  to  the  chemists  and  purchase  for 
themselves  a  ticket  entitling  them  to  attendance  and  advice 
as  Dispensary  patients.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this 
leads  in  many  cases  to  abuses  similar  to  those  seen  in  out- 
patient practice  at  most  of  the  large  hospitals.  Patients, 
who  can  well  afford  a  moderate  fee  to  a  medical  man,  take 
advantage  of  the  Dispensaiy  and  use  it  as  a  means  of 
obtaining  the  doctor's  advice  and  their  medicine  at  a  con- 
siderably cheaper  rate  than  they  otherwise  could.  Still,  in 
.ihe  majority  of  cases  these  Dispensaries  do  an  immense 
:  amount  of  good  in  their  various  neighbourhoods,  and  have 
materially  advanced  the  spread  of  homodopathy. 

The  third  form  of  Dispensary  is  the  proprietary  or  self* 
supporting  one.  By  this  we  mean  Dispensaries,  opened  in 
new  neighbourhoods  or  at  the  chemists'  shops  by  medical 
men,  at  which  the  patients  pay  for  their  treatment  a  certain 
•fixed  sum,  low  enough  no  doubt  in  most  cases.  These  are 
.  to  the  homoeopath  what  his  surgery  is  to  the  allopath  ;  and 
apart  from  the  financial  success  of  the  undertaking,  they 
.  open  up  a  great  field  of  clinical  work,  which,  to  the  young 
practitioner,  at  any  rate,  is  most  valuable.  Shut  out  from 
the  hospital  work  which  he  has  just  left  behind  him,  the 
beginner  in  homoeopathy  finds  at  his  Dispensary  the  school 
for  thought  and  careful  trial,  which  are  so  essential  to  true 
successful  practice.  At  the  same  time  the  public  benefit 
largely  by  the  Dispensary,  as  they  obtain  at  a  small  cost 
medical  treatment  of  the  most  advanced  type,  which  most 


am  OUR  DI8PIIK8ABBBS.      ^S^gS^.W^MlS 

oC4hQSft  GMiid  not  poflsiblj  have  obtained  otherwise.  One  ef 
these  Diijpensaries  commenced  in  a  d^isely  populated 
difitriot  of  the  poor,  where,  from  yanoiie  circumstances,  the 
otiier  forma  of  Dispensaries  are  impracticable,  acts  as  a 
oeatre  of  lights  leavening  the  district  to  such  an  extent, 
thait  in  a  sorprisuigly  short  time  a  considerable  homoBO- 
paihic  practioe  will  often  spring  up  around  it. 

We  think  it  is  a  duty  of  paramount  importance  that 
every  homodopathic  practitioner  should  be  connected  with  a 
Dispensary  of  some  form  or  other.  Let  binn  recollect  that 
in  most  cases  the  poor  are,  from  their  position,  very 
imUkely  ever  to  become  acquainted  with  homceopathy  as 
private  patients,  while  homoBopathy  ou^t,  if  possible,  to 
ii^  and  do  as  much  for  her  poor  as  allopathy  does.  We* 
have  not,  of  course,  so  many  opportonities^  but  if  each  of  us 
were  to  avail  himself  of  those  opportunities,  which  ever  and 
aaon  present  themselves,  there  is  no  doubt  that  homcBo. 
pathy,  the  poor,  and  the  practitioner  would  be  greatly  and 
mutually  benefited.  The  popularisation  of  homoeopathy 
should  be  oui*  great  aim ;  we  are  unfortunately  too  apt  to- 
espend  our  energies  on  controversial  .proselytising.  Wero 
wo  to  devote  ourselves  more  systematically  to  the  spread  of 
the  knowledge  of  homcdopathy  ammogst  the  masses,  we 
should  greatly  expedite  the  time  when  public  opinion  will 
iMrce  the  medical  profession  as  a  body  to  pay  attention  to 
the  claims  of  homoeopathy.  Wlien  we  can  point  to  Dispen- 
saries in  every  city,  such  as  those  of  Liverpool,  Manchester, 

Bath  and  London,  each  with  its  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  patients;  when  we  can  show  a  widespread  clientele 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  there  is 
little  doubt  that  our  claims  to  notice  and  public  recognition 
will  no  longer  be  disregarded. 

Let  us,  then,  for  the  sake  of  the  future  of  homoeopathy 
dsarpen  our  weapons  of  aggression,  the  chief  amongst 
wiiioh  are,  without  doubt,  our  Dispensaries. 


S!£!T^T5S?°       typhoid  fevbk.  208 


BsriMft  April  ly  1889 


CAir   BAPTI8IA    CUT    EHHEORT    TRUE 

FEVER? 

By  IX  Dyob  BBovm,  M^,  M.D. 

This  question  is  an  extremely  important  one,  and  one  not 
easily  decided.  For  when  a  case  presenting  symptoms  liie 
the  early  ones  of  typhoid  get  well  in  a  comparatiTely  short 
time,  it  is  difficult  to  prove  that  they  were  csfles  of  genuine 
typhoid.  Dr.  Hughes  {Manual  of  Pharmacodynaimcs) 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the  fever  which  is  aborted  by 
baptUia  is  not  true  typhoid,  but  *'  simple  continued  fever  '* 
— something  different  from  ''  febricula/'  and  yet  not  the 
other,  or  typhus.  Into  the  argumente  pro  and  con,. and 
the  sifting  of  the  evidence  on  either  side  of  the  question,  I 
do  not  here  propose  to  enter,  as  this  would  involve  a 
long  paper.  I  simply  relate  three  caseg  in  which  the 
evidence  was,  in  my  opinion,  indubitable,  that  they  were 
cases  of  true  typhoid,  and  in  each  of  which  the  disease 
was  cut  short  by  baptisia.  The  rasultfi  of  these  cases  lead 
me  to  form  the  opinion  that  while  baptisia  is  not  to  be 
reckoned  a  specific  in  the  sense  that  it  will  abort  every 
case  of  typhoid — for  many  cases  run  their  regular  course 
in  spite  of  baptisia — ^yet  that,  when  indicated,  it  does 
sometimes  cut  short  the  genuine  disease.  As  to  the 
homoeopathic  or  symptomatic  similarity  between  the  eady 
stages  of  the  disease  and  the  pathogenesis  of  the  medicine 
there  are  not  two  opinions. 

Case  L 

liMit  summer,  during  the  dry,  hot  weather,  the  wvter- 
pipessQiqslyiBg  a  part  of  Bayawater  hnist,  leaving  many 
honses  in  a  state  of  absolute  wKot  of  water.  In  one  of 
theao  hDuaeB  Misa  Y.,  and  ibe  other  memdbera  of  idbo 
faaily,  noticed  oflfenirive  dxaan  fimells  at  diis  time.  She 
f<dt  ill  for  some  days,  faftd  a  rigWy.and  when  I  saw  her  ttie 
tempevatitre  was  1(K1.4^,  and  all  the  symptmnB  of  ocpm- 
w|Afifting  typhoid  wexe  present.  By  the  end  of  the  'fint 
week  one  or  two  spots  ware  peioeptible,  there  wae  slight 
diacrhiCBa,  dec. ;  in  fact  Aeve  was  no  donbt  as  to  tbensfciire 
of  the  case.  I  had  her  removed  to  aii<)ther  house  the- day 
after  I  first  saw  her.  I  preBeiibad  'baftma,  1  x.,  2  .drqps 
evevy  2  homs*  The  case  progmised.  admirably.  Tij  tbo 
end  of  the  first  weak  the  fidl  in  tempesatnre  was  vei^ 
noticeable,  and  on  the  tfaicteeniih  day  it  was  normal,. tm 


204  TYPHOID  PBVEB.       *S!SS%?WS? 


BerieWyApril  1.  IBOL 


pnlse  aleo  normal,  and  she  expressed  herself  as  feeling  so 
well  that  she  wanted  to  get  up.  After  my  visit  on  that 
day  she  was  allowed  hy  her  friends,  most  injudiciously,  to 
read  some  Australian  letters,  which  so  excited  her  that  the 
temperature  at  once  rose  to  above  lOS^.  Baptisia  nov 
failed  to  check  this  relapse,  and  she  went  on  to  the  twenty- 
eighth  day,  when  the  temperature  came  down  again  to 
normal,  and  convalescence  proceeded  as  after  an  ordinary 
case  of  typhoid. 

Now,  in  this  case,  had  there  been  the  least  doubt  of  the 
genuine  nature  of  the  disease,  this  would  be  dissipated  by  the 
occurrence  of  the  relapse,  going  on  to  the  twenty-eighth  day 
from  the  commencement  of  the  fever.  The  relapse  was, 
of  course,  disappointing  to  myself  as  well  as  to  the  patient 
and  her  friends,  but  I  think  that  the  normal  temperature 
and  pulse,  with  freedom  from  all  symptoms  of  illness  on 
the  thirteenth  day,  is,  in  this  case,  ample  proof  of  the 
powers  of  the  medicine  to  cut  short  the  disease,  as  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  that  had  not  the  indiscretion  above 
alluded  to  been  made,  Miss  Y.  would  have  convalesced 
from  that  date. 

The  failure  of  the  baptisia  to  check  the  relapse  is  also 
noteworthy. 

Case  II. 

Quite  recently,  two  young  ladies — sisters — ^were  taken 
ill  about  the  same  time  with  symptoms  of  typhoid  fever, 
the  temperature  in  both  rising  to  108^,  and  presenting  the 
well-known  symptoms,  including  diarrhoea,  &c.  The 
eruption  in  both  was  very  scanty,  but  one  or  two  spots  could 
be  detected.  Baptisia  1  x.  every  two  hours  was  prescribed 
for  both.  The  elder  one  progressed  most  &vourably,  but 
fever  ran  the  usual  course  of  twenty-one  days.  The 
younger  sister  however  fibred  better,  and  by  the  eleventh 
day  the  temperature  was  nomud,  as  was  also  the  pulse. 
The  appetite  returned,  and  she  was  so  little  pulled  down  by 
her  comparatively  short  illness,  that  I  allowed  her  to  be  out 
of  bed  in  two  days.  She  went  on  thus  perfectly  well  for 
three  days  more,  when  her  mother  injudiciously,  after 
having  given  her  a  warm  bath,  took  her  at  once  into  another 
room.  The  result  of  this  was  a  rigor,  and  a  complete 
relapse.  The  temperature  went  up  as  high  as  ever,  and  in 
spite  of  baptisia,  the  case  went  on  to  the  twenty-first  day 
firom  the  commencement  of  the  illness,  the  temperature 
falling  on  the  same  day  as  her  sister's. 


S^SSr?!2^        TTPHOH)  FBVBE.  205 


^EeTiew,  April  1, 1888. 


This  relapse,  though  short  coini>aratiYel7,  was  very  un- 
fortunate, as  a  second  time  occurring  in  a  case  of  undoubted 
•tjphoid  which  had  been  cut  short  by  baptiaia.  It,  how- 
eyer,  in  my  opinion,  in  no  way  invalidates  the  fact  of  the 
patient  being  perfectly  well  in  all  symptoms,  including 
4;emperature  and  pulse,  till  the  rigor  after  the  bath,  and  the 
subsequent  exposure.  The  baptiiia  did  not  clieck  the 
relapse,  though  it  was  a  comparatively  short  one.  Had 
there  been  any  doubt  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  case, 
the  {act  of  her  sister's  fever  going  on  to  the  twenty-first 
•day,  with  all  the  prominent  features  of  typhoid,  would 
dissipate  such  doubt. 

CaseIII. 

This  presented  some  features  of  much  interest,  and  I 
therefore  give  the  notes  in  full  as  reported  by  the  Junior 
House  Surgeon  at  the  Homoeopathic  Hospital  (Mr.  Frank 
Shaw). 

Alfred  Nicholson,  set.  18,  printer,  was  admitted  at  the 
hospital  on  February  18th,  1882,  under  the  care  of 
Dr.  Dyce  Brown. 

Patient  has  always  been  strong  and  healthy. 

Last  Friday  evening  (Feb.  10th)  first  complained  of 
feeling  unwell;  felt  languid,  had  a  headache,  and  went 
to  bed  early;  but  was  able  to  go  to  his  work  as  usual 
on  Saturday  morning.  He  was,  however,  obliged  to  give  it 
vp  on  account  of  headache  and  feeling  generally  ill.  He 
had  no  appetite,  and  his  bowels  were  not  open.  He  took 
four  opening  pills,  and  the  bowels  were  moved  three  times. 
Motions  loose  but  light  in  colour.  He  got  worse  towards 
morning,  and  wandered  a  good  deal  during  the  night.  On 
Sunday  he  was  no  better,  and  kept  his  bed ;  anorexia  and 
.great  thirst.  Pain  across  the  lower  part  of  his  chest. 
felt  cold,  and  had  some  rigors. 

Was  first  seen  at  home  on  Monday  (18th).  Tongue 
coated  with  thick,  whitish  fur.  Abdomen  distended ;  soft 
4md  tender.  No  spots.  Rigors.  Complained  of  intense 
headache,  and  feeling  cold.  Temp.  105 ;  resp.  40.  Some 
rhonchi  to  be  heard  all  over  chest.  Wanders  when  he 
sleeps.  He  is  not  deaf.  He  says  that  three  of  the  lads 
working  in  the  same  workshop  with  him  have  lately  ftcithin 
4he  last  six  weeks  J  had  typhoid  fever.     One  has  died. 

Patient  was  sent  into  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital 
'the  same  day.  To  be  kept  on  milk.  Ordered  arsen,  8x., 
mj.  bapt.  9,  mj.  every  two  hours  in  alternation.    A  tea- 


2©6  TYPHOID  FBVEB.  'iSSi.^SlfSS! 

speooful  of  bntudj  eveij  two  hours  ;  wet  linea  compress 
bo  abdomoD. 

Fab.    14tb.— Xfimp.   .q.'    ;    p.    112,    wry    soft    and 

compressible  ;  res.  40 ;  slept  fire  hours  dnting  'tiie  n 
but  wandered  &  good  deal.  Is  very  heavy  this  moming, 
bnt  caD  be  ronsed  when  spoken  to.  Tongne  vety  coated, 
except  at  edges,  with  browny-white  for.  AbdomMi  fall, 
resonant,  tender  on  preasnre.  One  donbtfol,  rosy  lenticu- 
lar spot  on  lower  part  of  chest.  Bowels  open  ooce  : 
motion  of  a  typical  peasonp  character.  Urine  thick. 
Dr.  Dyce  Brown  saw  him  to-day  for  the  first  time.  He 
considered  it  unnecessary  to  alternate  the  arsenic  and 
baptiaia,  and  prescribed  baptisia  alone  in  half-drop  doses  of 
the  mother  tinctnre  ereij  two  hours.  To  eontinne  the 
brandy  every  three  hours. 

Feb.  15th.— Tamp.  f^^.  p.  108,  rtaj  soft,  fflfipt 
three  boars  during  the  night.  "Wandered  a  great 
deal,  and  tried  to  get  ont  of  bed.  Bowels  moved  five 
times  ;  stools  very  loose,  light  and  typhoid  in  character ; 
tongue  thickly  coated,  drj-  in  the  centre ;  urine  sp.  gr. 
1028 ;  acid.  Large  quantity  of  lithates.  Ordered  haptU. 
^  m^  every  hour.     Continne  the  brandy. 

Feb.  16th. — Temp.  fnTV!  P-  l**:  pa««d  s  very- 
reatless  night ;  delirious ;  cough  troublesome ;  azpectora- 
tioo  tenacious,  and  slightly  tinged  wiMl  blood.  Tongue 
cleaning  posteriorly,  very  red  and  drj-  at  tip;  bowels  open 
twice.  Ordered  beU  Is.,  miij.  at  night  if  delirious.  Con- 
tinue hapt.  every  hour. 

Feb.  17th.— Temp.  ^Y-    P'  *'    ^-  '*'* '   ^*^'' 

towards  yestoiday  afternoon,  becanu  leas  wandering,  and 

took  notice  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  ward.    Qelirians 

— -■-  '~wardB  night  and  tried  to  get  oat  of  b»d.     Paaood 

1  under  him  ;  two  actions  otherwise.     This  auvn- 

I  sleeping  quietly.     Tongue  deanw  but  very  dry. 

is  uourifihment   well.     Cou^  atill  troahlesome. 

incbi  to  be  heard.  Two  spots  on  abdomen.  Looks 

id  doll,  but   poise   ia  mach   stronger.      Bi^tu. 

for  (U-Mi).  3a..,  mj.  S  hrs. ;  omit  brandy ;   P^  ^- 


SSS'SaT?S£**     TYPHOID  pimB.  207 


r,4«rill»18tt 


96 ' 
Feb.   18th. — Temp,   sygr    p-   56;    rather    irn^gukr; 

req^.^C*    Hashal  aweii  better  «i{[ht ;  slept  >vell ;  i^btly 

delffieoB  at  tinea.    This  BKmiiiig  tongae  cleaner,  in(»flt. 

Bowdfi  open  tiuree  timefly  ^617  loose.     One  or  two  feeah 

spots;   cough  better.     Ordered  arsen.   8   x.,   mij.  three 

hours,  pt.  beU.  ait  night. 

98.6  * 
Feb.   19th. — Temp.  900!  P-   56;   regular;    res.  82. 

^ept  well  for  seven  hours ;  not  delirious.  Bowels  open 
twice,  very  loose,  light.  Tongue  cleaner,  rather  dry. 
Hardly  any  tendMness  of  abdomen.     Omit  bell.  pt.  arsen. 

F«b.  20th.— l^MKp.   ^gy:  p.  48 ;  regular,  soft.    Much 

better.     Bowels  twice  moved.     Ordered  arsenic  8  x.,  mij. 

digital.  9,  mij.  three  hours  in  alternation. 

98' 
Feb.   2l8t. — Temp.    HifV:  ?•  48;  soft,  compressible. 

Ordered  beef  tea  thickened  wUh  arro\^TOot. 

98.2  * 
Fob.   92nd.— Temp.  qoV;     p.    48;      and    stronger; 

heart's  action  good.    Has  been  kept  awake  at  night  by  a  few 

painful  boils  in.gluteal  region.     To&gue  moist. 

99.2  * 
Feb.   28rd. — Temp.    qoV!  p-  48;  slept  better;  boils 

easier;  tongue  Boore  ooated*  but  moist.  Bowels  not 
moved.    Pt.  gg  g  , 

Feb.   2Ath.— TeiBp.   Ag'^  '  p.  52;  did  not  sleep  se«weftl; 

boils  larger  and  more  painful.     Bowels  not  moved.     Omit 

digitalis,  and  continue  arsen.     Tea  and  bread. 

99.2  • 
Feb.   25tti. — Temf.   q^a',  p.  56  ;  better  this  morning. 

Bowels  Jiot  moTcd. 

99' 
Feb.  1l6th. — Temp,   qcs'a.  P«  ^8  ;  slept  well.     Had  an 

enema  this  meraiiig,  which  acted  weU. 

98.8  * 
Feb.   27th. — Temp.  af-Q~,  going  on  well. 

98  * 
Feb.   28th. — Temp.   qoT"  complains  this  morning  of 

slight  tenderness  on  left  side  of  abdomwi.  Tongue  slightly 
coated.    No  action  of  bowels.    Niuc.  torn.  8  gttj.  ter  die. 


208 TYPHOID  PEVEB,  ^BSS5;ISi?tw? 

March  Ist. — Temperature  normal  night  and  morning. 
Ordered  fish.    Bowels  open  naturally.     Tongue  clean. 

From  this  date  temperature  nonual  night  and  morning, 
and  boy  has  gone  on  uninterruptedly  well,  gaining  strengtti 
daily,  and  he  may  now  be  considered  (March  ITth)  as 
quite  well. 

China  1  x.,  gtt.  v.  ter  die,  was  substituted  for  the  ntix. 
vom.  on  the  4th  of  March. 

This  case  is  interesting  in  several  ways.     1.    The  ill- 
ness was  so  severe  on  admission  as  to  require  the  ad- 
ministration of  brandy,  an  unusual  necessity  so  early,  but 
the  soft  compressible  pulse,  and  his  general   condition 
called  for  it.     2.    The  case  was  unmistakably  one  of  true 
typhoid.     8.  The  temperature  was  normal  on  the  morning 
of  the  eighth  day,  and  both  night  and  morning  on  the 
ninth  day.     4.  The  diarrhoea  continued  some  days  after 
the  temperature  became  normal.    6.  The  pulse  fell  down  to 
48,  and  continued  about  that  number  of  beats  till  he  was 
able  to  be  out  of  bed,  with  the  exception  of  a  rise  to  66, 
when  the  boils  on  the  buttock  caused  a  slight  rise  of  tem- 
perature.   It  was  on  this  account  that  digitalis  was  given  in 
alternation  with  arsenic.    It  seemed,  however,  to  have  very 
Kttle  effect,  except  that  the  pulse  became  stronger.     The 
heart's  action  was  not  weak.  As  it  produced  so  little  result 
in  quickening  the  pulse,  and  as  the  heart's  action  was  so 
good,  the  dig.  was  omitted  after  a  few  days.    I  had  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  in  all  probability  the  boy's  pulse  was 
naturally  a  slow  one,  since  at  first  it  was  only  112,  with  a 
temperature  of  106^.    At  the  date  of  the  conclusion  of  the 
report,  however  (March  17th),  his  pulse  had  risen  to  80. 
The  slow  pulse    then  must  have  been  a  result  of  the 
depressing  action  of  the  fever  poison. 
^  In  conclusion,  I  claim  that  these  three  cases  are  suffi- 
cient positive  evidence,  outweighing  any  amount  of  negative 
evidence,  to  prove  that  baptisia  can  and  does  cut  short 
certain  cases  of  true  typhoid,  while,  in  other  cases,  for 
"^bat  reason  one  is  ignorant,  it  only  goes  the  length  of 
mitigating  the  symptoms,  and  so  rendering  the  whole  ill- 
ness nailder  than  would  otherwise  occur.    The  speciai 
indications  for  baptisia  are  well  known,  so  I  forbear  enter- 
ing on  this  point. 

29,  Seymour  Street, 

Portman  Square,  W. 
March  20th. 


bS^a^ouS^      clinical  case8>       209 

CLINICAL    CASES,    WITH    REMARKS.* 
By  S.  H.  Blakb,  M.R.C.S.,  Liverpool. 

Cabb  vn. 

Chronic  Inflammation  of  the  Lachrymal  Sac. 

Maboh  8th. — Mary  M.,  aged  60.  Has  swelling  with  some 
tenderness  over  the  region  of  the  lachrymal  sac  and  duct. 
The  entire  stmctures,  from  the  upper  part  of  the  superior 
maxillary  bone  towards  the  inner  oanthus,  are  elevated  and 
swollen,  with  hardne'^s,  as  if  the  bone  and  its  coverings  are 
thickened.  The  swelling  also  extends  upwards,  invading 
both  the  upper  and  lower  eyelids,  and  over  the  whole  is  a 
diffused  didl  red  erysipelatous  blush,  reminding  one  of  that 
erysipelatous  redness  of  the  face  for  which  rhtis  tox,  is  so 
often  beneficial.  There  is  no  overflow  of  tears,  hence 
the  lachrymal  passages  do  not  appear  to  be  materially 
obstructed.  The  right  eye  is  the  one  thus  affected.  This 
condition  has  been  in  continuance  now  for  six  months, 
daring  which  time  the  complaint  has  been  getting  no  better, 
and  of  late  has  become  decidedly  worse.  There  is  some 
pain,  but  not  severe.  The  bone  over  the  sac  feels  as  if 
elevated  and  thickened.  It  is  worse  when  the  wind  is 
cold  and  she  is  exposed  to  it.  Formerly  when  it  first 
commenced  there  was  a  sharp  pain  in  the  sac,  ''  as  if  some- 
thing were  round  "  therein,  together  with  pains  shooting 
in  both  ears.  In  other  respects  she  is  in  good  health.  I 
gave  a  trial  to  acid  fluoric  3  c  pil.  om.  6a  hor. 

March  15th. — She  reports  herself  "  a  great  deal  better." 
''  The  effect  of  the  medicine  is  wonderful."  On  examina- 
tion I  found  the  tumidity  and  erysipelatous  blush  over  the 
eyelids  gone  and  the  redness  and  swelling  of  the  skin  over 
the  lachrymal  sac  very  much  diminished.  There  is  still, 
however,  some  of  the  bony  hardness  remaining  by  the  side 
of  the  nose  which  could  not  be  expected  to  diminish  much 
in  so  short  a  time.  Altogether  uiere  is  very  great  relief, 
and  there  is  little  or  no  tenderness  now.   Repeat  medicine. 

Gonsiderinp  the  action  of  rhus  t.  on  the  Uds  with  "  ery- 
sipelatous OBoema,"  and  its  action  on  conjunctivitis,  with 
'^  lachrymation  in  the  open  air,"  one  might  have  expected 

*  Being  part  of  a  aeries  of  cases,  the  record  of  which  gained  for 
Mr.  Blake  &e  **  Epps ''  prize  of  £10. 


210 CLINICAL  CASES.         'gf^I^ST?^' 

it  to  have  stiited  also  this  case,  and  to  have  remoyed  the 
swelling  and  erysipelas — although  there  appeared  to  be  a 
deficiency  in  the  Materia  Medica  as  regards  its  action  on 
the  lachrymal  sac  particolarlyy  yet  should  this  condition 
come  on  after  exposure  to  cold  and  wet,  one  might  expect 
good  from  rhus  tox  for  the  erysipelatous*  swelling  of  the 
sac.  However,  as  above  seen,  the^umc  a.eid  effected  great 
benefit. 

csAgB  vni. 

Chronic  DiseoM  of  ike  Lachrymal  Apparatus, 

Ann  A.,  aged  43,  has  been  under  homoBopathic  treat- 
ment for  a  considerable  time.  During  a  period  of  eight 
years  she  has  been  treated  (and  by  various  doctors)  homceo- 
pathically  for  disease  and  obstruction  of  the  lachrymal  sac 
or  its  duct.  At  intervals,  of  course,  she  has  required  from 
time  to  time  intercurrent  treatment  for  other  more  tem- 
porary ailments,  but  has  not  during  this  period  received 
any  material  benefit  for  the  lachrymal  symptoms.  I  am 
not  able  to  supply  the  details  of  her  treatment  during  this 
number  of  years,  but  the  first  details  in  my  possession  are 
those  occurring  from  July  10th,  1880,  to  August  14th, 
1880,  during  which  time  she  was  under  cimicifugaf  3  t.d. 
This  patient  first  came  under  my  own  observation  and 
treatment  on  August  14th,  1880,  and  a  note  was  made 
that  ''the  lachrymal  sac  of  the  right  eye  swells  and  dis- 
charges pus  at  intervals.  The  eye  constantly  overflows 
with  water ;  the  lachrymation  at  times  only  is  scalding, 
but  in  general  it  is  bland.  The  eye  becomes  worse  when 
she  goes  into  the  open  air.  There  is  no  perceptible 
amelioration  from  the  cimidfiiga.^  The  sac  is  tumid, 
rather  reddened,  and  tender. 

August  14th. — AcidfiuoHCf  3  ter.  die. 

{Materia  Medica. — ^Increased  lachrymation,  itching  in 
eanthi,  fistula  lachrymalis.) 

There  is  nothing  special  about  this  woman^s  appearance, 
be3Fond  that  she  looks  worn  and  weakly,  considering  her 
age.  The  face  is  much  wrinkled ;  she  is  thin,  and  of 
mervous^  bilious  temperament.  I  am  not  able  to  trace  the 
chronic  inflammation  of  the  lachrymal  passage  to  any 
distinct  causes  except  that  it  is  worse  in  cold  air  and  by 
taking  cold. 

Septanber  4th.**^She  proclaims  the  ej^  caatM^sMj 
better.     Repeat. 


ISSS^SST^"         CLIHICAL  CASES. m 

The  medidne  was  continued  until  September  llth, 
wken,  daring  my  abtenoe,  a  colleague  saw  her  for  me,  and 
for  Bome  reason,  perhaps  for  the  discharge  of  pus,  kindly 
changed  the  medicine  for  me,  and  ordered  hepar  3,  t.d.  s« 

September  Sfitk. — ^Reports  her  eye  as  ''worse.*'  To 
repeat  ac.  Jliwric,  8,  t.  d. 

October  9th.  Eye  feels  easier,  but  there  is  hot  and 
aedding  watery  dhnharge.    Bcpeat. 

Octol^  90th. — improvement.    Repeat. 

November  IStfa. — &nprovement.  **  The  substanee,"  she 
says,  ''  still  continues  to  come  at  intervals  as  before,"  (the 
inflammatoiy  tumeAietion  ?)  and  it  fills  up,  too,  but  this 
event  takes  place  'Mess  often  than  it  formerly  did."  It 
also,  ''  oomes  and  goes  »way  sooner."     Repeat. 

December  4th. — Ixnprovement  continues.    Repeat. 

December  llth. — Has  been  suffering  from  epigastric 
pain  and  vomiting  of  food  and  "phlegm  "  from  stomach. 
Has  sour  and  bi^r  eructations.  I  find  she  drinks  too 
much  strong  tea*  Ordered  her  to  discontinue  tea.  Never- 
tiieless, ^tioric  acid  produces  these  symptoms : — "bilious 
vomiting  afler  dtght  eirors,  with  increased  alvine  dis- 
d&rges,  pieoeded  by  tomtna."    Repeat. 

January  Ist,  1881. — ^Vomiting  or  regurgitation  baek 
again  after  eating  still  continues.  "  It  comes  up  into  the 
tbroat  in  lumps"  (pathogenetic).  Fluoric  acid  produoes 
a  peculiar  Tariety  of  dyi^hagia,  of  which  I  will  shortly 
deaaiibe  a  cure,  the  pain  occurring  in  the  act  of  swallowing 
from  impUoation  of  tiie  throat  and  gullet.  These  symptoms 
are  increased  after  ^cposure  and  slight  colds.  To  continue, 
she  further  adds,  **  Lumps  of  food  return  up  the  throat, 
and  vritii  tiiem  phlegm,  and  this  occurs  with  pain  in  the 
upper  epigastric  or  lower  cdsophageal  region  "  (pathogenetio, 
see  Allen).  **  The  pain  is  like  a  knife  or  pins  running  in 
Hiere,  and  is  eased  by  the  vomiting  and  belohing."  She 
is'oidy  '^easy^vriien  lying  down  in  bed"  {bry.)y  and  there 
axe  bronddaJ  mucous  rake.  She  ''vomits  every  kind  of 
food,  even  so  much  as  a  teaspoonful  returns."  As  an 
antidote,  I  ordered  bry.  alb.,  S  x.,  pil.  t.  d. 

These  inrmptoms,  supposing  them  pathogenetic  from 
pKoric  acid  should  be  relieved  by  bryonia.  It  iscalonlated 
to  relieve  the  stomach  aood  chest  symptoms.  The  latter 
mi^  be,  perhaps,  partly  owing  to  her  having  taken  fresh 
cold. 

Jan.  7th. — Much  better  as  to  stomach  and  ffiefhagoal 


212 CLINICAL  CASKS,         ^S^^^S^ 

symptoms.  Bronchitis  relieved.  The  upper  respiratoiy 
passages  and  the  gnllet  are  in  intimate  relationship.  They 
are  supplied  contignonsly  by  branches  of  the  same  nerres. 
Bep.  bry,  8x. 

Jan.  15th. — The  chest  and  epigastric  pain  are  now  veiy 
much  less.  *'  The  medicine  has  done  her  a  great  deal  of 
good/'  and  the  ''  congh  is  less."  She  says  she  has  receiyed 
^'  great  benefit  from  the  treatment  dnring  the  past  three 
weeks,"  but  is,  of  course,  not  aware  that  bryonia  has  been 
given  only  for  two  weeks,  and  that  possibly  the  symptoms 
increasing  during  the  previous  week  were  owing  to  the 
increasing  action  from  the  flworic  add,  I  now  changed 
again  to  acidfluor.  8  c.  t.d. 

Jan.  22nd. — Continuing  in  improvement.    Bepeat. 

March  6th. — Has  been  absent  from  my  notice  since  the 
last  prescription,  for  she  felt  herself  so  &r  well  as  not  Uy 
require  treatment.  Nothing  of  the  lachrymal  disease  has 
been  since  noticed.  The  only  symptom  she  has  noticed 
during  the  past  few  weeks  has  been  this,  that  after  the 
least  cold  air,  the  sac  has  been  apt  to  fill  up  with  tears 
occasionally,  and  on  a  little  pressure  they  return  and  ran 
over  the  lid,  but  otherwise  there  is  no  inconvenience.  The 
general  lachrymation  has  disappeared,  the  sac  has  ceased 
to  become  hard,  inflamed,  and  to  discharge  pas  as  it  did 
formerly  at  intervals,  and  tiie  general  health  is  good.  Thus 
this  disease,  which  had  continued  unabated  for  eight  years,, 
has  ceased  to  be  a  trouble  during  the  past  few  montha 
dnring  the  treatment  hjjiuorie  cuAd,  and  the  tears  are  now 
able  to  take  their  proper  course  through  the  nasal  duct. 

I  need  not  omit  to  mention  that  during  the  last  week  of 
treatment  the  patient  also  noted  a  new  symptom  to  her  in 
the  left  eye,  previously  healthy,  and  which  is  also  found 
under  ^uorio  acid,  namely,  she  felt  a  sensation  in  the  left 
eye  as  if  some  sand  had  been  blown  into  it,  and  since  has 
had  some  small  pimples  on  the  left  eye  lids,  and  a  sensation 
as  of  *'  dust  moving  about "  between  the  lids  and  the  eye- 
ball, symptoms  which  I  believe  to  be  pathogenetic  ;*  but 
none  of  Uiese  were  present  when  I  last  saw  her  on  March 
6th.     The  left  was  then  well. 

Inflammation  of  the  sac  has  been  cured  by  tilicia  6,  and 
fistula  by  the  same  medicine,  also  by  caicarea  c,  rkU*  mur,, 

*  A  symptom  is  given  in  Allen's  work  in  quite  a  similar  form  to  tfaii 
one,  as  pathogenetic. 


'^S^^Sn^         CLINIOAL  CABEB, 213 

-and  cauttieum,  as  well  as  hj  fluoric  acid.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  the  connection  of  the  disease  of  the  lachrymfd 
apparatus  with  inflammation  of  the  eyelids,  and  to  note 
that  the  medicines  for  the  cure  of  lachrymal  disease  are  all 
•noted  and  powerful  eyelid  medicines.  The  fistula  in  many 
.instances  appears  to  be  but  a  further  extension  of  the 
inflammatory  and  obstructiye  process,  and  if  this  can  be 
subdued  with  reopening  of  the  duct,  or  a  passage  along  the 
proper  course  of  the  duct,  then  the  fistula  also  may 
eventually  close,  and  so  restoration  be  thus  complete.  That 
the  mechanical  law  should  sometimes  present  itself  to  be 
applied  here  is  not  unlikely,  but  if  so  it  can  be  but  a  useful 
auxiliary  at  times,  just  as  the  boogie  and  the  catheter  are  in 
stricture  of  the  urethra,  and  in  no  way  can  its  use  dishonour 
the  homoeopathic  law,  nor  can  it  compromise  the  ability  and 
*  credit  of  the  homosopathic  practitioner,  as  some  would  have 
as  suppose,  any  more  than  it  can  deprive  him  of  the  right 
to  term  himself  a  homoBopath  should  he  feel  so  disposed. 
Mere.  cor.  and  stdpkur  have  also  played  a  prominent  part 
in  the  cures  of  this  disease.  That  the  nature  of  the  affec- 
tion should  vary  in  different  cases  is  not  surprising  when 
we  see  how  various  are  diseases  of  the  eyelids,  and  how 
•different  the  constitutional  state  is  in  d^erent  persons, 
.  pointing  the  way,  as  in  all  diseases,  not  to  one,  but  to  several 
medicines. 

Considering  the  Cypher  Repertory,  we  have : — 
Abscess  of  the  sac.,  natrum,  pule.  Inflammation,  petro- 
leum.  Swelling,  nat.  mwr.y  stlica.  Ditto  of  the  size  of 
pigeon's  egg,  petroleum.  On  blowing  the  nose,  nat.  mw. 
With  dryness  of  the  face,  peU  s.  Pain  undefined,  not.  mwr. 
And  under  lachrymal  bone  for  inflammation,  mer.;  for 
•4melling,  mer.  $. 

Besides  some  of  the  medicines  already  referred  to, 
Angell  recommends,  under  certain  conditions,  aconite  and 
-belladonna,  hepar,  kali  hyd.,  macrotin,  etiUingia,  hyd/raatis, 
sanguinaria,  org,  nit.,  cup.  sulph.,  and  astringent  applica- 
tions, besides  other  surgical  measures  suitable  for  the 
relief  of  mechanical  obstruction  and  distention  of  the  sac. 
He  states,  moreover,  that  some  of  these  drugs,  prescribed 
for  symptoms  quite  remote  from  the  eye,  have  proved 
beneficial  for  the  lachrymal  disease.  This  latter  plan  of 
removing  a  group  of  symptoms,  often  as  we  notice  it  to  be 
successful  in  certain  instances,  and  often  unexpectedly,  as 
when  the  groups  referred  to  are  actually  not  yet  found 

YoL  26,  No.  4.  q 


214 CLINICAL  0A8K8.         'g^,^gggSr 

registored  in  the  If  ateria  Medica,  but  yet  disappear  when 
fljjfmptoDas  other  than  these  are  the  indications  taken  for 
the  medieine.  If  this  plan  be  aceordmg  to  definable  law, 
BB  illustrated,  let  us  suppose,  by  altering  the  prediq>osii^ 
eauee  or  some  other  group  of  symptoms  upon  which  the 
gfoup  to  be  remoTed  are  dependent^  there  is  nevertheless  a 
great  diflBcuttyin  cairying  out  the  homoBopathic  principle 
dn  a  systematic  manner  for  each  case.  This  is  so,  because 
it  is  easier  to  refer  at  once  to  the  q)eoial  locality  of  the 
symptoms  to  be  remored  and  find  what  drugs  have  heea 
^eadyproyed  to  be  in  definite  relation  thereto ;  whereas  if 
me  c(m8ider  these  as  of  no  importance,  and  throw  oTer  all 
iAxe  drugs  which  produce  them  as  usdess  unless  they 
/happen  also  to  possess  the  more  remote  symptoms  in 
addition,  or  not  finding  all  requisites  under  one  drag,  we 
discard  all  these  drugs  and  employ  o4hftrs  referable  only 
to  the  comrtitutional  state,  tempeirameiit»  or  to  more  remote 
qrmptoms  than  those  we  hope  to  rsmove.  We  have  thus 
laid  open  to  us  a  yery  wide  field,  with  a  small  basis  of 
evidence  to  prascribe  upon  and  periuq)s  very  few  or 
indefinite  symptoms.  Yet  it  may  be  said  that  the  latter 
-method  does  sometimes  produce  results  quite  uneapected, 
or  if  expected,  haj?dly  with  great  certainty  in  the  present 
afeate  of  our  information.  To  the  perfection  of  the 
latter  method  it  is  possible  that  a  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  pathological  sequence  of  disease,  and  a  reading 
and  enlightment  of  the  provings  in  relation  thereto,  may 
'be  of  great  service,  if  not  a  9me  qud  non  clinical  appli- 
cation. If  the  action  of  fvha/tiUa  in  disease  of  the  sac 
and  ducts  should  bear  any  resemblance  to  its  action  in 
Ot)hthahnia,  otitis  and  deafiiess,  we  should  noturaUy  sup- 
pose that  simple  inflammation  of  catarrhal  origin  having 
the  kind  of  inflammation  characteristic  of  pulMMUa^  with 
bland  secretion,  if  any,  and  that  it  will  be  adopted  under 
those  conditions  of  temperament  and  mental  state  so  weU 
known  since  the  time  of  Hahnemann  to  be  appropriate  to 
puUaUUa.  It  is  easy  to  beliere  that  a  blenorrhoea  of  the 
«ac,  or  even  a  chronic  inflammation  of  its  lining  mucous 
membrane,  leading  to  distension,  or,  it  may  be,  oomplete 
obstruction  ending  in  fistula,  might  under  these  conditioins 
be  effectually  met  by  pulaatiUa.  The  same  might  perhaps 
be  said  of  merevrittSf  kali  Iqfd.  in  syphilitic  subjects  or  in 
-scrofulous  persons.  Fbnoric  acid  has  in  its. provings  this 
i{^ptom — '^  A  marked  tendency  to  take  cold  on  the  least 


exposure  " — ^a  symptom  often  Tery  notiiwable  in  blenocrbfiea 
of  the  sac.  It  is  quite  possible  that  ooaditxons  leadixig  to 
bl^iorrbcea  in  one  person  would  in  another  person  gar  on 
to  obstruction  and  bursting  of  the  sac^  JKoording  to 
smaU  VBryiBg  dteantttonoea-differences  iriiich  may 
require  more  yariation  in  the  surgical  ingenuity  than 
in  medidnal  application  where  the  medicinal  indications 
remain  the  same.  When,  as  often,  fortunately  it  happens 
that  we  can  find  a  drug  to  cover  both  local  syasptoms  and 
constitutkmal  condition,  the  method  is  of  course  clear  wnd 
is  sometimes  easy.  In  other  oases  it  is  open  to  prescribe 
precisely  for  the  symptems  of  the  local  disease.  Finally^ 
to  use  only,  the  general  symptoms  of  a  patient  might 
necessitate  a  course  of  action  which  if  extended  in  descrip- 
tion might  lead  us  through  an  examination  and  description 
of  the  entire  Matenia  Medica. 

With  reference  to  the  methods  of  application  of  homoao- 
pathy  it  may  be  questioned  whether  or  not  we  are  not 
actually  compelled  to  generalise  the  use.  of  certain  medi- 
cines, even  provided  the  exactly  localised  symptoms  for 
which  we  so  prescribe  them  are  not  as  yet  found  registeved 
as  such  in  tiie  provings.  Thus  when  we  find  an  acut^B* 
inflammation  of  the  lachrymal  apparatus  having  the  charac- 
teristies  of  aconite  or  belladonna  (as  adrised,  for  instance,, 
by  Angell),  we  use  these  medicines,  taking  our  indicatMms 
tram  their  characteristic  inflammatory  symptoms  of  the 
eyelids,  face,  or  other  parts  of  the  body ;  together  with  the 
special  symptoms  dependent  on  the  febrile  state  simul- 
taneously set  in  progress.  Hence  we  use  aconite  for  an 
acute  inflammation  where  the  general  indications  ave 
adapted  to  that  medicine,  and  where  the  local  inflammation 
is  of  a  type  ccmaistent  with  that  produced  elsewhere  by  the 
drug ;  and  the  same  method  should,  if  feasible  at  all,  be 
applicable  also  to  other  medicines.  When  we  confer 
that  the  lachrymal  mc  is,  as  it  were,  an  appendage  to  the 
eyelids,  lined  by  mucous  membrane  continuous  with  that 
of  the  lids,  to  which  it  acts  as  a  water  conduit,  it  is  not 
snrpriaing  that  there  should  be  a  paucity  of  symptoms, 
produced  specially  on  the  sac  and  ducts,  as  compared  with 
those  produced  on  the  eye  and  lids.  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  only  in  a  certain  fewer  number  of  persons,  we  should 
get  symptoms  produced  at  first,  and  specially  on  this  small 
and  comparatively  insignificant  strncture.  On  the  oidier 
hand,,  nearly  all,  if  not  all,  those  drugs  which  affect  the  sac,, 

Q-2 


216  CLINICAL  CASES.         "S^^'S??:^. 


HerioWy  April  If  18B8* 


act  early  and  markedly  on  the  eyelids  themselTes,  and  the 
symptoms  may  be  reg^urded  as  rather  extending  to  the  sae 
than  as  affecting  it  singly  and  solely.  It  is  in  certain 
pecoliarly  susceptible  persons  or  special  contingencies  that 
inflammation  of  the  sac  wonld  arise  without  affection  of  the 
eyelids,  and  we  might  fsdrly  expect  that  many  drugs  capable 
of  affecting  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  eyelids  will  have 
also  an  alUed  effect  upon  the  sac  and  ducts  consistent  with 
such  action,  although  but  few  such  cases  in  the  provings 
may  have  been  actually  on  record.  In  the  curative  sphere 
of  observation  this  action  of  drugs  has  been  well  observed, 
several  medicines  having  been  noted  as  beneficial  for  lachry- 
mal fistula,  ^tcoric  add  being  one  of  such,  among  which 
there  is  an  extreme  paucity  of  symptoms  proven  on  this 
small  organ,  whether  absolute  or  contingent.  Among  the 
symptoms  which  give  us  a  clue  to  the  use  ot  fluoric  actd  on 
the  lachrymal  apparatus,  we  have  not  much  to  rely  upon  as 
matter  for  absolute  certainty,  yet  one  may  gaUier  firom 
Allen  these  symptoms : — 

"  Quivering  in  the  right  eye,  and  soon  after  a  burning 
shooting  pain  at  the  bottom  of  the  orbital  cavity." 

Again,  *^  sensation  as  if  the  eyelids  were  opened  by  force, 
and  a  fresh  wind  were  blowing  on  them ;  after  that,  a  sen- 
sation like  sand  in  the  eyeball,  resembling  the  feeling  as  if 
the  eyes  were  inflamed.  Pricking  and  burning  in  the 
internal  canthus,  also  itching  in  it."  This  is  a  symptom 
which  brings  us  at  once  close  up  to  the  lachiymal  ducts, 
and  many  drugs  produce  this. 

Again,  '^  Deep  pain  in  the  posterior  part  of  the  right 
eye,  extending  very  fur  into  the  upper  jaw." 

**  Painful  itching  in  the  left  eye  as  if  from  a  grain  of 
sand."  This  and  the  symptom  consistent  with  it  above 
named,  as  of  ''wind  blowing"  on  the  eye,  it  may  be 
remembered,  are  quite  in  accordance  with  the  left  eye 
symptom  which  is  noted  as  probably  pathogenetic  during 
the  treatment  of  the  case  of  Aim  A.  hj  fluoric  acid. 

There  are  one  or  two  more  symptoms  also  worthy  of 
of  note,  i.e.,  **  In  the  morning  beneath  the  eyes  are  super- 
ficial whitish  pu%  folds  extending  towards  the  nose.'* 
''  The  upper  jaw-bones  are  much  affected  by  the  medicine." 
Hering  gives  these  indications : — 

PuLb.,  fistxda  1.,  discharging  pus  when  pressed.  PetrO" 
leum,  fistula  Is.  (of  recent  origin).  Nat.  mur.,  fistula, 
stricture  of  duct,  blenorrhoea  of  sac.    Silica,  fistula,  bone 


l£SS?5rirnSS!'         CLINICAL  CABB8.  217 

- —  ■     ■       ■■       ■       ^—  ■       I 

aflTectedf  swelling  of  right  sac,  skin  oyer  it  inflamed,  glis- 
tening, throbbing  pain,  tears  hot,  worse  evening.  Calc. 
c,  fistula  suppurating. 

Cass  IX. 

Fluoric  Acid  produces  a  kind  of  dysphagia  for  which,  if 
appropriately  used,  this  medicine  is  abundantly  curative,  as 
the  following  case  will  serve  to  demonstrate.  Affections  of 
the  OBSophagus  and  stomach  of  this  description  are  not 
nearly  so  frequent  as  many  other  ailments,  so  that  an 
unusual  interest  attaches  itself  to  instances  of  cure,  when 
the  symptoms  are  referable  specially  to  the  oesophagus. 

Mr.  J.  S.,  aged  50,  consulted  me  for  the  first  time  on 
March  1st,  1881. 

Previous  history: — Has  been  suffering  from  his  com- 
plaint [which  will  shortly  be  described]  for  five  months. 
At  the  outset  of  the  disease  he  was  under  homceopathic 
treatment,  but  only  for  a  brief  period,  too  short  to  get  any 
amendment,  and  he  thinks  he  received  at  that  time 
arsenicum ;  but  as  he  very  soon  removed  from  the  south 
of  England  to  London,  he  then  gave  up  homoeopathy,  and 
placed  himself  under  a  London  physician  from  whom  he 
received  some  benefit;  but,  as  he  subsequently  ''took  cold 
in  the  chest,"  the  malady  returned,  or  rather,  became 
worse  again,  for  it  had  never  been  fairly  removed.  The 
first  physician  referred  to  diagnosed  his  case  as  one  of 
ulceration  of  the  oesophagus,  at  or  near  the  cardiac  orifice 
of  the  stomach,  and  the  physician  under  whose  treatment 
he  was  before  coming  to  me  acquiesced  in  this  verdict.  In 
my  view  also  the  symptoms  were  consistent  with  this 
opinion  of  the  nature  of  the  disease.  His  symptoms,  as 
presented  to  me,  were  as  follows,  which  I  will  recite  under 
the  heading  of  present  condition : — 

He  suffers  from  a  severe  pain  referred  to  the  mid-chest, 
that  is  behind  the  sternal  region,  about  half  way  or  a  little 
below  this  point,  between  the  top  of  the  sternum  and  the 
xiphoid  cartilage.  This  pain  is  only  felt  when  swallowing, 
and  it  comes  on  ''  immediately  on  swallowing,"  during  the 
very  act  as  it  were.  This  pain  attends  especially  the 
swallowing  of  solid  food,  so  that  he  dares  only  to  take  small 
quantities  of  liquid  nourishment.  During  these  months  he 
has  been  gradually  wasting  until  he  has  become  very  much 
reduced  in  bulk  and  weight.  His  appetite  is  very  good ;  he 
feels  hungry  but  cannot  eat  for  the  pain,  though  he  longs 


218  CLINICAL  CASES.  "pS^i^^Sn^*' 


Benew,  Aptfl  l.  IStt. 


for  azid  likes  the  food.  He  can  swallow  fluids,  like  sotip, 
withoat  paiOy  so  this  kind  of  food  hfts  const^uted  his  only 
means  of  sustenance.  However,  hot  imlk  and  bread  eyen 
disagrees  with  him,  whereas  cold  milk  suits.  He  cannot 
manage  the  bread  with  the  milk.  The  pain  appears  also 
to  extend  down  so  far  as  he  is  able  to  localise  it,  to  near 
the  region  of  the  xiphoid  cartilage,  and  when  swallowing  he 
describes  it  as  a  **  severe  cutting,"  as  if  the  food  were 
paming  over  a  woimd  there.  He  is  very  liable  to  take 
Goids,  and  after  every  cold  the  oesophageal  pain  is  worse 
again.  Has  no  flutulence ;  No  bitter  or  sour  eructations, 
or  very  little;  bowels  regular;  no  thirst;  no  chills;  no 
pyrexia.  Tongue,  slightly  whitish  coat  at  back,  otherwise 
quite  healthy-looking.  Expectorates  a  small  quantity  of 
froAy  sputum  from  chest.  There  appears  to  him  to  be  a 
difficulty  in  the  passage  of  the  food  at  the  spot  where  the 
pain  is  experienced.  He  has  only  once  vomited  some 
blood,  which  was  six  months  ago.  It  was  black  and 
clotted  blood.  There  is  especial  difficulty  in  swallowing 
bread4  No  pain  in  the  epigastrium,  nor  in  the  other  parts 
of  the  stomach  and  abdomen  at  any  time. 

The  pain  is  most  distinct  during  the  act  of  swallowing,  or 
rather  after  it  has  just  passed  through  the  throat,  but  con- 
tinues somewhat  after  the  act  of  swallowing  has  just  been 
attempted.  His  own  description  is  the  best — "immediately 
on  swiilowing."  "When  he  tried  to  eat  oatmeal  it  made 
him  vomit.'*  Of  late  only  he  has  had  hiccough  when  eat- 
ing, and  an  eructation  of  phlegm  with  the  cutting  pain. 
There  is  no  pain  after  the  food  "  is  once  fairly  down." 

Referring  these  symptoms  to  the  Cypher  Repertory^  we 
have: — 
^    .  /  Pain  immediately  after  eating — ha.  a.,  hry.,  coc,  cap.y 

^  i  1       9^P'9  thuja. 

g'C  \  Pain  after  the  smallest  meal — china,  c.  ph.,  lob., 
^  S  i      mere,  nnx  v.,  ear. 

2[.&\  Pain  after  all  food — iod. 

S"«     Pain  after  solid  food — ba.  m.,  aim. 


«  ^  7  Pain  when  eating — ana.,  aitg.,  bell.,  hry.,  chi,,  grp., 
^  ''^  \  led.,  man.,  mer.,  ni.  x.,  rho.,  san.,  sug.  thuja,  ver. 
pTwill  refer  to  oesophageal  pains  fiirther  on.] 
The  medicines  first  chosen  for  the  patient^s  treatment 
were -not  successful.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  one  else 
ever  chooses  a  medicine  which  fails  to  immediately  cure 
a   patient.     If  there   be   such   a   fortunate  physician  in 


^2£?i[Sr?S^"         CLINICAL  CASES.  219 


fi0n0w»  Apol  1,  law. 


existence,  I  should  be  gratified  to  have  the  pleasore  of  hhi 
aequaintaaoe,  not  having  as  yet  met  with  such  a  divine 
person  in  the  flesh.  Saffice  it  to  say  that  hr^onia  1  x  wae 
first  given,  and  the  patient  had  a  eough  at  the  time,  whioh 
it  did  some  good  for,  but  not  the  least  benefit  had  followed, 
as  far  as  the  stomach  was  concerned,  by  March  3rd,  when 
he  reports  that  on  attenopting  to  take  solid  food,  it  returns 
again  as  if  vomited  en  mame.  After  eating,  also,  there  is 
the  '^  copions  moeoas  frothy  "  flnid  retamed  afterwards. 

'*  Sonp  even  now  does  not  digest  well."  ''  Has  digested 
his  breakfast  of  flnid  natriment,  but  has  taken  nothing 
since  (now  7  p.m.).  Port  wine  or  hot  ooffee  seem  now  to 
be  the  only  things  that  will  stop  down.  The  food  sticks  " 
at  one  point  as  before  described.  Here  we  see  disease  as 
merciless  as  it  can  well  be.  It  is  a  case  of  slow  starvation. 
He  ^'does  not  know  what  the  taste  of  a  dinner  is/*  and 
"he  bids  fair  to  rival  the  famous  Dr.  Tanner."  VeraU  alb. 
1  gtt.  i.  0  8rd  hour. 

March  5th. — Pain  as  before ;  symptoms  no  better  what- 
ever.   Merc.  cor.  b.  was  then  given,  likewise  withont  avail. 

He  again  comes  four  days  afterwards.  His  patience  is 
exhausted.  Finding  himself  no  better  and  slowly  startvingy 
he  feels  himself  no  longer  able  to  attend  properly  to  his 
occupation.  He  will  go  to  London  on  business  shortly, 
and  will  think  of  consulting  a  physician  there.  I  give  him 
a  note  of  introduction  to  see  a  Liverpool  consulting  physi* 
eian  in  case  he  does  not  go  to  London.  He  decides  to  do 
80,  but  to  try  one  more  prescription  before  leaving  me,  as 
a  last  shot.  Considering  the  susceptibility  to  take  cold^ 
noted  as  characteristic  of  Jluoric  acid,  and  the  peculiar 
<B8ophageal  symptoms  of  this  drug,  I  decided  to  give  this 
a  tnal  and  ordered  ac.  ^ohc,  gtt.  ii.  6  hours.  SeeAlleOi 
'*  Sore  throat,  with  difficult  deglutition,  as  far  as  below  the 
larynx ;  felt  so  sore  that  the  bread,  although  masticated 
very  thoroughly,  could  not  be  swallowed  without  the  greatest- 
pain,  after  smelling  the  acid  5  p.m.  until  the  next  morning 
after  breakfast :  the  same  morning,  hawking  up  of  much 
phlegm  mixed  with  some  blood  ;  during  the  ^y,  abatement 
of  the  in^ptoms." — Provings. 

The  patient  did  not  appear  again  until  the  22nd  of 
March,  by  which  time  I  supposed  he  had  gone  to  London^ 
when  I  met  him  accidentally  in  the  street,  and  on  enquiry 
learned  that  he  had  been  so  much  better  directly  after 
•taking  the  last  medicine  that  he  did  not  feel  in  any  ur§eiib* 


220  CLINICAL  CASES.        ^feS^^SI*;^ 


;  Aptfl  1, 188S. 


need  of  calling  on  me.     This  medicine,  said  he,  '^  has  jast 
done  the  thing  for  me."    It  has  ''acted  on  the  pamfal 
spot/'  and  I  can  now  *'  swallow  solids  without  discomfort." 
This  effect  was  not  immediate,  but  the  symptoms  had 
become  gradually  and  increasingly  ameliorated  eyer  since 
commencing  the  fluoric  add.    I  took,  he  said,  **  my  first 
good  dinner  last  Sunday  (20th  March),  and  I  have  been 
able  to  eat  well  since  and  digest  food  properly  "  so  that  "  I 
think  this  medicine  has  just  done  what  was  required  at  the 
painful  spot."     Such  were  his  words,  and  so  I  left  him ; 
promising  to  call  and  see  me  again  in  a  few  days.     He 
was  quite  satisfied  with  the  result,  and  so  am  I.     This 
medicine  was  prescribed  from  the  Materia  Medica  without 
the  aid  of  an  index ;  and  if  we  refer  to  the  symptoms  in 
Allen's  work  for  the  peculiar  sort  of  dysphagia  oi  fluoric 
acid  we  note  the  following  symptoms  in  addition  to  the  one 
already  quoted  in  full.     Thus  we  find  ''  soreness  in  the 
pharynx,  extending  down  below  the  larynx;   swallowing 
bread  is  painful,"  (the  very  symptoms  my  patient  ex- 
perienced).   In  the  back  of  the  throat,  low  down,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  OBSophagus,  more  to  the  left  side,  a  s^osa- 
tion  as  if  it  were  somewhat  raw,  or  as  though  an  ulcer 
would  form ;  it  was  indefinite  and  slightly  painful,  yet  it 
seemed  very  troublesome,  and  twice  while  hawking  he 
thought  that  blood  would  come  from  it,  in  the  morning 
and  forenoon."    If  this  be  compared  with  the  history  of 
the  case  recorded,  the  symptom  of  blood  coming  up  is  yeiy 
significant,  although  this  occurred  only  once  in  the  early 
commencement  of  the  disease.    Again,  Allen  gives,  **  the 
greatest  difficulty  was  experienced  in  getting  him  to  swallow 
anything."     If  the  experimental  proof  of  homoeopathy 
rested  only  upon  this  one  symptom  cured,  it  would  be  for 
me  sufficiently  condusiye.    Then,  as  regards  the  appetite, 
there  is  the   ''longing  for  coffee,"  also  "hunger,"  and. 
again,  "he  eats  little  though  his  appetite  is  good;"  all 
probably  dependent  symptoms.     On  die  throat  itself,  and 
apparently  low  down   in  it,   there  is    the    constriction, . 
hawking  of  bloody  mucus  from  low  down,  and  one  yery 
peculiar  condition  is  noted  by  one  prover,  "  a  singular 
sensation  as  though  the  passage  from  the  mouth  to  the 
nose  was  wide  open  during  his  walk  in  the  open  air,"  which 
is  not  unlike  the  peculiar  eye  symptom,  when  it  feels  as  if 
the  lids  were  drawn  wide  open,  and  cold  air  were  blowing, 
upon  the  eye. 


SSS^^STuS!*        CLINICAL  CASES.  221 

With  this  drug  there  is  a  noticeable  absence  of  pains 
seated  actually  in  the  stomach,  although  burning,  pinching- 
and  pressure  are  noted,  whereas  the  throat  and  gullet  are^ 
distinctly  the  seat  of  pain,  connected  with  swallowing  food. 
When  we  haye  to  do  with  oesophageal  pain,  even  where  it 
comes  at  or  close  to  the  cardiac  orifice,  the  epigastric  pains- 
are  of  minor  importance  for  reference,  yet  it  may  be  of 
some  use  to  turn  to  some  symptoms  connected  with  these^ 
and  more  especially  the  symptoms  **  pain  when  eating," 
or  ''pain  immediately  after  eating,"  eyen  if  referred  down- 
wards towards  the  epigastrium.  It  is  possible  that  a  group 
of  medicines  thus  pointed  out  for  us  might  contain  some 
one  or  more  haying  a  bearing  on  the  cardiac  orifice  of  the 
gullet,  where  it  actually  unites  with  the  stomach  itself. 

The  actual  seat  of  the  pain  becomes  of  great  importance 
in  selecting  for  specially  oesophageal  disease  on  the  one 
hand,  and  gastric  disease  on  the  other  hand.  Neyertheless, 
in  some  diseases  we  are  placed  in  some  difficulty  if  we- 
attempt  to  draw  the  line  here  in  selecting  from  a  repertory,, 
because  many  sensations  are  reflex  and  not  referred  always 
directly  to  the  seat  of  the  lesion.  For  instance,  in  the 
knee  pain  of  hip  joint  disease  it  would  be  wrong  for  us  to- 
exclude  hip  joint  symptoms  as  of  secondary  importance  to- 
the  knee  pain.  The  safer  plan,  no  doubt,  is  to  look  oyer 
both  groups  in  search  for  an  applicable  medicine. 

If  we  refer  the  selection  for  dysphagia  to  the  Cypher 
Bepertortfy  we  find  a  yast  number  of  medicines  under 
''  Throat."  Among  these  lachesis  acts  as  if  ''  food  were 
opposed  at  the  cardiac  orifice,"  and  ''  drinks  return  through 
the  nose."  With  stramonium  *'  the  yelum  hangs  low,  food 
passes  it  with  difficulty,  and  causes  scraping  pain.  Inability 
to  swallow  bread  and  milk."  These  symptoms  appear  to 
be  actually  associated  with  an  affection  as  paralysis  of  the 
yelum  palati  rather  than  the  gullet  proper. 

Again,  under  oesophagus  fluoric  cLcid  is  not  recorded 
possibly  because  the  word  ''  oesophagus  "  is  not  giyen  as 
such  in  the  proyings,  although  Allen  notes  the  word  dys* 
phagia.  Howeyer,  so  many  drugs  haye  symptoms  actually 
noted  as  pertaining  to  the  gullet  that  it  would  be  impossible 
to  notice  them  all  here,  but  notably  there  are  for  dysphagia 
in  the  oesophagus  c.  ch.,  k.  carb.y  oar.  add, 

Colchicum. — '*  Pain  in  throat  and  larynx  and  muscles  of 
neck.  Pain  down  oesophagus  and  impeded  deglutition," 
symptoms  in  themselyes  distinctiye  enough. 


222  CLIOTCAL  CASES.         *^^.^SST^ 


Bevikir,  April  1,  IBBL 


Kali  earb. — Dysphagia.  "  The  food  passes  slowly  down. 
Sensibility  of  (Bsophagas,  warm  food  bums  him ;  he  can 
only  take  tepid  things*" 

Oxalic  acid, — *' Dysphagia  and  burning  in  (BSophagns 
and' throat."  '*  Morning  dysphagia."  To  these  we  might 
add,  to  judge  from  its  provings — 

Fluoric  a4:id^ — "  Dysphagia,  bread  causes  great  pain,  with 
sensation  as  if  a  raw  place,  scHre  or  ulcer  were  in  the  throat 
lowdown,  with  hawking  up  of  phlegm." 

Merc,  has  burning  pain,  but  otiberwise  resembles  the 
case  cured  hjfltvoric  acid.  cole,  carb.^  ba.'carh.  kali  hie, 
natu  mur.,  nit.  ax:.,  sulphur,  tar.,  tri.,  verat,  on  the  gullet, 
but  the  symptoms  are  peculiar  in  each  case,  and  different 
from  the  case  recorded. 

None  of  these  drugs  are  noted  as  having  the  cutting  pain 
described  by  my  patient,  and  I  regard  his  description  of  the 
pain  as  badly  chosen,  and  that ''  smarting  like  a  sore/'  or 
as  if  ''food  were  passing  over  a  sore,"  are  the  more 
applicable  terms  for  the  fbrmer,  of  which  flturric  acid  is 
specified,  together  with  a  legion  of  other  medicines.  Pains 
on  swallowing  also  are  common  to  many  drugs,  including 
Jiuoric  acid.  Auru^iiWBS  "only  when  swallowing."  But 
most  of  these  symptoms  are  truly  upper  throat  symptoms, 
and  not  lower  oesophageal,  although  aurum  claims  the 
extreme  sensitiveness  to  cold  air,  like  unto  ^uoric  acid. 
Indications  according  to  the  Symptoms  of  tlie  Loealitif  of 

the  Sac* 

Nat.  mur. — *'  CataiThal  susceptibility  to  wind.  Burning 
in  the  inner  canthus.  Acrid  lachrymation  in  open  air 
makes  canthi  red  and  sore."  This  character  of  the  tears 
may  perhaps  induce  inflammation  of  tho  lining  of  the  sac. 

SiUda. — Swelling  of  gland  and  sac.  Burning  and 
stinging  pain  of  lids.  Hard  mucous  agglutination. 
Lachrymation  and  dimness  of  the  eyes. 

Sulphur. — Lids  red  and  swollen  in  the  morning. 
Lachrymation  and  coryza  morning  and  in  the  open  air. 
Burning,  acrid  and  profase  lachrymation*     Itching. 

Merc.  sol. — ^Lachrymation  in  open  air. 

Kali  tod.— Lids  bluish,  red  swelling.  Swollen,  red  and 
uloearatad. 

PttlsatiUa. — Stye  on  the  lid  near  the  inner  canthus. 
Lower  lid  inflamed  with  morning  lachrymation.     Laohry- 

**  From  AUen. 


SS^SSTTS^*"  ON  ELECTRICITY.  223 


fiffNmr,  April  1, 188S. 


imtiMi  in  cold  open  air  or  of  one  eye,  iivdth  drawing  head- 
adw ;  blear-eyed ;  morning  agglutination.  Bnming, 
itcfamg,  biting  and  pressive  ocular  pain  are  also  symptoms 
of  pwtsatiUa. 

Petroleum, — Much  water  presses  out  of  both  canthi. 
Lachiymatita  though  in  open  air ;  not  necessarily  in  cold 
air^  ajid  it  continues  even  indoors.  Inflanunation  and 
BweOing  of  the  size  of  pigeon's  egg  at  the  inner  canthus, 
like  an  incipient  lachrymal  fistula^  with  dryness  of  the 
right  ride  of  the  nose,  lasting  several  days.  Burnings  biting 
of  the  lids,  and  lachrymation  in  the  open  air. 

Cak.  carb. — Profuse  lachrymation  of  right  eye,  with 
buniiiig.  Morning  and  evening  lachrymation,  and  when 
writing. 

Hepar,  cede,  c,  mere,  cor.,  kali  iod.^  are  found  to  be 
very  deficient  at  present  in  symptoms  referable  directly  to 
^  sac,  hence,  if  prescribed,  they  have  to  be  employed 
recording  to  indications  other  than  those  more  immediately 
connected  with  this  seat  of  this  disorder. 


ON  ELECTRICITY :  ITS  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION 
AND  THERAPEUTIC  USES. 

B7  Donald  Batkes,  M.A.,  M.D.,  F.R.G.S. 

(Continued.) 

Dynaaaie^  Induction  or  Faradism  is  of  two  kinds. 

(a)  Eleotro^magnetic. 

(i)  Magnetotelectrie. 

The  principle  of  these  forms  of  electricity  is  as  follows : 
If  two  coBdnetoxB  be  placed  near  each  other,  but  not  in 
contact,  and  a  current  of  electricity  be  passed  through  one 
of  them,  a  momentary  current  of  the  same  kind,  though 
ptmng  in  an  oppoeite  direction,  will  instantly  be  produced 
in  the  other.  If  the  current  be  now  stopped,  another 
momentary  current  will  again  be  produced,  but  now  in  the 
same  direction  as  the  current  passing  in  the  first  conductor. 
The  enrvent  passing  through  the  first  conductor  is  called 
the  prinuucy  ox  inducing  current,  while  the  momentary 
cunreBt  set  updn  the  second  conductor  is  called  the  induced 
or  secondaarj  cuneikt*  These  are  in  aU  cases  momentary, 
oceunring  oidy  at  the  msomfint  of  opening  and  closing  of  the 
inducing  cor  primary  current.     In  like  mannei*  induced  or 


224  ON  ELBCTBIOITY.        ^SS^Jj^Sl^' 

secondary  currents  may  be  used  to  set  up  other  indaced. 
currents  in  other  adjacent  conductors ;  these  are  called 
ternary  currents  and  may  again  be  used  to  set  up  other 
induced  currents  in  adjacent  conductors,  called  quaternary 
currents,  and  so  on. 

We  have  already  seen  that  a  piece  of  soft  iron  be- 
comes magnetic  while  in  connection  with  a  galvanic  or 
other  electrical  current,  and  that  this  magnetic  condition 
disappears  on  the  cessation  of  the  electric  current* 
These  facts  have  been  taken  advantage  of,  and  are  well 
exemplified  in  the  construction  of  induction  machines  or 
batteries. 

In  taking  a  galvauo-faradic  or  electro-magnetic  machine 
to  pieces,  it  is  found  to  consist  of  the  following  parts : — 

1st.  The  galvanic  battery  of  one  or  two  cells. 

2nd.  The  primary  coil,  which  is  made  of  a  short  thick 
insulated  wire  wound  round  a  bobbin.  One  extremity  of 
the  wire  is  attached  to  the  battery,  and  the  other  to  the 
contact  breaker. 

8rd.  A  bundle  of  soft  iron  wires,  called  the  core.  This 
is  placed  inside  the  primary  coil,  and  is  well  insulated 
from  it. 

4th.  A  metallic  tube,  which  passes  over  the  core  of 
iron  wires,  and  can  be  drawn  out  or  pushed  in  at  will. 
This  modifies  the  strength  of  the  current  very  considerably, 
according  as  it  covers  or  uncovers  the  core  of  wires. 

5th.  The  secondary  coil,  made  of  a  much  longer  and 
finer  insulated  wire  than  that  forming  the  primary  ooiL 
It  is  wound  round  the  primary  coil,  but  is  insulated  from 
it,  and  is  quite  independent  of  the  rest  of  the  apparatus. 
The  two  extremities  are  attached  by  means  of  binding 
screws  to  convenient  parts  of  the  frame-work  of  the 
machine,  where  the  electrodes  intended  to  carry  away  the 
secondary  current  can  be  connected.  Branch  wires  from 
the  extremities  of  the  primary  coil  are  attached  in  a  similar 
way,  for  connection  with  electrodes  intended  to  convey  the 
primary  or  "  extra  current." 

6th.  The  contact  breaker  or  interrupter.  This  is  a 
steel  spring  terminating  in  a  hammer-like  head,  which  is 
placed  close  to  the  front  end  of  the  core,  and  vibrates  in 
front  of  it.  It  is  connected,  as  before  mentioned,  to  one 
extremity  of  the  insulated  wire  forming  the  primary  coil. 
About  the  middle  of  this  spring,  on  ^e  opposite  side  to^ 
the  hammer-head  facing  the  core,  is  a  smaU  disc  or  plate- 


^t^^lSTS^  ON  BLECTKICITY.  225 


S0ffav,  April  1,  isn. 


•of  platinum,  and  rdstiog  against  this  is  a  fixed  screw 
tipped  with  platinum^  and  so  arranged  that  it  can  regulate 
the  yibrations  of  the  spring. 

The  induced  current  in  the  secondary  coil  depending,  as 
it  does,  on  the  opening  and  closing  of  the  galvanic  or 
primary  current,  it  is  necessary  to  have  the  means  of  doing 
this  regularly  and  automatically.  This  is  perfectly  carried 
out  by  the  contact  breaker,  above  described,  as  follows : — 

The  core  of  wires  becoming  magnetic,  as  the  galvanic 
current  passes  through  the  primary  coil,  attracts  the 
hammer.  This,  as  soon  as  it  touches  the  core,  demagnetises 
it  (owing  to  the  current  being  broken  by  the  separation  of 
the  hammer  from  the  screw),  and  being  set  free,  flies  back 
to  the  screw  by  virtue  of  its  own  resiliency ;  the  core  again 
becomes  magnetic,  again  attracts  the  hammer,  which  again 
demagnetises  it;,  and  flies  back  to  its  place  as  before,  and 
so  on,  thus  causing  a  regular  series  of  interruptions. 

At  the  moment  the  core  becomes  or  ceases  to  become 
magnetic,  it  increases  the  strength  of  the  current  in  the 
primary  coil  by  induction.  The  turns  in  the  primary  coil 
also  act  on  each  other  by  induction  increasing  the  strength 
of  the  current.  These  currents  were  called  by  Faraday 
"  extra  currents,"  and  in  the  Faradic  medical  machines 
are  collected  and  used  under  the  name  of  the  ''  primary 
current."  The  current  induced  in  the  secondary  coil  is 
also  strengthened  by  induction  between  its  coils. 

Magneto-electricity  is  an  electricity  induced  in  insulated 
wire  coils  surrounding  the  soft  iron  cylinders,  of  peculiarly 
^M>n8tructed  armatures,  during  the  time  they  rotate  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  poles  of  a  magnet. 

The  medical  electro-magnetic  machine  consists  of  two 
coils  of  insulated  wire,  having  cores  of  soft  iron.  These 
coils  are  made  to  rotate  rapidly,  by  means  of  a  crank  and 
handle,  in  such  a  way  that  the  cores  are  brought  alternately 
in  contact  with  the  poles  of  a  horse-shoe  magnet.  The 
cores  coming  in  momentary  contact  with  the  poles  of  the 
magnet,  momentarily  become  magnetic,  and  induce  electric 
currents  in  the  coils  surrounding  them  at  the  moments 
they  gain  and  lose  their  magnetic  properties.  Magneto- 
electricity  is  chiefly  used  for  light-houses,  electric  lights, 
&c.  Here  the  machine  is  worked  by  steam  or  water 
power. 

Thermo-electricity  is  the  electricity  derived  from  the 
4u$tion  of  heat  applied  at  the  point  of  contact  of  two  dis- 


226 THK0BIB8.  ''S^XST!^ 

similar  metals.  The  metals  chiefly  ased  are  antimony  and 
bismuth.  A  thermo-electric  pair  consists  of  a  bar  of  each 
metal  soldered  together;  they  are  nsually  made  in  the 
shape  of  a  V  or  U.  A  series  of  such  pairs  form  the 
thermo-electric  pile.  This  form  of  electricity  has  been 
greatly  used  in  experiments  on  heat.  It  also  plays  «n 
important  part  in  physiological  research  and  medical 
diagnosis.  By  its  use  it  has  been  proved  that  the  normal 
temperature  of  the  left  side  of  the  brain  is  higher  than 
that  of  the  right  side.  By  its  means  the  natural 
deviations  in  the  temperature  of  the  human  body  under 
varying  circumstances,  mental  as  well  as  physical,  have 
been  investigated. 


ALLOPATHIC    VERSUS    HOM(EOPATHIC 

THEORIES. 

By  Dr.  John  Wilde. 

It  is  natural  that  our  allopathic  opponents  should  select 
the  weakest  spots,  as  they  think  them,  in  our  armour, 
when  they  point  their  ridicule  at  us.  At  one  time  it  is 
the  dynamisation  theory,  at  another  the  *^  peoric  miAsm." 
One  of  their  favourite  attacks  is  that  directed  against  the 
nastiness  or  the  disgusting  nature  of  some  of  our  remedies. 

Now,  I  must  say  I  have  felt  consideraUe  sympathy  with 
this  objection.  The  ''  cimex  lectularius  "  looks  very-  well 
in  its  Latin  dress,  and  the  laity  may,  in  a  trituration, 
partake  of  the  blood  of  this  delightful  creature  in  utter 
ignorance  that  they  are  taking  sweet  revenge  on  the  blood- 
sucker; but  to  t^e  initiated  there  is  truly  something 
repulsive  in  the  idea  of  ''  smashed  bugs,"  as  I  onoe  heard 
the  medicament  vulgarly  called  by  an  <^ponent. 

I  have  always  had  my  doubts  whether  the  trituration  of 
*'  Norfolk  Howards  "  was  a  reliable,  if  legitimate,  remedy 
in  our  Materia  Medica.  Any  doubts  I  might  have  had, 
and  any  misgivings  which  my  readers  may  still  entertain, 
I  am  happy  to  say  are  now  rendered  nugatory.  We  may 
now  throw  up  our  hats  and  cry  "  Yivat  cimex." 

Our  allopathic  contemporary.  The  FraetitioneTf  by 
introducing  the  following  extract  fjxMn  an  American 
jounial,  may  be  considered  to  endorse  the  remarkable 
theories  therein  set  forth ;  at  least,  there  is  no  editorial 
disclaimer  attached  to  the  paragraph. 


S^rgSygS!'  THE0BIB8,  247 

We  poor  homcBopaths  have  had  to  suffer  for  permitting 
the  use  of  *^  bed  bugB ''  in  medicine,  on  the  principle  that 
the  same  symptoms  induced  on  the  prover  by  bed  bags 
wore  curable,  if  met  with  in  disease,  by  giving  the 
tritaration:of  the  animals.  This,  of  course,  was  homtoeo- 
paihy,  and  therefore  was  absurd.  But  it  seems  you  really 
can  cure  disease  by  ''bed  bugs/'  only  you  must  adopt 
another  theory  to  explain  the  cure.  Bed  bugs,  howeyer 
repulsive  in  our  hands,  are  most  delightful  remedies  if  an 
allopath  takes  them  up,  and  the  theory-  which  explains 
their  use  is  simple  beyond  everything ;  and,  moreover,  it 
opens  up  sooh  a  field  of  speculation,  that  one  marvels  how 
any  human  brain  could  have  developed  the  idea.  But  not 
to  keep  our  readers  in  suspense,  here  is  the  article  in  the 
Pra^etUioner  for  January.  It  is  headed  ''  A  New  Source  of 
Quinine,"  and  goes  on  to  say — 

'*  A  recent  writer,  under  the  name  of  *  Medicus,'  in  the 
Dallas  Herald  of  Beptember  6th,  says : — *  In  my  last 
paper  I  asserted  that  mosquitoes  contained  a  large  quantity 
of  animal  quiniay  and,  therefore,  when  they  bit  a  person, 
they  injected  into  his  system  an  antidote  to  malaria  and' 
febrile  causes  generally.  Since  you  published  my  com- 
munication, I  have  captured  quite  a  number  of  these 
insects,  and  macerating  tiiem  with  a  mortar  in  alcohol, 
have,  by  chemical  experiment,  actually  precipitated  the 
mdphate  of  quinia  to  the  amount  of  70  per  cent,  of  the 
mass.  The  ''  chinch  "  or  bed  bug,  in  sucking  blood  from 
the  human  body,  draws  nourishment  and  strength,  and, 
above  all,  the  material  which,  in  the  retorts  of  his  body,  is 
distilled  into  a  rich  fluid,  which,  in  biting  one,  he  ejects 
into  the  body,  and  this,  entering  into  the  body,  furnishes 
an  antidote  against  rheumatism! ! ' '' 

Then  the  writer  goes  on  to  say — 

''  All  mercurial  preparations  cause  articular  rheumatism. 
The  ealomel  taken  into  the  system,  by  decomposition  forms 
corrosive  finbUmate,  not  in  qusmtity  to  produce  death,  save 
the  slaw  torture  of  rheumatism.  Corrosive  sublimate,  as 
every  housewife  knows,  is  the  only  riddance  for  bed  bugs. 
The  juices  of  the  bugs  and  the  sublimate  are  the  antidotes 
of  each  other.' " 

The  writer  having  evolved  his  theory  in  the  above  most 
beautiful  and  convincing  manner,  proceeds  to  say  that  bed 
bugs  tfre  an  arrangement  of  Providence  for  curing  rheuma- 
tism   produced  by  the  corrosive   sublimate,   which  was. 


-228  REVIEWS.  "SS^^SSR^ 


Banew,  April  1, 1881. 


produced  by  the  calomel,  &c.  It  is  a  regular  ''  House  that 
Jack  Built "  theory,  and  the  whole  consists  of  a  series  of 
links,  making  a  chain  of  evidence  not  easily  broken. 

What  will  allopathic  objectors  have  to  say  to  triturated 
cimices  now  ?  Why,  here  they  have  furnished  us  with, 
not  only  proof  of  curative  agency,  but  have  likewise  given 
us  a  clear  and  elaborate  account  of  how  the  cure  is  brought 
about,  and  there  is  no  objectionable  homoeopathy  about  it. 
You  may  be  as  nasty  as  you  like,  if  you  keep  on  the 
allopathic  side  of  the  hedge.  Pounded  mosquitoes  are 
merely  '^  animal  quinia,^*  even  to  70  per  cent,  of  their 
delightful  organism.  In  future  it  will  be  a  positive  luzurj 
to  be  bitten  by  these  anti*malarious  creatures.  We  must 
look  out  now  for  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  quimne. 
Mosquitoes  are  worth  catching.'  I  only  hope  they  will 
make  ''animal  quinia**  in  the  tropical  regions,  where 
these  excellent  blood-suckers  abound,  as  we  would  rather 
have  them  after  they  have  passed  ''the  mortar"  than 
imported  "  alive,  oh  ! " 

Talk  about ''  specifics,"  and  these  being  few  in  number! 
Why,  here  are  two  more — ^the  anti-rheumatic  bug  and  the 
anti-malarious  mosquito.  Probably  every  objectionable 
entomological  blood-sucker  is  an  antidote  to  something  or 
other.  We  must  cherish  our  lice  and  gad-flies,  which  will 
doubtless  turn  out  specifics ;  but  we  must  look  to  America 
for  the  ingenuity  which  shall  furnish  the  theory  of  thrir 
action. 

Park  House,  Weston-super-Mare. 
March  5,  1882. 


REVIEWS. 

Brandt's  Treatment  of  Uterine  Disease  and  Prolapsus  by  the 
Movement  Cure,  Edited  and  translated,  with  an  hitroduction 
by  Dr.  Both.    London :  Bailliere,  Tyndali  &  Cox.     1882. 

Wb  are  much  indebted  to  our  indefatigable  colleague.  Dr.  Both, 
for  giving  us  an  English  translation  of  Brandt's  work,  which  is 
one  of  much  interest,  and  occupies  an  entirely  new  field.  The 
benefits  of  the  movement  cure  are  being  more  and  more  recog- 
nised in  the  treatment  of  various  chronic  ailments,  especially 
spinal  deformities,  and  their  consequences,  paralysis,  defective 
muscular  power,  &c.,  but  it  is  new  to  us  to  hear  of  all  uterine 
diseases,  acute  and  chronic,  treated  and  cured  by  manipulations. 


:5StSS^  BEVIBWB.  229 

As  Dr.  Both  has  been  so  sacoessfnl  in  illnfitrating  in  hispraetioe, 
and  in  making  more  widely  known  the  valne  of  oiis  treatment  in 
rsj^nsl  and  otiber  diseases  of  this  class,  it  was  natural  that  he 
sbooid  wish  to  make  known  the  results  obtained  by  similar  means 
in  the  treatment  of  uterine  diseases,  and  displacements.  In  his 
introduction,  Dr.  Both  says : — 

*  *  The  following  is  the  way  in  which  this  treatment  originated : — 

*' '  Mr.  Brandt,  some  years  after  having,  withgreat  credit,  passed 
his  examination  at  the  Central  Gymnastic  Institation  at  Stock- 
hohn  (in  1849) — ^whilst  on  active  service  with  his  regiment — 
was  suddenly  called  upon  to  replace  a  prolapsus  ami  which  had 
occurred  in  a  soldier ;  the  regimental  surgeon  being  at  the  time 
absent  from  the  camp,  he  was  obliged  to  act  at  once,  and  not 
being  acquainted  with  the  ordinary  manipulations  used  in  order 
to  replace  the  protuding  gut,  he,  availing  himself  of  his  knowkdge 
of  the  anatomy  of  the  parts,  and  calling  into  practice  the  princi- 
ples he  had  l^med  at  the  Gymnastic  Institution,  at  once  placed 
the  soldier  en  his  hack  with  the  knees  bentf  and  eommensed  to 
operate  through  the  abdominal  parietes  in  making  a  deep  pressure^ 
combined  with  a  traction  upward  and  to  the  left ;  by  r^etition  of 
this  movement  the  gut  was  actually  pulled  in.  Afterwards,  in 
order  to  act  on  the  sacral  nerves,  ^pugnal  percussion*  was  applied 
on  the  sacrum,  and  by  these  two  movements  the  soldier  was 
enabled  to  turn  out  for  drill  the  same  afternoon,  and  was  not 
troubled  with  his  prolapsus  afterwards/ 

*' '  In  Sweden,  prolapsus  uteri  is  a  common  complaint  among 
the  peasant  women,  who  are  obliged  to  go  about,  and  to  do  heavy 
work  immediately  after  confinement. 

**  *  Mr.  Brandt  was  then  living  in  the  coimtry,  and  the  thought 
of  applying  a  process  somewhat  similar  to  that  which  had 
succeeded  so  well  with  the  soldier,  in  order  to  procure  relief  for 
the  poor  woman  was  not  so  very  fiar-fetched. 

**  *  Be,  therefore,  employed  for  the  purpose  three  movements  of 
which  in  the  first,  by  a  Uftiag  vibratory  action  the  womb  was,  as 
it  were,  drawn  upwards  ,or  lifted ;  in  the  second  a  vibratory  point 
pressure  was  directed  to  act  on  the  nerves,  and  ligaments  of  the 
organ,  and  in  the  third  a  pugnal  percussion  was  applied  on  the 
lumbo-sacral  region  from  wUch  Uie  pelvic  o^ans  obtain  nerve 
supply. 

'^  <  The  result  proves  the  correctness  of  the  suggestion,  and  by 
and  by,  through  the  reports  of  Mr.  Brandt's  success,  and  under 
the  advice  and  patronage  of  some  medical  friends,  "Dx*  Liedbeck, 
Dr.  Lewin,  Dr.  Skoldbeig,  &c.,  who  soon  saw  the  rationale  of 
the  treatment,  his. practice  increased.  He  has  gradually  en- 
larged the  sphere  of  his  treatment,  and  at  present  (1880^,  having 
treated  upwards  of  8,000  cases,  he  has,  with  the  aid  or  interior 
manipulations,  resembling,  in  a  measure,  those  used  by  Dr. 

Yol.  26,  No.  4.  B 


280  BBviBws.  ^S2II.%Sm^2S!' 


B«Ti0w,  April  1,  int. 


OasaaaXy  aaccfissfaily  treated  cases  of  ohronio  metritis,  para- 
inetritis,  mtemal  tomonrs,  and,  besides,  the  Tarious  d^ectiaii» 
of  the  womb.  Mr.  Brandt  has  had  several  pttpils*  amongst  Uie 
gj^MOoloigists  of  SoandinaTia,  and  is  certainly  the  first  gymnast 
^0  has  been  engaged  in  a  large  and  saeeessfdl  gynecological 
practice/  " 

''That  manipulations,  through  the  hypogastric  region  hare 
been  used  by  Becamier,  I  find  in  Dr.  Phillipeaax,  Etude  Pratiqtu 
sur  Ua  Frictions  et  le  Managsy  page  182 : — '  In  certain  circnm- 
stanoes  Recamier  introduced  a  finger  into  the  anus,  if  the  patioii 
vna  a  virgin  or  a  man,  or  in  the  yagina  if  the  patient  was  a 
married  woman,  and  placed  the  tip  of  the  finger  on  the  neck  oT 
the  bladder^  and,  if  possible,  nndemeath ;  he  tried  by  pressmi^ 
with  the  other  hand  on  the  hypogastrimn  to  make  soffioieni 
movements,  succuMnanj  vibration,  and  oscillations  on  the  neck  of 
the  bladder. 

(( <  Although  several  of  the  manipulations  applied  by  Brandt 
have  been  made  use  of  by  Ling,  Branting,  and  Georgii  in  the 
treatment  of  diseases  of  the  pelvic  organs,  such  as  flooding^ 
amenorrhcea,  dysmenorriioea,  seminal  losses,  &c.,  Brandt  has  the 
great  merit  of  having  more  specially  developed  the  treatmen*  of 
uterine  complaints  and  prolapsus  by  the  movement-cure,  tiie 
principal  features  of  which  he  has  made  known  in  the  following 
fifty.three  notes,  which  he  has  collected  since  1861.  Dr.  Oscar 
Nissen,  of  Christiania  (who  has  kindly  sent  me  his  Norwegian 
pami^et,  Thvre  BnmdU  Uterm  GymnasHkf  Christiania,  1875, 
while  I  wae  translating  these  notes),  caUs  special  attention  (pi^ 
4)  to  Brandt's  examination  of  the  uterus,  to  the  pressure  on  the 
ptinc  nerves,  to  the  manual  replacement  of  the  uterus,  to  the 
lifting  movements  and  the  manipulations  inside  the  pelvis ;  all  cf 
these  were  originated  by  Brandt.  Prof.  Dr.  Hartelius,  of  Stock- 
holm, the  well-known  director  of  the  medical  department  of  the 
Bofal  Swedish  Central  Oymnastic  Institute,  writes  to  me  in  a 
letter  dated  19  Decembe^,  1881,'  concerning  Thure  Brandt's 
method.  '  I  can  say,  according  to  my  experience,  t^  deserves  to 
he  taken  notice  of  by  the  pkysiei^m.* 

*'  With  the  exception  of  a  few  medical  men,  Brandt's  original 
treatment  has  scarcely  yet  been  sufficiently  appreciated  by  the 
profession — which  is  usually  very  slow  in  aclmowledging  the 
merits  of  new  modes  of  treatment,  espedaQy  when  opposed  to 
pveoonoeived  orthodox  notions.*' 

This  sul^ect  bemg  so  entirely  new  to  us,  we  are  unable  to 
express  any  opinion  on  it  firmn  experience.  But  the  enormous 
practice  ^riuch  Brandt  obtained,  and  the  success  he  records, 
make  it  an  important  matter  of  study  for  aU  who  are  engaged  in 
^meoological  practice.  All  forms  of  disease,  infiammatoiy  or  of 
displacement,  are  treated  by  this  method  of  regulated  man^ula- 


'^OOB.  Tb»  detail  of  Iheab,  even  asm  illtniritfon  of  the  tn^Chod, 
would  oeeapj  too  maeh  ipsoe  io  quote.  We  shaU  do  tlie  oathoir 
and  tbo  niader  nuieh  more  jnstioe  by  tiinpl  j  drawing  a^tenlioii 
to  tha  wock,  and  nrfetring  him  to  it  fo  detail  of  treatment.  The 
.bode  ifl  SBwU,  and  eaaily  read,  and  is  enridied  by  rareral  pktes 
illustrating  the  position  of  the  patient  and  operator  daring  some 
of  the  manipnlations«  We  ahonld  be  glad  to  hear  deiails  of 
cases  treated  in  this  novel  manner,  and  meantime  thank  Dr.  Both 
for  his  energy  in  translating  Bnmdt's  book,  and  for  his  interest- 
ing introduction. 


The  Ophthalmo8eop4j  its  Theory  and  Practical  Uses.   C.  H.  YiLiS, 
MJL,  M.I>.    Chieago :  Duncan  Brothers. 

» 

7hib  book  has  been  published,  the  author  tells  us,  to  occupy  ia 
place  hitherto  vacant  in  medical  literature,  and  to  supply  a  want 
-vAddk  he,  as  a  teacher,  has  long  felt.  Books  written  on  the  use 
of  Ihe  ophthalmoscope  generally  begin  by  assuming  too  much  as 
to  flie  pupfls*  knowledge.  The  first  chapters  of  tms  work,  how- 
ever, are  devoted  to  abstruse  disquisitions  on  optics  and  the 
ttteoiy  of  tiie  ophthalmoscope.  But  after  all,  the  earlier  study  of 
IUb  instrument  is  rarely  much  assisted  by  theoretical  book  lore. 
dinieal  instruction  alone  is  of  any  use  in  teaching  the  beginner. 
Kever&eless  the  author  does  real  good  work  in  the  chapters 
ireaisng  of  the  various  kinds  of  instruments  used  in  ophthabno- 
scopie  examination.  Judging  from  the  list  given  uSi  we  should 
imagine  tiiat  every  ophthalmic  surgeon  of  any  note  had  £alt  it  his 
bonnden  duty  to  attach  his  name  to  some  new  form  or  modifica- 
tion of  ophtludmoscope.  The  author  has  done  his  best,  by  niieaos 
«f  diagrams  and  dear  description,  to  point  out  the  principal  forms 
and  indicate  their  claims  to  favour. 

• 

The  best  portion  of  this  work  is  in  the  chapters  devoted  to 
simple  directions  how  to  conduct  both  the  indirect  and  direct 
metliods  of  examination.'  There  is  here  much  useful  information 
condensed  into  a  smafi  space,  and  every  phenomenon  is  explained 
in  an  easy  way. 

Having  glanced  at  the  various  modes  of  using  the  ophthalmo- 
scope, we  come  by  a  natural  transition  to  the  various*  abnormal 
conditions  of  the  organ  of  vision  which  the  practitioner  meets 
with.  Here  we  are  disposed  to  be  sorry  that  the  author  has  been 
to  brief,  although  he  forewarned  us  tb^t  the  volume  is  intended 
to  be  only  for  beginners ;  cataract  of  varioua  kinds  is  discussed  in 
two  pages  and  a  half,  and  similar  short  measure  is  shown  in 
dealing  with  other  important  diseases.  The  book  is  evidentiy 
written  with  a  careful  regard  io  modern  pathology,  and  10. 
certainly  worthy  the  notice  of  the  young  practitioner. 


282  NOTABIUA.  tS^^jSSiTSS 


Dr.  Yilas  has  strietly  adhered  throu^oat  to  his  pka  of  maUng 
the  book  simply  a  text-book  of  instmctions  for  the  stodent,  as 
from  first  to  last  not  one  word  of  therapeutics  has  been  allowed 
to  ereeip  in,  hence  we  have  no  doubt  that  in  America  the  wotk 
will  be  received  as  well  by  allopaths  as  it  will  be  by  our  own 
brethren. 


NOTABIUA. 

BEPOBT  OF  THE  UYERPOOL  HOMCEOPATHIO 

DISPENSARIES. 

We  have  received  the  annual  repcHrt  of  this  magnificent  charity, 
and  after  perusing  the  statistics  afforded,  can  heartily  ooneiir 
with  the  gratification  felt  by  the  committee,  who  announce  thai 
never  before  during  the  forty  years  of  their  history  have  the  dis- 
pensaries been  in  more  efficient  working  order  tlum  at  present. 
The  sphere  of  operations  is  becoming  very  extended,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  following  paragraph : — 

*<  During  the  past  year  it  was  deemed  desirable  to  increase  the 
medical  staff  by  ihe  appointment  of  a  fifth  paid  medical  officer, 
as  without  such  addition  it  was  found  impossible  to  satiafiEu^torily 
keep  pace  with  the  increasing  demands  from  the  poor  to  be 
visited  at  their  own  homes,  ^e  city  is  now  carefully  divided 
into  five  districts,  and  one  district  apportioned  to  each  medical 
officer,  and  in  this  manner  the  homes  of  all,  within  the  Parlia- 
mentary boundary,  are  visited  when  necessaiy." 

The  attendances  of  patients  at  the  two  dispensaries  have  been 
very  large  during  the  past  year,  amounting  to  a  total  of  65,12S. 
We  append  the  tabular  statement : — 

AT  HABDMAN  STBBXT. 

Indoor  attendances       25,682 

'nsited  at  their  own  homes      6,026 

AT  BOSCOMMOM  STBEBT. 

Indoor  attendances       25,087 

Visited  at  their  own  homes      7,480 


Or  a  weekly  average  of  1,252.  65,125 

These  figures  are  most  satisfactory,  testifying  as  they  do  to  the 
widespread  belief  in  homoeopathy  amongst  the  poor  of  Liverpool, 
precisely  amongst  the  class  of  people  who,  we  are  so  often 
assured,  never  will  believe  in  it. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  subscribers  on  January  26th, 
the  Mayor  of  Liverpool  in  the  chair,  Mr.  Eccles  pointed  oat 
several  interesting  &cts  in  the  report.    He  particularly  drew 


nS^SSTSm  NOTABIUA.  288 

tttontion  to  the  fact  th*t  they  had  done  a  mazimma  of  good  with 
a  minimiim  of  cost,  having  relieved  65,000  people  at  the  small 
coat  of  something  less  than  £1,000.  He  was  not  awaxe  of  any 
other  institation  of  the  kind  which  ooold  boast  of  a  sinular  sue- 
eeea.  Speaking  of  the  fatnze  of  the  dispensaries,  he  said  that 
although  not  8i:&ciently  sanguine  to  expect  that  a  hospital  would 
soon  be  boilt,  he  thought  that,  having  regard  to  the  immense 
number  of  the  poor  reUeved  by  this  institution,  they  might  fairly 
elaim  to  have  homoeopathio  wards  allotted  in  the  various 
hospitals  in  the  city. 

The  Mayor,  in  responding  to  a  vote  of  thanks,  said  in  the 
oonrse  of  his  remarks:  **  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  leading  feature 
of  your  report  is  the  large  amount  of  work,  and  work  amongst 
the  poorer  classes  of  the  city,  which  has  been  done  at  such  a 
trifling  expense.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  institution  in  the 
city  which  can  compare  so  &vourab]y  with  you  in  this  respect. 
Diuing  the  time  that  I  have  had  the  honour  of  filling  the  oflce  I 
now  hold,  it  has  always  been  a  source  of  great  gratification  to  me 
to  take  part  in  any  movement,  not  only  in  aid  of  such  an  institu- 
tion as  this,  but  any  movement  which  has  for  its  object  the 
amelioration  of  the  sufferings  of  the  labouring  dasses  of  our 
dty." 


ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  BATH  HOMOSOPATHIG 

HOSPITAL. 

Thb  thirty-second  annual  report  of  this  hospital  shows  a  steady 
increase  in  the  number  of  patients,  and  an  amount  of  progress 
which  must  be  vexy  satisfactory  to  the  committee  and  sub- 
scribers. 

There  have  been  54  in-patients,  as  compared  with  46  in 
1880 ;  and  the  out-patient  attendances  have  been  8,591,  with 
754  new  eases,  as  compared  with  8,800,  and  600  new  cases,  in 
1880. 

The  report  is  made  specially  valuable  by  a  rStume  of  the 
various  diseases  treated  in  the  hospital.  Anyone  reading  the 
list  will  see  at  a  glance  the  absurdity  of  the  idea  put  forward  by 
some,  that  only  trifiing  ailments  ever  go  into  a  homceopathic 
hospital.  For  example,  amongst  others,  we  notice,  anaBmia, 
carbuncle,  erysipelas,  enteric  fever,  (Uphthetia,  bronchitis, 
pneumonia,  pneumonic  phthisis,  tubercular  phthisis,  mesenteric 
disease,  atrophy  of  the  liver,  phlebitis,  aneurism,  hip-j<Mnt 
disease,  ooncussion  of  spine,  erythema  nodosum,  and  muscular 
atrophy.  The  migority  of  the  patients  received  permanent 
ben^t,  but  one  died  in  the  hospital  from  consumption  ot  the 
bowels. 


284 KOTABILIA.  "g^.^ggg?;^' 

There  irefe  U  paying  in-patients,  8  ha^mg  private  ^mrds  at 
a  guinea  a  vroek,  the  others  paying  Ss.  a  week. 

The  total  benefit  to  the  hospital  from  the  Bazaar  aad  Une 
Art  Exhibition  laet  Norember  amounted  to  about  ^75.  This, 
we  are  glad  to  learn,  has  materially  improved  the  financial  posi- 
tion of  the  hospital. 


HASTINGS   AND  ST.  LEONARDS   HOMCEOPATHIC 

INSTITUTION. 

At  tJbje  annnal  meeting  of  the  friends  and  subscribers  of  this 
important  inatitation  a  very  satisfactory  report  was  presented. 
Daring  1881  the  number  of  patients  was  552,  with  a  total  of 
4,200  attendances.  This  shows  an  increase  of  1,579  attendancea 
on  the  previous  year,  a  fact  which  emphatioally  bears  testimoiij 
to  the  appreciation  of  the  institution  by  the  poor. 

The  funds  of  the  institution  are  in  a  very  satisfactory  con- 
dition, the  income  for  the  year  being  £158  10s.  Id,,  leaving 
that  most  comfortable  remainder,  a  balance  in  hand,  ci 
£68  2s.  5d. 

Dr.  Pope,  who  had  been  specially  invited  down  from  London 
for  the  occasion,  addressed  Ihe  meeting  at  some  length  on  the 
benefits  of  homoeopathy  to  the  public.  He  pointed  out  the 
necessity  of  adhering  to  the  principle  of  homoeopathy,  and  of 
maintaining  their  institution  aa  a  true  homoBopathic  dispensary. 
He  quoted  important  statisti/Bs  showing  the  bearing  of  homoe- 
opathy on  life  assurance,  there  being  one  insurance  company  in 
New  York  which  actually  allowed  homoeopaths  10  per  cenU 
discount  off  their  premiums.  Looked  at  from  a  rigidly  com- 
mercial point  of  view,  this  was  a  very  important  evidence  of  the 
lower  rdative  mortality  in  disease  treated  purely  by  homoeopathy. 
Dr.  Pope  also  referred  to  the  results  of  M.  Tessier's  practice, 
which  are  well  known  to  most  of  us,  showing  that  about  the 
only  occasion  on  which  homoeopathy  was  ever  fairly  tried  in  an 
allopathic  hospital  it  completely  triumphed. 

We  are  glad  to  see  that  the  conmiittee  of  the  dispensary  are 
going  to  put  in  a  claim  for  a  share  in  the  Hospital  Sunday 
Fund,  and  trust  that  the  next  report  of  this  flourishing  insti- 
tution will  be  able  to  chronicle  a  satisfactory  addition  to  its 
finances  from  this  source. 

QXFOKD  HOMCEOPATHIC  DISPENSABZ. 


Wa  are  pleased  to  observe  firom  the  annual  report — the 

of  this  institution,  that  it  is  rapidly  increasing  in  usefuhiess.  Hie 


ioOowiiig  facts  revealed  by  the  books  of  the  dispettssry 
■staroDgly  to  the  valae  of  the  institatioii  :-^ 

New  patients  admitted  in  1681           221 

Attendances      2,442 

Yaccmations     ...         ...         «..         ...         ...  80 

x^e&tuD  •••          •••          ...          •*.          •*.          ...  o 


Total  number  of  attendances  since  1872     ...  15,251 


The  Oxford  Homceopatbio  Dispensary  is  nnder  the  medical 
.superintendence  of  Dr.  Guinness,  who  is  now  one  of  the  oldest 
of  homcBopathic  practitioners.  Induced  to  examine  intD  the 
merits  of  homoeopathy  by  a  relative,  in  1844,  Dr.  Guinness 
pursued  the  only  real  method  of  doing  so — ^that  <^  clinical 
enqiiiiy.  He  was  especially  urged  to  this  course,  on  the  gromid 
•that  if  he  found  it  to  be  '*  humbug  "  he.  would  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  exposing  it  to  the  whole  world.  Like  every  one  else, 
however,  who  has  tested  homoeopathy  at  the  bedside  of  l^e  sick, 
Dr.  Guinness  found  that  cases  which  had  resisted  the  usual 
methods  of  treatment  yielded  readily  to  homoeopathy.  He  has  since 
been  instrumental  in  founding  dispensaries  in  Exeter,  Beading, 
and  Oxford,  and  we  congratulate  him  on  the  success  which  has 
followed  his  endeavours  to  serve  the  poor  in  this  manner,  and  to 
.  extend  the  advantage  of  homoeopathy. 


^^tm.ammmm0*^-^mm*ma^,-mmmmtmmm.tm»mm»*aammt^ 


MEETING  OF  **  THE  LTVEBPOOL  HOMCEOPATHIO 

MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL    SOCIETY." 

At  the  last  meeting  of  this  society,  held  on  March  2nd,  the 
time  was  principally  devoted  to  a  diiscussion  on  *'  The  new  title  " 
**  Ii.H.  '*  (Licentiate  of  Homoeopathy.)  The  society  came  to  the 
following  resolution  : — '*  That  it  is  desirable  to  petition  in  favour 
of  a  homoeopathic  title  that  shall  have  a  legal  recognition  1^ 
appearing  on  the  Medical  Register." 


M«MMM<ta^aM.«M««M«Mki«|«aa«irtMi 


TESTIMONIAL  TO  LORD  EBURY. 

Ix  win  be  remembered  that  some  months  ago  it  was  determined 
to  acknowledge  the  eminent  services  which  Lord  Ebury  has, 
throughout  the  last  40  or  50  years,  rendered  to  homoeopathy,  by 
making  a  presentation  to  him.  After  much  discussion  it  was 
determined  that  his  lordship  should  be  requested  to  sit  for  his 
.portrait,  and  that  this  should  be  presented  to  I^dy  Ebory.  The 
portrait  has  been  executed  by  Mr.  Cyrus  Johnson,  of  Devonshire 
Street,  and  is  stated  by  those  who  have  seen  it  to  be  a  faithful 
likeness.  We  hope  shortly  to  see  it  on  the  walls  of  Burlington 
^House. 


286  NOTABUJA.  "S^^rypffi? 


Bflvitv,  Aftnl  U  Itti- 


On  Saturday,  the  25th  nit.,  the  Committee,  which  eonsiflts 
of  Lord  Denbigh,  Lord  DnBmore,  Major  Yanghan  Moi^aD, 
Dr.  Hamilton,  Dr.  Yeldham,  Dr.  Dudgeon,  Dr.  Dyce  Brown, 
Mr.  Cameron,  Mr.  Pete,  and  Mr.  Chambre,  presented  the  portrait 
to  Lady  Ebnry.  The  presentation  took  place  privately,  in  con- 
seqaence  of  the  recent  &mily  bereayement  of  the  noble  lord. 

ThiB  presentation  occmted  so  near  the  time  of  oar  going  to  press 
that  we  are  obliged  to  defer  the  full  acconnt  till  next  month. 

"PARVULES." 

'^Pabvulbs.     To   the   medical   profession  only." — A  Chicago 
friend  sends  ns  a  little  pamphlet,  which,  if  it  is  widely  distri* 
bnted,  has  not  before  chajiced  to  light  in  onr  sanctum.    It  is  not 
only  a  pamphlet,  bat  it  is  a  "  straw  "  as  well,  and  shows  qoite 
condasively  which  way  the  *'  trade  wind  "  is  blowing.    The  well- 
known  house  of  Wm.  B.  Warner  &  Co.,  of  Philadelphia,  whole- 
sale draggists,  &o.,  &c.,  have  something  new  to  offer  in  the  way 
of  pharmaceutical  preparations.    They  have  inyented  an  improved 
method  of  preparing  drags.      We   quote  from  their  circular  r 
*'  The  term  Parnile  from  Parvum  (small)  is  applied  to  a  new 
class  of  remedies  in  the  form  of  minute  pills,  containing  TniniTnnm 
doses  for  frequent  repetition  in  cases  of  children  and  adulta- 
[patients,  neither  children  nor  adults  hare  to  take  0.  S.  most 
likely].    It  is  claimed  by  some  [over  6,000  homcBopathic]  prac- 
..titioners  that  small  doses  given  at  short  intervals  exert  a  more 
salutary  effect.     Sidney  &nger  [who  has  wnmg  his  information 
out  of  his  homoeopathic  neighbours] ,  in  his  recent  work  on 
therapeutics,  sustains  this  theory  in  a  great  variety  of  cases 
without  catering  to  homoeopathy.     [To  cater  is  to  provide  food 
for.    The  idea  of  Sidney  Binger  providing  homoeopathy  with 
anything  but  half  sucked  egg-sh^,  tiie  remains  of  honest  meat  he^ 
stole  from  it,  is  absurd.]    As  medicine  advances  from  the  domain 
of  empiricism  and  becomes  more  of  an  exact  science,  all  of  its 
lateral  branches  must  assume  new  forms.    The  modem  teachings 
of  phy Biological  therapeutics  inculcate  a  change  in  the  manner  and 
mattor  of  dosage  that  shall  meet  the  varying  indications  of  disease 
and  the  peculiar  susceptibility  of  different  individuals.    The  large,, 
and  oftentimes  nauseating  compoxmds  of  our  ancestry,  haye  liyed 
their  day,  and  died,  let  us  hope  without  regret.     [How  near  dead 
they  are,  please  consult  the  latest  book  on  *  Formularies*].    The 
elegant  preparations  of  the  pharmacy  of  the  present  day  have 
met  a  well  recognised  need,  and  have  added  lustre  to  the  physi- 
cian who  could  disguise  frx>m  his  patient  the  unpalatable  or 
unsavoury  nature  of  his  medicaments.    But  there  was  still  some* 
thing  lacking.     There  was  a  growing  demand  for  accurate, 
graduated,  tasteless  preparations,  which  might  be  easy  of  admin.- 
istration  to  children  and  adults,  and  which  should  subserve  a 


sats^^arss*'      hotabima. 237 

nsefiil  purpose  in  the  treatment  of  many  diseases.  [In  other 
words,  the  homoBopathic  doctors  have  taught  the  people  better 
things,  and  allopatiiiy  is  obliged  to  come  to  time.]  It  is  a  weD 
veoeiyed  fact  in  medicine  that  a  smaQ  dose,  frequently  repeated, 
win  Teiy  often  be  crowned  with  more  brilliant  saccess  than  a 
sin^  large  dose.  This  is  pecoliaily  well  iUostrated  in  the  treat- 
ment of  certain  fonns  of  dianrhoBa.  [It  would  be  difficult  to  find 
this  fact  so  much  as  hinted  at  in  the  ordinaiy  allopathic  text- 
book.] Ringer,  in  his  treatise,  lays  great  stress  upon  the  efficacy 
of  minimum  doses  of  corrome  tubUmaU  in  the  treatment  of  this. 
disease,  whether  the  stools  contain  blood  or  not.  [Par?ules  of 
corronve  tubUmatey  1-100  gr.,  are  made  by  Wm.  B.  Warner  & 
Co.]  A  large  experience  of  professional  men  endorses  the  certain 
action  of  the  Parvules  of  podophylUn  in  constipation  due  to  a 
kurpid  action  of  the  liyer,  with  d€^oient  biliary  secretion,  and  in 
persons  in  whom  there  is  manifest  want  of  tonicity  in  the  mus- 
eular  fibres  of  the  intestines.  This  is  due,  unquestionably,  to 
the  permanency  of  the  stimulation  induced  by  frequent  repetition* 
A  ain^  large  dose  produces  an  ephemeral  impression,  more  or 
less  profound,  and  ceases  to  exercise  any  effect  whatever  after  the 
impression  so  induced  has  been  lost  in  the  increased  peristalsis. 
The  intelligent  use  of  the  P^urvule  first  creates  the  desuned  condi- 
tion, which  may  be  continued  for  as  long  a  time  as  the  practitioner 
may  deem  expedient.  [An  allopathic  journal  on  our  table,  says 
of  Binger's  writings,  that  they  contain  not  a  litUe  clandestine 
homcBopathy.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  the  above  ideas 
in  any  respect  represented  homoeopathy.  No  sensible  homoeo- 
path ever  £e^ught  or  believed  such  absurd  therapeutic  notions.. 
And  yet  they  are  something  far  better  than  the  ideas  foUowed  by 
the  ordinary  allopath,  lliey  show  progress  especially  in  the 
direction  of  smaller  doses.]  Drs.  Peters,  of  Paris,  Einger, 
Bartholow,  Dessau  and  others,  equally  well  known  in  the  literary 
arena,  have  cited  numerous  cases  of  almost  every  variety  of 
disease,  wherein  they  brought  about  a  desired  result  by  the  adop- 
tion of  minimum  doses  when  all  other  plans  of  trea^nent  have 
Med.'' 

It  would  be  hard  to  find  anything  more  suggestive  than  this* 
little  circular ;  and  it  will  do  more  to  revolutionise  the  allopathic 
practice  than  all  the  medical  colleges  and  journals  and  text-books 
put  together.  Here,  for  almost  the  first  time,  medicines  are  pre- 
pared by  an  allopathic  wholesale  pharmaceutist  in  an.  uncombined 
lorm  and  in — for  that  school — ^remaikably  small  doses.  Here  are^ 
more  than  fifty  of  the  leading  drags  used  by  that  school  prepared 
in  doses  of  one-twentieth,  one-fortieth,  one-fifiieth|  one  one-hun* 
dredth  and  one  two-hundredth  of  a  grain. 

Can  saoh  things  be 
And  oveioome  us  like  a  sammer's  olood 
Without  our  special  wonder? 


288  NOTABiOA.  ^'SSS^^SSSn^ 


B«VJcw,  April  1, 1881. 


It  18  amnaing  to  find  in  this  pamphlet  a  vigorous  protest  agaiitft 
the  supposition  that  this  new  departure  in  phaimaceutios  and 
therapeutios  has  anything  to  do  with  homoeopathy.  More  than  a 
score  of  ttmes  the  wzitec  declares  that  these  snudl  doses  **  are  iit 
no  sense  homoeopathic/'  Well,  no  intelligent  person  wouM 
suppose  they  were.  Such  amdel^  is  needless.  But  we  can  see 
in  it  an  open  door  out  of  which  the  intelligent  allopath  may  stop 
into  the  l^t  and  liberty  of  homoeopathy.  When  he  finds  these 
small  doses  doing  improved  work,  he  will  try  some  homoeopatlae 
attenuations.  Warner  and  Oo«  are  doing  good  work.  We 
heartily  applaud  their  endeavours  to  improve  the  crude  and 
often  barbsEouB  methods  of  the  allopathic  school.  In  closing, 
we  cannot  resist  a  quotation  from  the  Sotttham  Medical 
(AUopathie)  Record :  '*  The  efficiency  of  these  Parvules  we  attri- 
bute not  to  homoeopathy,  but  to  the  thoroughness  of  prepanlioa 
and  the  purity  of  the  articles  used.  In  so  &r  as  homoe<^athy 
advocates  thorough  trituration  as  enhancing  solubility  and  neat^ 
ness  of  preparation  as  more  likely  to  agree  with  defeats 
stomachs  we  make  no  issue,  and  we  think  tiuit  often  much  good 
results  from  the  avoidance  of  those  disagreeable  antipi^ues 
which  not  unfrequently  prevent  the  administration  of  medicines 
to  delicate  persons  by  reason  of  the  nauseous  form  in  whidi 
medicines  are  ordinarily  administered." — Cinckmad  Medical 
Advance. 


HYOSCIAMTA  IN  MENTAL  DEEANGEMENT. 

Dn.  Whitman,  of  Illinois,  calls  attention  in  the  yew  YcrkMedictd 
Times  to  the  great  success  attending  the  substitution  of  hyos- 
cianda  {hyoeciamine)  for  the  ordinary  form  of  the  drug  in  some 
obscure  mental  cases.  In  one  case  the  patient,  a  lady  of  85, 
suffered  from  attacks  of  mania  coming  on  at  each  period,  and 
lasting  two  or  three  days.  Various  remedies  were  tried,  including 
puls.f  heL,  gen.,  aletrin,  mac,  and  cauloph.  None  of  these 
proving  useldl,  bell,  dx  and  kyos,  8x  were  ^ven.  Of  these  kycs. 
proved  of  some  benefit,  but  the  effects  were  not  permanent.  After 
a  long  and  varied  course  of  treatment,  she  was  persuaded  to 
consult  Dr.  Hale,  of  Chicago,  who,  on  hearing  that  hyoseiamus 
was  the  only  drug  which  had  at  all  influenced  the  disease,  advised 
the  substitution  of  hyosciaima. 

She  was  put  upon  this  remedy,  2z  trit.  four  doses  a  day,  and 
passed  the-  next  period  without  any  return  of  the  headache  and 
mania,  and  although  nearly  two  years  have  now  elapsed,  she  has 
never  h€kl  a  ret%tm  of  either.  Time  enough  has  now  passed  to 
entitle  this  to  rank  as  a  cure  and  not  as  a  mere  palHation. 

The  second  case  was  that  of  a  lady,  set.  88,  suffering  from 
hereditary  insanity.   She  had  had  two  previous  attacks  of  mania. 


ItS^^SSTSS^  KOTABiLu.  289 


&!• 


and  W9S  dedttred  inenrable  by  the  medieal  oAoers  of  the  State 

After  six  montiis  allopatiiio  treitment  she  was  placed  under 
4be  eare  of  Dr.  Whkman,  who,  profiting  by  the  lesson  of  the 
previous  case,  at  once  placed  her  on  hyosciamia^  and  in  less  than 
two  we^e  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  marked  improvement 
both  in  the  mania  and  constipation ;  the  latter  complaint  being 
relieved  by  hydrastis.  She  continued  to  improve  under  these 
r«mediee  (no  others  being  given)  for  two  months,  when  her  treat- 
ment wa»  suspended,  and  she  has  remained  well  ever  since,  which 
is  about  fourteen  months.  The  preparation  used  by  Dr.  Hale  is 
ihe  amorphous  hyoBciamia,  Although  hyosdamm  is  almost  otir 
sheet  anchor  in  mania,  the  use  of  hyoseiamim  is,  we  think,  not 
generally  adopted  in  this  country.  We  trust  that  some  of  our 
btetliren  will  bear  this  in  mind,  and  give  it  a  trial,  and  let  us 
know  the  results  at  some  future  date.  The  substitution  of  an 
alkaloid  for  the  drug  itself  is  often  of  marked  benefit,  witness  the 
use  of  Mrapia  in  cerebral  and  spinal  congestion,  where  beUadonna 
seems  indicated  but  fiuls. 


ACONITE  m  THEOAT  AFFECTIONS. 

Anotbeb  disciple  of  St.  Ringer,  having  succeeded  in  subduing  an 
inflammatory  case  by  the  use  of  aeoftUe,  hastens  to  inform  the 
world  at  hurge,  through  the  medium  of  ITie  Lancet^  of  the 
importance  of  this  marvellous  truth  in  therapeutics.  "  Aconite 
has  been  recommended  by  Binger  to  allay  local  inflammation^ 
especially  of  throat  affections.  In  the  spring  of  1881 1  attended 
a  case  of  laryngitis,  brought  on  partly  by  exposure  to  the  weather, 
and  excited  hj  swaDowing  a  capsicum  lozenge,  which  at  first 
threatened  suflbcation.  I  had  tried  several  remedies  without  any 
improvement,  but  on  the  second  day  of  the  attack  I  gave  the 
patient  half  a  drop  dose  of  tincture  of  oeomfo  every  half  hour  for 
twenty-four  hours,  when  a  marked  im]^:ovement  in  the  breathix^ 
took  pkee»  but  ddirium  set  in ;  but  after  application  of  ice  to  the 
Jiead  it  passed  ofl  in  a  few  days,  and  the  patient  rapidly 
jrecov^ed." 

We  do  not  knew  whether  either  Dr.  Binger  or  his  disciple 
make  a  practice  of  reading  homoeopathic  literature,  but  should 
they  do  so  they  cannot  fail  to  find  in  Dr.  Hughes'  therapeutics, 
xmder^tbe  bead  of  larynffitisy  the  following  words:  ^* Aconite 
seems  indispensable  at  the  commencement,  and  is  sometimes 
.sufficient  fer  the  cure.'*  One  can  scsroely  help  smiling  at  the 
matter  of  faet  way  in  which  this  gentleman  states  that  *'  a  marked 
improvement  in  the  breathing  took  place,  but  deUrium  set  in  ;  " 
we  wonder  whether  it  haa  ever  occurred  to  him  that  if  he  had 
given  the  tenOi  or  hundredth  of  a  drop  for  a  dose,  it  is  just 


240 KOTABiLu.      "a^fsgrgar 

possible  the  deliriniD  and  snffermg  entailed  might  have  been 
ayoided.  Having  brought  himself  to  the  half-drop  dose,  let  ns 
hope,  for  the  safety  of  his  patients,  that  he  will  manage  to  get  a 
lit^e  farther  on  the  road  before  the  next  case  of  aente  laryngitis 
presents  itselll 


AN  HONEST  MAN. 

The  Southern  Clinic  (allopathic)  for  January  last  contains  aa 
article  on  **  The  Curative  power  of  small  doses  of  Drugs,"  by 
E.  A.  de  Cailhol,  M.D.,  of  St.  Louis,  as  a  leader  in  its  ''  original "" 
department.  Dr.  de  Cailhol  practises  homoBopathically,  and 
makes  no  secret  of  it. 

His  paper  elucidates  many  of  the  points  upon  which  honMBO- 
pathic  practice  depends,  and  asserts  that  **this  great  truth 
commences  to  be  understood  by  the  members  of  the  profession 
now,  as  indicated  everywhere  in  allopathic  medical  journals,  by 
advertisements  of  medicines  prepared  by  chemists  in  parvules  and 
granules  of  one  tenth  of  a  grain,  and  even  one  hundredth  of  a 
grain ;  but  they  will  soon  find,  if  they  try  both  well — as  I  have 
honestly  done  myself — ^that  the  same  medicines,  prepared  in 
triturations  with  sugar  of  milk,  will  give  them  a  great  deal  more 
satisfiBLction.''  In  conclusion,  he  says  *'  that  the  initial  fact  of  all 
medical  doctrine  or  system  is  not  to  imagine  the  truth,  but  to 
prove  the  truth  by  experimentation.'' 

Such  honesty  in  an  allopath  is  very  refreshing,  the  more  so  a» 
it  is  quite  a  novelty,  a  novelty  of  which  many  of  our  leading 
English  therapeutists  might  do  well  to  import  a  supply.  At 
present  anyone  seeking  for  an  honest  assimilator  of  homoeopathic 
facts  must  be  much  in  the  position  of  Diogenes  of  old  with  his 
lantern. 

"A  MERE  NOTHING." 

How  many  people  are  there  whose  life-work  has  been  abruptly 
cut  short  by  the  progress  of  disease  originating  in  the  most 
trivial  manner,  and  unregarded  until  it  has  become,  perhaps, 
incurable  ?  A  trifling  cold,  a  little  pain,  a  slight  indigestion,  *'  a 
mere  nothing,"  as  it  is  popularly  termed,  is  permitted  to  exist 
unheeded  for  a  time,  and  at  length  it  develops  the  beginnings  of 
chronic  affections,  that  terminate  only  with  the  life  of  the  sufferer. 
The  briefest  review  of  any  ordinary  practitioner's  case-book  wiM- 
supply  numberless  examples  of  this  kind ;  the  experience  of 
every  physician  will  yield  innumerable  instances  of  fatalities 
brought  about  by  neglect  of  minor  ailments  at  the  outset.  Among 
professional  men,  and  hard- workers  in  every  calling,  it  is  regarded 
as  involving  too  considerable  a  loss  of  time  to  give  any  heed  to  sick- 
ness that  does  not  entirely  incapacitate  for  discharge  of  businefls-;. 


4HDd  thus  to  **  lie  ap  "  for  a  eold,  or  for  a  pain  wfaieh  can  be  borne 
irith  under  any  possibility,  is  considered  as  uncalled  for 
indnlgence.  It  may  be,  perhaps,  that  medicine  itself  is  to  blame 
for  tins  indifference  to  risk.  Too  little  has  yet  been  made  clear 
jespeeting  the  early  progress  of  even  dangerous  diseases ;  we  are, 
in  spite  ci  all  adyances,  all  but  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  sub- 
JeetiTe  and  objective  symptoms  indicative  of  the  initial  lesions 
which  give  rise  to  most  dangerous  consequences;  the  '^mere 
aothings  '*  of  every-day  life  may  have  a  significance,  and  doubt* 
l&BB  do  possess  an  importance  which,  could  we  but  trace  the 
whole  e^nls  to  which  they  give  rise,  would  obtain  for  them  an 
itttention  they  have  never  yet  received.  In  the  absence  of  this 
knowledge,  it  is  our  duty  to  impress,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  places, 
the  gravity  of  '*  trifles/'  and  to  stimulate  a  universal  desire  to 
ke  rid  of  the  **mere  nothings**  which  go  far  to  create  the 
eommon  diseases  of  mankind. — Medical  Prest  and  Circular, 

HOMCEOPATHY  vertus  ALLOPATHY   IN  THE  DENVER 

ALMSHOUSE. 

The  annual  report  of  Dr.  Ambrose  8.  Everett,  County  Physician 
of  Arapahoe  County,  Colorado,  presents  quite  a  number  of  in- 
teresting and  instnictive  fieicts  and  figures.  The  following 
xecapitulation  compares  the  nine  months  of  1881,  when  the 
hospital  was  under  homoBopathic  management,  with  the  corre- 
sponding months  of  1880,  when  the  hospital  was  under  allopathic 

control: 

1880.  1881. 

Number  on  hand,  January  1st       •      .           40  82 

Number  admitted 562  649 

Number  discharged 468  586 

Number  bom 5  8 

Number  died 76  58 

l^umber  remaining 77  100 

Average  daily  attendance        ...           60  72 

Number  of  jail  and  outside  patients      •         161  285 

Total  number  treated       ....         777  974 
liortality   rate  at  hospital,  with  the 

number  discharged  as  a  basis     •      •           .14  .08 
Cost  of  drugs  and  surgical  supplies  in 

hospital  tl888   16  S780  71 

Hospital  druggist's  salary        •      .       .    450  00  0  00 
Cost  of  prescriptions  for  jail  and  outside 

patients 241    27  0  00 

Total  cost  of  drugs  and  surgical  supplies, 

and  druggist's  salaay    •      .      •      •  2074   48*  780  71 

Cost  per  patient  from  the  above  figures  •        2   66  80 
'^Hahnmnanman  Monthly. 


242 


J^OTABIIiU: 


Beview.  Afcfl  1, 1882. 


LONDON  SCHOOL  OP  HOMOEOPATHY. 

StJBscBiPTioNS    and    donations    received    since    1st   Janoaij,. 

1882  :— 

£    0.  d.  £    8.  a. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Haywftrd      ...    5    6    0 

Miss  Hodgsldns    X    I    0         tion)    J..    ...3    3    0 

W.  Baynes,  Esq.jMJ)....    110 


8    8    0 


110 
2    2    0 


1 
1 
5 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
5 
2 
1 


1 
1 

0 
1 
1 
1 


W.  Besan,  Esq. 

Bev.  J.  Hildyftid 

^sbG.  MiUetl     

MiflB  H.  A.  PeanoB 
Mrs.  Walbanke  Ghildsrs 
W.  Bryce,  Esq.,  M.D.  ... 
J,  Dixon,  Esq.,  M.D.    ... 

Mrs.  A.  E.  Baksr 

Bbt.  E.E.Emotl..,  ... 
Boy.  B.  H.  Cobbold  ... 
F.  H.  Bodman,  Ssq.,M.D. 

!Mr.  J.  Harper       

Mrs.  H.  Bosher     

IObs  Bofiher  ...  .«.  ... 
Alfred  Bosher,  Esq.  . . . 
George  Bosher,  Esq.    ... 

F.  Bosher,  Esq.     

E.M.  Madden,  Esq.,  M.D. 
G.D.Wingfield-Digb7,£8q.  2  10 
Sfiss  J.  Barton      ...     ...    1    1 

Major  Yanghan  Morgan    8 

Dr.  B.  Hughes      5 

A.  J.  ElUs,  Esq.,  F  JUS.    1 


0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


0    0 


1 
1 
1 
1 
I 
5 
2 
1 


3 
0 
1 
0 
0 
2 
5 


0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


B.  S.  Holford,  Esq.  ...  10 
Miss  Macniool  ..«  ...  1 
G.  F.  Francis,  Esq.  ...  2 
Dr.  Eubulus  Willtams  ...  6 
E.  H.  Ganrie,  Esq.  (Dona- 
tion)      110 

Dr.  J.  S.  Marsden 110 

Dr.  W.  Bayes 8    3    0 

Miss  Eyre      10    0 

8.  Elliott,  Esq 110 

Dr.  W.  F.  Edgelow      ...  I    1.  0 

A&s.  T.  G.  Archer. 110 

H.Epp6,  Esq 110 

Additional  subscriptions   and 
March,  1882  :— 

Miss  Bobertson      10    0 

Dr.  Y.  Moore 2    2    0 

J.  P.  StUweU,  Beq.       ...110 


James  Epps,  Esq.  (Deaa- 

tion)    «••    ... 

James  Epps,  Esq.,  Junz. 

(Donation) 1 

Dr.  E.  H.  MiUln    1 

Dr.  H.  BATtis 2 

BeT.  G.  Newnham 1 

Bev.  O.  P.   Greenstieet 

(Donation) 0 

Miss  M.  Fox  (Donation)  15 


E.  Gonld  &  Sons 
Mrs.  Dallas  (Ikmation)... 
Miss  Flitt  (Donation)  ... 
T.  B.  Dale,  Esq 

F.  J.  Pfeil,  Esq.  (Dona- 
bion I    ...     ...     ...     ... 

Miss  B.  N«  Price   

Dr.  A.  C.  Clifton 

Bt.  Hon.  Lord  Eb^  ... 

Miss  Jackson 

Miss    Goldsmid    (Dona- 

cion)    ...    ...    ...    ... 

Miss  A.  Moore      

Mrs.  Moore    

Dr.  C.  Macintosh 

Dr.  G.  Shepherd   

Dr.  C.  P.  Collins 

Miss  Weston  (Donation) 
S.  C.  Coleman,  Esq.     ... 

Dr.  T.  Hayle 

Mrs»  Bnshton 

H.    B.    Willianu,    Esq. 

(Donation)  ... 

Dr.Matheson 

Dr.  Lloyd  Tuckey... 


•••    ■•• 


2 
2 

1 
2 

5 
1 
2 

10 
2 

20 
1 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 

10 
2 
1 


1  0 

1  0 

2  0- 

1  0 

10  0 

0  0 

2  0 

0  a 


0 
2 

0 
1 


0 
0 
3 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 


0 
0 

0 
0 


2    0 

10    0 

2    0 


0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


0  0 
2    0 

1  0 


£177  18    0 


donations  from  12Ui  to  2l8t 


S.  Pinsent,  Esq. 
Dr.  Matheson... 
Dr.  C.  L.  Tuckey 


2  2  0 
2  2  0 
110 


AMATEUB  DBAMATTO  PERFOBMANCE. 

A  performance  of  '*  The  Lancers"  (commonly  known  as  ti&e 
'<<;^en*8  Shilling''),  preceded  by  </ Turn  Him  Oat,'*  will  be 
given  at  St.  George's  Hall,  Langham  Place,  on  Apiil  Idth. 
The    ladies  and  gentlemen  who  have  organised  this  pex- 


fonnanee  desire  that  the  proceeds  shall  be  given  to  the  London 
Homoeopathic  Hospital. 

The  notice  is  rather  short,  but  we  trust  that,  notwithstanding 
tiuB,  onr  brethren  will  aid  the  caase  as  maeh  as  possible  by 
poshing  ihe  sale  of  tickets  amongst  friends  and  patients. 

CSronlars  have  been  sent  with  this  object  to  the  various' 
medical  men  in  the  London  district. 

Ihr.  Kennedj  is  the  seeretaiy,  and  A.  Chambre,  Esq.,  has 

loudly  consented  to  act  as  principal  steward  on  the  occasion. 

II  ■  ■  -     I  I 

HOW  INFECTIOUS  DISEASE  IS  SPREAD. 
Mr.  Atkinbon,  in  his  last  annual  report  on  the  health  of  the 
Graven  combined  district,  mentions  some  cturioos  instances  of 
the  ignorance  existing  among  the  population  under  his  charge. 
In  one  case,  when  pointing  oat  the  necessity  for  disinfection,  he 
was  told  by  an  old  woaaii  thai,  '*Te  msik'  a  deal  o'  fuss  i*  sich 
\]km  eans,  but  it's  na'  good ;  for  if  they'll  have  it,  they'll  have  it^ 
and  if  they'll  dee,  they'll  dee."  In  another,  when  examining 
some  premises  to  find  a  cause  for  typhoid  fever,  he  was  told  that 
he  cooldlook  if  he  chose,  but  it  was  of  no  use,  for  ''  t'  feaver'a 
it'  fjBanily,  'is  father  'ed  it,  and  'is  grand&ther  'ed  it,  and  na'  t' 
lad's  gotten  it."  Mr.  Atkinson  adds  that,  in  this  last  case,  tiie 
cttose  was  not  far  distant,  since  an  open  rabble  sewer  was* 
constantly  emitting  its  odours  at  the  back  of  the  premises,  and 
a  fool  gutter  was  just  below  the  windows. — Another  typical 
instance  of  the  carelessness  of  parents  in  cases  of  infectious 
disease  recently  came  before  the  Exeter  School  Board.  At  the 
last  meeting  of  that  body,  it  was  stated  that,  while  one  girl  was 
lying  at  home  ill  with  fever,  five  other  members  of  the  family 
were  being  sent  to  one  of  the  Board  schools  without  the  sUghtest 
intimation  being  given  to  the  aathorities.  The  existence  of 
fbver  only  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Board  on  their  summon- 
ing the  parent  for  the  non-attendance  of  the  sofierer.  It  is  not 
eneooraging  to  reflect  that,  after  so  mnch  time,  money,  and 
energy  have  been  expended  in  erecting  and  maintaining  a  public 
health  service,  such  instances  of  cnuss  ignorance  as  these  should 
have  still  to  be  reported. — BrUith  MstUeal  Journal. 

"DEATH  OF  HOM(EOPATHY." 
It  is  now  jast  forty  years  since  that  delightful  poet  and  quasi 
physician,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  gave  to  the  Boston  public 
two  leotores  on  ''  Homosopathy  and  its  Eindred  Delusions."  In 
these  lectures  homoeopathy  was  denounced  as  the  most  absurd  of 
all  medical  delusions ;  and  the  prophecy  was  then  made  that  it 
vMold  be  short-lived,  and  that  **  not  many  years  can  pass  away 
before  t^  same  curiosity  excited  by  one  of  Perkins's  Tractors 
will  be  awakened  at  the  sight  of  the  Infinitesimal  0-lobules.    If 


244  NOTABILU.  "SSS.^SSM 

it  shonld  elaim  a  longer  existenee,  it  can  only  be  by  &lling  into 
the  hands  of  the  sordid  wretches  who  wring  their  bread  fitmi  the 
cold  grasp  of  disease  and  death  in  the  hovels  of  ignorant 
poTer^."     Thirty  years  passed  away,  and  in  1872  the  **  lifeless 
delusion,"  as  Holmes  called  it  in  1842,  had  become  a  power  in 
the  land.    Its  practitioners  were  numbered  by  thousands,  and 
its  believers  by  hundreds  of  thousands.     In  Boston  it  had  a  dis- 
pensary for  the  sick  poor,  at  which  nearly  1,000  were  treated 
yearly.    An  effort  had  been  made  to  establish  a  hospital  to 
which  the  poor  could  resort  and  have  homoeopathic  treatment. 
In  fact,  its  institutions,  its  societies,  and  its  practitioners  were 
prosperous,  and  exhibited  as  yet  no  sign  of  the  much-wished-for 
decay.   There  being  no  prospect  of  its  dying  a  natural  death,  the 
councillors  of  the  great  Massachusetts  Meddcal  Society  in  seciet 
conclave  determined  to  kill  it:   First,  by  declaring  it  arrant 
quackery ;  second,  by  expelling,  as  unprincipled  men,  any  who 
practised  it ;  and  third,  by  forbidding  members  to  hold  any  pro- 
fessional relations  with  these  *^  charli^ans.*'     The  result  of  this 
action  is  best  seen  in  the  growth  of  homceopathy  in  New 
England  since  that  performance.     In  Boston  the  number  of 
homoeopathic  physicians  has  increased  from  sixty  to  upwards  of 
one  hundred ;    in  New  England  from  five  hundred  to  ei^ 
hundred*    A  medical  school  in  connection  with  Boston  Univer* 
sity  has  been  established,  which,  with  thorough  instruction  in 
every  department,  has  already  graduated  two  hundred  and  fifty 
physicians ;  a  hospital  has  been  founded,  which  has  cared  for 
upwards  of  1,600  patients,  and  has  secured  of  fimds  for  running 
expenses,  for  land,  buildings,  and  permanent  funds,  upwards  (tf 
$250,000 ;  and  the  dispensary  has  enlarged  its  work  from  978 
patients  in  1871  to  11,862  m  1881.    But  this  growth  is  not 
confined  to  New  England.    Twenty-six  State  medical  societies 
and  one  hundred  and  nine  local  societies  exist  in  the  United 
States,  with  a  membership  exceeding  2,000.      Forty-two  hos- 
pitals, with  1,600  beds,  employ  whoUy  homoeopathic  treatment, 
while  more  than  100,000  poor  patients  are  annually  treated  at 
homoeopathic  dispensaries.    Moreover,  seventeen  medical  jour- 
nals are  sustained,  and  eleven  medical  colleges  are  educating  at 
the  present  moment  upwards  of  1,800  students  in  homoeopa^iio 
opinions  and  preparing  them  for  homoeopathic  practice.     The 
success  of  these  practitioners,  the  quality  of  their  patrons,  and 
the  amount  of  charitable  work  performed  would  indicate  that  the 
'<  sordid  wretches  "  and  the  scarcity  of  "  infinitesimal  globules  " 
prophesied  belong  not  to  this  generation.    May  the  "  death  of 
homoeopathy  "  continue,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  to  be  con- 
fined to  the  realms  of  prophecy,  until,  at  least,  science  shall 
have  given   to  humanity  a  better   method  of  healing.^-iMw 
England  Medical  QmeUe. 


gSgg^^an^r  NOTABILU. 245 

THE  LATE  DB.  CBONIN. 

Wb  hftTe  received  from  Mr.  Barrand,  the  eminent  photographic 
ftrtist  of  Gloucester  Place,  a  copy  of  a  very  striking  likeness  of 
the  venerable  physician  whose  long,  active  and  osefdl  life  we 
briefly  referred  to  in  onr  last  number.  We  notice  it  because  we 
aie  snre  that  many  who  esteem  and  respect  the  late  Dr.  Cronin 
will  be  pleased  to  learn  that  they  have  an  opportunity  of 
obtaining  a  really  characteristic  memorial  of  their  departed 
friend.  It  is  both  a  pleasing  and  accurate  representation  of  the 
deceased. 

WmLST  this  winter  has  been  remarkably  mild  In  Western  Europe, 
it  has  been  of  quite  unusual  severity  in  South-Eastem  Bussia. 
The  main  chain  of  the  Caucasus  is  covered  from  the  top  to  the 
bweet  valleys  with  snow.  The  great  depression  of  the  Eura  and 
Arako  rivers  looks  like  a  Siberian  plain  covered  with  snow.  The 
bright  sun  of  the  south  seems  unable  to  warm  the  cold  soil,  and 
in  the  night  the  small  streams  and  irrigating  channels  freeze. 
Even  the  Mikhael  Qulf  of  the  Caspian,  south  of  Erasnovodsk, 
was  frozen  from  December  19  to  January  7,  and  the  thickness 
of  the  ice  was  4^  inches. — Nature, 


LONDON  HOMCEOPATfflC  HOSPITAL. 

Ibe  Betum  of  Patients  admitted  during   the   month  ending 
Uareh  16th,  1882,  gives  the  following  statistics  : — 

Bemaining  in  Hospital  February  16th,  1882    ...      40 
Admitted  between  that  date  and  March  16tii    ...      85 


76 
Discharged  between  Feb.  16th  and  March  16th. . •      80 


Bemaining  in  Hospital,  March  16th,  1882         ...     45 

The  number  of  new  Out-Patients  during  the  above  period  has 
been  644. 

The  total  number  of  Out-Patients*  attendances  for  the  same 
period  has  been  2,154. 

BBITISH  HOMCBOPATHIC  SOCIETY. 

Ire  Seventh  Ordinary  Meeting  of  the  present  Session  will  be 
held  on  Thursday,  April  18th  (instead  of  the  6th),  1882,  at 
seven  o'clock,  llie  paper  by  Dr.  Meyhoffer,  of  Nice  (Corres- 
ponding Member),  which  was  deferred  from  the  January  meeting, 
will  now  be  read.  It  id  entitled  *'  On  an  unusual  Case  of  Pul 
monazy  Disease.'* 
YoL  86,  No.  4.  s 


246  COBRESPONMNCE.      ^SS&^^SS'S^. 

CORfiESPONDENOE. 


THE  UCENTIATESHIS  IN  HOM(EOPATHY. 

To   the  Editors   of  tlie  Monthly   Homceopathic  Eeview, 

Gektijbmem, — 8iBoe  writiiig  to  yoa  on  this  subjeet  last  buobIIi, 
some  further  objectioDe — ^not  then  anticipated  by  me — ^bave  been 
made  by  eoQeagues  to  the  step  takeii  by  the  school ;  and,  at 
these  seem  to  me  readily  met,  I  woTild  ajk  yoa  to  allow  xfte  to 
say  a  few  forther  words  in  reply  to  them. 

(1.)  Objection  is  taken  to  the  term  *'  Licentiate  *'  as  implying 
a  '^  license,"  and  this  meaning  a  permission,  without  which  some 
given  proceeding  is  unlawful.  It  is  alleged  that  no  one  needs 
such  permission  to  practise  homoeopathy^  and  hence'  that 
*'  L.H."  is  a  misnomer  and  an  absurdity.  Now,  I  do  not  deny 
that  this  is  tbe  etymological  and  lexicographical  meaning  of  a 
<<  license,**  but  I  do  deny  that  the  usage  of  the  word  in  the 
profession  fixes  such  significance  upon  it.  Take  the  ''  L.M." 
already  cited  as  an  analogue,  and  which  is  bestowed,  not  only 
by  the  English  College  of  Suxgeons,  but  by  several  universities 
and  by  the  great  obstetrical  establishments  of  Dublin  (which  last 
are  not  even  chartered  institutions}.  Can  no  one  practise  as  an 
accoucheur  who  has  not  obtained  this  license  from  one  of  the 
examining  bodies  which  give  it  ?  Everyone  knows  that  it  is 
not  so.  The  L.M.  is  simply  a  special  evidence  of  capacity — a 
warrant  on  the  part  of  the  bestowers  that  its  recipients  are  com- 
petent to  work  at  the  art  to  which  it  refers.  Such  will  be  the 
licentiateship  in  Homoeopathy  of  the  London  School. 

(2.)  But  it  is  further  objected  that  the  proposed  action  is 
«' illegal" — that  the  school  has  no  authority  from  the  State  to 
bestow  a  diploma,  which  therefore  must  be  '<  a  sham/'  I 
confess  that  this  argument  has  very  little  weight  with  me.  I 
have  yet  to  learn  that  no  title  can  be  a  reality  without  legal 
imprimatur.  I  have  all  an  Englishman's  respect  for  law,  when 
made,  but  I  cannot  admit  that  nothing  exists  without  it — ^that 
everything  extra-legal  or  pre-legal  is  therefore  valueless.  A 
diploma  granted,  after  study  and  examination  (or  their  eqoi- 
vsJents),  by  a  duly  organised  body  of  five  years'  standing  (itself 
composed  of  duly  qualified  practitioners),  must  have  its  own 
intrinsic  worth.  State  sanction  may  recognise  and  (as  it  were) 
patent  it,  but  that  is  all  it  can  do, 

I  cannot  allow,  therefore,  that  the  school  would  be  going 
beyond  its  rights  were  it  at  once  to  accord  to  the  eighty  or 
ninety  men  among  us  who  have  asked  for  it,  the  diploma  of 
Licentiate  in  Homoeopathy.  At  the  same  time^  nothing  would 
be  lost  by  so  far  deferring  to  the  difficulty  felt^  by  some  as  to 
atispend  further  proceedings  till  incorporation  has  been  sought 


S^S^^!^^  COREBSPONDBNCE.  247 

for.  I  believe  that  the  xnaDagers  of  the  sohool  are  about  to 
take  this  step  forthwith.  Both  the  friends  and  the  foes  of  the 
new  diploma  maj  wdl  await  the  result. 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Faithfally  yours, 
Brighton,  March  11,  1882.  RioOABn  Qua^BS. 


'm^m^m^-^^^^^^'^'^^—    ■  in« |..i..,     ,>i 


THE  LICBNTIATE  IN  HOMOEOPATHY. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  **  Monthly  Honucopathic  Review,*' 

GsNTLEaiBN, — Hie  institation  of  a  diploma  by  the  Xiondon 
Sehool  of  Homoeopathy  has  given  rise  to  so  much  oritioism  sacl 
excitement  amangst  the  members  of  our  body,  and  so  much 
difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  its  value,  that  I  should  like  to 
mrite  a  few  lines  on  the  subject. 

It  would  on  many  grounds  be  a  good  thing  if  we  oould  ha?« 
the  knowledge  of  homoeopathy  possessed  by  young  man  tested 
before  they  commenee  practice.  Having  passed  such  an  ezami* 
nation  would  give  thAm  confidenee,  and  would  inspire  confidenee 
in  those  of  ua  who  may  wish  to  inbro^uce  patients  to  them. 

But  I  woold  ask,  is  a  new  diploma  necessary  for  this  purpose  ? 
I  ftm  not  aware  that  any  autlK>rity  or  power  has  been  conferred 
upon  the  school  entitling  .them  to  grapt  a  license,  and  without 
SQch  authority,  which  can  only  be  conferred  by  a  charter,  I  do 
not  see  what  right  the  school  possesses  to  give  such  a  license. 

On  the  other  hand,  were  tiie  school  to  appoint  a  board  of 
examiners  to  test  the  knowledge  of  candidates,  and  to  give  to 
snob  as  succeeded  a  certificate  of  competency,  the  only  purpose 
for  which  the  license  is  to  be  granted  would  be  fulfilled,  w}ule 
the  possessor  of  such  a  certificate  might,  by  virtue  of  it,  be 
fleeted  a  member  of  the  London  School  of  Hoxomopathy. 

It  would,  of  courSiB,  be  understood,  or  rath«r  diatinclly  stfited, 
that  after  a  certain  date  no  certifieate  entitling  to  membiNPphip 
would  be  granted  except  after  examination. 

Those  who  have  been  engaged  in  pwetising  liowiOBopatliy  ket  two 
jsars  might  be  allowed,  on  a  petition  si^o^ed  by  three  w^  IpuQwn 
ptaetitioners  of  ten  years'  standing,  to  r^o^ve  the  ^rti6c«(e  or 
be  admitted  to  memhisrship,  if  the  af>p)ioiitiop  were  sent  in  b^fiofe 
the  end  of  the  year.  In  eadi  and  oveiy  oas^  the  0Ax»didf^t«  9JtM>idd 
be  a  doiy  registered  praetitioBar. 

I  think  such  a  plan  weold  remove  maoiy  objeetions  to  th* 
ivopoaed  L.H.,  and  would  answer  every  purpose  whi^  that 
^loma  is  proposed  to  fulfil.    It  would  entitle  the  member  tn 
w  four  letters  instead  of  two— Member  of  th^  LooiIoa  GkJiMi  o 
H<wioK)pathy.  I  am. 

Your  obedient  servant, 
Umh  l(Hh«  M,B.H^ 

s— 2 


248  COBBBSPONDBNCB.      'S^.^pJoiftSt 


THE  L.H.  QUALIFIOATION. 

To  the  EdUan  of  the**  Monthly  HonuBopathic  Eeview.'* 

Gbntlembm, — Abseneefrom  England  having  prevented  me* 
giving  my  vote  in  the  British  HomoBopathic  Society  in  favour  of 
the  resolution  that  the  proposed  tiUe  of  L.H.  is  damaging  to 
onr  position  as  members  of  the  medical  profession,  I  ts^e  this* 
opportnnity  to  express  my  cordial  appro^. 

I  see  no  analogy  between  certain  diplomas,  signified  by  certain 
letters  denoting  the  great  divisions  of  professional  work,  Modi- 
cine,  Surgery,  and  Midwifery,  and  the  letters  L.H.,  Licentiate  in 
Homoeopathy. 

It  is  illegal,  and  the  idea  of  issuing  it  is  most  inconsistent 
with  the  clause  in  the  Medical  Act  which  declares  that  the 
holding  of  any  peculiar  medical  theory  shall  not  be  a  bar  to  legal 
qualifications.  With  this  as  our  Magna  Charta  of  protection, 
some  of  us  attempt,  by  the  creation  of  an  L.H.,  to  limit  the 
power  to  practise  unless  subordinate  to  a  medical  theory,  and 
yet  these  men  petition  fer  liberty  I  It  is  the  use  intended  to  be 
made  of  this  L.H.  which  constitutes  the  offence  against  profes* 
sional  ethics.  One  object,  as  stated  by  its  supporters,  is  to 
point  out  to  "  patients  desiring  homoeopathic  treatment  the  men 
they  should  seek.**  •  •  "  It  is  to  one  going  to  a  new  field  of 
practice,  giving  him  a  daim  to  the  support  of  the  homoeopaihi& 
public.'* 

These  seem  to  me  purposes  which,  in  our  peculiar  position, 
invite  the  charge  of  "  trading  on  a  name.** 

If  the  L.H.  is  to  be  useful  as  a  mode  of  publishing  his  prac- 
tice, the  holder  must  bring  it  prominently  forward,  and  then  he 
professionally  errs.  To  avoid  misapprehension,  I  wish  to  draw 
a  very  clear  distinction  between  certain  faults  in  professional 
ethics  and  moral  delinquency ;  the  two  are  totally  separate^.^.} 
a  solicitor  may  rightly  seek  for  business  in  a  maimer  which,  if 
pursued  by  a  barnster,  involves  a  marked  breach  in  professional 
ethics ;  the  Medical  Act  empowers  a  medical  man  to  recover  in 
court  amounts  due  for  advice,  the  London  College  of  Physiciana 
considers  such  procedure  a  grave  offence ;  the  tradesman  may 
rightly  and  honestly  advertise  his  goods,  but  old  and  wholesome 
custom  holds  such  course  reprehensible  in  the  professional  man. 
Let  these  instances  suffice  to  show  that  when  I  make  a  charge  of 
breach  of  professional  ethics,  I  disclaim  the  very  thou^t  of 
impugning  the  honour  and  morality  of  those  who,  from  my 
etlucfd  standpoint,  are  transgressors.  Isolated  as  we  are,  we 
cannot  pitdi  onr  ethics  too  h^h. 

What  encouragement  does  this  L.H.  afibrd  to  any  man  estab- 
lished in  practice,  joining  our  ranks  ?  Hitherto  this  step  has  only 
brought  <m  him  obloquy,  but  were  this  course  of  the  sehod 


jS*i?5Sn^        OORBESPOHDKNOB.  249 

4uiopted,  he  must  make  np  his  mind  to  the  still  further  ordeal  of 
qualifying  as  an  L.H.,  in  order  that  he  may  '*  claim  the  support 
-of  the  homoBopathic  public."  If  he  does  not  possess  this  L.H., 
then  *'  the  non-possession  of  it  will  be  a  ground  of  suspicion  of  his 
knowledge  of  this  mode  of  treatment." 

Instead  of  this  step  exercising  '*  a  wise  foresight,"  it  is,  in  my 
o{nnion,  most  ruinous,  instead  of  being  *'  a  measure  of  d^ence," 
it  is  the  most  destructiTe  course  which  can  possibly  be  taken. 
We  are  urged  to  take  this  step  '*  topreyentour  benign  and  scien- 
lific  system  being  brought  into  disrepute  by  men  who  know 
nothing  of  it."  .  •  •  '*  to  protect  the  pubUc  from  being  taken 
in  by  a  man  who  from  any  motive  proposes  to  practise  a  system 
•of  which  he  knows  nothing.*' 

How  the  whole  history  of  the  struggles  and  course  of  the 
homoBopathic  system  in  this  country  utterly  refute  such  state- 
ments. 

How  have  we  hitherto  existed  for  nearly  half  a  century  ?  If  such 
'dangers  are  now  ahead,  they  never  can  be  met  by  such  futile 
^measures  as  the  granting  of  L.H. 

A  title  illegal,  sectarian,  a  lieeme  which  may  be  assumed  by  any 
jnany  or  given  by  any  body. 

With  equal  legality  HoUoway's  clerks,  "  two  being  a  quorum," 
might  meet  in  council,  and  in  order  to  protect  the  public,  estab- 
lish an  L.H.,  none  genuine  but  the  licensed  HoUowayist. 

If  a  scheme  were  desired  to  foster  the  growth  of  crypto- 
homoeopaths,  here  it  is  amply  furnished  in  this  L.H. 

I  trust  the  school  will  wisely  reconsider  its  policy,  and  reserve 
its  energy  for  its  true  function  of  teaching.  Let  the  value  of  this 
be  the  student's  reward,  and  not  the  emptmess  and  mischief  of 
the  title  L.H. 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  yours,  &c., 

Francis  Black,  M.D.  Edin. 


THE  L.H.  DIPLOMA. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  "  Monthly  Honusopathic  Review.*' 

Qemtlbhkn, — ^Nothing  has  occurred  in  the  whole  history  of 
iiomoBopathy  in  this  countary  that  has  excited  such  a  deep  and 
wide-spread  feeling  of  disapprobation  as  the  proposal  of  the 
school  authorities  to  issue  a  license  to  practise  homoeopathy. 
The  cause  of  this  feeling  is  not'£ur  to  seek.  Such  a  step,  if 
persisted  in,  will,  beyond  a  doubt,  seriously  compromise  our 
whole  body  of  practitioners.  There  is  one  thing  on  which,  above 
all  others,  we  have  *  always  been  able  to  plume  ourselves,  and 
which  our  bitterest  enemies  have  admitted,  vis.:  that  in  our 
/professional  conduct  generally — ^putting  aside  the  question  of  our 


250  CORRESPONDENCE.        *S^,^SSTfSBr. 


mddkal  docbriiifis-^we  kave  borne  ooraelyee  like  high-piineipbd 
and  faonoiitable  men.  One  of  the  leading  objects  of  tiie  BritiBh 
Homcsopatiiie  Society  has  alwayfi  been  to  maintain  amongst  vs- 
tiie  highest  stand  of  professional  ethics.  Institute  a  spoxionft 
diploma,  and  we  instantly  forfeit  our  claim  to  this  position ;  and 
what  do  we  get  in  etchajige  ?  An  empty  and  deceptiye  title ; 
for  a  Ueenee  implies  an  authority  to  do,  under  its  powers,  a 
Bomethiag  thiyt  we  haiv  no  right  to  do  without  it.  The  proposed 
L.H.  confers  no  privilege  we  do  not  afaready  possess.  The  oaly 
way  to  check  this  mischievous  absurdity  is  by  a  univezsal 
rejection  of  the  proffered  boon.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
any  one  amongst  us  can  be  so  devoid  of  self-respect,  or  so  blind 
to  the  obligations  he  owes  to  the  noble  profession  to  which  he 
belongs,  as  to  accept  a  self-made  and  unauthorised  diploma.  If 
a  etndent  wisbes  for  a  certificate  of  having  attended  lectures,  by 
all  means  let  him  have  it.  It  is  a  right  and  proper  thing  to  give- 
It  says  honestly  what  it  means  and  no  more.  It  mideads 
nobody,  and  nobody  would  object  to  it.  But  an  unreal  and 
meaningless  degree  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  which  no  man  wiUi 
a  spark  of  professional  pride  would  for  a  moment  think  of 
assuming. 

Is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  the  promoters  of  this  scheme  will 
bow  to  the  votes  of  disapproval  that  were  adopted  at  two  recent 
meetings,  and  iet  the  matter  drop  ?  Such  a  result  would,  I  am 
sure,  be  hailed  with  the  liveliest  satisfacti<»i  by  a  vaet  majority 
of  our  body. 

i  am,  yours,  &c., 

B.   YELDHaiC 

THE  L.H.  QUALIFICATION. 

To  ike  Editors  of  the  ^^  Monthly  Homeopathic  Review,'^ 

Gentlemen, — ^It  is  my  only  hope  that  the  circular  I  have  just 
received  from  the  Secretary  of  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society 
will  once  and  for  all  settle  the  question  of  the  diploma  of 
Licentiate  in  Homoeopathy  meditated  by  the  London  School  of 
Homoeopathy,  lliat  circular  is  to  this  effect : — ^At  a  meeting  of 
the  tfooiety  lately  held  a  resokition  was  carried  by  a  two  to  one 
majority^*-'*  That  the  pn^sed  diploma  and  title  of  lieeatiale 
in  Homoeopathy,  resolved  on  by  the  London  School  of  Homcso- 
patho,  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  kws  of  this  society,  aad 
cakmlated  to  damage  our  position  as  members  of  the  medieal 
profession."  I  heaitily  endorse  that  resolution,  and  cannot 
help  believing  that,  on  reconsidering  the  matter,  the  school  will, 
do  4K)  too. 

To  grant  a  iieentiatedk^  is  a  serious  thing  lor  the  school  to* 
do.    It  is  estaUishiaK  a  new  precedent  in  medicine.    I  know 


£!!iSi?i£Sn»  "^         OOBBBSPONDBUCE.  251 

nothing  in  its  past  history  analogous  to  it.  A  small  fraction  of 
the  medical  bodj  of  this  coontry,  a  small  minoHty  of  that 
fraction  eyen,  have  constituted  themselves  into  a  school,  and  a 
resolution  has  heen  come  to,  not  a  unanimous  one,  by  that 
school,  that  it  is  right  and  expedient  to  give  to  such  of  its 
aluwmi  as  have  Buooessfiilly  passed  aa  eroniiiMttioa  a  diploma  of 
fitness  to  practise  homceopathy.  Bown  to  Uus  date  a  diploma 
in  medieiBe  has  been  a  legally  recognised  doanmant.  But  the 
school  proposes  to  confer  a  distinction  -which  -will  have  no  legal 
vabe,  which  will  probably  in  many  eases  not  be  made  use  of >  if 
it  is  not  refused,  by  those  to  whom  it  is  given^  which  will  he 
disapproved  of  and  condemned  by  most  of  fiie  existing  homoeo- 
pathic practitioners,  and  which  will  have  the  effect  of  widening 
the  already  large  breach  betwixt  ourselves  and  the  old  school,  to 
say  nothing  of  that  between  parties  in  our  own  ranks. 

And  cut  Ixmo  ?  If  it  could  be  shown  that  our  own  interests, 
those  of  homoeopathy  and  medicine,  those  of  the  public,  could 
he  advBDced  by  this  innovation,  this  leap  in  the  dark,  there 
would  be  some  justification  of  it.  It  jnight  in  such  case  a{>p«ar 
to  he  ahaost  a  neoessitj.  £  v«n  then,  however,  it  would  be  unwise 
to  make  it  in  the  face  of  the  resolution  of  the  British  Homceopaiiuc 
Society.  Such  an  innovation  would  re^[uire  ios  its  jnstifieation 
the  unanimous,  or  almost  unanimous,  approval  of  the  whole 
homoeopathic  body :  and  that  approval  it  wiU  not  obtua. 

To  say  that  the  step  is  not  a  seetarian  one  is  oontraxy  to  the 
fitct.  Whatever  has  tiie  effect  <^f  rounding  us  off  into  a  distmct 
body,  and  of  throwing  us  more  out  of  the  pale  of  recognised 
medicine,  must  be  sectarian,  and  tiiat  this  liceotiateship  will 
have  that  effect  there  can  be  littie  dofubt.  B  is  said,  also,  ttiat 
the  diploma  will  not  constitute  a  license  ta  practise.  But  if  the 
non-possessor  of  it  is  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  as  it  is  said 
he  ynSL  be,  then  he  will  feel  himself  compelled  to  qualify  hnnself 
for  it  before  he  settles  down  in  practice.  To  him,  therefore,  it 
will  be  a  license  to  practise — ^that  is  to  say,  the  diploma  will  be. 

But  though  some  beginning  practice  will  append  the  letters 
L.H.  to  their  names,  a  large  proportion  of  the  medical  men 
already  in  practice  will  not  do  so.  Our  body  will  then  be  divided 
into  two  classes,  the  licensed  and  the  non-licensed.  Is  this 
desirable  ?  It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  all  can  possess  them- 
selves of  the  diploma.  All  will  not;  and  the  result  wiU  be 
division  and  dissension  amongst  ours^es — a  pazded  public, 
and  a  profiossion  stiU  more  alienated  from  us  than  before,  and 
mih  a  good  jnstiftnatfcm  oC  theiar  alieotttioB. 

Brfore  this  apple  of  £scord  is  thrown  into  our  mMbt  I  hope 
the  school  will  seriously  reconsider  the  matter. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

C.  B.  Eeb. 


252  OOBBBSPOKDBNTB.        ^S^^aSTTISS? 


Btriew,  April,  1  UNI. 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 


0%  We  cannot  undertake  to  return  rejected  manuecrijgU. 

"Dt,  TuTHiLL  Masbt  wishes  us  to  state  that  he  has  zetnzaed  to 
Brighton,  where  his  address  wOl  be  18,  Powis  Boad. 

Ck)mmTinioations,  ^.,  have  been  leoeiyed  from  Mr.  OaiMBBft  (London); 
Dr.  MoBBissoN  (Gamberwell) ;  Dr.  Bates  and  Dr.  Hughes  (Brightan); 
Dr.  GuFTOM  (Northampton) ;  Dr.  Batmbs  (Canterbniy) ;  Dr.  Woodoahs 
(Beigato) ;  Dr.  Masst  (Bednill) ;  Dr.  Mjlddbm  (Birmingham) ;  ICr.  Kxox 
Smaw  (HastingB). 


BOOKS  RECEIVED. 


The  Human  Ear  and  lU  Dieeaeee,  By  W.  H.  Winslow,  HJD.,  HlD. 
New Toik:  Boerieke  & Tafel. 

TrwMoctione  of  the  State  Homaqpathie  Medical  SoeUiiff  of  Pem^ 
tyUHaUa,  1881. 

The  Homaopathie  World. 

The  StudenVe  Journal. 

The  Chemitt  and  Druggiet, 

Burgoyne^e  Magaeine  of  Pharmacy. 

The  New  England  Medical  Qaeette. 

The  Hahnemanaian  Monthly, 

The  New  Tork  Medical  Timet. 

The  North  Amertcan  Journal  of  Homceopathy. 

The  Medical  Advance. 

The  Clinique. 

The  Therapeutic  Gazette, 

The  Medical  Couneellor. 

Boerieke  and  TdfeVe  Bulletin. 

BihliotK^ue  Homceopathique. 

AUgemeine  Horn.  Zeitung, 

El  Criterio  Medico* 

BoUetino  Clinieo. 


Papers,  Dispoisaxy  Beports,  and  Books  for  Beyiew  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pope,  21,  Henrietta  Street,  CaTendish  Square,  W. ;  Dr.  D.  Droi 
Bbowv,  29,  Seymonr  Straet,  Portman  Sqnaxe,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  Ebhkidt, 
16,  MontpeUer  Bow,  Blaokheath,  B.E.  AdTertiaements  and  BosineBa 
eommnnioations  to  be  cent  to  Messrs.  E.  Gouu)  dt  Sov»  69,  Mooigat« 
Street,  £.0. 


MSS^SSTvm!^  HOir<BOPATftY  IN  NBW  YOBK.  263 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMCEOPATHIC    REVIEW 


HOMCEOPATHY  IN  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

In  no  part  of  the  world  has  homoBopathy  had  to  encounter 
A  greater  degree  of  bitterness  of  feeling  from  the  allopathic 
sect  than  it  has  in  the  United  States  of  America.  In  spite, 
however,  of  diatribes  against  it,  in  spite  of  the  expulsion 
from  States  Medical  Societies  of  those  members  who  have 
openly  avowed  their  faith  in  homoeopathy,  in  spite  of  regu- 
lations by  the  American  Medical  Association  of  the  most 
stringent  and  arbitrary  character  to  prevent  professional 
interconrse  between  homoeopaths  and  their  opponents — ^in 
spite  of  all  this  and  many  other  devices  to  assist  in  the 
fulfilment  of  Dr.  Oliveb  Wendell  Holmes'  1842  j)rophecy 
— ^ihat  in  a  few  years  from  that  date  a  globule  would  be  as 
rare  and  great  a  curiosity  as  a  Perkins  tractor  was  then — 
notwithstanding  these  many  and  ingeniously  devised  efforts, 
homoeopathy  has  progressed  in  public  and  in  professional 
favour  more  rapidly  in  the  U.S.A.  than  in  any  other  country 
the  world  over. 

The  effect  of  this  progress  is  now  making  itself  apparent 
in  the  altered  attitude  which  leading  men  in  medicine  are 
flflsuming  towards  homoeopathic  practitioners,  in  the  altered 
tone  in  which  they  speak  of  them  in  medical  societies,  and 
write  regarding  homoeopathy  in  their  journals. 
Yo].  26.  No.  5.  T 


i$4>  HOMCEOPATHy  »  NEW  YORK,  ^^^S^^SyTtttt 

Of  this  we  have  very  fall  evidence  in  the  New  York 
Medical  Times  for  March — a  journal  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  medicme  in  general  and  of  homoeopathy  in 
particular. 

First  of  all  we  notice  that  the  Medical  Socieiy  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  having  recently  adopted  a  new  code  of 
ethical  rules,  unanimously  agreed  to  the  fbUowingi  as  that 
which  should  govern  consultations : — 

«  Members  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  of  the  medical  societies  in  alBliation  therewith,  may  meet  in 
consultation  legally  qnahfied  practitioners  of  medicine.  Emer- 
gencies may  occur  in  which  all  restrictions  should,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  practitioner,  yield  to  the  demands  of  humanity." 

The  adoption  of  this  resolution  has  created  a  good  deal 
of  remark,  not  only  in  medical  circles,  but  in  the  public 
press.  The  Albany  Argus,  for  example,  regards  the  new 
"code"  as  "a  great  step  in  advance.'*  "  The  eflfect,"  it 
says,  '^  of  the  action  of  the  State  Medical  Society  on  the 
matter  of  professional  ethics  is  significant.     •     •     • 

*'  The  amendments  adopted  enlarge  the  limits  and  freedom  of 
consultation  to  a  degree  that  practically  removes  all  restrictions, 
by  giving  the  practitioner  full  liberty  to  construe  or  waive  restric- 
tions in  the  iaterests  of  humanity  or  commanding  exigency.    •    . 

"  The  persistence  of  the  profession  in  a  policy  which  pro- 
claimed its  sense  or  theory  of  inability  to  trust  to  the  honour  and 
conserving  power,  of  which  its  educative  processes  are  the  factors 
and  its  personnel  the  guardians  and  exponents,  has  not  dazed 
laymen,  for  they  knew  the  precautions  and  traditions  on  which  it 
was  based.  They  also  knew  that  it  had  survived  the  necessity 
for  it  and  would  soon  go  to  meet  the  effete  causes  which  called  it 
into  being.  It  may  be  said  that  medicine  cannot  insure  eveiy 
one  entering  it  being  a  gentleman.  Neither  can  any  profession; 
but  medicine  and  any  profession  can  insure  a  great  mugorityof 
every  collection  of  its  members,  in  every  community,  being 
gentlemen,  and  the  associated  principle  of  action  among  doctors. 


IS^SS^rSSi!^  OMKEOPATBT  IN  NEW  TORE.  MB 

I  ~      Ilia-  ■■    .  ■  I  «. 

•eenres  majority  nile,  and  tiM  Befofiiit  suprtmaey  and  gorern*^ 
ment  of  genUeman,  The  argameiitof  doabt  and  dislniat  anawem 
iftaelf ,  wlaen  pioparlj  ezte&ded.     •    •    . 

^'Thefomial  oblitaraikm  of  the  ban  of  separation  in  feUovship 
and  aeti<Ki  bettireein  what  are  misoalled  allopathy  and  homcao* 
poihj,  ifl  the  zecognition  of  the  indiriaibiliiy  of  the  eeienee  of 
mfadieine,  whieh  the  inteUigenoe  of  the  age  Icmg  ago  realised, 
whieh  the  action  of  progressive  dootors,  of  both  classes,  long  agb* 
taeitly  effeeted,  and  whieh  the  enlightenment  of  patients  long  aga 
praetieallj  insisted  an  apid  seoased..  The  age  has  oanse  to  con* 
gratolate  itself  on  the  results  aeooied  and  the  &ot  that  foil  liberty 
no  longer  knocks  at  the  door^bot  is  across  the  threshold  and  wiE 
0ocm  set  up  housekeeping  as  a  foil  owner  and  not  as  a  mere  gnesi 
or  tenant  by  eonrtesy.    .     •    • 

"  The  Society  has  broken  the  back  of  the  ancient  medical  code. 
Consaltation  with  legally  recognised  physicians  is  now  permitted* 
Oansnltation  with  anybody,  under  such  circnmstanoes  as  sound 
a  paramount  call  to  humanity,  is  pennitted.  The  physicians  are 
to  be  the  jodges  of  the  circumstances.  The  progressiYeness  of 
the  society  is  one  of  the  sensatums  of  the  times." 

Then,  again,  the  discnssion  of  the  questions  inyolyed  ia 
consultation  has  led  to  the  examination  of  homoBopathjr 
itself  at  the  meetings  of  medical  societies.  Thus  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Wayne  County  Medical  Society  (Michigan) — 

"  Dr.  Devedorf  read  a  paper  on  *  Consultation  and  Affiliation 
with  Homoeopaths.'  He  took  the  ground  that  as  regular  physi- 
cians, we  are  bound  down  by  no  dogma,  but  that  with  the  whole 
fidd  of  nature  before  us  it  is  our  privilege,  with  perfect  con- 
sistency, to  choose  whatsoever  is  of  value  -in  the  treatment  of 
disease.  We  acknowledge  no  universal  law  of  cure  any  niore 
than  we  recognise  the  existence  of  any  universal  panacea,  but 
profiting  by  the  labours  of  our  professional  brethren,  in  the 
laboratory  or  in  the  sick  room,  accepting  nothing  on  any  one's 
ipse  dixity  it  is  our  duty  to  submit  all  to  the  test  of  our  own 
experience,  and  then  to  accept  or  reject  according  to  the  result  of 
auch  test.    Let  us  in  tins  process  avoid  bigotry  and  not  wrap 

T— 2 


266  HOM(EOPATHY  IN  NEW  YORK.  ^'^SSSL 


onnelYes  in  a  garment  of  ezoliisi^«iieiS  and  oiy  out  to  ihoBo  lAo 
differ  from  ns,  *  stand  afar  off;  thou  art  miclean.' 

**  Homoeopathy  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  reaetion  in  medidne. 
When  it  came  to  ns,  a  few  years  ago,  its  supposed  noveltf 
attraeied  a  certain  class  of  peoj^y  who  afkerwards  became  its 
allies  and  champions  in  consequence  of  the  fierce  and  bitter 
warfiue  waged  against  it  by  the  so-called  old  school  physiciaBi. 
The  ranks  of  its  practitioners  were  filled,  firstly  by  those  who, 
though  few  in  number,  were  honest  m  their  opinions  and  edn- 
eated  in  their  profession.  Secondly,  by  those  who,  devoid  of 
honesty,  were  shrewd  enough  to  recognise  a  partial  drift  of  puUie 
opinion  and  a^ail  themselYes  of  the  current  to  achieve  snceoai. 
Thirdly,  and  most  largely,  by  the  ignorant,  who  discovered  here 
new  fields  of  labour.  But  the  years  which  have  passed  have 
wrought  a  change  iu  all  this.  There  is  in  the  universe  of  mind 
A  law  analogous  to  the  grand  law  of  gravitation,  which  rules  and 
controls  the  physical  world.  In  obedience  to  this  law  eocentrie 
movements  are  corrected,  and  the  pendulum  which  maiks  the 
oscillation  of  public  opinion,  firom  one  extreme  to  the  other,  tends 
at  last  to  fiiU  and  rest  at  the  centre  of  gravity — ^which  is  truth. 

**  And  so  with  homoeopathy,  after  the  first  few  years  in  iviiich 
ignorance  and  irregularity  in  its  practitioners  were  overlooM 
and  condoned  on  account  of  the  attractiveness  of  a  new  doetriue, 
there  came  a  change ;  its  followers,  the  charm  of  novelty  having 
worn  away,  discerned  the  fiiolts  of  their  leaders,  and  demanded 
physicians  of  a  better  dass,  men  of  more  honesty,  better  edu- 
eation  and  higher  cultnre.  In  response  to  this  demand,  better 
men  have  come  to  the  fixmt,  and  ignorance  and  dishonesty  are 
being  crowded  back. 

"  The  educated  homoeopathist  differs  in  no  material  respect 
firom  the  educated  regular  physician.  He  recognises  the  &ct 
that  there  is  a  truth  in  the  dictom  simUia  dndUbut  eura$Uur,  but 
scouts  the  universal  i^fdicability  of  the  dogma  as  a  law  of  cureu 
The  thoughtful  and  observant  physician  of  any  consideraUe 
experience  cannot  but  have  recognised  a  truth  in  the  dogma,  and 
in  so  far  as  it  is  true  it  is  his  duty  and  privilege  to  accept  it 


ISfSSH^y^TS^  HOUOBOPATHT  IK  H8W  TOBK.  267 


Zkb  troth  aiioidd  form  %  oftmmoti  ground  an  whieh  honMBopfttli 
and  regolar  ahonld  meet.  As  educated  men  there  can  be  no 
diftranoe  betvreein  them  except  on  the  qaeetum  of  therapeatics, 
and  this  is  not  the  only  qnestion  inTofared  in  a  consultation. 

''Dr.  DeirendoKf 'wovdd  adTocate  the  meeting  of  homoaopalhs 
in  eonnseland  go  with  them  as&r  as  pofnible,  reserving  the  rif^ 
in  SQish  oonanltationj  as  in  eonaoltation  with  a  '  regolar/  to  differ 
and  to  give  his  reasons  for  so  doing  when  his  yiews  are  at 
laiianee  with  those  of  the  consultant,  and  thns  throw  the  case 
into  the  hands  of  the  patient  fat  decision  as  to  who  should  take 
ohaxge  of  the  case.  In  this  way,  he  thonghti  homoBopathy  would 
Booaoet  be  brooght  to  its  proper  level.  This  coarse  would  deprive 
the  system  of  the  pahnlnm,  on  which  it  thrives,  viz.,  persecntion. 
*  Let  ns,'  he  said  in  condnding  his  interesting  paper, '  hold  firmly 
those  things  whose  tmth  has  been  established ;  let  us  be  ready 
to  give  up  and  cast  aside  all  theories,  however  dear  they  may  be 
to  US,  if  they  are  proven  false.  We  are  yet  groping  in  the  dark ; 
bets  whieh  long  years  of  experience  have  placed  in  our  pos« 
seseion,  dnes  that  we  have  laid  hold  upon,  seem  oftentimes  to 
lead  us  in  diffinrent  and  even  contrary  directions ;  but  I  am  t(mr 
fidant  that  in  the  iatore  they  will  all  be  reconciled,  for  I  believe 
that  back  and  beyond  them  all,  there  b  one  grand  iherapeutio 
law,  which  will  be  revealed  to  us  when  Jifo  and  its  processes  are 
no  langac  a  mystery.'  " 

In  the  discnssioit  which  followed  Dr.  Mtjlhbron  said :— ^ 
««  Homceopathy  is  too  often  condamned  at  sight,  and  without 
a  previous  enquiry  into  its  nature.  He  had  taken  some  pains  to 
look  into  it  and  was  convinced  that  it  contained  a  very  unportaat 
law  of  cure— one  of  the  laws  of  cure,  for  there  are  severaL 
There  is  not  a  physician  who  does  not  daify  unwittingly  treat 
diseann  aeoordiug  to  this  law.  He  instanced  the  protective 
infiuenee  cl  vaccinia  against  vanola,  the  local  application  of  the 
mitigatml  stick  to  granular  lids,  the  iigestian  of  a  solntion  of 
nitrate  of  silver  in  dysentery,  and  the  appUcstion  of  a  blister  to 
m  old,  ill-eonditioiied  ulder  as  indispntaUe  iltestrations  of  thO' 
^Mttking.  of  the  kw  of  simiiiB  9imUibu$  turuntur.    There  is  a 


$68  QOMOiOPATHY  IK  NAW  TOBK*  ''t^^SclSTim 

imth  in  hoznQBOpaiUiy  and  it  is  tlM  4aiy  of  the  laagniar  pfajmbm 
to  ntUifle  it." 

.  Ajid  ihirdly,  passing  from  the  societies  to  th«  joiinialB» 
we  find  Dr.  BEODiB-^the  PresideQt  of  the  Wayne  Connfy 
Society — ^writing  as  follows  in  the  I^erapmtic  OazMe^  ol 
wliieh  he  is  the  editor : — 

*'  Hie  qfuestion  of  the  propriety  as  well  as  the  possilrility  of 
regnisr  praetitionen  of  medieine,  so-eaHed,  holding  eonstdtaiictt 
with  faomoBopathie  physieians  ht  the  bedside  of  the  patient  is  om 
wfaieh  has  reee&tly  come  prominently  to  the  front  in  England, 
partioulariy  dnring  the  past  year.  And  although  drenmstanoes 
have  favoured  this  prominence  in  that  coimtry,  the  qnestiea  is 
one  in  which  the  profesAon  of  this  oonntty  are  not  less  interested, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  has  received  comparativeiy  litfle 
attention  on  this  side  the  Atlaulio.  Our  British  brethren  are 
anything  but  liable  to  be  easily  distiubed  by  trivial  causes,  and 
the  fact  that  there  has  been  a  very  general  discussion  on  (his 
subject,  pro  and  am^  in  their  medical  societies  and  medioal 
journals,  indicates  a  deep  undereurrent  of  interest  in  the  matter. 
This  discussion  indicates  a  veiy  marked  change  in  sentiment  from 
that  which  obtained  even  a  decade  ago,  when  to  have  entertained 
the  proposition  of  consultation  and  affliation  with  the  homcBO- 
patbs  would  have  cost  the  physician  most  exalted  in  his 
profession,  his  rank  and  even  recognition  as  a  respectable  prac- 
titioner. But  the  world  moves,  and  to-day  we  find  those  hi^  in 
authority  in  England-^msn  who  for  a  fnU  generation  have  been 
bri^t  particular -stars  in  the  medieal  firmament — not  only  enter* 
taining  such  a  proposilion,  but  actually  meeting  at  the  bednie 
those  who  pin  their  frith  to  the  law  of  similars  in  iherapeutieSy 
and  their  standing  is  not  pereeptibly  affected  by  the  act. 

**  We,  in  this  eountry,  notwithstandii^  our  daims  to  inde* 
pendeaoe,  are  stiU  largely  doaiDated  byBnrqpean  aathority,  and 
fte  fret  that  the  movement  indicated  is  on  foot  across  the  seas 
makes  it  adviaahle  for  ns»  mndi  as  we  nugr  ditfke  te  do  so,  ia 
oast  about  for  an. easy  place  en  which  to  drop  from  the  high 
poaition  wa  hare  assumed  on  the  ^pestion  of  fte  lecogoBtione^ 


wSSSS^'SStu^Sl^  boikbopatht in kbw tobk.         35d 

Moi  ftftlitttion  wiftkt  liomcMpailiy.  individually,  the  pill  woqU 
!>•  as  yet  a.Utto  one&r  os  to  awaUow,  but  the  yeet  lew  yeen 
iiane  veetedit  inth  eeveial  layen  of  e^gu  eoetmg,  and  we  eannol 
^eloee  oar  ejeB  to  the  poattUUty  of  the  additkA  of  eneh  layers  ift 
Ae  eottparatirejy  near  foiiire  as  wiU  render  it  fiur  from  die- 
iaetefiiL  Xhe  laet  o£  the  loatter  ia,  there  is  a  ehange  going  on, 
aad  the  eonditiooa  irtneh  render  the  pvopoeitum  to  conenH  with 
A  hamoBepath,  a  few  yean  age  nflwve  to  eveiy  eense  of  ethieal 
and  Mientiie  propriefy,  have  been  vexy  largely  eliminated  from 
ihe  foeetf^tt^  -We  can  remember , when  the  term  '  homodopath^ 
"wae  ptaeiieal^  qmanymooa  with  ignonmoe  of  the  fandamentale 
^md  eHfwmfa'ali  of  medieine  in  him  who  sailed  nnder  that  eolonr. 
We  can  resMmber,  too,  wlien  among  *  regolars '  methods  whieh 
sxe  now  regarded  as  erode  were  held  in  hig^  fsToar,  and  when 
the  saee^as  of  the  dose  was  apparently  largely  eonditioned  in  its 
aaaseoiUBiesai  The  paet  qnarter  of  a  centnry,  however,  has 
wroni^  a  very  material  ehange  in  these  regards.  Thehonueo- 
jath  haa  foand  that  something  mete  than  a  mere  paktabiiity  of 
iue  medioinee  is  neoessaiy  to  souessfol  therapeosis,  and  the 
-*  regular '  that  palatabiliiy  is  in  ihrnlf  not  only  an  onobjeeticmable 
psoperfy  of  a  dose,  hoi  thai  it  is  one  which  shonld  be  positively 
4HLltivated«  Xhe  hoUHSopath  has  &i»d  (hat  a  little  more  than  a 
tineture  Jot  moonshine  {s  neoeoBaiy  to  therapeutios,  and  the 
-'regolar'  thait  a  little  less  tha^i  forked  lightning  will,  in  a 
m^oriij  of  instances,  anvwer  aIl.praefioal  paosposes*  Xhns  the 
two  have  been  gradnally  appnoaching  each  other  from  c^posite 
di^reetions,  and  it  is  not  b^^nd  the  bpnnds  of  the  poesible-^t  is, 
indeed,  within  those  of  the  probable,  that  they  may,  in  the  not 
distant  future,  get  near  enongh  to  clasp  hands  and  laa|^  together 
4yver  the  eoasnnunate  idiocy  of  their  graoddaddies. 

**  The  fast  that  there  is  a  troth  m  l^omcBopathy  will  scarcely  he 
•denied  by  a^y  one  who  has  taken  palps  to  investigate  its  claims* 
Booh  willalso  scarcely  deny  the  fiiet  that. its  former  daim  of  the 
muyersalajpplicabiUty  of  the  law  fit  dmiim  dmiUbu$  curcur^r  is 
nmtenable.  It  is,  lorthermore,  we  believe,  an  indisputable  fiuft 
ihat  nine-tfnths  of  those  who  to-day  style  tMiq^vef  '  hcHPacaa* 


260  BOiKfiOPATHY  IN  KBW  TOBK.      TSS!SJ!uS^hwS[ 

^attm '  aure  soeh  only  m  muooe — fbmi  is,  that  iksy  da  not  pnoiiae 
what  the  BBme  Qnder  ndiieh  ihey  Mil  imiilies,  fii.,  thai  thej 
prescKibe,  under  ell  dieoBftuiMe,  on  the  theoiy  that  the  in^ 
given  prodneee  in  the  patient  a  modified  iona  of  the  eijeluig 
dieeaee  whkhy  running  ite  eonne*  ezhaoste  the  saeeeptibility  of 
the  eyetem  to  the  oiiginal  diitafeing  cenae.    Ineofiur  aaihejdia 
not  do  this  they  are  ineoniintant,  if  not  aetnally  dJehoaaat,  and 
herein  lies  the  chief  ol;9eetMn   to  oar  affiliation  irith  thenu 
Aaeoimng  the  dietbotive  nama^of  homcaopatti,  honeefy  demanda 
ihat  they  ehoold  fellow  eneh  praetiee  aa  the  name  imphea,  to  ita 
legitinaie  conelnsionB,  It  ia  oar  priYilegey  not  being  boond  doimt 
hj  any  tradition  or  name^  to  preicribe  honuaopatfaicaUy  ahoold 
we  eooehide  that»  in  a  given  cMe»  aaeh  pzaeeiiption  be  piopar, 
bnt  the  homiaopath  aa  such,  moat  traTel  in  the  nairow  rot  of  hia 
dogma.    Let  him  who  now  ohana  ia  be  a  honuBopath,  b«t  vHia 
ia  only  partially  mohi  stiike  from  hia  sign  the  distinetm  iqipeUar 
tion,  andif  he  be  an  edoeated  man»  that  is  in  sach  essentiala  of 
medicine  as  constitute  common  gioond  between  all  *  schools '  of 
tbarapeatic8»  the  day  of  the  affiliation  with  those  now  yelepi 
honuBopaths  will  be  broo^t  qoite  near." 

Then,  again»  Dr.  Sfbbb  pabKahea  the  fbllowfaig  reioaik- 
ably  ontspoken  article  in  a  reoent  nomber  of  the  Me^Ucal 
Becard — ^the  leading  medical  jonmal  in  the  United  States : — 

**  Although  homoeopathy  has  bean  received  with  derision  by  a 
vast  migority  of  the  medical  worid,  it  has  steadily  progressed  in 
favour,  overcoming  obstacle  after  obstacle,  untQ  to-day  the 
^stem  of  mediobe  founded  upon  it  numbers  among  its  patrona 
and  steadfast  friends  a  large  proportion  of  the  more  inteUigeni 
and  cultored  people  of  each  community.  It  is  recognised  in 
some  of  our  universities.  Our  State  Boards  of  Health  are  in 
part  composed  of  homoBopaUsts.  Some  of  our  State  instita- 
•tloBs  are  controlled  by  themt  and  in  a  late  number  of  the 
Medical  Bscard  it  is  announced  that  the  Bh^hamton  Aaiylam 
for  the  Insane  has  been  placed  under  flie  medical  charge  of  a 
homceopathist.  This  is  the  second  asylum  for  the  insane  in  the 
"State  of  New  Yoih  under  homoeopathic  control     Oonsultatkni 


tS^,SSTSmf^  HOMOSaPATHT  IN  KBW  70BK.  981 

irittt  bomiBapttttysti  has  bMn  adtOMied  by  tueli  mm  a» 
Joiu41iftii  HniahjnBoa  and  Jahn  Sjer  Bxistow.  With  Mich  £»t» 
rtaring  US  in  tha  &(0e,  it  b^ooiftMi  otir  dnty,  as  honaat  pneti* 
tioBfln  of  tho  faeatiiig  art»  ta  iavestigftti,  ealmly  and  ihoroDghly, 
the  dainaB  of  homoM^thj,  and  if  we  find  thai  it  teaohes  the  ase 
of  any  mnediee  whieh,  used  aocofldiiig  to  this  syatam*  are  more 
iUDcesafiEd  in  the  eare  id  diseaae  than  those  lemediea  we  have 
Jbeea  tao^t  to  piesetibey  we  are  boUad  by  ho&oor»  duty,  to  say 
aothiiig  of  self-interest,  to  ase  them*  The  sobgeet  is  too  Tast  to 
be  eonsidered  in  a  single  paper.  I  shaU,  therefore,  seket  two 
medicinal  snbstances,  viz.,  acomU  and  mercuryt  and  shall  try  to 
psoTe,  by  onr  own  standard  aathorities,  that  when  we  are 
aneeessfol  in  treating  diseases  with  them,  it  is  in  accordance 
with  the  homoBopathio  doctrine,  and  althongh  all  sorts  of 
explanations  are  advanced  as  to  their  modus  operandi^  the 
plain  simple  iiMt  is,  that  Hahnemann  gave  the  symptoms  and 
treatment  years  ago  that  PtofiB.  Bartholow  and  Eingor  now 
emphasise. 

^'  Are  we  better  qualified  to-day,  so  fiu:  as  having  a  definito 
knowledge  why  we  nse  certain  drugs,  in  coring  disease  than  we 
were  fifty  years  ago  ? 

"  Will  any  gentleman  present  es^lain  to  me  why  he  uses. 
mtreury  in  any  disease  ?  Have  we  really  made  any  progress  in 
the  practice  of  medicine  except  what  has  been  forced  upon  ns  by 
those  whom  we  regard  as  icregidsr  practitioners  ?  " 

These  are  serions  questions,  and  should  command  omr 
.earnest  attention. 

After  going  over  the  curative  action  of  ocontt^  and 
mercury^  Dr.  Spseb  shows  that  the  special  indications  for 
the  drags  are  alone  found  in  homoeopathic  authorities.  In 
reference  to  mercwry  he  says : — 

**  Kowy  gentlemen,  after  the  statement  of  Prof.  Binger,  that 
in  one  form  of  dianhflsa  UMaride  of  menmiy  acts  more  satis* 
fceloriiy,  and  in  another  form  gray  powder,  where  shall  we  go  to* 
obtain  some  explanationor  reason  for  this?    Have  we  an  author 


fl02         JicanE^iiTET  tk  hew  tobx.  *lS^fO!'iI'St 

,wlio  will  point  it  oat  to  m  ?  If  «»  hwra,  I  hftve  &iled  to  toA 
lum.  Oa  the  contrary,  the  mere  I  fltwKed  Ifce  maHer  ths 
-gr««(er  wu  m;  coofodoB,  oatfl  I  Mof^t  m  hDmoMpKUu«  wgritt 
Jin-  ft  Kdaiioo,  &□!  then  I  fband  it  dear  ntd  Blnpls ;  and  I  -aa/j 
flftf  that  the  indio«tioiu  for  the  ose  of  Um  diffarent  HMrotaid 
pMpanticBBs  as  poiotad  ont  by  fte  eailier  homeeopathie  writenf, 
AM  thoM  by  wfaioh  they  are  now  -gorenied  is  praaBoe.  Wt 
adopt  the  treatment  em^ieidy,  koA  aie  in  a  measoi*  tracMW- 
fbl ;  bat  not  neogniang  the  taw  \^  wbiiA  it  is  admiiiiatared,  in 
me  the  lemedy  at  a  great  disadnaitage. 

"  lliere  are  tvo  things  in  homisopathy  that  at  once  antago- 
nise the  regular  physidan.  The  similia  principle,  and  the  size 
of  the  doBB  adminigtered ;  and  the  feeling  is  so  bitter,  that 
Bcorcely  a  phynctan  can  be  found  who  will  make  the  least 
InTestagafaon  of  it.  The  principle  of  eimilia,  &a.,  no  matter  how 
much  ve  may  deny  it,  is  stiQ  the  only  one  by  which  we  can 
«xplain  the  action  of  many  of  bar  most  potent  remedies.  Second, 
in  administering  drags,  we  aim  to  give  jost  enoa((h  to  prove 
cnratiTe  in  the  disease  we  are  treating.  No  school  of  medicine, 
I  bdieve,  attempts  to  do  more.  Homceopathiats  elium  tliat  ihdr 
method  of  preparing  drags  is  saperior  to  onrs,  and  that  they  can 
obtun  the  same  lesnHs  irith  mncfa  smaHer  doses.  Dr.  iSaiej 
(Homaopalhte  Thmtn/  tmd  Praettet  of  VeHeitu,  page  119| 
18S0),  writfa^  on  this  snbjeet,  says :  '  Tlte  advantagee  irtdcfa  w 
-obtain  from  a  miimte  sabdivifMHi  of  cnida  anbstancefl  ar«  ai 
iaiOwB : — 

" '  Fint. — ^We  develop  every  part  of  the  aetJTe  principle  per- 
taining lo  the  snbsbwce  by  breaking  np  all  natural  organiaation 
or  arraogemeot  betw«en  its  molecnleH,  and  thos  exposing  » large 
1  of  octet'*  Bor&ce,  which  would  otherwise  have  renwaed 

'ieemd. — By    diatnbatiiig.  tiieee    molerake    intimately 
boat  an  inert  vebiole  (sogac  or  mter),  thay  ace  iu  duxp 
absorbed  by  the  deliaate  laeteals  and  abearbenta  Ihaa 
and  irritating  partiolei  of  matter. 


Uajh 


jscmasoPATHT  m  new  toik.         388 


**  *  ThMU^^Whrn  tbtat  niniiis  slonB  htan  been  oouYeyed  hf 
•ilie  blood  to  thoee  putB  witti  which  4hey  htt?B  mi  affinity,  thoj 
iponetcmte  tfaa  nudlcst  TesMb,  iapnss  the  minQtett  sentient 
nerves,  and  become  productive  of  resntti  entiveljr  anattBinable  hj 
JxngB  in  a  orade  fi>na» 

''  'F(iNiri4.~Ihiriag  the  aeiof  «iibdimioii  it  is  not  improbaU^ 
4luit  the  atoms  of  dragB  sonoMiunes  beeeme  oxidised,  and  thw 
acquire  new  and  inoreaaed  powesSb 

"  '  FinaUy, — ^We.  in&r  that  no  new  pnopeitaas  are  developed 
l>y  the  homoBopathic  method  of  preparing  drags,  except  such  as 
arise  from  the  mere  anbdivision  of  their  particles,  and  that  all 
ideas  respecting  gpintuaUBoUonf  dynamisation^  and  magnetism  in 
the  preparation  of  medicines  are  erroneous  and  mitenable.  In 
regard  to  the  repetition  of  doses,  we  are  to  be  guided  by  the 
-acute  or  ehronie  nature  of  the  mah4y,  the  orgenoy  and  danger  of 
the  symptoms,  and  the  effects  produced  by  the  medidae.* 

"  Dr.  H.  G.  Piffard,  Professor  of  Dermatology,  University  of 
ITew  York,  in  his  McUeria  Medica  and  Therapeutice  of  tlie  Skin 
'  (article  '  Mercury '),  says :  *  Since  we  have  used  the  tritorationi^ 
iiowever,  in  praferenoe  to  the  ordiaaiy  pilb,  patients  more  lare^ 
eomplain  of  disagreeable  sensations.  We  have  further  been 
-enabled  to  materially  reduce  the  size  of  the  dose  in  order  to 
obtain  the  desired  effect.  In  other  words,  a  larger  proportion  of 
-the  drug  is  utilised  for  specific  purposes,  while  but  a  smaU 
jonoimt  remains  to  give  rise  to  local  irritaiian,  I  have  nothing 
to  add  to  this,  he  says,  except  that  I  continue  to  use  triturations 
<of  mercury  and  other  substances  with  increasing  satisfaction.' 

**  Dr.  Piffard  began  with  the  first  and  second  decimal  tritura- 
iiocB;  how  much  higher  he  goes  he  does  not  say. 

"  These  are  aU  the  drugs  to  wtnch  I  shall  allude  in  this  paper. 
Of  my  own  personal  experience  in  the  use  of  them  I  shall  say 
notliing.  My  only  wish  is  that  we  may  investigate  the  subject 
^careMly  and  wisely,  and  if  we  find  that  the  principle  of  eirniUa 
mmHilnm  (Maroa^tm^  even  to  a-  limited  exteni,  is  eosreet,  it  is  our 
duty  at  once  to  admit  it.  And  if  the  administration  of  drugs  in 
jninute. doses,  in  the  fpnn  of  dilntipus.'and  triturations,  is  more 


364    EXPEBISHCS  WITH  HOMIBOPATHT.  ^^S^SVjliST 

benefioial  ttuun  irheii  giy«ii  is  the  waul  fimn  and  waj,  we  shoold 
i^t  onoe  admtfwladgtt  it ;  and  not  only  tiiai»  wa  akould  maka 
good  use  of  them,  so  far  aa  they  ma.7  go,  in  troatiiig  those  who 
JBAJ  be  placed  in  onr  eare. 

**  To  alleviate  the  pain  and  distress  of  the  siek  in  the  easiest 
and  pleasantest  manner  posaMe  ought  to  be  the  eomtant  stady 
of  the  phyaieiiai,  and  the  simple  eizease  far  not  infestigating  this 
sabjeet,  that  so  much  prejudice  has  been  aroused  by  it,  is  mi- 
worthy  the  dignity  <tf  the  medical  profession." 

EXPERIENCE    WITH    HOMCEOPATHY. 
By  Idb  Stettin,  M.D.* 

<«  I  am  neither  allopath  nor  homcBopath;  I  am  Batisfied  to  call  mjadf 
a  physioian."— lurBBT  GbmtBEna. 

I  IK)  not  attempt  to  engage  in  the  present  hot  discusion  as 
to  the  merits  of  homoeopathy — a  discnssion  which  can 
aever  be  decided  a  priori.  Sach  a  procedure  verifies  the 
old  adage,  Invidia  medicorum  pessima,  I  wish  only  to  let 
fiedr  and  precise  experience  speak.  This  alone  is  conclusiye 
on  the  subject.  I  wish  to  show  from  the  daily  practice  of 
a  non-homcBopathio  physician  that  the  Habnemamiian 
aphorism,  HnHlia  simiMbus  curafUar,  is  really  of  hi|^ 
therapeutic  worth,  and  if  indeed,  not  a  therapeutic  law,  is 
at  least  a  valuable  guide.  I  wish  also  to  show  that  small 
and  very  small  doses  work  cures'.  Such  candour  on  my 
part  may  appear  at  this  time  critical  and  dangeroas,  but  I 
hold  it  to  be  my  duty  to  acknowledge  openly  what  I  know 
to  be  the  troth. 

It  was  no  culpable  inquisitiveness  that  led  me  to  stretch 
out  my  hand  for  the  forbidden  fruit.  It  was  necessity,  it 
was  tlie  desire  to  aid  my  patients  in  cases  which  the 
methods  and  expmences  of  the  school  had  left  in  the 
lurch;  oases,  too,  which  have  not  been  exceptional,  but 
which  other  physicians  also  fiedl  to  cure.  I  believe  thai 
such  a  situation  excuses  the  practical  physician  for  solus 
(egroti  suprema  lex. 

Has  it  not  happened  to  me — and  I  know  that  many 
oolleagues  have  had  the  same  experience— that  patients 


t*- 


«  Translated   from   the   Berliner  JUgemeine    Medieinieehe    Centrai 
Zeitung,  for  the  Sahnemannian  Monthly,  by  8.  Lflienthid,  M.D. 


ts«ated  by  m  for  a  longer  or  flliMter  period  wtthont  benefit, 
have  been  restored  to  healthy  and  aometimes  regy  rapidly, 
by  homoBopatbio  treatment?  It  is,  indeed,  nonsenae  to 
attempt  a  jasiification  by  claiming  the  core  to  be  effected 
by  proper  diet,  natnre,  &c*  The  pnblio  do  not  believe  it 
and  simply  ask,  why  we  did  not  nse  the  same  effective 
means  ?  I  consider  it  dishonest,  and  the  public  look  upon 
it  as  an  evidence  of  bitter  envy,  when  we  meer  at  homcBo* 
pathic  cnres. 

**  There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  Horatio, 
ihan  are  dreamt  of  in  yonr  pbolosophy,"  and  what  appears 
to  us  incomprehensihle  and  amazing  need  not,  therefore, 
be  false. 

It  would  be  more  honourable  to  admit  onr  ignorance  of 
this  therapeutic  method,  and  to  study  not  alone  the  doc- 
trine of  homoBopathy,  but  also  with  all  fiuthfolness  and 
earnestness  its  Materia  Sledica,  and  to  prove  its  value 
and  truth  as  asserted  by  so  large  a  number  of  physicians. 

This  was  my  motive  in  writing  this  article  and  in  giving 
the  following  Hst  of  cases,  and  I  can  promise  any  non« 
prejudiced  colleague  that  he  may  be  in  a  position  to  aid  his 
patients  more  than  heretofore,  as  well  as  to  confer  on  him* 
self  much  peace  and  satisfaction : 

1.  Arsenic  and  DioarrhcB€u — ^That  arsenin  in  small  doses 
causes  Tomiting  and  diarrhoBa,  which  are  not  seldom  bloody 
end  watery,  also  great  prostration,  can  be  read  in  any  book 
on  Materia  Medica. 

Kurt  BL,  St.  fiye  months  was  brought  to  me,  suffering 
with  entero-coUtis.  He  vomited  occasionally ;  his  passages 
were  frequent,  watery,  with  streaks  of  blood,  and  discharged 
as  if  shot  out  of  a  pistol ;  moaning,  tenesmus,  and  gieat 
prostration.  My  first  prescription  failed  to  relieve.  I 
then  prescribed  aolut.  an.  Fawleri  guttas  duos  ad  75 
grammes  (18  teaspoonfhls)  aqua,  a  teaspoonful  every  two  to 
three  hours.  The  next  day  the  number  of  passages 
diminished,  and  were  less  watery,  with  no  signs  of  blood. 
Instead  of  this,  however,  there  was  oedema  of  the  face,  par- 
ticularly of  the  lower  eyelids,  which  the  mother  correctly 
ascribed  to  the  effects  of  the  medicine.  I  therefore  admin- 
istered the  remedy  at  longer  intervals  and  in  smaller 
quantities.  In  three  or  four  days  the  intestinal  secretion 
was  entirely  arrested,  but  the  cedema  of  the  &ce  still 
renudned,  and  to  this  was  added  reddening  of  the  ^ges  of 
the  lids. 


266  EXPBBIBlffOB  WITH  HOMiBOFliTHY.   ^"b^.  liiiy  i;  im^ 

<  These  symptoms  aie  fonad'so  frequently  to  be  oMifeMd  If 
anenicy  tiaiat  I  can  safely  claim  that  orgenie  aeted.  And 
this  was  due  to  two  drops  of  Fowler's  solution  divided  over 
a  period  of  five  days. 

2.  Arsenio  and  Abi^e$$eB.'^ThBt  ar$€mc  from  long^oon^ 
tinned  application  acts  injxixioasly  npon  the  akin,  producing 
even  deep  ulcesatimiBy  thair  the  pains  are  mostly  of  a 
homing  diaract«r  with  nightly  aggravations,  may  be  found 
not  only  in  the  so-called  Materia  Medica  PurOf  but  also  in 
the  text-books  of  the  schodl.  The  frequent  exhibition  of 
m^enic  in  chrosiie  exanthemata  is  thereibre  homoBopathic 
(homoeopathia  involuntazia)»  Still  move  striking  is  its 
action  in  peculiar  obstinate  ulcers  of  the  feet,  with  great 
destruction,  puffed  callouls  edges,  with  hard  infiltration 
of  the  surrounding  parts  and  accompanied  by  severe 
l>uming  pains,  robbing  the  patients  of  sleep  and  driving 
tibiem  from  bed. 

I  succeeded  in  curing  an  nicer  of  the  lower  limb  in  an 
old  decrepit  woman  who  had  been  troubled  with  itfor  years* 
I  prescribed  sobd.  Fowleri  gvitag  tree  ad  100-  grammei 
(25  teaspoomfnls)  aqua,  a.  teaspoonful  three  times  a  day,  in 
connection  with  the  external  use  of  (d  carbolicum. 

The  pains  subsided  at  once,  and  the  woman  was  able  to 
sleep  the  first  night  after  the  medicine  was  taken. 

3.  It  is  well  known  that  the  antinumial  preparations, 
and  especially  tart,  atibiaius,  promote  secretion  from  the 
respiratory  mucous  membrane  and  also  from  the  skin. 

This  fact  enabled  me  to  cure  one  of  my  patients  homo^- 
pathically,  who  was  suffering  with  emphysema  and  chronie 
bronchial  catanfa,  and  who  every  foil  and  spring  had 
feverish  exacerbations  of  his  catarrh,  accompanied  by  pro* 
fuse  expectorations  and  drenching  sweat.  Tart,  atib,  cured 
the  exacerbations  in  four  or  five  days,  though  the  chronio 
disease  remained.  I  prescribed  tart.  stib.  0.01  ad  200 
grammes  (50  teaapoonfuls)  aqtue,  one  teaspoonfol  eveiy 
three  hours.  Formerly  it  took  me  weeks  to  accomplish 
the  same  resuH. 

4.  Calcium  eulfuratum^  hepar  ealeisiy  is  but  httle  used  lyy 
our  school,  and  Bematidk  (Eulenburg's  Real  Encgdapadief 
vol.  ii)  does  not  even  menti(»i  it.  And  still  I  should  not 
like  to  do  without  this  remedy,  which  is  prixed  so  highly 
and  so  freqnently  used  by  the  homoeopath.  It  is  therefore 
no  httle  satisfaction  to  me  to  find  that  Sidney  Binger, 
in  his  handbook  of  Therapevtics,  warmly  recommends  it : 


!•  In  ulcaraiioiis  with  uDbfioltliy  ftm;  2«  loflantmfitioiiai 
which  thrertea  to  exki  in  Bapptiiati/pn,  m  its  ^xhibiticn 
j^ventfl  its  andTing  at  that  sta^e;  8.  Id  ahready  formed^ 
abscesses,  as  blood  boils  and  carbonolesi  as  it  hastens  the 
fonnation  of  pus,  the  opening  of  the  abscess,  an4  lessens 
tbe  inflammation ;  4.  In  indolent  ceUakur  tissbe  abscesses 
of  scrofoloos  children;  6.  In  scrofnlous  disease  of  the' 
bones  and  in  scrofnla  generally.  Now,  all  these  indications' 
and  many  others  no  less  yalnable,  homoeopathy— Sidney 
Binger  is  no  hom(Bop%th-^had  given  us  long  before  Binger. 

The  similarity  between  Sidney  Ringer  and  honueopathy 
becomes  still  greater  when  we  read  that  the  former  employs 
extremely  simdl  doses,  in  reality  honxoaopathic  doses, 
namely,  0.003—0.006  with  0.12  sngar  of  miU;«  which  ia 
eqniyalent  to  the  Bd— ^th  trituration  of  the  homcaopaths, 
and  the  one  most  frequently  used  by  them.  I  can  confijnm 
tiie  experiences  of  Sidney  Bmger,  and  as  such  an  authority 
gives  evidenee,  although  involuntary,*  for  homcdopathy,  it 
will  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  detail  specdal  oases  from 
practice. 

.  5.  Arnica  is  a  well-known  drug,  but  is  used  less  by 
physicians  than  by  the  laity;  still  for  all  that,  it  fully 
deserves  its  names  oifaUkrauty  bkublume,  wohlverleih. 

Among  other  things,  I  wish  to  call  alitention  to  its  bene* 
ficial  action  in  contusions  from  £bJ1s,  and  in  haemorrhages 
of  all  kinds.  It  makes  the  use  of  ice  superfluous,  being 
superior  to  it  in  its  working,  aside  from  its  easier  and 
pleasanter  application. 

Particularly  striking  for  me  was  a  case  of  contusion  of 
the  thigh.  The  accident  had  happened  eighteen  days  pre- 
vious, and  cups,  cold  effusion,  and  inunctions  had  been 
used  without  any  benefit. 

The  external  thigh  was  considerably  swollen,  fluctuated. 
on  palpitation,  and  several  loose  coagula  could  be  recognised. 
The  extravasated  blood-mass  was  considerable,  and  the 
skin  showed  the  usual  discolouration.  Most  physicians 
would  have  considered  an  incision  nuide  with  all  antiseptic 
rules  absolutely  necessary.  I,  however,  prescribed  tinct, 
arnica  rad.  guttaa  sex  ad  100  grammes  (26  teaspoonfals) 
aquuBj  1  teaspoonful  four  times  a  day  and  had  the  satis* 
&ction  to  achieve  the  desired  effect  in  a  JCew  days. 

For,  when  the  patient  called  upon  me  again  ten  days 
later,  it  was  not  on  account  of  his  contusion  but  for  a  cat 
on  his  finger.    He  had  been  working  for  several  days. 


EXP EBIENOB  WITH  HOHtBOP&THT.  ' 


SBTinr.  Hit  l,  UBt 


The  thigh  ritowed  oaly  a  aK^t  Bwelling,  which  did  not 
floettute  anj  more,  utd  betweeo  the  i]pp«r  and  middle 
thiid  of  the  Tasta»  ext.  moBcle  one  eoold  dlathigiuBh  % 
hardnesB,  in  all  probability  the  site  where  he  had  been 
straek. 

I  aehierad  a  no  less  happy  and  rapid  resolt  by  the 
int«nal  and  external  exhibition  of  arnica  in  a  severe  snb- 
hcaUaoD  of  the  knee,  with  oonaiderable  swelling  and  effosion 
in  the  joint. 

6.  In  thia  esse  I  diBcovered  the  working  of  a  remedy, 
tba  eflleaoy  of  which  is  denied  by  some.     I  mean  eilicea. 

nte  patient,  who  had  believ^  himself  enred,  need  his 
limb  too  soon  and  too  aererely,  produced  agun  pain  and 
htmeneaa,  uid  the  examining  hand  conld  feel  a  widespread 
a«pitalaoD  in  the  fibroas  portions  of  the  knee-joint.  A 
three-days'  use  of  nUcea  8d.  trit,  0.06  gram,  8  times  a  day 
alUyed  all  the  symptoms. 

That  the  working  of  nUcea  here  was  not  accidental  is 
proved  by  another  case. 

Two  years  ago  a  student  brmeed  his  right  elbow-joint. 
A  year  ago  be  fell  upon  the  same,  and  since  then  has 
snffered  from  pain,  stiffiaeaB,  and  lameness,  with  slight 
swelling  of  the  snrronnding  parts.  Still  later  the  joint 
was  over-exerted  in  fencing,  and  when  I  saw  it,  fonrteen  days 
afterwards,  it  was  greatly  swollen ;  the  arm  conld  neither 
be  fnlly  flexed  or  extended,  and  I  conld  feel  considerable 
crepitation  at  the  inner  edge  of  the  condyle.  I  prescribed 
Bilicea  M  trit,  3  times  daily.  Several  days  later,  the 
patient  presented  himself  feeling  greatly  improved,  and 
fonr  days  afterwards  the  joint  was  perfectly  normal. 

7.  Cantharidts  prodnoes  inflammation  of  the  bladder, 
dysnria,  and  bloody  nrine.  One  will  therefore  never  go 
ftmiss  in  prescribing  it  in  small  doses  for  snoh  ailments. 

On  the  6th  of  Jnne,  a  patient  came  to  me  who  was 
troabled  with  cystitis,  hematuria,  and  the  other  well- 
known  symptoms  as  seqtielte  of  a  gonorrhcea.    I  prescribed 

tharidea  guttas  tres  ad  200  grammta   (50   tea- 

I  agva,  1  teaspoonful,  evety  8  boors.  The 
ind  pains  ceased  the  s&me  day ;  on  the  8th  of 
urine  was  still  clondy,  bnt  on  the  12th  every 
ladder  troable  had  vanished. 


B^fiS^Tien^  '^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^B^  LAMB*  209 

THE  LION  AND  THE  LAMB.* 

Whatevbb  donbt  may  have  existed  respecting  the  desire 
4ji  the  allopathic  lion  to  secure  peace  and  harmony  by 
flwaUowing  the  homoeopathic  lamb,  must  surely  have  been 
dispelled  by  the  events  of  the  past  few  months.  A  mighty 
rerolution  is  shaking  the  defences  of  professional  intolerance 
to  their  foundations,  and  the  whole  superstructure,  which 
only  one  brief  year  ago  seemed  well-nigh  impregnable,  is 
to-day  tottering  to  its  fall.  The  apparent  beginning  of  this 
revolution,  beside  the  death-bed  of  the  late  Lord  Beaconsfield ; 
the  stimulus  it  received  in  the  addresses  of  Drs.  Bristbwe  and 
Hutchinson ;  the  conquests  it  has  received  in  the  Boyal 
College  of  Physicians  of  England  and  in  the  State 
Medical  Society  of  New  York ;  the  marked  change  in  the 
ione  of  aUopathic  journals ;  all  these  had  their  real  origin 
in  a  gradual  change  of  professional  sentiment,  which  only 
Awaited  an  opportunity  to  give  itself  open  and  peremptory 
expression.  Looking  at  the  history  of  medical  ethics  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  present,  we  can  see  how  little  cause 
for  surprise  there  is  at  the  sudden  change  in  the  attitude 
4>t  allopathy.  It  would  have  been  a  monstrous  injustice  to 
suppose  that  allopathic  physicians  were  unanimous  in  the 
support  of  their  infamous  code  of  ethics.  That  phenomena! 
stupidity  was  the  creation  of  a  political  majority  only ;  it 
no  more  represented  the  sentiment  of  the  majority  of  the 
more  honest  and  progressive  portion  of  the  allopathic 
school  than  do  the  wiles  of  the  machine  politician  represent* 
the  intelligence  and  honesty  of  the  great  party  he  professes 
to  serve ;  and  this  being  the  case,  there  was  really  no 
reason  why  the  overturning  should  not  be  sudden  and  com- 
plete, when  once  the  integrity  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
profession  should  be  able  to  assert  their  divine,  kingly  pre- 
rogative. And  thus  it  is.  The  processes  whose  com- 
pletion was  expected  to  require  years  and  decades,  are 
being  crowded  into  months,  and  compressed  into  days,  and 
momentous  events  are  treading  upon  each  other's  heels  in 
eager  haste  to  repair  the  misdeeds  of  the  past,  and  to  wipe 
outy  if  that  were  possible,  the  foulest  stain  upon  the  page 
of  medical  history — the  professional  bigotry  of  the  nine* 
teenth  century. 

Yet  it  would  be  a  profound  mistake  to  imagine  that  the 

men  who  place  themselves  in  the  forefront  of  the  revolu« 

■■   I  ■      ^  ■ '       ■■  ■  '  ■  ■  ...  —   ■■  ■■" 

*  Beprinted  from  Hahneynatmian  Monthly,  Maxch,  1882. 
YoL  26,  No.  5.  U 


270  TttB  HON  AND  THE  LAMB.  "aSSi^SSa^ 

tion  are  neceflBarily  more  ^se,  more  liberal,  or  more 
honest  than  their  fellows  who  are  scaroely  seen  in  the 
movement.      The    shrewd    bat   nnscrapuloas  politieian 
always  tries  to  be  on  the  winning  side.    If  we  judge  these 
would-be  leaders  by  their  actions — and  we  have  no  other 
method — it  mast  be  apparent  that  their  jealousy  of  honue- 
opathy  is  as  venomous  as  ever.    The  system  of  Hahne-^ 
mann  was  hated  in  its  birth,  hated  in  its  weakness,  hated 
in  its  growth,  and  it  is  hated  now  in  its  vigorous  maturity 
— and  hated  all  the  more  because,  after  all  the  predictions 
of  its  failure,  it  has  dared  to  succeed.    But  now  that  its 
strength  renders  it  indifferent  to  the   opini<ms  and   the 
treatment  of  its  adversaries,  a  different  method  is  neoes* 
sary  in  dealing  with  the  young  giant.    The  homcBopathy 
of  1826,  knocking  timidly  at  the  Eastern  Portal  of   the 
Bepublic,  poor,  weak,  friendless,  helpless,  was  an  object 
to  be  contemned.     The  homoeopathy  of  to-day,  reaching 
out  its  resistless  arms  to  the  Golden  Gate  of  the  Pacific, 
strong,  confident  of  the  divinity  of  its  mission,  flashed 
with  an  undreamed-of  success,  and  hurrying  forward  to  new 
victories  and  more  magnificent  achievements,  is  a  power 
which  cannot  with  safety  be  despised,  and  must  therefore 
be  conciliated. 

It  is  not  very  likely  that  the  homcBopathic  profession  can 
be  misled  by  Uie  new  tactics  of  its  adversaries,  or  rather  of 
those  who  are  placing  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  move- 
ment. The  opinions  of  these  men  respecting  homoBopathy 
are  precisely  what  they  were  nine  months  ago,  when  they 
issued  their  impotent  anathema  against  their  professors 
who  dared  to  lecture  in  the  presence  of  homosopathic 
students.  Besides,  it  is  not  a  question  of  opinion,  it  is  a 
matter  of  sentiment  and  of  feeling.  MMty  of  these  men 
know  that  homoeopathy  is  a  therapeutic  truth ;  but  they 
hate  it  none  the  less.  Indeed,  some  of  them  appear  to 
become  more  bitter  against  it  in  proportion  as  its  troth 
and  efficacy  become  more  apparent.  Will  any  of  us  be 
foolish  enough  to  imagine  that  these  people  are  becoming 
friendly  to  homoeopathy,  simply  because  they  are  yielding 
to  the  force  of  a  public  sentiment  which  they  cannot  and 
dare  not  longer  resist  ?  Is  the  Boyal  College  of  Physiciana 
favourable  to  homoeopathy  when  it  votes  to  allow  its 
members  to  practise  that  system,  but  forbids  them  to 
acknowledge  their  opinions  openly?  Is  the  New  York 
State  Allopathic  Society  becoming  favourable  to  homoK>pathy 


^S!^&i!lSm^  THE  LION  AND  THE  LAMB*  271 

when  it  Yotodto  allow  oouBiiliation  with  ns,  and  bases  its 
action  on  the  statement  of  its  president,  that  we  have 
abandoned  onr  principles?  Considering  the  persistence 
and  the  energy  with  which  a  few  indastrioos  members  of 
our  own  school  have  misrepresented  wb,  we  can  scarcely 
be  surprised  to  hear  their  fidsehoods  echoed  from  the 
other  side ;  but  how  far  may  we  trust  a  body  of  men  who 
thus  agree  to  consult  with  us,  not  because  they  hold  our 
opinions,  but  because  we  profess  one  thing  and  practise 
another?  The  allopath  who  bases  his  friendship  for  a 
homcsopath  on  the  latter's  want  of  good  faith  is  himself  a 
knaye.  And  the  homoBopath  who  knowingly  accepts  such 
a  friendship  is  both  a  ImaTe  and  a  fool.  He  not  only 
acknowledges  his  rascalityi  he  advertises  it. 

It  is  the  old  invitation  of  the  spider  to  the  fly — **  Will 
70U  walk  into  my  parlour?'*  The  new  system,  which 
always  wonted  its  ancient  rival  in  an  argumentative  appeal 
to  reason,  always  substantiated  its  principles  by  the  test 
of  experiment,  always  scored  a  victory  in  a  competitive 
trial  of  success,  always  throve  under  ridicule  and  grew 
vigorous  under  persecution,  is  now  to  be  overcome,  if 
possible,  by  diplomacy  and  chicanery*  According  to  the 
English  plan,  the  homoBopathist  is  to  drop  his  title  and 
tiiUB  lose  his  identity.  Then  the  allopath  is  to  feel  per- 
fectly free  to  practise  aU  the  homoBopathy  he  chooses,  and 
thus  to  acquire  the  reputation  for  therapeutic  skUl  and 
auecess,  which  properly  belongs  to  his  quondam  rival. 
The  American  plan  is  much  like  it,  but  with  this  addition, 
that  the  homcBopatii  is  to  be  branded,  and,  if  possible, 
induced  to  brand  himself,  as  a  cheat  and  a  scoundrel ;  that 
he  is  thus  to  be  prevented  fix>m  wresting  any  more 
hospitals  and  asylums,  and  any  more  public  offices  from 
his  insatiate  opponent ;  while  on  the  other  hand  the  allo- 
path is  to  take  possession  of  that  small  portion  of  the 
Homceopathic  Materia  Medica  which  he  has  not  yet  stolen, 
and  thus  place  himself  upon  a  therapeutic  equality  with 
his  hated  competitor.  It  is  a  pretty  little  scheme,  and  if 
only  the  homoeopath  can  be  wheedled  into  it,  will  doubt- 
less accomplish  what  the  bolder  and  more  honest  methods 
'have  utterly  failed  to  effect — the  overthrow  of  homoBO* 
pathy  as  a  special  therapeutic  system,  the  upbuilding  of  an 
incongruous  system  of  mixed  practice  upon  its  ruins,  and 
the  setting  back  of  medical  science  at  least  half  a  century* 


272        THE  LION  AND  THE  LAMB.  ^'bS^SSi^vSl 

The  motiye  which  actuates  the  reyolation  is  not  dii&ciilt 
to  discoyer.  The  ayerage  allopath  is  not  so  densely 
ignorant  bat  that  he  can  learn  the  relation  between  caose 
and  effect  like  other  people.  'Bjb  knowledge  of  drug 
effects  and  of  disease  effects,  crude  though  it  may  be,  is 
not  so  exceedingly  shallow  but  that  he  £iows  the  law  of 
similars  to  be  true,  just  as  well  as  we  know  it.  He  applies 
it  eyeiy  day  in  his  practice,  he  sees  its  almost  maryellouB 
operation  in  the  cure  of  disease,  he  reads  the  comparatiye 
statistics  of  the  two  schools,  he  beholds  the  system  making 
inroads  upon  the  old-school  domain,  he  detects  in  his  own 
textbooks  multitudes  of  plagiarisms  from  homoeopathic 
works,  and,  last  of  all,  he  subjects  the  principle  of  similars 
to  the  test  of  rational  examination  uid  finds  it  to  be  not 
only  reasonable,  but  the  mo$t  reasonable  method  of  apply- 
ing drugs  to  the  treatment  of  disease  which  his  mind  is 
•capable  of  conceiying.  He  belieyes  in  homcBopathy  because 
his  common  sense  compels  belief.  But  will  he  publicly 
ayow  his  fedth  ? 

V  Aye ;  there's  the  rub  ! "  The  question  of  belief  may 
be  easily  settled,  but  the  jealousy  and  the  hate  are  not  so 
easily  put  aside.  Harder  yet  is  it  for  the  morally  weak  to 
confess  fully  and  freely  the  faults  uid  follies  of  a  whole 
career.  The  prejudice  against  Hahnemann's  teachinga» 
intense  as  it  has  been,  is  scarcely  so  strong  as  Uie 
almost  unutterable  dislike  of  Hahnemann's  name  and 
person.  Moreoyer»  the  allopathic  profession  has  always 
denied  the  right  of  original  research  and  discoyery  to 
oyeiybody  outside  of  its  own  charmed  circle.  Gould  they,  at 
this  moment,  obliterate  the  world's  remembrance  of  Hahne- 
mann and  his  disooyeiy,  thousands  upon  thoosands  of  them 
would  hasten  to  redisooyer  homoeopathy,  uid  the  second 
medical  crusade  would  be  preached  almost  before  the  ink 
is  dry  upon  this  jHrinted  page.  To  them  the  honour  of  dis- 
ooyery  is  glorious ;  the  humdrum  acceptance  of  another's 
disooyery  is  tame ;  the  reception  of  a  discoyery  made  by 
one  ridiculed  and  hated  is  so  repugnant  as  to  be  well-nigh 
impossible ;  and  the  thought  of  establishing  general 
medical  practioe  upon  the  basis  of  homoeopathy,  eyen  upon 
a  physical  demonstration  of  its  truth  and  superior  efficaq^, 
is  so  utterly  abhonent  to  the  allopathie  profession  that  they 
are  ready  to  adopt  ^mnct  ^ny  pl^n  laiher  t^^^xi  "^^^^^^^^ 

IraUio  conoessionB  to  Hahnemann  or  to  his  present  fol- 
owwk     Tkmt  is  a  pill  which,  although  it  must  be  swal- 


M^^UiSu^  THB  LION  AND  THE  LAMB.  273 


lowed  sooiier  or  later,  will  require  sereral  layers  of  sugar 
boating  to  disguise  its  intense  bitterness.  The  proposed 
abandonment  of  our  homoBopathic  title  is  oTie  coating, 
designed  to  render  the  dose  more  palatable ;  the  false 
assertion  that  we  now  reject  most  of  Hahnemann's  teach- 
ings is  another ;  the  statement  that  our  colleges  now  teach 
anatomy,  chemistry,  and  pathology,  implying  that  they 
finrmerly  did  not,  is  a  third  layer  of  sugar ;  the  falsehood 
that  our  practice  has  changed  in  its  essential  character, 
and  that  it  is  no  longer  "based  upon  an  exclusive 
dogma," — as  though  a  change  in  the  practice  constituted 
a  change  in  the  dogma  too — ^is  a  fourth  stratum  of  sweeten- 
ing ;  and  the  poor  allopath  finds  that  the  bitterness  per- 
meates the  coatings  one  after  another,  that  the  pill  has 
grown  to  be  a  bolus,  and  bids  fair  to  choke  the  patient  in 
bis  Tain  endeavour  to  get  it  down  without  making  grimaces 
over  it. 

The  proper  attitude  for  the  homoeopathic  profession  to 
assume,  under  the  changed  and  still  changing  ciroum- 
stances,  is  a  matter  of  vast  and  vital  concern.  The  only 
safe  course  for  us  is  that  which  will  best  subserve  the 
interests  of  humanity,  best  promote  the  advancement  of 
therapeutic  science  and  art,  best  commend  itself  to  posterity 
when  the  asperities  of  professional  controversy  shall  have 
been  forgotten.  If  we  believe,  as  we  profess  to  believe, 
that  homoeopathy  famishes  the  surest,  the  safest,  and  the 
quickest  method  of  curing  disease,  we  are  morally,  as  well 
as  professionally,  bound  to  give  our  whole  energies  to  its 
development  and  its  promulgation,  and  this  without  the 
slightest  regard  to  any  position  which  allopathy  has  taken 
or  may  hereafter  take.  Arrogant  as  it  may  seem,  we  must 
consider  ourselves  "  the  profession,"  not  in  any  pharisaical 
sense,  but  as  the  Heaven-appointed  custodians  of  the 
highest  and  foremost  truths  of  therapeutic  science,  whose 
sacred  interests  we  dare  not  even  neglect,  much  less  sacri- 
fice to  the  behests  of  a  maudlin  sentimentality.  There 
never  was  a  time  in  homoeopathic  history  when  watchful- 
ness, and  energy,  and  unity  on  our  part  were  so  imperatively 
demanded  as  now.  We  must  be  on  the  alert  lest  our  wily 
opponents  wrest  from  us  our  present  high  vantage-ground, 
or  betray  us  into  inconsistencies  which  shall  render  us 
unworthy  of  further  victories.  We  must  extend  and 
increase  the  number,  the  membership,  and  the  efficiency  of 
our  organisations ;    we  must    secure    more    and  better 


274  THE  PBOPOSED  DIPLOMA.   ^'"isS&^lSSTSi, 

hospital  experienee ;  we  mast  strengthen  our  cc^eges ;  im 
mnst  encourage  our  literainre,  develop  oar  fields  of  origiasl 
research,  and  strengthen  oar  individaal  influence  in  dailf 
practice.  Above  all,  we  must  stand  together  as  one  fium, 
hold  fast  the  trust  committed  to  us  by  the  Almighty 
Healer,  and  let  no  man  take  either  Hahnemann's  crown  or 
ours.  When  all  physicians  recognise  the  fitct  that  a 
scientific  system  of  therapeutics  is  not  possible,  except 
upon  the  unchanging  basis  of  a  knowledge  of  dmg-actioii 
upon  the  healthy  body,  and  that  there  must  be  some 
definite  and  uniform  relation  between  drug  effects  and  the 
phenomena  of  disease,  then  we  shall  see  the  adherents  of 
ail  schools  working  together  in  harmony  to  advance  the 
grand  interests  of  science  and  of  humanity.  So  let  the 
middle  wall  of  partition  be  broken  down ;  let  the  schools 
take  counsel  together ;  let  medical  research  be  ontrammelled 
and  medical  opinion  free.  Let  unreasoning  prejudice  gi^ 
way,  and  the  foul  spirit  of  medical  intolerance  hide  its 
monstrous  deformity  in  a  grave  whose  depths  no  resunee* 
tion  trumpet-blast  shall  ever  sound.  Then  we  shall  soon 
know  whether  the  central  doctrine  of  homoBopathy  is  to 
live  or  to  die  ;  whether  our  struggle  has  been  for  nought, 
and  our  sacrifices  offered  in  vain ;  and  of  the  results  of  that 
day  we  have  no  doubt  and  no  fear. 

REMARKS    ON    THE    PROPOSED    DIPLOMA    OF 
THE  LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 

By  Alfbbd  G.  Pops,  M.D., 

Leotarer  on  Materia  Medioa  at  the  London  School  of  HomoBopathy. 

I  HAVB  hitherto,  for  reasons  on  which  it  is  needless  for  me 
to  enteri  abstained  from  taking  any  active  part  in  the  dis- 
cussion  which  has  recently  been  provoked  by  the  resoluiioii 
of  a  small  and  irregularly  sunuuoned  meeting  of  the 
Governors  of  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy  to  create 
a  diploma  having  the  style  of  Licentiate  in  Homoeopathy. 
I  feel,  however,  that  I  can  no  longer  refrain  from  an  ex* 
pression  of  opinion  on  the  step  which  has  been  taken ;  tha 
more  especially,  as  I  see  that  it  has  been  publicly  stated  by 
the  chief  advocate  of  this  movement  that  it  had,  at  one 
time,  my  "  full  approval."  So  far  is  this  from  being  the 
case — ^that  it  is  a  step  which  I  had  never  contemplated  a«^ 


B^£n^&^    THB  PBOPOBBD  BIPLOIU.  275 

■  I  III ^^i»^^— ^T— ^^— ^p^ 

leiag  wiihui  tha  nmge  of  praotioal  politicg;  one  of  whioh  I 
W18  not  made  aware  until  it  was  un  fait  aeeompU  ;  one  to 
whidbi  beings  as  I  nipposed,  beyond  recall,  though  I  did 
not  offer  any  prononneed  opposition,  I  certainly  gave  no 
•eoontenance ;  while  the  sole  nioti?e  I  had  for  not  protesting 
against  it,  was  my  personal  regard  for  those  who  were 
6nthasia9tioally  bent  upon  carrying  it  into  effect.  But  the 
more  I  haye  contemplated  this  proposal,  the  mode  of  ittf 
initiation,  its  bearings  and  its  consequences,  the  more  con* 
Tineed  I  am  of  its  mischieTous  character.  While,  then,  I 
yield  to  no  one  in  my  admiration  of  the  enthusiasm  and 
seal  for  the  fortherance  of  a  knowledge  of  homcsopathy^ 
which  have  induced  its  proposers  to  bring  it  forward,  I 
cannot  but  lament  the  want  of  tact  and  discretion  which 
hate  marked  the  exhibition  of  their  enthusiasm. 

I  can  recall  no  event  in  the  history  of  homodopathy 
which  has  occurred  in  this  country  during  the  last  thirty 
years  whidi  has  given  rise  to  so  considerable  a  series  ot 
painful  and  ever  to  be  regretted  incidents  as  the  institution 
of  this  diploma  has  done. 

In  consequence  thereof,  we  have  had  angry  and  perfectly 
useless  debates  regarding  it,  involving  the  loss  of  much 
valnable  time,  at  our  chief  medical  society.  We  have, 
been  shocked  by  the  issue  of  a  periodical,  the  tone» 
style  and  temper  of  which  have  been  imiversally  deplored, 
and  cannot  he  too  strongly  deprecated.  The  regret 
which  such  a  production  has  excited  has,  moreover,  been 
rendered  deeper  by  the  knowledge,  that  the  gentleman, 
who  is  solely  responsible  for  it,  is  one  who  has  rendered 
services  to  homoeopathy  of  the  highest  value,  whose  zeal  for 
doing  good  in  the  same  direction  is  not  exceeded,  if  indeed 
it  is  equalled,  by  that  of  any  member  of  our  body,  and 
whose  power  and  influence  are  likewise  considerable.  Then, 
again,  threats  have  been  held  out,  on  the  one  hand,  to  make 
the  granting  of  this  diploma  the  basis  of  a  distinct  schism; 
while  in  another  quarter,  a  desire  has  apparently  been 
manifested  to  render  it  a  means  for  breaking  up  what  little 
miity  at  present  exists  among  homoeopathists  here  in 
England.  And,  lastly,  we  have  seen  Dr.  Drysdale  take 
advantage  of  this  hasty  and  ill-considered  proceeding  to 
make  a  violent  and  ungenerous  attack  upon  the  Londoi^ 
School  of  Homoeopathy,  and  inferentially  to  express  his 
desire  to  see  it  rooted  out,  unless  it  is  conducted  in  a  way' 


276  tHK  PBOPOSSD  DIPLOVA.  "fc^^SSft*« 


Bi&wknr,  Ifay  1,  Iflflt. 


in  which  eveiy  one  who  knows  anything  about  the  matter  ia^ 
folly  assured  that  it  cannot  be  oondncted. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  deplorable  restdts  of  the  injudicious 
action  of  the  adioumed  meeting  of  the  Goyemors  of  the 
School  held  on  the  16th  of  December  last. 

First  of  ally  I  will  notice  the  proceedings. 

The  meeting  of  the  15th  of  Deeember,  1881,  was  called 
for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  laws  of  the  London  School 
of  Homoeopathy — the  proposed  revision  having  already  been 
published  in  the  November  number  of  the  Monthly  Homceth 
paihie  Review.  Not  one  word  was  said  in  the  circular 
convening  this  meeting  of  any  intention  to  propose  the 
institution  of  a  diploma.  And  yet  it  has  since  been  stated 
in  the  weekly  periodical  to  which  I  have  alluded  that  "  thia 
step  was  by  no  means  a  surprise  to  those  present ! "  I  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  before  entering  the  room  not 
one  of  those  present,  save  the  proposer  and  the  hoaioraiy 
■ecretaryy  had  any  idea  of  the  move  that  they  were  to  be 
asked  to  sanction!  No  medical  governor  had*  the  least 
reason  to  suppose  that  anything  of  the  kind  would  be- 
brought  forward.  Nothing  approaching  diploma-giving  is 
mentioned,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  statement  of 
"  The  Objects  "  of  the  school  published  in  1876,  nor  in 
*'The  Preamble"  to  the  laws  as  revised  at  this  veiy 
December  meeting !  It  being  presumed  that  the  business 
would,  as  it  always  is  at  public  meetings  of  societies,  asso- 
ciations, companies,  &c.,  be  confined  to  the  points  stated 
in  the  circular  convening  the  meeting,  and  the  proposed 
revision  as  published  containing  nothing  objectionable, 
medical  governors  naturally  did  not  feel  tibeir  presence  to 
be  essential.  The  meeting,  it  was  anticipated^  would  be  a 
purely  formal  one. 

It  turned  out  very  differently,  however.  A  resolution 
was,  as  arranged  with  the  honoraiy  secretary,  brought 
forward  by  Dr.  Hughes,  instituting  this  ''Licentiate  in 
Homoeopathy  "  diploma !  Seven  medical  governors  were 
present,  one  of  whom  was  obliged  to  leave  before  ihe  con- 
elusion  of  the  business,  and  this  momentous  issue,  this 
parent  of  so  much  evil,  was  resolved  on  bv  six ! 

It  has  been  urged,  in  eiq^lanation  of  tnis  extraordinaiy 
course,  that  a  diploma  is  llie  normal  sequel  of  education, 
and  that  therefore  there  was  no  necessity  for  the  insertion 
of  any  intention  to  confer  one  among  the  objects  of  the 
BohooL     But  education  in  a  special  therapeutic  method 


wSXi^SSTSSl!^  TBS  PBOfooD  u»]jOmi«  877 


does  not  nftlnriJly  ienniiMite  in  a  diploma.  No  preoddeht 
for  myihing  of  tiie  kind  ean  be  ahown.  The  L.M;  of  the 
College  of  Sox^geonSy  or  of  the  Dublin  hospitals,  testifies  to 
proficiency  in  one  of  the  three  great  divisions  of  the  pro* 
iession  of  medkine — ^not  to  a  mathod  of  treatment  wbieh  is 
more  or  less  common  to  alL 

Further,  it  is  well  known  that  hsA  the  intention  to 
confer  such  a  diploma  been  stated  to  be  among  the  objects 
of  the  Sehool  at  the  oatset,  it  would  not  have  received  the 
large  amount  of  support  that  it  did ;  while  the  opposition, 
which  it  encountered  somewhat  later,  would  have  been 
intensified  tenfold. 

Again,  it  is  urged  that  the  proposal  to  institute,  this 
diploma  was  only  made  known  to  the  honorary  seeretaiy 
by  Dr.  Hi^hes  two  days  after  the  dradar  convening  the 
meetiftg  had  been  ieeued  I  This  may  be  sufficient  to  acquit 
Dr.  Hughes  and  Dr.  Bayes  of  any  intention  to  ''  spring  " 
this  proposal  upon  their  colleagues  unawares,  but  it  is  no 
excuse  for  their  having  done  so.  The  very  least  that 
might  have  been  expected  under  such  circumstances  would 
have  been  the  issuing  of  a  fresh  circular  announcing  Dr. 
Hughes'  intention.  Properly,  however,  the  proposal  should 
have  been  adjourned  until  a  future  occasion,  on  the  ground, 
that  it  was  sent  in  too  late. 

But  the  apologists  for  this  move  further  say,  that,, 
according  to  one  of  the  laws,  any  motion  may  be  brought 
forward  at  an  *'  annual  meeting."  The  meeting,  however,. 
on  the  16th  of  December  was  not  an  **  annual  meeting." 
This  took  place  in  September.  The  December  meeting 
was  an  adjournment  of  the  annual  meetmg  for  a  special 
purpose — viz.,  to  revise  the  laws  on  the  basis  of  a  report  of 
a  committee  appointed  at  the  September  meeting. 

Supposing,  however,  that  the  apologists  are  as  right  in 
fheir  apology  as  they  are  in  reaUty  wrong,  what  must  the 
effect  of  su<^  a  law,  so  carried  out,  be  upon  an  institution? 
Anyone  might  come  forward,  without  any  notice,  and,  in  a 
suitably  packed  annual  meeting,  propose  its  closure  and 
the  diversion  of  its  funds  into  any  channel  rather  than  the 
one  into  which  the  subscribers  destined  those  funds  ta 
flow! 

No.  The  law  gives  permission  to  any  governor  ta 
bring  forward  any  motion  at  an  annual  meeting,  but  it 
Aoes  so  on  the  tinwritten,  but  universally  received,  under- 
Standing  that  full  notice  shall  be  given  to  all  inlexested  of 


278  TBJB  BBOPOSBD  PIPLOIIA*    ^'^^ 


BOTiev,Miy  1,  IM 


the  terms  of  the  prDpoaed  motion.  Withoi^  saoh  an 
imderstaQding,  fiilly  and  honomrably  carried  out|  we  ehonli 
liAYe  no  guarantee  for.the  etability  of  any  of  our  soeietioi 
or  asfloeiations. 

I  object,  then,  to  this  diploma,  in  the  first  plaee, 
lecanse  the  schoq^  can  show  no  title  to  confer  snek 
distinction  npon  anyone;  and  secondly,  becanse,  even 
supposing  that  it  conld  do  no,  the  manner  in  which  it  wai 
done  was  irregular  and  in  defiance  of  all  those  well  nnder^ 
etood  and  accepted  rales  which  goTern  the  bnainesa  of 
meetings  of  such  institutions;  thirdly,  because,  if  con- 
firmed, it  establishes  a  precedent  which  may  be  quoted  in 
the  future  with  most  disastrous  results  to  the  well-being  of 
the  school. 

If  anything  of  the  kind  proposed  by  Dr.  Hughes  is  done 
by  the  school,  a  special  meeting  of  the  goyemors  must  be 
held— ^r«f,  to  enlarge  the  scope  of  the  school's  objects, 
and  then  to  carry  out  such  addition  to  these  objects  as  may 
hare  been  agreed  upon. 

By  no  other  means  can  any  diploma  issued  by  the 
school  be  other  than  illegal  and  spurious. 

I  will  now  consider  the  details  of  the  proposal  of 
the  school,  supposing  that  it  had  been  brought  forward 
as  regularly,  as  it  has,  undoubtedly,  been  irregularly 
introduced. 

Dr*  Dudgeon  states  (Britiih  Jowmal  of  HomcgopcOkif^ 
April,  1882,  p.  157)  that  ^'the  guiding  spirits  of  the 
London  School  of  Homoeopathy  wish  to  establish  a  body 
And  have  it  entitled  under  the  Medical  Act  to  grant  qualir 
fications,  which  shall  impose  upon  a  candidate,  ofiering 
himself  for  examination,  an  obligation  to  adopt  the  practice 
of  a  particular  theory  of  medicine."  Nothing  of  this  kind 
has,  BO  far  as  I  am  aware,  been  suggested.  The  achotA 
proposes  to  ascertain  the  knowledge  which  a  candidate, 
already  qualified  to  practise,  possesses  regarding  a  metho4 
of  treatment  respecting  his  familiarity  with  which,  the 
diplomas  he  holds  give  no  evidence.  They  do  not  seek 
to  give  a  qualification  to  practise*  In  the  face  of  tha 
refusal  of  Parliament  to  grant  such  a  privilege  to  the  Yiot 
toria  University,  any  endeavoar  of  the  kind  would  be  use- 
jess.  Neither  do  they  deaire.  to  impose  any  obligation  to 
practise,  or  refrain  from  practising,  either  homoeopathy  or 
any  other  theory  of  medicipe.     Their  sole  object  is  aa 


juMerUinmeni  of  kiio^fiMlg#,  and  the  diploma  is  the  oertift* 
4Mit6  thai  this  knowledge  is  possessed. 

The  diploma  proposed  to  be  giTen  irith  this  mtent  is 
styled  a  *' lioentiate  in  Homooopathy ; "  or  rather  th^ 
holder  of  it  is  so  stgrled,  the  document  itself  is  necessarily 
a  license  to  practise  homceopathy.  The  very  word  ''  license '' 
conveys  a  meaning  which  is  insompatible  with  the  intention 
of  the  school  not  to  grant  a  qualification  to  practise,  but 
simply  to  afford  to  the  holder  evidence  of  his  Imowledge  of 
hoxncBopathy,  or»  in  the  phraseology  of  Dr*  Hughes,  *'  i^ 
warrant  of  his  competency  *'  to  practise  it. 

That  the  word  liceme  does  not  convey  the  meaning  which 
the  diploma  of  the  school  would  alone  bear.  Dr.  Hughes 
"  bru^s  aside  "  as  a  "  triviality.*'  But,  if  words  have 
meanings,  we  are  bound  to  respect  such  meuiings  when 
we  use  them ;  and  this  more  especially  in  documents  of  a 
public  character,  documents  which  will  have  to  be  inter- 
preted by  persons  who  attach  the  ''lexicographical" 
meanings  to  the  words  employed. 

A  license*  then,  conveys  the  idea  of  permission,  it  does 
not  testify  to  anything.  The  Licentiate  in  Homceopathy 
would  go  before  the  public  aimed  with  a  document  giving 
him  permiBsion  to  do  that  which  no  one  can  give  him  a 
title  to  do !  It  would  lead  all  to  suppose  that  he  was  a 
specially  privileged  person,  while,  in  point  of  fact,  he  has 
no  special  privilege  whatever.  If^  as  Dr.  .Hughes  says,  *'  it 
simply  warrants  its  possessor  as  compet^t  in  the  judgment 
of  a  duly  organised  body  of  his  colleagues  to  practise  the 
particular  method  whose  name  it  bears  ^ — ^then  let  the 
diploma  be  of  the  nature  of  such  a  warrant,  and  not  one 
calculated  to  convey  a  totally  different  meaning.  Any  title 
or  document  couched  in  terms  or  language  Kable  to  give  a 
false  impression  is  to  be  deprecated,  and  such  would  be  the 
effect  of  a  diploma  styled  a  ''  license  in  homcaopathy.*' 

The  proposed  license  is  to  be  designated  by  the  letters 
**  L.  H."  The  chief  value  of  a  diploma  is  the  degree  of 
public  credit  enjoyed  by  the  body  which  issues  it.  These 
letters  convey  no  idea  of  the  source  whence  the  individual 
using  them  derived  his  authority  to  do  so.  At  present  they 
are  generally  understood  to  denote  a  ''  Licensed  Hawker ! " 
As  they  stand,  unconnected  as  they  are  with  any  publiq 
institution,  they  are  really  valoeless,  if  not  indeed  meaning- 
less. 
.  I  think,  alsoi  that  there  is  much  foroe  in  Dr.  Black's 


280      tin  PBOPOSBD  diploma.  ^''tSS^lS^TSlL 

objection,  that  this  diploma  would  tend  ''to  foster  the 
growth  of  orypto-homoeopathy."  If  it  were  generally 
anpposed  that  a  diploma  was  necessary  to  the  reputable 
and  sncoessfdl  practice  of  homcBopatfay,  and  that  snch  a 
diploma  coald  only  be  obtained  by  spending  nine  months  in 
attendance  at  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy,  a  distinct 
discouragement  would  be  offered  to  the  inrestigation  and 
study  of  homoeopathy  by  medical  men  in  general  practice. 
They  could  not  afford  to  spend  the  requisite  time  in  attend- 
ance upon  lectures,  but  they  could,  with  the  aid  of  books, 
and  the  adyice  of  an  already  established  homoeopathic  prac- 
titioner, make  a  very  fair  study  of  the  subject. 

This  many  hare  done,  aQd  many  others  I  trust  will  do  so, 
but  learning  that  to  all  who  practised  homoeopathically  this 
diploma  was  a  rine  qud  non  of  doing  so  respectably,  that 
without  it  an  avowed  homoeopath  was  Uable  to  be  r^;ard6d 
with  suspicion;  and  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  charlatan,  such 
practitioners  would  never  avow  the  method  they  had  adopted; 
they  would  be  of  no  service  in  propagating  a  knowledge  of 
homoeopathy,  or  in  working  it  out  from  a  scientific  point 
of  view ;  they  would  become  crypto-homoeopaths,  and  rarely 
rise  above  the  rank  of  empirical  homoeopathists. 

Among  the  various  objections  brought  forward  to  this 
diploma  by  some  of  the  writers  in  the  BriHah  Journal  </ 
Homoeopathy  (loc.  cit.)  are  two  with  which  I  can  hold  no 
sympathy.  They  apply  equally  to  a  '' license"  and  to  a 
"  certificate." 

Ist.  To  hold  such  a  testimonial  of  fitness  is,  we  are 
told,  ''  trading  on  a  name."  For  my  part,  I  should  like 
to  see  a  clear  definition  of  this  process  in  the  first  place, 
and  of  its  professional  iniquity  in  the  second. 

Because  a  professional  man  possesses  qualifications 
superior  to  his  neighbour,  the  public  resort  to  him  in 
preference.  For  example — ^Mr.  Smith  is  a  Fellow  of  the 
College  of  Surgeons,  Mr.  Jones  is  only  a  Member.  Mr. 
Bobinson,  having  broken  his  arm,  goes  to  Mr.  Smith 
rather  than  to  Mr.  Jones,  because  he  knows  that  the 
cBploma  of  "  Fellow  "  indicates  the  possession  of  superior 
surgical  skill  to  that  of  *'  Member."  Is  Mr.  Smith,  then^ 
to  he  charged  with  trading  en  the  name  "  Fellow?  " 

Again,  where  is  the  difference  between,  on  the  one  hand^ 
telling  all  your  friends  and  patients  that  homoeopathy  is  a 
great  truth,  tiiat  you  beliete  in  it  and  practise  homoeo- 


jSSSS^SSu^S^    THB  PB0P08XD  DI9LQ1U*  281 

ptthically ;  and,  on  the  otber^  informing  them  that  yon 
haye  passed  an  examination  in  homodopathy  and  hare 
reeeiTed  a  diploma  of  competency  to  praotiae  it  ?  Where» 
again,  ia  the  di£Eerenee  between  adding  the  lettera  M  JB.H.S. 
to  yonr  name  and  letters  signifying  the  possession  of  a 
diploma  testifying  to  your  knowledge  of  homoBopathy? 
Howy  likewise,  is  it  pe^ctly  correct  to  hold  an  appoint- 
ment as  physician  or  snrgeon  to  a  homoMqiathic  dispensary 
and,  contra  bonoM  morei,  to  have  obtained  a  document 
showing  that  you  haye  taken  some  pains  to  qualify  your<^ 
self  for  the  post  ? 

For  my  part,  I  can  see  no  difference  between  these 
soYeral  acts*  If  one  is  trading  on  a  name,  so  is  the  other 
in  each  instance.  Each  and  all  indicate  and  make 
publicly  known  a  faith  in  homoeopathy,  or,  at  any  rate,  the 
practice  of  it. 

2nd.  A  diploma  would  stamp  us  as  sectarian,  it  is  said. 
Nothing  stamps  a  man  as  sectarian  except  a  refusal 
on  his  part  to  associate  or  professionally  to  co-operate 
with  his  professional  brethren.  The  simple  possession  of 
eridence  that  he  haa  studied  a  branch  of  therapeutics 
which,  in  the  meantime,  has  not  reoeived  the  imprimatur 
of  the  College  of  Physicians  cannot  make  a  man  a  sectary. 
It  shows  that  he  has  added  to,  not  narrowed,  the  area  of 
his  professional  knowledge. 

But,  after  all,  the  phrase  ''  trading  on  a  name  "  and  the 
cry  of  ''sectarianism*'  are  mere  pieces  of  cant.  They 
have  been  invented  and  uttered  with  the  view  of  preventing 
men,  who  desire  above  all  things  to  be  eminently  correct, 
from  studying  homoeopathy.  Whether  a  physician  prac- 
tiaes  homoeopathically  after  having  had  his  knowledge  of 
the  subject  tested,  or  without  having  dooe  so,  these  false 
and  fraudulent  epithets  will  be  cast  in  his  teeth.  They 
may  well  be  ''  brushed  aside  "  as  **  trivialities  "  too  con- 
temptible to  engage  attention. 

While,  then,  I  regard  the  act  the  six  medical  governors 
of  the  school  have  performed  as  vitra  vires,  and,  therefore, 
nnjustifiable ;  and  while  the  diploma  they  propose  to  issue 
ia  one  which  under  no  existing  circumstances  they  have 
any  right  to  issue — one  which  is  calculated  to  convey  a 
&lse  impression,  one  which  in  its  very  terms  is  unreal ;  I 
am  far  from  thinking  that  the  school  may  not,  after  due 
deliberation,  provide  a  means  of  testing  the  degree  of 
knowledge  of  the  subject  taught  attained  by  those  who 


382  T0B  PBOP08B3D  DIPLOMA.    ^'a^^S^Tun! 

lutTe  attended  its  leetnrefl,  and  at  the  same  time  give  them 
a  certificate  setliiig  forth  the  nature  and  reenlt  of  the 
examination  they  have  passed.  What  is  reqnired  is  an 
4vidence  of  proficiency*    This,  and  this  idone,  is  all  that  a 

Eipil  of  the  school  can  ask  for ;  this,  and  this  alone,  is  all 
at  is  required  for  the  pnblic  good.  This  evidence  of 
proficiency  might  quite  wett  take  the  form  of  a  certificate, 
or,  if  the  hankering  after  loudly  sounding  phrases,  wfaidi 
is  so  apparent  in  some  quarters  just  now,  must  needs  bs 
gratified,  the  document  might  be  called  '^  Letters-testi- 
monial."  This,  as  Dr.  Diysdale  says,  ^^  could  without 
impropriety  be  shown  to  those  whom  it  might  concern.  . 
•  •  .  It  would  serve  all  legitimate  purposes,  and  offend 
no  professional  proprieties*"  The  only  answer  I  have  yet 
heard  to  the  statement  that  a  certificate  would  answer  all 
legitimate  purposes  is  the  very  simple,  but,  to  my  mind, 
inconclusive  one — ''it  wouldn't."  I  notice,  also,  that 
though  this  proposal  has  been  freely  talked  about  during 
the  last  month  or  six  weeks,  neither  of  the  defenders  of  the 
L.  H.  diploma,  as  it  stands,  in  the  British  Journal  of 
Homceopatky  (loo.  cit.)  refers  to  it.  If  a  certificate  obtained 
after  examination  is  not  as  good  evidence  of  a  man's 
competency  to  practise  homcdopathy — is  not  as  well  calcu- 
lated to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  public — as  an  L.  H. 
diploma,  I  should  like  much  to  know  why  it  is  not  so. 

I  further  think,  that  advantage  might  be  taken  by  the 
school  to  strengthen  its  position  by  affiliating  to  itself  all 
who  hold  its  certificate,  creating  such  gentlemen  members 
of  the  school,  and  giving  them  a  voice  in  its  management. 
By  so  doing,  we  ^ould  have  the  earnest  support  of  a 
number  of  men  whose  attachment  to  the  institution  has 
been  gained  in  a  manner  better  calculated  to  render  it 
enduring  and  cordial  than  any  other.  Supported  by  a 
yearly  increasing  number  of  members,  who  would  firom 
time  to  time  attend  its  meetings,  the  institution  would  ran 
but  little  risk  of  being  injured  by  captious  opposition, 
personal  animosities,  or  individual  indiscretion. 

I  have  been  told,  that  no  one  ever  heard  of  such  a  desig- 
nation as  **  Member  of  a  School ; "  and  that  the  title  shoolo^ 
in  order  to  carry  out  this  plan,  be  changed  to  **  College.*' 
For  my  part,  I  see  no  need  for  such  a  dbiange.  The  word 
**  College  "  is  needlessly  pretentious.  The  institution  is, 
in  every  particular,  a  ''  School."    Under  this  name  it  has 


M^l^iTiSoL^*  ^BB  PROPOSBD  DIPLOMA.  388 

eined  tiie  position  it  oeeapiea^  by  it,  it  is  evevywhere 
own* 

Bat  to  erery  proposal  whioh  does  away  irith  the  title 
li.  H.  it  is  replied,  91  medical  men  liave  applied  for  it ;  and 
their  wishes  mast  be  respected.  These  gentiemen  hare,  I 
spprehendy  by  their  applications  signified  their  approral  of 
fhe  idea  conveyed  by  the  L.  H.,  rather  than  a  deaire  for* 
this  particular  title.  By  creating  them  honorary  members' 
of  the  school,  their  aspirations  would,  I  doubt  *not,  be 
folftlled,  especially  if  they  ftilly  understood  that,  by  thiS' 
change,  a  great  deal  of  ill-feeling  would  be  quieted,  and 
much  opposition  be  disposed  of. 

Their  applications  were  made  without  the  knowledge  on 
their  part  ot  the  illegal  and  unconstitutional  way  in  which 
the  movement  had  been  initiated,  and  without  the  objee* 
tionable  features  of  the  diploma  itself  being  laid  heiore 
them. 

With  these  facts  brought  under  their  notice,  I  feel 
tolerably  sure  that  all,  save  perchance  a  small  minority, 
would  gladly  exchange  the  equivocal  title  of  Licentiate  in 
HomoBopathy,  for  the  more  legitimate  and  really  more 
influential  designation  of  Member  of  the  London  Sehool  of 
Homoeopathy. 

And,  finaUy,  though  many  who  have  strongly  opposed 
&e  present  proposal  would  take  no  part  in  that  which  I 
suggest,  their  opposition  would  be-  withdrawn,  simply 
because  the  objections  which  they  have  raised  to  the  L.  H* 
would  have  no  force  at  all  if  urged  against  a  certificate 
obtained  alAer  examination. 

Before  concluding  these  remarks  on  the  proposed 
diploma,  I  must  make  some  comments  on  the  roflections 
]>r.  Brysdale  makes  on  the  school  itself  in  his  contribu- 
tion to  the  British  Jornnal  symposium. 

He  takes  advantage  of  the  opportunity  presented  by  the 
indiscreet  act  of  the  school,  which  I  have  discussed,  to 
make  a  violent  attack  upon  the  institution,  chiefly,  as  it 
appears,  because  the  members  of  the  committee  have  not 
been  sufficiently  credulous  to  waste  their  time  or  energies 
in  applying  to  the  various  medical  boards  for  a  recognition 
of  the  lectures,  as  Dr.  Drysdale  desired  should  be  done. 
Some  time  back,  I  believe,  he  was  infonned  by  the 
honorary  secretary,  that  if  he  would  make  the  requisite 
enquiries,  and  lay  a  practicable  scheme  before  the  council. 


284  THE  PBOPOWD  DIPLOMA.   *^e^J,?5S?i!«8Jl 

it  would  receive  their  most  oerions  consideration.  The 
answer  waa  very  characteristic, — ^'  I  can't  do  it,  it  is  yoa 
men  in  London  that  most  do  it,  I  can't.*'  We  all  know 
that  Dr.  Drysdale  could  not  do  it,  and  are  equally  well 
assured  that  the  men  in  London  could  not  do  it  either ! 

Among  other  thingSi  Dr.  Drysdale  aflfects  to  be  Teiy 
much  dusgusted  because  the  L.  H.  diploma  is  only  to  be 
giyen  to  men  already  qualified ;  albeit  Dr.  Dudgeon,  a  few 
pages  back,  is  equally  disgusted  because  it  is  to  be  ''a 
qualification  to  practise ! "  Now,  I  have  not  the  slightest 
doubt,  that  had  the  school  proposed  to  issue  a  qualification 
such  as  Dr.  Drysdale  pretends  to  think  that  they  ought  to 
have  done,  and  as  Dr.  Dudgeon  says  they  have  done,  then 
is  no  one  who  would  haye  poured  out  such  copious  yials  of 
wrath  upon  the  school  for  having  done  so  as  would  Dr. 
Drjrsdale,  of  Liverpool ! 

This  is  quite  sufficient  to  show  that  the  feeling  against 
the  school,  on  the  paart  of  Dr.  Drysdale  and  of  tiiose  who 
are  associated  with  him  in  opposing  it,  is  quite  independent 
of  anything  that  may  be  done  by  its  committee,  its  officers 
or  its  lecturers.  Whatever  they  do  will  entail  upon  them 
their  maledictions. 

The  following  extraordinary  sentence  I  must  quote  in 
full :  '^  Unfortunately,  this  act  of  the  school  managers  does 
not  stand  alone,  and  may  be  looked  on  as  the  climax  of  a 
series  of  acts,  which  might  be  construed,  and  which  our 
enemies  will  be  certain  to  construe  as  deliberate  acts  of 
set  purpose  to  put  the  stamp  of  sectarianism  on  our  whole 
doctrine  and  practice,  and  thus  widen,  as  fieur  as  possible, 
the  breach  between  us  and  the  profession  in  general,  with 
the  efiect  of  deterring  them  from  studying,  and  finally 
absorbing  our  practice  into  general  medicine,  thereby  giving 
prolonged  opportunity  for  any  of  the  baser  sort  who  may 
lurk  in  our  body  of '  trading  on  a  name.' " 

What  those  ''  acts  "  are  which  constitute  his  '^  series  " 
Dr.  Drysdale  does  not  say,  but  wanders  off"  to  complain 
once  more  of  the  school  authorities  not  having  set  oat  in 
pursuit  of  the  will  o'  the  wisp  he  had  endeavoured  to  dis- 
tract their  attention  by  pointing  to !  This  want  of  appro* 
ciation  of  Dr.  Drysdale's  interest  in  the  wel&re  of  the 
school  forms,  I  doubt  not,  the  chief  item  of  the  ''  series  of 
acts ! "  He  positively  says,  that  he  believes  that,  at  one 
time,  the  claim  for  recognition  of  the  lectures  as  part 
of  the  medical  curriculum  had  "a  very  fair  chance  of 


ISSS^SS^uIm^  ^HB  PR0P0SU>  BIPLOHiL.  285 

maooBBB " !  !  Ifi  is  needlesB  to  add,  that  there  does  not 
•exist  the  slightest  ground  for  any  sneh  utterly  misplaced 
■oonfidenee  I  Continuing  to  harp  upon  the  neglect  by  the 
rflchool  officers  of  his  proposal  to  obtain  recognition  for  the 
lectnres»  Dr.  Drysdale  writes:  ''One  reason  given  for  the 
leeistanoe  of  the  managers  to  making  onr  claim  for  recog- 
nition^ was»  that  there  was  no  chance  of  its  being  granted/* 
*'  One  reason  "  indeed — the  fSEict  that  there  was  not  the 
remotest  chance  of  such  recognition  bdng  accorded  was  the 
reason!  Nothing  wonld  gratify  the  oonunittee  and  lec- 
turers more  than  that  the  lectores  should  be  recognised  as 
part  of  the  corricnlnm  of  medical  stndy — ^bnt  they  know  fiill 
well  that  not  even  a  hearing  wonld  be  accorded  to  any  such 
pro^Kwaly  on  ihe  part  of  those  in  whose  hands  the  power  to 
grant  or  withhold  recognition  lies*  Then  he  goes  on  to 
say* — **  Whatever  chance  there  was  **  [bnt  there  was  none] 
*'  it  was  onr  dnty  to  make  the  application,  and  to  neglect 
^r  refuse  to  do  so,  argues  either  distrust  in  the  trntifi  of 
homoBopathy,  or  the  desire  to  keep  it  as  a  sectarian  practice 
apart  from  general  medicine."  I  reply  that  the  rejfusal  of 
rthe  school  authorities  to  enter  upon  the  Quixotic  mission 
proposed  by  Dr.  Drysdale  argues  neither  a  distrust  of 
-homcBopathy  nor  a  desire  for  seotarianism,  but  simply 
shows  ^lat  they  had  a  much  clearer  and  juster  appreciation 
of  the  situation  than  I^«  Drysdale  appears  to  have  had. 
They  knew  perfectly  well  that  to  apply  for  recognition  was 
useless.  They  offered,  as  I  have  already  said,  to  entertain 
any  proposal  for  the  purpose  that  Dr.  Drysdale  might 
obtain  authority  to  submit  to  them  from  those  in  whose 
hands  the  power  to  recognise  lies,  but  Dr.  Drysdale  declined 
the  mission ! 

We  all  know  that,  as  Dr.  Drysdale  says,  ''  one  medical 
eonvert  does  more  for  the  spread  of  a  medical  truth  than 
a  thousand  laymen,"  and,  for  this  very  reason,  we  have 
established  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy  to  instruct 
these  medical  converts,  whether  they  are  in  statu  pupiliari 
or  in  practice;  and  yet  Dr.  Drysdale  would  have  us  restrict 
our  attention  to  the  former  and  shut  the  doors  upon  the 
ktterl 

The  managers  of  the  school  are  next  stated  by  Dr. 
Drysdale  to  *'  have  been  led  away  by  a  &lBe  analogy  with 
the  homosopathic  schools  of  America."  Had  they  been  so, 
they  would  have  established  a  complete  medical  school 
and  have  instituted  a  diploma  qualifying  for  practice,  after 
Tol.  S6,  Ko.  5.  z 


286  THE  PHOFOHBD  DIPLOMA*  ^'^SSSi^SSfTSt. 

having  obtained  the  anthoiity  of  a  eharterfrom  Fiarliameiil. 
This  they  have  neither  done,  nor  attempted  to  do.  Thqr 
have  sought  to  teaoh  homceopathy  beoanse  this  is  the  only 
branch  of  medical  science  which  tiie  ordinary  sdioolfl  of 
the  country  refase  to  teach.'  The  title  of  the  school  indi- 
cates  their  object,  and  nothing  more.  Dr.  Drysdale  thinks 
that  there  is  no  harm  in  the  American  schools  ealliBg 
themselves  homoBopathio ;  bnt,  that  they  woold  have  been 
wiser  to  have  adopted  the  plan  of  the  University  of  Boston, 
and  have  refrained  from  taking  the  title  homosopathie. 
Here,  again,  as  he  has  often  done  before.  Dr.  Dxysdab 
compares  conditions,  which,  by  reason  of  their  essential 
difference  do  not  admit  of  c<miparison.  Hie  medical  school 
at  Boston  is  an  integral  part  of  the  University,  and  not  an 
independent  college  like  the  Homodopathio  Medical  Golleg& 
of  New  York,  for  example.  The  University  of  Boston 
comprises  several  faculties, — ^law,  literatnre,  theology, 
music,  as  well  as  medicine.  The  New  York  College  is 
exclusiTcly  medical,  and  has  no  connection  with  the 
University. 

In  concluding,  Dr.  Drysdale  once  more  goes  back  upon 
his  old  line.  '' Obtain  recognition,"  he  says,  ''by  applying 
in  the  ordinary  way,  and  complying  with  the  same  reguk- 
tions  which  bind  e^ery  medical  i^her  in  this  con^." 
We  are  sure  that  if  Dr.  Drysdale  will  do  this,  and  lay 
before  the  committee  of  the  school  a  definite  plan  by  wfaicb 
our  lectures  can  be  recognised  as  a  part  of  the  ordinary 
curriculum  of  medical  education,  that  it  will  meet  with 
the  fullest  possible  attention.  But  as  the  committee  know 
perfectly  well  that  no  such  application  would  be  enter- 
tained, he  can  hardly  expect  them  to  devote  their  time  to 
making  it. 

He  believes  that  ''the  small  coterie  in  London,  who 
have  hitherto  had  the  whole  power,  do  not  really  rquresent 
the  feelings  and  wishes  of  the  respectable  members  of  our 
body.'*  Who  these  "  respectable  **  gentlem^oi  are  I  do  not 
know,  but  presume  that  they  are  those  whose  viewa 
coincide  with  the  opinions  of  Dr.  Drysdale !  Is  it  possible 
to  be  "  respectable,"  and  at  the  same  time  differ  from 
him  ?  He  next  proposes  that  a  clean  sweep  shall  be  made 
of  the  committee,  the  o£9cers,  and,  I  presume,  the 
lecturers,  and  urges  the  provincial  governors  to  attend  a 
'  special  meeting  a^  ^VV^7  ^^®  broom  ! 

Here  and  there  throughout  this  paper  Dr.  Dxyadale 


mH^SSTHSu!^  ™K  PBoroiHED  DIPI.OMA.  287 

brings  inlo  pjromiiMnee  his  coatempt  for  the  opinion  of  sU 
persons  ontsida  the  profession  of  medicine.  He  forgets,  or 
appears  to  forget,  tl]Mt  the  profession  exists  for  the  pnblio 
— ^not  the  pnblio  for  the  profession.  He  also  fails  to 
lecolleot  that  homoeopathy  is  Tastlj  more  ^^redated  by 
the  public  than  it  is  by  the  profession.  He  describes 
those  who  have  supported  our  medical  institutions — ^those 
without  whose  aid  we  should  neyer  haye  had  either 
hospital,  dispensary,  or  school — as  **  ignorant  non-medical 
enthusiasts.''  Besides  being  an  untrue  and  therefore  un* 
just  descripticm  of  those  who  hare  so  gratefully  assisted  us 
in  our  efforts  to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of  homoBopathy,  such 
an  account  of  oar  lay  friends  is  ungenerous  in  the  extreme, 
llie  public  know  ^e  value  of  homcDopathy  because  they 
have  felt  it.  They  haye  had  illnesses  which  haye  been 
treated  allopathically  without  ayail — ^they  haye  resorted  to 
homoeopathy  and  haye  recoyered ;  and  their  well  grounded 
and  grateful  enthusiasm  has  urged  them  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  extend  like  advantages  to  others. 

How  comes  it  to  pass  that  homoBopathy  has  extended  so 
rapidly  and  widely  in  the  United  States  of  America  ?  It 
has  been  through  the  efforts  of  the  more  intelligent  portion 
ot  the  public,  in  no  small  degree.  Dr.  Diysdale  may 
describe  the  profession  of  medicine  as  one  ''always 
unfavourably  disposed  to  movements  attempted  to  be  forced 
upon  them  from  without."  That  may  be  true ;  but  per- 
petual ''  kicking  against  the  pricks  "  is  impossible.  There 
cannot,  I  think,  be  a  doubt  but  that  the  remarkable  change 
which  is  taking  place  among  the  allopaths  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  as  shadowed  forth  in  some  papers  which  appear 
in  the  present  number  of  the  Review ^  is  due  to  the  influence 
of  public  opinion.  In  short,  our  American  colleagues  have 
*'  gone  for  "  the  public ;  here  in  England  we  have  care- 
HEdly  eschewed  the  public,  and  have  endeavoured  to  secure 
the  profession.  The  result  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  in  the 
United  States  there  are  6,000  homosopathic  physicians,  and 
here  at  home  there  are  scarcely  800 1 

We  may  have  done  our  duty  to  the  profession,  and  have 
received  nothing  but  contumely  and  scorn  for  our  pains ; 
but  it  is  an  open  question  whether  we  have  fulfilled  it  to 
the  public. 

Whatever  may  be  the  fate  of  the  diploma,  the  bearings 
of  whieh  I  have  endeavoured  to  set  forth,  that  our  Londok 
School  of  Hom<bopatht  should  have,  and  is  entitled  to 


288  MIND  AND  MATTEB.       "S^^S^^Mf 

have,  onr  wannest  support  is  anquestionable.  It  teaches 
the  most  important  of  the  rarioas  bratiches  of  medical 
science  in  a  manner  which  is  not  taaght  elsewhere.  It  is 
not  in  any  sense  sectarian,  but  is  an  establishment — and 
the  only  one  of  its  kind — ^for  giving  instruction  in  a  medical 
doctrine  which  we  all  know  to  be  of  supreme  valae  to  eveiy 
physician.  The  name  it  bears  indicates  its  mission  in  a 
clear  and  onmistakable  manner.  It  has  had  a  fair  amount 
of  success,  in  spite  of  much  relentless  opposition  from 
many  who,  had  tiiey  done  their  duty  to  homcsopathy,  would 
have  exerted  themselves  to  promote  its  interests.  It  is  not 
what  Dr.  Drysdale  says  it  is — the  wish,  it  may  well  be 
feared,  being  father  to  the  thought — ^it  is  not  *'  a  virti^il 
failure."  The  attendance  last  session  was  considerably  in 
excess  of  that  of  any  former  session,  and  the  interest  dis* 
played  by  the  students  was  as  well  marked  as  it  was 
gratifying. 

21,  Henrietta  Street, 

Cavendish  Square,  W. 
April  12th,  1882. 

4iii  .  — ■■■■■■,  ,.        .1 

MIND  AND  MATTER.— A  CASE  OF  CONGENITAL 

DEFORMITY, 

Bjspobted  by  Dr.  Mormsson. 

Mrs.  C,  a  lady  of  highly  impressionable  temperament,  the 
mother  of  four  children,  was  confined  of  her  fifth  child  on 
the  30th  January  last.  When  three  months  and  a  half 
advanced  in  pregnancy  she  consulted  a  dentist,  who  bore 
the  impress  of  double  hare  lip  and  cleft  palate.  To  this 
individual  she  took  an  instinctive  dislike,  which  was 
intensified  by  the  way  in  which  the  dentist  elevated  her 
upper  lip  and  pressed  upon  the  jaw  with.his  thumb  while 
extracting  two  stumps,  preparatory  to  fitting  some  artificial 
teeth.  But  the  incident  did  not  appear  to  have  made  anj 
permanent  impression.  Parturition  was  preceded  by  an 
illness  of  three  weeks  duration,  due  to  angina  pectoris, 
complicated  with  mental  symptoms,  and  a  severe  attack  of 
lifismorrhoids.  The  child  was  born,  in  the  second  cranial 
position,  after  a  labour  of  eight  hours  duration.  On 
inspection  the  infant  was  found  to  be  frightfully  deformed, 
through  double  bare  lip  and  a  palate  completely  severed. 
The  mother  was  too  much  enfeebled  to  take  immediate 


2»2j?rSr*  BEVIBW8.  288 

interest,  but  a  few  hoars  later  she  insisted  upon  knowing 
whether  the  infant  was  perfect.  Upon  being  told  that  he 
had  hare  lip  and  cleft  palate,  she  at  once  exclaimed^ 
''Gordon  J."  (the  name  of  the  dentist),  and  she  soon 
pointed  ont  two  spots  on  the  infant's  gum,  which 
corresponded  to  the  position  of  her  two  extracted  fangs,  as 
well  as  the  thnmb-like  appearance  of  the  intervening  piece 
of  lip,  and  the  resemblance  of  the  infant's  nose  to  that  of 
the  dentist.  Knowing  the  latter,  I  could  not  but  confirm 
the  striking  similarity. 

Now  mark  the  sequel.  The  child  was  cyanotic.  Add 
to  an  enfeebled  circulation  a  difficulty  of  deglutition,  and 
the  chance  of  surviving  becomes  small.  I  was  anxious  to. 
have  an  operation  performed  early,  as  the  lesser  risk.  For 
this  purpose  the  infant  was  .taken  to  a  hospital,  but  the 
house-surgeon  postponed,  referring  to  the  senior  officer. 
Meanwhile  the  vital  power  steadily  declined,  from  imper- 
fect assimilation  of  food;  the  edges  of  the  cleft  palate 
became  aphthous ;  and  after  a  troubled  existence  of  six 
weeks,  the  little  sufferer  finally  closed  his  eyes  upon  this 
outer  world. 

St.  Saviour's  Boad, 

Brixton  Bise. 

March,  1882. 

REVIEWS. 

Hahrumofnn  as  a  Medical  Philosopher : — The  Orpanon.  Being 
the  Second  Hahnemannian  Lecture,  1881.  By  Biohard 
Hughes,  L.B.C.P.  Edin.  London ;  E.  Gould  and  Son, 
1882. 
In  this  brilliant  pieee  of  oratory,  Dr.  Hughes  sets  forth  the 
daims  of  Hahnemann  to  be  regarded  as  a  medical  philosopher 
of  the  highest  rank.  He  finds  the  basis  of  the  position  he  seeks 
to  establish  in  the  Organan,  This  great,  and  as  yet  much  mis- 
understood and  cQnseqnently  much  misrepresented  work.  Dr. 
Hughes  examines  with  scrupulous  care.  Not'  content  with  the 
last  edition,  he  begins  with  the  first,  and  by  noticing  the  altera- 
tions and  additions  presented  in  each  succeeding  edition,  he 
brings  before  us,  in  a  way  we  do  not  recollect  having  seen  done 
previously,  the  gradual  growth  in  Hahtiemann*s  mmd  of  the 
several  doctrines  inculcated  in  his  Organon,  It  is,  as  he  says, 
'^  quite  impossible  to  form  an  adequate  estimate  either  of  the 
Organon  or  of  its  author  without  some  knowledge  of  the 
changes  it  has  undergone  in  successive  stages."    He  illustrates 


890  Mvmws.  ^"S^^S??^ 


Beriew,  May  1.  Ifltt. 


this  point  as  follows  : — *^  Hie  hypothesis  ct  the  origin  of 
much  6broDic  disease  in  psora^  which,  not  long  ago,  was 
i^iiihoritatiTely  stated  to  be  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
homcBopathy,  first  appeared  in  the  fourth  edition  in  1829.  The 
theory  of  the  dynamisation  of  medicines,  t.^.,  the  actaal  increase 
of  power  attained  by  attenuation,  when  accompanied  by  tritura- 
tion or  succnssion,  is  hardly  propounded  until  the  fifth 
edition."  While  the  earliest  mention  of  the  doctrine  of  rital 
force,  as  the  source  of  all  the  phenomena  of  life,  as  the 
sphere  in  which  disease  begins  and  medicines  act,  occurs  in 
the  fourth.  80  that  all  that  is  essential  to  homosopathy  was 
published  twenty  years  before  either  of  these  doctrines,  which 
many  of  our  would-be  critics  declare  to  be  homoeopathy,  had 
been  broached  at  all. 

Dr.  Hughes  avails  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  criticise 
several  of  the  passages  in  Dr.  Bristowe's  address  at  Eyde, 
and  he  does  so  most  effectively. 

It  forms  an  admirable  essay  to  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
medical  man  who  is  honestly  inquiring  into  the  merits  of 
homoeopathy.  It  will  serve  to  wipe  out  from  his  mind  many 
of  those  erroneous  notions  derived  from  a  cursory  reading  of 
the  Organon,  which  allopathic  writers  have  from  time  to  time 
foisted  upon  their  readers. 


Ophthalmic  Therapeutics.    By  G.  8.  Norton,  M.D.,  Professor  of 

Ophthalmology  in  the  College  of  the  New  York  Ophthahnic 

Hospital,  &c.,  with  an  Introduction  by  Professor  T.  F.  Allen, 

M.D.     Second  Edition.     Be-written  and  revised,  with  copious 

additions.  New  York  and  Philadelphia :  Boericke  &  Tafel,  1882. 

This  is  a  second  edition  of  a  work  of  considerable  importance. 

Ophthalmic  diseases  are   supposed,  far  too  generally,  to  be 

amenable  only  to  the  surgeon's  knife,  while  tiiie  skilful  operator 

is  frequently  but  too  much  satisfied  with  his  manual  dexterity 

to  take  the  trouble  to  enquire  whether  remedial  measures,  in  the 

form  of  drugs,  may  not  answer  all  the  purposes  required  for 

enre.    As  a  physician  said  to  us  not  long  ago-^!'  It  is  the  men 

who  cannot  cut  out  a  cataract  who  will  endeavour  to  cure  it 

with  medicine  ;    those  who  can,  will  not  take  the  trouble  to 

do  so." 

The  volume  before  us  does  not  ignore  surgical  procedures 
where  these  are,  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge,  absolutely 
essential ;  but  it  lays  before  us,  as  the  result  of  many  years  of 
large  and  carefully-studied  experience,  indications  for  the  use  of 
remedies  which  may,-  very  often,  supersede  the  knife.  And  it 
oannot  too  frequently  be  stated  that  a  recovery  after  a  surgical 
Iteration  is  very  different  to,  and  a  very  much  more  imperfect 
flJEfdr  than  reeovcrv  from  the  use  of  medicines. 


mSS^SSTS!^         mmtihqs. 291 

In  pnUbhing  the  fini  edition  of  this  work,  Dr.  Norton  was 
aasoeiaied  with  Dr.  AUsa*  tha  editor  of  the  Encyt^prndia  €f 
Materia  Medica;  on  the  present  oeoaoion  Dr.  Allen  rehnqnishee 
all  the  reeponeibilitj  of  anthonhip,  on  the  ground  that  Dr« 
Norton  has  himaelf  perfonned  aU  the  lahoor  of  revision. 

It  is  divided  into  two  parts.  The  first  detailing  the  indioa> 
tions  of  188  medieines  for  use  in  diseases  of  the  eye,  as  drawn 
from  the  proving8»  and— what  is  of  infinite  importance — as  con- 
firmed bj  dinical  results  obtained  at  the  New  York  Ophthalmic 
Hospital ;  xesnlts^  too,  niiich  are  firequently  used  to  illustrate 
ihetext. 

The  second  partnotioes  briefly  each  disease  to  which  the  eye 
IB  Hable,  points  out  the  various  medicines  which  are  useful  in 
«aoh,  and  the  indications  guiding  their  selection. 

We  would  earnestly  advise  all  our  eoUeagnes,  and  more  espe- 
cially those  vHio  are  interested  in  ophthafanic  surgery,  to  procure 
this  book,  and,  having  done  so,  carefully  to  study  it ;  and,  above 
all  things,  never  to  resort  to,  or  to  recommend  an  operation 
withont  having,  first  of  all,  tested  the  Talue  of  its  iigunctions. 

There  is  something  so  fascinating  about  operative  surgery, 
«nd  the  skill  displayed  by  the  surgeon  is  so  attractive,  that  the 
temptatiim  to  perform  an  operation,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
avo>ni  the  trouble  of  a  carefiil  selection  of  a  medicinal  remedy,  is 
often  too  strong  lor  some,  and  especially  for  young  men.  But  it 
must  ever  be  remembered  that  surgery  does  but  make  good,  in 
a  more  or  less  imper^Bct  manner,  Uie  defects  of  medicine,  and 
that,  after  all,  he  is  the  most  skilAil  and  the  most  useful,  if  not 
the  most  popular  suigeon,  who  avoids  the  use  of  the  knife,  as 
fiur  as  the  resources  St  medicine  will  allow  him  to  do. 

Here,  then,  is  a  work,  based  upon  a  long  and  carefully 
recorded  experience,  which  will  matenaUy  enable  the  ophthalmie 
surgeon  to  cure  disease  of  the  most  important  and  delicate  of 
organs  with  a  imntmimi  employment  of  the  kmfe.  As  such  we 
commend  it  to  the  careful  study  of  our  coUeagues. 

— -  —    -  * 

MEETINGS. 

PRESENTATION  OF  A  TESTIMONIAL  TO  THE  RIGHT 

HONOURABLE  LORD  EBUBY, 

Wb  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Alan  E.  Chambre  for  the  following 
fiill  report  of  this  very  interesting  meeting,  to  which  we  briefly 
referred  in  our  last  number : — 

On  Saturday,  the  SM^tb  March,  the  Committee,  at  the  invitation 
of  Major  Wm.  Taughan  Morgan,  met  at  the  Junior  Athenwnm 
C^ub,  and  proceeded  thence  to  the  iomn  residence  of  Lord  Ebury 
to  present  the  testimonial.    Mq'or  Wm.  Yaughan  Morgan,  who 


2&2  MBETmOB. 


1. 


made  tho  presentation,  was  aoeompanied  by  Br.  fiamiltoii, 
Dr.  Dudgeon,  Dr.  Yeldham,  Mr.  Hugh  Cameron,  Dr.  Dyce 
Brown,  Mr.  Alan  E.  Chambre,  and  Mr.  Alfred  B.  Pite.  Thej 
wera.reoeiTed  by  Lord  and  Lady  Ebory,  with  whom  were  the 
Hon.  MisB  GroBvenor,  the  Hon.  Albertina  Grosvenor,  the  Hon. 
Mr*  and  Mrs,  Norman  Grosvenor,  and  tiie  Hon.  Bichard 
Qro6Teiior« 

After  the  neeessary  introdnotionB,  the  portrait  of  Lord  Ebory 
was  uncovered.  The  likeness  is  in  every  respeot  adminaUe, 
while  the  artist — ^Mr.  Gyms  Johnson— is  nnqoestionably  to  be 
oongratalated  on  the  qualities  of  the  picture  as  a  work  of  art. 

Si^jor  Yanghan  Morgan,  in  fonnally  presenting  the  portrait, 
and  addressing  Lady  Ebury,  said  he  did  so  on  behalf  of  a  Iszge 
number  of  subscribers,  of  the  nobility,  the  medical  profession, 
and  the  laity,  who  desired  to  present  that  portrait  of  the  noble 
lord,  which  he  hoped    would  be    considered  excellent,   as  a 
maik  of  their  appreciation  of  the  signal  services  rendered  by 
his  lordship  to  tiie  cause  oi  medical  science.    He  could  have 
wished  that  some  other  person  had  been  selected  to  perform 
that  grateful  duty,   but  the  Earl  of  Denbigh  was  not  able 
to  be  present,   and  the  Earl  of   Dunmore   was    away  from 
London,  both  noblemen    being   members  of  the    Committee 
which  had  been  formed  to  organise  this  general  teatimony  to  the 
honour  in  which  Lord  Ebury  was  held,  but  there  were  present 
Dr*  Hamilton,  and  Mr.  Cameron,  and  Dr.  Dudgeon  and  others^ 
especially  Dr.  Yeldham,  to  whose  happy  inspiration  the  move- 
ment was  originally  due,  and  these  gentlemen  could  have  more 
worthily  folfiUed  the  pleasant  duty  before  them  than  himselL 
But  they  had  delegateid  it  to  him,  and  while  he  must  yield  to 
them  in  point  of  ability,  he  would  yield  to  no  one  in  his  zeal  for 
homosopathy,  and  his  appreciation  of  the  services  rendered  to 
that  cause  by  the  noble  lord.    (Hear,  hear.)    He  need  hardly 
remind  her  ladyship  that  his  lordship  had  done  great  services  to 
homoeopathy,  as  Lord  Grosvenor,  in  obtaining  a  special  r^nm 
to  Parliament  of  the  marked  success  of  the  homoeopathic  treat- 
ment of  cholera  during  the  prevalence  of  that  malady  in  1854. 
So  soon  as  it  was  discovered  that,  although  such  a  return  had 
been  made  by  the  authorities  of  the  London  Homoeopathic 
Hospital,  in  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  3oard  of  Health, 
that  important  document  had  been  suppressed  by  the  Medical 
Council  specially  appointed,  and  kept  out  of  the  other  returns 
duly  made  to  Parliament,  his  lordship  took  immediate  steps  to 
have  the  omission  rectified.     The  result  of  his  lordship's  ener- 
getic action  was  an  order  by  the  House  of  Commons  for  a  special 
pfkper,  embodying  that  return,  together  with  the  correspondence 
which  had  ti^n  place  between  the  authorities  of  the  hospital 
and  the  Medical  Council  ia  consequence  of  the  suppression. 


Bat  aa  even  greater  sertioe  than  ihat  was  Tendered  by  Loid 
fibnxyt  not  cuoly  to  komcBopathjy  bat  to  medical  progresa 
generalljy  irfaen  tbe  Aet  of  185B  '*  to  Begnlaie  the  Qoalificatioiia 
of  Ptaetitionera  in  Medicine  and  Sui^eiy  "  was  in  prooess  of 
becoming  law*  it  was  an  Act  to  ensure  a  most  desirable  thing, 
the  regniar  qualification  of  everf  person  practisiDg  medicine  or 
snzgerj.  Now,  it  had  happened  that  instances  were  w^  known 
in  which  medical  students  had  been  refused  certificates  and 
diplomas  in  consequence  of  their  known  belief  in  the  doctrines 
of  Hafanemaim,  in  one  case  the  student  being  commanded  even 
to  return  a  diploma  granted  after  his  suceessfiiUj  passing  th» 
prescribed  examination.  Against  this  persecution  the  new  Act 
afforded  no  protection,  which  indeed  it  might  be  construed  to 
&TOur  rather  than  otherwise.  This  was  brought  to  the 
knowledge  of  Lord  Eburj,  and  on  the  third  reading  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  his  lordship  succeeded  in  securing  the 
insertion  of  a  clause  prohibiting  the  examining  bodies  from 
prescribing  tests  as  to  medical  theories,  and  from  refusing 
diplomas  in  consequence  of  medical  beliefe.  Without  this  signal 
service  to  the  cause  of  medical  freedom,  candidates  for  degrees 
who  believed  in  the  doctrines  of  Hahnemann  might  have  found 
it  quite  impossible  to  become  legally  qualified  practitioners. 
This  clause  had  been  aptly  described  as  '*  the  charter  of  the 
lights  of  homieopathy."  (Hear,  hear.)  The  speaker  said  he 
wonld  not  take  up  time  much  further,  but  as  treasurer  of  the 
London  Homosopathic  Hospital  he  must  render  a  tribute  to  the 
devotion  and  energy  of  his  kNrdship  in  the  interests  of  that 
Institation.  The  English  Homcsopathio  Association,  the  Hahne- 
mann Hospital,  the  London  Homceopathic  Hospital,  and  the 
London  Bchool  of  Homoeopathy  were  all  of  them  institutions 
which  had  derived  the  greatest  advantage  from  the  countenance 
and  support  of  Lord  Ebury.  (Applaiue.)  And  in  the  service 
of  these — especially  of  the  existing  hospital,  too  much  could  not 
be  said  for  his  lordship's  urbanity,  9a»oirfaiTe  and  loyalty.  He 
said  loyalty,  because  that,  in  his  opinion,  was  one  of  his  lord* 
ships  greatest  characteristics  (hear,  hear),  and  because  there  had 
been  some  little  unpleasantnesses,  wMch,  on  accoimt  of  old 
friendships,  had  placed  his  lordship  in  a  difficult  situation,  but 
in  which  his  loyiJty  to  his  colleagues  on  the  Board  of  Manage- 
ment was  never  fiyr  a  moment  shaken^  Mf^or  Morgan  said  thai 
he  would  not  detain  the  attention  of  her  ladyship  on  other 
matters,  but  Lord  Ebury  had  rendered  marked  services  in  other 
eaoses  than  hmnosopathy.  They  were  Englishmen  as  well  as 
homcBopaths.  He  might  say  they  were  Englishmen  first  and 
homcBopaths  afterwards.  Lord  Ebupf  had  done  good  work  for 
his  countiy,  and  was  indeed  one  of  those  men  who  not  only 
would  leave  the  world  better  than  they  found  it,  but  could 


294  MSETiNcn*  bSS^ 

iairlj  olaim  to  have  takan  an  aotiTe  pari  in  maldng  it  so.  Ha 
would  only  say  in  tonoloMon  that  the  idea  of  preeenting  thii 
teetimonial  had  first  originated  on  the  oceasion  o£  the  ei^tietii 
hirthday  of  his  lordship,  but  they  all  hoped  he  woold  be 
spared  to  them  fix  many  years  yet.  (Hear,  hear.)  At  all 
events  their  hope  was  that  whan  many  years  had  past,  this 
portzait  would  remain,  so  that  their  children  and  their  children^i 
children,  who  would  know  what  he  was  in  dianuster  and  spirit, 
might  also  learn  what  he  was  like  in  the  fiesh,  and  how  he  had 
influenced  those  who  only  knew  him  in  his  public  capadfy,  and 
had  learned  to  admire  his  great  qualities.  Mmjos  Morgan  than 
handed  to  her  ladyship  a  book  containing  a  list  of  the  names  of 
the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  had  subecnbed  to  the  testimanial, 
remarking  that  it  would  be  found  rather  long,  because  it  had 
been  felt  that  it  would  be  more  pleasing  to  her  ladyship  and 
Lord  Ebury  that  the  presentation  should  be  the  result  of  a 
general  expression,  ra^er  than  limiting  it  to  a  few  friands, 
indeed,  if  he  might  be  allowed  to  use  the  expression,  rather  a 
large  collection  of  HomoBopathio  sums,  than  a  smiill  one  of 
Allopathic  amounts.  It  only  remained  for  him  to  ask  her 
ladyship's  acceptance  of  the  portrait,  and  the  aooompanying  list 

The  book  containing  the  list  of  subscribers  to  the  testimonial 
was  adorned  by  a  medallion  in  gilt,  bearing  the  head  of  Hahne- 
mann encircled  by  the  inscription  of  the  homoDopathie  formula, 
SmiUa  SimiUimi  Guurantwr. 

Lord  Ebuiy  in  acknowledging  the  presentation  on  behalf  of 
Lady  Ebury  said : — ^I  am  quite  conscious  of  my  own  unworthiness 
of  so  valuable  an  expression  of  regard  as  Lady  Ebury  hss 
xeceived,  and  I  feel  almost  at  a  loss  for  words  in  view  of  such  a 
catalogue  of  virtues  as  that  which  my  honouxable  and  gallant 
£iend  has  ascribed  to  me.  I  wiah  I  could  adequately  describe 
to  you  Ihe  gratification  I  experience  from  your  presence  hers 
to-day,  or  the  sense  which  I  entertain  of  the  kindness  which  has 
prompted  yon,  and  all  those  whom  you  represent  to  adopt  this 
most  flattering  mode  of  showing  your  estimation  of  the  humble 
services  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  render  to  the  cause  of 
freedom  in  the  pursuit  of  medical  science.  (I  may,  I  think, 
without  being  accused  of  exaggeraticm,  say  that  it  is  the  most 
important  of  all  sciences,  because  it  deals  with  the  comfort  and 
happiness  of  the  entire  human  race.)  I  labour,  however,  under 
«  dMculty,  which  besets  all  those  who  are  situated  as  I  am  at 
this  moment,  because  I  am  compelled  to  talk  about  myself-'^ 
very  tempting  but  dangerous  subject ; .  but  gentlemen,  it  is  en- 
tirely  your  own  fault,  and  if,  as  is  very  likely,  I  should  in  whal 
I  have  to  say  become  tedious,  all  that  is  left  ma  is  to  advise 
you  to  have  that  which  you  aire  so  fond  of  recommending  to 
jour  clients  who  don't  get  well  as  quickly  as  you  desire — I  mean 


SSlS'SrfS?^  MBBTIKOS.  295 


Wbtfkm,UaifU 


^tienee.  I  mij^t,  indeed,  irar«  I  to  dupoied,  oontant  mjvdf 
with  aSeaing  yon,  as  I  do,  mj  most  Bineere  aiid  oordial  acknow*- 
ledgmentB  for  the  honour  that  yoa  aie  eokiteriDg  apon  mO)  and 
saying  no  more,  hat  I  eannot  help  thinking  tiiat,  considering 
tiiat  I  am  the  oldest  person  now  living  who  recoUeetH  the  advent 
4»f  the  doctrinee  of  the  great  Qerman  philosopher  to  onr  shoreSi 
and  all  the  cirenmstanoes  oonnected  with  it,  you  may  feel  mter- 
ested  in  knowing  how  it  was  that  I  became  so  early  acquainted 
with  them,  and  as  it  were  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  move- 
ment.  I  owe  it  to  two  individnals-^-one  my  brother,  the  Earl  of 
Wilton,  the  president  of  onr  hospital,  who  has  recently  passed 
Away  from  amongst  ns.  He  was  a  man  of  an  inquiring  turn  of 
mind,  of  a  calm  and  impartial  temperament,  and  as  he  was,  as 
probably  you  gentlemen  know  already,  acquainted  with  one 
branch  of  the  healing  art,  was  well  qualified  to  form  a  correct 
and  unbiassed  judgment  in  regard  to  a  question  of  tiiis  sort.  I 
think  it  was  Dr.  Cane  who  first  brought  it  to  his  notice.  The 
•other  was  a  medical  man  whose  name  will  never  be  pronounced 
by  any  of  us  without  a  feeling  of  regard  and  attachment — I 
made  his  acquaintance  so  long  ago  as  1822,  when  he  was 
inivelling,  in  the  suite  of  King  Leopold,  with  Dr.  Beloumini.  I 
B<^n  learned  to  appreciate  his  excellent  qualities,  and  a  friendship 
was  the  result  which  lasted  through  the  whole  of  his  long  and 
distinguished  career.  He  was  the  apostle,  my  brother  one  of 
the  earliest  converts ;  and  when  we  came  to  talk  over  the  subject 
and  study  it  in  all  its  bearings,  I  felt  convinced  of  its  superiority 
over  any  of  the  so-called  systems  of  the  day.  The  best  proof 
that  I  could  give  of  my  gratitude  to  the  inventor  of  this  new 
mode  of  succouring  human  nature  was  to  devote  my  energies  to 
spread  the  knowledge  of  it  as  far  and  wide  as  possible,  and  above 
all  to  get  a  hospital  erected  where  the  poorer  classes  might  share 
tile  blessmgs  I  considered  it  capable  of  conferring,  and  also  to  be 
the  means  of  improving,  and  as  fsr  as  might  be,  perfecting 
a  system  so  auspiciously  inaugurated.  I  had  every  reason 
to  be  grateful  for  the  knowledge  I  had  obtained ;  for  whilst 
under  the  influence  of  the  pink  dbraught,  the  blue,  the  grey,  the 
unmentionable  black,  and  the  prescription  composed  of  articles 
almost  as  numerous,  though  not  quite  so  tempting  as  the  bill  ci 
fare  of  a  Lord  Mayor's  feast,  I  was,  at  the  age  of  tiiirty-seven  led 
to  consider  myself  about  to  become  a  confirmed  invalid.  Forty- 
four  years  have  since  passed,  and  here  I  am,  gentlemen,  address- 
ing JOTiy  and  enjoying  as  good  health  as  most  persons  who  have 
arrived  at  so  mature  an  age.  Now,  I  do  not  wish  it  to  be  taken 
for  more  than  it  is  worth,  and  I  am  not  so  foolish  as  to  suppose 
that  rimiUa  simUibus  is  always  right  and  contraria  eontrariU 
idways  wrongs  or  that  there  is  peHection  anywhere,  but  I  think 
tlie  faid  may  be  noteworthy,  that  having  a  large  fftmity,  and  of 


398  HEBTores.  ^'^SS&^St^TS^ 


Bevtov,  May  h  1M> 


ooiane  having  had  to  daai  mlh  a  eonaiderable  amotnit  of  thow 
ills  to  which  human  flesh  ia  heir,  ire  have  never,  during  the 
period  of  more  than  forty  years,  heen  compelled  to  go  ebewhere 
for  assistance.  I  will  now  cease  to  talk  ahont  myself,  hut  I 
cazmot,  on  such  an  occasion  as  this,  avoid  adverting  for  a 
ipoment  to  the  very  remarkahle  founder  of  this  veiy  remarkable 
ff^stem.  Will  it  be  believed — ^I  fear  it  mast  be — ^that  the  medical 
practitioners  of  his  own  comitry,  npon  whom  Hahnemann's 
system  dawned,  instead  of  welcoming  any  apparent  discovery 
which  came  from  so  very  distinguished  and  learned  a  source,  and 
trying  to  understand  and  prove  it,  at  once  combined  to  malign 
its  author,  to  misrepresent  its  theory  and  practice,  and  to  try  to 
strangle  it  in  its  birth,  and  he  was  persdnally' treated  with  great 
indignity.  Now.  just  think  of  what  the  state  of  medical  sk^  at 
that  period  was,  as  described  in  their  own  publications,  it  was 
one  continued  complaint,  almost  of  despair,  at  its  destructive 
divisions  and  want  of  success.  I  cannot,  perhaps,  better  illustrate 
it  than  by  telling  you  what  happened  to  the  £arl  of  Lauderdale 
of  that  day,  somewhere  about  iSie  time  of  the  French  Revolution^ 
January,  1790.  He  was  travelling  in  the  Low  Countiies,  and 
was  taken  ill — ^I  think,  at  Antwerp— and  sent  for  the  doctor,  who 
came,  shook  his  head,  and  requested  to  be  allowed  to  call  in  an 
assistant ;  this  was  done,  and  his  symptoms  having  been  duly 
ascertained,  his  lordship  overheard  the  result  of  the  consultation 
expressed  in  Latin,  in  the  following  words  :-*-*'  Saniamu9  ilium 
vsqvs  ad  deliquiumviUB  quia  juvenis  ac/oftu  tie  peregrinus  «st,  er^ 
sa^Mnmmtum/acientus.  Fortunately,  his  lordship  knew  Latin  aa 
well  as  his  doctors,  and  so  instead  of  the  promising  experiment 
they  so  kindly  proposed,  they  were  shown  the  door  with  all  con* 
venient  speed,  and  recommended  not  to  be  found  again  near  tho 
house.  That  may  appear  to  some  of  our  present  generation  a. 
somewhat  exaggerated  view  of  the  practice  of  those  days,  but  it 
has  always  been  considered  as  a  true  story,  and  many  equallj 
strange  could  be  adduced  from  contemporary  memoirs.  Well 
would  it  indeed  have  been  for  the  honour  of  professional  human 
nature  had  this  discreditable  treatment  of  the  illustrioua 
Hahnemann  been  confined  to  its  first  appearance,  but  it  .has 
gone  on  ever  since,  and  sad  to  relate,  it  assumed  its  most  unpro- 
fessional form  in  our  own  country.  I  will  not  dwell  upon  thia 
painful  subject,  which  is  patent  to  all  the  world,  except  to  notice 
the  extraordinary  virulence  which  it  assumed.  Bayle*s  dictionaiy 
must  be  searched  by  any  one  who  desires  to  acquaint  himself 
with  the  contumelious  epithets  which  were  hurled  at  the  heads 
of  the  unfortunate  individuals  who  presumed  to  favour  or  practisa 
the  new  doctrines ;  and  even  some  of  us  laymen  did  not  alto* 
gether  escape  unscathed  in  the  pitiless  storm.  That  haa 
apparently  spent  itself,  and  fortunately  hard  words  brake  na 


&^J£;T185g*  .  Mwwjwe.  807 


boxiM,  and  iia  last  matteringt  conaisied  flbnpljia  an  apparentlj 
aomewlmt  eontempiiions  asieriion  iliatwo.took  a  tradesman's 
Tiew  of  medioine.  I  am  noA,  bowerer,  oertam  that  it  may  not 
have  been  meant  for  a  eompUment;  a  tradesman  to  snooeed 
mast  be  a  good  man  of  bnsinees^  and  why  not  a  physician  ? 
Bat  we  aU  zeooUeet  a  desoription  of  the  genuine  orthodox  prae- 
iitionear  by  one  of  oar  own  poets,  at  a  time  too»  when  there  were 
Tko  groTeUing  Habnemanns,  whidi  shows  that  some  people  did 
think  they  took  something  resembling  a  •tradesman's  view  of 
medicine,  for  he  says  : — 

"  Is  there  no  hope  ?  "  the  sick  man  said, 
The  silent  doetor  idiook  his  head. 
And  left  the  house  in  deepest  sorrow, 

^of  eonrse  on  accdnnt  of  the  snfierings  of  his  patient,  but  also^) 

Despairing  of  his  fee  to-mozrow." 
I  have,  however,  a  much  graver  charge  to  make  against  these 
gentlemen  of  tradesmanism  in  its  bad  sense.     What  do  trades 
imions  do  f      Why,  they  endeayonr  by  intimidation  to  gain 
that    which    they   are    unable    to   obtain    by  fair  argument, 
•and    I    fear    it   will    have    to    be    sud   that   these    learned 
•persons  had  reoonrse  to  social   and   professional  ostracism; 
to  stifle,   and  that  they  did  succeed  effectually  in  impeding, 
4he   study  and    practice  of  a  medical    system  which,    what- 
ever may  be  said  of  it,  has  been  acknowledged  as  a  blessing 
•by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  persona   in  every  part  of  the 
•eivilised  world,     I  have  now,  gentlemen,  nearly  finished ;  but 
before  I  sit  down  I  should  like  to  remark  that  in  selecting  this 
mode  of  doing  honour  to  my  xmworthy  self,  you  have  conferred 
•an  honour  much  better  deserved  upon  another  person,  and  that 
is  the  lady  who  sits  beside  me,  Lady  Ebury.     The  portrait  that 
ia  looking  at  us  there  is  not  for  me,  but  for  her,  and  well  has 
«he  deserved  it.     Compliments  between  husband  and  wife  are 
not  always  credited,  but  it  is  well  that  you  should  know  how 
large  a  meed  of  praise  is  due  to  her  in  this  matter.     She  has 
inherited  from  her  illustrious  uncle  much  of  that  tenacity  of 
purpose  in  eveiy  enterprise  worthy  of  the  effort ;   accordingly, 
no  sooner  had  she  been  convinced  that  Hahnemann's  doctrines 
were  worthy  of  examination  than  she  set  to  work  to  study  every 
document  that  could  throw  light  upon  the  subject  wiUi  such 
Vigour  and  success,  that  she  has  been  able,  personally,  to  extend 
the  advantages  of  this  treatment  to  hun(£reds  of  poor  people 
who  could  not  have  obtained  access  to  professional  treatment ; 
and  it  was  lucky  for  you  medieal  gentlemen  that  she  did  not 
come  to  London,  take  out  a  diploma,  and  set  up  in  practice 
(mucb  biughter).    Gentlemen,  yon  eould  not  have  selected  a  day 
more  appropriate  for  this  ceremony,  for  it  is  the  26th  of  March, 
in  other  words,  Lady  Day.    It  now  only  remains  for  me  again 


208 unrwoB.         "gSJXTtt 

to  offer  to  jovip  gentlemen,  and  aU  thoee  irhom  jwi  raproBont, 
my  most  gratefal  admofwledgments  for  tlie  honour  jon  have 
ocmferred  upon  me.  This  is  probably  the  last  pnblie  occasion  in 
which  I  shall  appear  odmonH  vmpw ;  and  the  possession  of  this 
work  of  art  will  be  a  constant  sooroe  of  gratifieation  to  me,  as 
proTingthat,  small  as  my  services  have  been  in  the  canse  of 
freedom  in  the  pnrsnit  and  practice  of  medical  science,  they 
were  still  thought  by  those  most  able  to  jndge,  not  nnwortfay  <^ 
so  valued  a  recognition. 

We  regret  that  the  pressure  upon  our  space  does  not  allow  of 
our  publishing  this  month  the  names  of  those  who  contributed 
to  the  testimonial  fund. 

The  portrait  of  his  lordship  will  be  on  exhibition  at  the  Boyal 
Academy. 

THE    LONDON   SCHOOL    OF    HOMCEOPATHY. 

A  Special  General  Meeting  of  the  Goyemors  of  the  London 
School  of  Homooopathy  was  held  on  Thursday,  20th  Apnl,  1882, 
at  the  lecture  room  of  the  London  Honueopathic  Hospital. 
Migor  Yaughan-Morgan  presided ,  and  was  supported  by  Dr.^ 
Hughes,  Dr.  Pope,  Dr.  Mathescm,  Ih-.  H,  Wheeler,  Dr.  Tuckey* 
Mr.  Bosher,  Mr.  Pite,  Dr.  Clifton,  Dr.  Blackley,  Dr.  Smait^ 
J>x.  Croucher,  Mr.  Francis*  Dr.  Morgan,  Dr.  Dyce  Brown,  Mr. 
Butcher,  Dr.  Buck,  Dr.  B.  Moir,  Dr.  Anderson,  Dr.  Clarkcr 
Dr.  Epps,  Mr.  H.  Harris,  ^*  Goldsboro,  Dr.  Morrisson,  Dr. 
Shuldham,  Mr.  Wybum,  and  others. 

After  the  usual  notices  had  been  read,  the  chairman  directed  the 
secretary,  Capt.  Mayoock»  to  read  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting. 

Dr.  Hughes  asked  whether,  as  this  was  an  exizaordinaiy  meet-^ 
ii^,  it  was  competent  to  it  to  confirm  the  minutes  of  last  meeting. 

Dr.  PoFB  had  thought  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  read 
those  minutes,  but,  as  he  understood  the  matter,  the  laws  passed 
at  the  meeting  of  16th  December  last,  would  be  inoperatife 
until  they  were  confirmed. 

Dr.  Hughes  thought  the  minutes  of  a  general  meeting  did  not 
require  confirmation. 

The  CHAiBiiAK  ruling  thai  this  view  was  correct,  no  minutss 
were  read. 

The  Chajbman:  The  first  business  then  is  to  receiye  the 
resignation  of  the  honorary  secretary,  Dr.  Bayes.  The  foUowisg 
letter  from  Dr.  Bayes  was  read ; — 

«<  88,  Lansdowne  Place, 

"  Bri^t<ui,  19th  April,  1882. 

«« To  ths  Prmdmt  of  th$  London  Si^ool  of  Homaopatky. 
"  My  Lord, — It  is  with  great  regret  that  I  feel  compelled, 
^om  the  state  of  my  healHi  and  my  consequent  absence  from 


w^u^Sf^  MSSTmes*  299 

laoadon^  to  adc  your  lordBhip,  and  the  oommitiee  and  eooneil  of 
Hm  Sohoolt  to  aoaapt  my  iwignation  of  the  poat  of  honoraxy 
aaerataiy  to  the  School. 

"  I  have  to  tender  my  ainoere  ihanka  to  yoor  lordship,  and  to 
tha  eommitiee^  oooncil,  and  officers  of  the  Sohool,  for  many 
oonrteaies,  and  for  most  valnahle  and  cordial  support,  ever 
granted  to  me  in  the  performance  of  my  duties,  during  the  past 
fiye  or  six  years,  hy  which  my  duties  have  heen  greatly  lightened. 

''Beliere  me,  my  lord  and  gentlemen^  most  sincerely  and 
grateliilly» 

Your  erer  faithful 

«<  William  Batm. 

"  To  the  Lord  Ehury,  &e.,  ke.*' 

Br.  Mathsson  said  that  he  thought  he  should  only  be  ex- 
pressing the  general  feeling  of  the  meeting  by  proposing  the 
foUowing  resolution : — 

'*  That  in  accepting  Dr.  Bayes'  resignation  of  the  office  of 
honorary  secretary  of  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy,  the 
governors  desire  to  express  their  deep  sense  of  the  obligations 
under  which  the  retiring  secretaxy  has  laid  all  who  are  interested 
in  the  development  of  homoeopathy  during  the  course  of  his 
distinguished  Hterary  and  professional  career ;  that  the  cordial 
tiianks  of  the  meeting  be  accorded  to  him  for  his  invaluable 
services  in  founding  and  sustaining  this  institution,  and  for  the 
mivarying  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  with  which  he  has  watched 
over  its  interests  during  the  six  years  of  its  existence,  to  which 
is  mainly  due  the  state  of  efficiency  in  which  he  leaves  it  on 
retiring.'* 

Br.  Btce  Bbown  :  I  beg  to  second  that. 

The  resolution  was  then  put  by  the  Chaibmak,  and  carried 
with  applause. 

Br.  Pops  said  that  he  had  great  pleasure  in  proposing 
fliat  Br.  Bayes  be  appointed  vice-president.  It  was  entirely 
due  to  the  exertions  of  Br.  Bayes,  and  the  support  that  he  had 
given  to  the  School,  that  the  work  they  had  done,  and  the  pro- 
gress they  had  made,  had  been  accomplished^  Br.  Bayes  had 
been  untiring  in  his  endeavours  to  sustain  the  public  interest  in 
homoeopathy,  and  to  develop  the  School,  and  he  (Br.  Pope) 
thought  that  they  could  in  no  more  fitting  manner  acknowledge 
"flteir  obligations,  and  express  the  sentiments  of  esteem  which 
they  entertained  for  him,  than  by  asking  him  to  become 
^ce-president  of  the  institution  of  which  he  was  practically 
the  parent. 

Ih*.  HuoHKS  seconded  the  proposition,  which  was  put  from 
the  chair,  and  carried  unanimously. 

The  Chaibican:  The  office  of  honorary  secretary  being 
vacant,  it  is  for  you  now  to  propose  somebody  to  fill  it. 


900  M£ETIN€I8.  ^%S&^S^7iS£ 


Br.  Bmabt  said  he  roee  to  propose  Dr.  Pope  as  saeeessor  to 
Dr.  Bajes,  aod  he  felt  that  no  reconuneadation  from  him  was 
needed  in  support  of  the  proposition,  as  Dr.  Pope  wm  irall 
known  as  a  warm  supporter  of  hommopathy. 

Dr.  Gboughbb  said  that  he  had  great  pleasure  in  seconding 
that,  as  he  was  sure  they  would  all  agree  that  no  one  eoold 
he  found  better  qualified  than  Dr.  Pope  for  the  office  in 
question. 

Dr.  HuoHBs  said  that  as  his  name  had  been  mentioned 
in  connection  with  this  office,  he  desired  to  explain  that  be  had 
offered  his  services  solely  beoamse  he  had  understood  from 
Dr.  Bayes  that  he  could  find  no  one  who  was  in  a  position  to 
take  it.  When,  however,  he  heard  that  Dr.  Pope  was  willing  to 
take  it,  he  at  once  withdrew  his  candidature,  and  he  hi^Md 
Dr.  Pope  would  understand  that  he  was  in  no  way  a  rival 
in  having  any  pretensions  to  the  office,  and  he  thought  that  no 
one  could  fulfil  the  duties  of  the  office  better  than  Dr.  Pope  could. 

The  Chaibmav,  after  the  very  handsome  manner  in  ^diich 
Dr.  Hughes  had  expressed  himself,  had  great  pleasure  in 
supporting  the  candidature  of  Dr.  Pope.  He  then  pat 
Dr.  Smart's  proposition  that  Dr.  Pope  be  appointed  seerataiy 
vice  Dr.  Bayes,  resigned,  and  it  was  carried  unanimpusly. 

Dr.  PoFB  said  that  he  was  very  much  obliged  to  the  governors 
and  subscribers  for  the  compliment  they  had  paid  him  in 
appointing  him  their  honorary  secretary  in  succession  to 
Dr.  Bayes.  It  was  no  easy  task  to  follow  such  a  man  as 
Dr.  Bayes,  but  there  was  one  satisfaction  about  the  matter, 
which  was  that  Dr.  Bayes  left  the  business  of  the  School  in  such 
a  complete  state,  that  there  was  little  more  to  do  than  to  keep 
the  existing  machinery  in  operation,  and  he  should  endeavour,  to 
the  best  of  his  ability  to  do  that,  to  the  end  that  the  School 
might  not  only  flourish,  but  increasingly  flourish.  The  last 
session  was  by  very  far  the  best  that  they  had  had,  and  he 
trusted  that  in  the  next  they  would  do  better  still.  AU  that  was 
wanted  was  the  support  of  their  medical  colleagues  throughout 
the  country :  if  they  were  well  supported  in  that  way  he  had  no 
doubt  that  they  would  have  a  very  considerable  class  at  the 
School. 

Dr.  C.  L.  TucKST  stated  that  as  Dr.  Bayes  had  been  very 
much  pressed  with  the  work  that  he  had  had  to  do,  he  (Dr. 
Tuckey)  had  for  some  time  past  assisted  him  in  the  duties  of  his 
office  as  honorary  secretary,  and  that  when  he  heard  that  Dr. 
Bayes  was  about  to  resign  he  had  found  it  incumbent  upon  him 
to  tender  his  resignation  also.  He  had  since  enquired  whether 
an  assistant  secretary  was  needed,  and  that  finding  that  he  coold 
be  useful  he  should  have  much  pleasure  in  withdrawing  his 
resignation. 


Bwiev,  Mmy  l,  JffiS.  MBBTIHM.  801 

The  Cbasmmam  aaid  that  he  was  sure  that  the  govemorg 
'woaid  be  very  pleased  still  to  have  the  services  of  Dr.  Tnckey 
IB  the  capacity  of  assistaiit  secretary,  and  Br.  Tackey's  appoint- 
ment to  that  office  was  agreed  to. 

Dr.  Dtob  Bbown  said  that  he  thought  that  they  should  now 
take  that  other  step  that  was  contemplated  in  the  notice  for  this 
meeting,  and  he  therefore  proposed  thiat  the  new  secretary  should 
be  called  the  Dean.  All  medical  schools  had  their  Dean;  it 
would  give  more  importance  to  their  School  to  have  one.  It 
might  appear  a  small  point  to  some  people,  but  he  did  not  think 
it  was  a  small  point  in  reality,  and  he  therefore  proposed  that 
Dr.  Pope  should  have  the  title  of  Dean. 

The  CHimiUN :  Will  anybody  second  that  f 

Dr.  PoFE  said  he  thought  that  it  would  be  well  to  defer  the 
^xmsideration  of  this  matter  for  a  time.  They  had  recently  had 
an  accession  of  a  good  many  new  governors,  who,  however,' 
would  not  be  entitled  to  vote  untU  a  period  of  six  months  from 
their  admission  had  been  completed  ;  there  had  been  consider- 
Able  discussion  about  this  new  title,  which  was  one  of  some 
pretentiousness ;  and  he  thought  that  it  would  be  well  if  the  new 
governors '  were  allowed  an  opportunity  of  voting  upon  the 
question.  There  was  to  be  a  meeting  in  October,  and  if  this  and 
other  small  matters  could  stand  over  until  then  he  thought  it 
'would  be  as  well. 

The  smendment  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Whbblbb,  and  on  being 
put  to  the  meeting,  was  carried. 

Dr.  HuoHXS  said  that  he  had  undertaken,  as  the  original 
proposer  of  the  motion,  to  propose  an  adjournment  of  action  in 
the  matter  of  the  L.  H.  diploma.  He  needed  not  to  remind  them 
of  what  had  taken  place  in  reference  to  it.  There  had  been  a 
good  deal  written  about  it,  and  the  result  was  that  two  objections 
to  further  action  stood  out  rather  prominently.  It  was  deedrable 
that  if  such  a  diploma  were  instituted  it  should  be  the  action  of 
the  School  as  a  body.  At  the  meeting  at  which  it  was  put 
fmrward  there  were  only  seven  present,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact 
there  were  many  friends  of  the  School,  who  were  not  governors, 
who  would  soon  be  govemors,  and  as  these  gentlemen  who  had 
come  forward  so  recently  had  no  vote  for  six  months,  the  pro- 
moters of  the  motion  had  wished  that  the  matter  ediould  be 
pos^ned  for  six  months.  That  was  the  first  reason.  The 
second  was,  perhaps,  more  important.  A  strong  feeling  that  had 
been  expressed  against  the  diploma,  was  that  it  wss  illegal, 
or  rather  that  it  was  extra  legal.  He  (the  speaker)  did  not  value 
that  objection  himself,  but  he  respected  the  feeling  in  the  minds 
of  others.  The  members  of  the  Liverpool  society  did  not  approve 
of  its  being  instituted  until  legal  sanction  had  been  obtained. 
They  say  that  it  is  necessary  to  get  a  charter  to  make  it  legaL 

Y<4.  96.  Ko.  5.  T 


He  thonght,  therefore,  that  it  would  be  best  for  them  to  wait 
until  that  difficulty  iddch  had  been  raised  had  been  swept  out  of 
the  way ;  then  the  thing  conld  be  disciused  upon  its  own  meritt. 
The  resolution  he  proposed  was-^*'  That  the  London  Sehool  of 
Homoeopathy  think  it  deairabLe  to  suspend  fbrttier  actuni  in  the 
matter  of  the  licentiateship  m  Homoeopathy  lor  six  months ; 
during  wliich  time  inquiry  ^all  be  made  as  to  the  possibilily  of 
obtaining  a  Royal  Charter  for  the  School,  and  legal  sanction  for 
its  diploma.  That  a  coamiittee  of  five  governors  be  i^pointed 
to  mike  such  inquiries,  and  to  report  to  a  genend  meeting,  to  be 
called  after  the  20th  October.'-  Dr.  Hughes  added  that  he  had 
purposely  drawn  this  motion  in  an  altogether  colourless  manner; 
it  did  not  commit  them  to  wish  for  anything,  but  only  that  during 
the  six  months  inquiry  should  be  made,  and  that  the  committee- 
should  report  to  the  meeting  in  October.  He  hoped  thai  this 
would  meet  the  approval  of  those  present,  and  thai  they  woidd 
leave  it  for  future  consideration. 

Dr.  Blagklst  said,  that  as  the  original  seconder  of  the  motion, 
he  had  much  pleasure  in  seconding  tiie  proposed  postponement 
of  ccmsideration  of  this  matter.  That  wcidd  give  them  time 
to  mature  their  opinions  on  the  subject,  There  had  been  a  good 
many  expressions  of  opinion  about  it  in  the  journals  and  else- 
where. He  did  not  think  that  the  questi(m  of  legality  was  a 
very  serious  objection,  because  even  if  they  did  not  get  a  Royal 
Charter,  there  were  a  very  large  number  of  homoeopatiiists  in 
favour  of  giving  a  certificate---a  licentiateship,'  if  tiiey  liked. 
There  was  one  objection  which  he  had  no  doubt  he  woidd  have 
an  opportunity  of  bringing  forward  in  October,  which  to  his 
mind,  was  the  greatest  of  all.  He  had  taken  the  trouble  to- 
obtain  an  expression  of  opinion  ftom  the  younger  men,  who 
were  the  men  for  whom  the  licentiateship  was  especially  designed. 
He  did  not  take  it  for  one  moment  that  the  licentiateship  was 
meant  to  be  oonferred  as  an  honorary  diploma  upon  men  who 
had  been  in  practice  for  twenty  years ;  if  it  was  to  be  of  any  use 
at  all,  it  must  be  used  by  the  younger  men.  On  making  his 
enquiries,  he  was  surprised  to  find  thai  many  of  those  men  who 
had  gone  through  the  curricuhim  of  the  School  did  not  desire  it ; 
there  were  only  two  who  would  have  anything  to  say  to  the 
diploma  at  any  price ;  and  he  did  not  think  that  any  of  the  pro- 
moters of  the  licentiateship  would  think  of  carrying  it  on  in  the^ 
fiuse  of  such  an  objection  as  that.  If  such  an  objecticm  obtained 
among  the  whole  of  these  younger  men,  he  supposed  no  one  would 
propose  to  go  on  with  iL  None  of  them  objected  to  undergo  a 
thorough  examination  at  the  end  of  a  term,  but  none  of  them 
would  accept  a  titie  of  L.H.  This,  however,  was  all  by  the  way, 
and  would,  no  doubt,  oome  before  the  meeting  which  was  to 

ke  phce  in  October,  and  in  the  interval  these  gentlemen  might 


flESTSa?^  MHBTINGg.  906 

MB  reaaon  to  jAax^e  thfiir  opinion^  and  also  there  would,  no 
donbt,  be  a  large  acceBsion  to  those  atteoding  the  School  of 
HoDUBopathj,  and  from  them  they  would,  no  doabt,  got  an 
expression  of  opinion.  He  had,  therefore,  to  seeond  the  pro- 
posal to  postpone  the  consideration  of  this  matter  till  October — 
till  alter  the  20th  October. 

Dr.  MoBGAK  suggested  that  in  order  the  better  to  obtain  an 
exporession  of  opinion  from  members,  one*third  of  whom  probably 
were  in  the  provinces,  a  means  shoold  be  adopted  by  which  they 
fdionld  be  epMed  to  express  their  opinions  by  means  of  proxies. 

Dr.  8mab9  said  that  it  seemed  to  him  that  titles  of  any  kind 
were  altogether  prematnre.  He  did  not  think  that  they  were 
sofficiently  advanced  for  such  a  step  as  that  proposed,  but  that 
they  should  first  obtain  a  more  general  recognition  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world.  He  wonld  rather  &at  the  matter  were  altogether 
deferred. 

The  CHAiurAN :  May  I  take  it,  instead  of  being  postponed, 
that  the  proposal  should  be  annulled  for  the  time  being  f 

Dr.  Bmabt  :  I  would  propose  that  it  should  be  altogether 
deferred. 

Dr.  Wheeleb  :  I  have  great  sympathy  with  what  Dr.  Smart 
says,  but  we  have  had  several  accessions  lately,  and  I  think  it 
would  be  improper  to  interfere  with  Dr.  Hughes'  proposal.  I  do 
not  think  myself  that  it  can  militate  against  Dr.  Snuurt's  views  to 
carry  Dr.  Hughes*  motion  now. 

After  some  further  remarks,  the  Chairman  put  Dr.  Hughes' 
motion,  which  was  carried. 

Dr.  HuoHBs  then  proposed  that  Dr.  Bayes,  Dr.  Pope,  Mr. 
Pite,  Dr.  Blaokley,  and  himself  should  be  constituted  the 
committee  of  enquiry. 

Mr.  Pttb  said  he  thought  he  might  make  one  or  two  sugges- 
tions, as  he  had  had  some  experience  in  the  matter  of  charters. 
He  was  sure  that  any  committee  would  have  to  appoint  a 
solidtor's  firm  to  act  for  them  in  the  matter.  There  was  the 
Board  of  Trade  had  to  be  applied  to,  and  numerous  particulars 
had  to  be  frumished  as  to  rights  and  property  and  the  privileges 
sought  to  be  obtainedr^a  kind  of  work  ^at  only  a  solicitor 
could  manage.  He  was  quite  sure  that  any  committee  would 
only  be  a  committee  of  observation. 

Dr.  Pops  :  Perhaps  Mr.  Pite  can  tell  us  something  about  the 
expense. 

Mr.  Pttb  said  that  the  least  expense  was  about  fifty  guineas. 
In  the  matter  in  which  he  had  been  interested,  it  had  been  put 
at  twenty-five  guineas  at  first,  but  they  had  been  drawn  on  to 
fifty.  After  they  had  reached  that  amount,  circumstances  made 
them  desire  to  withdraw  from  it.     There  was  a  great  deal  of 

Y-2 


'  804  NOTABILU.  ^  B^^SSSfifS? 

pofiitive  work  and  a  great  deal  of  respoiuibiKtj  and  inqniiy, 
and  statistics  had  to  be  framed  in  a  very  careM  manner. 

After  some  forther  discussion,  the  resolation  was  agreed  to, 
with  the  addition  that  the  committee  do  not  spend  more  flum 
ten  guineas  in  making  their  enqniries. 

It  was  next  proposed  by  Dr.  Moboan,  seconded  by  Dr. 
Whbelbb,  and  carried,  **  That  the  committee  send  their  report 
to  the  goTemors  before  the  meeting,  and  that  governors  unable 
to  attend  the  meeting  may  vote  by  proxy." 

The  hon.  secretary,  Dr.  Pope,  tiben  read  a  letter  which  had 
been  received  from  Dr.  Drysdale  in  reply  to  one  asking  him  to 
accept  the  office  of  Hahnemann  Lecturer,  in  which  Dr.  Drysdale 
declined  the  offer  on  the  ground  that  hia  engagements  entire!^ 
precluded  his  undertaking  it. 

Dr.  Pope  suggested  that  a  committee  should  be  appointed  to 
select  a  lecturer  for  the  coming  year. 

The  Chatrmaw  suggested  that  the  committee  already  appointed 
for  another  purpose  should  act  in  this  matter  also. 

This  was  proposed  by  Dr.  Pope,  seconded  by  Dr.  Tucket,  and 
<3arried. 

The  Chahuian. — We  have  now  to  propose  for  election  ss 
Medical  Governors,  the  following  gentlemen : — 

Dr.  Ussher,  Dr.  Clarke,  Dr.  Anderson,  Dr.  Byres  Moir,  Dr. 
0.  C.  Tuckey,  Dr.  Goldsbrough,  Dr.  E.  T.  Blake,  and  Dr. 
Jagielski,  and  Mr.  Thorold  Wood. 

The  proposal  having  been  seconded,  was  put  to  the  meetmg, 
and  carried  unanimously. 

A  vote  of  thanks  to  l^e  Chairman  terminated  the  proceedings. 


NOTABILIA. 


AMATEUR  THEATRICAL  PERFORMANCE   IN   AID  OP 
THE  FUNDS  OF  THE  LONDON  HOMCEOPATHIC 

HOSPITAL. 
( CammumcaUdJ. 

It  is  our  pleasing  duty  to  record  a  highly  successful  dramalie 
entertainment  on  behalf  of  the  funds  of  the  hospital,  which  took 
place  at  St.  George's  Hall  on  the  18th  April.  This  was  not  the 
usual  annual  performance  by  our  old  fnends  the  "Thalians," 
as,  from  a  variety  of  reasons,  it  had  been  decided  not  to  organise 
theatricals  this  year;  but  it  was  the  outcome  of  a  generous 
resolve  of  some  friends  of  Dr.  Kennedy  to  hand  over  to  the 
London  Homoeopathic  Hospital  the  net  proceeds  of  a  theatrical 
performance,  which  those  friends  had  made  arrangements  should 
come  off  on  the  date  above  named. 


^SSSS&^'SS^'  SOTABimu 806: 

,  Having  said  so  nmcb  by  way  of  explanation,  let  us  at  onoe 
repeat  that  the  efforts  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  thus  so 
geoeroaaly  gave  their  services  on  behalf  of  the  hospital,  were 
crowned  with  complete  success,  as  testified  by  the  frequent  and 
hearty  applause  of  a  bnUiant  and  numerous  audience.  The 
pieces  sdected  were  the  well-known  farce  by  Mr.  Williams, 
*'  Turn  Him  Out,*'  and  that  charming  comedy  by  Mr.  Gilbert, 
"On  Quard,"  so  fnU  of  sparkling  repartee  and  excellent 
"  situations."  The  latter  was,  late  in  the  day,  substituted  for . 
''  The  I^uicers,"  in  consequence  of  the  author  and  part* 
proprietor  of  the  latter  play  having  positively  declined  to  grant 
permission,  on  any  terms,  to  Mr«  Whitehurst  (stage  manager, 
and  director  for  the  ncoxce)  to  produce  it.  It  is  due  to  the 
actors  that  this  should  be  known,  as  they  are  entitled  to  so  much 
the  more  credit  for  their  readiness  to  take  up  another  piece  at 
short  notice,  with  but  few  opportunities  left  for  rdiearsaL 
Indeed,  an  apology  on  this  score  was  made  from  the  stage  ;  but 
seeing  how  excellently  well  the  actors  se  wnt  tiris  d'affair$^  no 
i^kigy  was  needed. 

Space  fiails  us  to  describe  the  plot  of  the  pieces  performed,  but 
probably,  to  the  minority  of  our  readers,  that  would  be  un- 
necessary. Suffice  it  that  the  farce  was  performed  with  plenty 
of  spirit  and  '*  go,"  and  the  *'  make  up  "  and  acting  of  the  chief 
character,  Nioodemus  Nobbs,  by  Mr.  Whitehurst,  was  perfect*. 
The  next  best  acted  character  was,  to  our  thinking,  Susan 
(the  maid-of-all-work),  by  Mrs.  C.  A.  Becker,  who  identified 
herself  well  with  the  character,  and  this  must  have  been  difficult 
lor  the  fair  performer.  Those  who  had  laughed  at  Mr.  White- 
burst  in  tiie  farce,  were  so  little  prepared  to  see  that  gentleman 
in  the  part  of  Denis  Grant  in  "  On  Guard,"  that  we  heard  strong 
doubts  expressed  as  to  the  correctness  of  the  programme.  (By 
the  way,  how  tasteftil  the  programmes  were,  printed,  as  usual  at 
the  performances  f<«  the  hoi^tal,  in  Old  English  style).  In' 
effect  the  change  was  wonderful,  and  we  must  at  once  heartily 
congratulate  ]k&.  Whitehurst  on  the  excellence  of  his  assumption 
of  tiEie  character— a  very  noble  one  to  have  to  fill,  and  which 
secured  the  unanimous  and  enthusiastic  suffrages  of  the  ladies ! 
Thai  last  word  reminds  us  that  we  should  have  spoken  first  of 
the  ladies.  Two  charming  ladies  filled  the  characters  of  Jessie 
Biake  and  Mrs.  FitsOsbome,  and — ^must  we  be  hyper-critical — 
the  only  fault  we  have  to  find  is,  that  incidental  to  so  many 
amateurs,  a  tendency  not  to  raise  the  voice  sufficiently,  and 
occasionally,  to  turn  too  modi  away  from  the  audience.  They 
qpoke  their  parts  with  a  due  appreciation  of  the  sparkling -things- 
ihey  had  to  say,  and  their  dresses — ah  1  now  we  are  treading  on 
ipound  beyond  our  legitimate  province — ^but,  in  a  word,  the 
messes  were  worthy  of  those  who  wore  them.     We  feel  that  we 


30e mfkntuk:         ^""^^tSST^ 

may  give  a  mead  of  almost  unqualified  prake  to  the  gentfemen 
who  filled  the  other  charaeten,  and,  if  yre  mnst  distrngnish  one 
above  another,  peihaps  Mr.  Waller  Lewis  as  Guy  Warrington^ 
and  Mr.  W.  H.  Ohandler  as  Gmnse,  most  took  our  fimcy ;  bnt 
Dr.  Kennedy — ^who  had  an  migratefol,  beeause  nnpoptikr,  part 
to  iyi — did  excellently  well,  and  is  entitled  to  the  praise  of 
knowing  his  part  Hioronghly. 

The  chief  characters  were  called  before  the  curtain  at  the  eon- 
ckision  of  the  second  aet. 

A  very  excellent  amnteur  orchestra,  consisting  of  twenty-five 
peiformers,  led  by  Mr.  Norfolk  Megone,  discoursed  sweet  mnsie 
at  frequent  intervals  during  the  evening. 

We  are  not  yet  informed  what  are  the  pecmiiary  results  of  t^e 
perfonnance ;  but  certain  we  are  that,  whiEitever  falling  off  there 
may  be  in  this  respect  over  previous  entertainments  of  the  kind 
for  the  hospital,  will  be  due  to  no  want  of  exertions  on  the  part 
ci  all  concerned,  but  to  causes  beyond  their  control,  such  as  the 
absence  from  town  for  the  Easter  recess  of  a  number  of  kind 
friends  and  supporters  who  usually  attend,  and  the  modesty  of 
the  promoters,  who  fixed  the  prices  of  the  tickets  at  a  decidedly 
low  rate,  and,  moreover,  the  somewhat  short  notice  of  the  per- 
formance, which,  under  the  circumstances,  was  unavoidable. 

We  feel  sure  that  we  express  the  feelings  of  the  hospital 
authorities  in  heartily  thanking  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  so 
generously  exerted  themsdves  on  this  occasion  to  onsmre  a 
successful  entertainment,  and  in  hoping  that  we  may  again  meet 
with  them  under  similar  circumstances  on  a  future  occasion. 

■  ■■■  I  ..■— I  «■■■.  ■  iiiM  m> 

LONDON  SCHOOL  OP  HOMOEOPATHY. 

SuMMEB  Session,  1882. 

Du.  HuoHEs  will  give  a  Course  of  Lectures  on  '*  The  PniMiples 
of  Homceopathy,'*  oomsieQciiig  Thursday,  May  ith,  at  4  p.m., 
and  continuing  every  subsequent  Thursday  at  the  same  hour 
during  the  months  of  May,  June,  and  July. 

Db.  Dycs  Bbown  wUl  oommeoQce  the  Ssmmer  Course  of 
Lectures  on  *'  The  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine,"  ob 
Tuesday,  May  2,  at  5  o'clock,  p.m.  Subject: — *' Diseases  of 
the  Digestive  Organs  and  of  the  Spinal  Cord." 

Dr.  J.  Galley  Blackubt  will  commence  his  course  of  "  Clini- 
cs Jjectaxea  "  on  Monday,  M^y  8th,  at  10  i^m. 

BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIC  SOCIETY. 

Thb  eighth  Ordinaiy  Meeting  of  the  present  Session  wffl  be  held 
on  Thursday,  May  4th,  1862,  at  seven  o'clock.  A  paper  ynH  be 
read  by  Dr.  KotH,  of  London,  on  "  The  Treatment  of  Varioos 
Uterine  Complaints  by  Movements." 


fsss^arratf*        koxabima*  sot 


NEW  PBEPAAiLXIONS. 
(Ettu'b  Swiss  Miuc  Food  fob  Infants. 
Ws  haYO  miifllL  plessore  m  notioiiig  this  new  infiiats*  fbodi 
irhioh  contrasts  adjnirably  with  many  of  the  starohy  £oods  wbioh 
Are  so  mneh  in  use.  It  is,  from  its  eompoBition»  well  suited  for 
ihe  proper  nourishment  of  infants  who  eannot  be  nnrsed  by 
ihehr  mothers* 

The  following  is  the  analysis  of  it: — 
Moistore         •••        .*•         5.40  per  eent. 

J.  a*         •••  •••  •••  •••  •••      4c«OM         91 

Soluble      Carbohydrates     (eontaining 

Dextrine  and  Sugar)  48.70      ,t 

Inselnble    CarbohydlBtes    (containing 
iarinaceons  matter  perfectly  soluble 

in  pancreatine  solution)      • 26.80      ,» 

Albomenoids   •••        ...        ••.        .>•  12.52      ,» 
Ash  (containing  Phosphoric  Acid)     ...     1.78      ,» 
We  have  thns  all  the  elements  necessary  for  the  formation  df 
iKme  end  mnscle»  end  presented  in  a  state  which  is  most  easily 
•digested. 

We  httfe  used  it  with  success  in  oases  of  infants  who  were 
jredaced  to  semi-stanration  with  improper  food,  and  it  is  much 
i^ed  by  babies.  We  have  also  used  it  with  much  benefit  for 
adnlts  whose  digestkm  is  extremely  delicate.  Thus,  not  only 
theoretically,  but  from  experience,  we  can  highly  recommend 
this  food. 

It  is  imported  by  Messrs.  B.  licbmann  and  Co.,  106, 
Fenchureh  ^eet. 

The  same  firm  haye  introduced  an  un$w€0tened  Swiss  milk. 
This  was  a  great  desideratum,  the  ordinary  Swiss  milk  being  too 
sweet  for  many  palates.  Lehmann*s  unsweetened  milk  is  an 
excellent  pniparaticm,  and  forms  an  admirable  substitute  for 
cow's  milk. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

HOM(EOPATHT,    "  HOMCEOPATHY "    AND   SCIBNTIFIC 

PHYSICIANS. 
To  the  BdUon  of  Ihe  ^^  Monthly  Homceopathie  BevtewJ'* 
DxAB  SzRS, — It  has  frequently  been  urged  in  this  journal  that 
iKMnoeopathists  and  homodopathie  institutions  mast  hold  a  **  dis- 
tincttre  position  *'  so  long  as  the  principles  of  **  homoeopathy  '* 
remain  untaught  in  the  schools,  and  their  discussion  dimllowed 
in  the  medical  societies  and  journals.  This  is  a  perfectiy 
reasonaUe  proposition.  Contineed  of  certain  truUis,  ana 
believing  that  an  extended  knowledge  of  these  truths  is  for  the 
common  good,  you  take  the  only  means  left  open  hj  which  yott 
may  make  known  your  conrifStirnkS. 


'i808  C0IUkMtK>NDBi7CE.  "SfiL^iSSfPSf 


Jlmkm,  Bfor  1,  Ml. 


Those  who  sappoit  a  new  traih,  one  that  is  opposed  to  a 
traditional  belief,  are  of  necessitj  '*  unorthodox/'  and  as  a  body 
they  form  <<  a  sect."  It  ib  useless  to  qnarrd  ^nth  *tiie  term,  the 
relation  cannot  be  aRered.  Yon  may  leave  the  party  nndis* 
tingtdshed  by  a  name,  yon  may  neglect  to  give  it  prominence  by 
special  jonmals  and  institntions,  yon  may  break  down  every  link 
which  connects  the  members  of  that  sect  together,  but  still  the 
sect  remains.  To  say  to  tiie  members  of  that  party  *<  hold  yoor 
views  if  you  wHl,  bat  givo  up  year  seetaiun  position,'*  i» 
ridicnlons,  because  the  views  -create  ihe  sect,  and  tlM>se  who  hold 
them  could  not  be  unsectariatt  if  they  would.  Sedarianism  i» 
an  unpreventable  product  of  mental  activity,  only  to  be  eliminated 
by  an  universal  orthodoxy.  But  it  is  perfectiy  possible  for  a 
sect  to  exist  without  representing  any  distinctive  principles ;  it 
may  be  merely  a  party  in  opposition,  having  my  programme  of 
its  own.  Such  a  body  may  claim  to^  hold  an  honourable  position 
in  many  departments  of  thought,  but  in  the  science  of  medicine, 
it  would,  by  disturbing  public  confidence  in  those  who,  of  all  men, 
undertake  the  gravest  responsibilities,  do  so  much  injury  tiiat 
censure  would  very  properly  fall  upon  it. 

I  have  no  intention  of  implying  that  "homoeopathy  "  holds 
such  a  position,  but  I  would  call  the  attention  of  tiiose  who 
dispute  the  medical  system  of  the  day  to  the  necessify  of  taking 
a  course  which  shall  clearly  distinguish  their  efforts  from  mere 
opposition,  so  that  by  no  possibility  they  can  be  construed  into 
a  desire  to  weaken  public  confidence  in  the  medical  profession,  in 
order  that  personal  advuitages  may  be  secured.  It  is  necessaiy 
that  they  should  not  only  distinctiy  point  out-  where  they  differ 
from  that  system,  and  the  methods  they  would  have  adopted 
instead,  but  it  is  also  of  the  highest  importance  that  they  should 
State  the  extent  to  which  their  views  accord.  It  is  held  by  tiie 
medical  profession  that  the  principles  of  homoeopathy  are  set 
forth  in  the  294  propositions  to  be  found  in  the  Orrfftnon  of 
Homoeopathic  Medicine,  by  Samuel  Hahnenann.  If  this  be  true, 
you  hold  a  very  '*  distinctive ''  position,  and  one  not  wholly 
enviable.  In  these  days  of  more  exact  knowledge,  many  ot 
Hahnemann's  speculations  appear  in  a  very  foolish  light,  and  it 
is  only  necessaiy  for  an  opponent  to  recall  some  of  these  when 
he  wishes  to  prove  that ''  homceopathy  "  is  unworthy  of  scientific 
consideration.  Homoeopathists  are  inclined  to  c<»nplain  of  the 
injustice  of  this,  but  I  think  unreasonably,  for  do  the  laws  of 
chivalry  forbid  the  combatant  to  seek  the  weak  point  in  his 
adversary's  armour  ?  It  is  obviously  the  homoeopathist's  duty 
to  close  the  opening,  but  the  nu^ority  are  content  to  parry  the 
attack  by  sti^g  that  individittUy  they  do  not  believa  these 
things.  Then  follows  the  very  natural  answer  from  their 
opponents^  **  You  have  no  light  to  the  tiUe  of  homoeopathy"  and 


f^TvSSk         C0BBS8F0NUKII08.  89d 

■      ■  ■    ■ 

iUfl  1ft  loadJty  eehoed  by  a  miticiriiy  who  Mm  to  b6>  and  with 
fl0aie  troihi  the  *'oDly  homcBopaihs."  But  while  you  are 
engaged  in  defasding  yoor  pocdiion  in  this  external  and  intestine 
wwrfiue,  you  lead  the  mttaek  in  another  direction.  You  find  a 
praetitioner  treating  hie  oaaee  in  a  manner  almost  identieai  with 
your  own*  You  charge  this  man  with  "  homoeopathy/'  and  hold 
him  in  seom  and  contempt  becinise  he  refuses  to  connect  himself 
with  the  homoBopathio  body*  Your  argument  is,  that  he  belieyea 
in  one  of  the  principles  promulgated  by  the  founder  of  homoao* 
pftthy,  and  put  into  practice  by  homoBopaths^  and  that  he  is 
tben^ore  morally  obliged  to  call  himself  a  homosopath.  If  this 
mtgamoDi  stated  a  general  truth  it  should  be  transferrabley  and 
have  an  equal  yalue  when  af^lied  in  parallel  circumstances.  We 
will  anppose  then,  that  this  man  ia  of  opinion  that  frequent 
iblntiMas  are  essential  to  the  religious  and  moral  welfare  of  the 
eommnnity,  and  that  he  put  this  opinion  into  practice  in  his  own 
case*  We  can  show  him  that  Mahommed  was  the  first  to  pro* 
mnlgate  this  doctrine,  and  to  insist  upon  its  practice,  and  we 
aigne,  therefore,  that  he  is  morally  obliged  to  call  himself  a 
Maboanmedan  and  identify  himself  with  ihat  body.  With  the 
same  argument  we  might  seek  to  show  him  that  he  is  morally 
bound  to  attach  to  lumself  a  number  of  names,  which  would 
have  the  common  result  of  totally  misrepresenting  his  actual 
beliefis.  It  is  stated  that  the  refusal  to  call  himself  a  *'  homodo- 
paih  *'  arises  from  *'  moral  cowardice."  If  this  be  so  I  fieal  to  see 
the  distinctioa  between  such  cowardice,  and  that  proper  self* 
respect  which  leads  eveiy  scientifie  man  to  express  no  opuiion 
upon  a  doaen  things  in  which  he  half  believes,  rather  than 
identify  himself  with  one  that  may  be  proved  false.  But  let  us 
sqnpose  that  this  man  is  prevailed  upon  by  your  argument,  and  in 
evder  to  express  his  belief  in  (we  will  say)  the  law  of  similars^ 
ealta  himself  a  **homceopath.'*  A  stranger  afterwards  remarks 
to  him,  **You  are  a  homcaopath,  I  believe?"  *'Yes,"  he 
replies,  and  then,  anxious  not  to  leave  the  impression  that  he 
is  a  blind  disdjide  of  Hahnemann,  he  adds,  *'l  don't  believe, 
however,  in  all  the  theories  of  homcoopathy."  The  stranger 
goes  on  his  way  reflecting,  *'  I  have  always  been  told  that  there 
IS  mneh  nonsense  in  homoeopathy,  and  the  remark  of  this  pro- 
fessed homoeopath  proves  it  to  be  true.  I  may  as  well  cease 
my  enquiies  into  this  matter*"  His  reflections  would  have 
taken  a  different  turn  if  the  answer  had  he^a  *'  No,  I  am  not  a 
homoBopaihist,  but  I  agree  with  the  more  importimt  principlca 
advanced  by  that  body."  Harm,  rather  than  good,  reralts  when^ 
those  who  should  zefose  to  call  themselves  homoeopathists,  on 
gronnds  of  logical  disability,  consent  to  do  so  from  a  mistaken 
notion  of  moral  necessity*  The  whole  question  narrows  itself  to 
fhift  : — On  the  one  hand,  stem  togical  principles  demand  that  wa 


810  COBBBSMirMSKOB.  jm&jS? 


think  only  of  the  Mom;  on  the  other  hand  is  a-kinjlyijuipalliy, 
originatuig  in  benefits  receired,  luring  ns  to  a  tempomy  oipe 
diency.  The  etndent  BeMag  eomething  bettor  than  the  medieal 
method  of  the  day  ifl  earpriMd  and  d^ghted  at  the  resalte  ob* 
tained  from  a  system  whieh  on  the  face  (^  it  appeared  ridieyhwi. 
As  his  enqoiry  proceeds,  he  finds  himself  ginng  np>  one  by  one,  the 
modes  oftreatment  he  formerly  adopted.  Now  cornea  the  qfaesiionf 
Bhall  I  annoonce  myself  *'  a  homoBopath  ? "  He  aeqpDuiats 
himself  with  the  theories  and  principles  of  homoeopaHiyy  and 
finds  the  facts  in  which  he  beBeyee,  so  entangled  witii  qneetionahle 
doetrines  that  it  is  difficnlt  to  separate  the  one  from  the  other. 
He  knows  that  his  scientific  training  forbids  him  to  eoppoii 
these  last  centnry  gnessee,  and  yet  he  fe^  a  sense  of  indelite^ 
ness  to  homoeopathy  at  a  ttkole ;  he  knows  it  has  been  con* 
demned  a$  a  whole  by  the  profession,  and  he  feeto  a  sort  of 
moral  oUigatikm  to  assome  the  title  of  homcsopath  so  aa  to  fjlve 
it  snch  si^pport  as  lays  within  him.  <*  I  can  believe  the  tratfa 
that  is  witlun  it,  and  not  trouble  myself  abont  its  hSkam.  I 
shall  thus  accomplish  my  chief  oliject,  Tie.,  to  aid  what  I  know 
to  be  tnie."  But,  hete  is  the  fallacy;  he  does  not  aid  the  tralh, 
he  hinders  it.  What  he  does,  is  to  help  retain  eertaaa  valuable 
scientific  principles  in  the  entanglements  in  whieh  they  wen 
placed  by  Hafanemanfi,  to  help  keep  them  in  a  condition  whieh 
aUowB  earnest  workers  and  thinkers  to  pass  them  by  and  never 
know  them.  Btiled  by  sympathy  and  drifting  into  «cpedien^t 
he  izgmres  the  truth  he  "s^uld  support.  As  a  scientific  man,  he 
is  bound  to  take  a  move  difilcult  task,  to  state  boldly  what  h« 
finds  to  be  true,  and  to  point  out  with  equal  boldness  what  he 
finds  to  be  false. 

Thus  he  would  at  first  occupy  an  isolated  position,  condemned 
by  those  who  would  keep  every  sheep  to  its  fold.  But  in  pr»- 
3K)rtion  to  the  truth  ^of  his  principles  would  he  find  himaelf  in 
:a  short  time  one  of  a  large  body,  iHio,  keeping  steadily  before 
them  the  truth,  pursuing  their  enquiries  imtranimelled  l^  tia« 
ditional  methods,  would  place  those  frets  which  it  is  the  preaumed 
desire  of  modem  homoeopathists  to  propagate  on  a  firm  scient^ 
basis,  and  aid  their  progress  in  a  manner  wliich  10  impossible  to 
a  body  who,  united  under  one  common  nazne,  have  no  oommm 
belief,  and  no  common  object* 

Stated  vaguely,  the  common  ol^eot  of  homceopathiata  ia  to  ssa 
system  of  prescribing  adopted  by  the  profocsion  as  a  body. 
It  may  be  said  that  this  will  only  be  aecomplished  when  tha 
fuiionaU  of  the  law  of  similarB  veeeives  scientific  demenstraticn* 
Let  us  suppose  that  this  ia  accomplished  in  this  manner.  Thai 
physiologists  pursuing  their  inveetigationa  into  the  fonctiona  of 
the  nervous  system  as  well  as  the  laws  against  viviseetioii  viB 
aUow,  make  olear  the  action  of  the  minute  aenvma  ganglia,  and 


2hm"iB?*      fiCfMflwP(Mii>aMcaB»  SU 


.Ifiqri 


:fiad  ike  etfwit  of  WMk  aad  alioiig  •lhnnkntii»  appHad  to  ihAiii» 
jmd  that  it  is  thus  proved  ihat  ia.  order  to  pvodiice  a  certain 
assies  of  effeeta  it  ia  neoesasxy  ta  ap^y  an  infiaitesimal  qnantitj 
of  a  eeriaia  toade  agent,  while  ezaotly  the  opposito  effaots  are 
prodnoed  on  applyi^  an  insBsaaad  quantity  of  it.  That  ih» 
madieal  profession,  tsking  adiwitage  of  these  new  physiologieal 
^piinfiiples,  find  themselTea  adopting  the  same  dose  and  the  same 
drag  as  honuBopathists.  Ia  ii  to  be  sapposed  that  they  woald^ 
tiisarafore,  adopt'  the  terminokifiy  of  Hahnemann,  and  say  with 
ihe  HomaopoMe  World  fi>r  last  month — ^*  We  belieTe  that  drogii 
have  a  spiritaal  and  dynamio  actioa,  and  disease  a  spiritual  and 
dynamie  origin.'*  Or  would  they  use  jmy  of  those  terms  in 
•common  use  among  hommopatha,^  not  £or  reason's  sake,  bat  for 
Hahnemann's?  And  iKmld  not  the  bonoar  which  shoald  properly 
iall  to  hoBUBopaths  lor  holding  on  to  the  tmth  in  spito  of  pro* 
ibssioBal  and  social  obloquy,  Im  somewhat  shadowed  by  the  ladt 
•on  their  part  of  any  effort  to  obtain  for  those  traths  a  proper 
aeieatific  position. 

This  is  a  hypothetical  casoi  bni  there  most  be  some  sneh  end 
to  this  thevapentic  heresy,  and  it  is  to  tUs  end  we  loolu 
.HomcBopathisIs  have  a  doty  to  theaaselTes,  a  duty  to  the  truth 
tkey  hold,  and  a  duty  to  those  wim  are  as  amdous  as  them* 
MtimB  to  sapport  the  troth.  There  is  no  room  tor  expediency, 
it  ia  not  a  matter  of  '^hanliag  down  the  cdoars,'*  or  thinking 
''<  What  the  Lancet  will  say."  Those  who  admit  Uiat  ih^fm 
4»$  fallacies  embraced  under  the  name  of  homoeopathy  most 
distiaetly  separato  it  from  them  or  tbemselTes  from  homoBopathy. 
Thiacamiot  be  dona  in&  few  lines  of  definition.  It  will  require  a 
•carafiil  analysis,  eliminating  every  doabtfol  thing,  patting 
:nottiing  forward  as  fact  which  is  not  capable  of  demonstration. 
.Siqperieoce  teaches  in  this  matter  how  easy  it  is  to  add  new 
iacts  and  how  difl&calt  to  get  rid  of  old  fAllacies, 

I  am,  Dear  Sirs, 

Yours  respectfblly, 

Pjebct  R.  Wilde,  M.B. 

[The  foregoing  lettor  appears  to  us  to  demand  a  few 
obMrvations,  in  order  to  remove  some  misapprehensions  wbi<dt 
appear  to  have  obtained  a  hold  apon  the  writer,  and  are 
probably  entertained  by  others. 

Dr.  WMe  says  that  *«  it  is  held  by  the  medical  profession  that 
the  principles  of  homodopa^  are  set  ibrth  in  the  894  propositions 
•of  the  Organmx^^  It  has  been  urged,  time  and  again,  during  the 
last  fifty  years,  that  iHliile  the  principles  of  homoeopathy  are  set 
lorth  in  some  of  those  pn)f>ositions,  others  deal  with  mattors, 
'ttw  truth  or  Msify  of  which  do  not  in  the  least  affect  tho 
prineiplee  of  hemosoptttfay.    How  thoreughiy  coirect  this  is,  ia 


S12  GOBRHBPONIHDIOE.         ^''SSSJ^lS^, 

shown  by  Dr.  Hogfaes'  waaAjma  of  tha  several  editioiui  of  tbe 
Organon.  HbmoBopathy  was  as  deariy  taught  in  the  first  as  ii 
was  in  the  fifth,  bat,  ii  was  net  xaJ^  the  fourth  and  fifth  that 
Hahnemann  advanoed  theories,  whieh  axe  generally  regarded  sa 
nnsubstantiated  by  fiusts,  HomcBopaihy  has  r^eatedly  been 
shown  to  consist  in  selecting  drnga  on  the  frineiple  of  similara, 
and  its  practioe  to  involve  the  stady  of  the  pathogenetie 
properties  of  drugs,  the  small  dose,  and  the  single  medicine. 

In  the  case  of  Dr.  Wilde's  supposed  practitioner,  who  treaia 
his  patients  in  a  manner  almost  identical  with  that  which  ia 
h(Hn(Bopathic,  and  yet  refuses  to  be  called  a  homodopatht 
we  do  not  hold  him  i^>  to  soom  and  contempt  because  he 
refiises  to  join  the  homoaopathic  body,  or  to  call  himself  a 
homoeopath ;  but  because,  believing  in,  not  one  of  the  principles 
of  homoeope^hy,  but  the  principle,  and  patting  it  into  practice 
daily,  he  refiises  public  aeknowledgment  of  &e  troth  of  thai 
in  which  he  gives  constant  evidence  that  he  believes. 

Then,  again,  he  makes  one  of  his  supposed  practitioDeKa 
of  homoeopathy  disclaim  belief  in  some  of  *'the  theories  of 
homoeopathy."  Here,  again,  homoeopathy  is  supposed  to  mean 
all  that  Hahnemann  taught.  It  is  nothing  of  the 
Hahnemann  taught  homoeopathy  phu  various 
pathological,  and  physical  theories,  which  are  quite  iadependeni 
of  it,  and  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  it  by  those  whose 
study  of  it  has  been  imperfect. 

Dr.  Wilde  urges  the  avowed  homoeopath  **  to  state  boldly 
what  he  finds  to  be  true,  and  to  point  out  with  equal  boldness 
-what  he  finds  to  be  false."     This  piece  oi  vary  ezcell«it  advice 
seems  to  us,  fdien  viewed  in  the  %ht  of  homoB(^athic  literature, 
to  be  somewhat  needless*    When  we  look  into  the  writings  of 
such  exponents  of  homoeopathy  as  Arnold,  IMnks,  HHSchel^ 
Georg  Schmid,  Watzke,  Wurmb,  Fleischmann,  Caspar,  Tesaier, 
Jousset,    Cretin,    Drysdale,    Dudgeon,    Russell,     Henderson, 
Black,  Hughes,  Bdce,  Holcombe,  Ludkm,  Wesselhoeft,  Talbot, — 
we  see  that  these  and  many  others  have  lacked  no  candour  in 
their  criticisms,  have  left  the  opponents  of  homoeopathy  without 
excuse  for  declaring  it  to  be  bui*an  expression  signifying  all  tbe 
opinions  of  Hahnemanix.    Let  Dr.  Wilde  rdad  Dr.  Dudgeon*& 
Lecturet  on  Homceapathy^  and  he  will  there  see  the  very  con- 
siderable amount  of  criticism  to  which  Hahnemann's  views  have 
been  subjected  throughout  the  entire  histoiy  'of  the  thecapeatie 
method  which  he  formed  and  daborated. 

The  simple  fi^st  is,  that  any  physician,  who  admita 
that  homoeopathy,  as  we  have  defined  it,  is  true,  is  ss 
much  expos^  to  the  contempt,  ridicule,  uid  insolenee  o£ 
ihe  dominant  section  of  the  prpfesaion  as  one  who  aeoeptB. 
without  a  doubt  every  i^inion  eipresaed  by  Hahnemann^   If 


• 

he  believes  that  it  ifl  trae»  in  the  foregoing  dense;  he  is  boond 
by  his  dnty  to  his  profession  to  say  so  openly,  regs^ess  of  con* 
sequences,  and  indifferent  to  ndsrepresentation.  Only  in  this 
way  can  he  contribute  his  quota  to  the  development  of  scientific 
medicine,  an'd  to  hastening  on  the  time  when  the  knowledge  of 
homoeopathy  shall  become  general,  and  its  appreciation  too 
indely  felt  to  form  any  bamer  to  the  existence  of  friendly 
ieelings  and  cordial  mntoal  co-operation  thronghont  th^  pro- 
fession.— ^Eds.  M.  H,  R.] 

THE  L.  H.  UIPLOMA. 

To  the  Editors  of  tJis  **  Monthly  Hovfuxopaihic  Review J^ 

Gbmtusmxn — ^The  mysterious  letters  "  L.H/*  wonld  puzzle 
ihe  world  at  large.  They  are  regarded  with  aversion  and  dis- 
may by  many  of  oar  fnramost  eoOeagues.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  diploma  which  they  represent  is  supported  by  most  of  the 
leaders  of  British  homoeopathic  journalism.*  I  unsh,  however, 
to  say  that  the  more  the  license  is  considered  the  less  likely  is 
it  to  be  generally  approved.  It  is  true  that  Dr.  Bayes  obtained 
About  100  ayes,  and  only  dO  noes,  in  response  to  hu  appeal  by 
letter  to  honueopathie  practitioners*  But  this  was  the  result  of 
a  statement  of  one  side  of  the  argument.  When  the  vote  was 
laken  at  the  British  Homosopatiiie  Society,  after  full  discussion, 
ft  large  majority  decided  against  the  diploma,  and  some  ool« 
leagues  who  intended  to  say  "  Yes  '*  to  Dr.  Bayes,  voted  *<  No,** 
after  they  had  asked  and  received  my  reasons  on  ihe  other  side. 
Moreover,  one  gentteman  who  assented  wrote  to  Dr.  Bayes  that 
he  ''had  not  considered  the  question  much,"  but  that  he 
*^  yi^ded  to  so  large  a  minority."  It  may  also  be  concluded 
that  the  140  practitioners  who  sent  no  reply  were  not  very  warm 
admirers  of  the  license. 

The  zeal  of  Dr.  Bayes  in  the  cause  of  homoeopathy  is  worthy 
of  admiration.  But  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  further  reflection  will 
«liow  him  the  wisdom  of  abandoning,  the  projected  license. 

Dr.  Bayes  was  indignant  at  my  suggestion  that  the  Spiri- 
toalists  would  be  seeking  a  diploma  of  L.  S.,  and  Table-turners 
ihatof  L.T.T.  He  fancied  that  I  was  ridiculing  homoeopathy. 
On  the  contrary,  the  obvious  intention  was  to  apply  the  &mous 
logical  fonnula  of  redadio  ad  aimardum  to  the  license.  It  seems 
that  a  similar  view  of  the  case  occurred  to  Dr.  Black,  who  sa3rs, 
in  the  April  number  of  the  Emnew  (p.  249),  that  Holloway's 
elerks  might, ''  in  order  to  protect  the  public,  estaUish  an  L.H., 
none  genuine  but  the  Licensed  HoUowayist." 

*  Since  ihe  above  web  written,  Dr.  bnrnett  has  seceded  from  the 
Hoensing  scheme.  Not  that  he  objeeis  to  the  L.H.,  bat  only  to  the 
aiamMr  in  which  it  is  advocated  by  Dr.  Bi^es. 


814  coBftsapoHPXircB.      ^'IS^L^M^f?^ 


Bafi«v,lls3rl,lffit. 


It  was  a  notable  idea  to  hint  that  those  vho  did  not  poeseM 
the  licenBe  would  be  left  in  the  eold  as  meertified  honKeopatiue 
practitionen*  It  may  be  eonfidentlj  predieted,  howeyer,  that 
the  threat  wiU  be  as  nnsnceessfid  as  the  bait.  Anyone  may  be 
]nroad  to  possess  the  degree  of  M*D.  of  a  British  or  £ctfeig& 
miiyersity  of  high  repute,  or  the  diploma  of  a  College  oi  Phy- 
ricians  or  Borgeons.  These  ere  recognised  titles  granted  after 
examination  by  chartered  iQ8titation8,  and  the  names  of  those 
who  hold  them  are  published  in  the  Medical  Begifter.  Bot^ 
happily,  no  man  can  be  c<»(ipelled  to  aesame  the  proposed 
diploma,  as  a  license  to  practise  the  glorions  system  Imown  as 
homoeopathy.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  even  a  newly-fledged 
practitioner  parading  himself  as  '*  Mr.  Overall,  L.H." 

Yonrs  fiEuthfally, 
Nbvillb  Wood,  M.D.,  F.B.G.P.E., 
{hut  not  L.  H.) 
10,  Onslow  Square, 

April  8rd,  1882. 

■  I        ■      I  ■         -  -.111       «■         —  — »       1.1      .1.     I  II      ■■>■  111         r         I  i.»        ■   ■■        I  I 

To  the  Editors  of  the  *'  Monthly  Homaopathie  Review.** 

Gentlembn, — ^I  had  no  idea  when  I  gare  in  my  adhesion  to 
the  use  of  the  L.H.  diploma  in  oor  ranks  that  such  an  amount 
of  opposition  would  be  made  to  the  proposal,  and  from  men  of 
esteem  among  us.  A  degree  of  bittemesi  also  has  been  exhibited 
in  the  controversy  which  is  not  creditable  to  our  position  as  mem 
of  culture.  Let  us  review  our  position.  The  28rd  elanse  of  the 
Medical  Act  merely  binds  the  examining  bodies,  it  does  not 
make  it  illegal  for  the  candidates  to  add  to  their  legid  quahfiefr* 
tions  any  fresh  knowledge,  or  to  accept  an  attestation  of  that 
addition.  The  legal  qus£fication  ignores  any  addition  that  may 
be  made  to  our  knowledge,  whether  in  theory  or  practice.  It 
ignores  it,  but  it  permits  it.  The  candidates  are  at  liberty  to 
believe  or  practise  anything  they  like,  from  the  acupuncture  of 
the  Japanese  to  the  incantations  of  the  medicine  man  in  America. 
Now,  if  within  the  wide  limits,  geographical  as  well  as  actual^  of 
this  charlatanry  we  should  stumble  upon  a  God-given  law  ai 
eure,  recognised  largely  by  humanity  and  only  ignored  by  the 
chartered  bodies,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  our  availing  our* 
selves  of  it,  nor,  as  far  as  I  know,  of  an  attestation  that  w» 
thoroughly  understand  it  and  are  qualified  to  practise  it.  Tbm 
is  due  from  us  to  the  public,  and  they  have  a  right  to  expect  it 
of  us.  We  do  not  parade  it  on  our  door-plates,  just  as  we  do 
not  parade  the  L.M.,  or  any  other  titie  of  special  meaning.  We 
have  an  apparatus  for  teaching  both  tiie  tbeoiy  and  practice  of 


tSSSS^U^UM^       OOBBBgroifBBHOB.  815 

lids  goUime  disooveiy.  Batter  men  eannot  be  found  than  these 
teaelien.  Why  stioQld  we  not  nee  their  atteetatioDs  of  our 
eompetencj — in  a  professional  way,  but  so  as  to  let  the  pnUie 
know  that  we  imderstand  the  subject?  It  has  been  objected 
that  it  is  prapoaed  to  endow  ^very  practitioner  of  homceopathy 
with  the  eer^ficate  if  he  be  only  of  old  standing.  I  do  not  see 
&e  foiwe  of  this  objection.  Every  reform  must  be  of  this  nature. 
No  reform  can  be  retrospectiye.  The  law,  when  it  became 
stringent  for  legal  qualification,  excepted  all  those  in  practice 
before  1815,  for  it  was  felt  to  be  uigust  to  disqualify  men  already 
established,  however  unworthy.  I  think  we  are  doing  the 
rational  thing.  We  cannot  wait  till  men  eome  to  their  senses 
before  we  guarantee  the  public  against  incompetent  practitioners. 
If  there  be  any  in  our  ranks  unwoirthy  the  name  of  Hahnemann 
ttiey  will  die  out ;  the  rising  generation,  at  least,  will  be  stamped 
with  the  seal  of  genuineness,  and  the  crypto-homoeopaths,  who 
are  hiding  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  profess  disbelief  in  medicine, 
win  be  known  as  not  of  us,  and  as  not  quite  genuine,  but  pre- 
tenders. Something  more  is  due  to  a  great  truth  than  clandes- 
tine admission  into  such  company,  to  have  it  smuggled  into 
respectability  as  contraband.  We  cannot  wait  for  a  charter  or 
to  be  made  legal.  The  advent  of  homoeopathy  to  public  accept- 
ance must  be  with  shouting ;  it  must  be  placed  in  the  edifice  of 
medicine ;  it  must  be  hailed  as  the  ^'Head  of  the  Comer." 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 

Yours  respectfully, 

Thokas  HayiiB. 
Bochdale,  April  11th,  1892. 

P.S.  I  have  no  unconquerable  desire  for  the  use  of  L.H. 
Any  other  designation  wiU  do. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  *^  Monthly  Homceopathic  Bevietc,** 

Gentxjucen, — ^I  am  directed  to  forward  you  the  Besolution 
passed  at  the  meeting  of  ''Liverpool  Homoeopathic  Medico- 
Chirurgical  Society,*'  held  on  April  6th,  viz. : — 

**  That  as  the  resolution  passed  by  this  Society  at  its  last 
meeting  seems  to  have  been  misunderstood,  it  is  hereby  resolved 
that  we  are  opposed  to  any  title  being  conferred  by  the  London 
School  of  Homoeopathy,  unless  they  obtain  legal  power  to  grant 
one."  I  am,  yours  truly, 

S.  H.  Blake,  Hon.  Sec. 


We  have  also  received  the  following  note  from  Dr.  Drysdale ; — 

**  The  fdlowing  resolution  was  agreed  to  by  the  undersigned 

homoeopathic  medical  men  in  Liverpool  and  neighbourhood,  who 


816  COBBBBFONBBNTB.        ^'tSS^lS^UTmi 

were  not  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  Liverpool  HicRniBopathio 
Medieo-C^iirorgiioal  Sooiatj,  on  2nd  March,  1882,  or  diaaaitfld 
from  the  resolution  then  pasaed. 

''  *  It  is  not  expedient,  in  the  true  intereeta  of  homceopaihy,  to 
seek  for  a  sectarian  title,  each  as  Ldoentiate  in  Homooopathy,  to 
be  made  registrable.' — J.  Dryadale,  J.  W.  Hayward,  J.  liooret 
E.  Hawkes,  T.  Simpson,  T.  Carson,  J.  D.  Hajward,  E.  L.  Hod- 
son,  J.  Finlay,  Samuel  Brown."  . 

NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 

^%  We  cannot  undertake  to  return  r^eeted  mamueripti. 

We  much  regret  that  we  have,  m  eonfleqtienoe  of  the  presoore  on  oar 
space,  been  eompelled  to  postpone  the  pnblieatloii  of  9e;pen  lij  Bn. 
l&CKBBBo,  Bathes,  and  C.  L.  Tuokbt,  and  zevieira  of  Db.  WnsLow^ 
work  on  The  Human  Ear,  and  of  Dr.  £atoxi*s  on  The  Diuaeu  of 
Women.    All,  we  tmst,  will  appear  in  June. 

CommunicationB,  AchavebeenreoeiyedfromDr.  Both,  Dr.  G.  L.TuasiT, 
Dr.  MoEBiBSON,  Captain  Matcock,  Mr.  Chambb^  (London) ;  Dr.  Dbybdals 
^verpool) ;  Dr.  BaowN  (Chester) ;  Dr.  Batioss  (Canterboiy) ;  Dr.  Bitbb 
(Brighton) ;  Dr.  Gummss  (Oiford) ;  Dr.  K  M.  Maddkh  (Biimini^iam). 

EBIUTUM. 

The  number  of  new  patients  admitted  during  last  year  to  the  Ozfoid 
HomcBOjpathio  Dispensaiy  was  921  and  not  221  as  stated  on  page  235  of 
our  April  number. 

BOOKS  RECEIVED. 

Brituh  Journal  of  Honueopathy, 

The  Homaopatkie  World. 

Student*$  Journal  of  Med&eine. 

The  Chemist  and  Druggist, 

Burgoyne'e  Magazine  of  Pharmaeg. 

The  New  England  Medical  Gazette. 

The  Hahnemannian  Monthly. 

The  New  York  Medical  Times. 

The  Medical  Advance. 

AmeHean  HomaopaXK 

The  Therapeutic  Gazette. 

The  Medical  Counsellor. 

BihHothtque  HomeMpatkique. 

BuUet^de  laSoeiiti  Homesopatkitue Midieeie de Fremee. 

AUgemeine  Horn.  Zeitung. 

El  Criterio  Medico* 

BdlUHno  CUnieo. 

Rivista  Omiopatiea. 


Papers,  Dispensaiy  Beports,  and  Boolu  for  Beyiew  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pops,  21,  llenrietU  Street,  Cavondish  Square,  W. ;  Dr.  D.  Dtcb 
BaowN,  99,  Seymour  Street,  Poiiman  Square,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  KaNXiDT, 
16,  Montpetier  Bow,  BlaeUieath,  BJB.  AdrcctisenMnts  sad  Buflineis 
eommunioations  to  be  sent  to  llessrs.  S.  Qoulp  dt  Soi,  69,  Ifooigite 
Street,  £.a 


,  Jvns  1. 1812. 


LOKBOX  HOKOBOPATHIO  HOSFITAIt.   817 


THE    MONTHLY 

HOMOEOPATHIC    REVIEW- 


"THE  LONDON  HOMOEOPATHIC  HOSPITAL." 

In  our  April  nninber  it  was  oar  pleasing  duty  to  lay  before 

onr  readers  the  results  obtained  at  several  of  our  leading 

dispensaries,  and  to  direct  attention  to  the  various  points  of 

practical  utility  in  their  working.  We  survcgredy  as  it  were, 

the  outworks  of  homoeopathy,  the  advanced  posts,  where  the 

hardest  work  is  done,  and  where,  perhaps,  there  is  the  least 

notice  bestowed  on  the  workers.    We  will  now  take  our 

readers  with  us  into  the  fortress,  the  citadel  of  homoBopathy 

in  our  great  metropolis.     The  thirty-second  annual  report 

of  the  hospital  furnishes  us  with  an  interesting  theme. 

It  is  doubtless  well-known  to  most  of  us  that  the  hospital 

building  has  tmdergone  considerable  alteration  during  the 

past  year,  part  of   it    having   been    to  a  great  extent 

re-modelled.     This  was  necessitated  by  a  defect  in  the 

masonry  of  the  east  wall  of  the  building,  which  after  careful 

survey  it  was  decided  to  pull  down  and  rebuild.    Whilst 

the  repairs  were  in  progress,  **  a  committee  of  medical  men 

and   some  members  of  the  Board  decided  that  it  was 

desirable  to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  abolish 

some    cumbersome    and  very  inconvenient    party  walls, 

dividing  the  wards  on  the  two  floors  chiefly  affected,  and 

thus  to  throw  into  one  two  wards  on  each  floor.     The 

advantages  gained  by  this  measure  are  greatly  improved 

ventilation  and  light ;  much  greater  facility  in  carrying  out 

the  nursing  duties,  and  at  a  less  cost ;  and  a  very  marked 
Yol.  26.  No.  6.  z 


318  LONDON  HQM<EOPATHIC  HOSPITAIi.  ^'''SSS^SSSTSS^ 

improvement  in  the  appearance  and  general  character  of  the 
wards." 

The  sweeping  alterations  indicated  in  the  above  extract 
from  the  report  deserve  more  than  a  passing  remark.  The 
committee  have  devised  and  carried  ont  a  great  stractoial 
improvement^  which  has  gone  a  long  way  towards  raising 
the  efficiency  of  onr  hospital  to  the  high  standard  all  its 
friends  desire  for  it. 

Viewed  according  to  our  modem  ideas,  there  is  mnch  to 
be  desired  in  the  arrangement  and  accommodation  of  the 
hospital.  But  it  has  long  been  known  that  without  entire 
rebuilding,  the  present  structure  can  never  be  sufficiently 
modernised  to  answer  to  all  the  hospital  demands  of  the 
present  day.  This,  in  the  present  state  of  affairs,  is  out  of 
the  question,  but  the  committee  deserve  all  praise  for  the 
great  and  successful  efforts  they  have  put  forth  to  make  the 
best  of  the  building  as  they  find  it. 

We  hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  friends  of 
homoeopathy  will  be  asked  to  put  their  *'  shoulder  to  the 
wheel,"  and  that  a  new  edifice,  having  at  least  150  beds, 
and  replete  with  every  requirement  of  modem  sanitation 
and  medical  science,  shall  arise  to  extend  the  blessings  of 
homoeopathy  to  the  poor  of  our  great  metropolis. 

As  it  is,  the  benefit  of  our  present  hospital  is  felt  far 
and  wide ;  the  out-patient  department  draws  on  every 
suburb  round  London  for  its  clientele,  and  a  curious 
enquirer  would  be  surprised  at  the  distances  some  patients 
come  in  order  to  obtain  homoeopathic  treatment. 

The  alterations  in  the  east  wing  have  added  greatly  to 
the  efficiency  as  well  as  the  appearance  of  the  wards. 
Only  one  thing  more  is  needed,  and  that  is,  "  Patients — 
more  Patients."  That  it  should  be  so,  arises  largely  from 
the  fact  that  it  is  not  generally  known  that  there  is  good 
accommodation  for  71  in-patients ;  but  in  the  absence  of 


mS^J^TTSS^  LONDON  ROM(EOPATHIC  HOOPITAI..   819 

fit  snbjectB  for  treatmenty  there  ^rore,  at  the  time  the 
return  was  made  out,  only  63  in  the  hospital.  We  desire 
to  draw  the  special  attention  of  onr  medical  brethren  to 
this  matter,  for,  after  all  is  said  and  done,  it  is  to  them 
that  ^e  hoqpital  authorities  must  chiefly  look  for  eligifale 
^ases  for  treatmoit  in  the  wards. 

Another  noteworthy  event  in  the  year  1881-1882  was 
tho  presentattoii  to  Lady  Ebuby  of  a  life-size  portrait  of 
the  highly-valued  and  esteemed  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Management — ^the  Lord  Ebury.  This  interesting  pre* 
sentation  was  noticed  at  some  length  in  our  last  number. 
The  Board  take  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  report  of 
**  recording  an  earnest  hope  that  his  lordship  may  yet  be 
spared  for  many  years  to  hold  the  position  of  Chairman^ 
which  for  so  long  a  pmod — twenty-eight  years — he  has 
filled,  to  the  great  benefit  of  the  institution."  A  wish 
which  every  true  homoaopath  will  devoutly  re-echo. 

During  the  year  the  noble  President  of  the  Hospital — 
the  Eabl  of  Wilton — has  been  removed  by  death.  His 
place  has  been  filled  by  the  appointment  of  Eabl  Caibns, 
who  has  signified  his  pleasure  to  accept  of  the  position. 
We  regret  very  much  the  loss  which  the  hospital  has 
sustained,  but  share  with  the  Board  the  gratification  which 
they  feel  at  the  acceptance  of  the  office  of  President  by 
so  thorough  a  homoaopath  as  Eabl  CAmNs. 

Turning  to  the  paragraph  of  the  report  which  refers  to 
the  expenditure  of  the  hospital  we  find  much  matter  for 
congratulation.  This  paragraph  forms,  as  it  were,  a 
testimonial  of  efficienqr  for  the  Board  and  their  Official 
Manager.  Owing  to  the  economy  in  administration,  and 
the  fact  that  the  number  of  in-patients  has  been  but 
slightly  increased^  the  board  have  been  enabled  to  pay  not 
only  the  expenditure  proper  to  the  year,  but  also  to  repay 
out  of  income  the  sum  of  £400  due  to  the  Treasurer,  and 


820  liONDON  HOMCBOPATHIG  HOBPITAL.  ^^SSSi^^HSumt 

jtt  to  show  on  the  ennent  aeeoant  at  tbebanken  a  balanoe 
of  £4A  68,  2d.  -with  which  to  eommenoe  the  new  year. 

There  is  a  point  which  we  wish  to  hring  prominentij 
before  our  medical  readeis,  and  that  la,  that  although  there 
are  seventy-one  beda  in  the  hospital,  yet.the  present  income 
will  only  suffice  to  maintain  a  daily  average  of  between  fifty 
and  sixty  in-patients. 

Snxely  with  the  widespread  knowledge  of  homoeopathy 
now  prevailing,  there  should  be  no  lack  of  response  to  an 
appeal  for  help.  We  fear  this  state  of  affairs  arises  mote 
from  the  want  of  an  appeal  than  from  unwillingness  to 
respond  to  it.  If  our  colleagues  would  each  take  the 
trouUe  to  lay  before  influential  patients  the  claima  of  the 
hospital,  and  to  press  the.  necessities  of  the  case  on  their 
attention,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  remaining  beds 
would  be  filled  and  the  whole  organisation  placed  on  a 
satisfactory  footing.  The  management  deserve  all  praiae 
for  what  they  have  done  with  the  means  at  their  command, 
but  much  remains  to  be  done,  which  could  easily  be  done 
if  our  brethren  would  cease  from  polemics,  and  instead  of 
seeking  for  an  extinguisher  for  our  light  would  do  some- 
thing to  help  the  good  of  the  cause. 

Then  again,  there  is  another  paragraph  in  the  r^Kurt, 
which  calls  for  the  careful  consideration  of  those  of  oar 
colleagues  resident  in  and  aroimd  the  metropolis — we  allude 
to  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the  external  staff 
and  the  difficulty  found  in  replacing  those  gentlemen  who 
have  resigned.  We  trust  that  some  of  our  younger 
colleagues  will  be  found  willing  to  give  up  a  small  portion 
of  their  time  to  this  work.  The  out-patient  department  of 
hospital  work  bas  always,  and  justly  so,  been  regarded  as 
the  training  ground  of  the  physician,  the  variety  snd 
number  of  the  cases  affording  him  a  varied  and  wide  field 
for  developing  those  percq>tive  faculties  so  useful  in  daily 


1» 


LONDON  HOUCBWATHIO  HOSPITAL.   821 


praetioe.  The  out-patient  department  of  our  hospital 
has  always  been  nomeroaslj  attended,  and  patients  from 
all  parts  of  London  testify  to  the  benefits  received  there. 

The  amateor  dramatic  perfonnanee  given  last  year  by 
''the  Thalians"  was,  to  use  a  stage  phrase,  ''a  regular 
bumper,"  the  net  profits  having  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  eight  pounds. 

We  are  glad  to  see  that  some  friends  have  recognised  the 
necessity  of  providing  amusement  for  the  patients.  It  is 
wonderful  how  a  little  fun  and  diversion  dieers  up  the  ward* 
and  seems  to  lend  new  life  to  the  sufferers.  *^  A  cheerful 
mind  helps  the  doctor,''  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
occasional  entertainments  and  concerts  would  do  much  to 
brighten  the  weary  hours  of  suffering.  Such  a  concert  was 
organised  by  Lady  Ida  Low,  in  March,  1882,  assisted  by 
watne  mmhen  oi  the  Kyrle  Society,  and  most  thoroughly 
it  was  appreciated.  We  only  hope  that  the  success  it  met 
with  may  encourage  a  repetition  at  some  future  date. 

Homoeopaths  in  general  are  apt  to  .overlook  the  claims  of 
the  hospital.  With  a  few  notable  and  praiseworthy  excep- 
tionsy  the  old  adage,  **  out  of  sight  out  of  mind,"  holds  good 
of  this  as  of  many  other  kmdied  institutions.  This  should 
not  be  80,  and  perhaps  in  the  future,  when  a  new  generation 
of  homoBopaths  shall  arise,  who  are  not  ashamed  of  the 
name  of  the  hospital  where  they  received  instruction,  we 
shall  find  medical  men  pressing  the  claims  of  our  insti- 
tution upon  the  rich,  and  encouraging  the  poor  to  add  their 
mite.  How  soon,  if  all  were  unanimous  in  their  efforts, 
mif^t  the  Board  of  Mani^ment  feel  themselves  encouraged 
to  enlarge  their  borders,  how  soon  might  all  the  beds  be 
constantly  occupied.  Oases  there  are  in  plenty,  if  medical 
men  would  only  show  a  sufficient  amount  of  interest  to  send 
them  in  for  treatment.  The  organisation  and  machinery 
are  in  thorough  working  order,  all  that  is  wanted  is  more 
patients,  more  subscribers — that  we  may  have  the  former 
we  must  ha^  tibe  latter.  And  it  is  to  our  medical  readers 
that  we  look  to  supply  both  deficiencies. 


ELBCTKIOITT. 


ONELECTMCITY:  ITS  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION 

AND  THERAPEUTIC  USES. 

By  DoM&LD  Baykeb,  M.A..  MJ).,  F.B.a.S. 

fContinued.j 

The  galTuiic  curreot  prodnoes  no  shock,  onlaBS  it  be 
broken  or  intemtpted.  This  is  nnually  done  by  means  of 
ft  rheotome  or  intermpting  handle ;  if  weak,  liie  cnrrent 
prodaces  little  or  no  pain ;  if  strong,  it  prodnoes  a  tingling, 
homing  sensation,  at  the  point  of  contact  with  the  elec- 
trode ;  if  Tory  strong,  it  qoickly  beoomeB  nnbearable,  and 
produces  nlceration.  The  charscteristics  of  this  fonn  of 
electricity  are  comparatively  low  "  intensity  "  in  its  action 
on  nerves  and  muscles,  bat  a  large  amount  of  "  quantity." 
It  produces  chemical  and  thermic  results  far  beyond  those 
of  atatio  or  Faradic  electricities. 

Faradic  electricity  is  of  high  tension,  having  almost  no 

chamical  action,  or  any  direct  effect  on  the  temperatore. 

It  prodaoes  none  of  the  senBations  so  oharacteristic  of  the 

tfaiVanie  current.     In  the  application  of  electricity  it  most 

be  borne  in  mind  that  the  positive  pole  is  the  less  irritating, 

therefore,  in  general  electrization,  the  negative  pole  shon^ 

be  placed  at  the  feet,  coccyx  or  epigastrinm,   while  the 

gmsitiTe  should  be  applied  to  the  head,  neck,  spine,  and 

other  sensitive  parts.     In  cases  where  the  sedative  effects 

of  electricity  are  reqnired,  the  positive  pole  is  preferable, 

being  less  irritating ;  but  if  stimnlating  effects  are  desired. 

the  negative  pole  shonld  be  ased.    The  strength  of  the 

current  used   must   depend  on  the   snaceptibility  of  the 

patient  to  electricity.    Some  cannot  bear  even  the  mildest 

application.     A  mild   current,   either   long  continued  or 

fH^uently  repeated,  is  far  more  beneficial  as  a  therapentic 

■gent  than  a  strong  one ;  strong  currents  ore  more  apt  to 

M  hortfol  than  beneficial,  and  usually  canse  aggravatioD  of 

,e  disease.     The  results   of  electricity,  when   carefally 

iplied,  and  in  properly  indicated  cases,  are  relief  of  pain ; 

iprovement  in  the  pulse,  digestion  and  nutrition ;  increase 

appetite ;  and  a  soothing  effect,  with  tendency  to  produoe 

sep.    When  improperly  applied,  if  oontinned  for  too  IsDg 

time,  or  used  too  strongly,  profose  pei^intioB,  dizzinesB, 

"BpncBft,  headache,  soreness,    nervoDsoeas,  exhanstion, 

id  certain  aggravation  of  the  complaint. 


Ekciricity  may  be  adminiBtered  in  two  ways — '/  locally  " 
for  purely  local  affeciionSy  where  it  ia  desired  as  maoh  as 
possible  to  confine  the  action  of  the  current  to  some  par* 
ticular  part ;  and  *'  generally/'  where  a  constitutional  effect 
is  wished  for.  In  tiiis  latter  instance  the  greater  part  of 
the  body  is  brought  under  the  influence  of  the  current. 
Electric  currents  may  be  ''  direct  or  ''  indirect."  Direct 
currents  are  those  which  are  applied  over  the  surface  of  the 
muscle  or  part  to  be  acted  upon ;  indirect  where  they  are 
applied  to  the  nenre  supplying  tiie  muscle  or  part  to  be 
influenced.  The  points  where  the  nerves  enter  the  muscles 
are  called  "motor  points."  These  are  well  shown  in 
Zeimssen's  charts  of  motor  points.  Large  electrodes  are 
used  for  direct,  and  small  for  indirect  electrisation.  Currents 
are  either  "  stable,"  where  both  electrodes  are  kept  in  the 
same  position ;  or  "  labile,"  where  one  or  both  are  moved 
oyer  tixe  surface. 

Local  Electrization  is,  as  before  mentioned,  the  method 
of  employing  electricity,  where  the  purely  local  action  of 
the  electric  current  is  required.  In  this  method  the  elec- 
trodes are  so  placed,  that  the  part  to  be  influenced  lies 
between  them,  and  as  the  current  passes  from  one  electrode 
to  the  other,  it  must  necessarily  affect  the  part  that  lies 
between  them.  In  electrization  of  the  head,  one  pole  may 
be  placed  on  the  forehead  and  the  other  on  the  occiput — or 
one  pole  on  either  mastoid  process,  or  immediately  behind 
the  mastoid  processes,  according  to  the  effect  desired  to  be 
produced.  To  galvanise  the  cervical  sympathetic,  one 
electrode  is  placed  over  the  auriculo-maxillary  fossa,  and 
the  other  over  the  last  cervical  vertebra. 

General  Faradization. — ^By  this  method  the  whole  of  the 
body  is  brought,  as  far  as  possible,  under  the  influence  of 
the  Faradic  current.  In  employing  this  method,  one  pole 
is  placed  at  the  feet,  or  coccyx,  by  means  of  a  broad  elec- 
trode, the  other  being  passed  over  the  entire  surface  of  the 
body.  This  latter  electrode  should  consist  of  a  metal  or 
carbon  cylinder,  covered  with  qpoii^ge  or  flannel,  to  which 
a  Y  shaped  handle  is  attached,  the  whole  somewhat 
resembling  a  miniature  garden  roller.  This  form  of  elec- 
trode is  easily  applied,  and  is  more  suitable  for  this  purpose 
than  the  ordinary  flat  sponge  electrodes. 

Central  Gaivanization.  By  this  method,  the  entire 
central  nervous  system  is  brought  under  the  influence  of 
the  galvanic  current.      To  accomplish  this,  the  negative 


324  ELBCTMCITT.  "SS&5S??»SJ' 


Betkrw,  Jime  1, 18B1 


pole,  or  electrode,  is  placed  a  little  below  the  ensifona 
cartilage  ;  while  the  positive  is  passed  over  the  forehead,  to 
the  top  of  the  head,  down  the  side  and  nape  of  the  neck, 
and  along  the  whole  length  of  the  spme.  GPreat  care  mast 
be  taken  in  applying  electricity  to  the  head  and  neck, 
otherwise  alarming  syncc^,  and  even  death,  may  resnlt. 

Another  method  of  administering  electricity  (either 
galranic  or  faradic),  is  by  means  of  the  electric  bath.  This 
method  combines  all  the  advantages  derivable  from  all  the 
various  ways  of  applying  electricity,  and,  in  addition,  gives 
the  patient  the  extra  benefit  of  the  warm  bath.  In  treating 
disease  by  means  of  the  electric  bath,  everything  depends 
on  its  proper  constmction  and  mode  of  administration. 
The  electric  bath  nsed,  and  I  believe  introduced  by  Dr. 
Schweig,  of  New  York,  has  always  given  me  the  greatest 
satisfaction,  and  I  consider  it  the  best  in  use. 

The  bath  is  made  in  the  form  of  the  ordinary  plnnge 
baths  found  in  most  houses.  It  is  made  of  wood,  slate,  or 
marble ;  wood  is  the  cheapest  and  less  liable  to  be  acted 
on  by  acids  or  other  chemicals  introduced  into  the  bath. 
At  the  head  and  foot  of  the  bath  carbon  plates  are  let  into 
the  wood ;  these  plates  are  connected  by  means  of  a  copper 
wire,  which  runs  along  a  groove  let  into  the  head  and  foot 
pieces  of  the  bath  to  the  coping,  where  it  communicates 
with  two  binding  screws,  one  at  the  head  and  the  other  at 
the  foot  of  the  bath.  When  a  bath  is  given,  a  wire  is 
connected  from  either  pole  of  the  battery  to  the  binding 
screws.  If  the  conductor  from  the  positive  pole  is  con- 
nected with  the  binding  screw  at  the  head  board,  and  the 
negative  with  that  at  the  foot,  we  get  a  descending  current. 
Where  an  ascending  current  is  required,  the  reverse  of  this 
must  be  carried  out.  If  we  desire  to  localise  the  current 
in  special  parts  of  the  body  from  one  of  the  poles,  what  is 
termed  a  surface  board  is  used ;  this  is  a  piece  of  board 
about  14  inches  long,  5  broad,  and  |  thick,  having  a  bed 
cut  in  it  large  enough  to  receive  a  carbon  plate,  5  inches 
long,  2  wide,  and  ^  thick;  through  the  centre  of  this 
board  a  metallic  binding  screw  is  introduced  and  brought 
into  connection  with  the  carbon,  and  to  this  binding  screw 
is  attached  a  piece  of  insulated  wire,  which  may,  as 
required,  be  attached  to  either  conducting  wire  from  the 
battery.  The  current  is  said  to  be  centripetal  when  the 
surfiice  board  is  connected  with  the  negative,  and  centri* 
fugal  when  connected  with  the  positive  pole.     The  average 


bS!Sw!^STSS^       blbotmoity.  9iS 


diiittlion  of  the  btth  is  about  twenty  mimites,  though  the 
time  may  range  from  ten  minutes  to  an  hour  and  a-half. 
The  temperature  of  the  bath  may  range  from  85^  to  100^ 
or  105^  Fabr.  Certain  chemicals  may  be  introduced, 
which  will,  under  certain  conditions,  enhance  its  effect. 
Iron  (tart,  of  iron  and  ammonia)  is  useful  in  amsmia, 
ehlorosify  etc.  lodiney  either  as  tincture,  or  in  the  form 
of  iodide  of  potassium,  is  Tcry  useful  in  the  absorption  of 
plastic  exiublionsy  articuhff  deposits  foUowing  rheumaitism 
and  gout,  also  in  the  elimination  of  lead,  in  cases  of  lead 
poisoning:  in  these  cases  about  an  ounce  of  iodide  of 
poiaseium  is  added  to  each  bath.  Extract  df  nudt  alone, 
or  in  conjunction  with  iron,  has  been  found  very  useful  in 
cases  of  mal-nutrition  and  debility*  If  we  wish  to  obtain 
counter-irritant  effects,  mustard  or  common  salt  maybe 
added.  To  render  the  bath  alkaline  in  some  cases  of  skin 
diseases,  add  bi-carbonate  of  potash,  or  soda;  starch  is 
sometinies  a  useful  adjuTant  to  the  potash  or  soda. 

The  general  therapeutic  effects  and  uses  of  the  electric 
bath  may  be  summarised  as  follows : — 

1st.  Its  value  as  a  diagnostic. — The  current  makes 
itself  more  decidedly,  and  often,  even,  painfully  felt,  in  any 
part  where  a  morbid  condition  exists,  whether  this  be  of  an 
inflammatory,  neuralgic,  rheumatic,  traumatic,  congestive, 
or  other  nature.  It  may  be  compared  to  tenderness  on 
pressure.  In  anesthesia  the  current  makes  itself  con* 
spicuous  by  the  absence  of  its  normal  effects. 

2nd.  It  is  an  excellent  counter-irritant* — The  amount 
of  counter-irritation  can  be  regulated  to  a  nicety  by  the 
intensity  pf  the  current.  After  a  bath  the  back  and  legs 
are  seen  to  be  quite  red.  Concentrated  local  counter- 
irritation  can  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  the  surface  board. 

8rd«  As  a  general  invigorant  and  tonic  it  can  have  few, 
if  any,  superiors.  In  cases  of  debility,  mal-nutrition,  want 
of  energy,  etc.,  the  tonic  effects  are  striking  and  brilliant. 

4th.  It  has  great  powers  as  a  hypnotie  and  general 
sedative.  The  greater  the  degree  of  restlessness,  irrita^ 
bility,  or  wakefulness,  the  more  strikingly  does  the  soothing 
sod  hypnotie  inflnence  become  apparent. 

6tb«  Improved  nutrition,  as  manifested  by  rapid 
increase  of  weight,  is  a  reliable  and  constant  effect. 

Among  the  diseases  that  seem  to  be  specially  amenable 
to  this  fevm  of  treatment  may  be  mentioned : — 


826  HOM(EOPATHY  IN  SPAIN.     ^SSiSL^SWS? 


nvfivw,  wWW  1«  UK« 


Ist.  BihenmstiBiDy  sab-acate  and  chronio,  with  their 
seqnelffi. 

2nd.    Ohorea,  or  St.  Vitus'  dance. 

8rd.    Hysterical  afFections. 

4tb.    Nenroas  exhaustion. 

5th.    Insomnia  (sleeplessness). 

6th.  AntBmia  (the  cause  of  nnmeroas  morbid  con- 
ditions). 

7th.  Paralysis  (here  yery  specially  the  beneficial  effects 
have  been  amply  jHroved)  • 

8th«    Many  forms  of  nenralgia. 

9th.    Articolar  efEnsions. 

10th.  Impotency. 

11th.  Dyspepsia^  constipation^  and  chronic  diarrhoda. 

12th.  Some  forms  of  metallic  poisonings,  as  lead,  mer- 
curial, etc. 

18th.  Very  usefal  in  convalescence  from  acute  diseases, 
chronic  headaches,  hay  fever,  uterine  and  special 'female 
complaints. 


HOMOEOPATHY  IN   SPAIN. 
By    Charles    Lloyd    Tucket,    M.B.,    CM. 

Physioiaii  to  the  London  Homoeopathio  Hospital. 

In  the  volume  containing  the  reports  of  the  business  done 
at  the  International  Homoeopathic  Convention,  held  in 
London  last  year,  I  contributed  a  short  article  detailing 
the  principal  events  that  had  happened  in  Spain  con- 
nected with  the  progress  of  homceopathy  during  the 
preceding  five  years. 

This  was  written  at  the  last  moment,  as  no  Spanish 
medical  man  came  forward,  and  was  compiled  from  the 
homoBopathic  medical  journals  published  in  Madrid. 

Since  that  paper  was  written  many  events  bearing  upon 
the  progress  of  our  cause  in  Spain  have  occurred,  and  a 
short  sketch  of  these  will  no  doubt  prove  interesting  to 
some  of  the  readers  of  the  Review. 

It  would  perhaps  be  impossible  to  discover  two  countries 
more  dissimilar  in  nearly  every  way  than  are  Spain  and 
Great  Britain,  and  one  might  eiqvect  the  modes  of  thought 
of  the  inhabitants  to  be  equally  diverse.  How  strange  is 
it,  therefore,  to  find,  at  least  in  the  history  of  homodopathy. 


S^^SiTwbS**     HOMCEOPATHT  IN  SPAIN.  827 

ihftt  our  politios  have  bomo  a  fair  analogy  to  thoie  ot  the 

In  the  report  referred  to  I  briefly  noticed  the  foundation 
and  inangoration  of  the  Madrid  HomoBopathic  Hoapital 
and  School,  under  the  patronage,  and  chiefly  through  the 
exertionB»  of  Dr.  Nnnea,  Marquis  and  Grandee  of  Spain ; 
the  death  of  this  great  man ;  and  also  the  unfortunate 
diviaion  which  occurred  between  his  friends  and  the 
Hahnemannian  Society  of  Madrid,  in  consequence  of  hia 
wiU. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  notice  at  greatar  length  the 
course  the  society  has  adopted  to  obtain  possession  of  the 
hospital  and  school ;  the  present  state  of  parties ;  and  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  the  school,  or  institute. 

There  appears  to  have  been  no  opposition  to  the  scheme 
of  founding  an  hospital  for  the  treatment  of  the  sick,  and  a 
school  in  connection  with  it  for  the  instruction  of  students 
according  to  homcBopathic  principals,  and  the  dual  institu- 
tion Iras  inaugurated  in  February,  1878,  with  great 
eeremony,  and  it  was  entitled,  *'  The  Hospital  and  Institute 
of  St.  Joseph,"  after  Dr.  Nunez's  patron  saint;  and 
Dr.  Nunez  was  unanimously  appointed  the  first  dhrector. 
Four  members  of  the  society  were  appointed  physicians  in 
charge  of  the  wards,  with  three  assistant  physicians  under 
them  to  attend  to  the  out-patient  department.  These 
physicians  were  also  named  professors,  and  they  were  to 
give  lectures  and  clinical  instruction  to  the  students 
attending  the  school. 

All  went  well  as  long  as  Dr.  Nunez  lived ;  but  when  he 
died,  at  the  close  of  1879,  he  lefb  a  will  in  which  he  dis- 
posed  of  the  hospital  as  though  it  were  his  private  property, 
and  he  left  minute  instractions  as  to  its  management, 
which  were  to  be  carried  out  by  a  board  of  *'  patrons," 
appointed  by  him  for  the  purpose. 

The  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Toledo  was  to  be  the  chief  of 
these,  and  was  to  succeed  theMarqnis  as  director,  and  this 
body  was  to  have  absolute  control  over  the  management 
and  appointments.  The  society  was  entirely  left  out  in 
the  cold,  not  being  even  mentioned  in  the  document. 
Hence  have  arisen  the  straggles  for  supremacy  which  have 
not  yet  terminated. 

The  official  organ  of  the  society,  and  the  oldest  homoao- 
nathic  journal  in  Spain,  El  Criteria  Medico,  immediately 
began    to    publish    a  series  of  violent  articles  against 


328  HOM<EOFATHY  IK  SPAIN.  ^bSS^^^STTmil 

Dr«  Nunez  and  his  biendsy  denonnemg  their  eondiiai>  and 
giving  a  history  of  the  hospital.  According  to  this  aeeonnt 
Dr.  Nnnaa  certainly  originated  the  scheme  and  did  more 
than  any  other  man  to  cany  it  out ;  but  he  acted  as  presi- 
dent of  the  soeiety»  and  agent  merely  for  the  society. 
Dr.  Nnnez  had  saggested  that*  to  simpHfy  matters  and  to 
prevent  legal  complications*  it  woold  be  better  for  him 
alone  to  sign  all  the  contracts  and  docoments  connected 
with  the  poiohase  of  building  land,  and  the  erection  and 
famishing  of  the  institution,  and  to  this  apparently  con- 
siderate action  the  society  had  agreed,  but  without  the 
least  idea  that  thereby  they  were  makhig  him  the  legal 
owner  of  the  estate. 

The  physicians  and  lecturers  at  the  hospital,  and  the 
Mends  of  the  late  president,  left  the  society  shortly  after 
the  publication  of  this  statement,  and  started  an  opposi- 
tion journal*  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  institution — 
BcUtin  CUmio  dd  Instituto  Homoeopadeo  de  Madrid — 
and  in  this  they  published  a  counter  statement.  Accord- 
ing to  this  the  society  ought  to  have  understood*  and,  in 
fact,  did  understand,  perfectly  well*  that  Dr.  Nones 
founded  the  institution  as  an  individual  e£brt  to  promote 
honuBopothy,  and  not  in  any  way  as  the  president  or  agent 
of  the  society ;  that  though  he  had  been  very  glad  to  avail 
himself  of  the  assistance  of  other  medical  men*  yet  he 
would  have  carried  out  the  project  whether  they  had  hdped 
him  or  not ;  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had  found  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole  amount  required  to  complete  the  work* 
and  had  endowed  it  with  his  private  fortune  on  his  decease ; 
and  that  the  society  had  acknowledged  this,  when  the 
building  was  pubKcly  opened,  in  the  laudatoiy  address  it 
presented  to  him,  in  whidi  it  proposed  to  call  it  the 
Nunez  Hospital,  and  attributed  the  undertaking  entirely 
to  him. 

This  quarrel  has  not  been  confined  to  the  columns  of 
the  rival  journals,  but  it  has  even  found  its  way  into  the 
Spanish  Cortes.  Dr.  Pas  Alvarez,  principal  editor  of  El 
Criterio  Medico,  president  of  the  Hahnemannian  Society* 
and  member  of  Parliament*  made  a  long  speech  on  the 
Aibject,  and  ended  by  asking  the  Minister  for  Home  Afiaiia 
to  interfere  in  the  matter,  and  to  restore  the  hospital  to 
its  rightful  owners  (the  society).  The  Minister  thus 
appealed  to  replied  that  he  was  quite  unable  to  interfere  in 
the  matter,  and  that  the  affidr  was  one  not  for  Buii** 


2SSwfS?rSS*"  HOHCBOPATHY  IK  BFUH.  829 


ment^  bat  for  the  law-courts.  At  the  same  time  a  ooimter 
petition  was  presented  to  him  by  the  Bishop  of  Toledo^  on 
behalf  of  the  board  of  patronage^  giting  another  version  of 
the  case.  In  answer  to  this  his  Excellency  wrote  that  the 
xepresentatiYes  of  the  late  Dr.  Nunez  were  the  legal 
and  solely  responsible  owners  of  the  institution,  as  long 
as  their  claims  were  not  set  aside  by  the  tribunals. 

So  iar^  then,  the  society  has  been  delaated  upon  all 
points,  and  whatever  its  moral  claims  may  be,  the  legal 
position  of  the  present  patrons  appears  unassailable. 

The  monthly  reports  of  the  hospital  were  at  first  pub- 
lished in  both  journals,  but  as  the  estrangement  became 
greater  the  Criteria  Medico  ceased  to  mention  the  institu- 
tion except  to  sneer  at  its  management  and  comment  upon 
the  high  mortality  among  the  patients  in  its  wards.  The 
Boletin  ClinicOf  however,  g^ves  very  full  and  glowing 
accounts  of  its  progress,  and  from  these  it  aj^pears  that 
the  mortality  is  about  six  per  cent,  of  the  in-patients 
treated.  This  is  about  one-half  that  of  the  other  general 
hospitals  in  Madrid,  though  the  cases  are  of  quite  equal 
severity. 

UntU  last  year,  out  of  the  fifty  beds  the  hospital  con- 
tained, fifteen  were  always  kept  empty  for  want  of  funds. 
But  last  November  the  Minister  who  superintends  the 
public  charities  of  Madrid  proposed  that  an  annual  grant 
of  12,000  pesetas  (about  Jb'500)  should  be  made  to  the 
Hospital  of  St.  Joseph,  on  account  of  the  useful  and 
charitable  work  it  was  doing.  This  proposal,  was  met  by 
the  counter  one  that  the  money  should  be  given  instead  to 
the  Madrid  Hygienic  Society,  but  this  was  afterwards  with- 
drawn, and  the  grant  was  voted.  Now,  therefore,  there  are 
sufficient  funds  to  permit  of  every  bed  being  filled. 

El  Boletin  CUnico,  in  an  article  on  the  subject,  says : 
*'  We  understand  Dr.  Paz  Alvarez  wa^  prepared  to  vote 
against  the  grant  being  made  if  there  had  been  any  active 
opposition  to  it."  To  this  El  Criterio  MeMoo  rejoined : 
**  We  hurl  back  in  the  face  of  its  scandalous  author  the 
ridiculous  and  mendacious  report  published  in  El  Boletin 
against  our  most  illustrious  president,"  &c. 

in  the  January  number  of  El  Criterio  Medico  are  given 
the  results  of  two  legal  suits.  The  first,  brought  against 
oxie  of  its  editors  for  libel  by  the  Bishop  of  Toledo,  was 
dismissed  with  costs.  The  second,  brought  against  the 
son-in-law  of  Dr.  Nuness  by  the  society,  ended  in  this 


880  HOMOSaPATHY  IN  SPAIN.  *p2K£%??^ 


Re?i«ir,  JtUM  1, 188L 


f^ntleman  being  publicly  oensored  and  condemned  to  pay 
flJl  costs. 

One  wonld  naturally  fear  that  the  school  would  suffer 
in  efficiency,  owing  to  the  jealousies  of  those  who  should 
support  it,  but  fortunately  this  does  not  appear  to  be  the 
case.  In  the  annual  meeting  of  its  supporters,  held  in  the 
institution  in  January,  the  Dean  spoke  of  the  progress 
made  during  the  preceding  twelve  months,  and  stated  that 
there  were  forty-six  students  attending  the  lectures  for  the 
winter  session  1881-82,  against  twenty-six  during  1880-81. 
He  spoke  highly  of  the  standard  of  education  reached,  and 
said  their  school  might  be  compared  without  fear  to  those 
of  England  and  America.  In  strongly  urging  all  students 
and  young  medical  men  desiring  to  understand  homoeopathy 
to  attend  the  lectures  and  clinical  instruction  given  by  the 
school,  he  said  he  was  sure  that  two  years  of  study  within 
its  precincts  would  enable  a  man  to  learn  more 
homoeopathy  than  twenty  years  spent  in  ordinary  country 
practice. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  rules  of  the  institution, 
mostly  laid  down  by  Dr.  Nunez  in  1879,  and  which  are 
carried  out  by  the  patrons  : — 

1.  There  are  two  professorial  chairs — of  Homoeopathic 
Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics,  and  of  the  History  and 
Practice  of  Medicine — ^these  chairs  being  held  by  physicians 
to  the  hospital. 

2*  The  physicians  in  charge  of  the  wards  give  two 
clinical  lectures  weekly,  by  the  bedside  of  the  patient. 

8.  One  of  the  professors  is  Dean  of  the  faculty. 

4.  The  professors  are  paid  by  the  fees  of  students — 
these  being  very  small,  according  to  our  ideas. 

6.  The  student  after  attending  lectures  at  the  liospital 
for  two  years  goes  up  for  examination  on  the  subjects 
studied,  and  if  he  passes  he  is  given  the  diploma  of 
*'  homoeopathic  doctor,'*  for  which  he  pays  a  small  fee. 

6.  This  title  is  also  conferred  upon  physicians  who  have 
practised  homoeopathically  for  six  years  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  school. 

Only  qualified  medical  men  receive  the  diploma,  others 
are  given  a  certificate  of  having  studied  and  passed  an 
examination  in  stated  subjects.  • 

In  cases  of  great  merit  the  diploma  is  given  to  students 
free  of  charge,  and  in  honour  of  the  Centenary  of  Gal- 
deron,  six  such.distinctions  were  bestowed  upon  Alumni. 


£!£^j£?vS^  MBDIcniK  OF  THE  FUTUBE.  331 

The  practice  tangbt  by  the  profesflors,  and  carried  out  in 
the  wards,  is  to  gi?e  one  medicine  of  a  high  potency — ^200 
being  apparently  the  favourite  dilation.  Think  of  thia  in 
the  country  of  Sangrado  !  A  synopBia  of  the  lectures  to 
be  deliveredy  a  folly  reported  clinical  lecture,  and  details  of 
0ome  interesting  case  in  the  wards  iq»pear  in  the  numbers 
of  El  Boletin  ClinicOy  together  with  much  personal  and 
polemical  matter. 

Learning  from  its  adversary.  El  Criteria  Medico  has 
increased  its  size,  and  has  vastly  improved  its  contents. 
Whereas  formerly  it  was  filled  almost  entirely  with  trans- 
lations from  German,  American,  and  English  medical 
papers,  it  now  publishes  capital  articles  on  drugs  and 
diseases  of  home  manufiftcture.  It  also  continues  to  pub- 
lish, in  full,  reports  of  the  meetings  of  the  society,  and  it 
devotes  a  certain  portion  of  its  space  very  often  to  com- 
ments on,  and  contradictions  of,  articles  published  in  El 
Boletin  CUnieo. 

From  the  two  journals  which  have  been  referred  to  the 
above  history  has  been,  as  impartially  as  possible,  com- 
piled, and  therefrom  will  be  seen  that  the  spirit  of  discord 
present  with  us  here  in  England  is  also  rampant  among 
our  eonfriree  in  Spain,  and  the  **  Courteous  Spaniard  " 
seems,  indeed,  to  be  our  master  in  the  language  of  con- 
tumely. Yet  homoeopathy  is  flourishing  throughout 
Spain.  Many  of  the  most  influential  members  of  the 
Court  and  aristocracy  are  active  propagandists  of  its  truths, 
and,  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  the  school  is  sending  out 
yearly  increasing  numbers  of  educated  physicians,  to  carry 
its  principles  into  every  village  throughout  the  land. 

21,  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendish  Square. 
April,  1882. 

THE   MEDICINE   OF   THE  FUTURE.* 

By  H.  Blumbebo  M.D.,  J.P. 

First  of  all  I  must  correct  the  title  of  my  lecture.  It  is 
not  the  medicine  of  the  future  upon  which  I  crave  your 
attention.  I  have  no  particular  drug  or  remedy  to  bring 
to  your  notice,  but  it  is  Medicine  of  the  Future,  in  analogy 
with  Richard  Wagner's  Music  of  the  Future.    Allow  me 

*  Bead  before  the  Sonthport  Ltterarr  andFhiloiophical  Bodeir,  Maieh 
17th,  1883.  r  ^  r  /. 


882  IfJBDXOINE  OF  THE  FUTUBB.  "^SSL^JftSt 


Bsrieir,  Jime  1,  WtL 


to  eiqdain  the  purport  of  my  paper  in  a  few  words*    I 
intend  to  upecnlate  upon  the  future  of  the  art  o£  ^M^lmgp 
or,  in  other  words,  I  will  aak,  and  try  to  answer,  tiie 
question,  ''What  will  be  the  position  of  phyaiciana  in 
regard  to  their  patients ;  and  what  will  their  method  of 
treatment  be,  say,  in  fifty  years  hence  ?  "    Every  treatise 
which  has  to  deal  with  the  future  rests,  as  you  are  wdl 
aware,  more  or  less  upon  hypothetical  foundations,  bat 
such  foundations  need  not  be  an  airy  fabric,  which  leaTes 
no  trace  behind ;  on  the  contrary,  a  hypothesis  deducted 
from  analogy  in  Nature,  or  from  historical  premises,  is 
often  the  precursor  of  truth*      The  historian  is  like  a 
prophet  turned  backward  and  looking  analytically  down, 
and  a  prophet  is  an  historian  looking  forwards  and  synthe- 
tically upwards.    The  first  condition,  therefore,  in  order  to 
be  enabled  to  speculate  on  the  future  career  of  medical  art 
and  its  professors  is  to  take  a  clear  and  correct  survey  of 
the  history  of  medicine — ^what  medicine  has  been.   The  next 
is  to  understand  what  medicine  is  at  present,  and  not  till 
then  we  shall  be  at  liberty  to  inquire  what  medicine  will  be. 
But  before  I  begin  the  sketch  q(  the  past  or  retrospect  of 
the  history  of  medicine,  let  me  assure  you  Mr.  President, 
Liidies,  and  Gentlemen,  that  I  have  not  undertaken  to 
deliver  this  lecture  in  any  sectarian  spirit  or  with  the  hope 
of  gaining  proselytes.     I  have  been  asked  by  our.  worthy 
secretary  to  read  a  paper,  and  I  have  naturally  selected  a 
subject  which  I  understuid  and  which  is  daily  in  my  mind. 
This  is  the  explanation  of  my  paper.    I  need  not  tell  yon 
that  I  will  avoid  as  much  as  I  can  to  give  offence  to  my 
medical  brethren  who  think  differently.    Our  motto  is  m 
certiM  unitas,  m  dubiiB  lihertM^  in  omnibui  eharitaa.    The 
history  of  medicine  is  of  course  intimately  connected  wifch 
the  general  history  of  mankind,  and  has  exactly,  as  the 
latter,  three  great  phases.     The  first  epoch  from  the  dawn 
of  the  art    under  the  Asklepiads    until    Galenus,  who 
brought  the  medicine  of  the  ancients  to  comparative  per* 
fection.       Then  a    gradual  decline  of  medical  art  and 
science,  synchronous  with  the  decline  in  civilisation  sub- 
sequent on  the  downfall  of  the  Boman  Emjure,  a  decline 
which  lasted  nearly  to  the  time  of  Sydenham  and  Harvey; 
and  lastly,  beginning  with  these  eminent  physicians,  an  era 
of  slow,  very  slow  progress,  which  only  became  accelerated 
by  the  teachings  of  one  great  medical  reformer  in  the  first 
quarter  of  our  century.    Allow  me,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen, 


S^fj^Tl^''  MEDICINE  OF  THE  FUTURE.  333 

to  go  somewhat  more  into  detail  as  regards  these  three  great 
Epochs.  The  first  traces  of  medical  art  are  found  in  the 
records  of  ancient  Egypt,  that  mother  of  all  civilisation. 
Isis  and  Osiris  the  mysterious  deities  were  considered  to 
have  revealed  to  mortals  the  secrets  of  the  healing  art. 
The  caste  of  priests  was  the  only  one  allowed  to  practise, 
and  any  one  of  another  caste  who  dared' treat  the  sick  was 
pmiished  with  death.  Disease  was  always  considered  hy 
the  Egyptians,  as  later  on  hy  the  Hehrews,  to  be  the  effect 
of  divine  anger,  and  sacrifice  offered  to  the  priests  was 
enjoined  as  the  best  means  of  cure.  The  ancient  Hindus 
had  already  many  centuries  before  our  Christian  era  a  book 
on  pathology  and  therapeutics  in  Sanscrit,  the  Agar- Veda, 
whose  author  was  San*atas.  But  the  principal  physicians 
of  the  ancient  world  were  the  Greeks.  There  was  one 
large  family,  the  supposed  descendants  of  iEsculapius,  who 
were  in  the  possession  of  the  secrets  of  medicine.  Their 
way  of  cure  was  simple  but  peculiar.  The  patient  had  to 
pass  one  or  more  nights  in  their  temples,  and  to  tell  his 
dream  to  the  priest-doctor,  who  ascertained  by  that  dream 
the  nature  of  the  complaint,  and  then  ordered  the  necessary 
remedies.  The  great  master  of  the  healing  art,  a  man  who 
really  deserves  the  proud  title  of  Father  of  Medicine,  rose 
among  the  Greeks  about  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  I 
mean  Hippocrates.  Hippocrates  was  a  scion  of  the  Askle- 
piad  fanuly,  and  was  bom  in  the  Greek  Island  of  Cos, 
460  years  before  Christ.  He  is  said  to  have  learnt  the 
medical  art  from  his  father,  and  after  being  fully  trained 
he  practised  as  a  sort  of  wandering  physician  in  Athens 
and  other  parts  of  Greece,  Asia  Minor  and  Lybia.  In  his 
old  age  he  settled  in  his  native  place  of  Cos,  where  he  died 
874  years  before  Christ.  He  had  a  wonderful  intellect, 
and  in  those  books  which  have  escaped  the  ravages  of  time, 
and  have  been  preserved  for  us — ^books  on  diet,  on  epi- 
demics, on  prognostics,  and  the  wonderful  collection  of 
aphorisms — ^he  laid  down  rules  of  treatment  which  can  be 
studied  with  great  advantage  even  now.  He  laid  justly 
great  stress  upon  air,  diet,  climate,  and  even  the  circum- 
stances of  the  patients.  His  remedies  were  simple  and 
mostly  taken  from  the  vegetable  world.  He  hated  un- 
pleasant drugs,  and  one  of  the  passages  in  his  writings  is, 
"  If  there  are  two  remedies  whereby  you  can  cure  an  illness, 
choose  always  that  which  is  most  agreeable  to  the  patient." 
After  Hippocrates  came  his  two  sons,  Hippilas  and  Dracon, 

Vol.  26,  No.  6.  2  a 


334  MEDICINE  OP  THE  FUTURE.  ^^i.^'SJ^fMa 


1881. 


and  after  them  the  school  of  Alexandria,  who  cultiyated 
the  medical  art  according  to  the  principles  of  Hippocrates. 
The  Romans  who  had  taken  their  political  system,  their 
art,  their  literature,  their  theatre,  their  architecture,  and 
their  theogony  and  religious  rites  from  the  Greeks — ^took 
from  them  also  their  system  of  medicine.     In  repuhliciui 
Borne  Greek  slaves  or  libertines  were  the  only  medical 
men.     Themison,  a  Greek,  practising  in  Rome  about  the 
time    of   the  Emperor   Titus,   lays,   like  the  father   of 
medicine,  great  stress  upon  diet,  air,  exercise,  and  intro- 
duced also  the  cold  water  treatment,  by  which  later  on  the 
Emperor  Augustus  was  cured.    After  him  Gelsus  was  the 
fashionable  physician,  or  as  our  witty  neighbours,   the 
French,  would  call  it,  Vassasin  a  la  mode,  in  Rome.     He 
departed  already  from  the  simple  and  sensible  teachings  of 
Hippocrates  and  treated  patients  in  a  crude,  empirical  way. 
Galenus,  at  the  end  of  the  Roman  period,  collected  all  the 
theories  and  practical  precepts  of  his  predecessors,'  and 
was  the  great  medical  authority  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years.    But  his  successors,  though  they  quoted  his  words, 
did  not   understand  their  meaning;  and  medicine  sank 
from  year  to  year — ^from  century  to  century — deeper  in  a 
senseless,  superstitious,  cruel  and  dangerous  routine.     An 
attempt  at  a  reformation  was  made  by  the  Arabs,  particu- 
larly in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  after   Christ, 
chiefly  by  the  celebrated  Aviceuna,  but  it  had  no   great 
success;  and  with  the  downfall  of  the  Arab  power  in 
Europe  it  came  altogether  to  an  end.    It  is  really  painful 
to  trace  the  state  of  medicine  in  the  Middle  Ages.     All 
sorts  of  magical  formulas,  talismans,  the  most  disgusting 
remedies  from  all  kinds  of  animals,  the  absolute  ignorance 
of  the  human  constitution,  of  physiological  laws — form  a 
most  objectionable  picture.      I  regret  to    say  that  traces 
of  that  time  have  continued  within  the  present  memory 
of  man,  and  I  am  not  sure  whether  living  persons  who 
put  their  faith  in  nasty  smelling  liver  pads  of  advertising 
quacks,  or  in  some  cure-all  of  some  old  witch,  are  any 
more  advanced  than  the  poor  ignorant  serfs  of  the  Middle 
Ages.     With  the  return  of  learning,  which  began  in  Italy, 
and  gradually  spread  to  the  nortih  and  west  of  Europe* 
some  opposition  was  attempted  by  the  more  clear-headed 
among  the  laity.     But  the  power  of  the  doctors  was  too 
absolute,  and  langs   and  universities  upheld  their  ortho- 
doxy.    Still  the  scepticism  in  the  wisdom  of  the  faculty 


iSfe^J^STwM?^  MEDICINE  OP  THE  FDTCTRE.  335 

began  to  spread  among  the  lettered  and  edacated  classes, 
and  as  they  could  not  defy  the  doctors  openly,  they  took 
refage  in  satire.  Rabelais  (himself  a  doctor  of  medicine) 
poured  out  the  inexhaustible  yials  of  his  wit  on  the 
ignorance,  the  pride  and  the  covetousness  of  his  colleagues, 
and  from  his  time  the  doctor  became  a  standing  figure  in 
comedy.  Who  has  not  read  and  laughed  at  the  consulta- 
tion of  doctors  in  Moliere,  or  at  Lesage's  most  entertaining 
sketch  of  the  blood-letting  Dr.  Sangrado  ?  It  is  marvellous 
that  the  faculty  surviyed  all  these  attacks,  for  many  cen- 
turies, modifying  but  little  their  silly  practice,  and 
continuing  up  to  the  last  few  years,  we  may  say,  to  swear 
by  the  obsolete  doctrines  of  their  ancestors — 

To  follow  foolisli  precedent,  and  wink 
With  both  oar  eyes  is  easier  than  to  think. 

The  lancet  remained  the  chief  remedy,  and  it  was  well 
said  by  the  eminent  physician,  the  late  Sir  John  Forbes, 
that  it  had  killed  more  than  the  sword.    Not  that  there 
did     not    arise     from     time  to  time    clear-seeing    and 
correctly-thinking  men  among  the  profession — for  instance, 
Paracelsus,   whose  mind  was  most  original,  and  whose 
influence  upon  the  development  of  medicine  has  hardly  as 
yet  been  properly  acknowledged ;  Van  Helmont,  Wilham 
Harvey,   who  not  only  by  his    great  discovery   of   the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  but  by  his  most  important  maxim, 
Omne  vivum  ex  ovo,  laid  the  firm  foundation  of  modem 
physiology,  nay,  in  some  sense  even  of  modern  philosophy 
— Stahl,  Hofimann,  Haller,  Cullen,  Brown,  Frank,  Hufeland 
— ^but  though   all   these  men   had   immortal  merits   on 
certain  branches  of  the  science  of  medicine,  none  of  them 
had  sufficient  influence  to  leaven  the  whole  mass  of  prac- 
titioners with  a  new  cardinal  principle  reforming  the  whole 
domain  of  the  healing  art.     The  man  who  tried  to  accom- 
plish this  grand  task,  and  who,  in  my  opinion,  has  accom- 
plished it,  is  Samuel  Hahnemann.     I  know,  Mr.  President, 
Ladies,  and  Gentlemen,  I  am  treading  somewhat  on  for- 
bidden  ground  by  trying  to  trace  the  revolution  accom- 
plished by  this  great  man.     His  life,  his  character,  his 
doctrines  have  been  (particularly  at  the  time  of  the  lament- 
able demise  of  Lord  Beaconsfield)  publicly  and  violently 
assailed  and  as  warmly  defended.    One  writer  in  the  Times 
called  him,  who  was  certainly  the  most  learned  physician 
of  his  age,  an  ignorant  man !    Many  of  his  followers  are,  on 
the  other  side,  but  too  much  inclined  to  make  of  him  a 

2  A  -2 


836  MEDICINE  OF  THE  FUTUBE.   ""l^f^SI?^! 

demigod,  and  to  pretend  that  after  him  there  is  no  more 
progress  necessary.  I  will  try  to  give  yon  a  fair  and 
objective  picture  of  the  reformer  and  his  theory.  Samuel 
Christian  Frederick  Hahnemann  was  born  on  the  10th  of 
April,  1755,  at  Meissen,  in  Germany,  and  received  his 
classical  education  at  the  grammar  school  of  that  town, 
studying  afterwards  medicine  at  the  celebrated  universities 
of  Leipsig,  Vienna,  and  Erlangen,  at  which  latter  univer- 
sity took  his  degree  with  honours  as  a  doctor  of  medicine. 
He  practised  in  different*  smaller  places,  and  studying 
continuously,  besides  medicine,  chemistry  and  mineralogy, 
he  settled  at  last  in  the  year  1789  in  Leipsig.  Here  he 
published,  besides  a  great  Pharmaceutical  Lexicon^  a 
number  of  smaller  essays  on  a  great  many  medical  subjects. 
He  translated  also  the  great  work  of  Cullen  on  Materia 
Medica,  All  that  time  he  had  been  studying  the  effects  of 
medicaments,  not  only  clinically  on  patients,  but  also 
physiologically  on  himself  and  a  select  few  of  his  friends 
who  volunteered  for  the  experiments.  In  this  manner  he 
discovered  his  cardinal  doctrine,  that  medicines  in  large 
doses,  are  apt  to  produce  somewhat  similar  symptoms  to 
those  which  in  smaller  doses  they  cure-  The  first  medi- 
cine which  led  him  to  this  discovery  was  chinin,  and  it  is 
well  known  now  that  chinin  taken  by  the  healthy  in  large 
doses,  produces  first  chilliness,  followed  soon  by  heat  and 
headache.  He  embodied  his  theory — first  in  his  funda- 
mental work,  Organon  of  Rational  Medicine ,  now  translated 
in  all  the  principal  living  languages,  and  develoj^ed  his 
doctrines  more  fully  in  his  Pure  Materia  Medica,  in  six 
volumes,  and  Chronic  Diseases,  in  five,  besides  a  number 
of  smaller  treatises  in  Latin  and  German.  Violently 
persecuted  on  account  of  his  supposed  heresy  from 
orthodox  medicine,  in  his  native  country,  he  left  it,  and 
settled  in  Paris,  where,  having  married  again  at  an 
advanced  age,  he  died  on  the  2nd  of  July,  1848,  not  fiur 
from  the  90th  year  of  his  life.  After  his  death,  the  very 
people  who  reviled  him  when  living,  erected  him  statues — 
one  on  the  market-place  at  Dessau,  and  another  at  Leipzig. 
Now,  Mr.  President,  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemten,  I  will 
carefully  abstain  from  the  vexed  question,  which  is  the 
best  medical  system  ?  I  do  not  think  it  right  to  debate  it 
in  an  assembly  composed  greatly  of  laics,  but  you  will 
allow  me  simply  to  enumerate  Hahnemann's  merits  as  a 
Reformer — merits  which  have  been  and  will  be  acknow- 


Sd^Jfj^lT^''  MEDICINE  OP  THE  FUTURE.  837 

ledged  by  all  candid  minds  to  whatever  school  they  belong. 
1.  Hahnemann  was  the  first  physician  who  broke  loose 
from  the  fallacious  doctrine  that  disease  is  an  entity,  which 
can  be  classified  and  ticketed  as  it  were,  which  exists 
independently  and  in  antagonism  to  the  physiological 
functions,  and  which  can  only  be  combated  by  violent 
antagonistic  proceedings.  His  theory,  on  the  contrary, 
was  that  disease  was  only  a  modification  of  physiological 
action,  which  was  impaired,  bat  not  annihilated  ;  and  that 
far  from  being  able  to  put  every  disease  as  it  were  in  a 
separate  box  and  label  it,  the  modifications  are  innumerable 
and  vary  in  every  individual.  That  we,  in  fact,  can  know 
disease  only  by  the  means  of  totality  of  the  symptoms,  and 
that  we  have  to  study  all  symptoms  carefully  in  every  indi- 
vidual case.  2.  Hahnemann  was  the  first  physician  who  took 
pains  to  prove  the  physiological  action  of  medicines  before  he 
used  them  therapeutically.  Since  his  time,  and  particularly 
in  the  last  twenty  years,  both  schools  have  given  great  atten- 
tion to  this  point.  You  have  only  to  compare  the  excellent 
hand-book9  of  Materia  Medica  of  Dr.  Sydney  Einger  or 
Dr.  Phillips  (both  belonging  to  the  orthodox  school,  but 
both  adopting  a  great  many  ideas  of  the  other  school)  with 
their  predecessors  to  be  struck  by  the  enormous  diflFerence. 
3.  Hsdmemann  was  the  first  who  set  his  face  against  the 
polypharmacy  prevalent  at  his  time,  and  he  thus  incurred, 
of  course,  the  hatred  of  all  chemists  and  druggists.  He 
insisted  upon  the  absolute  purity  of  the  medicine.  He 
insisted,  also,  upon  the  necessity  of  avoiding  mixing 
sundry  medicines  together.  It  is  clear  that  this  doctrine 
is  sound.  How  is  it  possible  that  a  physician  can  control 
the  action  of  medicines  when  from  half  a  dozen  to  twenty 
and  more  drugs  are  mixed  together  ?  Is  the  correct  effect 
of  medicines  ascertainable  in  such  a  '*  leap  in  the  dark  ?  " 
Hahnemann's  ideas  on  this  point  have  now  also  been 
generally  adopted  by  the  profession,  at  least  by  the  more 
prominent  members  of  it,  though  occasionally  in  some 
remote  country  places  we  still  meet  with  polypharmacists. 
An  American  tells  a  story  how,  travelling  in  the  Far 
West,  he  was  laid  up  with  a  bad  cold,  and  after  having 
been  seen  by  the  local  surgeon,  the  latter  returned  in 
about  half  an  hour,  bringing  a  very  large  bottle  of  physic 
with  him.  **Here,"  he  said,  "that  will  cure  you;  it 
contains  fourteen  different  drugs.  You  must  take  half  the 
bottleful  at  once."     The  Yankee  eyed  the  bottle  with 


888       MEDICINE  OF  THE  FUTURE.  "^S^^SJifMa 

Baspicion,  and  then  said  to  the  astonished  surgeon,  ^'I 
calculate,  doctor,  you'd  better  drink  half  this  botUe,  and  if 
it  does  not  kill  you  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  I'll  take  the 
other  half  !  "  4.  Hahnemann  was  the  first  physician  who 
tried  to  reduce  the  dose  to  the  quantity  absolutely 
necessary  to  produce  curative  effects.  He  did  not  try  to 
kill  flies  with  cannon  balls,  and  be  followed  the  precepts  of 
the  Persian  poet,  Mirza-Schaffy,  which  I  beg  to  tnmslate : — 

The  true  wise  man  does  not  search  far 

Near  things  to  handle ; 
Nor  does  his  hand  catch  at  a  star 

To  light  his  candle. 

Hahnemann's  medicines  were  simple,  sure  and  small.  It 
is  true  that  he  carried  his  doctrine  of  dynamisation  farther 
than  his  modern  disciples ;  but  who  is  bold  enough  to 
deny  the  curative  action  of  small  doses  when  he  reads  of 
substances  like  the  one  in  a  late  trial,  of  wliich  l-20th 
part  of  a  grain  can  kill  a  strong  man  in  an  hour  or  two ;  or 
if  he  takes  into  account  the  invisible  and  imponderable 
nature  of  miasmas  which  carry  death  in  their  essence* 
Can  small  substances  do  only  mischief,  and  will  you  deny 
that  they  can  do  good  ?  It  is  truly  said  that  the  greatest 
power  in  nature  is  the  power  of  the  small.  6.  Hahnemann 
was  the  first  physician  who  supplied  medical  men  vrith  a 
principle  to  guide  them  in  the  selection  of  medicines. 
Before  his  time  medicines  were  selected  empirically  or 
on  the  authority  of  some  medical  writer  of  ages  ago.  A 
story  is  told  of  a  young  doctor  in  Germany  who  had 
to  treat  as  his  first  patient  a  shoemaker  who  suffered 
from  an  attack  of  ague :  he  prescribed  duly,  and  on  his 
second  visit  found  the  patient,  to  his  delight,  much  better ; 
but  his  delight  was  modified  when  the  patient  told  him 
that  he  had  not  taken  the  medicine,  but  that  he  had  been 
eating  sausages  and  sauerkraut,  and  that  that  had  cured 
him.  The  young  doctor  sighed,  but  inscribed  on  his 
tablet,  **  Sausage  and  sauerkraut,  capital  for  ague."  As 
fate  would  have  it,  his  second  patient,  a  tailor,  suffered 
also  from  ague.  The  doctor  ordered  him  to  eat  plentifully 
of  sausages  and  sauerkraut,  but  the  poor  tailor,  what  with 
the  ague  and  what  with  the  diet,  soon  breathed  his  last. 
The  young  doctor  sighed  again,  but  added  in  his  notebook, 
"  very  good  for  shoemakers,  but  bad  for  tailors ! "  In 
reading  some  of  the  collections  of  prescriptions  of  the  last 
century,  one  is  reminded  of  the  young  doctor's  notes — 


S5Sl?rjS?rS»^  medicine  of  the  future.  389 

ikey  are  quite  as  absurd.  Hahnemann  tried  to  furnish  an 
nnerring  guide  of  selection.  How  far  he  succeeded,  how 
far  his  nmUia  gimiUbus  cwrantur  has  proved  a  true 
principle  of  selection  I  will  not  enter  upon,  as  that  is  still 
a  delMited  point,  the  opponents  of  Hahnemann  saying  that 
though  his  principle  may  be  applicable  in  some  cases,  it  is 
not  applicable  in  all.  This  is  the  only  difference  which 
diTides  in  the  year  1882  the  two  schools  of  medicine. 
Liastly,  I  must  mention  that  Hahnemann — ^though  in  that 
respect  he  only  followed  Hippocrates — ^laid  great  weight 
upon  suitable  diet.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  modem 
physicians  of  all  systems  follow  him  in  that  direction  too. 
It  is  told  that  a  lady  who  went  lately  to  London  to  consult 
a  celebrated  medical  baronet,  after  detailing  to  him  her 
Bufferings,  got  the  following  short  and  pitiiy  advice: — 
''Drink  milk;  drink  milk,  madam.  My  fee  is  two 
guineas.'*  And  if  she  followed  his  advice  I  am  sure  the 
money  was  well-spent.  Such  is  a  very  short  outline  of 
medicine  in  the  past.  After  the  death  of  Hahnemann, 
many  of  the  scientific  branches  of  modem  physiology, 
pathology,  organic  chemistry,  &c.,  made  immense  pro- 
gross,  having  improved  greatly.  Medicine  also  in  its 
stricter  sense  made  progress,  though  not  quite  so  fast. 
Still  the  lancet  got  discarded  and  a  good  many  mischievous 
theories  were  silently  abandoned.  At  the  present  moment 
we  are  in  a  transition  state.  The  old  intolerance  of  new 
ideas  has  greatly  died  away.  We  have  ceased  to  call  each 
other  fools  or  rogues,  for  no  other  reason  but  that  the  one 
gives  a  hundred^,  the  other  a  thousandth  part  of  a  grain  of 
arsenic  or  phosphorus.  The  different  success  in  treatment 
depends  now  less  upon  the  theories  which  the  physician 
holds,  but  more  upon  the  qualification  of  the  individual 
physician.  Healing  is  not  a  science,  but  an  art.  The 
doctor,  though  he  must  learn  a  great  many  sciences 
connected  wi&  medicine,  is  not  a  scientist,  but  an  artist. 
The  ideal  doctor  must  have  all  senses  in  perfection ;  ought 
to  haye  the  scent  of  a  foxhound,  the  taste  of  Brillat-Savarin, 
the  sight  of  Baphaelle,  the  touch  of  Rubinstein,  and  the 
ear  of  Sims  Beeves.  He  must  read  character  like  Lavater, 
have  the  memory  of  Macaulay,  the  quick  perception  of 
Dickens,  and  the  cool  judgment  of  the  present  Lord 
Derby.  He  must  be  conciliating,  yet  firm ;  stiavis  in 
modo,  yet  fortis  in  re;  eloquent  and  silent  in  turns, 
shaipsighted  and  blind,  cheerful  and  grave ;  but  above  all, 


840  MEDKIINE  OF  THE  FUTURE,    "^i:^  ^S!??!^ 


Bmrlew,  June  U  iSA. 


he  must  be  patient  and  fall  of  sympathy  with  the  snffering; 
he  must  be  both  chary  and  procUgal  of  his  time,  both  mth 
rich  and  poor.  If,  with  all  that,  he  is  open  to  conviction ; 
if  he  examines  eyerything,  and  chooses  the  best ;  and  if  he 
is  not  troubled  with  the  wind  of  vainglory,  nor  with  the 
itchy  palm  of  ayarice,  you  are  very  safe  to  choose  him,  to 
whatever  school  he  apparently  belongs.  But  now,  Mr. 
President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  I  have  been  historian 
long  enough  ;  let  me  try  my  hand  at  prophecy.  Tou  want 
to  know  what  will  be  medicine  and  its  professors  in  fif^ 
years  hence.  I'll  tell  you,  and  I  hope  that  all  of  you  will 
be  able  to  verify  my  statements.  First — There  will  not  be 
so  many  doctors  in  proportion  to  the  population,  because 
the  health  of  the  people,  owing  to  the  continued  progress 
in  sanitary  science,  will  be  better;  because  also  the 
knowledge  of  simple  remedies  will  be  widely  spread,  and 
because  the  sanatoria — ^be  it  air,  diet,  or  hydropathic 
establishments  —  will  be  greatly  increased.  2.  Patent 
medicines  will  cease  to  exist,  as  the  State  will  at  last  be 
ashamed  to  derive  income  from,  a  source  which  is  worse 
than  the  opium  trade.  8.  Most  fathers  and  mothers  of 
families  will  study  short  manuals  of  the  laws  of  health  and 
of  the  physical  education  of  children,  which  will  be  pub- 
lished cheaply  by  the  then  existing — I  cannot  tell  you 
whether  it  will  be  Liberal  or  Conservative — Government. 
4.  Young  ladies  will  also  have  to  read  such  manuals,  and 
those  who  object  will  be  punished  by  having  tor  wear  stays. 
6.  The  adulteration  of  food  will  be  punished  not  by  fines, 
as  hitherto,  but  by  imprisonment  and  hard  labour.  6.  No 
hospital  will  exist  which  wiU  not  have  sufficient  bathing 
accommodation,  including  vapour  and  Turkish  bath.  The 
bills  for  stimulants  in  hospitals  will  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  The  ordering  of  the  diet  and  treatment  of  the 
patient  will  be  left  to  the  doctor,  and  any  aunt  or  oousin 
who  recommends  particularly  some  diah  which  she  has 
heard  from  Mrs.  A.,  who  was  told  by  Mrs.  B.,  that  it  has 
done  good  to  a  distant  relative  of  Miss  C,  will  be  banished 
from  the  bedside  of  the  patient.  7.  The  State  will  acknow- 
ledge the  services  of  doctors  for  saving  life  by  giving  them 
a  pension  when  old  or  infirm  in  the  same  ratio  as  it  pen- 
sions military  men  for  taking  life.  8.  In  the  treatment  of 
disease  four  great  physicians  will  always  be  called  to  aid — 
Dr.  Water,  Dr.  Diet,  Dr.  Air  and  Dr.  Exercise.  9. 
Medicines  will  be  given  pure  and  only  one  at  a  time,  or  at 


S^fSrrSS**  NBDBAL  AHAMBIS.  841 


the  utmost  two  in  alternation.  They  will  as  a  rule  not 
be  unpleasant.  10.  The  nature  of  every  new  remedy  will  be 
well  studied  before  experiments  on  the  sick  are  allowed. 

11.  The  doctor  of  the  future  will  be  such  a  man  as  I 
sketched  before,  and  not  call  his  fellow-doctors  names. 

12.  He  will,  in  the  .  words  of  the  Reformers,  clearly 
perceiye  what  is  to  be  cured  in  eyery  indiyidual 
ease  of  disease.  He  will  also  clearly  perceive  what 
is  curative  in  each  individual  medicine.  He  will  know, 
according  to  clearly  defined  principle,  to  apply  what 
is  curative  in  medicine  to  what  is  morbid  in  the  patient, 
so  that  recovery  must  ensue.  He  will  know  how  to  apply 
it,  both  in  respect  to  the  suitableness  of  medicine  to  each 
individual  case,  as  also  the  easiest  mode  of  preparation, 
and  the  quantity  (neither  less  nor  more)  and  the  proper 
period  of  repeating  the  dose.  He  ^11  also  be  careful  to 
remove  all  obstacles  which  prevent  a  perfect  recovery. 
The  doctor  of  the  future  will  study  and  note  every  in- 
dividual case  of  illness  and  the  symptoms  of  the  corre- 
sponding  medicines,  so  that  the  Materia  Mediea  of  the 
future  will  be  a  receptacle,  not  of  time-hallowed  fancies  of 
a  creed  outworn,  but  of  truth !      Magna  est  Veritas   et 

pravaiebit^ 

The  truth  an  all-wise  Providence  intended 

To  be  a  bleasiiur  to  mankind ; 
He  did  not  bury  deep,  but  slightly  fended, 

That  any  earnest  search  might  nnd. 


PROFESSOE  JiEGER'S  NEURAL  ANALYSIS.* 

By  Percy  R.  Wilde,  M.B. 

(Author  of  An  Analyni  of  the  Involtmiary  Motiofu  of  the  Hand,) 

If  Professor  Jseger's  experiments  are  to  be  relied  upon, 
the  potency  of  the  highest  dilutions  is  demonstrated, 
physiological  effects  are  to  be  produced  by  amelling  the 
2,000th  dilution  of  natrum  muriatieum,  and  these  effects 
can  be  graphically  recorded. 

It  is  but  little  wonder  that  those  who  have  placed  faith 
in  such  dilutions  should  be  elated.  The  Homoeopathic 
Phpsidan  notices  that  a  doctor  has  been  speaking  dis- 
paragingly of  high  dilutions,   and  it  heads  the  article, 

*  Beviewed  from  Professor  Manuel  Gnater's  Paper  in  Populate 
ZeiUchrift  fur  Homceopatkie.  Translated  into  the  Homaopathie 
PJ^aicUm  (Riiladeli^ia). 


842  mniBAL  analysis.     *%£t%::??!^ 


Bflvieir,  Jvae  1, 18Bi. 


€( 


Has  not  heard  of  J»ger."  The  Homoeopathie  Pkytieian 
is  fully  conyinced  that  if  this  scoffer  liad  heard  of  Jfl^er, 
he  would  haye  mended  his  ways. 

The  conception  which  led  Professor  Jseger  to  institute 
these  experiments  was  good.  It  is  known  tiiat  an  interval 
of  time  elapses  between  any  sensory  impression  and  the 
motor  act  put  forth  immediately  following  it.  This 
interval  was  shown  by  Helmholtz  to  vary  in  different 
people,  and  in  the  same  individual  at  different  times, 
dependent  upon  the  condition  of  the  nervous  system.  By 
means  of  the  chronoscope  this  interval,  which  Professor 
Jeeger  calls  *^  nerve  time,"  can  be  measured,  and  it 
occurred  to  him  that  if  the  time  were  taken  before  and 
then  after  some  drug  had  been  inhaled,  the  effect  of  the 
drug  might  be  exhibited  by  an  alteration  of  the  nerve 
time.  We  know  that^ Professor  JsBger  is  fond  of  observing 
the  effects  of  odours,  but  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why 
in  these  -experiments  he  only  allowed  the  drugs  to  be 
smelled,  and  not  administered  in  the  ordinary  way. 

The  mode  of  experimenting  was  as  follows : — The 
subject  presses  his  finger  upon  a  key,  which  sets  an 
indicator  in  rapid  rotation.  He  is  intenUy  watching  this 
indicator,  and  at  the  moment  he  sees  it  commence  moving 
he  withdraws  the  pressure,  and  so  stops  it.  The  distauce 
travelled  by  the  indicator  represents  the  **  nerve  time." 

The  extreme  delicacy  of  this  experiment  is  apparent.  It 
is  one  in  which  a  number  of  conditions  may  operate  to 
cause  error.  In  the  first  place,  we  must  consider  the 
functional  condition  of  the  sensorium  at  the  time  of  experi- 
ment  in  relation  to  internal  causes.  This  Professor  Jaeger 
met  by  taking  the  record  of  the  person  immediately  before 
the  use  of  the  toxic  agent.  As  his  dilutions  were  all 
mixed  with  alcohol,  he  was  careful  also  to  try  the  effect  of 
the  alcohol  alone  before  trying  it  in  admixture  with  the 
drug.  The  second  factor  to  be  considered  is  the  condition 
of  the  sensorium  in  relation  to  synchronous  impressions  in 
point  of  number  and  intensity.  It  will  be  understood  that 
if  the  whole  attention  is  fixed  and  ready  to  receive  an 
expected  impression,  one  kind  of  result  may  be  produced; 
while,  if  the  sensorium  or  intellectual  centres  are  already 
occupied  by  impressions  or  sensations,  another  result  may 
be  expected,  and  this  result  will  vary  in  proportion  to  the 
intensity  of  the  synchronous  impressions  and  the  active  or 
passive  attention  yielded  to  them  at  the  exact  moment 


£5S5^jS?rSw!^         NBUBAL  ANALYSIS.  848 

when  the  impresgion  under  observation  is  received.  When 
the  person  is  carefully  regarding  the  dial,  and  his  whole 
attention  concentrated  npon  the  indicator,  his  sensorium, 
as  far  as  can  be  judged,  is  unoccupied  and  free  to  receive 
the  single  impression.  But  when  this  act  of  observation 
is  united  with  the  smelling  of  a  substance,  the  sensorium 
is  no  longer  unoccupied,  and  a  different  result  may  be 
expected.  The  operation  of  this  fiEustor  appears  to  have 
been  wholly  overlooked  by  Professor  JsBger* 

When  the  substance  was  alcohol,  the  results  were 
as  follows:  *'With  some  persons  they  (the  ''nerve 
times  ")  are  considerably  lengthened,  with  others  they  are 
shortened,  or  they  move  in  a  confused  zig-zag  up  and  down." 
This  is  precisely  the  result  which  we  should  mark  in  our 
laboratory  book  ''  nil."  We  want  to  know  whether  certain 
conditions  produce  a  result,  and  then  to  ascertain  the  cha- 
racter of  that  result.  If  the  same  resxQt  persistently  follows 
whenever  we  set  up  the  same  condition,  we  have  some  right 
to  assume  that  the  condition  produced,  and  the  result  which 
follows,  have  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  But  if  there 
is  no  such  persistency  between  the  two  factors,  we  learn 
that  there  is  either  some  error  in  our  experiment  or  that 
the  supposed  relation  is  non-existent.  But  Professor  JsBger 
does  not  bind  himself  by  the  laws  of  enquiry,  he  simply 
asserts  that  the  effects  are  the  result  of  alcohol.  If  we 
grant  this,  it  is  difiScult  to  conceive  how  we  can  continue 
experimenting  with  dilutions  made  with  alcohol,  for 
whether  we  find  the  nerve  time  retarded  or  accelerated,  or 
it  goes  zig-zag  fashiou,  it  might  equally  be  produced  by 
the  alcohol  and  not  by  tiie  drug. 

But  this  does  not  trouble  Professor  JsBger.  Belying  on 
mere  assertion  to  prove  that  the  first  results  were  the 
effects  of  alcohol,  he  wants  no  other  evidence  to  prove  that 
the  next  results  are  the  effect  of  the  drug.  He  chooses 
aconite  in  the  15th  dilution,  and  having  produced  a  certain 
series  of  effects  (?)  on  one  person,  he  tries  it  upon  another, 
and  finds  his  result  exactly  reversed.  But  Professor  Jaeger 
is  made  of  stuff  that  bears  reverses  calmly.  This,  he  says, 
**  proves  that  medicines  act  differently  upon  each  organism." 
The  variation  is  in  nature^  not  in  Professor  Jagei's  expert- 
ments.  All  the  incessant  vexations  of  experimental  work 
are  over,  we  have  only  to  follow  ProfiBSSor  Jseger's  method, 
and  we  shall  prove  everything  to  our  own  satisfaction,  and 
that,  perhaps,  of  some  intelligent  American  journals,  who 


344  NEURAL  ANALYSIS.      "S^SS^^^SS?^ 


Review,  June  !« 18St. 


appear  to  think  that  any  proof  is  good  proof  which  proves 
tneir  own  belief. 

The  third  factor  we  should  have  attended  to  is  the 
infiuence  of  unc&nsciotts  reflection  in  affecting  motor 
retfdta.  As  Professor  Gneter  says  in  his  prdiminary 
remarks,  that ''  the  central  organ  of  the  wUl  is  the  brain,*^ 
he  wiU  hardly  accept  the  correction  when  we  say  that  ike 
volitional  centre  occupies  one  portion  of  the  brain.  Prom 
the  mode  in  which  Professor  JsBger's  experiments  were 
conducted,  it  is  evident  that  he  is  either  ignorant  of  the 
fact,  or  does  not  believe  that  there  are  intellectual  centres 
which  act  automatically,  and  that  these  can  produce  or 
alter  motor  results  without  affecting  the  sphere  of  con* 
sciousness.  Professor  Jfieger  may  have  the  most  perfect 
confidence  in  his  three  pupils,  but  they  are  only  reliable  as 
far  as  their  volition  permits.  In  experiments  where  con* 
elusions  depend  upon  delicate  motor  results,  the  factor  of 
unconscious  reflection  is  always  present,  and  can  be  only 
set  aside  by  keeping  the  subjects  experimented  upon  in 
entire  ignorance  of  tibe  nature  of  the  experiment.  When 
a  person  places  his  hand  upon  the  Kyrograph,  and  pro- 
mises not  to  use  any  muscular  control  over  it,  be  he  ever 
so  honest  in  intention,  providing  that  he  knows  the  object 
of  the  experiment,  we  find  on  examining  the  tracing  that 
he  has,  although  unconsciously,  tried  to  help  or  hinder  the 
mechanical  movements,  and  this  we  can  demonstrate  to 
him.  In  this  manner  we  can  read  ideas  passing  in  his 
mind  of  which  he  is  completely  unconscious. 

Some  thirty  years  ago.  Dr.  H.  Madden,  of  Brighton, 
tested  a  number  of  drugs  by  means  of  an  instrument  called 
a  magnetometer.  This  is  a  gallows-shaped  arrangement, 
from  the  arm  of  which  a  ball  is  suspended  by  a  fine  thread ; 
the  operator  places  his  finger  on  the  upright  support,  and 
holds  the  substance  to  be  tested  in  his  hand.  The  ball 
then  commences  to  swing  in  one  direction  or  another, 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  drug.  At  least,  so  Dr. 
Madden  thought,  until  it  occurred  to  him  to  try  the  experi- 
ment without  previous  knowledge  of  the  jbug  he  was 
**  testing."  He  now  found  that  the  ball  did  not  swing  in 
the  same  definite  order  as  before,  and  he  then  discovered 
that  the  movements  of  the  ball  merely  represented  the 
results  of  reflections  of  which  he  was  unconscious.  He 
thereupon  admitted  the  error  of  his  first  conclusion,  and  by 
pointing  out  this  error  he  rendered  an  important  service  to 


X:^5SSr8^         NBUBAL  AHAIYSIB.  345 


Beview,  Jane  1»  1882 


physiology — ft  sarrice  which  after  writers  upon  the  subject 
hftYe  forgotten  to  mention.  Dr.  Madden  was  one  of  the 
first,  if  not  the  fbrsti  to  point  oat  that  onoonscioaa  cerebral 
processes  can  set  up  motor  results ;  since  then  the  whole 
physiology  of  this  subject  has  been  extensively  studied. 
But  after  all  this.  Professor  JsBger  proceeds  to  a  series  of 
experiments,  very  similar  to  those  undertaken  by  Dr. 
Madden,  and  falls  into  Dr.  Madden's  first  error;  and 
although  the  results  had  nothing  of  the  persistency  which 
followed  Dr.  Madden's  efforts,  &eir  variability  constantly 
pointing  out  that  something  was  wrongs  Professor  J»ger 
has  failed  to  detect  it. 

He  and  his  pupils  knew  the  drugs  they  were  experi- 
menting upon,  nor  did  they  attempt  to  find  whether  the 
same  results  would  follow  from  a  repetition  of  the  experi- 
ments without  previous  knowledge  of  the  drug  they  were 
testing.  Only  in  one  case  is  there  any  pretence  of  such  an 
experiment,  and  as  in  the  very  next  experiment  an  exactly 
opposite  result  was  produced,  even  Professor  JsBger  could 
hardly  attach  much  importance  to  it. 

It  is  because  we  know  Professor  JfiBger  to  be  a  scientist 
of  some  reputation,  that  we  cannot  think  that  he  seriously 
believes  in  his  own  experiments.  He  has  taken  a 
mountain  of  labour  to  very  little  purpose.  K  he  really 
thought  that  the  smell  of  high  dilutions  affected  the 
nervous  system,  and  this  could  be  demonstrated  by  the 
chronoscope,  nothing  could  have  been  simpler  than  for 
him  to  have  selected  four  different  drugs,  and  to  have 
experimented  with  each  of  these. upon  twenty  different 
persons  entirely  ignorant  of  their  nature.  If  he  had  found 
a  similar  series  of  results  follow  each  drug  in  even  60  per 
cent,  of  his  cases,  he  might  have  concluded  that  there  was 
some  relation  between  the  smelling  of  the  drug  and  the 
*'  nerve  time."  So  far  as  we  can  gather  from  Professor 
Graeter's  paper,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  these  are 
to  be  considered  as  cause  and  effect,  save  the  bare  assertion 
founded  on  Professor  Jffiger's  pre-conceived  idea.  If 
Professor  Jaeger  seriously  believed  that  his  pupil  Gohrum 
had -such  a  highly  developed  sense  of  smell,  'Hhat  he  is 
able  to  distinguish  this  medicament  {natruin  muriaticum) 
in  the  10th,  20th,  and  higher  potencies,  from  alcohol 
without  having  recourse  to  the  apparatus,"  Why  did  he  not 
put  it  to  the  test  ? 

We  candidly  confess  that  we  don't  believe  in  Herr 


846  CABDIAC  THBRAPBUTIOS.    ^S^^S?JJtS»* 

Oohrnm's  acute  power  of  detecting  odoars  which  never 
existed,  but  we  do  believe  that  with  snch  a  man  as  Herr 
Gohrmn  to  perform  the  experiments  the  apparatas  was  not 
needed ;  if  he  had  been  allowed  to  smell  around  and  describe 
his  sensations  we  believe  the  results  would  have  been  equal 
in  value  to  those  put  forward  by  Professor  Jasger.  There 
is  hardly  a  law  of  experimental  enquiry  which  Professor 
JaBger  has  not  broken,  and  homoaopathy  is  unfortunate 
enough  to  have  the  results  put  forward  as  a  "  new  discovery 
in  its  service."  Professor  GraBter,  in  concluding  his  paper, 
says  :  **  But  to  the  adversaries  of  our  cause  who  probably 
will  endeavour  to  dispose  of  this  discovery  with  theoretiod 
reasoning,  or  with  defamations  of  Professor  Jaeger's  person, 
we  will  now  exclaim,  in  Hahnemann's  words,  **  imUaU  it, 
biU  imitate  it  exactly,*'  I  think  homoeopathists  will  answer 
politely,  but  firmly,  '*jVb  thank  you" 


OAEDTAC  THEBAPEUTICS.* 
By  E.  Wood  Fobsteb,  M.B.C.S.Eng.,  L.S.A.,  Darlington. 

Case  1. 

In  June,  1880, 1  was  called  to  attend  a  young  gentleman 
about  fifteen  years  of  age.  I  found  that  he  had  suffered 
for  some  time  from  intermittent  pains  of  the  left  mammaiy 
region.;  that  he  complained  of  being  soon  tired — soon 
pumped  out ;  that  his  breathing,  too,  would  be  incon- 
veniently rapid  after  running  or  undertaking  an  ascent. 
There  was  also  a  history  of  nervousness,  of  being  easily 
startled,  of  considerable  timidity,  and  of  calling  out  in 
sleep.  His  family  is  subject  to  •hereditary  renal  disease; 
and  upwards  of  two  years  before  this  time  there  had  been, 
to  my  knowledge,  albuminuria  without  organic  disease. 
Now,  the  urine  was  clear  and  non-albuminous. 

The  functions  of  the  liver  and  stomach  were  healthy. 
Examination  of  the  heart  showed  absence  of  valvular  lesion, 
but  slight  hypertrophy  with  energetic  impulse,  and  pulsa- 
tions about  100  per  minute :  an  intense  condition  of  cardiac 
irritability.  There  was  not  an  actual  intermission  of  pulse- 
waves;  but  it  was  very  noticeable  that  a  succession  of 
stronger  beats  was  followed  by  a  succession  of  feebler  ones. 


♦  Reprinted  from  the  BritUh  Medical  Journal,  April  16th,  1882. 


^t^JiSSTSm!^  CARDIAC  THERAPEUTICS-  847 

la  connection  with  hygienic  influences,  digitalis  was 
administered  on  the  18th,  five  drops  three  times  a  day  in 
half  an  ounce  of  simple  water,  and  continued  until  the 
80th  June.  To  this  time  it  had  not  **  quieted  the  system  " ; 
but  the  neuralgic  stitches  of  the  mammary  region  were 
well,  and  the  pulse-waves  flowed  more  regularly.  The 
cardiac  irritability,  with  high  pulse-beat  and  disagreeable 
nerre-consequences,  still  remained.  On  the  80th,  throe 
drops  of  veratrum  viride  were  repeated  three  times  a  day 
in  half  an  ounce  of  simple  water.  This  treatment  was 
most  efficacious,  so  that  in  twd  or  three  days  the  medicine 
was  ordered  to  be  taken  only  once  a  day,  or  every  other 
day,  and  was  discontinucfd  at  the  end  of  the  fortnight. 

I  believe  it  would  have  been  more  therapeutically  correct 
to  begin  at  once  with  the  veratrum.  The  general  system 
of  arterioles  was  healthy,  and  did  not  require  to  be  inter- 
fered with.  The  indications  were  that  the  heart-muscle 
was  the  organ  to  which  a  remedy  ought  to  be  applied.  It 
was  not  the  regulating  apparatus  that  was  at  fault,  but 
rather  the  musculo^motor  to  which  attention  was  to  be 
directed.  DigitaU$  therefore  failed,  because  it  is  a  mus- 
culo-motor  stimulant.  This  was  not  required  in  such  a 
case  as  I  have  just  described. 

VercOrum  '^  diminishes  the  force  of  the  heart-beat  by  a 
direct  influence  on  the  cardiac  muscle  "  CWood) — ^I  presume 
through  the  musculo-motor  ganglia.  And  the  advantage 
of  the  small  dose  is  that,  firstly,  we  so  use  our  remedy  that 
its  influence  does  not  extend  to  other  organs,  but  is 
expended  on  that  organ  which,  being  diseased,  most 
sensitively  feels  its  therapeutic  power ;  and,  secondly,  we 
keep  clear  of  inducing  any  disagreeable  effect  on  the 
patient :  and  thus,  by  keeping  well  within  the  therapeutic 
dose,  we  can  eflect  a  ''  safe,  speedy,  and  permanent  cure, 
whenever  a  cure  is  possible." 

Case  2* 

On  May  18th  of  last  year,  I  was  consulted  by  a  lady  of 
about  seventy  years.  She  came  panting  into  my  room, 
with  livid  lips,  dilated  nostrils,  and  a  bumping  heart. 
There  was  evidence  of  an  obstruction  of  the  liver,  with 
some  stomach-derangement,  and  scanty  urine,  containing 
urates,  but  non-albuminous.  There  had  been  for  a  month 
oedema  of  the  right  leg.  There  was  mitral  disease  (said 
to  be  hereditary),  rapid  cardiac  action,  pulse  90,  palpitation. 


348  OABDIAC  THBRAPBDTICS.   ^'^S^fjSSSum. 

iutermission,  and  a  short  dry  ooagh.  Undoubtedly  the 
heart  was  primarily  at  faalt ;  bat  its  oondition  was  aggra- 
vated by  the  obstructed  state  of  the  hepatio  systeniy  the 
consequence  of  its  own  incompetency.  By  the  third  day» 
these  obstacles  were  removed :  the  colour  and  odour  of  the 
evacuations  became  natural;  and  the  urine  increased  in 
quantity  under  small  doses  of  mercury. 

Attention  was  now  entirely  given  to  the  hearty  and 
tincture  of  spigelia  (Savory  and  Moore's)  was  administered. 
This  is  a  powerful  remedy  in  suitable  cases;  to  this  I  can 
testify.  (See  Phillips ;  cdso  Sharpe  in  Practitionery  May, 
1878,  p,  831.)  It  was  given  because  of  its  special  action 
on  the  heart.  The  kidneys,  acting  well,  did  not  require 
the  subordinate  action  of  digitalis.  Likewise,  the  rapid 
irritable  state  of  the  cardiac  muscle  seemed  to  imply 
nervous  excitement ;  therefore  the  exoluskm  of  digitalis. 
However,  spigelia  failed  to  relieve,  in  five-drop  doses  thrice 
daily,  the  cardiac  oppression  and  its  concomitants.  Why 
did  it  fedl  ?  Therapeutically,  it  was  a  wrong  remedy.  The 
small  dose  kept  up  the  force  and  frequency  of  the  heart's 
action.  It  probably  acted  as  a  stimulant  to  the  accelerator 
nerves,  and  tended  to  increase  the  venous  congestion.  If 
I  had  given  large  doses,  I  might  have  conmderaUy  lowered 
the  pulse ;  but  then  spigelia  at  the  some  time  physiologi- 
cally produces  palpitation,  with  strong  beating. 

On  the  25th,  the  cardiac  agitation,  dyspnosa,  and  hot 
dry  skin  pointed,  with  no  uncertain  indication,  to  aconite. 
One  minim  of  Fleming's  tincture  was  given  in  half  an 
ounce  of  simple  water  thrice  a  day.  Its  efficiency  was 
quickly  apparent.  In  the  course  of  a  week,  there  was 
amelioration  of  all  the  symptoms ;  and  when  I  saw  the 
old  lady  on  July  4th,  she  was  well  and  jocose. 

^'  The  method  by  which  the  aconite  influences  the  heart 
is  not  certainly  settled"  (Wood).  Therapeutically,  in 
small  doses,  its  beneficial  influence  is  exercised  through 
the  cardiac  ganglia.  The  hot  dry  skin  was  an  important 
indication  of  treatment.  Aconite  being  known  to  dilate 
the  arterioles,  and  to  '*  increase  the  capacity  of  the  vascular 
system"  (Ringer),  [promotes  perspiration  and  relieves 
congestion.  Thus  we  obtain,  in  addition  to  the  direct 
action  on  the  cai'diac  ganglia,  a  powerful  drain  to  the 
surface. 

In  weighing  the  probabilities  between  veratruvh  and 
aconite  in  a  case  of  cardiac  disease,  we  should  deliberately 


SSSi^SSrS^  BBVIEWB.  84» 


Bsview,  June  i,  18tt. 


consider  the  totality  of  symptoms  present  in  the  particnlar 
case.  In  the  former  case,  veratrum  was  chosen,  becanse 
of  its  direct  effect  on  the  heart  only.  The  kidneys  were 
acting  normally ;  the  skin  also  was  normal ;  and  tempera- 
ture was  normal ;  therefore,  to  hare  given  aconite  in  such 
a  case  wonld  have  been  a  needless  waste  of  aconite 
inflnence,  and  might  possibly  have  prodaced  a  feeling  of 
increased  lassitude.  In  the  latter  case,  veratrum  would 
not  have  touched  either  the  kidneys  or  the  skin.  As 
aconite  embraced  these  within  its  beneficial  range,  it  was 
emphatically  the  remedy,  and  did  not  require  the  clumsy 
expedient  of  combining  with  it  spirits  of  nitre,  or  potash 
acetate,  to  effect  that  which  it  was  qnite  capable  of  doing 
alone. 

The  advantage  of  the  single  medicine  is  its  simplicity, 
and  its  accuracy  in  operating  only  upon  the  diseased  organ 
in  proper  therapeutic  dose,  which  must  be  far  removed 
from  the  physiological  one. 

If  a  medicine  have  a  special  action  upon  a  special  organ 
or  part  in  health,  so  it  would  seem  very  desirable  and 
judicious  to  administer  that  particular  remedy  in  disease 
of  that  same  part  which  appropriates  the  remedy  in  health. 
But  we  must  bear  in  mind,  as  a  clinical  fact,  that  the 
tissues  in  disease  are  much  more  sensitive  and  responsive 
to  the  action  of  a  drug,  so  that  the  dose  to  be  then  thera- 
peutic must  be  small. 


REVIEWS. 


The  Human  Ear  and  its  Diseases.  A  Practical  Treatise  upon 
the  Examination,  Becognition  and  Treatment  of  Affections  of 
the  Ear  and  Associate  Parts,  prepared  for  the  instruction  of 
students  and  the  guidance  of  physicians.  By  W.  H.  Wims- 
LOW,M.D.,  Ph.D.,  Oculist  and  Aurist  to  the  Pittsburgh  Homoe- 
opa^ic  Hospital,  &c.  New  York  and  Philadelphia  :  Boericke 
and  Tafel,  1882 ;  pp.  626. 

The  first  thought  suggested  by  the  perusal  of  this  handsome 
volume  is  the  immense  amount  of  research  which  has  been 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  study  of  diseases  of  the  ear  within 
quite  a  limited  period.  But  little  more  than  forty  years  ago  the 
ear  was  the  happy  hunting-ground  of  the  quack.  Little  was 
known  of  the  physiology  of  this  valuable  and  delicate  organ, 
scarcely  anything  of  the  pathological  changes  to  which  it  was 
subject,  and  absolutely  nothing  as  to  the  means  best  adapted  to 

YoL36,Ko.  6.  S  9 


850  RBViBws.  "S^.^Sr?^ 


Bartew,  Juns  1,  im. 


modify  these  ehanges.  At  this  time  the  **  anriet "  of  the  dmy 
was  one  Curtis.  By  the  free  use  of  all  the  arts  idiich  the 
quack  knows  so  well  how  to  ezeroise  in  bringing  the  hopelessly 
infirm  within  his  grasp,  this  man,  perfectly  ignorant  of  the  dis- 
eases he  pretended  to  core,  amassed  an  enormous  fortune  in 
London.  On  one  occasion — as  related  by  Mr.  dark  in  the 
Medical  Times  and  Gazette  some  years  ago-— he  went  out  of  his 
ordinary  beat,  and  undertook  to  read  a  paper  on  aural  surgery 
before  the  London  Medical  Society.  Amons  his  hearers  was  a 
young  surgeon,  who  was  seeking  a  field  for  practice.  Well 
instructed  in  anatomy  and  physiology,  Gurtis's  utter  ignorance  of 
his  subject  made  a  deep  impression  upon  young  Toynbee's  mind. 
The  conclusion  expressed  by  him  to  a  friend  was  to  the  effeet 
that  if  this  fellow,  knowing  nothing  whatever  about  the  ear,  eaa 
make  such  an  income  as  he  is  doing,  what  cannot  I  do  if  I 
devote  myself  to  the  study  of  its  anatomy,  physiology,  and 
pathology?  From  that  moment  he  set  to  work,  and  at  St. 
Mary's  Hospital  commenced  the  series  of  researehes  into  aural 
pathology  which  formed  the  basis  of  most  of  our  present  know- 
ledge. 

During  the  forty  years  which  have  since  elapsed  the  proTxnee 
of  aural  surgery  has  so  expanded  as  to  require,  for  its  full  eluci- 
dation, a  work  so  ample  as  that  which  lies  before  us.  Had  we 
no  other  illustration  to  offer,  this  alone  would  suffice  to  demon- 
strate, not  only  the  progress  of  surgery  during  the  last  few  years, 
but  also  the  immense  amount  of  industry  and  skill  which  have 
been  devoted  to  its  study. 

Dr.  Winslow  brings  to  bear  upon  his  snbjeet  a  large  «xperi- 
ence,  gained  both  in  hospital  and  private  practice.  We  ara, 
therefore,  prepared  to  expect  a  very  full  account  of  the  Tarions 
diseases  to  which  the  ear  is  liable,  as  well  as  the  resources  pro- 
vided by  art  for  encountering  them.  Neither  are  we,  so  hi, 
disappointed. 

Beginning  at  the  beginning,  Dr.  Winslow  gives  us  a  dear 
description  of  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the  ear,  and  then 
proceeds  to  lay  before  his  readers  a  very  full  account  of  the 
methods  of  examining  its  physical  condition.  He  next  passes  to 
the  consideration  of  the  morbid  processes  which  constitute  the 
diseases  of  the  external,  middle,  and  internal  ear.  Li  these 
chapters,  which  constitute  the  especially  practical  portion  of  the 
work,  Dr.  Winslow  displays  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his  subject, 
and  not  only  so,  but  he  communicates  it  in  a  manner  which 
shows  him  to  have  considerable  power  as  an  instructor. 

The  operative,  or  surgical  part  of  his  work,  is  much  better 
done  than  that  which  relates  to  the  use  of  drugs.  The  former  is 
full  and  complete,  while  in  the  latter  he  is  too  much  given  to 
naming  half-a-dozen  or  more  medicines,  and  directing  the  reader 


to  compare  them.  In  8ota6  instancds  he  points  out  the 
differentia  which  should  guide  the  surgeon  in  his  selection,  bat 
this  could  have  been  done  much  more  freely  with  advantage.  It 
is  quite  true  that  the  ear  symptoms  of  many  medicines  are  few, 
and,  in  some  instances,  not  very  reliable.  But  much  may  be 
accomplished  to  M  up  the  void  thus  left  by  studying  the  actions 
of  drugs  on  analogous  structureB,  and  noting  their  operations 
upon  ^am.  Further,  very  many  of  the  diseases  of  the  ear, 
which  are  particularly  amenable  to  medicinal  treatment,  are 
dominated  by  some  special  constitutional  diathesis  to  which 
medicines  have,  £rom  their  general  action,  shown  themselves  to 
be  homoeopathic. 

Dr.  Winslow,  it  may  be  added,  looks  forward  to  much 
therapeutic  help  in  the  future  from  electricity;  and  mentions 
several  conditions  in  which  it  may  be  expected  to  be  serviceable* 
We  doubt  not  but  that  in  a  future  edition  he  will  be  able  to 
enlarge  much  on  the  adaptation  of  this  potent  force  to  remedial 
purposes. 

Ab  a  whole  the  work  is  one  which  may  be  studied  with  great 
advantage  by  all,  be  they  specialists  or  general  practitioners. 
It  is  full  of  information,  and  abounds  in  useful,  common-sense 
suggestions  for  practice  ;  and  we  trust  that  when  Dr.  Winslow 
comes  to  revise  <his  first  edition,  he  will  be  able  to  render  his 
indications  for  the  use  of  medicines  both  fuUer  and  more  precise. 
Ko  one,  we  are  sure,  is  more  competent  for  this  work,  and  few 
have  better  opportunities  for  performing  it. 


A  Treatise  on  the  Medical  and  Surgical  Diseasea  of  Women,  with 
their  Homceopathic  Treatment,  By  Mobton  Monbos  Eaton, 
M.D.    Boericke  &  Tafel. 

We  owe  our  apologies  to  the  author  of  this  work  for  not  having* 
noted  it  sooner,  and  it  deserves  more  than  a  few  passing  words 
of  approval. 

In  the  first  place  we  must  note  that  this  book  bears  the  evident- 
impress  of  the  author's  individuality,  that  it  is  the  legitimate 
product  of  his  own  brain,  the  result  of  his  own  experience  and 
tiiought,  and  that  where  he  does  quote  from  others  he  honestly 
prints  it  in  inverted  commas.  This  in  itself  is  no  praise,  but 
unfortunately  we  have  had  several  systematic  works  published  by 
homoeopathic  practitioners  in  America  in  which  the  only  work  of 
the  author  seems  to  be  the  jumbling  together  at  the  end  of  each 
chapter,  or  section,  of  the  names  of  a  number  of  medicines,  and 
a  request  to  refer  to  the  Materia  Medica  to  find  their  indications* 
8uch  works  are  a  standing  reproach  to  homoeopathy.  We  are 
^ad  to  notice  Dr.  Eaton's  work  as  an  exception.  But  it  deserves- 
much  more  than  mere  negative  praise,  it  is  a  sohd  practical  work^ 

2  B— a 


S62  BEyiB^.  "Ssa^^fSTftS? 


Beviev,  June  1, 1891. 


lind  is  Tory  evidently  written  by  a  man  who  works  hard  at  his 
profession,  is  an  enthusiast  at  lus  own  speciality,  and  has  a  pro- 
foond  belief  in  himself  and  his  practice --a  belief,  we  fancy,  in 
which  all  good  practical  men  share. 

The  subjects  treated  of  embrace  fairly  exhanstively  aU  the 
diseases  of  women  which  are  likely  to  be  met  with  in  general 
practice,  and  include  some  which  are  usually  left  to  obstetric 
works,  such  as  the  vomiting  of  pregnancy,  puerperal  fever  and 
mania,  phlegmasia,  &c. ;  but  this  we  think  a  decided  advantage, 
for  all  gynoecologists  include  abortion,  extra-uterine  pregnancy, 
and  premature  labour  as  legitimate  subjects  for  their  treatment 
and  treatises,  and  as  the  same  accidents  are  liable  to  follow  or 
precede  these  as  the  delivery  at  full  terfii,  it  seems  unnecessary 
to  separate  them. 

'  Dr.  Eaton  appears  to  have  been  so  anxious  to  treat  exhaustively 
of  each  subject  which  he  announces  at  the  head  of  a  chapter  or 
section  that  we  constantiy  find  him  repeating  himself,  and  the 
book  is  in  this  way  considerably  lengthened.  This  makes  it  all 
the  more  valuable  as  a  book  of  reference,  but  is  a  decided  objec- 
tion to  it  as  a  systematic  work  to  be  studied  as  a  whole. 

For  example,  we  have  chapters  on  ''Inflammation  .of  the 
Female  Genitalia,'*  and  "  Metritis  "  on  pages  60-87.  Then  we 
get  chapters  on  **  Cervicitis  and  Endo-cervicitis,"  "  Endo- 
metritis," and  *^  Leucorrhoea,'*  on  pages  211-249.  And  again, 
"  Catarrh  of  the  Uterus  and  Vagina,"  on  pages  880-885.  While, 
still  further  on,  he  gives  us  a  chapter  on  "  Sympathetic  effects 
of  Diseases  of  the  Uterus  and  its  appendages  "  on  pages  472- 
490  ;  all  of  which  subjects  necessarily  go  over  much  of  Uie  same 
ground,  and  by  a  re-arrangement  of  chapters  and  bringing 
together  the  different  parts  of  the  same  subject  they  might  be 
not  only  very  much  condensed,  but  improved,  although  each  of 
these  chapters  is  good  in  itself,  and  when  used  for  reference 
would  be  found  most  useful.  The  surgery  of  the  book  is  very 
complete,  and  well  described ;  Dr.  Eaton  having  evidently  per- 
formed most  of  the  operations  he  recommends,  though  he, 
somewhat  unnecessarily,  quotes  from  others  accounts  of  opera- 
tions which  he  has  neither  done  nor  seen,  and  which  he  dis- 
approves  of. 

We  notice,  with  much  pleasure,  that  he  entirely  discoun- 
tenances the  use  of  caustic  applications  to  the  uterus,  and, 
except  in  rare  cases,  of  all  forms  of  vaginal  pessaries ;  when  he 
does  recommend  one  it  is  usually  the  inflated  air  bag.  The 
inter-uterine  stem  he  sternly  condemns,  and  in  this  we  cordiaUy 
agree  with  him. 

BLis  descriptions  of  the  various  diseases  are  very  good  and 
often  forcibly  written,  and  will  give  much  help  to  students  and 
young  practitioners  who  refer  to  the  book  for  diagnostic  aid. 


SSSS'JSsr^KS^  BJBVMWB.  368 


BflTlew,  June  1, 18S2. 


Bis  etiology  is  in  some  eases  peculiar,  as  for  example,  that 
moles  are  often  the  result  of  imperfect  impregnation,  through 
the  use  of  a  syringe  after  copulation,  whereby  only  one  or  twa 
spermatozoa  were  left  to  find  their  way  into  the  womb.  But  his 
strongest  idiosyncrasy  of  opinion  (if  one  may  use  such  a  term), 
is  in  connection  with  the  pressure  of  the  intestines  upon  the 
pelvic  organs ;  and  as  he  bases  a  special  treatment  upon  this, 
it  is  only  fair  to  give  his  own  words  on  the  subject  as  fully  as 
we  can  to  do  him  justice.     This  is  what  he  says : — 

'*  It  is  easy  to  see  how  women,  by  compressing  the  upper 
portion  of  the  abdomen  with  corsets  and  drsigging  it  down  with 
the  weight  of  clothing  worn  by  many  fastened  about  the  waist, 
have  pressed  the  intestines  down  upon  the  uterus,  and  thereby 
displaced  it.  Now,  if  the  physician  forcibly  replaces  the  organ 
and  presses  it  upwards  with  pessaries  in  the  vagina,  the  uterus 
is  placed  between  two  pressures,  one  from  above,  another  from 
below.  This  double  pressure  would  likely  produce  a  flexion  or 
cause  inflammation.  Now,  it  has  for  many  years  appeared  to 
me  to  be  a  rational  and  philosophical  practice  to  lift  up  the 
abdominal  viscera  by  some  means,  and  give  the  uterus  room  to 
occupy  its  normal  position." 

"  Dr.  Emmet  seems  nearly  to  have  grasped  the  idea,  which  I 
bad  already  published  in  1878  in  the  Cinemnati  Medical 
Advance,  viz.,  The  influence  of  atmospheric  pressure  in  main- 
taining the  uterus  in  situ.  He  says :  *■  I  often  give  my  patients 
instructions  to  assume  the  position  on  the  knees  and  elbows  at 
night,  and  to  open  with  the  fingers  the  outlet  of  the  vagina  while 
in  this  position,  so  that  the  uterus  may  be  carried  well  up  into 
the  pelvis  by  atmospheric  pressure.*  Well,  why  not  open  the 
vagina  while  the  patient  is  erect  ?  Does  not  the  atmosphere 
press  with  as  much  force  upwards  as  downwards  ?  Now,  it  is 
clearly  the  result  of  taking  off  the  weight  of  the  abdominal 
viscera  by  the  knee-elbow  position  that  enables  the  atmosphere 
to  act  so  forcibly  upon  the  uterus  in  its  replacement ;  but  he 
gives  no  hint  of  this,  nor  does  he  or  anyone  else  mention  that 
lifting  off  the  abdominal  viscera  by  position,  causing  them  to 
draw  away  from  the  pelvis,  thereby  creating  a  partial  vacuum  in 
the  lower  abdomen,  is  the  main  cause  of  such  favourable  results 
from  atmospheric  pressure.  I  therefore  claim  this  idea  of  the 
production  of  a  partial  vacuum  by  lifting  up  the  abdominal 
viscera,  in  connection  with  atmospheric  pressure  as  a  support 
to  the  uterus,  as  original  in  the  treatment  of  displacements.'' 
'*  How  to  accomplish  this  is  the  next  question.  An  improvement 
of  the  *  London  Abdominal  Supporter,'  which  I  have  had  made 
by  Max  Wocher  and  Son,  of  Cincinnati,  I  find  the  most 
desirable,  except  in  cases  of  extremely  pendulous  abdomens, 
when  the  silk  elastic  band  is  preferable.'' 


864 KEvnawB.  "S^fC??^ 

He  gives  us  a  plate  of  this  belt,  and  ailer  describing  how  it  is 
put  on,  and  laying  special  stress  on  the  necessity  for  making  it 
fit  tightly  at  the  lowest  part  of  the  abdomen  and  loosely  at  the 
npper,  so  that  it  shall  be  an  abdominal  supporter  and  not  a 
compressor  and  saying  that  at  the  same  time  all  corsets  most  be 
discarded  and  the  clothes  hmig  from  the  shoulders  instead  of 
from  the  waist,  he  goes  on,  '*  Conjoin  with  this,  the  insertion 
into  the  yagma  during  the  day,  for  an  hour  or  two,  of  a  round 
specnlnm,  having  the  knees  widely  separated,  with  the  patient 
reclining.  This  makes  np  the  plan  of  treatment  which  I  have 
snccessfally  followed  for  abont  twenty  years,  using  means  to 
replace  versions,  flexions,  and  prolapse.'* 

Such  then  are  Dr.  Eaton's  views  on  this  subject,  and  we 
accordingly  find  the  use  of  such  a  ''  supporter  "  recommended, 
combined  with  other  treatment,  in  all  displacements,  and  in 
nearly  every  chronic  disease  within  the  pelvis. 

We  think  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  theory  is  in  itself 
sound,  the  question  being  whether  it  is  possible  to  carry  it  out 
by  the  means  suggested.  In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, that  all  abdominal  belts,  whether  we  call  themr^^  sup- 
porters "  or  not,  have  only  one  fixed  point  of  resistance,  viz.,  the 
lumbar  and  sacral  spine,  so  that  ill  pressure,  whether  made 
higher  or  lower,  must  be  from  before  backwards,  and,  except  in 
unusually  pendulous  abdomens,  which  overhang  the  pubis,  can 
hardly  be  converted  into  an  upward  pressure. 

Secondly,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how,  in  a  normally  made  woman, 
except  when  in  the  sitting  posture,  the  abdominal  viscera  can 
make  any  direct  pressure  within  the  pelvis ;  still,  as  most  women 
are  in  the  sitting  posture  a  great  part  of  the  day,  this  may  be 
allowed  to  pass.  It  remains,  however,  that  Dr.  Eaton,  with  a 
large  and  extended  experience,  places  more  confidence  in  this 
than  in  any  other  part  of  his  treatment  of  chronic  pelvic  de- 
rangements, and  as  such  we  commend  it  to  our  readers'  con- 
sideration or  criticism. 

The  application  of  atmospheric  pressure  by  the  daily  use  of  a 
speculum  for  an  hour  or  two  at  a  time  is  quite  new  to  us,  and 
certainly  does  not  recommend  itself  at  first  sight  from  a  practical 
point  of  view. 

In  discussing  Amenorrhoea,  Dr.  Eaton  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  sufierers  from  this  disease  are  frequently  attacked  mit 
congestion  of  the  lungs,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  mistaken  for 
phthisis  and  treated  accordingly,  and  later  on  he  says  that  he 
has  always  met  with  a  condition  of  deficient  or  absent  catamenia 
in  true  phthisis.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  does  not  elaborate 
his  remarks  on  this  subject  and  tell  us  how  to  diagnose  bettreen 
these  two  classes  of  cases  we  may  meet  with ;  we  presume  th^ 
chief  factor  in  coming  to  a  conclusion  would  be  whether  the 


Qtenne  or  lung  symptoms  appeared  first,  bat  a  earefiil  examination 
of  the  Inngs  ought  to  tell  as  whether  there  was  trae  taberele  or  a 
simile  congestion  to  deal  with.  This  seems  to  be  a  very  impor« 
tant  soggestiony  bat  we  oannot  recall  any  eases  bearing  apon  ii 
in  our  own  experienee. 

The  absolute  necessity  of  determining  the  oaose  of  monorr- 
hagia and  the  distinction  between  it  and  metrorrhagia  are 
forcibly  laid  down ;  but  we  are  sorprised  that  among  the  means 
for  arresting  it,  while  he  mentions  the  use  of  cold  vaginal  in- 
jections, which  are  very  apt  to  be  followed  by  unpleasant 
reaction,  he  omits  altogether  hot-water  injections,  which  have 
been  well  proved  now  to  be,  not  only  very  efficacious,  but  less 
harmful  than  most  local  means. 

He  also  recommends  giving  three  or  four  doses  of  secaU  0,- 
ni  zx  for  a  dose,  to  be  taken  in  warm  water,  but  omits  the  much 
more  powerful  subcutaneous  injection  of  ergotine.  He,  however, 
adds  another  to  our  list  of  medicines  for  this  condition  in  the 
viburnum  pruntfoUum^  which  he  declares  to  be  an  efficient 
remedy  for  true  menorrhagia  in  the  Ix  dilution  **  given  in  tea- 
spoonfol  doses."  Surely  ^ere  is  something  omitted  here.  We 
are  not  in  the  habit  of  giving  our  dilutions,  even  the  Ix,  in 
drachm  doses  I  We  presume  he  means  two  or  three  drops  in  a 
teaspoonfol  of  water. 

The  chapter  on  dysmenorrhosa  is  somewhat  disappointing, 
both  from  a  pathological  and  therapeutic  view. 

Dr.  Eaton  conmiences  by  limiting  the  term  to  true  uterine 
pains  of  an  intermittent  character,  and^iirther  gives  it  as  his 
opinion  that  they  almost  always  depend  upon  flexions  or  stenosis. 

Yet  he  admits  further  on  that  there  is  generally  an  unhealthy 
condition  of  the  endometrium,  to  which,  besides  the  mechanical 
straightening  and  dilating  of  the  canal,  he  mainly  devotes  his 
treatment ;  and  this  we  regret  to  say  he  does  chiefly  by  local 
applications  of  solution  of  iodms.  Hence  we  are  not  altogether 
surprised  that  he  omits  all  mention  of  the  use  of  geisemiumf 
4!autopkyUumt  tfanthoaeylum  and  other  medicines  which  might 
probabty  save  him  and  his  patients  the  necessity  of  so  much 
surgical  treatment. 

He  deliberately  excludes,  on  what  grounds  we  cannot  under- 
stand, cases  of  ovarian  neuralgia  occurring  at  the  menstrual 
periods,  and  makes  no  mention  of  uterine  neuralgia,  while  he 
believes  uterine  congestion  or  inflammation  to  be  practically 
unknown  except  as  a  consequence  of  mechanical  obstruction. 

He,  however,  makes  passing  allusion  to  the  pain  caused  by 
dironic  ovaritis  at  the  menstrual  period,  and  gives  us  a  rheumatio 
variety  of  dysmenorrhoea  with  eimicifuga  as  its  most  probable 
remedy. 

Dr.  Eaton  would  seem  to  find  the  local  application  of  iodine  % 


o66  HEYJEWS*  SAviflw^Snl  1  Tm^ 


Beviflw,  June  1, 1881. 


most  efficient  stunnlant,  as  be  recommends  its  use  in  varying 
strengths  in  all  the  chronic  inflammations  of  the  mucous  lining 
of  the  uterus  and  cervix,  and  also  for  injection,  after  eyacuation, 
in  all  cystic  tumours,  whether  ovarian  or  labial,  and  in  all 
abscesses  which  have  definite  walls.  He  also  describes  two  eases 
of  what  he  considered  hypertrophy  and  induration  of  the  ovary, 
the  result  of  ovaritis,  in  which  he  was  able  completely  to  disperse 
the  tumours,  though  of  considerable  size,  by  the  use  of  iodine 
and  its  compounds  with  mere,  and  ars,  internally,  combined  with 
frequent  painting  of  the  whole  of  the  abdomen  wiib  tr,  iodine.  If 
the  success  of  this  treatment  is  confirmed  on  further  trial,  it  will 
be  a  most  valuable  addition  to  our  therapeutic  resources.  The 
local  application  of  iodine  to  the  uterus  certainly  is  a  great 
improvement  upon  the  caustic  applications  of  the  old  school, 
inasmuch  as  it  produces  absolutely  no  pain,  and  being  at  the 
same  time  a  stimulant  to  healthy  granulation,  it  may  often  prove 
of  great  service ;  for  though  we  must  always  keep  the  ideal  before 
UB  of  being  able  to  cure  all  diseases,  outside  pure  surgery,  by 
drugs  alone,  yet  there  are  few,  if  any,  of  us  who  yet  feel  able 
to  discard  all  local  treatment  in  chronic  uterine  disease. 

We  could  have  wished  that  Dr.  Eaton  had  been  able  to  give 
us  more  help  in  the  homceopathic  treatment  of  the  diseases  of 
women ;  but,  though  he  undoubtedly  practises  homoeopathy  in 
nearly  all  cases  where  he  gives  medicine,  he  is  evidently  more  of 
a  surgeon  than  a  physician,  and  there  is  a  marked,  though 
rather  unaccountable,  absence  of  reference  to  the  American 
indigenous  plants,  on  which  we  in  this  country  have  learned  to 
rely  with  great  confidence.  In  spite,  however,  of  its  deficiency 
in  this  respect,  it  is  much  the  best  book  which  has  yet  been 
published  on  the  subject  in  which  homoeopathic  treatment  is 
recommended  at  all,  and  it  will  rarely  be  consulted  withoai 
some  useful  suggestion  being  found,  though  it  leaves  a  wide 
field  for  future  workers  to  till  in  the  special  department  of 
therapeutics. 

We  cannot  conclude  without  giving  a  well-deserved  word  of 
praise  on  the  get-up  of  the  book.  It  is  well  printed  in  bold 
type,  on  good  paper,  and  is  profusely  illustrated  with  very  well 
executed  wood-cuts,  >^hich  add  considerably  to  its  value. 


Itisanity  and  iu  Treatment,  Lectures  on  ihe  Treatment  of 
Insanity  and  kindred  Nervous  Diseases,  By  Samtjkl 
WoBGESTEBp  M.D.,  LecturoT  on  Insanity,  Nervous  Diseases 
and  Dermatology,  at  Boston  University  and  School  of 
Medicine,  &c.  New  York  and  Philadelphia :  Boericke  and  Tafel. 

This  volume  presents  us  with  the  course  of  lectures  delivered 
bj  the  author,  at  the  Boston  University.    Without  making  any 


£5£?S!!Ti»*  MEETINGS.  367 

preiensions  to  originality,  and  while  drawing  largely  on  bis  pre- 
decessors in  anthorship  on  this  sabject — **  several  hundred 
Tdnmes/'  we  are  informed  in  the  prefacet  '^bave  been  con- 
solted,*' — ^Dr.  Worcester  has  provided  as  with  a  very  nsefol 
work  of  reference  in  the  diseases  concerning  which  he  has  dis- 
oonrses.  His  description  of  the  yarions  forms  of  mental  disease 
are  accurate  and  clear,  and  the  yarions  indications  for  homoeo- 
pathic treatment  are  reliable ;  while  the  clinical  illustrations  he 
has  gathered  from  the  MidcUetown  Asylum  and  elsewhere  are 
interesting  and  instructiTe. 

There  is  no  form  of  disease  in  which  medicinal  treatment  is 
more  discredited  than  it  is  in  such  as  is  mental.  Save  for  pallia- 
tiye  purposes,  drugs  are  but  rarely  used  in  our  large  asylums. 
The  Homoeopathic  Asylum,  at  Middletown,  has,  under  the  able 
superintendence  of  Dr.  Talcott,  done  much  to  show  that  medi- 
cines prescribed  in  direct  specific  relation  to  the  form  which  the 
mental  disease  presents  are  useful  in  promoting  recovery.  We 
cannot  too  strongly  urge  upon  those  who  have  tibe  care  of  insane 
patients,  the  duty,  and  as  we  believe,  the  advantage  of  supple- 
menting the  ordinary  routine  of  nursing,  dieting,  and  watch- 
fulness, by  appropriately,  that  is  to  say,  homoeopathically 
selected  medicines.  In  so  doing,  Dr.  Worcester's  lectures  will 
be  found  of  much  service. 


MEETINGS. 


THE  LONDON  HOMCEOPATHIG  HOSPITAL. 

The  thirty-second  annual  general  meeting  of  the  Governors  and 
Subscribers  of  the  hospital  was  held  in  the  board  room  of  the 
hospital,  on  Thursday  afternoon,  27th  April,  1882,  at  three 
o'clock.  In  the  absence  of  the  Lord  Ebury,  the  chair  was  taken 
by  Major  Wm.  Yaughan-Morgan,  who  was  supported  by  Sir 
James  Alexander,  E.C.B.,  Mr.  F.  Bosher,  Mr.  Sclater,  Mr. 
Boodle,  and  Mr.  Alan  £.  Chambre.  Among  those  present  were 
— ^Mr.  Cameron,  Dr.  Hughes,  Dr.  Teldham,  Dr.  Dyce  Brown, 
Dr.  Pope,  Dr.  Matheson,  Mr.  Higgs,  Mr.  Tate,  Dr.  Burnett,  the 
Rev.  Dacre  Craven,  Dr.  Blackloy,  Dr.  Carfrae,  Dr.  Moir,  Dr. 
Clarke,  Dr.  Cooper  and  Mr.  Wybom.  Several  ladies  were  also 
present. 

The  Bev.  Dagbb  Csavsn  (the  Chaplain)  opened  the  meeting 
with  prayer. 

The  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting  having  been  read  and 
confirmed,  the  annual  report  was  presented  by  Mr.  CHAHsni:. 

The  Board  of  Management  commence  by  noticing  as — 

**  The  principal  event  marking  the  hospital  year  just  closed 
has  been  ite  reconstruction  of  about  two-thirds  of  the  east  wall 


368  MEETINGS.  *%S&^^2r?^S? 


Beview,  Juw  1, 1881, 


of  the  hospital — that  abutting  on  Powib  Place — and  the  con* 
sequent  alterations  of  the  mrds  on  that  side  of  the  building.  In 
June  last,  i^  portion  of  the  east  wall  was  suddenly  discovered  to 
be  bulging  outward,  and  a  yery  careful  inspection,  carried  out 
under  the  directions  of  the  honorary  architect  of  the  hospitaly 
disclosed  the  fact  that  the  state  of  the  wall  generally  was  so 
serious  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  re-build  a  very  large 
portion  of  it. 

**  A  committee,  consisting  of  scnne  members  of  the  Board  and 
seyeral  medical  men  called  together  to  consider  the  matter,  decided 
that  it  was  desirable  to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to 
abolish  some  cumbersome  and  very  inoonyenient  party  walls 
dividing  the  wards  on  the  two  floors  chiefly  affe<jted,  and  thus  to 
throw  into  one  two  wards  on  each  floor.  The  advantages  gained 
by  this  measure  are  greatly  improved  ventilation  and  light ;  much 
greater  facility  in  carrying  out  the  nursing  duties,  and  at  a  less 
cost ;  and  a  very  marked  improvement  in  the  appearance  and 
general  character  of  the  wards." 

Notwithstanding  the  necessity  for  closing  the  wards  during  the 
six  months  occupied  by  their  alteration,  the  total  numb^  of 
patients  received  during  the  year  was  three  in  excess  of  the 
previous  year. 

The  presentation  to  Lady  Ebury  of  the  portrait  of  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Board — ^Lord  Ebury — (which  may  now  be  seen  on  the 
walls  of  the  Royal  Academy) — is  next  noticed.  The  regret  of  the 
Board  at  the  death  of  the  noble  President  of  the  hospital — ^the 
Earl  of  Wilton — ^is  then  expressed.  The  Governors  are  also 
congratulated  that  Earl  Cairns  has  signified  his  pleasure  at 
accepting  the  office  thus  rendered  vacant. 

We  now  come  to  the  important  subject  of  expenditure,  on 
which  the  following  remarks  are  made : — 

''  The  question  of  the  expenditure  of  the  hospital  has  continued 
to  occupy  the  very  careful  consideration  of  the  Board  throughout 
the  year,  and  economies  have  been  effected  wherever  found 
practicable.  It  is  partly  due  to  this  circumstance,  and  partly  to 
the  fact  that  the  total  number  of  in-patients  has  been  less,  that 
the  Board  have  been  enabled  to  pay,  not  only  the  expenditure 
proper  to  the  year,  but  also  to  repay  out  of  income  the  sum  of 
£400  due  to  the  Treasurer,  and  yet  to  show  on  the  current 
account  at  the  bankers  a  balance  of  J644  6s.  2d.  with  which  to 
commence  the  new  year. 

"  If  there  should  be  no  falling  off  in  the  annual  subscriptions 
and  donations  for  the  ensuing  year,  the  ordinary  income  will,  it 
is  estimated,  suffice  to  maintain  a  daily  average  of  between  £ity 
and  sixty  in-patients ;  but  to  keep  filled  the  seventy-one  beds 
now  accommodated  by  the  hospital,  would  necessitate  a  very  largo 
increase  of  income. 


SS^JSJTKg^  MBBTiHas.  369 


Btfwimwt  JniM  1, 18n 


•<  The  permanent  income  of  the  hospital  has  been  benefited  in 
the  course  of  the  year  by  a  legacy  of  iS500  from  the  late  Mr.  Lnz- 
more,  and  a  legacy  of  ilOO  from  the  late  Dr.  Bnddock ;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  sum  of  oyer  £900  is  required  to  defiuy  the 
special  expenditure  referred  to  in  the  opening  paragraphs  of  this 
report.  The  deficit  so  created  in  the  reserre  frmd  will,  however, 
be  more  \haxk  made  up  by  three  legacies,  of  which  due  notice  has 
been  received,  but  wluoh  have  not  yet  been  paid  to  the  hospital : 
one  of  £1,800,  another  £1,000,  and  the  third  £50," 

The  changes  which  death,  and  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Williams 
— ^who  has  occupied  a  seat  at  the  board  for  27  years — are  next 
noticed^  as  are  also  the  retirement  of  the  honorary  solicitor, 
Mr.  Boaher,  and  the  appointment  of  Messrs.  Qedge,  Kirby,  MiUett 
and  Morse — ^the  solicitors  to  the  Qoin  bequest  trust— in  his  stead. 

The  abandonment  of  the  scheme  for  receiving  'Spaying 
patients,"  the  introduction  of  vaccination  with  calf-lymph,  the 
setting  aside  of  a  ward  on  the  top  floor  of  the  house  for  the 
reception  of  cases  whose  infectious  character  has  developed  after 
their  entrance  into  the  hospital,  and  new  arrangements  to 
eontendwith  the  possible  accident  of  fire,  are  then  severally 
reCBrred  to. 

The  dramatic  performances  last  year  produced  £108  to  the 
funds.  Mr.  Pite,  the  honorary  architect,  has  presented  a  set  of 
plans  of  the  hospital,  including  the  new  drainage. 

After  presenting  their  thanks  to  donors,  the  medical  staff  and 
the  lady  visitors,  the  concert  given  in  the  board  room  to  the 
patients  by  Lady  Ida  Low  and  the  members  of  the  Eyrie  Society 
last  March,  and  the  annual  Ohristmas  Tree  entertainment,  the 
following  statistical  particulars  are  fronished  :— 

a.  The  Ordinary  Receipts  for  the  year  1861-62  (see 

Appendix)  as  compared  with  the  previous  year 
were  as  follows : — 

1880-81  £8,767  18    8 

1881-82  8,628  10  11 

b.  The  Extraordinary  Receipts  were : — 

<'Thalian"  Dramatic  Performance     £108    0    0 
Legacy    618  12  10 

£726  12  10 
e*  The    Expenditure    on   account   of 

Ordinary  Income  has  been £8,840    7    9 

The  Expenditure  on  account  of 
Extraordinary  Expenses  (as  stated 
in  paragraph  16) 986  14    4 


360  MBBTIHOS.  "feS£^SS??'a? 


Bevieur,  June  1,  1881. 


d.  The  Ammal  Sabscriptioiia  amoonied 

in  the  twelve  months  to £1,453    0    1 

showing  a  falUng  off  on  the  pre- 
vious  year  of  £29, 

e.  The  Donations  dming  the  year  to*.*      ig248  17     4 

or  £247  Uu  than  in  1880-81. 

/•  The  Registration  Fees  amotmted  to      £827    7    0 
or  £55  more  than  in  the  previons 
year. 

g.  The  Nursing  Fond  Beeeipis  to £629  10    0 

and,  after  deducting  the  Cost  of 
the  Nurses,  a  net  profit  of  £197 
has  been  ayailahle  for  the  General 
Expenditure  of  the  Hospital. 

A.  The  working  Expenditure  ci   the 

Hospital  for  the  year  1881-82  was  £8,840    7     9 
or  £27  Us8  than  for  the  preceding 
twelve  months* 

t.  The  Invested  Funds  df  the  Hospital  at  the  8lst 
March,  1882  (See  Appendix  C.)»  exelosive  of  the 
Hospital  Premises  and  Fnmitnre,  and  the  Free- 
hold Honse,  No.  1,  Powis  Place,  consisted  of : — 

Consols   £1,578    4    9 

New  Three  per  Cents....     4,757  17  10 


Total    £6,886    2    7 


k.  The  total  nnmber  of  In-Patients  treated 
in  the  Hospital  from  Ist  of  April,  1881, 
to  the  8l8t  of  March,  1882,  has  been  ...        487 
while  in  the  year  immediately  preceding 
the  nnmber  was 484 

/•  The  total  nnmber  of  Out-Patients  during 
the  year  ended  8l8t  of  March,  1882,  has 

been    7,467 

while  that  for  the  year  1880-1  was   6,217 

showing  a  markid  increase  of 1,250 

The  report  was,  at  various  points,  warmly  applauded. 

Mf^or  Yauohilk-Moboan  in  moving  the  adoption  of  the  report, 
said :  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  I  am  sure  that  aU  present  to-day 
regret  veiy  much  the  absence  of  our  noble  Chairman,  and  none 
more  so  than  myself,  who,  very  unworthily«  has  to  take  his  place. 
I  am  happy  to  inform  you,  however,  that  his  Lorddiip's  absence 
IB  not  caxaBed  by  aoy  aerioua  bodily  ailment,  but  simply  from 


gggSTj^yrSff"  MEETiwes, 861 

'Weakness  of  sight.    We  have  receiyed  from  his  Lordship  a  letter, 
'which  it  will  gratify  you  if  I  read : — 

"  Dear  Mr.  Chambre, 

'*  There  is,  I  regret  to  say,  no  chance  of  my  being  able 
to  be  present  at  onr  anniversary.  The  report  which 
yon  have  sent  me  reads  pleasantly  and  encouragingly, 
and  I  hope  all  will  go  off  well.  I  am  sorry  we  have 
lost  Mr.  Bosher;  it  was  quite  a  familiar  name 
amongst  ns.  Equally  I  regret  also  what  I  suppose 
is  the  compulsory  retirement  of  Mr.  Williams. 
Earl  Cairns  is  a  considerable  reinforcement.  Mr. 
Pite  does  us  great  service. 

"  Yours  faithfully, 

"  Ebuey." 

After  noticing  the  presentation  of  Lord  Ebuiy's  portrait, 
M%jor  MoBGAN  referred  with  regret  to  the  fiulure  of  the  plan  of 
receiving  paying  patients,  and  proceeded  to  speak  as  follows  : — 
Well,  now,  as  to  the  alterations  on  which  we  have  spent  so 
much  money,  and  for  spending  which  we  shall  ask  your  sanction 
to-day,  the  most  cursory  observation  will  show  you  that  they  are 
manifest  and  very  decided  improvements — (hear,  hear) — and  the 
Board  only  wish  that  the  Governors  and  Subscribers  who  have 
not  abready  done  so  would  come  and  see  these  alterations.  Dr. 
Yeldham,  who  has  recently  been  urging  the  necessity  of  a  new 
hospital,  is  now  nearly  of  opinion  &at  a  new  hospital  is  not 
requisite.  (Laughter.)  In  former  years  the  Board  used  to  look 
to  public  dinners  as  a  means  of  inereasing  the  income  of  the 
hospital;  and  the  Board  had  decided  to  organise  a  festival  dinner 
this  year,  in  Heu  of  the  annual  dramatic  performance ;  but  in 
consequence  of  the  very  great  difBiculty  of  organising  the  matter, 
and  from  other  circumstuices,  it  was  found  that  for  this  year,  at 
all  events,  a  dinner  could  not  take  place.  Meanwhile,  the  usual 
dramatic  performance  had  been  put  off.  Just  then  Dr.  Kennedy 
wrote  to  our  official  manager  to  say  that  some  friends  of  his  were 
preparing  an  amateur  dramatic  performance  in  St.  George's  Hall, 
and  had  resolved  to  devote  the  proceeds  to  the  hospital.  (Cheers.) 
Well,  that  took  place  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  month,  and 
it  is  expected  that  when  the  expenses  are  paid,  the  sum  of  £20 
or  £80  will  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  hospital.  (Cheers.)  I  was 
recently  present  at  a  fancy  costume  ball  at  the  Albert  Hall,  in 
aid  of  a  self-supporting  hospital  with  which  I  am  connected,  and 
this  morning  I  have  received  a  statement  of  the  fmancial  results, 
which  amount  to  £150.  I  do  not  know  whether  it  would  be 
possible  for  us  to  have  such  a  ball.  Perhaps  some  of  the 
younger  medical  men  may  see  their  way  to  assist  in  such  an  en- 
deavour, as  these  public  dSbrts  not  only  give  material  assistance 


862  MSKTiNOB.  •teSJ^fS^SSf 


Boriew,  JTim*  1, 1881 


to  the  hospital  fonds,  bat  they  go  far  to  bring  the  institaiioB 
prominently  before  the  public,  and  therefore  benefit  it  in  thai 
way.    Yon  have  already  learned  from  the  report  and  from  the 
public  papers  of  the  death  of  our  President,  tiie  Earl  of  Wilton, 
an  announcement  which  everybody  received  with  profound  regret. 
You  can  easily  understand  how  difficult  it  is  to  find  a  suitable 
successor  to  such  a  noble  man  as  the  late  Earl,  but  we  have  been 
very  fortunate  in  inducing  the  Earl  Cairns — (cheers) — ^to  accept 
the  vacant  post.  Earl  Cairns  is  a  very  firm  and  consistent  friend 
to  homoeopathy ;  he  stands  very  high  in  public  opinion,  and  is 
likely  to  stand  even  higher.      Therefore  the  friends  of  the 
hospital  are  to  be  congratulated  on  his  Lordship's  acceptance  of 
that  appointment.    Turning  to  the  income  of  the  hospital,  we 
find  that,  as  compared  witib  the  income  of  last  year,  tiiere  are 
certain  losses,  but  that  on  the  whole  the  current  income  has 
increased.   rCSieers.)    We  have  lost,  principally  through  deaths, 
something  like  J680  in  subscriptions  alone,  including  the  generous 
subscription  of  the  late  Earl  of  Crawford  and  Balcaires,  which 
amounted  to  £86  a  year.    We  have,  however,  no  reason  to 
complain  of  want  of  munificent  support,  and  that  amount  has 
been  practically  made  up ;  thanks  to  the  zeal  and  activity  of  our 
staff. 

One  generous  nobleman  now  gives  us  not  less  than  jS250 
every  year.  (Applause.)  Then  there  is  Miss  Duming  South, 
whose  name  is  quite  a  household  word  with  us — (applause) — and 
in  recognition  of  whose  munificence  we  have  named  a  ward 
**  Duming.*'  That  lady,  as  you  well  know,  gives  us  £210  every 
year — (applause), — and  has  written  two  letters  to  the  Official 
Manager,  which  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad  to  hear.  In  the 
first  letter  she  says :  **  Will  you  kindly  convey  to  the  Board  of 
Management  of  your  hospital,  on  my  behalf,  my  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  great  complunent  they  have  paid  me  in  naming 
one  of  the  wards  *  Duming,'  in  commemoration  of  the  gift  of 
the  '  Duming  Beds.'  I  thmk  it  must  be  a  proof  that  the  beds 
have  been  of  service  to  the  hospital.  I  intend  to  send  you  a 
cheque  regularly  in  January  until  the  beds  are  endowed — 
(applause) — and  should  be  obliged  if,  at  the  beginning  of  next 
year,  you  will  send  me  a  report  of  the  eases  that  have  occupied 
the  beds  during  the  past  twelve  months."  Well,  at  the 
beginning  of  this  year  a  report  was  sent,  and  gave  Miss  Smith 
so  much  satisfaction  that  she  wrote  the  following :  *'  I  was  much 
pleased  to  receive  the  report  of  the  cases  treated  in  the 
Duming  Beds  during  1881.  The  result  seems  to  me  hi^y 
satisfactory.  The  case  of  *  Tabes  Mesenterica  '  is  most  remark- 
able, and  shows  what  a  valuable  help  in  the  treatment  of  disease 
homoeopathy  is.  The  cases  of  '  varicose  ulcers '  in  leg  and  of 
^  paralysis '  are  also  most  interesting  and  satisfiictory.      Will 


jou  idndlj  tell  Dr.  Scriven  how  much  interested  I  haTe  been  in 
liis  report."  (Applaase.)  So  that  this  generous  lady  is  quite 
satisfied  with  the  nse  which  has  been  made  of  the  beds  she  has 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Board. 

This  does  not  end  the  list  of  generous  benefactions.  We  hare 
recently  receiyad  a  subscription  of  £25  firom  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gibb,  of  Canada,  friends  of  Dr.  Matheson,  who  desire  to 
establish  a  Cot  in  the  Children's  Ward,  to  be  called  the  '*  James 
Torrance  Gibb"  Cot,  in  memory  of  their  recently  deceased 
child. 

Turning  to  our  reserve  fund,  we  are  about  to  increase  that 
by  several  very  acceptable  legacies.  There  is  one  of  £1,800; 
another  of  £1,000;  and  a  donation  from  Mr.  Cohen  of  50 
guineas.  (Cheers.)  The  result  of  this  will  be,  that  while  we 
shall  have  spent  £2,028  in  structural  alterations  to  the  hospital, 
we  shall  receive  £2,868,  so  that  we  shall  be  something  like 
£800  better  off  than  when  we  began  these  improvements,  which 
really  almost  amount  to  a  re-building.  It  is  also  interesting  to 
know  that  at  the  present  time  we  have  72  beds  in  the  hospital. 
Of  these  40  are  at  this  moment  occupied,  and  consequently  we 
have  room  for  more  patients,  and  every  prospect  of  fonds  to 
•m«TitftiTi  them. 

The  question  of  the  Nursing  Institute  continues  to  be  regarded 
by  the  Board  with  great  interest.  We  have  established  a  school 
for  nurses,  so  that  medical  men  may  send  for  them  and  may  rely 
upon  receiving  efficient  and  careful  nurses.  We  have  now 
twenty-one  nurses  on  our  staff;  the  establishment  at  present 
requires  ten,  and  therefore  we  have  eleven  we  can  send  out  to 
nurse  invalids  at  their  own  homes.  The  Nursing  Institute  is 
intended  to  aid  the  annual  income  of  the  hospitid,  and  would 
be  a  source  of  great  profit  if  the  nurses  were  constantly  employed. 
Those  who  are  sent  for  always  give  the  very  utmost  satisfaction. 
A  few  days  ago  I  saw  at  St.  Leonards  a  nurse  who  was  trained 
in  this  hospital,  and  who  has  taken  charge  of  a  small  hospital 
there,  and  I  never  heard  a  person  more  highly  spoken  of.  This 
is  the  general  testimony  as  to  our  nurses — (hear,  hear) — and  I  can 
only  say  that  we  are  prepared  to  keep  an  even  larger  number  if 
the  demand  can  only  be  increased.  I  will  not  detain  you 
longer  with  any  remarks  of  mine,  but  will  simply  move  that  the 
report  which  we  have  heard  read  be  adopted.    (Cheers.) 

Dr.  Dtos  Brown  said  he  had  much  pleasure  in  rising  to 
second  the  adoption  of  the  report,  which,  he  thought,  they 
must  agree  in  thinking  satisfactory  in  every  way,  especially  in 
reference  to  the  increased  and  improved  accommodation  for  sixty 
patients  in  the  wards.  As  to  the  nurses,  his  own  experience  of 
them  was  that  they  are  most  admirable  nurses,  and  gave  the 
greatest  satisfaction  to  the  patients  and  the  patients'  friends,  and 


864  MEETINGS.  ^'S^^^SJyP^ 


R«Tiew,  June  1, 1881. 


their  efficiency  and  other  qualifieations  reflected  the  highest 
degree  of  credit  upon  the  power  of  choosing  the  right  women 
which  was  displayed  in  their  selection.  With  regard  to  the 
paying  patients,  one  reason  that  the  experiment  was  not  so 
successfol  at  this  hospital  as  it  appears  to  be  at  St.  Thomases 
was  that  the  cases  obtained  were  mostly  of  a  chronic  character. 
When  acute  cases  came  in  the  results  were  always  more  satia&c- 
tory.  They  do  well,  and  do  credit  to  the  hospital  In  chronie 
cases  the  patients  inyariably  had  been  a  great  deal  coddled  at 
home.  It  was  impossible  that  they  should  have  the  same  amocmt 
of  coddling  at  the  hospital,  and  it  was  not  desirable  either.  Yeiy 
often  the  patient  would  expect  to  find  a  nurse  set  apart  to  be 
always  at  his  or  her  beck  and  call.  A  majority  were  such  cases 
as  do  no  credit  to  the  hospital,  and  it  often  ended  by  their  finding 
a  great  deal  of  fault.  On  the  other  hand,  the  acute  cases  did  the 
hospital  much  credit,  and  the  patients  spoke  in  the  highest  terms 
of  the  treatment  they  received.  Regarding  the  alterations  made 
in  the  wards,  all  who  had  seen  them  Inust  agree  that  they  were 
great  improvements ;  the  wards  were  now  more  light,  airy,  and 
well  ventilated  than  ever.  One  very  great  improvement  was  the 
ward  set  apart  for  infectious  cases.  Do  what  they  might  cases 
would  occur  in  which  the  patients,  not  received  as  infectious, 
would  develop  into  infectious  oases.  That  was  a  very  serious 
matter — (hear,  hear), — and  he  was  glad  that  the  Board  had  made 
provision  for  these  casual  cases.  ]>.  Dyce  Brown  concluded  by 
seconding  the  adoption  of  the  report,  which,  he  said,  was  excel- 
lent and  satisfactory. 

The  report  was  then  adopted. 

Dr.  Hughes  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Chairman,  the 
Board  of  Management,  the  House  CJommittee,  the  Treasurer,  and 
the  Sub-Treasurer,  which  was  seconded  by  Dr..  Bcbnbtt,  and 
responded  to  by  M%jor  YAUGBAN-MoBaAn. 

Earl  Cairns  was  next  proposed  as  President  of  the  Hospital 
by  Mr.  Chambrk,  on  behalf  of  Lord  Ebury,  and  seconded  by 
Major  Morgan.     The  resolution  was  carried  with  enthusiasm. 

The  re-election  of  those  members  of  the  Board  of  Management 
who  retire  by  rotation  was  proposed  by  General  Albxandeb, 
seconded  by  Dr.  Ysldham,  and  carried. 

Dr.  Blagkley  next  proposed  the  confirmation  of  the  appoint- 
ment to  the  Board  of  I^.  J.  Pakenham  Stillwell  and  General 
Alexander.  In  doing  so.  Dr.  Blagkley  advocated  the  direct 
representation  of  the  medical  profession  on  the  Board.    He 

said : — 

A  few  years  ago  our  own  Board  of  Management  had  among 
their  number  three  medical  gentlemen,  and  it  wiU  be  remembered 
that  those  appointments  evoked  considerable  opposition.  Bat 
he  believed  a  change  had  occurred  since  then,  and  if  the  step 


iS^^SmSr  MBBTINOS.  865 


Seyiew,  Jnne  1,  Iffid 


were  taken  over  again,  and  some  of  the  medieal  men  competent 
to  pionoonee  judgment  on  medical  questions  were  appointed  to 
the  Board,  great  opposition  would  not  now  arise.  He  had  eyeiy 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  Board  were  themseWes  fiaTourable  to 
the  suggestion,  and  would  be  the  first  to  welcome  the  medical 
element.  Of  course  the  matter  was  open  to  question  (hear, 
hear) ;  but  what  would  please  those  medical  subscribers  whom 
he  had  consulted  was  that  some  members  of  the  medical  staff 
should  be  ex  officio  Members  of  the  Board.  Thirty  jears  ago 
saoh  a  proposition  would  have  been  regarded  as  the  extreme  of 
radicalism,  but  tempora  mutantur — and  he  felt  sure  that  the 
concensus  of  lay  opinion  would  now  be  in  favour  of  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  medical  staff  of  a  hospital  on  its  board  of 
management.  He  felt  equally  sure  that  the  learned  founder  of 
the'  hospital — ^Dr.  Quin— (cheers),  much  as  he  was  originally 
opposed  to  the  idea  would,  if  he  were  still  living,  agree  to  it  now. 
He  (Dr.  Blackley)  hoped  that  the  step  would  in  due  time  be 
taken,  and  the  medical  element  again  make  its  appearance  at  the 
Board  of  Management,  although  he  did  not  now  move  it  as  an 
amendment. 

Dr.  Ci«ABxs  had  much  pleasure  in  seconding  the  motion  brought 
forward  by  Dr.  Blackley  for  the  confirmation  of  the  appointment 
of  Mr.  J.  Pakenham  Stillwell  and  General  Sir  James  Alexander, 
and  in  doing  so  must  express  his  concurrence  in  the  remarks 
which  had  been  made  as  to  members  of  the  medical  staff  having 
a  voice  in  the  management. 

M%jor  Yauohan-Moboan  said  that  before  inviting  discussion  on 
the  question,  he  would  put  the  motion  which  stood  proposed  and 
seoonded.     This  being  unanimously  carried. 

Dr.  Pope  said :  Sir,  the  proposal  to  place  medical  men  on  the 
Board  is  one  which,  considered  in  the  abstract,  is  most  desirable ; 
but,  when  we  come  to  details,  the  first  question  we  have  to  solve 
is,  where  are  we  to  get  the  medical  men  from  ?  From  the  staff, 
or  from  outside  the  staff  ?  If  we  take  two  from  off  the  staff — 
the  jealousies  of  the  remainder  of  the  staff  are  aroused ;  if  we 
select  two  firom  outside  the  staff — ^the  jealousies  of  the  entire  staff 
are  excited.    Such,  sir,  has  been  my  experience. 

Dr.  Yeldhah  :  This  is  an  important  question  (hear,  hear),  and 
I  think  it  is  one  upon  which  great  deUberation  should  be  exer- 
•cised.  If  the  suggestion  could  be  carried  out  no  doubt  it  is  good 
enough,  but  it  is  open  to  the  very  serious  objections  which 
Dr.  Pope  has  pointed  out.  (Laughter.)  The  question  is  quite 
deserving  of  discussion,  however,  but  it  is  one  which  requires 
very  much  time  for  consideration.  (Hear,  hear.)  There  are  a 
good  many  sides  to  it.  Some  years  ago  three  medical  gentiemen 
were  elected  to  seats  at  the  Board  of  Management,  and  ob- 
jections were  urged  by  members  of  the  medical  staff  with  so 

Vol.  26,  No.  6.  2   c 


866  MEETINGS.  "^£L"SJf!^ 


Beview,  June  1.  VjBL 


much  persistencj  that  those  gentlemen  felt  it  their  duty,  in  the 
intereets  of  the  hospital,  to  accept  the  Chiitem  Hondreds. 
(Much  laughter.)  It  was  not  so  long  ago,  and  we  may  take  it  as 
a  sufficient  indication  that  the  time  has  not  yet  come  when 
medical  men  can  sit  at  the  Board  of  Management  without- 
exciting  dissension.     (Cheers.) 

Mr.  Thomas  Higos  said  that  as  an  old  suhscriber  of  the  hos- 
pital he  was  old  enough  to  remember  the  Hahnemann  hospital, 
of  which  he  was  also  a  supporter.  At  that  hospital,  which  wa& 
so  short  lived,  one  of  the  principles  was  that  medical  men  should 
have  a  seat  at  the  board  of  management.  Every  one  who 
remembers  that  hospital  will  remember  that  it  was  discontinued 
solely  in  consequence  of  the  dissension  of  the  medical  men  on  the 
board.  He  was  afraid  similar  difficulties  might  ensue  if  medical 
men  were  appointed  to  the  Board  of  this  hospital  (hear,  hear),  and 
as,  he  supposed,  the  opinion  of  the  medical  men  could  be  obtained 
without  their  sitting  on  the  Board,  it  was  hard  to  see  what  more 
could  be  wanted.     (Hear,  hear.) 

Dr.  BuBNETT  compared  the  administration  of  a  hospital  to  the 
control  of  a  large  business,  in  which  it  was  impossible  that  those 
who  ought  to  devote  their  energies  to  the  practical  details  of  the 
work  could  claim  to  have  the  powers  of  direction.  Whether  the 
medical  staff  were  paid  or  not  they  were  the  subordinates  of  the 
Board — ^not  in  any  obnoxious  sense,  and  it  should  be  thdr 
pleasure  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  Board,  without  claiming 
any  administrative  powers. 

Mr.  SiiATEB  would  say  to  those  who  moved  in  this  matter  that 
the  medical  officers  have  the  most  ready  aeoess  to  the  Board,  and 
his  own  suggestion  would  be  that  they  would  have  no  cause  of 
complaint  of  being  unable  to  get  a  hearing  if  they  addressed  the 
House  Committee  or  the  Official  Manager  (hear,  hear),  and  he 
was  sure  that  no  reasonable  proposition  would  be  overlooked. 
Suppose  any  discussion  had  to  be  raised  at  the  Board  on  the 
internal  working  of  the  hospital,  how  could  it  be  discussed  fairly 
with  those  interested  present  9    (Hear,  hear.) 

Major  Wm.  Yaughan-Moboan,  having  said  he  was  glad  the 
subject  had  been  raised  and  discussed,  suggested  that  it  might 
profitably  be  made  the  subject  of  discussion  by  the  British 
Homoeopathic  Society,  which  was  wholly  composed  of  medical 
men,  and  for  the  opinions  of  which  Society  the  Board  felt  very 
great  deference. 

The  subject  was  then  allowed  to  drop. 

Mr.  Boodle  proposed  and  Mr.  Wybom  seconded  the  confir- 
mation of  the  election  of  Dr.  Anderson  to  the  exteinal  medical 
staff,  which  was  carried. 

Mr.  Slates  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  medical  stafi  of 
the  hospital. 


SSS^j^S^^SS?*  NOTABIUA.  8«7 


B0VWW,  June  1, 1888. 


Mr.  BosHEB  seconded  the  iBSolniion,  which  was  carried  nnani- 
moQslj,  and  acknowledged  by  Dr.  Coofkb. 

The  BeT.  Dacbe  Cbavzn  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  for  the  vain- 
able  services  of  the  band  of  Lidy  visitors  who  did  so  mnch  to 
alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  sick ;  also  to  the  Honorary  Solicitor 
and  Honorary  Architect,  both  of  whom  had  rendered  great 
services. 

The  motion  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Mathbson,  and  carried. 

Dr.  PoPB  then  proposed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Chairman  (loud 
applause)  for  presiding  at  that  meeting,  and  alluded  to  the  long 
unbroken  series  of  years  dnxing  which  Lord  Ebory,  who,  nnfor- 
tnnately,  was  not  present,  had  filled  that  position,  and  to  the 
great  public  services  his  brdship  had  rendered  to  the  cause  of 
homoeopathy. 

Dr.  YxLDHAH  seconded  the  motion. 

M^or  Yauohan-Moboan  in  acknowledging  the  vote  expressed 
his  obligation  for  the  kind  terms  in  which  the  speakers  had 
spoken  of  any  humble  services  he  had  rendered  to  homoeopathy. 


NOTABILIA. 


HOMOEOPATHY    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

In  our  April  number,  we  referred  to  Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes^ 
and  the  prophecy  on  which  he  ventured  forty  years  ago,  to  the 
effect  that  not  many  years  would  pass  away  before  the  same 
curiosity  excited  by  one  of  Perkins*  tractors,  would  be  awakened 
by  the  sight  of  one  of  the  infinitesimal  globules,  and  so  on. 
**  The  lifeless  delusion/'  as  the  poet  then  termed  it,  still  lives, 
and  the  latest  evidence  not  only  of  its  vitality,  but  of  its  robust 
vitality,  appear  in  the  following  report  of  what  occurred  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Committee  on  Public  Charit- 
able Institutions,  when  Dr.  J.  T.  Talbot  appeared  before  them 
on  behalf  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Homoeopathic  Medical 
Society.     He  addressed  the  committee  as  follows : — 

**  Gentlemen :  As  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  by 
the  Massachusetts  Homoeopathic  State  Medical  Society,  it  is 
perhaps  proper  that  I  should  present  to  you  the  subject  of  this 
petition.  This  petition  asks  in  general  terms  that  the  State  may 
provide  homoeopathic  medical  treatment  for  the  insane  who  are 
under  its  care  and  who  desire  it  or  for  whom  it  may  be  desired.. 
It  is  not  necessary  nor  is  it  desirable  to  enter  upon  a  discussion 
of  the  merits  of  homoeopathy  before  your  committee.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that  this  system  of  medicine,  once  so  novel  and  strange, 
is  now  well  known  and  has  been  steadily  increasing  in  the  num- 
ber of  its  believers  and  advocates  for  the  past  forty  years.    In 

2  c— 2 


868  NOTABiMA.  "^S^^^STrSS: 


Berview,  June  1,  IBHL 


1840  there  were  bnt  6  honueopailuc  practitioners  mMassachnsetts. 
In  1850  there  were  in  round  numbers  50 ;  in  1860,  150 ;  in 
1870,  250 ;  and  in  1880,  400. 

^'The  bdievers  in  homoeopathic  medication  haye  in  the  last  ten 
years,  at  a  coat  of  $200,000,  built  and  sustained  a  hospital  in 
Boston  which  has  taken  care  of  upwards  of  1,500  patients  who 
otherwise  could  not  in  this  State  have  had  in  any  hospital  the 
medical  treatment  they  believed  in  and  desired.  They  have 
sustained  a  dispensary  which  in  the  last  25  years  has  in  this  city 
of  Boston  given  gratuitous  treatment  to  100,000  poor  sick  people 
who  have  preferred  this  kind  of  treatment,  of  whom  about  12,(NX) 
have  been  treated  the  past  year.  They  also  sustain  a  medieal 
achool  in  connection  with  Boston  University,  with  a  cuiriculum 
of  study  unsurpassed  in  thoroughness,  in  which  more  than  100 
students  are  enrolled,  and  from  which  in  eight  years  2S0 
physicians  have  been  graduated  in  medicine.  It  is  tins  body  of 
physicians  and  these  believers  in  homoeopathy,  who,  from  their 
own  experience,  feel  assured  that  this  method  is  the  best  for  the 
treatment  of  disease,  and  who  now  come  forward  and  ask  yon  to 
provide  for  them  and  for  their  friends,  if  they  should  be  obliged 
to  go  to  an  insane  asylum,  the  kind  of  medical  treatment  in 
which  they  have  so  much  confidence.  Moreover,  they  deem  it 
an  injustice  and  a  hardship  that  they,  loyal  citizens  and  tax- 
payers of  Massachusetts,  should  be  compelled  to  submit  to 
treatment  in  which  they  have  no  faith  and  against  which  they 
often  hold  a  deep  seated  prejudice.  So  firm  is  this  conviction 
that  many  wiU  not  go  or  allow  their  friends  to  go  to  the  hospital 
until  actually  compelled  to  do  so.  Then  if  they  die  they  feel 
that  it  was  from  lack  of  proper  medication ;  if  they  recover,  they 
think  the  recovery  would  have  been  sooner  under  homoeopathic 
medication. 

"  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  such  is  their  belief,  and  where- 
«ver  numbers  render  it  practicable  we  doubt  not  your  committee 
will  consider  that  the  State  should  accede  to  the  personal  rights 
and  opinions  of  its  citizens  in  a  matter  like  this. 

'*  The  petitions  which  you  already  have,  together  with  those 
in  the  hands  qi  the  committee  not  yet  presented  to  the  House, 
contain  the  names  of  more  than  5,000  citizens  of  the  Common- 
wealth and  residents  of  45  different  towns  and  cities.  Among 
these  are  to  be  found  some  of  the  heaviest  taxpayers,  merchants, 
manufacturers,  bankers,  and  members  of  almost  every  trade  and 
profession.  .  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  a  person  to  be  found,  what- 
-ever  may  be  his  own  wishes  as  regards  medical  treatment  for 
himself,  who  would  not  desire  the  State  to  extend  liberty  of 
opinion  and  choice  in  this  matter  to  all  the  citizens.  When  a 
thing  to  be  done  is  clearly  right  and  is  sustained  by  the  people 
.almost  unanimously,  it  cannot  be  difficult  to  provide  for  it    We 


JKsSJ'^frraS^''  hotabilu.  869" 


Barhew,  June  1, 1882. 


therefore  ask  your  committee  to  prepare  a  Bill  wbioli  shall  secure 
in  the  hest  and  quickest  maimer  the  object  of  these  petitions. 

'<  There  are  yarious  ways  by  which  homoeopathic  treatment 
could  be  provided. 

'^  1.  By  the  appointment  of  a  homoeopathic  physician  in  each 
of  the  present  existing  hospitals,  who  diould  have  the  medical 
care  and  control  of  all  patients  for  whom  homoeopathic  treatment 
is  desired. 

"2.  To  set  apart  a  portion  of  each  hospital  for  the  exclusive 
treatment  of  patients  homoeopathieally. 

'*  (Both  of  these  methods  would  require  friendly  relations,  not 
only  with  the  superintendent,  but  also  with  the  medical  staff,  to 
ensure  the  greatest  success.) 

*'  8.  The  devoting  of  one  of  the  existing  hospitals  entirely  to 
homoeopathic  treatment. 

'^  4.  The  establishment  in  some  favourable  location  and  in  an 
economical  manner,  of  a  small  hospital  capable  of  providing  for 
100  patients,  with  opportunities  for  enlargement  as  needed. 

«  This  latter  plan  would  require  no  immediate  outlay  of  money 
by  the  State,  but  would  need  careful  consideration  by  those  most 
interested  and  in  connection  with  the  State  officials  luiving  charge 
of  the  insane. 

<<  Dr.  J.  Heber  Smith,  of  Melrose,  Dr.  Worcester,  of  Salem, 
and  Dr.  West,  of  Neponset,  also  argued  that  the  subject  matter 
of  the  petitions  should  be  given,  in  some  form,  definite  legal 
shape,  aiter  which  Dr.  Talbot  closed  the  case.  No  one  appeared 
to  object  to  the  action  sought." 

LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 

Db.  Hughes*  lectures  on  the  Principles  of  Homoeopathy  during 
the  past  month  have  embraced  the  following  topics  : — 
May    4th.     The  Relation  of  Homoeopathy  to  Hahnemann. 
,,     11th.     The  Knowledge  of  Disease. 
„     18th.     The  Knowledge  of  Medicines. 
„     26th.     Similia  simiha  curentur. 
The  programme  for  June  will  be  as  follows  : — 
June    1st.     The  Selection  of  the  Similar  Remedy. 
8th.     The  same  (continued). 
15th.    The  Administration  of  the  Similar  Remedy. 
22nd.    The  same  (continued). 
29th.    Homoeopathic  Practice. 
July    6th.    The  same  (continued). 


If 


870 


NOTABILIA. 


ICopthly  HonuBop^Chie 
r,  June  1,  tttl. 


LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 


BuBsoBiPTioiiB    and  vdcmatibnB 
22nd  April,  1882  :— 


reoeiTed  from  21st  March  to 


£   8.  d. 


•••    •• < 


1 
1 


Dr.  C.  C.  Tuckey  ... 

Dr.  A.  J.  Powell 

*'  E.  J./'  per  Dr.  Bayes 
(Donation) 10 

MiMsn.  LeaUi  and  Wool- 
cott,  per  Dr.  Bayes 
(Donation) 

**A  Thankoffering,"  per 
Dr.  Bayes  (Donation) 

Dr.  J.  G.  Blaokley 

Dr.  A.  C.  Pope     

Dr.  H.Wheder    

Dr.  J.  H.  Clarke 

Dr.  A.  P.  T.  Anderson... 

Dr.  Byres  Moir     

Dr.  Washington  Epps ... 

Dr.  B.  Hughes      

Dr.  E.  T.  Bh&ke    

H.  T.Wood,  Esq 

Dr.  Dyoe  Brown    

I>r.  Midgely  Cash 

W.  Davy  A  Son    

Dr.  S.  H.  Woodyatee  ... 

I>r.  Samu^  Morgan     ... 

Wm.  Melhnifih,  Esq.  (Do- 
nation) 


1 
1 


0 
0 


0    0 


110 


1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 


1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 


0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


•a.  ...  ... 


110 


Miss   Colekin,   per   Dr. 

Bayes  (Donation)     ... 
"A Friend,"    do.    do. 
Dr.  Donald  Baynes 
Dr.  G.  F.  Ooldsbroagh... 

Dr.  G.  Clifton       

Miss  Simpson       

Dr.  A.  B.  Croneher 

Dr.  Wm.  Boohe    

Dr.  Victor  Jagielski     ... 

Dr.  B.  T.  Cooper 

A.  B.  Pite,  Esq 

Dr.  A.  H.  Bnck    

Dr.  S.  Morrisson 

W.  D.  Batcher,  Esq.  ... 
Messrs.  Woodman  St  Tul- 

xoon     ...     ...     ...     ... 

Dr.  J.  Harmar  Smith  ... 

Dr.  Black 

Dr.  Gibbs  Blake 

Dr.  Burnett   .. 

P.  Wilwin,  Esq. 


£   8.  d. 


2    2 

0  10 

1  1 


1 
1 
1 
1 


1 
1 

1 
1 


3    2 
2    2 


...     ... 


1 
3 

1 

1 
1 

1 

1 
1 
I 
1 
5 


1 
2 
1 
1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
0 


0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 

0 
0 
0 
0 
0 
0 


£60  18    0 


LONDON  HOMEOPATHIC  HOSPITAL. 

The    Betorn  of  Patients   admitted  to  May  9th  affords  the 
following  statistics : — 

Remaining  in  Hospital  at  date  of  last  return 
(March  16th) 45 

Admitted  between  that  date  and  May  9th         ...      89 


Discharged  during  the  same  period 
Remaining  in  Hospital  on  May  9th 


184 

81 

58 


The  number  of  new  Out-Patients  during  the  period  firom  March 
16th  to  May  9th,  has  been  1,058. 

The  total  number  of  Out-Patients*  attendances  during  the 
same  period  has  been  8,506. 

REPORT  OF  THE  HAHNEMANN  CONVALESCENT  HOME 
AND  HOMCEOPATHIC  DISPENSARY,  BOURNEMOUTH. 

We  have  received  the  third  annual  report  of  this  eminently 
useful  institution,  which  does  a  great  and  good  work  with  veiy 


ISSl^J^friSS*  NOTABILU.  371 

■ 

limited  resources.  Daring  the  year  44  patios  bad  been 
reeeivedy  but  owing  to  lack  of  room  and  funds,  the  committee 
bad  to  refiise  large  numbers  of  applicants. 

in  regard  to  the  finances,  the  year  opened  with  a  deficiency  of 
£86  18s.  7d.  on  the  bousdceeping,  whilst  every  proper  economy 
has  been  studied,  the  committee  regret  to  state  that  this 
deficiency  has  increased  to  £161  18s.  8d, 

This  state  of  affairs  calls  urgently  for  assistance.  We  find 
our  only  homoDopathic  convalescent  home  crippled,  so  to  speak, 
for  funds. 

Patients  received,  are  in  most  instances  drawn  from  distant 
parts  of  the  country,  and  it  is  scarcely  right  that  they  should 
depend  so  largely,  as  at  present,  on  local  support. 

Bournemouth  is  a  place  to  which  invalid  visitors  from  all  parts 
fiock.  How  easy  it  would  be  for  a  medical  man,  in  sending 
patients  there  for  health,  to  interest  them  in  in  the  home,  and 
get  them  to  visit  it.  One  visit,  we  are  sure  would  suffice  to  enlist 
their  sympathies  and  ensure  a  donation.  Such  a  good  cause 
surely  deserves  all  the  help  we  can  give  it. 

THIRTEENTH  ANNUAL  REPORT  OP  THE  MELBOURNE 

HOMiEOPATHIG  HOSPITAL. 

It  is  indeed  a  pleasure  to  read  the  report  which  we  have  just 
received  from  the  Empire  City  of  the  South.  Homoeopathy 
flourishes  like  a  cedar  and  spreads  its  branches  far  and  wide  in 
that  enlightened  land.  Supported  by  Qovemment  grants,  a 
site  for  tiie  new  buildings  voted  by  Parliament,  and  reckoning 
many  of  the  most  prominent  colonists  amongst  its  staunch 
supporters,  our  cause  progresses  in  a  way  to  suit  the  most  go-a- 
h^Ld  views.  Perhaps  it  is  the  Americanism,  so  to  speak,  with 
which  our  southern  colonies  are  tinctured ;  perhaps  it  is  the 
freedom  with  which  new  and  progressive  views  on  all  subjects 
are  taken  up,  but  at  any  rate,  bigotry  and  the  College  of  Physi- 
^nans  would  find  themselves  considerably  '*  out  of  it"  if  Ibey 
went  crusading  against  homoBopathy  in  Melbourne, 

It  is  proposed  to  begin  the  new  hospital  very  soon,  a  site 
baving  been  promised  by  the  (Government  and  a  grant  of  J62,00O 
made  towards  the  building  fund.  Altogether  J64,000  have  been 
promised  for  this  object. 

The  total  number  of  patients  for  the  year  was  1,766, 146  being 
in-patients,  1,610  out-patients. 

A  bazaar  was  held  in  April,  1881,  which  realised  the  very 
handsome  sum  of  £544  towards  the  building  fond. 

The  system  of  receiving  small  amounts  from  such  of  the 
patients  as  are  in  a  position  to  pay  still  continues  to  act  well,  and 
^hile  adding  to  the  income  of  ^e  institution,  tends  to  dieck 


872  KOTABILU.  '^SSS&'^SSf?^ 


,  June  1, 18BL 


pauperism,  and  condaces  to  mdividnal  reliance  and  self-respect. 
The  receipts  last  year  from  this  source  were  from  in-patients, 
Jgll4 ;  out-patients,  £225  18s.  6d. ;  total,  Jg889  IBs.  6d. 

This  idea  of  paying  patients  has  been  gradually  making  way 
with  us  in  England,  and  though  not  extended  to  out-patients  as 
yet,  certainly  deserves  a  trial  in  that  direction,  the  abuse  of  that 
decent  of  our  charities  being  a  notorioua  ^vfl. 

The  tone  of  the  whole  report  is  very  satisfactory,  giving  evi- 
dence of  the  healthy  activity  of  homoeopathy  in  the  Colony  of 
Victoria. 

DEVON  AND  CORNWALL  HOMCEOPATHIC  DISPENSARY. 

We  are  gratified  to  learn  from  the  recently  received  annual 
report  of  this  institution  that  the  evidences  which  exist  of  its 
increasing  prosperity  are  decided.  More  commodious  premises 
have  been  secured ;  the  patients  have  considerably  increased  in 
numbers ;  the  services  of  a  regularly  trained  nurse  have  been 
secured  to  attend  serious  cases  among  those  visited  by  the 
stipendiary  medical  ofSicer  ;  and  the  committee  are  able  to  look 
forward  to  the  establishment  of  a  cottage  hospital  as  a  by  no 
means  distant  prospect. 

The  medical  report  is  as  follows  : — 

Number  of  patients  remaining  on  the  books, 

December  81st,  1880 ,..       59 

Admitted  and  re-admitted  from  January  1st, 
1881,  to  December  81st,  1881         1,196 


1,255 


Of  these 

were  cured  or  relieved 

...  1,048 

19 

no  report    ... 

•  •  a 

61 

ft 

notreheved 

•  .  • 

42 

») 

died           •.. 

•  •• 

19 

it 

under  care,  December  81,1881 

90 

1,265 


Of  the  above  1,255, 268  who  were  too  ill  to  attend  personally, 
were  attended  at  their  own  homes,  and  1,450  visits  were  paid 
them. 

REPORT    OP    THE    NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE    HOMCEO- 
PATHIC   DISPENSARY    FOR    1881. 

Thb  medical  ^wrk  of  the  Dispensary  has  gone  on  satisfactorily 
during  the  past  year.  Since'  May  it  has  been  open  every  week- 
day instead  of  thi-ce  days  in  the  week.    It  has  been  attended  by 


^SS^^SSufm!"  NOTABILIA. 878 

Bnr.  Pordom,  Kennedy,  and  Gkdlo^j.  Over  880  patients  have 
been  under  treatment  during  the  year,  representing  nearly  2,500 
attendances.  Many  Tisits  have  been  paid  to  patients  unable  to 
attend  at  the  dispensary.  A  large  number  have  reported  them- 
selves as  relieved  or  cured.  Several  new  subscribers  have  been 
added  to  the  list. 

HAHNEMANN  CONVALESCENT  HOME,  BOURNEMOUTH. 

Thb  following  piece  of  information,  extracted  from  the  Bourne- 
month  Visitors*  Directory,  will,  we  are  sure,  excite  at  once  the 
sympathy  and  interest  of  our  readers : — 

Through  the  kind  exertions  of  three  ladies,  the  Countess 
Cairns,  Mrs.  Hull  (Ecclesbum),  and  Mrs.  Snell  (Windlesham), 
the  sum  of  iS607  9s'.  has  been  collected  to  endow  permanently  a 
bed  in  this  home  in  memory  of  the  late  Mrs.  Nankivell,  who  had 
always  shown  herself  deeply  interested  in  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  its  inmates.  The  money  will  be  invested  in 
the  names  of  three  or  more  of  the  trustees  of  the  home,  and  the 
income  derived  will  form  part  of  its  revenue  in  perpetuity.  The 
power  of  nominating  to  this  endowed  bed  will  be  vested  for  his 
life  with  Dr.  Nankivell,  who  has  signified  to  the  kind  donors  his 
most  grateful  acceptance  of  their  proposals,  and  his  deep  appre- 
ciation of  the'  suitability  of  the  memorial. 

PROTECTING  INFLUENCE  OF  VACCINATION, 

Dr.  J.  H.  Raymond,  Health  Commissioner  of  Brooklyn,  fainiflhes 
the  following  interesting  statement  regarding  the  first  hundred 
eased  of  sm^-pox  that  have  come  under  the  observation  of  the 
Health  Department  since  the  Ist  of  January  last,  which,  he 
considers  &ould  set  at  rest  all  questions  as  to  the  utility  of 
vaccination : — **  From  January  Ist  to  February  26th,  there  were 
reported  to  the  department  112  cases  as  small-pox  cases.  Of 
this  number,  98  .were  found  on  examination  to  have  the  disease, 
and  14  not  to  have  it ;  and  two  cases  reported  to  be  chicken-pox 
proved  to  be  small-pox.  Of  the  14  cases  that  were  examined 
and  found  not  to  have  small  pox,  one  was  scarlet  fever,  four 
chicken-pox,  three  measles,  one  German  measles,  and  five  were 
cases  of  skin  disease.  Of  100  who  had  small-pox,  45  had  never 
been  vaccinated^  27  of  whom  died.  Eight  others  had  pale,  indis- 
tinct, and  impiorfect  marks  of  vaccination,  and  were  probably 
never  vaccination — using  the  term  as  it  should  properly  be  used. 
Of  these  four  died,  so  tlmt  we  may  say  58  had  never  been  vacci- 
nated, or  that  81,  or  58  per  cent.,  died.  Of  the  47  who  had  been 
successfolly  vaccinated,  6,  or  12  per  cent.,  died.  Twenty -four 
of  this  number  were  adults,  who  had  not  been  vaccinated  since 
infancy ;  three  of  them  died.     Of  the  28  who  were  supposed  to 


874  NOTABiLiA.       "s*ffi:^'sr?'?S 


Baview,  Jme  !•  tBSL 


be  protected  by  vaccixiation,  20  had  a  mild  attack  of  Taiidoid ; 
one  aged  three  years,  who  had  been  well  vaccinated  in  infiEuicy 
and  again  later,  died ;  two  children,  aged  respectiyely  five  and 
eight  yean,  members  of  the  same  family,  and  having  good  markv 
of  vaccination,  died.  The  youngest  person  attacked  was  three 
months  and  the  oldest  sixty  years  old.'* — British  Medical  JoumaL 

"  PUTTING  AWAY  THE  TATHIES." 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  New  York  Medical  Sodefy,  a  most 
important  change  was  effected  in  the  ethics  of  medical  practice. 
This  consisted  in  the  adoption  of  a  new  code  for  the  guidance  of 
the  faculty,  virtually  permitting  a  physician  of  the  **  old  school  '* 
to  consult  with  any  physicians  of  the  other  schools  in  good 
standing  he  may  choose. 

This  is  a  wise  and  timely  measure,  and  must  result  in  a  great 
improvement  in  the  tone  of  the  profession,  raising  it  in  the 
respect  of  everyone,  and  divesting  it  of  much  that  is  discredit- 
able. In  the  eyes  of  the  law,  both  schools  have  the  same 
privileges  and  striding ;  there  are  well  conducted  state  homoeo- 
pathic, as  well  as  allopathic  asylums  and  hospitals ;  there  are 
regularly  chartered  colleges  of  both  schools  ;  and  it  is  high  time 
that  arbitrary  distinctions  should  be  at  an  end. 

The  action  of  the  State  Society  at  Albany  has  naturally  drawn 
forth  the  adverse  criticisms  of  men  whose  ideas  are  as  narrow 
and  illiberal  as  those  of  the  most  bigoted  theologians.  It  has 
even  been  insinuated  by  one  Philadelphia  medical  journal  that 
the  new  code  was  suggested  by  the  "  specialists  "  of  the  regular 
school  in  New  York  City,  who,  knowing  that  a  large  number  of 
rich  and  influential  people  in  that  city  employed  homcoopatfaistB, 
wished  for  a  change  that  would  permit  tiiem  to  meet  flieir 
« irregular  '*  brethren  in  consultation. 

Equally  silly  and  hastily  formed  opinions  have  been  expressed 
by  otiier  non-progressive  critics,  who  seem  to  cling  as  fondly  to 
the  traditional  blue  laws  of  their  school  as  the  venerable  puritan 
climg  to  his  iron-bound  bible  with  one  hand,  while  with  the 
other  he  piled  feggots  upon  the  fire  built  to  consume  the  nnfbrta- 
nate  witch. 

After  all,  the  duty  of  the  physician  is  to  relieve  hnman  sufforing, 
and  whether  he  does  so  by  the  use  of  the  heroic  measures  of 
Bishop  Berkeley's  tar  water,  or  the  infinitesimal  doses  of  the 
LiUiputs,  it  matters  not.  The  clever  and  succeesfol  practitioner 
seizes  the  best  remedy  that  presents  itself,  and  does  not  stop  to 
enquire  whether  he  violates  any  code  in  so  doing.  The  **  old 
school"  are  making  daily  use  of  the  remedies  of  the  '* homoeo- 
paths," while  the  latter  do  not  hesitate  to  administer  remedies 
not  included  in  their  pharmacopoeia.  In  America,  Dr.  Henij 
G.  Piffard,  of  New  York,  and  in  England,  Dr.  Sidney  Banger, 


l£!SSSfj?!Staf'  NOTABILIA.  876 

were  among  the  first  of  **  allopaths  '*  to  call  attention  to  the 
yalae  of  the  homoeopathic  use  of  certain  drugs. 

What  is  really  needed  in  medicine  is  the  putting  away  of  the 
**  pathies  "  which  belong  to  the  quacks,  to  the  creatures  who 
thrive  on  printing  ink  and  '*  testimonials,"  and  who  prey  upon 
the  superstition  and  credulity  of  the  general  public.  If  such  an 
amalgamation  as  will  probably  follow  the  passage  of  the  new  code 
does  occur,  it  will  mark  an  era  in  medical  progress  that  must 
<earry  with  it  a  more  scientific  exactness.  The  weaker  men  in 
both  schools  must  be  crowded  to  the  wall,  and  at  the  bedside  of 
the  patient  there  will  be  a  fair  and  practical  application  of  what 
is  good  in  each  system. 

Under  the  new  regime,  the  public  ought  to  be  able  to  judge 
more  clearly  of  the  character  and  ability  of  their  physicians.  The 
question  wOl  not  be  so  much  of  the  school,  as  of  the  honourable 
standing  of  the  individual  among  his  comrades  of  both  schools. 

When  he  is  called  hard  names  by  his  fellows,  it  ought  hereafter 
to  mean  something  more  than  a  difference  of  opinion  on  matters 
of  theory. 

Let  tiie  public  now  be  on  its  guard  against  supposedly 
''regular  *'  physicians,  who  are  known  among  their  brethren  as 
'' commercial "  doctors.  These  men,  with  the  endorsement  of 
titles,  or  a  membership  in  some  respectable  medical  socieiy, 
prostitute  their  learning  by  indulgence  in  **  claptrap,'*  by  the 
recommendation  of  **  cures,"  and  by  useless  and  unnecessary 
operations,  performed  on  ev;>r7  occasion,  and  n^n  every  patient, 
no  matter  what  may  be  his  disease.  One  will  cQscover  that  some 
particular  part  of  the  body  is  the  seat  of  a  morbid  process,  and 
will  proceed  to  remove  it  by  a  mysterious  operation ;  while 
another  will  prescribe  a  remedy  which  can  be  procured  only  at  a 
certain  place,  and  can  be  taken  only  in  a  certain  position.  A 
more  matter-of-fact  practitioner  will  suggest  the  extent  and  value 
of  his  practice  by  means  of  a  pile  of  bank  notes  of  large  denomi- 
nalionB  exposed  upon  his  desk. 

With  these  men  no  code  of  ethics  is  of  the  slightest  use,  and 
their  more  honest  and  plodding  fellow-physicians  must  bear  the 
disgrace  thus  brought  upon  their  calling.  But  if  the  profession 
itself  finds  it  difficult  to  deal  technically  with  such  men,  the 
public,  as  we  have  said,  ought  to  be  better  able  to  discern  them  now 
that  the  allopaths  are  disposed,  in  their  public  attitude  and  private 
conversation,  to  reserve  their  harsh  criticisms  for  real  offenders. 


BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIC  SOCIETY. 

Tax  Ninth  Ordinary  Meeting  of  the  present  Session  will  be  held 
on  Thursday,  June  1st,  1882;  and,  by  a  resolution  of  the 
Society,  will  be  taken  as  the  first  evening  of  the  Annual  Assembly. 


376  OOBBBSPONDBNCB.       "S^f^SJ^^^ 


At  seven  o'clock  the  following  motion  will  be  discussed,  pro> 
posed  by  Mr.  Harris,  seconded  by  Br,  Bnrwood  : — 

'*  In  Law  Y,  to  omit  the  words  '  shall  have  treated  their 
patients  homoBopathically  for  at  least  three  years/  and  to 
substitute  in  place  thereof  the  words  '  shall  have  passed  a 
satisfactory  examination  in  the  principles  and  practice  of 
homoeopathy.' 

**  In  Law  XIV,  to  omit  all  up  to  the  words  *  at  least  two 
years  '  indusive,  and  to  substitute  the  following : — <  Inceptiye 
members  shall  consist  of,  (1)  medical  students,  and  (2)  regis- 
tered medical  practitioners  who  believe  in  the  truth  of  the  law  of 
homoeopathy,  but  have  not  qualified  as  ordinary  members  of  the 
society.' " 

At  eight  o'clock,  the  specimen  medicine,  aloe,  prepared  by  the 
Committee  appointed  in  March  for  the  revision  of  the  Materia 
Medica,  and  which  will  shortly  be  in  the  hands  of  the  members, 
will  be  discussed. 

It  is  much  desired  that  those  unable  to  be  present  will  com- 
municate their  views  on  the  matter  by  letter,  to  be  read  at  the 
meeting. 

The  honorary  secretary  requests  us  to  announce  that  as  it  is 
important  that  the  society's  accounts  be  balanced  up  to  the  date 
of  the  annual  assembly,  he  will  be  much  obliged  by  receiving 
any  arrears  that  may  be  due,  and  that  the  library  of  tlie  society 
being  in  course  of  re-arrangement,  prior  to  cataloguing,  it  would 
be  a  great  convenience  if  members  who  have  books  from  it  would 
return  them  before  the  end  of  the  present  month. 

The  Annual  Assembly  will  be  held  on  Thursday,  the  29th  inst, 
when  an  address  will  be  delivered  by  the  President. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


TRANSACTIONS   OF   THE   INTERNATIONAL    HOMOEO- 

PATmC  CONVENTION. 

To  the  Editors  of  iks  Monthly  HotruxopaMc  Review. 

GENTiiEMSN, — Will  you  allow  me  to  make  it  known  through  your 
pages  that  a  considerable  stock  of  the  Transactions  of  our  late 
International  Convention  remains  on  hand,  and  that  the  sub- 
scriptions as  yet  received  for  them  are  insufficient  to  reimburse 
the  cost  of  their  publication.  It  will  be  remembered  that  their 
expenses  were  to  be  thus  defrayed ;  but  it  was  not  thought  well 
to  hold  back  their  issue  until  a  complete  subscription  list  was 
obtained.  They  were  published  in  confidence  that  the  body  of 
English-speaking  homoeopathists  would  not  allow  those  respon- 
sible for  their  cost  to  suffer  loss.  In  this  confidence  I  now 
appeal  to  as  many  as  have  not  already  possessed  themselves  of 


XSSS'^SSTJ^^        C0RBE8P0NDBNCB.  877 


B0Tiew,  June  1, 188i. 


the  volume  to  apply  to  Mr.  Adiard  (Bartholomew  Close,  London, 
£.C.,)  for  a  copy  of  it. 

The  subscription  price  is  lOs.,  and  a  few  extra  pence  have  to 
be  paid  for  carriage,  according  to  distance. 

I  am.  Gentlemen,  fiaithfnllj  yours, 

i^CHABD   HUOHBS, 

Brighton,  May  19th,  1882.  Editor. 

HOMCflOPATHY    AND    "  HOM(EOPATB[Y.'' 

To  the  Editors  of  the  ^^  Monthly  Homoeopathic  Review.'' 
Deab  Sirs, — From  yonr  comments  npon  my  letter  I  think  that 
I  have  failed  to  make  my  meaning  suffidenUy  clear.  I  wish  to 
point  oat  briefly  that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  the 
action  of  an  individual  practitioner  calling  himself  a  homoeopath 
and  that  of  homoaopaths  acting  as  a  body.  Hahnemann  did  not 
propose  to  merely  add  a  new  therapeutical  law  to  the  existing 
science  of  medicine,  but  he  undertook  to  establish  an  entirely 
new  system,  having  a  pathology,  a  physiology,  a  pharmacology, 
and  a  therapeutics  of  its  own.  To  the  system  he  gave  the  name 
of  Homoeopathy,  and,  to  farther  separate  it  from  tibe  old  school, 
he  christened  that  Allopathy. 

Now,  it  is  perfectiy  intelligible  that  certain  individuals 
examining  the  doctrines  of  this  new  system  should  discard  all 
but  one,  which  they  regarded  as  very  valuable,  and  that  being 
ordinary  physicians,  or  allopaths  (to  use  Hahnemann's  objection- 
able term),  in  every  other  sense  of  the  word,  they  dismissed  the 
empirical  method  of  drug  selection  and  replaced  by  the  law  of 
similars.  Whether  these  persons  were  right  in  calling  themselves 
homoeopaths  it  is  unnecessary  to  consider.  They  could  not  be 
charged  with  dbhonesty  or  with  sailing  under  false  colours, 
because  in  their  writings  they  gave  a  detailed  statement  of  their 
views. 

But,  Sirs,  what  proof  have  we  that  modem  homoeopaths  as  a 
body  use  the  term  homoeopathy  in  the  same  sense  as  these 
individuals  ?  How  are  we  to  prove  that  modem  homoeopaths 
do  not  cherish  the  theories  of  **  homoeopathy  "  as  well  as  its 
facta  ?  How  are  we  to  know  that  the  term  homoeopathy  is  not 
synonymous  with  a  contempt  for  pathology  9  The  expression 
of  opinion  uttered  by  single  individuals  speaks  only  of  their 
own  belief — ^it  explains  the  position  they  take  up,  and  not  that  of 
homoeopaths  as  a  body.  I  have  before  me  a  number  of 
quotations  from  homoeopathic  writers,  each  insisting  on  one  or 
other  of  Hahnemann's  doctrines  as  an  essential  of  homoeopathic 
practice,  and  they  give  as  their  authority  for  making  these 
statements  Hahnemann's  Organon.  Suppose,  then,  that  I  con- 
tradict their  assertions,  or  the  statements  that  are  made  in  the 
ordinary  medical  press  respecting  homoeopathy,  where  shall  I 


878  COBBESPONBENOE.        ''SSlL^SJT^ 


',  June  1>  ISOL 


find  my  authority  ?  The  opinion  of  a  single  individual  would 
stand  for  nothing.  It  would  require  a  statement  made  by  some 
represeniAtive  body  of  homceopatiis.  It  is  the  neeessity  of  such 
a  statement  that  I  would  urge  upon  the  attention  of  those  who 
profess  to  practise  homoeopathy. 

I  am,  dear  Sirs, 

Yours  respectfully, 

Pebct  E.  Wilde,  MJ>. 

P.S. — Dr.  Berridge  writes  me  that  he  intends  to  challenge  me 
to  point  out  '*  what  Hahnemann's  foolish  speculations  were  ?  " 
This  is  not  the  point  I  have  before  me.  I  am  not  discussing 
whether  my  opinions  on  this  matter  are  right  or  whether  they 
are  wrong,  but  whether  the  holding  of  such  opinions  is 
compatible  with  the  profession  of  homoeopathy. 

[The  word  homoeopathy,  we  contend,  must  be  regarded  as 
meaning  what  it  expresses,  viz.,  a  similarity  in  the  effects  of 
drug  and  disease.  The  clinical  application  of  this  doctrine  may 
and  does  vary  according  to  the  views  or  experience  of  those  who 
adopt  it  as  a  basis  of  drug  selection.  Hiahnemannism,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  a  word  used  to  express,  not  only  homoeopathy, 
but  Hahnemann's  views  on  pathology,  physiology,  and  so  on. 
Many  of  these,  all,  save  a  few,  know  and  admit,  are  not  tenable  in 
the  light  of  subsequent  discoveries.  To  get  at  a  consensus  on 
these  points  is,  we  fear,  Utopian  to  expect. — ^Eds.  M.  H.  R.] 


To  the  Editors  qfthe**  Monthly  HomceopaUiio  Beview.'^ 

Gentlembn, — I  was  much  pleased  at  certain  remarks  in  the 
letter  of  Dr.  Percy  Wilde,  in  your  May  number,  especially  those 
to  the  effect  that  the  Hahnemannians  claim,  ''with  some  truth," 
to  be  the  only  homoeopaths,  and  that  those  who  assume  the 
title  of  homoeopaths  without  accepting  all  Hahnemann's  practical 
doctrines,  do  harm  to  the  cause  of  scientific  truth.  May  I  be 
permitted,  however,  to  ask  him  exactly  where  he  himself  stands? 
From  some  of  his  remarks,  I  should  judge  him  not  to  be  a 
Hahnemannian,  but  yet  the  appearance  of  his  name  in  the 
Homoeopathic  Directory  is,  after  the  statements  which  I  have 
quoted,  quite  inconsistent  with  such  a  hypothesis.  But  what  I 
wish  especially  to  refer  to  is  this  :  Dr.  Wilde  says — **  In  these 
days  of  more  exact  knowledge,  many  of  Hahnemann's  specu- 
lations appear  in  a  very  foolii^  light,  and  it  is  only  necessary  for 
an  opponent  to  recall  some  of  tbese  when  he  wishes  to  prove 
that  homoeopathy  is  unworthy  of  scientific  consideration. 
Homoeopathists  are  inclined  to  complain  of  the  injustice  of  this, 
but  I  think  unreasonably,  for  do  the  laws  of  chivalry  forbid  the 
combatant  to  seek  the  weak  points  in  his  adversary's  annour  ? 
It  is  obviously  the  homoeopathist's  duty  to  close  the  opening." 
With  this  latter  sentence  I  fully  agree,  and  if  Dr.  Wilde  will 


iE5SSfjS??f?iS^       CORBBSPONDBNOB.  879 


point  out  what  Hahnemann's  **  foolish  speculations  "  are,  and 
why  he  objects  to  them,  I  shall  be  happy  to  break  a  knightly 
lance  with  him.  Mailed  in  the  whole  armour  of  Hahnemann,  I 
have  no  fear  for  the  result.  Hahnemann  states  in  the  preface 
to  the  Organon:  "Thus  homoeopathy  is  a  perfectly  simple 
system  of  medicine,  remaining  always  fixed  in  its  principles  as 
in  its  practice."  On  this  I  take  my  stand.  If  homceopathy  is  a 
*'  system  of  medicine,'*  it  is  something  more  than  a  mere  rule  or 
even  law  for  the  selection  of  the  remedy.  Hahnemann  gave  the 
name  of  homoeopathy  to  his  system,  and  surely  he  knew  best 
what  he  meant  by  it.  Yours,  &o., 

E.  W.  Bebbidoe,  M.D. 

THE  PROPOSED  L.  H.  DIPLOMA. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  *•*"  Monthly  HomcBopathic  Review.** 

Gbntlbhbn, — ^I  am  extremely  sorry  to  peruse  the  recent  con- 
troversy in  the  English  homoeopathic  periodicals,  the  cause  of 
this  dispute  being  the  creation  of  the  L.  H.  title  by  the  authori- 
ties of  tiie  London  School  of  Homoeopathy.  There  is  no  reason 
for  the  complaints  made  against  it.  It  is  alleged  that  by  this 
procedure  we  are  assuming  a  sectarian  position.  What  does  it 
mean  ?  If  we  assume  that  by  this  action  we  are  forsaken  by 
onr  brother  practitioners  of  the  old  school,  we  are  not  sorry  for 
it,  inasmuch  as  they  have  already  forced  us  to  assume  that 
position.  It  is  said  that  this  title  is  damaging  to  the  progress  of 
homoeopathy.  I  believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  our  progress  will 
be  enhanced.  There  is  recently  a  tendency  to  the  growth  and 
multiplication  of  the  so-called  crypto-homoeopaths,  and  this 
tendency,  unless  checked,  will  lead  to  a  very  disastrous  conse- 
quence, Le.f  it  wiU  tend  to  reduce  the  estimation  of  homoeopathy 
in  the  public  eyes,  I  regret  to  find  such  names  as  Drs. 
Dudgeon,  Drysdale,  Black,  Burnett,  &c.,  among  the  opposition 
party.  If  they  ponder  over  the  matter  calmly  and  dispas- 
sionately, they  will  find  this  action  of  the  School  is  not  injurious 
to  homoeopaihy.  The  arguments  for  its  favour  have  already 
been  given  to  the  world  by  Drs.  Hughes  and  Bayes.  The 
opposite  party  should  bear  this  in  mind,  that  however  con- 
cUiating  we  may  be  towards  our  old-school  friends,  they  will 
never  accept  us  pubUcly  on  friendly  terms.  So,  without  trying 
to  satisfy  l^em,  we  should  direct  our  energy  for  the  improve- 
ment of  our  own  system.  In  India,  the  same  attempt  at  con- 
ciliation has  been  made  by  one  of  our  colleagues,  without  any 
effect.  So  we  shotdd  do  away  with  disputes  among  our  own 
body,  but  direct  our  joint  exertions  to  the  great  cause  which  our 
illustrious  master  imposed  upon  us. 

Calcutta,  India.  P.  C.  Majumdab,  L.M.S. 

2nd  May,  1882. 


880  C0RBE8P0NDENT8.         "jS^^^Tuub! 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 


«%  We  cannot  vniertake  to  return  rejected  mamueripte. 

EREiLTUM. 

In  onr  report  of  Lord  Ebnry'B  speech  at  page  295,  line  17,  inateul  of 
— *<  I  think  it  was  Dr.  Cane  who  first  brought  it  to  his  notice.  The  other 
was  a  medical  man  whose  name/*  <feo.,  read  --<'  I  think  it  was  Dr.  Qoin  who 
first  brought  it  to  his  notice — a  medical  man  whose  name,"  Ac 

Commmiications,  ^.,  have  been  received  from  Dr.  B.  Blikb,  Dr.  Snss- 
Hahneicanm,  Dr.  Bebbidoi  (London) ;  Dr.  H.  Nankiyell  (Bonmemoath) ; 
Dr.  Hughes  (Brighton) ;  Dr.  Batnbs  (Canterbnr^) ;  Dr.  Pubdom  (New- 
castle) ;  Dr.  Hastings  (Byde) ;  Dr.  Fischeb  (Sioney) ;  Dr.  Majuximlb 
(Calcutta),  <&c. 


BOOKS  RECEIVED. 


Supersalinity  of  the  Blood;  an  Accelerator  of  Senility ^  and  a  caiae  of 
Cataract.  By  J.  0.  Burnett,  M.D.  Homceopathie  Publidiing  Company. 
1882. 

A  Treatise  on  Diseases  of  the  Eye.  By  H.  C.  Angell,  MJ).  New  Tork: 
Boericke  &  Tafel.    1882. 

An  Index  of  Comparative  Therapeutics,  By  S.  0.  L.  Potter,  MJ). 
Chicago :  Gross  &  Delbridge,  1882. 

Electricity  in  Surgery.  By  John  Bath,  M.D.  Boericke  and  TaU: 
New  Tork. 

LeucorrhoMLt  its  Concomitant  Symptoms  and  HomoBopatkic  Treatment 
By  A.  M.  Cushing,  M.D.    Boston :  Mudge  &  Co.    1882. 

The  New  Handbook  of  Dosemetric  Thempeutics,  By  Dr.  A.  Bm^graeve. 
Translated  by  H.  A.  Allbutt,  M.B.C.P.  Edin.  London :  David  Bayne. 
1882. 

The  Oout,  and  iU  Various  Manifestations.  By  G.  A.  Pettit,  MJD.  Paris: 
E.  Plon  et  Cie. 

The  Homoeopathic  World. 

The  Students*  Jimmal. 

The  Chemist  and  Druggist. 

The  New  York  Medical  Times, 

The  New  England  Medical  Gazette. 

The  Medical  Counsellor. 

Tfic  Therapeutic  Gazette. 

VArt  Medical. 

Bibliothique  Homaopathique. 

AUgemeine  Horn.  Zeitung. 

Homceop.  Rundschau. 

El  Criterio  Medico. 

Omiqpatica  Rivista. 


Papers,  Dispensary  Beports,  and  Books  for  Beview  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pope,  21,  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  W.;  Dr.  D.  Dtcb 
Bbown,  29,  Seymour  Street,  Portman  Sqxiare,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  Ken-ksdt, 
16,  Montpelier  Bow,  Blaokheath,  S.E.  Advertisements  and  Bosiness 
communications  to  be  cent  to  Messrs.  B.  Gk>ULD  &  Son,  69,  Moorgate 
Street,  E.C. 


tSS^^^Trnt"  OUR  SCIENTIFIC  POSITION.  381 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMCEOPATHIC    EEYIEW 


OUE  SCIENTIFIC  POSITION. 

XhjBma  the  last  few  months,  much  has  been  said  and 
written  about  the  professional  aspects  of  homcBopathy  and 
the  position  taken  np  by  honuBopathic  practitioners.  We 
have  been  told  that  we  have  assumed  a  sectarian  designa* 
tion  for  trade  pxtrposes,  that  we  are  not  what  we  represent 
onrselTes  to  be,  that  we  are  purposely  keeping  ourselves 
outside  the  pale  of  professional  inierooursei  and  last,  but 
not  least,  that  there  are  no  homcBopaths  left !  So  many 
have  harped  upon  the  sectarian  string,  in  so  many  different, 
and  generally  minor  keys,  that  the  noise  of  their  wailing 
has  almost  persuaded  some,  who  formerly  thought  other- 
wise, to  belicTe  that  a  sectarian  designation  is  a  very  wrong 
thing  indeed,  something  much  worse  than  deception  or 
ignorance. 

Now  there  is  an  aspect  in  which  homoeopathy  is  not  much 
looked  at  in  all  this  interchange  of  courtesies,  and  an 
influence  at  work  which  must  be  kept  prominently  before 
the  minds  of  our  readers.  We  refer  to  the  distinctiye 
scientific  position  which  homoeopaths  hold,  and  the  in- 
fluence which  homoeopathy  has  in  moulding  the  development 
of  modem  scientific  medicine. 

Vol.  26,  No.  7.  2d 


382  OUR  SCIENTIFIC  POSITION.  '^SSSwfjS^ifm 

Old-fashioned  physic,  down  from  the  remotest  ages  of 
antiquity,  till  within  quite  recent  years,  was  nothing  more 
than  a  farrago  of  empiric  remedies  applied  after  more  or 
less  reliable  rules  handed  down  by  tradition.  During  the 
last  hundred  years  or  so,  the  progress  of  physiology  and 
pathology  has  done  much  to  clear  away  misty  views  of 
disease,  and  to  throw  light  on  the  path  of  the  careful  prac- 
titioner. The  invention  of  the  stethoscope,  the  application 
of  the  thermometer,  and  of  many  other  instruments  of 
research  in  disease,  have  done  wonders  in  assisting  diag- 
nosis. But  the  knowledge  of  drugs  and  drug  action  has, 
till  quite  recently,  say  within  the  last  twenty  years, 
remained  in  the  same  fossil  condition.  '^  Empiricism 
rampant "  might  have  been,  or  even  now  might  be,  the 
motto  of  the  College  of  Physicians.  The  man  who  gives 
chalk  mixture  simply  because  he  is  treating  a  case  of 
diarrhoea,  and  has  been  told  that  chalk  mixture  is  good  for 
diarrhoea,  without  attempting  to  find  a  remedy  exaeOj 
suited  to  the  particular  kind  of  diarrhoea,  is,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  as  much  a  quack  as  the  unqualified  herbalist  who 
goes  about  with  '^  universal  panaceas  "  or  "  magic  mixture," 
which,  to  the  sound  of  a  brass  band,  he  sells  to  the  gaping 
and  credulous  rustics.  The  alchemist,  or  magician  of  old 
times,  who  mixed  nasty  and  nauseous  simples  in  his  mys- 
terious alembic,  finds  a  parallel  in  the  enlightened  and 
qualified  modern  practitioner  who^  his  superior  in  scientific 
knowledge  and  diagnostic  skill,  yet  proceeds  to  mix  together 
from  half  a  dozen  to  a  dozen  different  drugs,  some  of  them 
possessing  widely  different  actions,  in  the  vain  hope  that 
one  may  do  good,  and  that  the  rest  may  prove  harmless. 
The  history  of  medicine  shows  us  a  long  succession  of 
authors  who  gravely  record  their  fiailures  in  endeavouring 
to  elucidate  a  single  theory  of  therapeutic  action  capable  of 
general  application.    Take  the  literature  of  any  one  disease 


S^l^h^''  ^^^  SODBNTIPIC  POSITION.  383 

.at  random,  say  of  rheumatic  or  typhoid  fever,  and  we  find 
ihat  only  within  the  knowledge  of  the  present  generation 
haye  their  pathology  and  etiology  been  clearly  defined,  and 
that,  even  at  the  present  day,  their  best  treatment  is 
'Summed  up  in  the  words  '^  non-meddlesome  expectancy." 

Some  authors,  perhaps  more  honest  than  their  fellows, 
tell  us  that,  if  we  depend  too  much  on  drug  action,  we 
shall  be  apt  to  disappoint  ourselves,  and  that  much  more 
jhttention  should  be  devoted  to  hygiene  and  diet. 

Enlightenment  amongst  allopaths  (with  some  exceptions, 
of  whom  more  anon)  means  progress  in  the  direction  of 
expectancy. 

Until  the  advent  of  homodopathy  there  has  never  yet 
been  any  fixed  law  relating  to  the  selection  of  the 
medicinal  remedial  agent.  Traditional  and  magistral 
formuke  there  have  been  in  plenty,  but  of  the  rudest  and 
most  empirical  nature,  only  calculated  to  disappoint  those 
who  trust  in  them.  The  theory  embodied  in  the  words 
.simiUa  simiUbus  curentur  is  the  only  one  for  which  any 
scientific  basis  can  be  claimed.  Hahnemann  stands  out 
pre-eminent  amongst  historic  healers  as  the  first  man  who 
jidduced  any  definite  law  for  the  selection  of  drugs. 
Homoeopathy,  puce  the  Hahnemannians,  may  not  be  a 
perfect  law,  and  it  is  possible,  though  not  perhaps 
probable,  that  at  a  fature  period  some  further  development 
may  put  the  human  race  in  possession  of  powers  which 
may  place  even  the  doctrine  of  similars  in  a  secondary 
-position.  But  whatever  be  the  future  which  awaits 
homoeopathy,  we  can  at  least  honestly  affirm  that  its  faith- 
ful disciples,  having  once  accepted  the  theory,  are  votaries 
of  a  science  of  unsurpassed  exactitude  in  medicine.  Given 
;a  sdund  knowledge  of  the  symptoms  of  the  case,  and  a 
careful  study  of  the  action  of  drugs,  the  application  of  this 
science  to  the  selection  of  the  remedy  places  the  practi- 

2d— 2 


884  ouB  sciENTiPic  POSITION.  "'S^^SJfTtSr 


B«view,  July  1,  last. 


tioner  in  a  position  infinitely  more  likely  to  ensnre  aoooeBB 
than  the  empiric  who  has  to  rely  merely  on  what  he  has 
seen  or  heard  to  be  good  for  a  similar  case. 

The  scientific  homoeopath  recognises  niceties  of  dis- 
tinction in  the  treatment  of  disease,  which  are  apt  to  be 
oyerlooked  by,  or  when  noticed  to  be  r^arded  as  of  no 
import  to,  the  average  allopath.  Fever,  as  a  rnle^  to  the 
allopath  means  heightened  temperature  and  quickened 
pulse.  The  homoBopath,  on  the  contrary,  distinguishes 
between  the  febrile  conditions  calling  for  a4:onite,  gd- 
semium,  rhtts,  baptina,  and  arsenic. 

Diarrhoea,  by  the  ordinary  rule  of  thumb  aUopath,  is  to 
be  treated  either  with  astringents  or  purgatives.  The 
homoeopath,  on  the  other  hand,  takes  cognizance  of  the 
totality  of  the  symptoms,  and  prescribes  as  indicated— 
perhaps  mercurius,  chamomiUa,  arsenic^  cotocynth,  amnphofi 
veratrum,  cuprum,  his  choice  in  each  case  being  grcdded  by 
the  scientific  law  of  similars.  We  might  multiply 
instances  endlessly,  and  through  all  the  long  list  of  ills 
that  flesh  is  heir  to,  we  should  find  the  allopath  guided 
merely  by  broad  traditional  principles,  if  principles  they 
can  be  called,  whilst  the  honest  homoeopath,  to  whom 
alone  we  refer,  has  the  means  of  treating  his  cases  with 
scientific  exactitude. 

We  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood  in  speaking  of  the 
average  allopathic  practitioner  as  being  without  a  guiding 
law.  There  are  exceptions,  and  their  number  is  in- 
creasing, but  they  have  only  become  prominent  of  late 
years,  and  of  them  and  the  reason  for  their  existence  we 
shall  speak  presently. 

That  homoeopathy  is  a  theory  established  on  a  scientific 
basis  is  self-evident  in  several  ways.  The  chief  of  these  is 
the  enormous  influence  which  the  practice  of  homoeopathy 
in  England  during  forty  years  has  had  on  the  practice  of 


ISSl^j^SyrS^  0^»  SOIBNTIFIC  POSITION.  386 

old-fashioned  physio.  We  constantly  meet^  both  amongst 
those  of  the  profession  who  are  opposed  to  us  and  the 
laity,  thinlring  men  who  are  willing  to  admit  freely  that, 
whether  homoBopathy  be  true  or  not,  it  certainly  has 
modified  the  practice  of  medicine  to  a  degree  which  would 
not  have  been  credited  even  ten  years  ago.  The  older 
generation  of  practitioners  cannot  be  expected  to  change 
mueh,  but  the  younger  men  are  beginning  to  find  that 
rough  polypharmacy  is  not  satisfactory.  Therapeutists  of 
the  first  rank  are  now  openly  advocating  the  use  of  a 
single  active  principle  at  a  time,  and  not  only  the  single 
remedy,  but  the  reduced  dose  has  been  propounded  to  and 
swallowed  by  men  who  scoff  at  homoeopathy.  This  leads 
us  to  speak  of  the  exceptions  we  have  mentioned.  The 
first  dawn  of  enlightenment  may  be  said  to  have  originated 
with  RiNGEB  and  his  contemporaries  in  the  movement, 
Wood,  Babtholow,  and  Phillips.  Of  the  last  we  have 
but  little  to  say,  as  the  influence  of  homoeopathy  on  his 
therapeutics  is  notorious  and  easily  accounted  for. 

A  perusal  of  Rinoeb's  Handbook  of  Therapetntica  will  go 
&r  to  convince  any  unprejudiced  mind  of  the  wonderM 
influence  which  homoBopathy  is  exerting  in  the  way  of 
modifying  traditional  treatment.  We  have  no  doubt  Dr. 
BiNOBB  would  be  indignant  if  he  were  called  a  homoeopath, 
but  it  is  only  since  this  gentle  influence  has  prepared  the 
way,  that  he  would  have  dared  to  propound  the  advanced 
views  he  holds  without  fear  of  professional  ostracism  and 
obloquy.  The  most  careful  study  of  all  works  on  thera- 
peutics antecedent  to  Dr.  Bingeb  would  fail  to  find  any 
indication  of  the  use  of  corrosive  sublimate  in  dysentery. 
And  we  do  not  remember  to  have  heard  in  any  previous 
allopathic  text  book  of  the  use  of  sulphide  of  lime  in 
glandular  enlargements  and  sluggish  abscesses. 

The  discovery  of  the  use  of  minute  doses  of  ipecaeuanJia 


386  OUR  SCIENTIPIO  POSITION.   "^^^fjS^Sfl^ 

in  certain  forms  of  emesis,  would  redound  much  to  Dr. 
Bikger's  credit  if  such  a  doctrine  as  homoeopathy  w6re 
unknown.  The  use  of  pulsatiUa,  too,  in  menstrual  irregn- 
larities  [has  been  unfolded  to  an  admiring  profession  by 
these  pioneers  of  physic,  these  adapters  of  the  ideas  of 
others.  "Homoeopathy  Re-discovered"  would  be  an 
appropriate  title  for  any  forthcoming  work  on  this  subject. 
Whilst  we  should  be  glad,  for  the  sake  of  suffering  humanity, 
that  such  a  change  is  passing  over  the  face  of  the  field  of 
physic,  still  we  cannot  but  despise  the  unblushing  audacity 
of  men  who  calmly  cull  information  from  the  pages  of  a 
Hiring  author,  and  present  it  to  an  appreciative  profession 
as  the  offspring  of  their  own  giant  intellects.  Some  recent 
adaptations  show  a  pretty  extensive  acquaintance  with 
homoeopathic  literature ;  and  we  know  several  instances  of 
men,  who,  but  for  pressing  reasons  of  medical  or  social 
polity,  would  be  prepared  to  admit  the  truth  and  openly 
adopt  the  practice  of  homoeopathy.  Crypto-homoeopathy 
is  a  thing  to  be  deplored  by  all  right-minded  men,  eqnaUy 
with  hermaphrodite  medicine,  if  we  may  so  term  the 
practice  of  those  who,  for  trade  purposes,  make  a  show  of 
using  a  little  homoeopathy  now  and  then.  This  latter  form 
however,  is  homage  to  the  scientific  influence  of  homoeo- 
pathy in  the  present  day.  Such  has  been  the  spread  of 
the  knowledge  of  homoeopathy  amongst  the  laity,  thftt 
practitioners,  wise  in  their  generation,  are  beginning  to 
find  that  a  certain  reputation  for  a  leaning  towards  its  prin- 
ciples is  rather  beneficial  in  certain  circles.  It  is  amusing 
to  note  the  nice  gradations  of  feeling  assumed,  from  the 
free  and  open  opinion  that  "  in  many  cases  homoeopathy  i^ 
of  the  greatest  assistance,"  to  the  guarded  and  hesitating 
admission,  "  that  after  all,  there  may  be  some  good  in  the 
system."  This,  of  course,  only  relates  to  intercourse  with 
the  outside  public,  as  it  is  rarely  that  a  practitioner  can 


SS^JulTr^^  ^^»  SCIENTIFIC  POSITION.  387 

sacceed  in  concealing  his  farthing  rushlight  under  such  a 
humiliating  bushel  from  his  professional  colleagues.  All 
this,  however,  but  points  to  the  widespread  influence  of 
homoeopathy  in  our  time. 

Not  content  with  filching  new  remedies,  and  new  uses  of 
old  ones,  from  hom<8opathy,  modem  aUopathy  is  proceeding 
to  '^  adapt "  our  pharmaceutical  methods.  A  new  genera- 
tion having  sprung  up,  who  have  learnt  some  of  the  benefits 
of  homoeopathy,  a  more  elegant  style  of  dispensing  is 
required  to  keep  pace  with  the  newly  acquired  knowledge 
of  drug  action.  And  modem  pharmacy,  not  being  troubled 
with  any  scruples  as  to  the  source  of  the  idea,  supplies  the 
needful  improvement. 

Minimum  doses  are  called  for,  and  minimum  doses 
appear  straightway,  under  the  guise  of  "parvules"  (for 
parv.  read  pxl.)  We  recollect  the  time  when  one  of  the 
chief  railing  accusations  against  homoeopaths  was  that  we 
carried  small  cases  in  our  pockets  filled  witii  various  little 
bottles  of  sweets.  If  we  mistake  not,  one  learned  gentle- 
man proved  to  his  own  satisfaction,  if  not  exactly  to  the 
whole  world,  the  utter  fallacy  of  homoeopathy,  from  the 
impunity  with  which  his  children  indulged  in  a  diet  of 
pilules  obtained  from  a  homoeopathic  source.  Yet  such 
has  been  the  influence  of  this  derided  science  on  pharmacy, 
that  we  find  the  Britiih  Medical  JiywmoX  advocating  the 
nse  of  the  obnoxious  pocket  case :  ''  A  well  assorted  selec- 
tion of  sugar  parvules  or  granules  (or  pilules  ?)  impregnated 
vdth  all  the  various  alkaloids  and  active  principles  or  their 
salts  could  then  be  carried  in  the  coat  pocket  or  lie  on  the 
study  table." 

The  Lancetf  too,  after  having  wasted  gallons  of  ink  in 
vituperation  of  the  much  abused  pilule  in  times  past, 
actually  confesses  to  the  use  of  this  form  of  prescribing. 
Fancy  the  editor  of  the  Lancet  with  a  pocket  pilule  case ! 


388  OUR  SCIENTIFIC  POBITION.   ^'SJ&f JSTJfiSS!  ' 


We  only  regret  that  the  range  of  medicines  was  limited  to 

twenty. 

'^  Qui  s^excme  s^accme  **  is  a  good  old  adage ;  and  reading 
throogh  the  pamphlet  which  sets  forth  the  virtues  of  par- 
vnles^  we  were  much  stmck  by  the  frequent  and  reassuring 
assertions^  that  this  mode  of  dispensing  is  not  in  the  least 
like,  and  must  not  be  confounded  with,  the  obnoxious 
homoeopathy. 

A  few  extracts  may  be  edifying  and  instructive : — 

**  It  is  claimed  by  some  practitionera  that  small  doses 
given  at  short  intervals  exert  a  most  salutary  effect.  Sn>- 
NEY  Ringer,  in  his  recent  work  on  therapeutics,  sustains 
this  theory  in  a  great  variety  of  cases,  without  catering  to 
homoeopathy." 

The  difficulty  of  explaining  the  action  of  minimum 
doses,  save  on  homoeopathic  principles,  is  elegantly 
evaded. 

**  A  logical  explanation  of  the  exact  action  of  minimum 
doses  is  an  impossibility  in  the  present  state  of  physio- 
logical investigation." 

*'  Parvules  must  not  be  regarded  as  homoeopathic  in  any 
sense." 

Dr.  Dessau  says :  ''  If  I  am  asked  to  explain  on  what 
principle  these  small  doses  act  in  certain  diseases,  I  reply 
on  the  principle  so  far  as  known  of  actual  experience  (I) 
This  is  all  we  know  about  it"  (or  aU  we  care  to  admU 
about  it. — ^Eds.). 

The  same  apologetic  and  indignant  repudiation  of 
homoeopathic  leanings  pervades  all  the  testimonials  to  this 
wonderful  discovery.  One  writer  says:  "In  indorsing 
them  I  must  disclaim  any  favouritism  or  sympathy  with 
homoeopathy.  A  parvule  given  every  hour,  it  will  be  seen, 
is  not  homoeopathy  in  theory  or  practice."     If  it  were  not 


bS^J^^IT^^  our  scientific  position.  389 

for  this  gentleman's  assurance,  we  might  ahnost  have 
fallen  into  the  error  that  it  was  so. 

'^  The  efiGiciency  of  these  pamdes  we  attribute,  not  to 
homoeopathy,  but  to  the  thoroughness  of  preparation  and 
the  purity  of  the  articles  used."  So  that  we  may  infer 
that  the  opposite  holds  good  of  homoeopathic  pharmacy. 

''  The  distinction  between  such  a  praxis  (parvules)  and 
homoeopathy  is  so  evident  that  it  need  not  be  alluded  to." 
This  is  a  graceful  and  elegant  way  of  dealing  with 
awkward  facts  which  commends  itself  to  the  honest 
philosopher. 

Now,  all  this  but  adds  force  to  the  assertion  which  we 
have  made,  that  homoeopathy  is  a  scientific  method,  which 
eyen  its  bitterest  enemies  cannot  overlook,  and  have  even 
attempted  to  compromise;  and  in  the  face  of  such 
attempts,  it  ill  becomes  any  section  of  our  body  to  try  to 
belittle  our  position.  The  more  insidious  and  plausible 
the  efforts  of  our  enemies,  for  such  they  are,  the  more 
decided  and  firm  should  be  our  stand  by  the  tenets  and 
principles  which  are  at  issue. 

Our  adversaries,  and  not  we  ourselves,  have  built  up  the 
sectarian  hedge,  and  now  that  they  wish  to  sink  it,  finding 
that  after  all  we  are  on  the  right  side  of  it,  it  is  our  duty 
as  conscientious  and  self-respecting  practitioners  to  insist 
on  the  admission,  that  if  the  profession  wish  to  absorb  our 
methods  and  therapeutics,  they  must  first  acknowledge  the 
correctness  of  the  system  which  produced  them.  When 
homoeopathy  is  publicly  taught  and  recognised  as  on  an 
equality  with  all  other  forms  of  therapy,  then  and  then 
only  will  it  be  time  to  say,  we  are  no  longer  homoeopaths, 
but  simply  physicians. 


890  CLINICAL  CASES.         ^"^^^Zf^^ 


Review,  July  1,18B!. 


CLINICAL  CASES,  WITH  REMARKS.* 

By  S.  Blake,  M.R.C.S.,  Liverpool. 

Case  X. 

Variety  of  MoUuscum  cured  by  Thuja, 

Thebe  is  less  donbt  engendered  by  describing  the  exact 
symptoms  present,  with  their  source,  progress,  conditions 
and  concomitants  than  by  naming  the  disease.  In  this  way 
the  cases  may  afterwards  come  to  be  placed  nnder  another 
heading  of  nomenclature,  or  be  differently  named,  but  the 
importance  of  the  therapeutic  result  still  riemains.  This 
case  was  diagnosed  by  my  colleague.  Dr.  E.  Williams,  as 
moUuscum,  and,  agreeing  with  this  verdict,  I  will  so 
name  it. 

E.  H.,  a  woman  of  85,  presented  herself  for  treatment 
for  an  eruption  about  the  face,  forehead  and  neck.  Each 
of  the  elevations  were  separate,  and  at  a  distance  from  the 
others,  there  being  from  ten  to  twenty  of  them  out  at  one 
time  about  the  face  and  forehead.  ^'  They  come  out  in 
successive  crops ;  after  the  old  ones  disappear  a  new  crop 
follows.  They  are  like  a  pock  in  appearance,  but  more 
tuberculated,  of  longer  continuance  during  their  progress, 
and  more  hard  and  warty-looking  and  elevated  than  the 
pock  of  true  variola.  They  are,  however,  umbilicated  at  the 
apex.  They  grow  gradually  from  small  smooth  hard  papules, 
and  after  lasting  for  several  weeks,  gradually  maturate, 
discharge  their  contents,  and  then  die  away,  only  to  give 
place  to  a  fresh  crop.  At  the  end  of  their  career  tiiey 
suppurate  slowly  with  a  red  areola.  In  their  commence- 
ment, or  young  stage,  they  are  attended  by  a  very  slight 
itching.  If  pressed  with  the  nail  when  getting  ripe,  their 
contents  of  white  sebaceous  matter  can  readily  be  pressed 
out,  leaving  the  tubercle  to  wither.  After  some  weeks  only, 
when  broken  down,  do  the  contents  become  purulent,  thus 
differing  both  from  varicella  and  variola.  Although  in 
certain  stages  the  pock  looks  at  first  sight  very  like  that 
of  variola  at  a  certain  period  of  its  later  development,  there 
is  none  of  the  eruption  on  other  parts  of  the  body.  These 
crops  have  now  been  appearing  for  a  period  extending 
upwards  of  six  months,  and  are  in  no  way  diminishing/' 
She  was  treated  for  four  weeks  by  thuja  12th  decimal 

*  Being  part  of  the  series  of  cases,  the  record  of  which  gained  for 
Hr.  Blake  the  '<  Epps  "  prize. 


iE5S?j5?r?^  CLINICAL  CASES.  391 


Seriew,  July  1, 1088. 


attenuation — a  dose  three  times  a  day,  aided  by  emptying 
the  riper  tubercles  with  the  nail  as  they  maturated. 

For  a  week  thuja  6  x  was  ordered  her^  and  after  this  it 
was  noted  that  '^  the  nodules  look  red,  but  disappear  sooner 
or  die  away  faster  than  they  ever  did  before."  This  was  on 
May  1st.     Medicine  continued. 

On  May  16th  it  is  noted  there  are  no  fresh  spots  coming 
out  nowy  and  the  old  ones  are  dying  off ;  but  a  new  symp- 
tom has  appeared,  viz.,  headache  in  the  vertex.  Was  this 
pathogenetic  ?  In  the  provings  of  thuja  there  occurs : 
*^  Pressing  in  the  vertex  as  from  a  nail,  worse  afternoon  and 
8  to  4  a.m. ;  better  in  motion  and  after  sweat." 

No  fresh  spots  followed,  and  the  disease  did  not  after- 
wards return. 

There  are  several  varieties,  and  it  may  be  there  are 
different  diseases  under  the  name  moUuscum.  Thus  some 
of  the  projections  are  described  as  pedunculated  warts, 
others  stand  on  a  broad  basis,  as  occurred  in  the  case 
referred  to. 

Thuja,  as  is  well  known,  is  often  the  medicine  for  pedun- 
eulated  warts.  In  one  instance  I  knew  a  wart,  one  among 
a  cluster  of  white,  smooth,  and  thinly  pedunculated  warts- 
behind  the  ear  of  a  young  child,  drop  off  during  the  first  few 
days  of  treatment  by  thuja  12  c.  It  became  at  first  purple, 
as  if  strangled  internally  at  its  neck,  and  then  dropped  off 
spontaneously,  but  its  companions  refused  to  co-operate 
in  the  same  design  after  a  few  weeks  persistent  treatment 
with  the  same  medicine.  The  patient  getting  tired  of  it,  I 
then  tied  the  remainder,  and  soon  made  away  with  them. 
The  12  c.  and  6th  dec.  of  thvja  failed  to  remove  the 
remainder  of  the  warts  referred  to  in  this  instance. 

The  symptoms  of  thuja  which  bring  us  near  to  mollus- 
cum  are : — 

A.  The  condylomatous,  warty,  and  nodular  or  tubercle- 
like projections  of  its  provings. 

B.  [From  Allen] .  Round  blackish  brown  elevated  spots, 
mostly  on  the  face,  nape  of  neck  and  chest ;  on  the  hands, 
wart-shaped  excrescences  of  the  size  of  a  poppy  seed, 
gradually  increasing  during  the  proving  to  sixteen  in 
number.  Their  shape  a  truncated  cone;  their  surface 
smooth  and  apparently  seated  in  the  epidermis.  Their  size 
varies  according  to  their  age,  the  largest  as  large  as  a  small 
pea.  They  remained  in  that  condition  for  about  six  weeks, 
when  the  larger  ones  became  depressed  in  the  centre,  and 


392  CLINICAL  CASES.  ^SSL!^SJ?«! 


Rtfview,  JvHf  1,  iffii- 


resembled  a  small  pit  (ambilication)  suTroiinded  by  an 
elevated  ridge.  This  ridge  disappeared  gradually,  together 
with  the  wart.  The  smaller  warts  disappeared  without 
going  through  this  process.  Eight  stiU  remained  (after 
three  months ;  aU  warts  gone  except  one  on  little  finger 
after  five  monliiB.) 

They  ceased  to  grow  individually  a  fortnight  after  ceasing 
the  proving  (takmg  the  medicine  ?)  The  new  warts  are 
smooth  and  truncated,  and,  unlike  the  old  ones,  are  not 
homy,  and  do  not  split.  Four  sets  of  warts  are  at  one 
time  noticed  of  different  ages  belonging  to  different  crops. 
The  older  ones  have  red  areolae. 

They  are  less  painful  and  the  red  areola  is  less  on  the 
appearance  of  the  menses. 

Similar  warts  occurred  on  the  neck,  chin  and  other  places. 

Pimples  on  the  face.  Pock-like  eruption  over  the  whole 
body,  with  febrile  chill  in  the  evening,  sweat  at  night  and 
other  symptoms  in  a  person  of  gonorrhoeal  cachexy.  In 
one  case  the  pocks  broke  out  first  on  the  face  and  scalp  and 
became  confluent  like  variola ;  suppurated  and  scabbed,  but 
without  leaving  any  mark  with  a  cure  to  the  gonorrhceal 
cachexy. 

Pock-like  eruption  behind  ears  on  the  chin  and  foreheadi 
also  on  neck^  partly  becoming  small  brown  warts.  Erup- 
tions also  are  noted  which  more  resemble  varicella*  than  the 
former  kinds  described. 

But  few  medicines  are  recorded  as  curing  moUuscum. 
These  are,  "Mica  and  lycopodium  (Dr.  Dudgeon),  and 
kcdi  sodatum  (Dr.  Belcher)." — ^Dr.  Hughes. 

Silica.  Large  fleshy  warts  suppurating  (Hering). 
Variola-like  pustules  en^g  in  suppurating  ulcers  (Allen). 

It  is  interesting  that  all  these  three  drugs  have  a  symp- 
tomatic and  clinical  relationship  very  much  in  common 
as  regards  three  conditions  of  skm,  apart  from  molluscom, 
i.e.,  to  blotches  here  and  there,  to  nsBvus,  and  to  blood 
boils.  With  silica  and  lycopodium  suppurating  eruptions 
are  common.  This  is  not  noticed  so  much  under  thuja, 
where  the  diseases  seem  less  inclined  to  form  suppurations 
or  ulcers. 

Kali  hydriodicvm,  **  pustular  eruption,  often  umbilicated, 
leaving  scars.  Papul®  on  face,  shoulders,  and  back,  and 
small  boils  in  the  same  parts,  leaving  scars." — Bering's 
Materia  Medico. 


iSSS^jrfTrSS?*"  CLINICAL  CASES.  398 


Bmimf,  Julr  1,  I8tt. 


Allen  giyes  under  kali  iod.y  ^'a  congestion  of  the  cellular 
tissue,  beneath  the  skin,  is  added  to  the  other  symptoms, 
giving  rise  to  excrescences  like  tubercles.  Eruption 
resembles  pustules  of  acne ;  also  like  condylomata." 

Lycopodium.  Pimples  contract  to  a  scurf.  Warts. 
Pimples  bedome  pustular  and  scab  over :  copper-coloured 
scar. 

The  umbilicated  nature  of  the  elevations  brings  us  a 
character  of  considerable  importance  in  selecting  a  medi- 
cine. But  few  medicines  possess  this  feature.  Thus 
rktts  tox.f  though  having  this  character  of  umbilication, 
produces  a  more  evanescent  vesicular  eruption,  which,  as 
is  well  known,  approximates  more  closely  to  chicken  pock 
than  an  eruption  of  the  nature  of  moUuscum.  HydrctstiSy 
again,  presents  characters  closely  resembling  small  pox, 
with  its  umbilicated  pustule.  There  is  sometimes,  but 
rarely  seen,  an  eruption  of  pustules  scattered  over  the 
body  during  the  first  and  early  stage  of  syphilis ;  the 
pustules  being  slightly  depressed  at  the  apex.  This  erup- 
tion was  quickly  resolved  by  mere.  soL  1,  in  a  case  under 
my  care  the  eruption  being  cured  in  two  days. 

To  the  constitutional  infection  in  this  man  ''local  sup- 
purating contagious  chancres  *'  were  superadded,  as  well  as 
balanitis.  (Double  infection  from  chancres  having  ''  Hun- 
terian  "  characters  plus  suppuration  and  lymphatic 
contagion  ?)  The  depressed  eruption  of  kali  iod.  is 
interesting  when  considered  in  relation  to  the  kind  of  case 
of  syphilis  just  described.  It  is  not  common  to  find  what 
appears  like  double  infection  corresponding  to  two,  as  a 
rule,  distinct  diseases  and  worthy  of  note  that  the  entire 
disease  disappeared  so  speedily  under  mere.  sol.  The 
pocks  in  this  case  were  rather  hard  at  the  base,  with  a 
slightly  red  areola  and  well  formed,  almost  resembling 
variola  when  advanced  towards  maturation. 


Hydrastis  is  another  medicine  related  to  variola  and  the 
umbilicated  symptoms ;  thus  we  note  '*  pimples  resem- 
bling the  early  stage  of  variola  or  varioloid,  vesicating, 
becoming  pustular,  umbilicated,  and  turning  black  and 
scaling  off  on  the  9th  day  "  (Allen).  It  would  be  a  medicine 
worthy  of  trial  in  such  an  eruption  as  that  occurring  in  the 
instance  I  have  recorded  under  the  title  moUuscum. 


894  CLINICAL  CASES.        "SS£,=iS??T£? 


Beriew,  Joly  1,  IStt. 


Case  XI. 
Amenorrhoea. 

Miss  E.  L.,  aged  16,  commences  treatment  on 
November  12th  for  imperfect  menstmation.  Her  general 
health  has  been  very  fair  until  recently,  although  she  is  by 
no  means  a  vigorous  girl.  The  complexion  is  pale,  and 
the  appearance  of  the  face  puffy,  and  she  is  of  the  fat  and 
soft  character  of  flesh.  She  is  of  a  merry  and  genial 
disposition,  and  although  inclined  to  be  genUe  and  timid, 
is  not  at  all  given  to  &et,  or  cry  at  trifles,  but  even  when 
feeling  poorly  keeps  up  her  good  spirits.  The  only 
appearance  of  the  menses,  however,  have  been  on  two 
occasions,  occurring  in  the  preceding  April  and  May,  and 
then  only  as  a  mere  trace.  She  feels  often  a  sickly  sensa- 
tion associated  with  the  stomach,  with  nausea  at  food; 
has,  however,  little  or  no  flatulence  rising  from  the 
stomach,  and  feels  relieved  of  these  symptoms  when 
walking  in  the  open  air ;  she  also  feels  better  generally 
when  there  is  plenty  of  fresh  air.  There  is  no  thirst.  The 
tongue  is  large  and  flabby,  but  without  any  marked  coating, 
and  the  bowels  are  costive.  The  feet  are  cold  and  clammy. 
She  complains  of  a  dull  pain  in  the  occipital  region,  and 
also  pain  at  certain  times  in  the  loins.  Has  no  leuchorr- 
hoBa.  There  has  been  an  eruption  of  pimples  and  scabs  on 
the  face.  This  group  of  symptoms  inclines  one  to  con- 
sider such  medicines  as  puUatiUa,  cakarea^  baryta,  stdphuff 
gelsem.y  conium,  pluvibtcm,  natrum  muriaticum. 

However  much  the  symptom — "relieved  by  fresh  air" — 
inclined  me  to  commence  with  pulsatiUa,  I  did  not  feel 
satisfied  that  this  medicine  would  be  quite  certain  to  meet 
the  case,  especially  as  the  disposition  of  the  patient  did  not 
correspond  to  that  typical  of  the  class  generally  adapted  to 
this  medicine.  On  referring  to  the  symptoms  of  the  other 
medicines,  I  considered  that  graphites,  also  covered  several 
of  the  symptoms,  and  as  regards  the  rest  that  baryta,  cal- 
carea  and  conium  and  nat»  mur.  also  met  the  group  closely 
in  several  points. 

Oraphites  6  cent.  trit.  spoonful  ter  die. 

Now  graphites  corresponds  to  a  case  of  this  description  in 
the  timidity  and  the  slowness  of  disposition,  inclination  to 
be  fearful  or  dejected  at  times ;  for  the  mood  is  changeable 
as  seen  in  the  provings.  Again.  The  pressive  pain  in  the 
occiput ;  headache  with  nausea  during  the  menses,  althoagh 


ISl^^TnS^         CLINICAL  CASES.  895 


Bflfview^  Jnly  1, 188S. 


the  pain  may  be  also  in  the  vertex,  as  well  as  occiput,  the 
pale  and  bloated  face  (or  even  going  on  to  chlorosis),  the 
aversion  to  food  in  some  persons,  the  nausea  with  vertigo 
or  dulness  of  head,  or  with  headache,  with  inclination  to 
vomit,  added  to  a  cold  clammy  state  of  the  skin,  and  again 
the  chronic  constipation  with  large  knotty  foeces,  with  a 
marked  absence  of  early  sexual  development,  with  menses 
too  scanty  and  too  pale  (the  os  uteri  directed  backwards 
and  reached  with  difBculty. — Hering),  the  delayed  menses, 
tendency  to  obesity,  the  facial  eruptions,  the  lassitude,  the 
clammy  sweat  and  cold  extremities  (pointing  more  to  gra- 
phites  than  calcarea ;  see  Allen),  with  tendency  to  oedema, 
the  skin  for  the  most  part  often  dry  with  tendency  to  form 
dry  scaly  or  scabby  eruptions.  These  symptoms  form  a 
group  taken  from  the  provings  which  show  how  suitable 
graphites  is  to  such  a  corresponding  picture  as  that  of  the 
case  cited.  In  this  girl  there  was  no  typical  ansemia,  there 
was  pallor  well  marked,  but  the  lips  were  red,  if  anything 
the  pallor  sinks  into  a  kind  of  chlorosis  rather  than  the 
proper  aneemia  which  is  so  often  met  with  in  non- 
menstruating  girls.  The  typical  ansBmia  is  generally  well 
cnred  by  ptdsatiUa,  and  the  ferruginous  preparations,  and 
assisted,  perhaps,  in  certain  persons,  by  nux  vomicay  and 
these  cases  form  a  contrast  to  that  of  the  girl  whose  case 
I  have  described.  The  Pulsatilla  indications  are  much 
more  frequently  met  with  in  practice  as  a  more  complete 
group,  but  the  result  of  the  treatment  of  this  case  testifies 
to  the  inunense  power  of  graphites  for  rectifying  these 
derangements  where  the  symptom  and  constitutional  con- 
dition correspond  to  the  latter  medicine. 

Nothing  more  is  heard  of  her  until  December  8th,  when 
the  report  is  that  the  medicine  has  done  her  a  great  deal  of 
good,  without  any  other  having  been  given,  that  the  menses 
liave  appeared  more  copiously,  that  her  good  health  has 
returned,  that  of  late  there  has  been  no  pain  in  the  back  of 
ihe  head,  the  face  looks  less  pu%  and  pale,  and  has 
resumed  its  healthy  look,  and  she  is  more  spirited,  and  feels 
altogether  better.  The  sickly  feelings  haver  also  gone. 
There  is  a  better  appetite,  and  the  feet  are  less  cold  ;  but 
the  bowels  are  still  somewhat  confined.  Bepeat  graphites 
€  ter  die. 

This  completely  cured  this  case,  established  the  menses 
snd  the  general  health,  and  I  have  had  no  occasion  to 
prescribe  for  the  patient  again.     She  continues  in  good 


896  CUNICAL  CASES.        ^^^g^^SS^tftg? 

health  and  spirits,  aod  I  hai^  freqaently  seen  her  since,  and 
there  is  now  nothing  to  complain  of  (Jan.,  1881).  What 
medicine  bat  homoeopathic  medicine  could  have  effected 
snch  a  manrellons  transformation  in  so  reaaonable  a  time  ? 

Comparison  of  Medicines  and  Remarks. 

In  dealing  clinically  with  amenorrhcea,  we  have  to  take 
into  consideration  the  cansation  of  the  disease,  which  both 
helps  us  to  remove,  if  possible,  those  conditions  of  life 
which  tend  to  keep  up  that  state  of  health  of  which  the 
amenia  is  but  one  of  the  products,  and  also  for  the 
yaluable  aid  which  this  consideration  gives  us  in  the 
classification  of  certain  medicines  which  become  suitable 
for  symptoms  resulting  from  and  produced  under  these 
very  conditions  of  life.  This  helps  us  to  bind  together 
the  causations  of  disease  with  our  information  as  to  the 
power  of  medicmes  to  produce  the  symptoms  under  such 
contingencies,  and  also  renders  us  able  to  more  readily 
classify  those  cases  coming  under  our  notice,  placing  them 
in  such  a  category  that  from  the  outset  we  shall  get  a 
corresponding  group  of  medicines,  from  which,  taken 
together  with  the  special  indicating  symptom,  we  shall  be 
able  to  select  a  veiy  suitable  medicine. 

Thus  many  persons  present  themselves  who,  we  find 
on  enquiry.  havV  been  originaUy  of  good  health,  perhaps 
even  plethoric,  but  in  consequence  of  long  and  sedentary 
occupation,  perhaps  also  working  by  gaslight,  with  a  mini- 
mum of  free  oxygen,  or  an  absence  of  fresh  currents  of 
air  and  good  sunlight,  have  become  the  subjects  of  anaemia. 

These  present  us  with  the  commonest  forms  of  ansmia, 
and  chlorosis  with  symptoms  often  requiring  ptdsatUla  and 
nux  vomica,  according  to  their  special  indications.  Herein 
we  have  at  one  view  brought  into  a  focus  the  causation, 
pathology,  and  the  appropriate  remedies  at  the  very  outset 
of  our  clinical  investigation.  Fresh  air,  daily  excur- 
sions, horse  exercise,  carefully  regulated  and  appropriate 
ablutions,  appropriate  diet,  as  suited  to  each  case  in- 
dividually, become  here,  as  everyone  knows,  the  best  of 
prescriptions.  These  are  valuable  auxiliaries.  Will  the 
pidsatilla,  ferrum,  &c.,  enable  us  to  reverse  the  diverted 
processes  of  the  organs  without  these  helps  ?  From  a 
frequent  observation  in  the  instances  of  persons  who  are, 
it  may  be,  unable  to  fulfil  all  these  demands  of  nature,  I 
think  we  are  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  the  rightly 


^KSS'JSfr?^^         CLINICAL  CASES.  397 


£«view,  Jnlr  l,  1882. 


selected  homoBopathic  medicine  will  do  a  very  great  deal  in 
spite  of  the  continuance  of  these  causes — exciting  the 
^^rganisnoi  to  struggle  as  it  were,  with  the  deranged  func- 
tions, and  eyen  gradually  in  many  instances  the  body 
plods  its  way  on  to  a  comparative  state  of  health.  I 
think  such  cases  are  yery  prone  to  relapses,  and  tend 
to  exhibit  alterations  of  the  morbid  phenomena  rather 
than  to  rapid  and  complete  cure.  The  causes  continuing, 
posh  forward  the  same  disease  again  as  before  when  the 
effects  of  the  medicine  wear  off,  or  else  push  out  symptoms 
in  some  other  direction,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the 
physician.  No  one  can  doubt  that  such  diseases  take 
longer  to  get  better  under  medicine,  and  more  constant 
repetition  of  it,  other  things  being  equal,  and  perhaps  also 
larger  doses  eyeutually  than  would  be  the  case  where 
hygienic  indications  have  been  properly  carried  out. 
Between  this  class  of  amenorrhoea  and  that  class  where 
there  is  obtainable  an  abundance  of  good  food,  air,  and 
sunlight,  there  is  a  great  difference.  In  the  latter  we 
must  naturally  refer  much  to  the  previously  existing  un- 
healthy state  of  the  individual ;  not  necessarily  so  to  the 
former  class.  Nevertheless  it  is  probable  that  there  are  in 
the  first-named  class  persons  belonging  to  either  of  these 
groups,  namely — (a)  those  of  originally  good  health,  and 
(b)  tiiose  who  are  ab  initio  unhealthy,  and  to  whom  also 
the  surrounding  conditions  are  most  inappropriate.  This 
«las8  must  be  the  worst  of  all  states  of  this  disease. 
There  is  here  a  doubly  bad  causation — a  very  compound 
etiology.  I  think  this  is  one  reason  why  such  persons 
often  require  more  than  one  medicine  and  perhaps  more 
than  two  medicines  to  cure  them.  It  is  not  easy  always 
to  find  any  one  drug  corresponding  to  a  complex  condition 
of  the  diseased  state  in  all  its  multiplied  causes,  and  also 
in  its  special  symptoms.  How  often  do  we  notice  that 
diseases  present  the  pictures  of  phenomena  traceable  to 
distinctly  separable  causes  !  For  instance,  a  man  has  been 
suffering  for  a  long  time  with  hepatic  symptoms — rheuma- 
tism, or  say  gout — and  he  takes  cold  and  gets  bronchitis  or 
pneumonia.  We  set  about  curing  the  latter  complaint  first, 
hy  medicines  applicable  to  its  symptoms,  the  state  referable 
to  the  last  cause  of  the  catarrh  and  the  hepatic  disease 
which  is  chronic,  remains  with  the  rheumatism  or  gout,  for 
ns  to  take  our  time  about  and  cure  afterwards,  if  we  can. 
So,  similarly,  it  may  be  with  amenorrhoea  and  anaemia.  How 

Vol.  26,  No.  7.  2  s 


398  CLINICAL  CASES.         ^**?SiL^i?7^ 


Bevieir,  July  1, 1882. 


speedily  Bome  persons  are  restored  by  a  few  days'  residence 
nnder  change  of  air  and  exercise.  How  different  are  others, 
where  the  state  of  the  original  bodily  conditions  needs  to 
be  gradually  altered  by  medicinal  stimulation. 

In  the  instance  of  the  girl  to  whom  I  have  referred,  the 
only  auxiliaiy  employed  in  addition  to  the  medicine  was  & 
hip  bath  before  breakfast  every  other  morning,  hot,  and 
containing  a  handful  of  sea-salt,  preceded  by  a  cup  of  milk 
containing  a  teaspoonful  of  rum,  and  the  bath  followed  by 
a  tepid  sponging  of  the  loins  and  pelvis. 

It  need  not  be  wondered  at  that  Uie  sedentary  patient  feels 
better  in  the  open  air,  considering  that  oxygen  is  really  both 
food  and  medicine  to  her ;  and  that  another  patient,  suffering 
from  deficient  oxygenation,  should  also  feel  relief  from  the 
same  fresh  air,  notwithstanding  that  the  degraded  state  of 
tissue  metamorphosis  has  not  arisen  from  a  sedentary  em- 
ployment, but  from  causes  to  be  sought  further  than  this  one. 

A  few  medicines  may  be  compared  with  one  another, 
and  some  of  their  indications  given,  although  it  would 
be  impossible  here  to  describe  all  the  minute  differ- 
ences of  each  to  each.  Thus  of  iron  it  may  be  said 
that  it  cures  essential  chloro-ansemia.  It  also  acts  well 
where  deficient  oxygenation  has  been  the  cause,  assisted  by 
Pulsatilla  and  other  drugs  for  special  symptoms,  in  many 
cases  especially  where  there  has  been  close  confinement;  and 
improves  the  health  also  in  those  cases  where  young  girls 
or  youths  are  employed  in  large  tobacco  manufactories 
(effects  of  tabani7n)y  although  it  does  sometimes  fail  in 
these  where  the  health  has  fallen  very  low,  and  where  tha 
person  cannot  or  will  not  give  up  the  employment.  And 
in  reference  to  these  cases,  a  similar  remark  applies  to  nnx 
vomica.  As  regards  other  medicines,  we  learn  that  in 
persons  where  there  is  a  naturally  low  state  of  health  we 
may  refer  to : —  Amenorrhcea. 

^  (    Face     earthy,    yellowish,     pale     bloated, 

Conium.     (herpetic  diathesis.     White  milky  leucorrhoea 
land  pelvic  pains.     Depressed  sexual  activity- 
Face    pde,    puffed,    moping    disposition, 
scurfs,  nose-bleed,  toothache  and  leucorrhcoa 
before  the  menses.     Menses  last   only  one 
day.     Weight  over  pubi3s.     Backache. 
Pallor  of  face,  bloated  face,  oedema,  subject 

^       , .       ;  to  eczematous,  or  dry,  scaly,  or  scabby  erup- 

Crrai^/iift's.'^^^g      Dislike  to  sexual   relationships  on 

Ipart  of  patient. 


p 
m 

2 

r3 


Baryta  CJ 


^^^^U^S^  CLINICAL  CASES.  899 


Nat.  mur.      < 


Skin  dry,  harsh,  vindictive  disposition  or, 
melancholic.  Sallow,  pale  yellow,  or  lividity, 
with  swelling,  thirst,  eructa  lactea.  Acrid 
secretions  and  headache  during  menses. 
,Skin  of  face  shines. 

(Face*  yellowish,  corpse-like.  Bloated, 
shiny.  Painless  peeling  off  of  the  lips. 
iMenses  cease  with  colicky  pain. 

Unhealthy  appearance  of  skin,  pale,  sickly,. 
Q  7  7  J  eyes     sunken     or    circumscribed     redness, 

iMap/mr.  freckles.     General  an»mia.     Heat    flushes. 

.Papular  eruptions. 

And  again  there  are  : — Ferrum,  ansemia  with  a  chlorotic 
appearance. 

Arsenicum,  ghastly  pallor,  even  corpse-like,  sometimes 
xnenorrhagic  but  necessarily  so,  oedema  in  addition  or  not, 
frequently  gastro-enteric  catarrhal  symptoms   with  great 
debility  of  digestion  (not  generally  so  marked  in  ferrum 
cases),  evidenced  by  loss  of  appetite,  thirst,  red  tongue  and 
great  weakness.     Litensely  white  appearance  of  face,  with 
loss  of  flesh  (differs  bam  ferrum).     The  appearance  comes^ 
to  resemble  that  of  a  pernicious  and  very  progressive  deep- 
ening of  true  ansdmia,  rather  than  chlorosis,  of  which  there 
is  little  in  arsenic  cases ;  whereas,  with  iron,  the  progress 
is  towards  distinct  chlorosis,  even  if  blended  with  aneemia. 
It  may  be  a  question  whether,  after  arsenicum  has  done  its 
work  in  certain  cases,  ferrum  may  be  called  into  play  with 
advantage.      Further — ^in  persons  where    there    is  mal- 
determination  of  blood  to  certain  organs — ^we  have  iodiwm^ 
In  girls  with  dark  hair  and  eyes,  complexion  pale,  as  in 
the   scrofulo-phthisical  appearance,  or  dirty  and   muddy 
looking,  skin  rough  and  dry,  or  in  persons  in  great  debility 
with  clammy  moisture.     Mind  sensitive  during  digestion, 
melancholy  or  low-spirited,  or  with  irritability  and  sen- 
sitiveness.    GonjunctivsB    dirty  yellow,   cedematous  lids, 
lioss   of   appetite,  or   else   eats  freely,   yet  loses  flesh, 
tendency  to  glandular  affections,  constipation  alternating 
with  diarrhoea,  acrid  leucorrhoea,  oedema  of  feet,  cold  feet 
at  night,  or  flushes  of  heat.     The  face  pale,  yellowish,  or 
changing  to  a  brownish  hue,  with  distressed  weary  appear- 
ance, or  alternating  with  a  dirty  redness  and  coldness  of 
the  face. 

2  s  -2 


400 


CLINICAL  CASES. 


Xoathly  HomoeopftthSe 
Reriew,  Jnly  1,  l&BL 


Pulsatilla. 


Sepia, 


Pallor  of  face  and  skiiiy  yet  a  determination 
of  blood  to  pelvic  organs,  terminating  in  leu- 
icorrhoea  instead  of  menses,  and  sometimes 
[determination  of  blood  to  chest. 
f  Congestive  determination  of  blood  to  pelvic 
organs  well  marked,  bearing  down,  tender- 
ness, constipation,  sometimes  oppression  of 
respiration,  leucorrhoea,  yellow  or  greenish 
water,  badly  smelling,  itching  and  irritation 
of  vulva;  conjnnctivse,  and  face  pale  and 
yellowish,  pimples,  and  styes,  **  green-sick- 
ness," fits  of  involuntary  weeping  and 
laughter.  Temper  sad,  irritable,  or  with 
indifference  and  subject  to  variations ;  more 
suited  to  delayed  and  dark  menses  than  to 
suppressed  menses.  Hence,  more  often 
useful  for  those  disturbances  which  are 
mostly  found  in  women  who  have  already 
menstruated,  but  have  become  again  un- 
^healthy: 
Where  there  is 
no  ansBmia  properly 
speaking,  but  a  per- 
verted plethoric  state, 
with  nose-bleed,deter- 
mination  or  rush  of 
blood  to  the  head, 
face,  &c. 

The  symptoms  of  sulphur  so  much  resemble  those  of 
sepia  in  many  respects,  and  even  in  the  kind  of  its  leucor- 
rhcBa  and  the  perspirations  that  it  is  difiScult  to  discriminate 
between  them  as  to  its  effect  on  the  pelvic  organs  them- 
selves. It  corresponds  rather  to  the  suppressed  forms  of 
anaemia.  The  facial  appearance  of  sulphur  is  very  notable, 
being  more  pale  and  sickly,  the  eyes  sunken,  with  bine 
margins,  or  circumscribed  redness  of  the  cheeks ;  freckled 
complexion,  and  the  altogether  very  depressed  state  of 
vitality  and  general  unhealthy,  debilitated  look,  in  addition 
to  the  abnormal  local  determinations  of  blood  and  their 
results,  enable  us  to  form  one  of  the  sources  of  discrimina- 
tion between  it  and  sepia  on  the  one  hand,  and  hryotua  and 
calcarea  on  the  other. 

"With  reference  to  the  large  groups  of  cases  of  amenor- 
rhoea  which  depend  entirely,  or  in  part,  upon  defined 


: 


1.  Bryonia. 

2.  Calcarea. 


Menses  copious  at 
one  time,  but  have 
become  suppressed. 


iSS^J^TT^*!^         CLINICAL  CASES.  401 

mechanical  or  pathological  deviations  of  the  pelvic 
Btructures^  even  in  young  girls,  such  as  closure  of  the 
cervis  or  os  uteri,  flexions  or  other  malpositions  of  the 
uterus,  there  is  not  opportunity  to  say  anything  here. 
Whether  these  occur  alone  or  in  complication  with  anaamia 
in  addition,  thoy  would  require  descriptions  of  special 
methods  of  treatment,  involving  also  the  sphere  of  the 
Buigeon,  which  it  might  not  be  possible  to  enter  upon  in 
this  paper,  which  is  chiefly  devoted  to  anaemic  amenorrhoea. 

A  differentiation  has  been  made  between  suppression  or 
cessation  of  menses  in  women  during  the  years  of 
menstrual  activity  generally  and  those  cases  where  there 
is  suppression  or  an  absence  of  their  appearance  at  the  age 
of'  puberty  ;  but  practically  at  whatever  time  the  deficient 
menstruation  takes  place,  the  medicines  have  to  be  applied 
in  each  case  according  to  the  indications  by  the  special 
symptoms  of  each  medicine,  and  so  it  comes  to  pass 
that  much  the  same  group  of  medicines  comes  into  force 
for  both  these  forms  of  amenia.  One  reason  for  this, 
no  doubt,  is  because  many  of  the  determining  causes  of 
this  deranged  function  which  apply  to  puberty  come  into 
play  also  under  similar  conditions  during  the  ensuing 
years,  whilst  the  menstrual  function  has  already  been 
established  ;  and  whereas,  in  the  first  instance,  such  cause 
may  have  prevented  the  normal  onset  of  the  menses,  in 
the  second  place  and  later  on  these  same  causes  may  give 
rise  to  a  diminution  or  actual  suppression  of  the  once 
regular  menstrual  discharge. 

Hence,  it  is  not  inconvenient  in  practice  to  classify  the 
treatment  of  these  two  forms  of  amenia,  grouping  the 
symptoms  of  the  medicines  together,  arranging  them 
under  the  general  title  amenorrhoea,  or  amenia. 

Thus  we  may,  with  benefit,  compare  a  case,  for  instance, 
where  a  young  girl  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  has  never 
menstruated  regularly  and  has  deficient  menses,  with  another 
of  a  simUar  age  where  the  flow  has  commenced  with  due 
regularity,  but  has  become  deficient  or  obsolete  from  similar 
or  different  causes  to  those  influencing  the  former. 

It  may  be  safely  asserted,  that  the  general  tone  of  health 
is  below  par,  and  the  constitutional  state  really  at  fault 
in  almost  every  case  where  there  is  amenia,  and  that 
medicine  is  required  to  mend  this,  and  artificial  terms 
might  be  made  to  include  all  such  cases,  such  as  psoric,  &c., 
but  this  would  be  but  for  a  mere  convenience,  and  after  all, 


402        ADVANTAGES  OP  HOMOEOPATHY.    ^rS^^I^^I^ 

would  not  rightly  inclnde  all  cases,  for  although  the  entire 
system  is  at  fault  in  every  case,  nevertheless,  this  derange- 
ment is  not  necessarily  always  congenital  as  is  implied 
when  we  use  a  term  by  common  acceptation,  to  mean 
hereditary  dyscrasia.  Many  forms  of  amenorrhoea  are 
induced  long  afterbirth.  Not  unfrequently,  the  menstrua! 
flow  is  restored  under  gelsemium ;  more  especially  I  ha^e 
noted  this  when  this  medicine  has  been  prescribed 
specially  for  symptoms  quite  remote  from  the  utems,  the 
menses  being  at  the  time  scanty  or  suppressed. 

THE  ADVANTAGES   OF  HOMCEOPATHY  IN  THE 
TREATMENT  OF  THE  INSANE.* 

By  Selden  H.  Talcott,  M.D.,  Middletown,  N.Y. 

We  propose  in  this  paper  to  briefly  pourtray,  in  as  plain 
and  practical  a  manner  as  possible,  the  advantages  to  be 
gained  by  homceopathic  medication  of  those  who  suffer  ^rith 
mental  aberration. 

To  begin  with>  we  will  illustrate  by  presenting  a  con- 
densed synopsis  of  results  already  attained  at  the  only 
homoeopathic  asylum  under  State  patronage  in  this  country 
— ^we  mean  the  one  located  at  Middletown,  N.Y.  This 
institution  was  opened  for  the  admission  of  patients  in 
June,  1874.  It  is,  therefore,  in  the  eighth  year  of  its 
existence  and  active  usefulness.  There  have  been  treated 
at  this  asylum  about  eleven  hundred  patients ;  nearly  nine 
hundred  of  these  have  been  discharged,  and  the  remainder 
— somewhat  over  two  hundred — are  now  under  treatment. 
Of  those  discharged,  over  forty-Jive  per  cent,  were  faUy 
restored  to  mental  health.  The  death  rate  at  this  asylum 
has  varied  from  seven  to  four  per  cent.  During  the  past 
four  years  the  death  rate  has  averaged  a  little  more  than 
four  and  one  half  per  cent. 

Now,  in  considering  these  very  favourable  results,  it  is 
well  to  remember  that  the  asylum  is  located  but  sixty-six 
miles  from  New  York,  in  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
populous  sections  of  the  United  States.  The  material, 
therefore,  which  it  necessarily  receives  is  not  the  best  or 
most  favourable  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  recoveries.  In 
more  recently  settled  States,  where  the  population  is  yet 

*  Beprinted  from  the  New  England  Medical  Gazette, 


gg^fJS?yaff^    ADVANTAGES  OP  HOMCEOPATHT.        403 

vigorous,  and  where  the  inmates  of  as;lnms  share,  to  a 
considerable  extent,  the  general  vigour  of  the  masses,  there 
Are  larger  opportunities  for  successful  treatment  of  the 
insane  than  in  those  commonwealths  which  are  burdened 
with  a  certain  amount  of  aged,  effete,  and  decaying 
humanity* 

Again,  the  managers  of  the  homoBopathic  asylum  at 
Middletown  haye  often  been  requested  (and  these  requests 
have  been  complied  with)  to  admit  to  its  wards,  for  treat- 
ment, patients  who  have  for  years  been  inmates  of  other 
asylums.  This  has  been  done  (to  the  evident  detriment  of 
the  asylum's  curative  records)  for  the  purpose  of  accom- 
modating those  anxious  friends  of  the  insane  who  were 
clutching  eagerly  at  the  last  straw  of  uncertain  hope.  It 
is  but  justice,  therefore,  to  the  homoeopathic  asylum,  while 
'Considering  its  already  notable  achievements,  to  state  also 
some  of  the  disadvantages  against  which  it  has  worked. 
But  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  nomerous  cases,  hopeless  from 
the  very  outset,  have  been  admitted  to  its  wards,  the 
triumphs  achieved  by  the  homoeopathic  asylum  at  Middle- 
town  have  been  such  as  to  warrant  the  establishment  and 
'equipment  of  a  similar  asylum  for  the  insane  in  every  State 
of  the  Union.  Not  only  would  the  cures  wrought  in  such 
Asylums  compensate  for  their  erection,  but  the  competition 
thus  excited  would  stimulate  the  managers  of  other  asylums 
to  better  work  and  more  scrupulous  care  ;  and  thus  the 
general  effects  upon  all  institutions  for  the  insane  would  be 
beneficial  in  the  extreme. 

But  let  us  proceed  to  an  enumeration  of  the  particular 
advantages  that  may  be  derived  from  the  homoeopathic 
treatment  of  the  insane. 

First.  We  believe  that  this  method  of  treatment  is 
safer,  as  well  as  more  curative,  than  any  other.  Every 
physician  knows  the  possible  dangers  which  may  arise  from 
the  administration  of  drugs  in  overpowering  doses.  This 
danger  is  peculiarly  apt  to  occur  in  the  treatment  of  the 
insane ;  and  especially  where  the  effort  is  made  to  subdue  a 
disturbed  patient  by  the  use  of  large  quantities  of  sleep- 
<$ompelling  medicines.  To  overcome  the  mental  excitement 
of  a  case  of  acute  mania  by  such  means  is  a  procedure  that 
invites  most  unwelcome  risks.  Powerful  medication  may 
Bot  only  *'  quiet  the  patient,"  but  it  may  likewise  arrest  or 
pervert  the  functions  of  the  brain  to  an  extent  far  exceeding 
the  disastrous  influences  of  the  disease  which  the  physician 


404         ADVANTAGES  OF  HOM(EOPATHT.    *^S^^fjS?^!f^ 

is  endeaYouriDg  to  combat ;  and  thus  the  new  pathological 
changes  induced  by  the  drug  may  prove  greater  obstacles 
to  recovery  than  the  original  malady.  From  a  careful  study 
of  their  histories,  .we  are  forced  to  the  opinion  that  many 
patients  have  been  hurried  into  dementia  by  the  unwise  use' 
of  subduing  sedatives,  who  might,  under  milder  medica- 
tion, have  been  permanently  and  safely  restored  to  physical 
and  mental  health. 

Moreover,  when  a  patient  is  placed  under  the  benumbing 
influences  of  such  remedies  as  hydrate  of  chloral,  or  the 
bromides,  it  is  impossible  after  that  to  detect  with  accuracy 
the  actual  condition,  progress,  and  severity  of  the  disease 
which  one  is  attempting  to  treat.  The  work  of  curing  the 
sick  in  such  cases  has  degenerated  to  a  game  of  blind- 
man's-buff.  The  physician's  eyes  are  bandaged,  as  it  were, 
by  his  own  hands,  and,  thus  equipped  for  battle  with 
disease,  he  blindly  and  vainly  attempts  to  catch  a  care. 
But  too  often,  alas !  for  the  patient,  the  Fates  do  not 
favour  him. 

Secondly.  Patients  who  recover  under  homoeopathic 
treatment  are  less  liable  to  relapse  than  those  who  are 
supposed  to  recover  under  massive  dosage.  Nor  do  they 
suffer  from  the  after-effects  of  extensive  medication.  We 
have  no  such  camp  followers  or  disabled  veterans  as 
*' chloral  drunkards,"  or  "  victims  of  the  opium  habit;'' 
nor  are  our  patients,  once  freed  from  the  thraldom  of 
disease,  henceforth  pursued  by  that  Kakus  band  of  brain- 
robbers, — ^the  bromides. 

Those  who  recover  from  their  insanity  by  the  use  of 
homoeopathic  medicines  regain  their  normal  mental  status 
gradually,  but  steadily  and  surely;  and  they  leave  the 
asylum  with  their  systems  unvitiated  by  huge  potions  of 
destructive  poisons.  Drug  danger  to  the  human  system 
can  hardly  be  over-estimated.  For  evidence  of  this  fact 
witness  the  vast,  weary  army  of  those  who  will  suffer  to 
the  end  of  life  from  mercury  and  opium,  from  chloral  and 
bromide  of  potash.  These  drugs  are  like  fire  and  water, 
useful  and  obedient  servants  when  carefully  ,and  economi- 
cally applied,  but  most  dangerous  elements  when  turned 
loose  en  viasse  to  wreak  their  destroying  powers  within  the 
temples  of  helpless  unfortunates. 

Thirdly.  Upon  the  score  of  economy,  we  may  urge  the 
establishment  of  homoeopathic  asylums  and  hospitals  for 
the  treatment  of  the  insane  and  sick.     During  the  yeinr 


S^J^iTiSf*"  ADVANTAGES  OF  HOM(EOPATHY.  405 

1876  there  were  treated  at  the  Homoeopathic  Hospital  on 
Ward's  Island,  N.Y.,  8,077  cases,  at  an  average  yearly  cost, 
for  drugs  and  Uquors,  of  fifty-three  cents  for  each  patient. 
At  Charity  Hospital,  on  Blackwell's  Island — an  institution 
under  old-school  management — there  were  treated  8,621 
cases,  at  an  average  cost,  for  drugs  and  liquors,  of  $1.58 
for  each  patient.  The  saving  to  the  city  of  New  York,  in 
this  instance,  had  homoeopathic  treatment  of  these  patients 
been  substituted  for  the  ''  regular  "  methods,  would  have 
been  $8,621, — a  sum  large  enough  to  purchase  over  one 
thousand  barrels  offlowr  / 

The  death  rate  during  that  year  at  the  Homoeopathic 
Hospital  was  six  and  one-tenth  per  cent.  The  mortality 
at  Charity  Hospital  during  the  same  year  was  eight  and 
one-eighth  per  cent.  So  it  seems  that  in  this  instance,  at 
least,  the  greater  the  amount  of  drugs  used  the  larger  the 
death  rate  became. 

Fourthly.  We  claim  that  under  homoeopathic  treatment 
the  beneficial  effects  of  good  diet,  of  employment,  of  amuse- 
ment, and  of  all  measures  essential  to  speedy  and  sure 
restoration  of  the  insane  are  more  favourably  manifested 
than  under  a  system  of  practice  where  the. forces  of  nature 
are  disturbed  and  overpowered  by  the  use  of  unnecessary 
quantities  of  deleterious  drugs.  The  stomach  that  is 
superfreighted  with  medicine  cannot  receive  and  digest 
with  its  customary  readiness  and  power  the  food  which  is 
necessary  to  recuperate  a  body  that  is  worn  and  enfeebled 
by  disease.  A  brain  stupefied  with  narcotics  cannot 
perform  even  simple  tasks  or  engage  in  light  amusements 
with  that  zest,  enjoyment,  and  benefit  characteristic  of  a 
brain  uninfluenced  by  such  abhorent  forces. 

Fifthly.  The  administration  of  the  laws  of  kindness  is 
most  readily  accomplished  in  an  institution  where  benign 
medication  prevails.  The  patient  whose  faculties  are 
uncancelled  by  the  obliterating  juice  of  the  poppy,  or 
xmburdened  by  the  effects  of  strange  compounds  from  the 
pharmacy,  is  one  who  most  readily  appreciates  the  efforts 
made  for  his  restoration  by  those  around  him.  Though 
suffering  from  the  cankering  curse  of  disease,  be  is  yet  free 
from  the  more  aggravating  stupor  of  drugs ;  and  in  many 
instances  he  enjoys  most  heartily  his  freedom  from  obfus- 
cating medicine,  as  well^s  his  privileges  in  other  directions. 

Sixthly.  In  an  at^yJ^m  where  homoeopathic  treatment 
prevails,  the  patients  aii3  >but  little  inclined  to  delusions  of 


406  MEDICAL  NOTES.         "1S2S:"55??m». 


Bariew.Jnlrl.  tsa. 


1 

poisoning ;  and  if  snch  delusions  do  arise  in  the  minds  of 
the  insane  they  are  more  quickly  dispelled  under  mild  than 
under  heroic  medication.  To  allay,  by  gentle  measures, 
the  fears  of  the  insane  that  they  are  being  killed  or  tor- 
tured by  poison,  is  one  of  the  happiest  achieyements  of 
the  earnest  and  philanthropic  alienist. 

Seventhly.  Where  mild  medicines,  in  palataUe  and 
attractive  form,  are  given  the  insane,  there  is  usually  no 
disgust  excited  in  their  minds  ;  nor  is  hatred  engendered 
in  their  hearts  against  their  attendants.  Hence,  little  or 
no  force  is  required  in  their  administration.  And  to  avoid 
a  necessity  for  restraint,  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane,  is 
to  keep  pace  with  the  requirements  of  our  times. 

We  have  presented  a  few  of  the  reasons  why  we  beliefe 
homoeopathic  treatment  for  the  insane  to  be  the  best  that 
is  known ;  and  we  trust  that  these  reasons  will  receive  the 
thoughtful  consideration  of  those  who  read  them. 

SOME  NOTES  OF  A  KECENT  YISIT  TO  PARIS. 

By  M.  Roth,  M.D. 

DuKiNa  a  short  stay  in  Paris  this  spring,  I  had  opportunities 
for  making  some  observations  on  matters  of  medical  interest, 
a  few  of  which  I  send  for  publication  in  the  Review, 

Depot  Central  de  la  Prefecture, 

In  this  depot  the  daily  average  of  arrested  persons 
is  about  250.  Among  them  are  many  who  have  not 
committed  any  offence,  but  have  been  arrested  as. 
vagabonds.  Not  a  few  try  to  be  arrested  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  a  sleeping  place  for  one  night,  and  of  getting 
some  soup  for  breaHast.  The  place  is  divided  into 
departments,  for  males  and  for  females,  besides  which 
there  are  special  rooms  set  apart  for  old  people,  and  seven 
for  children  who  are  detained  for  vagabondage,  for  theft,  or 
from  having  been  deserted  by  their  parents. 

With  the  permission,  and  by  order  of  the  director  of  the 
depot,  the  brigadier  took  me  through  the  various  rooms. 
The  majority  of  them  are  insufficiently  lighted,  the  single 
^ells  are  provided  with  good  beds,  a  table,  chair,  and 
notwithstanding  a  kind  of  w.c.  being  in  the  cell,  no  bad 
smell  could  be  observed.  Besides  the  cells  for  the  boys^ 
there  were  a  few  small  rooms  fitted  up  for  insane  persons. 


S^J^rnS^         MEDICAL  NOTES.  407 

snch  as  had  a  sadden  attack  of  mental  disease.  Within 
twenty-four  hoars  a  namber  are  liberated,  if  not  accased  of 
any  special  offence,  the  sick  and  insane  are  sent  to  the 
hospitals,  the  others  sent  to  the  varioas  prisons  and 
institutions.  The  principal  object  of  the  depot  is  to  serve 
as  a  transitory  place  for  the  260  persons  arrested  daring  the 
preyious  day. 

Dr.  Tripier's  Treatment  of  Uterine  Fibrous  Tumours. 

5th  April,  1882. — ^My  old  firiend,  Dr.  Tripier,  invited  me 
to  see  his  treatment  of  these  complaints ;  during  the  last 
few  years,  he  has  tried,  partly  through  electrolysis,  partly 
by  local  application  of  absorbent  medicines,  to  relieve  and 
to  cure  the  uterine  fibroma — which  is  very  frequently 
developed  without  the  patient  knowing  that  she  has  any 
tumour.  Dr.  Tripier  has  made  experiments  with  many 
medicines,  and  at  present  he  uses  mostly  the  '' jodure  de 
potassium,"  which  is  mixed  with  various  articles  tagive  it 
a  cylindrical  form,  which  is  injected  through  a  small 
tube  into  the  cavity  of  the  uterus — ^this  injection  is 
repeated  every  other  day  except  during  the  catamenia. 
Amongst  the  ten  patients  whom  I  have  questioned  about 
their  symptoms,  all  told  me  that  they  feel  much  better ; 
one  who  could  neither  walk  nor  stand,  and  who  was 
obliged  always  to  be  in  a  lying  position,  mentioned  as 
a  proof  of  her  improvement,  her  power  of  walking  a  certain 
distance,  and  going  up  stairs  to  the  doctor,  who  lives  on 
the  second  floor ;  another,  who  suffered  much  from  pain, 
constant  nausea,  and  actual  vomiting,  had  lost  these 
symptoms.  At  any  rate  my  friends  who  are  more 
specially  engaged  in  the  treatment  of  female  disease  and 
uterine  ttunours,  will  find  it  very  useful  to  be  more  fully 
acquainted  with  Dr.  Tripier's  treatment. 

Assistance  aux  MutiUs  Pauvres.  The  Society  for  Assisting 
the  Mutilated  Poor  by  living  them  gratis  artificial 
feet,  legs,  arms,  and  hands,  &c. 

6th  April,  1882.— On  the  day  before  I  left  Paris,  Count 
de  Beaufort,  the  philanthropic  and  indefatigable  honorary 
secretary  of  this  society,  which  he  originated  in  1868,  was 
so  kind  as  to  call  on  me  at  the  hotel  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  me  all  the  information  regarding  the  society, 
which  enables  the  poor  amputated,  especially  in  the 
country,    to    do    some    work    by  providing    them    with 


408  MEDICAL  ROTBS.  "SSSL^^?^ 


Beview,  July  1,  vtt. 


artificial  limbs ;  it  thus  prevents  mendicity,  and  improyes 
the  moral  condition  of  the  mutilated  through  occupation 
and  work.  The  society  supplies  not  only  French  bat 
foreign  poor  with  artificial  limbs,  which  are  manufactored 
by  Mr.  Werber,  the  orthopaedic  instrument  maker,  of 
.20,  Bue  de  Bichelieu,  Paris,  at  cost  price,  and  in  manj 
cases,  even  at  less  than  his  own  expense,  as  he  is 
very  kind  to  the  poor.  Every  applicant  for  an  artificial 
limb  has — 

1.  First  to  show  a  certificate  of  poverty. 

2.  To  give  his  name,  place  of  abode,  circumstances  of 
his  family,  the  cause  of  the  amputation,  his  previous  and 
present  occupation. 

8.  He  must  promise  to  inform  the  general  secretaiy 
within  one  month  how  the  artificial  limb  works. 

The  annual  subscription  is  1  franc,  or  ten  pence ;  twenty 
francs  (16  shillings)  paid  at  once  gives  the  title  of  a 
perpetual  subscriber. 

Count  do  Beaufort  accompanied  me  to  Mr.  Werber,  who 
showed  me  the  various  apparatus,  which  have  been 
in  the  first  instance  planned  by  Mr.  De  Beaufort,  who 
had  the  idea  of  taking  pincers  as  his  model  for  a  useful 
hand.  Thus  working  men  are  able  to  grasp  firmly  any 
object  they  have  to  work.  In  other  apparatus  the  hand 
and  fingers  are  placed  in  a  curve,  while  the  thumb  only 
is  moveable.  The  feet  and  legs  are  also  constructed  on  a 
very  simple  plan,  and  the  expense  for  the  various  con- 
trivances varies  from  16  to  25  shillings.  Those  who  are 
more  interested  in  the  subject  will  find  an  interesting 
paper  in  Macvdllan's  Magazine,  written  by  Miss  Wyse,  of 
Frant  Court,  Tunbridge  Wells.  I  may  also  call  attention 
to  a  pamphlet,  Recherclies  sur  la  Prothese  des  Membres, 
par  le  Comte  de  Beaufort,  published  in  1867  by  Asselin, 
which  the  author  was  so  kind  as  to  give  me  a  few  years 
ago.  It  contains  many  interesting  facts,  amongst  others 
the  first  attempts  of  the  mutilated  after  obtaining  an 
artificial  limb.  Thus  a  woman  made  the  first  use  of  ber 
artificial  hand  to  write  the  word  merci  (thanks).  A 
gentleman  sends  a  specimen  of  his  writing  with  his  left 
hand,  and  finishes  with  the  right  artificial  hand ;  a  copy 
of  the  writings  is  reproduced,  and  finishes  with  the  remark 
that  the  wTiter  prefers  to  write  with  the  artificial  right 


M«jtt|THom«op^         CLINICAL  PROOFS.  409 


JUrriew,  July  1, 1882. 


liand.  While  thanking  Count  de  Beanfort  for  his  kind 
attention  in  making  me  acquainted  with  these  and  many 
other  details,  I  hope  that  there  might  be  amongst  the 
readers  of  this  note  some  who  will  endeavour  to  establish 
a  similar  society  in  Great  Britain,  and  thus  benefit  many 
mutilated  poor  by  enabling  them  to  do  some  work  and  to 
prevent  them  from  begging  in  the  streets. 

CLINICAL   PROOFS   OF   THE   EFFICACY   OF 
INFINITESIMAL  DOSES.* 

By  Dr,  p.  Jousset. 

On  the  15th  of  February  I  was  called  to  attend  M.  H. 
The  patient  is  a  man  of  sixty-four  years  of  age,  very  stout 
and  florid,  and  leading  a  very  active  and  busy  life.  He 
lias  a  chronic  gouty  inflammation  of  the  right  knee. 

For  the  last  three  days  the  patient  has  been  attacked 
-each  morning  with  supra-orbital  neuralgia  of  the  left 
side.  The  pain  begins  quite  slightly  with  a  well-marked 
sensation  of  coldness.  It  increases  progressively,  and 
attains  its  climax  at  the  end  of  three  hours.  It  is  then 
accompanied  with  great  heat.  It  persists  to  the  same 
extent  during  an  hour,  then  decreases  gradually,  and 
disappears  entirely  in  the  afternoon. 

This  neuralgia,  then,  presents  three  hours  of  increasing 
pain,  one  hour  of  intense  pain,  and  three  hours  of  diminish- 
ing pain.  The  first  morning  it  commenced  at  nine  o'clock^ 
the  second  at  eleven,  and  the  third  again  at  nine.  It  was, 
then,  a  very  characteristic  neuralgia  of  a  doubly  intermit- 
tent type,  indicating  the  use  of  quinine  in  large  doses ;  and 
if,  as  is  probable,  cure  had  followed  sufficiently  frequently 
repeated  doses  of  this  medicine,  no  medical  man  would 
have  denied  the  curative  virtue  of  sulpliate  of  quinine  in 
the  treatment  of  this  case  of  malarial  fever. 

Nux  vomica  in  the  6th,  12th,  and  then  the  80th  dilution 
was  administered.  The  disease  was  modified  from  the 
first  day  of  its  use,  and  it  was  completely  cured  in  four 
days.  From  what  blindness,  then,  can  one  refuse  to 
infinitesimal  doses  of  nux  vomica  the  credit  which  one 
.accords  to  strong  doses  of  quinine  ? 

The  third  day  of  the  illness  I  prescribed  nux  vomica  6, 
two  drops  in  a  hundred  grammes  of  water  (=3  iij),  three 

*  Translated  from  UArt  Medical  by  Dr.  C.  L.  Tackej. 


410  CLINICAL  PKOOFS.        ^Sj^fjS^Jf!^ 

spoonfuls  to  be  taken  in  the  intervals  of  the  attack — the 
first  just  before  dinner,  the  second  on  going  to  bed,  the 
third  on  waking  in  the  morning. 

4th  day. — This  was  the  day  on  which  the  attack  used  not 
to  begin  until  eleven  o'clock.  It  was  almost  completely 
absent ;  there  were  only  some  slight  twinges  of  pain  between 
eleven  and  four  o'clock.   The  same  medicine  was  continued. 

5th  day. — The  attack  appeared  at  nine  o'clock  as  usual, 
and  lasted  very  severely  until  four  o'clock.  The  same  pre- 
scription was  continued ;  only  instead  of  two  drops  of  6  I 
prescribed  four  globules  of  12  in  a  hundred  grammes  of 
water. 

6th  day. — ^No  attack.  The  neuralgia  was  evidently 
becoming  tertian.     Nnx  vomica  12  continued. 

7th  day. — The  attack  did  not  come  on  until  two  o'clock; 
it  was  much  less  violent^  and  indeed  the  patient  suffered 
but  little  from  it. 

I  prescribed  then  four  globules  of  80  in  the  same  quantity 
of  water  as  before,  to  be  used  in  the  same  way.  For  three 
days  this  medicine  was  continued  in  the  same  strength  as 
a  measure  of  precaution,  but  there  has  been  no  return  of 
the  malady. 

What  can  you  reply  to  this,  you  who  contemn  small 
doses  ?  You  who  do  not  believe  in  the  homoeopathic  law, 
and  who  are  well  satisfied  with  your  incredulity,  because  if 
you  believed  you  would  practise  it,  and  that  would  be 
repugnant  to  you ;  this  is  always  the  reasoning  of  men  who 
are  blinded  by  prejudice  and  scientific  dislike ;  there  always 
is  this  stupid  obstinacy  in  denying  what  you  think  is  not 
in  accordance  with  ordinary  science.  However,  some 
physicians  of  better  spirit  and  of  less  obstinacy  do  not  reply 
to  these  facts  by  absolutely  denying  them,  but  attribute 
them  to  a  cmncidence.  A  cure  has  taken  place  at  the  same 
time  as  an  insignificant  dose  of  7iux  vomica  was  being  given, 
but  of  course  the  medicine  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It 
was  just  a  case  of  intermittent  neuralgia  cured  by  nature. 
But  if  j^ou  had  given  sulphate  of  quinine  in  the  dose  of  a 
gramme  after  the  first  attack,  and  the  disease  had  not 
returned,  you  would  not  have  doubted  but  that  the  medicine 
had  cured  your  patient. 

Coincidence,  spontaneous  cure,  you  say.  Very  well ;  but 
M.  H.  has  twice  before  suffered  from  similar  attacks  of 
supra-orbital  neuralgia.  The  first  was  five  or  six  years 
ago,  and  it  resisted  for  eight  months  enormous  doses  of 


lt^^;TS^'        CLINICAL  PB00F8.  411 


Sertew,  July  1,  ltM8. 


quinine^  injections  of  morphia  constantly  repeated,  sea 
Yoyages,  and  baths.  The  treatment  was  carried  out  by 
Dr.  Hillairety  and  by  Dr.  Delpech,  my  former  colleague,  and 
after  eight  months  of  this  terrible  treatment — and  useless 
as  terrible — ^M.  H.  consulted  me,  and  was  cured  by  ntix 
vomica  12  and  SO  in  a  few  days ! 

But  M.  H.,  who  seems  fated  to  prove  the  efScacy  of 
infinitesimals,  had  again  another  attack  of  the  neuralgia  in 
September,  1880,  and  I  once  more  cured  him  with  nvj: 
vomica  12  and  SO.     And  you  call  these  facts  coincidences  ! 

Confess,  then,  that  there  is  still  one  side  of  medicine  of 
which  you  know  nothing  and  which  you  ought  to  study. 
Ah,  you  say,  very  likely — but  this  M.  H.,  tlus  big  gouty 
man  is  a  sensitive  subject,  and  infinitesimal  doses  of  nux 
vomica  would  not  succeed  with  another  patient.  But  this 
argument,  again,  has  not  a  leg  to  stand  upon.  Open  the 
VArt  Medical  and  you  will  find  a  number  of  similar  cases. 
At  page  S38,  vol.  iii.,  you  will  read  of  several  cases  of  sub- 
orbital and  supra-orbital  neuralgia  occurring  every  morning, 
and  of  intermittent  fevers  cured  by  nux  vomica  in  the  thir- 
tieth dilution.  Volume  xi.  contains  on  page  448  an  account 
of  a  morning,  intermittent,  facial  neuralgia  cured  by  mix 
vomica  12.  And,  finally,  in  volume  xv.,  page  195,  you 
will  find  a  case  of  intermittent  morning  supra-orbital 
neuralgia  cured  by  nux  vomica  12,  after  resisting  three  * 
doses  of  quinine,  two  of  a  gramme  and  a  quarter  and 
another  of  a  gramme  and  a  half. 

However,  physicians  familiar  with  the  method  of  Hahne- 
mann know  that  the  curability  of  supra-orbital  neuralgia 
of  an  intermittent  type,  with  morning  exacerbation,  is  an 
acknowledged  fact  in  homoeopathy. 

A  Case  of  Intermittent  Fever  of  Panama  cured  by  Nux 

Vomica  80. 

M.,  aged  22,  is  affected  with  intermittent  fever,  con- 
tracted at  Panama,  and  with  considerable  engorgement 
of  the  spleen.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  sulpliate  of 
quinine  has  been  administered  with  a  lavish  hand,  but 
though  it  has  to  a  certain  extent  checked  the  paroxysms 
of  fever  it  has  not  cured  the  patient. 

28th  May,  1881,  Adrien  B.  arrived  at  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  to  work  as  a  porter  on  the  canal  scheme. 

28th  July,  1881.  On  this  day,  he  says,  there  was  a 
heavy  fall  of  rain,  followed  by  sufibcating  heat.     On  the 


412  CLINICAL  PROOFS.        "'S^^SSn^ 

* 

same  eTening  he  was  seized  with  a  yiolent  shiyering,  and 
on  the  1st  of  Angnst  he  entered  the  hospital,  where  he 
remained  until  the  14th  of  September. 

The  feyerish  fits  were  quotidian,  and  always  came  on 
about  5  o'clock  in  the  evening  and  lasted  until  1  o'clock 
the  next  afternoon.  During  the  fits  he  was  very  sleepy, 
had  singing  in  the  ears,  felt  in  a  state  of  nervous  tension, 
followed  by  nervous  exhaustion. 

At  the  same  time  he  had  attacks  of  colic,  without  diarr- 
hoea ;  and  his  liver  was  much  increased  in  size,  at  least, 
80  said  the  doctor  in  attendance. 

Treatment. — ^He  was  given  sulphate  of  quinine^  and 
sulphate  of  qvinidine  in  doses  of  from  45  to  60  centigrams, 
with  sulphate  of  iron  and  cinchonine. 

On  September  24th  he  left  the  Isthmus  on  his  return 
to  France. 

On  November  8th,  1881,  he  entered  the  hospital  of 
La  Oharite,  and  became  a  patient  under  Dr.  Desnos,  and 
he  was  there  treated,  as  he  says,  for  pain  in  the  region  of 
the  spleen  of  a  very  violent  character  and  for  general 
anaemia.     He  was  treated  with  quinine  ivine. 

On  the  22nd  November  he  left  La  Charite,  and  on  the 
7th  December  he  became  an  inmate  of  La  Piti6,  under 
Dr.  Audorey,  and  there  he  remained  until  January  22nd, 
1882.  Here  he  was  treated  for  anaemia,  for  hepatic  coUc, 
with  severe  pain  on  a  level  with  the  right  breast,  and  pains 
in  the  right  thigh.  Treatment — ^Injections  of  morphia^ 
iron,  digitaline,  blisters  to  the  thigh. 

From  the  1st  to  the  16th  of  February  there  were  daily 
attacks  of  fever,  with  painful  shootings  in  the  kidneys  and 
shoulders.  The  fit  used  to  begin  in  the  morning  about 
half-past  seven,  and  last  until  three  in  the  afternoon. 
The  two  last  fits  before  he  entered  St.  Jacques'  were  of  the 
tertian  type. 

From  the  1st  to  the  16th  of  February  the  patient  took 
no  medicine. 

February  16th  he  entered  St.  Jacques'.  Beport. — The 
patient  is  a  large-sized  man,  with  a  yellow  tawny  com- 
plexion. The  spleen  is  very  enlarged  (16  centimetres). 
On  the  inner  side  of  the  right  thigh,  a  little  above  the 
internal  condyle,  there  is  a  point  very  painful  to  pressure. 
Treatment — China  80. 

17th. — No  fever.     Continue  china. 

18th. — ^About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  felt  a  rigor. 


I 


SM'SjrSSS!*"         CLINICAL  PROOFS.  418 

and  went  to  bed.  The  thermometer  was  nsed  towards  the 
end  of  the  fit,  and  marked  38.6  (centigrade).  Continue 
china. 

19ih. — No  fever. 

20th. — At  half-past  eleven  in  the  morning  another  fit 
was  ushered  in  by  a  rigor,  and  continued  until  6  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  About  the  middle  of  the  fit  the  tempera- 
ture was  40.2  (centigrade).     Continue  medicine. 

21st. — ^No  fever.     Continue  china  80. 

22nd. — A  fit  commenced  with  a  rigor  about  half-past 
eleven  in  the  morning,  and  lasted  until  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  Temperature  40.8  (centigrade).  After  the  fit 
was  over,  nux  vomica  80  was  prescribed. 

28rd. — No  fever.     Continue  mix  vomica. 

24th. — A  fit  began  at  one  and  lasted  until  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.    Temperature  88.8  (centigrade).    Continue. 

The  fits  of  fever  now  ceased  for  five  days,  but  the  medi- 
cine being  discontinued,  on  the  2nd  of  March  there  was  a 
relapse.  Nux  vomica  80  was  again  prescribed  and  con- 
tinued, and  there  were  no  further  attacks.  On  the  1st  of 
April  the  patient  was  dismissed  cured  and  fit  for  work. 
The  spleen  had  then  diminished  to  nearly  its  normal  size, 
but  the  painful  spot  in  the  thigh  was  in  the  same  condition 
as  when  he  entered  the  hospital.  His  general  condition 
had  greatly  improved. 

In  conclusion,  a  young  man  is  stricken  with  intermittent 
fever  at  Panama :  he  returns  to  France,  and  his  feverish 
fits  are  checked.  But  the  malarial  cachexia  and  the  hyper- 
trophy  of  the  spleen  reaiBt  stdphate  of  quinine  and  ch^ge 
of  climate.  The  fever  reappears  on  February  1st,  in  the 
tertian  form,  and  so  exists,  when  the  patient  is  admitted 
into  St.  Jacques',  on  February  16th.  China  80  is  pre- 
scribed and  continued  for  several  days,  but  in  vain.  The 
fits  of  fever  became  daily  worse,  their  onset  being  now  in 
the  morning. 

Niix  vomica  80  is  prescribed,  and  it  checks  the  fits. 
It  is  left  off  too  soon,  and  the  fits  reappear.  It  is  given  a 
second  time,  and  the  fever  altogether  ceases,  and  the 
general  condition  of  the  patient  rapidly  improves.  The 
action  of  the  medicine  is  again,  then,  in  this  case,  incon- 
testable. 

But,  now,  do  not  suppose  from  these  cases  that  all 
medicines  attain  their  greatest  power  of  cure  in  all  diseases 
in  the  80th  dilution.     Beware  of  this  seductive  theory,  or 

Vol.  26,  No.  7.  2  F 


414  HOMCEOPATHY  IN  NEW  YORK.   ^'^^^^^^ 

yon  will  leave  the  path  of  experience,  fall  into  ways  of 
routine,  and  rapidly  drift  into  iJie  absnrdest  exaggerations 
of  the  pure  high  dilutionists.  Do  not  forget  that  oar 
therapeutics  rest  on  the  basis  of  the  Materia  Medica  of 
experience  and  upon  positive  indications ;  that  the  spirits  of 
hypothesis  and  sectarian  feeling  are  our  greatest  enemies ; 
and  that  it  is  less  permissible  for  us  to  neglect  clinical 
facts  than  it  is  for  others. 

I  can  only  add  this,  that  for  seven  years  I  practised 
medicine  in  a  country  subjected  to  intermittent  fevers,  and 
never  during  that  time  succeeded  in  checking  an  attack 
with  globules  of  sulphate  of  quinine  80.  What  conclusions 
are  we,  then,  to  draw  from  these  facts  ? 

First. — That  the  curative  dose  varies  with  the  disease, 
and  with  the  medicine  we  prescribe. 

Secondly. — That  we  cannot  deny  the  curative  action  of 
infinitesimal  doses  in  certain  cases,  unless  we  give  prejudice 
the  place  of  experience,  and  this  would  be  absurd. 

HOMCEOPATHY  AND  MEDICAL  ETHICS  IN  THE 

STATE  OP  NEW  YORK. 

The  determination  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of 
New  York  to  break  down  the  barriers  which  were  erected 
Bome  years  ago  to  separate  homoeopathic  and  non-homoeo- 
pathic practitioners,  is  creating  no  small  degree  of  excite- 
ment throughout  the  American  Union.  It  is,  we  believe, 
generally  supposed  that  at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  some  effort  will  be  made  to 
counteract  the  efforts  of  the  New  York  Society.  That  any 
attempt  of  this  kind  will  meet  with  success  is  improbable 
enough.  Meanwhile,  in  various  directions,  efforts  are 
being  made  to  sustain  the  measure  which  has  been  adopted 
in  New  York. 

In  the  New  York  Medical  Times  we  find  the  following 
important  extract  bearing  on  this  question  from  the  Medical 
liecord,  published  in  the  same  city : — 

In  the  Medical  Record  of  May  ISth  we  find  the  opinion 
of  Prof.  Theo.  W.  Dwight,  LL.D.,  the  eminent  jurist,  in 
response  to  a  request  of  Dr.  Agnew  (one  of  the  committee 
which  reported  the  new  code)  for  a  study  of  this  subject, 
upon  data  furnished  by  the  "old  code,"  the  "new  code," 
and  the  editorials,  excerpta,  etc.,  of  certain  medical 
journals.     It  seems  to  have  been  the  aim  of  Dr.  Agnew  to 


^S2Sf  MrnS©"''  HOMCEOPATHY  IN  NEW  YORK.  415 

obtain  an  intelligent  and  unprejudiced  criticism  of  the 
questions  involved,  in  the  light  of  pure  ethics,  and  he 
could  not  have  selected  one  more  able  from  every  point  of 
view,  to  make  an  impartial  study,  as  evidenced  by  his  report, 
41  synopsis  of  which  we  reproduce  here : — 

*'  The  rule,  as  I  understand  it,  is  as  follows :  <  Rules  governing 
^antuUoHons.  Members  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  of  the  medical  societies  in  affiliation  therewith,  may 
meet  in  consultation  legally  qualified  practitioners  of  medicine. 
Emergencies  may  occur  in  which  all  restrictions  should,  in  the 
Judgment  of  the  practitioner,  '  yield  to  the  demands  of  humanity.* 
I  find  this  section  in  a  '  Code  of  Medical  Ethics '  laid  down  by 
the  society  for  the  guidance  of  the  action  of  its  members  in 
matters  of  morality  and  conscience.  One  of  the  leading  divisions 
of  this  concerns  the  relations  of  physicians  to  the  public,  another 
the  rules  concerning  consultations,  while  the  third  division 
applies  to  the  relations  of  physicians  to  each  other.  All  of  the 
points,  as  far  as  I  can  observe,  concern  moral  relations,  including 
the  general  observance  of  the  rules  of  kindness,  good  feeling, 
and  humanity  toward  all  men  suffering  pain  and  disease  who  can 
be  relieved  by  medical  skill  and  attention,  as  well  as  the  duties 
of  courtesy  and  mutual  aid  toward  professional  brethren. 

«« In  the  outset,  it  must  be  fiurly  presumed  that  medical  ethics 
are  but  a  branch  of  universal  ethics  of  morality.  They  are  but 
the  application  of  the  general  rules  of  morality  to  special  cases. 
All  intelligent  men  who  have  a  cultivated  moral  sense  are  capable 
of  judging  of  them.  They  ought,  then,  to  square  with  the  rules 
of  general  morality.  Any  special  medical  rule  professing  to  be 
*  ethical,'  which  is  based  on  a  violation  or  restriction  of  the  great 
rules  of  morality,  is  in  itself  'unethical,'  opposed  to  public 
policy,  and  fraught  with  evil  and  disaster  to  the  non-medical 
public  as  well  as  to  physicians  themselves. 

'<  From  this  point  of  view,  the  rule  that  I  have  quoted  above 
must  be  interpreted.  There  is  another  cardinal  rule  of  interpre- 
tation to  be  stated.  This  is,  that  the  whole  of  the  rule  of  the 
society  must  be  taken  into  account.  It  must  be  considered  with 
its  qualification.  Fairly  interpreted,  the  rule  has  the  following 
prominent  points : — (1).  The  members  of  the  State  Medical 
Society  may  meet  in  special  cases  in  consultation  *  legally  quali- 
fied '  practitioners  of  medicine,  not  members  of  the  society,  in 
fact  any  and  all  of  that  class,  notwithstanding  general  restrictions 
on  this  subject.  (2).  The  special  case  referred  to  is  an  '  emer- 
gency.' An  emergency  is  a  matter  of  pressing  necessity — an 
unforeseen  casualty — a  sudden  occasion  ('  Worcester's  definition 
of  Emergency ').  (4).  The  object  of  giving  way  to  the  •  emer- 
gency '  is  *  to  yield  to  the  demands  of  humanity.'     (See  the 

2  F-2 


416  HOMCEOPATHY  IN  NEW  YOBK.    ^'^^^^^^^ 


rule.)  Still  more,  the  roles,  as  I  observe,  apply  equally  to 
physicians  and  surgeons.  All  through  the  code,  medical  and 
surgical  practice  is  referred  to.  Under  this  rule,  the  qnestion 
might  arise  whether  a  '  legally  qualified  practitioner  of  medicine' 
might  call  in  consultation  an  eminent  surgical  practitioner  of 
another  school.  The  question  might  be  as  to  the  direction  of  a 
gun  shot  wound,  whether  it  extends  from  below  upward,  or  from 
above  downward.  This  may  be  vital  to  the  treatment,  and  bis 
opinion  maybe  to  the  last  degree  important,  and  so  in  a  thousand 
other  cases  where  all  schools  of  medicine  act  in  common.  The 
object  of  the  consultation,  I  repeat,  is  the  demands  of  hmnanity. 
It  is  the  suffering  patient  who  requires  it,  and  who  may  have  no 
other  succour.  (4).  The  regulation  is  permissiye.  No  one  is 
required  to  follow  it.  If  you  ask  how  shall  abuse  be  avoided, 
the  answer  is,  the  physician  who  is  called  in  consultation  must 
exercise  hh  own  judgment.  To  that  in  the  end  all  questions  of 
ethics  must  come.  Ethical  rules  are  established  only  to  guide 
the  judgment.  The  great  value  of  the  new  role,  if  it  bave  a 
value,  as  I  akn  sure  it  has,  is  that  it  substitutes  an  elastic  for  an 
iron-clad  rule.  The  Medical  Society  says  in  sobstance  to  tbe 
practitioner,  we  will  not  place  you  under  a  stem  rule  witiioni 
any  exceptions.  We  retain  the  general  rule  by  impEeation. 
Humanity  may  demand  its  relaxation.  Whether  it  does  so  or 
not  in  the  special  case,  we,  as  a  society,  have  no  means  of 
determining ;  of  that  we  must  leave  you,  the  practitioner,  in 
possession  of  the  particular  facts  in  the  case,  to  be  the  judge. 

«  Having  thus  considered  the  true  scope  and  purport  d  &b 
rule,  the  remaining  question  is.  Is  it  right  ?    Is  it  ethical  ?   The 
question  answers  itself :   Shall  a  true  physician  hesitate  bdbre 
any  lawful  acts  when  driven  to  it  by  the  *  demands  of  humanity?* 
The  patient  does  not  exist  for  the  rule  of  the  profession,  but  the 
medical  profession  always  and  ever3rwhere  for  the  good  of  tiie 
patient.    It  is  par  excellence  the  profession  which  deals  with  man 
in  a  *  matter  of  humanity.'      Take  away  from  it  that  element, 
and  you  shear  from  it  its  royal  prerogative.     If  this  rule  is  not 
right,  then  it  should  be  put  in  this  form :    '  Members  of  this 
society  shall  not  consult  with  legally  qualified  practitioners  of 
any  other  society  than  our  own,  not  even  if  an  emergency  arises 
in  which  the  demands  of  humanity  require  it.'     Can  any  nghi- 
minded  physician  vote  for  such  a  resolution  ?     And  yet  is  not 
that  the  position  that  the  opponents  of  this  regulation  must  take? 
I  should  say  unhesitatingly  tiiat  any  such  ground  taken  expressly 
or  by  implication  is  contrary  to  public  pohcy  and  worthy  of 
pubhc  reprobation. 

'<  There  is  another  suggestion  which  may  not  be  ont  of  place. 
The  State  Medical  Society  exercises  a  right  conferred  on  it  by 
the  statutes  of  the  State.      It  is  not  a  mere  voluntary  society^ 


B^^J^THm*^  HOMOEOPATHY  IN  NEW  YORK.  417 

-*■ 

bnt  has  certain  compulsory  powers  conferred  npon  it  by  law.  It 
profits  by  the  exclusion  of  unqualified  persons  from  practice. 
When  the  State  authorises  practitioners  of  other  schools  to 
practise  medicine,  does  not  courtesy  to  State  authority  dictate 
recognition  of  their  fitness  for  association  ?  How  can  ^e  State 
Medical  Society  consistently  demand  public  recognition  by  reason 
of  State  legislation,  and  yet  deny  it  to  others  who  have  pre- 
•dsely  the  same  authority. 

<«  I  cannot  but  think  that  the  rule  that  you  have  brought  to 
my  attention  is  sound  and  salutary,  and  worthy  of  the  advancing 
stage  of  medical  thought  and  ethicfd  refinement.  Let  us  never 
sacrifice  the  demands  of  humanity  to  professional  etiquette,  nor 
imitate  the  poor  King  of  Spain,  who  is  reported  to  have  lost  his 
life  because,  by  the  laws  of  a  rigorous  Spanish  ceremonial,  no 
one  was  at  hand  who  was  professionally  competent  to  move  his 
•chair  from  the  fire  that  was  slowly  gnawing  at  his  vitals." 

Our  contemporary  then  makes  the  following  comments 
on  this  opinion  : — 

"  In  view  of  the  foregoing,  how  narrow  and  -insignificant 
appear  the  sentiments  of  some  of  our  contemporaries  in  this 
discussion,  who  talk  of  licensing  the  quack  for  affiliation  with 
the  educated  physician. 

*'  We  have  no  defence  for  quacks,  for  lack  of  education,  or  for 
that  laxity  in  ethics  which  begets  either  of  these ;  neither  are 
we  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  the  public  needs  protection  from 
the  hoard  of  pretenders  which  prey  upon  it,  and  it  is  just  as 
important  that  there  should  be  legal  restrictions  guarding  the 
portals  of  the  medical  profession  as  of  any  other.  Experience, 
the  world  over,  has  shown  the  necessity  of  safeguards,  both  in 
behalf  of  the  professional  body  and  also  in  protection  of  the 
public  from  imposition. 

**  The  legal  profession  has  found  it  necessary  to  protect  itself 
and  the  public,  by  means  of  statutes  in  their  behalf,  and  the  Bar 
Association  is  ever  on  the  alert  for  offenders  against  the  ethics  of 
morality,  honesty  and  justice,  and  upon  the  same  grounds  the 
medical  profession  not  only  has  a  right  but  is  bound  to  proceed. 
For  this  purpose  the  precepts  of  the  '  GK)lden  Rule  *  are 
sufficient  I  Our  friends  in  this  controversy  should  not  lose  sight 
^f  the  fact  that  the  quacks,  the  uneducated  and  the  pretenders, 
jure  not  confined  to  any  particular  school  or  sect,  for  they  are  to 
be  found  in  all,  and  it  should  be  our  purpose  to  ferret  them  out, 
no  matter  what  the  consequences,  and  to  so  guard  the  future  that 
^the  possibility  of  their  getting  in  be  reduced  to  the  minimum. 

**  It  is  a  well-known  principle  of  consultation,  in  case  of  dis- 
;agreement  of  the  consultants,  that  the  points  of  difference  shall 
be  stated  to  the  patient  or  to  his  representative,  and  the  decision 

to  who  shall  have  the  further  conduct  of  the  case  is  left  with 


418  HOMOEOPATHY  IN  NEW  YORK.   ^  E^Jf  jS^^!' 

the  party  most  iBterested,  thereby  granting  to  the  patient  all  the 
lights  and  advantages  that  could  accrue  from  such  deliberation. 
In  case  an  emergency  should  bring  together  consultants  whose 
Tiews  could  not  be  reconciled,  the  course  to  be  adopted  is 
obvious,  the  patient  would  not  be  edlowed  to  suffer  on  account  of 
it,  and  there  would  be  no  humiliation  of  either  consultant.  This 
state  of  things  sometimes  occurs,  and  it  would  doubtless  be 
better  for  the  patient  if  it  were  more  frequent,  for  it  too  often 
happens  that  consultation  is  a  mere  JarcBy  consequent  upon  a 
forced  agreement,  or  quasi  indorsement  of  the  treatment  being 
employed.  In  view  of  this  state  of  affairs  and  of  the  fact  thai 
the  various  so-called  schools  differ  only  in  a  single  point  and  that 
of  therapeutics,  we  do  not  see  wherein  lies  the  objection  to  con- 
sultation of  practitioners  of  differing  views.  On  the  contraiy, 
it  might  result  in  a  greater  good  to  Uie  patient  to  say  nothing  of 
the  possibility  of  its  being  of  service  to  either  or  both  of  the 
consultants. 

''  It  has  often  been  our  lot  to  consult  with  colleagues  of 
different  therapeutical  beliefs,  and  a  compromise  of  principles 
has  never  thus  resulted,  although  wo  can  imagine  cases  in  which 
agreement  would  be  impossible  on  account  of  lack  of  knowledge 
of  that  mode  of  procedure  known  only  to  our  school. 

*'  The  old  school  practitioner  must  become  familiar  with  all 
therapeutic  means  before  he  can  expect  to  be  of  service  in  a  case 
in  which  that  principle  may  enter  as  a  factor.  It  is  astonishing 
how  self- satisfied  some  of  these  *  regulars  '  are  with  their  know- 
ledge of  therapeutics,  notwithstanc^g  their  ignorance  of  the 
indlvidualisation  of  drug  effects  and  of  the  application  of  small 
doses. 

'*  They  argue  as  if  they  knew  it  all,  and  there  could  be  nothing 
outside  their  narrow  limits  worth  knowing. 

'<  Our  local  society  '  declares  that  it  regards  with  disfavoar 
any  steps  taken  to  lessen  or  obliterate  the  distinction  and  safe- 
guards between  an  honourable  practice  of  medicine  founded  upon 
science  and  that  founded  upon  any  of  the  current  delusions  and 
exclusive  medical  systems  of  the  day,*  and  it  arrogates  to  itself 
the  ability  and  right  to  decide  these  points  with  a  knowledge  of 
only  one  side  of  tiie  controversy. 

*'  They  dare  not  study  our  indications  for  the  use  of  medicines, 
and  when  they  do  snatch  a  bit  of  experience  from  us,  they  herald 
it  as  originating  in  their  own  brains. 

*'  It  is  evident  that  honesty  and  justice  requires  different  treat- 
ment, and  this  must  be  insisted  upon  before  consultation  can 
become  general  and  of  universal  service  to  the  public. 

''  At  a  time,  as  at  present,  when  our  school  is  in  a  most 
flourishing  condition,  its  number  of  adherents  rapidly  increasing* 
its  number  of  practitioners  receiving  recruits  daily  from  the 


iSSSSfj^mi^'!^  REVIEWS.  419 

ranks  of  the  old  school,  its  institatioBS  heing  built  up  so  that 
now  nearly  every  city  of  any  size  has  a  hospital  and  other 
organisations  distinctively  its  own,  it  would  be  useless  to  suggest 
a  dishonourable  or  unfair  capitulation. 

'*  All  we  ask  is  that  we  receive  that  treatment  which  is 
becoming  to  all  gentlemen.  Our  position  is  one  which  entitles 
ns  to  demand  such  terms,  and  we  are  going  to  insist  upon  this, 
or  the  *  flag  of  truce '  will  have  been  in  vain. 

'*  It  is  quite  amusing  to  observe  how  the  rank  aud  file,  includ- 
ing some  medical  journals,  are  whipped  into  line  and  silence, 
after  giving  expression  to  sentiments  of  a  liberal  character 
regarding  this  matter. 

''What  a  glorious  spectacle  will  be  presented  when  the 
American  Medical  Association,  through  its  three  hundred  or  so 
delegates,  attempts  to  discipline  its  thousands  of  members  by 
means  of  punishment  to  be  applied  to  a  portion  within  the 
Empire  State  !  If  we  are  not  mistaken  these  members  will  not 
quietly  submit  to  the  castigation,  but  will  be  found  fully  equal  to 
their  own  defence  unless  they  see  flt  to  ignore  the  meeting 
altogether ! 

<<  Much  has  been  written  about  the  insigniflcance  in  point  of 
numbers  of  the  body  which  adopted  the  '  new  code,'  but  as  far 
as  we  can  see,  the  gathering  was  much  larger  proportionately 
than  such  meetings  generally  are,  and  the  sentiments  adopted 
were  as  fair  exponents  of  the  universal  feeling  as  representa- 
tive bodies  usrudly  express.  That  there  was  no  attempt  to 
spring  a  trap  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  subject-matter  had 
been  under  consideration  for  a  year  or  more  in  the  hands  of  a 
committee.  It  is  £Edr  to  presume  [that  the  profession  in  general 
throughout  the  State  could  have  held  no  very  serious  objections 
to  iixe  proposed  code,  or  it  would  have  been  defeated.  The 
principal  point  at  issue  seems  to  have  been  between  no  code  at 
all  and  the  one  which  was  adopted.  It  is  now  asserted  upon 
good  authority  that  the  code  will  be  abolished  entirely  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  State  Society,  leaving  the  question  of  consultation 
in  the  hands  of  the  individual  practitioner  to  decide  for  himself 
in  each  particular  case." 


REVIEWS. 


Supersalinity  of  the  Blood ;   an  Accelerator  of  Senility  and  a 
.  Cause  of  Cataract.   By  J.  Compton  Bdbnett,  M.D.   London : 
Homoeopathic  Publishing  Company.     1882. 

In  the  pathogenesy  of  Natrum  MuriaOcum  and  in  efforts  to 
cure  cataract  by  medicines.  Dr.  Burnett  has  already  shown  an 
active  interest.     In  the  little  book  before  us  he  examines  the 


420  RPVIFWa  Monthly  Hoinasopa|Wfl 

^^^  UBi  VJEWB.  Beriew,  July  1, 1881. 


experiments  made  in  Grennany  by  Ennde  and  Eohnhorn,  and  in 
England  by  W.  B.  Biohardson,  which  go  to  proye  that  a  per- 
sistent dosing  of  cats  and  frogs  with  common  salt,  cnhninates  in 
the  production  of  a  form  of  cataract.  <*  The  physiological  effect 
of  salt,"  writes  Dr.  Bnmett,  **is  to  dry  up;  and  when  any 
portion  of  the  living  tissue  gets  too  dry,  then,  if  the  exsiccation 
persists,  the  vital  state  of  the  tissues  is  altered,  and  morbid 
metamorphosis  may  ensue." 

Such,  Dr.  Burnett  believes  to  be  the  action  of  salt  upon  the 
tissues  of  the  lens.  The  tissues  of  the  lens  being  thus  capable 
of  modification  in  a  morbid  direction  by  a  substance  acting 
specifically  upon  them,  he  argues  that  the  disease  ought  to  be 
cured  in  a  like  manner.  It  having  been  proved  by  the  authori- 
ties already  mentioned  that  salt  produces  cataract  in  cats,  frogs, 
pigs,  and  fish,  Dr.  Burnett  has  enquired  whether  there  is  any 
connection  between  the  development  of  cataract  in  the  human 
subject  and  an  unusual  penchant  for  table  salt.  In  support  of 
the  opinion  that  free  indulgence  in  salt  will  cause  the  lens  tissue 
to  degenerate,  he  adduces  twelve  exsmples  of  cataract  occurring 
in  persons  accustomed  for  many  years  to  take  salt  in  unusual 
quantities.  No  one  knows  better  than  Dr.  Burnett  that  a  dozen 
observations  prove  nothing,  but  at  the  same  time  they  do  suggest 
the  possibility,  and  more  than  the  possibility  of  such  a  connec- 
tion. The  enquiry  is  a  very  simple  one,  and  were  the  salt-eating 
habits  of  every  cataractous  patient  consulting  the  same  practi- 
tioner during  a  certain  period  of  time  enquired  into,  the  in- 
teresting and  really  important  question  raised  by  Dr.  Burnett 
might  be  in  a  fair  way  of  being  answered. 

As  we  have  now  an  ophthalmic  department  at  the  London 
Homoeopathic  Hospital,  an  enquiiy  of  this  kind  might  very  veil 
be  set  a-going  there. 

We  commend  Dr.  Burnett's  book,  and  the  careful  considera- 
tion of  the  enquiry  it  suggests,  to  our  medical  brethren. 


The  New  Handbook  of  Dosimetric  Therapeutics,  or  the  Treatment 
of  Disease  by  Simple  Remedies,  By  Dr.  Ad.  Bubograsvb. 
Translated  from  the  French  and  Edited  by  Henbt  Abthub 
Allbutt,  M.R.C.P.E.  and  L.S.A.,  &c.  London :  David 
Bogue,  1882. 

In  1868  Dr.  Burggraeve,  the  senior  surgeon  of  the  hospital  at 
Ghent,  published  a  little  book  entitled  Mlthode  Atomistique^  ou 
Nouveau  Mode  de  Prescrire  Us  Medicaments,  of  which  we  gave 
some  account  in  the  September  number  of  our  Review  in  that 
year.  M.  Burggraeve 's  new  method  consisted  then  '*in 
triturating  a  medicine  with  sugar  of  milk  for  two  hours  or  les8» 
in  order  to  reduce  it  to  an  atomistic  condition."     ''  Of  a  medicine 


^^^J^^HS^  NOTABILU.  421 

SO  prepared,'*  he  said,  '*  the  dose  to  be  given  is  a  millegTamme  " 
(l-65th  of  a  grain).  The  prolonged  trituration  was  clearly 
stated  to  have  been  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the 
aeti-vity  of  the  substance  by  affecting  molecular  division. 

The  administration  of  substances  so  prepared  and  dispensed 
as  '*  granules  *'  M.  Burggraeve  dignifies  with  the  name  of  a 
**  system  of  medicine."  To  us  it  appears  as  simply  a  pharma- 
ceutical process.  In  the  book  before  us  we  are  told  what 
**  granules  *'  ought  to  be  prescribed  in  every  form  of  disease ; 
but  on  what  principle  one  medicine  is  preferred  to  another  we 
have  no  information  whatever.  In  many  instances  it  would 
appear  that  the  medicines  ordinarily  prescribed  in  certain  condi- 
tions by  homceopathists  are  those  which  are  most  esteemed  by 
M.  Burggraeve,  while  in  others  there  would  seem  to  be  no 
obvious  reason  why  they  are  recommended.  Thus  (p.  188)  we 
are  told  that  in  pleurisy  ''the  first  symptoms,  such  as  initial 
shivering  and  pungent  pain,  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the 
necessity  of  giving  strychnine  or  qumine  (arsemate),  digUdUns^ 
and  cicutine,''  though  why  we  should  do  so  does  not  appear. 

Beally,  the  only  fact  that  appears  clearly  stated  in  Dr. 
Allbutt*s  translation  is  that ''  no  granules  are  genuine  or  reliable 
bat  those  which  are  manufactured  by  M.  Chauteaud,  the 
eminent  Parisian  pharmacist.  To  them  only  has  Dr.  Burggraeve 
attached  his  signature  as  proof  of  their  reliability.''  As  i^e  mode 
of  preparation  of  such  alkaloids  as  acomUne^  digitaUne,  quinine^ 
strychnine^  and  the  like  is  well  known  to  pharmaceutical 
chemists,  there  is,  we  presume,  somewhat  of  mystery  attaching 
to  the  manufacture  of  M.  Burggraeve's  granules.  Such  being 
the  case,  we  can  only  regard  &s  book  as  a  long  drawn  out 
advertisement  of  the  pharmaceutical  preparations  of  a  French 
chemist.  It  certainly  sets  forth  no  *'  system  "  of  therapeutics 
whatever. 


NOTABILIA. 


LONDON  HOMCEOPATHIO  HOSPITAL. 

We  gladly  draw  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the  alterations 
in  the  out-patient  department  of  the  Hospital,  which  have  been 
in  operation  since  the  Ist  June. 

A  special  section  for  Diseases  of  the  Eye  has  been  opened 
lately  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Byres  Moir,  and  there  is  already 
a  satisfactory  number  of  cases  under  treatment.  The  daily 
ave;rage  of  in-patients  for  the  last  few  weeks  has  been  50. 

The  managers  have  just  received  a  present  of  a  cot  for  the 
*^  Barton  "  (Children's)  Ward,  from  an  old  Mend  of  the  Hospital. 


422  NOTABILIA.  "^"^^^TSr^ 


BeTiew,  Jnly  1, 1S8S. 


The  return  of  patients  admitted  to  Jane  Tth,  affords  the 
following  statistics : — 

Bemaining  in   Hospital  at  date   of  last  return 

(May  9th)      ...         ...         ...     58 

Admitted  between  that  date  and  June  7th  ...     45 

98 
Discharged  during  the  same  period        ...         ...     46 

Bemaining  in  Hospital  on  June  7th        ...         ...     52 

The  number  of  new  out-patients  during  the  period  from  May 
9th  to  June  7th  has  been  526. 

The  total  number  of  out-patients'  attendouces  during  the 
same  period  has  been  2,008. 

Out-Patient  Department. — On  and  after  the  Ist  June,  1882| 
medical  officers  will  be  in  attendance  in  the  out-patient  depart- 
ment of  this  Hospital  daily  (Sundays  excepted)  at  8  p-m., 
for  the  treatment  of  General  Diseases  of  Men,  Women  and 
Children.  Medical  officers  also  attend  at  8  p.m. :  for  Dis- 
eases of  the  Eye,  every  Monday  and  Thursday ;  for  Diseases 
peculiar  to  Women,  every  Tuesday ;  for  Surgical  Cases,  every 
Tuesday ;  for  Diseases  of  ^e  Skin,  every  Thursday ;  for  Diseases 
of  the  Ear,  every  Saturday. 

The  doors  for  the  admission  of  out-patients  are  opened  at 
2.80  p.m.,  and  closed  precisely  at  8.80  p.m. 

Out-patients  will  not  be  admitted  after  the  doors  are  closed. 

The  dentist  attends  every  Monday  at  9  a.m. 

HOMGEOPATHY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  tone  in  which  homoeopathic  practitioners  have  received  the 
alterations  in  the  code  of  so-called  ^'  ethics,''  recently  resolved 
on  by  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York,  indicates 
the  strength  of  the  position  held  by  our  colleagues  across  the 
Atlantic.  In  reference  to  this  subject,  one  which  appears  to  be 
very  generally  discussed  at  the  present  time  throughout  the 
medical  journals  of  the  States,  The  Hdknemannian  MonUily 
(June)  writes  as  follows  : — 

''  If  it  should  ever  come  to  pass  that  allopathic  physicians,  in 
their  relation  to  homoeopathic  physicians,  should  govern  their 
conduct  by  those  principles  and  precepts  which  characterise  the 
acts  of  gentlemen,  it  would,  of  course,  be  a  glad  day  for  homa?o- 
pathists — ^glad  simply  because  the  profession,  of  which  they  form 
a  part,  would  thus  be  cleansed  of  its  deepest  disgrace,  and  all 
physicians  could  then  look  the  members  of  other  learned  pro- 
fessions right  in  the  face,  and  not  feel  themselves  the  butt  and 
laughing  stock  of  Christendom. 


£!*i^J^"Ml^  NOTABILIA.  423 

''Bnt  what  other  benefit  would  it  be  to  us?  The  time  was 
when  homoeopathic  physicians  were  in  sore  need  of  the  privileges 
of  consultation  with  aUopathic  surgeons  and  specialists,  because 
they  had  none  in  their  own  school.  Now,  however,  we  are  well 
supplied  with  both,  as  well  in  quality  and  almost  in  quantity  as 
is  the  other  school.  Our  pathologists  and  diagnosticians  are  also 
rapidly  taking  rank  with  theirs.  As  to  questions  of  treatment, 
all  progressive  homoeopathic  physicians  are  to  be  regarded  as 
therapeutic  apedalists,  and  if  one  of  them  should  call  an  allopath 
to  aid  him  in  the  selection  of  remedies,  he  would  be  regarded  as 
far  advanced  in  cerebral  degeneration.  As  well  might  a  well- 
skilled  ophthalmologist  take  counsel  with  a  general  practitioner 
respecting  the  treatment  of  a  catai'act  or  a  glaucoma.  We  have 
no  possible  interest,  then,  in  the  solution  of  the  consultation 
question,  save  only  as  it  may  affect  the  honour  of  the  profession 
of  medicine.'' 

HOMCEOPATHY   IN    CLEVELAND. 

It  affords  us  pleasure  to  present  the  following  authentic  reports 
of  the  results  of  practice  in  two.  of  the  pubUc  institutions  of 
Cleveland,  and  the  ratio  of  deaths  of  the  Allopathic  and  Homoeo- 
pathic Schools  of  Medicine  for  the  year  1881. 

The  Cleveland  Orphan  Asylum,  which  was  for  two  years  under 
the  medical  direction  of  Dr.  F.  H.  Barr,  had  three  epidemics : 
scarlet  fever,  measles  and  diphtheria.  Though  maUgnant  in 
character,  all  recovered. 

For  the  eleven  years  Dr.  Biggar  was  surgeon-in-charge  of  the 
Cleveland  Workhouse,  11,789  patients  were  treated,  25,068 
prescriptions  dispensed.  There  were  85  deaths.  A  comparison 
with  the  best  mortality  reports  of  other  workhouses  gives  this 
institution  a  ratio  of  mortality  86  per  cent,  better  than  the 
Detroit  Workhouse  and  57  per  cent,  better  than  the  Allegheny, 
and  450  per  cent,  better  than  the  Ohio  Penitentiary. 

For  the  year  1881  the  ratio  of  deaths  in  Cleveland  to  each 
aUopathic  docter  is  16.54,  and  for  each  homoeopathic  doctor  7.48 
— a  percentage  of  121.12  better  than  the  allopathic  school. 

Of  all  reported  cities,  the  homoeopathic  doctors  of  Cleveland 
have  the  smallest  ratio  of  deaths  and  the  largest  percentage  over 
the  allopaths. 

THE     AMERICAN     OPHTHALMOLOGICAL    AND 
OTOLOGICAL     SOCIETY. 

At  the  meeting  of  this  Society  held  at  Indianapolis  on  the  14th 
ult.,  during  the  sessions  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeo- 
pathy, Dr.  Dudgeon,  Dr.  Burnett,  and  Dr.  Cooper  were  elected 
honorary  members. 


424 


KOTABILIA. 


Moaflily  HomoBOpittlc 
Review,  July  1,  18tt. 


THE  LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMOSOPATHY. 

We  have  mnch  pleasure  in  stating  that  Dr.  Dudgeon  has,  at 
the  request  of  the  committee  of  Ihis  Institation,  consented  to 
deliver  the  Hahnemann  lectnre  at  the  opening  of  the  ensuing 
session. 

The  lectures  for  the  month  of  July,  on  "  The  Principles  of 
EbmoBopathy/*  will  he  delivered  hy  Dr.  Hughes,  as  follows: — 
July    6th.     "  The  Philosophy  of  Homoeopathy." 
Idth.     \^  Hahnemann's  Theories.*' 
20th.     "  The  History  of  Homoeopathy." 
27th.     "  The  Claims  of  Homoeopathy." 


>> 


>> 


HOMOEOPATHIC  INTERNATIONAL  CONVENTION,  1881. 
The  following  is  the  balance  sheet  presented  by  the  treasurer : — 


Income. 

&    s.     d. 
By  Subscriptions     188  18     6 


£188  18    6 


Expenditure. 

£    8.  d. 

Postage        10  6 

Printing        12  18  2 

Beporting     40    0  0 

Hire  of  Boom      ...  24  14  0 
Conversazione  at  the 

Dilettante  Club      22    0  0 

Sundries      3  10  9 

Paid  Dr.  Hughes  to- 
wards Transactions  79  10  0 


£183  18    5 


Francis  Black,  Treasurer, 
Examined  and  found  correct, 

AtiFbrt)  C.  Pope, 

Pro  Committee. 


LEAD  POISONING. 

Two  deaths  having  lately  taken  place  in  the  North  of  England 
from  lead  poisoning,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  best  known 
safeguards  for  securing  the  health  of  the  workpeople  had  been 
taken  by  the  owners  of  the  works,  leads  to  the  question  whether 
there  are  any  antidotes  for  preventing  lead  seriously  affecting  the 
health  of  those  engaged  in  its  manipulation.  At  Hebbum,  on 
the  Tjrne,  there  are  extensive  works  where  the  de-silvering  of 
lead  is  carried  on  by  Pattison*s  beautiful  process,  and  where  white 
lead  is  made  on  an  extensive  scale.  In  the  latter  branch  in  par- 
ticular a  good  many  females  are  employed,  some  of  them  in 
putting  the  lead  through  the  rolls ;  but  with  respect  to  all  of 


SSSt^J^^ST"  NOTABILIA.  425 

them  most  stringent  regulations  are  laid  doim,  so  as  to  preTent 
the  lead  affecting  them  in  any  way.  There  are  baths  and  lava- 
tories which  the  females  are  obliged  to  avail  themselves  of  at 
certain  times*  for  it  is  considered  that  the  hands  should  be 
frequently  and  thoroughly  cleansed  several  times  a  day,  and  that 
all  should  bathe  at  least  once  a  week.  In  addition  to  these 
necessary  appliances,  provision  is  made  for  a  daily  supply  to  all 
hands  of  nulk,  beer,  and  acidulated  drinks  to  be  used  for  the 
purpose  of  washing  out  the  month,  and  counteracting  the  dele- 
terious effects  of  the  lead ;  whilst  recnpirators  were  also  provided. 
But  the  rules  made  in  the  interests  of  the  women  were  frequently 
evaded  by  many  of  them,  especially  as  to  the  bathings,  although 
persons  were  specially  appointed  to  see  that  the  rules  were  fully 
carried  out.  Yet  it  is  stated,  on  high  medical  authority,  that 
were  these  rules  fully  adopted,  there  would  be  very  few  of  what 
are  termed  **  lead  cases."  In  almost  every  branch  connected 
with  the  working  of  lead,  those  engaged  are  subject  to  certain 
diseases,  which  turn  out  to  be  more  or  less  fatal  to  those  who  are 
attacked.  StiU  it  has  been  shown  that,  even  by  dietary,  the 
ordinary  effect  of  lead  can  be  counteracted,  although  there  are 
some  persons  who  are  more  susceptible  of  the  effects  of  lead  than 
others  are,  and  who,  under  ahnost  any  circumstances,  will  in  the 
long  run  succumb  to  its  poisoning  powers,  more  especially  if  they 
are  attacked  after  they  have  been  but  a  comparatively  short  time 
at  the  work.  Where,  however,  persons  have  been  constantiy  at 
work  for  some  years,  and  have  not  suffered  from  the  lead,  it  may 
be  fairly  assumed  that  they  have  become  somewhat  impervious 
to  its  deadly  effects.  As  to  the  antidotes,  we  are  told  that  at 
large  workis,  where  both  Englishmen  and  Scotchmen  were 
employed,  the  former,  who  lived  a  good  deal  on  fat  meat  and 
fatty  matters,  were  much  less  susceptible  to  the  effects  of  lead 
than  those  whose  dietary  was  largely  composed  of  oatmeal.  At 
some  of  the  works  on  the  Continent  where  the  lead  workers  were 
at  one  time  subject  to  palsy,  colic,  pains  in  the  bones,  and 
ending  with  convulsions,  the  usual  attributes  of  lead  poisoning, 
these  soon  gave  way  when  the  employes  began  to  feed  largely 
on  fai  meats,  especially  before  going  to  work  in  the  morning.  At 
one  place  where  a  great  deal  of  lead  work  was  done,  and  where 
at  one  time  there  were  the  usual  attacks,  a  change  was  made  in 
the  dietary,  and  cheese,  butter,  bacon,  pork,  lard,  and  other  fatty 
materials  having  been  the  principal  articles  of  food,  no  person,  it 
is  said,  was  attacked  with  lead  colic  for  a  period  of  upwards  of 
15  years.  There  is  here  a  most  important  problem  for  our 
medical  men  to  work  out  for  the  benefit  of  a  large  class  of  persons 
engaged  in  an  employment  that  has  hitherto  been  attended  with 
a  very  high  annual  death-rate.  There  is  a  strong  belief  that  lead 
poisoning  can  be  effectually  prevented,  and  what  is  therefore 


426 NOTABILIA.  ''g^fi^ygg 

required  is  the  laying  down  of  certain  simple  rules  as  to  dietary, 
sanitary,  and  other  requirements,  that  will  have  the  effect  of 
making  lead  workers  as  little  liable  to  diseases  most  frequently 
ending  in  death  as  persons  who  have  to  deal  with  other  minerals 
that  are  equally  as  deadly,  but  in  which  there  is  a  much  less 
annual  death-rate. — Mining  JoumaL 


BELLADONNA    POISONING. 

Case  Noted  by  Chables  A.  Sewall,  M.D.,  Assistant- Subgeon 

U.  S.  Abmt. 

In  the  hospital  under  my  charge,  a  solution  of  atropia  (four 
grains  to  the  ounce)  was  prepared  for  instillation  into  the  eye. 
When  the  solution  was  made,  the  water  being  a  little  cloudy, 
about  a  drachm,  representing  one-half  a  grain  of  atropia^  was 
left  in  the  bottom  of  a  graduated  measure,  One  of  the  atten- 
dants, an  intelligent  man,  needing  a  glass  of  water,  picked  up 
the  measure,  and,  filling  it  up,  drank  it  off.  I  saw  the  patient 
fifteen  minutes  afterwards,  at  twelve  o'clock  mid-day.  He  was 
lying  down,  being  unable  to  stand.  The  face  was  flushed,  and 
there  was  intense  vertigo ;  but  he  was  able  to  talk,  and  said 
distinctly  that  he  knew  he  must  have  taken  atropia  by  mistake, 
even  mentioning  how  much  he  thought  he  had  taken.  The 
pulse  was  140;  respiration  correspondingly  increased.  The 
countenance  wore  a  peculiarly  anxious  expression,  which  I  think 
one  might  recognise  again  in  a  like  condition,  suggesting  the 
idea  that  it  might  be  a  distinctive  expression.  Although  photo- 
phobia was  marked,  the  eyes  were  wide  open,  and  he  shaded 
them  with  his  hand.  The  pupils  were  largely  dilated.  There 
was  a  sense  of  formication  all  over  the  body,  and  tingling  in  the 
ends  of  the  fingers  and  toes  ;  the  tongue  was  moist  to  the  sight 
and  touch,  but  the  man  said  it  felt  **  as  dry  as  a  chip,"  and  the 
throat  seemed  almost  as  if  its  sides  were  stuck  together.  HaIIu- 
cinations  of  sight  and  hearing  were  present,  but,  as  I  have 
noticed  before  in  a  similar  case  of  narcotic  poisoning,  the  patient 
was  unable  to  remember  anything  he  had  seen  or  heard  except 
for  a  short  time. — The  American  Homoeopath. 


THE  CASTOK-OIL  PLANT  AS  A  FLY-KILLER. 

Obsebvations  made  by  M.  Bafford,  a  member  of  the  Sociite 
d'Horticulture  at  Limoges,  show  that,  a  castor-oil  plant  having 
being  placed  in  a  room  infested  with  flies,  they  disappeared,  as 
by  enchantment.  Wishing  to  find  the  cause,  he  soon  found 
imder  the  castor-oil  plant  a  number  of  dead  flies,  and  a  large 


IK^'ATn^'  NOTABILIA.  427 


Beriew,  July  1, 1882. 


number  of  bodies  bad  remained  clinging  to  ibe  nnder-surface  of 
tbe  leaves.  It  would,  tberefore,  appear  tbat  tbe  leaves  of  tbe 
<3astor-oil  plant  give  out  an  essential  oil,  or  some  toxic  principle 
wbicb  possesses  very  strong  insecticide  qualities.  Castor-oil 
plants  are  in  France  very  mucb  nsed  as  ornamental  plants  in 
rooms,  and  tbej  resist  very  well  variations  of  atmosphere  and 
temperature.  As  tbe  castor-oil  plant  is  very  mncb  grown  and 
•cnltivated  in  all  gardens,  tbe  Journal  d^ Agriculture  points  out 
tbat  it  would  be  wortb  while  to  try  decoctions  of  tbe  leaves  to 
destroy  tbe  green  flies  and  other  insects  which  in  summer  are  so 
destructive  to  plants  and  fruit  trees.  Anyhow,  M.  Rafford*s 
observations  merit  that  trial  should  be  made  of  tbe  properties  of 
tbe  castor-oil  plant  both  for  the  destruction  of  flies  in  dwellings 
And  of  other  troublesome  insects. — British  Medical  Journal, 


POISONING  BY  CASTOR-OIL. 

An  inquest  was  recently  held  by  the  Coroner  for  Central  Middle- 
sex which  serves  forcibly  to  illustrate  tbe  necessity  for  care  in 
the  administration  of  purgatives  to  children.  From  the 
evidence  it  would  appear  tbat  a  woman  purchased  some  castor- 
oil,  and  gave  her  child— only  a  month  or  two  old — *<  a  dose," 
thinking  tbat  its  '*  stomach  was  out  of  order,"  and  tbat  it  might 
do  it  good.  A  severe  convulsion  followed,  in  which  tbe  child 
died ;  and  tbe  doctor  who  was  called  in  expressed  a  decided 
opinion  that  death  bad  resulted  from  tbe  treatment.  Tbe 
<eoroner  said  tbat  the  practice  of  giving  young  children  aperients 
whenever  they  seemed  unwell  was  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
And  pernicious  with  which  he  was  acquainted.  It  could  not  be 
too  generally  known  tbat,  when  a  child  vomited,  the  stomach 
and  intestines  became  absolutely  empty,  and  collapse  might 
ensue.  Parents  should  be  careful  to  get  cold-drawn  oil,  for 
many  of  tbe  preparations  sold  were  only  fit  for  horses,  and,  if 
administered  to  a  child,  might  set  up  intense  irritation,  and 
'Cause  convulsions  and  deatib.  Whilst  coinciding  with  the 
coroner  in  his  remarks  on  tbe  necessity  for  caution  in  the 
Administration  of  aperients,  we  think  there  is  one  other  point  to 
which  it  may  be  as  well  to  call  attention.  It  appears  not  to  be 
generally  known  that  castor-oil  is  very  commonly  adulterated 
with  croton-oil  to  increase  its  activity.  Cases  of  death  from 
<castor-oil  alone  are  very  tare ;  and  we  entertain  no  doubt  tbat, 
in  tbe  case  now  under  consideration,  the  fatal  termination  was 
due  to  a  more  powerful  irritant. — British  Medical  Journal, 


428  NOTABILIA.  ^S^f53?2TS 


EFFECT  OF  AN  OYERDOSE  OF  PODOPHYLLIN. 
Amount  taken  abont  Sixty  Centigranxs  (Ten  Grains). 

Professor  D.  W.  Prentiss. — Philadelphia  Medical  Tkrm. 

Mbs.  H.,  aged  abont  45  years,  a  strong,  healthy  person,  had 
been  constipated  for  a  week,  and  was  feeling  badly  in  conse- 
quence. Her  husband  was  in  the  habit  of  ts^ing  podophyUin 
for  constipation,  and  had  a  bottle  of  it  in  the  house.  JSi&s.  H., 
knowing  this  circumstance,  got  the  bottle,  and  took  out  as  mneh 
of  the  medicine  as  could  be  held  on  the  handle  of  a  teaspoon, 
mixed  it  with  a  little  water,  and  swallowed  it.  The  dose  was 
taken  April  9,  at  6  p.m. 

At  7  p.m.  had  cutting  pains  on  both  sides  of  the  abdomen, 
with  desire  for  stool. 

At  8  p.m.,  feeling  very  badly,  went  to  bed.  The  pain  had 
ceased  ;  there  was  great  exhaustion,  with  relaxed  muscles  and  a 
feeling  as  though  the  body  was  bathed  in  sweat,  which  it  was 
not ;  then  came  a  fearful  pain  in  the  occiput,  as  '^  though  the 
head  was  being  split  open.  This  pain  lasted  about  two  minutes, 
and  was  followed  by  a  dull  throbbing  ache  and  feeling  of  heavi- 
ness, so  that  the  head  could  not  be  raised  from  the  pillow.  At 
8.80  o'clock  vomiting  began, — ^first  the  contents  of  the  stonoach, 
then  thin,  bitter,  dark-green  fluid,—  from  half  a  pint  to  a  pint 
at  each  attack.  There  were  six  or  seven  spells  of  vomiting 
between  8.80  o'clock  and  4  o'clock  the  next  morning.  A^th 
each  spell  of  vomiting  the  bowels  moved, — ^first  constipated,  then 
thin,  watery  stools,  but  no  blood.  There  was  no  pain  with  the 
stools.  Frequent  sensations  of  heat  passing  over  face  and  head 
were  noticed.  With  each  occasion  of  vomiting  the  exhaustion 
was  so  great  that  she  felt  as  though  dying.  Could  not  raise  the 
head  or  assist  in  the  act  of  emesis. 

I  was  called  to  the  case  at  one  o'clock  in  the  night, — eight 
hours  after  the  podophyUin  had  been  taken, — when  I  found  the 
patient  in  a  state  bordering  on  collapse ;  Teatures  pinched, 
extremities  cold,  pulse  very  feeble. 

It  is  remarkable  in  this  case  that  there  should  have  been  so 
little  pain  in  the  stomach  and  bowels.  This  was  almost  entirely 
absent,  with  the  exception  of  occasional  cutting  pains  at  the 
first.  On  the  contrary,  there  was  a  disposition  to  drowsiness. 
The  greatest  distress  was  from  the  exhaustion  and  the  pain  in 
the  head.  The  intellect  was  unimpaired;  the  eye-sight  and 
pupils  were  unaffected  ;  no  involuntary  discharges. 

Mrs.  H.  kept  her  bed  on  the  10th,  but  got  up  on  the  11th, 
feeling  well,  but  with  tingling  in  the  extremities  and  weak  as 
from  a  severe  illness. — The  American  Homaopath, 


^t^j^rrSS^  NOTABILIA.  429 


Beiiew,  July  1, 1882. 


CAUTION  m  THE  USE  OF  IODOFORM. 

In  a  commanication  to  the  New  York  Medical  Becord,  No.  12, 
Dr.  Sands,  after  taking  a  general  review  of  the  results  of  the 
employment  of  iodoform,  and  describing  two  cases  of  mania  that 
had  resulted  from  its  use  in  his  own  practice,  goes  on  to  say  that 
it  has  not  as  yet  been  ascertained  what  amomit  of  it  is  necessary 
to  induce  poisoning.  Susceptibility  to  its  action  varies  greatly, 
for  while  in  many  cases  two  or  three  ounces  have  been  applied  to 
extensive  open  wounds  immediately  after  operations,  in  others 
half  an  ounce  and  upwards  may  induce  attacks  of  mania,  and 
even  a  gramme  give  rise  to  sUght  nervous  disturbance.  In 
many  of  the  German  cases  excessive  quantities  have  been  applied, 
sometimes  amounting  to  five  or  six  ounces.  The  effects  depend 
much  upon  the  extent  of  absorbing  surface  and  the  recency  of 
the  wound.  Old  persons  are  especially  Uable  to  suffer,  while 
children  seem  to  be  much  less  so.  "It  is  already  apparent  that 
the  sanguine  expectations  at  first  entertained  regarding  the  value 
6f  this  antiseptic  cannot  be  fully  realised,  and  that  in  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge  iodoform  should  be  employed  with  great 
caution,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  it  can  be  readily  removed 
from  the  wound  in  case  symptoms  of  poisoning  should  supervene. 
It  is  certainly  hazardous  to  fill  a  large  fresh  wound  with  the 
powder,  which  may  penetrate  the  meshes  of  the  connective  tissue 
so  that  it  cannot  be  washed  out.  By  employing  it  in  the  mini- 
mum quantity  it  will  produce  the  desired  effect,  and  by  learning, 
perhaps,  to  recognise  beforehand  the  class  of  cases  that  are 
peculiarly  susceptible  to  its  deleterious  influence,  we  may  yet  be 
enabled  to  use  with  safety  this  antiseptic,  which,  in  many 
respects,  is  the  most  valuable  that  has  ever  been  introduced  into 
surgical  practice.*' — Medical  Times  and  Gazette, 

OPIATES  AND  PERISTALSIS. 

Pbofessob  Nothnaobl  of  Vienna  recently  communicated  to  a 
German  society  the  results  of  experiments  on  the  action  of  opium 
and  morphia  on  the  intestine.  The  constipating  power  of  these 
drugs  appears  due  to  their  being  irritants  of  the  splanchic,  the 
inhibitory  nerve  of  the  intestine.  That  nerve  is  specifically 
influenced  by  morphia,  just  as  the  vagus,  the  inhibitory  nerve  of 
the  heart,  is  acted  upon  by  digitalis ;  in  fact,  in  both  cases, 
small  doses  excite,  large  doses  paralyse.  It  was  observed,  in  a 
discussion  on  this  question,  that  tiie  peristaltic  action  of  tho 
intestines  is  not  necessarily  the  same  in  man  as  in  animals. 
Antiperistalsis  does  not  appear  to  occur  in  the  latter ;  in  our 
species  it  is  known  to  exist ;  though,  when  obstruction  exists, 
peristalsis  in  the  ordinary  direction  is  quite  sufficient  to  account 
for  fiecal  vomiting.     Dr.  Rosenstein,  however,  had  seen  chronic 

Vol.  26,  No.  7.  2  o 


480  NOTABIMA.  *"?^L=?S?7^ 


Beriew,  July  1, 1B8L 


fsBcal  Tomiting  in  a  patient  of  his  where  no  mechanical  obstraction 
conld  be  found.  Professor  Prejer  stated  that  he  had  seen  anti- 
peristaltic movements  of  the  small  intestine  in  animals,  and 
pointed  oat  that  the  filling  and  emptying  of  the  csBcom, 
especially  of  the  very  long  caecum  of  some  animals,  could  only 
be  effected  by  alternate  peristalsis  and  antiperistalsifi. — Britiih 
Medical  Journal. 

ANJ5STHETICS. 

Pbofessor  Billroth,  the  celebrated  surgeon  of  Vienna,  thns 
states  his  conclusions  on  ancesthetics.  '<  At  the  end  of  the  year 
1878  I  had  had  a  quarter  of  a  century's  experience  in  operations 
— more  than  six  years  as  od  assistant,  and  the  rest  of  the  time 
in  the  charge  of  my  own  cUnique.  During  this  period  I  had 
seen  cklorofarm  administered  some  6,000  times,  with  two  cases 
of  death.  Up  to  the  end  of  1870  I  always  employed  chloroform 
alone  as  an  ansesthetic.  Since  then  I  have  used  a  mixture  con- 
sisting of  three  parts  of  chloroform^  one  of  sulphuric  ether,  and 
one  of  alcohoL  With  this  anesthetic  I  am  perfectly  well 
satisfied,  and  have  not  seen  any  asphjrxia  or  syncope  result  from 
its  use.  The  mixture  seems  to  me  to  be  merely  of  service  in 
diluting  the  chloroform.  My  two  assistant-surgeons  and  my 
eight  assistants  undertake  the  post  of  chloroformist  for  a  month 
at  a  time  in  regular  rotation.  On  this  account,  again,  I  think  it 
more  prudent  to  use  diluted  chloroform.  No  doubt  the  pue 
ehlorofonn  produces  anaesthesia  more  rapidly  than  this  mixture, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  latter  is  less  apt  to  excite  vomiting.*' 
—Clinical  Surgery,  by  Dr.  Th.  Billroth.  Translated  by  C.  T. 
Dent,  F.R.O.S.     The  New  Sydenham  Society,  1881. 

The  anaesthetic  mixture  approved  of  some  years  ago  by  a 
committee  of  the  Royal  Medico-Chimrgical  Society,  consisted  of 
one  part  of  alcohol,  two  of  chloroform^  and  throe  of  ether, 

«*  PATHBES." 

BiCBASD  Grakt  Whitb,  in  his  Words  and  their  Uses,  thus  writes 
eonoeming  '*  hydropathy  "  and  similar  expressions :  "  This  word 
and  *  electropathy,*  and  aQ  of  the  same  sort,  should  be  scouted 
oat  of  sight  and  hearing.  Hahnemann  called  the  system  of  medi- 
cine v^ch  he  advocated,  homceopathy,  because  its  method  was 
to  cure  disease  by  drags  which  would  cause  a  Hke  (omoios)  disease 
or  suffering  {pathos).  The  older  system  was  naturally  called  by 
him  allopathy,  becMse  it  worked  by  medidnes  which  set  up  an 
aetion  counter  to,  different  firom  (aUos)  the  disease.  These  are 
good  technical  Greek  derivatives.  And  by  just  as  much  as  they 
are  good  and  reasonable  are  hydropathy  and  electropathy  bad 
and  foolish.     Why  should  water^tirv  be  odled  water-<2iMaM  /  " — 

Momthiy. 


^"^Jj^^aS^"  NOTABILIA.  431 


MEDICINE  AS  A  CIVILISING  AGENT. 

Neysb  does  our  profession  appear  to  greater  advantage  than  in 
its  dealings  with  savage  or  semi-savage  nations.  We  are  far 
from  including  the  people  of  India  in  either  of  the  above 
categories,  but  it  mnst  be  admitted  that  the  great  mass  of  the 
natives  of  our  Indian  Empire  are  grossly  ignorant.  The  part 
played  by  the  medical  profession  in  reconciling  the  people  of 
India  to  the  role  of  a  race  alien  in  blood  and  religion,  from  the 
earliest  days  of  our  connection  with  that  conntry,  has  been  most 
important,  although  the  Government  has  never  been  forward  in 
acknowledging  it.  When  the  missionary  and  educator  adds  a 
•competent  knowledge  of  medicine  and  surgery  to  his  other  quali- 
fications for  his  work,  he  is  doubly  armed.  The  present  Bishop 
of  Rangoon  is  a  Doctor  of  Medicine ;  for  many  years  before  he  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  his  diocese,  he  laboured  as  a  missionary  in 
the  district  of  Tinivelly,  in  Southern  India,  a  district  containing 
the  largest  community  of  native  Christians  in  that  country.  It  is 
A  well  known  fact  that  the  medical  and  surgical  skill  of  our  now 
right  reverend  brother  gave  him  an  influence  far  surpassing  that  of 
any  labourer  in  the  civilising  work  to  which  his  life  has  been 
devoted.  We  have  been  led  to  make  the  above  remarks  by  the 
receipt  of  a  copy  of  the  report  of  the  Grey  Native  Hospi^  in 
King  William's  Town.  It  does  not  appear  that  Dr.  Fitzgerald, 
the  superintendent,  is  engaged  in  missionary  work ;  but  it  is 
impossible  to  read  the  record  of  his  labours  for  a  single  year  with- 
out seeing  that,  as  in  India,  so  in  South  Africa,  the  healer  is  after 
all  the  most  powerful  civiliser ;  600  cases  of  disease  were  treated 
in  the  hospital,  and  1,700  as  out-door  patients.  It  appears  that 
natives  continue  to  travel  very  long  distances  to  this  hospital  for 
medical  aid,  coming  from  beyond  the  Kei,  from  Fingoland,  Fort 
Beaufort,  Eriskama  Hoek,  and  other  distant  places.  Dr. 
Fitzgerald  relates  the  following  as  an  instance  of  the  impression 
made  on  the  minds  of  natives  by  the  successful  application  of 
aound  surgical  knowledge. 

''Only  yesterday,  a  native  woman  was  brought  in  a  waggon 
irom  the  Bashee,  sufifering  from  complete  inversion  of  the  entire 
•eyelashes  of  both  upper  eyehds  ;  the  eyelashes  lay  on  the  balls  of 
the  eyes,  brushing  up  and  down  at  every  motion  of  the  lids, 
causing  intense  irritation,  which  would  soon  end  in  the  total  loss 
•of  sight.  One  can  easily  understand  the  sufifering  which  this 
poor  woman  endured,  if  we  consider  the  pain  and  irritation 
caused  by  only  one  eyelash  in  the  eye.  The  eyes  were  very 
much  inflamed.  On  questioning  this  woman,  I  found  that  she 
had  been  suffering  from  this  diseased  state  of  the  eyes  for  some 
jears,  and  that  she  had  consulted  several  distinguished  members 
of    the    native    factdty  without    any  relief   of   her    sufifering. 

2  a-2 


432 NOTABiLiA.       "le^fsa?^ 

She  was  informed  by  her  medical  attendants  that  the  spirits 
were  angry  with  her  because  they  never  had  any  food  given 
to  them  at  her  expense.  In  consequence  of  this  opinion,  a 
cow  and  a  young  ox  were  slaughtered,  and  plentifully  partaken 
of  by  the  doctors  aud  their  attendants,  and  the  bones  were 
burnt  and  offered  up  as  a  sacrifice  to  appease  the  spirits. 
The  patient's  eyes  were  then  covered  with  cow-dung,  and  pieces 
of  sticks  and  leaves  sucked  out  of  her  eyes  and  exhibited  to  her 
friends,  leaving,  of  course,  her  eyes  as  bad  as  they  were  before 
the  operation.  Not  getting  any  relief  from  the  profession  in  its 
uncivilised  state,  she  was  advised  by  a  native  woman,  who  had 
been  operated  on  at  this  hospital  for  a  similar  disease,  to  come 
here,  and  this  day  all  her  pain  and  sufferings  were  put  an  end  to 
by  an  operation ;  her  eyelids  and  eyelashes  restored  to  their 
natural  state,  and  she  will  soon  be  able  to  leave  here  for  her 
distant  home,  with  good  sight  and  free  from  pain.  Cases  of 
this  sort  make  a  great  impression  amongst  the  natives,  and 
afford  an  interesting  subject  for  conversation  and  wonder  at  their 
kraals." 

Dr.  Fitzgerald  urges  the  Government  he  serves  so  well  to 
favourably  consider  his  suggestion  to  extend  the  system  of 
medical  relief  amongst  the  native  tribes,  not  only  on  grounds  of 
humanity,  but  as  a  powerful  means  in  helping  on  the  civilisatiiw 
of  the  native  races ;  in  this  wise  recommendation  we  entirely 
concur. — British  Medical  Journal. 

PATHOLOGY. 

<*  What  place  is  this  ?  This  is  the  Pathological  Society.  How 
does  one  know  it  is  the  Pathological  Society  ?  You  know  it  bj 
the  specimens  and  the  smells.  What  does  that  gentleman  say  ? 
He  says  he  has  made  a  post-mortem.  All  the  gentlemen  make 
post-mortems.  They  would  rather  make  a  post-mortem  than  go 
to  a  party.  What  is  that  on  a  plate  ?  That  is  a  tumour.  It  is 
a  very  large  tumour.  It  weighs  112  lbs.  The  patient  weighed 
88  lbs.  Was  the  tumour  removed  from  the  patient  ?  No,  the 
patient  was  removed  from  the  tumour.  Did  they  save  the 
patient  ?  No,  but  they  saved  the  tumour.  What  is  this  in  the 
bottle  ?  It  is  a  tape-worm.  It  is  a  long  tape-worm  ;  it  is  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  long.  Is  that  much  for  a  tapeworm  ?  It  is, 
indeed,  much  for  a  tape- worm,  but  not  much  for  the  Pathological 
Society." — New  York  Medical  Becord, 

UNQUALIFIED  PRACTITIONERS. 

The  Medical  Times  and  Gazette,  of  the  17th  ult.,  has  the 
following  remarks,  suggested  by  some  disclosures  recently  made 
at  the  East  End  of  London. 


S^jITHI^'  notabilia.  43S 

—  - 

**An  inquest  was  recently  held  at  Poplar  by  Sir  John 
Humphreys,  Coroner  for  East  Middlesex,  on  the  bodies  of  a 
male  and  a  female  child,  whose  deaths,  it  was  alleged  were 
caused  through  improper  treatment  on  the  part  of  an  unqualified 
medical  practitioner,  commonly  known  throughout  the  East  End 
of  London  as  the  *  Black  Doctor/  The  inquiry  afforded  fresh 
evidence  of  the  extent  and  great  evil  of  the  *  dispensary  * 
system  as  carried  on  in  many  parts  of  the  metropolich-— an  evil 
which  will  never  be  lessened  by  mere  censure,  however  severe, 
by  coroners*  juries.  The  evidence  showed  that  a  medical  man, 
stated  to  be  duly  qualified  and  registered,  was  the  proprietor  of 
a  number  of  dispensaries  in  difierent  localities  in  the  East  End  of 
London,  at  one  of  which  a  'half-caste,'  calling  himself  '  Colonel 
Griffen,*  acted  as  assistant  and  prescribed  for  patients.  In  the 
course  of  the  enquiry  this  person  admitted  that  he  was  not  a 
qualified  surgeon,  and  had  no  diploma  in  England  nor  in  any 
other  place ;  he  had,  however,  *  studied  medicine,'  and  in  the 
country  to  which  he  belonged  he  was  a  barrister.  This  colonel, 
barrister,  and  amateur  doctor  was,  moreover,  in  the  habit  of 
signing  death-certificates  in  the  name  of  the  practitioner  with 
whom  or  for  whom  he  worked,  and  he  declared  that  until  the 
present  case  occurred  he  had  no  idea  that  he  was  acting  illegally. 
After  considering  their  verdict  in  private,  the  jury  found  that 
the  deceased  died  from  natural  causes,  but  they  severely  cen- 
sured the  qualified  practitioner  for  allowing  *  Colonel  Griffon ' 
and  other  unqualified  persons  to  practise  in  his  dispensaries. 
This  appears  to  be  one  of  the  cases  in  which  the  Registrar- 
General  might  effectively  intervene,  and  prosecute  for  the  illegal 
filling  up  of  death  certificates.  The  chief  offenders  in  these 
cases,  are  not,  however,  the  unqualified  assistants,  but  the 
qualified  practitioners,  who  make  a  profit  out  of  medical 
*  business '  carried  on  in  their  names  by  wholly  unqualified 
servants  of  theirs.  Dispensaries  carried  on  in  this  way  are  a 
scandal  and  disgrace  to  the  profession,  and  a  mockery  and  a 
danger  to  the  public." 

While  fuUy  agreeing  with  the  remarks  of  our  contemporary, 
we  take  the  opportunity  of  expressing  our  regret  that  of  late 
years  homoeopathy  has  been  subject  to  an  abuse  of  precisely  the 
same  character.  Two  or  more  medical  men  have  been  known  to 
have  dispensaries  in  different  parts  of  London,  which  are  served 
by  men  without  any  pretensions  to  qualification.  In  one  instance, 
the  name  of  the  principal  was  assumed  by  each  assistant !  In 
another,  a  more  or  less  qualified  man  has  been  occasionally 
obtained,  but  more  generally,  persons  have  prescribed  who 
have  had  no  medical  education  whatever. 

The  ii^ury  thus  done  to  persons  suffering  from  disease  must 
often  be  considerable,  while  that  which  is  infiicted  upon  homoeo- 


434  NOTABiLiA.  *'*S2^=Sr7:^ 


Beviev.  Jolj  1, 1881. 


pathy  by  the  discredit  sach  persons  reflect  upon  it  is  also  serious. 
So  long  as  this  mode  of  obtaining  money  succeeds,  so  long  we 
presume  will  unscrupulous  persons  persevere  in  adopting  it. 
We,  therefore,  urge  those  who  have  the  opportunity  for  doing  so 
to  expose  proceedings  of  this  kind ;  and  if  those  who  are  res- 
ponsible for  them  are  deaf  to  the  voice  of  conscience,  let  them 
have  an  opportunity  of  hearing  that  of  the  law. 

SURGERY  V.  MEDICINE.* 

FBIOBITY  IN   AOB  AND   BEVELOPHENT  CLADCED  FOB  THE   PLAINTIFF* 

I  am  a  surgeon,  and  in  making  this  assertion 

*Tis  my  apology  for  doing  what  I  can 
To  set  aside  the  undeserved  aspersion 

That  says,  while  medicine  is  quite  as  old  as  man, 
Holding  within  its  vast  consideration 

All  wisdom,  learning,  ethics,  and  decorum 
That  surgery  is  claimed,  as  is  a  poor  relation, 

Being  at  best  *'  the  opprobrium  m£dicorum.'' 
'Tis  certainly  a  subject  for  humility, 

And  one  *tis  hard /or  doctors  to  endure, 
That  they  must  own  their  utter  inability 

In  many  cases  to  effect  a  cure  ; 
And  then,  with  shrugs  and  sighs,  their  patients  urge  on 

To  give  themselves  their  only  chance  of  life 
By  caUing  on  the  poor  forgotten  surgeon, 

Who  cuts  and  cures  them  with  the  dreaded  knife. 
But  as  for  age,  I'll  prove  *tis  all  a  libel 

(The  statement's  bold,  but  I  could  make  it  bolder), 
For  on  no  less  authority  than  the  Bible 

I'll  prove  that  surgery  is  surely  older 
Than  any  form  of  med'cine  whatsoever ; 

And  having  finished,  will  appeal  to  the  majority 
And  have  the  point  adjusted  here  forever, 

That  "  surgery  in  age  can  claim  priority." 

'Tis  true  the  snake  aroused  the  curiosity. 

And  gave  to  Eve  the  apple  fair  and  bright ; 
She  ate,  and  with  a  fatal  generosity 

Inveigled  Adam  to  a  luscious  bite. 
That  from  that  time  disease  and  suffering  came, 

Doctors  were  called  upon  to  cure  the  evil ; 
The  art  of  healing^  then,  with  all  its  fame. 

Was  at  the  first  developed  by  the  Devil. 


*At  the  banquet  to  the  TisitoTS  to  the  International  Homoeopathic 
ConvBntion  Prof.  Wm.  Tod  Hehnath,  M J).,  recited  his  poem  Soigery  v. 
Hedioine,  a  few  verset  only  of  which  we  were  able  to  print.  They  are  bo- 
lioh  in  pore  homour,  we  reprint  them  entire  from  the  author's  boolc 
SimUkm  ^  ft  Swfeotu 


^t^SS^?"^^  NOTABILIA.  435 


Beriew,  JulyJ,  I8tt. 


Med'cine  thns  stands  coeval  with  the  sinning 

Of  mother  Eve,  fair  creature,  though  quite  human, 
While  nohle  surgery  had  its  beginning 

hi  Paradise  before  there  was  a  woman. 
The  facts  are  patent,  aad  we  all  agree 

*Twas  Satan  laid  on  man  the  direful  rod  ; 
That  Doctors  are  the  Devil's  progeny , 

While  surgeons  come  directly  down  from  God ! 
For  thus  we  read  (although  the  analgesia 

Of  Richardson  was  entirely  unknown) 
Adam  profoundly  slept  with  anaesthesia, 

And  from  his  thorax  was  removed  a  bone. 
This  was  the  first  recorded  operation, 

(No  doctor  here  dare  tell  me  that  I  fib  !) 
And  surgery,  thus  early  in  creation, 

Can  claim  complete  excision  of  a  rib ! 

But  this  is  nothing  to  the  obligation 

The  world  to  surgery  must  ever  own 
When  woman,  loveliest  of  the  creation. 

Grew  and  developed  from  that  very  bone. 
Then  lovesick  swains  began  inditing  sounets. 

And  Fashion  talked  with  Folly  by  the  way. 
Then  came  bulimia  for  becoming  bonnets — 

Hereditary  epidemic  of  to-day. 

Then,  too,  began  those  endless  loves  and  frolics 
That  poets  sing  in  soft  and  sweet  refrains, 

Doctors  grew  frantic  o'er  infantile  colics. 
Announced  at  midnight  with  angehc  strains. 


From  this  the  world  was  peopled.     So  Doctors  own, 
While  you  lay  c^^im  to  such  superiority, 

That  surgery,  in  the  development  of  bone 
As  weU  as  age,  can  clearly  claim  priority. 

My  task  is  done,  and  with  my  best  endeavour 

I  have  essayed  to  vindicate  my  art ; 
So  list  my  friends,  ere  friendly  ties  we  sever. 

While  waning  moments  bring  the  hour  to  part, 
Whatever  land,  whatever  clime  may  hold  you. 

Some  time  give  honour  to  the  bright  scalpel. 
And  when  you  recoUect  what  I  have  told  you, 

Bemember  me — 'tis  all  I  ask.     Farewell. 


436  OBITUARY.  "^iL^?S??^ 


Bcview,  Jul7  1, 1882. 


THE  FALSIFICATION  OF  MINERAL  WATERS. 

The  water-supply  abroad  is  so  often  of  a  donbtfnl  character  that 
many  travellers  have  resorted  to  the  pradent  expedient  of 
drinking  only  some  well-known  mineral  water.  Thereupon  a 
large  trade  has  been  done  in  the  purchase  from  rag  and  bottle 
merchants  of  such  mineral  water  bottles  as  still  bore  the  labels  in 
fairly  good  condition.  It  was  then  easy  to  fill  them  with  ordinary 
and  possibly  contaminated  water,  adding  a  salt  to  give  the  taste 
and  appearance  of  the  desired  mineral  spring.  By  this  frand 
the  consumer  was  not  merely  robbed,  but  made  to  dnnk  the  veiy 
water  he  was  doing  his  best  to  avoid.  We  are  therefore  pleased 
to  note  that  in  France,  at  least,  the  Prefect  of  Police  has  adopted 
energetic  measures  to  check  this  abuse.  Orders  have  been  given 
to  visit  all  depots  of  mineral  waters,  to  seize  hap-hazard  a  speci- 
men and  analyse  it  on  the  spot.  The  tradesmen  will  also  be 
called  upon  to  exhibit  their  invoices  to  prove  whence  their  stock 
is  derived.  Not  only  are  the  stores  of  wholesale  agents  or  dealers 
to  be  thus  inspected,  but  the  retailers,  the  cafe,  restaurant,  and 
pqjblic-house  keepers  will  be  subjected  to  an  equally  rigoroos 
supervision,  and  all  vendors  of  such  falsifications  will  be  liable  to 
prosecution.  There  is  great  need  of  similar  measures  in  England. 
The  public  have  no  guarantee  that  the  waters  ofifered  for  sale  have 
really  come  from  springs  specified  on  the  label. — Lancet* 

MURDEROUS  ATTACK  ON  A  HOMCEOPATHIC  CHEMIST. 

On  May  24  a  lad,  between  17  and  16,  made  a  murderous  attack 
on  Mr.  Joseph  dc  Trosier,  homoeopathic  chemist,  Bouthgate, 
Wakefield.  The  lad  came  to  Mr.  de  Trosier  (who  is  67  years  of 
age)  for  some  ointment,  and  when  he  turned  to  get  it,  struck  him 
on  the  head  with  a  hammer.  A  struggle  ensued,  in  which  the 
chemist  received  two  other  blows  with  the  hammer,  and  the  lad 
did  his  best  to  throttle  him  and  to  cut  his  throat,  inflicting  five 
wounds  on  the  throat,  neck,  and  side  of  the  head.  The  lad  does 
not  deny  the  charge.  He  is  intelligent,  but  small  of  stature,  and 
his  father  is  in  a  lunatic  asylum.  It  is  said  he  lost  all  his  money 
betting  on  the  last  Derby  races,  and  that  he  hoped  to  ston 
Mr.  de  Trosier  and  get  possession  of  the  till. — Chemist  and 
Druggist, 

OBITUARY, 

JOHN  FRANKLIN  GRAY,  M.D. 
We  have  learned  with  much  regret  through  the  Daily  New  of 
the  21st  ult.  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Gray,  of  New  York,  the  senior 
homoeopathic  physician  in  the  United  States  of  America. 
Dr.  Gray  was  bom  in  1804  at  Sherburne,  Chenango  Co.,  N.Y. 
He  commenced  the  study  of  medicine  under  the  direction  of  a 


i£Sgi^J^?ngg"'  OBITUARY. 437 

medical  man  when  a  mere  boy.  When  twenty  years  of  age  he 
went  to  New  York,  and  became  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Hosach  and 
Dr.  Francis.  A  year  later  and  he  entered  the  navy  as  an 
assistant  surgeon,  having  received  a  license  from  the  County 
Medical  Society.  Soon  afterwards  he  was  appointed  resident 
assistant  surgeon  to  the  New  York  Hospital.  After  passing  an 
examination  and  receiving  the  degree  of  M.D.  he  commenced 
practice  in  New  York,  and  succeeded  thoroughly. 

In  the  year  1828  he  was  persuaded  to  make  the  acquaintance 
of  Dr.  Gram,  who  three  years  earlier  had  arrived  from  Copen- 
hagen, and  commenced  the  practice  of  homoeopathy  in  New 
York.  By  way  of  testing  the  value  of  homoeopathy,  Dr.  Gray 
sabmitted  reports  of  some  difficult  cases  to  Dr.  Gram,  and  their 
rapid  recovery  convinced  him  that  there  was  more  in  the 
system  than  appeared  probable  or  possible  at  first  sights 
His  patients,  however,  could  not  believe  that  so  little  medicine 
cotdd  have  any  good  influence,  and  his  practice  dwindled.  In 
1829  or  1880  Dr.  Vanderburgh,  who  was  Gram's  first  convert, 
and  was  in  large  practice,  advised  Dr.  Gray  to  remove  to  a 
more  prominent  part  of  the  city,  and  guaranteed  him  enough  to 
pay  his  rent.  Here  he  succeeded  so  £eu:  as  to  make  ^^850 
during  his  first  year. 

At  this  time,  there  was  no  translation  of  any  of  Hahnemann's 
works  into  English,  and  a  knowledge  of  German  was  as  essential 
to  the  practice  of  medicine  homoeopathically  as  was  an 
acquaintance  with  physiology  or  pathology.  Gray  was  ignorant 
of  the  language,  and  set  to  work  to  study  it  under  the  tuition 
of  Dr.  Gram.  From  that  time  his  practice  rapidly  increased, 
and  continued  to  be  very  extensive  until  his  practical  retirement 

a  few  years  ago. 

He  edited,  with  Dr.  Hull,  the  Atnerican  Journal  of  Homao- 
pathia  and  the  first  series  of  the  Homceopathic  Examiner. 
He  also  assisted  Dr.  Hempel  in  the  preparation  of  the 
Symptomen  Codex,  and  was  the  author  of  various  communications 
to   the    New  York    homoeopathic    journals,   and    of     several 

pamphlets. 

Dr.  Gray  was,  with  Dr.  Constantine  Hering,  Dr.  Flagg  of 
Boston,  Dr.  William  Channing,  and  Dr.  Dunnel,  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy,  and  was  the 
first  general  secretary  of  that  body. 

For  some  years  he  has  lived  in  comparative  retirement  at  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  seeing  patients  only  in  consultation,  and 

that  but  rarely. 

He  was  a  thoroughly  well-informed  physician,  an  earnest 
homceopathist,  and  much  esteemed  by  his  professional  brethren. 
Dr.  Gray  was  a  corresponding  member  of  the  British  Homoeo- 
pathic Society. 


488^  CORRESPONDENCE.       ^^'^^I^SSf?^ 


.Jnljl,  UBL 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


WICKED  HOMCEOPATHIC  ENGINEERING. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  '*  MonMy  HanuBopathic  Beview" 

Gentlemen  , — ^AIlow  me  to  draw  yonr  attention  to  a  short 
sermon  in  No.  5  of  a  eorioas  serial  s^led  HomcBopathie  Medical 
Progress  (Incus  a  non  lucendo). 

In  this  discourse,  duly  commenced  and  finished  with  scriptore 
texts,  the  preacher  points  the  finger  of  condemnation  thus : — 

« Their  wish  ia  to  do  away  with  the  disUnetive  title  d 
homoeopathy  altogether.  With  a  degree  of  caution  commendable 
in  purely  partisan  politics  only,  their  policy  has  heen  to 
approach  the  suhject  cautiously,  by  a  series  of  '  zigzags,*  thus 
hoping  to  conceal  their  approach  from  the  garrison  of  the 
homoeopathic  fortress  till  they  have  approached  it  so  near  as  to 
make  it  possible  to  carry  its  defences,  to  lower  the  flag  for 
which  we  have  so  long  fought  manfully.  One  of  the 
first  '  approaches '  was  made,  many  years  gone  by  (by 
Dr.  Francis  Black)  in  a  paper  read  by  him  (if  we  remember 
rightly)  at  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society,  called  "Am  I 
a  Physician  or  a  Homoeopath?'  Steadily  and  persbtentlj 
Dr.  Black  and  Dr.  Dudgeon,  and  a  few  others,  have  been 
undermining  the  defences  by  which  homoeopathy  has  been 
made  a  distinctive  and  special  branch  of  medicine,** 

Why  single  me  out  as  a  warning  to  his  flock  ?  If  I  have 
erred,  is  not  the  man  more  worthy  of  the  stocks,  who,  posing 
as  Governor  of  the  homoeopathic  fortress,  not  only  sanctions, 
but  claims  priority  in  the  construction  of  the  naughty,  naughty 
**  zigzag  "  approaches. 

In  order  that  the  preacher  may  smite  this  treacheroos 
engineer  on  the  hip,  I  recommend  to  his  notice  the  paper 
referred  to — he  will  find  it  in  The  Transactions  of  the  Briiisk 
Homaopathic  Society,  1866,  and  at  the  end  of  it  a  note  worthy 
of  his  perusal ;  the  italics  in  it  are  not  mine.  ''  Since  reading 
this  paper.  Dr.  Bayes,  who  was  present,  but  unable  to  wait  for 
the  discussion,  has  drawn  my  ^attention  to  a  pamphlet  {Two 
Sides  to  a  Question^  1860),  in  which  he  thus  alludes  to  my 
question,  '  For  my  own  part,  I  have  investigated  the  subject, 
and  the  result  of  my  investigation  has  been  tiiat  I  have  adopted 
homoeopathy  into  my  practice.  Observe  I  object  to  H^e  titU  ff 
homcBopath.  Its  assumption  savours  of  sectarianism.  I  object 
to  any  other  title  than  that  of  physician,  or  at  the  most, 
physician  practising  homoeopathy.'" 


aSSS^^^riry'     cqbbespondence. 439 

After  reading  this  passage,  I  can  imagine  the  preacher  in  his 
next  discourse,  on  the  text,  **  Hoist  hy  his  own  petard/'  waxing 
wrathful,  and  exclaiming,  **  Oh  I  Doctor !  I  how  yery  naughty  of 
you  to  have  drawn  wicked  '  zigzags  '  so  long  ago  as  1860 1  You, 
the  chief  elder  of  my  flock, — alas,  treacherous  engineer  1  alas, 
seducing  writer  of  *  voyages  en  zigzag!^  how  you  have 
deceived  me  I 

''How  can  I  ever  again  rouse  my  flock' with  the  wonted 
high-falutin  strains,  when  they  hear  that  you,  the  Goody-Goody, 
the  Governor  of  the  homoBopathic  fortress,  object  to  the  title  of 
hamceopathf  because  its  assumption  savours  of  sectarianism,  Alas ! 
and  alack  I  the  heavy  day !  What  terms  strong  enough  can  I 
And  for  treacherous  *  zigzaggers  ? '  they  are — ^they  are — alas  1  in 
my  sorrowful  astonishment  I  can  only  groan,  they  are  '  quite  too 
utterly  utter  r  " 

Fbanois  Bulck. 


HOMCEOPATHY  AND  "  HOMCEOPATHY.'* 

To  the  Editors  of  the  Monthly  HomoBopathic  Review, 

Deab  Sibs, — ^Dr.  Berridge  puts  to  me  a  very  pertinent  question. 
I  have  admitted  that  the  same  name  cannot  represent  the  views 
of  both  of  us,  and  I  have  further  admitted  that  in  the  present 
undefined  state  of  *'  homoeopathy, "  the  party  to  which 
Dr.  Berridge  belongs  have  the  best  claim  to  the  title  of 
homoeopath — he  now  asks  why  I  do  not  withdraw  my  name 
from  the  Homceopathic  Directory  / 

It  may  please  Dr.  Berridge  to  know  that  I  so  fully  appreciate 
the  logic  of  his  reasoning,  that  at  the  end  of  last  year  I  sent  a 
letter  to  the  editors  of  the  Directory  requesting  them  to  withdraw 
my  name  from  the  present  issue.  It  was  after  I  had  done  this, 
that  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  had  not  adopted  the  best 
course  by  doing  so.  While  I  felt  that  the  presence  of  my  name 
in  the  Directory  was  likely  to  give  the  medical  profession 
and  public  an  erroneous  view  of  my  therapeutical  beliefs  (that  is 
if  any  one  troubled  themselves  at  all  about  the  matter),  I  saw 
that  by  withdrawing  my  name,  I  should  give  rise  to  an  equally 
erroneous  view,  viz.,  that  I  dissented  from  the  therapeutical  views, 
of  those  whose  names  are  recorded  there.  Now  this  is  not 
BO.  So  f)Eur  as  I  am  enabled  to  judge,  I  am  perfectly  at  one  with 
the  majority  of  those  whose  names  appear  in  the  Homceopathic 
Directory,  It  is  my  great  desire  to  add  my  humble  efforts  to 
theirs  in  the  work  of  establishing  a  great  natural  truth.  I  am 
thus  placed  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma,  and  have  therefore  asked 


440  CORRESPONDENCE.       ^S^^fj3?J?8fflf 

the  editors  to  repeat  my  name  for  the  present  year,  in  the  hope 
that  before  they  next  issue  their  Directory  some  course  will  be 
taken  by  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy  or  other  repre- 
sentative body,  which  wiU  relieve  me  of  the  necessity  of  dis- 
associating myself  from  homoeopaths  as  a  body. 

Since  opening  this  discussion,  I  have  read  Dr.  Sharpens  review 
of  Hahnemann's  system,  and  am  interested  to  find  that  he  found 
the  same  difficulty  in  adopting  homoeopathy  as  myself.  He  says 
(p.  844) :  *'  Having  adopted  the  practice  of  homosopathy,  I  may 
foe  supposed  to  be  a  disciple  of  Hahnemann,  and  be  held  respon- 
sible for  his  follies.'* 

In  his  article  on  the  "  Common  Sense  of  Homoeopathy," 
Br.  Sharpe  reaches  the  very  gist  of  the  present  question.  He 
says :  Hahnemann  in  his  Organon  keeps  in  the  background  the 
practical  fact,  and  labours  to  establish  a  speculative  explanation 
of  it.  His  followers  do  not  agree  in  adopting  his  explanation, 
but  so  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  their  writings,  they  all  have 
some  hypothesis  of  their  own.  I  have  been  condemned  for  not 
accepting  any  of  these.  I  respectfully  decline  them  all,  and  offer 
no  explanation.  By  this  course  homoeopathy  is  placed  upon  a 
foundation  which  it  has  not  yet  fairly  occupied.  Henceforward 
it  will  be  in  vain  for  its  opponents  to  attack  it  as  they  have 
hitherto  done.  It  is  presented  as  a  fact,  supported  by  sufficient 
evidence,  and  to  assail  it  as  such  will  be  found  a  task  much 
more  difficult  than  to  criticise  speculations  however  ingenious." 

I  am  asking  homoeopaths  to  take  up  the  position  suggested  by 
Dr.  Sharpe  nearly  thirty  years  ago.  Dr.  Sharpe  makes,  however, 
an  unintentional  error  when  he  says,  '*  By  this  course  (t.^.,  the 
course  taken  by  Dr.  Sharpe)  **  honuxopatky  is  placed  upon  a 
foundation  which  it  has  not  yet  fairly  occupied,''  The  error  here 
made  runs  through  the  whole  argument  of  those  who  assert  that 
homoeopathy  has  assumed  this  position,  that  it  is  distinctly 
separated  from  Hahnemannism  and  speculative  theories.  Dr. 
Sharpe  is  a  very  great  authority,  and  his  views  have  pro- 
bably had  a  great  effect  in  directing  thought  upon  this  subject, 
but  the  action  of  Dr.  Sharpe,  as  an  individually  cannot  alter  the 
foundation  or  the  signification  of  the  word  homoeopathy  ;  all  he 
can  do  is  to  alter  the  relation  of  the  word  in  reference  to  himself. 

My  contention  is,  and  I  think  Dr.  Sharpe  will  agree  with  me, 
that  no  individual  can  alter  the  position  of  homceopathy  or  the 
meaning  of  the  word;  that  homoDopathists  €u  a  body  are  alone 
capable  of  accomplishing  this.  The  original  meaning  of  the  word 
is  of  little  value  so  soon  as  we  shall  know  on  good  authoriiy 
what  is  at  the  present  time  meant  by  those  who  profess  it. 

Of  coarse  I  have  been  told  that  it  is  perfectly  impracticable  to 
obtain  a  precise  statement  of  the  view  held  by  the  modem 
homoeopathic  body.    It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  point  out  that, 


It^^^S^T^S^""       CORRESPONDENCE.  441 


.Jal7  1.1882. 


if  this  be  true,  homoeopaibj  stands  confessed  a  very  poor  thing 
indeed.  Bat  I  do  not  believe  it  to  be  the  indefinable  shadow  that 
its  professors  wonld  make  it.  It  is  a  baby  science  dealing  with 
phenomena,  freely  reproducible  but  not  altogether  explainable. 
It  has  shared  the  fate  of  every  other  set  of  unexplainable  facts  ; 
the  dreamy  metaphysicians  have  surrounded  it  with  clouds  of 
mysticism,  and  used  it  to  prove  their  fancies,  and  then,  of  course, 
the  **impombiliii/''  gentlemen,  the  Thugs  of  progress,  have 
tried  to  strangle  it,  and  have  succeeded  in  distorting  it.  The 
result  is  that  the  only  people  who  can  recognise  it  as  the  simple, 
natural  truth  are  those  who  have  the  ability,  and  the  leisure,  and 
the  desire  to  examine  the  whole  thing  for  themselves,  or  to  read 
the  analytical  descriptions  of  those  who  have.  We  cannot  all  be 
Dudgeons,  Bharpes,  Hughes,  or  Drysdales,  we  cannot  all  write 
bool^,  and  so  we  have  at  present  no  way  in  which  we  can  make 
it  manifest  that  we  have  left  the  region  of  speculation  and  have 
arrived  at  the  scientific  '*  don't  know."  The  great  majority  of 
homoeopaths  are  unanimous  in  the  assertion  of  certain  simple 
truths;  they  are  imanimous  in  the  rejection  of  particular 
theories  which  have  been  associated  with  these  truths.  I  know 
this,  because  I  have  had  the  wish  and  the  opportunity  to  find  it 
out,  but  how  is  the  ordinary  physician  to  discover  it  ?  how  is  he 
to  know  how  many  of  you  tid^e  the  position  of  Dr.  Sharpo  or 
Dr.  Hughes  ? 

He  is  logically  hound  to  believe  that  every  homoeopath  follows 
in  its  entirety  the  system  of  medicine  to  which  the  name  was 
originally  given,  until  he  receives  information  to  the  contrary. 
And  if  you  give  a  definition  which  says  nothing  about  the  various 
theories  which  have  been  from  the  first  associated  with  homoeo- 
pathy, then  he  is  still  entitled  to  believe  that  you  still  hold  those 
theories.  There  are,  I  know,  differences  of  opinion  about  those 
theories,  there  are  differences  of  opinion  about  the  dose,  but  does 
this  prove  the  statement  impossible  ? 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  another  indication  for  its  necessity,  not 
to  affirm  the  behef  of  any  particular  party,  but  to  affirm,  where 
such  is  the  case,  that  homoeopathists  oj  a  body  have  accepted  no 
particular  theory,  and  (beyond  certain  limits,  within  which  all  are 
agreed),  have  no  fixed  view  as  to  the  question  of  the  dose.  To 
exchange  the  positive  statements  of  Hahnemann  for  the  negative 
views  of  true  science  is  the  first  great  step  towards  progress. 

Modem  homoeopaths  owe  it  to  the  profession,  the  public  them- 
selves to  give  a  full  and  lucid  account  of  in  what  they  differ  and 
in  what  tibey  agree  with  the  system  of  medicine  taught  in  the 
schools. 

At  a  small  cost  a  copy  of  this  statement  could  be  furnished  to 
every  medical  practitioner  in  the  kingdom.  After  this  there 
would  be  some  excuse  for  censuring  the  physician  who  misundiar- 


442  CORKESPONDENCE.         ''SS5L^?S??^ 


Befview,  July  1, 18BS. 


stood  the  views  of  homoeopaths,  at  present  there  is  none.  U 
there  are  any  homoeopaths  who  prefer  the  present  nnintelligihie 
condition  of  affairs,  who  love  the  darkness,  rather  than  the  light, 
we  have  Seriptnral  authority  for  drawing  conclusions  respecting 
them. 

I  am.  Dear  Sirs, 

Yours  respectfully, 

Peboy  K.  Wiij>e,  M.6. 

P.S. — ^I  must  not  forget  that  *'  knightly  lance  "  which  Dr. 
Berridge  wishes  to  hreak  with  me.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  and 
space  for  me  to  write  a  disquisition  on  Hahnemann's  false  theories 
and  speculations,  which  have  done  so  much  harm  to  homoeo- 
pathy, or  to  bring  forward  proofs  that  he  did  not  rightly  under- 
stand the  law  which  he  cmfortunately  expressed  by  the  words 
sinUlia  rimilibus  cwrantur.  This  has  been  very  often  done  before. 
Dr.  Berridge  may,  if  he  wishes,  consider  that  I  have  advanoed 
the  arguments  expressed  in  Dr.  Sharpens  review  of  Hahnemann's 
system  (Essays  on  Medicine,  xiii.,  p.  881).  By  taking  a  tilt  at 
these,  he  will  have  made  a  very  good  beginning. 

CONSTANTINE  HERING*8  LATEST  WORKS. 
To  the  Editors  of  the  ^^  Monthly  Homoeopathic  Review,*' 

Gentlemen, — ^Will  you  oblige  me  by  publishing  the  enclosed 
circular.  Henng's  Guiding  Symptoms  and  Analytical  Repertory 
will,  when  completed,  be  the  greatest  homoeopathic  works  of  the 
day.  But,  to  complete  them  speedily^  more  funds  are  required. 
By  taking  a  fully  paid-up  share  of  the  value  of  ten  dollars 
(£2  Is.  8d.),  anyone  can  procure  these  works,  and  all  others 
published  by  the  Society,  at  cost  price.  Thus,  the  Analytical 
Repertory,  Vol.  i.,  which  is  sold  here  for  18s.,  will  cost  a  share^ 
holder  only  8s.  4d.,  carriage  paid;  while  each  volume  of  the 
Guiding  Symptoms,  which  here  costs  25s.,  costs  the  same  only 
lis.  6d.  Every  physician  ought  to  subscribe  for  these  works, 
and  every  layman,  too,  who  has  benefited  by  homoeopathy,  should 
do  something  for  the  cause.  By  bringing  out  these  works 
speedily,  they  will  do  more  good  than  even  by  subscribing  to 
homoeopathic  hospitals ;  for  tiie  latter  are  of  use  only  in  tiieir 
immediate  vicinity,  whereas  these  books  will  bear  fruit  wherever 
the  English  language  is  spoken. 

Subscriptions  for  shares  and  books  should  be  sent  to  C.  B.  Enexr, 
M.D.,  112,  North  Twelfth  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  U.S.A. 

Yours  &c., 

E.  W.  Bebbidob,  MJ). 


SSSJfj^Tir?^'"*       CORRESPONDENCE.  443 


AMERICAN  HOMCEOPATHIC  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY. 

'  The  attention  of  physicians  and  the  friends  and  patrons  of 
homoeopathy  generally  is  invited  to  the  natore,  scope,  and  pur- 
poses of  the  American  Homoeopathic  Pablishing  Society. 

It  is  a  regularly  organised  corporation,  chartered  under  the 
Seal  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania.  It  possesses  the 
right  to  publish  and  sell  books,  and  is  authorised  to  issue  stock 
certificates  to  the  subscribers  to  its  capital  to  the  extent  of  1,000 
shares  of  glO.OO  each.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  act,  stock- 
holders are  liable  to  the  extent  of  the  par  value  of  the  stock  held. 
The  certificates  are  issued  only  upon  paid-up  subscriptions, 
therefore  there  can  be  no  assessments  made  by  the  Society,  and 
there  can  be  no  liability  beyond  the  sum  actually  paid  in  by  each 
stockholder. 

The  Society  is  limited  only  by  the  bounds  of  homoeopathic 
medical  science.  The  doors  are  open  to  all  who  have  manu- 
scripts  to  offer  for  publication,  on  any  phase  or  branch  of  medi- 
cine, or  medical  science  treated  homceopathieally.  Authors  are 
invited  to  offer  their  works  or  contemplated  works  to  this  Society 
for  publication. 

The  Society  aims  first  of  all  to  give  to  the  profession  and  the 
public  thoroughly  sound  and  reliable  works ;  and  secondly,  to 
give  to  its  members  the  material  advantage  of  obtaining  medical 
books  at  the  actual  cost  of  production. 

The  working  capital  of  the  Society  is  contributed  by  the  stock- 
holders who  receive  their  profits  in  the  purchase  of  books  at 
cost,  which  is  at  about  50  per  cent,  of  the  ordinary  trade  retail 
prices.  A  holder  of  one  share  of  stock  costing  glO.OO,  may 
purchase  one  copy  of  every  volume  published  by  the  Society  at 
cost.  It  is  therefore  clearly  to  the  advantage  of  every  purchaser 
of  homoeepathic  books  to  become  a  stockholder  in  this  Corpora- 
tion to  the  extent  of  at  least  one  share  of  stock. 

Books  At.r»ai>y  Pubushbd. 

Hering's  Symptoms  of  the  Hind,     Complete  in  one  volume. 
Price  to  Stockholders,  $2.00        Price  to  others,  S8.50 
Hering's  Quidmg  Symptoms,  Volume  I,  11,  and  m. 

SOAUB   OF  PbICBS. 

To  Stoekholden.        To  Non-Stodkholden. 

Bound  in  Cloth $2.75  per  vol.        $5.00  per  vol. 

,y  Library  Leather    8.25      „  6.00 


HalfMorocco...    8.75      „  7.00 


» 


„  .unuMB.v>vvvv...        V.  rv  „  f.W  ,, 


444  COBBE8PONDEMTS.         "S^fjSJ??!^ 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 


9 

«%  We  cannot  undertake  to  return  rejected  mamueripts. 

A  Caution. — ^We  have  been  requested  by  Dr.  Pkbct  Wilds,  of  Ipswich, 
to  warn  oar  coUeagnes  against  a  person  describing  himself  as  Dr.  Fbaks- 
UN,  from  New  Zealand,  who  is  apparently  on  a  begging  expedition  amonR(t 
homoBopathic  practitioners.  He  states  that  he  is  vouched  for  by  Dr. 
David  Wilson,  Dr.  Skinnbb,  and  Dr.  Besbidob.  We  have  been  informed 
by  each  of  these  gentlemen  that  he  knows  nothing  of  sach  a  person.  The 
man  is  an  impostor,  and  should  be  treated  as  such. 

Dr.  Bradbhaw,  late  of  Nottingham,  having  recovered  his  health,  bfts 
commenced  practice  at  Worthing.  Mr.  Butcher,  of  Beading,  has  gone  to 
Windsor  to  succeed  Dr.  Haepbr,  who  comes  to  London.  Dr.  lliNa  is 
opening  a  Dispensary  at  Maidenhead,  where  he  resides. 

Communications,  Ac,  have  been  received  from  Dr.  Both,  Dr.  Wiuov, 
Dr.  Skinneb,  Dr.  Bebbidob,  Dr.  C.  L.  Tucket,  and  Mr.  Chakbb^  (Lon- 
don) ;  Dr.  Hughes  (Brighton) ;  Dr.  Mia>DEN  (Biimingham) ;  Dr.  Bbadseaw 
(Worthing) ;  Dr.  Majuxbab  (Calcutta). 


BOOKS  RECEIVED. 


Tfie  Opium  Habit :  its  tuceessful  treatment  hy  the  Avena  Saliva,  By 
E.  H.  M.  Sells,  A.M.,  M.D.    New  York. 

Bemarka  on  Certain  Medical  Principles  and  Puhlicatums.  By  Dr. 
J.  Hamernik,  of  Piague.    London :  £.  W.  Allen. 

The  Homaopathic  World, 

The  Students*  JaumaL 

The  Chemist  and  Druggist. 

The  Calcutta  Journal  of  M^.dieine.    Calcutta,  1882. 

The  Indian  Homoeopathic  Revitic,    Calcutta,  1882. 

Tfie  North  American  Journal  of  Homceopathy.    New  Tork,  1882. 

The  Hahnemannian  Monthly,    Philadelphia,  1882. 

The  St.  Louis  Clinical  Review.    St.  Louis,  1882. 

The  Therapeutic  Gazette.    Detroit. 

The  New  York  Medical  Tiw£s, 

The  New  England  Medical  Gazette, 

The  Medical  Counsellor. 

Homaopathic  Obstetric  Journal,    New  York. 

VArt  Medical,    Paris. 

Bull,  de  la  Soe.  Horn.  Med,  de  France,    Paris. 

Biblioth^que  Homaopathique,    Paris. 

AUgemeine  Horn.  Zeitung. 

PJiarmaceutische  Zeitschrift  fiir  Russland,    St.  Petersburg. 

El  Criterio  Medico,    Madrid. 

Bolletino  Clinico,    Madrid. 


Papers,  Dispensary  Beports,  and  Books  for  Beview  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pope,  21,  Henrietta  ^treet,  Cavendish  Square,  W.;  Dr.  D.  Drci 
Bbown,  29,  Seymour  Street,  Portman  Square,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  Kennkdt, 
16,  Montpelier  Bow,  Blackheath,  S.E.  Advertisements  and  BusineBS 
oonminnicationB  to  be  Eent  to  MoBsn.  E.  Gouu>  St  Sox,  59,  Moorgate 
Street,  E.C. 


£l!Si^'A5?1?la^^  MEDICAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  445 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMOEOPATHIC    REVIEW. 


THE  REPORT  OF  THE  MEDICAL  ACTS 

COMMISSION. 

A  TEAR  ago  eleven  gentlemen  were  appointed  to  enquire 
into  the  details  of  admission  to  the  profession  of  medicine, 
and,  on  the  eyidenoe  laid  before  them,  to  base  such 
suggestions  for  securing  that  all  admitted  should  have 
received  a  complete  and  thorough  education  as  might  seem 
fit  to  them.  The  result  of  forty  meetings  by  the  Commis- 
sion is  presented  to  us  in  a  Report  issued  a  few  weeks  ago. 
The  relations  of  our  profession  to  the  laws  of  the 
country  have  for  years  proved  a  fruitful  source  of  dis- 
cussion. The  Medical  Act  of  1858,  the  result  of  nearly 
thirty  years  of  agitation,  was  scarcely  enforced  ere  amend- 
ments to  it  were  proposed  and  amended  acts  passed.  Two 
or  three  entirely  new  bills  have  been  introduced  into  one 
or  other  house  of  Parliament,  and  more  than  one  Com- 
mission has  sat  to  enquire  into  the  needs  of  the  public  and 
the  profession  during  the  twenty-four  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  the  Medical  Act  was  passed.  To  lay  the 
ghost  of  medical  **  reform  "  seems  impossible. 

"What,  we  would  ask,  before  we  pass  to  the  consideration 
of  the  proposals  of  the  Commission,  what  measures  are 
necessary  to  give  the  public  such  security  as  they  are 
entitled  to  demand  that  those  persons  who  represent 
themselves  as  medical  men  are  really  competent  to  practise 

Yd.  26,  No.  8.  2   H 


446  MEDICAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  ^^SS^SS^fS? 

medicine  ?  This  seems  to  us  to  be  all  that  ought  to 
concern  the  Legislature  in  dealing  with  the  profession  of 
medicine. 

To  this  question  we  would  reply  that  every  candidate  for 
admission  to  the  profession  ought  to  give  evidence  before  a 
board  of  examiners,  composed  of  men  who  liave  not  been 
his  teachers,  that  he  has  had  a  liberal  education  before 
commencmg  to  study  medicine ;  that  he  has  been  engaged 
in  this  study  during  four  years^  his  time  having  been 
suitably  divided  between  the  different  branches  of  medical 
art  and  science ;  and  that  he  possesses  such  a  knowledge 
of  medicine,  surgery,  and  midwifery  as  shall  render  him  a 
fit  and  proper  person  to  consult  in  emergencies  of  a 
medical,  surgical,  or  obstetrical  character. 

As  things  are  conducted  at  present,  nineteen  bodies 
compete  for  the  privilege  of  initiating  the  medical  student 
into  the  '^  mystery  of  physic."  That  full  confidence  may 
be  reposed  in  these  bodies,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
examinations  at  each  should  be  watched — a  process  that 
becomes  very  expensive  and  very  liable  to  be  imperfectly 
carried  out  when  there  are  nineteen  to  be  attended  to- 
Then,  again,  though  the  Medical  Council  may  recommend 
alterations  in  the  curriculum  of  study  and  the  subjects  of 
examination  at  each,  it  has  no  power  to  enforce  its 
recommendations.  Hence  it  happens  that  in  some 
instances  a  given  diploma  testifies  only  to  the  candidate's 
knowledge  of  medicine,  another  is  limited  to  assuring  the 
public  of  his  competency  as  a  surgeon,  while  a  third  is 
restricted  to  certifying  to  his  capacity  as  a  ''man-midwile.^ 
With  the  exception  of  the  University  degrees,  no  one 
diploma  gives  evidence  of  its  holder  possessing  an  avenge 
aeqnamtanee  with  each  of  the  three  departments  oi  tha 
pmfesBion. 

That  the  interests  of  the  public  demand  tbat  tbose 


SSSUfA^M?*  MEDICAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  447 

offer  their  services  as  medical  practitioners  should  give 
eTidence  of  haying  demonstrated  their  acquaintance  with 
the  details  of  each  department  of  the  profession,  needs  no 
argument  in  its  support.  While,  that,  inasmuch  as  the 
State  confers  certain  exclusive  rights  and  privileges  upon 
members  of  the  medical  profession,  it  has  also  a  just  claim 
to  be  satisfied  that  those  upon  whom  such  rights  and 
privileges  are  conferred  are  fully  qualified  to  enjoy  them,  is 
equally  clear. 

Hence,  the  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  Commission, 
**  That  the  holding  of  a  license  ought  to  be  conclusive 
evidence  of  sufficient  proficiency  in  medicine,  surgery,  and 
midwifery,"  will  be  generally  acquiesced  in.  In  order  to 
earry  this  principle  into  practice  the  Commissioners  appear 
to  regard  as  hopeless  any  arrangement  by  which  existing 
examining  bodies  may  retain  their  present  licensing  powers. 
Surely,  it  would  have  been  possible  to  have  rendered  it 
compulsory  on  every  examining  body  to  have  ascertained 
the  qualification  of  candidates  in  each  department  of 
medicine.  Were  this  done,  there  would  be  no  necessity 
for  that  general  deprivation  of  licensing  powers  which  have 
been  enjoyed  during  the  last  twenty-four  years ;  a  period 
during  which  medical  education  has  improved  more  con- 
siderably, and  examinations  have  become  more  searching 
than  during  any  similar  period  since  the  century  opened. 
Further,  it  is  the  Colleges  and  not  the  Universities  that 
are  open  to  the  charge  of  conferring  diplomas  after  an 
imperfect  examination.  Why  should  both  sets  of  institu- 
ticms  be  treated  as  though  both  were  equally  at  fault  ? 

The  practical  result  of  the  proposals  of  the  Commis- 
sioneis  would  seem  to  be,  that  while  easting  medicitl 
authorities  shall  take  part  in  the  examinations,  they  are  to 
dd  00  as  agents  of  the  State,  and  to  confer  a  State  Ktense 
which  alone  cdiall  admit  men  to  the  Register*    ''Our 

2 


448  ICBDICAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  ^BSSS^XS^iJm 

proposal/'  we  read  in  the  Report,  '^  stated  in  general  temup 
is : — ^that  there  shall  be  one  Medical  Conncil,  and  that  in 
each  of  the  three  divisions  of  the  United  Kingdom  theie 
shall  be  a  Divisional  Board,  representing  all  the  medical 
anthorities  of  the  division  ;  that  the  right  of  admitting  to 
the  Medical  Register,  and  a  general  control  over  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Divisional  Boards,  shall  vest  in  the  Medical 
Council;  and  that,  subject  to  such  control,  each  Divisional 
Board  shall,  in  its  own  division,  conduct  the  examinations 
for  license." 

Thus,  at  one  stroke,  the  licensing  power  at  present 
possessed  by  nineteen  corporations  is  swept  away  and 
transferred  to  a  State  Board  of  Euminers.  As  a  legal 
qualification  to  practise,  no  University  degree  or  College 
diploma  will  be  of  any  value.  *'  If  our  reconmiendations/' 
say  the  Commissioners,  ''  be  adopted,  the  statutory  privi- 
lege of  conferring  a  medical  license  will  no  longer  attach  to 
the  diplomas  and  degrees  of  the  medical  authorities,  and  in 
a  certain  sense  their  importance  will  be  diminished." 
And  again,  '^  in  order  to  obtain  admission  to  the  Medical 
Register,  it  has  hitherto  been  necessary  to  possess  the 
diploma  or  degree  of  one  of  the  medical  authorities ;  bat 
if  our  recommendations  be  adopted,  the  certificate  of  a 
Divisional  Board  will  in  future  of  itself  confer  a  right  to 
registration  on  payment  of  the  fees.  Affiliation  to  a  medical 
authority  will  thus  no  longer  be  necessary ;  but  we  hope 
and  believe  that  medical  men  will  not  be  contented  with  a 
bare  license  to  practise,  and  that  they  will  continue  to  seek 
to  belong  to  one  or  more  of  the  Universities  or  Medical 
Corporations." 

Pleasant  reading  this  for  Senates  and  Councils !  In  the 
future  the  importance  of  a  degree  or  a  diploma  will  be  solely 
dependent  on  the  prestige  attaching  to  connection  with  the 
University  or  College  issuing  a  degree  or  diploma. 


SSSSS^aCTSm?*  medical  acts  commission.  449 

The  degree  of  a  BritiBh  Uniyersity  will,  so  far  as  the  law 
is  concerned,  be  placed  on  a  level  with  that  of  an  American 
or  Continental  Uniyersity. 

We  fail  to  see  why,  on  the  ground  either  of  justice  or 
^expediency,  the  Uniyersities  are  to  be  depriyed  of  their 
existing  powers.  Their  examinations  are  admitted  to  be 
ikdequate  both  in  the  interests  of  the  State  and  of  the  pablic. 
Why,  then,  are  their  degrees  to  be  merely  honorary,  to 
carry  with  them  no  qualifying  professional  advantage  ? 

Mr.  Huxley  and  Professor  Tubneb  differ  from  the 
recommendations  of  their  colleagues  on  this  point,  and  have 
expressed  their  differences  in  very  clearly  stated  memo- 
randa. Mr.  Huxley  says :  "  The  plan  which  I  venture  to 
suggest  is  of  extreme  simplicity ;  and  while  I  cannot  but 
think  that  it  would  prove  thoroughly  efficient,  it  interferes 
.with  no  fair  vested  interest  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  a 
claim  for  compensation,  and  it  inflicts  no  burden  either  in 
^the  way  of  taxation  or  of  extra  examination,  on  the  medical 
profession. 

*'  This  proposal  is,  that  if  any  examining  body  satisfies 
the  Medical  Council  (or  other  State  authority)  that  it 
requires  full  and  efficient  instruction  and  examination  in 
the  three  branches  of  medicine,  surgery,  and  midwifery; 
4aid,  if  it  admits  a  certain  number  of  coadjutor  examiners 
appointed  by  the  State  authority,  the  certificate  of  that 
•examining  body  shall  give  admission  to  the  Medical  Register. 

"I  submit  that  while  the  adoption  of  this  proposal 
would  secure  a  practically  uniform  minimuTU  standard  of 
^examination,  it  would  leave  free  play  to  the  individuality  of 
the  various  existing  or  future  Universities  and  Medical 
Corporations ;  that  the  revenues  of  such  bodies,  in  so  far  as 
they  are  derived  from  medical  examinations,  would  thence- 
forth increase  or  diminish  in  the  ratio  of  their  deserts ; 
.that  a  really  efficient  inspection  of  the  examinations  would 


460  MEDICAL  A0T8  OQMMISSION.   ^'S^^SSS^U^ 


be  seenred;    and  that  no    one   i¥onld    oome  upon  the 
ReffUUr  without  a  complete  qualifieation." 

Mnch  after  the  same  plan.  Professor  Tubmeb  makes  iihe 
following  proposal : — 

**  (a)  No  person  shall  receive  a  license  to  practise  and 
be  admitted  to  the  Medical  Register  who  does  not  possess 
a  complete  qualification  in  both  medicine  and  sm^ry, 
including  therein  midwifery. 

"  (b)  The  diplomas  granted  by  those  authorities,  viz., 
the  TJniyersities  which  conduct  complete  examinations 
and  confer  degrees  in  medicine  and  surgeiy,  shall  also  be 
licenses  to  practise  and  admit  to  the  Register. 

*'  (c)  Those  authorities,  viz.,  the  corporations  wfaidi 
grant  diplomas  in  medicine  alone,  or  in  surgery  alone,  shall 
combine  in  each  division  of  the  kingdom,  conduct  a  com- 
plete examination,  and  confer  a  quatification  both  in 
surgery  and  medicine  which  shall  admit  to  the  Register. 

*'  {d)  The  Medical  CSouncil  shall  appoint  assessors  to 
attend  the  several  examinations  conducted  with  the  view  of 
conferring  the  license  to  practise,  both  by  the  Universities 
and  by  the  conjoined  corporations.  These  assessors  shall 
report  after  each  examination  if  it  be  satisfactory  or  not, 
and  the  Medical  Council  shall  have  power  to  suspend  all 
examinations  which  are  net  of  a  sufficient  standard  of 
proficiency.  Under  this  system  the  visitation  of  examina- 
tions, now  made  periodically  by  the  Medical  Council,  would 
be  no  longer  required,  and  the  money  at  present  expended 
on  visitation  could  be  employed  to  pay  assessors.*' 

Now,  we  contend  that  if  these  proposals  would  ensure 
that  no  person  would  enter  the  medical  profession  without 
having  given  fall  and  sufficient  evidraice  of  his  capacity 
alike  in  medicine,  surgery,  and  midwifery,  there  is  no 
reason  whatever  for  the  sweeping  alterations  which  have 
received  Ae  sanction  of  the  majority  of  the  GommissionerB  ; 


m^l^S^u'^''  MEDICAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  451 

while,  if  no  reason  exists  for  them,  patting  them  into  foree 
wonld  be  an  act  of  gross  injustice. 

While,  howerer,  simple  registration  of  the  licensie  of  a 
Ditisional  Board  is  to  constitute  the  sole  title  to  be 
regarded  as  a  legally  qualified  practitioner  of  medicine,  it 
is  recommended  that  University  and  College  titles  should 
also  be  r^stered,  and  that  separate  lists  should  be  set 
apart  in  the  Medical  Register  for  the  registration  of  persons 
holding  recognised  Foreign  or  Colonial  diplomas. 

If,  howeyer,  the  Register  is  to  be  a  record  of  State 
licenses,  while  the  State  ignores  the  licensing  poiHer  of  the 
Universities  and  Colleges,  we  think  that  the  piiblication  of 
these  latter  should  be  left  to  private  enterprise,  and  that 
the  official  Register  should  be  simply  a  record  o1^  the  names 
of  officially  recognised  persons. 

We  notice  among  other  paragraphs  in  the  Bepprt,  that 
'*  The  London  School  of  Homodopathy  has  laid  before  us  a 
petition,  praying  for  the  establishment  of  a  Homoeopathic 
School  or  the  appointment  of  some  Homoopathic  Lecturer 
in  each  Medical  School  or  College.  Their  request  does 
not  appear  to  fall  within  the  terms  of  your  Majesty's  c<aai- 


mission.'* 


This  refers,  we  believe,  to  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
Commission  by  Dr.  Bayxs,  and  not  to  anything  emanating 
from  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy.  The  School,  as 
such,  made  no  representation  to  the  Commission. 

One  portion  of  the  Report  is  occupied  with  a  discussion 
on  the  constitution  of  the  Medical  Council.  It  proposes 
that  the  number  of  members  be  reduced  from  twenty^two 
to  eighteen.  This  is  so  far  an  advantage,  as  it  will  tend  to 
diminish  the  amount  of  talk  which  occupies  the  time  of  the 
meetings  of  Council.  It  also  proposes  that  four  members 
should  be  elected  by  the  registered  practitioners.  Wherein 
ihe  advantages  of  this  mode  of  election  will  be  found  we  do 


462  MEDICAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  ^b^^aSmJm^ 


not  see.  The  best  men  for  a  position  in  the  Cooncil  will 
have  neither  time  nor  inclination  to  enter  into  a  contested 
election  at  a  heavy  cost,  and  carrying  with  it  no  actual 
advantage.  Any  candidate  for  a  position  on  the  Medical 
Council  through  the  suffrages  of  his  medical  brethren  will 
have  to  go  through  a  great  deal  to  arrive  at  very  little,  as 
Mr.  Welleb  observed  the  charity  boy  said  that  he  had 
done^  when  he  got  to  the  end  of  the  alphabet !  This  direct 
representation  has,  however,  been  clamoured  for  for  some 
years  past  by  the  Lancet  and  the  British  Medical  Journal^ 
and  as  noise  is  often  more  effective  than  argument,  the  din 
these  journals  have  raised  on  this  subject  will,  doubtless, 
some  day  have  its  reward.  For  our  part,  we  think  it 
probable  that  the  most  undesirable  and  narrow-minded 
members  of  the  future  Medical  Council  wUl  be  those 
introduced  through  the  arts  of  the  skilled  electioneerer. 
The  Senate  of  a  University  or  the  Council  of  a  College  are 
much  better  able  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  a  candi- 
date for  a  seat  at  the  Medical  Council  Board  than  the 
country  practitioner  whose  time  is  too  fully  occupied  in 
the  pursuit  of  his  calling  to  enable  him  to  devote  any 
attention  to  the  politics  of  the  profession. 

The  objections  to  this  mode  of  election  are  well  and 
clearly  set  forth  by  Professor  Turner,  of  Edinburgh,  and 
Mr.  SmoN.  The  Lancet  (July  8th),  instead  of  replying  to 
these  objections,  simply  sneers  at  the  gentlemen  making 
them  as  mere  '^  scientists,"  and  as  persons  who  are  there- 
fore unacquainted  with  the  wants  of  the  medical  profession. 
Mr.  Simon  and  Mr.  Turner  know  perfectly  well,  we  will 
venture  to  say,  what  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  profession, 
while  the  Lancet  is,  we  do  not  doubt,  equally  alive  to  the 
advantages  the  proprietor  of  a  journal  may  expect  to  derive 
from  a  contested  election  i 

Although  the  Report  bears  the  signature  of  each  Com- 


bSSSST^mTSb?"  medical  acts  commission.  453 

missioner,  there  is  so  real  anaoimity  on  its  essential 
features.  Thus  Mr.  Simon,  Professor  Turner,  and  Mr. 
Sglater-Booth  object  to  the  principle  of  direct  represen- 
tation of  the  profession  on  the  Medical  Council;  Mr. 
HuxiiET,  Professor  Turner,  and  Mr.  Brtce  object  to  the 
diyisional  examinations  proposed  as  the  sole  portal  of 
Amission  to  the  Register ;  while  the  Bishop  of  Peter- 
BOROUOH  advocates  a  Stoats  Examen — ^an  examination,  con- 
<dncted  on  behalf  of  the  State,  of  those  who  have  previouslj 
obtained  a  complete  qualification  by  license,  or  a  degree 
from  some  chartered  medical  authority  or  authorities. 

In  a  leading  article  in  the  Times  of  the  28th  Jane,  the 
^editor,  remarking  on  these  differences  of  opinion,  says  : — 

Two  things  will  at  once  become  manifest — ^first,  that  their 
dissent  is  not  likely  to  rest  upon  any  bat  weighty  and  safficient 
pounds ;  secondly,  that  it  can  scarcely  depend  apon  the 
operation  of  any  professional  prejadice  or  any  common  point  of 
view.  It  onfortonately  happens,  moreover,  that  the  qaestions 
raised  by  the  separate  memoranda  are  precisely  those  which 
were  previoasly  in  dispate,  and  for  which  it  was  hoped  that  the 
Commission  might  discover  some  aniyersally  acceptable  sola- 
iion.  The  points  on  which  the  eleven  members  are  agreed  seem 
to  be  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  matters  of  detail;  and  the 
recommendations  which  they  have  pat  forth  concerning  them  are 
essentially  sach  as  were  already  felt  to  be  inevitable.  It  is 
chiefly  with  reference  to  the  mode  of  condacting  the  examina- 
tion of  candidates  for  the  lowest  medical  license,  or  bare 
qualification  to  practise,  and  with  reference  to  the  mode  of 
appointing  the  Coancil  by  which  medical  edacation  is  to  be 
^controlled,  that  the  majority  of  the  Commissioners  are  more  or 
less  dissentient  from  the  report ;  and  these  are  almost  the  sole 
•questions  apon  which  the  Bills  broaght  into  Parhament  by  the 
Duke  of  Richhomd  and  by  Lord  Bipon  were  wrecked. 

Farther,  we  think  the  report  does  not  disclose  any  very 
{prave  necessity  for  legislation  at  all.    It  is  quite  true  that 


454 


MKDIOAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  ^bS^^STTm^T 


some  examinations  are  imperfeot;  lliat  one  body  osdy 
examines  in  medicine,  and  another  only  in  snrgery ;  but  as 
a  matter  of  faet,  how  few  are  there  who  enter  on  practice 
without  a  qnalification  in  both  branches  of  the  profession  1^ 
What  is  more  important,  how  few  appointments  are  open 
to  any  who  do  so  ?  The  absence  of  any  immediate  necessity^ 
for  a  new  Medical  Beform  Bill,  the  serioas  differences  of 
opinion  which  exist  amongst  those  who  hare  devoted  most 
attention  to  the  subject,  the  large  amount  of  arrears  or 
legislative  work  occasioned  by  the  position  of  Ireland,  and 
the  only  too  great  probability  that  for  a  long  while  yet  to 
come  the  energies  of  our  legislators  will  be  devoted  to- 
devising  and  carrying  out  measures  for  the  prevention  or 
robbery  and  murder  in  that  unhappy  country,  render  it  pro- 
bable that  the  question  will  be  shelved  for  some  time  to  oome^ 

As,  however,  it  has  been  brought  before  us,  and  as  it  is- 
just  possible  that  it  may  be  discussed  in  Parliament  during 
next  Session,  we  may  enquire  how  far  the  proposals  of  the 
Commission  are  likely  to  influence  homceopathists,  and  what 
precautions  we  need  to  take  in  order  to  protect  our  interests^ 

In  approaching  the  subject  from  this  point  of  view,  we 
must  remember  that  the  Commission  had  no  power  to 
enquire  into  the  details  of  medical  education,  and  that  con- 
sequently no  Act  of  Parliament  that  may  be  based  upon 
their  report  will  deal  with  such  details.  All  that  the  Com- 
mission had  to  consider,  and  all  that  an  Act  of  Parliament 
wiU  embrace>  will  be  the  broad  professional  divisions — ^medi- 
cine,  surgery  and  midwifery.  How  these  several  subjects 
may  be  treated,  either  by  teachers  or  examiners,  is  entirely 
beyond  the  scope  of  an  Act  of  Parliament.  And  inas- 
much as  knowledge  regarding  either  is  progressive,  it  is 
necessarily  so. 

All,  therefore,  that  can  legitimately  concern  us  in  an 
Act  of  Parliament  regulating  admission  to  the  rights  and. 


uS^SSTtm!^  MBDIOAL  ACTS  COMMISSION.  455 

privilegeB  of  the  profiBssion  of  loedicixie  is  that  no  obstacle 
be  placed  in  the  way  of  any  one  entering  the  profession  on 
the  gronnd  of  his  believing  in  homoeopathy. 

The  Medical  Act  of  1858  contains  in  its  28rd  clause  a 
distinct  protection  of  this  kind,  and  any  alteration  that 
maybe  made  in  the  laws  regalating onr  profession  must  be 
jealously  watched,  lest  by  some  side  wind  or  manoeuvre  this 
protection  be  lost.  It  is  indeed  highly  improbable  that  a 
eandidate's  futh  in  homodopathy  would  nowadays  prevent 
him  enjoying  the  fruits  of  passing  a  good  examination,  but 
nevertheless  it  is  well  not  to  place  temptation  in  the  way  of 
an  examiner.  Hence  we  must  insist  on  the  retention  of 
this  28rd  clause  in  full  force. 

It  would  be  very  desirable  were  we  able  to  insist  on 
every  candidate  being  ei^amined  as  to  his  knowledge  of — 
not  of  his  faith  in — ^homoBopathy,  and  of  the  pathogenetic 
action  of  drugs.  Until  examinations  do  comprise  these 
subjects,  they  will  be,  pro  tanto,  imperfect.  But  these  are 
matters  with  which  we  can  hardly  expect  an  Act  of 
Parliament  to  deal.  They  are  for  the  consideration 
of  the  Medical  Council,  and  it  is  this  adamantine  body 
that  we  must  impress  before  we  can  hope  to  see  a 
knowledge  of  homosopaihy  necessary  to  admission  to  the 
Medical  Register.  Such  an  impression  we  can  only  make 
^i^^en  Vbt  principles  and  practice  of  homoeopathy  are 
much  more  largely  appreciated  by  the  profession  than 
they  are  now.  Three  hundred  members  of  the  profession 
cannot  hope  to  force  their  views  of  what  is  right  and 
necessary  upon  twenty-three  thousand.  The  time  will 
come,  if  we  are  faithful  in  practising  homcBopathy,  and 
earnest  in  spreading  a  knowledge  of  it  by  every  means 
within  our  reach,  when  it  will  be  taught,  and  when  it  will 
form  one  of  the  subjects  of  examination  of  all  candidates 
for  a  diploma  in  medicine.  It  is  to  this  end  that  we  must 
labour  and  strive,  and  work  of  this  kind  is  best  and  most 
Barely  performed  through  the  press,  the  lecture  room,  and 
at  the  bedside.    It  cannot  be  done  by  Acts  of  Parliament. 


456    BBITI8H  HOM<EOPATHIO  BOGIETT.  ^£^,^55°?Ssl 

AN  ADDBESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE   THE   FEL- 

LOWS    AND    MEMBERS    OF    THE    BRITISH 

HOMOEOPATHIC    SOCIETY,    AT    THE 

CLOSE   OF  SESSION,   1881-1882.* 

By  Alfbed  C.  Pope,  M.D.,  President  of  the  Society. 

Gentlemen, — We,  this  evening,  bring  to  a  close  the 
proceedings  of  the  thirty-eighth  session  of  our  Society. 
We  cannot,  I  think,  do  so  more  appropriately  than  by 
inquiring,  in  the  first  place,  what  we  have  done,  during  the 
last  nine  months,  towards  the  accomplishment  of  tiiose 
objects  for  the  promotion  of  which  our  Society  exists. 
And  secondlyy  we  may,  with  advantage,  endeavour  to 
ascertain  the  position  which  the  therapeutic  doctrine  we 
are  here  to  cherish  and  to  nourish  holds  at  the  present 
time  in  the  realm  of  medicine. 

The  chief  object  of  our  Society  is  the  cultivation  of 
therapeutics — of  special  and  general  therapeutics. 

The  study  of  Materia  Medica  from  the  pathogenetic 
standpoint,  and  the  practical  application  of  the  lessons 
derived  from  this  study,  are,  of  all  subjects  of  medical 
inquiry,  those  which  are  most  befitting  our  attention. 

On  the  degree  of  perfection  to  which  wc  can  bring  our 
knowledge  of  the  action  of  individual  drugs  upon  the 
healthy  body,  and  the  amount  of  accuracy  with  which, 
guided  by  the  principle  similia,  simtZifruf  cwrantur^  we  can 
apply  this  knowledge  clinically,  depend  in  a  large  measure 
not  only  our  success  as  healers  of  disease,  but  also  the 
influence  we  have  in  extending  a  knowledge  of  homoeopathy, 
the  power  we  possess  of  compelling  professional  inquiry 
into  our  therapeutic  method. 

Let  us  then  occupy  ourselves  for  a  few  minutes  with  a 
rapid  sketchof  the  work  of  the  Society  during  the  past  session. 

At  our  first  meeting,  last  October,  a  paper  was  read  by 
Dr.  Washington  Epps  based  upon  the  details  of  two  cases 
of  Chrome  Eczema. 

The  practical  lesson  which  this  essay  seemed  to  me  to 
teach  us,  was  the  supreme  importance  of  paying  due  regard 
to  the  diathesis  underlying  an  eruption  on  the  skin.  To 
this  end  it  is  essential  that  the  mind  of  the  physician 
should  not  be  too  exclusively  occupied  either  with  the 
locality  or  the  character  of  the  eruption,  but  that  in  select- 
ing his  medicine  he  should  take  into  account  every  other 

*  Reprinted  from  ^k^AnfiaUofth€BrUuhH(matopathU8ocuty,kQ%.Ad^l^ 


iS^S^TS^  BRITISH  HOM(EOPATHIO  800IETT.     45T 

»  11.  ■ 

symptom  of  disordered  health  whieh  is  associated  with  its 
derelopment.  An  emption  is  but  the  outward  and  visible 
sign  of  a  mnch  more  generally  diffused  and  obscurely 
situated  disorder.  And  it  is  with  this  that  in  order  to  cure 
the  more  obvious  indication  of  ill-health,  that  we  have  to 
do  battle;  while  it  is  only  by  a  due  recognition  of  the 
totality  of  the  symptoms  that'  we  can  accomplish  our 
purpose.  To  this  end  we  must  endeavour  to  keep  as  clear 
as  we  can  of  the  phrase  '^  skin-disease."  It  is,  I  believe, 
a  term  which  has  no  really  inteUigible  nosological  signifi- 
cance, or,  if  it  have  any,  it  is  one  that  is  misleading.  The 
eruption  to  which  it  gives  such  undue  prominence  is  but  a 
symptom  or,  at  the  most,  a  phase  of  constitutional  dis- 
turbance. In  no  class  of  disease  is  Hahnemann's  injunc- 
tion to  be  guided,  in  drug  selection,  by  the  totality  of  the 
symptoms,  more  deserving  of  our  thoughtful  attention, 
than  it  is  in  those  disorders,  one  feature  of  which  is  an 
eruption.  While  at  no  period  in  the  history  of  medicine 
(one  in  which  a  scientifically  demoralising  tendency  to- 
specialism  has  obtained  so  strong  a  hold  on  the  mind  of  the 
profession),  never,  I  say,  was  it  more  necessary  than  it  is 
now  that  we  should  remind  one  another  of  the  importance 
of  this  fact.  **  If  one  member  of  the  body  suffers  all  the 
members  suffer  with  it,"  and  the  only  way,  especially  in 
obscure  constitutional  forms  of  disease,  in  which  we  can 
hope,  or  have  any  right  to  expect  to  be  able,  by  means  of 
medicines,  to  modify  the  health  of  all  the  members  of  the 
body,  is  by  paying  due  heed  to  the  totality  of  the  symptoms 
eyinced  by  all,  by  listening  attentively  to  the  language  of 
living  pathology. 

At  tibe  following  meeting  Mr.  Butcher  read  a  paper  having 
foritBiitleHomceopathic  Therapeutics  in  Surgery.  Thought- 
ful and  interesting  as  this  essay  was,  it  was  limited  rather 
to  showing  that  the  progress  of  modem  thought  lay  in  the 
direction  of  homoeopathy  than  to  pointing  out  the  influence 
of  homoeopathic  medication  upon  such  diseases  and  injuries 
as  are  regarded  as  being  within  the  province  of  the  surgeon. 

This  is  a  subject  of  considerable  importance,  and,  I 
trust,  that  on  some  future  occasion  Mr.  Butcher  will 
return  to  its  consideration,  and  handle  it  with  that 
eare  and  fulness  which  it  deserves,  and  which  he  is  so 
capable  of  giving  to  it. 

Operative  surgery  is  eminently  attractive.  It  affords  so 
wide  a  scope  for  the  display  of  coolness,  courage^  and" 


458      BBITISH  HOMCSOPATHIO  SOCIBTY.  ^^^J.^SuHf^ 

manipulatiye  skilly  its  results  are  so  palpable,  and  in  many 
instances  afford  so  mnch  immediate  relief  to  the  sofferer, 
that  the  temptation  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot  of  disease 
with  the  scalpel,  instead  of  endeavouring  to  untie  it  with 
homoBopathically  selected  medicines,  is  oftentimes  too 
strong  for  the  surgeon. 

NeyerthelesB  the  facts  remain  that  many  limbs  have  been 
saved  by  such  remedial  measures,  when  disease  of  the 
joints  has  seemed  to  call  for  their  removal  by  the  ampu- 
tating knife ;  not  a  few  cases  of  ophthalmic  disorder  are  still 
interfered  with  by  those  beautiful  and  delicate  instruments 
which  are  the  pride  and  boast  of  ophthalmic  surgeons,  that 
ought  to  yield  to  medicinal  influences;  while  in  a  few 
instances  some  kinds  of  tumours  have  been  found  to 
disperse  under  the  action  of  appropriate  remedies.  And, 
further,  it  has  long  since  been  placed  beyond  dispute  that, 
where  surgical  procedures  have  become  inevitable,  the  after 
treatment  has  been  rendered  much  more  effective  by 
homoeopathic  medication. 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  make  light  of  the  value  of  operative 
surgery  as  a  means  of  saving  life.  Important,  necessary, 
and  highly  developed  as  it  is,  the  aim  of  the  surgeon 
should  still  be  to  restrict  rather  than  extend  the  sphere  of 
•operations,  to  substitute  medicine  for  the  knife  wherever  it 
may  be  possible  to  do  so.  Much,  I  think,  remains  to  be 
done  in  this  direction,  and  much  I  feel  persuaded  may  be 
done  by  the  careful  study  of  individual  cases,  by  giving  more 
unremitting  attention  to  constitutional  conditions,  and  by 
carefully  considering  all  the  symptoms  attending  the  rise, 
progress,  and  status  prasens  of  a  disease. 

In  December  Dr.  Burnett  criticised  with  much  acuteness 
and  fulness  a  portion  of  the  article  on  the  pathogenetic 
properties  of  Silver  contained  in  Dr.  Allen's  Encyclopisdia 
of  Materia  Medica.  The  eondusioiis  arrived  at  by  our 
learned  colleague's  examination  of  this  article  must,  I  feaer, 
be  regarded  as  calculated  to  diminish  our  confidence  in  the 
uniform  accuracy  of  the  translations  from  foreign  autiiors 
which  form  so  considerable  a  portion  of  that  gigantic  work. 
Its  thorough  re-examination  by  competent  critics  has  been 
shown  by  Dr.  Burnett  to  be  essential.  It  must,*  however, 
be  admitted  that  Dr.  Allen  has  liberally  supplied  the  means 
necessary  for  such  re-examination  by  the  fulness  with 
w^hich  be  has  given  the  references  to  the  soureea  whence 


IS^SST^  BMTISH  HOMCBOPATHIO  SOCIETY.     469 

1i0  deriyed  the  material  he  has  so  industriously  collected 
for  us. 

No  more  desirable  work  can,  I  belieYe,  be  undertaken 
than  the  carefdl  re^examination  of  about  one  hundred  of 
the  most  generally  useful  medicines,  the  pathogenetic 
effects  of  which,  being  recorded  in  this  Encyclopcedia^  are 
not  contained  in  Hahnemann's  Materia  Medica  Pura. 
These  published  as  a  supplement  to  that  great  work — of 
which  we  have  now,  thanks  to  two  distinguished  Fellows 
of  our  Society,  so  admirable  a  rendering — ^would  place 
within  the  reach  of  the  physician  an  ample  source  of  power 
in  his  drug-dealings  with  disease.  The  necessity  for  sacb 
^  work  is,  I  am  sure,  becoming  increasingly  felt ;  and,  as 
in  commerce,  a  demand  creates  sapply,  so  here  I  trust 
that  the  same  influence  may  ensure  a  like  result. 

In  January  Dr.  Clark  introduced  the  subject  of  the 
Antagonistic  Action  of  Medicines,  By  a  series  of  apposite 
«nd  interesting  cases  of  chronic  poisoning  from  brass, 
opium,  and  arsenic,  he  showed  that  small  doses  of  medicines 
acting  on  the  same  tissues  as  do  these  several  drugs, 
relieved,  with  more  or  less  permanence,  the  symptoms  they 
had  eroked,  albeit,  in  each  instance,  the  influence  of  the 
poison  was  continued. 

The  practical  lesson  illustrated  by  Dr.  Clark's  cases  is 
alike  interesting  and  important,  teaching,  as  it  does,  how 
wide  is  the  sphere  and  how  active  is  the  power  of  a 
homoeopathically  selected  medicine. 

At  our  February  meeting  Dr.  Hayward  brought  before 
us  a  study  of  the  Afferent  Imid  of  efiects  produced  by  large 
«nd  small  doses  of  the  poison  of  the  Crotalus  horridus. 
The  object  of  the  paper  was  to  direct  attention  to  the  rela* 
tion  subsisting  between  the  dose  requisite  to  give  rise  to  a 
given  class  of  symptoms  and  that  which  is  necessary  in 
order  to  cure  similar  symptoms.  A  further  study  of  the 
dose  question  in  the  direction  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Hayward 
is  one  that  appears  likely  to  prove  fruitful. 

The  time  devoted  to  our  meeting  in  March  was  wholly 
absorbed  by  discussion  of  a  polemical  character.  While 
it  Ib  much  to  be  regretted  that  we  should  be  occupied  with 
a  debate  of  this  kind  to  the  exclusion  of  questions  having  a 
snentific  interest,  and  of  matters  of  practical  value,  it  was 
important,  and  indeed  necessary,  that  the  members  of  this 
fkwiafy  shoald  expreu  their  opinions  regarding  a  at^  so 
aarious  aa  tiut  before  us  on  this  oecaaion,  even  though  it 


460    BRITISH  HOMCBOPATHIO  BOCIBTY.   ^bSSJ.^SJ?^ 

was  one  for  taking  which  we  were  in  no  way  responsible. 
While  much  earnestly  expressed  feeling  animated  both  the 
opponents  and  supporters  of  the  proposals  of  the  London 
School  of  Homoeopathy  to  institute  a  diploma  testifying  to 
a  knowledge  of  homoeopathy,  it  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to 
remember  here  that  the  discussion  was  entirely  devoid  of 
any  of  those  unpleasant  and  ungenerous  personalities  which 
are  so  frequently  conspicuous  on  occasions  where  strong 
feelings  are  aroused. 

In  April  Dr.  Meyhoffer,  of  Nice,  presented  to  the 
Society  a  very  full  and  elaborate  clinical  record  of  a  some- 
what unusual  form  of  ActUe  Pneumonia.  It  showed,  in  a 
striking  manner,  the  necessity  which  exists  not  only  in  the 
treatment  of  chronic  disease,  but  also  in  that  of  such  as  is 
acute,  of  being  guided  in  selecting  our  medicines  by  the 
constitutional  condition  of  the  patient  at  the  time  when  the 
local  lesion  manifested  itself.  The  presence  of  any  special 
diathesis  in  acute  disease  must  not  only  affect  our  prog- 
nosis, but  should  also  influence  our  therapeutics. 

At  our  May  meeting  Dr.  Both  described  to  us  the 
method  of  treating  Prolap$us  and  some  other  diseases  of 
the  uterus  by  means  of  exciting  active  movements  in  the 
abdominal  and  pelvic  muscles,  devised  by  Major  Brandt,  of 
the  Swedish  army.  The  great  success  which  had  followed 
Major  Brandt's  efforts  in  Uiis  direction,  attested  as  it  was, 
to  a  large  extent  at  any  rate,  by  distinguished  Swedish 
physicians,  as  well  as  the  purely  palliative  character  of 
much  of  Uie  therapeutics  of  uterine  disease,  abundantly 
justified  our  energetic  and  enthusiastic  colleague  in  bringing 
it  before  this  Society  for  discussion.  At  the  same  time, 
the  mere  &ct  that  the  treatment  proposed  involves  a  some- 
what frequent  vaginal  examination  renders  it  improbable 
that,  unless  this  part  of  the  process  can  be  modified,  itisa 
method  likely  to  commend  itself  either  to  English  physicians 
or  English  patients. 

A  few  months  back  the  Society  appointed  a  committee 
to  prepare  a  plan  upon  whieh  our  records  of  the  patho- 
genetio  effects  of  drugs  mig^t  be  revised.  In  taking  thia 
step  the  Society  had  especially  in  view  the  critical  exami- 
nation of  all  the  symptoms  of  ill-health  ascribed  to  the  use 
of  those  drags  which  eonstttute  our  Materia  Medica,  the 
eiq>anging  firam  tlie  provings  all  untrusiworthy  and  irrele- 
vant matter,  and  the  preseatatioD  of  the  remainder  in  a 


uS^Ja^T^""  BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIC  BOCIETY.     461 

form  at  once  more  accurate,  concise,  and  intelligible  than 
that  in  which  they  exist  at  present. 

At  our  meeting  on  the  first  day  of  this  month  Dr. 
Hughes  laid  before  the  Society  a  specimen  of  the  plan 
which  the  committee  recommended  the  Society  to  adopt  in 
this  revision  of  the  Materia  Medica.  The  medicine  chosen 
to  exhibit  it  was  Aloes,  The  manner  in  which  the  recorded 
effects  of  this  drug  had  been  dealt  with  gave  rise  to  con- 
siderable and,  I  trust,  useful  discussion.  The  work  of  the 
committee  was  subjected  to  that  rigid  and  uncompromising 
form  of  criticism  by  which  alone  our  Materia  Medica  can 
be  rendered  more  and  more  reliable. 

We  have,  as  the  direct  effects  of  drags  upon  compara- 
tiyely  healthy  human  beings — I  say  comparatively  healthy, 
because  I  doubt  the  existence  of  an  absolutely  healthy 
person  just  as  much  as  I  question  the  existence  of  an 
absolutely  sound  horse — we  have,  as  such  effects,  symptoms 
which  are  divisible  into  two  classes. 

First y  those  which  are  always,  or^almost  always,  evoked 
by  large  doses  in  nearly  all  persons — symptoms  such  as 
Dr.  Drysdale  has  termed  ''  absolute."  These  are  easily 
recognised,  and  in  the  case  of  aloes  are  well  described  by 
many  writers  on  Materia  Medica. 

Secondb/y  we  have  such  as  have  been  observed  to  follow 
only  comparatively  small  doses.  These  are,  for  the  most 
part,  symptoms  which  have  been,  as  it  were,  overshadowed 
by  the  weightier  consequences  of  large  doses,  and  are  only 
observable  in  persons  who  are  especially  susceptible  to 
medicinal  action.  These  Dr.  Drysdale  has  termed  con- 
tingent. Now,  in  any  revision  of  our  Materia  Medica  that 
we  may  make,  we  must  be  careful  to  pay  due  regard  to 
each  of  these  classes  of  symptoms.  We  cannot  afford  to 
dispense  with  either.  In  regard  to  the  first  class,  there  is 
little  difficulty  in  forming  an  opinion  as  to  their  trust- 
worthiness. But  when  we  have  to  make  an  estimate  of 
the  degree  of  genuineness  to  be  attached  to  symptoms 
ascribed  to  small  doses,  the  difficulty  of  being  sure  that 
they  are  real  drug  effects  is  greatly  increased. 

The  work  to  which  I  have  referred  is  thus  one  not  only 
of  considerable  magnitude  but  one  imposing  a  large  amount 
of  responsibility  upon  those  who  have  undertaken  it.  It 
has,  therefore,  strong  claims  upon  the  support  and 
sympathy  of  the  Society,  and  is  one  in  the  prosecution  of 

Yol.  26,  No.  8.  2  i 


462      BRITISH  HOMOEOPATHIC  SOCIETY.  "^BSSS^.^nfMaL 

which  I  tmst  that  every  member  will  feel  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  render  all  the  assistance  in  his  power. 

The  revision  of  onr  Pliarmacoposia  has  also  occapied 
onr  attention  dnring  the  past  few  months.  The  new 
edition,  which  it  was  resolved  should  be  prepared,  is  now,  I 
believe,  in  the  press,  and  will  be  in  the  hands  of  membeis 
early  next  session. 

Finally,  the  Society  has  tiiis  session  manifested  that 
interest  in  the  preservation  of  the  public  health  by  the 
prevention  of  canses  of  disease  which  every  medical  society 
IB  bound  to  exhibit.  In  fdrtherance  of  this  part  of  oar 
duty  we  have  presented  a  petition  to  both  Honaes  of 
Parliament,  drawing  attention  to  the  dangers  which  arise 
from  the  sale  of  colours  containing  arsenic,  especially  from 
the  presence  of  this  poison  in  wall-papers,  and  while  doing 
so  we  have  pointed  out  the  necessity  for  legislative  enaet- 
ments  rendering  the  sale  and  use  of  materials  so  detrimental 
to  health  illegal. 

With  a  brief  reference  to  some  points  of  detaU,  I  wiU 
conclude  this  portion  of  the  observations  I  have  to  lay 
before  you  this  evening. 

During  the  session  we  have  admitted  three  new  members, 
two  being  inceptive  and  one  an  ordinary  member.  Two 
inceptives  have  become  ordinary  members,  and  three  ordi- 
nary members  have  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  ^*  Fellow." 
Since  our  last  annual  assembly  we  have  had  to  regret  the 
loss  of  two  Fellows,  one.  Dr.  Bayes,  by  resignation,  and  the 
other,  Dr.  Leadam,  by  death.  Our  deceased  colleague  was 
elected  a  member  of  our  Society  in  1848.  No  one  was 
more  respected,  none  more  esteemed  amongst  us,  than  was 
Dr.  Leadam.  His  earnest  zeal  for  the  promotion  of 
homoeopathy  was  well  known  to  all  who  had  the  advantage 
of  his  personal  acquaintance,  while  his  desire  to  assist  in 
its  scientific  development  was  attested  by  his  long  service 
in  the  wards  of  the  hospital  in  which  we  are  here  assem- 
bled, as  well  as  by  his  frequent  contributions  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  our  Society. 

Within  the  last  few  days  the  intelligence  has  reached  us 
of  the  death  of  a  distinguished  corresponding  member  of 
our  Society,  the  venerable  Dr.  John  Franklin  Gray,  of 
New  York.  Dr.  Gray  was  one  of  the  earUest  converts  to 
homoeopathy  in  the  United  States  of  America,  where  he 
has  practised  homoeopathy  since  1828,  and  was  also  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy. 


ISHS^jSn^vm^  BBITI8H  HOMCBOPATHIC  800IETT.      463 

Of  him  one  of  his  eontemporaries  has  said^  ''Dr.  Qray 
may  truly  be  reckoned  the  very  first  scientific  homcdopathic 
physician  after  Dr.  Gram  [who  introduced  the  practice  of 
homcaopaihy  into  New  York] ,  and  he  has  been  an 
unflinching  and  constant  champion  of  it  up  to  the  present 
hour." 

I  should  be  most  imperfectly  fulfilling  my  duties  here 
this  evening  were  I  to  omit  the  mention  of  another  loss 
which  the  Society  has  sustained  this  session  in  the  resig- 
nation by  Dr.  Sbmilton  of  the  office  of  Treasurer*  Elected 
a  member  in  1847  he  was  within  a  few  years — thiee  or 
four,  I  believe — ^chosen  to  fill  that  office  to  which  he  has 
been  unanimously  re-elected  at  each  succeeding  annual 
assembly,  and  &om  which  he  has,  after  more  than  thirty 
years  of  valuable  service,  only  definitely  retired  this  even- 
ing. By  the  care  and  attention  he  has  devoted  to  the 
financial  interests  of  the  Society  and  the  uniform  kindness 
and  courtesy  he  has  displayed  to  its  Fellows  and  Members, 
Dr.  Hamilton  has  abundantly  earned  the  thanks  we  have 
very  cordially  presented  to  him  this  evening.  We  all 
trust  that,  though  he  has  ceased  to  be  an  officer,  he  will 
long  remain  associated  with  us  as  a  Fellow,  and  by  his 
presence  at  our  meetings  add  to  the  advantages  we  attend 
here  to  obtain. 

Leaving  now  the  consideration  of  our  work  here  during 
the  paid;  session,  I  must  ask  you  to  bear  with  me  for  a 
short  time  longer  while  I  endeavour  to  reply  to  the 
questions — Is  a  knowledge  of  homoBopathy  increasing  ?  Is 
it,  as  a  method  of  drug  selection,  more  appreciated  now 
than  once  it  was  9  Is  its  influence  upon  general  thera- 
peutics extending. 

How  variously  are  such  enquiries  met  by  diflerent  classes 
of  people ! 

Thus,  we  are  told  by  writers  in  the  allopathic  medical 
press  that  homoBopathy  exists  but  as  a  ''  trade  mark,"  save 
as  something  to  attract  patients  to  particular  practitioners. 

Again,  a  few  there  are  amongst  ourselves  who  never 
weary  of  uttering  the  cry  that  homoBopathy  is  "  going  to 
the  dogs,"  that  the  practice  of  homoeopathy  nowadays  is 
not  that  perfection  of  therapeutics  it  was  when  they  were 
young,  ardent,  and  industrious,  that  medicines  are  not 
selected  with  that  degree  of  accuracy  that  they  were  wont 
to  be  thirty  years  ago,  and  that  at  the  present  time  they 

2 1— 2 


1 


464      BRITISH  HOM(EOPATHIC  SOCIETY.  ^^!,fSS!i!m. 

are  too  generally  prescribed  in  doses  which,  from  tim 
size,  preclude  their  having  a  coratiye  and  render  them 
liable  to  excite  a  pathogenetic  action. 

Lastly,  we  find  a  small  but  somewhat  noisy  band,  wkoae 
mission  it  would  seem  to  be  to  proclaim  on  eyery  possiUe 
occasion,  and  through  every  available  medium,  not  exc^cmg 
an  allopathic  medical  journal — a  kind  of  periodical  only  too 
glad  to  give  them  the  use  of  its  columns — ^that  the  piesent 
generation  of  physicians  who  openly  acknowledge  thdtroA 
of  homcBopathy  know  nothing  ihereof,  but  rarely  pnctise 
homcBopathically,  and  that  Uiey  and  they  alone,  &w  in 
number  and  contentious  in  character  as  they  are,  are  the 
only  representatives  of  this  therapeutic  method. 

The  questions  I  have  proposed  to  discuss  may,  I  ttuok, 
be  best  replied  to  by  a  brief  notice  of  each  of  these  tluee 
classes. 

The  allopathic  journalist  has  greedily  snatched  al  the 
suggestion  made,  for  the  first  time  some  eight  or  ten  yem 
ago,  by  Mr.  Oliver  Pemberton,  of  Birmingham,  that  tk 
offence  of  homoeopathy  lies  in  the  name  attached  to  it.  li 
was  a  clever  and  ingenious  hit  of  Mr.  Pemberton's  was  this 
inveighing  against  the  name ;  and  it  has  been  a  wa^ 
Buccessfal  one,  for  not  only  has  it  had  the  influence  it  yn& 
desired  that  it  should  have  upon  the  minds  of  allopadtic 
practitioners,  but  it  has  succeeded  in  somewhat  obscoring 
the  vision  of  a  few  of  our  own  members.  It  has  impressed 
their  sensitiveness  to  the  charge  it  implies  of  nooK 
adventitious  means  for  securing  patients.  Further,  it  htf 
furnished  some  who  know  that  homoeopathy  is  true,  and 
know,  still  more  decidedly,  that  the  isolated  position  of  tf 
avowed  homoeopathist  is  a  bed  of  thorns  rather  than  (^ 
of  roses,  with  a  plausible  excuse  for  practising  homoeopithj 
without  acknowledging  that  they  do  so,  for  shirking  9d 
evading  those  responsibilities  which  their  knowledge 
imposes  upon  them.  As  an  excuse  for  such  a  conise  d 
action  I  have  heard  it  urged  that  one  does  not  know  witft 
homoeopathy  is;  that  by  one  author  it  is  regarded  is 
meaning  one  thing,  by  another  as  something  else,  and  bj 
a  third  as  that  which  is  quite  different  still.  Such  a  mo^ 
of  evading  a  difficulty  will  not  bear  examination.  Let  asj 
member  of  the  profession  endeavour  to  procure  admissioB 
to  a  medical  society  where  homoeopathic  practitioners  tfc 
excluded  by  stating  that  he  is  not  a  homoeopathist,  h^ 
that,  at  the  same  time,  he  has  no  doubt  that  medicines 


SS^^Tm^  BRITISH  HOMOSOPATHIC  SOCIETY.      465 

which  in  health  prodace  condiiioiis  like  those  they  are 
desired  to  cure  are  those  which  are  most  nsefnl  in  such 
caseSy  and  he  will  be  very  promptly  informed  that  he  is  not 
eligible  for  election,  that  he  is  endeavonring  to  sail  under 
false  colours,  and  that  a  mere  repudiation  of  the  name  is 
insufficient  to  entitle  him  to  receive  professional  fellow- 
ship. 

The  Lancet^  which  has  to  a  large  extent  educated  the 
profession  in  its  opposition  to  homoeopaihy,  and  now 
represents  the  feeling  regarding  it  of  a  ye^  considerable 
proportion  of  its  members,  has  told  us,  with  ample  dis- 
tinctness, that  ''nothing  less  than  the  most  unreserved 
renunciation  of  all  the  dogmas  of  homoeopathy,  both  in 
name  and  in  deed,  will  be  accepted  "  (June  2nd,  1877). 

Gentlemen,  the  word  ''  homoeopathy  *'  is  no  trade  mark. 
It  is  the  concise  definition  of  a  therapeutic  doctrine,  of  a 
doctrine  having  a  wider  scope  and  greater  practical  value 
than  any  other  in  the  whole  range  of  medical  science. 
Neither  are  ''  Hahnemannism  *'  and  ''  Homoeopathy  " 
equivalent  terms.  The  former  may  be  fairly  held  to 
denote  the  entire  teaching  of  the  illustrious  physician  from 
whose  name  it  has  been  coined.  Comparatively  few  of 
those  who  believe  in  homoeopathy  are  prepared  to  pin  their 
faith  to  every  precept  taught  by  him  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  our  familiarity  with  the  therapeutic  doctrine 
of  the  transcendent  value  of  which  we  are  one  and  all 
convinced. 

In  reality,  however,  the  use  of  the  word  homoeopathy  by 
those  who  believe  in  it  is  protested  against,  because  it 
involves  an  open  confession  that  the  doctrine  it  expresses 
is  true.  This  doctrine,  according  to  some,  may  without 
offence  be  taught  piecemeal,  it  may  be  illustrated  by 
individual  cases  after  an  empirical  fashion,  and  it  is 
permissible  to  comment  upon  such  cases  in  detail,  and 
without  any  distinct  allusion  to  the  doctrine  itself  you  are 
at  liberty  to  bring  out  every  feature  of  it ;  but  once  define 
this  doctrine  by  a  comprehensive  word,  and  you  are 
perpetrating  an  outrage  upon  medical  propriety!  A 
therapeutic  doctrine  may  be  perfectly  sound — at  least,  that 
known  as  homoeopathy  may  be  so — ^but  that  doctrine  must 
not  have  a  verbal  definition  ! 

Such  is  the  practical  outcome  of  the  objection  raised  to 
the  name.  To  me  it  appears  to  be,  in  the  first  place, 
childish ;  and,  in  the  second,  as  obstructive  to  therapeutic 


466     BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIO  80CIETT.  ^S^ 


Beview,  Aag.  i,  UBL 


progress.  To  admit  the  truth  of  a  doctrine,  and  yet  to 
declare  that  the  definition  of  that  doctrine  by  a  particular 
word  is  an  offence,  would  seem  to  be  a  proposition  that 
could  not  be  defended.  Neither  is  it;  it  is  simply  asserted. 
Why  is  it  so  ?  Why  has  it  been  raised  ?  Why  has  it  been 
80  repeatedly  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the  profession 
by  the  chief  organs  of  medical  opinion  ?  The  answer  to 
these  questions  will,  I  think,  be  found  in  the  consideration 
of  the  position  which  those  who  object  to  the  use  of  the 
word  homoeopathy  have  occupied  towards  the  doctrine  it 
denotes  in  the  past,  and  that  which  they  now  fill  towards  it. 

For  half  a  century  the  medical  press  of  this  country  has 
uniformly  denounc^  homceopathy  as  a  ''fiirrago  of 
absurdity  '*  and  a  '*  form  of  quackery ; "  it  has  represented 
this  doctrine  as  **  a  folly,"  and  its  practice  as  a  "  firaud.'* 

So  much  for  the  past.  What  is  the  state  of  therapeutics 
to-day  ?  What  are  the  books  on  Materia  Medica  so  cor- 
dially recommended  to  the  study  of  their  readers  by  the 
medical  journals  now  ? 

The  very  periodicals  which  have  in  the  past  derided, 
misrepresented,  and  attacked  homoeopathy  and  its  advo- 
cates with  such  uncompromising  virulence,  have,  during 
the  last  few  years,  with  ever  increasing  frequency,  pree^ited 
their  readers  with  hints  for  using  various  medicines  first 
made  known  through  the  study  and  practice  of  homoeopathy. 
While,  as  to  the  text-books  on  Materia  Medica  which  have 
the  ear  of  the  profession,  they  abound  in  practical  lessons 
filched  firom  the  teachings  of  homoeopathy.  Thus  to  a  veiy 
large  extent  is  homoeopathy  taught — ^taught  empirically  it 
is  true,  taught  without  any  reference  to  a  therapeutic  doc- 
trine— ^but  none  the  less  taught,  and  therefore  practically 
endorsed. 

How  is  it  possible  to  reconcile  the  contumely  with  which 
homoeopathy  has  been  treated — aye,  and  is  still  treated — 
with  the  adoption,  not  only  of  uses  of  old  remedies  first 
made  known  through  its  practice,  but  of  drugs — such  as 
p^dsatillaf  lor  example — ^which  prior  to  the  study  of  homoeo- 
pathy wore  but  little  known  in  medicine  ?  Such  positions  as 
these  cannot  be  reconciled.  If  the  therapeutic  facts,  now 
80  widely  admitted  to  be  not  only  true,  but  valuable  truths^ 
are  accept^,  the  disparagement  with  which  homoeopathy 
has  hitherto  been  and  still  is  regarded  was  and  *is  unde- 
served, unjust,  unworthy  of  the  intelligence  of  those  who 
are  responsible  for  it. 


SSSiffiSnjMtt^  BBITISH  HOMCEOPATHIO  SOCIETY-     467 

The  Lancet  and  its  contemporaries  must,  however,  main- 
tain their  consistency.  The  coarage  to  admit  an  error  they 
have  not ;  the  amoont  of  honesty  necessary  to  enable  them 
to  confess  that  their  misrepresentations  were  doe  to  a  want 
of  knowledge  of  the  questions  at  issue  is  lacking. 

Many  facts  derived  from  the  therapeutic  work  that 
homcBopathists  have  accomplished  have,  in  these  latter  days, 
been  appropriated  and  disseminated  by  authorities  too 
influential  to  admit  of  their  utterances,  whencesoever 
obtained,  being  burked.  It  is  impossible  to  prevent  these 
facts  being  utUised.  Hence  it  comes  that  while  the  newly 
gained  light  is  freely  exhibited,  every  effort  is  made  to 
obscure  the  source  whence  it  was  obtained.  Hence  comes 
the  desire  to  prevent,  and  if  possible  to  prohibit,  all 
reference  to  the  doctrine  so  long  protested  against.  That 
doctrine,  very  many  of  the  practical  results  of  which  are 
now  so  commonly  adopted  and  taught,  is,  nevertheless,  the 
same  doctrine  as  that  to  the  falsity  of  which  the  medical 
press  has  through  long  years  committed  itself,  and  which 
for  consistency's  sake  it  must  still  denounce,  even  while 
circulating  among  its  readers  some  of  the  fruit  which  has 
been  derived  from  it.  Hence  it  comes  that  the  medical 
profession  is,  as  it  were,  enjoined  to  accept,  in  an  empirical 
manner,  the  facts  which  homceopathists  have  brought  to 
light,  but  is  at  the  same  time  adjured  to  repudiate,  or,  at 
the  least,  to  obscure  the  doctrine  through  the  practice  of 
which  these  facts  were  brought  to  light. 

It  is  then,  I  verily  believe,  in  order  that  the  virulent 
opposition  with  which  homoaopathy  has  been  encountered 
may  be  justified,  while  the  results  which  have  flowed  from 
its  study  are  silently  utilisedythat  it  is  now  sought  to  sever  the 
word  homoeopathy  from  the  practice  and  teaching  thereof. 

2ndly.  To  abandon — were  such  a  thing  possible — the 
use  of  the  word  homoBopathy  would,  I  submit,  be  to  offer 
an  obstruction  to  therapeutic  progress. 

Lose  sight  of  the  word  homceopathy,  and  ere  long  you 
will  lose  sight  of  the  doctrine  signified  by  that  word* 
Having  lost  sight  of  the  doctrine  of  homceopathy  what 
will  remain  ?  A  large  collection  of  unstrung  empirical 
fiftets ;  facts  of  untold  value  when  interpreted  by  the  light 
of  the  homoeopathic  law,  but  when  viewed  without  that 
connecting  link,  incapable  of  being  understood  or  appreciated, 
iBJodf  save  imperfectly,  and  ever  uncertainly  made  use  of  in 


468     BRITISH  HOMGBOPATHIO  SOCIETY.  *]SSS.^S^TiML 

Again,  the  doctrine  of  homoeopathy  being  lost  sight  of, 
how  are  we  to  discover  or  apply  new  remedies  ?  How  are  we 
to  meet  hitherto  unknown  forms  of  disease  ?  How  can  we 
devote  our  energies  to  improving  the  treatment  of  such 
disorders  as  must  even  now  be  ranked  as  incurable  ? 

Homoeopathy  is  the  only  therapeutic  doctrine  which  ever 
has  taught,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see  at  present,  the  only 
doctrine  which  can  teach  us  the  specific  or  directly  curative 
uses  of  a  given  drug.  The  knowledge  of  every  direct  drug- 
remedy,  of  every  medicine,  that  is,  which  is  admitted  to  be 
curative  of  a  given  condition — ^which  has  not  been  dis- 
covered through  homoeopathy — ^has  been  made  known  only 
through  accident  or  tradition. 

To  modem  pharmacological  investigations  we  frequently 
hear  ascribed  the  discovery  of  the  remedial  virtues  of  such 
drugs  as  the  bromide  of  potassivmy  chloral,  morphia,  and 
salicylic  acid!  What  disease,  in  the  treatment  of  which 
they  are  most  fashionable,  does  either  cure  ?  The  bromide 
will,  it  is  true,  suspend  at  times  the  development  of  an 
epileptic  paroxysm,  but  you  have  only  to  omit  the  daily 
dose  to  discover  that  your  epileptic  patient  is  not  cured,  and 
worse  still  you  have,  in  many  instances,  but  to  watch  him, 
to  note  how  his  originally  smaU  modicum  of  intellectaal 
power  is  gradually  lessening.  Chloral  will  send  your 
worried  and  sleepless  invalid  into  a  state  of  unconsciousness 
for  a  time,  but  it  will  not  cure  the  nerve  disturbance  which 
has  previously  prevented  sleep.  Morphia  will  numb  the 
sensation  of  pain,  but  it  will  not  cure  the  condition  which 
has  provoked  it.  Salicylic  add  will,  perchance,  reduce  the 
temperature  of  a  rheumatic  fever,  but  a  large  amount  of 
clinical  experience  has  shown  that  there  is  but  scant  reason 
to  believe  that  it  has  any  influence  on  the  course  of  the 
disease. 

And  so  I  might  go  on  throughout  the  whole  series  of 
those  new  me£cines,  which  are,  by  some  therapeutists^ 
regai'ded  as  the  glory  of  the  pharmacological  researches 
of  our  time.     They  are  palliative  not  curative  of  disease. 

On  the  other  hand,  to  homoeopathy  we  owe  the  know- 
ledge that  aconita  cures  sthenic  fever,  that  phospliortu  cures 
pneumonia,  that  bryonia  cures  rheumatism,  that  corrowoe- 
eublirnate  cures  dysentery,  that  camphor,  copper^  and' 
areenic  cure  cholera  and  so  on. 

In  short,  the  study  of  the  effects  of  drugs  upon  healthy 
men  and  women,  and  the  clinical  application,  by  the^ 


B^tm^h^!^  BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIC  SOCIETY.     469' 

gaidance  of  the  law  of  similars,  of  the  knowledge  thus 
obtained,  is  the  only  method  by  which  the  specific,  the 
directly  therapeutic  power  of  drugs  can  be  ascertained,  and 
this  method  is  known  far  and  wide  thronghout  the  wholo 
civilised  world  as  homoeopathy. 

Are  we  then,  I  would  ask  you,  are  we  prepared  to  lose 
sight  of  such  a  doctrine,  of  such  a  method  as  this  ?  Are 
we  prepared,  in  obedience  to  the  mandate  of  the  Boyal 
College  of  Physicians,  or  of  any  other  body,  to  cease  from 
proclaiming  its  truth,  to  desist  from  its  public  teaching,  to 
draw  a  veil  of  silence  over  our  knowledge  of  it  ?  May  God 
forbid ! 

To  what  end,  I  would  have  you  consider,  are  we  asked  to 
abjure  the  word  homoeopathy  ? 

The  College  of  Physicians,  did  we  consent  to  do  so, 
would,  we  are  led  to  infer,  cease  from  raising  objections  to 
their  Fellows  and  Members  meeting  us  in  consultation,  to 
our  admission  into  medical  societies,  to  our  holding  public 
medical  appointments.  The  Lancet,  however,  speaking  on 
behalf  of  the  general  practitioner,  very  distinctly  informed 
the  College  that  a  mere  renunciation  of  the  name  homoeo- 
pathy would  not  satisfy  its  clientele.  It  is  the  doctrine 
and  practice  of  homoeopathy  that  we  are,  by  this  oracle  of 
medical  opinion,  urged  to  abandon  ;  it  is  the  justice  of  the 
course  the  Lancet  has  pursued  towards  homoeopathy  in  the 
past  that  we  must  bear  witness  to,  if  we  would  gain  such 
results  as  these ! 

But,  supposing  it  were  otherwise,  is  there,  I  would  ask, 
any  one  who,  for  privileges  so  comparatively  paltry  as  these, 
would  renounce  his  freedom  of  speech,  would  abstain  from 
declaring  his  faith  in  so  important  a  doctrine  as  that  of 
homoeopathy,  who  would  barter  away  the  honoiu*  of  taking 
part  in  the  development  of  the  therapeutics  of  a  day  not  far 
distant  now  ?  If  such  an  one  there  be  I  pity  him.  In 
place  of  the  countenance  of  those  whose  favour  he  desires 
he  will  but  receive  their  contempt,  and  in  so  doing  he  will 
but  get  his  deserts.  And  what  he  will  feel  more  still,  aye 
and  as  long  as  he  possesses  an  unseared  conscience,  is  an 
ever-abiding  sense  of  humiliation.  He  will  stand  self- 
convicted  of  having  allowed  his  tongue  to  be  tied  when  he 
knew  that  it  ought  to  be  actively  employed ;  he  will  be 
conscious  of  possessing  a  knowledge  he  has  sacrificed  his 
right  to  communicate. 

*'  Practise  homoeopathy  by  all  means,  but  say  nothing 


470      BBITISH  HOM(EOPATHIG  SOCrETY.  ^^^S^ifSi 

aboat  it/'  is  the  advice  which  is  now  and  again  Tonchsafed 
to  medical  men,  who  are  Mly  aliye  to  the  imperfectioDB 
and  risks  of  tiie  practice  of  medicine  as  taught  in  the 
schools,  who  have  a  firm  faith  in  the  yalae  of  homoM^thy, 
bnt  who  are,  at  the  same  time,  repelled  from  an  open 
avowal  of  its  trath  by  the  disabilities  snch  an  acknow- 
ledgment entails. 

Well,  gentlemen,  I  do  not  mind  confessing  that  now, 
nearly  thirty  years  ago,  such  an  idea  floated  b^re  my  own 
mind.  It  required,  howeyer^  bat  little  reflection  to  assure 
me  that,  were  I  to  practise  medicine  after  a  method  so 
little  understood,  so  generally  denounced,  so  constantly 
misrepresented,  and  yet  withal  of  such  surpassing  value  to 
the  sick  as  I  knew  homoeopathy  to  be,  and  were  I  at  the 
same  time,  from  motives  of  self-interest  or  from  fear  of 
consequences,  to  refrain  from  admitting  how  I  gained  my 
therapeutic  Imowledge,  there  would  be  no  person  in  the 
whole  world  who  I  should  so  thoroughly  despise  as  myself. 
With  such  a  consciousness  ever  preying  upon  one  life  would 
not  be  worth  possessing. 

No,  gentlemen,  take  into  consideration  these  two  facts — 
first y  homoeopathy  has  been  proved  by  a  large  mass  of  well- 
attested  evidence  to  be  a  great  life-saving,  illness-shortening 
truth ;  to  be  the  basis  of  all  specific  drug-therapeutic 
progress;  and  then,  secondly ,  homoeopathy  is  a  truth, 
against  the  spread  of  which  there  is  a  widely  organised 
conspiracy,  resistance  to  which  involves  much  that  is 
impleasant.  Put  these  two  facts  together  and  then, 
remembering  Nelson's  address  to  his  sailors,  let  each  ask 
himself  "  What  is  my  duty  ?" 

Let  us  then,  each  and  all,  rest  assured  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  contribute  to  the  advance  of  therapeutics,  in  a 
direction  likely  to  be  permanently  fruitful,  without  bearing 
testimony,  not  only  to  the  doctrine  which  constitutes  the 
foundation  of  specific  medicine,  but  also,  without  adhering 
to  the  name  which  that  doctrine  has  hitherto  borne,  bears 
still,  and  ever  will  bear. 

While,  however,  I  insist  thus  earnestly  upon  the  reten- 
tion in  our  medical  literature  of  the  word  homoeopathy,  as 
one  that  is  not  only  legitimate,  but  full  of  meaning,  and 
essential  to  real  therapeutic  progress, — it  is  its  scientific 
employment,  and  not  its  professional  use,  that  I  desire  to 
impress  upon  you  to-night. 


SS^aSTSb!*''  BBITISH  HOJKEOPATHIC  800IETT.     471 

The  appearance  of  this  word  upon  the  door-plate  of  a 
practitioner  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  an  exhihition  of  had 
taste.  All  that  a  medical  man  requires  here  is  the 
.-annonneement  of  his  profession.  The  word  homoBopathisty 
in  such  a  position,  suggests  the  existence  of  a  distinct 
profession.  This  homoeopathy  is  not.  It  is  the  highest 
development  the  therapeutic  art  has  attained  at  the  present 
moment.  It  is,  therefore,  not  only  an  integral  part  of  medi- 
-cine,  but  it  is  the  most  scientific  phase  on  which  that  depart- 
ment  of  medicine  known  as  therapeutics  has,  so  far,  entered* 

Our  aim  is,  and  ever  ought  to  he,  to  ensure  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  doctrine  we  cherish  within  the  profession,  and 
by  every  member  of  it.  By  describing  ourselves,  in  public 
places,  as  Homoeopathists,  we  give  some  excuse  for  the 
charge  that  we  desire  to  remain  separate  and  apart  from 
the  great  body  of  the  profession.  We  have  no  such  desire ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  would  readily  join  the  general  medical 
societies,  and  in  them  discuss,  illustrate,  and  endeavour  to 
propagate,  the  doctrine  of  homoeopathy. 

And,  further,  such  a  designation,  so  used,  does  to  some 
extent  justify  the  imputation  that,  in  the  treatment  of 
disease,  we  profess  to  place  our  sole  reliance  upon  homoeo- 
pathically  selected  medicines.  This  we  do  not  profess  to 
do.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  ever  acknowledged  that  we 
avail  ourselves  in  practice  of  as  large  a  variety  of  resources, 
in  endeavouring  to  counteract  disease,  as  any  members  of 
the  profession  are  accustomed  to  do.  Homoeopathy  relates 
to  the  giving  of  medicines  alone,  while  the  art  of  thera- 
peutics comprehends  much  besides  pure  medication.  Again, 
vrith  regard  to  medicines,  we  know,  and  gladly  avail  our- 
selves of  the  knowledge,  that  in  the  vast  proportion  of  the 
diseased  conditions  with  which  we  are  called  upon  to  deal, 
the  homoBopathicaUy  selected  medicine  is  that  which  is 
productive  of  the  greatest  amount  of  benefit  to  be  derived 
£:om  medicine.  But  at  the  same  time  we  admit,  and  ever 
liave  admitted,  that  there  are  some  cases  where  antipathic 
3>alliative8  can  alone  give  such  relief  as  medicine  is  calculated 
to  afford.  These  are  few  in  number  it  is  true,  and  the 
more  intimate  becomes  our  acquaintance  with  the  Materia 
Medica  will  be  yet  fewer  still — but  we  must,  in  the  mean- 
time, recognise  their  existence,  recognise  the  imperfection 
of  our  knowledge.  Hence  it  is  more  in  harmony  with  our 
real  position  that  we  should  describe  ourselves  as  physicians 


472     BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIC  SOCIETY.    "^^S^.^SJTSfSt 

or  sargeonBi  than  that  we  should  put  thus  pFominenily 
forward  the  designation  Homoeopathist. 

Believing  in  the  therapeutic  superiority  of  the  law  of 
similars,  and  acting  upon  that  belief  in  the  treatment  of 
disease,  as  far  as  lies  in  our  power,  we  are  homoeopathists 
truly,  but  we  are  so  in  a  scientific  sense,  not  in  one  that 
may  be  regarded  as  professional. 

No  one  ever  described  the  position  we  occupy,  as 
members  of  the  profession  of  medicine,  towards  the  word 
homoeopathy  better  or  more  clearly  than  did  Dr.  Bayes^ 
when,  after  hearing  a  paper  by  Dr.  Francis  Black  (read  at 
a  meeting  of  this  Society),  entitled  "  Am  I  a  Physician  or 
am  I  a  Homosopathist  ?  "  he  wrote  the  note  to  Dr.  Black, 
an  extract  from  which  appears  appended  to  that  paper,  as 
published  in  the  4th  Tolume  of  our  Annals  (p.  404).  In 
this  note  Dr.  Bayes  drew  Dr.  Black's  attention  to  a 
pamphlet,  published  by  him  a  few  years  preyiously,  in 
which  he  had  written  :  "  For  my  own  part,  I  have  investi- 
gated the  subject,  and  the  result  of  my  investigation  haa 
been,  that  I  have  adopted  homoeopathy  into  my  practice. 
Observe,  /  object  to  the  title  of  '  Homceopath.'  Its 
assumption  savours  of  sectarianism.  I  object  to  any  other 
title  than  that  of  *  Physician  '  or,  at  the  most,  ^  Physician 
practising  Homoeopathy.' 


» >> 


Our  societies,  our  journals,  our  schools,  our  public 
hospitals  and  dispensaries  present  this  question  under 
another  aspect.  The  raison  d'etre  of  these  institutions  is- 
the  public  setting  forth,  teaching,  and  illustrating  of 
homoeopathy.  But  for  the  obligation  imposed  upon  us  to 
fulfil  such  purposes  as  these  they  would  have  no  existence. 
They  have  been  established  and  are  carried  on  solely 
because  in  no  medical  society,  journal,  school,  hospital,  or 
dispensary  connected  with  general  medicine,  can  homoeo- 
pathy be  set  forth,  taught  or  practised  at  the  present  time. 
And  further,  they  receive  the  distinctive  appellation 
^'  Homoeopathic  "  because  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that 
all  who  are  desirous  of  knowing  what  homoeopathy  is 
should  have  an  opportunity  of  Imowing  also  where  they 
may  learn  somewhat  of  it. 

Secondly.  The  Lancet  and  its  contemporaries  having 
described  homoeopathy  as  extinct,  save^as^  trade-mark,  we 


bS^A^TSw!**  BRITISH  HOMOEOPATHIC  SOCIETY.     473 

meet  also,  ever  and  anon,  with  some  latidator  temporis  dcti 
amongst  onrselves  deploring  the  impei-fections  of  the 
practice  of  homoeopathy  in  oar  day.  How  far  is  the 
depression  such  an  one  displays  justifiable  ? 

The  chief  differences  obserrable  between  the  homoeopa- 
thists  of  to-day  and  those  of  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  are,  I 
think,  that  at  that  time  there  was  a  disposition  to  accept 
the  statements  and  conclusions  of  Hahnemann  with  more 
or  less  of  unquestioning  confidence,  while  to-day  such  state- 
ments and  conclusions  are  met  by  and  subjected  to  a  rigid 
criticism.  Then  the  personal  influence  that  had  been 
exerted  by  Hahnemann  was  still  felt,  now  this  is  no  longer 
perceptible. 

Then  almost  any  assertion  regarding  the  effects  of  a  drug 
ascribed  to  however  infinitesimal  a  dose,  and  occurring  at 
a  period,  no  matter  how  long,  after  it  had  been  taken,  was 
accepted  without  a  doubt  being  raised  as  to  its  reality; 
to-day  our  provings  are  examined  in  almost  every  direction. 
The  very  translations  we  have  of  experiments  recorded  in  a 
foreign  tongue  are  held  as  being  open  to  question  until  they 
have  been  overhauled  by  competent  philological  critics. 

Then,  again,  the  dosage  commonly  employed  by  homoeo- 
pathic physicians  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  was  much  more 
uniformly  infinitesimal  than  it  is  to-day.  The  various 
questions  involved  in  the  consideration  of  the  necessity  and 
advantages  of  relatively  small  and  large  doses  have  received 
a  very  ample  measure  of  discussion  during  this  period,  and 
the  practice  of  homoeopathy  in  this  direction  is  now  based 
upon  exact  personal  observation  rather  than  upon  the  tra- 
ditions handed  down  by  Hahnemann. 

In  short,  the  chief  difference  between  the  practice  of 
homoeopathy  now  and  that  of  the  good  old  days  when  some 
of  us  were  younger  is,  that  the  former  is  much  more  criti- 
cal, much  more  exacting  as  to  matters  of  fact,  than  was  the 
latter.  In  such  a  change  there  is  seen  nothing  of  retro- 
gression ;  on  the  contrary,  all  criticism,  all  inquiry,  is 
healthy,  and  tends  but  to  sound  enduring  progress. 

Nevertheless,  there  are  some  points  upon  the  importance 
of  which,  while  we  are  all  agreed  in  the  abstract,  we  still 
jrequire  to  be  frequently  reminded  if  we  would  continue  in 
the  paths  of  progress. 

First  and  foremost  among  such  is  the  study  of  the 
Materia  Medica.  Here  I  refer,  not  so  much  to  the  study 
of  the  action  and  uses  of  individual  drugs,  as  to  that  of  the 


474      BRITISH  HOM(EOPATHIO  S0C5IBTY.  *bSS^.^^!7m^ 

relation  of  indiTidaal  drags  to  indiYidnal  eases.  In  the 
early  history  of  homceopathy,  as  we  may  see  by  Hahne- 
mann's well-known  recital  of  two  cases,  the  method  of 
finding  a  medicine  by  covering  the  symptoms  was  much 
more  precise  than  any  commonly  employed  to-day.  It  was 
indeed  one  mnch  more  easily  employed  then  than  it  is  now. 
Then  the  number  of  medicines  available  for  examination 
was  bnt  small,  now  it  extends  to  several  hondreds.  Further, 
there  is  something  repugnant  to  our  intellectuality  in  the 
idea  of  being  shut  up  to  so  purely  mechanical  a  process  as 
this.  Hence,  at  the  present  time,  the  general  pathol<^cat 
state  of  a  patient  is  first  of  all  compared  with  the  patho- 
genetic action  of  several  drugs,  and  then  that  one  of  tliia 
group,  the  symptoms  produced  by  which  most  closely 
resemble  those  of  the  individual  patient,  is  chosen. 

This  is  a  perfectly  sound  and  reliable  method  wh^ 
completely  carried  out.  But,  it  must  be  confessed  that,  the 
temptation  to  guess  at  rather  than  by  reference  to  the 
Materia  Medica  to  ascertain  which  of  the  group  selected 
for  more  minute  comparison  is  most  completely  homcBO* 
pathic  to  the  condition  of  the  patient,  is  oftentimes  too 
strong  to  enable  us,  by  making  such  reference,  to  select  our 
medicine  as  carefully  and  therefore  as  successfully  as  we 
might  do. 

If  we  would  avoid  the  unscientific  and  often  unsatis&e- 
tory  method  of  alternating  medicines,  if  we  would  rei^  the 
full  advantages  of  small  doses,  and  if  we  would  be  indq)e]i- 
dent  of  the  use  of  palliatives,  it  is  only  by  the  study  of  the 
Materia  Medica  in  connection  with  individual  cases  that 
we  can  gratify  our  desires. 

There  is,  I  believe,  little  if  any  doubt  but  that  many  of 
the  failures  to  relieve  disease  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  each  of 
us  now  and  again,  the  occasions  we  ever  and  anon  give  to 
the  enemy  to  blaspheme,  and  the  only  approach  to  a 
justification  for  despairing  of  the  future  of  homceopathy 
which  any  pessimists  amongst  ourselves  can  make,  lies  in  a 
neglect  or  an  imperfect  study  of  the  Materia  Medica, 

Whatever  excuse  for  such  neglect  comparatively  im- 
perfect renderings  of  drug  pa^ogenesies  may  have 
furnished  in  the  past  is  now  rapidly  disappearing.  So  &r 
as  the  best  proved  medicines  in  our  possession  are  con- 
cerned—those  provings  through  the  unremittiBg  study  of 
which  the  early  triumphs  of  homoeopathy  wue  won— we 
can  now  oflPer  no  such  excuse  at  all. 


SS^aESTwS!*''  BRITISH  HOMCBOPATHIC  SOCIETY.     475 

Hie  Materia  Medica  Pura  of  Hahnemann,  as  translated 
by  Dr.  Dudgeon  and  annotated  by  Dr.  Hughes,  is,  I 
believe,  as  reliable  a  translation  and  as  accurate  in  qbser- 
yation  as  any  work  in  the  literature  of  medicine. 

As  further  silencing  this  excuse,  let  me  remind  you  that 
with  all  its  shortcomings,  with  all  its  errors  of  observation, 
with  all  its  oversights  and  translators'  blunders,  the 
English  version  •of  our  Materia  Medica  has  enabled  the 
large  majority  of  British  and  American  homcBopathic 
practitioners  to  encounter  disease  with  a  degree  of  success 
far,  very  far  in  advance  of  any  that  either  is  or  can  be 
secured  by  the  most  eminent  of  allopathic  physicians. 

Such  a  work  as  this,  one  that  has  produced  results  so 
brilliant,  iB,  I  maintain,  well  worthy  of  oar  confidence,  and 
quite  available  for  affording  us  the  information  we  require. 

Permit  me,  then,  to  ask  you  to  reflect,  once  again,  upon 
the  importance  and  indeed  the  necessity  of  our  studying 
individual  cases  with  the  records  of  the  pathogenetic  effects 
of  drugs  before  us. 

Thirdly.  We  are  told  by  a  few — so  far  as  this  country  is 
concerned,  numbering  some  half-dozen  I  believe — that 
they,  and  they  alone,  are  true  practitioners  of  homoeo- 
pathy, that  they,  and  they  alone,  understand  what 
homoeopathy  really  is,  and  that  all  beside  who  profess  to 
believe  therein  and  to  practise  homoeopathically  are  but 
deluding  themselves  and  those  who,  in  the  hope  of  obtain- 
ing the  advantages  which  homoeopathy  is  well  known  to 
present,  are  in  the  habit  of  consulting  them. 

The  arrogance  and  presumption  which  characterise  these 
pretensions  are  apparent  on  the  surface;  but  I  desire 
nevertheless  to  examine  very  briefly  the  basis  on  which 
they  rest. 

The  first  principle  of  the  Hahnemannians  is,  I  under- 
stand, that  the  entire  body  of  precepts,  doctrinal  and 
practical,  contained  in  the  latest  edition  of  the  Organon  ot 
Hahnemann  is  represented  by  the  word  homoeopathy.  Any 
departure  from  these  precepts  is,  they  tell  us,  a  departure 
from  homoeopathy,  and,  as  they  would  have  us  believe,  a 
departure  from  truth.  All  criticism  of  Hahnemann's 
assertions  is  but  little,  if  at  all,  short  of  treason.  In 
prescribing,  the  dose  must  be  restricted  to  the  highest 
imaginable  dilution.  The  method  of  attaining  such  a 
dilution,  or  rather,  as  it  is  termed,  '^potency,"  must  not  be 


476      BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIC  SOCIETY.  ^'^^f.SSTwa 

too  closely  examined.  It  is  sufficient  for  all  to  know  that 
the  instrnments  devised  for  this  parpose  are  ingeniously 
designed  and  declared  by  their  inventors  to  be  adequate 
to  the  purpose  for  which  they  are  used.  We  are  therefore 
bound,  I  presume,  to  conclude  that  they  do  actually  effect, 
within  the  space  of  a  few  hours,  the  millionth  dilution  of 
any  substance.  Further,  the  Hahnemannian  would  have 
us  believe  that  anything  beyond  a  single  dose  of  such 
a  dilution  of  the  most  accurately  corresponding  medicine 
is  not  only  entirely  unnecessary  for  the  cure  of  ^sease,  but 
is  distinctly  prejudicial  to  the  recovery  of  the  sick. 

An  abscess,  however  painful  and  obvious,  must  not  be 
opened.  All  external  applications,  whether  homoeopathic  or 
simply  warm  and  soothing,  must  be  regarded  as  obnoxious. 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  maintain  that  the  Orgation,  while 
containing  homoeopathy,  contains  also  a  great  deal  that  has 
no  necessary  connection  with  it.  Hahnemann  was  just  as 
much  a  homoeopathist  when  he  published  the  first  edition 
of  his  Organon  as  he  was  when,  five-and-twenty  years  later, 
he  issued  the  fifth.  And  yet  it  is  only  in  this  last  and  in 
one  that  appeared  a  few  years  earlier  that  he  gave  expres- 
sion to  those  views  on  which  his  servile  imitators  of  to-day 
lay  so  much  stress,  views  which  thoughtful  and  intelligent 
critics  have  for  the  most  part  regarded  as  untenable  and  as 
inconsistent  with  the  developments  of  modem  science. 

Nothing,  to  my  thinking,  does  greater  injury  to  Hahne- 
mann's memory  than  perpetually  insisting  upon  the  truth 
of  that  which  the  state  of  science  in  his  day  did  not  render 
impossible,  but  which  modem  researches  have  shown  to 
be  so. 

The  greatest  men  who  have  adorned  the  profession  of 
medicine  have  been  necessarily  tied  by  the  science  of  the 
day  in  whicli  they  Uved.  Their  views  and  opinions  were 
in  advance  of  those  of  their  predecessors  just  as  the  light 
which  we  are  privileged  to  possess,  is  greater  than  tiijoi 
which  our  fathers  enjoyed. 

The  marvel  is,  not  that  Hahnemann  erred  occasionally, 
but  that  he  erred  so  little  as  he  did.  That  he  should 
have  recognised  facts  which  few  beside  himself  could 
see,  but  of  the  truth  of  which  all  are  now  convinced; 
that  well  nigh  a  hundred  years  ago  he  should  have 
lifted  up  his  voice  in  the  denunciation  of  the  bloodletting, 
mercuriEdism,  and  purgation,  that  constituted  nine-tenths 
of   the  therapeutics    of   the  time,    displayed    not   only 


iSS^AiSrrSffl?*'  BRITISH  HOMCEOPATHIC  SOCIETY.     477 


coinage  but  on  insight  into  the  nature  and  requirements  of 
disease,  which  was  fully  fifty  years  in  adyance  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived.  That  single-handed,  and  despite  a 
powerful  opposition,  he  should,  ere  this  century  opened, 
liave  proclaimed  a  therapeutic  doctrine  and  have  set  forth 
the  means  for  carrying  it  into  practice,  and  that  this 
doctrine  should  prove  to  be  oue  which  to-day  is  largely 
recognised  everywhere,  and  that  these  means  should  have 
formed  a  method  of  practically  applying  it,  the  details  of 
which  are  gradually  but  surely  asserting  their  pre-eminence, 
evinces  a  mental  power,  a  scientific  foresight,  an  acuteness 
of  perception,  which  must,  in  the  near  future,  excite  the 
admiration  of  all  students  of  the  history  of  medicine. 

Achievements  such  as  these  ought  not  to  have  their 
lustre  dimmed,  their  true  greatness  overshadowed  by  placing 
in  the  front  of  them  the  mysticism  which  clouded  the 
latter  years  of  their  author.  The  theoretical  notions  of 
the  veteran  of  eighty  should  not  be  allowed  to  obscure  the 
work  of  one  whose  vigorous  manhood  gave  to  the  world  a 
doctrine  so  fiir-reaching  as  homoeopathy,  and  a  method  so 
exact  as  the  physiological  study  of  drugs,  the  small  dose, 
And  the  single  medicine. 

Homoeopathy,  then,  I  contend,  does  not,  as  the  self-styled 
Hahnemannian  would  have  us  believe,  consist  in  the  entire 
body  of  Hahnemann's  teachings,  but  in  the  practical  appli- 
cation of  the  doctrine  of  similars  in  the  selection  of  medi- 
cines to  cure  the  sick.  The  practice  of  homoeopathy  does 
not  enable  us  to  dispense  with  fomentations,  poultices,  the 
evacuation  of  abscesses,  and  so  on,  any  more  than  through 
its  adoption  we  can  disregard  attention  to  the  food,  sanitary 
surroundings,  and  habits  of  those  who  consult  us.  So  far 
as  the  prescribing  of  medicines  is  concerned,  in  all,  save  a 
few  cases,  it  directs  us  to  the  use  of  such  as  are  amply 
sufficient  to  fulfil  all  the  purposes  to  which  medicines  can 
be  applied  with  the  mazimmn  of  advantage.  But  we  cannot 
therefore  in  any  case  a£ford  to  neglect  the  use  of  means  for 
supplying  relief  derived  from  other  than  medicinal  sources. 

While  then  a  Hahnemannian  is  a  homoeopathist,  a 
homoBopathist  is  not  necessarily  a  Hahnemannian ;  and  the 
exclusive  position  to  which  the  latter  pretends  is  one  to 
which  he  has  no  title :  and  further,  by  pertinaciously 
pressing  his  claims  thereto,  he  is,  in  reality,  impeding  the 
progress  of  the  very  therapeutic  method  the  name  of  which 
iie  declares  to  be  so  peculiarly  his  own. 

Vol.  26,  No.  8.  2    k 


478     BBITIBH  HOM(EOPATHIO  SOCIETT.   ^bIS&^K'WS' 


B«view,Aqr.  l,lfltt. 


In  oonclasion,  gentlemen,  the  reflections  which  I  have 
snbmitted  to  yon  seem  to  me  to  snggest  that  we  ha^e 
arrived  at  a  period  in  the  history  of  our  therapeutic  method 
which  we  are  justified  in  regarding  as  critical. 

The  antagonism  of  that  section  of  the  profesedon,  whence 
has  proceeded  the  most  pronounced  opposition  to  every  item 
in  our  therapeutic  creed,  has,  in  a  large  degree,  dwindled 
down  to  a  mistaken  and,  as  it  appears  to  me,  a  acmiewhat 
puerile  objection  to  the  name  it  bears. 

Some  few  months  since  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
referring  to  this  point  at  a  meeting  of  non-homcBopathic 
practitioners ;  and,  when  addressing  them,  I  said — '^  Yoa 
have  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  in  practice  though  not 
in  theory,  accepted  the  principle  of  similars  as  one  of  drag 
selection  ;  you  haye  adopted  Hahnemann's  plan  of  study- 
ing the  e£fects  of  drugs  by  the  light  sh^  upon  them 
through  the  effects  they  produce  upon  healthy  men  and 
women  ;  you  prescribe  medicines  selected  on  ttus  principle 
in  doses  of,  amongst  yourselves,  previously  unheard  of 
smallness,  and  you  exhibit  such  medicines  singly  and  on- 
combined.  All  that  you  protest  against  now  is  the  name 
which  this  method  bears.  Having  gone  so  fiEu:,  it  will  not 
be  long  ere  you  admit  the  propriety  of  the  name  likewise.*' 

Now,  gentlemen,  what  I  do  most  earnestly  desire  to 
impress  upon  your  minds  to-night  is,  that  the  length  of 
time  which  must  elapse  ere  this  consummation  is  reached 
depends  entirely  upon  ourselves — depends  entirely  upon 
those  who  now  openly  recognise  the  truth  of  homoeopathy* 

When  we  reflect  upon  ti^e  importance  of  homooopathy, 
when  we  consider  that  we  know  lliat  through  it  disease  is 
cuied  or  relieved  more  quickly,  more  oertainly,  and  more 
safely  than  by  any  other  method,  the  responsibility  resting 
upon  us  to  do  all  in  our  power  to  hasten  this  time  is  no 
light  one. 

No  one  understanding  what  homoeopathy  is  can  read 
sudi  works  as  those  of  Binger,  Hiillips,  and  Bartholow— 
no  one  can  peruse  such  papers  as  those  which,  leprintad 
from  the  New  York  journals,  were  published  in  the  May 
number  of  the  Htmuropathic  lUview — no  one  can  reflect 
upon  such  a  contrilmtton  as  that  on  cardiac  therapeutieB 
made  by  Mr.  Wood  Forster,  of  Darlington,  to  the  Britkh 
Medical  J<Himal  of  the  15th  of  April  last— without  being 
assured  of  the  immense  advance  which  homoeopathy  has 
made  during  the   last  few  years  towards  attaining  that 


I, 


BBITISH  HOIC(EOPATHIC  SOCIETT.     479 


pOEdtion  of  prominenee  it  is  deatiiied  to  hold  in  the  world 
of  medicine. 

HoWy  I  would  mek,  in  it  that  it  has  adiieved  its  present 
status  ?  Has  it  been  by  hesitating  to  nae  the  word  hoouBo- 
pathy  on  all  fitting  occasions  ?  Yeaify,  no !  On  the  con- 
trary, it  has  been  by  steadily  and  peraev«dngly  jmxdaiming 
Triiat  homoBopathy  is.  It  has  been  by  repeatedly  illustiaAing 
the  practice  of  homoBopathy.  It  has  been  by  consistent 
efforts  to  treat  disease  homceopathioall j.  It  haa  heea  bj 
the  snceess  which  has  followed  these  efforts,  made  as  they 
haTe  been  by  a  small  band  of  resolute  and  devoted  practi- 
tioners pnrsning  their  calling  under  difficulties  of  no  small 
magnitude. 

And,  gentlemen,  if  we  would  see  the  arrival  of  the  day 
when  homoeopathy  shall  be  taught  in  all  our  medical 
schools/ when  it  shall  form  the  basis  of  therapeutics  in  all 
our  hospitals,  it  is  only  by  pursuing  the  same  course  as 
that  which  we,  and  those  who  have  preceded  us,  have  pur- 
sued hitherto,  that  we  can  hope  to  witness  it. 

In  order  that  we  may  do  all  that  lies  in  our  power 
towards  speeding  tbe  time  when  the  therapeutic  doctrine 
we  hold  in  so  much  esteem  shall  receive  that  full  and  com- 
plete recognition  to  which  it  is  entiUed,  we  must  adhere 
tenaciously  to  the  scientific  use  of  that  word  which  expresses 
it.  We  must  insist  on  the  correct  interpretation  of  this 
word,  an  interpretation  involving  simply  and  solely  the 
principle  of  similars,  and  the  necessity,  in  putting  this 
principle  into  practice,  of  the  study  of  the  physiological 
action  of  drugs,  of  employing  medicines  in  comparatively 
small  doses,  and  uncombined. 

We  must  support,  and  improve,  every  means  we  possess 
for  teaching  and  disseminating  the  doctrine  we  desire  to 
make  known.  Our  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  our  journals, 
our  societies  and  our  schools. 

Finally,  but  before  all  and  above  all,  it  behoves  us  to  be 
especially  careful  how  we  put  this  doctrine  into  practice. 
We  must  do  so  in  a  manner  that  will  enable  us  to  cure 
disease  most  certainly  and  most  promptiy.  That  we  may 
accomplish  this,  the  supreme  end  of  our  mission  as  physi- 
cians, we  must  study,  with  the  greatest  care,  the  records  of 
drug  action  contained  in  our  Materia  Medica.  We  must 
feel  that  no  time  is  lost,  no  labour  is  too  great,  which  is 
spent  in  endeavouring  to  avoid  falling  back  upon  palliativee 

2  k— 2 


480  HOM(EOPATHIC  PRACTICE.    ^'S^^jSSTS^. 

on  the  one  hand,  or  snrgieal  procedures  on  the  other,  in 
order  that  we  may  remedy  disease  by  medicine. 

Snch  is  onr  duty,  and  never  since  the  day  when  the  first 
Tolnme  of  Hahnemann's  Materia  Medica  Pura  was  pub- 
lished have  our  opportunities  for  performing  tiiis  duty  been 
80  great  as  they  are  now. 

So  far  then  from  being  extinct  I  verily  believe  that 
never  before  was  homcBopattiy  either  scientifically  or  empi- 
rically so  generally  practised  as  it  is  at  this  hour.  So  bx 
from  *^  going  to  the  dogs/'  never  before  was  homoBopathy 
the  subject  of  so  much  careful,  cautious,  and  exact  criticiJ 
study  as  it  is  at  the  present  time.  So  far  from  the  small 
sect  of  the  Hahnemannians  being  the  exclusive  possessors 
of  the  brilliant  inheritance  bequeathed  to  us  by  Hahnemann, 
never  ere  now  was  the  work  he  performed  so  largely  appre- 
ciated, so  generally  availed  of,  as  it  is  to-day. 


HOMCEOPATHIC  PRACTICE.* 

By  Dr.  Hughes. 

Gentlemen. — ^We  have  now  surveyed  the  method  of 
Hahnemann,  in  all  that  is  essential  to  it.  It  is  a  rule — ^let 
likes  be  treated  by  likes.  The  "likes"  are — on  the  one 
side  the  clinical  features  of  disease,  with  such  knowledge  of 
its  aetiology  and  pathology  as  can  be  had ;  on  the  other, 
the  physiological  action  of  drugs.  This  similarity  is  to  be, 
as  far  as  possible,  generic,  specific,  and  individual ;  and  the 
remedy  thus  selected  is  to  be  given  (as  a  rule)  singly,  rarely, 
constitutionally,  and  minutely.  If  you  have  followed  with 
concurrence  the  reasonings  I  have  set  before  you,  I  trust 
you  are  satisfied  that  this  method  has  every  claim — scientific 
and  practical — upon  our  acceptance ;  that  our  wisdom  as 
medical  men  is  to  carry  it  out  wherever  it  is  applicable. 

I  have  yet  to  speak  to  you  of  some  subsidiary  matters — 
of  the  philosophy  of  homoeopathy,  the  rationale  of  its 
curative  process ;  of  its  history  in  the  world  of  medicine ; 
and  of  its  claims  on  the  profession.  I  shall  also  say  some- 
thing of  the  theories  of  its  founder,  which,  though  logically 
unconnected  with  his  method,  have  actually  had  a  good 
deal  to  do  with  both  its  controversial  and  its  practical 

*  A  Lecture  delivered  in  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy,  June 
^th,  1882. 


nS!Si!^i!'^''  HOMOEOPATHIC  PRACTICE.  481 

,_  IT  I  ~  n  ^* 

aspects.  But  before  passing  on  to  these,  I  feel  bound  to 
dwell  on  another  series  of  considerations.  I  am  assuming 
that  you  accept  the  method  of  Hahnemann,  that  you  intend 
to  adopt  "  homoeopathic  practice."  What  does  this  involye  ? 
What  alteration  does  it  make  in  your  relation  to  the  pro- 
fession and  the  public?  What  duties  does  it  lay  upon 
you  ?  What  provision  must  you  make,  and  what  course  of 
action  must  you  follow,  to  carry  it  out  aright  ?  You  may 
well  ask  such  questions ;  and  I  am  bound  to  answer  them* 
Let  us  pass  to-day,  then,  from  the  principles  of  homoeo- 
pathy to  its  practice. 

I.  When  Hahnemann  first  propounded  his  method,  he 
did  so  in  the  ordinary  medical  journals,  addressing  himself 
to  his  colleagues.  He  wrote,  as  he  acted,  in  the  liberty 
which  every  qualified  physician  is  supposed  to  have,  of 
doing  what  he  thinks  best  for  his  patients,  and  of  expressing 
his  views  among  his  peers.  But  this  liberty,  which  had 
been  granted  to  every  systematiser  who  had  preceded  him, 
and  has  never  since  been  refused,  was  denied  to  him.  The 
reform  in  therapeutics  he  proposed  was  so  great,  so  sweep- 
ing ;  the  mode  of  treatment  he  would  substitute  for  that 
then  current  so  put  to  shame  its  complexity,  its  violence^ 
its  absence  of  solid  base,  that  the  practitioners  of  his  day 
could  not  bear  it.  They  silenced  him  in  their  journals  ; 
they  stirred  up  the  druggists  to  hinder  his  dispensing  his 
medicines ;  they  invoked  the  arm  of  the  State  to  forbid  the 
new  practice.  If  any  man  would  carry  it  on,  he  must  do  so 
secretly.  It  was  outlawed  alike  professionally  and  politi- 
cally. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  believed  in :  it  was  adopted.  Those 
who  dared  to  adhere  to  it  found  themselves  excluded  from 
all  the  associations  whereby  the  practitioners  of  medicine 
seek  to  advance  themselves  in  the  knowledge  of  their  art. 
Membership  of  medical  societies,  practice  in  established 
hospitals,  freedom  of  utterance  in  professional  journals, 
was  denied  them :  the  recognition  of  truth  to  which  their 
reason  led  them,  and  the  application  of  it  for  the  good  of 
their  patients  to  which  their  conscience  constrained  them» 
were  treated  as  crimes.  Their  only  wish  was  to  practise 
freely,  in  their  natural  position,  what  their  judgment 
dictated  to  be  best ;  but  this  was  sternly  disallowed  them. 
What  was  the  result?  As  they  multiplied,  they  set  up 
societies,  hospitals,  journals  for  themselves,  calling  these 


482  HOMOEOPATHIC  PRACTIOE.   ^S^I^SmmI 

by  tlie  name  of  the  method  to  which  they  were  devoted. 
As  tune  went  on,  schools  and  colleges  had  to  he  established 
to  teach  the  new  method,  whose  very  mention  was  tabooed 
in  the  existing  educational  institutions ;  and  homoeopathic 
pharmacies  became  necessary,  where  onr  medicines  conld 
be  obtained,  and  homoBopathic  directories,  from  which  the 
public  could  learn  who  were  practitioners  of  the  system. 

The  consequence  is,  that  homoeopathy  has  ac(inired  an 
organisation.  From  a  creed  it  has  become  a  church-  The 
new  adherent  to  it  at  the  present  day  finds  it  in  this  posi- 
tion, and  the  first  question  he  has  to  decide  is  whether  he 
shall  join  this  church  or  not.  Shall  he  simply  embrace 
the  creed,  practising  it  as  far  as  his  patients  and  colleagues 
permit,  and  professing  it  no  more  than  occasion  demands? 
Or  shall  he  avow  his  faith,  affiliate  himself  to  homoeo- 
pathic institutions,  and  allow  his  name  to  appear  in  the 
Homoeopathic  Directo7*y  ?  Now,  I  am  well  aw6ure  of  how 
much  there  is  to  be  said  for  the  former  altematiye.  Li 
the  abstract,  it  is  the  legitimate  course  to  follow.  It  was 
the  mode  of  proceeding  adopted  in  every  country  at  the 
first,  until  the  intolerance  of  the  profession  compelled  its 
abandonment ;  and  each  new  convert  must  feel  strongly 
induced  to  attempt  it  afresh.  But,  much  as  I  sympathise 
with  the  sentiment  which  actuates  him,  I  can  have  no 
hesitation  in  advising  him  to  prefer  the  other  course.  The 
organisation  of  homoeopathy  was,  indeed,  forced  upon  it ; 
but,  however  acquired,  it  now  belongs  to  it  as  a  body  to  its 
soul.  The  position  it  has  taken  up  was  not  of  its  seeking; 
but,  having  been  occupied,  it  cannot  be  abandoned  without 
fatal  misunderstanding.  We,  who  have  held  the  fort  for 
many  a  day,  must  continue  to  hold  it  until  our  claims  are 
yielded,  and  our  method  receives  its  legitimate  recognition, 
our  mode  of  practice  its  due  liberty  and  honour.  We 
cannot  do  so  unless  from  time  to  time  we  receive  reinforce- 
ments to  supply  the  gaps  left  by  age,  sickness,  and  death. 
The  greater  our  numbers,  the  better  our  institutions  arc 
manned  and  our  journals  filled,  the  more  respect  we  shall 
win  for  our  system,  the  nearer  we  shall  bring  the  day  when 
the  profession  shall  be  forced  to  recognise  it  and  to  invite 
us  back  to  free  fellowship*  Till  then,  do  not  weaken  the 
cause  by  standing  aloof  from  its  embodiments.  Allow 
your  names  to  be  pl&ced  in  the  Homoeopathic  Directory,  or 
ridher,  be  proud  of  it  as  of  an  enrolment  in  a  Legion  of 
Honour.     Seek  service  in  any  homoeopathic  hospital  or 


SSSfS'irSSr"  HOMCBOPATHIC  PBACTIOB.  488 

dispenaaiy  which  may  be  in  your  neighbourhood;  send 
caaea  to  the  homoeopathic  journals ;  ap^dy  for  membership 
in  the  British  or  other  Homoeopathic  Society.  Every  man 
who  acts  thus  lends  fresh  strength  to  the  witness  we  bear 
to  truth  in  medicine,  and  hastens  the  day  of  its  victory. 

I  know  that  in  the  meantime  the  course  of  conduct  to 
which  I  invite  you  involves  heavy  sacrifices.  Things  are 
not  indeed  as  bad  as  they  were,  when  to  avow  one's  belief 
in  homoeopathy  meant  professional  and  even  social  out* 
lawry.  But  the  price  is  still  a  heavy  one  to  pay.  Such 
memberships  and  appointments  as  you  may  have  you  will 
find  it  hard  to  retain,  and  you  will  get  no  more.  Con- 
sultations and  assistance  will  be  generally  grudged,  aften 
refused.  By  many  of  your  fellows  you  will  be  treated  as 
a  black  sheep,  spoken  of  behind  your  back  as  a  fool,  if  not 
knave,  met  face  to  face  with  significant  coldness.  Even 
.the  more  liberal-minded,  though  they  tolerate  you,  will  do 
it  with  a  pity  which  is  often  contemptuous.  There  are,  of 
•eouxse,  exceptions  to  this  rule,  in  individuals,  and  even  in 
«circlef( — among  which  Birmingham  deserves  honourable 
mention  ;  but  as  a  rule  it  holds  good.  You  must  run  the 
jrisk  of  being  so  treated.  But  what  of  that  ?  Axe  you  the 
£rst  who  has  had  to  suffer  for  truth — ^to  go,  if  need  be, 
without  the  camp,  bearing  its  reproach  ?  Count  the  cost, 
indeed,  before  you  make  your  avowal;  but  do  not  let  it 
•deter  you  from  making  it.  To  some  extent  you  will  find 
compensation.  Another  fellowship  will  welcome  you,  other 
places*  of  honour  and  usefulness  will  be  open  to  you.  Still, 
you  will  be  a  heavy  loser,  and  can  only  incur  the  loss  in 
the  firm  conviction  that  you  are  thereby  serving  the  cause 
of  truth.  This  conviction  is  mine ;  I  trust  it  may  also 
be  yours. 

n.  This,  then,  is  the  first  thing  I  have  to  advise — that 
you  avow  your  new  faith  in  the  most  practical  way, 
iiantify  yourself  with  its  body  and  not  merely  its  sou!, 
join  its  church  as  weU  as  profess  its  creed.  And  now  arises 
the  next  question, — ^What  are  the  duties  of  the  new 
position  you  have  taken  up  ?  In  what  way  do  they  differ 
from  those  of  every  practitioner  of  medicine  ? 

Do  you,  in  acknowledging  the  truth  of  homoeopathy,  bind 
yoEurselves  to  its  exclusive  practice  ?  No ;  by  no  means. 
In  becoming  (as  men  will  call  you)  "  homoeopaths,"  you 
imfre  not  ceased  to  be  physicians.  '^  Physicianus  nomen, 
jMWUVopathicus  cognomen,"  we  may  say  after  St.  Angus- 


484  HOM(EOPATHIO  PRACTICE.  ^'S^^^'i^, 

tine's  manner.  It  is  the  supreme  daty  of  ns  all  to  do 
what  we  judge  best  for  our  patients,  irrespective  of  any 
creed  or  system.  We  have  protested  against  the  tyranny 
which  has  ostracised  us  because  we  believe  this  ''best" 
ordinarily  to  be  homoeopathy ;  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  be 
entangled  again  with  any  other  yoke  of  bondage.  We 
must  let  no  one  impugn  our  right  of  unfettered  thera- 
peutic choice.  In  allying  ourselves  to  homceopatiue 
institutions  we  manfully  recognise  a  truth  which  has  laid 
hold  of  us,  but  which  is  at  present  denied  and  cast  out : 
we  in  no  way  determine  how  far  its  practical  consequences 
shall  reach.  Take  up  this  position  from  the  first.  Claim 
to  be  (as  I  have  said  in  another  place)  priests  of  the  one 
Catholic  Church  of  Medicine,  however  much  the  prevailing 
majority  deny  your  orders  and  invalidate  your  sacraments. 
They  force  you  into  a  sectarian  position  ;  but  let  them  not 
inspire  you  with  a  sectarian  spirit.  Assert  your  inheri- 
tance in  all  the  past  of  medicine,  and  your  share  in  all  its 
present :  maintain  your  liberty  to  avail  yourselves  of  eveiy 
resource  which  the  wit  of  man  has  devised  or  shall  devise 
for  the  averting  of  death  and  the  relief  of  suffering.  This 
is  the  only  legitimate  ground  to  occupy,  and  you  should 
make  it  plain  that  on  this  you  stand. 

But  while  desirous  of  impressing  this  primary  truth  upon 
you,  I  would  remind  you  that  you  have  duties  as  **  homoeo- 
pathicus,"  and  not  only  as  ''physicianus."  Duties  to  your 
patients,  for  they  will  seek  your  aid  as  such  ;  duties  to  the 
method  itself,  under  whose  name  you  enlist,  and  whose 
advantages  you  enjoy.  The  con'elative  of  liberty  here,  as 
everywhere  else,  is  loyalty ;  and  without  such  counterpoise 
it  degenerates  into  mere  hap-hazard  and  empiricism.  Our 
special  vantage-ground  is  our  practice  according  to  law, 
instead  of  in  the  ^*  unchartered  freedom  "  of  which  our  old- 
school  colleagues  boast,  but  of  which  the  best  of  them  must 
often  tire.  Do  not  readily  forsake  it.  At  the  outset  think 
even  of  liberty  as  little  as  possible.  Children  are  not  the 
better  for  being  free ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  novices 
in  the  method  of  Hahnemann.  Your  wisdom  at  the  first 
is  to  practise  it  as  exclusively  as  you  can.  Let  experience, 
rather  than  a  priori  assumption,  teach  you  where  it  needs 
supplementing  by  other  means.  You  will  actually  do  more 
good  to  your  patients  on  the  whole,  than  if  you  began  as 
eclectics ;  and  you  will  be  acquiring  habits  of  order  and 
precision  which  will  stand  you  in  good  stead  as  you  go  on* 


fiSSSff^TiTS^  HOMCBOPATHIC  PRACTICE.  485 

I  am  speaking  thus,  as  regarding  men  who  are  about  to 
commence  practice  in  a  new  locality  as  avowed  homoBO- 
pathists.  There  are  others,  of  coarse,  who — already  in 
harness — ^must  erect  their  new  bnilding  within  the  walls 
and  under  the  cover  of  the  old.  They  will  begin  by  treating 
selected  cases  with  their  novel  remedies,  leaving  unchanged 
the  great  bulk  of  their  practice.  As  they  leam  confidence 
and  experience,  they  will  push  their  homoeopathy  farther 
on,  and  let  their  former  expedients  drop  more  and  more 
into  the  background.  At  last  the  latter  will  have  become 
the  exception,  and  the  former  the  rule  of  their  practice,  and 
the  term  "  homoeopathic  **  becomes  justly  applicable  to  their 
position  and  mode  of  treatment.  They  will  then  have 
reached  the  ground  already  occupied  by  those  who  have 
practised  homoeopathically  from  the  beginning.  But  there 
will  be  this  difference.  They  will  have  learnt  what  are  the 
exceptions  to  the  rule  similia  similibus  airentur,  and  what 
are  the  auxiliaries  with  which  it  must  be  carried  out.  No 
man  can  know  these  so  well  as  he  who  has  worked  out  the 
subject  for  himself.  Nevertheless,  homoeopathic  practice 
as  a  whole  is,  regarded  scientifically,  a  vast  experiment 
towards  the  decision  of  the  question  how  far  likes  cure  all 
diseases  without  the  aid  of  other  means ;  and  the  results  of 
that  experiment,  so  far  as  it  has  gone,  are  available  for  the 
beginner.     Let  me  briefly  indicate  them  here. 

1.  First  of  all,  you  will  remember  that  drug-giving, 
however  important,  is  not  the  beginning  and  end  of  the 
physician's  duty.  He  has  to  adapt  to  his  patient  all 
natural  forces  and  circumstances  within  his  control — ^heat 
and  cold,  light  and  air  and  water,  rest  and  exercise,  food 
and  stimulus.  He  has  to  remove  mechanical  obstacles, 
and  neutralise  chemical  or  organic  infections.  You  must 
not  call  the  measures — surgical,  regiminal,  hydropathic 
— by  which  you  effect  these  ends,  "  auxiliaries ;  "  you 
must  not  imply  that  they  lie  outside  the  ordinary  path 
of  medicine.  Do  not  enter  upon  homoeopathic  practice 
with  the  thought  that  all  your  knowledge  and  command  of 
natural  influences  may  henceforth  be  laid  aside.  You 
must  be — as  Hahnemann  ever  was — ^hygienists,  that  you 
may  also  be  healers. 

2.  This  applies  to  the  fundamental  duty  of  the  physi- 
cian, whatever  be  his  medical  creed.  He  must  obey  the 
rule  "  tolle  catisam,*'  when  practicable,  before  any  other ; 


486  HOMCEOPATHIC  PRACTICE.  ^b^,^?^mS 

he  mast  remoye  the  Icgdentia  and  supply  the  juvantia  of 
nature  at  large.  But  when,  now,  the  physician  praetising 
homcBopathically  comes  to  his  own  rule,  ''  sivdUa  ginuHbm 
curentur,'*  he  must  bear  in  mind  the  limitations  of  it 
inherent  in  its  own  nature.  Likes  can  only  be  treated  by 
likes,  where  likes  are  to  be  found.  Where  your  patient's 
trouble  is  one  which  drugs  cannot  simulate  on  the  healthy 
body,  you  cannot  apply  your  law.  You  will  remember  the 
instances  of  this  which  were  suggested  when  we  were  on 
the  subject.  How  can  drugs  produce  anything  like  the 
disorder  of  sensation  and  function  attending  the  passage  of 
a  calculus  ?  How  can  they  supply  analogues  to  neoplas- 
mata  ?  Homoeopathic  medicines  may  do  something  for 
such  conditions,  as  every  now  and  then  they  have  done ; 
but  there  is  no  homoeopathy,  strictly  spesJdng,  in  their 
administration.  The  homoeopathic  practitioner  is  not 
passing  by  his  law,  if  in  the  one  case  he  hushes  pain  or 
relaxes  spasm,  if  in  the  other  he  melts  down  the  morbid 
growth  by  a  liquedekcient. 

3.  But,  over  and  aboye  such  qualifications  and  limita- 
tions, the  rule  similia  similibus  may  have  practical  excep- 
tions— exceptions  found  to  be  Jsuch  from  experience,  not 
necessary,  nor  such  as  could  be  foreseen  a  priori ;  in  all 
probability  provisional  only,  but  actual,  and  to  be  duly 
regarded.  Are  there  many,  or  any,  such  ?  Well,  my 
Manual  of  llierapeutics  expressly  contemplates  such  cases. 
It  is  ''  according  to  the  method  of  Hahnemann ;"  and  of 
that  method  it  says — ''  There  may  be  diseases  which  lie 
beyond  its  possible  range  ;  and  still  more  likely  is  it  that 
there  are  diseases  which  have  not  yet  come  within  its 
practical  range.  Accordingly,  our  first  step  must  be  to 
enquire  what  homoeopathy  can  do — ^as  compared  with  the 
capabilities  of  old  physic — in  each  malady  that  comes 
before  us.  What  is  the  answer  to  such  enquiry  ?  I  find 
only  the  following  instances  in  which  a  candid  survey  of 
actual  practice  gives  the  preference  to  non-homoeopathiis 
measures : — 

^a.  J  The  use  of  cold  baths  in  typhoid  fever  seems  to 
give  better  statistics  as  regards  recoveries  than  even  oar 
-own  treatment  can  boast.* 


*  See  Dr.  Bakody's  report  of  the  Pesth  Hoapitftl  (BriL  Jourm.  of  HatL, 
zxxiv.  149.) 


b!^a^uvS^''  homceopathic  practice.  487 

Cb,J  The  recurrence  in  relapsing  fever  cannot  be 
prevented  by  homoeopatbic  remedies ;  but  can  be  by  anti- 
septics like  the  hypomdphite  of  soda  A 

ft.)  We  have  nothing  to  take  the  place  of  fall  doses  of 
iodide  ofpotasgium  in  tertiary  syphilis. 

rdj  In  peritonitis  from  perforation  we  must  give  full 
doses  of  opium,  as  in  ordinary  practice,  if  we  are  to  have  a 
chance  of  saving  our  patients. 

(^e.J  In  cardiac  dropsy  we  can  rarely  get  the  good 
effects  of  digitalis  without  the  induction  of  its  primary 
physiological  effect,  so  raising  the  arterial  tension. 

f"fj.  Nitrite  of  amyl  is  a  better  palliative  in  the  parox- 
ysms of  angina  pectoris  than  any  homoeopathically-acting 
remedy. 

CgJ.  The  use  ot  iodide  of  potassium  in  aneurism  seems 
outside  the  range  of  our  method,  and  is  yet  a  most  valuable 
piece  of  practice,  on  which  we  cannot  improve. 

rhj.  In  urtemic  coma,  measures  for  relieving  the  brain 
of  the  *'  perilous  stuff"  which  is  oppressing  it — if  needful, 
venesection  itself — are  of  more  avail  than  the  best  drug- 
treatment. 

These  eight,  I  say,  are  the  only  instances  I  can  find  in 
which,  homcBopathic  treatment  being  applicable  in  the 
nature  of  things,  it  is  at  present  so  excelled  as  to  be  dis- 
placed by  measures  of  another  kind.  You  will  see  at  once 
how  few  they  are  in  proportion  to  the  mass  of  ills  where 
the  balance  is  just  the  other  way.  You  will  thus  be 
encouraged  to  commit  yourselves  freely,  with  such  reser- 
vations, to  the  guidance  of  the  homoBopathic  law.  Let 
none  impugn  your  liberty,  but  let  all  respect  your  loyalty : 
so  you  will  witness  to  the  method  you  profess,  and  will 
have  the  approval  of  your  own  best  judgment. 

m.  Such  is  the  counsel  I  would  give  you  as  to  the 
general  ordering  of  your  practice.  Let  us  now  go  more 
into  detail,  and  see  what  should  be  your  actual  work  at  the 
bedside  and  in  the  consulting  room. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  selection  of  the  homoBopathic 
remedy.  I  have  shown  you  that  its  similarity  should  be, 
as  far  as  possible,  generic,  specific,  and  individual :  I  have 
indicated  the  parts  which  generalisation  and  individualisa- 
tion  respectively  should  play  in  the  process.     Descending 

t  So  Dr.  Dyce  Brown  in  Brit.  Jcum.  of  JBom.,  zxjd.  868. 


488  HOMOEOPATHIC  PBACTICE.  *bSSS!^.^JSp??m! 

now  from  principles  to  practice,  let  me  advise  you  to  let 
generalisation  predominate  in  your  prescriptions  for  acute 
disease.  That  is,  do  not  let  your  tlioughts  range  down  the 
whole  Materia  Medica,  from  aconite  to  zincum  (as  we  used 
to  say ;  now  it  must  be  from  aiies  to  zizia)^  in  search  of 
your  simillimnm.  Fix  them  rather  upon  the  group  of 
medicines  which  general  consent  has  associated  with  the 
malady  before  you.  They  were  first  arrived  at  by  the  rule 
similia  similibus ;  or,  if  obtained  ex  usu  in  morbisy  they 
have  seemed  warranted  a  posteriori  by  it.  They  have  stood 
the  test  of  long  and  wide  experience,  so  that  you  may  be 
sure  of  their  answering  to  the  species — the  essence  of  the 
disease.  Suit  them,  as  among  themselves,  to  the  form  and 
stage  of  the  malady ;  but  do  not,  without  very  grave  cause, 
go  beyond  them  in  search  of  a  closer  similarity,  which  is 
too  often  illusory.  Of  course  no  finality  is  contemplated: 
new  remedies  must  from  time  to  time  be  introduced,  and 
old  ones  extend  their  known  range  of  action.  Leave  this, 
however,  to  men  of  krger  experience ;  as  beginners,  you 
had  better  keep  to  the  ground  already  surveyed.  In  the 
presence  of  pleurisy,  the  best  thing  you  can  do  for  your 
patient  is  to  appropriate  aconite  and  bryonin^  cantharis  and 
apis,  arsenicum,  sulphur,  and  hepar  sulphurls  to  the  inflam- 
mation and  effusion.  If  pneumonia  is  before  you,  aconite, 
bryonia  and  sulphur  again,  with  phosphorus  and  tartar 
emetic,  comprise  the  whole  ordinary  therapeutics  of  the 
disease.  Some  five  or  six  medicines  in  variola,  seven  or 
eight  in  scarlatina,  ten  in  continued  fever,  twelve  in  chronic 
intermittents  (in  recent  ones  four  will  suffice),  are  as  many 
as  are  ordinarily  required  for  your  choice ;  and  our  best 
comparative  results  have  been  obtained  where — as  with 
yellow  fever  and  cholera — our  remedies  have  been  few  in 
number  and  everywhere  the  same. 

The  same  rule  holds  good  even  in  chronic  disease,  where 
the  disorder  conforms  to  a  recognised  type.  You  will  get 
little  good,  in  diabetes,  by  deserting  phosphoric  acid  and 
vraniuni,  in  rickets,  by  going  beyond  calcarea^  phosphoric 
acid  again,  and  silica.  But  when  your  patient's  narrative 
has  gone  so  far  as  to  satisfy  you  that  you  have  to  deal 
with  an  anomalous  case  of  no  definite  character,  you  wilt 
do  well  to  let  your  mind  work  freely  among  the  medicines 
which  the  symptoms  suggest.  Qo  upon  the  plan  of 
exclusion.  Test  the  remedy  which  first  occurs  to  you  by  the 
next  symptom  mentioned.    If  you  have  chosen  aright,  it 


S^^rSei^*'' HOMCEOPATHIC  PRACTICE.  489 

^11  harmonise  therewith  :  if  not  it  will  suggest  another, 
-and  the  symptom  next  following  will  decide  between  these, 
or  supply  a  third  candidate  for  your  acceptance.  So,  step 
"by  step,  you  will  proceed ;  and  when  the  whole  case  is 
before  you,  you  will  have  obtained  as  the  result  of  your 
elimination  one,  two,  or  three  medicines,  which  seem  well 
to  cover  the  case.  These  you  will  then  prescribe,  in 
succession  or  alternation,  as  you  may  determine ;  and,  if 
yon  have  proceeded  carefully,  you  will  find  them  the 
fundamental  remedies  for  the  disorder.  They  may  be 
with  advantage  suspended  for  a  time,  or  even  replaced  by 
others ;  but  you  will  be  driven  again  and  again  to  them, 
and  ultimately  it  will  be  with  them — if  ever — that  you  gain 
the  day. 

In  thus  choosing,  do  not  neglect  to  supplement  your 
memory  by  reference  to  the  Materia  Medica,  and  to  its 
indices — the  repertories.  Do  not,  indeed,  be  ashamed  of 
-doing  so  in  the  presence  of  your  patients,  if  need  so 
requires :  they  will  not  complain  of  you  for  taking  too 
much  pains.  But  ospecially  when  the  day's  work  is  over : 
when  a  new  case  has  come  before  you,  or  an  old  one  hangs 
fire, — review  its  symptoms.  Look  them  up  one  by  one  in 
your  repertory ;  follow  the  drugs  indicated  to  the  Materia 
Medica,  and  weigh  well  what  you  find.  Do  not  be  hasty, 
or  too  fondly  credulous :  examine  into  the  source  of 
symptoms  ere  you  trust  them :  but  if  you  can  safely  do  so, 
essay  the  medicines  to  which  they  point.  You  will  thus 
frequently  gain  unexpected  successes,  and  will  be  ever 
enriching  your  armamentarium.  In  acute  and  typical 
diseases,  the  fewer  your  remedies  the  better :  but  beyond 
this  range,  you  can  hardly  have  too  many.  It  is  here, 
that  the  mere  specificker^  the  mere  organopathist  fails ; 
while  the  full  method  of  Hahnemann  wins  victories  which 
are  a  continual  source  of  delight. 

rV.  And  now  a  few  words  about  the  choice  of  dose.  I 
have  spoken  with  sufScient  fulness  of  the  general  facts  and 
principles  of  homoeopathic  posology.  Short  of  actual  ex- 
perience, you  are  in  a  position  to  judge  for  yourselves  what 
you  will  do  in  the  matter.  I  do  not  wish  unduly  to  bias 
you  on  so  moot  a  question.  It  would,  however,  be  carrying 
reserve  too  far — it  would  be  neglecting  your  obvious 
interests,  if  I  failed  to  give  you  some  practical  advice — 
from  an  experience  of  over  twenty  years — as  to  the  doses 
jou  should  commonly  employ. 


4Q0  HOMOEOPATHIC  PRACTICE.  ^SSSrf^lflM: 

And  here,  as  in  the  choice  of  the  remedy,  I  would 
distingnish  two  categories  into  which  yoor  cases  will  fall. 
We  have  seen  that  the  object  of  attenuation  is  two-fold-— 
to  avoid  aggravation  and  collateral  disturbances,  and  to 
develope  the  pecoliar  properties  of  drags.  Now  in  the 
acute,  typical  disorders  —  the  fevers,  inflammations, 
catarrhs,  neuralgias,  spasms — ^which  constitute  the  bulk 
of  daily  practice,  the  first-named  object  <  need  alone  be 
sought.  The  medicines  with  which  you  combat  them  are 
such  as  are  already  active  in  their  crude  state  :  your  only 
care  need  be  to  protect  your  patients  from  their  over- 
activity, to  see  that  their  physiological  be  wholly  absorbed 
in  their  therapeutical  action.  For  this  purpose  but 
moderate  attenuation  suffices.  If  you  cany  in  your  pocket- 
case  the  first  decimal  of  aconite^  baptisia,  beUadonna, 
bryonia,  gehemivmt,  ipecacuan,  iris,  nux  vomica^  rhus,  and 
gpongia ;  the  first  centesimal  of  apis  and  tartar  emetic ; 
the  second  of  arsenicum ;  the  third  of  mcrcurius  carrosivui, 
phoaphoruSj  and  veratrum  album;  if  you  reinforce  these 
with  a  few  medicines  of  like  sti*ength  to  meet  special 
contingencies — ^as  hamainelis  for  haBmorrhage,  and  camphor 
for  shock  and  collapse, — you  will  have  a  quiverful  of  shafts 
which  will  rarely  need  augmenting.  By  further  dilution, 
if  need  be,  at  your  patient's  house  you  can  exactly  pro- 
portion the  dose  to  age,  sex,  and  susceptibility ;  and  yoa 
will  rarely  do  anything  but  pure  good. 

It  is  otherwise  when  you  have  to  deal  with  chronic  dis- 
order in  its  almost  infinite  variety.  Your  range  of  medi- 
cines here  is  a  wide  one,  and  so  also  must  be  that  of  your 
dose.  Of  the  drugs  aunong  which  you  will  have  to  choose 
many  are  such  as  only  devclopo  active  properties  after  a 
certain  degree  of  attenuation :  such  are  sulphur^  calcaren, 
MicUy  lycopodium^  iiatnini  muriaticum,  sepia.  Certain 
actions,  moreover,  of  the  more  potent,  and  even  of  the 
feebler  drugs,  belong  to  them  peculiarly  in  infinitesinial 
form.  I  may  cite  arsetucy  pIiosphoruB,  and  nux  vomica  in 
the  former  category,  cliamomilla  and  coffea  in  the  latter. 
In  my  Pltarmacodynamksy  when  speaking  of  the  dosage  of 
each  drug,  I  have  noted  these  points ;  and  they  may  well 
lead  you,  as  they  have  led  mc,  to  associate  certain  potencies 
with  certain  medicines,  making  the  two  almost  as  insepa- 
rable as  the  words  and  tune  of  a  song.  Sulphur  30  is  a 
definite  remedy  to  mc,  dose  and  all.  I  know  what  I  can  do 
with  it  as  I  know  the  powers  of  aconite  Ix.     So  I  can  say 


£^f  A^TS» ""  HOM(EOPATHIC  PBACTICE.  491 

of  l^copodium  12  and  Mica  6,  and  of  many  other  drugs.  I 
roqoire  here,  therefore,  a  wide  range  of  dosage  as  regards 
my  remedies ;  and  still  more  as  regards  my  patients.  Their 
▼ariations  in  susceptibility  are  great ;  they  require  change 
of  potency  from  time  to  time  as  well  as  of  medicines ;  the 
protean  transformations  of  their  maladies  have  to  be  followed 
up  with  corresponding  shiftings  of  means.  I  do  not 
know  that  you  need  go  higher  than  Hahnemann's  SOths ; 
but,  as  you  have  thus  already  got  beyond  the  estimated 
divisibility  of  matter,  you  will  himlly  be  taking  a  fresh  step 
if  you  dip  occasionally  into  Dunham's  200ths. 

In  such  affections,  then,  while  not  neglecting  the  lowest 
preparations,  I  advise  you  to  rely  largely  upon  the  medium 
and  higher — to  use  attenuation  for  developing  the  finer 
actions  of  drugs  which  you  desire  to  bring  into  play.  In 
prescribing  for  other  than  acute  disorders,  you  should 
always — if  possible — do  so  from  a  homoeopathic  chemist* 
There  are  plenty  such  in  this  country — intelligent,  well- 
informed  men :  they  have  an  excellent  PharmacopoBia  for 
iheir  guidance:  you  may  rely  upon  them,  and  should 
rapport  them.  The  best  way  of  prescribing  is  to  order  a 
drachm  or  two  of  the  tincture  or  trituration,  directing  the 
proper  number  (three  is  a  good  average  one)  of  drops  or 
grains  to  be  taken  at  a  dose.  The  tinctures  can  be  thus 
measured  by  being  dropped  into  water  from  the  phial ;  for 
the  triturations  small  scoops  are  provided,  holdmg  about 
three  grains  by  weight,  which  will  best  be  taken  dry  on  the 
tongue.  Sometimes,  when  quantity  is  no  consideration, 
and  when  the  convenience  of  busy  men  or  the  tastes  of 
children  are  to  be  consulted,  you  may  give  the  medicines  in 
the  form  of  pilules,  or  even  of  globules ;  but  I  confess  that 
I  am  not  fond  of  these  preparations,  and  do  not  advise  their 
preferential  choice. 

Y.  A  practitioner's  medicines  form  his  chief  apparatus 
for  practice  ;  but  next  come  his  books.  What  works,  you 
may  fairly  ask  me,  should  you  add  to  your  library,  and 
what  use  should  you  make  of  them,  to  enable  you  to  super- 
add a  literary  knowledge  of  homoeopathy  to  that  of  medicine 
in  general  ? 

Well :  first  of  all  yon  should  be  well  grounded  in  the 
j^noiples  of  our  system.  You  should  study  Hahnemann's 
Organon, — ^in  which  task  I  venture  to  think  that  yon  will 
be  helped  by  reading  the  lecture  on  ''Hahnemann  as  a 
Medicid  Philosopher,"  in  which  I  havo  endeavoured  to 


492 


HOMCEOPATHIC  PRACTICE.  ^Re^^xS^ulm. 


expound  the  great  work  of  the  master ;  and  yon  should 
follow  it  np  by  a  thoughtful  perusal  of  the  posthumous 
volume  of  essays  by  the  late  Carroll  Dunham,  entided 
Homoeopathy  the  Science  of  Tlierapeutics.  For  an  inde- 
pendent study  and  presentation  of  the  subject,  I  may  com- 
mend to  you  the  Essays  on  Medicine  of  the  yenerable 
Dr.  Sharp.  If  you  will  also  read  at  your  leisure  the  Lesser 
Writings  of  Hahnemann  which  Dr.  Dudgeon  has  collected 
and  translated  for  us,  you  will  have  attained  a  thorough  and 
ficholarly  knowledge  of  the  basis  of  the  new  method  yon 
intend  to  practise. 

Next,  you  must  possess,  in  some  form  or  other,  the 
Materia  Medica  of  Homoeopathy — the  collection  of  the 
pathogenetic  effects  of  drugs  with  which  it  works  the  role, 
**  let  likes  be  treated  by  likes."  If  your  means  allow,  the 
best  way  in  which  you  can  do  this  is  the  purchase  of  the 
ten  Tolumes  of  Allen's  Encyclopedia.  You  will  have  there 
every  symptom  which  the  most  untiring  industry  could 
collect  as  resulting  from  the  action  of  medicines  on  the 
healthy,  though  with  the  wheat  you  must  take  a  multitude 
of  tares  growing  side  by  side  with  it  till  the  time  of  harvest. 
If  a  work  of  such  cost  is  beyond  your  reach,  do  not  take 
any  form  of  Jahr*s  Manual  instead,  still  less  the  Condensed 
Materia  Medica  of  Hering.  These  compilations  arc  quite 
untrustworthy  :  they  give  you  pathogenetic  symptoms  with- 
out enabling  you  to  judge  of  the  nature  of  their  source,  and 
the  latter  blends  with  them  ^'clinical"  symptoms — t.^., 
such  as  have  disappeared  while  the  drug  was  being  taken — 
without  note  of  distinction.  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  ere 
long  a  revised  Materia  Medica,  sound  in  material,  intelli- 
gible in  presentation,  and  within  the  reach  of  all,  will  be 
given  to  the  homoeopathic  world.  Until  this  is  done,  I 
would  advise  you  to  content  yourself  with  such  expositions 
of  the  Materia  Medica  as  have  been  delivered  by  lecturers 
•on  the  subject,  and  have  found  their  way  into  print. 
Among  these  I  may  name  HempeFs,  Dunham's,  and  my 
own  ;  and  I  hope  that  ere  long  I  shall  be  able  to  add  those 
which  Dr.  Pope  has  been  delivering  in  this  school,  several 
of  which  I  have  heard  with  great  satisfaction.  If  possible, 
-however,  procure  also  Hahnemann's  own  Materia  Medica 
Puray  which  we  now  have  in  excellent  rendering  and  shape. 
Its  preface  and  notes  alone  make  it  worth  possessing ;  and 
though  you  may  not  learn  much  a  priori  from  reading  its 
iists  of  detached  symptoms,  yet,  when  a  repertory  refers 


B^fA^TS^   HOMEOPATHIC  PRACTICE.  498 

yon  to  them,  yon  will  have  them  in  their  original  and  only 
ayailable  form. 

Of  repertories  themselves  I  have  already  spoken  to  yon : 
it  only  remains  that  I  indicate  the  best  treatises  on  the 
homoeopathic  practice  of  physic.  By  some  these  are  dis- 
conntenanced  altogether,  on  the  ground  of  the  pure 
indiyidualisation  which  is  conceiyed  as  governing  our 
therapeutics.  To  this  I  need  not  tell  yon  that  I  cannot 
assent :  I  hold  it  on  the  other  hand  a  great  gain  that  the 
accredited  homoeopathic  treatment  of  the  definite  types  of 
disease  should  be  set  down  for  the  guidance  of  the 
beginner.  I  have  worked  myself  in  this  field  also ;  but  far 
more  elaborate  treatises  have  been  given  us  by  Drs.  Bahr 
and  Kafka  in  Germany,  and  Dr.  Jousset  in  France.  The 
Science  of  Therapeutics  of  the  first,  and  the  Clinical 
Lectures  of  the  last,  are  available  for  us  in  an  English 
dress ;  and  we  shdl  all  welcome  Dr.  Dyce  Brown's 
addition  to  our  store,  when  he  gives  to  the  world  the 
teachings  on  the  subject  which  have  so  long  been  valued 
here.  Bead  such  books  through;  consult  their  appro- 
priate sections  when  you  have  to  treat  each  form  of 
disease ;  and  you  will  gain  strength  and  light  incalculable 
for  your  daily  work. 

In  addition  to  these,  take  in  as  many  homoeopathic 
journals  as  you  can  afford,  from  England,  from  America, 
and  from  other  countries  with  whose  language  you  may  be 
acquainted.  Take  them  in,  and  read  tliem — a  consequence 
which  does  not  always  follow.  Oive  those  who  edit  and 
supply  them  the  support  of  feeling  that  their  work  is  appre- 
ciated ;  and  reap  the  utmost  benefit  of  it  for  yourselves. 
Dwell  in  no  isolation ;  indulge  in  no  self-suiBBciency.  You  can 
only  live  in  the  life  of  the  body  to  which  you  belong :  in 
its  growth  alone  can  you  grow.  You  are  cut  ofi"  at  present 
from  the  wider  fellowship  of  the  profession  at  large ;  but 
you  can  cultivate  the  corporate  virtues  in  your  narrower 
circle.  The  great  hindrance  to  the  spread  of  homoeopathy 
in  the  old  world  has  been  the  lack  of  esprit  de  corps  among 
homoBopathists  :  had  it  not,  indeed,  possessed  the  vitality 
which  bruth  alone  can  give,  it  had  perished  long  ago  in  the 
midst  of  our  dissensions  and  divisions.  I  trust  that  you 
will  not  contribute  to  these,  but  will  rather  bring  strength 
to  the  heart  of  the  body — its  centre  of  life  and  unity.  You 
will  do  this  as  you  think  more  of  the  essentials  of  the 

Vol.  20,  Ko.  8.  2  L 


494  INTESTINAL  OBSTBUCTION.   ^"^^rfSSTttW. 

" 

method  thao  of  its  accidents ;  as  you  caltiTate  it  for  the 
good  of  your  patients  rather  than  for  the  filling  of  your 
own  pockets ;  as  you  count  all  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
means  a  small  thing  in  comparison  with  our  common  end 
— ^the  promotion  of  the  good  cause  we  have  at  heart 
Practise  homoeopathy  in  this  spirit ;  and  you  will  do  your 
part,  small  or  great  as  it  may  be,  for  the  reform  in  medi- 
cine which  one  day  will  be  seen  to  mark  with  white  the 
nineteenth  century  of  our  era. 

ACCOUNT  OF  A  RAEE    CASE    OF   INTESTINAL 
OBSTEUCTION,  WITH  EEMAEKS. 

By  Edwabd  M,  Maddek,  M.B. 

Surgeon  for  the  Difieases  of  Women  to  the  Birmingham  HomoBopathie 

HospitaL 

The  following  case,  in  spite  of  its  unfortunate  terminatioii» 
is  of  so  unusual  a  nature  and  of  such  interest,  that  I  feel 
it  to  be  my  duty  to  write  an  account  of  it  for  the  benefit 
of  my  colleagues. 

Ellen  H.,  age  17,  was  admitted  into  the  Birmingham 
Homoaopathic  Hospital,  under  my  care,  on  7th  June,  1882, 
with  the  following  history : — On  Whit  Monday  (29th  May) 
she  was  holiday  making  with  friends  at  Burton  and  wgs 
pushed  down  a  small  embankment  in  such  a  way  that  she 
fell  upon  her  face,  and  struck  the  ground  with  the  right 
side  of  her  abdomen.  She  did  not  feel  hurt  at  the  time, 
and  continued  her  games,  returning  home  late  at  night. 
For  the  next  two  days  she  felt  nothing  amiss  with  her,  but 
from  the  81st  she  became  constipated,  though  not  in  any 
way  alarmed  at  it.  On  the  Saturday  (June  8rd)  she  went 
to  a  fair  and  ate  largely  of  gingerbread,  and  the  same 
night  she  was  seized  with  veiy  severe  pain  in  the  abdomen, 
chiefly  in  the  epigastric  region  though  extending  right 
across.  The  next  day,  June  4th,  she  passed  with  much 
straining  a  small  amount  of  dry  scybalous  motion,  but 
with  no  relief  to  the  pain  in  the  belly.  During  the  next 
few  days  she  was  treated  by  a  surgeon  in  her  neighboxu> 
hood  who  gave  her  large  doses  of  cathartics,  with  the  only 
result  of  increasing  her  pain  and  producing  vomiting,  and 
on  her  admission  into  the  hospital  she  was  said  to  vomit 
back  all  she  swallowed. 

Her  condition  on  admission  was  that  she  was  in  nearly 
constant  pain  over  the  stomach  and  the  transverse  colon. 


SSSJ^^TMaM?*"  INTESTINAL  OBSTBUCTiON.  495 

and  was  frequently  troubled  with  empty  retching.  There 
was  no  tumour  or  mass  of  any  kind  to  be  discoTered  in  the 
abdomen,  or  by  rectal  examination^  her  temperature  was 
nonnal,  pulse  76^  and  tongue  covered  with  a  white  slimy 
for,  but  quite  moist.  The  abdomen  was  slightly  swollen 
«nd  tympanitic  over  the  transverse  colon,  but  she  could 
bear  pressure  fairly  well. 

The  treatment  adopted  was  to  apply  hot  poultices  or^r 
the  painful  part  of  the  belly,  to  give  absolutely  no  food 
by  the  mouth,  except  now  and  then  a  tea-spoonfiil  of  iced 
imlk  and  soda-water,  to  give  nutrient  enemas  every  three 
hours,  consisting  of  about  three  ounces  of  warm  gruel  with 
maltme  prepared  so  that  the  starchy  portion  woi^d  be  con- 
Terted  into  glucose  before  injection,  as  in  this  way  it  is 
more  readily  absorbed.  She  was  also  given  opium  Ix  mj 
O.2.  hs. 

June  8th.  There  has  been  no  vomiting  since  her 
admission,  and  the  enemas  were  retained,  but  tbe 
symptom  of  pain  and  obstruction  remains  the  same.  In 
the  afternoon  she  vomited  about  half  a  pint  of  thick 
greenish  fluid,  but  with  not  the  faintest  foecal  odour. 
The  treatment  was  continued  exactly  the  same,  only  that 
she  was  now  given  mux;  vomica  2  x  mj  in  alternation  with 
the  opivm,  one  to  be  taken  every  hour. 

June  9tb.    Was  in  a  little  less  pain  during  the  early 
port  of  the  morning,  but  at  9  a.m.  vomited  a  pint  and  a  half 
of  the  same  green  fluid  with  a  very  sour  smell.  At  mid-day 
a  tube  was  carefully  passed  into  the  rectum,  so  as  to  reach, 
if  not  to  pass  through,  the  sigmoid  flexure,  and  between 
two  and  three  pints  of  olive  oil  was  carefully  injected.    In 
about  an  hour  this  returned,  bringing  with  it  a  small 
amount  of  clay  coloured  fences  quite  softened  by  the  oil. 
EEhe  was  in  great  pain  immediately  after  the  injection,  and 
the  pain  remained  more  than  before,  even  after  the  return 
'Of  it.    In  the  afternoon  she  was  again  sick,  and  brought 
up  about  three-quarters  of  a  pint  of  the  same  green  fluid. 
To-day  the  nubdent  enemata  were  returned  as  soon  as 
iiijected,  so  she  was  allowed  to  take  iced  milk  and  soda- 
water  in  dessert  spoonfuls  as  often   as  every  half  hour, 
which  was  very  grateful  to  her,  as  she  was  excessively 
thirsty.     The  coating  on  the  tongue  was  to-day  brownish 
yeDow,  but  the  tongue  was  quite  moist.     The  temperature 
from  the  first  had  not  risen  above  the  normal,  nor  did  it  do 

2  L-2 


496  INTESTINAL  OBSTRUCTION.   ■b^^S^mm. 

80  daring  the  whole  course  of  her  ilhiess ;  the  pulse  was 
this  evening  102. 

June  10th*  She  has  had  scarcely  any  sleep  on  accomit 
of  the  pain.  At  9  a.m.  she  had  an  injection  of  soap  and 
water^  as  much  as  could  be  got  in,  though  this  was  not 
more  than  two  or  three  pints :  this  returned  within  half 
an-hour,  bringing  with  it  a  little  more  of  the  putty-like 
forces  and  a  considerable .  quantity  of  the  oil  which  had 
remained  in  since  yesterday.  Between  12  and  1  she  again 
vomited  a  small  quantity  of  the  same  kind  of  fluid  as 
before,  and  felt  constant  nausea.  The  tongue  is  much 
cleaner  to-day,  especially  at  the  tip  and  edges.  The 
abdomen  is  still  painful  all  over,  and  is  tympanitic  except 
at  the  flanks,  where  it  is  dull.  The  iced  inilk  and  soda- 
water  and  the  medicines  were  continued  the  same. 

June  11th.  Has  had  a  very  bad  night,  no  sleep  at  all. 
Vomited  at  2  a.m.  about  a  pint  of  the  same  fluid  as  before, 
and  with  hardly  so  ofiiensive  a  smell  as  that  of  yesterday. 
At  10  a.m.  she  had  another  injection,  though  still  no  more 
than  three  pints  could  be  got  to  enter  the  bowel ;  this 
returned  presently,  with  no  sign  of  fceces.  She  was  again 
sick  between  11  and  12  a.m. 

The  abdomen  to-day  is  very  hard  and  distended,  and  is 
dull  all  over  except  the  transverse  colon,  which  is  tym- 
panitic. On  careful  watching,  peristaltic  motion  can  be 
seen  in  the  distended  coils  of  intestine,  the  outlines  of 
which  are  plainly  visible  through  the  tense  skin.  The 
pain,  which  still  continues  very  severe  at  times,  is  not  now 
referred  specially  to  the  epigastrium,  but  is  more  in  the 
umbilical  region.  The  tongue  continues  moist,  though 
thickly  furred.  The  temperature  is  98,  and  the  pulse  110. 
The  question  of  an  operation  was  mooted  to-day,  but  was 
decided  against  because  the  vomit  was  not  stercoraceons, 
and  she  was  still  able  to  retain  a  little  fluid  nourishment, 
so  there  seemed  room  to  hope  for  a  favourable  termination 
without  one.  The  medicine,  however,  was  changed  to 
ipecac,  Ix.,  trit.  gr.  v.,  every  hour. 

June  12th.  She  has  passed  a  very  bad  night,  vomiting 
incessantly,  and  has  brought  up  some  three  pints  of  a 
yellowish  grumous  fluid,  with  (for  the  first  time)  a  dis- 
tinctly fcBcal  smell.  The  pain  continues  very  severe ;  she 
has  an  anxious  haggard  look  in  the  face,  with  sunken  eyes 
and  hanging  cheeks,  and  is,  in  fact,  evidently  on  the  verge 
of  collapse.     The  tongue,  however,  is  cleaner,  though  very 


SSSS^^TTSm"''  intestinal  obstbuotion.  497 

dry,  and  the  temperature  is  still  normal,  bnt  the  pnlse  is 
Tery  feeble  and  soft,  abont  180. 

The  medicine  was  discontinned,  and  ^  gr.  of  acetate  of 
morphia  was  injected  at  10.80  a.m.,  and  again  at  12.30 
a.m. 

At  8  p:m.  I  held  an  anxioas  consnltation  with  my  col- 
I^aes  as  to  an  operation,  and  it  was  eventually  decided  to 
give  her  the  chance  which  such  a  procedure  might  offer,  as 
it  was  very  evident  that  she  could  not  live  long  if  left  alone. 

Accordingly,  shortly  before  4  p.m.,  assisted  by  Dr. Wynne 
Thomas,  Dr.  Chas.  Huxley,  Mr.  A.  J.  Aowbotham,  and  the 
house  surgeon  (Mr.  F.  W.  Clifton)  I  opened  the  abdomen 
to  search  for,  and  if  possible  remove,  the  cause  of  obstruc- 
tion. On  opening  the  peritonoeum,  the  small  intestine 
protruded  at  once  through  the  wound,  and  was  evidently 
much  distended  and  congested,  but  there  was  no  sign  of 
impaction  anywhere.  On  introducing  the  finger  and  making 
a  carefiil  search  among  the  deeper  parts  of  the  cavity,  it 
was  not  long  before  I  found,  immediately  under  the  umbili- 
cal region  and  close  to  the  spine,  what  was  evidently  a 
thick  cord  tightly  stretched  across  the  mesentery :  to 
expose  and  examine  this,  it  was  necessary  to  extend  the 
external  opening  above  the  umbilicus,  and  when  this  was 
done  the  cord  was  easily  foimd,  and  appeared  to  be  a  piece 
of  small  intestine,  quite  empty  and  collapsed,  and  very 
much  on  the  stretch ;  on  following  it  up,  however,  it  was 
foxmd  to  be  a  diverticulum  from  the  small  intestine,  and  to 
be  (when  stretched)  about  4^  or  5  inches  long,  the  distal 
end  of  it  being  bound  down  by  a  firm  broad  fibrous  adhesion 
to  the  front  of  the  mesocoecum,  and  it  was  firmly  com- 
pressing the  ileum  just  above  the  ilio-coecal  valve  so  as 
completely  to  obstruct  it.  I  tied  two  ligatures  round  this, 
one  on  the  fibrous  band,  and,  as  there  was  not  room  for  a 
second  ligature  on  this  band,  a  second  about  half  an  inch 
from  the  extremity  of  the  diverticulum,  and  divided  it 
between  the  two.  Then,  as  quickly  as  possible,  the  intes- 
tines were  replaced,  the  cavity  of  the  abdomen  sponged 
out,  and  the  external  wound  sewn  up  with  strong  cat-gut 
ligature.  Carbolic-acid  spray,  1  in  60,  was  being  played 
over  the  abdomen  during  the  whole  of  the  operation.  The 
patient  was  then  quickly  taken  to  bed,  and  external  heat 
applied  all  round  her,  and  a  little  brandy  poured  down  her 
throat.  On  recovering  consciousness  she  was  able  to 
fiwallow  and  retain  a  little  liquid  food,  and  did  not  again 


498  IHTE8TINAL  obstbuction:  ''S^ 


.1, 


vomit  after  the  operation,  though  at  times  a  little  of  the 
same  fluid  as  she  had  vomited  before  '^  worked  out "  of 
the  month  without  any  effort  at  vomiting.  In  spite  of  all 
we  could  do,  she  never  rallied^  and  died  the  same  evening 
at  10  p.m. 

At  the  post  mortem,  whieh  we  made  the  following  day, 
nothing  beak  was  discovered,  except  conclusive  proof  thai 
there  was  no  other  cause  of  obstruction  than  the  one 
which  had  been  removed.  The  small  intestines  were  fdO 
of  the  same  yellow  fluid  which  she  had  vomited,  and  some 
had  found  its  way  into  the  colon.  The  diverticulum  /was 
found  to  arise  from  the  ileum,  about  two  feet  from  the 
ilio-ccBcal  valve,  and  now  that  it  was  no  longer  stretched 
it  proved  to  be  about  three  inches  in  length. 

I  removed  that  portion  of  the  ileum  to  which  it  ifl 
attached  and  the  codcum  with  the  remains  of  its  fllwons 
adhesion  and  hope  to  preserve  it  as  a  dry  specimen. 

On  looking  back  over  the  history  of  this  case  one  cannol 
help  being  forcibly  struck  with  one  or  two  things.  In  the 
first  place  it  is  evident  that  no  kind  of  treatment,  other 
than  operation,  however  carefully  planned  and  skilfalty 
carried  out,  could  have  had  any  chance  of  success ;  also 
that  this,  the  only  useful  treatment,  was  postponed  till  it 
was  too  late,  for  the  patient  never  rallied  from  the  state 
of  collapse  into  which  she  had  fallen  on  the  morning  of 
the  operation,  though  I  do  not  think  that  the  operation  in 
any  way  increased  this  or  hastened  her  death. 

Had  the  operation  been  performed  48  or  even  24  houts 
sooner,  there  is  every  probabiUty  that  it  might  have  saied 
her  life,  but  the  symptoms  were  altogether  so  obscure,  and 
there  was  no  evidence  of  the  extreme  urgency  which  would 
alone,  with  most  of  us,  warrant  such  a  serious  operation. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  vomit  did  not  beoome 
stercoraceous  until  the  last  morning,  and  that  so  lately  as 
48  hours  before  the  operation  a  smidl  quantity  of  retained 
foBces  was  brought  away  by  an  enema.  How  then  is  it 
possible  in  such  a  case  to  decide  when  to  operate  ?  It 
does  not  appear  to  be  possible  to  give  a  satisfactory  answer 
to  this,  but  were  I  myself  the  patient,  I  should  mosl 
certainly  desire  to  be  operated  upon  as  soon  as  the  evidence 
of  obstruction  was  conclusive,  and  that  the  cause  of  it  was 
not  proved  to  be  such  as  to  predetermine  that  an  operation 
was  useless.  But  here  again  we  are  met  with  the  difficulty 
that  the  cause  is  so  difficult  to-  find  out,,  so  that  I  think 


SSilfSTS^    INTESTINAL  OBSTRUCTION.  499 


the  role  should  be  to  operate  in  cases  of  doabtfnl 
by  which  I  mean,  of  coarse,  diagnosis  as  to  the  cause,  not 
the  fact  of  obstraction.  True  intns-snsceptiony  enteritis 
and  the  presence  of  malignant  tnmoors  are  the  chief 
conditions  in  which  an  operation  would  be  naeless,  and 
these  shoold  in  most  cases  be.  diacoyerable.  Since  the 
time  of  Dr.  Brinton's  standard  work  on  Intestinal  ObttrtiC' 
tion,  abdominal  surgery  has  taken  very  rapid  strides,  so 
that  we  now  know  that,  with  reasonable  care,  there  is  no 
more  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  an  abdominal  secti<»i 
than  from  an  excision  of  the  breast,  indeed  gynsecological 
specialists  not  un&equently  open  the  peritonoeimi  for 
diagnostic  purposes,  and  apparently  with  complete 
immunity  from  harm;  so  that  it  is  not  necessary  to 
observe  iJie  extreme  caution  and  aversion  to  an  operation 
which  he  there  inculcates. 

As  to  the  treatment  which  was  pursued  previous  to  the 
operation,  I  think  it  will  not  require  apology  or  explana- 
tion to  those  who  practise  homoeopathy.  Opifum  was  of 
course  ?dthheld  in  bulk  as  it  was  being  given  in  dilution, 
and  when  both  this  and  nux  vomica  fedled  to  relieve 
y^cac.  was  given  chiefly  on  the  strength  of  some  remark- 
able cases  reported  as  having  been  cured  by  it,  in  the 
same  doses  as  were  given  here,  in  vol.  27  of  the  British 
Journal  of  Homoeopathy  by  Dr.  Imbert  Gourbeyre. 

Concerning  the  cause  of  obstruction,  it  is  I  believe  one 
of  the  rarest  of  the  many  possible  causes  of  this  terrible 
calamity.  A  diverticulum  from  the  small  intestine  is  not 
particularly  rare,  and  appears  to  be  a  persistence  of  an 
embryonic  structure  in  the  form  of  the  vitello-intestinal 
duct,  and  is  always  foimd  in  connection  with  the  ileum, 
not  &r  from  its  termination;  but  it  appears  to  be  the 
exception  for  its  distal  end  to  be  attached. 

Dr.  John  Struthers,  now  Professor  of  Anatomy  in 
Aberdeen,  published  in  1864  a  paper  upon  this  abnormal 
condition,  and  gives  an  account  and  illustrations  of  twenty 
cases  in  which  such  a  diverticulum  had  been  found,  in  two 
of  these  the  distal  end  was  fixed,  and  in  both  cases  was 
the  cause  of  death  from  obstruction ;  he  also  relates  a  third 
similar  case  from  the  practice  of  Dr.  Pirrie,  of  Aberdeen, 
but  in  all  these  cases  the  attachment  was  to  the  mesentery 
opposite  that  part  of  the  intestine  from  which  it  arose ;  but 
in  this  case  the  attachment,  evidently  an  old  one,  was  at  a 
considerable   distance  from    its    origin,  and    hence  the 


500 BEYIEWS.  "g^far?^ 

strangnlation  was  produced  in  a  different  way :  for  in  the 
cases  related  by  Dr.  Struthers^  a  loop  of  intestine  had  got 
nnder  the  diverticnlam  and  become  strangulated,  whereas 
in  this  case  that  part  of  the  ileum  between  the  origin  of  the 
diverticulum  and  the  coecum  would  appear  to  hayo 
^  skipped/  so  to  speak,  under  the  diverticulum  and  its 
attachment,  so  that  it  was  obstructed  by  being  pressed 
upon  close  to  its  entrance  into  the  coecum,  between  the 
diverticulum  and  the  psoas  muscle,  and  was  not  truly 
strangulated  at  all. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  find  an  account  of  any  case 
in  which  this  condition  was  discovered  during  life,  and 
cured  by  an  operation,  and  the  question  how  best  to 
deal  with  such  a  condition  is  not  even  suggested  in  any 
of  the  books  I  have  been  able  to  consult.  There  would 
appear  to  be  three  ways  in  which  it  might  be  dealt  with : 
first,  to  snip  through  the  fibrous  attachment,  either  with 
or  without  ligatures,  and  leave  the  diverticulum  free ;  or, 
as  in  this  case,  where  the  fibrous  attachment  is  very  short, 
to  apply  two  ligatures  and  divide  the  diverticulum  between 
them  ;  or,  thirdly,  to  ligature  close  to  the  ileum,  and  take 
the  diveiiiculum  away  altogether ;  and  further  consideration 
convinces  me  that  the  third  plan,  where  practicable,  would 
probably  the  best  thing  to  do,  as  it  not  only  would  relieve 
the  obstruction,  but  would  remove  the  risk  of  future  trouble, 
either  by  a  second  adhesion  forming  or  the  production  of 
an  obstruction,  or  inflammation,  from  a  fruit-stone  or  any 
other  impaction  getting  into  the  diverticulum  itself,  such  as 
sometimes  happens  in  the  vermiform  appendix. 

REVIEWS. 

A  Treatise  on  Disetisss  of  the  Eye,  for  the  use  of  Students  and 
General  Practitioners,  By  Henby  C.  Angbll,  M.B.,  Professor 
of  Ophthalmology  at  the  Boston  University.  Sixth  edition. 
New  York  and  Philadelphia:  Boericke  &  Tafel.  London: 
Triibner  &  Co.     1882. 

The  volume  before  us  first  appeared  in  1870.  It  has  now 
reached  its  sixth  edition,  a  fact  which  alone  testifies  to  its  valne. 
The  present  edition  has,  we  are  told,  been  remodelled,  and,  to  a 
large  extent,  re-written.  The  rapid  advance  made  in  ophthal- 
mology would  alone  render  this  necessary,  and  Dr.  Angell  has 
carefully  availed  himself  of  the  many  researches  which  have  been 
made  of  late  years  in  this  department  of  surgery.  His  descrip* 
tions  of  disease  are  clear,  the  methods  of  diagnosis  are  well  given 


SSSJ'iSJTB^  NOTABILIA.  601 


,  Aug.  1,  ISn. 


and  easily  tmderstood.  The  various  operations,  too,  are  carefoUy 
pointed  out.  But  so  far  as  drag-selection  is  concerned,  this 
treatise  is  less  full  and  less  valuable  than  we  should  have  expected 
from  a  practitioner  so  familiar  vith  homoeopathy  as  is  its  author. 
It  is  a  surgical  rather  than  a  medical  work.  So  far  as  it  goes  it 
is  excellent,  and  we  can  only  regret  that  it  has  not  gone  much 
further.  At  the  same  time,  read  and  studied  side  by  side  with 
Dr.  Norton's  Ophthalmic  Therapeutics — noticed  in  our  May 
number — it  will  be  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  the  practitioner, 
and  thoroughly  deserves  our  commendation. 

NOTABILIA. 

THE   BRTTISH  HOMCEOPATHIC   CONGRESS. 

We  beg  to  remind  our  readers  that  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
British  Homoeopathic  Congress  will  be  held  on  Thursday, 
September  7th,  at  the  Windsor  Hotel,  Edinburgh,  at  10  a.m. 
The  Congress  will  be  opened  by  an  Address  by  the  President, 
Ih*.  Drury,  which  we  are  sure  will  be  able,  interesting  and 
instructive.  There  will  be  three  papers  read — 1.  By  Dr. 
Blackley,  on  *'  the  action  of  diastase  as  exhibiting  the  influence 
of  infinitesimal  quantities." — 2.  By  Dr.  Walter  Wolston,  on  **a 
ease  of  acute  nephritis,  presenting  peculiar  features  of  interest,** 
•and — 8.  By  Mr.  Deane  Butcher,  on  ''  the  periodicity  of  certain 
diseases,  and  their  homoeopathic  treatment."  The  names  of  the 
authors  of  these  papers  will  be  reckoned  a  sufficient  guarantee  of 
their  excellence,  while  the  subjects  present  a  happy  combination 
of  the  scientific  and  the  practical.  Dr.  Blackley's  able  and  most 
elaborate  researches  on  the  subject  of  hay-fever  ensure  us  a  paper 
of  no  ordinary  interest  and  importance.  Should  time  permit 
after  the  reading  of  these  papers  Dr.  Bayes  wiU  make  a  few 
jremarks  on  the  proposed  L.H.  diploma. 

The  members  will  dine  together  at  six  o'clock. 

The  selection  of  Edinburgh  as  a  place  of  meeting  ought  to 
{guarantee  a  large  meeting.  The  beauty  of  the  northern  metropolis, 
the  *'  modem  Athens,*'  is  so  familiar  to  all  that  it  would  be  out 
of  place  to  enlarge  upon  it.  Should  there  be  a  rara  avis  in  our 
ranks  who  has  never  been  in  Edinburgh,  we  advise  him  to 
embrace  this  opportunity  of  seeing  one  of  &e  most  beautiful  cities 
in  the  world,  one,  moreover,  which  is  full  of  the  richest  historical 
associations.  The  Windsor  Hotel,  in  which  the  Congress  is 
to  be  held,  is  in  the  most  central  position  in  Edinburgh,  and  we 
hope  that  the  members  will  not  be  lured  away  from  the  business 
in  hand  by  the  great  attractions  of  this  charming  city. 

We  trust  that  all  who  are  not  unavoidably  prevented  by  calls 
.of  practice,  will  make  a  point  of  being  present,  and  render  the 
meeting  a  success  worthy  of  the  city  in  which  it  is  held. 


602 NOTABILIA.  '^SSSl.^yg^ 

THE   AMERICAN   INSTITUTE   OP   HOMGBOPATHY. 

T&£  Annual  Meetings  of  this  body  were  held  at  Indianapolis, 
June  18th  to  16th  inclnsiTe.  Every  State  in  the  Union  was  wdL 
represented. 

The  Rev.  E.  A.  Bradley  having  invoked  the  Divine  blessing 
on  the  proceedings,  the  members  were  welcomed  to  the  city  in 
which  they  were  assembled  by  the  Mayor,  the  Hon.  D.  W.  Grobb, 
and  by  Dr.  Corliss,  representing  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State. 
These  courtesies  having  been  acknowledged,  the  President,  Dr. 
Breyfogle,  proceeded  to  deliver  the  Annual  Address. 

He  commenced  by  referring  to  the  interest  taken  by  the  public 
in  the  progress  of  medicine,  as  seen  especially  in  the  attention 
paid  to  sanitary  science.  On  the  influence  exercised  by  public 
opinion  he  said — 

''  Public  opinion  may  seem  at  times  to  deal  unjustly,  but  in  the 
main  it  is  nearly  correct,  and  medical  science  to-day  owes  more 
of  its  advancement  to  this  cause  than  to  all  the  accumulated. 
wisdom  of  the  medical  priesthood. 

'*  It  is  to  a  great  extent  due  to  this  fiust  thai  homoeopathy 
occupies  its  present  high  position.  An  intelligent  public^ 
impressed  with  the  fietct  that  it  was  at  times  compelled  to  take 
medicine,  determined  to  take  as  little  as  possible,  and  seemed 
ready  and  anxious  to  adopt  a  treatment  which  Hahnemann  had 
proclaimed  to  be  successful  in  curing  disease  without  the  neces- 
sity of  hazardous  measures.  The  people  cared  less  for  the 
philosophy  of  Hahnemann's  particular  method  than  for  practical 
results,  and  believing  success  to  be  the  test  of  merit  they  have 
continued  to  encourage  it  with  liberal  support  and  patronage, 
until  its  influence  has  been  felt  throughout  the  entire  civilized 
world.  Its  practitioners  have  not  been  idle,  but  gratefdl  for  such 
generous  encouragement,  they  have  made  every  effort  to  perfect 
the  new  system  of  medicine  and  to  prove  themselves  worthy.'* 

Having  noticed  the  influence  public  opinion  has  had  upon  the 
old  system  of  medicine,  he  said  — 

"  It  is  indeed,  a  golden  opportunity  for  medical  truth.     If  we 
stand  flrmly  by  our  principles ;  if  we  tune  our  instruments  alike, 
discard  mysterious  platitudes,  and  throw  wide  open  the  door  to 
investigation,  the  best  of  them  will,  one  by  one,  be  forced  to 
enter  our  ranks,  accepting  the  law  of  similars,  and  assisting  ub  in 
placing  the  honoured  name  of  Hahnemann  where  it  propeify 
belongs  in  the  history  of  medicine.     This  is  inevitable.     Public 
opinion  will  not  tolerate  a  base  and  transparent  imitation.     But. 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  do  not  stretch  forth  the  hand  of 
liberality  while  challenging  the  most  searching  investigation,  if 
we  make  no  kindly  effort  to  bring  them  within  our  fold,  they 
may  one  day  dispute  with  us  the  rich  inheritance  left  by  E^hne- 
mann,  and  perchance  leave  us  with  nothing  but  the  name  homcBO- 
pathy,  while  they  retain  the  substance." 


l^^TS^  NOTABIUA.  608 

Br.  Breyfogle  then  showed  how  great  would  be  the  adrantages 
of  harmony  among  medical  men  holding  different  views  in 
therapenties  in  advancing  surgery  and  sanitary  science. 

Passing  next  to  the  consideration  of  the  progress  of  homoeo- 
pathy, he  referred  to  the  International  Homoeopathic  Convention, 
held  in  London  last  year,  noticing  the  speedy  production  of  the 
tranaactians  as  an  illustration  of  the  energy  and  ability  of  the 
I^reaident,  Dr.  Hn^^ies.  In  concluding  this  portion  of  his 
retrospect,  Dr.  Breyfogle  said — 

*'  The  hospitality  extended  the  visiting  brethren  was  most 
eordial  and  lavish.  Societies  and  individuals  alike  seemed 
vying  with  each  other  to  render  attentions  that  actually  made 
00  forget  that  we  were  in  a  foreign  country  and  among  strangers. 
There  were  pleasures  that  will  live  and  keep  fresh  in  our  hearts 
while  all  else  grows  old  and  fieided. 

"  In  many  respects  the  International  Homoeopathic  Congress 
was  a  model  medical  meeting.  Through  the  wonderful  executive 
ability  of  its  presiding  officer,  a  brid  synopsis  of  each  paper 
was  presented,  and  the  discussions  thereupon  were  led  by 
regularly  appointed  debaters  who  had  previously  read  the  fall 
text  of  the  pikers  under  consideration,  thus  avoiding  confusion 
while  insuring  full  criticism.  The  American  Institute  would  do 
well  to  imitate  the  example— and,  indeed,  any  medical  society 
would  find  it  greatly  to  its  interest  to  adopt  this  plan — thereby 
saving  the  time  usually  consumed  in  reading  lengthy  papers  and 
affor&ig  greater  opportnnity  for  thorough  discussion." 

New  works  on  homoeopathy,  published  in  America  during  the 
past  year,  the  state  of  the  hospitals  and  the  colleges  were 
reported  on,  and  the  improvement  which  has  taken  place  in  the 
standard  of  medical  education  and  examination  described. 

The  affiurs  of  the  Institute  were  next  considered,  and  the 
institution  of  a  bureau  of  education  and  one  of  pharmacy  was  advo- 
cated. The  President  also  suggested  that  the  bureau  of  Materia 
Medica  should  undertake  the  publication  of  a  condensed  Materia 
ICedica,  and  concluded  an  Address,  which  was  received  with  well- 
marked  satisfaction,  by  noticing  the  gaps  which  death  had  made 
in  the  ranks  during  the  year. 

To  give  a  foil  detail  of  the  business  done  by  the  Institute 
during  the  four  days  of  the  session  is  out  of  our  power.  One 
<Kr  two  points  only  can  we  notice. 

Dr.  Talbot,  the  Chairman  of  the  Bureau  of  Organisation, 
Begistration,  and  Statistics,  made  a  most  interesting  report,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  trammary.  There  are  7,000  homoeo- 
pathic physicians  in  the  United  States,  and  278  institutions 
connected  with  the  development  of  homoeopathy ;  four  national 
societies  report  1,069  members;  twenty-six  State  societies 
report  1,788  membars ;  of  one  hundred  and  three  local  societies 
edxty-six  report  2,856;    of  thirteen  olubs,  seven    report   97 


504  NOTABIUA.  ^'SSSL^jSST^ 


BtmiBWt  Aug.  1,  IflBS. 


members ;  of  twenty-three  general  hospitals,  eighteen  report 
1,268  beds  ;  fifteen  of  these  last  year  treated  6,676  patients ; 
and  the  estimated  value  of  eleven  of  these  hospitals  is  (770,500 
(i^l54,100).  Of  thirty  special  hospitals,  fifteen  report  859  beds ; 
and  nine  of  these  treated,  last  year,  10,617  patients,  of  whom 
about  one-half  were  confined  to  tiieir  beds  ;  and  the  cost  of  ten 
of  these  institutions  was  $1,006,000  (Jg201,200).  Of  thirty-nine 
dispensaries,  twenty-seven  report,  last  year,  111,469  patients, 
and  to  these  have  been  furnished  256,589  prescriptions.  Twelve 
medical  colleges  have  had  1,267  students,  and  graduated  421 
physicians  this  year,  and  5,680  since  they  were  founded; 
sixteen  journals  have  published,  this  year,  9,748  pages. 

A  very  important  and  interesting  discussion  on  vaecination 
culminated  in  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  proposed  by  Dr. 
Talbot,  urging  the  intervention  of  the  Government  to  protect 
the  profession  and  community  agidnst  the  propagation  or  sale 
of  impure  virus. 

From  the  report  of  the  committee  on  legislation,  it  appears 
that  the  Surgeon- General  of  the  Navy  has  consented  to  the 
admission  of  homoeopathic  practitioners  as  surgeons  in  the 
navy ;  while  the  corresponding  army  official  has  refused  to 
engage  the  services  of  homoeopathists. 

The  report  of  the  delegation  to  the  International  Homoeopathic 
Convention  was  presented  by  Dr.  B.  W.  James,  who  among 
other  pleasant  things  said,  ''that  an  American  homoeopathist 
could  never  imagine  the  hearty  hospitality  of  his  English 
brethren  until  he  had  actually  experienced  it.'*  [We  hope  that 
many  will,  after  this,  endeavour  to  make  **  a  proving  *'  of  it. — 
J^:d.  M.  H.  R.] 

The  subject  of  triturations  was  discussed  at  much  length,  and 
the  impurities  noted  were,  we  regret  to  say,  both  frequent  and 
startling. 

At  the  banquet  we  are  gratified  to  find  among  the  toasts  "  Our 
Friends  in  Old  England,*'  proposed  by  Dr.  J.  P.  Dake. 

Niagara  was  selected  as  the  place  of  the  next  meeting.  We 
do  not  observe,  however,  that  any  date  was  fixed.  Is  it  not 
possible  that,  were  the  meeting  to  take  place  about  the  15th  of 
August,  some  of  our  colleagues  might  be  induced  to  make 
a  trip  to  Niagara,  their  autumn  hoUday?  Eleven  days,  and 
probably  less,  would  suffice  to  accomplish  the  voyage  firom 
Liverpool.  What  could  be  more  refreshing,  what  more 
delightful,  than  after  a  sail  to  New  York,  to  go  up  the  Hudson 
river  to  Albany,  md  then  by  rail  to  Niagara,  returning  through 
Lake  Ontario  and  down  the  St.  Lawrence,  through  the  thousand 
islands  to  Montreal,  and  then  through  Lake  Champlain  and 
Lake  George  to  New  York. 

Dr.  B.  W.  James  of  Philadelphia,  was  elected  President,  and 
Dr.  0.  S.  Runnels  of  Indianapcdis,  Vice-President. 


nS^A^u'SS:^       COKRESPONDBNCB.  506 

TESTIMONIAL  TO  DR.  HARPER. 
Oh  the  80th  Jnne  a  most  gratifying  presentation  was  made  to 
Dr.  Harper,  late  of  Windsor  fwho  has  recently  succeeded 
Mr.  Cameron  in  his  practice  at  Hertford  Street)  by  those  who 
have  been  his  patients  during  the  last  twenty-five  years.  A 
report  of  the  proceedings  is  in  type,  and  will  be  pnbhshed  next 
month.  We  regret  that  the  nnezpected  length  of  some  articles 
pr^lnde  its  appearance  in  onr  present  number. 

LEGACY  TO  THE  LONDON  HOMCEOPATHIO  HOSPITAL. 
It  gives  us  much  pleasure  to  state  that  by  the  will  of  Miss  Mar- 
garet Trotter,  late  of  9a,  Upper  Brook  Street,  Grosvenor  Square, 
and  of  the  Ch&teau  la  Rocheville,  Pecq,  near  Versailles,  which 
was  proved  on  the  9th  of  June,  this  institution  becomes  entitled 
to  £8,500  Midland  Railway  Stock,  which,  at  the  price  of  the 
day,  is  equal  to  about  £4,700. 

BRITISH  HOMOEOPATHIC  SOCIETY. 
At  the  annual  assembly  of  this  Society,  held  on  the  29th  June, 
Dr.  Dbttbt  was  elected  President,  and  Drs.  Blacklet  (Man- 
chester) and  Cabfbae,  Vice-Presidents.  Dr.  Black  was  unani- 
mously appointed  Treasurer,  vice  Dr.  Hamilton  resigned,  and 
Dr.  HnoHEs  was  re-elected  Secretary. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

DR.  KER  ON  THE  PROPAGATION   OF  HOMOEOPATHY. 
To  tJie  Editors  of  the  ^^  MoniMy  HomcBopathie  Beview,*' 

Gentlemen, — ^Dr.  Eer's  letter  in  the  last  number  of  the  British 
Journal  of  Homceopathy  seems  to  require  earlier  notice  than  it 
could  have  in  the  next  number  of  the  journal  in  which  it 
appeared,  so  I  trust  you  wiU  allow  me  space  for  a  few  words 
thereanent  in  your  August  number. 

Of  Dr.  Ker*s  sincere  desire  to  promote  a  knowledge  of 
homoeopathy,  no  one  can  entertain  a  doubt;  that  he  is 
thoroughly  convinced  that  this  will  be  most  rapidly  brought 
about  by  the  means  he  suggests,  and  that  these  means  are 
feasible,  I  am  sure  that  he  is  equally  confident.  At  the  same 
time  I  am  fully  as  certain  that  he  is  in  error,  and  that  if  it  were 
possible  to  exclude  the  word  homoeopathy  and  its  derivatives 
from  medical  parlance,  the  probability  is  that  homoeopathy  itself 
would  suffer  extinction. 

Dr.  Drysdale  may  be  right  in  supposing  that  the  ultimate 
adoption  of  homoeopathic  truths  by  the  profession  will  be 
coincident  with  the  extinction  of  the  name,  and  that  this  will 
constitute  its  final  triumph,  and  yet  Dr.  Eer's  proposals  be 
quite  mistimed,  to  say  the  least  of  them.  I  do  not  myself  believe 
that  the  word  homoeopathy  will  ever  die  out.  That  some  of 
its  derivatives  will  is  possible  enough,  when  the  time  of  its 


506  GOEBESPONDENCE.        ^'SS^^f^J^ 


ultimate  adoption  arrives.  Poeeibly  the  word  Chrifitiaii  will  die 
out  when  the  millemdnm  arrivee,  when,  that  is,  all  men  aai 
OhristianB,  bnt  not  before. 

Oar  business  at  present  is  to  achieve  the  ultimate  adoption  of 
homoBopathic  truths.  To  imagine  that  we  have  arrived  at  that 
point  in  medical  history  is  very  unwise.  We  have  not  done 
anything  of  the  kind.  We  have  made  considerable  advances 
towards  it  of  late  years,  it  is  true,  and  it  has  been  by  keeping 
homoeopathy  as  such  constantly  to  the  fore  that  these  advances 
have  been  made. 

Dr.  Ear  seems  to  think  that  a  reconciliation  between  the 
dominant  section  of  the  profession  and  ourselves  could  be 
brought  about  by  ''  a  surrender  of  the  word  homceopaihy  and  a& 
its  derivatives — a  surrender  of  the  name  and  not  of  the  thing." 
But  who  has  made  such  a  proposal,  and  who  has  authority  to 
make  such  an  one  ?  The  nearest  approach  to  anything  of  the 
kind  was  Dr.  Wilks'  resolution  at  the  College  of  Physicians 
some  six  or  seven  months  ago. 

Now,  the  wording  of  this  resolution  gave  no  promise  ''  that  all 
the  rights  and  privil^es,  the  honours  and  distinctions  at  its 
[the  general  body  of  medicine]  disposal  will  be  open  to  the 
deserving  amongst  us,'*  or  that  <'  dubs,  societies,  journals, 
hospitals,  and  professional  offices,  libraries,  &c.,  from  which  we 
are  at  present  effectually  excluded,  will  be  thrown  open  to  us," 
if  we  ceased  to  designate  our  method  of  selecting  drugs  as 
homoeopathy  !     Nothing  of  the  kind  I 

But  supposing  that  it  did  so,  the  discussion  it  elicited  proved 
conclusively  that  no  result  of  this  sort  would  follow  our  sub- 
mission. And,  again,  in  its  comments  upon  the  meeting  the 
Lancet  repudiated  such  a  concession  entirely,  as  it  has  done  over 
and  over  again. 

The  *'  consummation  "  pictured  by  Dr.  Eer  in  the  extcaots  I 
have  made  from  his  letter  is  certainly  one  "  devoutly  to  be 
wished,"  and,  moreover,  it  is  one  certain  to  be  arrived  at,  but 
not  yet.  We  have  a  great  deal  of  hard  work  of  the  propaganda, 
the  missionary,  order  to  do  before  that  time  arrives.  We  muatv 
in  short,  convince  the  whole  body  of  the  profession  that  hooKBO* 
pathy  is  true.  Can  we  do  this  by  never  alluding  to  such  a  thing 
as  homoeopathy  ?  By  so  doing,  we  shall  but  strengthen  tho0e 
who  differ  from  us  in  their  differences ;  we  shall  but  make  than 
doubt  our  sincerity ;  we  shall  but  lead  them  to  feel  that  there  can 
be  nothing  in  homoeopathy  after  all  that  is  worth  contending  fpr. 

'*  What  we  desire  and  pray  for  is/'  writes  Dr.  Eer,  <*  ttie 
conversion  of  medicine  to  belief  in  the  homooopathic  law.  Half 
a  century's  endeavours  to  this  end  have  signally  failed  to  efEeet 
this."  If  they  have  so  failed,  it  haa  been  because  they  have  not 
been  pressed  forward  as  earnestly  and  enthusiastically  as  ifaey 
lid  have  been;  because  they  have  been  hampered  by  too 


JSSSJf^iTS?**       COBBB8PONDBN0B.  607 

:great  a  regard  for  the  feeliiigs  and  mterests  of  opponents,  who 
baye  shown  none  for  ottr  feelings  and  interests,  because  they  have 
been  too  mooh  sacrificed  to  the  dictates  of  professional  etiquette. 

In  the  United  States,  where  homosopathj  has  been  pressed 
forward  regardless  of  all  interests,  except  the  interests  of  homceo- 
pathy,  more  than  one-third  of  the  practitioners  of  medicine  are 
honuBopathists.  This  is  a  pretty  good  stride  to  have  made 
towards  the  conversion  of  medicine  in  half  a  centory. 

Dr.  Eer's  new  method  of  proselytism  is,  then,  I  regret  to  be 
obliged  to  conclude,  impracticable,  and,  indeed,  impossible. 
Not  a  journal,  not  a  club,  not  a  society,  not  a  hospital  will  give 
us  a  chance  of  trying  it.  We  must  stQl,  for  a  time,  be  content 
to  be  as  missionaries  in  a  heathen  land,  and  must  redouble  our 
energies  and  diminish  oar  scruples  in  making  homoeopathy  more 
widely  known,  and  its  influence  more  generally  felt. 

I  am,  Gentlemen.  Yours  fluthfolly, 
London,  July  6,  1882.  J.  Smith,  M.D. 

"  WICKED  HOMOEOPATHIC  ENGINEERING." 

To  the  Editors  of  the  **  Monthly  Honutopathic  Review,*^ 

GfiNTLBMZN, — ^Permit  me  to  reply  to  a  note  on  page  488,  of 
your  issue  of  July,  1882,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  F.  Black. 

Dr.  Black  is  quite  right  in  the  fact  that,  in  a  pamphlet  of  mine 
called  Ttco  Sides  to  a  Question,  published  in  the  year  1860^  I 
wrote,  "  Observe,  I  object  to  the  title  of  homoeopath.  Its 
assumption  savours  of  sectarianism.  I  object  to  any  other  title 
than  that  of  physician,  or  at  most,  of  physician  practising 
homoeopathy." 

I  need  scarcely  remind  Dr.  F.  Black,  that  in  1860  I  had  been 
a  homoeopath  for  a  little  over  Viree  years^  and  had  scarcely  fairly 
«ome  out  of  the  Egyptian  darkness  of  the  old  school  Twenty-two 
years^  further  erperience,  have  made  me  ding  more  firmly  to  the 
revered  teaching  of  Hahnemaim,  and  I  now  glory  in  the  name  of 
homoeopath,  as  it  is  our  right  and  a  duty  to  do. 

Like  all  young  converts,  I  was  then  but  half  a  homoeopath, 
now  that  I  have  added  txcefUy-two  years'  further  experience  in  the 
course  of  my  practice  of  the  blessings  of  homoeopathy,  wideh  are 
indeed  inestimable,  I  should  esteem  myself  beneath  contempt  did 
I  not  uphold  my  testimony  to  the  grand  beneficence  of  the 
homoeopathic  law,  and  did  I  not  glory  in  proclaiming  what  I 
beheve  to  be  the  greatest  discovery  in  medioed  therapeutics.  I 
would  that  all  who  have  benefited  by  homoeopathy  would  equally 
acknowledge  this  great  law  of  drug  healing,  instead  of  openly 
despising  tiie  name  and  thus  lowering  the  flag. 

Yours  very  truly, 

WiLLiAu  Bates,  M.D. 

Brighton,  17th  July,  1882. 


608  CORRESPONDENTS.        *b^J,^SS!Twb! 

To  the  Editors  of  the  ''Monthly  Homceopathic  Beview.'* 
GkENTLEMEN, — As  jOQ  hav6  kindly  Bhown  me  Dr.  Bayes'  letter 
in  M.S.,  I  wish  to  remind  him  that  the  sentence  he  qnotes, 
though  originally  published  in  1860,  was  brought  by  him 
specially  to  my  knowledge  in  1866,  that  is  ten  years  after  he  had 
been  practising  homoeopathically.  The  moral  of  my  tale  was, 
Dr.  Bayes  having  held  snch  views  for  ten  years  opght,  in 
charity,  not  to  have  made  the  "  zigzag  '*  eharges. 
Francis  Black. 

SPURIOUS    IMS    VERSICOLOR. 
To  the  Editors  of  ike  *' Monthly  Homaopathic  Review" 

Deab  Sirs, — ^We  are  accustomed  to  meet  with  snch  snbstitn- 
tions  of  species  of  medicinal  plants  as  those  of  Spigelia  maryUmdica 
for  S.  ArUhelmiaf  and  (EnarUhe  crocata^  and  other  umbeUates, 
for  dcuta  virosa,  but  recently  a  serious  mistake  has  been  made 
by  some  of  our  pharmacists  with  regard  to  Iris  versicolor. 

Doubtless  from  a  want  of  knowledge  of  the  various  species,  and 
encouraged  by  the  demand  for  cheap  medicines,  instead  of  import- 
ing the  tincture  from  North  America,  the  root  of  some  cultivated 
species  (probably  Iris  germanica)  has  been  employed  in  making 
it,  and  the  results  of  its  action  are  likely  to  be  very  disappointing, 
if  not  dangerous. 

The  spurious  tincture  has  a  deep  brown  instead  of  a  straw-yellow 
colour ;  a  violaceous  odour  resembling  orris  root  (Irisflorejttina),  and 
is  not  disagreeable  to  the  taste.  It  is  very  di£ferent  in  these  qualities 
from  the  genuine  tincture,  which  has  a  nauseous  odour  and  taste. 

Yours  faithfully,  E.  Gould  &  Son. 

69,  Moorgate  St.,  E.G.,  July  19th,  1882. 

NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 

«%  We  cannot  undertake  to  return  rejected  manuteripte* 

Invalids  going  to  Austbaua. — One  of  onr  coUeagaes,.  who  is  sailing  in 
a  first-daBS  ship  to  Sydney  and  Melbonme  in  September,  will  be  happy  to 
take  charge  of  invalids,  without  any  fee.  We  shall  be  happy  to  reoeive 
any  applica  lions. 

Dr.  C.  T.  Neatby  requests  ns  to  state  that  he  has  settled  at  Ventnor. 

Commimications,  Ac,  have  been  reoeived  from  Dr.  Black  (London) ; 
Dr.  Hughes  and  Dr.  Bates  (Brighton) ;  Dr.  Gibbs  Blaxx  and  Dr.  S.  M« 
BfADDEN  (Birmingham) ;  Dr.  Matvey  (Bradford). 

BOOKS   RECEIVED. 

T?ie  British  Journal  of  Homaopathy ;  The  Hcmaopathie  World  ;  The 
Chemist  and  Druggist ;  The  Students^  Journal;  The  Indian  Hcmaopaikic 
Review ;  The  Calcutta  Medical  Journal ;  The  New  York  Medical  Times  ; 
The  New  England  Gazette ;  The  Hahnemannian  Monthly;  The  CUnieal 
Beview.  St.  Louis;  The  Medical  Counsellor;  BibUotKbque  Homaopathique; 
AUgemeine  Horn,  Zeitung ;  Rivista  Omiopatica,  ^^____^„ 

FapeiB,  DispeoBaiy  Beports,  and  Books  for  Review  to  be  sent  to  Dr.  Bops,  21, 
Hennetta  Street,  OaTendiBh  Square,  W.;  Dr.  D.  Dygk  Bbowk,  S9,  SeTmoor  Street* 
Fortman  Square,  W.;  or  to  Dr.  KsmrsoT,  16,  MJontpelier  Bow,  Buokfaeatfa,  B.B. 
Advertiaements  and  BnaiiieBB  communications  to  be  tent  to  Mmhs.  E.  Ogdld  St  Sovy 
69,  Moorgate  Street,  E.C. 


^riS^^^JfcT?^  THE  APPBOACHINd  CONGRESS.  SOQ* 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMCEOPATHIC    REYIEW, 


^ 


THE  APPROACHING  CONGRESS. 

Thirty  years  have  passed  away  since  the  last  Congress  of 
medical  men  practising  homoeopathy  was  held  in  Edinburgh* 
Of  those  who  were  present  on  that  occasion,  more  than 
half  have  departed  from  amongst  us.  Of  these  the  most 
conspicuous  is  the  distinguished  physician  who  occupied 
the  chair — the  late  Professor  Hendebson — a  man  of  pro- 
foxmd  learning,  skilful  in  the  exercise  of  his  art  beyond  the 
large  majority  of  his  contemporaries,  thoroughly  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  homoeopathy,  unswerving  in  his  defence  of 
the  therapeutic  doctrine  he  had  tested  with  care  and  dili- 
gence and  practised  with  success — one  who  has  left  behind, 
him  an  example  of  constancy  and  fidelity  to  truth  which 
can  never  be  too  frequently  reflected  upon.  The  paper  he 
read  before  the  Congress  on  that  occasion  on  pneumonia  i& 
a  model  of  therapeutic  research.  The  extreme  caution  it 
displays  in  dealing  with  that  most  difficult  subject  of  medi- 
cal enquiry — ^therapeutic  statistics — ^the  obvious  justice  of 
the  inferences  he  drew  from  the  results  of  his  many-sided 
examinations  of  the  questions  before  him,  this  essay  had 
an  influence  on  the  subsequent  progress  of  homoeopathy 
which  few  other  essays  have  had. 

On  taking  the  chair  and  opening  the  business  of  the 
meeting,  Professor  Hendebson  addressed  the  members. 

yoL26,No.9.  3  K 


610  THE  APPROACHING  CONGRESS.  "^^^S^tTwaL 

present  in  a  few  well-chosen  words,  words  which  express  so 
folly  and  so  thoroughly  the  advantages  which  sach  a  meeting 
o£fers  to  all  who  are  willing  to  take  the  trouble  of  attending 
it,  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  recall  them  here. 

After  welcoming  his  professional  brethren  to  Edinburgh, 
Dr.  Henderson  went  on  to  say : — 

''The  institntion  of  scientific  associations  for  the  pnrpose  of 
meeting  periodically  at  different  places  ma^  be  regarded  as 
peculiar  to  this  busy,  enterprising  age,  and  the  purposes  they 
serve  are  both  important  and  manifold.  If  they  do  not  actually 
plant  the  lamp  of  science  where  its  light  had  been  previously 
Tinknown,  they  at  least  refresh  it  with  oil  and  make  it  bum 
brighter  in  the  places  they  visit.  They  awaken  a  public  interest 
— a  popular  interest — ^in  the  progress  of  useful  knowledge  more 
than  local,  stationary,  and  more  familiar  societies  usually  do, 
and  by  bringing  together  labourers  from  different  parts  of  the 
field  of  science  and  from  different  countries,  they  quicken  the 
interchange  of  new  truths,  and  enliven  their  devotion  to  iheir 
favourite  studies  ^y  affording  them  opportunities  of  intercourse 
with  persons  of  kindred  tastes.  These  advantages  are  conmnm 
to  all  such  associations,  but  our  advantage  is  peculiar  to  our- 
fielves  in  the  existing  circumstances  of  our  profession,  and, 
indeed,  of  medical  science  itself.  I  have  no  intention  either  to 
deprecate  the  hostility  of  those  who  treat  us  with  bitterness  and 
misrepresentation,  or  of  entering  into  any  detail  on  the  subject. 
I  advert  merely  to  that  speciality  in  our  own  condition  which 
makes  meetings  like  this  peculiarly  pleasant  and  profitable. 
Scattered  as  we  are,  each  in  our  own  place,  singly  or  in  small 
companies,  over  the  three  kingdoms,  exposed  everywhere  to  the 
treatment  I  have  referred  to,  it  is  exceedingly  encouraging  and 
delightful  to  behold,  as  on  this  occasion,  so  many  who  maiTit«n 
the  same  just  principles — so  many  whose  names  are  funiliar  to 
us  as  the  defenders  of  those  great  truths  which  we  all  knov 
from  experience  to  be  by  for  the  most  important  in  the  vhob 
range  of  medicine.    'As  iron  sharpeneth  iron,  so  does  the 


lt^^S^!T^   THE  APPBOAOHING  CONGRESS.     511 

eonntenance  of  a  man  that  of  his  friend/  is  a  proTorb  the  tnith 
of  which  mnst  be  felt  by  all  of  us  on  an  occasion  like  this.  I 
feel  satisfied  that,  when  this  Congress  is  dispersed,  each  will 
retnm  to  the  sphere  of  his  arduous  and  responsible  ayocations 
with  a  zeal  and  a  resolution  strengthened  by  the  opportunity  he 
has  had  of  personal  intercourse  with  so  many  that  hold  the  same 
great  principles  in  medicine  and  have  the  same  experience  as 
himself." 

We  trnst  that  any  who  may  have  entertained  doubts  as 
to  whether  they  will  go  to  Edinburgh  next  Thursday,  and 
fiome  of  those  who  have  already  decided  that  they  cannot 
«)nveniently  do  so,  will,  on  reading  Dr.  Henderson's  brief 
address,  feel  that  it  will  be  so  good  for  them  to  be  present 
that  they  will  at  once  prepare  to  go,  and  determine  that 
nothing  shall  prevent  their  doing  so. 

The  opening  address  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Dbtsdale — 
then  as  now  one  of  the  foremost  amongst  the  scientific 
workers  in  the  field  of  homoeopathic  medicine.  The  so- 
called  *'  high-potencies  "  of  Jenichen  were  then  a  novelty, 
and  Dr.  Drysdale  explained  the  fact  of  their  having  been 
succesfifully  used,  by  showing  that  these  '^  dilutions  were 
really  not  higher  than  those  originally  in  use,  or  were  even, 
in  many  cases,  quite  low."  Since  that  time,  the  ^'  high- 
potency  "  mania  has  been  carried  into  far  loftier  regions  ; 
and,  curiously  enough,  with  somewhat  similar  results  ;  for 
Dr.  Bubdioe,  of  New  York,  has  shown  that  the  "  high- 
potencies"  of  Dr.  Swan — ^which  run  into  millionths — 
rarely  reach,  in  fEict,  beyond  the  tenth,  and  are  liable  to  be 
much  lower. 

Dr.  Dbtsdale  also  noticed  another  novelty  which  had 
recently  been  interesting  and  agitating  the  minds  of 
homoeopathic  practitioners  for  a  brief  space^ — the  magneto- 
scope  of  Mr.  Butter,  of  Brighton — an  instrument  designed 
to  afford  a  physical  demonstration  of  the  presence  of  infini- 

2 


512  THE  APPBOAOHING  CONGBBBS.  'b^.^SlTmb!' 

tesimal  particIeR  of  matter.  To-day,  we  have  the  parallel 
of  the  magnetoBOope  in  the  nenranalysis  of  Professor 
jAEaEB !  This,  as  has  been  shown  recently  in  oar  Review 
by  Dr.  Peboy  Wilde,  has  as  little  claim  to  oar  confidence 
in  proving  the  presence  of  matter  in  infinitesimal  propor- 
tions as  had  Mr.  Butter's  magnetoscope.  The  very 
natural  desire  which  must  ever  be  present  amongst  us  to 
be  able  to  demonstrate  physically  the  presence  of  that  of 
which  we  have,  in  the  meantime,  only  physiological  and 
clinical  evidence,  will  probably  ever  and  anon  lead  to  the 
supposed  discovery  of  some  means  for  gratifying  it.  The 
history  of  these  two  efforts  should,  however,  render  us  both 
sceptical  and  cautious  in  approaching  the  investigation  of 
any  proposal  having  a  similar  end  in  view. 

For  nearly  the  first  time,  we  believe,  in  any  public 
assembly  of  homcBopathic  practitioners,  the  question  of  so- 
called  ''auxiliaries"  was  broached  in  Dr.  Dbysdals's 
paper,  and  well  discussed  afterwards.  This  is  a  subject 
which  has  been  thoroughly  sifted  since,  and  the  praeticat 
advantages  of  palliatives  in  a  few  conditions  are  now  con- 
tested by  none  save  those  who  are  prepared  to  sacrifice 
everything  to  the  maintenance,  whether  in  season  or  out 
of  season,  of  a  theory. 

The  dose  was,  of  course,  a  subject  of  debate,  and  was 
introduced  by  Dr.  Dbtsdale,  and  again,  in  a  special  paper 
upon  it,  read  by  the  late  Dr.  Pftt.TiTps.  Much  as  has  been 
the  light  since  thrown  by  experience  on  this  important* 
question,  we  doubt  if  we  are  any  nearer  to  a  real  principle 
of  what  we  may  term  ''  dose-selection  "  than  we  were  then. 
And  when  we  consider  the  many  and  varied  circumstances 
which  must  infiuence  the  choice  of  the  most  suitable  dose, 
this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  We  certainly  know  much 
more,  surely,  than  we  did  then,  that,  when  we  keep  outside 
the  physiological  dose,  we  are  in  a  path  of  safety.    That 


IK^^PtTSM?*  THE  APPBOAOHING  OONQRESS.     513 

the  amount  prescribed  is  then  sufficient  for  cnratiye  pur* 
posesy  and  one  not  likely  to  excite  aggravations. 

Referring  to  the  character  of  the  opposition  to  homoeo- 
pathy which  was  prevalent  at  that  time^  Dr.  Dbysdalb 
described  it  in  terms  which  would  equally  well  apply  to  the 
bulk  of  that  which  is  written  agaiust  our  therapeutic 
method  to-day.  Speaking  of  our  opponents,  he  said: 
^'From  a  few  passages  gleaned  &om  the  Organon,  they 
dress  up  a  phantom  which  they  style  homcBopathy,  and 
when  they  find  that  our  practice  is  something  very  different 
indeed  from  that,  they  charge  us  with  fraud,  and  with 
practising  under  fEtlse  pretences."  So  it  has  ever  been,  so 
is  it  still !  *^  HomoBopathy  is  extinct.*'  **  Nothing  remains 
but  the  name."  **  Those  who  profess  to  practise  homoBo- 
pathy  do  so  merely  in  appearance."  With  these  and  simila]^ 
false  platitudes,  the  medical  Press  of  to-day  hugs  the 
delusion  that  they  have  ousted  homoeopathy  altogether; 
and  that  no  investigation  of  the  subject  is  incumbent  upon 
them! 

Such  were  the  chief  questions  of  interest  thirty  years 
ago.  Briefly  will  we  now  refer  to  those  which  will  be 
raised  on  Thursday  next. 

Of  the  subject  of  the  President's  address,  we  can,  of 
course,  say  nothing,  but  that  it  will  be  interesting  and 
suggestive  we  have  no  doubt.  A  President's  address  does 
not,  however,  afford  matter  for  discussion  during  the 
meeting,  and  therefore  our  ignorance  regarding  the  subject 
with  which  it  will  deal  is  a  matter  of  less  importance. 

Dr.  BiiAOiOiBY,  of  Manchester,  will,  in  his  paper  on 
**  The  action  of  diastase,  as  exhibiting  the  influence  of 
infinitesimal  quantities,"  illustrate  a  subject  which  has  of 
late  attracted  a  large  amount  of  attention,  viz.,  the  physical 
demonstration  of  infinitesimal  particles  of  matter.  Clinical 
evidence  of  the  power  of  infinitesimal  doses  of  medicine  to 


614  THE  APPROAOHINa  CONGRBBS.   "^S^j^Tim! 

modify  the  health  of  the  body,  we  have  in  abundance ;  and 
to  the  practitioner  such  evidence  is  all-sufficient;  bntat 
the  same  time  we  must  not  nnderrate  the  fact  that  physical 
evidence  of  the  presence  of  matter  is  very  welcome  to  the 
cantious  observer,  and  greatly  strengthens  oar  position  as 
therapentists.  We  therefore  anticipate  in  Dr.  Blackley's 
essay,  not  only  an  interesting  and  usefol  subject  for  dis- 
cussion, but  a  contribution  of  considerable  importance  to 
the  advancement  of  homoeopathy. 

Dr.  WoLSTON,  of  Edinburgh,  will,  in  his  clinical  illus- 
tration of  acute  nephritis,  provide  a  text  for  a  discussion  of 
a  thoroughly  practical  and  very  important  character.  We 
cannot  refer  to  this  subject  without  recalling  to  memoiy  . 
the  very  striking  and  thoroughly  recorded  cases  of  the  same 
disease  by  the  President  of  the  last  Homoeopathic  Congress 
held  in  Edinburgh.  They  appear  in  the  British  Journal 
of  Homoeopathy,  and  are  models  of  what  clinical  observation 
and  research  should  be. 

On  re-assembling  after  luncheon,  the  Hahnekakn 
Society's  report  will  be  presented.  This,  we  are  glad  to 
know,  will  show  a  greater  degree  of  life  and  activity,  and  a 
nearer  approach  to  the  accomplishment  of  a  substantial 
instalment  of  useful  work,  than  any  report  that  has  been 
issued  for  some  time  has  done.  After  this  has  been  read, 
Dr.  Hughes  will  introduce  the  subject  of  the  revision  of 
the  Materia  Medica,  in  order  to  elicit  the  opinions  of  the 
members  as  to  the  most  efficient  method  of  carrying  it  out. 

This  report  having  been  discussed,  the  officers  for  the 
next  year  will  be  elected,  and  the  place  of  the  next  meeting 
be  decided  on.  We  hope  that  in  making  the  next  fixture, 
historical  associations  will  be  less  considered  than  the 
convenience  of  the  majority,  and  that  beauty  of  situation 
may  yield  to  the  more  prosaic  but  practical  claim  of  accessi- 
bility by  rail !    Edinburgh  is,  we  fear,  sufficiently  distant 


SSSJfs^rSsa!^'  THE  APPKOAOHINQ  CONGRESS.     515 

&om  the  majority  of  homoeopathic  practitioners  to  render 
a  large  meeting  dnbions,  and  we  tmst  that  next  year  those, 
whose  time  and  opportunities  for  moving  about  are  limited, 
— ^that  is  to  say  the  majority — ^may  have  an  opportunity  of 
taking  part  in  the  deliberations  of  Congress. 

Executive  business  being  concluded,  Mr.  Deane  Butcheb, 
of  Windsor,  will  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Periodicity  of 
Certain  Diseases,  and  their  Homoeopathic  Treatment."  In 
bringing  this  subject  before  the  Congress,  Mr.  Butcheb  is 
performing  a  very  useful  service.  The  periodicity  of  disease 
is  a  more  or  less  generally  acknowledged  fact,  and  has 
indeed  been  made  the  basis  of  a  system  of  medicine.  We 
allude  to  Dr.  Dickson's  chrono-thermal  system.  It  is  also 
a  fact,  with  which  we  have  to  reckon  in  forming  a  prognosis, 
and  likewise  in  prescribing,  and  that  not  medicine  only,  but 
such  general  rules  as  it  maybe  necessary  to  direct  a  patient 
to  follow.  The  subject  is  one,  therefore,  which  is  full  of 
interest  and  of  much  practical  importance,  and  one  which 
Mr.  Butcheb  is  well  qualified  to  handle  with  advantage. 

Should  the  time  have  allowed.  Dr.  Bayes  had  intended 
to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the  diploma,  which  last  winter 
the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy  proposed  to  confer 
upon  such  of  its  students  as  passed  an  examination  in 
homoeopathy,  but  we  understand  that  he  has  since  deter- 
mined not  to  do  80. 

Additional  interest  will,  we  are  happy  to  be  able  to 
state,  be  given  to  this  Congress  by  the  presence  of  several 
American  colleagues,  who  are  now  in  England  or  on  the 
Continent.  Among  them  are  Dr.  LudiiAm,  and  Dr.  Vilas, 
of  Chicago,  and  Dr.  Bbanstbup,  of  Vincennes,  Indiana.  We 
are  sure  that  they  will  receive  a  warm  welcome,  and  add 
greatly  to  the  pleasure  all  may  expect  to  derive  from  a  trip 
to  modem  Athens  on  the  7th  of  this  month. 


516        BBITI8H  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION.  "SSl^SfTlM 


BerieWy  Sept,  1|  1981. 


While  the  distance  most  will  have  to  travel  in  order  to 
attend  the  meeting  renders  some  misgiyings  as  to  the 
strength  of  the  force  that  will  he  present  inevitable,  we 
nevertheless  have  reason  to  believe  that  homoeopathy  will 
be  well  represented,  and  that  all  who  will  make  the  small 
sacrifices  necessary  to  be  at  the  Congress,  will  be  well 
rewarded  for  having  done  so. 


THE  BEITISH  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

Tms  Association  has,  dnring  the  past  month,  been  engaged 
in  celebrating  its  Jnbilee  at  Worcester. 

The  opening  address  of  the  President,  Dr.  Stbange,  of 
Worcester,  formed  a  very  interesting  review  of  medicine 
daring  the  lifetime  of  the  Association.  That  of  Dr.  Wads, 
who  delivered  '^  The  Address  in  Medicine,"  bore  on  some- 
what similar  topics,  bnt  was  perhaps  more  exclusively 
therapeutic  in  its  character.  Most  striking  was  the  picture 
drawn  of  the  position  of  blood-letting,  as  a  remedy  in  1832, 
and  the  slight  regard  in  which  it  is  held  now.  To  the  late 
Dr.  Mabshall  Hall  is  attributed  the  credit  of  having  been 
the  first  to  endeavour  to  dethrone  the  lancet  from  the  high 

place  it  had  during  many  years  held  in  the  repertory  of 
the  physician.  Mabshall  TTat.t.  wrote  on  the  subject  for 
the  first  time  in  1820.  Many  years,  however,  before  that 
date  HAHNEMAinf  had  denounced  blood-letting,  as  not  only 
useless,  but  injurious,  and  he  in  his  turn  had  been 
denounced  as  a  quack  and  an  impostor  for  so  doing. 
But  he  had  done  more  than  point  out  the  &llacy  of  the 
popular  remedy  of  the  time — he  had  supplied  its  place. 
In  describing  Aconite  as  all  efficient  in  inflammatoiy  fever, 
he  had  performed  a  service  to  medicine  which  is  being 
felt  all  the  world  over  at  this  hour.  In  his  criticism  of  the 
therapeutics  of  fifty  years  ago,  Dr.  Wade  abundantly 
justified  all  the  hard  words  in  which  it  was  described  at 
the  time  by  Hahnemann. 

During  the  last  few  weeks  we  have  repeatedly  heard  that 
the  Jubilee  of  the  Association  would  be  celebrated  by  the 


B^SJTsStTwB?*  BRITISH  MEDICAL  ABSOOIATION.         517 

display  of  a  determined  front  to  homcBopathy,  and  that  the 
views  announced  at  Byde  by  Dr.  Biustowe  and  Mr.  Hutoh- 
ZNSON  woold  be  met  with  a  very  practical  repudiation  at  the 
hands  of  the  members !  What  happened  ?  The  report  of 
the  Ciouncil  stated  that  the  question  of  homoeopathy  had 
occupied  much  of  the  time  and  thought  of  its  Committee. 
They  have,  as  far  as  possible,  rendered  it  impossible  for  a 
professing  homoeopath  to  enter  the  Association.  ^*  Against 
perversion  to  homoeopathy/'  the  Committee  of  Council  add, 
'*'  they  are  powerless  at  present  except  by  expulsion  of  the 
offender,  and  this  under  present  circumstances  they  con- 
consider  unadvisable,"  as  being  beneath  the  dignity  of  a 
liberal  profession,  and  secondly,  as  giving  needless  notoriety 
to  the  offender.  Common  sense  of  this  kind  was  most 
repulsive  to  Mr.  Nelson  Hardy,  of  London,  and  a  perfervid 
Irishman  from  Liverpool,  one  Dr.  Fitz  Patriok.  These 
gentlemen  moved  an  amendment  urging  the  expulsion  of 
every  one  who  acknowledged  that  homoeopathy  was  true. 
Mr.  Husband,  of  Bournemouth,  who  described  himself  as 
strongly  opposed  to  homoeopathy,  both  theoretically  and  prac- 
tically— and  who  might  truthfully  have  added  that  he  was 
both  theoretically  and  practically  ignorant  of  it — opposed 
the  amendment,  and  in  doing  so  he  was  supported  by  the 
whole  of  a  large  meeting  save  some  fourteen  members ! 

Not  a  word  was  mooted  against  consultation  or  any  sort 
of  professional  association  with  homoeopathists.  All  that 
the  Association  could  in  1882  bring  itself  to  enact  was 
that  they  would  not  admit  a  homoeopath  if  they  knew  it ! 
The  difference  between  the  course  pursued  on  this  question 
in  1852  and  1882  is  indeed  great!  The  progress  the 
Association  has  made  in  thirty  years  is  not  inconsiderable, 
and  such  as  it  is  we  congratulate  its  members  upon  their 
having  made  it,  and  trust  that  in  another  thirty  years  they 
will  have  gone  a  good  deal  further  in  the  same  enlightened 
direction. 

The  following  comments  on  the  address  of  the  President, 
which  we  reprint  from  a  Glasgow  newspaper — The  Evening 
Citizen p{  the  11th  ult. — are  both  interesting  and  a  propos* 

Dr.  Strange  explained  the  very  wide  basis  on  which  the  British 
Medical  Association  was  founded.  The  liberality  of  its  consti- 
tution may  be  said  to  have  been  the  leading  theme  on  which  he 
descanted.  To  quote  his  own  words — "  The  first  and  noblest  of 
its  characteristics  at  the  present  time  was  liberty — freedom  of 
thought,  speech,  writing,  and  teaching."    There  was  here  neither 


618        BRITISH  MEDICAL  ASSOCIATION.  "^S^f^ifSS! 

dnbiety  of  language  nor  limitation  of  scope.    It  may  be,  however, 
that  Dr.  Strange  was  giving  forth  his  own  views  rather  than  the 
views  of  the  Association.    At  aU  events,  the  proceedings  which 
immediatelj  followed  supplied  rather  an  awkward  commentaiy 
on  the  declarations  of  its  President.     The  report  of  the  Goonefl 
for  the  past  year  was  read.    It  was  a  satisfactory  document;  bat 
Mr.  Nelson  Hardy,  of  Dnlwich,  in  moving  its  adoption,  added  a 
"  rider  "  to  the  effect  that  the  practice  of  homoeopathy  should 
render  a  member  no  longer  eligible.     Over  this  proposition  an 
exciting  wrangle  took  place.      In  its  final  form  Mr.  Hardts 
amendment  asked  that  the   adoption,  by  any  member  of  the 
Association,   of  the  practice  of  homoeopathy,  or  of  any  other 
designation  implying  a  special  form  of  practice,  should  ipso  facta 
exclude  him  from  membership.      The  Council,  however,  had 
obtained  a  legal  opinion  that  although  they  might  prevent  any 
person  from  becoming  a  member,  they  had  no  power  to  expel 
him  after  he  had  been  regularly  admitted.     Ultimately  the  report 
vras  adopted  simpUciter  by  a  large  migority,  only  fourteen  hands 
being  held  up  for  the  amendment.      Neyertheless,  the  feeling 
against  homoeopathy  was  strongly  demonstrated,  though  the 
amendment  was  rejected  on  technical  grounds,  and  against  tlua 
display  of  hostility  we  have,  of  course,  nothing  to  say.    Some 
eminent  physicians  have,  it  is  true,  become  converts  to  homoeo- 
pathy, and  it  is  also  true  that  many  a  shrewd  man  has,  like  the 
late    Lord    BsAcoNSFiEiiD,  selected  a    homoeopathist    for  his 
physician.     But  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  system  of  Hahms- 
ifANN  we  are  not  qualified  to  discuss ;  nor  are  these  now  in  contro* 
versy.     We  know  that  the  professional  world  is,  as  a  rule,  dead 
against  the  system,  and  that  it  condemns  both  its  theories  and 
its  statistics  of  cure  as  fallacious.     Yet  from  the  British  Medical 
Association,  if  the  fundamental  principle  of  that  body  was  rightly 
interpreted  by  its  President,  we  should  have  expected  for  homceo- 
pathy,   with  its  respectable    antecedents,   a    somewhat   larger 
tolerance.      The  stormy  movement  for  excluding  the  homoeo- 
pathists  from  its  membership,  instead  of  meeting  their  contentions 
with  such  fair  argument  as  might  have  induced  their  return  to 
the  allopathic  method,  can  hardly,  at  all  events,  be  considered 
as  justifying  the  claim  put  forward  on  its  behalf  by  Dr.  Stramor 
as  having  '^  freedom  of  thought,  speech,  writing,  and  teaching" 
as   ''the  first  and  noblest  of  its  characteristics."     Nay,  tiie 
Doctor  went  still  further  in  his  vindication  of  the  catholicity  of 
the  British  Medical  Association,  for  he  added,  with  enthusiasm 
— <<  They  had  no  thirty-nine  articles  to  subscribe.     There  was 
no  theory  they  nught  not  promulgate,  and  there  was  no  practice, 
short  of  manslaughter,  which  i^ey  might  not  adopt."     These 
were  brave  words,  but  straightway  started  up  Mr.  Hardt  with 
his  *'  rider,"  condemnatory  of  the  practice  of  homoeopathy,  and 


iuSSSJf  ^l/iSw?*^   OASES  OP  PEMCABDITIS.  61& 

proposing  to  oetracise  its  professors !  Here,  then,  was.  a  large 
pretension  of  liberty,  followed  by  a  sudden  attempt  to  forge  the 
meanest  of  fetters.  Well,  doctors  differ,  and  each  is  entitled  to 
his  opinion ;  but  in  this  case  either  Mr.  Hardy  was  wrong  in  the 
character  and  intensity  of  his  anti-homoeopathic  attitude,  or  Dr. 
Stbanoe's  exposition  of  the  free  and  comprehensive  principles  of 
the  Association  over  which  he  is  presiding  was  a  concoction  of 
error  and  bounce  calculated  only  to  mislead.  At  the  same  time, 
we  are  disposed  to  think  that  those  who  would  resort  to  expulsion 
as  a  punishment  of  difference  in  theory  or  practice  may  not,  after 
all,  be  the  true  representatives  of  the  spirit  of  the  Association,  for 
an  admirable  address  by  Dr  W.  F.  Wadb,  of  Birmingham,  and 
other  addresses  which  followed,  were  little  else  than  records  of 
changes  in  medical  practice,  such  as  the  almost  total  disuse  of 
blood-letting  as  a  curative  process,  and  of  the  enlightened  readi- 
ness of  the  profession  generally  to  discuss,  without  either  bitter- 
ness or  **  boycotting,"  new  ideas  and  discoveries  in  therapeutics, 
whether  they  adopt  them  or  not. 


CASES  OF  PEMCAKDITIS,  WITH  EFFUSION. 
By  J.  Hamilton  Mackechnie,  M.D., 

Phydoian  to  the  London  Homceopathio  Hospital. 

In  manuals  treating  of  this  disease  by  similars,  certain 
drags  are  very  generally  recognised  as  available.  My  object 
is  to  suggest  the  trial  of  a  new  one,  or  rather  of  a  modifica- 
tion of  an  old  one.  As  I  base  my  remarks  upon  certain 
cases  of  greater  or  less  importance,  I  think  it  well  to  record 
my  cases  first,  and  di*aw  any  inferences  from  them  after- 
wards. 

On  the  17th  February,  I  found  on  my  return  home  from 
my  afternoon  round  a  telegram  and  a  message  from  a 
patient,  urging  me  to  go  to  a  suburb  to  see  the  daughter  of 
a  friend  of  his  who  was  at  school  there  and  exceedingly  ill. 

I  went  as  early  as  might  be,  and  found  my  patient  at  a 
boarding  school,  where  she  had  been  placed  in  hospital, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  upper  part  of  the  stabling  belonging 
to  the  establishment,  which  was  used  for  such  cases  as 
might  turn  out  to  be  infectious. 

The  child,  set.  9,  had  been  attacked  five  days  before  with 
pain  in  the  chest  and  difficulty  of  breathing.  I  could  not 
make  out  whether  there  had  been  any  premonitory  febrile 
ohills — certainly  there  had  been  no  symptoms  of  acute 
rheumatism,  there  was  no  swelling  of  the  joints ;  there  had 


620  0A8EB  OF  PEBIOABDITIS.  *b!^.  fcJtlfttfflL 

been  some  slight  aching  of  the  shoolders,  but  no  tenderness 
or  swelling,  and  no  excessive  perspirations. 

Unfortunately  I  had  left  my  thermometer  behind  in  town, 
but  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  temperature  was  yeiy 
high. 

I  found  the  child  in  a  state  of  profound  anxiety,  prin- 
cipally from  the  dyspnoea,  and  she  did  not  remain  in  one 
position  two  minutes  consecutively,  but  lifted  herself  and 
flung  herself  down  with  a  gesture  of  the  intensest  distress. 

I  was  told  the  medical  man  who  had  been  attending  had 
diagnosed  pericarditis,  and  that  he  had  given  the  case  up 
its  hopeless  at  mid-day. 

Upon  turning  down  the  bed-clothes,  I  found  the  cardiac 
region  enveloped  in  a  large  linseed  poultice,  underneath 
which  were  the  marks  of  vigorous  countet-irritation  in  the 
shape  of  a  weeping  red  patch  of  about  two  inches  diameter, 
instituted,  I  afterwards  heard,  by  the  repeated  use  of  liquor 
epispastica. 

There  was  undulatory  impulse  of  the  heart ;  I  believe 
there  was  bulging  of  the  intercostal  spaces,  but  I  have  not 
recorded  it.  The  cardiac  dulness  extended  to  the  right  of 
the  sternum,  to  the  left  beyond  the  angle  of  the  rib,  and 
to  the  second  interspace  above. 

The  heart  sounds  were  feeble,  and  sounded  distant,  but 
I  could  detect  no  roughening  nor  any  friction,  and  the 
apex-beat  could  not  be  felt — only  heard. 

There  were  large  moist  crepitant  rales  over  the  upper 
part  of  the  chest,  both  sides,  and  a  good  deal  of  cough  with 
scanty,  difficult,  and  tenacious  sputa.  The  dulness  did  not 
extend  to  the  lower  part  of  the  chest  except  in  the  cardiac 
region. 

I  could  but  confirm  the  diagnosis  of  the  medical  man 
who  had  been  in  charge,  but  said  I  should  not  give  the  case 
up  as  hopeless,  though  unquestionably  I  thought  it  a  very 
grave  one. 

In  addition  to  these  symptoms,  I  found  there  was 
very  frequent  diarrhoea,  of  watery  dark-coloured  stools, 
which  had  been  occurring  for  two  days,  and  which  the 
patient  had  much  difficulty  in  controlling — in  fact,  could 
not  always  control.  I  found  that  she  never  micturated 
without  stool  passing  at  the  same  time,  and  as  there  was 
no  bed-pan,  not  even  of  the  most  antiquated  cruelty  of 
form,  the  patient  had  either  to  be  raised  from  the  bed,  or 


SS^SSTSS?^  C^SBS  OP  PEBIOARDITIS.  521 

what  had  happened  must  occur.    I  was  urgent^  therefore, 
that  a  good  Blipper-pan  should  be  immediately  obtained. 

Pulse  was  110,  respirations  48.  Skin  was  neither  dry 
nor  very  wet- 
Taking  the  copious  effusion,  the  consequent  anxiety  and 
restlessness,  the  difficult,  hurried  breathing,  the  diarrhoea, 
and  the  great  prostration  evident,  I  had  no  doubt  about 
the  appropriateness  of  arsenicum  in  the  case,  and  I  ordered 
her  1 -200th  of  a  grain  of  the  iodide  dissolved  in  water,  every 
two  hours,  while  some  spigelia  was  to  be  obtained  and' 
given,  when  it  came,  alternately. 

Feeling  decidedly  anxious  about  the  case,  I  visited  it  the 
next  forenoon,  and  received  a  report  that  the  child  was 
**  much  the  same,*'  which  I  found  was  literally  true,  and. 
yet  that  there  were  indications  rather  favourable  than 
otherwise.  The  night,  though  restless,  had  been  quieter 
towards  morning;  the  breathing,  though  difficult,  had 
been  more  level  than  previously;  the  diarrhcBa,  though 
continuing,  had  been  less;  the  food  had  been  taken  as^ 
well  as  before.  I  noticed  that  the  coimtenance  was  more 
placid  in  expression,  and  the  tossing  about  was  less  hope- 
less in  gesture,  but  the  respirations  were  60,  which  might 
have  been  caused  by  the  entrance  of  a  stranger. 

The  temperature  was  104.2.  I  could  not  detect  any 
change  in  the  state  of  the  heart  or  bronchia  on  auscul- 
tation. 

I  could  only  say  that  I  thought  there  might  be  some 
improvement,  that  the  temperature  was  certainly  alarming, 
but  still,  if  there  were  any  change  it  did  not  appear  to  be 
for  the  worse.  I  left  a  thermometer  to  be  applied  at 
7  p.m.,  and  kept  in  the  axilla  for  ten  minutes. 

The  next  day  (19th)  I  found  very  smiling  £Eices  all 
around,  and  I  was  welcomed  with  the  news  that  the  child 
was  much  better.  She  had  passed  a  very  good  night, 
having  slept  nearly  throughout.  The  child's  expression 
bore  this  out.  On  asking  for  the  thermometer,  I  found 
the  index  at  97.2^  !  Of  course,  I  thought  the  instrument 
had  been  ill  applied,  or  allowed  to  slip,  and  introduced  it 
very  carefully  myseU ;  it  registered  97^  !  To  make  sure, 
I  re-introduced  it  for  another  three  minutes,  but  found  it 
unaltered.  The  desired  fall  of  temperature  had  come. 
There  was  manifest  difference  in  the  area  of  dulness,  and. 
the  sounds  were  plainer.    Bespirations  82.^ 


522  CASES   OP  PERICARDITIS.   "e^.^SlTSi? 

Bowels  much  quieter,  but  not  yet  right.  Cough  still 
troublesome.  Moist  rhonchi,  principally  about  the  upper 
part  of  left  lung.  No  special  perspirations  had  occurred ; 
no  pains  in  joints. 

I  may  say  here  that  I  heard  that  the  medical  man  of 
whom  I  spoke  before  had  met  the  nurse  and  enquired  after 
this  case,  and  on  nurse's  expressing  some  hopes  of  the 
child's  recovery,  had  replied  emphatically,  "Never,  never!** 

On  Sunday  20th,  had  passed  a  less  quiet  night,  and  was 
eross  and  fretful,  a  very  different  moral  state,  however,  to 
that  of  two  days  ago.  Temperature  97.  Bespirations  86. 
Effdsion  diminishing. 

The  mother  was  very  anxious  to  get  home,  as  they  were 
very  uncomfortable  in  their  present  domicile,  and  wanted 
my  permission  to  return  with  the  child  to-morrow. 

I  prescribed  some  arum  macul,  for  a  troublesome,  irrita- 
tive, tickling  cough,  which  shakes  and  bothers  the  child 
very  much.    Continue  the  arsen.  iod. 

20th.  Improving  still.  Passed  a  formed  stool.  Taking 
food  well — solid  and  liquid.  Wants  to  sit  up,  though 
manifestly  very  weak.  The  area  of  dulness  diminishing. 
Cough  better.  Has  not  had  a  very  good  night.  Tempera- 
ture normal. 

On  the  2l8t  I  again  went  down,  but  found  the  child 
flitting  up  in  bed  nearly  well.  Could  not  say  that  the  heart 
was  at  all  displaced.  No  bruit.'  Sleeps  well.  Bowels 
regular. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  thought  it  quite  permissi- 
ble to  allow  her  to  be  brought  home  the  following  day, 
which  was  done. 

I  visited  her  in  town  the  following  evening,  to  make  sure 
that  nothing  wrong  had  occurred.  She  went  on  perfectly 
well.  I  have  not  seen  her  lately,  though  I  heard  the  other 
day  that  she  was  losing  her  hair  very  much. 

Case  II. 

Is  one  of  endo  and  peri-carditis,  which  occurred  in  the 
wards  of  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital  under  my 
care.  J.  P.,  a  maid  servant,  aged  24,  was  admitted  No- 
vember 11th,  1880,  having  been  sent  up  from  among  the 
out-patients  by  Dr.  Buck,  complaixiing  of  fever  pains  in 
joints,  perspirations,  &c. 

About  seven  years  ago  was  laid  up  for  a  fortnight  with 
what  she  believes  was  rheumatic  fever.    Has  noticed  since 


SSS^flStT^SS*'   OASES  OF  PEBICABDITIS.  623 

that  time  that  her  breath  has  been  short  under  very  little 
exertion.  Present  attack  began  five  days  ago,  with 
shiyering  and  pain  in  the  limbs  and  chest.  On  admission, 
temperature  102,  pulse  110,  respirations  frequent,  lips 
rather  livid,  and  face  flabby.  Complains  of  pains  in  legs, 
knees,  ankles,  shoulders  ;  knees  and  ankles  being  swollen 
and  tender.  Has  had  a  good  deal  of  pain  in  the  preecordia, 
but  it  is  now  easier.  The  apex-beat  is  diffuse.  Distinct 
murmur  at  the  apex,  with  both  sounds.  A  murmur  heard 
at  both  aortic  and  at  pulmonary  areas,  with  systole. 

Tongue  coated ;  appetite  bad ;  bowels  act;  about  every 
other  day ;  urine  scanty,  loaded  with  lithates ;  perspiring 
rather  profusely.  An  urticarious  rash  about  the  body, 
which  changes  its  locality  very  frequently. 

Bryonia  1  x  was  given  every  two  hours,  to  be  alternated 
with  aconite  during  the  night,  if  needful.  In  the  evening, 
the  temperature  went  up  to  108. 

November  12th.  Temperature,  morning,  101*2.  Pulse 
108.  No  pain  except  in  the  right  shoulder.  No  swelling 
of  any  of  the  joints.  Perspired  copiously  during  the  night. 
Urticaria  much  fednter.  Coughing  a  little.  Bespiration 
laboured.    Continue  medicine. 

Evening  temperature,  108*8. 

November  18th.  Morning  temperature,  101*2.  Pulse 
96.  Bight  shoulder  and  elbow  painful.  Tongue  cleaner. 
Heart's  action  seems  rather  stronger:  murmurs  very 
distinct.  Still  perspiring  very  much.  Evening  tempera- 
ture, 102*4.    Continue. 

November  14th.  Morning  temperature,  100*4;  de- 
cidedly better.    Evening  temperature,  102*8* 

November  15th.  Morning  temperature,  100*4.  Pulse  96. 
Left  hand  and  wrist  swollen  and  painful;  not  much  cough. 
Area  of  cardiac  dulness  increased.  Evening  temperature, 
108*6. 

November  16th.  Morning  temperature,  101*4.  Pulse  96. 
Bespirations  86.  Slept  at  intervals  through  the  night. 
Ciomplaining  much  of  the  pain  in  the  left  side,  and  in  the 
light  hand  and  wrist.  Sweating  profusely;  feels  very 
weak ;  cough  more  troublesome  and  frequent ;  no  expec- 
toration. Bronchial  rales  heard  over  most  of  the  chest. 
Dulness  of  cardiac  area  increasing.  Bowels  acted  naturally. 
Pho9phor%c  add  1  x,  4ta  horis. 

Later  on  in  the  day — ^prostration  and  dyspnoea  both 
increasing.    BigUalis  was  substituted  for  the  phosphoric 


524  OASES  OP  PEBICABDITIS-   "^JjaS^Ma^ 


acid,  while  brandy  was  given  every  two  hoars  in  teaspoonfdl 
doses,  and  beef-tea  as  liberally  as  the  patient  conld  take  it. 
Linseed  poultices  over  cardiac  region.  Evening  tempera- 
ture, 102. 

November  17th.  Morning  temperature,  101.  Pulse  96. 
Bespirations,  24.  The  area  of  heart's  dulness  extending^ 
upwards  as  high  as  the  second  rib  on  the  left  side.  Apex- 
beat  below  and  to  the  left  of  the  breast.  Dulness  extends 
also  to  right  edge  of  sternum,  and  measures  six  inches 
diagonally. 

Was  very  fiednt  last  night ;  lips  livid ;  face  waxy.  Is 
better  this  morning.  Pulse  regular.  Passed  24  ozs.  of 
urine  in  the  24  hours.  Not  much  cough.  Temperature 
(evening),  102*2.  The  poultices  continued.  Digitalis 
continued  in  alternation  with  bryonia  1  x  every  two  hours. 

November  18th.  Morning  temperature,  99.8.  Pulse 
96.  Bespirations  86.  Appears  much  easier.  Slept  well. 
Pulse  regalar  and  fuller.  Double  bruit  distinct  at  apes, 
though  sounding  very  distant. 

Tongue  raw-beef  colour,  but  clean.  Evening  tempera- 
ture, 101.6.  Continue  bryon.  and  digitoMs.  Food  and 
stimulants  continued. 

November  19th.  Morning  temperature,  99.6.  Pulse  90. 
Bespirations  26,  rather  jerking  or  sobbing  in  character. 
Seems  stronger  this  morning.  Occasionally  sharp  pain 
about  left  side  of  chest.    Dulness  keeps  much  the  same. 

Still  perspires  freely.     Evening  temperature,  101.6. 

Arsenicum  8,  alternately  with  the  digitalis  every  two 
hours. 

Some  fish  was  ordered,  to  be  followed,  if  taken  without 
marked  embarrassment,  by  a  chop.  The  stimulants  con- 
tinued. 

November  20th.  Morning  temperature,  100.4.  PhIbs 
90,  jerky  but  stronger.  Bespirations  82.  Several  timesr 
yesterday  and  during  the  night  became  faint,  with  veiy 
distressing  dyspnoea.  Sharp  pain  about  three  inches  beloTr 
the  breast.  Just  under  the  breast,  a  rubbing  sound  maybe 
heard  with  the  impulse.  Murmurs  sound  most  distant  at 
apex-beat,  which  is  outside  of  breast.  Bight  hand  a  little 
swollen.     Evening  temperature,  101.8. 

November  21st.  Morning  temperature,  100.4.  Pulse  86»^ 
Bespirations  80. 

Much  stronger.  Food  taken  well.  Evening  temperatuie^ 
101.8. 


r 


bSK^8^???Sb^  oases  of  pebioabditis.  525 

November  22nd.  Morning  temperature,  99.6.  Poise  96. 
Bespirations,  27.  Passed  a  better  night.  No  pain.  Breath- 
ing easier.  Seems  decidedly  stronger.  Area  of  cardiac 
didness  diminishing.  Heart's  sounds  heard  more  distinctly. 
Evening  temperature,  101.8. 

Continue  ar^en.  without  the  cUgitalis. 

November  28rd.  Morning  temperature,  99.  Pulse  84. 
Bespirations,  80.    Evening  temperature,  101.4. 

November  24th.  Morning  temperature,  98.8.  Pulse  96. 
Bespirations  30.  Passed  a  good  night.  Complaining  of 
pain  in  top  of  left  shoulder.  Sweating  freely  still.  Evening 
temperature,  101.2. 

November  25th.  Morning  temperature,  98.8.  Pulse  96. 
Bespirations,  24,  jerky  and  uneven.  Dulness  does  not 
extend  so  high.  Perspiring  much.  Pain  this  morning 
in  right  shoulder.  Cardiac  dulness  continues  to  diminish. 
Evening  temperature,  100.2.  Digitalis  alternately  with 
araen, 

November  26th.  Morning  temperature,  99.  Pulse,  96. 
Bespirations  84.    Evening  temperature,  100.8. 

November  29th.  Temperature,  ^  Pulse  92.  Bespi- 
rations, 26.  Pulse  stronger.  Breathing  better.  No  pain, 
and  patient  altogether  improving  rapidly. 

December  1st.  Temperature,  ^  Pulse  72.  Bespira- 
tions 86,  easier,  and  not  so  jerking.  No  pains  in  joints. 
Not  much  perspiration.     Pulse  exceedingly  compressible. 

From  this  date  the  reports  continue  much  the  same  till 
December  10th,  when  temperature,  -^  Pulse  96.  Less 
dulness  over  prsBcordia.  Heart's  action  is  stronger.  Com- 
plaining of  pain  (neuralgic)  on  right  side  of  face. 

December  20th.  Is  gaining  strength  gradually.  At  the 
apex  there  is  distinct  double  bruit ;  at  the  base  the  1st  sound 
is  wholly  replaced  by  a  murmur,  loudest  at  the  pulmonary 
area. 

From  this  time  she  continued  to  improve,  regaining 
strength  slowly,  progress  being  checked  by  a  rather  profuse 
attack  of  epistaxis  following  a  headache  on  the  12th  of 
January. 

She  had  china  after  this,  and  was  discharged  "  much . 
improved  "  on  January  22nd,  1881. 

Case  No.  8.— rPeri-carditis  with  some  endo-carditis. 

The  next  case  is  one  that  occurred  in  private  practice  at 
the   seaside.    Miss  B.,  sat  20,  was  attacked  September 

Vol.  26,  Ko.  9.  2  m 


626  CASES  OF   PBKIOABDITIS.  ^ESS^J.^^ITtttt 

17thy  1881>  with  febrile  symptomBy  alFter  having  felt  some 
chills  the  day  before,  accompanied  by  headache  and  de- 
pression of  spirits. 

There  were  pains  in  the  limbs  and  in  the  abdomen; 
tongue  slightly  coated;  temperature  (evening),  100.2; 
bowels  inactive.  There  was  slight  tenderness  in  the  right 
iliac  region,  to  which  my  attention  was  particularly 
directed  by  the  fact  that  there  had  been  ^eventl  cases  of 
typhoid  in  the  neighbourhood. 

I  was  not  able  to  make  any  decided  diagnosis,  and  I 
gave  baptisia. 

September  18th.  Temperature  101.2  mane.  Pulse  98, 
soft.  Has  passed  a  rather  restless  night,  but  feels  herself 
better  in  spite  of  the  increase  of  the  true  feverish  symp- 
toms.    Skin  is  slightly  moist.     Temperature  sera,  102*3. 

'  September  lyth.  There  was  no  longer  any  doubt  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  affection  this  morning.  The  temperatme 
was  101,  pulse  98.  The  skin  moist,  perspiring  freely,  and 
the  secretion  of  characteristic  odour.  Pain,  tenderness, 
and  swelling  in  the  left  shoulder,  right  knee,  and  slightly 
in  right  ankle.  Bestless,  and  inclined  to  move  about  in 
spite  of  the  trouble  and  pain  the  movement  causes.  Bowels 
inactive;  urine  acid  re-action,  moderate  in  quantity,  no 
deposit. 

No  pain  in  chest,  but  a  little  irritative  cough.  Some 
rhonchi  to  be  heard  in  different  parts  of  the  chest ;  no 
cardiac  sounds. 

Aconite  and  bryonia  1  x  were  given  alternately.  The 
parents  were  warned  about  the  danger  of  chill,  and  the 
patient  was  ordered  flannel  next  the  skin — ^the  risk  of 
heart  affection  being  stated.  It  was  not  until  near  the  end 
of  the  treatment  that  I  found  that  my  warning  had  been 
disregarded,  and  that  the  patient  had  been  permitted  to 
get  up  for  some  reason,  while  the  fever  was  at  its  height, 
and  the  skin  moist  with  the  peculiar  secretion. 

The  cardiac  region  was  watched  very  carefully.  Tem- 
perature (p.m.)  101*4. 

September  20th.  Morning  temperature  101*2.  Pulse 
102.  Ko  special  dij£culty  of  breathing.  The  right  ankle 
now  affected  most  severely.  Has  passed  again  a  very 
restless  night.  Heart  sounds  natural;  still,  neither 
friction  nor  alteration  of  position  of  dulness  being  to  be 
found*    Mr.  Shaw,  who  had  been  the  family  attendant 


BS^BStTSaS*'    CASES  OF  PBBICABD1TI8.  527 

previously,  saw  her  with  me  this  afternoon,  and  confirmed 
my  diagnosis  and  treatment.  Temperature,  evening,  102*6. 

September  21st.  Temperature,  morning,  101.  Pulse 
102.  Bespirations  24.  Complains  of  some  uneasiness  of 
breathing,  and  sense  of  pressure  in  cardiac  region.  Gould 
find  no  firiction  sound,  but  the  apex-beat  was  outside  of 
and  below  the  mamma;  dulness  extending  to  second  inter- 
space above,  and  nearly  to  right  edge  of  sternum ;  effusion 
having  taken  place  rather  suddenly,  as  I  had  examined  the 
heart  the  evening  before,  and  found  no  friction  sound,  nor 
any  marked  extension  of  dulness. 

There  was  no  murmur  now  perceptible,  but  the  sounds 
at  the  apex  seemed  distant.  The  night  had  been  a  very 
restless  one,  and  the  pains  were  mainly  in  the  right  lower 
extremity,  where  the  knee  was  the  joint  principally 
affected,  thus  showing  the  specially  wandering  character 
of  the  affection,  whidbi  most  practitioners  will  have  ob- 
Berved  varies  in  this  respect  extremely  in  different  cases. 
For  my  part,  I  consider  these  cases  of  specially  wandering 
character  as  the  worst  to  deal  with.     One  never  is  able  to 

* 

feel  sure  that  one's  enemy  is  beaten,  or,  at  least,  until 
one's  patient  is  quite  convalescent,  and  it  is  notorious  that 
Buch  cases  are  those  in  which  the  heart  is  most  certain  to 
be  affected  endo  and  peri-cardially. 

I  ordered  large  bran  poultices  to  be  applied  to  the 
4>ardiac  region,  and  frequently  renewed,  but  did  not  change 
the  medicine  from  the  bryonia,  though  I  considered  the 
xieonite  had  better  be  suspended.  Temperature  (p.m.), 
102.4. 

September  22nd.  Morning  temperature,  101*2.  Pulse 
102,  regular,  but  jerky  and  compressible.  Bespirations  80. 
The  friends  had  been  alarmed  in  the  night  at  an  attack  of 
-difficulty  of  breathing,  but  by  the  time  I  arrived  I  could 
find  no  special  dyspno)a,  nothing  more  than  the  oppression 
to  be  expected  in  such  a  state. 

The  night  had  been  restless  and  sleepless.     The  princi- 
-pal  site  of  the  rheumatism  had  again  changed  to  the  left 
fihoulder,  though  all  the  large  joints  were  more  or  less 
swollen  and  tender. 

The  dulness  had  now  extended  quite  to  the  right  edge 
of  the  sternum,  an  inch  outside  the  line  of  the  left  nipple 
and  below  the  mamma,  and  a  decided  roughening  of  the 
first  sound  was  heard.  The  spirits  were  very  much 
depressed,  and  the  patient  had  given  herself  up.      Milk 

2n— 2 


628  GA8E8  OF  PEBI0ABDITI8.  '^^^Sl?^ 


i> 


and  beef-tea  were  ordered,  and  a  little  brandy  and  water. 
Tbe  potQtices  were  continued  nntQ  in  the  afternoon,  when 
Mr.  Shaw  again  saw  her  with  me.  He  then  suggested  the 
substitution  of  spigelia  for  the  bryonia,  and  of  cotton  wool 
for  the  moist  warmth ;  confirmed  the  use  of  stimulants 
and  nourishment.  His  suggestions  were  followed  out. 
The  eyening  temperature  was  108. 

September  28rd.  The  morning  temperature,  101*2. 
Pulse  102,  jerky,  compressible.  Bespirations  86.  Has 
passed  a  bad  night,  with  much  dyspnoea,  and  yeiy  restless, 
unable  to  turn,  but  cannot  keep  quiet.  The  pains  in  tbe 
limbs  continue  much  the  same;  perspirations  profiue^ 
especially  at  night. 

Urine  scanty  and  depositing  urates^  aeid  re-action. 

Bowels  only  relieved  by  enemata. 

Dyspnoea  rather  better  after  daylight.  No  sign  of  im- 
provement as  to  effusion.  Area  of  dulness  not  diminished, 
and  there  was  some  roughening  of  the  systole  at  the  apex, 
the  apex-beat  being  the  same  in  position  as  yesterday,  bat 
not  to  be  felt. 

Food  and  stimulants  continued.  Evening  temperature, 
102.8. 

September  24th.  Dyspnoea  very  distressing,  and  she  has 
passed  a  very  restless  night.  Effusion  continues  much  the 
same,  patient  tossing  about  even  in  the  day.  Bheumatic 
pains  still  changing  about,  scarcely  any  visit  finding  the 
condition  of  the  joints  relatively  the  same.  Moming 
temperature,  101.2.  Pulse  100,  occasionally  intermitting. 
Sespirations  40.  The  dulness  continues  much  the  same, 
perhaps  a  little  higher  up  in  the  second  interspace.  Perspira- 
tions continue,  but  are  rather  less  copious^  Urine  very 
loaded  and  deep  coloured.  No  albumen.  As  there  could 
not  be  said  to  be  any  decided  improvement,  I  ordered  the 
poultices  to  be  re-imposed,  and  gave  arsenicutn  iod,  8x  in 
alternation  with  the  spigelia.    Evening  temperature,  108. 

September  25th.  Temperature,  moming,  100*8.  Has 
passed  a  very  restless  night.  Obtained  an  hour  and  a  half  s 
sleep  last  evening,  but  not  a  quarter  hour  through  night. 

Pain  at  cardiac  region  very  sharp  at  times.  Bou^bness 
of  murmur  more  marked,  and  sounding  nearer.  Pulse  100, 
intermitting  and  very  compressible.  Pains  in  joints  much 
the  same.  Urine  rather  more  copious,  and  less  dark 
coloured.     Slight  cough. 

On  the  whole  the  impression  is  that  there  is  a  little  less 


SiSi^StTSS^  OASES   OF   PEEICAKDITIS.  529 


distress  and  restlessness  this  morning.  Contintie  the 
treatment.     Temperature,  evening,  102.4. 

September  26th.  Morning  temperature,  100.  Pulse  96, 
still  intermitting,  but  stronger.  Bespirations  26,  and  less 
imxious.  Has  passed  a  mueh  better  night,  having  slept 
two  hours  at  a  time  more  than  once.  The  breathing  more 
regular  and  less  laboured.  Countenance  manifestly  less 
anxious,  though  her  spirits  have  not  much  improved. 
Tongue  fdrred.  Takes  her  food — ^beef  tea,  &c. — with  much 
less  reluctance. 

Bowels  inactive. 

Dulness  shows  decided  signs  of  lessening,  not  extending 
«o  far  out-side  of  the  nipple  line.  Bruit  much  the  same, 
except  that  all  sounds  seem  clearer. 

The  improvement  is  manifest  to  every  one  about  the 
patient. 

Treatment  continued.    Evening  temperature,  101'2. 

September  27th.  Greatly  improved,  having  slept  much 
better.  Morning  temperature,  99'8.  Pulse  96.  Slight 
thrill  perceptible,  intermissions  occasionally.  Bespira- 
tions, 24. 

The  pains  still  wandering  from  joint  to  joint,  affecting 
the  left  shoulder  with  the  greatest  constancy.  Manifest 
reduction  in  area  of  dulness.  Apex-beat  again  to  be  felt, 
though  indistinctly. 

T^es  food  better.  Bowels  sluggish,  urine  freer.  Morale 
improving. 

Continue  spigelia  and  arsen.  iod, 

September  28th.  Improvement  still  more  manifest  in 
all  ways. 

September  80th.  I  found  her  sitting  up  in  bed,  propped 
up  by  her  pillows.  Pulse  96,  very  feeble  stroke.  Bespira- 
iions  20.  Sleeping  nearly  all  the  night.  Taking  nourish- 
ment eagerly.  Tongue  forred,  but  cleaning  at  the  edges, 
where  it  is  very  red.    Bowels  still  inactive. 

Urine  clearer,  still  acid  in  reaction,  and  at  times 
depositing  some  urates. 

Dulness  at  cardiac  region  greatly  reduced,  its  border 
being  within  the  sternum  at  the  right  edge,  and  about  half 
an  inch  outside  the  nipple  line  at  left — ^not  reaching  the 
second  space  above. 

SystoUc  mitral  bruit  very  audible.  Ordered  a  little  fish, 
if  possible,  continued  the  Uquid  foods  and  some  stimulant* 
•Continue  the  ar$en  iod.  alone,  every  four  hours. 


630  OASES  OF  PEBIOABDITIS.   ^BSSS^fS^^MS!: 

October  2nd.     Improving  in  all  respects. 

The  case  was  not  under  my  charge  for  many  days  after 
this,  and  I  am  not,  therefore,  able  to  give  so  satisfactoiy  a 
report  of  it  as  might  be,  but  so  fax  as  the  remoyal  of  the 
serous  effusion  is  concerned,  I  think  the  iod,  of  arsenic  may 
fairly  be  set  down  as  having  been  the  principal  agent. 

Case  4. 

November  1st,  1881.  A  friend  of  mine  called  on  me  to 
tell  me  that  his  daughter,  set.  11  years,  had  been  suffering 
for  a  week  from  severe  pain  in  the  left  side,  interfering 
with  the  breathing  and  describing  her  state  as  very  serious. 
My  impression  was  that  it  was  a  case  of  pleurisy.  I  sent 
some  aconite,  and  went  the  next  day,  when  I  found  the 
following  case  of  endo  and  pericarditis. 

Miss  E.  S.,  tall  and  delicate  looking,  had  been  exposed 
to  cold  and  wetting  a  week  ago,  and  since  has  been  troubled 
with  severe  pain  in  left  side,  increased  by  movement  of 
the  arms  and  by  deep  inspiration. 

I  found  there  had  been  pains  in  some  of  the  joints,  which 
had  subsided  as  the  pain  at  the  chest  developed  itself. 
Temperature,  101*2.  Pulse  98.  Respirations  24.  Tender- 
ness over  cardiac  region.  Cardiac  dulness  extending  to 
outside  of  nipple  line  half  an  inch,  and  to  middle  of  ster- 
num. Loud  but  not  sharp  systolic  murmur  over  mitral 
region.     Apex-beat  diffuse  outside  of  nipple. 

Child  pale,  emaciated.  Dyspnoea  with  the  least  move- 
ment, yet  the  child  was  dressed  and  about  the  house.  I,  of 
course,  ordered  her  to  be  put  to  bed.  The  cardiac  region 
to  be  fomented  well  with  hot  water,  followed  by  poultices.  I 
ordered  aconite  and  bryonia  1  x  alternately  every  four  hours. 

November  7th.  Pain  less  severe.  Breathing  even  more 
difficult.     Respirations  30.   Pulse  100.   Temperature  lOlr 

Has  passed  a  restless  night.  Pain  at  heart.  No  rheu- 
matic pains  in  limbs.  Dulness  much  the  same.  No 
perspirations.  Skin  rather  dry  than  otherwise.  Appetite 
very  bad.  Tongue  furred  in  middle.  Bowels  regular  or 
relaxed.     Urine  depositing  on  the  vessel  a  pink  sediment. 

Dulness  continues  the  same  as  at  last  report.  Pain  less 
sharp.  The  apex-beat  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  by  toucLr 
I  ordered  arsen.  iod.  8  x  every  four  hours. 

November  12th.  I  found  the  child  greatly  improved. 
'  Pulse  102,  weak  and  irregular.  Respirations  24,  but 
laboured.     Countenance  very  blue.      Still  sleeps  a  good 


■S^sSrSrStt*  CASES  OF  PEBICAEDITIS.  681 

deal  at  night.  No  rheumatic  pains.  Perspirations  scarcely 
perceptible.  Urine  still  depositing.  Tongue  farred,  not 
mnch  liking  for  food.  Bowels  acting  eveiy  other  day  with 
some  difficulty. 

The  dolness  nearly  reduced  to  natural  limits,  and  the 
apex-beat  felt  quite  forcibly  about  an  inch  below  and  to 
left  of  nipple  line. 

Loud  systolic  bruit  at  apex. 

A  good  deal  of  cough  of  dry  and  irritative  character. 

Some  general  rales  over  greater  part  of  the  chest,  espe* 
cially  on  right  side. 

To  continue  medicine.  Some  meat  allowed,  in  addition 
to  the  liquids  she  has  had. 

November  14th.  Improvement  progressing.  Gounte* 
naqce  much  improved  in  colour,  and  breathing  easier*  No 
very  marked  pain  at  cardiac  region,  complains  of  a  dull 
aching  there. 

Apex-beat  forcible.  Bruit  very  loud.  Dulness  in  same. 
Has  taken  her  food  well,  and  the  tongue  has  cleaned  con* 
siderably  under  it. 

Urine  improving  in  quantity  and  with  less  deposit. 

Cough  better.     Continue  arsen.  iod. 

From  this  time  the  patient  continued  to  improve,  though 
she  has  had  another  attack  since,  which  was  easily  con- 
trolled by  aconUe  and  bryania. 

I  saw  her  a  few  days  ago,  and  found  the  heart's  action 
forcible,  and  feeling  as  though  it  drew  in  the  fifth  and  sixth 
interspace.     The  bruit  at  apex  was  veiy  loud  and  rough. 

These  cases  so  far  carry  their  moral  with  them  that  there 
is  not  much  for  me  to  add.  I  think  they  all  indicate  that 
arsenieum  is  a  most  valuable,  if  not  an  indispensable  medi- 
cine in  the  treatment  of  pericarditis  with  copious  effusion ; 
this,  however,  is  hardly  new.  Most  of  our  manuals  tell  us 
this,  but  I  think  the  cases  taken  altogether,  and  especially 
the  first  case,  suggest  that  the  iodide  is  a  form  which,  so 
far  as  clinical  experience  goes,  is  worthy  of  a  &ir  trial. 

Case  No.  1  was  most  striking  from  its  manifest  severity^ 
the  amount  of  effusion,  and  the  rapidity  and  completeness 
of  the  cure,  especially  as  it  had  been  progressing  steadily 
the  wrong  way  until  the  moment  of  the  introduction  of  the 
new  medicine* 

But  some  one  may  say,  ^'  There  is  no  evidence  that  the 
iodide  of  arsenic  will  produce  pericarditis  with  serous 
effusion."    Not  absolutely,  but  we  do  know  that  both  the 


582  DISEASE  OP  THE  STOMACH.  *Sffi!ll2?7TS 


BorieWf  Sept.  IflfiBL 


radicals  of  which  the  salt  is  composed  do ;  at  least  the 
negative  element  is  known  to  prodace  efihsion  in  the  closed 
sacs,  while  of  the  basic  radicad  there  is  no  doubt. 

I  am  far  from  thinking  that  we  must  necessarily  repudiate 
every  drug  until  it  has  been  thoroughly  proved.  Practically 
we  are  bound  to  make  use  of  all  means  that  come  to  hand 
hy  which  we  can  conquer  the  pain  and  suffering  it  is  our 
mission  to  do  battle  with,  and  while  we  look  steadily 
forward  to  the  farther  development  and  improvement  of  oar 
arms  of  precision,  we  may  sometimes  destroy  our  enemy  by 
an  old-school  flint-pistol. 

When  we  have  arrived  at  the  happy  day  when  all  metals 
and  metaloids,  all  ethers  and  alcohols,  carbon  and  nitrogen 
compounds,  all  salts,  all  vegetable,  animal  and  mineral 
poisons  shall  have  been  equally  well  proved;  when  the 
**  Allen  "  of  that  day — ^in  how  many  volumes  ? — shall  only 
need  for  us,  by  aid  of  the  repertory,  to  seek  out  a  gimiUmum 
for  any  case  that  may  offer,  we  may  perhaps  give  a  millionth 
dilution  and  cure  our  patient  straight  off — but,  meanwhile, 
are  we  to  eschew  the  use  of  all  such  drugs  as  have  not 
been  fully  proved  ?  I  trow  not.  If  we  have  a  fisdr  pre- 
sumption that  the  agent  will  do  the  work  we  want  done 
better  than  those  we  already  employ,  let  us  make  essay 
of  it. 

Every  case  should  be  considered  wholly  on  its  own 
merits,  and  the  greatest  enemy  to  progress  is  routine. 

60,  Wimpole  Street,  Cavendish  Square,  W. 
July  26,  1882. 


CASE  OF  OBSCUEE  DISEASE  OF  THE  STOMACH. 
By  Chables  Lloyd  Tuckey,  M.B.,  CM. 

Assistant  Physician  to  the  London  HomoBopathic  Hospital. 

On  the  28th  of  March,  1881,  I  was  called  upon  to  visil 
Mrs.  H.,  wife  of  a  highly  placed  official.  I  found  the 
patient  lying  in  bed  and  complaining  of  great  pain  in  the 
region  of  the  stomach,  and  of  exhaustion  consequent  upon 
it.  Examination  of  the  abdomen  was  attended  with  con- 
siderable pain,  as  the  parts  were  tender  to  pressure  and  felt 
sore  and  bruised,  but  neither  upon  this  nor  upon  sub- 
sequent occasions  did  it  furnish  any  obvious  explanation  of 
ihe  symptoms  complained  of.    The  parietes  were  distesided 


r 


S^StTSS**  BISBABB  OF  THE  STOMACH.  588 

and  mnch  relaxed ;  the  liver  dxilness  was  slightly  increased ; 
there  was  considerable  moyement  of  flatus  on  deep  pressure ; 
and  aboYe  and  to  the  right  of  the  nmbilicns  there  was 
drcnmscribed  soreness  and  great  tenderness,  with,  at  the 
same  time,  a  strong  arterial  pulsation,  visible  and  audible  by 
the  stethoscope.  The  heart  and  lungs  were  found  to  be 
healthy,  though  the  pulse  was  somewhat  quick  and  weak. 
The  bowels  were  perfectly  regular,  and  the  kidneys  acted 
normally.  The  tongue  was  uniformly  covered  with  a  thin 
white  coat,  but  not  more  so  than  one  often  finds  in  perfectly 
healthy  old  age.  There  was  a  slight  lateral  curvature  of 
the  spine,  and  her  face  was  of  a  waxen  hue,  and  bore  an 
expression  of  great  suffering. 

The  patient  was  fair,  and  of  a  sanguine  temperament,  of 
medium  height,  and  sixty-five  years  of  age.  Her  family 
history  was  excellent,  and  her  own  health,  until  the.  last 
few  years,  had  been  unusually  good.  Married  at  twenty- 
five,  she  had  had  two  children,  one  of  whom  had  died  in 
infEmcy.  The  uterine  functions  had  been  well  performed, 
and  she  had  been  subjected  to  no  malarial  or  other  morbid 
influence. 

Her  ill  health  had  its  beginning,  then,  when  she  was 
about  fifty-three  years  of  age,  and  at  that  time  she  was 
residing  at  Pembroke  with  her  husband. 

It  began  with  slight  symptoms  of  indigestion — such  as 
pain  after  eating,  flatulence,  loss  of  appetite,  and  general 
malaise.  Medicine  was  prescribed  without  effect,  but  a 
change  to  the  Continent  at  once  and  completely  removed 
the  symptoms  and  restored  the  patient  to  health.  A  few 
months,  however,  after  her  return  to  Pembroke,  dyspeptic 
troubles  recommenced,  and  recourse  was  again  had  to 
physic.  After  a  little  beating  about  the  bush,  bisrimth  was 
prescribed  in  large  doses,  and  this  drug  in  a  few  weeks 
effected  an  apparent  cure. 

During  the  rest  of  Mrs.  H.'s  residence  at  Pembroke  she 
4iK>ntinued  pretty  well,  but  caution  in  diet  became  more  and 
more  necessary,  for  pains  in  the  stomach  were  sure  to  follow 
any  indiscretion. 

In  1871  Mrs.  H.  came  to  reside  in  London,  and  gradually 
the  symptoms  of  acute  indigestion  became  more  distressing 
and  constant.  The  patient  soon  availed  herself  of  the 
unrivaUed  advantages  enjoyed  by  Londoners  in  the  way  of 
diverse  medical  opinions,  and  she  soon  became  learned  in 
the  differential  diagnosis  between  cancer  and  ulcer  of  the 


684  DIBBASfi  OF  THE  STOMACH.    ^jS^.^SSlI^mml 

—         ■% 

Btomach,  and  between  neuralgia  of  the  solar  plexus  and 
gastritis.  Her  illness  was  attributable  to  all  these  causes, 
as  well  as  to  the  curvature  of  the  spine,  cirrhosis  of  the 
liver,  and  hysteria.  The  treatment  adopted  was  as  varied 
as  the  diagnosis.  Those  physicians  who  discovered  obvions 
cancerous  tumours  contenting  themselves  with  ordering 
opium  and  other  anodynes,  whilst  others,  to  get  to  the  root 
of  matters,  gave  iron,  strychnia^  quinine,  and  all  kinds  of 
gastric  sedatives.  Of  course  brandy  was  not  without  its 
advocates,  and  in  sufficiently  large  and  crude  doses  it  reUeved 
the  patient's  sufferings  more  than  any  other  agent. 

The  symptoms  all  this  time  were  much  the  same  as  in 
the  early  stages  of  the  illness,  but  they  constantly  tended 
to  become  more  severe. 

They  were,  especially,  intense  radiating  pain,  coming  on 
within  an  hour  after  eating,  and  lasting  for  two  or  three 
hours,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  food  taken.  This 
pain  always  began  to  the  right  of  and  above  the  umbilicus, 
and  spread  gradually  over  the  whole  abdomen.  If  the 
article  of  food  taken  was  indigestible,  or  if  she  had  been 
subjected  to  fatigue,  emotion,  or  any  other  disturbing 
influences,  violent  retching  and  sickness  supervened;  when 
the  stomach  was  emptied,  the  pain  instantly  disappeared, 
leaving  only  a  feeling  of  soreness.  If,  for  fear  of  pain, 
Mrs  H.  abstained  from  food  altogether,  the  pain  would  still 
come  on  in  a  modified  form,  and  be  accompanied  with  great 
Binking  and  empty  retching. 

From  experience  she  found  that  by  keeping  the  stomach 
a  little  occupied  by  drinking  at  frequent  intervals  small 
quantities  of  milk,  this  latter  form  of  pain  was  kept  off, 
and  consequently  at  her  worst  times  she  almost  subsisted 
in  this  way,  at  other  times  taking  soups  and  farinaceous 
puddings. 

Going  abroad,  especially  to  Paris,  entirely  removed  her 
sufferings,  and  when  on  the  Continent  she  was  able  to  eat 
and  live  like  other  people.  Also,  when  attacked  by  other 
illnesses,  such  as  bronchitis,  the  gastralgia  disappeared  for 
a  time. 

Her  bowels  at  all  times  were  perfectly  natural,  and  her 
tongue  was  characterised  by  the  slight  white  fur  I  have 
mentioned. 

In  the  autumn  of  1880,  Mrs.  H.  had  as  usual  gone 
abroad  for  some  weeks,  and,  for  the  first  time,  the  change 
failed  to  remove  the  pain  and  other  symptoms,  though  it 


JB^^tT^^  DISEASE  OP  THE  STOMACH.  585 

relieved  iheniy  and  on  her  return  to  London  her  sufferings 
became  more  acnte  than  ever,  and  small  quantities  of  milk 
no  longer  had  their  old  effect  of  keeping  off  pain. 

The  winter  of  1880-81  was  thus  miserably  passed  by 
the  patienty  and  in  March,  1881,  as  above-mentioned,  the 
aid  of  homoeopathy  was  invoked  in  the  person  of  the  writer* 
Mrs.  H.'s  state  being  as  described,  it  wa^  time  that  some^ 
thing  should  be  done,  as  the  exhaustion  alone  consequent 
upon  many  days  and  nights  of  pain,  was  threatening  a 
speedy  termination  of  the  case.  There  were  so  many  symp- 
toms pointing  to  cancer,  probably  of  the  pyloric  end  of  the 
stomach,  that  hydrastis  was  the  first  medicine  thought  of, 
from  its  well  proved  efficacy  in  that  disease.  Five  drop 
doses  were  given  every  three  hours  of  the  1st  decimal 
dilution,  a  water  compress  was  ordered  to  be  worn  con- 
stantly over  the  chief  seat  of  pain,  and  the  diet  was  confined 
to  miUs,  beef  tea,  and  weak  brandy  and  water.  For  three 
days  this  treatment  was  religiously  carried  out,  but  without 
the  smallest  effect  upon  the  disease.  On  the  third  day 
I  witnessed  one  of  the  most  violent  attacks  which  had 
occurred.  It  came  on  &om  no  apparent  cause,  and  was 
accompanied  by  such  severe  pain  that  the  unfortunate  lady 
was  completely ''  doubled  up  "  by  it,  and  groaned  in  anguish. 
It  continued  for  about  haK  an  hour,  and  violent  vomiting  of 
the  contents  of  the  stomach — a  little  milk  and  mucus  only 
then  ensued,  and  the  sleep  of  exhaustion  followed.  Diligent 
search  of  the  Materia  Medica  was  then  undertaken,  with 
the  result  that  arsenic^  cupi'um,  conivm,  dioscorea,  nux 
vomica  and  argentum  were  all  found  to  correspond  more  or 
less  closely  with  the  symptoms.  Cuprum  mitaiicum  6  wa» 
first  given  alone,  and  then  in  alternation  with  conium  8  for 
a  period  of  ten  days,  but  no  effect  was  observable,  and  the 
inability  to  bear  pain  was  increasing.  Chloroform  by  inha- 
lation was  had  recourse  to,  but  it  only  momentarily  relieved 
the  pain,  which  returned  in  its  full  intensity  after  each 
administration.  Nitrite  of  amyl  given  in  the  same  way 
produced  only  intense  sickness  and  no  cessation  of  pain, 
and  moschus  was  equally  ineffectual.  In  the  middle  of  April 
argentum  8  was  prescribed,  and  its  administration  continued 
for  four  days.  Then,  as  from  the  patient's  history  bismuth 
had  formerly  been  so  successful,  this  drug  was  given,  at  first 
in  five  grain  doses  of  the  1st  decimal,  and  then  of  the  crude 
subnitrate.  A  week  of  this  treatment  showed  its  utter 
inefficiency  under  the  circumstances.     The  beginning  o£ 


586  DISEASE  OF  THE  STOMACH.   ^^S^^SSh^ 

May  found  doctors,  patient,  and  friends  almost  rednced  to 
despair.  The  last  sacraments  of  the  Boman  Catholic 
Church  were  administered,  and  death  seemed  close  at  hand, 
when  at  length  snccess  crowned  the  treatment.  To  relieye 
pain  and  produce  sleep,  I  wrote  a  prescription  for  twelye 
extract  of  opium  pills,  each  pill  to  contain  half  a  grain,  and 
with  directions  that  one  was  to  be  taken  when  an  acute 
attack  of  pain  was  deyeloped.  At  that  time  there  were 
four  or  five  such  daily.  At  the  same  time  perfect  rest  to 
the  stomach  was  enjoined,  and  directions  given  for  feeding 
the  patient  entirely  by  nutrient  enemata.  The  medicine 
was  changed  to  argentum  nitricum  1  c,  one  drop  to  be  taken 
with  sugar  of  milk  every  four  hours. 

The  effect  of  this  compound  treatment  was  immediate; 
the  first  day  three  pills  were  taken,  and  they  checked  the 
spasms  of  pain  and  allowed  of  comfortable  sleep.  The 
second  day  two  pills  were  taken,  and  there  were  but  faint 
warnings  of  pain,  the  same  on  the  third  and  fourth  day,  and 
on  the  fifth  only  one  pill  was  taken,  and  that  at  bed  time. 

On  the  sixth  day  the  altar  flowers  and  incense  were 
removed  from  the  room,  and  the  patient  was  quite  cheerfiil, 
no  opium  being  taken.    For  fourteen  days  she  was  fed 
entirely  by  enemata,  one  being  given  every  four  hours,  and 
during  that  time  the  nourishment  of  the  body  improved  and 
strength  increased.   On  the  fourteenth  day  the  bowels  began 
to  be  troublesome,  and  there  appeared  various  colicky  and 
unpleasant  sensations  in  the  abdomen.     So,  with  fear  and 
trembling,  the  stomach  was  again  set  to  work.     A  diet 
entirely  of  koumiss  had  been  tried  and  had  failed,  during 
the  earlier  stages  of  the  illness,  but  it  was  now  again 
ordered,  with  chicken  broth,  milk  and  lime  water,  and  ice. 
To  our  intense  gratification  no  discomfort  followed  on  the 
first  meal,  and  from  that  time  there  was  an  end  of  all  severe 
pain.      The  nitrate  of  silver  was  continued,  with  less 
frequency,  for  many  weeks ;  the  opivm  was  less  and  less 
used,  and  she  had  entirely  given  it  up  by  the  beginning  of 
July,  when,  by  the  advice  of  a  specialist,  I  sent  her  to  dnnk 
the  waters  of  Neuenahr.     A  month's  residence  there  com- 
pletely restored  her  to  health,  and  on  her  return  to  London 
in  the  autumn  she  was  able  to  eat  and  digest  well  cooked 
venison  or  mutton,  to  walk  a  fair  distance  and  to  enjoy  life 
generally.     She  still,  however,  feels  that  imprudence  in 
diet  would  bring  on  the  old  pain;    the  laxity  of  the 
abdominal  walls  and  pulsation  in  the  right  hypochondriac 


JSSS^SrrSS?*  wsease  of  the  btomaoh.  587 

region  oontinne  in  a  diminished  degree ;  and  she  still  has 
recourse  at  intervals  to  the  nitrate  of  silyer,  and  on  very 
rare  occasions  to  the  extract  of  opium  pills.  Until  recently 
there  was  much  discomfort  when  the  stomach  was  empty, 
but  now  (Jnly,  1882)  this  is  no  longer  felt,  and  Mrs.  H.  is 
able  to  go  about  without  taking  occasional  sips  of  milk  or 
other  light  refreshment.  In  fact  she  is  in  a  normal  state 
of  heall^y  apparently. 

In  reporting  this  case,  I  am  fully  conscious  that  many 
&ults  may  be  found  with  the  treatment  of  it.  The  medi- 
cines were  not,  perhaps,  given  for  a  sufficient  length  of 
time  to  fully  prove  their  action  before  they  were  discarded 
for  others.  The  weak  falling  back  upon  larger  doses  of 
bismuth  was  an  offence  which  brought  its  own  punishment, 
as  it  failed  to  give  the  least  relief.  The  recourse  to  opium 
was  a  confession  of  helplessness,  which  every  homoeopath 
abhors.  And  the  final  use  of  silver  in  such  comparatively 
large  doses  will  be  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of  some  of  us* 
To  these  objections  I  can  only  answer  that  the  patient  was 
flesh  and  blood,  and  so  was  her  doctor,  and  the  case 
appeared  so  desperate  at  one  time,  that  euthanasia  seemed 
the  chief  thing  to  strive  for. 

It  also  shows  the  immense  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a 
correct  diagnosis  of  some  diseases  of  the  stomach,  and  the 
consequent  necessity  of  caution  and  reserve. 

The  complete  faUure  of  argentum  met,  8  to  give  the 
slightest  relief,  when  shortly  afterwards  argentum  nit.  1 
acted  like  a  charm  is  also  of  interest  as  bearing  upon  the 
vexed  question  of  dose;  and  the  successful  maintenance 
of  nutrition  entirely  by  the  use  of  enemata  for  so  long  a 
time  has  greatly  increased  my  confidence  in  this  mode  of 
feeding. 

From  the  light  thrown  upon  it  by  its  subsequent 
history,  I  have  formed  my  diagnosis  of  the  case.  This  lay 
at  first  between  cancer  and  gastric  ulcer.  Its  successfid 
issue,  I  think,  shuts  out  the  former  hypothesis.  We  know 
how  prone  women  are  to  ulceration  of  the  mucous  mem- 
branes at  the  change  of  life,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
ulcerative  diathesis — if  I  may  so  term  it — began  at  that 
time,  and  was  never  completely  changed  until  the  appro- 
priate homodopathic  remedy  was  given  and  went  to  the  root 
of  the  disease. 

Changes  of  climate  so  modified  the  constitution  that,  for 
a  time,  perhaps,  the  active  progress  of  ulceration  was 


1 


538  ACTION  OP   MEDICINES.  "^^.^SSTim! 

stopped  and  healing  even  commenced,  bat  the  return  of 
the  aisease  when  the  patient's  un&yourable  mode  of  life 
was  resumed,  shows  how  near  the  sm&ce  was  the  amend- 
ment. The  large  doses  of  hismuthy  at  first  so  BaccessM, 
also  produced  the  same  temporary  improvement,  bat  the 
action  of  this  remedy  was  evidently  that  of  a  local  sedative, 
and  superficial,  for  its  good  effect  was  soon  exhausted. 

The  cure  now  appears  permanent,  but  it  would  be 
interesting  to  know  if,  without  proper  treatment,  maJignant 
disease  might  not  have  been  set  up  in  the  affected  tissue. 

The  non-appearance  of  blood  in  the  vomited  matters 
would  appear  to  contradict  the  hypothesis  of  either  cancer 
or  ulcer,  but  there  are  many  cases  on  record  of  both  these 
diseases  where  hsematemesis  was  absent  to  the  last. 

I  may  add  that  in  my  limited  experience  I  have  found 
argentvm  nitricum  most  useful  in  painful  affections  of  the 
stomach  simulating  ulceration,  especially  in  the  old  and 
debilitated.  In  two  or  three  cases  No.  8  has  been  suc- 
cessful, but  in  the  majority  I  have  found  it  necessary  to 
descend  to  the  8rd  decimal  or  the  Ist  centesimal,  whereas, 
with  other  mineral  medicines  I  have  never  required  to  go 
below  the  6th  or  12th  centesimal. 

21,  Henrietta  Street, 

Cavendish  Square. 

NOTES    ON    THE    ANTAGONISTIC    ACTION    OF 

MEDICINES;    WITH   SOME   KEMABKS  ON 

CHRONIC  POISONINGS.* 

By  John  H.  Clabee,  MJ>. 

Of  late  years  a  distinction  has  been  drawn  between 
antidotism  and  antagonism.  Formerly  an  antidote  meant 
any  substance  which  would  annul  the  effects  of  a  poison 
acting  in  an  animal  organism.  Such  is  still  the  meaning 
of  the  term  in  conmion  speech.  But,  in  scientific  language, 
the  late  researches  on  the  action  of  drugs  have  rendered 
more  precision  necessary.  There  are  two  ways  in  which 
the]|  effects  of  a  poison  may  be  counteracted — by  a  drag 


*  Beprinted  from  the  AnndU  of  the  BritUh  Homaopathic   Sacktyt 
1^0.54. 


aSSSfsS^t^Sw^    ACTION  OP  MEDICINES.  539 

flcting  on  fhe  same  part  as  the  poison,  or  by  a  drug  acting 
on  a  different  part.  For  example,  strychnia  acts  on  the 
spinal  cord,  exalting  its  sensibility.  Chloral  also  acts  on 
the  spinal  cord,  depressing  its  sensibility.  Chloral  is  said, 
therefore,  to  antagonise  strychnia.  On  the  other  hand, 
cwrara  will  stop  the  convulsions  of  strychnia  as  effectually 
as  chloraly  not  by  acting  on  the  cord,  but  by  paralysing 
the  endings  of  the  spinal  nerves  in  the  muscles.  Curara 
ifiy  therefore,  in  the  new  terminology,  called  an  antidote  to 
strychnia — ^it  annuls  the  symptoms,  but  does  not  act  on 
the  same  part.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
antidotism  to  which  Hahnemann  is  constantly  drawing 
Attention  would  in  these  days  be  called  antagonism. 

This  distinction  is  purely  arbitrary,  and  though  useful 
for  certain  purposes,  is  not  without  its  drawbacks.  It 
introduces  a  confusion  between  the  uses  of  the  same  term 
in  former  and  present  times ;  and,  ponsidering  how  little 
is  definitely  known  of  the  true  seat  of  the  action  of  drugs, 
it  is  apt  to  give  rise  to  the  drawing  of  distinctions  between 
tilings  quite  indistinguishable. 

In  a  paper  on  the  '^  Nature  and  Limits  of  Physiological 
Antagonism,"  by  Dr.  H.  C.  Wood,  of  Philadelphia,  read 
before  the  Materia  Medica  Section  of  the  International 
Congress,  the  author  called  especial  attention  to  this  dis- 
tinction, as  containing  in  it  a  demonstration  of  the  mixed 
truth  and  falsity  of  homoeopathy.  I  quote  from  the 
abstract  of  his  paper. 

**  Take,"  he  says,  ''  the  action  of  veratroidia  upon  the 
heart.  In  large  doses  it  paralyses,  in  small  ones  it  stimu- 
lates the  pneumogastrics.  Supposing  the  pneumogastrics 
to  be  depressed,  and  the  heart's  action  consequently  too 
rapid,  veratroidia  in  minute  doses  might  be  useful.  Sup- 
posing, on  the  other  hand,  that  the  heart  has  been  para- 
lysed by  an  excessive  dose  of  veratroidia,  or  some  similarly 
stimulant  drug,  could  it  be  expected  that  minute  doses  of 
veratroidia  would  restore  the  action  of  the  heart  ?  "  We 
are  not  concerned  with  what  could  or  could  not  be  ex- 
pected, we  have  to  do  with  what  is.  Dr.  Wood  assumes 
that  all  that  is  true  in  homoBopathy  depends  on  the  fact 
that  some  drugs  act  oppositely  in  large  and  small  doses. 
With  this  I  do  not  trouble  myself  to-night.  But  he  makes 
another  assumption.  He  says  that  a  minute  dose  of  a 
medicine  will  not  antagonise  tiie  effect  of  a  large  dose  of 


540  ACTION  OF  MEDICINES.    ^ESSSr^SfciJm 

the  same,  or  of  a  svmilmly  acting  drag.  In  support  of  this, 
he  adduces  not  one  particle  of  proof.  In  the  discnssion 
which  followed  the  reading  of  this  paper,  I  ventnred  to 
point  this  out,  and  adduced  a  case  which  controverted  the 
latter  part  of  it,  a  case  which  I  shall  bring  before  your 
notice  later  on.  I  shall,  I  think,  show  to  demonstration 
that  homoBopathic  medicines  do  antagonise  each  other  and 
that  quite  independently  of  dose. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  Hahnemann's  notes  on  the 
medicines  which  antidote,  or  antagonise  one  another,  and 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  of  such  antagcmiam 
when  the  quantities  of  the  two  drugs  are  not  excessive  in 
either  case.  When,  however,  we  are  confronted  with  a 
patient  thoroughly  saturated  with  some  medicinal  substance, 
which  is  producing  in  him  its  characteristic  poisonous 
effects,  it  seems  a  hopeless  undertaking  to  attempt  to 
remove  those  effects  by  homoeopathic  medicines  so  long  as 
the  poison  is  still  in  his  system,  or  so  long  as  he  continues 
to  be  exposed  to  its  operation.  We  fear  that  unless  we  can 
get  the  poison  out  of  him,  or  him  out  of  the  way  of  the 
poison,  there  is  little  or  nothing  to  be  done.  Who,  in  the 
words  of  Dr.  Wood,  could  expect  anything  from  a  medi- 
cine  having  the  same  action  as  the  poison  ?  Certainly  I 
for  one  did  not,  but  none  the  less  I  made  a  trial,  and  as  a 
reward  got  more  than  I  looked  for.  Do  not  let  it  be 
understood  that  I  do  not  advocate  getting  rid  of  the 
poison  where  that  is  possible,  but  there  are  cases  where 
that  is  impossible,  and  it  is  well  to  know  that  in  them 
homoeopathy  can  do  some  good.  I  wUl  now  proceed  to 
relate  to  you  some  of  the  facts  which  have  brought  me  to 
this  conclusion. 

On  the  12th  of  March  of  last  year,  a  young  man,  set. 
28,  brass-finisher,  tall,  muscular,  though  not  broad,  very 
dark,  black  hair  and  eyes,  sallow,  with  distinctly  greenish 
hue  of  skin,  came  to  my  clinic  at  the  hospital  complaining 
of  a  pain  in  the  chest,  doubling  him  up  at  times,  confined 
state  of  the  bowels — ^large,  dry,  hard,  difficult  motions — 
sight  becoming  defective,  general  Hmguor  and  miserable 
feeling,  and  a  short  dry  cough. 

He  told  me  that  this  came  on  two  years  previously,  and 
that  the  first  thing  he  noticed  was  a  bad  taste  in  the 
mouth,  headache  and  costiveness. 

He  had  never  been  very  strong,  but  had  enjoyed  fairly 
good  health  up  to  that  time.    Family  history  excellent. 


t^S^B^T^  ACTION  OF  MEDICINES.  541 


He  was  married  and  had  two  children  both  in  Tery  good 
health. 

He  had  always  been  steady,  had  worked  at  his  trade 
several  years.  The  last  two  and  three  quarter  years  had 
worked  in  a  '^general "  shop,  where  **  turning  "  as  well  as 
**  finishing  "  was  carried  on,  and  that,  he  said,  was  more 
injnrions  than  the  latter.  Besides  this,  the  shop  was  very 
draughty. 

His  tongue  was  coated  and  dirty,  teeth  black  with  tartar, 
gums  receding.  His  sleep  was  heavy,  and  his  head  heavy 
on  waking.    He  had  no  cramp. 

One  had  only  to  look  at  him  to  see  he  was  saturated 
with  brass.  To  that  I  attributed  his  sufferings,  and  had 
not  mueh  hope  of  benefiting  him.  I  prescribed  nux 
vomica  1,  drop  doses  three  times  a  day,  for  a  fortnight. 

The  following  week  a  fellow- worker  of  his,  whose  case  I 
will  relate  next,  came  to  me,  and  it  was  interesting  to 
compare  the  two. 

The  patient  received  some  slight  benefit  from  niuc ;  he 
was  less  languid  and  miserable,  and  his  bowels  were  a  little 
less  costive.  I  repeated  the  medicine.  The  next  fortnight 
he  was  much  in  the  same  condition,  cough  troublesome  in 
the  day,  pains  sharp  on  motion,  nostrils  stopped.  I  gave 
hryonia  1  in  the  same  way. 

The  next  report  was  that  the  pain  in  the  chest  was  a 
little  better,  but  he  had  had  an  attack  of  diarrhoea  and 
sickness,  which  has  left  him  veiy  weak.    Arsen,  9- 

May  14th. — Throat  and  cough  the  same.  The  inside  is 
sore  when  he  coughs.     Sickness  is  less. 

Beconsidering  the  whole  case  it  seemed  to  me  that  kali 
bichrom.  was  more  accurately  homoBopathic  to  his  conditions 
than  any  of  the  medicines  I  had  given  him  before.  I  gave 
it  in  the  8rd  dilution,  drop  doses  three  times  a  day. 

The  change  when  be  presented  himself  three  weeks  later 
agreeably  astonished  me.  He  declared  himself  well  except 
a  sensation  of  sinking  at  the  epigastrium.  I  gave  him  the 
same  medicine  with  a  dose  of  actaa  1  to  take  occasionally. 
This  removed  the  sickness,  and  he  remained  much  im- 
proved. Even  his  complexion  improved  to  a  certain 
extent. 

Since  then  he  has  been  from  time  to  time  under  my 
care  with  one  or  other  of  the  old  symptoms,  chiefly  the 
cough,  causing  a  pain  at  the  chest,  doubling  him  up,  and 
pain  in  the  shoulder.    Kali  bichrom.  has  dmost  entirely^ 

YoL  26,  No.  9.  3    o 


542  ACTION  OF  MEDICINES.   "^SrMSS 

relieyed  the  former,  and  fhe  latter  disappeared  under 
bryonia  8.  The  stopped  state  of  his  nostnls  has  neTer 
altogether  got  well,  bat  has  improved.  Both  nostrils  aie 
Bot  stopped  at  a  time,  but  first  one  and  then  the  other, 
changing  in  a  few  hours'  time.  His  general  healiiii 
improved  immensely,  and  all  the  time  the  conditions  of 
his  work  and  living  were  unchanged.  He  had,  preTiondj 
to  consulting  me,  been  under  allopathic  treatment  ^thont 
benefit. 

On  March  the  19th  of  the  same  year,  B.  H.,  ffii  44, 
also  a  brass-finisher,  small,  dark  hair,  blue  eyes,  consnhed 
me.     He  complained  of  a  cough  with  much  expeetorafioQ 
and  retching  in  the  morning,  at  times  great  difficnltjin 
getting  his  breath,  much  wind  at  the  stomach— vhich  \i 
usually  has — spasms  at  the  epigastrium,  restless  nights- 
he  awoke  half  an  hour  after  falling  asleep  and  tsssd 
get  to  sleep  after — loss  of  appetite,  cold  in  head,  thii 
nasal  discharge.     He  was  subject  to  attacks  of  this  bni 
Three  or  four  years  ago  had  one.     This  had  kst«d  t 
fortnight.    Tongue  cracked,  thin  white  coat,  bowels  regnb* 
I  examined  his  chest  and  found  no  bronchial  rales.  ^ 
heart  sounds  were  normal.    I  prescribed  ars.  8,  one  diof 
three  times  a  day. 

He  reported  himself  in  a  week  no  better,  cough  ahno^ 
incessant  from  2.80  to  8  a.m.,  much  cramp7pains,espec3iltj 
in  the  lower  abdomen.  Botching  in  the  morning,  m^^ 
expectoration  during  the  day,  the  spitting  relieving  ^ 
cough.  No  night  sweat.  Wind  not  quite  so  bad.  Teeft 
very  dirty  but  all  sound,  green  deposit  all  round  ^ 
margin.  Lower  Jeft  canine  and  bicuspid  numb:  Kali  eori. 
6,  one  drop  every  four  hours. 

The  next  week  he  reported  that  for  the  first  part  of  ^ 
week  he  had  been  much  better,  had  slept  better,  then  be 
had  taken  cold  and  become  worse,  phlegm  difficult  to 
raise,  pain  in  the  right  side  of  chest  when  he  coaghei> 
hoarseness,  pharynx  congested.      Bryonia  8. 

In  a  fortnight  the  only  change  was  that  the  congh  vtf 
a  little  better,  but  he  was  still  hoarse.    Hepar  6. 

April  80. — Cough  better,  still  hoarse,  nose  stopped* 
phlegm  hard  to  raise.  Kali  bichrom.  8,  one  drop  thicA 
-times  a  day. 

May  14tii,  a  fortnight  later>  he  reported  himaelf  as  m^ 
better  generally;  the  phlegm  was  very  much  easier, tte 


SSSSf^T^w!**'  ACTION  OF  MEDICINES.  543 

nose  was  still  stopped.    I  repeated  the  medicine  and  he 
did  not  return. 

The  success  of  kali  Uchrom.  in  this  case  suggested  it  to 
me  in  the  case  previonsly  reported,  though  the  symptoms, 
when  once  thought  of,  were  evidently  homoeopathic  enough. 

Though  different  in  many  minor  points,  these  cases  were 
very  similar  to  each  other.  Both  men  were  evidently  full 
of  the  minute  particles  of  brass,  and  to  this  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  ascribing  much  of  their  sufferings.  They  were 
not  common  colds  that  they  suffered  from,  though  cold  may 
have  had  a  share  in  producing  the  symptoms.  But  the 
character  of  the  symptoms  suggested  a  common  cause  in  the 
two  cases,  which  was  not  far  to  seek.  In  both  instances, 
kali  hichrom.  was  eminently  homceopathic,  and  in  both  it, 
in  infinitesimal  doses,  antagonised  the  action  of  the  metal 
as  completely  as  it  is  possible  for  one  drug  to  antagonise 
imother. 

According  to  the  logical  inferences  for  Dr.  Wood's 
assertion,  kali  bichrom.  ought  to  have  done  nothing  but 
aggravate  the  evil; 

The  next  case  is  more  striking  and  conclusive. 

A  single  lady,  set.  about  67,  very  small,  and  of  delicate 
make,  of  considerable  intellectual  gifts,  contracted  the  opium 
habit  in  early  life,  opium  having '  been  prescribed  her  for 
some  painful  affection  by  a  medical  man.  This  habit  she 
has  continued  with  little  interruption  for  fifty  years.  She 
now  takes  eighty  drops  of  the  liquor  moiyhi^e  hydrochloratis 
in  the  twenty-four  hours.  Some  time  ago  she  consulted 
me  about  a  distressing  pain  in  the  sacral  region  and  con- 
stipation. The  latter  she  had  had  for  years — indeed,  she 
could  not  recollect  the  last  time  she  had  a  natural  motion 
— always  having  recourse  to  artificial  means,  chiefly 
enemata.  I  said  the  cause  was  only  too  plain,  and  I  did 
not  expect  homoeopathic  medicines  would  do  anything  so 
long  as  the  habit  remained.  Still  I  gave  ascvlris  hippocasL 
1,  drop  doses  every  three  or  four  hours.  To  her  great 
astonishment,  and  mine  no  less,  she  had  soon  after  a  per- 
fectly natural  and  easy  motion,  and  the  pain  in  the  sacrum 
vanished.  This  continued  as  long  as  she  took  the  ascidua. 
At  times  the  motions  were  natural  and  came  without 
Assistance,  and  when  the  enema  was  had  recourse  to  there 
was  far  less  difficulty  than  formerly. 

In  this  case  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  cause  of  the 
constipation,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  ascvlus  was 

2  0—2 


544  ACTION  OP  MEDICINES.    "b^.^^Him- 

in  that  partictilar  a  like-acting  drag  to  the  marjMu. 
Between  the  massive  doses  of  morphia  and  the  hnndredtb 
of  a  drop  of  the  tinctnre  of  ascvlus  there  conld  be  no 
comparison.  And  yet  the  latter  completely  antagonised 
the  former  in  its  sphere. 

The  same  effect  followed  in  the  same  patient  when  she 
was  taking  add  nitric  1  for  a  different  affection,  an 
inflamed  toe  consequent  on  a  badly  cut  corn,  not  only  did 
the  toe  improve,  bnt  the  difficulty  with  the  bowels  vas 
completely  relieved. 

A^ain,  this  same  patient,  in  spite  of  her  narcotic,  ifi  ft 
very  bad  sleeper.  She  nsnally  wakes  many  times  in  the 
night,  and  latterly  she  got  so  that  she  conld  hardly  sleep  at 
all.  Half  a  drop  of  coffea  crvda  1,  taken  two  or  three 
times  during  the  day  and  once  at  bedtime,  obtained  for  her 
such  sleep  as  she  had  not  had  for  months,  and  this  good 
effect  has  now  lasted  some  time  after  leaving  it  off.  It  will 
be  understood  that  during  the  whole  of  this  time  the  daily 
dose  of  morphia  has  been  taken. 

The  sleeplessness  of  opium  is  weU  known  as  an  alterna- 
ting effect  with  its  drowsiness,  and  it  thus  becomes  in 
infinitesimal  doses  one  of  our  best  remedies  against  sleep- 
lessness. In  this  case  coffea  was  perfectly  homoeopathic, 
and  completely  antagonised  the  effect  of  the  other  drag. 

I  shall  now  merely  mention  two  cases  of  arsenical 
poisoning.  I  have  often  been  puzzled  in  watching  cases  I 
have  known  to  be  caused  by  arsenic  to  see  them  improve 
under  remedies  when  their  conditions  remained  unchanged. 
It  is  true  the  contrary  has  much  more  often  been  my 
experience,  and  the  good  effects  of  treatment  have  seldom 
been  permanent  until  the  conditions  have  been  altered. 
At  the  same  time,  I  have  seen  enough  to  convince  me  that 
even  arsenic  can  be  antagonised  by  homoeopathic  remedies 
sometimes,  even  when  the  poison  is  present  in  quantity 
and  the  antagonist  given  in  infinitesimal  doses. 

The  cases  have  already  appeared  in  the  Monthly  Hamcso^ 
pathic  Review  of  June,  1881,  so  I  need  do  no  more  than 
refer  to  them  briefly. 

March  19th,  1881. — ^Mrs.  H.  K — ,  set.  56,  housewife, 
dark,  florid,  spare,  complained  of  pain  at  the  epigastrium, 
of  scraping  character,  fulness  after  food,  flatulence,  passing 
both  upwards  and  downwards,  great  weakness  and  faintness. 
She  waked  with  burning  pain  in  bregmatic  region  of  head, 
much  pain  across  the  eyes  and  burning  in  them,  sight  dim* 


SSSSfflSrrS^'  ACTION  OP  MEDICINES.  546 

Tongae  dirty  at  back,  bowels  confined,  appetite  fair ;  con- 
janctiy»  darkly  congested  in  lower  half;  pharynx  dark; 
gams  healthy,  bnt  she  has  had  much  neuralgia  and  has 
lost  many  teeth.     She  has  been  ailing  many  years. 

Annie  K — ,  let.  26,  daughter  of  above,  thin,  pale,  dark, 
imhealthy  looking,  suffering  much  as  her  mother,  scraping 
pain  at  epigastrium  before  and  after  food,  much  flatulence 
4Somes  upwards,  lassitude  and  fainting.  Tongue  thinly 
Qoated  white,  bowels  regular,  appetite  yeiy  good.  Cata- 
menia  regular ;  pulse  small  and  quick ;  ieetix  and  gums 
healthy ;  phaiynz  dark ;  oonjunotiYaB  congested ;  sight  good. 

In  addition  to  this  I  was  told  that  the  whole  family  had 
had  feverish  attacks  coming  on  every  six  weeks  since  they 
had  Uved  in  their  house.  The  mother  described  such  an 
attack  to  me  as  it  affected  her.  A  triangular  patch  of  her 
forehead,  the  apex  at  the  root  of  the  nose,  burned,  became 
red,  the  burning  spread  all  over  the  head,  and  was  accom- 
panied with  smarting.  Eyes  became  bad,  and  she  got  into 
a  state  of  burning  fever  all  over. 

I  need  not  say  I  had  little  difSculty  in  finding  the  cause 
of  all  this.  I  need  not  repeat  here  the  details  of  the  dis- 
covery, suffice  it  to  say  the  house  was  papered  with  hang- 
ings of  the  worst  description,  five  or  six  deep  in  the  different 
rooms. 

I  could  not  promise  them  much  unless  they  got  away 
firom  such  unhealthy  surroundings,  but  I  gave  them  each 
carbo  veg.  6,  one  drop  three  times  a  day.  In  a  fortnight 
they  both  returned  very  much  better,  especially  in  regard 
to  the  gastric  trouble.  The  improvement  continued  for  a 
month,  when  they  were  both  worse  again,  having  had  their 
usual  feverish  attack.  The  flatulence,  however,  remained 
better  in  the  mother's  case  in  spite  of  the  fever.  As  I  did 
not  see  either  of  them  again  I  conclude  that  they  took  my 
advice  and  got  out  of  the  house. 

In  a  case  of  similar  gastric  disorder  from  the  same  cause, 
I  gave  carbo  veg.,  but  with  no  effect  on  the  flatulence  until 
the  patient  got  away  from  the  influence  of  the  arsenic. 

My  case  is  now  as  complete  as  I  have  time  to  make  it, 
though  not  by  any  means  as  complete  as  it  might  be  made. 
I  submit,  however,  that  I  have  made  out  that,  whatever 
conclusions  our  expectations  might  lead  us  to  adopt,  it  is  a 
£Bu$tthat  a  medicine  will  sometimes  antagonise  the  action  of 
another  medicine  acting  like  itself>  and  on  the  same  part 


646  ACTION  OP  MEDICINES,   "ffl,^^?^ 

as  itself,  even  when  this  has  been  taken  in  massive  doses 
for  long  periods  of  time.  In  cases  of  acute  poisoning  vnSx 
massive  doses  I  have  had  no  experience,  but,  judging  from 
what  I  have  seen  in  chronic  cases,  there  seems  to  me  no 
reason  why  the  homoBopathically-indicated  medicine  should 
not  be  of  service  there  also  when  the  poison  has  got  beyond 
the  reach  of  stomach-pump  and  emetics. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  a  few  observations  to  offer  on 
chronic  poisonings  generally.  The  more  I  know  of  medicine 
the  more  does  my  respect  grow  for  the  powers  of  endurance 
and  accommodation  possessed  by  the  human  body.  In 
studying  chronic  poisonings  this  is  most  striking.  Again 
and  again  I  have  watched  cases,  thinking  the  end  coold 
not  be  far  off,  and  yet  it  has  not  come.  One  such  especiallj 
recurs  to  me  now.  It  was  the  case  of  a  woman,  aged  forty- 
five,  who  had  lived  in  a  house  papered  throughout  with 
arsenical  papers  for  eleven  years,  and  who  presented  in 
her  unfortunate  person  a  perfect  repertory  of  arsenical 
symptoms.  Never  free  from  pain,  never  enjoying  a  particle 
of  food,  and  vomiting  almost  all  she  took,  fainting  several 
times  in  the  day,  she  was  reduced  to  the  last  stage  of  weak- 
ness, as  I  thought.  She  was  so  situated  that  she  cooll 
not  get  away  from  the  house,  and  those  who  ought  wonll 
not  trouble  themselves  to  get  it  put  into  better  condition. 
I  had  fully  made  up  my  mind  to  bring  the  case  before  the 
coroner  when  the  end  should  come.  One  day  I  received  a 
hurried  message  to  go  and  see  her,  as  she  had  been 
assaulted  in  her  garden  and  had  her  purse  stolen.  This  I 
thought  would  certainly  prove  too  much  for  her,  and  as 
I  went  along  I  debated  with  myself  how  much  blame  should 
be  apportioned  to  the  poison  and  how  much  to  the  assailant. 
I  found  her  suffering  from  severe  shock  and  badly  bruised. 
Contrary  to  my  expectations  she  got  over  these,  and  gradu- 
ally regained  her  usual  ill  health,  and  for  aught  I  know  is 
living  still.  Whether  such  a  life  as  her's  is  worth  living 
is  another  question. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  accounts  of  the  Styrian 
mountaineers,  and  the  common  habit  grooms  have  of  dosing 
their  horses  with  arsenic.  In  the  case  of  the  horses,  when 
an  unfortunate  purchaser  buys  one  that  has  been  so  dosed, 
unless  he  continues  the  practice  he  finds  the  animal  ''go  all 
to  pieces  "  on  his  hands,  and  has  to  turn  him  off  for  six 
months  before  he  is  of  any  use.  Still,  during  the  time  of 
the  dosing  no  ill  effects  are  apparent,  and  the  same  is  said 


B^^fs^rS^  ACTION  OF  MEDICINES.  547 

of  the  StyrianB.  Why  this  should  be  so,  when  in  such 
cases  as  that  I  haye  just  mentioned  the  sufferings  are  so 
seYere,  I  cannot  say.  Perhaps  the  constant  open-air  Ufe 
and  exercise  of  the  Styrians  and  the  horses  may  partly 
account  for  their  exemption.  But  why  one  suffering  so 
extremely  as  my  patient,  and  being  constantly  exposed  to 
the  poison,  should  still  linger  on  is  more  difficult  to  explain. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  state  of  invalidism  induced 
has  something  to  do  with  it.  This  renders  the  bodily  wear 
and  tear  so  small  that  the  little  food  that  is  assimilated 
suffices  to  repair  the  waste. 

Brass -workers  say  that  there  are  among  them  many  old 
men  who  have  worked  all  their  working  days  at  their  trade, 
and  have  become  perfectly  green  in  hue,  even  their  hair 
being  green,  and  who  still  enjoy  excellent  health. 

We  are  all  acquainted  with  stories  of  venerable  topers 
who  have  attained  great  ages  in  spite  of  their  indulgence. 

Are  we  to  conclude  from  these  considerations  that  chronic 
poisoning,  though  it  may  derange  health,  does  not  shorten 
life  ?    I  think  not. 

Sir  Robert  Christison,  in  his  lectures,  when  on  the  sub* 
ject  of  opium^  mentioned  a  once  celebrated  ]aw-suit  respect- 
ing the  liability  of  an  insurance  company  in  the  case  of  the 
death  of  an  opium-eater.  As  usual  in  such  cases,  there 
was  great  diversity  of  opinion  among  the  medical  witnesses 
as  to  whether  the  habit  did  or  did  not  shorten  life.  The 
case  was  eventually  decided  for  the  company,  and  Sir 
Robert  was  strongly  of  opinion  that  the  decision  was  right. 
He  said  that  the  habit  greatly  predisposed  to  certain 
diseases,  notably  apoplexy,  and  distinctly  tended  to  shorten 
life.  This  I  think  is  the  case  in  most  chronic  poisonings. 
The  poisons  do  not  as  a  rule  destroy  life  by  their  own 
dynamic  power,  but  create  a  strong  predisposition  to  certain 
natural  diseases,  to  which  their  victims  in  the  end  fall  an 
easy  prey.  We  see  this  in  the  case  of  drinkers.  For  one  who 
dies  of  cirrhosis,  how  many  are  there  who  die  of  diseases 
less  directly  produced  by  alcohol  ?  In  exceptional  cases 
this  predisposition  may  never  find  a  proximate  cause  to 
draw  it  out,  and  the  sufferer  may  drag  bis  life  out  to  its 
proper  span,  as  if  he  had  taken  no  poison.  But  these 
cases  are  quite  the  exception. 


648  ACTION  OF  ELEOTBICITY.   "b^.^TmSl 

THE   THEEAPEUTIC  ACTION  OP  ELEOTRICTTY. 

By  Donald  Baynes,  M.D. 

f  Continued  from  page  826.^ 

I  PUBPOSE,  in  this  paper,  mentioning  some  of  the  diseases  in 
which  I  have  employed  electricity  with  benefit ;  the  kind 
used  and  its  mode  of  application.  For  a  full  description  of 
electro-therapeutics  I  must  refer  the  reader  to  one  of  the 
many  well-known  text-books  written  on  this  subject. 

Anosmiu  (Loss  of  smell). — In  this  very  troublesome 
affection  electricity  sometimes  acts  like  a  charm,  and  some- 
times is  very  disappointing  in  its  results.  In  such  cases 
the  galyanic  and  faradic  currents  should  be  used  on  alter- 
nate days.  The  galvanic  current  to  be  applied — ^the 
positive  pole  to  the  bridge  of  the  nose,  close  to  the  forehead, 
and  the  negative  to  the  nape  of  the  neck — a  mild  current 
to  be  allowed  to  flow  for  the  space  of  ten  to  fifteen  minutes. 
The  faradic — a  moderately  strong  current  of  about  ten 
minutes  duration,  the  electrodes  being  placed  one  on  either 
side  of  the  nose. 

Aphonia. — Faradise  the  vocal  cords,  one  electrode  being 
placed  over  the  pomum  adami,  and  the  other  applied 
directly  to  the  paralysed  vocal  cord,  by  means  of  Mackenzie's 
laryngeal  electrode.  Unless  the  aphonia  is  the  result 
of  thickening  or  ulceration  consequent  on  laryngeal 
phthisis  or  syphilis^  one  or  two  applications  are  usually 
sufficient  to  restore  the  voice. 

Asthma  is  usually  relieved  and  frequently  cured  by 
galvanisation  of  the  vagus.  Some  cases  require  an 
ascending,  others  a  descending  current.  This  point  is  to 
be  determined  in  each  case  by  actual  experiment. 

Chorea, — ^Excellent  results  are  obtained  in  this  disease, 
either  by  galvanisation  of  the  spinis,  or  by  charging  the 
patient  with  static  electricity  and  drawing  sparks  from  the 
spine. 

Constipation,  especially  in  elderly  people,  who  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  taking  purgatives,  or  using  enemata,  may 
be  permanently  cured  by  faradism — one  electrode  being 
either  applied  over  the  sacrum  or  else  inserted  into  the 
rectum,  the  other  being  passed  over  the  entire  abdomen.  A 
fairly  strong  current  should  be  employed. 

Oout  arid  Rheumatic  Gout, — In  these  affections  the 
action  of  electricity  is  very  uncertain.      Some  cases  are 


T^!iSi!SS^U^  ACTION  OP  ELBOTRIOITY.  649 

quickly  oared,  while  others  benefit  bat  little  by  its  applica- 
tioB.     The  galvanio  oarrent  gives  the  best  results. 

Hay  Fever  is  very  amenable  to  galvanisation  of  the 
spine  and  pneumogastric,  followed  by  general  faradisation* 

Lumbago  yields  quickly  to  local  galvanisation  of  the 
ftfiected  muscles.  A  fairly  strong  current  should  be 
employed  twice  daily.  In  other  forms  of  myalgia,  gal- 
vanism gives  excellent  results.  In  stiff-neck  it  acts  like  a 
charm. 

Neuralgia. — The  relief  of  pam  is  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent characteristics  of  galvanism,  even  though  it  may  not 
remove  the  cause  of  the  pain.  In  facial  neuralgia,  the 
results  are  striking  and  brilliant.  The  applications  should 
at  first  be  made  daily.  In  each  seance,  begin  with 
central  galvanisation,  then  follow  up  with  local  adminis- 
tration. In  cervico-brachial  neuralgia,  the  anode  is  placed 
over  the  brachial  plexus,  while  the  cathode  is  passed  slowly 
up  and  down  the  arm.  The  tedious  neuralgia  following 
herpes-zoster  in  old  people  is  much  benefited  by  galvani- 
sation. 

Miikf  absence  or  deficient  secretion  of. — A  few  applica- 
tions of  the  faradic  current  to  the  breast  generally  produces 
a  full  supply  of  milk. 

Odontalgia  is  often  quite  cured  by  a  few  applications  of 
galvanism.  The  negative  pole  is  to  be  inserted  into  the 
carious  tooth  by  means  of  a  proper  electrode,  and  the 
positive  to  be  applied  to  the  face  over  the  nerve  supplying 
the  tooth. 

Paralysis. — ^In  no  disease  has  electricity  been  more 
largely  used  than  in  the  various  forms  of  paralysis ;  and  in 
none  has  it  given  more  brilliant  results  when  employed  in 
properly  indicated  cases.  Many  cases  of  paralysis,  firom 
tiieir  cause  and  nature,  preclude  all  hope  of  success 
being  obtained  by  electrical  treatment.  In  others,  espe- 
cially if  recent,  a  happy  result  may  be  confidently  expected 
from  its  proper  administration.  Hysterical  and  rheumatic 
paralysis  are  chiefly  treated  by  faradisation,  and  yield 
most  excellent  results.  Diphtheritic  paralysis  is  most 
frequently  treated  by  the  faradic  current.  In  infantile 
paralysis,  also  in  lead  paralysis,  and  in  all  forms  of  this 
disease  where  there  is  a  tendency  to  wasting  of  the 
muscles,  the  galvanic  current  should  be  first  employed  and 
then  followed  by  the  faradic.  A  general  rule  is  that 
where  the  paralysed  muscles  do  not  respond  to  the  faradic 


C60  ACTION  OP  ELECTBICITY.    ^'^^^b^I^'^^. 

current  the  treatment  mast  be  commenced  with  a  course  of 
galvanism.  Cases  illustrating  this  mode  of  treatment  are 
given. 

Pruritus  ani  and  pruritus  vulva. — These  most  trouble- 
some disorders  are  greatly  benefited  by  electricity.  Gal- 
vanism and  faradism  of  the  patient  on  alternate  days 
should  be  resorted  to. 

Sciatica, — This  most  painful  and  obstinate  disease  is^  in 
the  great  majority  of  cases,  completely  under  the  control  of 
the  galvanic  current.  In  its  application,  the  positive  pole 
is  placed  over  the  spot  where  the  nerve  escapes  from  the 
pelvis ;  the  negative  pole  is  passed  over  the  limb,  along  the 
course  of  the  nerve.  Sometimes,  one  pole  is  placed  in  the 
rectum.  A  large  number  of  cells  should  be  used,  and 
frequent  applications  must  be  made. 

Spinal  Irritation. — This  tedious  complaint  is  best  treated 
by  alternate  applications  of  central  galvanisation,  and 
general  faradisation.  The  cure  will  be  greatly  facilitated 
by  massage  and  rest,  with  suitable  di^t. 

The  following  cases,  taken  from  my  note-book,  will  serve 
as  examples  of  the  therapeutic  value  of  electricity  in 
disease. 

I.  Aphonia. — ^Miss  B.  came  to  me  in  April.  Had  been 
in  a  weak  state  for  some  time;  periods  irregular,  and 
bowels  very  constipated.  About  three  months  previously 
to  her  visit  to  me  she  had  caught  a  severe  cold,  which 
resulted  in  complete  loss  of  voice — so  much  so  that  she 
carried  a  slate  and  pencil  as  a  means  of  communication. 
A  laryngoscopic  examination  revealed  paralysis  of  the  vocal 
cords.  On  attempting  to  phonate,  the  right  remained  com- 
pletely motionless,  whilst  the  left  did  not  quite  reach  the 
median  line.  One  pole  of  a  faradic  battery  was  appUed 
externally  to  the  larynx,  and  the  other,  by  means  of  a 
lai^ngeal  electrode,  directly  to  the  vocal  cords  themselves.^ 
The  effect  was  instantaneous  :  her  voice  being  completely 
restored.  Her  general  condition  was  then  attended  to,  and 
she  shortly  regained  good  health. 

II.  Lumbago. — Colonel  B.  had  been  suffering  for  nearly 
a  week  when  he  consulted  me.  His  pain  was  so  great  that 
he  could  scarcely  cross  the  room.  The  galvanic  current 
was  applied,  for  about  fifteen  minutes,  over  the  lower  part 
of  the  spine,  the  hips  and  the  thighs.  This  application 
gave  great  relief.  The  galvanism  was  repeated  next  day ; 
he  was  now  so  far  restored  that  he  cocdd  walk  a  short 


bS^JS^TIb^  action  op  electricity.  651 

distance  withont  much  inconvenience.  Three  more  appli- 
cations completed  the  cure,  and  he  was  able  to  take  his 
daily  ride  and  walk  without  suffering  discomfort. 

Judge  —  had  been  troubled  for  some  time  with  pains 
in  the  back.  He  had  tried  all  -sorts  of  remedies,  without 
experiencing  much,  if  any  benefit.  He  was  treated  with 
electric  baths,  of  which  he  took  four.  Marked  improvement 
followed  the  first  bath,  and  he  declared  himself  perfectly 
free  from  pain  after  the  third.  He  has  had  no  return  of 
the  pain  up  to  the  present  time. 

III.  Dejidency  of  Milk, — Mrs.  H.  consulted  me  in 
reference  to  the  entire  absence  of  milk  in  the  right  breast.^ 
This  was  the  third  time  she  had  lost  the  secretion  in  this 
breast,  and  was  probably  the  result  of  previous  abcesses. 
Three  applications  of  the  faradic  current  resulted  in  a  full 
supply  of  milk, 

IV.  Paralysis  — (1st.)  James  L.  fell  from  a  window, 
about  20  feet  from  the  ground,  striking  the  left  side  of  his 
head  (the  fall  was  more  or  less  broken  by  the  branches  of 
a  tree,  which  grew  close  to  the  house).  The  child  was 
taken  up  insensible,  and  remained  so  for  four  or  five  days.^ 
When  sensation  returned,  it  was  noticed  that  he  was 
unable  to  speak,  and  that  one  leg  was  paralysed.  On  exam- 
ination there  was  found  to  be  a  good  deal  of  anaBsthesia  in 
the  paralysed  limb,  and  no  response  to  the  faradic  current. 
Treatment :  Daily  applioations  of  both  galvanic  and  faradic 
currents.  In  from  eight  to  ten  days,  speech  returned,  and 
the  child  was  able  to  stand.  Three  days  afterwards,  he 
could  walk  alone,  and  after  three  weeks*  further  treatment 
was  dismissed  cured.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  treat- 
ment the  electricity  was  applied  less  frequently — only  twice 
or  three  times  in  the  week. 

(2nd).  Frank  M.,  14  months  old;  a  strong,  well- 
nourished  child ;  sent  me  by  Dr.  Kennedy ;  first  seen  Sep- 
tember 24.  On  examination,  the  left  leg  was  found  to  be 
paralysed,  muscles  flabby  and  wasted ;  the  limb  was  cold 
and  much  smaller  than  the  right.  Aiitecedent  history. — 
About  three  weeks  previously  ttie  child  woke  up  crying  after 
its  morning  nap,  and  vomited  several  times ;  it  was  very 
feverish.  The  mother  gave  it  a  dose  of  castor-oil,  and 
towards  evening  it  seemed  better.  The  next  day  the 
mother  noticed  that  the  patient  had  lost  power  in  one  leg^ 
and  was  unable  to  use  it  when  creeping.  The  supposed 
cause  of  the  paralysis  was  chill,  as  the  child  was  sitting 


652  ACTION  OF  BIiBCTBICITY.   "^gSS^jaSt^^ttS! 

for  some  time  on  damp  grass  the  da^  before  its  illness. 
Treatment :  As  the  mnscles  did  not  rei^ond  to  faradism, 
the  galvanic  current  was  employed.  The  positive  pole  was 
applW  to  the  lower  part  of  tiie  spine,  and  the  negative 
passed  over  the  entire  length  of  the  limb.  Early  in  October 
the  mnedes  began  to  respond  to  the  faradic  current — 
there  was  a  fair  retnm  of  sensation,  and  the  temperature 
of  the  limb  was  higher.  The  faradic  current  was  now  used 
on  alternate  days  with  the  galvanic.  At  the  end  of  October 
the  limb  had  increased  in  ^ze,  and  was  easily  kept  warm ; 
treatment  continued.  In  November  the  child  was  able, 
not  only  to  move  the  leg,  but  to  begin  to  creep  and  stand. 
In  December  it  was  dismissed,  cured. 

(8rd.)  Miss  M.,  aged  24.  She  had  been  in  the  habit 
•of  taking  Epsom  salts  daily  for  more  than  a  year.  Caught 
a  severe  cold  towards  the  end  of  December,  1877,  whidi 
resulted  in  spinal  congestion,  for  which  she  was  attended 
by  Dr.  Boddick,  who  sent  her  to  me,  January  18,  1877, 
for  electrical  treatment.  She  was  then  complaining  of 
numbness  of  both  legs,  (the  numbness  extending  as  higji 
as  the  lumbar  vertebrsB)  weariness  on  the  slightest 
exertion,  and  considerable  difficulty  in  locomotion,  loss  of 
appetite,  constipation,  feverishness  and  restlessness  at 
night.  Treatment :  Electric  baths,  15  to  20  minutes  with 
the  galvanic  current,  followed  by  10  minutes  with  the 
faradic.  She  took,  in  all,  six  ba^s,  one  every  other  day, 
when  she  returned,  cured^  to  her  occupation  as  saleswoman 
in  a  shop. 

V.  Post  Partum  Hamorrhage. — ^A  friend  has  furnished 
me  with  the  following  cases.  (1st.)  Was  called  to  see 
Mrs.  D.,  a  thin  delicate  woman  who  had  been  in  labour 
for  some  19  hours.  On  examination  found  the  os  utep 
fully  dilated,  head  presenting,  the  anterior  diameter  some- 
what shorter  than  normal.  Her  pains  were  very  feeble  and 
tea  between.  She  appeared  very  low.  I  gave  her  two  or 
three  doses  of  fluid  extract  of  ergot,  but  these  produced  little 
or  no  effect.  I  then  applied  the  forceps  and  delivered  her. 
The  placenta  came  away  spontaneously.  Shortly  afterwards 
severe  hsemorrhage  set  in,  the  uterus  refusing  to  contract 
under  the  application  of  cold,  ice,  etc.  Mrs.  D.  fainted.  I 
had  already  sent  for  my  battery,  which  now  arrived.  I  gave 
the  nurse  one  pole  to  apply  over  the  abdomen,  and,  tiding 
the  other  in  my  hand,  passed  it  into  the  uterus,  whioh 
immediately  answered  to  the   stimulus    and   contracted 


SaS^SSPTl!^  REVIBW8.  55a 


BsTJeWf  Sept.  1, 18BI. 


Ibmly.  I  withdrew  my  hand  and  applied  both  poles  for  a 
few  minntes  to  the  abdomen  dyer  the  ntems.  There  was 
no  recnrrence  of  the  hsBmorrhage,  and  the  ntems  remained 
firmly  contracted. 

(2nd.)  Was  called  to  see  Mrs.  S.  The  labour  had  been 
an  ordinary  one ;  howeyer,  soon  after  the  remoyal  of  the 
placenta,  flooding  set  in.  Ergot  had  Ibeen  giyen  and  ice 
had  been  introdnoed  into  the  ntems,  bnt  inthont  the  effect 
of  producing  permanent  contraction.  On  my  arriyal  I  fonnd 
the  patient  much  ezhansted;  ex-sangnine,  and  with  the 
ntems  relaxed.  I  immediately  applied  the  faradic  current 
to  the  abdomen  oyer  the  ntems.  This  was  followed  by  a 
temporary  contraction.  The  tttems,  howeyer^  again  relaxed. 
I  now  introduced  one  pole  into  the  ntems  itself  and  applied 
Che  other  to  the  abdomen.  This  resulted  in  the  organ 
becoming  firmly  and  permanently  contracted.  The  woman 
made  a  good  recoyery. 

VI.  Debility, — Mrs.  F.  L.  came  to  me  in  a  yery  low, 
neryons,  and  depressed  state.  She  told  me  she  felt 
thoroughly  unfit,  mentally  and  physically,  either  to  read, 
write,  or  attend  to  her  ordinary  household  duties.  Her 
bowels  were  obstinately  constipated,  and  she  was  greatly 
troubled  with  leucorrbcea.  I  began  the  treatment  with 
electric  baths  in  April.  After  the  third  bath  she  began  to 
improye,  and  at  the  end  of  June  had  quite  regained  her 
usual  health  and  mental  yigour.  She  was  able  to  walk 
two  or  three  miles  without  excessiye  fatigue. 

REVIEWS. 


Comparative  Therapeutics,   By  Samuel  0.  Potter,  M.D.    Gross 

&  Delbridge :  Chicago. 
Tms  work,  which  first  appeared  in  1880,  has  met  with  such  a 
rapid  and  appreciatiye  ssde  as  to  haye  necessitated  the  issue  of  a 
second  edition,  exactly  twelye  months  after  the  first.  This  fact 
alone  should  incUne  us  to  examine  carefully  into  its  merits.  It 
is  written  on  an  entirely  new  plan,  the  only  approach  to  which, 
as  £Eur  as  our  memory  seryes,  is  to  be  found  in  the  small  clinicid 
index  of  Buddock.  Dr.  Potter*s  book  is,  howeyer,  far  more 
elaborate  and  comprehensiye,  embracing,  as  it  does,  what  we  may 
presume  is  the  cream  of  the  therapeutics  of  both  schools. 

The  author,  in  explaining  the  intention  of  his  yolume,  says : 
''The  object  aimed  at  in  this  book  is  to  present  the  therapeutics 
of  the  two  great  medical  schools  in  the  manner  best  adapted  to 
comparatiye  study  and  quick  reference.    In  parallel  columns  are 


^54 BEYMWS.  "S^Xt^^ 

placed  the  remedies  recommended  by  the  most  eminent  and 
liberal  teachers  in  the  regular  and  homoeopathic  branches  of  the 
profession.** 

It  is  rather  to  be  regretted  that  the  author  should  have  used 
the  word  '*  regular  **  in  this  connection  ;  surely  in  so  catholic  and 
impartial  a  book  this  little  pandering  to  the  enemy  should  have 
been  omitted. 

Glancing  through  the  list  of  authorities,  we  notice  the  names 
of  the  most  modem  and  advanced  thinkers,  as  well  as  standard 
and  old  established  references  on  both  sides.  When  we  mention 
among  the  allopaths  the  names  of  Bartholow,  Phillips,  Binger, 
Trousseau  and  Wood,  we  have  said  sufficient  to  account  in  many 
instances  for  the  identity  of  drugs  in  both  columns.  And  on  the 
other  hand,  when  we  find  references  given  to  such  writers  as 
Angell,  Allen,  Hughes,  Hale,  Hahnemann,  Helmuth,  Hering  and 
Jahr,  we  may  rest  assured  that  the  very  soundest  views  on  the 
homoeopathic  side  of  the  question  will  be  met  with  here. 

The  further  we  read,  the  more  we  are  struck  by  the  colourless 
impartiality  with  which  the  author  has  discharged  his  task.  He 
has  confined  himself  strictly  to  the  enumeration  of  the  principal 
drugs  used  in  both  schools  for  any  given  disease  with  the  veiy 
briefest  indications  for  their  choice. 

This  book  does  not  pretend  to  take  the  place  of  the  reference 
library,  but  only  to  put  the  remedies  in  a  tabular  and  handy 
form,  and  give  the  reference  to  the  authority  where  more  copious 
indications  may  be  found.  And  after  a  carefol  perusal  we  can 
confidently  say  that  Dr.  Potter  fulfils  his  promises. 

The  arrangement  is  alphabetical,  and  the  contents  range  over 
the  whole  field  of  medical  science,  including,  rather  to  our 
amusement,  a  table  of  the  fees  copied  from  the  fee  bill  of  the 
New  York  State  Medical  Society,  and  the  Detroit  Schedule. 

The  article  under  the  headmg  ''  Homoeopathy  **  is  veiy  well 
written,  and  presents  in  a  concise  review  the  history  of  homoeo- 
pathy and  its  present  position  throughout  the  world. 

The  two  formulae  of  homoeopathy,  the  one,  of  the  moderates, 
the  other,  of  the  Hahnemannians,  we  quote  verbatim : — 

'*  Although  firmly  believing  the  principle  '  similia  simibl>us 
curantur  *  to  constitute  the  best  general  guide  for  the  selection  of 
remedies,  this  belief  does  not  debar  us  from  recognising  and 
making  use  of  the  results  of  any  experience,  and  we  shall  exercise 
and  defend  the  inviolable  right  of  every  educated  physician  to 
make  practical  use  of  any  established  principle  in  medical  science, 
or  of  any  therapeutical  facts  founded  on  experiments  and  verified 
by  experience,  so  far  as  in  his  individual  judgment  they  shall 
tend  to  promote  the  welfare  of  those  under  his  professional 
care.** 

Catholic  enough,  and  comprehensive  enough,  in  all  conscience. 


iSsa^Bgrnss!'       kotabiua. 555 

is  this  creed.  The  Hahnemannian  formTila  has  more  of  the  trne 
Athanasian  flavonr  about  it. 

<<  We  believe  the  Organon  of  Samuel  Hahnemami  to  be  the 
only  reliable  guide  in  therapeutics.  This  clearly  teaches  that 
homoeopathy  consists  in  the  law  of  similars,  the  totality  of  the 
symptoms,  the  single  remedy,  the  minimum  dose  of  the  dyna- 
mised drug,  and  Uiese  not  singly,  but  collectively."  And  we 
£anoy  we  hear  them  add,  ''  except  a  man  believe  all  this  he 
cannot  be  a  homoeopathJ* 

Very  useful  to  the  practitioner  will  be  found  the  complete  dose 
list  of  all  drugs  used  in  both  schools,  and  the  chapters  on  Dif- 
ferential Diagnosis  and  Thermometry.  The  section  on  Urinary 
Examination,  too,  is  methodical  and  simple. 

We  have  been  much  struck  with  the  clearness  of  arrange- 
ment and  the  completeness  of  the  information  contained 
in  this  book.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered  that  it 
does  not  attempt  or  profess  to  supersede  larger  works  of 
reference,  but  merely  to  present  in  a  handy  form  hints  on  thera- 
peutics culled  from  larger  books^  with  the  indications  where  they 
are  to  be  found. 

Yiewed  in  this  light,  we  wish  every  success  to  the  work,  and 
have  no  doubt  that  &e  sale  of  the  second  edition  wiU  be  as  rapid 
as  was  that  of  the  first. 


NOTABILIA. 


THE  LANCET  ON  HOMCEOPATHY. 

•Cbyino  aloud  to  keep  one's  courage  up,  is  a  very  old  arrange- 
ment. None  better  understand  the  art  of  shouting  loudly  and 
with  a  reckless  contempt  for  truth,  in  order  to  force  on  their 
readers  a  conviction  of  the  reality  of  that  in  which  they  wish 
them  to  believe,  than  do  those  who  are  responsible  for  the  con- 
tents of  the  Lancet,  For  example,  in  a  paragraph  we  are  about 
to  quote,  it  is  stated  that  the  allusions  to  homosopathy  made  last 
year  at  Byde,  by  Dr.  Bristowe  and  Mr.  Hutchinson,  were  so 
made  *'  by  mutual  understanding  and  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
Council.''  That  this  is  absolutely  false  is  well  known  to  every 
reader  of  periodical  medical  literature.  This  statement  was  made 
last  year  by  the  Lancet  within  a  week  or  fortnight  of  the  delivery  of 
those  addresses,  and  it  was  categorically  denied  at  once  by  Dr. 
Bristowe,  Mr.  Hutchinson,  and  the  President  of  the  Council  1  * 

*  See  letters  from  Dr.  Bristowe  and  Mr.  Hutohmson  in  the  Lancetf 
Sept.  17th,  1881,  p.  508 ;  and  from  the  President  of  the  Council  ia  the 
JBrtUsh  Medical  JowmaZj  Sept.  drd,  1881,  p.  418. 


556 50TABILIA.  'S^.lggar 

A  year  later,  and  the  Lancet  repeats  the  statement,  neeessarily 
knowing  its  trathlessness  1  With  regard  to  homoeopathy,  its 
tacties  are  precisely  similar.  Bold,  nncompromising,  and  irnth- 
defying  assertion  is  the  weapon  which  the  Lancet  has  ever  wielded 
against  homoeopathy.  Can  it,  we  would  ask,  he  possible  that  any 
person  qualified  to  be  on  the  staff  of  a  medical  journal,  can  be  so 
ignorant  of  homoeopathy  and  all  relating  to  it,  as  to  publish  in 
good  faith,  believing  them  to  be  true,  ti^e  statements  contained 
in  the  following  paragraph  extracted  from  the  Lancet  of  the 
19th  nit? 

*'  The  authorities  of  the  Bri&h  Medical  Association  may  con- 
gratulate themselres  on  escaping  so  easily  from  an  embarrassmg 
position  in  reference  to  the  question  of  homoeopathy.  The  inju- 
dicious allusions  to  it  last  year  by  Dr.  Bristowe  and  Mr.  Hutch- 
inson respectively,  by  mutual  understanding  and  with  the  con- 
currence of  the  Council,  placed  the  Association  in  a  very  paminl 
position.  It  was  not  to  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that  a  great 
medical  Association,  having  the  same  opinion  and  the  same  laws, 
in  regard  to  homoeopathy,  held  and  practised  by  scientific  medical 
men  all  over  the  world,  could  quietiy  let  pass  such  advice  as  was 
administered  to  it  by  gentiemen  who  only  looked  on  the  subject 
from  an  academic  and  benevolent  point  of  view.  It  is  not  now 
— when  homoeopathy  is  extinct;  when  the  real  disciples  of 
Hahnemann  in  England  can  be  counted  on  one's  fingers  ;  when 
these  say  that  homoeopathy  is  no  longer  taught,  even  in  the 
School  of  Homoeopathy ;  when  the  contempt  and  denunciation 
of  homoeopathy  have  received  their  triumphant  vindication — that 
a  great  medical  Association  should  have  been  asked  to  show  any 
quarter  to  medical  men  who  still  either  believe  in  the  exploded 
nonsense  or  trade  on  the  belief  of  non-medical  persons  who  do 
so.  But  this  was  the  suggestion  of  the  authors  of  the  address  is 
Surgery  and  the  address  in  Medicine  last  year.  And  when  the 
members  of  the  Association  would  naturally  have  risen  to  protest, 
they  were  given  to  understand  it  would  not  be  courteous  to 
express  their  dissent  then  and  there.  Many  significant  indi- 
cations have  been  given  to  the  Council  that  the  members  of  the 
Association  would  not  allow  themselves  twice  to  be  found  in  such 
a  childish  and  false  position.  It  is  not  one  of  the  notes  of  a 
liberal  profession  to  tolerate  either  false  principles  or  those  who 
trade  on  them.  Accordingly,  the  Council,  in  its  report  at  the 
recent  meeting,  dealt  boldly  and  candidly  with  the  members  on 
the  subject,  and  announced  rules  which  wiU  make  it  impossible 
for  a  homoeopath  henceforth  to  become  a  member  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. Mr.  Nelson  Hardy  wished  to  go  ftirther.  He  wished 
to  so  alter  the  resolution  adopting  the  report  as  to  secure  that 
the  avowal  of  a  belief  in  homoeopathy,  or  of  any  other  designation 
implying  a  special  mode  of  treatment,  should  ipso  facto  disqualii^ 


fSSi^iS!TS^  HOTABitiA.  557 


Baview,  Sept.  1, 1888. 


tar  membership  of  tiie  Association.  The  Association  was  content 
iobe  assured  that  the  new  roles  would  henceforth  exclnde  all 
homoeopaths.  If  any  homoeopath  now  chooses  to  remain  a 
member,  he  may ;  but  his  sense  of  dignity  will  be  a  subject  for 
the  study  of  his  fellow  members.  Here  this  question  will  end 
liar  the  present.  There  is  only  one  way  in  whidi  gentlemen  now 
using  the  title  and  the  shibboleths  of  Hahnemann  can  be  admitted 
to  Medical  Societies,  and  that  is  by  ceasing  to  use  them.  It  is 
they  who  raise  the  sect  and  import  narrowness  into  Medicine. 
It  is  they  who  exclude  themselyes.  They  would  not  be  owned 
OTon  by  TTahTiATnaTin-  They  haye  abandoned  the  fundamental 
points  of  his  faith  and  practice.  Let  them  act  candidly  with  the 
public  and  abandon  a  name  which  misleads  it,  and  they  will  find 
no  want  of  magnanimity  in  the  profession  to  which  they  return.*' 

So  homoeopathy  is  once  more  declared  to  be  ''extinct!" 
^*  The  contempt  and  denunciation  of  homoeopathy  have  received 
their  triumphant  vindication  !  1 "  By  many  a  village  surgeon 
these  fines  will  be  read  with  dehght.  And  the  conclusive 
remark,  **  I  always  said  it  would  be  so,  only  give  it  time  and  rope 
enough/**  will  complacently  follow.  In  small  country  towns, 
where  the  rector  has  '*  a  book  and  a  chest,**  and  silently  and  un- 
obtmnvely  does  a  great  deal  of  good  with  them  to  the  poor ;  and 
where  the  wife  of  ihe  squire  at  the  Hall  contrives  by  the  same 
means  to  keep  the  principal  doctor  of  the  neighbourhood  at 
arm's  length,  these  words  of  the  Lancet  will  be  a  source  of 
comfort  and  joy,  and  give  rise  to  dreams  of  the  visits  that  will 
be  required  during  the  coming  winter,  and  of  the  mixtures  and 
jnBlB  ttiat  will  have  to  be  prepared  t  In  places  where  homoeo- 
pathic practitioners  are  settled  and  doing  well,  some  ray  of  hope 
win  spring  up  in  the  minds  of  the  neglected  practitioners,  and  a 
degree  of  confidence  be  inspired  in  looking  forward  to  the  long- 
expeeted  collapse  of  their  too  successful  ri^.  These  and  similar 
anticipations  are,  however,  all  doomed  to  disappointment.  Out 
of  his  inner  consciousness  the  editor  of  the  Lancet  has,  for  the 
fiftieth  time,  declared  that  homoeopathy  is  not.  The  wish  is 
father  to  the  thought. 

That  homoeopa^c  practitioners  "  have  abandoned  the  fonda- 
mental  points  of  the  fiilth  and  practice  of  Hahnemann "  is 
notoriously  false.  On  the  other  hand,  that  no  small  proportion 
of  the  minority  of  the  profession  have  adopted  these  fundamental 
points  is  undeniable — ^it  is  apparent  on  the  face  of  all  modem 
medical  literature.  In  a  paper  on  Cardiac  Therapeutics^  pub- 
lished in  the  British  Medical  Journal  last  April,  every  one  of 
these  fimdamental  points  was  practically  illustrated  by  the 
author!  Just  in  proportion  as  homoeopathy  gains  a  greater 
foothold,  as  the  basis  of  scieniific  therapeutics,  does  the  Lancet 
pfoekim  its  extinotion.      This  sort  ai  thing  has,  however,. 

Vol.  20,  No.  9.  2  p 


668  NOTABUJA.  *^SS&"^S?SS 


BerieWt  Sept.  It  IflSl. 


become  nearly  <*  played  ont."  The  cry  has  been  raised  so 
freqaently  dnring  tiie  last  thirty  years,  that  people  are  becoming 
accustomed  to  it,  and  naturally  take  no  heed  of  it. 

In  the  last  nnmber  of  the  HonuBopathic  Worlds  Mr.  Boss,  of 
the  firm  of  Leath  and  Boss,  the  well-known  homcBopa^c 
chemists  of  Yere  Street,  illustrates  the  mode  in  which  the 
*'  extinction  "  of  homcBopathy  is  going  on,  and  it  is  one  in  which 
we  trust  that  it  will  continue  to  go  on. 

He  has  had  nearly  thirty  years'  experience  in  preparing  and 
selling  homoeopathic  medicines.  When  he  became  a  convert  the 
resident  homoeopathic  practitioners  in  London  might  almost  he 
counted  on  the  fingers,  while  there  were  but  two  or  three  chemisks 
who  manufactured  and  sold  homoeopathic  medicines.  Now  there 
«re  more  than  100  practitioners  and  some  80  chemists  in  London 
alone ;  many  of  the  former  with  large  and  increasing  practices, 
some  of  the  latter  with  extensive  and  steadily  increasing  businesses. 
When  Messrs.  Leath  &  Boss  first  sent  out  a  traveller,  some  fifteen 
years  ago,  his  reception  by  the  allopathic  chemists  was  anything 
but  courteous,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  him  to  be 
threatened  with  a  pedal  application  if  he  ventured  within  the 
sacred  precincts  of  their  pharmacies  again  with  his  obnoxious 
and  senseless  wares  ;  now  there  is  hardly  a  respectable  chemist 
within  the  three  kingdoms  who  does  not  keep  and  seU  homoeo- 
pathic medicines.  Twenty  years  ago  they  hardly  sold  a  hundred- 
weight of  pilules  in  a  year,  now  their  output  of  this  form  of 
meddcine  alone  is  upwards  of  1  ton  annually ;  twenty  years  ago 
their  consumption  of  spirit  in  the  preparation  of  medicines 
scarcely  amounted  to  5  gallons  a  month ;  now  they  require  500 
gallons  per  annum.  Twenty  years  ago  100  gross  of  bottles 
would  have  sufficed  to  meet  the  requirements  for  twelve  monlhs ; 
last  year  2,163  gross  were  barely  sufficient. 

Many  another  homoeopathic  chemist  could  make  a  similar 
report.  The  statement  of  the  Lancet  and  the  fiicts  adduced  by 
Mr.  Boss  cannot  both  be  true.  The  latter  have  the  advantage  (2 
being  susceptible  of  proof  by  reference  to  day-books  and  ledgers. 
The  former  is  the  product  of  a  vain  and  sorely  vexed  imaginatioiu 

The  ultimate  tnumph  of  homoeopathy  cannot  be  far  distant 
when  its  adversaries  are  reduced  to  resort  to  such  transparent 
misrepresentation  in  order  to  discredit  it. 


NOTES  OF  THE  LONDON  HOMOEOPATHIC  HOSPITAL. 

We  understand  that  the  staff  of  nurses  available  for  attending 
private  patients  is  to  be  increased — a  circumstance  which  we  are 
sure  will  be  gratifying  to  many  homoeopathic  practitioners. 

A  marked  increase,  we  are  pleased  to  note,  has  taken  place  in 
the  daily  average  of  patients  in  the  wards  as  compared  with  last 


£^£ST^^  NOTABILIA.  659 


Seriew,  Sept.  1, 188S. 


jear.  Daring  July,  1881,  it  was  26 ;  daring  last  Joly,  it  was  45. 
From  1st  April  to  the  81st  Joly,  the  total  admissions  were  195  ; 
daring  the  same  period  this  year,  281. 

Yarioas  soms  of  money  have  recently  been  received.  £50  from 
a  generous  friend  in  Brighton ;  £200  from  the  estate  of  the  late 
Edward  Byron  Noden,  of  Angel  Boad,  Brixton ;  being  a  portion 
of  a  sam  left  to  be  divided  amongst  charitable  institutions  at  the 
discretion  of  the  administrators.  £50  has  been  received  from 
the  estate  of  the  late  Admiral  Coffin,  and  a  similar  sum  has  been 
left  by  the  late  Mr.  Elkin.  A  legacy  of  £1,000  from  the  estate 
of  the  late  Mr.  Osgood  Torkington — already  annoonced — ^has  also 
been  lately  received.  The  estate  of  the  late  Dr.  Qoin  has  now 
been  faUy  realised,  and  a  farther  balance  in  favour  of  the  hospital 
is  shown,  which  will  be  invested  in  Consols.  The  award  of  the 
Hospital  Sunday  Fund  for  1882  has  been  £191  5s.  Od.,  as  against 
£2d6s.  5s.  Od.,  in  1881,  a  decrease  of  £45 — due  probably  to  the 
fsLCi  that  the  number  of  patients  admitted  during  several  months 
was— owing  to  structural  alterations  in  progress— but  small. 

The  Betum  of  Patients  admitted  to  August  10th  affords  the 
following  statistics : — 

Bemaining  in  Hospital  at  date  of  last  return 
(June  7th)      ...         ...         ...         ...         ...       52 

Admitted  between  that  date  and  August  10th  ...       90 

142 

Discharged  during  the  same  period       98 


Bemaining  in  Hospital  on  August  10th 44 

The  number  of  new  Out-Patients  during  the  period  from  Jane 
7th  to  August  10th,  has  been  1,088. 

The  total  number  of  Out-Patients*  attendances  during  the 
same  period  has  been  8,924. 

Arrangements  have  been  proposed  for  keeping  at  the  hospital 
a  list  of  gentlemen  willing  to  act  as  locum  tenens,  and  also  of 
homoeopa&c  practices  for  sale,  as  well  as  of  gentlemen  requiring 
practices.    Applications  are  to  be  made  to  the  Secretary. 


HAHNEMANN  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY. 

The  annual  meeting  of  this  Society  will  be  held  at  the  Windsor 
Hotel,  100,  Princes  Street,  Edinburgh,  on  the  evening  of 
Wednesday,  September  6,  at  8.80  p.m. ;  and  if  necessary,  by 
a4Joumment  at  9  a.m.  on  Thursday,  the  7th. 

It  is  very  desirable  that  as  many  members  as  possible  should 
he  present  on  Wednesday  evening,  because  very  important  busi- 

2  p-2 


560  NOTABiLiA.         ••SSa=2?'??!Hr 


ness  as  to  the  past  and  future  work  of  the  Society  will  be  brought 
forward. 

Gentlemen  who  may  have  any  reports  or  suggestions  to  make 
should  communieate  at  once  with  the  Hon.  Secretary,  Dr.  Hay- 
ward,  117,  Grove  Street,  Liverpool. 

TESTIMONIAL  TO  DB.  HABPEB. 

On  the  80th  of  June,  a  most  gratifying  mark  of  esteem  was 
shown  to  Dr.  J.  P.  Harper,  who  has  recently  left  Windsor  to 
commence  practice  in  London.  A  handsome  ormolu  and  oxy- 
dised  embossed  casket  containing  two  hundred  and  fifty  guineas,, 
together  with  a  beautifully  illuminated  list  of  the  subscribers  oo 
vdium,  framed  and  glazed,  was  presented  to  Dr.  Harper  at 
Clydesdale  Villa,  by  a  deputation  from  a  committee  formed  for 
carrying  out  the  wishes*  of  the  numerous  subscribers.  The 
heading  to  the  list  reads  as  follows  : — 

'*  The  accompanying  casket,  containing  two  hundred  and 
fifty  guineas,  was  presented  to  James  Peddie  Harper,  Esq.,  MJ>., 
L.B.C.S.  Edin.,  by  the  undermentioned  among  his  patients  and 
friends  of  all  classes,  in  token  of  their  gratitude  for  his  un- 
remitting sympathetic  professional  attention;  their  recognition 
of  his  great  medical  skill ;  their  admiration  of  his  high  Christian 
character ;  their  appreciation  of  his  constant  and  gratuitous  aid 
to  the  needy;  their  deeply  felt  regret  at  his  removal  from 
Windsor  (after  twenty-four  years  of  most  successful  practice), 
and  their  fervent  hope  that  he  may  enjoy  much  happiness^ 
enlarged  usefulness,  and  continuous  prosperity,  in  his  new 
sphere  of  life  and  labour. — ^Windsor,  June  80,  1882." 

In  presenting  the  above  to  Dr.  Harper,  the  Hon.  and  Bev. 
Canon  Courtenay  said :  Dr.  Harper, — ^I  have  been  requested  to- 
act  as  spokesman  on  behalf  of  a  committee  of  your  numerous 
patients  and  friends,  which  has  been  formed  in  order  to  present 
you  with  some  testimonial  of  their  gratitude  and  affectionate 
regard.     It  is  an  especial  pleasure  to  me  to  fill  this  place,  as  I 
trust  that  I  may  be  reckoned  as  not  amongst  the  most  recent  of 
your  friends,  or  ihe  least  grateful  of  your  patients.  We  have  known 
each  other  more  than  twenty-three  years.     The  committee  is  a 
small  one  for  convenience  sake  ;  you  must  not  take  its  size  as  a 
measure  of  the  feeling  of  which  it  is  the  expression.    The 
testimonial  takes  a  three-fold  shape — a  casket,  that  which  i& 
enclosed  in  it,  and  an  illuminated  list  of  subscribers.    It  has 
taken  this  particular  form  partly  because  some  of  the  subscribas 
amongst  (lie  most  influential  judged  it  the  best,  and  partly 
because  amongst  so  many  subscribers  it    would   have   been 
impossible  to  come  to  a  unanimous  decision  as  to  any  one  object 
to  be  presented.     I  know  you  well  enough.  Dr.  Harper,  to  be 
sure  that  the  less  I  say  about  yourself  the  better  pleased  you 


ISSSS^^Sgnff^  NOTABim. 661 

Tvill  be ;  all  thiB,  therefore,  I  pass  by ;  I  only  wish  to  assure  yoa 
that  this  offering  is  no  mere  formal  or  complimentary  offering, 
snch  as  has  become  almost  of  necessity  after  a  man  in  any  ca- 
pacity has  been  in  one  place  for  a  certaon  nmnber  of  years,  but 
that  it  is  the  real  and  spontaneoos  expression,  of  the  very  tme 
and  affectionate  esteem,  and  gratitude,  which  your  numerous 
patients  and  Mends  feel  towards  you.  And  I  should  also  like 
to  state  to  you  that  this  offering  is  the  result  not  of  any  canvass 
for  donations,  but  of  gifts  freely  given,  simply  on  the  announce- 
ment of  the  proposal  of  such  a  memorial.  And  I  am  sure  that 
•one  little  fact  wUl  please  you  more  than  perhaps  all  else,  namely, 
that  this  offering  is  joined  in  by  a  large  number  of  your  poor 
patients  at  the  Dispensary.  I  now  in  the  name  of  the  committee 
put  the  key  of  the  casket  into  your  hands  with  our  best  wishes 
tiiat  God  may  prosper  you  in  the  work  which  you  have  undertaken. 

Dr.  Harper  replied  to  the  following  effect :  Canon  Courtenay 
and  Gentlemen, — ^I  cannot  adequately  express  to  you  and  the 
kind  friends  and  patients  who  have  contributed  to  this  most  hand- 
some gift  my  feeling  of  gratitude  and  satisfaction.  Until  the  day 
before  I  left  Windsor  I  had  no  idea  that  such  a  thing  was 
contemplated,  and  when  it  became  known  to  me  I  never  imagined 
that  anything  so  splendid  as  this  was  thought  of.  On  looking 
back  I  feel  inclined  to  say,  what  have  I  done  to  deserve  such  a 
gifl  as  this  ?  I  have  taken  no  part  in  public  movements,  and  have 
perhaps  too  carefully  avoided  identifying  myself  with  questions  of 
general  interest ;  but  have  rather  endeavoured  to  conffne  myself 
to  the  work  of  a  medical  practitioner,  whose  calling  is  to  heal  the 
sick  and  relieve  the  suffering,  and  if  in  the  good  providence  of  God 
I  have  in  some  measure  been  able  to  do  this,  I  am  deeply  grate- 
ful. But  all  this  is  duty,  and  duty  neither  seeks,  nor  expects, 
nor  desires  a  reward.  Tlds  valuable  testimonial  therefore  must 
be  regarded  as  an  expression  of  personal  confidence,  affection  and 
esteem,  and  in  this  light  it  is  to  me  very  precious.  In  severing  a 
connection  which  has  existed  unbroken  for  twenty-four  years,  I 
have  suffered  more  pain  than  I  care  to  say,  and  have  met  with 
deeper  expressions  of  sorrow  and  regret  than  I  at  all  anticipated, 
and  which  I  could  scarcely  have  h^ed  had  I  foreseen.  It  is  no 
small  satisfaction  to  me,  however,  to  leave  as  my  successor  one 
vho  is  second  to  none  in  professional  qualification,  and  whose 
kindness  of  heart  and  real  sympathy  have  only  to  be  known  to 
be  appreciated.  I  have  again  only  to  thank  you  and  all  the  kind 
friends  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  from  the  poor  who  have 
80  touehingly  come  forward,  to  the  Peer  whose  name  I  found  at 
the  head  of  the  committee  list.  To  the  gentlemen  who  consti- 
iated  the  committee  I  offer  my  special  and  heartfelt  thanks. 

Dr.  Harper  succeeds  to  the  practice  of  Mr.  Cameron  in 
Hertford  Street,  Mayfair,  and  is  succeeded  in  Windsor  by 
Ur.  Deane  Butcher,  from  Beading. 


662  NOTAsaiA.  "SSS-^fWS? 


Beriefw,  Sept.  1,  IflBI. 


ADVERTISING. 

Under  the  somewhat  carious  title  of  ''Homoeopathic  AdTer- 
tising,"  the  Students'  Journal  and  Hospital  Gazette^  of  the  5th 
nit.,  has  a  paragraph  referring  to  a  yery  nnprofessional  adyertise' 
ment  issued  by  a  homoeopathic  practitioner,  iu  the  form  of  a 
handbill,  and  asking  whether  the  Homceopathic  Review  consideis 
"  this  mode  of  practice  thoroughly  orthodox  from  a  homoeopathic 
point  of  yiew."  We,  for  our  part,  are  surprised  at  such  a 
question  being  asked,  and  to  find  that  the  StudeTUs*  Journal 
^ould  suppose  that  there  can  be  other  than  one  answer.  The 
rul^s  of  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society  are  most  stringent  in 
reference  to  anything  approaching  to  adyertising,  and  it  is  yeiy 
rarely  that  our  attention  has  to  be  drawn  to  any  breach  of  su^ 
rules.  We  regret  that  such  breaches  haye  been  committed.  We 
haye  been  in  communication  with  the  gentleman  referred  to,  and 
find  that  the  objectionable  notices  are  not,  as  The  Students* 
Jauiyial  seems  to  imply,  indiscriminately  circulated,  but  are  giyen 
to  indiyidual  patients  who  come  to  the  surgery  or  dispensary  for 
adyice. 

But  how  can  this  proceeding  be  called  ''  homoeopathic  ?  "  Is 
giying  a  yulgar  and  pretentious  handbill  to  a  patient  coming  into 
your  consulting  room  '*  homoeopathic  *'  adyertising  ?  and  putting 
an  adyertisement  of  your  professional  arrangements  in  the  local 
papers,  as  it  appears  does  a  medical  man  hailing  from  Clifton^ 
who  comes  in  for  a  mild  amount  of  censure  in  another  part  of 
the  same  paper,  ** allopathic'*  adyertising?  Perhaps  the  brilliant 
literary. genius  of  some  distant  day,  who  is  trying,  and  creditably 
trying,  his  'prentice  hand  at  editorial  work  on  the  Students* 
Journal,  will  describe  how  an  adyertisement  can  become  "homoe- 
opathic." We  can  understand  how  ipecacuanha  or  arsenic  can 
become  homoeopathic,  but  how  a  public  announcement  of  pro- 
fessional arrangements  can  become  so  we  do  not  understand. 

DR.  CLAUDE. 

We  haye  heard  lately  with  deep  regret  that  our  actiye  and 
energetic  colleague,  Dr.  Claude,  of  Pans,  who  has  ahready  done 
BO  much  useful  work  for  French  homoeopathic  medical  journalism, 
and  has  giyen  ample  eridence  of  his  power  and  willingness  to  do 
much  more,  has  become  the  yictim  of  glaucoma  of  bo^  eyes.  It 
appears  that  for  some  considerable  time  he  has  suffered  from  a 
sense  of  great  fatigue  and  sharp  pain  in  both  eyes,  and  that 
recently,  on  an  examination  being  made  by  an  ophthalmic 
Burgeon,  glaucomta  was  discoyered.  The  diagnosis  baring 
been  confimed  by  two  other  ophthahnio  surgeons.  Dr.  Claude 
withdrew  to  the  country,  where  we  are  happy  to  learn  that  under 


HbiiflUy  HonuBopAtfaio 
Befivw,  Sept.  1,  ifitt. 


NOTABILIA. 


568 


suitable  treatment  he  is  improving,  and  he  is  able  to  anticipate 
a  complete  recovery.  This  we  are  sore  all  who  know  him  per- 
sonally, and  appreciate  his  ability,  industry,  and  many  good 
qualities,  will  join  us  in  hoping  may  not  be  long  delayed. 


HOMCEOPATHIC  PHYSICIANS  AT  GERMAN  WATERING 

PLACES. 

Wb  quote  from  the  Allgemeine  Homdopathische  ZeUung  the 
names  of  well-known  German  homoeopathic  physicians  who  are 
in  practice  at  some  of  the  most  frequented  watering  places 
in  Germany,  thinking  that  some  of  our  colleagues,  who  may 
be  sending  patients  thither,  may  find  the  knowledge  of  them 
convenient : — 


Catlsbad 

Dr.  Th.  Kafka. 

»>               •« 

Dr.  London. 

Teplitz 

Dr.  Stein 

Eissingen 

Dr.  Hermann  Welsch,  Junr. 

Kainzenbad  . 

Dr.  H.  Sauer. 

Lippspringe  .. 

Dr.  Rorig. 

Aachen 

Dr.  Notldichs. 

Wiesbaden   .. 

Dr.  Thilenius. 

>>           •« 

Dr.  Liebmann. 

>>           •• 

Dr.  Johannsen. 

» 

Dr.  Jirau2. 

Gastein 

Dr.  Proele. 

Wildbad 

Dr.  Fischer. 

HINTS  FOR  THE  PREVENTION   OF  THE  MOST  COM- 
MON  ACCIDENTS  CAUSING  BLINDNESS,  AND  IN- 
STRUCTION   HOW    TO    ACT    TILL    MEDICAL 
AID    CAN    BE    OBTAINED. 

The  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Blindness  have  issued  the 
following  instructions  in  cases  of  accidents.  Their  being  re- 
printed here  will,  we  trust,  add  to  their  usefulness. 

There  are  many  preventable  accidents  abd  injuries  which 
cause  the  destruction  of  important  parts  of  ihe  eye,  and 
consequently  blindness. 

1.  Infants  are  carelessly  left  without  supervision;  and  it 
happens  that  flies  which  have  just  left  some  dirty  place,  some 
diseased  person  or  animal,  some  putrifying  or  poisonous  sub- 
stance may  alight  upon  and  affect  the  external  parts  of  the  eye, 
causing  most  dangerous  suppurating  inflammations  of  the  eyes. 

2«    Infants  are  often  left,  in  the  country,  in  the  poultry  yard. 


664  NOTABILIA.  ^feSr^STSS? 


.  h 

where  the  fowls,  seeing  a  "fly  near  or  on  the  chfld's  eye,  pedc 
the  eye  in  their  attempt  to  catch  the  fly,  and  thus  caoae  a 
dangerous  wound  in  the  cornea  (which  is  the  name  of  the  trails- 
parent  part  in  front  of  the  eye^,  followed  hy  blindness. 

8.  Cats  and  dogs  sometimes  scratch  babies*  eyes  while 
playing  with  them,  causing  dangerons  wounds  and  blindness. 

4.  Children  while  playing  or  fighting  cause  serious  accidents 
to  one  another,  by  polong  their  fingers  in  the  eyes,  or  they  may 
accidentally  ihrust  quill  pins,  pencils,  hair-pins,  knitting-needles 
or  pen-knives  into  one  another's  eyes ;  sometimes  they  throw 
small  stones,  sand  and  dust  into  the  eyes. 

5.  In  trying  to  undo  a  knot,  either  with  the  aid  of  a  pin, 
A  hair-pin,  a  fork,  or  the  point  of  a  pair  of  scissors  ;  the  string 
gives  suddenly  way,  when  the  point  of  the  instrument  strikes  the 
eye  with  great  force,  causing  a  dangerous  wound,  which  is 
followed  by  the  loss  of  the  sight  of  the  wounded  eye'; — some- 
times by  sympathetic  inflammation,  the  second  eye  is  also  lost. 

6.  The  breaking  of  elastic  chest  expanders — ^the  use  of  which 
is  not  at  all  to  be  recommended — causes  also  accidents  to  the 
eyes.  The  elastic,  while  too  much  stretched,  breaks,  tiien  it 
contracts  suddenly,  and  in  its  recoil  it  gives  the  eye  a  very 
strong  blow. 

7.  In  playing  with  gunpowder  children  firequently  inflict 
serious  damage  on  their  eyes  by  the  explosion  of  the  powder 
while  their  faces  are  near  it,  or  by  foreign  bodies  being  pro- 
pelled into  the  eyes  by  the  explosion.  They  should  on  no 
account  be  allowed  to  play  with  explosive  substances.  Careless 
shooting  frequently  causes  blindness. 

8.  Writing  or  reading  for  a  long  time  in  school  or  offices  in 
bad  positions,  opposite  a  strong  artificial  or  natural  light,  or 
when  and  where  llie  light  is  not  sufficient ;  copying  and  drawing 
very  small  print,  so-caUed  etching,  in  fistct  whenever  the  eye  is 
too  long  strained  in  paying  attention  to  very  small  objects — a 
predisposition  is  developed  to  painful  eye-diseases — ^to  short 
sight  and  other  complaints  weakening  the  eye. 

9.  There  are  certain  qualities  of  coal  which,  like  old,  dry  fir- 
wood,  explode  while  burnt  in  the  grate,  and  cause  accidents 
similar  to  those  produced  by  gunpowder  to  persons  sitting  or 
standing  opposite  the  grate. 

10.  Accidents  to  the  eyes  by  scalding  with  boiling  water,  by 
pla3ring  with  melted  lead,  arc  not  very  rare. 

11.  Painters,  masons,  plasterers,  labourers,  and  other 
persons  engaged  in  the  use  and  application  of  lime,  chalk, 
mortar,  cement,  and  similar  substances,  are  liable  to  get 
these  materials  thrown  into  their  eyes;  quick-lime,  or  lime 
before  it  has  been  slaked  by  the  addition  of  water,  is  one  of  the 
most  destructive  agents  which  can  come  in  contact  with  the 


gSSi^SfTSS*  KOTABOIA.  666 


Befivw,  Sept.  1,  IflU. 


siu&ce  of  the  eje.  If  a  snfficiettt  quantity  is  allowed  to  remain 
long  enough  in  contact  with  the  eye,  abaolnte  destraotion  of  the 
part  and  a  sloogh  follows,  which  folly  completes  the  loss  of  the 
eye.  Plaster,  mortar,  lime,  and  other  combinations  of  lime  nsed 
for  building  purposes,  di£fer  only  in  degree  from  qnick-lime  in 
the  way  they  affect  the  eye. 

12.  All  persons  whose  occupations  oblige  them  to  live  in  an 
atmosphere  impregnated  with  animal,  yegetable  or  mineral  dust, 
are  liable  to  inflammation  of  the  eyes — ^aJl  should  use  spectacles 
of  plain  glass  surrounded  by  a  soft  substance,  which,  by  adhering 
to  the  skm  of  the  forehead,  the  temples,  the  upper  part  of  the 
nose,  and  the  upper  part  of  the  cheek-bones,  would  prevent  the 
dust  from  affecting  the  eyes  ;  the  greatest  cleanliness  by  washing 
of  the  eyes  after  leaving  work  is  extremely  useful. 

18.  Coal-miners,  stone-breakers,  sculptors,  metal-workers, 
blacksmiths,  are  also  exposed  to  injuries  of  the  eyes,  caused  by 
small  particles  of  the  various  materials  entering  with  much  force 
the  external  covering  of  the  eyes, — ^perforating  wounds  and 
blindness  may  be  then  caused ; — ^they  are  recommended  to  wear 
spectacles  similar  to  those  mentioned  in  the  previous  paragraph* 

14.  People  should  be  very  careftd  to  avoid  using  any  towels, 
rags,  sponges,  which  are  used  by  any  patient  suffering  from  a 
discharge  from  the  eyes ;  almost  all  such  discharges  are  dan- 
gerously infectious ;  there  is  the  greatest  difficulty  of  arresting 
and  curing  epidemics  of  contagious  eye-diseases,  when  they  occur 
in  schools,  workhouses,  workshops,  barracks,  hospitals,  in  fact 
wherever  a  large  number  of  people  congregate.  Whenever  pos- 
sible the  patients  should  be  separated,  individually  treated,  and 
whatever  has  been  once  used  for  cleansing  the  eye  from  the  dis- 
charge, should  be  disinfected  before  the  same  towel,  rag,  sponge, 
or  other  material  is  used  a  second  time ; — ^in  fact  it  is  best  to 
bum  immediately  everything  which  has  been  used  once  for  such 
cleansing  purposes. 

The  accidents  which  occur  through  infection  by  purulent  eye- 
inflammation  of  various  kinds  are  very  numerous ;  they  can  and 
should  be  always  prevented  by  timely  rational  medical  aid. 

15.  In  all  cases  of  injury  of  the  external  or  internal  parts  of 
the  eye,  apply  immediately  for  medical  aid ;  it  is  desirable,  till 
medical  advice  can  be  had,  that  the  iigured  person  should  at  once 
remain  in  a  reclining  or  horizontal  position ;  on  the  closed  eyelids 
apply  liquid  or  cold  water  compresses  (that  is — little  pieces  of 
old  Hnen  rags  are  steeped  in  tepid  or  cold  water,  and  placed  over 
the  closed  eyelids).  The  patient  soon  finds  out  what  tempera- 
ture suits  him  and  best  relieves  the  pain. 

If  there  is  any  foreign  body  visible  in  the  eye,  and  it  is  easily 
removable,  it  should  be  done  at  once,  otherwise  all  should  be  left 
to  the  medical  man. 


666  NOTABILIA.  ^S^^ISH'^. 


BeTiew,  Sept.  1,  188S. 


If  the  iig'nry  is  caused  by  lime,  mortar,  and  its  Tarions  com- 
binations, it  is  of  first  importance  to  remove  firom  the  eye  eyery 
particle  of  lime  as  qnickly  as  possible,  and  thus  to  arrest  any 
farther  destmctiye  action  of  any  fragment  which  may  still  stick 
to  the  external  membranes  of  the  eye. 

Special  attention  is  reqnired  that  in  these  cases  no  water 
should  under  any  condition  be  used  for  cleaning  the  eye ; — as  the 
water  dissolves  still  more  the  quick-lime,  the  heat  of  the  dis- 
solved lime  increases,  which  thus  would  destroy  the  eye  still 
quicker.  Sweet  oil  should  be  dropped  immediately  into  the  eye 
— which  is  done  either  by  a  little  paint-brush  dipped  in  oil,  or  if 
there  is  not  such  a  brush  at  hand,  a  rag,  a  fearer,  a  piece  of 
rolled  paper  are  dipped  in  the  oil.  The  way  to  apply  the  oil  is 
to  draw  up  the  upper  lid  and  draw  down  the  lower  lid  at  the 
outer  angle,  and  insert  the  oil  while  the  patient  turns  the  eye- 
ball towards  his  nose.  Both  eyelids  may  be  everted ;  in  tiiis 
position  the  smallest  particle  of  lime  can  be  seen  and  easily 
removed,  either  with  a  small  paint-brush  or  with  the  rolled  up 
comer  of  fine  rag  or  paper,  or  any  small  soft  and  round  object ; 
before  the  eyelids  are  replaced  in  their  normal  position  and 
closed,  a  few  more  drops  of  oil  should  be  dropped  on  the  eye  and 
between  the  lids.  A  slight  stream  of  tepid  water  on  the  front 
of  the  eye  and  on  the  outward-turned  eyelids,  will  wash  away  the 
smallest  particle  of  dust  or  any  other  substance. 

16.  It  happens  frequently  that  when  one  eye  is  lost  by  an 
external  injury,  that  the  eyesight  of  the  other  is  in  danger  of 
being  lost ;  this  is  caused  by  what  is  usually  called  sympathetic 
inflammation  of  the  eye.  In  these  cases  there  is  only  one  means 
of  saving  the  second  eye :  this  is  by  the  extirpation  or  enHcleation 
of  the  first  eye,  of  which  the  sight  has  been  lost.  As  many 
people  object  to  this  operation,  it  is  necessary  to  remind  them 
that  they  must  ascribe  to  themselves  the  loss  of  the  second  eye 
by  their  refusal  of  the  operation  just  named. 

17.  Blindness  is  also  frequently  caused  by  the  use  of  so-called 
wonderful  eye-salves,  ophthalmic  ointments,  eye-lotions,  and 
similar  medicines,  which  are  used  without  medical  advice,  and 
often  change  a  curable  eye-disease  into  an  incurable  one  followed 
by  blindness. 

18.  Persons  interested  in  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Blindness,  are  requested  to  communicate  with  Dr.  Both,  pro  t^m. 
Hon.  Treasurer  and  Secretary,  48,  Wimpole  Street,  London,  W. 
Dr.  Both  would  like  to  be  informed  of  other  causes  of  blindness 
that  may  have  fallen  under  the  notice  of  medical  men.  Cheques 
to  be  sent  to  the  National  Bank,  Oxford  Street  Branch,  Old 
Cavendish  Street,  London,  W. 


iS^S^TS^  NOTABILIA,  567 


POISONOUS  LEAVES. 

Some  of  our  most  admired  flowers,  which  we  should  least  willingly 
banish  from  coltiTation,  are  associated  with  green  leaves  of  a 
Teiy  poisonous  character.  The  narrow  long  leayes  of  the  daffodil 
act  as  an  irritant  poison ;  the  delicate  compound  leaves  of 
laburnum  have  a  narcotic  and  acrid  juice  which  causes  purging, 
vomiting,  and  has  not  unfrequently  led  to  death.  The  narrow 
leaves  of  the  meadow  saffiron  or  autumn  crocus  give  rise  to  the 
utmost  irritation  of  the  throat,  thirst,  dilated  pupils,  with  vomiting 
and  purging.  The  dangerous  character  of  aconite,  or  monkshood 
leaves,  is  doubtless  well  known,  but  each  generation  of  children 
requires  instruction  to  avoid  above  all  things  those  large  palm- 
shaped  leaves,  dark  green  on  the  upper  surface.  Leaves  of 
coarse  weeds  provide  an  abundant  quota  of  danger,  but  frequently 
their  strong  scent  and  bitter  or  nauseous  taste  give  timely  warning 
against  their  being  consumed.  Of  all  our  British  orders  of  plants 
perhaps  the  umbelliferous  order  contributes  the  rankest  and  most 
widespread  elements  of  danger.  The  tall  hemlock  is  everywhere 
known  to  be  poisonous,  and  it  is  one  of  the  most  abundant 
occupants  of  the  hedge,  A  peculiar  ** mousey*'  odour  can 
generally  be  recognised  on  squeezing  the  leaves,  which  are  deep 
green  in  colour  and  trebly  compound,  the  small  lobes  being 
lanceolate  and  deeply  cut.  It  is  said  that  the  mousey  smell  can 
be  detected  in  water  containing  not  more  than  a  fifty-thousandth 
part  of  the  juice.  Hemlock  is  both  an  irritant  to  any  sore  place 
and  a  general  narcotic  poison,  producing  headache,  imperfect 
vision,  loss  of  power  to  swallow,  and  extreme  drowsiness,  with 
complete  paralysis  of  voluntary  muscles  and  muscles  of  respiration^ 
The  water  dropwort,  too,  a  flourishing  ditch  plant ;  the  water 
hemlock,  fool's  parsley,  must  be  ranked  among  our  most 
dangerous  poisonous  plants  belonging  to  the  umbelliferous  order. 
The  fool's  parsley  leaves  are  sometimes  mistaken  for  genuine 
parsley,  but  their  nauseous  odour  and  darker  leaves  should 
prevent  this.  The  nightshade  order  is  another  with  dangerous 
and  often  extremely  poisonous  leaves.  Indeed,  no  nightshade 
can  be  regarded  as  safe,  while  the  deadly  nightshade,  with  its 
oval  uncut  leaves,  soil,  smooth,  and  stalked,  are  in  the  highest 
degree  to  be  avoided.  Henbane  and  thorn-apple  again,  with 
their  large  and  much-indented  leaves,  are  conspicuous  members 
of  the  ''  dangerous  classes."  Holly  leaves  contain  a  juice  which 
is  both  narcotic  and  acrid,  causing  vomiting,  pain,  and  purging. 
Even  elder  leaves  and  privet  leaves  may  produce  active  and 
injurious  irritation  when  eaten.  With  regard  to  the  treatment 
in  cases  of  poisoning  by  leaves  if  no  doctor  is  at  hand,  produce 
vomiting  till  all  offending  matter  is  expelled,  and  when  consider- 


668 woTABiLiA.        'S:^.X£?«i! 

able  sleepiness  or  drowsiness  has  come  on  give  strong  tea  or 
«offee,  and  again  bring  on  vomiting ;  then  stimulate  and  ronse 
the  brain  in  every  possible  mode,  as  formerly  recommended. — 
Land  and  Water, 

"DRUNK  OR  DYING." 

Fbom  the  report  of  a  recent  inquest  on  a  case  in  which  the  police 
had  failed  to  discriminate  between  apoplexy  and  drunkenness,  it 
appears  that  a  medical  witness  remarked,  "  It  was  a  mistake 
poHce  officers  often  made;  but  the  local  police  had  been  attending 
the  ambulance  lectures,  and,  he  thought,  would  have  been  able 
to  distinguish  the  two."  This  would  seem  to  imply  that  at  least 
one  member  of  the  profession  expects  more  than  is  reasonable  to 
expect  from  the  modicum  of  information  it  is  possible  to  acquire 
in  the  course  of  a  system  of  instruction  which  is  rather  well- 
intended  than  well-advised.  If  the  teaching  given  by  the 
ambulance  authorities  were  more  modest,  it  would  be  incompar- 
ably more  useful.  It  is  not  mere  surplusage  to  talk  to  policemen 
■about  the  special  symptoms  of  drunkenness  as  distinguished  from 
apoplexy.  Even  trained  medical  men  have  often  great  difficulty 
in  recognising  the  difference  between  the  two  states,  and,  as  we 
know,  mistakes  sometimes  occur  even  in  hospitals.  The  police 
should  be  instructed  to  treat  aU  insensible  or  drowsy  persons  as 
though  they  were  suffering  from  illness,  and  to  send  at  once  for 
medical  aid.  If  the  case  prove  to  be  one  of  simple  drunkenness, 
the  fee  for  attendance  could  be  added  to  4he  fme  imposed ;  if 
not,  it  would  be  only  too  gladly  paid  by  the  friends  of  the  patient. 
It  is  inevitable  that  mistakes  should  occur  if  the  poHce  axe 
permitted  to  attempt  a  diagnosb.  We  should  be  glad  to  hear 
that  the  whole  system  of  instruction  by  "  lectures  '*  and 
^'examinations"  given  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ambulance 
Association  had  been  revised,  and  that  instead  of  the  bewildering, 
because  quasi-technical  knowledge,  it  is  now  desired  to  inculcate* 
A  few  simple  principles  were  laid  down  with  sole  reference  to 
the  prevention  of  accidents,  until  proper  aid  can  be  obtained. 
It  is  in  no  spirit  of  jealousy  that  we  make  these  remarks.  The 
Ambulance  Association  might  do  excellent  work,  but  it  has  over> 
stepped  its  province  and  is  ill-advised.  This  is  manifest  from 
the  questions  set  in  the  ''  examination  papers." — Lancet. 

THE  KING'S  EYCL. 

Mb.  W.  Penoellt,  of  Torquay,  furnishes  to  Notes  and  Querisg 
the  following  story  of  a  cure  far  the  King's  Evil : — "  I  was  ferried 
across  the  Dart  on  Jan.  17th  last  by  a  man  about  60  years  of 
age,  who  had  always  lived  in  the  same  village,  on  the  right  bank 
of  the   river.    He  told  me  that  in  his  childhood  he  had  the 


iSSSS^SlTKS^  notaboia.  SG9 


B0View,S6pl.l,  18tt 


*  king's  evil ;'  and  his  pajrents,  having  tried  all  the  doctors  in  the 
district,  hnt  without  the  least  advantt^e,  were  at  length  prevailed 
on  to  place  a  dead  toad  in  a  silk  catse,  and  to  cover  that  with 
broad  tape.  '  This '  said  my  informant,  '  I  pnt  on  when  I  was 
nine,  and  I  wore  it  on  the  pit  of  my  stomach,  roimd  my  neck, 
for  ten  years ;  and  it  made  a  perfect  core.  I've  to  bless  the  day 
when  I  first  wore  that  toad.' " 


THE  TBADE  IN  FALSE  FTATR, 

Haib  has  been  so  ill-treated  by  fashion  that  its  vitality  is  now 
serionaly  impaired.  What  with  the  strain  and  over-heating  duo 
to  the  blending  of  the  fiEdse  with  the  real,  the  binding,  the 
crimping,  the  curling,  and  the  dyeing,  a  vast  nmnber  of  ladiea 
have  prematurely  lost  all  or  a  great  part  of  this  graceful 
appendage  of  the  human  form  divine.  Hence  the  unwelcome 
&&on,  adopted  per  force,  of  wearing  short  hair,  as  preferable 
to  no  hair,  hias  gained  ground,  and  we  hope  the  refreshing  effect 
of  the  scissors  may  repair  some  of  the  mischief  done.  At  the 
same  time,  the  demand  for  fialse  hair  has  greatly  increased,  while 
the  supply  has  diminished  to  an  extent  qualified  as  perfectly 
alarming  by  the  West-end  coiffeurs.  Europeans  either  will  not 
sell  their  hair  or  have  no  longer  any  hair  to  sell ;  and  the  trade 
has  been  compelled  to  travel  farther  afield.  The  actual  supply 
of  false  hair  for  the  European  markets  is  now  for  the  most  part 
imported,  via  Marseilles,  from  Asia  Minor,  India,  China,  and 
Japan.  But  the  hair  imported  from  these  countries  is  almost 
invariably  black,  and  fails  utterly  to  harmonise  with  the  auburn 
and  golden  tints  that  so  well  befit  a  northern  complexion.  It 
has  tiierefore  been  found  necessary  to  boil  the  hair  in  diluted 
nitric  acid  to  deprive  it  of  its  original  colour,  and  it  can  then  be 
dyed  to  the  tint  most  in  vogue.  This  operation  has,  however, 
been  attended  with  considerable  danger  to  the  workmen  engaged 
in  this  new  handicraft.  Severe  coughs,  bronchitis,  and  olher 
accidents  were  the  natural  results  of  the  nitrous  vapour  escaping 
from  the  cauldrons  used  for  boiling  the  hair.  This  new  danger 
appears  to  have  been  first  discovered  by  Dr.  Felix,  of  Bucharest, 
and  the  Roumanian  Council  of  Hygiene  has  issued  a  circular  to 
all  members  of  the  trade  warning  them  of  the  danger,  and 
suggesting  the  necessary  precautions.  These  facts  fail  to  har- 
monise with  the  poet's  conception  that  beauty  can  draw  love  with 
a  single  hair.  The  demand  is  for  hair  by  the  ton,  and  it  is  time 
to  see  that  in  adapting  the  colour  of  Eastern  hair  to  Western 
usages  the  work  should  be  carried  out  under  proper  supervision. 
We  should  strongly  object  to  hairdressers  indulging  in  amateur 
dabbling  with  dangerous  chemicals,  especially  nitric  acid. — 
Lancet* 


570  COBBESPONBBHCE.         ""^^.^SST^ 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


TWO  CORRECTIONS— DEGREES,  PALLIATIVES. 
To  the  Editors  of  the  *'  Monthly  Homeopathic  Review.** 

Gentlemen, — On  page  446  of  the  Review  for  the  present 
month,  this  statement  occnrs  : — 

<*  With  the  exception  of  the  University  Degrees,  no  one  diploma 
gives  evidence  of  its  holder  possessing  an  average  acquaintance 
with  each  of  the  three  departments  of  the  profession." 

This  statement  is  incorrect,  as  applied  to  that  of  the  Royal 
College  of  Physicians,  of  London.  The  diploma  of  that  College 
is  thus  worded : — 

"  I.,  A.  B.,  President  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians 
of  London,  with  the  consent  of  the  Fellows  of  the  same  CoUege, 
have,  under  the  authority  given  to  us  by  Royal  Charter  and  Act 
of  Parliament,  granted  to  C.  D.,  who  has  satisfied  the  College 
of  his  proficiency,  our  license  under  the  said  Charter  to  practise 
Physic,  including  therein  the  Practice  of  Medicine,  Surgery,  and 
Midwifery;"  to  which  is  added,  ''that  such  License  is  a  legal 
authority  to  him  to  practise  Medicine,  Surgery,  and  Midwifery, 
and  to  Dispense  Medicines,  but  only  to  those  who  are  his  own 
patients.*'  And  it  certainly  cannot  be  said  of  this  College  that 
it  is  ''open  to  the  charge  of  conferring  diplomas  alter  an 
imperfect  examination  "  (p.  447). 

2nd.  On  page  487  of  the  same  number  of  the  Revieic  may 
be  found  this  paragraph : — 

"  (/,)  Nitrite  of  ainyl  is  a  better  palliative  in  the  paroxysms 
of  angina  pectoris  than  any  homoeopathically-acting  remedy." 

Surely  this  is  a  broad  assertion.  I  have,  in  one  patient, 
repeatedly  relieved  these  paroxysms  with  the  200th  potency, 
the  attacks  steadily  decreasing  in  frequency  and  severity,  indeed 
there  has  not  been  a  recurrence  since  a  slight  return  about 
November  last.  Was  not  the  medicine  homoBopathio  to  the 
disease  ? 

A  gentleman  consulted  me  on  the  81st  January  last  for 
incipient  diabetes.  The  urine  was  acid,  albuminous,  sp.  gr. 
1080,  with  some  renal  casts,  and  an  abundance  of  sugar. 
There  was  considerable  palpitation,  with  general  nervous  debilily, 
which  were  greatly  relieved  by  amyl  mtr<xte  12  and  200.  Chi 
the  81st  July  the  urine  was  free  from  albumen  (but  contained 
phosphates),  sp.  gr.  1025,  no  casts,  and  much  less  sugar.  The 
only  other  me(£cine  used  has  been  lycopodium  12  and  80.  The 
patient  now  says  he  feels  "  quite  weU.*' 

Faithfully  yours, 
London,  Aug.,  1882.  S.  Mobbisson. 


^^rsStlTSr       CORBBSPONDENCB.  671 


"  HAHNEMANNIANS/' 
To   the  Editors  of  the  Monthly  Homaopathic  Beview. 

Gentlemen, — In  your  August  number,  p.  476,  Dr.  Pope  asserts 
ihat  '*  the  Hahnemannians  would  have  us  believe  that  anything 
beyond  a  single  dose  of  such  a  dilution  of  the  most  accurately 
corresponding  medicine  is  not  only  entirely  unnecessary  for  the 
cure  of  disease,  but  is  distinctly  prejudicial  to  the  recovery  of 
the  sick.''  Perhaps  he  will  favour  me  with  the  names  of  the 
Hahnemannians  referred  to.  I  never  yet  met  with  one  who 
claimed  that  in  every  case  a  single  dose  was  sufficient ;  and  a 
repetition  of  the  dose  in  many  cases  is  exyoined  by  Hahnemann 
as  necessary. 

Dr.  Pope  further  says,  quoting  the  supposed  doctrines  of  the 
Hahnemannians,  ''An  abscess  j  however  painful  and  obvious,  must 
not  be  opened.  All  external  applications,  whether  homoeopathic 
or  simply  warm  and  soothing,  must  be  regarded  as  obnoxious." 
Where  does  Hahnemann  forbid  the  opening  of  an  abscess? 
Where  does  he  forbid  the  uses  of  "  simply  warm  and  soothing  " 
applications,  so  long  as  they  are  non-medicinal  ? 

Yours,  &c., 

4,  Highbury  New  Park,  N.  £.  W.  Bebbtoge,  M.D. 

August  12th,  1882. 

[One  of  the  chief  authorities  of  the  so-called  Hahnemanninus 
is  Dr.  lippe,  of  Philadelphia.  This  gentleman,  in  a  series  of 
amusing  papers  entitled ''  Fatal  Errors,*'  has  repeatedly  inveighed 
against  the  common  practice  of  repeating  a  medicine  at  intervals 
of  time,  the  duration  of  which  bears  a  close  relationship  to  the 
acuteness  of  disease.  The  dose  is  to  be  given  and  the  medicine 
is,  as  it  is  termed,  ''  to  be  allowed  to  act,'*  and  this,  for  any- 
thing that  is  stated  to  the  contrary,  for  an  indefinite  period. 

With  regard  to  the  opening  of  abscesses,  another  Hahne- 
mannian  authority — to  wit,  Dr.  Berridge  himself — has  asserted, 
in  the  defunct  Anglo-American  journal  called  The  Organon^ 
'*  that  in  whitlow  (and  by  analogy  in  other  cases  of  suppuration) 
it  is  not  necessary  to  evacuate  the  pus." — ^Yol.  I.,  p.  187. 
Further,  I  have  had  brought  before  me,  on  evidence  which  is 
indisputable,  a  case  of  perineal  abscess  occurring  in  the  person 
of  a  medical  friend,  in  which  a  Hahnemannian  was  consulted 
with  a  view  to  his  opening  it  at  once.  This  he  declined  to  do, 
es  being  unnecessary  and  injurious ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  in 
consultation  with  another  Hahnemannian,  he  seated  himself, 
Repertory  in  hand,  at  a  respectful  distance  from  the  bulging  pus, 
and  ''  inspected  the  premises."  Having  done  so,  and  obtained 
an  account  of  what  few  subjective  symptoms  were  present,  with 
the  aid  of  his  Repertory,  he  gave  the  patient  one  globule  of  croton 
e.m. !    A  night  of  suffering,  such  as  a  rapidly  maturing  perineal 


672  OOBBEBPONDENTS.        ^SSj^fiKT?^ 


1. 


abscess  is  well  capable  of  producing,  followed ;  and  when  the 
Hahnemannians  appeared  in  the  morning  to  see  how  the 
medicine  had  ''  acted,**  the  patient  insisted  so  strongly  on  being 
relieved  by  cold  steel  that,  under  protest,  they  yielded  and  gave 
him  that  relief  which,  as  everyone  but  a  Hahnemannian  ad- 
mits, the  bistonry  alone  can  give  in  perineal  abscess.  I 
never  said  that  Hahnemann  forbiide  the  opening  of  an  abscess. 
It  is  those  who  style  themselves  Hahnemannians  who  I  stated 
were  guilty  of  this  folly.  Neither  does  he  forbid  simple  soothing 
applications.  It  is  the  Hahnemannian  who  objects  to  aU  exteznal 
apphcations.  It  was  Dr.  Berridge,  who,  in  the  Honueopadtie 
Review  for  December,  1880,  in  disclaiming  the  use  of  any 
auxiliary,  declared  that  his  practice  was  *'  distinctively  homoeo- 
pathic and  nothing  else.**  ff  so  he  can  never  use  a  poultice  as  a 
part  of  his  treatment.  This  must  consist  in  the  administration 
of  a  homoeopathically  acting  drug  and  **  nothing  else." 

Alfbed  C.  Pofb. 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 

«%  We  cannot  tmdertake  to  return  r^eeted  manmcripts. 

Db.  M'Gonkel  Beed. — ^We  soaroely  think  that  yoa  have  so  far  made 
oat  a  claim  on  the  assistanoe  of  perBons  at  a  distanoe  in  providing  a 
homoeopathio  hospital  for  the  people  of  Southampton.  "When  the  looil 
effort  has  assured  success,  provided  a  small  addiiiooal  sum  is  raised— 
then  you  may  rightly  appeal  to  homoBopathists  elsewhere— hut  not  before. 

Gommumoations,  fto.,  have  been  received  from  I>r.  Dudosoh,  Dr.  Suss 
Hahnemann,  Dr.  BEBan>OB  and  Mr.  Cboss  Hjondon);  Dr.  Gibbs  Blasb 
(Birmingham) ;  Dr.  Bates  (Brighton) ;  Dr.  Hatwabd  (liveipool),  fto. 


BOOKS  RECEIVED. 

Afnerican  Medicinal  Plante;  an  lUuetrative  and  DeseripHve  OtUde  to 
the  American  Plantt  wed  as  Homoeopathic  Bemediei,  By  Gharles  F. 
Millspaugh,  M.D.  No.  1.  Boericke  &  Tafel.  New  Yark.^Phihui$ 
Pulmonalii,  or  Tubercular  Phthieit.  By  G.  N.  Brigham,  MJ).  New 
York:  Boeribke  A  Tafel.— TAe  HomeBopathic  World —The  Students 
Journal  and  Hotpital  Gazette. — Hie  Chendtt  and  Druggist. — Burgoffne^e 
Journal  of  Pharmacy. — The  North  American  Journal  of  HomoBopathff, — 
The  New  York  Medical  Times.— The  New  England  Medical  GatetU. — 
The  Hahnemannian  Monthly. — The  Medical  Counsellor. — The  St.  Lame 
CUnieal  Revtew.-^The  Calcutta  Journal  of  Medicine.— The  Indiem 
Homoeopathic  Beview. — VArt  MidicaL — BibUotKtque  Homaopatkique. — 
AUgemeine  Horn.  Zeitung. — Homdop.  Rundschau,  Leipsie. — El  CriteHo 
Medico. — BoleHn  Clinico  de  Madrid. — Ondopatiea  Bivista, 

Papers,  Dispensaiy  Reports,  and  Books  for  Beview  to  be  sent  to 
Dr.  Pope,  21,  Henrietta  Street,  Gavendish  Square,  W.;  Dr.  D.  Dtob 
Bbown,  29,  Seymour  Street,  Portman  Square,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  Ejoosmdy^ 
16,  Montpialier  Bow,  Blaokheath,  S.£.  Advertisements  and  Busineas 
oommunications  to  be  sent  to  Messrs.  E.  Gouu>  dt  Sol,  59,  MoorgMo- 
Street,  E.G. 


SS^foSfjjS^  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY.  578 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMCEOPATHIC    REVIEW- 


THE  LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 

FoiiLowiKG  closely  on  the  meeting  of  Congress,  which  took 
place  at  Edinburgh  on  the  7th  of  September,  comes  the 
opening  of  the  seventh  winter  session  of  the  London 
School  of  HomoBopathj.  We  maj  congratulate  ourselves 
on  the  fact  that,  aftier  this  lapse  of  time,  the  School  is  as. 
vigorous  as  ever,  and  that  excellent  work  has  been  done  in 
the  way  of  enabling  a  very  considerable  number  of 
practitioners  to  become  acquainted  with  the  principles  and 
practice  of  homoaopathio  medicine.  Some  of  these 
students  were  already  aware  of  the  meaning  of  homoao* 
pathy,  and  appreciated  its  value  over  the  old  system;  but 
it  was  at  the  School  that  they  obtained  that  instruction 
which  put  them  in  a  position  to  practise  on  the  principle 
of  similars ;  while  others  who  came,  utterly  ignorant  of 
the  meaning  of  homoeopathy,  and  only  from  curiosity,  had 
their  eyes  opened,  and  eagerly  drank  in  the  teaching 
offered  to  them.  These  were  most  regular  in  their 
attendance  at  the  lectures,  and  are  now  practising 
according  to  the  new  system,  with  enthusiasm  and  a 
success  they  never  previously  had.  Such  a  result  is  well 
worth  working  for,  and  we  are  convinced  that  every 
additional  year  of  the  existence  of  the  School  will  find  it 
stronger  and  more  vigorous.    In  all  probability,  before  the^ 

Vol  26,  Ko.  10.  3  q 


674  SCHOOL  OP  HOHCEOPATHT.   ^b^JJoS^JSSI 

present  session  is  oyer,  a  Charter  of  Incorporation  will 
have  been  obtained^  and  so  remove  the  fears  expressed  by 
not  a  few  pessimists,  that  the  School  wonld  collapse  in  no 
long  time.  Had  it  been  going  to  pass  to  an  untimely 
end,  that  event  wonld  have  taken  place  long  ere  this. 
The  comparatively  small  classes — small,  that  is,  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  folly  equipped  schools — ^mnst  not 
discourage  those  who  take  an  active  interest  in  the  well- 
being  and  progress  of  the  institution.  We  must  not 
deEfpise  '^the  day  of  small  things."  We  must  not  look  for 
impossibilities,  and  be  disappointed  when  they  are  not 
obtained.  We  have  before  now  pointed  out  that  in  Ae 
present  state  of  feeling  in  the  old  school  towards  homoeo- 
pathy, our  classes  must  be  small.  The  reasons  for  this 
are  obvious  on  a  little  consideration.  The  students  can 
only  consist  of  three  classes.  1. — ^Thoee  attending  the 
other  Schools — m  statu  pupiUairi.  2. — ^Those  who  haye 
been  recently  qualified,  and  are  firesh  from  their  studies. 
8. — Those  in  actual  practice.  The  first  class — students 
at  other  Schools  have,  or  think  they  have,  enough  to 
learn  and  work  at  without  taking  up  an  extra  subject 
Very  few  will  care  to  thus  add  to  their  necessary  work, 
while  of  those  who  would  wish  to  come  to  our  lectures, 
many  are  afraid,  and  not  unnaturally^ — albeit  we  belicYe 
^uite  needlessly — of  compromising  themselves  with  their 
oxaminers,  by  having  it  known  that  they  were  attending 
lectures  on  the  tabooed  subject.  It  is  dear  then  that 
we  can  only  expect  the  few  who  are  students  in  real 
oamest,  anxious  to  perfect  themselves  in  the  knowledge  of 
overy  means  of  cure,  and  determined  to  do  so  regardless  of 
consequences.  We  need  not  say  that  such  men  forma 
fimall  minority.  Of  the  second  class — ^those  who  hafD 
lately  left  the  Schools  and  are  qualified — the  migority,  after 
A  four  years'  course,  are  anxious  to  eam  their  living,  and 


B^rSlviS^  SCHOOL  OP  HOMEOPATHY.  575 

cannot  afford  to  devote  another  year  to  study.  Hence,  we 
cannot  expect  many  of  this  class.  There  remains  only 
the  third  class — those  actually  in  practice.  The  majority 
of  such  are  afraid  to  risk  the  loss  of  practice  involved  in 
changing  the  system  of  treatment  they  are  supposed  to 
pursue.  That  such  a  fear  always  turns  out  groundless 
we  know  fall  well,  but  still  it  exists,  and  deters  men  from 
coming  forward  to  study  homcBopathy ;  while  those  who  do 
not  thus  fear  the  result  of  the  search  afl^er  truth,  often 
find  it  difficult  to  leave  their  work  to  attend  lectures. 

We  thus  see  that  until  the  trades-union  ban  is  so  far 
removed,  our  numbers  at  the  School  must  be  limited,  and, 
therefore,  we  should  look  at  the  matter  in  a  common-sense 
light,  and  not  be  discouraged  that  our  work  does  not  appear 
more  imposing.  A  class  of  six  or  seven  attending  regularly, 
with  others  on  the  roll  who  cannot  come  so  constantly,  is 
not  to  be  despised,  and  is  a  sufficient  stimulus  to  those  who 
have  their  heart  in  their  work,  and  who  deem  it  a  privilege 
to  be  able  to  propagate  the  greatest  truth  in  medicine  ever 
discovered,  to  persevere  in  teaching  it. 

The  merits  of  the  School  are  becoming  widely  known,  and 
we  now  have  students  coming  from  the  Continent  and  from 
America,  and  we  ought  to  have  the  sympathy  and  co- 
operation of  all  who  are  really  interested  in  the  spread  of 
homoeopathy.  As  nothing  in  this  world  is  perfect,  as  no 
two  agree  as  to  what  perfection  consists  in,  there  will 
always  be  cavillers  at  the  work  done,  and  at  the  way  in 
which  it  is  done.  Friendly  criticism  is  always  salutary  and 
acceptable,  but  we  would  deprecate  unfriendly  cavilling,  as 
not  only  accomplishing  no  good,  but  as  doing  a  great  deal 
of  harm  to  the  cause,  and  discouraging  the  efforts  of  those 
who  are  doing  their  best  to  teach  the  students.  The 
teachers  can  only  put  their  students  in  what  they  consider 
to  be  the  right  path,  along  which  they  must  work  their  own 

2  Q— a 


676  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHT.  ""al^^^tsuML 

way,  and  if  by  pra;ctice  and  experience  they  can  improve  on 
what  they  hare  been  taught,  no  one  will  be  more  pleased 
than  the  lecturers  themselres.    But  there  can  be  no  doabt 
that  courses  of  systematic  lectures  on  Materia  Medica  and 
on  Practice  of  Medicine  do  materially  help  the  enquirer  in 
commencing  the  study  of  homoaopatby.  Without  them,  the 
labour  of  mastering  the  subject  is  a  very  difficult  and  slow 
operation,  and  it  is  a  very  important  thing  to  be  able  to 
lighten  the  task  of  the  beginner,  putting  him  in  a  high 
road,  instead  of  leaving  him  to  dig  out  a  path  for  himself. 
Many  who  have  had  to  do  the  latter  have  expressed  the 
wish  that  in  their  time  there  had  been  a  School,  while 
nearly  all — ^whether  student  or  practitioner — ^who  have  gone 
through  the  courses  of  lectures,  have  expressed  their  sense 
of  the  benefit  they  have  derived  from  having  their  labours 
much  simplified,  and  time  thus  saved.  Many  that  we  know 
of  have  been  deteiTcd  from  doing  more  than  glance  into 
the  Materia  Medica,  owing  to  the  magnitude  of  the  work 
of  study  required.     This  now  need  never  occur.  We  would 
then  entreat  all  those  friends  of  homoeopathy  to  support 
the  School  in  as  active  a  manner  as  is  in  their  power,  and 
if  this  be  done,  there  need  never  be  the  slightest  fear  of  its 
prosperity  and  increasing  usefulness.    We  are  happy  to 
have  to  announce  that,   this  year,  Dr.  Prateb,  whose 
liberality  in  promoting  the  good  cause  is  well  known,  has 
offered  two  prizes  of  df  10  each  to  students  attending  the 
coming  session  at  the  School,  who  pass  the  best  examina- 
tion in  Materia  Medica  and  in  Practice  of  Medicine  respec- 
tively. 

In  the  case  of  the  latter,  a  new  feature  is  to  be  added,  in 
the  shape  of  a  clinical  examination  in  the  wards  of  the 
hospital,  each  candidate  being  examined  orally  at  the  bed- 
side, and  having  to  write  out  one  case  fully,  with  the 
diagnosis  and  treatment  he  would  suggest,  giving  at  the 


iKSS^^cSTia^  SBABCH  APTBB  TRUTH.  577 

•same  time  hia  reasons  for  the  selection  of  the  medicines. 
We  shall  thus  ensure  that  the  winner  of  the  prize  shall  be 
no  mere  book  learner. 

There  can  be  no  donbt  of  the  value  of  prizes  as  stimuli 
to  work,  and  we  trust  that  Dr.  Pbatsb's  noble  example 
will  be  followed  in  subsequent  years  by  others  who  are 
able  in  this  very  practical  manner  to  encourage  the  study 
of  homoeopathy. 

The  session  is  this  year  to  be  opened  on  the  8rd  of 
October  by  the  deUyery,  by  Dr.  Dubobon,  of  the  "  Hahne- 
mann Lecture."  Dr.  Dudgeon's  position  in  the  pro- 
fession, with  his  well-known  deep  acquaintance  with  his 
subject,  renders  his  suitability  for  the  post  apparent  to  every- 
one, and  we  look  forward  to  his  lecture  as  one  of  the  events 
of  the  year.  On  Thursday,  the  6th  inst.,  Dr.  Popb  will 
.open  the  course  of  lectures  on  Materia  Medica,  with  an 
introductory  address  on  the  Definition  of  Homoeopathy; 
and  on  Friday,  the  6th,  Dr.  Dtoe  Bbowk  will  commence 
;the  course  of  lectures  on  Practical  Medicine,  with  an 
introductory  lecture  on  Homoeopathy. 

THE   SEAECH  AFTER  TRUTH.* 
By  William  V.  Dbuby,  M.D.,  M.R.I.A., 

Plnesiddnt  of  the  British  Homoeopathio  Society. 

Gentlemen. — It  is  my  pleasant  duty,  on  taking  the  chair 
at  this  Congress,  to  return  my  warm  thanks  for  tiie  honour 
you  conferred  upon  me  last  year  in  electing  me  your 
President  during  my  absence  in  Orkney,  an  absence  that 
deprived  me  of  the  pleasure  of  being  present  at  the  great 
International  Congress,  held  last  year  in  London  under  the 
able  Presidency  of  Dr.  Richard  Hughes. 

My  election  during  my  absence,  as  well  as  the  &ct  that 
Edinburgh  has  been  selected  as  our  place  of  meeting,  makes 
;the  honour  doubly  gratifying. 

«  Being  the  Presidential  Address  delivered  at  the  British  Homcsopathio 
XToDgress  held  in  Edinburgh,  September  7fth,  1882. 


678  SBABCH  AFTBB  TRUTH.  ^rSS^^oSu^ 

'  There  are,  howeyer^  few  pleasures  in  this  life  without 
some  alloy^  and  if  from  former  assooiatioiis  it  is  pleasant 
to  meet  in  Edinburgh,  yet  the  remembrance  that  many  old 
friends,  whose  memory  we  cherish,  have  passed  from 
amongst  us,  causes  pain. 

Some  of  you  gentlemen  may  be  visiting  this  grand  old 
city  for  the  first  time,  if  so  it  will  require  much  allegiance 
to  the  cause  that  brings  us  togetiber  to  secure  your 
attendance  here,  for  you  are  on  classic  ground,  every  spot 
marked  by  some  event  in  history,  the  very  houses  made 
famous  by  the  names  of  their  former  occupants. 

The  papers,  however,  that  are  to  be  read,  and  the  names 
of  those  gentlemen  that  are  to  read  them,  will  serve  as  a 
counter  attraction,  and  let  me  hope  that  after  to-day's 
business  is  ended  you  will  not  grudge  yourselves  a  fair 
amount  of  time  to  see  something  of  Edinburgh,  and  whether 
your  taste  lies  in  the  direction  of  historical  events  or  of 
natural  beauty,  they  will  be  equally  gratified.  I  know  no 
city  to  compare  with  it. 

I  am  not  a  stranger.  I  have  lived  in  Edinburgh,  and 
some  of  my  forebears  (to  use  a  Scottish  word)  have  played 
their  part  here.  But  I  must  not  talk  of  ancestors,  or  you 
will  remind  me  of  a  well  known  saying — **  When  a  man 
talks  much  of  his  ancestors,  he  reminds  me  of  a  potato,  or 
some  such  root,  the  best  part  of  him  is  underground." 

Coming  down  to  days  that  some  of  us  can  recollect,  I  can 
remember  that  here  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Dr.  Fearon, 
Dr.  Butherford  Bussell,  and  Dr.  Black,  the  two  first,  alas, 
long  since  passed  away,  the  last  happily  still  amongst  us, 
labouring  as  steadily  and  usefully  as  he  did  forty  years  ago, 
to  spread  abroad  the  truths  of  homoeopathy  which  he  had 
learned.  You  know  what  he  is  as  a  veteran ;  the  same  fire 
burned  as  brightly  in  the  young  graduate,  when  I  heard 
him  expounding  ihe  principles  of  Hahnemann's  teaching 
in  one  of  our  medical  societies  to  a  sceptical,  though  not 
inattentive  audience. 

I  can  well  remember  the  generous  ardour  with  which 
those  early  friends  pressed  home  their  opinions,  en- 
deavouring to  awaken  in  their  fellow  students  a  belief  in 
those  doctrines  that  they  themselves  had  accepted.  It  was 
the  integrity,  honesty  of  purpose,  and  thorough  reliance  in 
their  system,  that  led  me  to  treat  their  opinions  with 
respect,  though  it  was  not  till  some  years  later  that,  like 


iM^MT^Sf^  BBABCH  AFTBB  TBUTH.  679 

Aikin  Henderaon,  Bansford  and  others,  I  oame  to  share 
their  convictions. 

There  is  no  donbt  that  at  this  period  a  reyolntion  was 
QomxneDcing  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  dne  to  homoBo- 
psthy,  hardly  recognised  then,  and  not  fully  admitted  now. 
Men  learned  to  give  smaller  doses,  and  that  the  lancet 
might  be  dispens^  with. 

After  a  time  it  was  said  that  the  hnman  constitution  had 
undergone  a  change.  Sydenham  had  taught  the  possibility 
of  this,  or  something  akin  to  it,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  was  seeing  cures  effected  by  homoeopathy  that  led  men 
to  modify  their  own  doses.  Like  others,  I  learned  to  do 
with  smaller  doses  than  I  had  been  taught  to  give,  and  the 
last  patients  I  remember  bleeding  were  two  of  Professor 
Henderson's  that  one  of  his  clinical  clerks  asked  me  to 
bleed  for  him.  Marshall  Hall  helped  to  put  bleeding  out 
of  fashion  by  his  teaching. 

The  only  positive  homoeopathic  practice  that  I  then 
adopted  was  the  giving  belladonna  as  a  prophylactic ;  the 
mode  of  administering  this  I  learned  from  an  allopathic 
practice  of  medicine.  Lecturing  on  Materia  Medica  in  one 
of  the  Dublin  schools  of  medicine,  I  am  unaware  that  my 
teaching  was  further  influenced  by  what  I  had  seen,  but  I 
had  a  very  strong  suspicion  that  homceopathy  was  the  law 
that  ruled  the  action  of  specifics.  At  a  discussion  in  one 
of  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Societies,  I  had  said  that  if 
those  gentlemen  who  were  advocating  this  new  system 
merely  claimed  for  it  that  specific  medicines  (medicines 
reputed  as  cures  for  special  diseases,  as  bark  for  ague) 
acted  in  this  way,  they  would  have  less  difficulty  in 
propagating  their  opinions.  Had  I  myself  followed  up 
this  opinion  to  its  legitimate  conclusion,  or  had  I  been 
fortunate  enough  to  luive  seen  some  acute  cases  treated  at 
the  Edinburgh  Homoeopathic  Dispensary,  I  might  have 
adopted  the  teaching  of  Hahnemann  earlier.  In  later 
years  I  learned  more  of  the  true  action  of  a. specific,  and 
that  the  medicine  that  cured  a  disease  having  a  name  by 
which  it  was  recognised,  might  signally  fieui  at  another 
time  in  the  same  complaint,  simply  because  it  did  not 
fiurly  meet  the  existing  symptoms;  thus,  in  this  disease, 
ague  or  intermittent  fever,  we  may  have  to  deal  with  chill, 
heat,  perspiration,  thirst  and  other  symptoms.  The  order 
in  which  tibiese  symptoms  come,  the  predominance  of  one, 
and  indeed  the  whole  group  as  it  presents  itself  to  our 


580  SBABCH  APTBB  TBUTH.  ""l^w^fSSL^MSf 

notice^  must  regulate  our  choice  of  a  medicine,  and  not  tiie 
name  of  a  disease. 

I  need  not  tell  this  to  yon,  gentlemen,  bnt  on  an 
occasion  of  this  kind,  as  others  may  wish  to  hiow  what  we 
do  believe,  it  is  necessary  to  state  some  familiar  feu^ 
plainly.  This  mast  be  my  apology  now,  and  throughout 
this  address,  when  I  thus  briefly  touch  on  elementary  truths. 
The  want  of  a  hospital  was  a  great  hindrance  to  the 
early  teachers  of  homoeopathy  in  Edinburgh.  The  same 
want  was  felt  later  in  London,  and  led  to  the  establishment 
of  the  London  Homoeopathic  Hospital.  Nearly  two  hundred 
years  ago  a  somewhat  similar  want  led  to  what  may  be 
considered  as  the  real  foundation  of  the  famous  school  of 
medicine  that  has  now  so  long  flourished  in  Edinburgh. 

Padua,  Pisa,  Leyden,  Bome,  had  each  attracted  students 
from  other  countries,  as,  owing  to  imperfect  teaching  at 
home,  men  desirous  of  studying  medicine  had  to  go  long 
distances  to  enable  them  to  do  so.  If  inconvenient,  this 
had  its  advantages,  as  ideas  became  enlarged  and  learned 
men  met  each  other  and  were  enabled  to  make  known  their 
ideas  in  a  way  they  cotild  not  otherwise  do,  as  thought 
could  not  be  interchanged  in  those  days  as  it  is  now. 

In  1694,  the  celebrated  Dr.  Pitcaim  sought  to  obtain 
from  the  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh  permission  to  open 
the  bodies  of  those  who  died  in  Paul's  Work,  and  had 
none  to  bury  them.  He  complained  of  the  difficulties  he 
had  to  encounter,  and  says,  *^  there  is  great  opposition  by 
the  chief  surgeons^who  neither  eat  hay  nor  suffer  the  oxen 
to  eat  it.  I  do  propose,  if  this  be  granted,  to  make  better 
improvements  in  anatomy  than  have  been  made  in  Leyden 
these  thirty  years,  for  I  think  most  or  all  anatomists 
have  neglected  or  not  known  what  was  most  useful  for  a 
physician."  Pitcairn  may  have  found  some  difficulty  in 
carrying  out  this  work  himself,  for  we  find  him  connecting 
himself  with  Mr.  Alexander  Menteith,  a  member  of  the 
Corporation  .of  Surgeons,  for,  as  a  physician,  there  may 
have  been  some  professional  obstacles  that  he  could  not 
overcome.  Mr.  Menteith  received  permission  to  carry  on  his 
dissections  for  thirteen  years,  one  of  the  conditions  being 
that  he  was  to  attend  the  whole' town's  poor  gratis y  and  to 
supply  them  with  medicines  at  cost  price.  The  liberality 
of  boards,  in  the  matter  of  paying  their  medical  officers, 
seems  to  have  been  made  much  on  the  same  scale  as  in  the 
present  day. 


wS^^r^^  8BAB0H  AFTBB  TiRUTH.  681 

The  following  advertisement  from  the  Edinburgh  Gazette 
ef  May  8,  1699,  is  of  interest : — *'  Upon  Monday,  the  firc(t 
of  June  next,  at  the  laboratory  in  the  Chirorgeon  Apothe- 
caries Hall,  tiiere  will  begin  a  coorse  of  Chymie  in  which  all 
the  useful  operations  and  preparations  will  be  performed. 
The  .course  will  continue  six  weeks,  and  will  be  concluded 
with  a  short  description  of  the  whole  Materia  Medica  by 
Alexander  Menteith,  GhirurgeonApothecary  inEdinburgh.'* 
Fancy  our  friends  Dr.  Hughes,  Dr.  Pope,  or  Dr.  Dyce 
Brown,  in  their  lectures,  compressing  Allen's  ten  volumes 
into  a  six  weeks'  course. 

Some  of  the  surgeons  of  the  town  were  stimulated  into 
action,  and  they  applied  for  the  bodies  of  still-born  children. 
Suicides,  and  criminals  for  the  purpose  of  dissection. 
Their  request  was  granted  on  the  condition  that  before 
Michaelmas,  1697,  they  should  have  ready  an  anatomical 
theatre,  where  they  shall  once  a  year  (a  subject  offering) 
have  a  public  anatomical  dissection,  as  much  as  can  be 
shown  upon  one  body.  **  And  if  they  fail,  then  these  pre- 
sents to  be  null  and  void." 

Steps  were  taken  to  secure  the  community  from  infec- 
tion. The  gross  intestines  were  to  be  buried  within  forty- 
eight  hours,  and  the  whole  body  in  ten  days. 

Mr.  Menteith's  original  plan  not  succeeding,  owing 
probably  to  the  advantages  gained  by  the  corporation,  he 
was  given  four  hundred  pounds  Scots,  about  dBS8  6s.  8d. 
(a  pound  Scots  being  equal  to  one  shilling  and  eight-pence)» 
as  a  remuneration. 

It  was  not  till  1706  that  the  want  of  one  recognised 
teacher  was  sufficiently  felt  as  to  lead  to  the  induction  of 
Mr.  Robert  Elliot  as  the  first  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh.  On  his  death,  in  1714,  he  was 
succeeded  by  Mr.  Adam  Drummond,  who  had  associated 
with  him  Mr.  John  Macgill.  This  Mr.  Macgill  operated 
successfully  for  aneurism  in  the  arm.  The  operation  was 
witnessed  and  commended  by  a  young  surgeon  who  had  had 
the  best  medical  training  available  in  those  days,  and  who 
later  on  succeeded  to  the  Professorship.  This  was  the  first 
Munro.  Interesting  as  it  may  be,  I  cannot  follow  in  detail 
the  growth  of  the  Edinburgh  School,  but  briefly  lead  up  to 
what  has  a  bearing  on  the  subject  in  which  this  Congress 
is  most  interested. 

The  first  name  in  this  University  that  concerns  us  is  that 
of  William  GuUen.    Not  that  this  great  medical  luminiury 


682  BEABCH  AFTEB  TRUTH.  ^"'^SL 


BflvtoWf  O0fc>  S(  UBS* 


knew  anything  of  the  law  of  homcBopaihy^  bat  that  standing 
at  the  head  of  his  profession  as  a  teacher,  his  worhi 
attracted  the  attention  of  Samuel  Hahnemann.  Gnllen 
collected  facts,  reduced  them  to  order,  and  elaborated  a 
system  of  classification  that  has  greatly  advanced  the  study 
of  medicine,  though  increased  knowledge  of  disease  has 
called  for  changes  in  it.  Hahnemann  went  a  step  further. 
He  tried  to  find  out  the  cause  of  some  of  the  things  that 
GuUen  ntu-rated,  and  so  was  led  to  the  discoreiy  of  a  great 
truth  of  which  I  shall  have  to  speak  again. 

Black  succeeded  his  master  CuUen  in  the  ebair  of 
chemistry  in  Edinburgh,  and  by  his  researches  on  heat 
added  to  the  fame  of  the  University.  Others  followed,  the 
first  men  of  the  day  being  attracted  to  the  celebrated  School, 
but  Scotland  needed  no  foreign  aid,  her  own  sons  were 
sufScient  to  sustain  the  reputation  of  this  great  seat  of 
learning.  I  must  not  speak  of  the  classical,  theo- 
logical and  other  teachers  who  were  not  behind  their 
medical  colleagues,  but  amongst  these  last,  the  names  of 
Gregory,  and  his  famous  nephew  and  son-in-law,  Alison, 
Bell,  Syme,  Henderson,  Simpson,  and  Ghristison,  are  not 
forgotten.  The  last,  who  as  a  young  man  made  a 
European  reputation  by  his  great  work  on  poisons,  and  in 
his  dispensatory  left  a  model  tibat  it  would  be  well  for  all 
writers  on  Materia  Medica  to  copy,  has  but  departed  from 
amongst  us,  as  it  were,  yesterday.  Having  been  his 
clinical  clerk  and  laboratory  assistant,  I  was  gratified  a  few 
years  ago,  at  seeing  my  old  master  enter  the  graduatioii 
hall,  round  after  round  of  applause  showed  how  dear  the 
old  man  was  to  his  former  pupils,  and  that  the  younger 
ones  were  well  aware  of  how  great  a  man  they  had  still 
among  them. 

Time  warns  me  that  I  must  pass  on  at  once  to  the 
subject  I  have  selected  for  my  address,  '*  The  Search  after 
Truth.'' 

Eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  Pilate,  the  Boma» 
governor  of  Judaea,  asked  of  One  who  could  have  answered 
him  as  none  other  could,  ''What  is  truth?"  The  not 
waiting  for  an  answer  showed  what  an  unreal  thing  he 
thought  truth  was.  And  yet  it  is  what  the  wisest  and 
best  have  craved  for.  Theologians  and  men  of  scieno^ 
in  their  various  departments  have  striven  to  detect  ii» 
Thousands  have  perished  in  pursuit  of  it,  and  thousands 
hme  perished  for  it.     The  man  of  science  has  often  in 


2SS^5t?rS^  SBABOH  AFTBB  TBUTH.  683 

penury  and  Bolitnde  spent  long  years  in  searching  for  it. 
It  has  cheered  the  death-bed  of  many  a  dying  Christian, 
who  with  the  eagle  eye  of  fiedth  looked  upwards  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  that  inheritance  of  which  he  knew  he  was  the 
heir.  It  is  the  craving  of  every  earnest-hearted  man.  And 
''The  land  of  the  leal"  has  become  a  household  word 
throughout  our  land  since  it  has  been  familiarised  to  us  in 
the  words  of  one  of  Scotland's  sweet  songstresses, — ^the 
Baroness  Nairn. 

**  There's  nae  sonnow  there,  John, 
There's  neither  oanld  nor  care,  John, 

The  day  is  aye  fair 
In  the  land  o*  the  leal.** 

More  is  needed  than  desire  to  grasp,  and  earnest  labour 
to  acquire  truth.  Many  in  the  search  have  Mien  into  the 
greatest  erjror.  It  is  well  ever  to  bear  this  in  mind,  and  to 
remember  how  easily  we  may  be  diverted  out  of  the  right 
path.  A  truth  may  be  misapplied^  and  I  think  it  can  be 
easily  shown  that  there  are  few  great  errors  that  are  not 
based  on  some  truth.  It  may  happen  that  but  a  modicum 
of  truth  serves  as  a  basis  on  which  a  huge  superstructure 
of  error  may  be  erected ;  the  very  presence  of  a  little  truth 
serving  as  iixe  bait  to  lure  some  from  th^  right  road. 

The  very  zeal  with  which  a  truth  is  sought  becomes  a 
danger,  as  what  is  longed  for,  or  expected,  is  often  accepted 
as  a  reality  on  the  most  slender  evidence.  Medical  men 
are  very  apt  to  go  astray,  and  I  believe  those  who  seek  to 
learn  the  action  of  medicines  by  noticiug  the  symptoms 
they  produce  when  taken  by  persons  in  health  are  no 
exception.  I  was  much  struck  by  hearing  Mr.  John  Wood 
say  to  the  students  at  King's  College  Hospital,  when 
speaking  of  an  apparent  surgical  success,  ^'  but,  gentleman, 
one  or  two  cases  prove  nothing."  Caution  of  this  kind  goes 
a  long  way  in  preventing  error.  Some  years  ago  Sarracenea 
pufrpurea  was  spoken  of  as  a  wonderfoi  remedy  for  small- 
pox. Mr.  Marson,  of  the  Small-pox  Hospital,  submitted  the 
medicine  to  a  rigid  test.  He  selected  cases,  as  they  pre- 
sented themselves,  that  seemed  likely  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  events  to  die,  some  thirty-six  in  all ;  in  no  single  case 
did  the  medicine  appear  to  check  the  fatal  result.  He  con- 
dnded,  and  I  think  fairly,  tibat  if  the  medicine  had  any  of 
ihe  virtues  ascribed  to  it,  it  ought  to  have  been  of  use  in 
some  one  of  these  cases. 

To  look  in  another  direction,  what  shipwreck  some  have 


Ii84  SBABOH  AFTER  TBUTH.  '■^irjoST^St 

made  of  the  study  of  prophecy  by  arriving  at  unwarranted 
•conclusions  on  a  very  small  amount  of  what  looked  like 
evidence. 

Madame  de  Stael  said  she  did  not  believe  in  ghosts,  but 
that  she  was  very  much  afraid  of  them.  I  should  think  a 
very  trifling  circimistance  would  have  given  her  the  belief 
she  said  she  had  not  got,  and  would  have  very  considerably 
augmented  her  fears. 

Without  in  any  way  encouraging  scepticism  in  its 
ordinary  meaning,  as  wise  men,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
truth  that,  as  medical  men,  we  accept,  we  cannot  be  too 
careful  in  requiring  the  fullest  amount  of  evidence  as  to 
facts  connected  with  it. 

When  a  truth  that  we  had  not  before  noticed  is  opening 
up  to  us,  there  is  a  great  danger  of  accepting  what  appears 
to  be  a  corroboration  of  it  on  too  slight  evidence.  My 
younger  brethren  will  excuse  me  giving  a  word  of  caution 
on  this  head. 

» 

A  gentleman,  now  many  years  dead,  became  a  convert  to 
homoeopathy.  He  had  occupied  a  prominent  position  as 
an  opponent,  consequently  his  change  of  belief  caused 
some  stir.  He  issued  a  pamphlet  giving  an  account  of 
what  had  helped  to  confirm  his  opinion.  While  there  may 
have  been  more  than  enough  to  justify  him  in  the  step  he 
had  taken,  I  could  not  avoid  thinking,  on  reading  bis 
pamphlet,  that  as  he  grew  older  he  would  become  less 
sanguine  and  would  learn  that  the  success  he  had  met 
with  might  not  always  be  due  to  the  action  of  his  drags 
but  to  oUier  causes.  I  do  not  now  say  this  to  censure  one 
who  cannot  defend  himself,  but  who,  had  he  lived,  would 
no  doubt  have  taken  a  prominent  place  amongst  us,  and 
probably  would  have  joined  with  me  in  warning  you 
against  the  rock  upon  which  he  had  run,  and  on  whidi  I 
have  no  doubt  I  myself  have  done  the  same. 

I  can  but  very  cursorily  glance  at  the  search  for  truth  in 
its  scientific  aspect,  and,  indeed,  only  briefly  at  it  in  its 
medical  bearings. 

By  the  word  truth,  as  I  seek  to  apply  it,  I  mean  the 
recognition  of  all  known  scientific  laws,  and  of  all  estab- 
lished scientific  facts. 

Thus,  I  would  say,  that  when  the  Atlantic  Cable  was 
broken,  and  lay  many  hundred  feet  deep  at  the  bottom  of 
iihe  Atlantic,  it  was  true  science  that  enabled  those  in 
•charge  of  the  expedition  to  return  to  the  exact  spot  to  find 


Ifa^yHonwBoprthio   gB^HOH  APTBB  TBUTH.  686 


Beview,  Oot.  3, 1861. 


it,  and  theiiy  by  the  perfection  of  their  appliances,  raise  it 
on  board  the  ship,  make  a  splice,  and  open  commnnica- 
tions  with  the  shore. 

The  completion  of  Telford's  suspension  bridge  over  the 
Menai  Strait  was  in  its  day  a  great  engineering  trinmph, 
as  was  also  the  still  greater  feat  of  the  laying  the  tubnlar 
bridge  across  the  same  Strait;  the  last  needing  all  the 
skill  of  Eaton  Hodgkinson  to  make  those  true  calculations 
as  to  the  strength  of  the  iron,  that  enabled  Robert  Stephen- 
son to  accomplish  the  great  undertaking  that  has  since 
then  conveyed  thousands  of  trains  across  in  safety. 

It  was  the  failure  of  making  true  calculations,  as  well  as- 
faulty  material,  that  led  to  the  disaster  at  the  Tay  Bridge, 
and  tiie  making  of  which  correctly  has  saved  the  light  but 
elegant  bridge  made  by  Brunei  over  the  river  at  Saltash,. 
near  Plymouth. 

Science  has  not  been  equally  felicitous  in  all  her 
branches,  though  great  truths  have  been  developed,  and  in 
our  day  the  unrolling  of  them  has  advanced  at  express 
speed. 

Going  back  to  the  early  history  of  the  world  we  find 
the  Babylonians  laying  the  foundation  of  the  study  of 
astronomy,  mapping  out  the  heavens,  naming  the  constel- 
lations, and  discovering  that  there  were  true  and  unerring 
laws  guiding  all  the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 
And  yet  with  all  this  knowledge  that  should  have  led  them 
to  recognise  a  divine  head  overruling  all,  how  rapidly  they 
sunk  into  the  grossest  error,  and  forgot  God,  the  great 
Creator. 

Again,  in  those  early  ages,  we  find  the  Egyptians  re- 
nowned for  their  learning,  yet,  like  the  rivsd  kingdom, 
accepting  the  most  revolting  form  of  worship,  and  in  the 
end  degenerating  from  all  their  ancient  grandeur. 

Piazzi  Smith,  the  Astronomer  Boyal  of  Scotland,  has,  in 
his  deeply  interesting  book.  Our  Inheritance  in  the  Great 
Pyramidy  shown  how  this  wondrous  structure  difiers  from 
all  other  Egyptian  buildings  ;  how  measurements  and 
calculations  may  be  made  from  it,  that,  if  his  conjectures 
are  right,  show,  as  he  says,  that  either  its  builder  was 
divinely  inspired,  or  that  in  those  days  an  amount  of 
knowledge  was  possessed  greater  than  we  now  enjoy.  It  is 
interesting  to  know  that  the  calculations  of  the  sun's  dis- 
tance from  the  earth,  based  on  the  information  obtained 
from  the  pyramid  measurements,  comes  nearer  what  we  now 


686  SEABOH  APTBB  TBUTH.  "1SSSL?S2??^ 


Beriew,  Oct.  2,  Ifltt. 


think  approximates  to  the  truth 'than  the  measnrementa 
formerly  given. 

Spectrum  analysis  has  opened  up  a  new  field  of  truth. 
Thus,  gases,  especially  hydrogen,  and  metals,  such  as 
sodium,  iron,  calcium,  magnesium  and  others  have  be^i 
demonstrated  as  existing  in  the  vapouiy  atmosphere  sur- 
rounding the  sun. 

By  this  newly  discovered  agency,  a  portion  as  small  as 
the  one  five-millionth  part  of  a  grain  may  be  detected.    To 
us  this  is  of  interest,  as  supporting  what  we  have  so  long 
contended  for,  that  matter  was  capable  of  division  to  an 
extent  of  which  we  could  form  no  comprehension.  Ordinary 
means  give  us  some  idea  of  this.    The  6th  decimal  dilution 
of  musk,  or  the  100,000th  part  of  a  grain,  is  readily  recog- 
nised.    And  when  we  know  that  musk  will  scent  a  drawer 
for  years,  and  unpleasantly  influence  a  susceptible  person 
long  after  the  original  particle  has  been  removed,  we  may 
ask  what  is  the  quantity  that  effects  this.    Again,  what  is 
the   quantity  of  scarlet  fever  poison  that  will    produce 
disease?     These  questions   are  more  easily  asked  than 
answered,  but  it  is  well  they  should  be  thought  about.    In 
an  interesting  paper  by  Dr.  Bamsbotham  of  Leeds,  in 
reply  to  a  letter  in  the  Leeds  Mercurj/y  he  mentions  that 
'^  Dr.  Burden  Sanderson  has  discovered  ^in  vaccine  lymph 
small  particles  of  less  than  the  20,000th  of  an  inch  in  size, 
and  for  vaccination  to  be  successful,  one  at  least  of  these 
particles   must  be  introduced  under  the  skin."     While 
speaking  of  the  action  of  small  quantities,  I  may  refer  to 
a  statement  of  Darwin's,  quoted  by  Dr.  Galley  Blacklej. 
''  It  is,"  says  he,  ''an  astonishing  fact,  on  which  I  will  not 
here  again  enlarge,  that  so  inconceivably  minute  a  quanti^ 
as  one  20,000,000th  of  a  grain  of  phosphate  of  amTtumia 
should  induce  some  changes  in  a  gliuid  of  drosera  suiBici^it 
to  cause  a  motor  impulse  to  be  sent  down  the  whole  length 
of  the  tentacle;    this  impulse  exciting  movement  often 
through  an   angle  of  above  180  degrees.    I  know  not 
whether  to  be  most  astonished  at  this  fact,  or  that  the 
presence  of  a  minute  bit  of  hair,  supported  by  a  dense 
secretion,  should  quickly  cause  comprdiensive  movement." 
(Insectivorous  Plcmts,  by  C.  Darwin,  M.A.,  F.R.S.) 

Just  now  electrici^  bids  fair  to  cause  as  wondrous  a 
change  as  the  locomotive  did  in  its  day.  Other  agencies, 
such  as  compressed  air,  or  compressed  gases,  may  yet  com- 
pete with  steam  and  electricity  in  the  purposes  to  whidx 


SlSS^^"j?iSf^    SBABOH  AFTBB  TBTJTH.  587 


ihey  are  applied.  Upwards  of  forty  years  ago  the  late 
Mr.  Kemp  showed  what  enormous  power  existed  in  com- 
pressed gases.  All  we  then  needed,  as  we  still  do,  was 
to  know  how  to  ntilise  it. 

Geology  is  accnmnlating  fresh  facts,  and  paleontology  is 
opening  np  new  snhjects  of  interest,  the  tmths  connected 
with  which  we  have  yet  to  search  for.  Bemains  of  animal 
life  are  now  found  in  rocks  where  they  were  not  known  to 
exist.  The  traces  of  Eozoon  Ganadense,  found  in  rocks 
helow  the  Cambrian,  described  by  Dawson,  shows  how  fiEU* 
we  have  gone  in  this  direction.  The  smallness  of  the  brains 
of  mammals  of  the  tertiary  period,  and  of  birds  of  the  cre- 
taceous period,  has  attracted  notice.  The  Titanosaurus 
found  in  the  Jurassic  beds  of  Colorado  is  another  creature 
of  a  bygone  age  to  which  modem  exploration  has  introduced 
us.  We  may  be  glad  not  to  have  this  beastie,  one  hundred 
feet  long  and  thirty  high,  wandering  at  large,  unless  we 
oould  turn  his  gigantic  force  to  account  and  make  him  work. 
Had  he  been  in  existence  we  could  better  appreciate  the 
fMe  of  the  cock  standing  in  the  dark  in  a  stable  with 
horses,  who  thus  addressed  them :  **  My  friends,  I  think 
we  had  better  stand  still  for  fear  of  treading  on  each  others 
feet." 

The  recent  discovery  of  salt  in  Cleveland,  will  be  the 
means  of  opening  up  a  new  industry  in  that  district,  thus 
turning  scientific  exploration  to  good  practical  account. 

The  recent  adoption  of  a  method  of  storing  fodder, 
practised  in  parts  of  France  and  America,  bids  fair  to  be  a 
source  of  wealth  to  the  farmer  in  enabling  him  to  supply  a 
greatly  increased  number  of  cattle  with  food.  It  is  called 
ensilage.  Trenches  several  feet  deep  are  dug,  and  lined 
with  brickwork,  oement  or  concrete.  The  fodder  containing 
all  its  moisture  is  chopped,  and  buried  in  these  pits  or  Mas. 
The  whole  is  then  covered  up  with  boards,  felt  and  earth. 
When  opened  the  fodder  is  found  to  retain  its  freshness  and 
purity. 

It  is  to  be  lamented  that  the  discovery  of  another  truth 
that  would  largely  benefit  the  farmer  is  so  long  delayed.  I 
refer  to  the  best  mode  of  utilising  our  sewage,  as  there  can 
he  no  question  as  to  the  fatal  mistake  of  our  present  system, 
whereby  our  rivers  are  polluted,  our  healtii  injured,  and 
enormous  quantities  of  fertilising  material  wasted.  Surely 
it  would  be  better  to  retain  the  sewage  for  the  use  of  the 
laad,  even  at  a  present  loss,  than  go  on  as  we  are  doing. 


688  SBABOH  AFTEB  TBUTH.  ^El^?oS'?Mtt! 


There  are  many  difficulties  that  have  to  be  oyeroome  in 
other  directions.  Thus,  how  to  restore  some  beauty  to  the 
fields  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  by  getting  rid  of  the 
tall  factory  chimneys,  while  the  fiEu^tories  themselves  are 
made  .more  healthy  and  pleasant-looking  to  the  eye,  is  well 
worthy  of  attention.  Hitherto  the  beautiful  has  had  to 
give  way  to  the  utilitarian.  Our  efforts  should  be  to  secure 
all  the  advantages  we  can  from  each. 

Modem  research  is  everywhere  opening  up  new  fields  of 
investigation,  in  which  much  truth  may  be  learned.  But 
has  the  time  come  for  founding  systems  as  if  they  were 
undeniably  true,  on  the  facts  and  suppositions  that  are 
brought  before  us  from  day  to  day  ?  Embryology  is  a  new 
study,  but  already  men  are  jumping  to  conclusions  that 
they  may  have  soon  again  to  give  up.  Is  this  likely  ta 
advance  truth  ?  I  would  recall  the  admonition,  "  ^tove 
all  things,  hold  fast  that  which  is  good." 

Let  us  see  how  some  of  these  discoveries  affect  us. 

The  changes  that  occur  in  certain  forms  of  animal  life, 
and  these  influencing  disease,  become  of  importance.  Thus 
the  fluke  causing  rot  in  sheep,  and  existing  at  one  part  of 
its  career  in  snsols  and  slugs,  is  a  truth  that  it  is  well  to 
know,  and  may  yet  be  turned  to  practical  account. 

Again,  the  discovery  of  new  forms  of  microscopic  life, 
capable  of  inducing  disease,  leads  to  greater  care.  The 
discovery  made  some  years  ago  that  fermentation  was  due 
to  vegetable  life,  has  been  followed  by  the  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  germs  of  animal  life  floating  in  our 
atmosphere  may  give  rise  to  unhealthy  action  when  they 
come  in  contact  with  open  wounds.  This  knowledge  led 
Mr.  Lister,  then  of  Edinburgh,  to  seek  for  some  means  of 
destroying  these  germs,  and  on  this  his  famous  antiseptic 
treatment  is  founded. 

The  Bacillus  Anthracis  it  is  now  known  produces  splenic 
fever,  communicable  to  man  (the  wool-sorter's  disease). 
Cattle  inoculated  with  matter  containing  the  Bacillus  are 
found  to  be  protected  from  the  disease. 

Koch,  of  Berlin,  has  shown  that  tubercle  owes  its  origin 
to  a  form  of  Bacilli,  and  that  he  can  produce  tubercle  in 
animals.  All  this  is  leading  towards  inoculation  as  a  pre- 
ventive remedy,  but  as  it  is  a  dangerous  one  to  experiment 
with,  we  can  hardly  see  as  yet  what  practical  truth  may  be 
developed  from  it. 
I  would  guard  myself  from  being  supposed  for  one 


SSS^<S??Sb?^  sbaboh  afteb  truth.  589 

moment  in  this  to  say  a  word  against  vaccination.  I  do  not 
like  compnlsory  vaccination  as  at  present  carried  out,  but 
of  the  blessing  that  inoculation  first,  and  latterly  vaccina- 
tion, has  been  to  mankind,  I  have  not  a  shadow  of  doubt. 
It  is  hard  to  say  in  what  direction  knowledge  is  not  advanc- 
ing, and  curious  facts  coming  under  our  observation.  Thus 
it  has  been  for  a  long  time  recognised  that  trees  may  be 
attacked  with  diseases  akin  to  those  affecting  animals,  such, 
lor  example,  as  ulcer  and  dropsy. 

In  searching  for  truth  many  pitfalls  lie  around  us,  one 
that  I  would  especially  say  a  woi^  of  warning  about  is  the 
being  led  astray  by  a  great  man.  Few  men  are  great  ^^  all 
round/'  but  the  more  we  admire  the  brilliant  genius  of  any 
man,  the  greater  the  risk  of  adopting  his  errors*  It  is 
very  noticeable  in  politics,  it  is  equally  so  in  religion,  and 
if  a  great  man  goes  wrong  what  a  number  are  apt  to  follow 
in  his  wake ;  hence  narrow  views,  and  sectarianism.  Medical 
men  are  no  exception.  One  man  sees  something  of  the 
same  disease  in  every  case  he  meets.  Another  wages  war 
against  some  particular  food;  another  always  orders  it. 
But  let  some  leader  order  patients  to  a  particular  locality, 
and  then  up  springs  a  host  of  imitators;  yesterday  it  was  a 
warm  dry  climate,  to-day  it  is  up  in  the  mountains — ^the 
wonder  is  we  have  not  got  a  limited  liability  company  for 
an  hotel  on  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc.  It  is  in 
medicines  that  fashion  is  so  much  followed.  A  drug  that 
every  one  is  taking  at  one  time  will  after  a  run  be  neglected 
and  then  almost  forgotten,  simply  because  instead  of  being 
given  in  selected  cases  it  is  administered  indiscriminately. 

This  does  not  advance  truth,  and  is  a  great  evil  in 
allopathic  practice,  happily  it  is  one  but  little  felt  where 
medicines  are  selected  in  accordance  with  the  homoeopathic 
law. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  error  in  one  direction  will 
retard  the  growth  of  truth  in  another. 

I  have  alluded  to  the  Babylonians  as  learned  in 
astronomy.  In  many  ways  they  were  a  great  nation. 
Under  great  dif&culties  they  formed  libraries.  To  convey 
their  ideas  they  used  the  cuneiform  or  wedge-shaped 
characters.  These  were  stamped  upon  clay  tablets  that 
were  afterwards  hardened  by  fire.  Learned  men  of  the 
present  day  are  getting  to  know  much  more  about  this 
people  by  deciphering  their  writing.  Notwithstanding 
their  greatness  in  some  things,  they  had  a  degraded  form 

VoL  26,  Ko.  10.  2  b 


690  SEARCH  AFTEB  TBUTH.  ^''bS&JJoSuSml 

*  '  ' 

of  religion  which  was  an  effectual  barrier  to  anything  that 
would  emancipate  the  mind.  Their  knowledge  of  medicine 
suffered  as  a  natural  consequence.  Sorceiy,  witchcraft^ 
with  all  their  abominable  superstitions  took  the  place  of 
what  was  true  and  good,  and  portents  and  omens  were  their 
guide  in  difficulties.  Thus  we  read  in  the  prophet  Ezekiel 
xxi.>  21  **  For  the  king  of  Babylon  stood  at  the  parting 
of  the  way,  at  the  head  of  the  two  ways  to  use  divination : 
he  made  his  arrows  bright,  he  consulted  with  images,  he 
looked  in  the  liver." 

To  some  minds  charms  and  occult  ways  hsve  an  attrac- 
tion, but  where  truth  runs  counter  to  these  as  it  must  do, 
it  can  make  no  growth  till  they  are  oast  aside.  In  the 
history  of  Greece  and  Rome  we  find  there  were  some  men 
who  strove  to  free  themselves  from  the  superstitious  belief 
of  the  multitude.  What  happened  in  religion  most  pro- 
bably happened  in  medicine,  for  we  find  some  progress 
made.  Xhe  names  of  Hippocrates,  Dioscorides,  Ceisus, 
Galen,  AretsBus,  and  others,  stand  out  as  luminaries 
lighting  up  a  dark  sky,  but  they  lacked  that  collateral 
knowledge,  and  appliances  that  we  have  in  modem  days, 
which  retarded  their  advance. 

The  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  gave  a  great 
help  to  surgery,  but  it  is  not  till  we  come  close  on  our  own 
time  that  many  of  those  aids  that  we  are  now  perfectly  &mi* 
liar  with  were  discovered.  Laennec,  wishing  to  hear  the 
sounds  of  the  heart  in  a  case  where  he  could  not  conveniently 
apply  his  ear,  rolled  up  a  sheet  of  paper  into  a  tubular 
shape  and  used  it  to  hear  through,  this  led  to  his  intro- 
ducing the  stethoscope  in  1816.  It  rapidly  came  into  use, 
but  perhaps  by  none  was  it  turned  to  better  account  than 
by  Louis  and  Stokes.  Mistakes  have  been  made  with  this 
instrument,  but  that  is  the  fault  of  the  individual  in  not 
understanding  better  what  the  stethoscope  conveys  to  him. 

Akin  to  the  stethoscope  is  the  thermometer,  which  tells 
us  some  most  important  truths  about  disease.  Indeed  ita 
value  cannot  be  over-rated.  It  was  long  suspected  that  the 
thermometer  might  tell  us  much,  but  it  was  not  till  an 
instrument  was  constructed  that  could  be  taken  away  from 
the  patient  and  read  at  leisure  that  what  iti  was  able  to 
teach  could  be  turned  to  good  account. 

The  sphygmograph  is  one  of  the  latest  inventions,  and 
is  on  its  trial.     Our  colleague,  Dr.  Dudgeon,  has  con^ 


iSrtSl^S'nBS?^  SBAROH  AFTEB  TBUTH.  691 

stracted  one  of  these  instraments  that  haB,  I  belieye,  met 
with  a  considerable  amoont  of  approval. 

Other  instnunents  for  aiding  diagnosis  have  been  intro- 
dacedy  some  that  haye  been  of  much  use,  and  some  that  are 
capable  of  being  Very  misohieyonsly  applied. 

The  microscope  has  been  considerably  improved,  and  has 
taught  ns  some  truths  relating  to  minute  anatomy  and 
diseased  structore.  It  was  in  this  city  that  the  first  lectures 
connected  with  this  instrument  were  given  by  Dr.  Hughes 
Bennett,  a  course  I  attended,  and  where  I  had  the  advantage 
of  making  the  necessary  demonstrations  for  the  lectures. 

The  discovery  of  the  use  of  ether  as  an  anasthetic  by 
Mr.  Horace  Wells  has  been  the  means  of  relieving  an 
enormous  amount  of  human  Bufferings  and  has  been  of 
immense  help  to  surgery.  The  extended  application  of 
chloroform  by  the  late  Sir  James  Simpson  has  also  been  a^ 
great  boon  to  suffering  humanity. 

Some  great  surgicaJ  truths  have  been  brought  to  light,, 
and  operations  are  now  daily  successfully  performed  that  but 
a  very  short  time  ago  would  not  have  been  undertaken 
without  the  greatest  trepidation.  I  allude  to  ovariotomy. 
Another  class  of  operations,  where  the  peritoneal  cavity 
may  also  require  to  be  opened,  may  be  found  less  formid- 
able than  is  thought,  if  they  be  performed  sufficiently  early. 

Still,  with  all  the  advances  of  modem  days,  a  want  has 
been  felt  of  some  system  that  would  at  once  place  the 
practice  of  medicine  on  a  scientific  basis. 

No  ordinary  practice  of  medicine  supplies  this  want. 
The  symptoms  of  a  disease,  and  the  course  it  is  likely  to- 
run,  may  be  given  accurately,  but  as  to  any  fixed  rule  to 
guide  the  treatment  there  is  none.  The  only  approach  to 
unanimity  is  where  specific  remedies  are  used,  such  as 
quinine  for  ague,  opium  for  delirium  tremens,  &c.,  but  a 
satisfactory  explanation  of  how  these  act  is  wanted,  and 
their  usefulness  in  the  cases  in  which  they  are  given  is  no 
help  as  to  how  they  should  be  used  in  other  forms  of  disease. 

The  late  Dr.  George  Gregory's  practice  of  medicine  was 
the  standard  authority  till  it  was  superseded  by  Sir  Thomas 
Watson's  some  thirty-five  or  forty  years  ago.  I  once  asked 
Dr.  Gregory  to  allow  me  to  issue  a  new  edition  of  his  book, 
bringing  it  up  to  the  requirements  of  some  thirty-two  years 
ago.  He  very  wisely  said  no,  that  his  book  would  show 
what  the  practice  of  medicine  was  in  his  day,  and  he  would 
rather  leave  it  so.    Sir  Thomas  Watson's  book,  followed. 

8 


692  SEARCH  AFTER  TRUTH.  "^aJS^f^oSL^MfflL 

by  Aitken's,  were  great  improyements  on  Qr^ory;  tbej 
marked  a  great  step  forward  in  improved  knowledge  <^ 
disease,  but  made  no  approach  to  a  sound  therapeutic  law. 

Dr.  Hodgkin's  book  on  the  mucous  and  serous  mem- 
branes was  an  attempt  to  improve  our  knowledge  of  disease, 
and  was  followed  by  Billing's  Principles  of  Medicine  and 
Alison's  Pathology  and  Medicine.  But  sJl  these,  thoi^h 
clearly  pointing  to  the  great  want  that  was  felt»  and  though 
much  appreciated  by  thoughtful  students,  fsdled,  as  Watson's 
and  Aitken's  that  came  out  after  them  did. 

Dr.  Hughes  Bennett's  book  was  a  good  attempt  in  a  new 
direction,  but  like  all  the  others,  it  merely  helped  in  making 
us  better  acquainted  with  disease,  but  the  same  want  of  a 
true  law  to  guide  in  the  administration  of  medicine  showed 
that  it  was  no  real  advance,  and  already  the  book  is  dropping 
out  of  memory. 

The  want  I  speak  of  must  have  been  often  sorely  felt  by 
searchers  after  truths  and  by  none  more  keenly  than  by 
Samuel  Hahnemann,  a  native  of  Meissen  in  Saxony,  who, 
practising  towards  the  close  of  last  century  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Leipsic,  felt  so  dissatisfied  with  the  unscientific 
condition  of  the  practice  of  medicine  that  he  thought  of 
abandoning  his  profession.  Having,  however,  to  provide  for 
the  wants  of  his  family  in  "  the  battle  of  life,"  he  had  to 
use  his  brains  to  obtain  his  daily  bread.  At  this  time  he 
was  asked  to  translate  Cullen's  Materia  Medica  from 
English  into  German,  and  reading  there  an  account  of  the 
action  of  Jesuit's  bark,  or  cinchona,  in  ague,  he  asked 
himself  the  question,  why  does  this  medicine  cure  ague  ? 
Not  knowing  how  to  answer  his  own  question,  he  resolved 
to  try  and  find  an  answer.  Happily  he  sought  in  the 
direction  of  noticing  the  e£fect  of  cinchona  when  taken  in 
health.  To  his  surprise,  he  found  it  produced  symptoms 
similar  to  those  it  was  said  to  cure.  Further  investigation 
showed  him  that  many  remedies  reputed  as  cures  for 
different  diseases  were  apt  to  produce  symptoms  similar  to 
those  they  cured.  He  had  found  the  key  that  fitted  the 
lock,  and  the  discovery  of  homoBopathy,  or  like  curing  like, 
in  the  treatment  of  disease  was  the  result. 

It  must  not  be  expected  that  every  healthy  person  taking 

'bark  will  suffer  from  symptoms  of  ague ;  some  may  suffer 

instead  from  severe  congestive  headache  or  other  symptoms; 

medicines  do  not  affect  everyone  in  exactly  the  same  way« 

'o,  likewise,  a  number  of  persons  may  drink  impure  milk 


mS^oSkS£^  sbabch  aftbb  tbuth.       698 

or  water,  only  a  certain  nnmber  may  in  consequence  suffer 
from  typhoid  or  a  choleraic  attack. 

When  Hahnemann  made  his  great  discovery  known  it 
was  receiyed  with  coldness,  and  is  to  this  day  rejected  by 
the  larger  portion  of  the  medical  profession,  who  still 
experience  the  want,  the  remedy  for  which  is  within  their 
reach.    It  reminds  me  of  what  was  told  at  a  reviyal 
meeting.    A  ship  arriyed  off  the  coast  of  South  America 
in  great  distress  from  want  of  water.    Meeting  another 
ship,  they  mentioned  their  want ;  the  reply  was,  ^'  lower 
your  buckets  into  the  sea.''     They  did  so,  and  found  they 
had  abundance  of  what  they  wanted  around  them :  they 
were  in  the  track  of  the  mighty  Amazon,  whose  waters  are 
carried  out  a  long  distance  before  they  mingle  with  those 
of  the  ocean.    Had  Hahnemann  rested  content  with  the 
discoyeiy  of  ''like  curing  like," ''  wmiiia  rimUibvs  curantur,'* 
his  doctrine  might  gradually  have  made  its  way,  as  there 
was  nothing  in  it  to  shock  the  prejudices  of  medical  men. 
But  he  laid  down  a  rule  that  only  one  medicine  should  be 
given  at  a  time.     This  was  not  imreasonable,  but  finding 
tiiat  medicines  given  in  ordinary  doses  were  very  apt  to 
produce  a  group  of  fresh  symptoms  while  they  cured  o^ers, 
he  tried  the  effect  of  giving  smaller  doses,  and  found  he 
lost  nothing  by  so  doing.     Those  who  have  felt  uncom- 
fortable effects  from  taking  iron  for  some  time,  or  who 
have  taken  much  iodine,  or  been  salivated  by  mercury^  or 
had  their  skin  permanently  discoloured .  by  the  action  of 
nitrate  of  silvery  can  bear  testimony  to  the  fact  that  medi- 
cines can  do  harm  as  well  as  good,  and  if,  unhappily,  the 
harm  follows  and  not  the  good,  as  sometimes  happens, 
the  giving  the  smaller  dose  would    be    an    undoubted 
advantage. 

Once  Hahnemann  found  a  small  dose  answer,  he  was  led 
on  to  make  a  further  reduction,  and  see  how  small  a  dose 
would  cure.  An  allopath  may  at  once  exclaim,  I  cannot 
believe  in  this,  because  I  know  a  certain  quantity  is  needed 
to  produce  a  certain  effect.  I  cannot  induce  vomiting  with 
less  than  a  given  quantity  of  ipecacuanha.  That,  I  may 
say,  is  perfectly  true,  but  you  forget  our  medicines  are 
given  on  a  totally  different  principle.  I  do  not  want  to 
induce  vomiting,  but  I  want  to  allay  the  sensation  of  sick* 
ness,  therefore  I  give  a  medicine  that  I  know  would  pro* 
duce  vomiting  in  larger  doses,  and  by  so  doing  I  hope  to 
remove  the  feeling  of  nausea.    And  it  is  simply  because 


094  8EABCH  AVTEB  TBUTH.  '^^^Sl^^a^s^ 

iUness  eziBts  that  my  fimall  dose  acts,  it  has  something  to 
deal  withy  to  which  it  is  hostile ;  did  this  not  exist,  my 
dose  is  so  small  that  it  wonld  not  be  likely  to  produce  any 
deleterious  action. 

Hahnemann  did  reduce  his  doses  so  much  that  I  think 
the  greatest  allowance  ought  to  be  made  for  those  who 
opposed  him.  In  our  day  it  is  different.  Things  are  now 
accepted  as  truths,  that,  if  believed  in  formerly,  would  have 
made  those  who  let  their  belief  be  known  candidates  for 
lunatic  asylums. 

I  need  not  repeat  what  I  have  already  said  about  speo- 
trum  analysis  and  other  discoveries  of  our  day,  but  in  the 
face  of  these  what  Hahnemann  taught  about  the  small 
dose  ceases  to  be  so  strange.  The  simple  question  at 
issue  is,  do  the  small  doses  act  curatively,  or  do  they  not? 
Thousands  of  witnesses  assert  that  they  do,  but  thousands 
of  witnesses  may  believe  an  untruth ;  it  has  been  so,  and 
may  be  so  again.  We,  however,  do  not  rest  on  mere 
assertion,  we  ask  our  professional  brethren  to  come  and 
judge  of  these  things  for  themselves.  They  can  witness 
our  treatment  in  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  and  where  it 
can  be  done  I  am  sure  my  professional  brethren  wonld 
gladly  let  an  enquirer  see  something  of  his  private  practice. 
Where  those  who  oppose  us  hear  of  cholera,  pneumonia, 
and  other  serious  diseases  being  treated  successfally  they 
lose  a  golden  opportunity  of  not  seeing  for  themselves 
whether  this  is  so  or  not. 

Still,  I  think  every  allowance  should  be  made  for  our 
opponents ;  we  know  how  hard  it  was  for  ourselves  to 
acc^t  what  Hahnemann  taught,  we  know  that  he  was  not 
in&llible,  and  that  some  of  his  utterances  may  have  been 
too  hasty,  though  of  his  general  principles  we  may  have  no 
question.  We  know  that  in  our  own  body  there  are  divi- 
sions; that  the  very  small  dose  is  looked  upon  with 
disfavour  by  some,  while  those  who  give  the  larger  doses 
are  very  strongly  condenmed  by  the  small  dose  men.  I 
may  be  pardoned  for  giving  my  own  experience  in  this 
matter.  I  have  seen  extraordinary  results  from  the  small 
dose,  I  have  seen  moQt  gratifying  results  from  larger  ones. 

At  one  period  of  my  career  my  leanings  were  in  fsivour  of 
the  small  dose.  I  tested  it  fairly,  and  was  satisfied  with 
the  results.  When  suffering  severely  from  illness  con- 
tracted from  a  child  that  died  of  diphtheria,  I  was  treated 
^vith  the  most  minute  doses,  so  that  in  this  I  gave  hostages 


iKS^iSlT?^  SEABOH  APTBB  TRUTH.  595 

for  my  conyictionB.  As  time  rolled  on  I  saw  the  diffionltj 
that  existed  in  connection  with  the  small  dose.  A  long 
time  was  often  needed  in  the  selection  of  a  remedy.  Some 
of  those  who  nsed  the  small  doses  went  to  great  extrava- 
gances, and  things  were  done  that  unnecessarily  tried  the 
faith  of  some.  Then  again  there  was  the  danger  of  not 
haying  the  confidence  that  was  needed  in  the  way  the  medi- 
cine was  prepared,  for  however  upright  and  careful  the  head 
of  a  pharmaceutic  firm  may  be — and  I  am  proud  to  say  that 
amongst  our  chemists  there  are  men  of  probity  and  worth  in 
whom  we  can  place  the  fullest  confidence — ^yet,  as  any  dere- 
liction on  the  part  of  a  subordinate,  either  in  a  homosopathic 
-or  allopathic  pharmacy  (and  we  know  that  others  may  suffer 
as  well  as  ourselves),  may  be  followed  by  serious  con- 
sequences, it  is  better  to  avoid  the  risk  of  such  as  much 
as  possible.  Preparing  our  own  medicines,  or  having  a 
guarantee  that  they  are  prepared  by  the  heads  of  firms, 
ensures  safety.  But  if  the  same  results  can  be  obtained 
from  less  highly  diluted  medicines,  the  patient,  the  chemist, 
and  we  ourselves  are  gainers.  Anxious  to  settle  this 
question  for  myself,  I  tested  different  strengths  of  medicines 
over  a  long  period  of  time,  and  was  so  far  satisfied  with 
results,  that  though  I  might  in  the  case  of  some  medicines 
use  them  more  highly  diluted  than  others,  yet  on  the  whole 
I  was  quite  satisfied  with  the  results  obtained  from  medi- 
cines approaching  tangible  quantities,  ranging  chiefly  from 
12  X  or  6  to  1 X.  I  speak  of  12  x,  but  according  to  the  rule 
in  the  pharmacopoeia,  this  should  be  6.  I  should  have  been 
glad  to  have  made  it  12  x  in  our  new  edition,  but  the  rule 
having  been  adopted  it  was  thought  better  not  to  change 
again.  Let  me  say  here  that  adopting  such  doses  did  not 
lead  me  to  run  down  the  higher  dilutions,  or  say  that  in  the 
Lands  of  a  man  like  mv  friend  Dr.  David  Wilson  they  may 
not  produce  great  results.  But  to  follow  those  who  carried 
high  dilutionism  to  the  lengths  some  in  this  country  and 
some  in  America  had  done,  I  was  not  prepared  to  go  at  any 
time. 

Unhappily  for  the  success  of  homoeopathy,  the  globule  was 
introduced,  and  became  an  abomination  to  medical  men  of 
the  old  school,  and  a  strain  on  the  belief  of  the  public. 
It  was  a  mistake.  Not,  let  me  at  once  say,  that  the  globule 
may  not  do  all  that  the  pilule  may  do,  and  I  would  rather 
take  it  than  some  of  the  allopathic  parvules  that  are  being 
introduced,  but  as  it  was  a  barrier  to  the  advance  of  homoeo* 


696  SEARCH  APTEB  TRUTH.  ^"^^^^oSl^^ 

pathy  it  would  have  been  feur  better  to  have  used  powders 
saturated  with  tincture  ae  the  globules  are.  It  is  well, 
however,  to  remember  that  in  spite  of  the  objections  to  the^ 
globule,  the  greatest  advance  that  homoeopathy  has  seen 
was  made  while  it  was  in  use. 

Some  of  our  body  made  a  mistake  in  crying  down  tinc- 
tures, forgetting,  I  think,  the  great  secret  of  what  must* 
ever  lead  to  a  successful  practice,  the  selection  of  the  right 
medicine.  Admirable  cures  have  been  effected  by  tinctures, 
pilules,  and  globules.  And  as  the  globules  all  contaiii> 
tincture,  no  man  should  have  been  blamed  for  using  which 
he  pleased. 

I  must  now  come  to  a  question  of  the  day,  the  antago^ 
nism  between  practitioners  of  allopathy  and  believers  in 
homoeopathy. 

The  size,  and  form,  in  which  our  medicines  are  given 
is  open  for  every  man  to  deal  with  as  his  judgment  may 
lead  him  to  decide  upon  doing.  The  real  question  at 
issue  is  one  of  simple  belief.  I  claim  the  right  to 
believe  that  medicines  given  on  the  principle  of  like 
curing  like  is  a  grand  truth,  and  the  safest  rule  to 
guide  us  in  their  administration.  I  do  not  deny  that- 
medicines  given  to  effect  a  certain  object,  as  opium 
to  procure  sleep,  a  sudorific  to  induce  perspiration,  an 
expectorant  to  relieve  cough,  and  such  like,  may  affect 
a  cure  by  directly  counteracting  some  symptom  that  ia 
giving  trouble — in  short,  that  by  an  alterative  action  of 
some  kind,  good  may  result,  but  that  acting  on  these  lines 
there  is  much  of  guess  work,  that  the  great  part  of  a  man's- 
knowledge  must  be  acquired  by  personal  experience,  and 
that  in  difiBcult  cases  he  has  nothing  to  steer  by.  For 
holding  this  belief  and  exercising  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  which  every  medical  man  should  contend  for,  I 
am  shut  out  from  societies,  I  am  refused  to  be  met  in 
consultation,  and  if  it  were  possible  I  would  be  shut  out 
from  the  practice  of  my  profession.  Well,  gentlemen,  we 
have  survived,  notwithstanding  this  treatment,  and  will,  I 
trust,  continue  to  do  so.  I  quite  admit  that  we  may  at 
times  be  inconvenienced  by  the  opposition  we  meet  with, 
but  rest  assured  so  long  as  we  practise  our  profession 
honourably  and  fairly,  we  are  on  Uie  winning  side.  Our* 
numbers  are  augmenting,  our  practice  is  adopted  without 
acknowledgment,  and  tiie  bitterness  of  former  days  is 
greatly  lessened.    Many  men  refuse  now  to  be  parties  to^ 


bS^m^%iS^  sbaboh  aftbb  tbuth.  697 

that  illiberal  feeling  that  was  once  so  common.  A  few 
opponents  have  still,  it  is  true,  much  power.  One  or  two 
men  in  a  town  can  exercise  a  considerable  influence  over 
others  who  do  not  share  that  nngenerons  spirit  thai 
animates  some  men  of  small  minds.  A  threat  from  one  of 
these  little  men  to  write  to  the  Lancet  to  complain  of  some 
coUeagne  who  has  shown  some  sympathy  with  ns  has  not 
yet  lost  its  power,  though  it  is  gradually  decaying,  and  the 
day  has  assuredly  gone  by  when  any  large  measure  of 
Uliberality  could  either  be  carried  or  desired  by  the 
majority  of  the  profession.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that 
at  Worcester  and  elsewhere  men  have  been  found  to  rise 
superior  to  any  unworthy  effort,  to  dictate  to  them  as  to 
the  action  they  should  adopt  towards  us. 

Now  let  me  say  a  word  as  to  our' position.  If  any  man 
adopts  a  name  to  enable  him  to  work  his  way  into  practice^ 
he  is  doing  what  is  wrong.  The  British  HomoBopathic 
Society  and  the  heads  of  our  branch  of  the  profession,  that 
hold  ihe  belief  in  the  law  of  homcBopathy,  have  objected 
most  strongly  to  anyone  putting  the  word  homoeopath  on. 
his  door-plate.  We  claim  to  be  physicians,  and  to  be  at 
liberty  to  adopt  any  treatment  we  think  best  for  our  patient. 
So  long,  then,  as  we  pursue  this  line  of  conduct,  we  are 
practising  our  profession  fairly,  and  if,  doing  this,  others 
choose  to  act  unfairly  towards  us,  they  are  the  greatest 
losers,  for  they  expose  themselves  to  the  charge  of  acting 
from  unworthy  motives. 

Errors  have  been  committed,  and  rash  words  uttered  by 
some  of  us.  I  have  preferred  giving  up  a  patient  to  allowing, 
him  to  have  his  own  way  about  taking  some  auxiliary 
medicine.  I  should  do  so  still  if  there  was  any  attempt  to- 
dictate  to  me,  but  I  would  not  seek  to  avoid  running 
counter  to  the  wish  of  my  patient  in  a  matter  concerning 
his  comfort  unless  I  felt  I  was  doing  him  a  positive 
injury  by  letting  him  have  his  own  way.  Again,  if  I 
believed  I  could  benefit  my  patient  by  the  administration 
of  a  drug,  homcBopathic  or  not,  I  shorJd  hold  myself  free 
to  use  it. 

Some  may  go  much  further  than  others  in  this,  and  I 
should  be  sorry  to  restrict  any  man's  freedom,  but  I  feel 
assured  that  anyone  who  fairly  understands  and  believes  in 
the  homoeopathic  law,  will  think  twice  before  he  departs 
from  it.  Even  in  such  a  case  as  giving  opiates  to  relieve 
pain,  he  will  weigh  the  question  whether  he  may  not  be^ 


598  SEABOH  AFTSB  TBUTH.  ^""^iiJIoSnS^ 

■  —     -  » 

purchasing  temporary  relief  at  too  high  a  price.  A  man 
must  act  in  such  a  case  in  such  a  way  that  he  has  a  dear 
conscience. 

Some  years  ago  I  treated  a  case  of  rannla  of  soma 
standing  with  mercuHnSf  under  which  treatment  it  dis- 
appeared. Recently  I  saw  a  case  where  it  was  not  large 
or  of  long  duration.  I  had  not  lost  faith  in  mercttriu^, 
but  I  thought  that  by  applying  nitrate  of  siher  I  wonld 
-obtain  the  result  I  desired  more  expeditiously.  I  therefore 
used  the  caustic.  The  following  day  the  size  was  lessened, 
and  in  a  short  time  it  disappeared.  In  former  years  I 
should  have  hesitated  about  departing  from  homoeopathic 
treatment,  but,  expecting  a  result,  I  fdt  justified  in  acting 
as  I  did. 

Our  body  is  somewhat  agitated  at  this  time  as  to  the 
retention  of  the  name  by  wMch  we  are  known.  Some  are 
charged  with  wanting  to  give  it  up.  I  know  no  one  who 
wants  to  give  up  the  word  homoeopathy.  I  do  not  know 
one  that  does  not  boast  that  he  is  a  believer  in  it.  It  is 
the  very  ground  on  which  we  stand,  it  is  identified  with 
our  hospitals,  our  dispensaries,  our  literature,  and  our 
school ;  therefore,  as  describing  our  system,  it  must  be 
retained,  but  this  expression  of  my  belief  does  not  compel 
me  to  give  up  my  title  as  a  physician,  and  adopt  a  name 
that  makes  me  a  sectarian.  I  write  M.D.  after  my  name, 
not  homoeopath.  I  think  if  this  question  is  separated 
from  party  feeling,  there  need  be  no  real  difficulty  amongst 
us  about  it.  Il  I  am  called  a  homoeopath,  I  will  not 
quarrel  with  the  man  who,  for  convenience  to  himself,  so 
describes  me.  If  I  am  asked  about  my  medical  belief,  I  do 
not  designate  myself  a  homoeopathy  but  I  say  I  am  a 
believer  in  homoeopathy. 

I  may  be  asked  how  are  consultations  to  be  carried  on 
between  ourselves  and  those  who  do  not  believe  with  us. 
I  answer,  precisely  as  they  are  at  present.  Two  allopaths 
may  be  diametrically  opposed  to  one  another.  If  they 
cannot  arrange  as  to  treatment,  the  difficulty  is  stated  to 
the  patient  or  his  friends,  who  usually  decide  in  &vour  of 
the  man  in  whom  they  have  most  confidence.  Medical 
men  generally  have  some  voice  in  the  matter  when  a  con- 
sultation is  proposed,  and  naturally  suggest  the  name  of  a 
man  with  whom  they  can  agree.  If  the  consultation  is 
merely  for  diagnosis  or  to  settle  some  question  of  surgical 


tB^STi^  sbabch  after  tbuth.  699 

interferenoey  it  does  not  matter  so  long  as  a  good  man  is 
^caUed  in, 

I  &el  satisfied  that  by  acting  coorteoasly  and  fairly 
iowards  onr  professional  brethren,  many  difiSculties  will  be 
:smoothed  over.  Above  all  things  I  would  urge  my 
younger  brethren,  when  called  in  fd!ter  another  man  has 
been  in  attendance,  be  he  of  our  own  way  of  thinking  or 
the  reverse,  to  avoid  finding  fault  with  past  treatment,  or 
insinuating  that,  if  called  in  earlier,  so  much  more  might 
have  been  done.  There  is  a  temptation  to  do  this.  I 
regret  to  say  it  is  often  yielded  to.  It  is  ungenerous  and 
unwise.  Ungenerous  because  the  efibrt  is  made  to  elevate 
self  at  the  expense  of  another's  discomfiture,  and  that 
where  the  man  is  no  longer  in  a  position  to  give  any 
explanation ;  it  is  unwise  because  his  position  to-day  may 
be  ours  to-morrow. 

Even  where  conscious  that  a  man  has  made  a  positive 
mistake,  let  us  correct  it  as  far  as  we  can,  but  say  as  little 
to  his  disparagement  as  possible ;  we  should  remember 
the  injury  we  may  do  him,  and  that  we  are  not  infallible, 
and  that  some  of  the  greatest  men  in  our  profession  have 
made  some  very  serious  mistakes.  In  all  these  matters 
let  us  do  to  others  as  we  would  be  done  by. 

The  treatment  adopted  by  the  rival  schools  is  not  so 
great  as  it  was  formerly,  there  has  been  a  drawing  together. 
I  would  rather,  however,  see  our  opponents  drawn  to  us, 
than  we  to  them.  We  are  guardians  of  a  great  truth ;  we 
cannot  afford  to  return  into  error. 

Dr.  Sidney  Binger,  Dr.  Charles  Phillips,  and  others, 
have  wisely  introduced  many  homoeopathic  remedies  to  the 
notice  of  the  profession;  it  would,  perhaps,  have  been 
fairer  if  they  had  said  where  they  got  their  inspiration 
from,  but  they  might  not  have  done  so  much  good<  And 
while  believing  much  that  we  do,  they  may  not  believe 
enough  to  justify  them  in  casting  in  their  lot  with  us ; 
indeed,  Dr.  Charles  Phillips  is  a  deserter  from  our  ranks ; 
but  where  a  man  has  doubts  and  misgivings  it  is  better 
for  him  to  withdraw  altogether  as  he  did  than  hold  an 
uncertain  position.  As  an  illustration  of  how  our  weapons 
are  borrowed,  I  may  quote  from  the  Lancet  of  August  12tb, 
under  the  heading,  ''  Hydrophobia  treated  successfully 
with  AconiUy'  (of  the  case  having  been  hydrophobia  I 
liave  more  than  doubts,  but  that  is  not  to  the  point).  The 
writer  claims  Dr.  Binger's  support  in  the  following  words  : 


600  SEARCH  AFTER  TRUTH.  ''rSSwTS??^ 

**  To  substantiate  what  I  haye  jnst  said/'  as  to  how  aconite 
actSi  ''  I  cannot  do  better  than  qnote  a  few  examples  from 
Dr.  Singer's  text  book.  He  says  that  one  drop  of  tincture 
of  aconite  given  at  bedtime  qniets  the  distressing  fidgets  of 
men  and  women,  and  causes  calm  and  refreshing  deep." 
If  the  author  of  the  paper  will  go  back  to  the  writings  of 
Hahnemann,  he  will  lliere  learn  from  the  original  authority 
this  same  fact  about  the  action  of  aconite. 

If  these  men  to  whom  I  allude  see  some  of  our  defects, 
it  may  also  be  urged  as  an  excuse  for  their  not  belonging 
to  us. 

As  lovers  of  truth  you  will  not  blame  me  for  the  ad- 
mission, that  there  are  defects  that  ought  to  be  remedied. 
As  in  religion,  so  in  medicine — ^we  should  seek  to  go  on  to 
perfection.  This  may  not  be  attainable  in  this  life,  but  it 
is  a  grand  thing  to  strive  for;  it  keeps  alive  hope,  and 
elevates  and  ennobles  our  thoughts. 

One  cause  of  our  failure  is  that  there  are  a  class  of  eases 
that  are  not  amenable  to  any  treatment,  except  palliative, 
these  are  cases  of  organic  disease.  Whether  the  discovery 
of  bacilli  as  a  cause  of  phthisis,  is  to  lead  to  some  great 
therapeutic  discovery  that  may  enable  us  to  remove  the 
cause  and  so  prevent  or  check  diseases  that  have  hitherto 
baffled  us,  has  yet  to  be  seen. 

We  are  blamed  at  times  from  the  failure  of  an  individual. 
A  wrong  diagnosis,  a  failure  to  select  the  right  remedy,  are 
not  faults  of  our  system,  and  are  such  as  we  share  in 
common  with  our  opponents.  But  let  us  look  at  what  may 
be  improved. 

We  depend  upon  our  Materia  Medica  and  our  Repertories 
for  information  about  our  medicines;  the  pathogenetic 
action  of  drugs  when  taken  by  persons  in  health,  and 
clinical  observation  being  the  sources  from  whence  these 
are  supplied. 

In  making  our  provings,  or  ascertaining  the  pathogenetic 
action,  great  care  is  needed  that  only  genuine  medicinal 
symptoms  be  noted  down,  and  not  those  arising  from  some 
accidental  circumstance.  To  guard  against  this  danger  a 
symptom  should  be  repeated  in  different  provers,  or  be 
diifferent  times  removed  by  the  medicine  Uiat  has  been 
believed  to  produce  it,  before  it  can  be  accepted  as  reliable. 

Where  symptoms  appear  to  yield  to  treatment,  and  in  so 
doing  acquire  a  position  as  clinical  symptoms,  to  be 
recorded  to  the  credit  of  the  medicine  given,  a  thorou^ 


bSHS^oS^iI^  8BABCH  AFTER  TBUTH.  601 

knowledge  of  what  may  be  called  the  natural  history  of 
disease  is  necessary,  to  prevent  what  may  be  an  improve- 
ment to  be  looked  for  at  a  certain  stage  of  the  illness,  being 
attributed  to  medicine  instead  of  the  real  cause. 

When  our  symptoms  are  fairly  recorded,  and  we  look  to 
<uu'  repertories  to  enable  us  to  pick  out  the  medicine  suitable 
for  some  case  of  illness,  we  usually  try  to  select  some 
prominent,  or  key  symptom,  to  guide  us  aright ;  thus,  for 
example,  a  patient  may  be  sufifering  severe  pain  from  peri- 
tonitis, which  he  describes  as  pain  like  cutting  with  knives. 
I  then  find  that  sabadiUa  has  this  as  a  prominent  symptom. 
Led  by  this  I  shall  most  probably  find  that  the  rest  of  the 
symptoms  fit  in  well  with  this  medicine.  Not  that  it  is 
necessarily  the  best  in  peritonitis,  for  you  are  all  too  well 
acquainted  with  the  action  of  aconite^  belladonna,  bryonia^ 
and  other  drugs  not  to  know  that  our  choice  is  by  no  means 
a  limited  one. 

In  Hahnemann's  time,  and  for  long  after  it,  the  means 
that  we  now  have  of  investigating  disease  were  unknown. 
The  stethoscope,  the  thermometer,  the  laryngoscope,  and 
the  proper  use  of  chemical  agents,  as  well  as  the  micro- 
scope, were  either  unknown  or  comparatively  useless  as 
applied  to  the  study  of  disease,  therefore  our  early 
provings  are  entirely  deficient  in  the  knowledge  to  be 
derived  from  these  helps.  Hence  arises  the  necessity  for 
new  provings.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  British 
Homoeopathic  Society  and  the  Hahnemann  Publishing 
Society  are  quite  alive  to  this  want,  as  well  as  to  the 
necessity  of  excluding  all  untrustworthy  matter  from  our 
early  provings.  As  both  societies  are  actively  engaged  in 
this  direction,  let  me  hope  that  before  another  Congress 
meets  each  society  shall  have  some  substantial  work  .to 
show.  It  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  not  forget  a  point  that 
troubles  our  friend  Dr.  Allen — the  proper  pronunciation  of 
the  names  of  our  medicines.  Is  it  geUeminum  or  gel  se- 
minum  9  podophyllum  or  podoo-phyllum  ? — reminding  one 
of  the  famous  trial  in  Edinburgh  of  ^'  Syme  versus  Lizars 
or  Sym  versus  Lizars,'*  as  one  of  the  counsel  put  it. 

I  have  alluded  to  our  societies,  let  me  say  a  word  about 
them.  When  I  had  the  honour  of  being  secretary  to  the 
British  Homoeopathic  Society,  I  had  great  difficulty  in 
persuading  some  of  our  country  friends  of  the  advantage  of 
belonging  to  such  a  society.  If  they  did  not  get  what  they 
thought  was  a  penny's^worth  for  every  penny  of  their  sub- 


602  SEABCH  AFTBB  TRUTH.  *t5!^L??S??^ 


,  Oot.  f ,  1881. 


Boription,  they  thought  the  fmbscription  ought  to  be  redaoed. 
Well,  what  has  the  Society  done«  besides  serving  as  a 
great  central,  rallying  point  for  our  branch  of  the  profession? 
It  has  published  several  volumes  of  its  annals.  It  has 
publisheid  two  editions  of  its  Pharmacopona,  which  have 
succeeded  so  well  that  a  third  has  been  called  for,  the 
editing  of  which  has  been  entrusted  to  my  care,  and  which 
edition  is  now,  I  am  happy  to  say,  on  the  verge  of  comple- 
tion, the  body  of  the  work  being  finished  and  the  appendix 
far  advanced.  I  have  to  express  my  grateful  thanks  to 
Mr.  Wybom,  who  has  done  the  lion's  share  of  the  work, 
also  to  my  colleagues.  Dr.  Hughes  and  Dr.  Burnett  for 
their  valuable  aid,  thanks  that  I  am  sure  the  Society  and 
the  Profession  will  gratefcilly  accord  to  these  gentlemen. 

Then  again,  owing  to  the  sound  financial  position  in 
which  the  Society  is,  it  has  been  enabled  to  help  the  sister 
society,  the  Hahnemann  Publishing  Society,  largely,  so 
that  they  have  been  able  to  issue  tibe  magnificent  edition 
of  Hahnemann's  Materia  Mediea  Pura,  ^hich,  I  may  say, 
serves  also  as  one  of  the  many  monuments  of  the  untiring 
industry  of  our  friends,  Drs.  Dudgeon  and  Richard  Hughes. 
I  have  alluded  to  the  other  work  that  is  before  these 
Societies.  I  can  only  hope  that  every  member  of  our 
profession  will  see  that  his  name  is  enrolled  as  a  member 
of  one  or  both  of  these  Societies. 

I  have  endeavoured,  very  imperfectly  I  fear,  to  touch  on 
some  of  the  great  truths  of  our  day,  including  the  one 
that  has  brought  us  together.  Like  most  great  truths  ii 
has  been  met  with  opposition  by  those  who  should  have 
hailed  it  with  gladness ;  in  spite  of  this  it  has  spread  ot^ 
the  whole  civilised  world.  In  America,  where  it  has  had 
but  few  difficulties  to  encounter,  it  has  grown  rapidly,  as 
its  colleges,  professors,  and  extended  literature  testify. 
In  this  country  its  growth  has  been  somewhat  retarded,  as 
its  prejudiced  adversaries  have  had  powerfal  auxiliaries  in 
the  red  tapeism  and  fossilised  regulations  that  so  often 
stop  progress  in  our  land.  Still  it  has  grown,  and  nearly 
all  our  large  towns  are  to  some  extent  provided  with 
medical  men  who  practise  in  accordance  with  the  homcBO- 
pathic  law.  Unhappily  there  are  not  enough  men  to 
supply  the  need  of  the  smaller  ones.  It  is  the  maxim  in 
political  economy  that  a  demand  creates  a  supply,  and  in 
this  case  the  rule  would  no  doubt  hdd  good,  but  the 


Mo^Homajg^   SEABOH  AFTEB  TEUTH.  603 

training  of  onr  stadents  being  in  the  hands  of  those  that 
are  nnfriendly  to  our  system,  they  can  indoctrinate  the 
young  beginner  in  snch  a  way  that  he  finds  it  very  hard  to 
mn  coonter  to  the  teaching  of  a  man  he  has  learned  to 
look  np  to. 

Among  all  classes  of  the  laity  homoBopathy  has  spread 
to  snch  a  degree  that  there  are  few  fanulies  that  have  not 
ffot  some  of  its  adherents  amongst  them ;  men  of  the 
highest  intellect  placing  themselyes  and  their  families  in 
the  hands  of  its  practitioners. 

It  is  more  than  fifty  years  ago  since  Dr.  Quin,  who  had 
been  physician  to  the  King  of  the  Belgians,  and  had 
become  a  convert  to  homoeopathy,  proceeded  to  Hungary 
to  test  the  merits  of  Hahnemann's  doctrines  in  the  treat- 
ment of  cholera.  Many  of  his  cases  he  treated  with 
camphor  alone.  So  great  was  his  success  that  his  statistics 
ought  at  once  to  have  convinced  those  men  who  were 
groping  in  the  musty  learning  of  centuries  for  a  remedy 
that  they  could  not  find,  that  a  true  mode  of  treating  the 
disease  had  been  found.  Strengthened  in  his  convictions 
he  returned  to  London  and  resumed  practice,  meeting  with 
an  amoimt  of  patronage  that  might  have  satisfied  the  most 
ambitious.  Belluonimi,  Dunsford,  Currie,  and  others 
followed,  and  soon  homoeopathy  took  a  position  that  its 
enemies  in  vain  assailed. 

The  Organon  of  Hahnemann  was  translated  into  English, 
by  Dr.  Streeton,  and  published  in  Dublin.  This  edition 
has  been  superseded  by  Dr.  Dudgeon's  translation,  which, 
leaves  nothing  to  be  desired. 

In  Dublin  and  Bel&st  the  Luthers  acquired  large 
practices.  My  old  friend  Woldemar  XiUther  is,  I  regret  to 
say,  the  only  representative  of  the  family  left.  I  am  glad, 
to  see  that  he  is  present  with  us  to  day. 

In  Edinburgh,  as  I  have  shown,  Dr.  Fearon,  Dr.  Black, 
and  Dr.  Butherford  Bussell,  introduced  homceopathy  U> 
iheir  medical  brethren,  and  opening  a  dispensary,  I  think 
to  them  belongs  the  honour  of  being  its  first  teachers  in 
this  country,  though  they  wore  no  professor's  gown,  nor 
mounted  the  rostrum  in  any  established  school.  They, 
however,  found  at  least  one  distinguished  pupil,  than  whom 
no  man  in  his  day  bid  fair  to  rise  to  a  higher  position.  I 
allude  to  the  late  Professor  Henderson.  His  great  talents 
secured  him  the  respect  of  his  colleagues,  his  success  as 
a  clinical  teacher  endeared  him  to  his  students,  so  that 


604  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.   **^SS^S?S!mml 

when  he  announced  his  intention  of  investigating  homoBO- 
pathy,  the  late  Dr.  Abercromhie,  then  at  the  head  of  his 
profession,  said,  **  Well,  now  we  shall  see  if  there  is  any- 
thing in  this."  Unfortunately,  Abercrombie's  death 
prevented  our  knowiug  how  he  would  have  acted  when 
Henderson  was  led  by  his  investigations  to  proclaim  his 
belief  in  the  truth  of  Hahnemann's  teaching.  An  expression 
of  belief,  however,  for  which  he  had  to  pay  dear.  It  is  no 
pleasure  to  tell  the  story  of  persecution,  when  many  that 
joined  in  it  may  have  regretted  the  part  they  took,  and 
when  we  have  heard  that  one  of  the  leaders  in  it  expressed 
his  regret  on  his  death  bed  for  what  he  had  done. 

Those  who  wish  to  know  more  of  the  histoiy  of  what  I 
have  so  briefly  touched  on,  will  find,  in  Dr.  Dudgeon's 
lectures,  Dr.  Hamilton's  admirable  memoir  of  Dr.  Quin, 
Dr.  Luther's  Concise  View  of  Homoeopathy,  published 
without  his  name,  Dr.  Sharp's  tract.  Dr.  Burnett's  excel- 
lent sketch  of  Hahnemann,  and  many  other  books  of  the 
same  kind,  all  they  may  wish  to  know. 

It  only  remains  for  me  to  express  my  grateful  thanks 
for  your  patience  in  listening  to  this  rather  long  address, 
to  bid  you  all  a  hearty  welcome  to  Edinburgh,  and  to  hope 
that  any  visitors  who  may  wish  to  hear  the  papers  tluit 
are  to  be  read  will  come  in  and  out  as  they  please,  and  to 
express  the  further  hope  that  our  Congress  may  be  an 
instructive  one,  and  one  that  we  may  be  able  to  look  back 
on  with  pleasure. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  INFINITESIMAL 
QUANTITIES     IN    INDUCING    PHYSIOLOGICAL 

ACTION. 

By  Chables  Habrison  Blacelet,  M.D. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen, — The  possibility  of  exceed- 
ingly minute  quantities  of  matter  being  able  to  play  any 
important  part  in  the  ordinary  functions  of  nutrition  in  the 
animal  and  vegetable  organism,  has  often  been  denied  by 
those  of  our  medical  brethren  who  have  never  taken  the 
trouble  to  put  the  matter  to  the  test  of  experimental  inves- 
tigation. In  the  case  of  agents  that  do  not  possess  the 
power  of  growth  and  reproduction,  they  have  also  contended 
that  infinitesimal  quantities  cannot  generate  disease  on  the 


SSJ^oSTSSS^  infinitesimal  quantities.  605 

one  hand,  or  cnre  or  modify  it  on  the  other ;  and  they  say, 
moreover,  that  we  have  never  heen  able  to  prove,  by  extra- 
elinical  e]q)erimentB,  that  extremely  minnte  doses  can  alter 
the  activity  of  any  morbific  agent. 

In  the  case  of  the  zymotic  diseases,  they  are  ready  to 
grant  that  the  dose  of  the  exciting  canse  may  be  exceedingly 
minnte,  hot  as  we  have  no  means  of  determining  the  exact 
amount  of  the  deleterioas  agent  that  the  zymotic  action 
may  prodace,  we  have,  they  also  contend,  no  right  to 
assume  that  it  is  infinitesimal  in  quantity  in  any  given 
ease. 

In  order  to  show  Ihat  some  of  these  statements  are  not 
in  strict  accordance  with  facts,  I  propose,  first,  to  bring 
under  your  notice  a  portion  of  the  experiments  that  have 
been  made  by  one  of  my  fellow-townsmen  on  the  action  of 
ihe  digestive  ferments  ;  secondly,  to  draw  your  attention  to 
some  of  the  investigations  of  the  lamented  Darwin  on  the 
insectivorous  plants ;  and  finally,  to  notice  some  of  my  own 
observations  in  another  department,  and  to  consider  the 
effect  these  various  researches  have  in  giving  support  to 
our  belief  in  the  power  of  infinitesimal  quantities.  And 
here  it  will,  perhaps,  be  well  for  me  to  say  that  I  have  con- 
fined my  attention  simply  to  the  action  of  these  quantities, 
without  attempting  in  any  way  to  deal  with  the  principle 
upon  which  our  section  of  the  profession  believe  drugs  to 
act  in  the  cure  of  disease.  It  is  not,  however,  that  I 
undervalue  the  importance  of  the  principle  of  aiynUia  that- 
I  take  this  course,  but  simply  because  i^e  question  I  have 
attempted  to  discuss  is  quite  large  enough  to  occupy  our 
attention  in  the  time  we  have  at  our  disposal  on  the 
present  occasion. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  most  here,  that,  in  the  year- 
1880,  Professor  William  Boberts,  of  Manchester,  delivered. 
a  course  of  lectures  on  the  digestive  ferments,  before  the 
Boyal  College  of  Physicians  of  London.*  In  the  admirable 
and  deeply  interesting  researches  detailed  in  the  course  of 
these  lectures,  Dr.  Boberts  shows  that  two  main  types  of 
digestion  go  on  in  the  animal  and  also,  to  some  extent,  in 
the  vegetable  organism.  He  also  shows  that  various  kinds 
of  ferments  are  the  chief  agents  in  the  different  processes 
of  digestion.    For  the  immediate  object  I  have  in  view  it 


^  On  the  DigeiHve  FermerOi  and  ihe  preparation  of  ArtifieiaUy  Digested 
Food.    By  Wm.  Boberta,  M.D.,  FJELS.,  Ak}.    London:    1880. 

YoL  26,  Ko.  10.  S  8 


606  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIEB.  ^''^^S^^^oSuSmt 

18  only  necessary  to  consider  the  action  of  the  fermant 
termed  diastase  or  ptyaUne,  and  which  is  found  in  the 
secretions  of  the  salivary  glands  and  the  pancreas.  The 
function  of  this  diastase  is  to  act  upon  the  starch  which 
forms  so  large  and  important  a  part  of  our  food.  The 
changes  which  the  latter  ondergoes.  when  brought  into 
contact  with  diastase  are  somewhat  complicated,  and 
result  eventnally  in  the  conversion  of  the  former  into  sugar 
and  dextrine — ^two  bodies  which,  in  their  properties  imd 
mode  of  behaviour  with  re-agents,  are  totally  different  to 
the  starch  &om  which  they  are  derived.  It  would  serve 
no  good  purpose  for  me  to  attempt  on  the  present  occasion 
to  trace  out  the  various  changes  that  starch  undei^oes  in 
being  converted  into  the  two  substances  named  above,  but 
it  wiU  be  well  to  notice  some  of  the  properties  of  the  class 
of  bodies  to  which  diastase  belongs  before  I  go  on  to  con- 
sider the  quantity  of  the  agent  that  is  needed  to  produce 
the  changes  alluded  to. 

The  known  digestive  ferments  are  termed  unorganised  fer- 
ments. "  They  are,"  Dr.  Boberts  teUs  us,  "  sharply  distin- 
guished from  the  insoluble  or  organised  ferments,  of  which 
yeast  is  the  type,  in  not  having  the  power  of  self-multiplica- 
tion and  self-nutrition.  Soluble  ferments  cannot  therefore 
be  said  to  be  alive,  but  they  are  all  the  direct  products  of 
living  cells,  and  may  be  regarded  as  detached  repositories 
of  cell  force.  They  are  quite  unknown  in  the  domain  of 
ordinary  chemistry.  Their  mode  of  action  bears  no  re- 
semblance to  that  of  ordinary  chemical  affinity,  and  has  a 
distinctly  physiological  character.  They  do  not  derive  their 
marvellous  endowments  from  their  material  substance.  They 
give  nothing  material  to,  and  take  nothing  material  from, 
the  substance  acted  upon.  The  albumenoid  matter  which 
constitutes  their  mass  is  evidently  nothing  more  than  the 
material  substratum  of  a  special  kind  of  energy — just  as  the 
steel  of  a  magnet  is  the  material  substratum  of  the  mag- 
netic energy — ^but  is  not  that  energy.  This  albumenoid 
matter  of  the  ferment  may  be  said  to  become  charged  at 
the  moment  of  elaboration  by  the  gland  cells  with  potential 
energy  of  a  special  kind,  in  the  same  way  that  a  piece  of 
steel  becomes  charged  with  magnetism  by  contact  with  a 
pre-existing  magnet.  The  potential  energy  of  the  ferment 
is  changed  into  the  active  form  (i.e.,  becomes  kinetic)  when 
it  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  alimentary  substance  on 
which  it  is  designed  to  ^t." 


ISSi^OdT^iS^  IKPINITBBIMAL  QUANTITIES.  607 

The  proportion  of  diastase  that  is  found  to  he  capable  of 
eonverting  a  given  quantity  of  starch  into  sugar  and  dex- 
trine is,  relatiyely,  exceedingly. small.  Payen  and  Persoz 
had  previously  estimated  that  malt  diastase  was  ahle  to 
change  ttco  thousand  times  its  weight  of  starch  into  sugar. 
This  estimate,  however,  greatly  exceeds  the  quantity  that 
is  really  needed.  In  a  very  carefiiUy  conducted  set  of  experi- 
ments Dr.  Roberts  found  that  instead  of  converting  only  two 
thousand  times  its  weight  of  starch,  it  was  able  to  convert 
forty  thousand  times  its  weight  into  sugar  and  dextrine. 
Dr.  Roberts  describes  this  as  an  ''  astounding  result,"  but 
marvellous  as  this  is,  other  experimenters,*  he  tells  us, 
have  arrived  at  results  still  more  wonderful  in  estimating 
the  transforming  power  of  malt  diastase. 

In  connection  with  this  part  of  the  subject.  Dr.  Roberts 
makes  some  observations  which  it  is  important  for  me  to 
notice  before  passing  on,  because  they  bear  somewhat  on 
a  question  which  has  been,  and  I  fear  must  still  be,  a 
vexed  question  with  us,  namely,  the  amount  and  repetition 
of  the  dose.  It  had  been  imagined  by  some  observers  that 
the  energy  of  diastase  was  not  consumed  in  action,  but 
experiment  demonstrated  that  this  was  not  the  case.  It 
was  found  that  for  every  grain  of  starch  converted,  the 
energy  of  one  40,000th  of  a  grain  of  diastase  was  ex- 
hausted once  and  for  all.  An  excess  of  diastase,  up  to  a 
certain  point,  merely  quickened  the  action  but  did  not 
alter  the  final  result ;  but  an  excess  of  starch  always  left 
dome  of  the  starch  unaltered.  If  the  quantity  of  diastase 
was  suflScient  but  not  in  excess,  the  change  would  be  slow, 
and  would  continue  for  about  forty-eight  hours.  If, 
however,  the  diastase  was  largely  in  excess  the  change 
would  be  very  rapid.  But  this  mode  of  action  differs 
entirely  from  wiiat  is  seen  in  the  operations  of  ordinary 
chemical  affinity.  If  an  acid  is  mingled  with  an  excess  of 
alkali,  or  an  alkali  with  an  excess  of  acid,  the  change  is 
instantaneous,  and  comes  to  an  end  at  once ;  ''  the  affinity 
of  the  two  bodies  for  each  other  is  a  mutual  affinity.  But 
this  is  not  the  case  with  the  action  of  diastase  on  starch. 
The  starch  appears  entirely  passive  in  the  process;  all 
the  energy  is  on  the  side  of  diastase,  and  this  energy  can 
only  be  liberated  gradually."    Dr.  Roberts  illustrates  his 

«*■  ■  11.11  ■  ■ 

*  HCr.  Horace  Bioyfn  and  Mr.  Heron. 

2  8—2 


608  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.    ^ 

meaniDg  b;  comparing  the  particles  of  the  ferment  to  s 
band  of  Uving  workmen  whose  function  it  is  to  soattei  little 
heaps  of  atones.  If  the  heaps  are  few  and  the  workmen 
many,  all  the  heaps  will  be  scattered  at  once  and  the 
eaetgs  of  the  woikmen  will  still  remain,  not  seosibly 
impured.  Bat,  if  the  heaps  are  miUionB  and  the  workmen 
hundreds,  and  if  the  workmen  are  doomed  to  labonr  on 
ontil  they  fall  eshansted  at  their  task,  the  scattering  of 
the  heaps  will  go  on  for  a  long  period,  and  the  process  of 
exhaustion  will  be  a  gradnal  one. 

The  number  of  distinct  ferments  met  with  in  the 
dirrcstive  organs  of  man  is  supposed  to  be  at  least  seven 
or  eight,  and  it  is  important  to  obserre  that  eadi  ferment 
acts  only  upon  one  kind  of  food.  Diastase,  as  we  have 
sees,  acts  only  upon  starch,  and  the  potential  energy  with 
which  it  is  endowed  becomes  active  only  when  this  kind  of 
food  is  present ;  with  all  others  it  is  perfectly  inert. 

If  the  facts  I  have  cited  above  stood  alone,  they  would, 
as  proofs  that  small  quantities  are  capable  of  inducing 
physiological  action,  be  of  mnch  less  Talne  than  they  really 
are.  They  do  not,  however,  stand  alone;  scientific  research 
is  continually  revealing  to  us  phenomena  that  point  unmis- 
takably in  the  same  direction.  As  an  example  of  this,  I 
must  refer  to  some  of  the  researches  of  the  deeply-lamented 
Darwin,  as  given  in  his  learned  and  elaborate  work  on 
Insectivorous  PlanU.  In  his  experimentB  on  the  di- 
gestive action  of  the  secretion  of  the  glands  of  the 
Drosera  rotundifolia  he  used  solutions  of  various  saJts, 
and  amongst  them  pJiogphatc  of  ammonia-  Sunirised  at 
the  smallness  of  the  quantity  that  sufficed  to  induce  phy- 
siological action  in  the  glands  of  this  leaf,  he  repeated  Mb 
experiments  with  every  possible  care  against  chances  of 
error.  The  quantity  of  pliospkate  was  lessened  gradually, 
until  he  found  that  one  20,000,000th  of  a  grain  was  su£S- 
cient  to  produce  distinct  physiological  action  in  each  gland. 

In  speaking  of  this,  Mr.  Darwin  says  ;  "  The  reader  will 
*-"t  realise  this  degree  of  dilution  by  remembering  that 

00  ounces  would  more  than  fill  a  thirty-one  gallon  cask  ; 

1  that  to  this  large  body  of  water  one  grain  of  the  salt 
i  added  ;  only  hsJf  a  drachm,  or  thirty  minims,  of  the 
ition  being  poured  over  a  leafi  Yet  this  amount  sufficed 
•ause  the  inflection  of  almost  every  tentacle,  and  often  of 

blade  of  the  leaf."  .  .  .  .  "  I  am  well  aware," 
.  Darwin   goes  on  to  say,  "that  this  statement  will 


5£3SJ!r<^SwS?^  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.  609 

appear  incredible  to  almost  every  one.  Drosera  is  far  from 
riTalling  the  power  of  the  spectroscope,  bnt  it  can  detect,  as 
shown  by  the  moTements  of  its  leaves,  a  much  smaller 
-quantity  of  the  phosphate  of  ammonia  than  the  most  skilful 
chemist  can  of  any  substance.  My  resnlts  were  for  a  long 
time  incredible,  evei^  to  myself,  and  I  anxiously  sought  for 
every  source  of  error.  ,  .  •  •  The  observations  were 
repeated  during  several  years.  Two  of  my  sons,  who  were 
.as  incredulous  as  myself,  compared  several  lots  of  leaves 
simultaneously  immersed  in  the  weaker  solutions  and  in 
water,  and  declared  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  about  the 

difference  in  their  appearance Astonishing  as 

this  result  is,  there  is  no  sound  reasoB  why  we  should 

reject  it  as  incredible In  fact  every  time  that 

we  perceive  an  odour,  we  have  evidence  that  infinitely 
BmX  particles  act  on  our  nerves.  When  a  dog  stands  i 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  leeward  of  a  deer  or  other  animal, 
and  perceives  its  presence,  the  6dorous  particles  produce 
some  change  in  the  olfactory  nerves ;  yet  these  particles 
must  be  infinitely  smaller  than  those  of  tjie  phosphate 
jof  ammoma  weighing  the  one  20,000,000th  of  a  grain. 
These  nerves  then  transmit  some  influence  to  the  brain  of 
the  dog,  which  leads  to  action  on  its  part.  With  drosera 
the  rcNsdly  marvellous  fact  is,  that  a  plant  without  any 
specialised  nervous  system  should  be  affected  by  such 
minute  particles ;  but  we  have  no  grounds  for  assuming 
that  other  tissues  could  not  be  rendered  as  exquisitely  sus- 
^ceptible  to  impressions  from  without  if  this  were  beneficial 
to  the  or^nism  as  is  the  nervous  system  to  the  higher 
animals."* 

If  I  could  have  done  so  I  should  have  been  glad  to  notice 
in  detail  some  of  the  experiments  that  Mr.  Darwin  tried  on 
the  effect  that  a  comparatively  small  dose  of  the  salt  had 
upon  the  vitality  of  the  leaf — ^in  some  cases  damaging  it 
rseriously  and  in  others  killing  it  outright.  As  time  will 
not  permit,  however,  I  must,  with  your  permission,  pass  on 
to  notice  some  of  my  own  investigations  on  \}ie  cause  of 
hay-fever.  Those  of  you  that  have  done  me  the  honour  of 
reading  my  work  on  the  subject  will  remember  that  pollen 
was  shown  to  be  the  cause  of  the  malady.  In  the  last 
edition  of  my  work  a  chapter  was  devoted  to  the  determi- 
—  -  -  '  -    ■ 

*  Imeetivorout   Plants.     By   Charles    Darwin,   M.A.,   F.B.S.,   Ac., 
i>p.  170-78. 


610  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.   """toS^SifSwaL 

nation  of  the  qaantity  of  pollen  necessary  to  produce  hay- 
fever,  in  those  who  are  sensitiye  to  its  action.  By  a  series 
of  experiments,  pursued  with  as  much  care  and  precision  as 
circamstances  would  permit,  it  was  found  that  the  quantity 
was  exceedingly  small.  In  the  case  of  a  young  patient, 
kindly  sent  to  me  by  my  friend  Dr.  Drysdale,  symptoms 
were  produced  by  so  smsJl  a  quantity  as  the  120,000th  ci 
a  grain,  and  in  my  own  case  symptoms  could  be  distinctly 
perceived  if  one  100,000th  of  a  grain  was  inhaled  in  eadi 
twenty-four  hours.  When  the  malady  began  to  be  really 
troublesome  one  40,000th  of  a  grain  was  found  to  be  suffi- 
cient to  make  it  so ;  and  when  the  disorder  had  attained  its 
maximum  degree  of  intensity,  in  the  height  of  the  flowering 
period  of  the  grasses,  the  quantity  inhaled  in  each  twenty- 
four  hours  was  rather  less  than  one  8,400th  of  a  grain  in 
weight. 

But  the  quantities  above-named  are  considerably  in 
excess  of  the  weight  of  that  which  constitutes  the  active 
portion  of  the  pollen.  A  pollen  grain  is,  as  you  are  all 
aware,  a  simple  cell  with  granular  contents.  The  cell 
.wall  consists  of  two,  and  in  some  cases  of  three,  layers 
of  cellulose,  which  is,  so  far  as  we  know  at  present, 
perfectly  inert.  The  granular  matter  is  the  active  agent 
in  the  production  of  the  most  important  of  the  symptoms, 
and  as  this  weighs  only  about  half  the  weight  of  the  whole 
pollen  grain,  it  follows  that  the  numbers  I  have  given  will 
have  to  be  reduced  to  one-half.  But  I  go  even  further 
than  this.  You  will  have  seen  that  the  weights  given 
represented  what  had  been  inhaled  in  the  whole  day  of 
twenty-four  hours  in  each  case.  Now,  in  actual  practice, 
it  was  found  that  the  great  bulk  of  this  was  inhaled  during 
the  ten  or  twelve  hours  of  active  work.  It  was  also  found 
that  a  single  hour's  inhalation  in  ahnost  aU  cases  soflSoed 
to  bring  on  very  decided  sjrmptoms,  often  to  an  unpleasant 
degree  of  severity.  Consequently,  if  we  make  a  calculation 
of  the  hourly  dose  that  would  be  taken  by  a  hay-fever 
patient,  we  find  that  for  the  earliest  symptoms  of  the  dis- 
order it  would  be  about  the  two  TniUionA  of  a  grain ;  for 
the  middle  period  of  the  disease  there  would  be  about 
one  800,000th;  and  for  the  period  of  greatest  intensity 
one  60,800th  of  a  grain  would  be  taken  hourly. 

In  the  experiments  cited  above  we  haye  various  phases 
of  the  subject  included.  In  those  of  Dr.  Roberts  we  have 
an  important  function  shown  to  be  performed  by  a  rela* 


^SSfoS^^SS!***  nrWNITKSIMAL  QUANTITIES.  611 

ti^ly  minute  dose  of  a  nonnal  animal  secretion,  and  it  is 
one  of  those  remarkable  examples  we  sometimes  see  of  the 
way  in  which  nature  economises  space  or  balk  by  the 
inerease  of  power  in  any  given  secretion.  If  the  glands 
had  secreted  a  fluid  only  capable  of  acting  upon  its  own 
weight  of  starchy  we  can  easily  imagine  the  enormous  bulk 
of  gland  straotnre  that  would  have  been  needed  to  perform 
the  work  of  digestion.  In  Darwin's  experiments  we  find 
that  an  infinitesimal  dose  of  a  salt  of  ammonia  is  able  to 
set  up  physiological  action  in  the  glandular  leaf  of  a  plant 
deyoid  of  nervous  tissue.  We  have  thus  digestion  per- 
formed and  some  of  the  first  steps  taken  towards  the 
production  of  a  digestive  fluid  by  iufinitesimal  quantities 
of  the  appropriate  material.  In  the  results  of  my  own 
investigations,  we  have  quite  another  phase  of  the  subject 
presented.  Here  we  find  that  infinitesimal  doses  of  veget- 
able matter,  having  no  zymotic  properties,  are  capable  of 
giving  rise  to  a  troublesome  form  of  disease. 

In  some  of  their  properties  the  phosphate  of  ammonia 
and  the  granular  matter  of  pollen  resemble  the  soluble 
ferments  described  by  Dr.  Roberts.  With  some  verbal 
alterations,  the  same  desoriptioh  will  answer  for  one  or  the 
other.  The  granular  matter  of  the  pollen  is  the  direct 
product  of  living  cells,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  detached 
repository  of  cdl  force.  Its  mode  of  action  bears  no  re- 
semblance to  that  of  ordinary  chemical  affinity,  and  is 
distinctly  physiological  in  character.  It  does  not  derive 
its  marvellous  endowments  from  its  material  substance. 
The  granular  matter  is  evidently  nothing  more  than  the 
material  substratum  of  a  special  form  of  energy,  but  is  not 
that  energy.  The  potential  energy  with  which  this  matter 
becomes  charged  at  the  moment  of  its  elaboration  by  the 
vegetable  cells,  is  changed  into  the  active  form  when 
brought  into  contact  with  the  tissue  upon  which  it  is^ 
capable  of  acting. 

Whilst  remembering  that  the  drugs  used  in  Darwin's 
experiments  are  not  derived  from  living  bodies,  the  same 
description  would  largely  apply  to  them,  and  I  hardly  need 
point  out  to  you  that  it  would  agree  very  closely  wiUi  that 
which  could  be  given  of  the  great  majority  of  the  sub- 
stances we  use  in  the  cure  of  disease.  It  is  also  one  of  the 
most  hopeful  signs  of  the  times,  in  relation  to  the  medical 
science  of  the  future,  fhat  a  complete  knowledge  of  the 
^leoific  energy  of  the  drugs  used  in  medicine,  as  well  as  of 


612  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.  ""^^^S^^mS 

the  specific  irritability  of  the  healthy  and  diseased 
organism,  are  beginning  to  be  recognised  as  absolutely 
essential  to  the  successfol  practice  of  tixe  art  of  healing. 

I  pass  on  now  to  notice  what,  to  me,  appears  an 
interesting  phase  of  the  subject.  We  have  seen  that 
infinitesimal  doses  of  the  granular  matter  of  the  pollen  cell 
can  give  rise  to  a  distinct  form  of  disease,  and  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  this  is  set  up  by  a  body  that  has  no 
zymotic  properties,  and  that  rapidly  exhausts  the  energy  it 
possesses  when  brought  into  contact  with  the  mucous 
membranes  of  a  sensitive  patient.  Now,  this  granular 
matter  closely  resembles  the  starch  upon  which  diastase 
acts  in  so  wonderful  a  manner,  and  although  the  pollens  of 
the  various  orders  contain  different  accidental  ingredients 
in  minute  proportions,  the  great  bulk  of  the  granular 
matter  in  all  of  them  consists  of  an  amyloid  body  that 
gives  the  same  reaction  as  starch  does  with  iadiTie.  The 
largest  granules  seem  to  have  an  investing  membrane 
similar  to  that  of  the  smallest  starch  granules  of  rice. 
The  smallest  seem  to  be  mere  specks  of  protoplasm 
apparently  without  investing  membrane,  and  it  is,  I 
believe,  these  that  may  in  some  cases  penetrate  the  walls 
of  the  capillary  vessels,  and  set  up  disturbance  in  the 
temperature  of  the  body. 

It  is  said  that  raw  starch  passes  through  the  digestive 
organs  of  the  human  subject  unchanged,  and  that  in  order 
to  permit  the  diastase  to  act  upon  it  it  requires  to  be 
boiled.  With  the  starch  granules  of  the  pollen  it  does  not 
appear  to  be  so ;  at  any  rate,  some  change  of  an  important 
character  seems  to  be  effected  early  on  in  the  process  of 
digestion.  I  cannot  now  attempt  to  give  the  details  of  the 
experiments  tried  in  this  direction,  and  it  must  sufilce  to 
say  that  I  have  frequently  taken  comparatively  large  doses 
of  pollen  without  any  inconvenience;  and  the  natural 
inference  is  that  the  diastase  of  the  digestive  fluids  acts 
upon  the  granular  matter  in  such  a  manner  as  to  rob  it  of 
its  irritating  properties.  Outside  the  body  the  diastase  of 
the  salivary  glands  acts  very  slowly  upon  the  granular 
matter.  From  this  it  would  seem  that  contact  with  the 
living  organism  ensured  a  more  vigorous  action.  Now,  if 
it  is  a  fact  that  diastase  can  change  the  constitution  of 
40,000  times  its  weight  of  starch,  the  quantity  that  will  be 
needed  to  operate  upon  the  dose  of  granular  matter  that 
sets  up  hay-fever  will  be  exceedingly  small.    It  will  be 


2SSS^(SETiS!^  infinitesimal  quantitibs.  613 

remembered  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  troublesome 
form  of  the  symptoms,  one  80,000th  of  a  grain  of  the 
granular  matter  taken  in  each  twenty-four  hours  was 
sufficient ;  and  that  in  the  later  and  most  acute  stage, 
one  6,80(Hh  of  a  grain  sufficed.  If  we  divide  these  numbers 
by  40,000  (the  proportion  of  diastase  needed  to  neutralise 
the  starch)  we  find  that  for  the  commencement  of  the 
troublesome  form  of  the  disease  one  8,200,000,000th  of  a 
grain  of  diastase  would  be  sufficient  to  neutralise  the  daily 
dose  of  pollen,  and  that  for  the  most  acute  stage  one 
272,000,000th  of  a  grain  would  be  sufficient. 

We  haye  thus  seen  that  physiological  action  in  the  animal 
and  vegetable  organism  can  be  set  up  by  infinitesimal 
quantities  of  the  appropriate  material  when  endowed  with 
its  own  specific  energy.  Infinitesimal  quantities  when 
endowed  in  a  similar  manner  can  also  set  up  pathological 
conditions  in  the  human  organism,  whilst  a  still  smaller 
quantity  can  neutralise  the  power  of  that  which  gives  rise 
to  these  conditions. 

It  may  naturally  be  asked  if  any  use  can  be  made  of  this 
last  named  £act.  Into  this  part  of  the  question  I  cannot 
enter  now,  further  than  to  say  that  the  possibility  of  the 
discovery  of  agents  that  possess  that  form  of  specific  energy 
that  would  enable  them,  when  given  in  minute  doses,  to 
neutralise  the  action  of  some  of  the  most  deadly  of  the 
exciting  causes  of  disease,  opens  up  a  great  future  for  the 
art  of  medicine.  I  have,  however,  purposely  refrained  from 
entering  upon  the  therapeutic  phase  of  the  question,  and 
have  strictly  confined  my  attention  to  phenomena  that  are 
entirely  independent  of  theory.  In  doing  so  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  build  upon  the  solid  ground  of  experimental 
investigation,  and  in  this  way  I  have  endeavoured  to  give  a 
reason  for  the  faith  that  we  have  in  the  power  of  infini- 
tesimal doses. 

Discussion. 

The  President  described  Dr.  Blackley's  contribution  as  one 
of  a  class  of  papers  of  great  value,  in  two  directions.  Looking 
at  the  paper  from  a  scientific  point  of  view,  it  showed  that 
Dr.  Blackley  was  following  up  a  line  of  investigation  which  was 
tending  to  advance  their  cause.  The  more  they  could  demon- 
strate the  effect  of  minute  particles  of  matter,  ihe  more  readily 
could  they  justify,  before  medical  men,  the  course  they  had  taken 
up.  They  might  also  take  a  practical  view  of  the  paper ;  and  he 
hoped  it  would  be  the  commencement  of  a  series  on  the  subject 


614  IKFINITEBIMAL  QUANTITIES.   ^'^BS^ToSf^MM. 

of  hay-feyer,  which  would  lead  to  mnch  good.  (Applause). 
The  discnssion  would  now  be  proceeded  with,  and  he  trusted 
that  the  distinguished  Americans  who  were  present  would  take 
part  in  it.     (Applause.) 

Dr.  Dyce  Bbown  said  they  must  all  thank  Dr.  Blackley  for 
his  extremely  interesting  and  important  paper.  He  quite  agreed 
with  the  President  that  the  class  of  papers  to  which  it  belonged 
was  very  valuable  indeed.  The  more  that  these  intwestmg 
feusts,  that  at  first  seemed  incredible,  became  known  to  those 
who  did  not  give  small  doses,  the  more  would  the  public  mind 
become  famiharised  with  the  fact  of  minute  doses  being  success- 
ful. He  thought  that  the  carrying  on  of  such  a  series  of  experi- 
ments as  those  in  which  Dr.  Blackley  was  engaged,  was  calculated 
to  lead  to  great  results.     (Applause.) 

Dr.  Gabfkae  said  that  he  was  not  prepared  to  make  any 
remarks  at  all,  but  he  could  not  refrain  from  thanking  Dr. 
Blackley  for  his  very  excellent  paper.  He  agreed  with  the 
previous  speakers  that  it  was  a  very  valuable  one.  It  was  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  get  at  the  fiEtcts  to  which  Dr.  Blackley 
had  referred.  They  had  already  a  considerable  body  of  facts 
bearing  on  the  subject.  For  example,  Dr.  Hughes,  in  his  book, 
showed  the  extremely  small  dose  of  belladonna  that  was  required 
to  produce  its  characteristic  action  on  the  pupil  of  the  eye  ;  and 
they  had  .other  facts  bearing  on  the  importance  of  infinitesimal 
doses  that  added  to  their  store.  He  had  no  doubt  that  ulti- 
mately these  investigations  would  have  an  important  influence 
in  settling  the  very  much  vexed  question  of  the  dose.  He  con- 
fessed that  he  had  been  working  in  the  other  direction.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  discuss  the  question  as  to  the  neutralising,  by 
iodide  potassium,  of  the  poison  of  hay-fever.  He  was  confident 
that  it  was  one  of  the  most  valuable  remedies  for  that  disease. 

Dr.  LuDLAM  said  that  he  had  only  a  very  few  remarks  to  make. 
First  of  all,  he  had  to  thank  them  for  their  kindness  in  allowing 
biTn  to  participate  in  the  discussion,  and  also  to  thank  Dr.  Black- 
ley  personally  for  his  paper,  because  it  had  interested  him  veiy 
much.  He  Uked  such  confirmations  as  had  been  given  of  whii 
tkey  knew  in  a  clinical  way.  The  observations  of  Claude  Bernard 
went  to  show  that  anaeslhesia  would  stop  germination  and  fer- 
mentation so  long  as  the  ansBsthesia  lasted ;  and  that  when  the 
anesthesia  was  disposed  of  the  processes  went  on,  provided  the 
conditions  were  what  they  ought  to  be.  He  had  thought  that 
other  influences  besides  an»sti^esia  might  be  brought  to  bear  on 
the  physiology  of  plants  and  vegetables,  so  as  to  give  us  a  con- 
firmation indirectly  of  the  possibility  of  the  infinitesimal  doses 
working  in  a  salutary  way. 

Mr.  BuTGHEB  said  it  was  very  interestiDg  to  him  to  hear  the 
idea  confirmed  that  a  very  small  dose — ^a  vezy  small  quantity  of 


SSiS^(STS?^   INFINITB8IMAL  QUANTITIES.  615' 

an  organiBm — should  retain  mihin  itself  a  virtae  so  great,  and 
also  a  mechanical  energy  of  snch  enormons  power,  as  wag 
supposed  from  the  fact  that  an  infinitesimal  dose  of  diastaso  was 
able  to  tear  apart  the  chemical  atoms  of  so  large  a  quantity  of 
starch.  In  a  small  amount  of  diastase  there  was  stored  a 
mechamcal  energy  that  might  yet  be  counted  as  able  to  lift  so 
many  pounds  or  ounces.  It  reminded  him  also  of  a  phenomenon 
of  nature  well  known,  and  which  had  always  been  of  great  interest 
— ^that  was  the  phenomenon  of  impregnation — ^how  a  single  mole- 
cule should  cause  such  an  enormous  change  in  the  ovum  in  the 
female  body.  It  seemed  to  be  a  case  on  dl  fours  with  the  action 
of  the  spermatozoa.  It  was  not  so  much  a  conglomeration  of  a 
certain  number  of  atoms  of  matter  as  a  reservoir  of  an  enormous 
amount  of  potential  force.  Many  particles  of  that  force  were 
wasted  in  several  points,  but  some  one  would  come  in  contact 
with  external  circumstances  which  directed  that  force ;  and  therein 
ihey  had  a  wonderfdl  example  of  a  microscopic  amount  of  matter 
causing  an  enormous  discharge  of  force.  He  thought  that  these 
experiments,  more  especially  on  diastase,  might  lead  them  to  very 
wide  and  useful  results,  allying  homoeopathy  to  natural  science, 
which  he  hoped  would  be  the  effect  of  investigations  in  the  future. 

Dr.  PuLiIiB,  Edinburgh,  said  he  had  to  thank  Dr.  Blackley 
for  his  excellent  paper.  He  thought  with  the  other  speakers 
that  nothing  could  be  more  importimt  than  placing  the  doctrine 
of  infinitesimals  on  scientific  ground  in  the  way  that  this  paper 
tended  to  do,  because  it  seemed  that  the  whole  tendency  of 
modem  inquiries  was  in  their  favour,  showing  the  extreme 
divisibility  of  matter,  and  that  we  had  to  look  on  matter  not  as 
we  were  accustomed  to  do,  but  on  its  potential  influence. 
They  were  dealing  with  a  certain  kind  of  matter  which  the 
•hemist  could  not  now  gauge  according  to  the  old  acceptation  of 
his  work.  It  used  to  be  put,  as  one  of  the  shallow  objections  of 
the  critics  of  the  infinitesimal  doctrine,  that  you  could  not  see 
any  particles  beyond  a  certain  point  with  the  microscope.  He 
wished  to  ask  Dr.  Blackley  whether  he  had  heard  of  some 
observations,  of  the  reliability  of  which  he  knew  nothing; 
but  if  there  was  anything  in  them  it  was,  he  thought,  a  subject 
worthy  of  investigation.  It  was  stated  that  Dr.  Jager,  in 
Germany,  had  been  making  some  observations  with  a  modifica- 
tion of  an  instrument  used  by  astronomers,  with  which  they 
noted  the  difference  between  the  time  they  made  a  particular 
observation  and  the  time  they  noted  it  on  the  index.  That,  he 
believed,  was  called  "  nerve  time." 

Dr.  Nanxiveij.  asked  whether  they  were  right  in  maintaining 
that  there  was  that  tremendous  amount  of  lat^t  force  in  minute 
particles,  or  in  spermatozoa,  or  in  those  infinitesimal  exciters,  that 
was  supposed.    Was  it  not  rather  the  case  that  the  power  lay  in 


616  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.   ^^'iSS^IoSLi^l^ 

the  substance  under  action  ?  Was  it  not  diiefly  in  the  OTum  ? 
Was  it  not  a  power  in  the  starch  akeady  ?  And  was  not  the 
•eSOfect  of  the  diastase  or  of  the  spermatozoa  merely  to  remoYe  a 
slight  hindrance  to  this  molecular  change  ?  Here  was  an  illus- 
tration. They  would  be  leaving  Edinburgh  that  night.  The 
engine-driver  would  lift  a  handle,  and  the  locomotive  would  go 
into  action ;  but  the  power  was  there  already.  All  the  imm^mnA 
latent  force  that  was  to  take  them  south  or  north,  as  the  case 
might  be,  lay  not  in  the  driver,  but  in  the  engine ;  and  his  action 
merely  permitted  it  to  come  into  action  under  the  guidance  of 
certain  laws.  The  action  of  the  diastase  enabled  the  starch 
granules  to  pass  into  the  condition  of  sugar.  The  development 
in  the  ovum  could  only  take  place  under  certain  conditions,  the 
principal  being  the  presence  of  spermatozoa.  He  thought  that 
if  they  had  such  enormous  latenl  power  in  these  stimuli  them- 
selves, they  should  expect  that  latent  power  to  show  itself  some 
way  or  other  besides  on  the  different  bodies  on  which  they  acted 
already.  He  would  not  speak  of  it  as  a  power,  without  the 
necessary  stimulus  which  enabled  the  substance  acted  upon  to 
pass  through  certain  changes.  In  looking  on  the  action  of  medi- 
cines in  the  same  way,  they  ought  to  consider  it  not  as  the  action 
of  medicine,  but  the  action  of  the  living  system  in  the  presence 
of  certain  drugs. 

Mr.  Potts  said  he  apprehended  that  no  one  in  that  room 
required  to  be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  infini- 
tesimal doses.  He  himself  became  convinced  of  that  doctrine 
the  first  week  that  he  commenced  to  work  with  homoeopathic 
-doses. 

Dr.  Haywabd  said  that  his  only  reason  for  rising  to  make  a 
few  observations  was  this,  that  he  heartily  approved  of  the 
remarks  made  by  Dr.  Nankivell.  He  thought  tlu^t  in  his  idea  of 
the  matter  they  had  a  very  philosophical  aid  to  the  operation  of 
medicines  in  general,  and  especially  of  infinitesimal  doses.  He 
believed  that  the  power  did  not  rest  in  the  infinitesimal  dose 
itself;  but  that  it  was  merely  like  the  engine-driver — the  liberator 
of  the  power.  As  to  infinit^imal  doses,  he  thought  they  ou^t 
to  consider  whether  their  doses  were  of  animal,  vegetable,  or 
mineral  matters ;  for  he  believed  that  infinitesimal  doses  varied 
with  these.  He  believed  that  an  animal  substance  mi§^t  be  a 
very  much  larger  infinitesimal  dose  than  some  others.  For 
instance,  the  ^ennaiozoon-a  complete  animal  stractaie-ina 
composed  of  a  great  deal  of  material,  which,  broken  up,  earned 
the  dilution  farther ;  but  break  up  the  cell,  and  it  was  no  longer 
able  to  produce  any  operation.  The  vegetable  cell  was  a  complete 
substance.  Take  beiladonna.  So  long  as  they  had  one  cell,  it 
would  produce  its  operation,  but  break  up  that  cell,  and  it  was  no 
jnore  able  to  do  it.    But  it  was  different  with  mineral 


S^r^?Sm***    INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.  617 


Take  a  partide  of  gold  or  anemic ;  they  might  divide  and  divide 
it  more  than  they  oonld  do  with  an  animal  or  vegetable  substance, 
and  they  might  still  get  the  infinitesimal  dose.  He  thought  thai 
with  the  vegetable  and  the  animal  preparations  they  most  stop  a 
little  nearer  than  with  the  mineral. 

Dr.  Blagkusy,  in  reply,  said  he  would  like  to  pass  rapidly 
over  the  various  points  that  had  been  referred  to  by  the  several 
speakers.  With  regard  to  the  dose  referred  to  by  Dr.  Carfrae, 
he  was  glad  of  the  opportmiity  of  saying  that  the  question  of 
dose  had  troubled  boUi  his  mind  and  practice  a  little.  His  fear 
in  writing  the  paper  was  lest  it  might  be  inferred  that  it  bore 
him  individually  in  the  direction  of  the  transcendental  dose.  It 
did  nothing  of  the  kind.  It  only  furnished  him  with  a  hcus 
ttandif  or  scientific  ground,  for  assuming  that  infinitesimal  doses 
do  act ;  but,  in  his  own  case,  he  was  now  what  he  had  been  for 
fifteen  or  twenty  years;  he  used  all  doses,  but  one  rule  he 
adopted,  and  it  was  that  in  the  dose  he  gave  he  kept  below  the- 
power  of  disturbing  the  organism.  In  doing  so,  he  thought  he 
did  all  that  he  required  to  do.  What  he  cliumed  for  himself — 
freedom  of  action — he  claimed  for  every  other  brother  in  the 
profession.  (Applause.)  But  his  experience  was  that  they  found 
patients  were  susceptible  in  various  degrees,  and  that  they  would 
have  to  use  various  doses  for  different  patients.  He  thought  it 
became  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  that  they  should  get 
to  know  their  patients  as  well  as  to  know  their  drugs.  Dr. 
Carfrae  spoke  of  iodide  of  potassium.  He  had  made  some- 
experiments  with  infinitesimal  doses  of  drugs  on  the  living  poUen. 
It  was  a  very  difficult  matter  to  get  the  pollen  thoroughly  alive, 
and  till  they  could  work  it,  especially  in  the  case  of  a  busy 
medical  man.  With  regard  to  the  iodide  of  potassium,  it 
was  a  very  valuable,  but  he  did  not  think  the  most  valuable 
of  medicines.  The  iodide  of  arsenic  carried  the  palm  so  far 
as  his  experience  went.  But  the  saying  was,  '*Art  is  long 
and  life  is  short,'*  and  it  took  a  long  time  to  come  to  safe  con-^ 
elusions.  The  next  point  that  he  fdt  necessary  to  mention  was 
that  touched  upon  by  Mr.  Butcher,  as  to  mechanical  energy. 
He  did  not  know  whether  it  would  be  strictly  correct  for  them 
to  consider  it  mechanical  energy,  and  it  was  a  point  on  which  he 
would  not  pronounce  himself.  Still  it  was  an  important  question 
for  them  to  bear  in  mind.  Speaking  of  impregnation,  Mr. 
Butcher  referred  to  the  quality  of  action  in  impregnating.  That 
appeared  to  be  purely  physiological.  He  had  made  some  pre- 
parations showing  the  pollen  dipping  into  the  structure  of  the 
plant,  and  the  calculations  he  had  given  them  would  be  carried 
immensely  further  if  he  were  to  nuuce  any  statement  as  to  the 
quantity  that  produced  impregnation.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
difficult  problems.    Wiih  regard  to  matters  being  out  of  the 


618  INFINITESIMAL  QUANTITIES.   "'^^wTSl'^mS 

range  of  the  microseope,  he  thonght  that  the  mierofloope  had 
more  than  kept  pace  and  beaten  Uie  test  tabe  and  balance  long 
ago.  He  had  weighed  the  one-500»000,000th  of  a  grain,  divided 
by  the  homoeopathic  method  of  preparing  the  dilations,  but 
that  did  not  represent  anything  like  the  distance  that  they 
should  go  some  day.  Others  had  carried  on  observations  tiiat 
would  put  that  completely  into  the  shade.  He  had  read 
something  about  the  chronoscope,  but  he  did  not  know  how  it 
could  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  subject  they  had  in  hand. 
It  was  an  exceedingly  interesting  subject— the  measuring 
of  time  that  occurred  between  the  perception  of  a  phenom6Don 
and  the  registration  of  it.  There  must  be  some  time  occur  in 
tbe  passage  of  the  sensation  of  the  eye  and  nostril  and  the 
transmission  of  that  into  motion  by  the  hand.  With  regard 
to  Dr.  Nankivell*s  remarks,  there  was  one  thing  he  would 
mention  in  regard  to  the  question:  Were  they  right  in 
4i8suniing  the  whole  of  the  power  to  rest  in  the  diastase  ?  He 
thought  they  were ;  but  they  had  to  take  another  thing  into 
account,  and  that  was  the  irritability  of  the  substances  on  which 
it  acted,  especially  as  to  the  Uving  action.  Some  were  sus- 
ceptible of  one  drug  and  some  not.  They  could  not  poison  a 
rabbit  with  heUadonnay  but  how  di£ferent  was  it  with  a  human 
being ;  and  they  must  take  that  irritability  into  account.  Dr. 
Hayward  touched  upon  a  very  important  point,  to  the  effect  tiiat 
what  made  up  a  vegetable  ceU  was  much  lai^er  than  what  might 
act  in  the  case  of  other  substances.  Well,  it  so  happened  that 
some  of  our  vegetables — ^at  all  events,  some  of  our  animal  or 
vegetable  productions — ^were  infinitely  smaller  than  any  partide 
that  they  could  produce  by  any  preparation  in  the  metals.  In 
order  to  show  that  he  needed  only  to  refer  to  the  investigations 
of  Dr.  Drysdale,  and  they  would  find  that  some  of  the  monads 
in  the  earliest  germ  form  were  so  infinitely  small  that,  working 
with  the  highest  powers  of  the  microscope  in  this  country  or  in 
any  other,  tiiey  could  scarcely  be  distinguished.  He  had  heard 
that  in  Dr.  Ludlam's  country  they  had  succeeded  in  bringing 
out  a  glass  of  higher  power  than  was  to  be  found  here,  but  he 
had  heard  of  no  results  with  it.  But  even  with  the  highest 
powers,  some  of  these  monads  made  only  a  mere  nebula  under 
the  microscope.  Whether  they  could  yet  be  followed  up  it  was 
impossible  to  tell,  but  they  could  not  go  farther  in  the  mean* 
time.  He  had  to  thank  the  meeting  for  the  extremely  kind 
manner  in  which  they  had  received  the  paper. 


2»(S"nSr  BBVDBWS.  619 


REVIEWS. 


American  Medicmal  Plants:  an  lUuatratwe  and DetcripHve  Guide 
to  the  American  Plants  used  as  Homaopaihic  Remedies  ;  their 
History,  Preparation,  Chemistry  and  Physiologieal  Effects.  By 
Chasles  F.  Millspaugh,  M.D.  New  York  and  Philadelphia : 
Boericke  &  TafeL     No.  1. 

Tbis  is  the  first  instalment  of  a  work,  which  promises  to  be  one 
of  much  interest.  Its  principal  feature  is  a  coloured  drawing  of 
each  plant,  and  minor  sketches  of  those  parts  which  are  most 
characteristie  of  it.  The  drawing  is  excellent,  and  the  colouring 
very  life-like  and  natural.  The  text,  which  accompanies  each 
illustration,  gives  a  botanical  description  of  the  plant,  its  history 
and  habitat,  the  part  used  in  medicine,  the  mode — i.e.,  the 
anther's  mode — of  preparing  the  tincture,  which  is  invariably  by 
maceration,  the  chemical  constituents,  where  these  have  been 
ascertained,  and  finally  the  physiological  effects.  These  are  given 
very  briefly  and  concisely.  For  example,  the  account  of  iris 
versicolor  in  this  respect  is  as  follows : — 

"  Iris  acts  powerfully  upon  the  gastro-intestinal  tract,  the  liver, 
and  especially  the  pancreas ;  causing  burning  sensations  and  a 
high  state  of  congestion,  as  proven  by  post  mortem  examinations 
of  f^nimftk  after  tiie  exhibition  of  the  drug. 

''It  is  an  excitant  of  the  saUvary  and  biliary  secretions, 
being  therefore  an  excellent  remedy  to  be  thought  of  in  ptyalism 
and  obstinate  constipation. 

**  The  gastro-intestinal  effects  are  profuse  acid  vomitings  and 
frequent  watery  evacuations,  the  latter  accompanied  by  severe 
oolic  and  burning.  Upon  the*  nervous  system  its  action  is 
marked,  as  shown  by  the  severe  toxic  neuralgias  of  the  head, 
face  and  limbs.*' 

Scarcely  accurate  in  all  points,  such  a  description  of  physio- 
logical effects,  were  it  perfectly  correct,  would  he  of  Uttie  if  any 
service  in  enabling  us  to  prescribe  iris  homoeopathically.  The 
botanical  account  of  the  several  plants  is  very  clear,  and  will 
greatiy  assist  the  student  in  his  study  of  each  ;  while  the  drawings 
are  such  as  will  enable  him  to  recognise  a  specimen  without  any 
difficulty. 

What  Dr.  Hamilton  accomplished  thirty  years  ago  for  the 
Materia  Medica  Pura  of  Hahnemann,  Dr.  Millspaugh  is  en- 
deavouring— and  that  most  creditably — ^to  do  for  the  indigenous 
medicinal  plants  of  the  United  States. 


620  MBBTINOS.  "S2Sl=?[2??S!^ 


B0vi0W«  Octk  S|  IflBL 


MEETINGS. 


THE    BRITISH    HOMOEOPATHIC    CONGRESS. 

The  Anntud  Congress  of  British  HomcBopathic  Practitioners  took 
place  in  the  Windsor  Hotel,  Edinbnigh,  on  Thursday,  the  7th 
September. 

The  chair  was  occupied  by  Dr.  Drnry,  Bonmemonth,  the  pre- 
sident. There  were  abo  present — ^Dr.  Bryce,  Edinbnigh,  Tice- 
president;  Dr.  Biggar,  Cleveland,  U.S.A. ;  Dr.  Dyce  Bro^m, 
London ;  Mr.  Batcher,  Windsor;  Dr.  Blackley,  Mani^ester ;  Dr. 
Carfrae,  London ;  Dr.  Washington  Epps,  London ;  Dr.  Gibson, 
Stirling;  Dr.  Hayward,  Liyeipool ;  Dr.  Kennedy,  Newcastle- 
on-Tyne ;  Dr.  Lather,  Belfast ;  Dr.  Ladlam,  Chicago,  U.S.A. ; 
Dr.  Moore,  Liverpool;  Dr.  Madden,  Birmingham;  Dr.  H. 
Nankivell,  Boomemouth;  Dr.  Pordom,  Newcastle-on-Tyne ; 
Dr.  Alfd.  Pallar,  Edinburgh ;  Mr.  Potts,  Sunderland ;  Dr.  T. 
Simpson,  Liverpool;  Mr.  Stephens,  Cannes;  Dr.  Sutiierland» 
Edinburgh;  Dr.  Williams,  Clifton;  Dr.  Walter  Wolston,. 
Edinburgh;  Dr.  Wielobycki,  Edinburgh;  Dr.  Hardy,  Glasgow; 
Dr.  T.  P.  Simpson,  Glasgow. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Congress  were  opened  by  an  Address 
from  the  President,  which  appears  at  page  577  of  our  present 
number. 

At  the  close  of  the  Address, 

The  President  said  that  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Yeldham,  London,  expressing  regret  that  he  was  not  able  to  be 
present  with  them.  Dr.  Roth  and  others  also  expressed  Ihfr 
same  regret.  Dr.  Hughes,  of  Brighton,  telegraphed  as  follows : 
''  Best  wishes  for  success-  of  Congress,  from  one  who  grieves 
he  cannot  bo  there.'*  He  was  sure  that  all  would  regret  the 
absence  of  Dr.  Hughes,  as  well  as  that  of  many  others.  (Applause). 
He  was  quite  distressed  that  some  of  their  old  friends  were  noi 
with  them,  but  he  supposed  that  the  meeting  of  the  Oongreaa 
being  held  so  far  north  had  prevented  them  attending.  Dr.  Blake 
had  telegraphed — ''  Sorry  I  cannot  be  at  the  Congress.  Obliged 
to  return  from  Aberdeen  Monday.  Hope  to  welcome  next  year 
the  Congress  to  Birmingham.**  Dr.  Burnett,  London,  tele* 
graphed — *'  Serious  illness  in  my  own  family  compels  my  absence 
from  the  Congress,  and  my  regret  is  all  the  greater  because  I 
regard  Edinburgh  as  the  cradle  of  our  reform  in  these  Isles." 
He  was  sure  that  they  all  regretted  the  absence  of  these  gentlemen. 

Dr.  Walteb  Wolbton,  Edinburgh,  said  that  he  had  recently 
met  Dr.  Guernsey,  of  Philadelphia,  who  expressed  his  regret  thi& 
he  could  not  be  present  at  the  Congress,  and  desired  his  very 
kind  remembrances  to  be  mentioned  to  his  assembled  brethren. 
(Applause). 


SSS^^ST'SE!?*  MBBT1N08.  621 


BtfntWf  Oflv.  St  loSSa 


The  PBBsmENT  then  deliyered  the  Address,  uddoh  win  be 
found  at  page  677.    At  its  oondnsion. 

Dr.  MooEB,  lirerpool,  said  that  before  the  business  of  the 
meeting  was  proceeded  with,  he  thought  that  their  first  duty 
was  to  retnm  their  yerj  hearty  and  cordial,  he  might  say,  miited 
thanks  to  the  President  for  his  very  able  Address.  (Applause). 
After  expressing  his  high  appreciation  of  the  Address,  Dr.  Moore 
moved — '*  That  the  cordial  thanks  of  the  meeting  be  given  to 
Dr.  Dmry  for  his  valuable  Address."    (Applause). 

Dr.  Bbtoe,  Edinburgh,  said  he  had  very  much  pleasure  in 
seconding  the  motion  that  a  vote  of  thaidcs  be  given  to  the 
President. 

The  motion,  which  was  supported  by  Mr.  Potts,  of  Sunder- 
land, was  cordially  agreed  to. 

The  Pbesidsmt  said  he  was  deeply  indebted  to  the  meeting 
for  the  kind  expression  of  their  thanks.  He  was  a&aid  that  he 
had  trespassed  too  much  on  their  time.  He  came  there  with  a 
feeling  somewhat  of  terror,  but  he  had  the  consolation  that  he 
was  l^Le  the  [clergyman  who  had  the  great  advantage  over  hia 
hearers  in  that  they  had  no  power  of  reply.  (Laughter  and 
applause). 

iMFDirrBSDCAIi  QUAHTITISS. 

Dr.  Blacklsy  then  read  a  paper  On  the  Influence  of  InfinU 
tesimal  Quantities  in  Inducing  Physiological  Action,  This  paper, 
followed  by  the  discussion  to  which  it  gave  rise,  will  be  found 
at  page  604  of  our  present  number. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  discussion  the  members  were  very 
handsomely  entertained  at  luncheon  by  Drs.  Bryce  and  Wolston*. 

On  re-assembling,  the  report  of  the  Hahnemann  Publishing 
Society  was  first  taken. 

Dr.  Hatwabd  (Secretary)  said  that  a  meeting  of  that  Society 
bad  been  held  the  previous  evening,  and  by  adjournment  that- 
morning ;  and  it  was  stated  that  since  last  meeting  the  Society 
had  published  two  very  important  works,  the  two  volumes  of 
the  Materia  Medica  Pura  of  Hahnemann,  translated  by 
Dr.  Dudgeon  and  annotated  by  Dr.  Hughes,  and  that  it  had  in 
hand  a  revision  of  the  Materia  Medica.  It  was  agreed  that  an 
appeal  should  be  made  to  the  Congress  for  fonds  to  meet  the 
cost  of  bringing  out  this  revision.  Dr.  Black  and  the  British 
Homoeopathic  Society  had  each  promised  £25  towards  this 
olgect,  and  it  was  hoped  that  their  colleagues  would  assist  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  work.  It  would  be  a  handy  volume,, 
containing  about  twelve  of  their  best  medicines,  and  would  be 
published  at  about  10s.  He  said  that  at  the  last  annual 
meeting  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  comprehensive 
diaracter  of  Allen's  Materia  M^ica  involved  the  collection  of 

Yd.  20,  Ko.  10.  T 


622  MBBTINOS.  "S^^oSMl 

donbtfol  symptoms  and  numeroos  repetitions.  It  was,  therefore, 
no  substitute  for  the  Materia  Medica  of  the  Hahnemaim 
Publishing  Society,  in  which  only  reliably  symptoms  were  giyen, 
and  that  in  natural  groups.  It  was,  therefore,  unanimously 
resohed  that  it  was  most  important  to  proceed  with  and  pu^ 
forward  the  work  of  the  Society,  and  to  publish  their  material 
in  a  more  convenient  form  than  they  had  done  hitherto  ;  it  wu 
also  resolved  that  it  should  be  brought  out  in  a  neutral  form, 
one  not  objectionable  to  so-called  orthodox  practitioners,  in 
order  that  they  might  be  induced  to  purchase  and  use  it.  It 
was  mentioned  at  the  meeting  that  during  the  year  there  had 
been  much  correspondence  and  discussion  between  Drs.  Black, 
Dudgeon,  Hughes,  Hayward,  and  others,  as  to  the  form  the 
work  should  assume ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  it  should  provide 
A  pathogenesis,  a  Schema,  and  clmical  information — ^that  was, 
that  there  should  be  a  collection  of  all  provings,  poisonings,  &c« 

After  some  discussion,  the  following  resolutions  had  been 
adopted  for  presentation  to  the  Congress  for  discussion,  namely. 
"  That  the  Materia  Medica  to  be  published  by  the  HomoBopathie 
body  shall  be  such  as  to  meet  the  requirements  of  both  students 
and  practitioners,  by  supplying  the  following  essentials  : — 

**  (a.)  It  shall  provide  a  collection  of  patibogeneses  in  the  way 
of  provings,  poisonings,  &c.,  and  these  shall  be  corroborated  by 
post-mortem  results  wherever  possible. 

**  (b.)  It  shall  provide  an  interpretation  of  these  pathogeneses, 
by  way  of  commentary  on  the  general  and  topical  action. 

''  (c.)  It  shall  provide  a  Schema  of  these  pathogeneses  on  the 
different  organs,  with  indices  and  concordances. 

"  (d.)  It  shall  furnish  clinical  confirmations  of  the  general 
And  local  operation  of  each  medicine  by  means  of  clinical  cases 
or  cures. 

'<  (e.)  It  shall  have  a  neutral  title,  such  as  A  Physiological 
and  Therapeutic  Materia  Medica,'* 

In  conclusion.  Dr.  Hatwabd  said  he  had  received  the  above 
statement  fix)m  Dr.  Hughes  as  the  proposal  of  the  "British 
Homceopathic  Society. 

Dr.  Madden  said  he  thought  they  should  let  the  British 
Homoeopathic  Society  do  as  much  as  they  thought  proper,  and 
they  should  supplement  their  work  if  necessary. 

Dr.  Gabfrae  said  he  thought  they  should  have  the  most  com- 
plete work,  viz.,  that  suggested  by  the  Hahnemann  Publishipg 
Society ;  and  he  did  not  see  the  necessity  for  any  other.  The 
larger  would  include  the  lesser. 

Dr.  Nankivell  said  that  the  British  Homoeopathic  Socieiy 
seemed  to  press  the  most  important  point  of  all,  and  that  was 
a  collection  under  each  medicine  of  all  the  original  provings, 
poisonings  and  post-mortem  examinations.     3?hat  must  be  the 


S5SI*£rS^^  MBBTWos.  628: 


BsfieWy  OoL  S|  tSBSL 


basis  of  any  Materia  Medieay  and  that  was  what  they  ought  to 
have  had  all  along.  He  took  it  that  the  British  Homoeopathic 
Society  wished  to  add  a  Schema  of  the  whole.  He  believed  that 
if  the  pathogeneses  were  thoronghly  well  indexed  and  brought 
together  at  the  dose  of  the  pathogeneses,  they  should  be  able  to 
get  on  without  printing  the  Schema  at  all.  He  thought  that  the 
index  would  take  the  place  of  the  Schema,  and  refer  the  reader 
back  to  the  symptom  that  he  needed ;  and  not  only  so,  but  to 
the  symptoms  that  grouped  themselves  round  a  particular  case. 
He  felt  that  to  get  at  idl  forward  in  their  scientific  treatment 
of  disease  by  applying  the  law  of  similars  thoroughly  and  philo- 
sophically, they  had  to  treat  the  symptom  as  it  appeared,  as 
well  as  the  surroundings  of  the  case  of  poisoning  and  proving  in 
which  it  occurred.  He  thought  that  if  the  work  were  well 
indexed,  it  would  serve  the  purpose  required ;  and  he  was  quite 
sure  that  their  interest  in  the  Materia  Medica,  with  such  an 
arrangement,  would  be  increased  a  hundredfold.  '  It  was 
impossible  to  get  up  an  interest  in  a  Scliema  ;  it  was  a  sort  of 
Chinese  puzzle.  If  they  had  the  symptoms  in  the  pathogeneses, 
they  would  be  part  of  the  story,  and  the  interest  in  the  whole 
would  be  much  greater,  while  the  treatment  would  be  more 
successful.  He  would  say,  let  them  have  no  Schema,  but  a  tho- 
roughly good  index.  If  they  had  that,  he  thought  they  might 
find  the  British  Homoeopa^ic  Society  and  the  Hahnemann 
Publishing  Society  at  one  in  the  matter. 

Dr.  Bbyce  said  be  wished  to  know  what  kind  of  index  would 
be  proposed.  It  appeared  to  him  that,  if  they  had  an  index,  the 
whole  of  the  pathogeneses  must  be  repeated.  The  advantage  of 
the  Schema  form  was  that  they  had  it  arranged  according  to  the 
different  localities  and  organs  of  the  body ;  but  in  an  index  they 
had  it  in  a  scattered  and  indefinite  form,  and  not  so  ready  at 
hand. 

Dr.  Nankivell  said  that  the  index  would  be  in  the  Schema 
form.  The  anatomical  portions  of  the  body  would  form  the 
basis  of  the  index  instead  of  giving  the  whole,  symptoms  in  the 
Schemxi.  He  knew  that  Dr.  Drysdale  approved  of  groups  of 
symptoms,  all  that  appeared  together  being  grouped  together  in 
one  single  paragraph. 

Dr.  Blacklev  said  that,  like  all  of  them,  he  had  no  doubt 
foxmd  the  necessity  of  having  the  provings  given  in  much  the 
same  way  that  they  would  get  up  a  picture — that  is,  having  the 
symptoms  grouped  in  the  regular  order  of  their  occurrence.  It 
had  been  idways  a  difficulty  to  go  to  the  Schema  to  seek  out  and 
to  determine,  without  knowledge  gained  in  other  ways,  the  way 
in  which  the  symptoms  had  occurred ;  but  the  selection  of  a 
medicine  depended  on  the  order  in  which  the  symptoms 
occurred.    The  Schema  as  they  had  it  at  the  present  day 

2  T-2 


«24 MBKTINQB.  ^''SSS^'oSTmi 

DMembldd  portraits  of  the  different  races,  reDdered  by  eattiiig 
off  the  ears  and  noses  and  patting  them  all  in  a  group  together. 
Now,  if  they  could  only  secure  the  proTings  as  they  occiured  in 
various  individuals,  instead  of  cutting  them  up  into  a  Schtma^ 
they  would  accomplish  a  great  thing.  Xhey  could  afterwaids 
go  to  the  Schema  if  they  wished. 

The  Pbesidbnt  said  that  as  he  understood  it,  the  Britidi 
HbnuBopathic  Society  would  supply  the  provings,  and  the  other 
would  supplement  it,  giving  the  whole  history  of  the  drug  and 
everything  about  it. 

I^.  Hatwabd  said  that  the  proposal  was  that  their  Materia 
Medtca  should  be  a  complete  Materia  Medica. 

Dr.  Madden  asked  if  there  had  been  any  estimate  of  the 
number  of  volumes  it  would  make,  and  the  number  of  book- 
shelves that  would  be  required  to  hold  them.    (Laughter.) 

I>r.  Hatwabd  said  that  of  course  the  Materia  Medica  would 
include  all  the  medicines.  He  maintained  that  it  need  not  be  one 
half  the  size  of  that  Allen  had  given  them.  He  had  given  them  ten 
volumes,  and  only  in  Schema  form ;  it  was  now  proposed  to  pro- 
duce a  more  usefdl  and  reliable  work  in  half  that  numb^  of 
volumes. 

Dr.  Hatwabd  having  again  read  the  proposals. 

Dr.  MooBE  moved  that  the  Schema  be  left  out.  The  symptoms 
were  very  often  misleading,  but  here  they  were  going  to  tay  to  do 
somethiz^  intelligent,  and  something  that  would  be  understand- 
able by  the  ordinary  professional  mind.  He  would  move — *'  That 
a,  bf  and  c  be  adopted,  that  the  Schema  be  omitted,  and  that  its 
place  be  supplied  by  a  full  index." 

Dr.  Najnkivell  seconded  the  motion. 

Dr.  Dtob  Bbown  moved  as  an  amendment — '^  That  the  Sdkema 
be  added.'* 

Dr.  Hatwabd  seconded  the  amendment.  He  said  that  in 
many  cases  the  circumstances  were  to  be  found  by  the  Schem^^ 
and  by  the  Schema  only.  Take  a  series  of  provings  and  a 
series  of  pathogeneses,  such  as  they  might  have  in  a  vohnne. 
A  person  would  come  in  complaining  A  a  peculiar  headache, 
and  you  wonder  whether  belladonna  produces  it.  You  turn 
over  the  Schema,  and  under  the  *'  head  **  you  will  find  a  peculiar 
headache  that  belladonna  produces,  but  you  don't  find  the  one 
you  want.  Must  you  read  all  the  provings  while  your  patient 
is  waiting  ? 

Dr.  MooBB  :  But  the  index  would  show  that. 

Dr.  Hatwabd  :  Then  it  is  a  Schema  ? 

Dr.  Nankivxll  :  It  is  a  Schema,  but  refers  to  the  patho- 
geneses, and  is  not  a  Schema  only. 

Dr.  Moobb  said  that  Dr.  Hayward  forgot  that  the  Sdisma 


nSSS^StTS^  MSBTiNqs, 625 

would  doable  the  flize  of  the  book.  Their  great  object  was  to 
keep  the  thing  within  readable  compase. 

Dr.  Bbygb  said  he  thonghi  that  the  great  objection  to  the 
Schema  was  that  they  had  the  provings  by  one  man,  then  by 
iwo,  three,  eight,  or  ten  men.  The  proposal  of  the  H^fanenuum 
Society  was  to  take  what  was  right,  and  not  to  take  the  provings 
of  six  or  eight  men,  and  that  would  not  be  a  long  mattelr.  It 
did  not  appear  to  him  that  the  British  HomoBopathic  Society 
would  midce  such  a  large  number  of  Tolumes  after  all.  Wii^ 
regard  to  the  Sehema,  a  patient  might  come  in  with  no  complaint 
except  in  the  hea^  or  abdomen,  and  the  practitioner  wished  to 
refer  to  the  Schema  at  once.  He  did  not  see  that  they  could 
make  an  index  to  overtake  that. 

Dr.  Dyob  Bbowm  said  he  thought  that  if  the  thing  was  to  be 
made  complete  it  should  be  so,  even  although  there  might  be 
A  few  volumes  extra.  That  would  be  much  better  than  having 
things  half  done.     (Hear,  hear.) 

Dr.  Cabfras  said  that  the  first  question  was  whether  they 
would  have  a  Materia  Mediiea  of  the  British  Homoeopathic 
Society  or  the  one  of  this  Congress.  If  they  decided  first  as  .to 
that,  tiien  they  could  decide  the  other  question. 

The  Chaibman  said  that  the  proposal  of  the  British  Homooo- 
pathic  Society  merely  refiaired  to  ttie  proving  of  the  drugs,  if 
that  was  done  it  would  be  a  very  important  thing.  He 
understood  that  the  Publishing  Society  would  give  again  whai 
was  given  by  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society.  He  bought  it 
would  be  better  to  let  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society  give  the 
provings,  and  the  Hahnemann  PnbHshmg  Society  to  do  the 
remainder.  As  regarded  the  Schema  he  must  say  that  he  should 
be  soriy  to  see  the  work  without  it.  It  would  be  a  different 
thing  from  what  they  had  had  hitherto.  Where  a  certain  effect 
was  observed  once  it  might  be  noted,  and  where  it  had  beeA 
observed  six  or  seven  times  it  might  be  noted  as  such.  He 
would  now  put  to  the  vote  the  amendment  proposed  by 
Dr.  Brown,  **  That  the  Schema  be  given  as  proposed.*' 

On  the  vote  being  taken,  eight  voted  for  tiie  amendment  and 
eight  for  the  contrsury  opinion. 

The  OHATBlfAN  having  been  asked  to  give  his  casting-vote,  he 
flaid  he  would  give  it  for  Dr.  Brown's  amendment  in  flavour  of 
the  Schema.  He  said  that  he  did  not  like  giving  a  casting-vote ; 
but  he  knew  that  Dr.  Bryce,  who  was  temporanly  absent,  would 
have  given  it  in  fiivour  of  the  amendment. 

Dr.  Hatwabo  said  that  the  only  other  question  that  now  arose 
was  as  to  the  title  of  the  book.  The  object  was  to  bring  out  a 
eomplete  Materia  Mediea,  one  that  would  fill  the  place  of  sll  the 
Materia  Medicos  that  had  been  published.  That  might  appear 
taither  ambitious,  but  it  could  be  done.    They  knew  that  much 


626  MEETINGS.  ^'"^^ 


£«nev.  OeL  S,  I8BL 


of  their  material — ^the  material  of  the  homceopatfaic  hod j — mna 
taken  and  made  good  use  of  hj  those  who  said  that  there  wn 
nothing  in  homceopathj.  Of  their  Materia  Medieea  that  were 
pnhliahed,  Dr.  Hnghes*  Pharmacodynamics  had  gone  throng 
three  or  four  editions,  and  a  great  many  more  had  been  sold 
than  there  were  homoeopaths  to  bny.  Of  eonrse  they  were  pur- 
chased by  the  allopaths.  Hnghes*,  Phillips*,  and  Ringer's 
Materia  Medicas  showed  the  rising  taste  for  these  works,  and 
their  own  Materia  Mediea  on^t  to  take  the  place  of  the  three. 
If  they  ticketed  it  as  homoeopathic  it  would  not  do.  The  pro' 
fession  would  say,  "  We  don't  want  that,  we  want  Binger's." 
But  let  them  drop  the  name,  and  give  it  a  title  that  would  not  be 
objectionable,  and  then  it  would  be  bought.  They  would  real 
it,  and  by-;and-by  become  homoeopaths.  He  would  suggest  thst 
they  should  entitle  it,  A  Pkyeioloifical  and  Therapeutic  Materia 
Mediea, 

Dr.  Williams  asked  if  the  work  would  be  published  by  the 
Hahnemann  Publishing  Society. 

Dr.  Hatwabd  said  that  it  might  be  published  by  a  neutnd 
firm. 

The  PjEtESiDBNT  asked  who  the  work  would  be  stated  as  by  ? 

Dr.  Hatwabd  said  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  state  that  it 
was  by  any  one  in  particular.  The  author's  name  would  be  on 
each  paper  that  he  wrote,  and  it  might  be  published  by  Lewis,  of 
London.  It  would  go  into  his  lists ,  and  would  then  pass  throng 
the  world  as  The  Physiological  and  Hierapeutic  Materia  Medico^ 
He  had  read  a  letter  that  morning  from  Dr.  Dtysdale,  in  which 
he  said  that,  after  aJl,  Materia  Mediea  meant  "  matter  medically,** 
so  that  the  '*  Therapeutic  '*  would  be  supeifluous,  and  **  Physuh 
logical  Materia  Mediea  "  would  be  quite  sufficient.  He  did  not 
know  that  it  was  necessary  to  settle  the  title  at  present,  further 
than  that  the  Congress  approve  of  a  neutral  title. 

Dr.  Dtge  Bbown  said  there  was  a  great  deal  to  be  said  for  a 
neutral  title ;  but  he  thought  that  to  do  justice  to  themsehres 
and  to  Hahnemann,  they  must  introduce  lus  name  in  a  proper 
way — such  as.  The  Materia  Mediea  compiled  under  the  auspices, 
or  compiled  by  the  Homoeopathic  Congress ;  and  then  distinctly 
state  in  the  preface  that  they  owed  to  Hahnemann  this  method 
of  investigating  medicines,  and  of  bringing  before  the  publie 
the  pure  action  of  medicines.    He  thought  this  would  sati^  alL 

Dr.  Nankivell  said  that  he  was  going  to  say  very  much  what 
Dr.  Brown  had  said  just  now.  It  appeared  that  publishing  a 
Tolume  was  a  sort  of  venture ;  they  were  going  to  try  to  put 
salt  on  the  allopaths*  tail  (laughter) ;  and  it  was  a  quesiioD 
whether  they  would  succeed.  If  they  did  not  succeed,  and  if 
they  did  not  put  the  name  on  the  title,  they  knew  who  would 
Jhave  the  laughing  side.    If  they  were  to  have  a  Schema  let 


them  acknowledge  the  principles  of  the  man  to  whom  they  owed 
the  work. 

Dr.  Cabfbax  said  that  his  feelings  were  very  mnch  the  same 
as  those  that  had  just  been  expressed.  If  they  took  up  any 
book  on  any  subject  at  all  that  tiiey  wished  to  make  their  guide, 
the  first  thing  they  did  was  to  look  at  the  title  page  to  see  who 
was  the  author,  and  whether  he  was  a  reliable  guide.  But  if  it 
was  simply  a  Materia  Medica,  there  were  so  many  calls  on  one's 
time,  that  his  first  impression  would  probably  be  to  put  it  aside ; 
and,  besides,  he  would  like  to  know  whose  Materia  Medica  it 
was.  He  thought  it  would  be  rather  shirking  their  principles 
if  they  were  not  to  say,  *'  Published  by  the  Hidmemann 
Publishing  Society."  He  thought  that  they  ought  to  give 
prominence  to  the  source  of  this  Materia  Mediea.  They  need 
not  call  it  a  Homceopathic  Materia  Medica^  but  they  might  say 
*<  Published  by  the  Hahnemann  Publishing  Society,*'  and  let  the 
preface  give  honour  to  whom  honour  was  due.  He  thought 
they  could  not  too  prominently  bring  forward  the  truths  which 
they  maintained,  and  if  this  proposid  was  a  success  it  would  put 
the  matter  on  a  proper  basis. 

Dr.  Walter  Wolston  asked  who  would  be  the  responsible 
editor? 

Dr.  Garfbab  said  that  there  would  be  a  publishing  committee. 

Dr.  BiooAB  said  he  thought,  as  the  last  speaker  had  said,  that 
it  was  well  to  have  some  person  who  would  be  responsible  with 
regard  to  the  work ;  and  while  they,  as  homoeopathic  physicians 
did  not  wish  to  say  in  every  instance  that  they  were  homoeo- 
pathic physicians,  still  they  believed  the  doctrines  of  homoeo- 
pathy ;  and  if  they  were  making  such  inroads,  let  the  work  be 
pubhshed  by  the  Hahnemann  Publishing  Society.  With  regard 
to  the  title,  it  should  be  as  concise  as  possible,  and  it  might  be 
called  The  Materia  Medica  of  the  British  Homceopathic  Congress, 

Dr.  Walter  Wolston  said  that  it  might  be  published  by  Lewis 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Hahnemann  Publishing  Society. 

Dr.  Dyce  Brown  said  that  probably  he  would  not  do  that. 

The  Chatrman  said  that  Dr.  Hayward  wished  a  vote  taken  as 
to  whether  they  should  have  the  Hahnemann  Publishing  Society 
appearing  on  the  title-page. 

On  a  i^ow  of  hands  being  taken,  fourteen  voted  for  the  namo 
appearing  on  the  title  page,  and  four  against  it. 

The  Chairuan  declared  the  proposal  agreed  to. 

Dr.  Dtcb  Brown  said  he  supposed  it  was  understood  that 
there  would  be  a  special  preface. 

Dr.  Hayward  said  that  there  would  be  a  general  preface.  He 
■did  not  know,  however,  that  they  could  mBke  a  better  prefietoe 
than  that  they  had. 


C28 KSPtaaB.  ''B^,oet«;i«. 

Dr.  Dtcb  Bbown  moved  *'  That  a  hiitorieal  prafaee  shofiild  be 
added,  in  which  it  is  distinctly  stated  that  we  owe  to  Hahae- 
mann  this  method  of  diacoveries  in  the  action  of  medidnee,  and 
the  mode  of  htying  them  before  the  pnbHo.** 

Br.  WiLUAM  B  seconded  the  motion. 

Dr.  Oabfbas  said  he  thought  that  the  proposal  was  snpet- 
flaons.  There  mnst  be  a  preface^  and,  if  they  had  eonfidenee 
enough  in  the  men  who  published  the  book  to  allow  them  to 
work  oat  all  the  rest  of  it,  they  might  tnist  that  they  would 
not  omit  to  give  proper  hononr  in  the  preface.  While  he 
agreed  with  the  principle,  he  thought  the  proposal  was  quite 
superfluous.    - 

Dr.  Dtob  Bbown  said  that  what  they  wiahed  specially  was 
that  the  kind  of  prefftce  to  which  he  refenred  should  go  in. 

Dr.  MooBB  said  he  would  give  notice  at  the  next  meeting  that 
the  Hahnemann  Publishing  Society  be  called  the  Homoeopathie 
Society* 

Dr.  Cabfbae  moved,  "  That  the  prefiEuse  be  left  to  the  Hahne- 
mann Publishing  Society.** 

Dr.  Blacklet  seconded  this  motion. 

On  a  show  of  hands  thirteen  voted  for  the  motion,  and  six 
against  it,  and  it  was  agreed  to  leave  the  preface  to  the  Hahne- 
mann Publishing  Society. 

PLAOE   OF  NEXT   MEBTIMO. 

Dr.  Nankivbll  moved  that  the  next  place  of  meeting  be 
Bournemouth. 

This  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Moobb. 

Dr.  Maddbn  proposed  Binmngham,  which  was  seconded  by 
Dr.  Blackley. 

Dr.  Hayward,  seconded  by  Dr.  Bbtce,  proposed  Matlock,  and 
it  was  eventually  agreed  that  Matlock  should  be  the  next  place  of 
meeting ;  and  that  the  Congress  should  be  held  on  the  second 
Thursday  of  September,  1688. 

SLSGTION   OF  PBESmSMT. 

The  election  of  President  for  next  year  was  then  proceeded 
with. 

On  the  voting  papers  being  collected, 

The  P&B8IDBNT  said  he  had  the  pleasure  of  Announcing  that 
their  choice  had  fallen  on  their  friend,  Dr.  Blackley.  (Applansa.) 

Dr.  Blaoklbt  said  he  was  exceedingly  obliged  for  the  honour 
they  intended  to  do  him,  but  felt  obliged  to  decline  it,  on  the 
ground  that  his  time  was  so  completely  occupied  with  a  series  of 
researches  on  which  he  had  been  long  engaged,  that  he  would  be 
unable  to  do  that  justice  to  the  office  which  he  would  wish  to  do. 

Another  vote  was  then  taken,  when  the  Pbbsidkmt  announoed 


mS^SlTSuH^  MBirrnws.  091 

the  eleetioQ  of  Br.  Moore,  of  Liverpool,  by  an  orenvfaefamng 
minority. 

Dr.  MooBB  rekurned  ihanke  in  iq[ipropiiate  terms  for  the 
honour  that  had  been  done  to  him,  and  said  that  he  would 
endeavonr  to  the  best  of  his  ability  to  perform  the  duties  of  the 
office. 

Br.  Waltbb  Wolston  moyed  that  Br.  Hayward  be  appointed 
to  the  office  of  Vice-President. 

Br.  Btoe  Bbowk  seconded  the  motion,  which  was  carried 
vnanimonsly. 

The  General  Secretary  (Br.  B.  Brown),  and  Treasarw 
(Br.  £.  Madden),  were  re*appointed. 

Br.  Wolston  then  proceeded  to  read  a  paper  on  a  case  of 
Nephritis,  which,  together  with  the  discnssion,  we  hope  to 
publish  next  month.  This  was  followed  by  a  paper  on  the 
Periodicity  of  Certain  Biseases  by  Mr.  Batcher,  of  Windsor, 
which  we  purpose  pnblishing  in  onr  next  number. 

A  ccwdial  vote  of  thanks  to  the  President  brou§dit  the 
proceedings  to  a  conclusion. 

THE  DINMEB. 

At  six  o'clock  the  members  and  their  friends  dined  together 
in  the  Windsor  Hotel.  The  President  (Br.  Bmry)  occupied 
the  chair,  and  Br.  Bryce  (Edinburgh)  the  vice-chair.  In 
addition  to  the  members  of  the  Congress,  several  friends 
were  present,  among  whom  were  Mr.  Futvoye,  of  Bourne- 
mouth, the  Bey.  Mr.  Gordon  (Edinburgh),  Councillor  Boyd, 
Mr.  Henderson,  &c. 

The  Pbbsidsnt  gave  the  usual  loyal  and  patriotic  toasts, 
^nrhich  were  cordially  responded  to. 

Br.  Gibson  (Stirling)  returned  thanks  on  behalf  of  '^  The 
Navy,  Army,  and  Reserve  Forces.'* 

The  Peesidbnt  then  said  that  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind  the 
name  of  one  whom  they  all  revered,  and  who  was  instrumental 
in  calling  them  together,  was  always  remembered — Samuel 
Hahmbkann.  (Applause.)  He  was  sorry  to  say  he  had  never 
seen  Hahnemann.  He  (Dr.  Bbu&y)  first  saw  a  little  of  homoBO- 
pathy  at  a  dispensary,  and  after  having  been  some  time  in 
Bublin,  where  he  lectured  on  Materia  Medica,  he  went  into 
partnership  in  London  with  a  gentlemiMC^  who  gave  extraordinary 
doses.  He  it  was  who  brought  him  to  homoeopathy.  He  was 
attending  a  little  child,  which  grew  worse  and  worse,  and  the 
medidne  given  appeared  to  do  it  more  harm  than  good.  One 
day  he  called  at  tiie  house,  but  was  not  asked  to  go  up  stairs. 
He  called  next  day,  and  was  not  asked  to  go  up  stairs.  The 
fither  afterwards  said  to  him,  '*  Yon  will  ^tunk  it  strange  not  to 
iiave  been  asked  to  see  the  child  again.    Well,  the  &et  is,  a 


^80  MESTINQa.  ^'"SSSL 


Befiew.  Oet  1|  Iffilr 


drowning  man  will  catch  at  a  straw,  I  took  the  child  to  a 
homoeopath,  and  it  got  better."  (Laughter  and  applaose.)  That 
made  an  impression  on  him.  Another  case  oocnxred  in  a  coach- 
man who  was  ill  with  pleoxisy.  The  patient  told  him  there  was 
a  gentleman  he  was  with  who  gave  him  some  of  ''  those  ronnd 
things,"  and  he  was  greatly  the  better  of  them.  By-and-by  he 
said  to  himself,  *'  I  wHl  try  homoeopathy,"  and  he  set  himself  for 
six  months  to  the  stady  of  it  with  the  most  satisfB^tory  resnlis. 
His  partner  died,  and  he  was  left  in  this  position,  that  he  was  a 
homoeopath  and  all  his  patients  were  allopaths.  One  patient  came 
and  another  left.  Fresh  ones  came  in,  however,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  year  he  fomid  that  he  had  kept  his  ground.  (Applanse.)  He 
then  went  on  to  say  that  but  for  Hahnemann  they  would  not  have 
been  assembled  there  on  that  occasion.  Hahnemann's  was  one 
of  the  great  master  minds  of  the  centuiy ;  and,  seeing  the  truth, 
he  was  able  to  carry  it  on  a  great  way  towards  perfection.  He- 
would  not  say  to  perfection  altogether ;  because  there  were  a 
great  many  thmgs  in  which  many  might  think  he  was  wrong;  but 
he  discovered  a  grand  truth,  and  put  it  on  such  a  footing  thai 
from  his  day  to  the  present  it  had  not  gone  back.  It  was  not  to 
be  expected  that  he  should  perfect  the  truth,  but  he  had  placed 
it  on  a  safe  footing ;  and  it  was  for  them  to  perfect  it  as  much  as 
possible.  It  was  for  them  to  follow  in  his  steps,  and  he  trusted 
that  as  years  rolled  on  Hahnemann's  principles  would  become 
more  and  more  established  in  the  land,  and  that  thoee  who  had 
hitherto  been  their  opponents  would  join  their  ranks.  (Applause.) 
Those  who  joined  them  now  were  chiefly  from  among  the  older 
members  of  the  profession.  Comparatively  few  of  the  students 
came  to  them  owing  to  the  teaching  of  the  schools,  but  the  older 
men  came  with  firmer  and  stronger  convictions.  He  hoped,  how- 
ever, that  the  time  would  soon  arrive  when  the  students  would 
see  in  the  schools  and  hospitals  of  homoeopathy  what  was  going 
on,  and  be  led  to  investigate  it.  He  now  asked  the  Company  to- 
drink  to  the  memory  of  Samuel  Hahnemann. 

The  toast  was  drunk  in  silence. 

Dr.  LuDLAM  then  proposed,  ''The President  and  Vice-President 
of  the  Congress."  (Applause.)  He  said  that  in  giving  this  toast  he 
wished  to  refer  to  what  he  had  observed  and  heard  that  day. 
Beginning  with  the  address,  he  felt  that  he  would  be  well  repaid 
for  crossing  the  Atlantic  if  he  had  only  heard  that  addresSr 
(Applause.)  One  liked  to  hear  his  own  views  echoed  by  a 
speaker,  and  his  views  were  certainly  expressed  in  that  addxess. 
They  were  exceedingly  well  set  forth  in  all  that  pertained  to  the 
character  and  the  deportment  of  homoeopathic  physicians  towards 
iheir  professional  brethren  in  the  latitude  from  which  he  came. 
He  was  sure  that  in  the  address  there  was  a  common  chord  struck 
that  morning.    (Applause.)    These  views,  carried  into  practice 


SSS^Sfra^  MBBTiHas.  681 


9f&titiw%  Ooi.  St  18Bk 


had  already  done  a  'great  deal  for  homoBopathy.  He  believed 
they  had  seoD  evidence  that  day  that  they  were  getting  out  of 
tiie  oontroversial  period  of  homoeopathy,  and  passing  into  the 
practical  field — away  from  talking  of  tweedledum  and  tweedledee; 
and  if  they  continaed  to  show  a  good  spirit  in  their  literature, 
in  their  sdiools,  and  otherwise,  the  consequences  could  not  fail 
to  be  highly  beneficial.  (Applause.)  He  now  wished  to  say 
something  with  reference  to  the  vice-president.  He  had  not 
seen  half  so  much  of  him  as  he  should  have  wished.  It  waa 
something  to  say  of  those  gentlemen  who  went  out  of  office — as 
he  understood  that  their  late  departed  fnends  did — ^that  a 
proper  diagnosis  had  been  made.  (Laughter  and  applause.) 
Old  Dr.  Chapman,  in  Philadelphia,  had  the  reputation  of 
being  the  greatest  wag,  in  a  medical  way,  in  America.. 
One  of  his  stories  was  as  follows : — ^He  said  one  day  to 
bis  students,  ''It  is  very  important  in  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine, that  you  should  mAke  a  proper  diagnosis ;  you  cannot 
prescribe  intelligently  if  yon  do  not  know  the  case.  It 
will  never  do  to  take  the  say-so  of  a  patient  as  to  what  his 
ailment  really  is.  Catechise  your  patients,  make  up  your  mind 
from  the  evidence,  and  then  prescribe  on  that.  I  was  called  the 
other  day  in  great  haste  to  see  a  young  woman.  I  went  in  and. 
asked  what  was  the  matter  with  her.  *  I  have,*  she  said,  '  the 
aurora  borealis.*  (Laughter.)  *  What  ?  *  I  said,  *  the  aurora^ 
borealis !  that  is  impossible.'  (Laughter^)  *  Oh,  yes,'  she  said, 
*  you  told  me  once  before  that  I  had  the  aurora  borealis,  and  I 
have  it  again.'  (Laughter.)  Well,  there  was  no  use  quarrelling 
with  the  woman,  so  I  examined  her  carefully,  and  I  found  she- 
was  suffenng  from  cholera  morbus.  (Laughter.)  I  prescribed 
fcNT  her  and  told  her  the  difference  of  the  disease.  I  said,  '  Don't- 
forget  that  cholera  morbus  may  arise,  and  often  does  arise,  from. 
a  disorder  of  the  liver,  but  the  aurora  borealis  is  always  an 
affection  of  the  lights." '     (Loud  lau^ter.) 

The  PsKsmsMT,  in  acknowledging  the  toast,  said  they  were 
always  greatly  pleased  to  meet  their  brethren — ^he  could  not  call 
them  strangers — from  America.  (Applause.)  He  hoped  they 
would  often  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Dr.  Lndlam  and  Dr.  Big- 
gar  amongst  them.     (Applause.) 

The  YicE-PBBsmENT  said  he  had  also  to  return  thanks  for  the 
kind  way  in  which  he  had  been  coupled  with  his  worthy  friend. 
Dr.  Drury  in  this  toast.  He  referred  to  the  last  Congress  held 
in  Edinburgh,  and  to  the  excitement  regarding  homoBopathy 
which  preva^ed  in  Edinburgh  in  1861,  which  he  said  was  largely 
owing  to  the  shock  which  the  conversion  of  the  late  Professor 
Hflsidbrson  to  homoBopathy  had  given  his  colleagues  at  the 
University.  Again,  last  year  the  Professor  of  Medicine  in  the 
Umvendiy  and  one  of  the  surgical  professors,  set  upon  them  very 


682  iiBWiKoe-  *2SS?o!f?Mt 


Beirtew,  Oct  9;  un. 


severely,  but  he  Jbeiieved  that  no  harm  came  from  it.  The 
speeches  that  these  gentlemen  made  were  not  wortti  thinlring 
about.  He  conolnded  bj  again  retoming  thanks  for  his  name 
having  been  oonpled  in  the  toast  with  that  of  the  President. 

Dr.  Bl^cklbt  then  proposed  **  Saccess  to  the  HomoBopathie 
Hospitals,  Dispensaries,  and  School.*'  He  said  that  each  of 
these  had  in  its  time,  and  in  its  own  way,  a  very  important 
influence  for  good  on  the  spread  of  homoBopathy.  The  graai 
want  of  the  day  was  that  they  were  not  suffieiently  nnmeroiis. 
The  difficulty  in  establishing  these  institutions  he  Imd  found  to 
lie  in  obtaining  sufficient  professional  help,  in  getting  new -blood 
introduced.  He  had  found  that  young  men  who  were  discovered 
by  their  teachers  to  be  imbued  with  homoeopathic  proclivities 
were  diligentiy  pHed  with  tiie  idea  that  the  adoption  of  homoeo- 
pathy was  derogatory  to  their  position  and  diminished  their 
influence.  This  he  believed  was  the  cause  of  their  not  seenxiBg 
a  larger  number  of  young  men  to  represent  homoeopathy.  Hence 
they  required  a  complete  school,  such  as  existed  in  America  iHiere 
a  diploma  giving  a  licence  to  practise  could  be  obtained.  If  a 
charter  could  be  had  giving  such  power,  it  would  be  of  grest 
importance,  and  homoeopathy  would  then  grow  as  rapidly  in  this 
country  as  it  did  in  America.  He  believed  the  day  would  come 
when  it  would  do  so.  At  the  dinner  they  had  last  year  after 
their  Convention,  it  pained  him  considerably  to  hear  some  of 
their  older  men  pointing  to  America  as  the  great  source  from 
which  homoeopathy  would  have  to  grow,  and  they  seemed  to  think 
that  we  had  arrived  at  about  the  maximum  of  what  we  could  do. 
He  thought  then,  and  still  thought,  that  some  of  their  older 
friends  had  mistaken  the  work  they  had  been  doing.  They  had 
been  in  the  fore-front  of  the  battie  some  twenty,  thirty,  and 
forty  years,  and  he  did  not  wonder  at  their  feding  the  com* 
paratively  small  amount  of  success  they  had  achieved ;  but  they 
forgot  that  they  had  not  only  been  fighting,  but  they  had  been 
sowing  seed,  and  that  some  of  the  seeds  had  b^ne  fruit. 
.(Applause.)  He  had  no  doubt  that  many  in  America  and  eke* 
where  had  derived  advantage  from  some  of  the  seeds  that  were 
jown  here.  He  was  not  going  to  derogate  from  the  woik  in 
\merica,  but  he  merely  referred  to  it  as  having  grown  partty 
from  what  had  been  done  in  this  country.  He  tiiou^t  that  tf 
they  could  only  take  a  much  more  courageous  view  of  mattera, 
and  put  their  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  they  would  accompKsh  a 
good  deal  more.  When  they  could  manage  to  place  tfa^selvea 
•on  one  solid  foundation,  and  be  determined  to  pursue  one  palli 
in  the  way  of  teaching  their  principles,  they  would  get  into  the 
practical  period.  What  he  designated  the  practical  period  wav 
the  period  of  teachmg  and  giving  a  complete  professional 
•education  to  their  younger  men,   and  so  getting  new  blood 


S2*S^r2?yffi*^  MEBTINOS.  683 


BNiew,Oot»,18eB. 


amongBt  them.  Wheneyer  they  could  do  that,  he  thought  they 
would  make  greater  progresa  in  thia  covntiy  than  they  had 
hitherto  done.  It  muat  be  by  hospitalay  where  the  students 
eonld  see  the  work  done ;  by  the  dispensaries,  where  the  people 
oonld  feel  the  work  that  was  done;  and  the  schools,  where 
they  conid  teach  the  principles  of  their  glorious  and  noble 
pirofession.  He  had  great  pleasure  in  askuig  them  to  drink 
'^  Success  to  the  Homoeopathic  Hospitals,  Dispensaries,  and 
School.*'    (Applause.) 

Dr.  Maadbn  said  it  was  with  much  diffidence  that  he  rose  to 
reply  to  the  toast.  He  felt  that  he  himself  owed  so  much  to 
these  hospitals  and  dispensaries  that  had  been  started,  that  he 
eonsidered  it  was  only  his  duty  to  do  what  he  could  to  speak  in 
their  favour  and  support  their  extension.  (Applause.)  It  was 
about  ten  years  since  he  left  Edinburgh,  baring  been  recently 
capped ;  and  being  the  son  of  a  homoeopath,  £9  was  naturally 
anxious  to  leam  homoeopathy  btfore  starting  in  practice,  and  he 
did  not  know  Teiy  well  where  to  get  the  knowledge  that  he 
wished.  He  was  fortunately  enabled  to  spend  some  time  with 
Dr.  Hughes,  and  one  of  the  best  teachings  he  gave  him  was  to 
take  him  to  the  Brighton  Dispensary.  Shortly  after  that  a 
vacancy  occurred  in  the  house  surgeoncy  in  Birmingham,  and  it 
was  there  that  he  got  the  experience  that  enabled  him  to  practise 
in  private^  It  was  there,  also,  that  he  got  that  knowledge  of 
Birmingham  that  induced  him  to  settle  there.  He  believed  that 
if  hospitals  and  dispensaries  were  increased  they  would  get 
many  young  men  to  leam  homoeopathy,  and  to  remain  in  Uie 
towns  where  they  had  learnt  it.    (Applause). 

Dr.  MooBB  proposed,  *'  Success  to  Homoeopathic  literature." 
fie  said  that  first  of  all  they  had  the  British  Journal  of  Honuta- 
pathy^  conducted  by  Dr.  Dudgeon  and  Dr.  Hughes,  both  men 
of  great  talent.  Dr.  Hughes  was  known  to  everybody  who  knew 
what  homoeopathy  was,  and  his  name  was  a  great  power  through- 
out the  vast  continents  of  Europe  and  America.  They  had  the 
HovuBopathic  Reinew  and  the  HomowpaMc  World,  which  were 
conducted  with  great  ability.  He  would  have  liked  to  have  seen 
more  of  the  editors  present.  He  alluded  to  the  able  senices 
that  had  been  rendered  by  Dr.  Pope,  Dr.  Dyce  Brown,  Dr. 
Kennedy,  Dr.  Burnett  and  Dr.  Nankivell.  Dr.  Pope,  he  much 
regretted,  was  not  present,  for,  as  every  one  knew,  he  fsgoke 
like  a  book.  He  was  a  personified,  living  essay.  (Applause.) 
If  they  read  one  of  his  lectures  they  would  see  that  he  was  a  man 
who  went  on  like  a  river.  But  he  was  not  like  the  Pope  of 
Bome,  for  he  allowed  people  to  think  for  themselves.  (Laughter 
and  applause.)  He  was  the  Pope  of  the  McmMy  Uomao' 
pathic  Beview^  (Applause.)  They  must  keep  up  tiie  title  of 
hflmoeopathy.    13iey  ought  not  to  have  slavish  obedience  to  a 


684 MEETINGS.  '''ga^^^STS!! 

man,  bat  cordial  obedience  to  a  great  law.  That  was  what  he 
wanted  people  to  come  to.  He  would  say  to  those  opposed  to 
them, ''  Admit  the  tmth  of  oar  great  law,  and  we  will  join  yoQ, 
bat  anlesB  yoa  do  that,  we  most  retain  onr  present  position." 
He  had  much  pleasore  in  coapling  the  toast  with  the  name  of 
Dr.  Dyce  Brown.     (Applanse.) 

Dr.  Dtge  Brown  said  it  gave  him  very  great  pleasure  to  rise 
to  return  thanks  for  the  toast,  and  he  only  regretted  that  his 
colleague,  Dr.  Pope,  had  not  been  able  to  do  so.  His  health 
had  not  been  satisfactory  of  late,  and  a  long  and  necessarily 
hurried  journey,  and  the  excitement  of  a  meeting  in  which  he 
felt  a  deep  interest,  were  more  than  his  strength  allowed  him  to 
undertake.  He  could  assure  them,  speaking  for  himself  and  all 
the  others  engaged  in  homoeopathic  literature,  that  they  had  a 
great  satisfiEustion  in  feeling  that  they  could  be  of  any  service  in 
promoting  the  interests  of  homoeopathy.  Sometimes,  perhaps, 
things  might  be  written  that  wdre  not  altogether  to  the  mind  of 
everyone  ;  but  he  assured  them  that  everything  was  written  with 
the  very  best  intentions,  and  with  the  idea  that  the  view  they 
had  taken  was  the  best  and  most  likely  to  further  homoeopathy. 
(Applause.) 

The  Vicb-President  proposed  "  The  health  of  the  Secretaries." 

Dr.  Dtgb  Bbown,  in  the  absence  of  Dr.  Wolston,  briefly 
responded. 

The  Yioe-Pbesidsnt  proposed  *'  The  health  of  Dr.  Ludlam 
and  Dr.  Biggar "  —  whom  they  welcomed  very  cordially. 
(Applause.) 

Dr.  BiooAB,  in  acknowledging  the  toast,  said  that  for  himself, 
and  on  behalf  of  the  physicians  of  the  United  States,  he  had  to 
thank  the  meeting  for  tiie  opportunity  of  being  present  at  their 
proceedings  that  day.  He  had  spent  some  time  on  the  Continent 
and  in  Great  Britain,  but  he  had  not  spent  a  single  day  that  had 
given  him  so  much  satisfaction  as  he  had  experienced  that  day 
in  listening  to  and  seeing  all  that  had  been  said  and  done. 

Dr.  Dtge  Bbown  proposed  '*The  health  of  the  Treasurer, 
Dr.  Madden.*'     (Applause). 

Dr.  Madden  replied. 

Dr.  WiLUAicB  gave  the  next  toast  "  The  City  of  Edinburgh, 
coupled  with  the  name  of  Councillor  Boyd." 

Councillor  Botd  in  replying  to  the  toaist,  thanked  the  company 
for  their  good  wishes  for  the  city. 

Dr.  Hatward  had  great  pleasure  in  proposing  ''  The  health  of 
the  Visitors,  coupled  with  the  name  of  Mr.  Henderson." 
(Applause). 

Mr.  Henderson  acknowledged  the  toast.  He  said  he  conld 
assure  them  that  he  had  very  great  pride  and  satisfEu^on  in 
representing  the  patients  of  homoeopathic  physicians.    He  had 


S5*?SnS?*  KOTABIUA.  686 


BsffeWf  Oct.  %  t66i« 


often  thought  that  the  patients  did  far  too  little  considering  what 
ihe  physicians  did  and  suffered  for  them.  A  remark  had  heen 
made  as  to  there  being  no  hdmoBopathic  dispensary  in  Edin- 
burgh. He  thought  that  it  should  spring  from  the  patients,  and 
not  from  the  doctors,  who  supplied  the  sloll.  He  thought  that  the 
least  that  the  patients  could  do  would  be  to  extend  tibe  benefits 
of  the  homoeopathic  system  to  their  poorer  brethren.  (Applause). 
The  proceedings,  which  were  throughout  of  a  most  agreeable 
character,  were  ^ortiy  afterwards  brought  to  a  dose. 


NOTABILIA. 


IIOTES  OF  THE  LONDON  HOMCEOPATHIC  HOSPITAL. 

In  our  last  month's  issue  we  announced  that  it  was  in  contempla- 
tion to  increase  the  staff  of  nurses  for  attending  private  patients. 
It  appears  now  that  a  scheme  to  that  effect  is  nearly  matured, 
and  as  the  house.  No.  1,  Powis  Place,  ac^oining,  and  the  property 
of  the  hospital,  is  now  vacant,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
carrying  the  measure  into  effect  at  an  early  date — so  soon,  in 
fact,  as  the  necessary  alterations,  which  wUl  not  be  extensive, 
oan  be  carried  out.  The  space  at  the  disposal  of  the  authorities 
will,  however,  be  greater  than  actually  needed  for  the  acconunoda- 
tion  of  the  additional  nurses,  and  it  is,  therefore,  proposed  to 
appropriate  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  for  the  reception  of  a 
private  patient,  fitted  in  a  superior  manner,  and  the  charge  for 
which  would  be  proportionately  higher  than  when  the  experiment 
was  first  tried  within  the  walls  of  the  hospital.  This  is  a  move 
in  the  right  direction. 


PRIZES  FOR  STUDENTS  AT  THE  LONDON  SCHOOL 

OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 

Db.  Prater  offers  two  prizes  of  JglO  each,  for  students  attend- 
ing the  ensuing  winter  session  at  the  school,  to  be  awarded  at 
the  end  of  March,  1888.  One  prize  of  £10,  for  the  best 
examination  in  Materia  Medica.  The  other  prize  of  £10  for 
the  best  examination  in  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine. 
Candidates  for  the  latter  prize,  besides  having  a  written  examina- 
tion, will  be  examined  clinically  in  the  wards  of  the  hospital, 
and  write  out  one  case  in  full,  stating  at  the  end  of  the  case, 
the  diagnosis  and  treatment,  with  their  reasons  for  the  selection 
of  the  remedies. 

The  adjudicators  of  the  prizes  to  be  Dr.  Bayes,  Dr.  Hughes, 
Dr.  Pope,  and  Dr.  Dyce  Brown. 


686  OOBBBSPOKDBHTB.        ^'msv,  Oot.  >;  lan. 

PEIZE  E88AT. 

Db.  Prateb,  with  his  nBoal  generous  liberality,  offers  a  prize  of 
£80  for  the  best  essay  *^  On  Hydrophobia.*'  (a.)  Its  history, 
pathology,  and  symptoms,  (b.)  The  yarions  measures,  surgical 
and  medical,  for  the  prevention  of  the  disease  after  inoculaiion 
of  the  virus,  (c)  Curative  measures  after  its  development, 
stating  the  pathogenesis  of  the  medicines  recommended,  as  £»  as 
they  relate  to  the  disorder,  and  the  more  or  less  close  simHaritj 
of  each  to  the  disease  in  its  different  stages,  (d.)  Gases  on 
record  or  unrecorded,  illustrating  the  value  of  ^e  treatment 
adopted  before  and  after  the  development  of  the  hydrophobia. 

Essays  to  be  sent  to  Dr.  Dyce  Brown,  29,  Seymour  Street, 
Portman  Square,  W.,  on  or  before  November  1st,  1888. 

All  essays  to  bear  a  motto,  and  without  a  name.  The  name 
and  address  of  the  author  to  be  placed  in  a  sealed  envelope, 
bearing  the  motto  attached  to  the  essay.  Any  essay  to  which  a 
name  u  othermse  appended  will  be  disqualified.  Dr.  Bayes,  Dr. 
Hughes,  Dr.  Pope,  and  Dr.  Dyoe  Brown  are  the  adjudicators  of 
the  prize.  N.B. — If  no  essay  comes  up  to  the  required  standard 
of  excellence,  the  prize  will  not  be  awarded. 

NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 

«%  We  cannot  undertake  to  return  r^eeted  manuscr^rte, 

Mb.  HtTBNDALL,  M  Jt.O.Y.S.,  Liverpool. — ^Tonr  paper  has  been  reoeiTed, 
and  shall  appear  on  the  first  opportunity. 

GommiinicationB,  Ao.,  have  been  reoeived  from  Dr.  Coovem,  Dr.  Bub- 
NBTT,  Mr.  GHAiCBBft  (Loudon) ;  Dr.  Huohbb  (Brighton);  Dr.  Pdllab 
rESdinbnigh) ;  Dr.  Dbubt  (Boumemonth) ;  Meesrs.  Thoxfsom  Ss  Caffbb 
(Liverpool). 

BOOKS  RECEIVED. 

8ur  U  Bythme  de  Quelqttee  MedieamentSt  pa  le  Dr.  A.  Glande.  Paris, 
1081,— The  Eomaopathic  World —The  Chemitt  and  Druggiet.^The 
Students*  Journal  and  HoapUdl  Gaxette, — Burgoyne*»  Journal  of  Phmr- 
macy.—The  New  York  Medical  Times^-^The  New  England  Medici 
Oazette. — The  Hahnemannian  Monthly. — The  Medical  Adoance, — The 
Medical  Counsellor, — The  American  Observer. — The  St.  Louis  CUnieal 
Review. — The  Calcutta  Journal  of  Medicine. — The  Indian  HonueopatMe 
Seview.—BuU,  de  la  Soc.  Med.  Horn,  de  Franec-^BibUothtque  Hcmaso- 
patMque. — Bevue  Horn.  Beige. — El  Criterio  Medico* 

Papers,  DiBpentazy  Beports,  and  Books  for  BevieW  to  be  sent  lo 
Dr.  Pora,  21,  Henzietta  Street,  Cavendish  Sqnars,  W.;  Dr.  D.  Dvcb 
Bbowb,  29,  Seymour  Street,  Portman  Square,  W. ;  or  to  Dr.  EbzoibdXs 
16,  Montpelier  Bow,  BlaoUieath,  SJS.  Advertisements  and  BnsinaBa 
eommmiioationB  to  be  sent  to  Messrs.  E.  Gouu>  A  Sox,  69,  Moocgate 
Street,  £.0. 


IBSSfN^^tSS**      HOMOBOPATHY  IN  INDIA.  687 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMCEOPATHIC    REYIEAV- 


HOMCEOPATHT    IN    INDIA. 

The  practice  of  medicine  in  India,  as  in  other  Oriental 
countries,  has  altered  very  little  in  the  course  of  centuries. 
Semi-supernatural  power,  natural  magic,  necromancy, 
witchcraft,  devil-worship,  and  a  yery  slight  knowledge  of 
medicine,  were  the  powers  brought  to  bear  on  disease  by 
the  Hindoo  physician.  In  a  country,  whose  early  histoiy 
is  lost  in  the  mist  of  ages,  whose  creeds  date  back  2,000 
years  or  more,  the  practice  of  physic  has  been  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation,  like  a  pocket  borough 
before  the  Reform  Bill.  With  the  advent  of  the 
Feringhee  came  some  little  change,  perforce,  amongst 
those  who  were  brought  directly  in  contact  with  European 
civilisation.  It  was  found  that  the  English  doctors  could 
oftentimes  cure  diseases  which  the  native  ^sculapius 
had  failed  to  exorcise  or  charm  away.  The  (Government 
enforced,  as  best  they  might,  laws  of  sanitation  to  preserve 
the  nation  from  the  scourges  of  pestilence  and  famine, 
which,  like  twin  demons,  stalked  through  the  land  at 
varying  intervals. 

The  establishment  of  English  rule  in  India  e&cted, 

without  doubt,  a  great  stride  in  the  heaUng  art,  but  still 

the  native  mind  was  prone  to  turn  to  the  Kabirajes,  or 

country  physicians,    with  their  old    world-charms    and 

Yd.  S6,  No.  U.  H  u 


638  HOMOEOPATHY  IN  INDIA.       ^^JSJ^mS^i^! 


potions.  In  fact,  as  far  as  regards  actual  therapeutic 
agents,  we  do  not  know  that  the  new  r^gimi  was  a  very 
great  improyement  on  the  old. 

But  it  must  be  admitted,  in  all  fairness,  that  the  general 
condition  of  public  health,  especially  with  regard  to 
epidemic  disease,  was  much  ameliorated  by  the  improyed 
knowledge  brought  to  bear  upon  the  community  by  the 
European  physicians. 

The  next  step  in  the  spread  of  what  we  must,  for  the 
nonce,  call  modern  physic,  was  the  education  of  numbers 
of  intelligent  young  natives  to  act  as  apothecaries,  dis- 
pensers, and  surgical  assistants  throughout  the  countiy. 
Many  of  these,  as  might  be  expected,  developed  consider- 
able skill  in  the  practice  of  their  profession,  and  aided 
considerably  in  spreading  the   knowledge    of   European 
medicine  and  hygiene  throughout  our  great  Indian  Empire. 
The  work  of  humanity,  begun  in  the  days  of  the  East  India 
Company,  and  continued  under  the  beneficent,  if  not  very 
economical,  rule  of  the  Imperial  Government,  has  now 
penetrated  through  the  whole  Peninsula,   so    that   the 
poorest  ryoty  nay,  even  the  meanest  outcast  pariahy  can 
carry  his  ailments  to  the  doctor  sahib  at  the  nearest  station, 
and  obtain  the  best  relief  which  allopathy  can  afford  him. 

But  it  has  been  reserved  for  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  to  see  the  introduction  of  scientific 
therapeutics  into  India.  Many  of  the  English  residents, 
having  learned  the  benefits  of  homoeopathy  at  home, 
carried  with  them  the  system  which  they  preferred,  and 
continued  its  practice  in  their  new  homes.  Gradually  the 
knowledge  of  the  system  spread,  until  each  of  the  great 
cities  could  boast  of  its  homoeopathic  chemist  and  dispen- 
sary. Now  homoeopathy  is  an  admitted  power  in  the  land. 
One  of  its  leading  Professors,  Dr.  Sircar,  was  for  a  long 
time  on  tbc  Council  of  the  University  of  Calcutta,  of  which 


iSS^riSr^aM""      HOMCEOPATHY  IN  INPIA.  639 

he  is  a  distingaished  gradnate.  More  practitioners  are 
urgently  demanded,  and  only  recently  we  were  informed 
that  an  English  homoeopathic  physician  could  be  sure  of 
a  good  reception  and  profitable  practice  in  Galcatta. 

The    outward     and    visible    sign    of    the    spread    of 
homoeopathy  is  the  success  and  increase  of  its  literature 
The  Presidency  of  Bengal  has  for  the  last  eight  years  had 
A  first-class  homoBopathic  journal,  ably  edited  by  Dr.  Siboab, 
the  Calcutta  Journal  of  Medicine.    Conducted  by  a  homoe- 
.opathic  physician,  it  is  catholic  to  a  degree  in  its  scope, 
never,  however,  yielding  any  of  the  cardinal  points  of  the 
homoeopathic  law  or  method.     Its  pages  are  well  furnished 
with  clinical  cases  of  great  interest,  an  example  which  we 
wish   our  more  numerous    readers  would  enable    us  to 
emulate.     The  prevalent  diseases  of  the  country,  such  as 
diarrhoea,  dysentery,  cholera,  ophthalmia,  are  frequently 
and  fully  discussed.     Some  able  papers  in  repertory  form 
have    appeared  this    year,   in   which    all   the  medicines 
likely  to  be  of  use  in  these  diseases,  have  been  carefully 
studied,  many  of  the  symptoms  being  new  and  original. 
Written    entirely    in  EngUsh,   this   journal  occupies  a 
position  in  the  first  rank  of  homoeopathic  journalism,  and 
we  are  glad  to  see  it  so  flourishing  in  the  tenth  year  of  its 
existence. 

The  Calcutta  Journal  of  Medicine  has  a  younger  sister 
which  gives  equal  promise  of  future  success.  We  refer  to 
the  new  journal  entitled  the  Indian  Homoeopathic  Revieii\ 
the  first  number  of  which  appeared  in  January  of  the 
present  year.  Apparently  the  demand  has  arisen  for  some 
homoeopathic  periodical  suitable  for  circulation  amongst 
the  laity  as  well  as  the  profession  of  the  Presidency.  This 
demand  the  new  magazine  is  well  calculated  to  meet,  as 
half  of  it  is  printed  in  the  Bengali  vernacular  and  in  the 
native  character.    We  regret  that  Bengali  has  not  been 

2  U-- 


640  HOMCEOPATHY  IN  IHDU.     "SSSL^SST?^ 


B0fi0W«  KoT.  1*  IBBtL 


part  of  onr  cnmcalniny  so  we  are  obliged  to  confine  onr- 
Belves  to  the  bare  statement  of  fact,  without  giving  any 
extracts  from  this  portion.  If,  howeyer,  [it  is  eqnal  to 
that  part  of  the  periodical  devoted  to  the  edification  of 
readers  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  we  are  confident  that 
the  cause  of  Homodopathy  has  received  a  great  *'  lift  '*' 
from  the  publication  of  the  Indian  Homceopaihic  Review. 

The  first  number  commences  with  an  *'  Apologia  pm 
vita  8iui,^*  which  is  so  good  and  forcible  that  we  would 
like  to  give  it  to  our  readers  in  extenso,  but  must  be  &in 
to  content  ourselves  with  a  small  extract : — 

*^  As  journalists  we  are  respoDsible  for  our  own  existence,  and 
it  is  necessary  that  we  should  iazplain  why  we  have  thought  fit  to- 
call  ourselves  into  being.  Without  much  preface,  therefore,  we 
proceed  to  state  the  reasons  of  our  existence,  and  the  objects  it 
is  intended  to  attain.  It  is  not  to  be  disputed  that  homoeopathy 
is  gaining  gronnd  in  India.  More  and  more  people  are  bear- 
ing of  it  every  day.  More  and  more  homceopathic  dis^ 
pensaried  are  coming  into  existence.  Instances  of  cores  by  means 
of  homoBopathic  medicines  are  multiplying.  And  the  number  of 
converts  to  the  new  fidth  is  also  unquestionably  on  the  increase. 
Yet  the  cause  does  not  advance.  The  popularity  of  the  method 
seems  to  be  owing  not  to  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  it  as  a 
method,  but  to  a  confused  idea  that  some  homoeopathic  drags 
are  sometimes  very  useful.  Men  are  proud  to  show  their  can- 
dour and  their  acumen  by  admitting  that  homoeopaths  have  got 
good  medicines  for  this  disease  and  that  disease.  We  set  no 
value  upon  such  admissions,  and  if  every  single  man  in  India 
were  to  make  such  admissions,  we  should  not  be  justified  in 
thinking  that  the  cause  of  homoeopathy  had  adyanced.  That  we 
may  not  raise  false  hopes,  or  inculcate  false  ideas  of  our 
catholicity,  we  think  it  our  duty  to  state  that  we  entirely  repudiate 
the  motto,  *  He  is  the  best  physician  who  rescues  men  from 
diseases.'  The  bare  fact  of  removal  of  a  disease  or  of 
some  particular  diseases  is  of  little  consequence  when  the  in* 


aSSS^^rS^      HOMCEOPATHY  IN  INDU.  641 

qmry  is  to  disooTer  a  law  of  eare.    Observation  of  particular 
inBtances  is  no  doubt  necessary  to  discover  a  general  law.    Bat 
when  the  observed  instances  have  no  sort  of  resemblance,  of 
what  nse  are  they  ?    There  will  be  fonnd  men,   and  very  well 
located  men  they  are,  who  generalize  their  experience  in  some 
such  way  as  the  following : — '  The  homoeopaths  have  got  good 
medicines  for  cholera  and  some  other  diseases.     The  allopaths 
liave  got  good  medicines  for  acnte  fever,  for  surgical  diseases, 
^nd  some  other  diseases.    The  kabirajea  have  got  good  medi- 
4sines    for  chronic    diarrhoea,  chronic  fever,   and  some  other 
^LLseases.     Some  sanayasU,  mokunts,  and  old  women  also  know 
some  very  good  medicines  for  some  diseases.'      All  that  we  can 
«ay  in  answer  is  that  we  should  find  it  difficult  to  be  happy  in 
«uoh  a  frame  of  mind.    If  we  axe  to  choose  medicines  empiri- 
■cally,  what  progress  have  we  made  since  the  time  of  Qslen  ? 
"What  is  the  method  we  are  to  foUow,  or  must  we  renounce  the 
possibility  of  a  method  ?    Are  cures  to  be  regarded  as  so  many 
isolated  phenomena  not  amenable  to  any  law  7    We  hold  and  we 
shall  attempt  to  teach  in  this  journal  that  all  the  above  inquiries 
liave  been  satis&ctorily  answered  by  Hahnemann.    The  method 
has  been  found.    The  law  is  known.    Without  mincing  matters 
find  using  periphrastic  expressions,  we  distinctly  and  unreservedly 
commit  ourselves  to  the  method  of  Hahnemann.     By  that 
method  we  are  prepared  to  stand  or  fioll ;  and  it  will  be  our  duty 
io  expound  it,  to  illustrate  it,  to  develop  it,  and  to  propagate  it 
to  the  best  of  our  ability.*' 

This  is  downright  stalwart  homoeopathy,  and  a  very  out- 
spoken confession  of  faith  in  the  law  of  Hahnemann.  No 
eclecticism,  under  the  guise  of  homoeopathy,  is  fonnd  here 
— no  sneaking  apology  for  the  sectarian  name  which  we 
liave  been  forced  to  assume,  and  which  we  trust  will  never 
be  laid  aside  until  the  circumstances  which  necessitate  it 
liave  vanished  into  the  past.  Dr.  Bhadubi  merits  the 
thanks  of  all  honest  homoeopaths  for  this  article. 

The  present  state  of  homoeopathy  in  India  appears  very 
much  to  resemble  the  state  of  homoeopathy  generally. 


642  SUPPtJRATIVB   NBPHBITIS.  ^^^^STF^ 


BericWf  17ot.  1«  18BL 


The  snccess  of  the  system  is  not  to  be  jndged  by  the 
nnmber  of  its  qualified  practitioners,  either  in  this  country 
or  in   the   far   East;    for  owing  to    powerftil    opposing 
inflnences,  all  trying  to  choke  the  new  system,  its  qualified 
practitioners  are  not  numerically  commensurate  with  its 
successful  spread.       Far  different  is  the  state  of  affairs 
when  we  turn  to  the  West,  as  we  trust  to  do  in  some  future 
article.      Dr.   Bhadxjbi's  description  of  homoeopathy  in 
India  would  do  admirably  for  England,  if  for  ''  India  "  we 
read  ''England."    And  yet  we  know  that  the  system  is 
spreading  rapidly,  although,  from  well-known  reasons,  not 
in  an  open  manner  amongst  the  profession.    Here,  as  in 
India,  dispensaries  are  increasing,  cures  are  made,  and  the 
number  of  converts  is  unquestionably  on  the  increase* 
Our  chemists  can  assure  us  that  the  demand  for  homcBO- 
pathic  medicines  has  multiplied  greatly  during  the  last  few 
years,  and  is  still  increasing.     With  this  state  of  affairs 
we    are    satisfied    for    the    present,    knowing    that    the 
irresistible  force  of  public  opinion  is  being  gradually  formed, 
which  will  eventually  sweep  away  every  obstacle  to  the 
honest  inquiry  into  the  truth  of  homoeopathy,  both  at  home 
and  abroad. 

A  CASE  OF  ACUTE   SUPPURATIVE  NEPHBITIS, 

WITH  REMAEKS.* 

By  Walteb  T.  P.  Wolston,  M.D. 

Mr.  President  akd  Gentlemen, — If  excuse  be  needed  for 
venturing  to  read  a  paper  at  this  Congress,  based  on  the 
record  of  a  single  case,  it  must  stand  in  this,  that  I  have 
only  met  with  one  such  in  my  practice  during  seventeen 
years.  Nor  is  this  strange,  when  we  bear  in  mind  that 
nephritiSf  of  the  kind  I  speak  of  to-day,  is  a  very  rare 
malady — ^rare,  whether  we  consider  its  absolute  frequency 
or  view  it  in  relation  to  other  renal  disorders. 


*  Read  before  the  British  Homoeopathio  Congress  at  Edinburgh. 


ISSS?fy°riTa^  SUPPURATIVE   NEPHRITIS, 648 

Secondary  affections  of  the  kidney,  arising  from  diseases 
of  the  lower  urinary  tract,  though  not  unfamiliar  to  hospital 
surgeons,  have  received  less  attention  from  physicians 
than  their  importance  demands,  and  it  is  with  a  view  of 
adding  a  mite  of  information,  which  may  help  towards 
more  exact  diagnosis  and  effectual  treatment,  that  I  relate 
my  experience. 

Mary  H.,  aged  6^,  the  child  of  a  gentleman,  who  for 
many  years  has  suffered  from  haematuria,  and  probably 
renal  calculus,  was  £rst  seen  in  her  present  illness  on 
Monday,  May  8th,  1882.  She  had  been  a  very  healthy 
child  till  November,  1881,  when  she  had  a  smart  attack  of 
peritonitis  lasting  three  weeks,  and  from  which  she  com- 
pletely recovered.  Her  present  ailment  is  a  vaginal  dis- 
charge of  viscid  muco-purulent  matter  in  considerable 
quantity.     This  condition  has  obtained  for  ten  days. 

It  appears  that  on  Wednesday,  April  19th,  the  child 
went  with  her  three  brothers  and  an  elder  sister  to  Pit- 
lochrie  for  change  of  au*.  While  there  the  nurse  noticed 
that  during  two  nights  she  was  rather  hot  and  restless,  but 
seemed  otherwise  quite  well,  and  took  her  food  normally. 
She  had  no  sore  throat,  nor  was  any  redness  of  skin 
noticed. 

Present  state* — She  seems  quite  well  in  every 
way,  excepting  only  the  vaginal  discharge.  This  is  glairy, 
muco-purulent,  and  stains  her  linen  yellowish  green.  On 
examining  the  surface  of  her  body,  I  found  the  remains  of 
some  small  boils  on  '  the  thighs,  and,  regarding  the 
case  as  one  of  transient  blood  disorder,  I  gave  heparsulph. 
trit.  8x.,  gr.  i.  t.d.s.  Nothing  of  note  occurred,  and  I 
did  not  see  her  till  Thursday,  11th  May,  when  I  was  sent 
for  in  the  afternoon.  She  had  been  dressed  and  taken 
down  stairs,  and  seemed  well  enough  unless  moved,  or 
trying  to  walk,  when  she  complained  of  pain  in  the  loins 
and  hips — ^upecially  the  right  side,  extending  down  both 
thighs.  I  found  the  vaginal  discharge  was  still  continuing, 
and,  if  anything,  more  profuse  than  on  the  8th.  The 
inguinal  glands,  specially  on  the  left  side,  were  much 
enlarged,  forming  a  knotted  chain.  The  skin  was  hot  and 
dry.  P.  110 ;  T.  102. 

I  immediately  ordered  her  to  bed,  and  prescribed  warm 
fomentations  to  the  hips  and  loins,  and  aeon.  8x.  and  rhu$ 
tox.  Sx,  in  alternation,  in  two  drop  doses,  every  two 
hours. 


644  SUPPURATIVB   NEPHBITI8.  ^^^^^^SSTJfSlf 

Friday,  12th  (11.) — ^A  restless  night  had  been  passed* 
The  right  hip  was  now  tender  to  the  touch,  and  appeared 
swollen.  P.  110 ;  T.  102.  The  urine  was  noticed  to  be 
smoky-colonred,  and  on  examination  found  to  contain 
one-sixth  albumen  and  a  large  deposit  of  urates,  but  no 
tube  casts.    In  quantity  it  was  normal. 

A  purely  milk  diet  was  ordered,  with  poultices  to  the 
hip,  and  continue  accm,  and  rhu8. 

Saturday,  13th  (in.) — ^A  very  restless  night,  with  much 
pain  in  both  hip  joints  and  thighs,  of  a  lancinating 
character,  and  the  child  lay  in  bed  on  her  back,  with  her 
legs  drawn  up.  Tongue  fairly  clean,  and  not  at  all  straw- 
berry-like. The  water  was  very  profuse  in  quantity,  but 
very  dark,  and  contained  one-hfidf  albumen,  much  blood,  a 
good  many  oxalates,  and  abundance  of  fibrinous  cylinders, 
inflammatory  and  granular  tube  casts.  Sp.  gr.  1026. 
P.  120,  good ;  T.  108.  There  was  no  redness  of  the  skin. 
Vaginal  discharge  less. 

The  child's  parents  getting  anxious,  and  thinking  there 
must  be  some  disease  of  the  hips,  as  the  pain  was  all 
confined  to  that  part,  Mr.  Joseph  Bell,  senior  surgeon  to 
the  Boyal  Infirmary,  saw  the  case  with  me  in  the  afternoon. 
He  reported  no  hip  mischief,  but  thought  the  case  was 
one  of  post-scarlatinal  nephritis,  with  anomalous  symptoms 
in  the  region  of  the  hips. 

The  milk  diet  was  continued,  and  a  large  linseed  meal 
poultice  applied  that  enveloped  the  lower  part  of  trunk  and 
thighs.     Aeon.  8  and  hry,  8x  were  now  given. 

Vespere, — P.  125 ;  T.  102 ;  and  she  was  much  easier  as 
to  pain. 

Sunday,  14th  (lY.) — Had  a  good  night,  and  appears 
much  better  to-day.  Urine  plentiful,  amd  contains  only 
one-fourth  albumen.  P.  100 ;  T.  101.  Has  little  pain 
anywhere. 

Monday  16th  (V.)— Is  wishing  to  get  up.  P.  90 ;  T.  99.6. 
Water  much  lighter  colour,  copious,  and  contains  one-sixth 
albumen.  A  careful  microscopical  examination  of  the 
vaginal  discharge  was  to-day  made,  but  no  special  organisms 
were  found. 

Tuesday,  1 6th  (TI.)— P-  80 ;  T.  98.6.  Water  nearly 
normal  in  colour,  one-sixth  albumen.  To-day  she  was  to 
be  allowed  a  little  weak  chicken  tea,  in  addition  to  her 
milk. 

Wednesday,  17th  (VII.)— Not  so  good  a  night.    P.  110 ; 


a^fN^^TSffl!^  SUPPURATIVE  HBPHMTIS.  645 

T.  102.    Albumen  one-sixth ;  nrine  still  free.    Complains 
•of  pain  in  left  Inmbar  region. 

Thursday,  18th  (VHI.)— A  bad  night.  P.  120 ;  T.  108. 
Urine  very  dark  coloured,  and  becoming  scanty ;  albumen 
one-half.     I^  Canth.  2x  gtt.  ii.  qq.  8  h. 

Vespere, — T.  105  ;  p.  185.  At  five  p.m.  a  sudden  attack 
of  vomiting  occurred,  and  she  ejected  a  quantity  of  grass- 
^reen  fluid,  while  the  bowels  simultaneously  were  moved, 
snd  constant  diarrhcea  set  in.  Omit  canth.  Ars.  alb.  Sx, 
and  verat.  alb.  8x  were  given  in  alternation  every  two  hours, 
in  two  drop  doses.  At  this  time  there  was  great,  general 
iendemess  over  the  abdomen,  and  it  was  evident  that 
Acute  peritonitis  was  supervening. 

Friday,  19th  (IX.) — ^A  rather  restless  night,  caused  by 
frequent  motions,  which,  however,  ceased  towards  morn- 
ing. P.  130  ;  T.  104.  Urine  becoming  very  scanty. 
Albumen  three-fourths.  Her  skin  is  very  dry  and  burn- 
ing. She  was  now  put  into  a  cold  pack,  in  which  she  lay 
for  two  hours.  Tongue  a  little  loaded  in  centre.  I^  aeon. 
Sx.y  and  canth.  2x. 

Vespere.  P.  100;  T.  102.6.  The  pack  relieved  her 
much,  soothing  her  generally,  and  producing  some  pers- 
|)iration. 

Saturday,  May  20th  (X.) — She  wandered  a  good  deal, 
imd  cried  during  the  night,  as  if  in  pain,  which  she 
indicated  as  being  in  the  abdomen.  P.  120 ;  weak ;  T.  101.6. 
Urine  still  very  scanty;  half  albumen.  The  tongue, 
for  the  first  time,  is  furred  from  apex  to  base,  white,  with 
protruding  papilla,  and  getting  red  and  clean  at  tip  and 
edges.  Bowels  not  moved.  She  was  ordered  to  be  again 
packed  at  7  p.m. 

Four  p.m. — She  has  vomited  some  more  grass  green 
fluid. 

Veapere. — She  has  been  in  the  pack  for  two  hours,  and 
perspired,  but  not  freely.  The  tongue  is  assuming  more 
the  strawberry-red  hue  in  the  anterior  half.  P.  90 ; 
T.  101.5.  The  face  is  very  flushed  and  pupils  somewhat 
dilated,  and  she  is  slightly  delirious.  ^  bell.  8x.,  and 
4ir8.  alb.  8x. 

Sunday,  May  21st  (XI.) — She  had  a  very  restless  night, 
sleeping  only  three  hours  in  all.  The  tongue  is  now  clean 
from  tip  to  base,  and  presents  the  typical  **  strawberry 
^ngue,''   being    very  red,   and    papilla   much    elevated* 


646  SUPPURATIVB   NEPHRITIS.  ^^J^fSSJ^MaOL 

?•   120,  weak ;  T.  100.8.    Water  very  scanty  and  half 
albumen.    Bowels  not  moved. 

Five  p.m. — Some  bloody  discharge  has  come  from  nose 
and  throat,  but  there  is  no  membrane  nor  any  special 
throat  congestion.  P.  135;  T.  102.8.  The  urinary  secre- 
tion is  now  almost  suppressed.  She  is  quite  conscious, 
but  every  now  and  then  cries  as  if  from  head  pain. 

Vespere, — ^My  colleague,  Dr.  Bryce,  kindly  saw  her,  in 
consultation,  at  the  evening  visit.  She  was  then  much 
weaker.  P.  130 ;  T.  102.2.  Abdomen  very  tympanitic. 
Tongue  red  and  dry;  fauces  clean.  Pupils  are  widely 
dilated,  and  do  not  fully  contract  to  light,  and  she  is  con- 
stantly on  the  toss  and  burrowing  her  occiput  in  the 
pillows.  There  are  no  swelled  glands  in  neck  or  cervical 
region.  The  amount  of  urine  passed  during  the  day  is 
8  oz.,  of  which  half  is  albumen.  Dr.  Bryce  recommended 
a  warm  bath,  and  thereafter  wrapping  her  in  warm,  dry 
blankets,  and  aeon,  2x,  and  terebinth  Sx,  1  drop  doses, 
alternately  every  hour. 

Monday,  22nd  (XII.) — She  had  the  bath,  in  which  she 
cried  a  great  deal,  and  was  ever  urgent  to  be  released  from 
the  blankets.  She  cried  wildly  most  of  the  night  in 
delirium,  and  had  little  sleep.  To-day,  P.  145 ;  T.  108. 
No  water  at  all  has  passed.  As  she  seemed  to  constantly 
urge,  as  if  wishing  to  urinate,  I  passed  a  small  catheter, 
but  found  the  bladder  quite  empty.  The  abdomen  is  not 
more  distended,  and  the  bowels  have  moved  twice,  each 
time  a  healthy  yellow  stool.  Tongue  red  and  dry.  Eyes 
injected,  pupils  dilated.  She  sweat  a  little  after  the  bath, 
so  I  gave  her  another  now,  and  continued  the  aeon,  and 
tereb. 

Four  p.m. — P.  180;  T.  105.5.  No  water.  The  extremi- 
ties are  getting  cold. 

Five  p.m. — She  quietly  breathed  her  last,  the  tempera- 
ture rising  to  106  degs. 

Sectio  CadaveriB*     40  hours,  p.m. 

This  was  kindly  made  by  my  friend  Dr.  Sheridan 
Delepine,  assistant  to  the  Pathologist  of  the  Boyal 
Infirmary. 

The  upper  part  of  right  thigh  and  the  pudenda  showed 
some  small  vesicles  and  pustules,  also  some  excoriations. 

On  opening  the  abdomen  the  omentum  and  intestines 
were  found  covered  with  a  layer  of  fibrinous  lymph,  and 


JSSS^KfS^  SUPPUaATIVE   NEPHRITIS.  64T 


slightly  adherent  to  the  parietal  peritoneum,  as  well  as 
matted  together. 

There  were  about  40  oz.  of  sero-pnralent  fluid,  of  a 
yellowish  grey  colour,  in  the  peritoneal  cavity.  In  drawing 
the  coils  of  the  intestines  from  the  pelvis  a  cavity,  bounded 
by  fresh  adhesions,  was  laid  open,  and  thick  yellow  pus 
was  found  to  fill  the  pouch  of  Douglas. 

The  intestines  were  slightly  congested  here  and  there, 
but  no  trace  of  inflammation  of  the  mucous  coat  could  be 
found  in  the  parts  of  the  large  and  small  intestine  which 
were  examined. 

The  liver  and  spleen  wpre  apparently  normal. 

The  bladder  was  empty,  its  walls  perfectly  anaemic,  very 
smooth,  and  coated  with  a  thin  layer  of  tenacious  mucus. 
The  trigone,  however,  was  congested,  particularly  at 
opening  of  the  right  ureter,  the  congestion  extending  for 
two  or  three  inches  up  along  the  ureter. 

The  vagina,  uterus,  Fallopian  tubes,  ovaries,  and 
adjacent  fibrous  structures  were  deeply  congested ;  the 
ovaries  specially  so ;  the  vessels  being  highly  distended  with 
dark  blood.  All  these  organs  presented  a  continuous  dark 
purple  colour.  The  vaginal  canal  was  almost  dry,  the 
mucous  membrane  showing  nothing  particular  beyond  the 
reticular  injection.  The  cavity  of  the  uterus  contained  a 
little  purulent  matter,  and  the  mucous  membrane  was 
congested,  as  also  the  rest  of  the  organ,  which  was 
extremely  flabby. 

Kidneys. — The  right  kidney  was  enlarged,  slightly 
lobulated,  dark  bluish  purple  in  colour,  and  flabby  in 
consistence.  After  section  the  capsule  was  found  to  strip 
ofif  easily.  A  part  of  the  surface  of  the  organ  was  covered 
with  a  sofb  coagulum  of  dark  blood,  forming  a  thin  layer.. 
Under  the  capsule,  the  part  of  the  cortex  corresponding  to 
it  was  pulpy  and  disorganised.  The  cortex  was  enlarged 
and  deeply  congested,  presenting  here  and  there  small 
interstitial  haBmorrhages.  The  tubules  were  distended 
with  yellowish  matter  (fatty  epithelium),  having  a  slight 
pinkish  tinge,  due,  apparently,  to  extravasated  blood. 

The  malpighian  bodies  were  not  more  visible  than 
normally. 

The  medvUa  showed  deep  congestion  of  the  pyramids, 
and  the  straight  tubules  were  also  distended  with  yellowish, 
matter,  just  as  the  convoluted  tubules. 


648  SUPPUBATIVB   NEPHBITIS.  "bS^^nS??!^ 

The  calices  and  pelvis  were  not  much  congested,  and 
contained  a  little  purnlent  matter. 

The  LEFT  KIDNEY  was  in  the  same  state  as  the  right 
as  regards  the  capsvle,  ttiimles,  calices,  and  pebns^  but 
there  were  fewer  interstitial  haemorrhages.  The  organ 
was  firmer,  and  not  so  friable;  it  was  evidently  not  so 
•deeply  affected  as  the  other. 

The  thorax  and  head  were  not  opened. 

After  hearing  this  record  the  query  will  at  once  arise  in 
your  minds — ^What  were  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the 
abode  of  this  child,  and  to  what  influences  was  she  exposed 
to  lead  to  these  fatal  consequences  ? 

She  liyed  in  one  of  our  best  West  End  houses,  of  which 
the  w.c.'s  were  in  good  order,  the  soil  pipes  properly 
Tentilatedy  and  wash  basins  and  baths  discharged  to  open 
surface  gratings.  There  was  on  the  basement  floor  this 
•defect,  that  the  scullery  and  washhouse  waste  pipes  con* 
nected  directly  with  the  drain,  and  the  servants'  w.c.  had  no 
ventilating  shaft.  Thus  it  is  manifest  that  sewer  gas  could 
enter  the  house,  and  doubtless  did,  and  I  think  here  was 
the  starting  point  of  the  mischief,  as  two  of  those  who  lived 
much  on  this  lower  floor  were  taken  ill  at  or  about  the 
same  time. 

My  patient  was  in  perfect  health  when  she  went  north 
on  Wednesday,  19th  April.  The  following  day  I  was 
requested  to  see  the  cook  of  the  family.  She  was  feeling 
very  ill,  and  suffering  from  a  bad  sore  throat.  Quite  weU 
the  day  before,  she  was  now  in  high  fever,  and  her  throat 
had  a  very  diphtheritic  look  about  it.  Circumstances 
rendered  it  impossible  for  her  to  be  treated  there,  and  she 
was  accordingly  removed  to  the  Old  Boyal  Infirmary,  where 
she  was  for  many  days  very  ill  with  high  fever.  The 
attending  physician  afterwards  informed  me  that  no  tme 
evidence  of  scarlet  fever  could  be  detected,  nor  could  it  be 
called  diphtheria.  It  was,  any  way,  a  very  malignant  sore 
throat,  from  which  she  recovered. 

But  this  was  not  all.  The  table  maid  had  gone  to 
Pitlochrie  with  the  children,  and  was  to  return  next  day. 
She,  however,  was  taken  ill  with  a  very  severe  sore  throat, 
which  detained  her  till  Saturday.  When  I  saw  her  on 
Sunday  (28rd)  the  throat  was  quite  clean,  but  very  sore, 
and  congested.  Other  members  of  the  family,  while  at 
Pitlochrie,  had  sore  throats,  but  Mary,  be  it  noted,  had 
not.     Her  first  indication  of  real  illness  was  the  vaginal 


JKS^i^mS^''  SUPPUBATIVB  KEPHRITI8.  649 

diseharge.  Now  this,  in  a  child,  is  not  uncommon,  and, 
therefore,  I  did  not  attack  it  with  the  vigour  which  I  think 
now  I  should  have  done. 

While  she  lay  so  iU,  her  elder  sister,  a  girl  of  12, 
commenced  to  have  a  similar  leucorrhoeal  discharge. 
Becognising  then  its  gravity,  I  immediately  had  carbolic 
acid  douches — of  a  strength  1  to  100 — ^given  thrice  daily,, 
with  the  happiest  and  most  immediate  result.* 

Mary's  case  then,  you  will  see,  I  do  not  at  aU  regard  aa 
one  of  post-scarlatinal  nephritis.  There  seems  to  me  no- 
evidence  in  favour  of  that  theory  of  her  illness.  There  was 
no  sore  throat,  no  rash — at  least  noticed — and  no  des- 
quamation, and  although  the  *^ strawberry  tongue'*  was 
visible  on  the  eleventh  day  of  her  illness,  tiiat  is  the  only 
feature  that  points  to  previously  existing  scarlatina.  And 
had  it  been  so,  the  tongue  would  have  showed  thia- 
character  before  the  eleventih  day — at  least,  so  has  been  my 
observation. 

I  regard,  on  the  other  hand,  the  vaginal  discharge  as  the- 
f ecus  whence  the  fatal  poison  entered  the  system,  by  continuity 
of  surface.  What  the  peculiar  poison-germ  was  I  will  not 
say.  Our  microscopic  examination  of  the  discharge  on 
Monday,  the  fifth  day  of  her  illness,  failed  to  detect  the 
peculiar  organisms  of  diphtheria. 

In  some  way,  which  I  do  not  see  clearly,  the  vaginal 
mucous  membrane  became  irritated,  and  a  nidus  was  found 
for  the  floating  enemies  of  life.  There  germinating,  the 
first  efiect  was  a  leucorrhoea,  which  seemed  bland  and. 
innocuous,  but  which  passed,  by  direct  continuity  of 
mucous  surface,  on  the  one  hand,  through  the  urethra, 
bladder,  ureter,  and  pelvis  of  the  kidney,  to  the  secreting^ 
structures  of  that  organ,  and,  on  the  other,  found  its  way 
to  the  lately  inflamed  peritoneum,  by  way  of  the  cavity  of 
the  womb,  and  Fallopian  tubes,  setting  up  a  deadly 
inflammation  in  these  highly  sensitive  spheres. 

The  free  quantity  of  water  which  was  passed  from  the 
first  to  the  seventh  day  of  illness — although  there  waa 
much  blood  therewith — Pleads  me  to  think  that  only  one 
kidney  was  at  first  affected,  the  other  really  doing  all  the 
work.     From  the  effect  of  the  first  infection  of  the  system. 


*  Since  reading  this  paper,  another  similar  case  of  profuse  leucorrhoea 
in  a  girl  of  7  has  come  under  my  oaie,  in  which  the  carbolic  acid 
iiijeetioi)  prodnoed  a  rapid  cure. 


•660  SUPPURATIVE  NEPHRITIS.  ^'SSSrfN^TiSaL 

-and  destractive  change  in  the  kidney  —the  right  one  I  infer 
— there  was  evidently  sufficient  vital  power  to  rally,  and 
the  clearing  of  the  water,  diminution  of  albumen  to  one* 
sixth,  and  fall  of  pulse  and  temperature  to  the  normal 
standard  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  illness,  all  pointed  to 
resolution  about  to  be  established,  and,  I  must  confess,  at 
that  time  expected. 

Whetber  the  addition  of  a  little  weak  chicken  tea  to  the 
diet  could  have  caused  the  subsequent  fresh  outbreak  is  a 
matter  for  consideration,  but  certainly  the  next  day  saw  a 
fresh  lighting  up  of  kidney  mischief.  At  that  date  I  think 
the  left  kidney  became  involved.  The  day  following  (the  . 
8th)  the  acute  peritonitis  supervened,  and  from  that  hoar 
I  regarded  the  case  as  hopeless. 

The  treatment  of  acute  symptoms,  as  they  arose, 
demanded  the  use  of  remedies  which  are  not  usually 
exhibited  in  renal  cases,  and  perhaps  the  earlier  use  of 
terebinth  might  have  been  better,  but  in  nephritis,  with 
bloody  urine,  cajitharis  has  been  an  unfailing  Iriend  till 
now,  when  it  certainly  failed. 

The  bibliography  of  suppurative  nephritis  is  not  very 
extensive,  and  scattered  chiefly  in  journals.  The  subject 
is  not  overlooked  by  Ziemssen  and  Beynolds,  in  their 
respective  systems,  but  the  best  account  of  it  with  which 
I  am  acquainted  is  found  in  the  Traite  de  Pathologie 
Interne,  of  M.  Jaccoud,  Professor  of  Pathology  to  the 
Faculty  of  Paris,  vol  ii.,  p.  444,  cf.  seq. 

As  this  work  is  not  translated  into  English,  and  will  be 
found  on  few  book  shelves,  I  venture  to  give  a  short  resume 
of  his  views  of  the  malady. 

He  says  the  causes  are  sufficiently  well  defined. 
1st.  TRAUifATisMS  of  the  lumbar  region ;  blows,  falls, 
contusions^  and  wounds. 

2nd.  Inflammation  of  the  lower  urinaby  passages; 
urethra,  bladder,  ureters. 

8rd.  Retention  of  urine,  whatever  be  the  cause :  e.g., 
cerebro-spinal  diseases,  vesical  or  urethral  lesions. 
4th.  Perinephritis. 

6th.  Purulent  infection  (under  which  class,  coupled  with 
the  second,  my  case  comes.)  Here  the  purulent  centres  in 
the  kidney  are  caused  by  emboli.  They  are  the  metastatic 
infarctiy  but  this  mode  of  production,  viz.,  by  infarcti,  is 
not  constant.  In  a  good  number  of  cases  the  suppurative 
nephritis  is  produced  directly  by  the  altered  blood,  as  are. 


SIfei^'^STM^  SUPPURATIVE  NEPHBITI8.  651 

frequently,  at  the  same  time,  inflammations  of  the  plenrsB 
and  peritoneum  (as  in  my  case.)  The  nephritis  is  often 
double,  but,  contrary  to  the  diiOfuse  form  of  renal  inflom* 
mation,  it  may  be  unilateral.  All  depends  on  the  cause 
which  gave  rise  to  it. 

MoBBiD  ANATOMY. — ^At  the  Commencement  the  kidney, 
■or  kidneys,  are  increased  in  size,  their  consistence  is 
diminished,  and  the  congestion  shows  itself  by  a  dark  red 
colouration,  which  may  be  general  or  circumscribed.  The 
injection  of  the  vessels  may  be  seen  through  the  capsule, 
which  is  thickened,  but  can  be  peeled  off  easily,  without 
tearing  the  subjacent  tissue. 

On  making  a  section  into  the  kidney  the  distinction 
between  the  cortex  and  medtdla  is  almost  obliterated,  but 
the  cortex  is  particularly  swollen,  and  tumefied,  by  the 
injected  blood  vessels  and  the  exudation  into  its  substance. 
It  frequently  shows  small  punctiform  or  striate  haemor- 
rhages. 

The   pyramids    are  of  a  dark  colour,  and   as  if  dis 
associated  at  their  bases  by  the  interstitial  infiltration. 

The  mucous  lining  of  the  pelvis  and  calyces  is  decidedly 
hypenemic.  At  a  later  stage  colourless  points  appear. 
(This  was  a  stage  at  which  my  case  did  not  arrive,  the 
first  one  of  congestion  and  exudation  being  particularly 
well  marked,  and  the  hsBmorrhages  into  the  substance  and 
under  the  capsule  being  excessive.)  Soon  these  decolorised 
points  become  purulent,  either  by  the  new  formation  of 
<sells  or  by  extravasation  of  white  corpuscles.  At  the  level 
of  these  parts  the  normal  tissue  is  destroyed  or  pushed 
away  by  the  purulent  collection,  and  there  are  formed 
small  abscesses,  which  are  of  a  round  or  cylindrical  shape, 
according  as  to  whether  they  exist  between  the  pyramids 
or  in  the  cortex. 

In  septic  nephritis  these  abscesses  remain  often  isolated, 
but  in  the  common  forms  they  unite,  and  form  a  large 
purulent  collection,  occupying  one-third  or  one-half  the 
organ;  When  even  a  large  portion  of  the  kidney  has  been 
involved,  the  abscess  may  become  encysted,  and  undergo 
the  calcareous  cheesy  transformation. 

Under  other  circumstances  the  pus  may  be  evacuated  by 
the  pelvis  of  the  kidney  into  the  peritoneum,  the  bronchi, 
the  bowel,  or  by  a  long  fistula  externally.  When  one 
kidney  is  attacked  it  is  rare  for  the  other  to  be  lefb 
nntonched. 


662  SUPPUBATIVE  NEPHRITIS.  ^^^SSI^tSSHT^ 


Symptoms. — ^The  acute  sappnratiye  nephritis  has  a  yeiy 
deceptive  commeDcement,  which  simulates  that  of  small- 
pox. Kgor  and  intense  feyer,  lumbar  pains  of  an 
extremely  acute  nature,  more  intense  even  than  those  of 
small-pox.  Vomiting  is  more  or  less  frequent.  The  pain 
is  increased  by  pressure  or  moyement,  and  often  it  radiates 
along  the  ureter  towards  the  bladder  and  testicle  (and, 
according  to  Reynolds,  and  as  seen  in  my  little  patient, 
down  the  thighs).  The  pain  has  often  the  character  of  a^ 
nephritic  colic,  the  absence  of  feyer  distinguishing  them. 
These  phenomena  are  present  on  both  sides  if  the  nephritis 
be  double,  on  one  side  if  single. 

To  these  symptoms  are  added  alterations  in  the  urine. 
The  secretion  is  diminished,  as  a  consequence  of  the 
compression  which  the  exudation  exercises  upon  the 
glomeruli  and  tubules. 

The  patient  often  suffers  from  tenesmus,  passing,  with 
great  efforts,  yery  smaU  quantities  of  urine — ^tbere  i» 
ischuria.  Sometimes  the  secretion  is  momentarily  sus- 
pended, and,  in  spite  of  the  patient's  complaint  of  needing 
to  pass  water,  tiie  catheter  reyeals  an  empty  bladder — 
there  is  anuresis. 

The  density  of  the  urine  may  be  increased  (my  patient's 
was  1025),  or  it  may  be  normal,  or  even  there  may  be  a 
diminution  of  urea  and  uric  acid.  The  colour  is  dark, 
ordinarily  no  albumen,  unless  there  be  blood  present.  In 
the  sediment  are  foimd  blood  corpuscles  and  fibrinous 
cylinders,  showing  that  the  hsBmonrhage  is  really  intra- 
tubular.  If  the  fibrinous  coagula  do  not  take  the  form  of 
cylinders,  it  shows  that  the  hsemorrhage  is  not  from  the 
kidneys,  but  bora  the  pelvis,  ureters,  bladder,  or  urethra. 

Thus  constituted,  the  acute  suppurative  nephritis  has 
a  variable  evolution,  and  it  may  end  in  a  solution.  In 
other  cases  (as  in  mine)  it  may  kill,  before  it  reaches  the 
suppurative  stage,  by  urinary  insufficiency.  The  fever 
takes  on  a  typhoid  character,  and  the  phenomena  of 
ursBmia  may  appear.  Ordinarily  it  ends  in  suppuration, 
which  is  announced  by  the  persistence  of  the  symptoms— 
notably  by  repeated  rigors,  fever,  and  an  aggravated  general 
condition.  The  urine  is  still  scanty,  but  not  high-coloured, 
and  it  does  not  contain  pus,  unless  the  abscess  open  into 
the  pelvis  of  the  kidney,  or  the  mucous  membranes  of  the 
lower  urinary  passages  share  in  the  inflammation. 

This  case,  and  outline  of  acute  suppurative  nephiitia 


SJriSSf  l^rr^**'  SUPPURATIVE  NEPHRITIS.  668 

will,  I  trusty  have  the  effect  of  inculcating  the  necessity  of 
watchful  and  prompt  dealing  with  leucorrhoeal  discharges 
in  children,  and  afford  you  a  hasis  for  a  good  discussion, 
after  the  patient  hearing  you  have  givez\  me,  and  for  which 
I  must  tender  you  my  tiianks. 

Discussion. 

The  PREsmsNT  said  he  was  sure  they  were  very  much  indebted 
to  Dr.  Wolston  for  his  excellent  paper.  Diseases  were  sometimes 
very  much  mistaken.  It  recently  happened  that  a  number  of 
Esquimaux  were  brought  from  Labrador  for  exhibition  in 
Germany.  Three  of  them  died,  and  the  cause  of  death  was 
not  known.  Shortly  afterwards  the  remainder  of  them  died  in 
Paris  of  small-pox.  The  first  probably  died  of  small-pox  also. 
He  had  seen  scarlet  fever  so  slight  that  its  diagnosis  was  no  easy 
matter.  He  had  known  a  child  very  dangerously  ill,  and  the 
nature  of  the  illness  absolutely  obscure.  Further  examination 
found  the  slightest  taint  of  sore  throat,  and  it  presently  became 
evident  that  suppressed  scarlet  fever  was  the  real  condition. 

Dr.  Bryce  said  that  he  had  seen  the  case  to  which  Dr.  Wolston 
bad  referred,  but  he  could  add  nothing  to  what  he  had  told  them, 
as  he  had  placed  it  very  folly  before  them  in  all  its  details.  He 
saw  the  case  within  twenty-four  hours  before  death.  It  was 
evident  that  there  was  peritonitis,  but  what  else  it  was  difficult  to 
say.  When  he  saw  the  child  he  thought  it  was  a  case  of  blood 
poisoning  in  some  aspect  or  other.  He  rather  leant  to  the  idea 
that  it  was  one  of  those  cases  of  apparently  mild  scarlatiiui, 
which  had  not  been  discovered  till  late  in  the  illness.  That  waa 
the  opinion  he  had  at  the  time,  although  it  might  not  have  been 
a  correct  one ;  but  he  had  seen  many  complicated  cases,  due  to  a 
similar  canse. 

Dr.  LuDLAM  said  he  had  been  greatly  interested  in  the  very 
excellent  report  of  this  case.  Concerning  its  nature,  he  would 
exclude  diphther^  on  account  of  the  absence  of  any  observable 
deposit,  and  because  of  the  free  formation  of  pus  within  the 
peritoneal  cavity.  If  the  patient  had  had  scarlatina  in  a  severe 
degree,  the  temperature  must  have  been  higher,  with  the  dry 
skin  and  urinary  trouble.  He  thought  the  evidence  was  in 
fjftvour  of  its  haying  been  a  form  of  peritonitis,  probably  a  metro- 
peritonitis, with  suppuration  and  purulent  infection  therefrom. 
The  frequent  pulse,  the  local  pain,  and  the  transformation  of  the 
serum  into  pus,  showed  that,  in  all  probability,  the  renal  lesion 
was  secondary,  as  a  py»mic  nephritis.  The  case  was  the 
counterpart  of  pysemic  puerperal  peritonitis,  with  a  resulting 
kidney  complication. 

Dr.  MooRB  asked  how  Dr.  Ludlam  accounted  for  a  child  six 
and  a  half  years  having  peritonitis,  and  a  sister  also. 

Vol.  26,  Ko.  21.  2  z 


654  PEBIODICITY  OF  DISEASE.    ''SSSrfN^*?!*^ 

Dr.  LtiDLAM  sad  he  tbongbt  that  the  case  was  pysmic  when 
it  started. 

Dr.  Hayward  said  that  he  was  extremely  interested  in  this 
case,  in  its  managen^ent,  treatment,  and  end.  All  the  time  that 
the  essayist  was  giving  it  to  them,  there  was  in  his  mind  a  picture 
of  the  effects  of  crotalus.  The  course  of  the  disease,  the  end  of 
the  disease,  and  its  post-mortem  examination,  showed  eroialus 
It  seemed  to  him  as  if  they  had  had  the  effect  of  rattlesnake 
l)ites  before  them.  He  thought  it  was  a  blood  poisoning,  and 
the  resnlt  of  the  treatment-^-the  known  beneficial  effects  of  their 
great  remedies — ^would  support  the  idea.  His  feeling  was  that 
in  all  such  cases  they  had  a  grand  Temedym  crotalus.  The  whole 
"Sjinptoms  pointed  in  that  direction. 

Dr.  Carfrae  said  there  were  two  points  that  occurred  to  bim 
with  reference  to  the  case.  It  was  admirably  detailed  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  he  thought  they  were  very  much  indebted 
to  Dr.  Wolston.  One  of  the  points  that  occurred  to  him  was 
the  persistent  sticking  to  aconite  so  long.  It  was  only  in  the 
preliminary  stage  that  aconite  was  of  use.  He  thought  there 
might  have  been  some  help  got  from  carbolic  acid  in  such  a  case, 
especially  when  the  state  of  the  kidneys  was  taken  into 
consideration. 

Dr.  Naneivell  said  that  in  chronic  nephritis  he  had  found 
sulphate,  carbonate  of  soda,  and  lime,  very  effectual.  He  there- 
fore agreed  with  Dr.  Carfrae,  that  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  even 
where  the  symptoms  were  very  acute,  and  the  illness  terminated 
so  rapidly  in  a  fatal  way,  carbolic  acid,  given  in  a  salt,  might 
liave  had  a  beneficial  effect  in  restraining  the  extension  of 
the  mischief,  and  given  time  to  the  constitution  to  make  a  rally 

Dr.  BiGGAR  said  he  thought  that  veratrum  should  have  been 
resorted  to  in  this  case. 

Dr.  Wolston  said  he  had  to  thank  them  for  the  kind  wav  in 

mf 

which  they  had  received  his  paper.  He  might  state  that  at  first 
he  was  inclined  to  look  on  the  case  as  a  post-scarlatinal  poison- 
ing, but  the  inquiries  he  made  caused  him  to  give  up  that  theory. 
He  was  satisfied  it  was  a  blood-poisoning,  but  whether  it  was  the 
kidneys  or  the  uterus  that  was  the  first  attacked  it  was  hard  to  say, 

PEEIODIOITY  OF  DISEASE  AND  OF  DRUG 

ACTION.* 

By  W.  Deane  Butcher,  Esq.,  Windsor. 

The  study  of  periodic  diseases,  and  of  periodic  remedies, 
which  has  been  prepared  for  this    Congress,   must  be 

regarded  merely  as  introductory ;  as  Memoirs  pour  Servir 

- 

*  Bead  at  the  Britiih  HonuBopathio  Congress,  Edinboiigh,  September, 


I 


fiSto^rN^T^ST'    PERIODICITY  OP  mSEABB.  655 

for  a  fatare  more  complete  history  of  periodicity  in  its 
Tarious  phases. 

The  study  of  periodicity  is  not  a  new  one.  It  is  one  of 
the  oldest  problems  which  have  exercised  the  ingenuity  of 
medical  theorists,  dating  from  the  time  when  our  ancestors 
looked  on  drugs  and  disease  as  specially  under  the  influence 
of  the  planets,  and  regarded  the  times  and  seasons  from  an 
astrological  standpoint. 

Habit  and  periodicity  is  woven  into  the  very  warp  and 
woof  of  our  life ;  and  not  only  life,  but  almost  all  natural 
phenomena  are  periodic.  The  movements  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  the  alternation  of  day  and  night,  the  return  of  the 
seasons,  the  diurnal,  lunar  and  yearly  cycles,  all  seemed 
to  have  stamped  their  impress  on  the  nervous  nature  as 
well  as  on  the  imagination  of  mankind.  Disease  cycles,  too, 
are  equally  noticeable.  We  need  only  allude  to  the  tertian, 
quartan,  and  other  types  of  intermittents — ^the  daily  and 
weekly  exacerbations  of  many  nervous  diseases,  and  the 
mensual  period,  which  is  not  wholly  confined  to  one  sex. 
The  rise  and  fcdl  of  temperature,  in  strict  diurnal  rhythm, 
corresponds  to  a  rhythmical  activity  and  depression  of  the 
whole  vital  economy,  and  the  life  of  man,  with  its  seven 
Shakesperian  periods,  from  the  puling  infant  to  the 
slippered  pantaloon,  is  but  an  extended  rhythm. 

There  are  according  to  some  even  longer  cycles.  A 
seven-year  rhythm  was  recognised  by  our  ancestors,  and  the 
eleven-year  cycles  of  sun-spots  have  their  counterpart  in 
the  activity  of  vital  phenomena.  All  action  of  nerve  tissue 
would  seem  to  be  periodic,  the  periodicity  being  more 
marked  in  those  nerve  centres,  which  are  more  or  less 
removed  from  the  influence  of  the  will. 

And  first,  as  to  the  phenomena  of  periodicity  in  health. 
In  the  heart,  for  instance,  the  presence  of  blood  acts  as  the 
appropriate  stimulus  to  the  cardiac  ganglia,  and  the  systole 
.  is  due  to  periodic  nerve  discharge.  In  the  lungs  the  carbonic 
Bcid  is  the  appropriate  stimuhmt  of  the  respiratory  nerve 
centres ;  respiratory  movements  ensuing  only  when  the 
ganglia  have  accumulated  a  sufficient  electrical  charge. 
The  discharge  of  nerve  force  is  in  this  case  also  strictly 
intermittent  and  periodic.  The  nerve  ganglia,  indeed,  are 
storehouses  of  energy,  and  all  nerve  action  is  always 
periodic  discharge  of  accumulated  force. 

The  following  seems  to  be  the  natural  sequence.  An 
impression  on  a  Ecnsory  nerve  is  carried  to  the  spine.    It 

2  z—a 


656  PERIODICITY  OP  DISEASE.    ^SSS&^kKT?^ 


,  Not.  1,  l&es. 


travels  thence  to  the  brain.  There  it  may  be  either 
noticed  as  a  sensation,  giving  rise  at  once  to  appropriate 
action ;  or  it  may  be  registered  as  a  memory,  the  corre- 
sponding action  being  suppressed,  or  perhaps  deferred  for 
months  or  years.  Certain  molecules  of  the  brain  are  re- 
arranged in  a  form  which  absorbs  a  certain  quantity  of 
mechanical  energy,  which  energy  is  stored  for  fiiture  use. 
But  if  the  spinal  cord  is  diseased,  as,  for  instance,  in 
tetanus,  this  energy,  instead  of  being  stored,  may  be 
immediately  translated  into  motion.  In  that  case  it  is  not 
registered  in  the  brain  as  a  sensitive  impression. 

This  latter  fact,  I  believe,  has  not  been  duly  noticed ; 
but  in  several  cases  which  I  observed  with  that  view  I  made 
out  clearly  that  the  tetanic  spasm,  although  so  painful  to 
witness,  was  not  painful  to  the  patient  in  anything  like 
the  same  degree. 

A  nerve  centre,  then,  is  not  merely  an  apparatus 
designed  to  translate  sensory  into  motor  iipressions.  bat  it 
is  a  storehouse  of  force,  an  apparatus  for  the  accumulation  of 
nerve  energy,  which  can  be  liberated  under  appropriate  and 
often  slight  stimuli.  Nature  appears  to  have  a  mechanism 
of  its  own,  whereby  the  accumulated  charge  may  be  dis- 
charged at  regular  intervals ;  just  as  the  escapement  of  a 
clock  regulates  the  striking,  an  intermittent  discharge  of 
force  stored  in  the  spring  or  weight. 

Perhaps  a  more  appropriate  symbol  would  be  that  of  the 
accumulation  and  storage  of  an  electrical  charge  in  a 
Leyden  jar.  It  would  be  easy  to  make  a  mechanical  toy 
which  should  occupy  a  definite  time  in  being  charged,  and 
should  be  discharged  at  regular  intervals,  which  might  vaiy 
according  to  the  strength  of  the  source  of  electricity,  and 
the  distance  apart  of  the  discharging  points. 

There  are,  as  we  know,  in  the  body,  thousands  of  these 
nerve  centres,  perfectly  independent  of  one  another,  which, 
like  the  soldiers  in  an  army,  have  each  its  private  habits, 
preferences,  idiosyncrasies,  though  they  all  may  be  united 
by  a  superior  authority  for  a  single  object,  and  are  all 
subject  to  the  conmion  contagion  of  panic  or  warlike 
ardour. 

If  this  then,  be  the  theory  of  periodicity  in  health,  let 
ns  turn  our  attention  for  a  moment  to  the  periodicity  of 
disease.  The  researches  of  Tommasi,  Crudeli,  and  Kleba 
have  left  it  almost  without  doubt  that  the  original  cause  of 
intermittents  is  the  development  in  the  system  of  the 


R^?:Srn^    PERIODICITY  OF  DISEASE.  667 

germs  of  a  microscopic  organism,  the  baeiUm  malaruB 
But  it  is  more  difficult  to  determine  what  is  the  true  cause 
of  the  periodicity  of  the  disease  phenomena. 

There  are  only  three  possible  theories  which  can  at  all 
account  for  intermittency. 

One,  that  the  crisis  is  caused  by  the  deyelopment  of 
successive  batches  of  bacillar  sporules,  each  crop  of  which 
produces  a  fresh  dose  of  ferment,  and  thus  produces  a 
fresh  impress  on  the  nerve  tissue. 

The  poison  secreted  by  the  sporigerous  bacilli  is  in  itself 
fatal  to  the  continued  life  of  tixe  fuU-grown  bacillus,  just 
as  the  alcohol,  if  too  concentrated,  is  fatal  to  the  yeast 
plant  which  produces  it.  It  does  not,  however,  destroy 
the  germs  which  are  ready  to  develop  and  produce,  in  their 
turn,  new  symptoms. 

The  second  theory  of  periodicity  is,  that  it  is  due  to  a 
recurring  periodic  interference,  like  the  phenomena  of 
interference  causing  the  beats  in  acoustics — an  inter- 
ference, that  is,  between  the  vibratile  motion  of  nerve  atoms 
and  that  of  the  nervine  poison ;  the  waves  of  interference 
Teaching  a  maximum  only  every  twenty-four  hours,  or  at 
a  longer  interval.  We  need  not  have  any  difficulty  in 
imagining  such  an  effect  from  the  slightness  of  the  sup- 
posed cause,  but  I  am  not  mathematician  enough  to 
investigate  this  theory  further. 

The  third  theory,  which  I  am  inclined  to  regard  as  the 
true  one,  is  that  the  phenomena  are  due  to  a  compound 
intermittent  cause,  partly  the  natural  intermittent  excita- 
l>ility  of  nerve  tissue,  and  partly  the  intermittency  due  to 
the  successive  development  and  death  of  succeeding 
generations  of  bacilli.  It  would  seem  that  the  bacteria 
germs  may  lie  perdu  in  the  blood  for  months  or  years 
without  any,  or  but  little  harm ;  but  when  once  stimu- 
lated into  development  they  cause  a  septic  ferment,  which 
acts  as  a  nerve  poison.  Nature  will  eliminate  this  poison 
by  the  ordinary  methods,  but  a  paludal  intoxication  is 
meantime  set  up. 

Thus  there  may  be  distinguished  several  distinct 
periods. 

I.  The  period  of  infection,  when  the  germs  of  the  bacilli 
find  entrance  into  the  blood. 

II.  A  period  of  latency,  during  which,  perhaps,  for 
years  the  germs  may  lie  harmless  in  the  body  for  lack  of  the 
necessary  conditions  of  development. 


658  PEBIODICITY  OF  DISEASE.     ^b^^SHuSSl 


m.  The  period  of  growth,  doriog  which  the  spomles 
develop  into  a  germ-bearing  bacillas.  This  growth  is 
determined,  either  by  the  presence  of  external  conditions 
of  heaty  moisture,  &c.,  or  by  the  resistance  of  the  living 
tissues  being  for  the  time  diminished. 

lY.  It  is  at  some  time  daring  this  growth  that  there  is  a 
production  of  the  malarial  poison,  just  as  alcohol  is  pro- 
duced during  the  growth  and  development  of  the.torula 
cervisisB. 

Y.  Then  follows  the  period  of  pure  neurosis,  of  inter- 
mittent febrile  symptoms,  caused  by  depression  of  the 
nerve  centres,  or  of  irregular  and  abnormal  stimuhition, 
accompanied  by  discharge  of  their  stored  charge  of  force. 

YI.  When  the  nerve  centres  have  been  accustomed  to 
discharge  their  stores  of  force  after  the  lapse  of  a  certain 
interval,  a  morbid  habit  seems  to  be  formed,  and  except 
under  the  stimulus  of  the  will,  or  of  excitement,  or 
medicinal  action,  this  morbid  habit  remains  long  after  the 
poison  has  been  eliminated. 

YII.  The  last  period  is  that  of  organic  complication, 
when  the  faulty  nerve  action  has  given  rise  to  congestions 
and  inflammations,  resulting  in  disease  of  internal  organs* 

You  will  remember  the  principal  types  of  intermittent — 
quotidian,  tertian,  quartan,  &c.  Of  these  the  simplest  is 
quotidian,  in  which  the  attacks  recur  every  day,  conunencing 
morning,  or  towards  midday.  Is  there  any  significance  in 
these  varieties  of  interval  ? 

I  cannot  doubt  that  there  is,  when  we  reflect  that  the 
fever  of  paludal  origin  is  almost  always  in  the  morning,  while 
that  of  syphilitic  pain  is  worse  at  night,  and  the  fevers  of 
phthisis  and  other  cachexia  is  almost  always  in  the  evening* 
It  would  seem,  however,  as  if  the  length  of  interval 
between  the  recurrences  were  of  far  more  importance  than 
the  precise  time  of  day  at  which  symptoms  occur. 

We  notice  in  ague  then,  the  accumulation  of  force  for 
twenty-four  or  forty-eight,  or  any  other  number  of  hours, 
and  a  sudden  irregular  discharge  of  that  force  at  the  end 
of  that  period.  But  that  is  not  all.  Periodicity  of  nerve 
tissue  wHl  not  fully  account  for  the  whole  phenomena. 

That  intermittency  is  not  due  to  the  nature  of  the  nerve 
tissue  alone  is,  I  think,  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  type  of 
ague  prevalent  in  one  district  shall  be  tertian,  while  every 
ague  in  an  adjacent  district  shall  be  quartan. 

Trousseau  relates  that  fourteen   soldiers    came    from 


l&^J^^^^h'S^    PBRIODIOITY  OP  DISBABB.  65» 

Saumur  to  Tonrs,  and  that  after  a  residence  of  ten  days  in 
the  latter  city,  nine  of  them  were  admitted  into  hospital 
soffenng  with  quartan  fever,  the  germ  of  which  they  had 
eyidently  contracted  in  Saamar,  since  the  Toumian 
intermittent  was  of  the  tertian  type,  and  a  quartan  fever 
was  unknown  there.  Similarly  in  India  each  locality  has 
its  special  type  of  fever. 

If,  then,  the  paludal  poison  may  differ  in  different 
localities,  so  that  one  variety  shall  cause  nerve  discharge  in 
twenty-four  hours,  and  another  in  forty-eight  houra,  we 
cannot  consider  the  rhythm  as  due  entirely  to  peculiarities 
of  nerve  tissue. 

In  the  treatment  of  intermittents,  the  scientific  methods 
of  cure  are  threefold : — 

I.  In  the  primary  stage  we  may  destroy  the  bacillus, 
provided  it  be  fully  developed.  In  this  we  imitate  the 
action  of  nature,  who  poisons  the  bacillus  by  the  very  pro- 
duct itself  has  made.  The  most  powerful,  and  at  the 
same  time  most  useful  bacteria*  cidal  agent  is,  as  you  know, 
quinine,  but  even  Trousseau  allows  that  while  the  next 
approaching  paroxysm  of  ague  may  be  cut  short  by  a  single 
massive  dose  of  quinine,  the  disease  is  not  cured.  Quinine 
seems  to  have  no  power  over  undeveloped  germs,  and  must 
be  again  exhibited  after  an  interval  during  which  the  germs 
may  be  supposed  to  have  arrived  at  maturity.  Hence,  a 
large  dose  of  quinine  needs  to  be  repeated  after  an  interval 
of  five  days,  and  again  and  again  with  longer  and  longer 
intervals  after  each  dose,  so  as  to  allow  time  For  the  alter- 
nate development  and  destruction  of  successive  batches  of 
bacteria. 

This  intermittent  quinine  treatment  reminds  one  irre- 
sistibly of  the  process  which  Tyndall  adopts  for  the  per- 
fect sterilisation  of  his  hay  infusions.  The  liquid  is  boiled, 
thus  at  once  destroying  the  bacteria  which  are  fully  deve- 
loped, but  leaving  a  multitude  of  germs  untouched* 
Neither  heat  in  the  one  case,  nor  quinine  in  the  other,  is 
germicidal,  though  they  are  both  bacteriacidal.  Inter- 
mittency  in  boiling  or  quinine  administration  is  necessary 
in  order  to  allow  time  for  the  germs  to  grow  into  easily 
destructible  organisms.  Just  so  the  housewife  finds  it 
impossible  to  destroy  the  eggs  and  larvsB  of  moths,  but 
finds  it  easy  to  poison  by  fumigation  the  full-grown  insect. 

n.  In  the  second  stage,  when  a  distinct  nervine  poison 
has  been  brewed,  the  quinine  treatment  by  massive  doses 


660  PEBIOWCITY  OP  DIBBASB.    ^m^^^SHu^ 

is  not  sufficient.  It  is,  we  believe,  positively  hurtful  in 
the  third  stage,  when  a  faulty  habit  of  periodic  irritabiliiy 
has  been  set  up.  It  is  in  these  latter  stages  that  homoeo- 
pathy finds  more  specially  its  sphere. 

It  is,  however,  by  no  means  easy  to  choose  a  true  simil* 
limum  in  these  cases.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  attack  roughly 
the  nerve  tissue  by  a  spinal  or  a  sympathetic  irritant,  but 
we  must,  if  possible,  pick  out  the  very  nerve  centre  or 
centres  which  are  affected.  Nor  is  even  this  sufficient,  for  a 
simillimum  should  set  up  in  healthy  tissue  an  action  simi- 
lar to  the  disease  in  time,  phase,  rhythm,  and  character  of 
pain  or  sensation.  For  instance,  let  us  take  a  case  in 
point : — 

A  patient,  suffering  from  obscure  intermittent  symptoms, 
observes  a  sensation  of  warmth,  like  blushing,  on  one  of  the 
nates.  This  is  not  accidental,  for  it  recurs  continually, 
and  always  in  the  same  spot.  It  is  so  trivial  one  almost 
hesitates  to  record  it,  but,  however  unimportant,  it  speaks 
with  absolute  certainty  of  its  origin.  We  can  be  sure  that  at 
some  spot  in  the  ante-vertebral  chain  of  sympathetic  ganglia 
there  is  one  ganglion  which  we  will  call  X,  which  is  the  seat 
of  intermittent  irritation.  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  tell 
which  is  the  ganglion,  or  how  it  is  affected.  If,  however, 
omong  our  drugs  we  have  one  which  has  been  observed  to 
cause  a  similar  sensation  in  the  same  spot,  we  may 
predicate  with  absolute  certainty  that  this  drug  has  an 
elective  affinity  for  the  particuliar  ganglion  in  question. 

If,  moreover,  we  know  a  remedy  wliich  will  cause  the 
same  sensation  in  the  same  place,  at  the  same  hour,  with 
the  same  regularity  of  occurrence,  at  the  same  interval, 
we  may  be  well  assured  that  the  drug  is  in  true  harmony 
with  the  disease,  and  will  most  certainly  cure  it  iif 
exhibited  in  the  appropriate  dose. 

It  would  be  easy,  by  general  sympathetic  nervine 
excitants,  to  irritate,  and  thereby  cause  a  continuous 
instead  of  an  intermittent  discharge  of  nerve  force  from 
the  ganglion  X,  in  common  with  its  neighbours  V,  W,  Y, 
and  Z,  but  a  true  specific  is  in  unison  only  with  the 
particular  centre,  or  centres,  which  are  affected.  As  these 
are  quite  out  of  our  ken,  we  are  obliged  to  trust  too  often 
to  those  apparently  trivial  subjective  symptoms  which 
excite  the  derision  of  those  who  know  nothing  of  our 
method. 

Thus,  in  a  regiment,  music,  like  a  sympathetic  irritant, 


iSSSSfN^Tl^^SS^    PBRIODIOITT  OF  DISEASE.  661 

netB  as  an  excitant  to  eyery  soldier  in  common.  But  the 
aimillimnm  is  like  the  appropriate  tune  which  acts  on 
personal  idiosyncrasies.  The  Scotchman  will  thrill  in 
sympathy  with  "  The  Camphells  are  coming,"  while  the 
Welshman's  martial  ardonr  is  stimulated  hy  **  The  Men  of 
Harlech." 

Homoeopathy,  then,  is  a  kind  of  transcendental  organ* 
opathy,  and  its  modus  operafidi  may  he  explained  by  the 
theory  of  irritation  of  specialised  nerve  ganglia.  Each 
ganglion  has  its  special  drug  sympathy.  At  diis  we  need 
not  be  surprised  when  we  reflect  that  many  thousands  of 
generations  of  nerve  centres  have  been  differentiated  in  the 
process  of  development  by  selection  and  inheritance,  till  at 
last  only  one  responds  to  the  vibrations  of  light,  one  to 
ihose  of  sound,  and  one  to  scent. 

Homoeopathy  is  a  more  refined  mode  of  counter  irrita- 
tion. Just  as  one  violent  emotion  seems  to  destroy  or 
•prevent  another — as  anger  is  incompatible  with  pity  and 
hatred  with  love — so  it  would  seem  that  the  vibration  of 
one  nerve,  ganglia,  or  collection  of  cells,  is  incompatible 
with  a  similar  vibration  in  an  adjacent  part  of  the  nervous 
system.  It  is  a  question  of  the  transmutation  of  force,  for 
if  we  represent  the  ganglia,  or  nerve  centres  in  the  cerebro- 
spinal system  by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  A,  B,  G,  &c., 
arranged  vertictdly,  then  if  E  be  excited  by  some  morbid 
iustion,  its  neighbours,  D  and  F,  are  not  necessarily 
involved.  Homoeopathy  alone  teaches  us  how  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  disease  in  the  adjacent  ganglia, 
D,  K,  F,  and  G.  Sensory  nerve  fibres  conduct  ordinary 
sense  impression  from  the  right  knee,  let  us  say,  to  D ; 
from  the  left  knee  to  E.  Therefore,  a  drug,  X,  shall  be  the 
appropriate  stimulus  of  £,  while  another  drug,  Y,  shall 
have  no  action  whatever  on  E,  but  shall  cause  in  a  healthy 
person  a  painful  stimulation  of  D. 

In  a  previous  paper  on  ''  Pharmacodynamics  "  I  have 
shown  how  it  is  conceivable  that  the  cause  of  this  tissue 
selection  or  election  is  to  be  found  in  the  correspondence, 
or  non-correspondence,  in  the  number  and  phase  of  its 
vibrations  between  a  centre  and  its  appropriate  stimulus* 
We  should  not  forget  that  disease  symptoms  are  but  phases 
of  tissue  motion — and  drug  action  is  but  the  addition  or 
transformation  of  motion  in  the  body — that  medicine  is  the 
•science  of  morbid  forces,  not  morbid  matter. 

To  return  to  our  subject,  the  symptoms  of  ague  are  not 


662  PERIODICITY  OF  DISEASE.    ^^l^fN^^Jf^a! 

fc— ^^^^^^^^— ^^— — ■  -  -_ _  —    -  ■■     I  I  " 

due  to  irritation  of  a  single  nerve  centre.  It  is  a  single 
neurosis,  it  is  true ;  but  it  is  a  compound  neurosis,  involving 
difi*erent  varieties  of  nerve  tissue.  The  chill  and  heat  are 
not  mere  alternative  effects,  but  different  symptoms,  caused 
by  irritation  of  two  different  nerve  centres.  Thus  there  are 
frequently  sensations  of  coldness  on  special  parts,  accom- 
panying heat  of  the  whole  system.  The  malarial  poison 
may  cause  in  one  subject  a  neuralgia ;  in  another  an  intes- 
tinal catarrh.  It  will  cause  in  a  rheumatic  subject  an 
endo-carditis,  or  gastralgia,  or  it  may  set  up  convulsions, 
or  hysteria,  thus  proving  that  the  brain,  or  the  cord,  the 
anterior  or  posterior  columns,  or  the  sympathetic  system,. 
or  isolated  ganglia,  may  be  the  seat  of  malarial  irritation. 

The  paroxysm  of  pure  ague  begins,  however,  with  a 
distinct  chill,  followed  by  a  distinct  heat,  and  that  followed 
by  sweat. 

Now,  Claude  Beruard  has  pointed  out  that  the  sensation 
of  heat  should  be  referred  to  the  sympathetic  system,  while 
chilliness  is  due  to  irritation  of  the  spinal  ganglia.  Hence 
the  primaiy  chill  must  be  due  to  spinal,  the  secondaiy 
heat  to  sympathetic  action,  while  the  sweat  is  due  to  the 
nervous  apparatus  controlling  the  glandular  system. 

Hence,  as  Lord  has  pointed  out,  ague  medicines  may  be 
divided  into  two  great  classes — sympathetic  and  spinal 
irritants. 

The  number  of  usual  ague  remedies  are  few.  Ruckert 
reports  them  as  useful  in  the  following  order : — Arsenicum^ 
pulsatiUu,  niLx  vomica^  cliina^  ignatia,  and  natrum 
muriaiicumy  as  most  useful ;  whereas  bryoniay  eina,  rhus^ 
veratria,  carbo  vegetabilisy  and  ipecacuanha  are  of  secondary 
importance. 

The  spinal  irritants,  which  are  more  particularly  nur 
vom.,  ignatia,  rhus,  eupatoriay  veratria,  piilsatiHa,  saba- 
dilla,  may  be,  in  Lord's  opinion,  further  subdivided  into 
anterior  spinal  and  posterior  spinal. 

The  sympathetic  irritants  are  arsenicum,  ipecacwanha^ 
natrum  mtir,,  cina,  chamomilla,  cohcynth,  cimex. 

These  generalisations,  though  useful  in  practice,  are  by 
no  means  sufficient.  Homoeopathy  needs  a  more  accurate 
specialisation  of  the  exact  locality  of  nerve  action,  and  of 
the  character  of  its  phase  or  rhythm. 

Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  nature  and  cause  of 
periodicity  in  disease,  we  come  to  the  question  whether 


l£rtS?fN^?nS^  PEBIOWCITY  OF  DISEASE.  665- 

there  is  a  correEfponding  periodicity  in  the  action  of  our 
remedies.     This  is  not  easy  to  answer. 

Hitherto  the  theory  of  organopathy  has  more  or  less 
influenced  our  classification.  If  a  drug  is  classed,  it  is 
indexed  under  the  organ  it  affects.  It  is  a  purgative, 
acting  on  the  howels,  or  a  soporific,  acting  on  the  brain. 
It  is  a  nerve  stimulant,  or  a  heart  depressor,  as  the  case 
may  he.  All  our  repertories  have  heen  influenced  by  the 
fi&ct  that  symptoms  are  classed  as  to  the  position  of  the 
aJSected  organs. 

But  there  is  another  point  of  view  under  which  drugs 
may  he  classed,  according  to  their  similarity  of  periodicity 
of  phase  or  rhythm.  With  this  view  I  am  anxious  to  intro- 
duce to  your  attention  this  time  repertory  of  the  Materia 
Medica,  the  work  of  my  friend  Dr*  Salzer,  of  Calcutta.  It 
was  undertaken  with  a  view  to  test  whether  the  periodicity 
in  our  records  of  drug  action  was.  real  or  apparent  only. 
Hence  the  work  which  I  have  here,  and  which  I  present 
to  the  Congress,  and  which  I  hope  will,  at  some  future 
time,  be  published.  Samples  of  this  time  repertory  will, 
through  the  kindness  of  the  editors,  be  published  from 
time  to  time  in  the  Homcsopathic  Review.  Its  basis  is 
Allen's  Materia  Medica. 

We  have  had  no  time  for  verification  of  symptoms,  and, 
therefore,  the  dele-niator — if  I  may  coin  a  word — ^will  have 
ahundant  opportunity  of  excision  here ;  but  I  will  not  be 
so  unfriendly  as  to  anticipate  the  critics  in  pointing  out  all 
the  disadvantages  and  imperfections  of  our  plan.  At  all 
events  I  think  we  may  claim  that  no  symptoms  recorded 
in  Allen  that  have  in  the  slightest  degree  a  periodic  or 
rhythmic  value  have  been  omitted. 

At  the  outset  difficulties  were  met  with  which  were* 
almost  fatal  to  the  success  of  the  scheme.  The  original 
study  of  the  day-books  of  the  different  provers  can  alone 
determine  whether  the  time  recorded  was  accidental  or 
not.    The  labour  of  revision  remains,  and  is  a  serious  one. 

Too  often  we  cannot  help  an  uneasy  suspicion  that  we 
are  not  studying  the  periodic  action  of  a  drug  at  all,  but 
only  the  purposeless  vagaries  of  the  ohserver. 

For  instance,  ''  burning,  biting  pain  in  the  eye  in  the 
morning  "  ought  to  mean,  at  all  events,  that  the  pain  was 
absent  in  the  night  and  afternoon,  or  at  least  that  it  was 
aggravated  in  the  morning.  It  too  prohably  means  that 
the  note  was  written  or  tiie  observation  made  some  time* 


664  PERIODIC   DISORDERS.    "'gSSrfNS^fifiS 

before  the  naiTator's  luncheon »  or  perchance  some  time 
before  a  late  dinner.  The  prover  in  mere  gaiete  de  coewr 
chronicles  the  great  event,  and  Allen  stereotypes  it  to  the 
plague  and  confusion  of  all  future  generations  of  students. 
Again,  hiccough  between  12  or  12.80  should  mean,  if  it 
mean  an3rthing,  that  the  prover  had  frequent  attacks  of 
hiccough  coming  on  at  mid-day.  If  not  it  is  redundant 
Jind  misleading. 

Dr.  Lord,  in  his  work  on  intermittent  fevers,  says: 
*^  The  pathogenesis  of  every  drug  is  full  of  accidental, 
incidental,  fanciful,  idiosyncratic,  and  imaginary  ^ymptons, 
modified  by  circumstance,  condition,  and  habit,  which 
-symptoms  have  no  relation  to  the  nature  of  the  drug. 
These  exotic  symptoms  appear  like  echoes  on  every  page.** 
None  but  those  who  have  tried  can  tell  how  difficult 
it  is  to  root  out  these  tares  without  destroying  also  the  wheat. 

The  use  of  "  the  time  repertory,*'  at  all  events,  will 
enable  the  student  to  get  an  idea  of  the  time  symptoms  at 
one  view,  and  will  give  a  new  idea  of  a  portion  of  our 
Materia  Medica  from  a  novel  point  of  view. 

In  conclusion  I  will  read  a  paper  on  the  same  subject 
of  periodicity,  communicated  by  Dr.  Salzer,  which  may  be  a 
fit  introduction  to  the  study  of  his  time  repertory. 

PERIODIC  DISORDERS. 

By  L.  Salzeb,  M.D.,  Calcutta. 

There  are  so  many  ailments  whose  especial  peculiarity  it 
is  to  appear,  disappear,  and  reappear,  all,  as  it  were,  of 
their  own  accord,  that  we  might  almost  be  tempted  to 
divide  diseases  into  two  large  classes,  viz.,  periodic  and 
non-periodic. 

Granting,  for  a  moment,  such  a  division,  we  should 
include  in  the  first  class  all  disorders  characterised  either 
by  regular  or  irregular  recurrence,  so  that  periodical  and 
paroxysmal  disorders  might  be  gathered  together  into  one 
class.  The  range  could  yet  be  ma3e  wider  if  we  included 
in  it  all  those  diseases  which  manifest,  during  their  course, 
regular  or  irregular  aggravations  or  ameliorations.  And 
in  order  to  make  the  category  complete,  we  might  further 
add  to  it  all  diseases  marked  by  some  intercurrent  symp- 
toms of  a  periodical  or  paroxysmal  nature. 

From  a  strictly  pathological  point  of  view  such  a  division 
-could  hardly  meet  with  our  approval.     Intermittent  fevers 


^^JkS^TSU^  periodic  disordebs.  666- 

and  syphilis  would  be  classified  in  the  same  rank  because 
of  the  syphilitic  bone  pains  which  are  regularly  aggrayated 
at  night. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  periodic  disorders,  whereyer 
met  with,  and  in  whateyer  way  they  may  manifest  them- 
selyes,  haye  something  in  common.  If  they  are  not  to  be 
classified  under  one  pathological  head,  they  deserye  at  least 
to  be  considered  in  dieir  ensemble. 

It  might  be  said  periodicity  is,  after  all,  only  a  symptom 
accompanying  a  certain  diseased  state;  it  is  merely  the 
rhythmicfid  expression  of  the  manner  in  which  a  certain 
disorder  manifests  itself,  but  it  by  no  means  constitutes  a 
disorder  in  itself.  This  is  true  enough.  But  then  it  is 
not  less  true  that  periodicity  characterises  often  most 
emphatically  certain  diseases,  and  seems  to  be  interwoyen 
with  their  yery  root.  If  it  be  only  a  symptom,  it  certainly 
is,  in  many  cases,  a  most  characteristic  one,  and  as  such 
should,  especially  from  the  standpoint  of  our  school,  not 
be  slighted. 

We  may  almost  say  that  all  disorders  characterised  by 
periodicity  of  any  kind  are  more  or  less  of  a  chronic 
tendency ;  for  there'  is  no  saying  how  often  the  cycle  of 
appearance  and  disappearance  might  be  repeated, ^besides 
which  eyery  such  repetition  tends  to  weaken  the  constitution^ 
and  consequently  to  engraye  the  eyil  so  much  the  deeper. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  find  many  chronic  diseases 
subject  to  all  sorts  of  periodical  and  paroxysmal  fluctua- 
tions if  left  to  themselyes.  We  need  only  hear  the  history 
of  such  sufferers  who,  in  despair  of  all  medical  aid,  haye, 
once  for  all,  made  up  their  minds  to  leaye  eyil  alone. 

And  here  a  remark  may  not  be  out  of  place  which  might 
throw  some  light  on  our  eyentual  failures  in  dealing  with 
this  class  of  diseases.  It  sometimes  happens  that  we  are- 
called  upon  to  prescribe  in  such  cases,  and  the  eyil,  to  all 
appearance,  yields  to  our  treatment.  After  a  time  there  is 
a  relapse.  We  are  called  again;  we  examine  the  case 
afresh ;  we  find  the  patient  well-nigh  in  the  same  condition 
as  he  was  at  the  time  of  our  first  treatment,  and  we  con- 
sequently repeat  our  former  prescription.  To  our  great 
surprise  we  find,  howeyer,  this  time  the  disease  to  be 
stronger  than  our  remedies,  and  we  wonder  how  it  is  that 
a  remedy  which  had  been  of  so  great  seirice  at  first  should 
show  itself  quite  inert  in  its  action  on  a  second  similar 
occasion.    Delusion  !     The  remedy  had  neyer  been  of  any 


^666  PERIOMC  DISORDERS.    ^Sl^^SST?^ 


Beriew,  Nov.  1, 168S. 


service;  the  man  got  better  the  first  time  because  he 
happened  jnst  to  enter  into  the  periodic  stage  of 
amelioration. 

It  is  true,  most  of  our  remedies  lose  in  some  cases,  and 
to  some  extent,  their  curative  effect  on  repetition.  Yet 
there  are  cases  where  periodicity  is  a  potent  agent  in  the 
apparent  improvement  of  chronic  diseases,  and  it  is  worth 
while,  before  accusing  our  remedy,  to  inquire  where  the 
fault  lies. 

If  we  look  to  our  Materia  Medica  we  find  that  those 
drugs  which  Hahnemann  considered  particularly  suitable 
in  chronic  diseases  are,  as  far  as  their  pathogenesis  is  con- 
cerned, the  richest  in  periodic  symptoms  ;  and  arsenic  which 
-stands  at  the  head  of  all  the  toxic  agents  at  our  command 
is  richer  than  any  of  them  in  pathogenetic  symptoms 
charactised  by  periodicity. 

Little  as  we  know  about  the  pathology  of  periodic 
diseases,  it  would  appear  that  they  take  their  starting 
point,  in  common  with  all  other  diseases,  from  certain 
physiological  laws  governing  our  organism.  The  tem- 
perature of  our  body  is  subject  to  a  rhythmical  oscillation 
every  twenty -four  hours ;  and  a  similar  oscillation  has  been 
observed,  corresponding  to  the  season  of  the  year.  But  a 
rise  and  fall  of  temperature  means  a  rise  and  fall  of  the 
stream  of  life.  The  first  conditions  of  periodicity  are  thus 
physiologically  engrafted  upon  our  economy. 

Seeing  the  importance  of  periodic  disorders,  it  behoves 
us  to  ask  ourselves  in  how  far  our  school  is  prepared  to 
meet  them.  That  most  of  our  drugs  have  produced  some 
periodic  symptoms  in  some  of  the  provers  has  already  been 
stated.  That  incidental  symptoms,  as  they  have  now  and 
then  occurred  in  some  provers,  may  have  their  therapeutic 
value,  we  all  know.  But  can  we  point  to  any  drugs  which, 
in  their  pathogenesis,  are  more  or  less  characteristically 
-stamped  by  periodicity  ?  Or  are  there  others  which  pro- 
'duce  in  the  healthy  a  certain  disorder  of  a  more  or  less 
pronounced  periodical  type  ? 

There  is  no  drug  in  our  Materia  Medica  which  could 
'Compete  with  arsenic  as  regard  the  periodicity  by  which  its 
large  pathogenesis  is  marked.  In  fact,  there  is  hardly  another 
drug  which  comes  near  arsenic  in  this  respect.  If  we  were 
asked  —  Could  you  produce  in  the  healthy  a  disorder 
of  a  periodic  type  ?  We  should  say — Try  arsenic.  The 
bark  of  cinchona,  and  its  alkaloid,  quinine,  stand  in  this 


iSJfaSJrNjrriS^  periodic  disobdbbs.  667 

respect  far  below  arsenic.  The  pathogenesis  of  cinchona 
is  not  particularly  marked  by  periodicity ;  certainly  not 
more  than  the  pathogenesis  of  such  drags  as  nux  vomica, 
pulsaUUa,  &g.  And  quinine  has  still  less  to  show  in  this 
respect. 

On  the  other  hand  cinchona  produces  in  a  most  marked 
manner  a  certain  disorder  of  a  periodic  type — the  workers 
in  the  mills  of  cinchona  bark  are  known  to  be  affected  for 
the  first  few  days  by  attacks  strikingly  resembling  inter* 
mittent  fevers.  In  this  particnlar  branch  of  pathogenesis 
arsenic  yields  the  palm  to  cinchona,  A  thorough  proving 
of  chininum  arsenicosum  is  needed  in  order  to  enrich, 
perhaps  even  to  complete,  our  knowledge  in  this  respect. 

Of  the  workers  in  zinc  it  has  been  said  that  they,  too. 
Ate  affected  by  regular  febrile  attacks  in  the  evening,  and 
Allen,  in  his  Materia  Medica,  has  given  us  a  collection  of 
facts  which  go  to  show  that  it  is  a  characteristic  of 
morphium  to  produce,  in  those  who  abuse  the  drug,  attacks 
which  can  hardly  be  distinguished  from  intermittent  fever. 

That  neither  of  these  two  drugs  has  been  tried  as  yet  in 
Hie  treatment  of  intermittent  fevers  is  hard  to  explain.  As 
to  zinc  J  Bering  tells  us  that  it  acts  better  (therapeutically) 
when  given  in  the  evening — ^a  clinical  hint  which  has  its 
-significance  in  connection  with  our  subject.  Whatever 
may  be  the  pathological  nature  of  intermittent  disorders, 
it  is  generally  admitted  that  the  nervous  system  plays  a 
part  in  all  these  ailments,  and  we  know,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  zinc  is  one  of  our  most  potent  neurotic  agents. 

Of  Tnorphia,  as  a  therapeutic  agent  in  intermittents,  we 
^ow  as  yet  very  little,  or  next  to  nothing.  Opium  bad, 
however,  in  former  times  a  great  reputation  in  the  treat- 
ment of  malarial  disorders.  It  had  been  prescribed  under 
the  impression  that  it  deadens  the  nervous  system  against 
the  influence  of  malaria.  Most  of  the  quack  medicines  in 
India  against  intermittent  fevers  contain,  up  to  this  day, 
.amongst  many  other  ingredients,  opium.  And  it  would  be 
worth  while  to  inquire  how  opium  eaters  of  that  country 
fare  with  regard  to  immunity,  or  otherwise  to  intermittent 
fevers. 

Coming  now  to  the  large  number  of  drugs  which  have, 
each  of  them  in  their  own  way,  produced  some  periodical 
iittacks  in  some  of  the  provers,  we  find,  to  our  great 
surprise,  that  there  is  yet  a  great  deal  to  learn  for  us,  and, 
virhat  is  more,  a  great  deal  to  unlearn,  with  respect  to  the 


668  PEBIODIC   DI80RDSBS.    *^S5rjSS!?!!M£ 

periodic  symptoms  they  have  yielded,  and  the  therapeutic 
nse  we  make  of  them. 

Hahnemann  has  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  proTings 
insisted  that  the  time  at  which  a  certain  symptom  had 
repeatedly  occorred,  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  by  the 
prover.  He  has  thus  shown  as  the  way,  how  to  meet 
periodic  disorders.  In  oar  provings  made  since,  we  haye 
followed  his  example,  and  have  thus  far  acted  according  to 
the  strict  method  of  scientific  experimentation.  Bat  when 
we  come  to  gather  the  fraits  of  the  large  stock  of  know- 
ledge we  thereby  gained,  it  would  appear  as  if  we  had  left 
the  path  of  sound  and  practical  reason  altogether.  It  is  in 
our  repertories  that  the  treasures  of  our  Materia  Medica 
are  stored  up  for  therapeutic  use ;  and  it  is  just  in  these 
very  repertories  where  the  stumbling-block  lies,  touching 
our  varied  information  about  periodicity. 

Suppose  a  prover  while  taking  chamoTniUa  had  felt  a 
toothache  between  four  and  five  o'clock  in  the  evening.  He 
had  never  experienced  a  toothache  before.  What  do  we 
reasonably  learn  from  that  fact?  That  chainomiUa  is 
capable  of  producing  toothache  in  the  healthy.  Do  we 
learn  at  the  same  time  from  that  single  fact,  that  the 
chainomiUa-iooihsLche  isproduced,  or  is  liable  to  be  produced, 
between  four  and  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  ?  Decidedly 
not.  After  all,  any  event  must  occur  at  some  time  or 
other.  Was  it,  then,  quite  useless  on  the  part  of  the  prover 
to  have  recorded  the  time  at  which  his  symptom  occurred? 
By  no  means.  Let  him  only  go  on  recording  exactly  the 
time ;  the  same  symptom  may  repeat  itself  the  next  day,  or 
any  following  day,  just  between  four  and  five  in  the  evening, 
and  then  his  first  record  will  be  in  so  far  useful  to  us,  as 
it  would  be  apt  to  show  some  periodic  tendency  of  the 
symptom.  Or  there  may  be  no  repetition  in  his  own  case, 
but  a  fellow  prover  might  have  experienced  the  same 
symptom  at  the  same  time,  and  such  a  coincidence  in  two 
provers  would  no  less  go  to  show  a  tendency  of  the  symp- 
tom to  occur  at  a  certain  particular  time.  But  whenever 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  the  case,  then  the  symptom 
has  its  therapeutical  value  as  a  symptom,  but  none  what- 
ever as  to  the  time  at  which  it  had  been  recorded  to  have 
occurred. 

If  we  look,  however,  to  our  repertories,  we  find  that  this 
consideration,  so  simple  and  evident,  has  been  entirely  dis- 
regarded.   All  the  rabrics  concerning  time  in  those  reper* 


iKSg^K^TSa^    PEBIODIO  DIS0BDEB6. 669 

tones  are  fanlty  from  beginning  to  end,  because  they  hare 
been  slayishly  transferred  from  the  Materia  Medica,  with- 
ont  any  discrimination.  Most  of  the  drags  ennmerated 
onder  those  headings  of  time  have  not  the  slightest  pre- 
tension to  periodicity.  They  stand  there  on  the  strength 
of  one  single  occnrrence  in  one  single  prover,  at  a  certain 
stated  time.  And  snch  being  the  case,  they  do  more  mis- 
chief than  good ;  they  mislead  the  inquiring  practitioner. 
While  a  careful  sifting  in  this  respect  is  urgently  needed, 
let  us,  however,  not  forget  that  pathogenesis  is  not  the 
only  guide  in  the  selection  of  our  remedies.  Clinical 
experience  is  a  great  factor  in  the  treatment  of  diseases, 
and  many  a  drug  which  pathogenetically  does  not  stand 
out  as  particularly  periodic  in  its  action,  has  proved  itself 
to  be  of  remarkable  therapeutic  service  in  some  periodic 
varieties.  To  mention  only  one  example.  On  reading  the 
provings  of  ignatia,  one  could  hardly  detect  that  this  drug 
had  produced  in  any  prominent  manner  disorders  of  an 
anticipating  type.  Yet  clinical  experience  has  here  outrun 
the  revelations  of  pathogenesis,  and  ignatia  fully  deserves 
its  place  amongst  the  remedies  to  be  thought  of  in  perio- 
dical disorders  of  an  anticipating  type. 

There  remains  yet  something  to  be  said  in  connection 
with  our  subject,  about  alternating  symptoms.  We  meet 
now  and  then  with  such  cases.  A  man  appears  to  suffer 
from  two  different  diseases,  as  far  as  organopathy  and 
pathology  in  general  is  concerned.  He  severs  for  some 
time  from  some  illness,  which  we  will  call  A.  Hardly  has 
he  got  rid  of  it,  then  another  disturbance,  of  quite  another 
pathological  character,  makes  its  appearance  in  another 
organ ;  a  disturbance  which  we  will  call  B.  A.  and  B. 
change  in  this  way  hands,  to  the  despair  of  both  the 
patient  and  the  attending  physician. 

We  are  liable  in  such  cases  to  recur  to  a  double  set  of 
remedies,  one  of  them  corresponding  to  the  disorder  A, 
the  other  to  the  disorder  B,  alternating  the  respective 
remedies  in  the  measure  as  the  symptoms  alter.  It  is  thus 
a  sort  of  therapeutic  patchwork,  the  only  merit  of  which 
consists  in  this,  that  it  sometimes  does  succeed  in  benefit- 
ing the  patient.  A  more  precise  study  of  the  case  may 
lead  us  to  a  remedy,  which  **  covers  "  both  groups  of  the 
symptoms  A  and  B,  and  such  a  remedy  would  no  doubt 
have  more  chance  of  success  than  the  above  combination. 

Yet  even  then  we  shall  often  miss  the  case.    For  what 

Vol.  36,  No.  11.  9  X 


670  CLINICAL   CASES,         "'S^^^SftfSS: 


Beriew,  Nor.  1.  tOB. 


does  it,  after  all,  mean,  when  we  say  a  certain  drug  covers 
both  groups  of  symptoms  ?  It  means  that  onr  drug  hss 
produced  in  some  prover  or  provers  the  symptoms  A,  and  in 
others  the  symptoms  B.  But  to  bring  to  bear  a  compilation 
of  symptoms,  as  derived  from  different  provers,  upon  a 
given  pathological  case,  in  order  to  establish  the  wanted 
similarity  between  drug  action  and  disease,  is  simply 
another  attempt  towards  therapeutic  patchwork.  Again 
we  may,  for  all  that,  meet  with  success,  but  we  must  not 
wonder  if  we  fail.  Nearer  we  should  be  to  the  mark  if  we 
could  lay  hold  upon  a  drug  which  had  produced  in  one  and 
the  same  prover  both  the  disorders  A  and  B,  and  the  drag 
which  stands  nearer  yet  to  our  case  would  be  that  whi<^ 
had  produced  in  one  and  the  same  prover  the  symptoms  A 
and  B  in  alternation.  The  rubric  of  alternation  is,  how- 
ever, as  yet,  very  sparingly  cultivated,  even  in  our  best 
repertories. 

CLINICAL   CASES,  WITH  KEMAEKS. 
By  S.  H.  Blake,  M.R.C.S. 

('Continued  from  page  4l02.J 

Case  XII. 

January  20th.  Florence  H.,  aged  four  and  a-half,  of 
Tery  fair  complexion  and  light-coloured  hair,  is  brought 
for  a  troublesome  cough  and  loss  of  appetite.  The  child 
is  sickly-looking  and  pale,  is  very  sleepy  as  a  rule  during 
the  daytime,  does  not  sweat  during  the  day  nor  feel  chilly, 
but  at  night  tosses  the  bedclothes  off  and  sweats  much, 
especially  if  covered  with  too  many  clothes.  At  night 
there  is  heat  of  the  skin,  with  sweat,  and  the  perspiration 
is  most  marked  on  the  bead  itself  (not  on  the  forehead  or 
•occiput,  calc,  carb).  The  breath  from  the  mouth  is  fetid. 
The  general  weakness  and  anorexia  have  continued  for 
several  months,  and  the  child  does  not  improve,  notwith- 
standing much  medical  treatment.  Moreover,  her  mother, 
by  medical  advice,  after  it  was  found  that  physic  did  not 
succeed,  took  her  for  change  of  air  into  the  open  country 
of  Dorsetshire.  This  was  unavaiUng ;  the  child  got  no 
better,  and  only  fretted  there.  Here  we  see  the  change  of 
air  not  accomplishing  that  end  for  which  it  is  so  often 
jbund  adapted,  and  as  we  shall  find,  the  cliild's  system 
only  waited  for  that  therapeutic  change  which  it  may  be 
could  not  be  found  in  this  country  residence,  but  was 


^^J^oTu^         CLINICAI.   CASES.  671 


easily  supplied  by  a  ^mall  ^[uantity  of  a  suitable  medicine 
in  a  very  brief  period  of  time.  This  change  in  the  body 
haying  been  accomplished,  no  doubt  a  change  of  air  would 
prove  much  more  beneficial  than  it  had  done  before ;  and 
io  this  end,  I  advised  the  niother.  How  often  patients  are 
sent  for  change  of  air  in  the  hope^  that  this  may  perchance 
^u^complish  something  for  which  an  appropriate  medicine 
has  not  been  forthcoming,  and  how  often  hydropathy  has 
to  finish  what  therapeutics  has  not  even  begun.  It  is  not 
possible  to  conceive,  nor  would  it  be  a  pleasant  reflection  ; 
not  that  one  would  wish  to  deny  the  immense  advantages 
from  both  these  sources  of  renewed  health,  nor  limit  in 
the  least  the  justifiable  application  of  these  measures  to 
-suitable  instandas  of  disease.  The  natural  reflection  is 
that  many  such  cases  require  in  addition  an  appropriate 
medicine  to  induce  recovery,  and  this  medicine  it  is  often 
the  privilege  of  the  homoeopath  to  supply.  To  continue 
this  child's  history. — She  had  never  had  measles.  Had 
liad  pertussis  when  only  five  months  old,  and  was  very  ill 
with  it.  Had  no  other  exanthem.  Both  parents  living. 
Two  other  children,  however,  died  in  "  measles  and  bron- 
chitis.'' Her  temperament  is  nervous ;  she  is  quick  and 
excitable. 

She  was  ordered  silica  6c.,  trit.  gr.  1  ter  die. 

February  1st.  In  the  short  space  of  ten  days  after  her 
{irst  visit,  I  find  her  general  appearance  altogether  changed 
for  the  better ;  a  healthier  complexion ;  the  weakly,  debili- 
tated look  almost  gone ;  and  the  mother  reports  her  as 
^*  very  much  better.  The  sweatings  on  the  head  and  the 
fetor  of  breath  are  cured."  Her  mother  stated  that  "the 
third  dose  altered  her,  and  after  that  she  seemed  quite  a 
diflferent  child."  The  medicine  was  renewed  for  another 
week,  at  the  end  of  which  time  she  was  cured.  I  then 
recommended  her  for  change  of  air,  to  complete  the 
luilding  up  of  health. 

Selection  of  Medicines. 
It  is  correctly  asserted,  as  I  believe,  that  on  an 
examination  of  Dr.  Allen's  Encyclopcedia  it  cannot  be  shown 
that  calcarea  has  such  a  symptom  as  sweating  of  the  head, 
implying  that  the  hairy  scalp  is  the  part  affected.  At 
the  same  time,  I  cannot  deny  that  cases  where  sweat  does 
iippear  to  come  on  this  part,  sometimes  do  well  under 
calcarea,  and  especially  so,  where  calcarea  covers  some  of 
the  other  sjrmptoms.     Nevertheless,  in  the  presence  of  so 

3  T— 8 


672  CLIOTCAL  CASES.         "SSS&^Sr??^ 


Bevisir,  Nor.  1, 180. 


many  proviiigs,  giving  as  nnmbers  of  other  symptoms  for 
calcareUy  this  symptom  being  omitted,  whilst  iUica  has 
notably  sweat  on  head,  running  down  even  on  to  the 
forehead,  it  would  appear  that  the  application  of  caicarea' 
to  this  head-sweat  is  hardly  exact  enongh  to  fulfil,  in  a 
proper  way,  the  full  demands  of  *'  The  Law." 

In  the  symptoms  of  the  case  cited,  we  note  that  range  of 
symptoms  which  has  long  been  considered  the  special 
feature  of  the  dyscrasia  called  rickets,  and  although  the 
general  appearance  was  agreeable  thereto,  I  could  not  assert 
that  the  joints  were  in  any  decided  degree  widened  or 
expanded.  To  this  state,  silica  has  long  been  known  and 
shown  to  be  one  of  the  applicable  medicines  as  covering  the 
symptoms.  For  us  to  state  that  calc.  carb  would  have 
cured  as  well  or  better,  or  to  state  that  a  pase  having  such 
syniptoms,  has  been  cured  by  it,  is  not  to  establish  nor  to- 
fulfil  the  Haw,  but  is  only  to  overstep  the  grounds  of  the 
law  as  hitherto  known,  and  to  wait  for  proof.  In  the 
meantime,  if  we  cannot  absolutely  prove  calcarea  strictly 
homoeopathic  thereto,  and  we  do  not,  in  such  statement,, 
clearly  set  forth  that  our  observation  is  empirical,  and  not 
yet  proven,  would  be  to  mislead  and  misinform  those 
ignorant  of  its  origin,  as  I  have  known  to  occiir,  a  part 
which  should  never  be  willingly  adopted  by  those  desirous 
of  being  rich  in  medical  wisdom.  A  similar  statement 
would  apply  to  cold,  clammy  extremities  (legs  and  feet), 
no  such  symptoms  being  found  among  the  myriads  of 
symptoms  recorded  in  Allen.  On  the  contrary,  nearly 
all  the  symptoms  point  quite  another  way.  Heat  and 
irritability  of  the  skin  of  the  extremities  are  well  marked 
symptoms,  and  from  many  cases,  so  £eu:  as  my  obser- 
vations extend,  calcarea  c.  cures  these  symptoms,  and 
I  cannot  say  the  same  where  it  has  been  used  for  the 
cold  sweaty  condition.  It  is  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  the 
last  named  state  is  a  truly  homoeopathic  indication  for 
calc.  carb,,  or,  if  so,  whether  it  be  not  a  very  rare  and 
exceptional  kind  of  symptom  for  the  use  of  this  medicine. 

Between  this  and  silica  the  head  symptoms  clearly 
define  the  grounds  of  our  choice.  It  becomes  necessary  to 
enquire  of  the  patients  if  the  sweat  be  actually  on  the  hairy 
scalp,  falling  down,  it  may  be,  on  to  the  forehead  {silica), 
or  whether  only  on  the  forehead,  occiput,  or  nape  {cole,  c), 
as  also  if  there  be  bad  smell  of  the  sweat  {silica) ;  and  to 
beware  of  not  taking  for  granted  the  first  answer  or  state^ 


SSSSr^ri!ag^        CLiyiOAL  OASES. 678 

ment  of  patients  that  perspiration  is  of  the  head  generally, 
whereas  on  enquiry  we  may  often  find  that  it  is  on  the 
forehead  and  face  that  they  have  actually  seen  it,  and  these 
persons  on  close  enquiry  often  will  not  affirm  that  they 
have  actually  seen  it  over  the  haiiy  scalp. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  refer  to  the  provings  for  the 
symptoms  of  sUica  showing  its  homceopathicity  to  such  a 
^oup  of  symptoms  as  that  referred  to,  hut  they  may  he 
noted  hriefly  as : — 

Mental  State  and  Head, — "Despondency,  indifference^ 
Apathy,  restlessness,  fidgetty  (fretting  ?),  vertigo,  with 
sleepiness  (day  time),  congestion  to  head,  with  burning, 
pulsation,  and  sweat  of  head  (worse  at  night),  profuse  head 
fiweat. 

Conditions.— O^n  fontanelles,  head  too  large,  rest  of 
body  emaciated,  face  pale.  Anorexia,  aversion  to  hot  food 
and  meat.  Tremor  and  debility.  Sleep  disturbed  at 
night  by  startings,  ebullitions  (heats  ?)  and  night  sweats, 
and  is  unrefreshed  in  the  morning.  Dry  cough  with 
hoarseness,  soreness  of  chest  and  tickling  in  throat  pit.'* 
'^ Night  cough''  (throwing  off  the  bed-clothes  when 
sweating  may  cause  this  cough). 

To  compare  this  with  other  medicines,  we  might  con- 
veniently conmience  by  directing  our  attention  to  one  of  the 
prominent  symptoms,  the  head  perspiration  at  night,  and 
from  this  point  of  view,  we  have  brought  under  our  notice, 
that  these  symptoms  occur  but  rarely  when  taken  together 
AS  one  symptom  in  provings,  and  hence  it  is  not  easy  to 
find  them  in  repertories  in  such  a  form  that  we  can 
43lasBify  from  them.  We  ofben  look  in  vain  elsewhere  for 
that  which  can  be  found  only  from  the  internal  evidence 
of  the  veritable  provings  themselves.  On  reference  to  the 
Cypher  Repertory ^  to  Jahr  and  Lilienthal's  works,  a  number 
of  medicines  are  pointed  out  for  head-sweats.  With  some 
of  them  it  is  to  be  inferred  or  presumed  that  they  may  be 
Applied  to  nocturnal  head  perspiration.  There  is  one 
characteristic,  however,  of  some  value,  namely,  the  desire 
to  uncover,  as  with  Ud^im  and  spigelia  for  instance,  in 
contrast  with  others  where  there  is  sweat  and  heat,  yet 
aversion  to  uncover.  Whether  this  really  depends  upon 
the  presence  of  increased  heat,  or  the  chill  at  the  time  such 
a  symptom  is  recognised  by  the  patient,  is  a  further  question. 
Of  some  of  the  medicines  and  their  symptoms,  referred  to 
heat  and  sweat  of  the  head,  is  here  given  in  a  list. 


674 


CLINICAL   CASES. 


Vontlilj  HonuBopaflufr 
r.  Not.  li  IflBt* 


/  Silica. 

Cham. 
Bryony. 

Bell. 

China. 


06 
fl 

M 

IS 

s 

'a 

o 
CO 

o 


I    Keeps  the  child  awake,  with  heat  of 
^head  and  sour  or  fetid  sweat. 
f    During  sleep,   sour,  with   smarting  of 
\8kin. 
Sweat  generally  profuse  and  sour. 

I    Heat  predominating  and  burning  heat 
[compare  calc.   c],   sweat  during    sleep,, 
quickly  disappearing. 
During  sleep, 


C  In  V  ih^    Sweat  smells  like  urine,  causing  itching 
^      *\of  skin. 

}    Night  sweat,  putrid  or  sour,  chiefly  on 
(forehead ;  tendency  to  uncover.     Heat  and 
l^sweat  in  alternation  with  itching. 
Sour  and  ofTensiye.     Stains  yellow. 

Clammy  sweat  {nux.  rom.),  but  ayersion 
\to  uncoYer. 

r    Day  and  night  without  relief  (compare 
\merc.)  and  clammy  sweat. 


Ledum. 

Graph. 
Merc. 

Hepar. 


Ipecacuan.  Very  offensive  sweat. 


PuU. 


53  s  Sepia. 
Opium. 


08 

w 

'3 

e 
3. 


Phoe. 


\ 


f    Sour,  musty,  at  times  cold,  at  night  with 

^stupid  slumber ;  sweetish  acid  odour. 

j    Every  third  ni^ht  sour,  offensive,  like 

"^elder  blossoms. 

(    Snoring,  twitching,  and  cold  limbs,  head 

\hot,  heat  with  sweat. 

j    Sweat,  worse  during  sleep,  with  increased 

\urine. 

XT  4.  ^..^  /    Sweat  on  awaking  at  night  and  on  rising 
JSat.  mur.\.    ,^  .      /        i      77*      j        r  \ 

\m  the  mommg  (see  also  kali  and  raph.). 

Tfh       T    /    Sour,  musty,  or  putrid  sweat,  with  violent 
anus.  X .  ^^ii-cting  of  the  erupfion. 
Staphisy'  (    Sweat  smells  like  rotten  eggs ;  cold  on 
nia.        [forehead  and  feet. 

f    Heat  interrupted  by  shivering,  and  re- 
Sahadilla.  (turning  at  the  same  hour.     Sweat  during 
(morning  hours. 

(    Offensive    sweat;    eruptions  on  scalps 
\ringworm. 
Mag.  mur.  Averse  to  uncover ;  thirst, 
o  •    7<       /    Offensive  sweat ;  dull  in  the  back ;  heat 
^  ^^     •    \of  face  and  hands,  with  desire  to  uncover. 
Q    t^         )    Heat  and  sweats,  mixed ;   profuse  and 
^'\exhausting;  sour;  putrid. 


Dulc. 


gS^^rn^         CLINICAL   CASES. 675 

Others  might  be  compared  as : — Sarsoe,  raph,,  rhab., 
graph.,  calc.  caust,  caust,  naumtlph.,  camphor,  and  sulphur. 

That  cole.  c.  should  he  used  for  any  peculiar  instances 
of  disease  where  there  occurs  other  than  heat  of  skin,  or 
heat  of  the  skin  of  the  extremities  with  perspiration,  with 
notable  chill  or  without  it,  it  must,  for  the  present,  remain 
for  those  so  employing  it,  to  show  in  what  kind  of  particular 
case  it  is  so  adapted.  Lest  any  one  should  doubt  that  this 
drug  can  cure  these  symptoms  of  heat  referred  to,  I  will 
record  one  case,  although  many  more  might  be  easily  given, 
to  show  how  useful  it  is  in  these  symptoms,  which  it  is 
found  so  often  to  produce,  in  the  provings.  There  is 
something  worthy  of  note  in  Hahnemann's  statement,  that 
it  would  take  an  unnecessary  amount  of  time  and  labour  to 
recount  all  such  cases,  and  to  enter  into  all  the  reasons 
passing  through  the  mind  for  and  against  this  or  that  drug 
at  the  time  of  its  selection.  If,  nevertheless,  it  may  prove 
of  any  practical  benefit  to  enter  upon  the  record  of  cases 
cured,  it  is  wise  to  do  so,  more  especially  as  regards  cases 
of  a  kind  from  which  instruction  may  be  gathered,  or  by 
which  the  memory  may  be  refreshed. 

Case  XIII. 

On  Feb.  4th.  Robert  D.,  a  fair-haired,  blue-eyed  child, 
thin,  and  a  little  ansemic,  aged  two  years,  has  been  ailing  for 
about  four  weeks,  with  depressed  spirits,  and  disinclination 
for  his  play.  He  is  restless,  and  the  sleep  is  disturbed  at 
night.  There  is,  in  this  case,  no  sweating  of  the  head  or 
forehead  noticed  at  night,  but  the  head  and  the  whole  body 
are  hot  at  night,  and  he  is  very  restless  with  it.  He  suffered 
severely  from  this  nocturnal  feverishness  two  weeks  ago, 
and  required  to  be  kept  in  bed  for  a  few  days. 

There  are  enlarged  glands  in  the  neck  and  anorexia. 
On  enquiry,  there  is  no  thirst  notable  either  diurnal  or 
nocturnal.     Calc.  carh.  3  trit.  gr.  1  ter.  die. 

February  11th.  Report.  A  good  deal  better  after  this 
medicine.  He  is  more  lively,  says  the  mother,  in  dis- 
position since  taking  it,  and  sleeps  much  better.  *'  The 
lumps  "  in  the  neck  are  now  gone.  Appetite  improved. 
He  is  now  cured,  she  says,  of  *'  the  heat  of  head  and  body, 
and  the  nocturnal  restlessness,  which  for  the  past  few  weeks 
have  been  so  troublesome.  He  has  now  taken  to  his  play 
again.'* 

In  this  instance  the  flesh  had  become  soft,  but  there  was 


676  CLINICAL   CASES.  "SSSl^SSf?^ 


Bcriew,  Nor.  1»  I8e>. 


no  marked  wasting.    However,  I  considered  it  better  to 
use  cole,  for  a  week  more,  and  repeated  the  medicine. 

The  differential  degree  between  the  suitability  of  this 
or  that  medicine  is  often  to  be  decided  by  tiiie  tem- 
perament and  general  appearance  of  the  patient.  The 
colour  of  the  face,  the  quality  of  the  hair,  the  state  of  the 
mental  disposition — ^all  contribute  to  our  differential  power. 
There  is  an  unhealthy  appearance  which  corresponds  well 
to  sulphur,  another  to  iodine,  another  to  ferrunif  and  soon. 
As  to  heat  of  the  head,  again,  how  often  belladonna  is  found 
beneficial  in  the  plethoric  face  with  red  cheek,  excitable 
temperament,  with  burning  heat  and  redness  to  a  marked 
degree  in  the  evening,  and  nocturnal  restlessness  of  a 
degree  amounting  in  some  cases  to  actual  delirium.  BeUa- 
donna  picts  better  here  at  any  rate,  to  begin  with,  than 
calcarea. 

Again,  sulphur  gives  us  dulness,  or  irritability.  The  Cace 
sickly,  eyes  sunken  with  blue  margins,  or  spotted  redness 
of  the  cheek.  The  sweat  at  night  on  the  nape  and  occiput, 
and  a  general  sour  sweat  profuse  at  night.  Heats  in  flushes. 

Calc.  carb.  More  restlessness  and  irritability,  although 
mental  depression  as  well. 

Burning  on  the  top  of  the  head.  Flushes  of  heat.  Heat 
followed  by  chill  and  cold  hands. 

Face  pale,  and  bloated  [or  very  exceptionally  yellowish] 
or  pale  and  thin,  with  blue  margins  round  eyes,  or  in  a 
farther  advanced  degree  of  illness,  old  and  wrinkled  looking. 

Calc.  pho8.  Peevish  and  fretful.  Involuntary  sighing. 
Face  pale,  sallow,  yellowish,  earthy,  full  of  pimples.  Diy 
evening  heat,  copious  night  s  Treats  on  single  parts  towards 
morning. 

lodium.  Depression  or  excessive  excitability.  Face 
pale,  yellow,  or  changing  to  brownish  tint  (children  with 
dark  eyes  often  present  these  signs),  sullen,  distressed 
expression;  or  paleness  alternating  with  red.  At  night, 
flushes  of  heat  all  over,  profuse  sour  night  sweats,  debili- 
tating, and  towards  morning  hours  with  much  thirst. 

These  medicines  and  belladonna  before  referred  to,  being 
all  so  well  known  for  their  power  over  lymph  glands,  which 
were  cured  by  col.  o.  in  the  case  cited,  may  be  usefally 
compared  with  the  latter  medicine  in  reference  to  the 
anorexia,  nocturnal  heats,  mental  and  physical  depression. 

The  prevalence  of  these  high  temperatures  implying,  it 
is  beUeyed,  a  certain  amount  of  waste  in  the  heart  and 


ISS^SSirSS^        QLIOTCAI.  OASBB.      677 

mnscnlar  straotares  generally  is  saggestiye  of  the  value  of 
tepid  ablutions  or  of  cold  water  if  the  child  be  sufficiently 
strong.  This,  apart  from  the  medical  treatment  which  it 
will  support,  becomes  a  valuable  ally  and  auxiliary,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  benefits  of  cleanliness  and  removal  of  old 
epidemic  sheddings  or  of  sweat  products. 

Last,  but  not  least,  the  symptom  thirst  (not  present  in 
this  case  cured)  occurs  with  the  chill  of  calc.  c.  and 
diurnally,  and  is  not  a  symptom  of  the  nocturnal  heat 
of  calcarea  c,  occurring  then  rarely,  if  ever,  whereas  it  is 
distinctly  produced  by  iodium  in  association  with  its  night 
sweats. 

Case  XIV. 

S.  J.  W.,  girl  aged  18;  began  treatment  under  my  col- 
league, on  July  29th,  for  a  dry  eruption  of  the  occiput, 
with  lice  in  the  hair.  This  was  the  condition  when  first 
seen  by  myself.  Graphites  12c.  had  been  employed,  and 
on  first  seeing  her  on  August  8th  this  medicine  was  re- 
peated. 

August  28rd.  No  improvement  in  eruption.  Has  a 
new  symptom  now, — "  itching  and  smarting  all  over  the 
body  and  limbs." 

Nat.  mur.,  6c.  t.d. 

If  this  itching  be  pathogenetic  from  graphites — ^for  the 
symptom  is  consistent  with  the  action  of  graphites  (itching) 
— and  the  other  symptoms  of  disease  remaining  unbenefited, 
it  warrants  a  change  of  prescription.  Nat,  mur.  also  causes 
marked  itching,  and  hence,  taken  with  the  skin  eruption, 
I  considered  that  it  might  be  suitable.  The  eruption 
consists  of  dry  crusts,  in  separate  portions,  between  the 
roots  of  the  hair.  The  smaller  portions  of  the  crusts  get 
detached  by  scratching,  and  some  of  them  remain  adhering 
io  the  hairs. 

September  6th.  Itching  symptom  gone;  the  occipital 
condition  better. 

September  18th.  Decidedly  better,  both  as  regards 
local  and  general  symptoms.  Eruption  of  head  beginning 
to  disappear.     Patient  stronger. 

September  27th.     Continues  to  improve.     Repeat. 

October  5th.  The  scabby  eruption  around  and  on  lower 
•occipital  region  has  entirely  disappeared.  The  enlarge- 
ment of  the  glands  (sub-occipital  and  posterior  cervical 
lymphatics),  which  had  been  previously  enlarged  to  the 
size  of  beans,  and  very  hard,  has  now  subsided.    Appear- 


678  OEJUIOAL  OASES.         "S^^S!??^ 


Beyiew,  Nor.  1, 1881. 


ance  of  hair  greatly  improved.  Scalp  healthy-looking  and 
lice  gone.  The  general  health,  too,  is  now  good.  Aa» 
regards  the  symptoms  for  which  she  first  came,  the  case 
was  entered  as  cared ;  bat  on  the  same  date  another  new 
symptom  is  noted,  i.e.,  ''  a  ranning  sometimes  from  the 
eyes  and  nose.*'  (Pathogenetic,  very  likely.)  It  occurs  in 
(he  provings.     To  discontinue  treatment. 

Nothing  more  is  heard  of  her  until  November  1st,  when 
she  comes  again  with  a  fresh  crop  of  eruption  at  the  occiput 
and  back  of  the  neck.    Nat.  mur.,  6  t.d. 

November  8th.  Much  better  of  eruption.  Nape  of  the 
neck  cured.    Bepeat. 

November  15th.     Stil^  better.    Bepeat. 

December  6th.    Neck  completely  cured.    Bepeat. 

December  13.  Case  quite  cured,  no  eruption,  hair  and 
general  appearance  of  skin  healthy.  The  patient's  appear- 
ance and  complexion  have  much  improved  since  she  came 
uuder  treatment. 

Case  XV. 

M.  P.,  girl  set  19.  Commenced  treatment  on  August 
16th  for  a  scabby  eruption  about  the  occiput,  with  lice  in 
the  hair.  Numerous  eggs  of  pediculus  capitis,  and  a  soft 
scabby  eruption  between  and  adhering  to  the  roots  of  the 
hair.     Nat  mur,,  6  c.  t.d. 

August  23rd.  '^  Oreat  deal  better."  Bepeat.  Lice  in 
hair  perfectly  removed,  so  far  as  examination  can 
demonstrate  it. 

August  31st.    Head  eruption  much  less.    Bepeat  med. 

The  patient  did  not  come  again  until  September  27tb, 
when  the  general  health  was  found  still  better.  The  head 
disease  gone.  She  came  on  this  occasion  for  pain  in  the 
knees,  of  rheumatic  character,  and  this  was  prescribed  for, 
and  then  the  patient  was  lost  sight  of,  but  the  case  had 
been  previously  concluded,  so  far  as  the  head  eruption  and. 
not.  muriaticum  were  concerned,  and  was,  no  doubt, 
completely  cured  after  the  last  prescription  on  September 
27th,  by  bry.  alb.  for  the  knee  pain,  which  corresponded 
to  the  indications  of  that  medicine. 

Most  of  the  cases  successfully  treated  by  natram  vmr. 
for  the  kind  of  eruption  just  referred  to,  have  been  in  pale^ 
debilitated  children,  with  fair  hair.  I  have  also  known  it 
followed  by  good  results  in  a  similar  weak  state  of  health, 
but  where  the  hair  is  also  of  a  darker  hue,  though  having 


SS^^Tf^^         CLINICAL  CASES.  679^ 


Beriew,  Nov.  1, 1882. 


the  same  discrepancy  in  quality  and  polish.  I  have  the 
notes  of  another  case  of  which  I  cannot,  for  want  of  room, 
give  the  full  details  here. 

In  this  patient,  a  child  of  sanguine  temperament,  and 
naturally  having  a  good  deal  of  colour,  had  become  pale, 
sickly-looking,  and  weak ;  with  anorexia,  pain  in  chest  on 
breathing,  soreness  of  the  nose.  After  a  fortnight's  treat- 
ment with  nat.  mur.  6c.,  these  symptoms  gave  way  with  a 
most  satisfactory  recovery  of  general  health ;  but  at  this 
juncture  I  found  that  the  head  had  broken  out  with  a  sore 
and  scabby  eruption,  and  the  soft,  moist,  newly-formed 
scabs  or  crusts  at  the  centre  of  the  occiput,  I  found  to  be 
the  central  point  of  habitat  of  numerous  fat,  healthy- 
looking  lice.  Scabs,  pale  yellowish  grey.  Several  lice 
around  one  of  the  largest  scabs,  and  very  busy  moving 
about  amongst  the  hair.  Crusts  easily  detached.  There 
is  also  a  freshly  formed  scab,  with  soreness,  at  the  edge  of 
ihe  right  nostril.  (Pathogenetic,  perhaps.)  It  is  in- 
teresting to  observe  that  a  crop  of  lice  and  eruption  of  this 
sort  had  not  ever  before  appeared  in  this  patient.  They 
came  out  during  the  use  of  nat^  mur.  for  other  symptoms. 
If  the  outbreak  were  not  induced  by  the  nat.  mur.,  the  due 
condition  being  understood  to  be  actually  present,  it  is  not 
a  little  remarkable  that  this  medicine  should  have  been 
given  at  so  opportune  a  moment,  that  the  outbreak  should 
be  just  imminent  from  the  previously  diseased  state  only, 
and  also  to  have  so  occurred  in  just  such  a  state  of  disease 
for  which  nat.  mur.  had  been  employed  to  cure  the  erup- 
tion and  lice  in  other  instances  where  the  patients  were  in 
a  very  similar  condition  of  ill-health  before  they  received  ' 
this  medicine.  This  head  trouble  was  not  present  when 
she  first  came  to  me.  I  cannot  help  regarding  this  as 
very  likely  to  have  been  brought  out  by  the  medicine,  and 
it  is  remarkable  that  the  lice  should  have  appeared  quite 
suddenly  and  apparently  contemporaneously  with  the  erup- 
tion. And  a  similar  remark  applies  to  the  eruption  of  the 
nostril.  In  the  cases  cured  by  nat.  mur.  I  have  observed 
that  the  hair  is  dull-looking,  deficient  in  glossiness,  and 
of  a  dry  and  inferior  quality.  Hering's  Materia  Medica 
gives  ''  scabs  on  the  head  and  axillaa,  raw  eczema,  oozing 
a  corroding  fluid,  destroying  the  hair.  Impetigo  worse  on 
the  boundaries  of  the  hairy  scalp,  especially  about  the 
nape  of  the  neck.  Sore  nose,  interior  of  wings  of  nose 
swollen ;  scabs  in  the  nose.    Left  sided  inflammation  and. 


•680  CLINICAL  OASES.         "S^^SS?!"^ 


S/BTWWf  XOT.  If  IflSL 


swelling  of  nose;    painfal  to  toncb.    Nose  on  one  fdde 
feels  numb." 

I  bave  in  my  band  several  more  eases  wberein  tbe  effect 
of  tbis  medicine  (not,  mur.)  bas  been  no  less  effectual  than 
in  the  foregoing  instances;  but  I  must  defer  giving  tbe 
details  of  tbese  to  some  future  opportunity.  In  one,  a 
patient  forty  years  of  age,  rbeumatic  pains  of  tbe  neck  and 
sboulders,  occipital  pain,  witb  eruptions  and  sore  eyes, 
-disappeared  under  tbe  6tb  attenuation  of  not.  mur. ;  and 
in  tbe  otber,  a  girl  of  twelve,  tbe  occipital  eruption  and 
dyspepsia,  witb  debility,  were  greatly  benefited  under  the 
6tb,  and  finally  removed  under  tbe  80tb  attenuation.  I 
bave  used  tbis  medicine  for  a  great  number  of  similar  cases 
— ^bow  many  I  am  unable  to  say  precisely — ^but  it  bas  been 
a  matter  of  astonisbment  to  me  bow  rarely  it  bas  bappened 
tbat  sucb  a  group  of  symptoms  bas  foiled  to  give  way  veiy 
speedily  to  tbe  medicine.  "Whereas,  formerly,  I  was  in 
the  babit  of  using  cleansing  lotions  or  ointments  and 
powders  capable  of  killing  tbe  lice  and  cleansing  the  hair 
of  tbe  ova,  a  plan  I  do  not  doubt  still  followed  by  many, 
I  bave  not  found  tbis  necessary  in  a  single  instance  during 
tbe  past  twelve  months  or  more,  since  employing  the  not. 
mur,  internally.  Tbe  lice  appear  to  have  an  intense 
abhorrence  of  this  drug  or  of  tbe  changes  it  produces  in 
tbe  scalp  and  hair,  for  they  (in  my  experience)  seenpi  to 
disappear  of  themselves  as  soon  as  the  system  is  brought 
under  its  influence.  Tbe  improvement  in  the  health 
either  renders  their  presence  no  longer  necessary  or 
possible,  and  when  the  conditions  essential  to  their  vitality 
-cease  to  be  fulfilled,  they  also  cease  to  exist.  While  I 
write,  anotber  instance  comes  to  my  mind,  where  a  little 
girl  of  ten  was  for  several  years  subject  to  lice  in  the  hair 
and  eruptions  of  the  scalp — a  pale,  weak,  and  sickly  child. 
The  mother  of  this  child  shortly  before  her  death  informed 
those  left  in  charge  of  her  that  they  would  find  that  want 
of  cleanliness  had  not  been  the  cause  of  this  trouble.  The 
view  of  tbe  case  taken  by  tbe  dying  mother  proved  after- 
wards to  be  correct,  for  this  child  continued  to  suffer  from 
the  same  trouble  for  a  year  or  more  afterwards,  in  spite  of 
close  attention  to  cleanliness.  After  a  fortnight's  treat- 
ment by  nat,  mur.  6,  I  received  a  letter  to  say  that  the 
head  had  recovered  the  healthy  condition.  It  must  not  be 
supposed  that  nat  mur.  should  remove  lice  in  every  case,  nor 
tmless  the  state  of  ill-health  were  suitable  for  this  medidne. 


S^fy^rSS^^         CLINICAL  OASES. 681 

In  some  instances  I  have  used,  with  saccess,  other 
medicines  for  the  ernption,  with  hard  enlarged  glands 
beneath  the  occiput.  Hepar  and  rhus,  in  succession,  I 
have  known  effectual,  but  not  so  speedily  for  the  entire 
group  of  symptoms,  as  when  nat.  mur.  has  been  employed^ 

Diagnosis. — There  are  some  other  occipital  eruptions 
with  which  this  class  may  be  confounded,  unless  the  hair 
and  scalp  be  examined.  Thus  itch  is  n^t  nearly  bo 
unfrequent  in  this  locality  among  the  poorer  classes  as 
some  persons  might  suppose.  I  have  frequently  known 
cases  of  eruption,  with  the  characteristic  symptoms  of 
the  itch,  affect  this  part,  together  with  other  parts  of 
the  body,  and  in  rarer  instances  about  the  head  and  neck 
almost  exclusively.  These  cases  give  way  rapidly  to 
sulphur  applications.  Many  eruptions  of  the  scalp,  how- 
ever, which  caonot  be  easily  proved  to  be  actually  itch,  nor 
perhaps  the  insects  actually  found,  disappear  quickly  under 
a  little  sulphur  ointment,  and  especii^lyis  this  so  with 
eruptions,  itching  at  night  like  the  typical  itch.  Hence, 
there  is  much  more  difficulty  in  drawing  the  line  where  the 
psora  principle  (itch  of  Hahnemann's  chronic  diseases) 
should  end,  and  when  it  should  begin.  It  cannot  be  doubted 
that  true  itch  assumes  many  phases  and  forms,  and  brings 
out  a  variety  of  eruptions,  and  underlying  this,  there  is,  as- 
we  conclude,  a  basis  of  ill-health,  of  which  the  eruption 
and  other  local  manifestations  are  but  as  the  leafy  expansion 
spreading  from  the  deeply  lying  root.  So  far  as  I  can 
observe,  the  diathesis,  to  which  the  lice  and  their  eruption 
belong,  forms  a  basis  quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  itch 
proper. 

Finally,  as  regards  the  various  forms  of  ringworm,  in- 
spection, as  a  rule,  discloses  the  nature  of  this  easily,  and 
we  are  assisted  by  the  fact  that  if  it  occur  under  the  occi- 
put, which  it  does  but  rarely,  it  generally  is  by  extension 
from  patches  further  up  on  tiie  scalp. 

That  there  are  several  other  kinds  of  eruptions  than 
those  here  referred  to,  and  differing  from  them,  I  am  well 
aware ;  notably  those  hard,  firmly  caked  crusts,  which  are 
commonly  devoid  of  pediculi,  and  which  form  a  distinct 
kind  of  complaint  from  those  which  I  have  described  as 
being  successfully  met  by  nat.  muriaiicum,  and  that  these 
are  suitable  cases  often  for  calcarea  has  been  frequently 
observed. 


"682  HOMCEOPATHIC  TRITURATIONS.  ^^S^f^S^l'^wS! 

The  Materia  Medica  enlightens   ns  as  to  the    scalp 
.  ernptions  for  natrum  mur.  in  the  following  manner  : — 

''The  scalp  smells  badly,  musty;  the  hairs  stick  to- 
gether ;  falling  out  of  the  hair.  Sore  when  touched  as  if 
the  hair  were  sore.  Itching  over  the  whole  head ;  also 
violent  itching  on  the  head  and  nape  of  the  neck.  Scurf. 
Stiffness  of  the  nape  and  by  the  occiput.  Tension  in  the 
nape,  with  swelling  of  the  cervical  glands  (symptom  cured). 
Eruptions  on  skin : — Itching  eruption  on  the  margin  of 
the  hair  at  the  nape  of  the  neck  (cured),  temples,  and  also 
-eyebrows.  Itching,  gritty  rash  behind  the  ear  for  several 
days."  The  nasal  eruptions  of  tMt.  mur,  are  well  known — 
especially  the  inflammation  producing  vesicles,  and  ending 
by  the  formation  of  scab. 


EEMARKS    AND     SUGGESTIONS     CONCERirtNG 
CERTAIN  HOMCEOPATHIC  TRITURATIONS.— 

FIRST  PAPER. 

By  J.  Edwards  Smith,  M.D.,  Cleveland,  Ohio** 

Lycopodixjm-Spores. 

'Some  time  during  the  month  of  January  last  a  homodo- 
pathic  practitioner  of  the  city  called  my  attention  to 
excellent  results  in  his  hands,  obtained  from  the  tincture 
of  lycopodium,  and  at  his  request  I  made  a  trial  of  the 
same  preparation  (made  by  himself),  which,  in  turn,  rendered 
me  excellent  service. 

I  then  resolved  to  test  the  virtues  of  the  first  decimal 
trituration,  which  trituration  I  at  once  obtained  from  the 
pharmacy  of  Mr.  L,  H.  Witte,  of  this  city.  In  less  than 
thirty  days  from  this  date  I  had  occasion  to  prescribe  this 
first  dec.  trit.  in  two  difficult  cases,  and  was  in  each  instance 
rewarded  by  brilliant  cures. 

Three  of  the  cases  above  referred  to  will  hereafter  be 
presented  in  this  journal ;  one  of  these  was  a  remarkably 
interesting  case  (which  came  to  me  from  the  allopaths),  and 
demonstrates  what  can  be  accomplished  at  times  by 
"  rational  medicine." 

Having  thus  applied  the  clinical  test  to  the  lowest 
decimal  trituration  of  lye.  getting  nice  effects,  the  question 

*  Beprinted  from  the  New  York  Medical  Ttmet,  BeptemW,  1882. 


RS^^TT^^^'noviCEOPArmc  triturations.         688 

yery  often  snggested  itself :  Have  I  now  the  best  possible 
trituration  of  lycopodium  ? 

Shortly  after  my  retnm  from  the  late  session  of  the 
American  Institute  this  interrogatory  became  so  often 
present  in  my  mind  that  I  determined  to  learn  more  con- 
cerning lycopodium  triturations  without  delay.  The  first 
X  trituration  of  Mr.  Witte's  was  at  once  subjected  to  a 
five-hour  microscopic  examination,  during  which  many 
mounts  were  prepared  and  diligently  examined.  During 
ihe  whole  of  this  examination  I  succeeded  in  finding  but 
two  whole  spores.  This,  while  the  debris  of  thousands,  if 
not  millions,  of  spores  must  have  passed  under  my  eye. 

The  next  day  I  called  on  Mr.  Witte,  asking  for  informa- 
tion regarding  his  method  of  preparing  the  first  x  tritura- 
tion of  lycopodium,  Mr.  Witte  replied  that  he  did  not 
j>r«-triturate  the  spores  dry,  and  that  he  had  found  it 
preferable  in  making  the  first  x  trituration  to  introduce 
the  entire  quantity  of  sugar  of  milk  at  once,  ue.,  one  part 
•of  lye.  spores  to  nine  parts  of  aacck.  lac.,  and  then 
-triturate  the  whole  for  ten  hours. 

Mr.  Witte  kindly  offering  me  all  the  conveniences  in  his 
-power,  use  of  his  machine  triturators,  &c.,  the  following 
series  of  experiments  were  at  once  instituted.  These 
-studies  have  beeb  conducted  throughout  entirely  under  my 
.direction  and  supervision. 

It  is  proper  here  to  say  that  the  observations  which  I  am 
iibout  to  record  are  a  simple  recital  of  results  arrived  at 
from  my  personal  examinations  of  certain  triturations  of 
.lycopodium  spores.  This  record  is  not  offered  to  the  preju- 
dice of  triturations  (by  whomsoever  made)  which  have  not 
been  subjected  to  examination.  Nor  shall  I  attempt 
(assuming  the  judical)  to  assert  what  may  be,  or  not  be, 
possible  to  arrive  at  by  triturations  of  the  spores  of 
lycopodium  clavatum. 

For  want  of  space  very  many  of  the  details  of  the 
microscopic  work  are  omitted.  One-half  inch,  one-quarter 
inch,  and  one-tenth  inch  modem  objectives  were  employed, 
;and  also  the  modified  vertical  illuminator. 

With  these  preliminary  remarks  I  now  proceed  (as 
briefly  as  possible)  with  the  recital  of  the  experiments  thus 
far  completed.  An  exhaustive  report  is  reserved  for  future 
presentation. 

My  first  effort  was  to    prepare   a  first  x  trituration 


684  JBOMCBOPATHIO  TBITUKATIONB.  "^g^.^CTw^ 

— * ' 1 

precisely   according   to   Mr.    Witte's    previoug  MsUmUj 
Thus :—  V 

(0.)  =  ]&«    Lyc<y>oJ{ium  spores,  one  part,  =    ^  onnce. 

Sacch.  lac.     ...      nine  parts,  =  2 J  onnce. 

The  whole  of  the  above  material  was  at  once  ipixad 
•together  and  then  triturated  continnonsly  for  ten  honrs, 
after  which  the  trituration  was  carefolly  examined,  nndar 
the  microscope,  using. powers  from  500  to  2,000  diameters 
and  upward.  I  entirely  failed  to  find  a  single  whole  spore, 
or  eyen  parts  of  spores  large  enough  to  be  identified  with 
any  certainty.  It  is  true  that  perforce  of  patient  hunting, 
using  very  high  powers,  I  did  disooTer  what  I  supposed 
to  be  very  minute  portions  of  the  spore  capsule  wall, 
having  a  small  portion  of  the  zninute  markings  attached. 
These  minute  fragments  were  ''few  and  far  between/' 

Sometime  during  the  next  day  Dr.  Allen  Y.  Moore 
called  at  my  office.  Dr.  Moore  is  the  present  incumbent 
of  the  Chair  of  Microscopy  in  the  college  here.  I  handed 
him  a  specimen  of  this  ''  0  "  trituration,  asking  him  to 
give  it  a  careful  examination.  Dr.  Moore's  experience 
with  the  specimen  was  almost  identical  with  my  own,  as 
the  following  letter  (published  by  permission)  mtt  attest. 
It  reads  thus : — 

''Dear  Doctob, — I  have  carefully  examined  th^  iiitaia- 
tion  of  lycopodivm  (first  x),  as  you  desired,  ana  tlkisk  it 
without  exception  the  finest  ground  I  have  yet  seen^ 

''At  my  first  glance,  using  a  new  Spencer  one-inch 
objective,  I  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that  you' had  made 
a  mistake,  and  given  me  the  thirtieth  in  the  place  of  the 
first  X.  But  in  a  subsequent  examination  with  a  wide- 
angled  four-tenths,  I  could  see  that  there  was  enough  of 
something  besides  milk  sugar  to  justify  its  claim  to  being 
the  first  X  of  something,  but  not  a  spore  could  I  see.  I 
used  a  one  one-tenth  immersion,  and  at  last  fell  back  upon 
my  oil  immersion  one-eighteenth.  With  the  one-tbnth  and 
one-eighteenth  I  could  occasionally  see  the  Burface 
reticulations  spoken  of. 

''  I  have  examined  a  number  of  first  x  triturations  of 
various  drags,  but  do  not  remember  ever  having  seen  one 
which  was  finer  ground  than  this. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"A.  Y.  MooBB,  M J).'* 


b5^i^?m«?**  homeopathic  tbitubation.  685 

Next  in  order  came  the  desire  to  asoertain  more  pre- 
cisely as  to  the  amount  of  trituration  required  to  break  up 
the  spores.  The  initial  experiment  was  repeated  with  the 
following  variations : — 

(U.)  —  IJ. .  lye.  spores  one  part,  =  J  onnce. )  -^ 
Sacch,  lac.  -  nine  parts,  =2^  ounce. )      ^* 

(U*  )="  U  "  was  triturated  for  two  hours,  and  then  ex- 
amined ;  but  very  few  unbroken  spores  were  found — say 
one  per  cent* 

(TJ^  )="  U  "  triturated  four  hours.  No  unbroken  spores 
seen. 

(U*"  )="  U  "  triturated  six  hours.  No  unbroken  spores. 
Fractured  portions  are  getting  smaller. 

(U**)=**U**  triturated  eight  hours.  No  unbroken 
spores.    Fractured  portions  not  much,  if  any,  smaller. 

Thus  it  seems  that  a  four-hour  trituration  was  sufficient 
to  break  down  the  spores.  Desiring  still  more  definite 
results,  the  next  step  was : — 

(V)=I{».iyc.  spores  one  part. = J  ounce,     \^. 
Sacch.Lac.  -  -  nine  parts. =2^  ounces.)     ^' 

(V*  )="  V  "  triturated  one  hour.  Twenty-five  per  cent, 
of  the  spores  unbroken. 

(Y*»)=="V"  triturated  two  hours.  Now  and  then  an 
unbroken  spore  was  found — say  one  per  cent. 

(V*")  ="V"  triturated  three  hours.  Spores. oZmost 
all  broken  up — say  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  unbroken. 

Comparing  now  "  U  "  with  "  V "  I  gather  that  four 
hours'  time  is  required  to  fairly  break  up  the  spores. 

I  now  present  a  second  series  of  experiments  quite  dif- 
ferent from  the  foregoing : — 

(L)  =  Jjyc.  spores  not  triturated. 

(P)  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  lye.  Spores  triturated  three 
hours.  On  examination  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  spores 
were  found  to  be  unbroken. 

Comparing  ''L  "  with  ''  P  "  it  is  to  be  remarked  that, 
notwithstanding  there  are  but  few  spores  fractured  in 
'*  P,"  nevertheless  the  character  of  the  ^'  P  "  spores  have 
changed  materially.  They  aire  slightly  darker  in  colour, 
and  may,  if  not  closely  cross-questioned  under  the  objective, 
deceive  the  observer.  They  become  oily  on  their  surfEuse, 
and  hence  appear  smooth  and  devoid  of  their  charaoteristio 
markings  (i.€.,  the  polyhedric  surface  markings).  It  was 
easy,  however,  to  demonstrate  that  these  stufaoe  mark- 

Vol.  26,  Ko.  IL  3   % 


686  HOMCEOPATHIG  TBITUBATION.  "e^j§S?7uml 

ing8  Btill  existed.     A  few  experiments  with  ''P"   now 
follow : — 

(P* )  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  "  P." 

+  One-fourth  ounce  sacch.  lac.  and  triturate  one 
hour. 
Spores  aggregated  together  (perforce  of  the  oil  ?)  ninety 
per  cent,  of  spores  unbroken. 

(pb )  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  "  P." 

+  One-half  ounce  sacch.  lac.  and  triturated  three 
and  one-half  hours.   Eighty  percent,  of  spores 
unbroken. 
(P<= )  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  "  P." 

+  Three-fourths  ounce  sacch.  lac.,  triturate  6J 
hours.     Ten  per  cent,  of  spores  unbroken. 
(p»)  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  "P." 

+  One  ounce  of  sacch.  lac.,  triturate  8^  hours. 
Only  now  and  then  can  an  unbroken  spore  be 
seen — say  one  per  cent,  unbroken. 
(P«)  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  "P."    • 

+  One  one-fourfch  ounce  sacch.  lac.,  triturated 
11^  hours. 

A  tolerably  prolonged  examination  failed  to  exhibit  any 
whole  spores.  By  comparing  "  P  "  with  "  0  "  I  foil  to 
see  anything  but  disadyantage  resulting  from  the  prelimi- 
nary trituration  of  the  dry  spores.  Besides  this  preliminaiy 
triturating  is  attended  with  considerable  trouble.  The 
mass  of  the  trituration  soon  becomes  oily,  and  forms  a 
slippery,  pasty  mess,  over  which  the  pestle  glides  with  but 
little  effective  force.  The  mass  requires  almost  constant 
scraping  from  the  sides  of  the  mortar. 

This  "  P  "  experiment  was  next  modified  by  adding  the 
proper  quantity  of  sacch.  la<f.  at  once.     Thus  : — 

(Q)  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  lye,  spores  triturated  alone 
for  three  hours,  and  then  mixed  with  two  and  one-fourth 
ounce  sacch.  lac. 

(Q* )  =  «  Q  "  triturated  one  hour.  Result :  Fifty  per 
cent,  of  spores  unbroken.  Characteristic  sur&ce  mailings 
to  be  seen. 

(Q»» )  =  "  Q  "  triturated  two  hours.  Result :  Thirty-fiye 
per  cent,  of  spores  unbroken.  Characteristic  markings  to 
be  seen. 

(Q* )  =  "  Q  "  triturated  three  hours.    Result :  Twenty 


aSri^H^Ta^  H0M(E0PATH10  TEITUBATION.  687 

per  cent,  of  spores  unbroken.  No  characterisiio  markings 
noticed. 

(QO)  =  «Q"  triturated  four  hours.  Result:  Ten  per 
cent,  of  spores  unbroken.    No  markings  seen. 

(Q* )  =  "  Q  "  triturated  five  hours.  Result  :  After  a 
tedious  e:^mination  of  this  trituration,  I  succeeded  in 
finding  but  one  whole  spore,  and  also  about  three-fourths 
of  a  second  spore. 

Experiments  were  now  instituted  in  order  to  discover 
efiects  due  to  using  different  qualities  of  the  sugar  of  milk. 
The  '^  Q ''  trituration  is  next  modified  as  follows : — 

(R* )  =  ^  ounce  of  lyc^  spores  triturated  by  themselves 
for  three  hours.  Then  adding  2|-  ounces  of  a  sample  of 
sugar  of  milk  known  to  be  of  inferior  quality. 

Mr.  Witte  informs  me,  in  reference  to  this  sample  of 
saceh  lac.  that  it  differs  from  that  used  in  trituration  ''  Q/' 
in  that,  by  greater  exposure  to  heat  used  in  its  manufac- 
ture and  refining  of  it,  it  forms  softer  crystals,  having  less 
efficiency  to  cut  and  to  break  down  drug  particles  in  the 
process  of  trituration. 

(R* )  =  «  B »» triturated  1 J  hours.  Result :  Eighty  per 
cent,  of  spores  unbroken.  The  spores  have  become  aggre- 
gated into  "  colonies/* 

(R^)  =  *'  R  "  triturated  two  hours.  Result :  Sixty  per 
cent,  of  the  spores  unbroken.  The  aggregations  or 
colonies  are  somewhat  more  broken  up. 

(R  )  =  "  R  *'  triturated  four  hours.  Result :  Fifty  per 
cent,  of  spores  unbroken.  There  are  plenty  of  colonies 
still  visible. 

(B« )  ^  "  R "  triturated  five  hours.  Result :  Thirty 
per  cent,  of  spores  unbroken.  The  aggregations  become 
much  smaller,  yet  they  are  still  to  be  seen. 

(R' )  =  "  R "  triturated  six  hours.  Result :  Twenty 
per  cent,  of  spores  unbroken.  The  colonies  are  tolerably 
well  dispersed,  yet  the  tendency  in  this  direction  is  still  to 
be  noticed. 

Resume. — ^By  comparing  the  triturations  of  "  P  "  with 
those  of  '^  Q,"  it  seems  evident  that  time  is  lost  by  adding 
sacch.  lac.  in  fractional  portions. 

Comparing  triturations  **Q"  with  those  of  "R,"  it 
appears  that  the  quality  of  the  milk  sugar  affects  the  results 
obtained  by  the  process  of  trituration. 

2  z-2 


688  HOMCEOPATHIO  TBITUBATION.  "^SS^?S!??!Sf 


Befkm,  Nor  U  UBL 


Comparing  trituration  "Q**  with  those  of  "U"  and 
"  Y  "  the  inference  obtained  that  the  time  used  in  preparing^ 
the  lycopodium  by  first  triturating  the  spores  by  themselyes 
is  not  only  lost  altogether,  but  that  it  required  a  longw 
time  to  triturate  lycopodium  thus  prepared.  This  may  be 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  preliminary  trituration  liberates  (aa 
I  judge)  about  20  per  cent,  of  the  oil  contained  in  iJie 
spores,  which  seems  to  haye  the  effect  of  massing  the 
remaining  80  per  cent,  together,  thus  interfering  with  the 
proper  action  of  the  sugar  of  milk,  as  also  with  the  proper 
action  of  the  pestle  upon  the  triturating  mass.  These 
suggestions  occurred  to  me  with  much  force  while  watching 
the  ''  P  "  trituration  during  the  introduction  of  the  earlier 
portions  of  the  saech.  lac.  The  triturating  mass  becomes 
an  oily  paste,  which,  under  the  action  of  the  pestle,  spreads 
out  into  a  thinnish  layer,  lining  the  interior  of  the  mortar, 
oyer  which  the  pestle  seems  to  glides  and  in  order  to  secure 
a  better  action  of  the  pestle,  the  thin  layer  must  be  almost 
constantly  scraped  from  the  sides  of  the  mortar. 

The  foregoing  includes  all  that  I  have  tiow  to  report 
concerning  trituraiions  of  lycopodium.  Further  observa- 
tion yet  remain  to  be  made.  These  will  be  reported  at 
a  future  date.  Experiments  relating  to  the  tincture  of 
lycopodium  have  been  some  days  in  progress.  Of  these  I 
here  make  but  the  bare  mention,  leaving  results  hereafter 
to  be  obtained  for  a  future  paper. 

(S)  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  lycopodium  spores,  plus  two 
fluid  ounces  of  ninety-four  per  cent,  alcohol.  Digested 
from  July  Slst  to  August  7th. 

Note. — ^The  above  will  be  used  as  a  comparison  tinc- 
ture. 

(T)  =  One-fourth  ounce  of  lycopodium  spores,  plus  one- 
half  ounce  of  emery.  Triturated  six  hours.  Then 
added  two  fluid  ounces  ninety-four  per  cent,  alcohol,  and 
digested  from  July  Slst  to  August  7th. 

Lycopodium  spores  have  also  been  placed  in  the  hands 
of  Prof.  Wood,  for  special  analysis.  His  determinationa 
will  be  reported  at  a  future  date. 


August  lOthi  1882. 


It^^ar^SS^        HEADACHE  OF  THEIN, 689 

THE  HEADACHE  OF' THEIN. 
By  BoBEBT  T.  GooPEB,  M.D.y 

Phjiidaii,  DImmm  of  Ear,  Londoa  HomoBOi»alhio  HospitaL 

iltBB*  B.y  a  hard-working  needlewoman^  dark  haired,  and 
of  a  neryons  temperament^  aged  62,  consulted  me  in 
Febmary,  1880,  with  a  seTere  headache,  which  generally 
jaffects  the  entire  head,  and  sometimes  is  localised  in 
particular  parts  of  the  head,  not  preferring  any  one  region. 
It  comes  on  if  worried,  and  is  accompanied  by  much  sink- 
ing of  the  chest  and  restless  sleep.  The  digestion  is  feeble, 
Jbut  otherwise  natural.  On  this  occasion  the  headache 
ceased  aft;er  taking  drop  doses  of  ignatia  ^.  She  next  con- 
sulted me  in  November,  1881,  and  then  the  symptoms 
were :  Headache  all  over  the  head  with  sickness,  keeps  her 
.awake  all  night,  so  that  she  remains  walking  about  till 
4  o'clock  a.m. ;  it  is  accompanied  by  a  sense  of  great  depres- 
fdon,  the  pain  in  the  head  being  that  of  opening  and 
shutting ;  there  is  a  sense  of  weight  in  the  stomach  after 
eating,  though  the  bowels  are  regular ;  appetite  good,  and 
pulse  pretty  fair.  Partakes  but  moderately  of  tea.  Up  till  the 
end  of  the  year  she  took  chin.^  sulph.,  strych.f  suVphur  and 
ignatia^  without  marked  effect ;  and  in  January  and 
February  of  1882^^  ignatia,  sahina,  strych.,  phos.,  camphor 
bromide,  and  then  strych.  nitr.  were  given  ;  the  last  alone 
brought  relief,  and  by  the  middle  of  March  she  considered 
herself  sufficiently  well  to  leave  off  treatment. 

But  the  moment  she  returned  to  work  the  headache  came 
back,  and  then  I  put  her  upon  thein  Ix,  6  gr.,  to  be 
taken  three  times  a  day.  During  the  first  week  of  the 
tiiein  the  headache  gave  place  to  neuralgia  of  the  left  side 
•of  the  fiice,  which  she  never  had  had  before.  During  the 
second  and  third  week  she  remained  all  but  completely 
free  from  headache,  and  then  ceased  taking  medicine, 
remaining  until  the  present  quite  free  from  pain. 

We  have  not  reported  this  case  in  full,  but  judging  from 
the  symptoms  present  from  time  to  time  while  under  treat- 
ment, would  put  down  the  headache  curable  by  thein  as 
a  headache  with  great  exhaustion  of  the  system,  restlessness  at 
night,  feebleness  of  digestion,  and  (not  mentioned  in  the 
above  report)  a  tendency  to  back-ache,  with  a  weak,  tiresome 
cough. 

21,  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendish  Square, 
October  17th,  1882. 


690  MEETINGS.  ^'SSS^f^SITSS? 


MEETINGS. 


REPORT  OF  HAHNEMANN  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY. 

The  annual  meeting  of  thiB  society  was  held  at  100,  Princes 
Street,  Edinburgh,  in  the  evening  of  September  6th,  1882  ;  and, 
by  adjournment,  in  the  morning  of  the  7th. 

There  were  present : — ^Dr.  H.  Nankivell,  vice-president,  in  the 
chair  ;  also  Drs.  Blackley,  Dyce  Brown,  Bryce,  Carfrae,  Drory, 
Gibson,  Hajward,  Kennedy,  Madden,  Moore,  Pollar,  Stephens, 
and  Walter  Wolston ;  with  Dr.  Lndlam,  of  Chicago,  as  visitor. 

After  reading  the  notice  calling  the  meeting,  the  Hon.  Secretary 
read  the  minutes  of  the  previous  meeting ;  tibiese  were  confirmed 
and  signed.  He  then  read  the  report  of  the  proceedings  since 
the  previous  annual  meeting.  In  this  it  was  stated  that  six  new 
members  had  joined  the  society,  and,  as  to  tcorh  done,  chapter 
Back  and  Neck  of  the  Repertory,  prepared  by  Dr.  Stokes,  was 
published  in  October,  1881,  and  500  copies  printed ;  and 
volume  n.  of  the  **  Re- translation  of  Hahnemann's  Materia 
Medica  Pura,''  prepared  by  Drs.  Dudgeon  and  Richard  Hughes, 
was  published  in  January,  1882,  and  1,000  copies  printed.  A» 
to  work  in  Jiand,  there  had  been,  during  the  year,  several  meet- 
ings and  considerable  correspondence  between  Drs.  Black, 
Dudgeon,  Drysdale,  Hayward,  Hughes,  and  others  engaged  on 
the  revision  of  the  Materia  Medica  ;  and  Dr.  Black,  having  com^ 
pleted  his.  arrangement  of  digitalis,  plumbum,  and  mto!  vomica^ 
had  submitted  that  of  ntuv  vomica,  as  a  sample,  to  the  Materia 
Medica  Committee  for  approval,  and  to  the  Publishing  Committee 
for  sanction  of  printing ;  but  after  some  discussion  of  the  plan 
he  had  adopted,  he  had  undertaken  to  make  some  modifications 
and  additions.  This  had  prevented  him  presenting  these 
medicines  to  the  meeting  as  ready  for  the  privter,  as  he  had 
hoped  to  be  able  to  do.  Dr.  Clarke's  arrangement  of  argeivLum 
nitricum  was  reported  as  almost  ready.  Drs.  Dudgeon,  Bumebt, 
Ker,  and  Edward  Blake,  were  making  progress  w-th  ihe  arrange^ 
ments  of  mercurius  corr,,  phosphorus,  conium,  aiid  secaiSf 
respectively.  Dr.  Jessen,  of  Chicago,  had  neaily  completed  that 
of  thuja,  and  Dr.  Hayward  had  neai'ly  finished  Uiat  of  crotaltts* 
It  was,  iherefore,  hoped  that  very  shortly  some  twelve  medic?nea 
would  be  published  in  a  good  sized  handy  volume.  Dr.  Black 
and  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society  had  each  promised  £25 
towards  the  expenses. 

It  was  here  mentioned  that  the  Bureau  of  Materia  Medica  of 
ihe  American  Inslitute  was  now  also  engaged  in  a  revision  of  the 
Materia  Medica,  and  that  the  secretary  of  the  H.  P.  S.,  be?ng  a 
member  of  that  Bureau^  was  in  correspondence  with  the  chair 


gSSy^nnS^  MEETnroa.   . 691 

man,  and  it  was  probable,  therefore,  that  the  two  committees 
might  work  together. 

It  was  farther  reported  that  Dr.  Stokes  had  nndertaken  to  pre- 
pare chapter  *'  Generalities  '*  of  the  Repertory,  and  had  made  snch 
progress  with  it  as  to  be  able  to  promise  its  completion  by  next 
annual  meeting.  That  Dr.  Simpson,  of  Liverpool,  was  fairly 
well  on  with  chapters  Urinary  and  Male  Genital  Organs ;  and  Dr. 
Simpson,  of  Glasgow,  with  chapter  Sleep  and  Dreams.  Dr.  J.  G. 
Blackley  and  Dr.  Hawkes  had  in  hand  the  chapters  Skin,  and 
Larynx  and  Chest,  respectively. 

And  it  was  reported  that,  of  chapter  XY.  of  the  Repertory, 
viz.,  Stools  and  Anus,  there  were  only  ten  copies  remaining;  of 
chapter  IV.  (Eyes),  V.  (Ears),  VI.  (Nose),  VII.  (Face  and  Neck), 
and  Vm.  (Teeth  and  Gums),  there  were  only  three  copies  ; 
whilst  of  chapter  XI.  (Appetite,  Taste  and  Digestion),  XII. 
(Acidity,  Eructation,  Nausea,  andVomitmg),  and  XUI.  (Stomach), 
there  was  not  a  single  copy. 

The  financial  state  of  the  society  for  the  year  was  the 
following : — 

Payments         £857     17     6 

Receipts  852    18    8 


Balance  due  to  treasurer        £4    19    8 


In  reference  to  this  society  we  have  the  following  communica* 

tion  from  Dr.  Hayward  : — 

• 

'*  Gentlemen, — ^In  the  account  of  the  discussion  on  the  revision 
of  the  Materia  Medical  on  page  622  of  the  October  Review,  I 
am  represented  as  having  said  I  *  had  received  the  above  state- 
ment from  Dr.  Hughes  as  the  proposal  of  the  British 
Homoeopathic  Society.' 

''  This  is  scarcely  correct ;  because  it  makes  it  appear  that  the 
resolution  was  the  proposal  of  the  B.  H.  S. 

''The  mistake  has  evidently  arisen  from  my  reading  Dr. 
Hughes's  statement  without  handing  it  to  the  reporter,  and  the 
reporter  having  omitted  to  mention  my  handing  in  the  specimen, 
aconitinum ;  both  of  which  Dr.  Hughes,  as  representative  of 
British  Homoeopathic  Society,  had  forwarded  to  me  for  presenta- 
tion to  Congress,  he  himself  being  unable  to  be  present. 

*'  My  reference  to  the  specimen,  and  Dr.  Hughes's  remarks, 
should  have  followed  the  resolution  (e)  on  page  622,  and  then 
your  report  would  have  been  complete. 


692  .  MBBTDroB.         "SSL'^sryssr 


Bflfviev,  KoT.  1,  IflBt. 


"Will  yoa  pleaae  supply  the  omissioiiB  in  the  November 
Beview  by  publishing  this  explanation,  and  Dr.  Hog^ies's  remadn, 
which  follo¥^. 

"  Yonrs  truly, 

"  John  W.  KiYWABD." 

The  following  are  the  remarks  by  Dr.  Hu^es,  referred  to  by 
Dr.  Hayward : — 

'*  That  the  Materia  Medica^  needed  for  the  practice  of  homoeo- 
pathy, is  a  collection  of  the  pathogenetic  effects  of  drugs,  needs 
no  demonstration.  From  Hahnemann  downwards,  it  has  been 
universaUy  recognised.  But  the  form  such  collection  should 
assume  is  another  question.  It  would  be  answered  differently, 
according  as  it  is  the  practiticmer's  or  the  student's  need  which 
is  contemplated.  The  former  makes  mainly  an  a  posteriori  use 
of  the  Materia  Medica ;  in  presence  of  a  case  of  disease  he 
consults  it  to  find  what  drug  has  produced  the  nearest  simHUmvm 
of  the  symptoms.  For  him  the  scheme  form,  with  indices  and 
concordances,  as  elaborated  in  the  Hahnemann  Materia  Medica, 
is  the  best  thing  we  can  have ;  and  such  arrangements  of 
medicines  cannot  be  multiplied  too  far. 

'^  It  is  otherwise,  however,  for  the  student,  who  has  to  learn  d 
priori  the  actions  of  the  medicines  which  form  his  armoury  for 
warfEure.  For  him  it  is  essential  that  he  should  be  able  to  read 
the  provings  and  poisonings  with  drugs  which  we  possess  in 
detail,  recorded  as  the  symptoms  were  experienced.  This,  too, 
is  now  generally  admitted,  and  few  provings  are  given  to  the 
"world  primarily,  in  scheme  form,  as  were  those  of  Hahnemann 
and  his  immediate  successors.  But  the  detailed  records,  though 
in  existence,  are  scattered  through  such  a  wide  range  of 
literature  that  they  are  not  available  for  ordinary  purposes.  It 
seems  to  me  that  one  of  our  undertakings  in  the  sphere  of  Materia 
Medica  should  be  the  supplying  of  this  need.  8.  Allen,  in  his 
Encyclopedia,  has  gone  to  the  sources,  but  what  he  has  drawn 
from  them  he  has  given  as  separate  symptoms  in  a  scheme.  My 
proposal  is  that,  from  the  same  and  other  sources,  we  should 
obtain  a  series  of  pathogeneses  like  that  of  aconitine,  which  is 
now  submitted  to  your  notice.  This  has  been  drawn  up  by  a 
committee  of  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society,  and  printed,  for 
the  sake  of  publicity,  as  an  appendix  to  the  October  numb^  of 
the  British  Journal  of  Homaopathy.  If  it  is  approved  by  the 
society,  this  body  will  probably  undertake  the  work  of  preparing 
and  publishing  an  entire  Materia  Medica  so  constituted.  It 
would  be  much  aided  towards  its  decision  by  the  opinion  of  the 
present  Congress." 


fiSS^STfa?^  HOTABILU.  698 


.Ssfiew,  Nor.  l. 


NOTABILIA. 


THE  LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY. 

On  Tuesday,  the  8rd  ult.,  Dr.  Dndgeon  dellTered  the  axmnal 
Hahnemann  lecture,  with  which  the  work  of  the  session  is  in- 
4»ig(irated.  The  andience  was  considerahle— the  Board  Boom  of 
the  hospital  heing  well  filled — and  included  many  non-homoeo- 
pathic practitioners.  Dr.  Dudgeon  took  for  his  suhject, 
Hi^nsmann,  ike  Fotmder  of  Scientific  Therapeutics,  Oommenc- 
^g  hy  ohserving  that  Hahnemann  had  heen  dead  nearly  40 
years,  and  that  we  could  estimate  him  in  comparison  with  the 
great  medical  personages  of  the  past,  and  fix  accurately  his  place 
in  the  history  of  medicine.  Dr.  Dudgeon  said  he  should  in  this 
lecture  endeaTour  to  show  what  tihat  place  was.  As  a  pre- 
liminary, he  would  ask  what  was  the  aim  and  ohject  of  medicine  ? 
It  was  the  cure  of  disease.  As  Hahnemann  expressed  it  in  the 
first  aphorism  of  his  Organon^  '*  the  high  and  only  mission  of 
the  physician  is  to  restore  the  sick  to  health.*'  It  was  necessary 
to  rememher  this,  for  it  had  often  heen  forgotten  hy  some  of 
the  most  illustrious  names  in  the  history  of  medicine.  Anatomy, 
physiology,  hotany,  chemistry,  and  all  the  other  so-called  collatenJ 
branches  of  medical  science  were  but  the  means  to  the  end — 
that  end  being  the  cure  of  disease.  But  the  means  had  often 
been  cultivated  as  though  they  were  the  end ;  and  their  cultivators 
were  wont  to  look  down  on  the  therapeutist  as  though  the  cure 
of  disease  were  but  a  poor  thing  in  comparison  with  the  study  of 
disease  as  a  branch  of  natural  history,  or  with  physiological  or 
■anatomical  research.  It  was  impossible  to  say  when  or  to  whom 
the  idea  first  occurred  that  diseases  could  be  cured  by  drugs. 
In  the  first  edition  of  the  Organon,  par.  7»  Hahnemann  said, 
*'  There  must  be  in  medicines  a  healing  principle ;  common 
fiense  tells  us  this."  But  to  the  common  sense  of  many  there 
^as  no  "must  *'  about  the  matter.  Unless  we  had  been  told 
that  medicines  had  a  liealing  principle  we  should  scarcely  have 
suspected  it.  On  the  contrary,  seeing  their  uncomfortable  effects 
when  we  swallowed  them,  we  might  easily  come  to  consider  them 
and  class  them  among  disease-producers  rather  than  disease- 
removers.  Having  then  traced  briefly  the  history  of  early 
attempts  to  construct  an  art  of  healing,  he  gave,  with  some 
amusing  detail,  an  account  of  the  therapeutics  of  the  latter  half 
of  the  17th  and  the  first  half  of  the  18th  century.  While  the 
grosser  elements  of  prescriptions  of  which  he  had  been  speaking 
were  discarded  by  the  contemporaries  of  Hannemann,  the  thera- 
peutics of  his  time,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  remained  as 
mational  as  ever.    When,  in  1796,  he  first  tentatively  put  for- 


694  KOTABIMA.  "SSiSl^S^TSSL 


ward  the  idea  that  in  the  treatment  of  chronic  diseases  medicines 
might  be  given  on  the  shnUia  nmiUbus  principle,  and  when  he 
launched  his  system,  propwly  excogitated  in  his  Organon  in 
1810,  no  signs  had  been  given  by  the  chiefs  of  the  medical 
schools  that  they  thought  that  complex  prescriptions  were 
irrational,  that  inflammations  were  not  best  treated  by  blood- 
letting, that  frequent  purgation  was  not  eminently  conducive  to 
health,  or  that  alteratives,  meaning  thereby,  generally,  mercury, 
pushed  to  salivation  were  not  scientific  remedies.  EDomoeopathy 
was  not  **  in  the  air  "  when  Hahnemann  wrote  about  it,  nor  for 
many  years  after  the  Organon  appeared.  Describing  th^ 
the  circumstances  under  which  Hahnemann  was  by  observation 
and  experiments,  first  on  himself  and  family,  and  afterwards 
witii  the  aid  of  his  class  of  students  in  tiie  University  of 
Leipsic,  enabled  to  complete  the  six  volumes  of  his  colossal 
work,  containing  the  positive  effects  of  64  medicines,  the  lecturer 
said  it  constituted  a  real  treasury  of  Materia  Medica,  displaying 
the  accurately  observed  effects  of  medicines  on  the  hmnan  body 
without  any  alloy  of  hypothesis  or  conjecture.  He  proved  his 
medicines  in  substantial  doses,  and  he  reduced  the  dose  of  the 
medicine  he  administered  for  the  treatment  of  disease 
expressly  in  order  to  avoid  the  too  violent  effects  of  large  doseSr 
He  varied  his  doses  according  to  the  nature  of  the  medicine  and 
of  the  disease.  The  great  central  truths  of  Hahnemann's  teach* 
ing  up  to  the  time  when  he  was  driven  firom  Leipsic  by  the 
hostility  of  his  colleagues  were — the  demonstration  by  reasoning 
and  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  therapeutic  rule,  *'  let  likes  be 
treated  by  likes ;  "  the  necessity  for  ascertaining  the  effects  of 
medicines  on  the  healthy  human  body ;  the  administration  of 
medicines  in  disease  simply  and  alone,  and  iu  the  precise  form  in 
which  they  had  been  proved  ;  and  the  diminution  of  the  dose  for 
the  purpose  of  avoiding  its  too  violent  action.  So  utterly  opposed 
was  he  up  to  the  time  of  his  leaving  Leipsic,  to  hypothesis,  thai 
he  ridiculed  the  idea  of  our  ever  obtaining  a  knowledge  a£  the 
proximate  causes  of  disease.  But  after  he  had  been  driven  from 
Leipsic,  in  his  enforced  solitude  and  isolation,  as  he  grew  old,  he 
took  to  the  dangerous  course  of  spinning  hypothesis,  which  being 
xmcorrected  by  discussion  with  other  minds,  and  incapable  of 
being  tested  by  experience  at  the  sick-bed,  he  came  to  consider 
as  truths  of  equal  value  ^ith  the  great  fundamental  truth  he  had 
slowly  and  painfully  elaborated  by  experiment  and  observation. 
It  was  dming  this  period  that  he  inti'oduced  all  those  surprising 
doctrines  that  have  rendered  his  system  so  repugnant  to  the 
intelligence  of  educated  physicians.  He  adopted  the  hypothesis 
of  disease  being  a  derangement  of  the  vital  force ;  of  Uie  spirit 
of  a  medicine  b^ing  liberated  from  the  matter ;  of  the  increase 
of  power  of  a  medicine  by  trituration  and  succussion  ;  of  the 


^SSS^^!rS^  KOTABIMA.  696 

origin  of  chroxiio  diseases  from  three  fixed  miasms ;  of  the  anti- 
psoric  power  of  certain  substances ;  and  of  a  certain  dilation 
being  the  appropriate  dose  for  all  medicines  in  all  diseases.  Had 
he  remained  at  Leipsic  the  dogmatism  and  intolerance  that  are 
so  conspicuous  in  the  writings  of  the  septuagenarian  hermit 
would  never  have  been  developed  in  the  society  of  sharp-witted 
and  independent  companions.  Homoeopathy  would  have  re- 
mained what  Hahnemann  originally  declared  it  to  be — *^  rational 
medicine '*  joar  excellence — and  its  practitioners  would  not,  as 
now,  be  handicapped  in  medical  controversy  by  having  to  defend, 
explain  away,  or  repudiate  a  number  of  crude  speculations  which 
were  not  of  ihe  essence  of  homoeopathy,  but  which  were  clustered 
like  parasites  round  that  great  therapeutic  discovery,  and  which 
served  only  to  hide  its  fair  proportions  by  their  unwelcome  ob- 
trusiveness.  Having  next  glanced  at  what  the  greatest  physicians 
of  the  past  had  done  for  practical  medicine,  the  lecturer,  observ- 
ing that  Hahnemann's  was  the  one  name  in  the  whole  history  of 
medicine  connected  with  a  rational,  simple,  and  efficacious  system 
of  therapeutics  based  on  the  solid  foundation  of  irrefragable  facts, 
concluded  by  speaking  of  the  change  he  had  wrought  in  the 
modem  practice  of  medicine. 


MODERN  SCIENTIFIC  THERAPEUTICS. 

The  following  extract  from  the  Midland  Medical  Miscellany  is  an 
excellent  example  of  the  way  in  which  the  public  are  nowadays 
treated  by  highly  educated  scientific  therapeutists  of  the  '*  regular" 
school.  Defend  us  from  such  '*  regularity  '*  as  this,  which  seems 
strangely  akin  to  quackery  : — 

*'  You  are  called  to  see  a  sick  child.  You  find  that  there  is 
much  pyrexia.  The  belly  is  as  hard  as  a  football  and  as  hot  as 
a  new  loaf,  the  bowels  costive  and  the  knees  drawn  up.  The 
whole  chest  rattles  during  both  respiratory  movements.  There 
is  vomiting,  coughing,  shrieking  and  a  decided  tendency  to 
convulsions.  You  move  some  of  the  joints  and  occasion  evident 
pain.  You  ransack  the  patient  for  a  sound  and  healthy  organ, 
but  fail  to  discover  one.  Now  you  are  not  asked  for  the 
diagnosis.  That,  of  course,  is  ymmggteritis — or  congestion  of 
the  entire  kid.  The  question  is — What  medicinal  treatment  is 
to  be  adopted  ?  Answer : — Your  surgery  should  contain  a 
number  of  1^  oz.  phials,  ready  labelled  and  wrapped  up, 
containing  a  mixture  of  aromaUe  confection^  chloric  ceiJier^  bromide 
of  potassium^  bicarbonate  of  potass,  diU  water  and  syrup,  A 
bird-shot  prescription  is  what  is  wanted  to  cover  the  needs  of  aU 
doubtful  and  undeveloped  ailments  ;  to  be  useful  in  every 
instance  and  harmful  in  none. 


696  COBBESPONDENGE.        "'Sl^^feC???^? 


BevicWt  Nov.  1,  ISBt* 


IS  THERE  A  SPECIFIC  URETHRITIS  ?/ 

In  a  <^  special  article "  in  the  September  number  of  the  New 
York  Medical  Journal  and  Obstetrical  Review^  Dr.  P.  Albert 
Morrow  handles  the  question  of  the  specific  or  non-specific 
nature  of  gonorrhoaa.  After  a  fair  statement  and  a  close  analysis 
of  the  arguments  for  and  against  specificity,  he  concludes  that 
the  position  of  the  viruUsts  rests  altogether  upon  pure  hypothesis, 
and  is  wholly  untenable,  while  all  the  £Etcts^-experimental, 
.  clinical,  and  pathological — are  overwhelmingly  in  favour  of  the 
non-specific  character  of  the  gonorrhoeal  indlammation.  When 
we  apply  the  gaufi^e  of  specificity  to  gonorrhoea  it  corresponds  to 
none  of  the  conditions  of  an  undoubtedly  specific  infiammation. 
No  artificial  production  of  any  disease  belonging  to  this  group 
is  possible ;  a  specific  disease  is  the  product  alone  of  a  specific 
poison.  Gonorrhoea,  on  the  contrary,  may  be  due  to  a  variety 
^f  causes  —  contagious,  irritant  (mechanical  or  chemical), 
diathetic,  &c.  Again,  in  all  specific  diseases,  there  is  between 
the  time  of  infection  and  the  first  expression  of  the  (disease  a 
period  of  incubation.  No  incubation,  properly  so  called, 
characterises  gonorrhoea.  A  drop  of  this  same  gonorrhoeal  pus, 
which  may  require  two  or  three  days  to  excite  suppuration  of  the 
xirethra,  will  develop  such  effect  in  a  few  hours  when  applied  to 
the  conjunctiva,  showing  that  the  so-called  incubation,  depends 
not  upon  the  quality  of  the  exciting  cause,  but  upon  the 
susceptibility  of  the  mucous  membrane.  Another  distincttve 
peculiarity  of  this  group  is  that  a  single  attack  of  the  disease 
confers  almost  complete  security  from  another  attack— a 
peculiarity  precisely  the  opposite  of  what  is  observed  of 
gonorrhoea,  The  morbid  poison  of  a  specific  inflammation,  once 
in  action,  continues  until  the  textural  predisposition  to  its  special 
stimulus  is  exhausted.  The  patient  is  incapable  of  regenerating 
the  poison  or  of  being  affected  by  it  when  exposed  anew.  Both 
of  Uiese  conditions  are  negatived  in  the  clinical  history  of 
gonorrhoea.  Finally,  specific  inflammation  determines  special 
pathological  changes  and  demands  special  treatment.  Identical 
pathological  processes  are  met  with  in  urethritis  firom  various 
causes,  and  the  most  radical  of  virulists  treat  all  urethral 
inflammations  alike. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

HAHNEMANNIANS. 

Gentleuen, — Dr.  Pope  admits  that  Hahnemann  does  not 
absolutely  forbid  the  opening  of  an  abscess  or  ^e  use  of 
4ioothing  (non-medicinal)  applications;  but  he  accuses  the 
Hahnemannians  of  being  *' guilty  of  this  folly."  Query:  How 
can  a  physician  be  a  H^nemannian  if  he  does  not  practise  in 


U- 


SS^rH^oTSSr'       OOBRBSPONDBKOB.  69T 

accordance  with  Hahnemann's  teachings  ?    Dr.  Pope's  logic  is 
nd  generis. 

As  snpposed  proofs  of  his  assertions,  Dr.  Pope  quotes  the 
following  instances : — 

(1).  He  declares  that  Dr.  Lippe  ''has  repeatedly  inveighed 
against  the  common  practice  of  repeating  a  medicine  at  inte^als* 
of  time,  &c."  Dr.  Idppe  is  doubtless  as  well  able  to  hold  his 
ground  against  Dr.  Pope  now  as  of  old,  so  I  will  only  say  here 
that  if  the  latter  had  carefully  read  Dr.  lippe's  articles,  he 
would  have  found  that  in  many  cases  he  repeated  the  dose,  as 
do  all  Hahnemannians  when  they  consider  the  case  requires  it. 
But  Dr.  lippe  cures  even  when  he  does  give  a  single  dose,  and 
what  more  does  Dr.  Pope  ask  for  ? 

(2).  Dr.  Pope  quotes  me  as  saying  *^  that  in  whitlow  (and  by 
analogy  in  other  cases  of  suppuration)  it  is  not  necessary  to 
evacuate  the  pus.*'     In  this  quotation  he  has    not   observed 
*<  the  totality  of  the  symptoms."  He  has  quoted  my  words  shorn 
of  their  *<  conditions  and  concomitants."    If  he  will  read  the 
subsequent  sentences,  he  will  find  that  I  refeired  to  cases  where 
«<  the  truly  homodopathic  remedy  is  given,"  and  not  to  cases- 
treated  allopathicaUy  or  pseudo-homoeopathically.    This  makes 
all  the  difference.      The  views  I  here  expressed  were  subse- 
quently confirmed  by  me  in  another  case  of  whitlow,  where  under 
ttie  action  of  a  few  doses  (not  a  single  dose  this  time  1 1)  of  a 
very  high  potency  of  hepar,  which  corresponded  accurately  to 
the  symptoms  of  that  particular  case,  the  pain  was  removed  and 
the  pus  absorbed  without  any  discharge.     Dr.  Bushmore,  of 
Plainfield,  New  Jersey,  U.S.A.,  has  published  a  case  verifying 
my  statement,  and  Dr.  Fincke  has  repeatedly  verified  it  also.    I 
recently  treated  a  mammary  abscess  occurring  after  weaning. 
The  swuUimum^  in  a  high  potency,  first  relieved  the  pain  and 
constitutional  symptoms,  and  afterwards  the  abscess  discharged 
without  the  use  of  the  knife,  and  she  made  an  excellent  recovery*- 
But  if  I  find  that  the  best  selected  medicine  does  not  speedily 
relieve,  then  I  know  that,  either  firom  the  imperfections  of  our 
Materia  Medica  or  my  own  asinine  stupidity,  I  have  failed  to 
solve  the  homoeopathic  equation,  and  Uien  I  evacuate  the  pus 
artificially  as  soon  as  possible ;  htit  tliese  latter  cases  do  not  heaZ 
up  so  well  as  when  the  simiUimum  is  found  and  no  knife  required, 
(8).  Dr.  Pope's  quoted  case  of  perineal  abscess  I  decline  to 
receive  as  evidence,  until  I  know  the  names  of  the  two  **  Hahne- 
mannians "  referred  to,  aiid  hear  their  version  of  it.    At  present 
I  will  only  say  that  I  was  not  one  of  them.    Furthermore  I  can 
find  no  perineal  symptoms  under  eroton;  and  as  the  prescribers 
of  cm.  potencies  are  very  accurate  in  their  selection  of  the 
remedy,  this  discrepancy  stamps  the  case  as  one  about  which 
there  is  a  mysteiy  to  be  solved,  even  if  it  is  not  altogether  apo- 


698  COBBBSPONDBNOB.        "^SStJiiSJrTS! 

cryphal.  I  am  also  nnder  the  impiessioii  that  Dr.  Lippe  onee 
pablished  a  similar  case  in  Dr.  Pope's  own  journal,  cured  willi 
plumbum,  without  any  operation.  Dr.  Pope  had  better  look  vg 
this  case  and  see. 

(4).  l)r.  Pope  accnaes  me  of  "  disclaiming  the  nse  of  any 
anzitiary."  If  he  will  insert  the  word  "  medicanal/'  he  will  be  a 
little  nearer  the  mark ;  and  had  he  read  my  letter  in  conjunction 
with  the  statement  which  it  was  intended  to  refdte,  he  woold 
have  seen  that  when  I  said  my  practice  was  '*  distinctivdy  homoeo- 
pathic, and  nothing  else/*  I  meant  that  I  never  gave  medidms 
in  any  case  of  disease  whatever,  except  in  accordance  with 
Hahnemann's  roles.  If  I  find  that  an  abscess  is  soothed  by  a 
non-medicinal  poultice  or  by  bathing  with  hot  water,  I  prescribe 
Boch  treatment ;  bat  if  I  find  that  heat  aggravates,  I  do  not  pre- 
scribe it.  This  is  very  different  firom  prescribing  a  poultice  in 
all  cases  '^  to  draw  it  to  a  head,'*  just  as  some  routinists  pre- 
scribe iiepar  in  all  such  cases  for  a  similar  purpose.  Some 
abscesses  are  made  much  more  painful  by  poulticing. 

While  I  am  in  the  sphere  of  controversy,  let  me  reply  to  the 
statement  on  page  511  of  the  Review,  Dr.  Drysdale  could  not 
in  1852  have  '*  shown  **  that  Jenichen's  high  potencies  were 
really  low,  because  he  did  not  know  how  they  were  made.  No 
one  knew  except  Hering,  and  he  communicated  Jenichen's 
method  to  me  both  orally  and  by  copies  of  Jenichen's  letters. 
Dr.  Drysdale's  sole  source  of  information  was  Bentsch's  '<  con- 
jectures,'* which  are  valueless. 

Again,  you  state  that  Dr.  Burdick  has  *'  shown  '*  that  Swan's 
millionths  "  are  really  the  tenth  or  lower.  Dr.  Burdick  has  not 
shown  "  this  ;  he  has  simply  made  an  assertion.  This  asser- 
tion, with  the  promise  to  publish  his  experiments,  was  made 
just  five  years  ago.  As  the  promised  experiments  have  never 
yet  seen  the  light,  I  can  only  conclude  that  Dr.  Burdick  himself 
is  not  satisfied  wiiii  them. 

But  the  argument  cuts  both  ways  ;  for  if  Dr.  Burdick's  physical 
test  is  to  be  held  conclusive  against  the  altitude  of  Dr.  Swan's 
potencies,  Dr.  Skinner's  physical  test  must  equally  be  held  con- 
clusive in  favour  of  the  enormously  high  degree  of  attenuation  of 
the  potencies  made  on  his  own  plan,  and  that  of  Fincke. 

Yours,  Scc.f 

E.  W.  Bebbidge,  M.D. 

48,  Sussex  Gardens,  Hyde  Park,  W. 

[The  petitio  prmeipii  is  so  obvious  throughout  the  foregoing 
curious  effusion  that  scarcely  any  reply  is  needed.  I  quoted 
Dr.  Berridge  precisely  as  he  wrote,  and  oould  not  be  supposed 


CI 


^t^^mSS^         OOBBBSPOHDEHOB.  699 


Benew,  No?.  1, 1882. 


to  sapply  what  it  now  appears  that  he  had  omitted.  I  know 
nothing  of  Dr.  Boshmore,  bat  eannot  attach  any  importance  to 
the  eyidenoe  of  Dr.  Fincke,  who,  I  belieye,  asserted  some  years 
ago  that  by  prescribing  by  post  for  a  patient,  with  irreducible 
hernia,  residing  in  Germany,  he  had  completely  cored  him  with 
some  ''potency  "  or  other  deriyed  from  his  patented  apparatus. 
The  evidence  of  such  a  witness  is  worthless.  As  to  the  case  of 
perineal  abscess  not  being  evidence,  all  I  need  say  is  that  I  had 
the  account  of  it  from  the  lips  of  the  patient,  and  that  before 
sending  my  rejoinder  to  Dr.  Berridge's  last  letter  to  press  I 
read  it  over  to  him,  and  he  assured  me  that  it  .was  perfectly 
accurate.  I  cannot  mention  the  names  of  the  "  Hahne- 
mannians  "  without  my  friend's  permission,  and  he  is  at  present 
abroad.  Dr.  Berridge  knows  both  very  well — one  especially 
well! — ^Alfred  C.  Pope.] 


OKE  WAY  OP  TREATING  PATIENTS  HOMCEO- 

PATHICALLY(?). 

To  the  Editors  of  the  Monthly  HomceopcUMe  Eeview, 

Gentlemen, — ^I  recently  heard  a  narrative  of  the  experiences  of 
a  lady  who  went  to  consult  a  soi-disant  homoeopath,  which  is  so 
startHngly  original  that  I  am  tempted  to  hope  you  may  insert  it 
for  the  benefit  of  some  of  your  colleagues.  I  give  the  story  in 
the  lady's  own  words  : — 

"  I  was  ushered  into  the  room  afi»r  waiting  for  five  hours.  On 
Temarking  that  the  time  had  seemed  rather  long,  the  great  man 
loftily  exclaimed,  '  What  does  it  matter  if  you  had  to  wait  seven, 
Madam  (! !) ;  and  what  may  be  the  matter  with  you  ?  ' 

" '  That,  sir,  is  exactly  what  I  have  come  to  you  to  find  out.' 

« '  Hum  1  Ah !  want  of  tone,  I  see ;'  and  without  feeling  my 
pulse,  looking  at  my  tongue,  examining  my  heart,  or  asking 
one  single  question  further,  the  physician  took  up  a  packet  of 
powders  from  a  lot  of  others,  ready  prepared,  and  handed  them 
to  me,  saying,  '  I  think  these  will  exactly  suit  your  case.'  I 
asked  what  the  fee  was,  and  was  informed  graciously  that  it  was 
'  only  a  guinea.'  Here  my  indignation  got  the  better  of  me, 
and  I  said, '  And  that  guinea,  sir,  I  decline  to  pay,  or  to  take 
your  medicine  either  ;  you  have  neither  examined  my  tongue,  or 
felt  my  pulse,  which  an  ordinary  chemist  would  have  done,  and 
then  you  give  me  some  medicine  which  you  say  will  exactly  suit 

my  case.     No,  sir,  I  will  neither  pay  your  fee,  nor  take  your 

medicine.' — Eait.    (Curtain). 


700 

On  reaching  home  the  lad^  vrote  sajing  that  after  the  veiy 
onrsory  examination  he  had  made,  he  oonld  know  nothing  of  her 
onBO,  bnt  she  wonld  be  glad  if  he  wonld  answer  her  queries,  as  to 
place  of  abode,  climate,  diet,  &o.,  &e„  and  enclosed  his  toe. 
Strange  to  relate,  tiie  letter  airived,  all  her  qneiies  were 
answered,  and  a  sheet  of  inatmctiona  giTen. 

And  this  is  what  Tast  nnmbers  of  the  pablic  believe  to  be 
homceopathy,  The  above  case  I  can  vouch  for.  Plenty  more  if 
required. 

I  enclose  my  card,  and  am,  Gentlemen, 

Tonrs,  &e., 

VniDEX. 

London,  October  16th. 


NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 

,%  JFe  earatot  midtrtakt  (o  return  r^ected  mamueripU. 


BOOKS   RECEIVED. 


The  ffomaopalhie  World. 

The  StiuUnU'  Journal. 

The  Chemiit  and  Druggul. 

The  Indian  Homaapathie  IUv{e«.     OalontU. 

The  Calcutta  Jmimal  of  Medieirte. 

The  New  York  MtdittU  Tumi.    September. 

The  Ntv  England  Medical  Oaulte.    Soaton. 

The  American  Obierver. 

Eotnbopatitche  RttnAtehoH.    Liipzig. 

BoUtin  Clinico.    Madrid. 

Vielettnett  of  VivUection.    Lamon  Tail. 

The  Seamh  after  Truth.    Dr.  Drory, 

BomaopalhU  Joantal  qf  OUtetria.    Ifew  Totk. 

mi  Lou  pQttneie*.    Dr.  B.  U.  Faine,    Albany. 


I,  Dupeniaiy  Beporta,  and  Books  for  Beview  to  be  aent  to 
>TaB  Bhowh,  as,  Beynmiu;  Street,  Foitman  Sqaars,  W.,  <x  to 
KKDi,  le,  Montpelier  Bow,  Blaokheath,  BM.  AdTcetiaamanta 
ineas  ocmmnnioations  to  be  cent  to  Ueaars.  B.  Oodlb  &  Sov, 
8ate8t)Mt,E.a 


jSri^D^^'riSffli^   BOHOOL  OP  HOM(B0PATHY.  701 


THE    MONTHLY 


HOMOEOPATHIC    REVIEW. 


THE  LONDON  SCHOOL  OF  HOM(EOPA.THY. 

A  moHLY  important  meeting  of  the  Goyemors  and  Sab- 
scribers  of  this  institution  was  held  at  the  London 
Homoeopathic  Hospital  on  the  26th  of  October.  Its  object 
was  to  receiye  the  report  of  a  snb-committee,  appointed,  at 
a  meeting  held  in  April  last,  to  make  enquiries  regarding 
the  incorporation  of  the  School.  As  a  result  of  their 
enquiries,  the  sub-committee  presented  a  fully  elaborated 
scheme  of  incorporation,  the  adoption  of  which  was  dis- 
cussed and  finally  accepted  on  the  occasion  referred  to.  A 
full  report  of  the  proceedings  will  be  found  in  another  part 
of  our  present  number. 

The  proposal  of  the  committee  is  that  the  School  should 
take  advantage  of  the  arrangements  made  in  the  Companies' 
Acts,  1862-67,  which  proyide  for  the  incorporation  of  scien- 
tific and  other  Societies  by  the  permission  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Trade.  Under  these  provisions,  various 
similar  bodies  are  incorporated — such,  for  example,  as  The 
Uniyersity  of  Durham  College  of  Medicine,  The  Physical 
Society  of  London,  The  Philological  Society,  The  Anthro* 
pological  Society,  Uniyersity  College,  Bristol,  The  Institute 
of  Chemistry  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  The  Institute 
of  Mechanical  Engineers,  The  College  of  Organists,  The 

Vol.  26,  Ko.  12.  8  4 


702  SCHOOL  OF  HOM<EOPATHY.    ^^S^J^^S^'TtStt 

London  Society  for  the  Extension  of  University  Teaching, 
The  Association  for  Home  Hospitals,  and  fourteen  other 
institutions  of  a  like  character. 

The  chief  objection  raised  to  the  School  taking  this  step 
was  that  the  Charter  it  was  proposed  to  apply  for  gave  no 
advantages  to  the  institution,  and  was  consequently  need- 
less. One  speaker  went  so  far  as  to  describe  it  as  '*  a 
sham ;  "  a  piece  of  criticism  which,  had  we  not  the  John- 
sonian dislike  to  punning,  we  should  be  inclined  to  regard 
as  ''  a  shame."  At  the  same  time,  we  have  no  doubt  that 
the  objection  urged  was  entirely  due  to  a  quite  excusable 
want  of  knowledge  of  the  effects  of  a  charter  of  the  kind. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  did  not  certain 
advantages,  well  worth  having,  pertain  to  the  possession  of 
such  a  charter,  the  bodies  we  have  named  would  not  have 
gone  to  the  expense  of  procuring  them. 

We  will,  therefore,  endeavour  to  point  out  what  the  chief 
of  these  advantages  are.  In  their  report,  the  sub-committee 
summarise  them  as  consisting  in  rendering  the  management 
of  the  School  more  exact  and  precise ;  in  strengthening 
public  confidence  in  the  stability  of  the  institution ;  and  in 
rendering  its  permanence  more  thoroughly  assured. 

One  of  the  effects  of  incorporation,  in  the  manner  pro* 
posed,  will  be  that  the  School  can  hold  property  in  its 
own  registered  name ;  while  dealing  with  such  property  is 
&Gilitated,  and  the  expenses  of  trustees  are  avoided.  It  alao 
becomes  incumbent  upon  it  to  keep  a  registered  office,  a 
register  of  members  and  of  councillors,  and  also  of  all 
securities,  whether  mortgage,  bond,  or  otherwise.  And 
under  the  deed  of  incorporation  it  is  rendered  imperative 
that  the  entire  income  and  proper^,  bowsoev^  derived, 
shall  be  invested  and  applied  solely  to  the  maintenance 
of  tha  credit  of  the  institution,  and  the  carrying  out  of  die 
objects  set  forth  in  the  memoiandum. 


BSriSJfnSnrS^  school  of  HOMCBOPATiBT.  708 

The  School  thus  at  once  beeomes  a  public  body,  ia  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  term ;  and  any  infringeoaeoit  of  iJ^ 
obligations  imposed  npon  it  on  the  part  of  those  entini$rii^ 
with  its  management  can  be  reported  to  the  Begistrar,  .aoid 
by  him  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  if  proved,  he  viiited 
with  penalties  on  those  who  are  respoBsible  for  its  manage- 
ment. 

Such  provisions  as  these,  do,  we  maintain,  conduce  in  a 
vQiy  thorough  manner  to  the  precise  and  orderly  direotion 
of  the  institution;  and,  m  proportion  as  they  do  so,  do 
they  contribute  to  create  confidence  id  the  application  of 
the  funds  provided  by  the  public  for  its  purposes* 

The  name  of  School  becomes  inviolable.  It  will  be 
impossible  for  any  other  body  to  assume  the  same  or  any 
similar  name.  This  is  provided  for  by  the  18th  aecti<m  qf 
the  Act,  which  states,  as  the  first  result  of  the  granting  of 
a  certificate  of  incorporation,  the  creation  of  an  ii2stiti^tLO|i 
as  a  body  corporate  "by  the  name  contaix^  in  tbe 
memorandum  of  association ;  "  and  again,  by  section  90, 
the  Registrar  is  prohibited  from  placing  upod  the  jregifiter 
any  company  having  a  name  identical  with  tbM  ^ea^ 
registered,  or  one  having  a  name  so  nearly  rea^p^bling 
that  of  the  previously  registered  company  as  to  be  calcu/* 
lated  to  deceive.  Hence,  the  registwed  oame  bepon^  a 
right,  and  renders  any  attempt,  through  the  use  of  a 
similar  name,  to  divert  money  from  the  iiistiitatiQQi 
whether  bequeathed  or  subscribed,  impossible  tii^o^t 
incurring  a  liability  to  pemal  Gonseqnencesu  '^M^  ffiw,  if 
any,  would  feel  inclined  to  mour. 

A  great  deal  was  made  of  the  ipomet  .ot  anjope  to  ;use 
the  initial  letters  denoting  nuuacibershipfof  the  SphopL  .To 
this  it  may  be  replied  that  rthe  initial  iletters  of  axQT 
institution,  howsoever  inooijpQraited,  may  be  flraiidnlep% 
wed.      The  magic  letters  M.D^  whenoesoevor  ottained^ 

3  k'-2 


704  SCHOOL  OP  H0M<E0PATH7.  "fel^^?2??^ 


Beview,  Dee.  1,  VBOt, 


may  be  thus  employed.  For  example :  A  quack  doctor, 
who  described  himself  as  M.D.,  was  on  one  occasion 
summoned  for  so  doing  before  a  bench  of  magistrates. 
When  asked  on  what  grounds  he  called  himself  a  doctor  of 
medicine,  he  replied  that  he  had  done  nothing  of  the  kind. 
To  the  further  question,  what  then  did  he  mean  by 
appending  the  letters  M.D.  to  his  name,  he  answered  that 
he  meant  that  he  required  "  Money  Down."  It  was  im- 
possible to  proTe  that  he  did  not  intend  this  interpretation, 
and  law  was  powerless.  Any  cobbler  may  style  himself  an 
F.B.S.,  provided  that  he  can  produce  evidence  to  show 
that  he  only  desired  that  people  should  understand  that  he 
was  a  First-Bate  Shoemaker  ! 

There  is,  and  can  be,  no  copyright  in  initial  letters,  which 
may  be  made  to  do  duty  for  any  words  commencing  with 
them.  But  at  the  same  time,  there  is  a  copyright  in 
words;  and  no  one,  we  apprehend,  could  use  the  name 
Incorporated  London  School  of  Homoeopathy,  without 
rendering  himself  liable  to  prosecution.  This  we  regard 
as  an  important  security  in  obtaining  funds  in  suppcrt  of 
the  institution. 

Further,  by  becoming  a  ''body  corporate,"  the  institution 
acquires  all  the  advantages  of  perpetual  succession,  and  of 
having  a  common  seal,  under  which  any  business  in  any 
part  of  the  world  may  be  transacted.  So  long  as  the 
members  of  the  institution  number  seven,  so  long  it  exists. 
Its  permanence,  as  an  institution,  becomes  thereby  assured, 
and  an  additional  reason  for  public  confidence  is  obtained. 
This  idea  of  permanence  was,  singularly  enough,  regarded 
by  some  as  an  objection.  It  was  argued,  that  we  are  in 
this  way  stereotyping  homoBopathy,  that  we  compel  the 
retention  of  the  word  homoeopathy  for  all  time,  and  so 
prevent  the  adoption  of  any  improvement  that  may  be  made 
in  therapeutics.    Now  we  all  know,  and  so  thorough-going 


aSSSSTDSfiTSS**  SCHOOL  OP  H0MG50PATHT.  705 

a  hoDKBopathiBt  as  was  the  late  Dr.  Gabboll  Dunham  has 
admitted,  that  there  is  no  finality  in  homcBopathy.  Medicine 
is  a  progressive  soience,  and  while  we  recognise  in  homoeo- 
pathy the  most  advanced  stage  at  which  therapeutics  has 
arrived,  it  is  impossible  to  assert  that  there  is  not  one  still 
more  advanced  to  be  reached  in  the  future.  A  reference  to 
the  memorandum  of  association  shows  at  once  that  this 
has  been  fully  recognis^  in  two  ways.  First,  in  Article  8, 
sub-section  g,  which  describes  as  one  of  the  objects  of  the 
corporation : — 

"  The  advancement,  encouragement  and  dissemination  of  pro- 
fessional knowledge,  study  and  research,  and  the  results  thereof 
respectively  by  all  or  any  of  the  following  methods,  viz. : — ^by 
the  establishment  and  mamtenance  of  physiological,  pathological, 
pharmaceutical,  chemical,  botanical,  surgical,  and  other  labora- 
tories, museums  and  institutions ;  by  the  delivery  of  lectures  and 
instructions  in  all  or  any  branches  of  a  complete  medical  and 
surgical  education  ;  by  giving  prizes  and  rewards ;  and  by  giving 
to  such  persons  as — ^being  already  legally  qualified  practitioners 
of  medicine  or  surgery  in  the  state  or  country  of  which  they  are 
citizens — shall  have  attended  such  courses  of  instruction  given 
by  the  Corporation  during  such  a  period  or  periods  of  time,  and 
shall  have  passed  such  examinations  as  may  from  time  to  time  be 
'prescribed  by  the  Governing  Body  of  the  Corporation  (such 
examinations  to  be  conducted  by  teachers,  professors  or  prac- 
iitioners  of  medicine  or  surgery  duly  qualified  by  law  and 
'appointed  from  time  to  time  by  the  Council),  a  Certificate  of 
Fellowship  certifying  the  recipient's  knowledge  and  proficiency 
in  and  fitness  to  practise  'homoeopathy,'  or  any  modification 
ihereof." 

How,  we  would  ask,  could  a  fuller  scope  of  study  and 
enquiry  be  well  drawn  than  is  here  set  forth  ? 

Then  again,  secondly,  when  the  time  arrives  when 
liomoeopathy  as  a  therapeutic  method  shall  be  superseded 
.by  something  infinitely  better,  and  when,  in  consequencOi 


706  SCirOOl*  OF  HOMCEOPATHY,   "S^^Sl^St 

ft  Sdiool  of  HotiMdopathy  will  be  needless,  it  will  be  in 
the  power  of  the  corporationi  by  the  65fch  article,  to  be 
^  wottnd  tip  Yoltmtarily,  whenever  a  special  or  extraordinary 
resolntion,  as  defined  by  the  Companies  Act,  1862,  is 
passed,  requiring  the  corporation  to  be  wound  np  Tolnn- 
tarily." 

A  remark  of  Dr.  DudOeon's  in  support  of  this  form 
of  objection  must  be  noticed.  Asking  what  would  be  the 
efiect  of  the  memorandum  on  the  School,  he  replied: 
*^  They  would  be  crystallised  in  their  present  form,  and 
they  would  never  be  able  to  stir  from  the  terms  of  that 
x&emorandum.  Medicine  was  a  progressive  science,  and 
homcBopaths  were  not  going  to  stand  still  any  mere  than 
Were  their  medical  confreres.  Even  now,  homoeopathy  is 
modified  from  what  it  was  in  the  time  of  BEahkemann.  Why 
should  the  School  be  crystallised  in  this  way  ?  "  What  is 
exactly  meant  here  it  is  not  easy  to  state  with  any  degree 
of  certainty.  But  how  an  institution,  which  obtains  a 
special  right  to  give  *^  instruction  in  all  or  any  branches 
of  a  complete  medical  and  surgical  education,"  can  be  said 
to  be  less  progressive  than  any  other  Medical  School,  we 
do  not  understand.  Dr.  Black  regretted  the  proposed  step 
because  it  would  prevent  our  being  able  to  get  away  from 
the  word  homcBopathy.  Some,  we  hope,  still  survive 
amongst  us  who  are  prepared  to  sustain  the  use  of  this 
woid  in  all  suitable  places,  and  under  all  appropriate 
eueumstances ;  some  there  are  yet  who  do  not  desire  its 
abandonment,  in  deference  to  the  prejudices  and  passions 
of  an  ignorant,  intolerant,  and  domineering  majority  of 
the  profession ;  and  not  only  some  but  all,  save  a  veiy  few, 
who  have  realised  the  truth  and  value  of  homoe(q>athy. 

The  simple  answer  to  Dr.  Blaok  here  is,  that  so  long  as 
tke  existence  of  this  Sohod  is  necessary,  so  long  will  the 
tiite  of  tbe  word  honueopathy  be  necessary.    When  it 


SSd^riSnTSS?^  school  of  homoeopathy.  '  707 

l>ecoiQ6ft  unnecessary  to  teach  homoBopathy,  then  the 
institution  can  be  wound  np  and  the  word  homooopatby  be 
decentiy  interred. 

Br.  Dudgeon,  as  we  have  said,  referred  to  the  improve- 
ments which  had  taken  place  in  homosopathy  since  the 
time  of  Hahnemann  as  affording  positive  evidence  that 
forther  improvements  would  occur,  which,  from  the 
objection  he  has  to  the  use  of  the  word  homoBopathy,  we 
may  suppose  will  involve  its  death  and  burial.  While 
various  alterations  have  been  made  in  the  method  of 
putting  homoeopathy  into  practice  since  the  days  of 
Eahnejkunn — alterations  which  some  regard  as  improve- 
ments, and  which  others  do  not  look  at  in  the  same  light 
— ^homoeopathy  itself  is  unchanged.  The  principle  is  still 
the  same ;  the  properties  of  medicines  are  still  ascertained 
by  provings ;  medicines  are  still  given  uncombined ;  the 
dose  is  still  small.  This  was  the  homoeopathy  of  the  time 
of  Hahnemann  ;  it  is  also  the  homoeopathy  of  our  own 
time.  No  therapeutic  doctrine  has  ever  had  so  lengthy  an 
existence.  Before  the  day  arrives  to  which  Dr.  Black  and 
Dr.  Dudgeon  look  with  longing  eyes,  when  homoeopathy 
shall  be  rendered  needless  by  some  larger  and  more 
successful  therapeutic  method,  homoeopathy  must  be 
understood  and  practised  by  the  entire  profession  of 
medicine.  All  improvements  take  place  by  a  process  of 
evolution.  In  all  instances  of  scientific  progress  it  is 
from  the  best  plan  that  existed  previously  that  the  better, 
which  is  presently  triun^hant,  was  derived ;  and  it  is  from 
this  thai  the  still  better  of  the  future  will  be  drawn.  It  is 
80  with  therapeutics.  If  a  better  method  than  homoeo- 
pathy is  capable  of  being  devised  and  put  into  practice,  it 
is  from  homoeopathy  that  it  must  be  worked  out.  Such 
being  the  case,  it  is  all  important  that  homoeopathy  be 
systematically  taught.    It  is  the  best  therapeusis  d  the 


708  SCHOOL  OF  HOM(BOPATHY.  ^'bSSi^S?!^ 


day,  and  consequently  contains  the  germ  of  the  best  of  the 
fatnre.  Where  can  this  germ  be  better  noorished  and 
cared  for  than  in  a  School  especially  devoted  to  give 
*^  instmction  in  oU  or  any  branches  of  a  complete  medical 
and  snrgical  education?"  Or  in  one,  the  very  raison  cCitre 
of  which  is  the  investigation  of  homoeopathy  ? 

So  far,  then,  from  regarding  the  incorporation  of  the 
School  as  undesirable,  because  it  will  prevent  our  getting 
away  from  the  word  homoeopathy,  we  look  upon  the  en- 
shrinement  of  that  word  in  the  memorandum  of  association 
as  a  distinct  advantage,  as  tending  to  its  conservation,  so 
long  as  the  vitality  and  development  of  homoeopathy  may 
be  necessary  for  the  advance  of  medical  science. 

This  naming  of  the  name  of  homoeopathy  with  bated 
breath  is,  to  us,  one  of  the  most  deplorable  signs  of  the 
times,  BO  far  as  our  therapeutic  method  is  concerned.  The 
desire,  which  is  so  frequently  expressed  or  hinted  at  by  a 
few,  to  see  the  word  homoeopathy  blotted  out  of  the  vocabu- 
lary, is  doing  more  than  anything  to  check  enquiry  into 
what  homoeopathy  is.  Among  those  who  entertain  views 
of  this  kind  are  some  who,  we  know,  are  as  anxious  to  see 
therapeutics  universally  based  upon  homoeopathy  as  we 
are  ourselves.  But  what  is  the  effect  of  their  giving 
expression  to  such  desires  upon  those  who  do  not  know 
these  our  colleagues?  Its  effect,  unquestionably,  is  to 
cast  a  doubt,  and  a  good  deal  more  than  a  doubt,  upon 
their  sincerity,  upon  the  reality  of  the  convictions  they 
have  professed.  **  See,''  it  is  said,  "  here  are  men  who 
have  professed  to  believe  in  homoeopathy,  who  are  supposed 
to  have  practised  homoeopathically,  who  have  appeared  tb 
work  earnestly  and  unselfishly  in  defending  the  doctrine 
they  have  espoused  through  many  long  years,  and  now 
they  are  striving  to  extinguish  the  name  of  this  very 
doctrine  they  have  seemed  to  believe  in  and  to  practise ; 


t^jD^^^w^""  SCHOOL  OF  HOMOEOPATHY.  709 

can  Bnch  a  doctrine  as  this  be  worth  the  tronble  of  an 
enquiry?"  This  is  no  mere  hypothesis.  An  argument 
of  this  kind  has  within  our  experience  had  the  very  natural 
result  of  stopping  an  enquirer  into  homoeopathy  from  pur- 
suing his  investigations.  It  becomes,  then,  particularly 
incumbent  upon  those  who  feel  that  the  teaching  of 
homoBopathy  is  a  public  duty,  and  that  this  method 
cannot  be  effectually  taught  without  the  use  of  the  word, 
which  for  nearly  a  century  has  defined  it,  to  take  every 
precaution  that  this  word  is  not  lost  sight  of  before  its  time 
— and  most  assuredly  that  time  is  not  yet.  One  such  pre- 
caution is  taken  when  it  forms  part  of  the  title  of  our 
School. 

Another  objection  brought  forward  was  that  the  School, 
in  this  memorandum,  sought  power  to  grant  a  certificate 
of  knowledge  of  the  special  subject  taught  at  the  School 
to  those  who  had  been  found  to  possess  such  a  degree  of 
that  knowledge  as  to  entitle  them  to  evidence  of  their 
having  acquired  it.  This,  we  confess,  rather  surprised  us. 
The  objection  to  the  proposal  made  last  winter  by  a  meeting 
of  the  governors  and  subscribers  to  confer  a  diploma  of 
Licentiate  in  Homoeopathy,  differs  in  toto  from  that  now 
made.  The  *'  L.  H."  was  a  license  in  name,  at  least,  and 
the  use  of  this  word  gave  the  impression  that  the  School  * 
intended  to  confer  a  power  which  they  had  no  inherent 
right  to  confer,  to  issue  a  commission  to  an  individual  to  do 
something  which  any  medical  man  is  at  liberty  to  do.  By 
the  memorandum  of  association,  it  is  provided  that  duly 
qualified  medical  men  shall,  after  having  had  their  know- 
ledge of  homoeopathy  adequately  tested,  have  **  a  certificate 
of  fellowship  certifying  the  recipient's  knowledge,  and 
proficiency  in,  and  fitness  to  practise  homoeopathy,"  given 
to  him.  We  always  understood  that  those  who  opposed 
the  license  were  quite  content  that  a  certificate  of  this 


710  SCHOOL  OP  HOMCBOPATHT.   ^''SS^ 


kind  should  be  awai-ded  to  fit  and  proper  persons  by  the 
authorities  of  the  School.  The  holder  of  the  ceriifieata 
beocHnes^  by  irirtue  of  having  it,  a  feUow  of  the  c(»poratioii ; 
bat  unless  a  subscriber  and  guarantor  of  one  pound — a 
sum  which  cannot  be  required  unless,  oa  the  winding  up 
of  the  corporation,  the  funds  in  hand  are  inadequate  to- 
meet  outstanding  debts — he  can  take  no  part  in  the 
business  of  the  corporation.  The  object  here  is  to  have  a 
line  distinctly  drawn  between  the  professional  and  lay 
members  of  the  corporation,  the  former  being  styled 
*'  Fellows  "  the  latter  "  Members." 

In  endeayouring  to  ascertain,  and  after  haying  satta- 
factorily  ascertained,  the  sufficiency  of  the  knowledge  of 
homoBopathy  possessed  by  a  gentleman  who  proposea  to 
practise  homoeopathically ;  in  giving  him  the  right  te 
describe  himself  as  a  Fellow  of  the  School,  we  are  doing 
nothing  which  is  beyond  our  power  whilst  unincorpenAed. 
But  while  it  is  only  just  that  so  legitimate  an  end  of 
teaching  a  special  branch  of  knowledge  should  be  indaded 
in  a  memorandum  of  this  kind,  it  is  also  necessary  that 
every  intention  of  the  School  should  be  laid  before  the 
Secretary  of  State,  that  he  may  have  the  power  to  place  his 
veto  upon  any  that  it  may  seem  to  bin)  unadvisable  to 
grant.  Whether  there  is  any  precedent  for  empowering  a 
corporation  to  grant  a  certificate  of  this  kind>  in  the 
manner  set  forth  in  the  memorandum,  we  know  not; 
bat  the  privilege  sought  is  one  which  can  only  result  in 
good,  can  have  no  other  ^id  than  the  public  benefit,  oonfeis 
no  special  power  or  right  on  any  one.  It  is  merely  a 
testamur,  on  the  part  of  an  educational  body,  of  tbe 
possession  by  an  individual  of  an  amount  of  knowledge 
adequate  to  enable  him  to  turn  jko  useful  acoount  the  in* 
atructions  he  has  received  from  tbe  educational  body  in 
question.  It  is  farther  fully  set  forth  in  the  memorandum^ 


BSSSSfSTlTSSf**   SCHOOL  OF  HOMCEOPATHY.  711 

becanse  the  corporation  xniiBt  restrict  its  operaticms  to  the 
lines  laid  down  in  that  doctunent ;  and  it  is  donbtfol 
whether,  if  the  Begistrar's  certificate  were  granted  withont 
snch  a  provision  being  contained  in  the  deed,  the  corpora- 
tion would  not  be  debarred  in  the  fature  from  doing  that 
which,  in  the  meantime,  the  School  is  perfectly  free  to  do. 

If  the  British  Homoeopathic  Society  is  entitled  to  grant 
dqplomas  of  fellowship  and  membership  to  persons  who  are 
merely  proposed  and  seconded  as  such,  and  if  the  initial 
letters  of  such  diplomas  not  only  can  be,  but  constantly  are, 
used  to  signify  that  a  knowledge  of  homoeopathy  is 
possessed  by  the  fellow  or  member,  surely  a  body  which 
grants  its  fellowship  only  to  those  who  haye  given  evidence 
by  examination  of  their  knowledge  of  the  subject,  is, 
to  say  the  least,  equally  entitled  to  grant  certificates  of 
fellowship!  Any  qualified  medical  man  of  good  pro- 
fessional character,  who  is  prepared  to  sign  a  declaration 
to  the  effect  that  he  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  advance 
the  interests  of  homoeopathy,  is  sure  of  admission  to  the 
Society,  and  can  go  forth,  and,  by  describing  himself  as 
M.B.H.S.,  obtain  the  reputation  of  being  familiar  with  the 
practice  of  homoeopathy.  With  the  Incorporated  London 
School  of  Homoeopathy  something  more  will  be  required 
ere  its  fellowship  is  obtained,  and  that  will  be  a  something 
which  it  is  to  the  public  advantage  should  be  demanded 
before  a  medical  man  is  in  a  position  to  use  his  connection 
with  the  School  in  such  a  manner  as  to  sustain  his  pre- 
tensions to  a  knowledge  of  homoeopathy. 

We  conclude,  then,  that  a  deed  of  incorporation,  such  as 
it  has  been  decided  to  apply  for,  gives  a  security  to  the 
property  of  the  School,  and  ensures  the  expenditure  of  its 
funds  in  a  clearly  defined  manner,  far  more  fully  and  com- 
pletely than  is  the  case  with  a  purely  voluntary  association. 
There  is  in  the  former  instance   a  direct   State  control 


712  VETEBINABT  SCIENCE,  ^SSSr^*?^ 


1. 


which  does  not  exist  in  the  latter.  As  the  School  funds 
amount  now  to  nearly  two  thonsand  pounds,  and  as  there 
is  every  probability  that  this  sum  will  be  largely  increased, 
especially  if  this  additional  security  is  obtained,  it  is 
eminently  desirable  that  every  effort  should  be  made  to 
acquire  it. 

The  certificate  of  fellowship  it  is  proposed  to  confer  upon 
those  who  have  by  examination  shown  that  they  possess  a 
knowledge  of  homcBopathy  sufficient  to  enable  them  to 
practise  homcBopathically,  is  entirely  free  from  any  of  the 
objections  which  were  alleged  against  the  Licentiate  in 
Homoeopathy  diploma.  It  is  a  document  which  the  School 
would  be  perfectly  justified  in  giving  without  any  deed  of 
incorporation. 

The  deed  has  been  described  as  ''  coiumercial ; "  but 
inasmuch  as  it  emphatically  prohibits  the  members  from 
deriving  profit  from  the  operations  of  the  School,  or  from 
its  invested  funds,  such  a  description  is  simply  misleading. 

As  we  have  pointed  out,  this  deed  of  incorporation,  if 
obtained,  will  give  to  the  property  of  the  School  and  its 
^stribution  increased  security ;  and,  by  doing  so,  will  add 
io  the  public  confidence  in  the  orderly  and  efficient  manage- 
ment of  the  institution. 

Were  there  no  other  advantage  to  be  obtained  from 
incorporation,  it,  and  it  alone,  would  form  an  ample  justi- 
'fication  for  making  the  effort  necessary  to  secure  it. 

VETERINARY  SCIENCE,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

Wht  Homceopatht  has  exeboised  little  influekce  on 
IT ;  WITH  SuaoESTioNS,  AaoBESSivE  AND  Engoubaqing,  fob 

THE  FUTUBE. 

By  J.  SuTGLiFFE  HuBNDAiiL,  M.R.G.y.S.,  Liverpool. 

When  we  take  into  consideration  the  very  large  proportion 
X)f  persons  who  in  one  way  or  another  are  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  the  lower  animals,  it  is  surprising  how  marvel- 
lously little  is  known  about  those  whose  aim  in  life  is  to 
mitigate  the  various  ills  to  which  animal  flesh  is  heir. 


ltato^^!Ti§ffl!^  VETBBINABY    SCIENCE.  713 

It  is  not  surprising  that  laymen  should  sometimes — 
indeed,  as  a  role — ^be  unable  to  account  for  the  indisposition 
of  their  only  too  willing  servants  and  pets,  as  it  is  impos- 
sible to  learn  anything  from  them  subjectively;  but  one 
would  consider  that  this  very  inability  on  their  part  would 
encourage  a  disposition  to  become  better  acquainted  with 
those  whose  whole  life  is  devoted  to  the  alleviation  of  animal 
suffering,  crude  and  imperfect  though  the  knowledge  of  the 
practitioner  may  have  been. 

The  vast  amount  of  wealth  which  in  Great  Britain  is^ 
represented  by  the  value  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,, 
and  the  various  kinds  of  sporting  dogs  kept  by  gentlemen, 
either  for  pleasure,  utility,  or  profit,  should  ensure  to  the 
veterinary  surgeon  a  position  of  respect  second  to  no  othev 
profession.  It  is,  however,  a  fact,  that  until  within  recent 
years  practitioners  of  veterinary  medicine  do  not  appear  to 
have  commanded,  as  a  body,  so  high  an  estimate  of  their 
worth,  nor  to  have  occupied  such  an  exalted  position  in 
public  opinion  as  the  members  of  the  sister  profession- 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  high  standard  of  opinion  which 
is  very  properly  taken  of  the  value  of  human,  as  compared 
with  lower  animal  life,  in  a  great  measure  accounts  for 
this;  but  the  disparity  in  social  and  professional  status^ 
between  the  two  branches  of  medicine,  so  apparent  in 
bygone  times,  requires  a  deeper  explanation.  It  is  not 
proposed  to  discuss  here  the  why  and  wherefore ;  different, 
persons  will  be  able  to  offer  each  their  own  particular 
reason  ;  it  is  merely  stated  as  a  fact,  in  order  the  better  to 
compare  the  past  with  the  present,  and  as  a  point  to  start 
from.  In  the  opinion  of  many,  to  make  such  a  comparison 
may  appear  invidious,  but  why  should  it?  Those  who 
understand  the  value  to  the  human  pathologist  of  the  study 
of  comparative  pathology,  will  know  that  the  intelligent 
student  of  disease  among  the  lower  animals  has  informa- 
tion at  his  disposal  that  may  be  of  infinite  value  to  the 
physician,  and  they  will  readily  recognise  the  place  that 
should  be  assigned  to  those  who,  in  the  practice  of  the 
veterinary  art,  have  brought  intelligence  and  education  of  a 
high  order  to  bear  upon  their  work. 

It  nevertheless  remains  a  matter  of  surprise  that  there 
are  still  so  many  persons,  for  whom  the  well  trained, 
veterinary  sorgeon  could  save  so  mach  in  actual  pecnniaiy 
value  if  only  offered  the  same  opportunities  of  treating 
patients  as  practitioners  of  human  medicine  enjoy,  who 


714  VETEBINABY   SCIENCE.    ^'^^rfD^^fSS? 

neglect  to  call  in  professional  assistance  altogether,  or 
leaye  it  until  it  is  too  late  for  the  professional  adviser  to 
have  anything  like  a  chance  of  effecting  a  cure.  This  is 
one  of  the  difficulties  against  which  the  better  educated 
veterinary  surgeon  has  in  the  past  had  to  contend,  by 
reason,  it  is  presumed,  of  the  failures  of  illiterate  empirics, 
who  merely  prescribe  by  rule  of  thumb,  quite  regardless  of 
scientific  reasoning.  It  is  a  difficulty,  however,  which  is 
capable  of  being  surmounted  by  a  steady  and  consistent 
earnestness  in  the  prosecution  of  duty,  and  by  fostering  a 
continuous  and  ever-increasing  thirst  for  Imowledge,  a 
course  which  in  the  long  run  must  tell  its  own  tale. 

For  the  past  ten  years  or  so  the  veterinary  profession 
has  recognised  the  importance  of  developing  a  higher 
standard  of  general  and  professional  education,  and  led  by 
several  enthusiastic  worshippers  of  the  art,  well  qualified 
to  undertake  the  arduous  responsibility,  much  has  been 
and  is  still  being  done  in  this  direction.  It  is  to  this  feM^ 
that  thoughtful  attention  is  invited,  for  it  is  of  the  first 
importance  it  should  be  understood  that,  as  a  profession, 
we  are  by  no  means  at  a  standstill.  Thei-e  are  those  in 
our  ranks  who  are  keenly  alive  to  the  rapid  strides  that 
are  being  made  in  scientific  discovery,  especially  in  the 
sciences  of  physiology  and  pathology,  and  it  may  be 
confidently  stated  that  the  number,  among  our  younger 
practitioners,  who  take  a  deep  and  growing  interest  in 
pathological  research  is  steadily  increasing.  It  requires 
only  a  corresponding  stimulus  to  that  enjoyed  by  students 
of  the  sister  profession  to  ensure  a  proportionate  amount 
of  energy  in  this  direction  among  the  students  and  practi- 
tioners of  veterinary  medicine. 

Important  responsibilities,  arising  out  of  an  ever  increas- 
ing property  in  cattle,  sheep,  and  valuable  horses,  are,  an4 
will  more  than  ever  in  the  fdtur©  be,  undertaken  by  men 
whose  zeal  for  the  honour  of  their  calling  is  only  equaHed 
by  the  inaportance  of  the  work  they  are  called  upon  to 
perform.  Reference  is  made  to  the  future  with  a  confidence 
that  only  one  who  is  personally  acquainted  with  the  gentle- 
men on  the  teaching  staff  of  the  Royal  Veterinary  GoUegey 
would  undertake  to  anticipate ;  Irat  it  may  venly  be  pre- 
dicted that  if  the  mantle  of  EKjat  is  allowed  to  faH  upon 
Elisha,  the  present  and  future  generations  in  the  veterinary 
profession  will  be  men  of  thou^t  and  mark,  who  will  leave 
behind  them  proofis  of  useful  lives,  spent  not  merely  "for  the 


SS^dSTmS*^  vbtbbinary  science.  715 

benefit  of  the  lower  animalB,  but  the  human  race  also,  by 
reason  of  their  contribntions  to  the  higher  branches  of 
scientific  research.  Without  being  invidious,  we  may  be 
permitted  to  state  that  there  are  few  men  among  the 
teachers  of  the  special  sciences  who  bring  higher  qualities 
io  bear  upon  their  work  than  the  present  Principal  of  the 
Boyal  Veterinary  College ;  he  is  a  man  of  culture ;  an 
•enthusiastic  and  untiring  worker ;  he  possesses  great  aUility 
to  communicate  knowledge ;  he  has  had  the  advantage  of 
wide  and  extended  experience ;  and  he  takes  a  deep  and 
sincere  interest,  professionally  and  morally,  in  those  who 
^come  under  his  influence. 

Probably  few  persons  among  the  laity  are  aware  that 
quite  recently  the  veterinary  profession  has  obtained  from 
the  legislature  an  Act  of  Parliament  which  ensures  to 
qualified  members  of  the  Royal  College  of  Veterinary 
Surgeons  that  legal  protection  in  the  practice  of  their  art, 
which,  in  the  opinion  of  many,  they  should  have  enjoyed 
for  some  time  past. 

Henceforward,  only  those  who  have  gone  through  the 
prescribed  course  of  study  at  the  Boyal  Veterinary  College 
or  one  of  the  Scotch  Veterinary  Colleges,  and  thereafter 
passed  successfully  the  examination  before  the  examining 
body,  from  time  to  time  appointed  by  tbe  council  of  the 
Boyal  College  of  Veterinary  Surgeons,  can  legally  practise 
as  and  entitle  himself  a  veterinary  surgeon ;  those  who 
were  earning  a  living  as  practitioners  prior  to  the  passing 
of  the  Act  of  1881,  for  five  years  before  that  date,  may^ 
by  application  to  the  council  of  the  Boyal  College  of 
Veterinary  Surgeons,  be  enrolled  as  '^  Existing  Prae^ 
titioners,"  provided  they  satisfy  the  council  that  they  are 
of  good  morals,  respectable  members  of  society^  and 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  rudiments  of  treating 
disease  to  enable  them  to  practise  their  calling  with 
fair  prospect  of  success;  their  place  on  the  register 
mD  be  distinctly  defined  under  the  heading  of  "  Existing 
Practitioners,"  in  order  that  no  mistake  may  arise  as  to 
the  poaition  they  occupy.  Anyone  who  attempts  to 
establish  himself  as  a  veterinary  surgeon  hereafter  wbo 
does  not  hold  the  diploma  of  the  Boyal  College  of 
Veterinary  Surgeons,  renders  himself  liable  to  severe 
penalties  under  the  Act ;  and  it  behaves  the  public  in  its 
own  interest)  as  well  aa  members  of  the  profession,  to  see 
to  a,  that  no  one  attempts  to  put  Idiis  '^  Act "  at  defiaooe. 


716  VBTBRINABY   BCDSNCB.   ^'"rSS^^^D^T^. 

It  may  be  interesting  and  nsefdl  that  we  shonld  indicate 
what  sabjects  the  yeterinary  student  has  to  read  np  and 
submit  to  be  examined  upon  before  he  can  obtain  the 
diploma;  they  are  as  foUows,  viz.: — Botany,  Chemistry, 
Materia  Medica,  Physiology,  General  and  Comparative 
Anatomy,  Morbid  Anatomy,  Horse  and  Cattle  Pathology, 
and  Helminthology ;  he  has  abundant  opportunify  of 
obtaining  practical  experience  and  making  clinical  obserya* 
tions,  if  so  disposed,  among  the  numerous  patients 
admitted  to  the  infirmary  of  the  College;  on  this  last  point 
we  refer,  so  far  as  personal  experience  goes,  to  the  Boyal 
Yeterinary  College,  but  doubt  not  that  similar  opportuni- 
ties are  afforded  at  the  Scotch  Colleges.  There  is  also 
very  superficial  teaching  in  the  practical  work  of  shoeing ; 
but  of  the  superficiality  we  do  not  complain,  as  in  our 
opinion  the  man  who  is  well  up  in  the  anatomy  and 
pathology  of  the  foot  is  quite  as  well  qualified,  and 
probably  far  better,  to  give  instruction  what  particular 
sort  of  shoe  a  horse  may  require,  as  he  who  is  an  adept 
at  removing  and  putting  on  shoes,  and  who  has  swung  the 
blacksmith's  hammer  until  he  has  an  arm  like  Hercules. 
For  our  own  part,  we  haye  heard  about  "  practical  men  " 
until  we  are  nauseated  by  it ;  our  motto  is,  let  practice  and 
theory  go  hand  in  hand,  for  the  one  cannot  do  without 
the  other.  * 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  general  public  opinion  in 
the  past  in  favour  of  the  so-called  ''practical  men,"  it 
should  be  understood  that  there  has  always  been  a  broad 
line  of  distinction  between  this  highly  favoured  individual, 
who  as  a  rule  never  had  passed  an  examination  in  his  li& 
— and  could  not  have  done  so  to  save  it,  had  needs  be — and 
the  man  who  had  qualified  himself  to  practise  by  hard  study 
and  a  stringent  examination. 

Such  a  statement  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  not  only 
unnecessary,  but  absolutely  ridiculous ;  nevertheless  there 
is  good  reason  for  making  it,  and  no  one  is  more  responsible 
for  its  necessity  than  that  portion  of  the  pubUc  who  from 
time  to  time  require  the  services  of  the  veterinaiy  surgeon. 
The  explanation  is  not  feur  to  seek.  These  gentlemen  have 
not  troubled  themselves  to  find  out  who  are  really  qualified 
and  who  are  not ;  as  a  rule  that  man  who  is  most  addicted 
to  surgical  operations,  wields  the  scalpel  with  the  greatest 
boldness,  or  applies  the  cauterising  iron  with  the  least 
regard  to  the  patient's  sufferings,  is  he  who  is  thought 


It^SHTvSS^  TEIHMHABY  SOIENOE.  717 

most  of ;  or  the  aelection  of  the  praotitioner  is  kit  to  the 
dLBcretion  of  the  ooachman  or  groom,  neither  of  whom  uoe 
as  a  role  oompetant  by  education  to  form  an  opinion  on  the 
matter ;  they  may  be  goided  by  hearsay,  or,  if  nnscrapiiloiifl» 
will  try  to  find  the  practitioner  who  will  lend  an  ear  to 
propositions  about  ''commission  on  the  account;  "  and  it 
is  useless  to  pretend  that  no  qualified  members  e^ex  lent 
themselyee  to  such  dishonest  practices ;  doubtless  there  are 
black  sheep  among  our  number  as  in  every  other  profeasioii 
and  rank  in  life ;  but  it  is  hoped  and  belieyed  they  are  few^ 
axid  will  continue  to  become  fewer*  Certainly  this  will  be 
the  case,  if  gentlemep  will  take  this  matter  more  into  thedr 
own  hands*  Let  it  be  understood,  therefore,  that  the 
veterinary  surgeons  of  to-day  are  no  longer  to  be  ranknd 
with  coachmen  and  grooms ;  it  is  necessary  to  state  this  in 
the  plainest  language,  because  custom  has  so  ord^ed  it  in 
the  past. 

Thanks  to  the  unwearying  and  persistent  efforts  of  such 
gentlemcoi  as  Mr.  George  Fleming,  F.B.C.y.S.,  the  pres^it 
President  of  the  Royal  College  of  Veterinary  Suzgeons, 
Professor  Sabertson,  Principal  ol  the  Boyal  Yeterinaij 
College,  Professors  Brown»  Axe,  Williams,  and  Whalley, 
the  yeterinary  profession  will  take  rank  with  the  Bister 
psrofession,  and  ere  long  draw  forth  full  recognition  by  its 
own  inherent  aetiyity,  foroa,  and  power,  from  all  men  ot 
science. 

Headers  of  the  Review  will  naturally  look  for  aoone 
referenoe  to  the  bearing  and  influence  of  Hahn^nann'a 
^eat  prineiple  upon  yetecinary  medicine:  surprise  has 
been  expressed  that  so  &w  yetarinary  surgeons  practise  on 
hoDMBopathie  porineiflai^  but  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
all  the  ciresmstaneea  fiBOUBhes  an  easy  explanation  to 
aeeoimt  for  ihis«  It  is  only  dnciBg  the  last  decade  that 
Teterinary  medicine  has  lifted  its  iMod  aboye  a  mediscn 
position,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  the  pfdbssion  aa  n 
whole  has  oyineed  a  snfickntly  enqpniing  turn  o£  mind  to 
sosrch  for  tntth  beyond  the  stsraofyped  rules  they  Isaznod 
in  their  youth.  Indeed,  so  customacy  has  it  always  beon 
to  administer  yiery  laxge  doses  to  yetfirinary  patients,  thai 
the  question  of  the  dose  itself  was  quite  enough  to 
oonyince  the  majority  that  Hahnemann's  system  of  tneat- 
meni  wsa  in  their  pinion  nothing  but  an  inqpestoae* 
Unfortonataly,  few  hayo  bean  the  men  whoso  thint  lor 
knowledge  bAs  indofltd  thoBito  undoiMdfie  the  labenDoa 

ToL  26|  No.  12.  8  B 


I 

718  VETBRINABT  SOIBNOB.   ^B^Jw^SSTttMU 

task  of  investigation;  enide  empiricism  has  satisfied 
almost  the  whole  body;  homoeopathy  has  been  and  still 
remains  to  the  majority  of  veterinaiy  practitioners  a  daric 
letter,  and  with  a  few  exceptions,  inclading  Haycock,  Lord^ 
and  Moore,  to  whom  hononr  enough  cannot  be  accorded, 
the  science  of  similars  has  been  recognised  only  in  terms 
of  reproach  and  scorn.  This,  however,  need  not  be  in  the 
fntnre.  It  is  probably  too  mnch  to  expect  that  the  lead^s 
of  veterinary  medicine  should  condescend  to  the  carefol 
investigation  of  the  Hahnemannian  principle  any  more 
than  do  the  so-called  leaders  in  human  medicine.  Possibly 
they  would  consider  it  derogatory  to  their  position ;  and 
maybe  the  spicy,  though  often  bitter  and  venomous  articles 
which  now  and  then  appear  in  the  Lancet  are  much  more 
satisfying  to  their  literary  appetite  than  would  be  the 
mental  £gestion  by  careful  study  of  Hahnemann's,  Bahr*s, 
Jahr's,  Dudgeon's,  Hughes',  Dunham's,  and  Hale's 
writings,  with  a  view  to  the  discovery  of  the  real  truth 
concerning  this  important  subject.  It  does  not  follow, 
however,  &at  this  should  be  a  hindrance  to  the  develop- 
ment of  homoeopathic  practice  among  the  lower  animals ; 
if  older  members  of  the  profession  are  satisfied  to  wander 
on  in  the  darkness  of  therapeutic  chaos,  it  must  devolve 
upon  younger  men,  whose  minds  are  less  biassed,  to  profit 
by  the  painstaking  investigations  of  Hahnemann  and  his 
successors. 

Here  there  is  an  opening  for  some  young  fellows  who  are 
in  difficulty  as  to  what  shsdl  be  their  future  occupation  in 
life — always  provided  that  they  enjoy  the  following  qualifi- 
cations, viz. :  a  good  general  education ;  some  knowledge 
of  the  habits,  management  and  peculiarities  of  various 
domestic  animals ;  a  respect  for  and  love  of  animal  creation ; 
a  taste  for  scientific  research ;  a  persevering  and  earnest 
determination  to  overcome  difficulties.  Thev  should  of 
course  have  satisfied  themselves,  so  fiu*  as  minds  untrained 
in  professional  study  can  be,  of  the  truth,  value  and  im- 
portance of  the  law  of  similars ;  wisely  keeping  their  own 
counsel  as  to  their  particular  faith  until  they  can  afibrd  to 
divulge  it,  lest  unnecessary  difficulties  should  be  put  in  the 
way.  of  their  qualifying ;  for  although  we  live  in  a  free 
country,  we  are  not  allowed  to  be  quite  free  to  think  for 
ourselves  yet,  specially  in  matters  medical.  At  one  time  it 
was  considered  infra  dig.  to  become  a  ''  Yet.,"  as  members 
of  this  profession  are,  sometimes  sneeringly,  sometimes 


eSSS^^TSm?^  vbterinaby  science.  719 

patronisingly  called ;  but  now  every  man  who  chooses  to 
hold  np  his  head  with  dignity  and  re8er7ed  ooortesy, 
whether  he  have  to  do  with  peer  or  peasant,  will  be  met  and 
Teceiyed  as  a  gentleman ;  this  is  one  of  the  results  of  higher 
education,  and  inasmach  as  the  present  President  of  the 
Boyal  College  of  Veterinary  Surgeons  has  been  in  a  high 
degree  instrumental  in  bringing  about  such  a  condition  of 
iihings,  the  privilege  of  pardonable  pride  may  with  pleasure 
tmd  satisfaction  be  conceded  to  him.  There  is  abundant 
scope  in  this  profession  for  well  educated  gentlemen,  and 
especially  so  if  of  sufficiently  studious  a  turn  of  mind  to 
lead  to  the  steady  investigation  of  pathogenetic  effects 
among  the  different  orders  of  animals ;  this  is  a  study  of 
profound  interest  when  viewed  from  the  homoeopathist's 
standpoint,  and  productive  of  immense  advantage  clinically. 
Those  who  have  been  struck  with  admiration  at  the  almost 
miraculous  effects  of  homodopathioally  applied  remedies  in 
the  human  subject,  may,  if  they  will,  see  equally  startling 
results  effected  thereby  in  veterinary  practice ;  and  the  fact 
that  so  few  have  embraced  the  faith  in  this  branch  of 
'medicine,  while  in  the  sister  branch  the  numbers  are  yearly 
increasing,  is  evidence  that  a  fair  field  of  operations  is  open 
to  those  who  may  have  the  courage  to  enter  it. 

Attention  has  already  been  drawn  to  some  of  the  diffi- 
culties that  are  experienced  by  the  veterinary  practitioner, 
arising  out  of  the  JmpUcit,  one  might  almost  say  blind, 
confidence  placed  in  coachmen  and  grooms,  and  when  it 
comes  to  the  administration  of  homoeopathic  remedies  the 
difficulties  are  by  no  means  lessened.  It  has  been  the 
custom  from  time  immemorial  to  give  such  massive  doses 
to  horses  and  other  animals,  and  to  resort  to  measures 
sufficiently  heroic  to  produce  the  maximum  of  results  in 
the  shortest  space  of  time  possible,  that  these  men  are  not 
imnaturally  very  sceptical  about  any  good  being  realised 
by  such  minute  doses  as  five  or  ten  grains  of  a  harmless 
looking  substance,  more  like  sugar  than  ough£  else,  or  by 
a  tablespoonful  of  a  draught  which  is  all  but  colourless  in 
a  wine  glass  of  water ;  moreover,  to  repeat  these  miniature 
doses  of  medicine  three,  or  perhaps  four  times  a  day, 
involves,  in  their  opinion,  an  amount  of  trouble  which 
probable  results  do  not,  they  consider,  justify  them  in 
taking.  The  question  arises,  how  is  this  to  be  obviated  ? 
One  answer  among  others  would  be  this  !  Let  the  master 
•or  mistress  take  upon  themselves  to  explain  that  it  is  a 


T20  vETiaaHABX  acuKCE.  ""^^rfSSfSiSfc 

syalem  which  relies  t^mmi  mneh  ansballer  doses  of  mediciao; 
tfaai  the  remedies  ace  speeiflUy  j^epared ;  that  the  6aoiij 
has  experienced  great  benefit  firom  this  particular  treait- 
aftent;  that  inasotneh  as  the  doses  are  smaller  and  leas 
«SDpalatable»  the  animal  is  less  likely  to  resist  the  adminis* 
tration ;  that  the  system  is  moeh  more  humane,  and  that 
the  remedies  effect  real  and  permanent  cures  without  inter* 
fering  with  the  animal's  general  health  or  exercising  any 
lowering  effects  upon  its  c(MiStitution ;  lastly,  that  it  is  the 
owner's  wish  that  these  remedies  should  have  a  fair  trial, 
and  that  the  man  is  expected  to  administer  them  stricUy 
in  accordance  with  instruDtionB. 

Acute  diseases,  soeh  as  ccdio,  enteritis,  bronchitis, 
pneumonia,  pneumonic  congestion,  nephritis,  and  others 
dfa  like  description,  yield  very  readily  to  homoeopathic 
treatment  when  taken  in  time,  indeed,  so  rapid  is  the  effect 
of  the  remedies  sometimeiB,  iJiat  attendants,  and  even,  at 
times,  educated  gentlemen,  appear  doubtful  that  aaything 
so  serious  after  ail  was  the  matter.  It  is  in  cases  of  seyere 
lameness,  arising  £r(»n  longstanding  chronic  inflammaticHis 
of  the  osteal,  periosteal,  and  white  fibrous  tissues,  that  the 
ingenuity  and  patience  of  the  homoeopathic  veterinaiy 
surgeon  is  put  to  the  test ;  not  that  he  cannot  fall  bad: 
upon  abundant  and  efficacious  remedies,  nor  that  he  is 
unable  to  effect  a  cure  In  less  time  than  his  allopathic 
Qonfrei-e,  but  because  a  far  greater  amount  of  steady,  per- 
seyeriug  work  on  the  part  of  the  attendant  is  called  for ; 
it  is  not  so  much  the  administration  of  internal  remedies, 
as  the  constant  application  of  external  ones  that  involyea 
trouble.  It  is  yery  much  easier  to  haye  the  horse  blistered 
or  fired,  or  to  make  the  e&ct  surer,  haye  both  done  under 
one  operation^  than  to  systematieally  rub  in  a  lotion  of 
arnica  or  rhus  tox.j  night  and  morning,  for  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  at  a  time,  and  tluii;  often  after  spending  a  quarter  of 
m  hour  preyiously  in  fomca^tiog  the  part. 

In  the  face  of  this,,  we  can  oaly  urge  all  those  who  are 
genuine  homoeopathUits  to  do  what  they  can  in  proovulr 
gating  intelligent  ideaa  among  their  subordinates  of  the 
great  advantages  deriyed  £eom  homoaopathic  treatment ;  m 
this  way  great  results  may  aocrueu  and  the  good  of  the  aawa 
be  loaterially  einhaaeed^ 

It  is  a  very  good  thing  for  homcsopathy  that  it  doea  not 
require  yery  much  ''  champiioiBing,''  if  we  may  yenture  i9 
coin  a  word ;  give  the  system  but  half  a  chance,  and  it  will 


2SSS5f^Ti^^  HOM(EOPATmc   TMTtmATIONS,  721 

■-  —  -   -    --  .—^ « — . — ^ — ^_.^^^ .^_^     ■   ^  .    r      ■     - 

soon  make  itself  felt  and  appreekted.  Had  this  ]»>t  been 
the  case,  it  would  have  been  stamped  out  of  existence  long 
enough  ago;  haying  truth,  howerrer,  on  its  side,  it  has 
withstood  all  the  onslaughts  of  the  enemy,  and  will  (xmtinue 
to  withstand  them.  Were  we  to  recapitulitte  but  a  few  of 
the  modes  of  treatment  resorted  to  in  th«  old  school  of 
veterinary  medicine,  it  would  make  our  readers'  blood 
4»irdle  in  their  veins ;  but  we  refrain,  and  satisfy  ourselves 
by  urging  in  conclusion  aU  who  have  the  prosperity  of  the 
rational  and  humane  system  of  homcaopathy  at  heart  to  do 
what  they  can  to  encourage  its  practice  more  and  mote 
among  the  lower  animals. 

248,  Upper  Parliament  Stroet, 
Liverpool. 
8th  September,  1882. 

REMARKS    AND     SUGGESTIONS     CONGERNtSTG 
HOMCEOPATHIC  TBITURATIONS. 

FIRST  PAPER  feandadedj. 

By  J.  Edwaeds  Smith,  M.D„  Cleveland,  Ohio.* 

Ltcopodium-Spobbs. 

A  SAUPLS  of  the  same  alcohol  used  in  the  pr^araticm  of 
''  S  "  and  ''  T  "  being  at  hand,  my  next  step  was  to  ascer- 
tain the  specific  gravity  of  the  three  s^cimens,  viz* :  "  S," 
''  T,"  and  the  alcohol. 

All  of  these  having  first  been  brought  to  the  exaet 
temperature  of  the  suiroanding  air>  the  specific  gra^rify  of 
«ach  was  determined  by  means  of  a  100  grain  (60^  f^.) 
glass  capsulo,  having  a  long  capillary  ueck.  This  instrti- 
ment  was  made  expressly  for  me  by  Prof.  Wood>  of  thia 
e^y.  The  weighings  were  determined  on  my  delicate 
balance  (by  the  same  maker),  which  is  oensible  to  the 
l-10,000th  of  a  grain. 

Capsule  volume  ai  diitiUod  watar 

at  78^  F ..=^99.8149  graiM. 

Capsule  volume  alcohol      <^8LS280      „ 

Capsule  volume  tine  *^  S  "       .,.=81*6010      y. 
Capsule  volume  tine  "T"       .v*:=81.6670 


I 


*  Bepriuted  from  the  Utiw  TorJb  MemetA  Tiiim,  Oetobttr,  188ft. 


722  HOMOSOPATHIC  TBITUBATIONB, 


Beriew,  Dec  1,  tOBL. 


By    oompatation^    resting   on   the 

above  data,  we  haye    specific 

gravity  of  the  alcohol     =0.81479      „ 

(Corresponding   to  98,  1-2    per 

cent,  nearly.) 
Specific  gravity  of  tinct.  "  S  "  ...=0.81657      „ 
Specific  gravity  of  tinct.  **  T  "  ...=0.81819      „ 

Arranging  these  three  specific  gravity  determinations  for 
easy  reference,  we  have  as  follows : — 

(1).  Spec. grav. of" S ''=0.81667 grs.p'S"    greater   by 
Spec.  grav.  of  alcol. =0.81479  „   J       0.00178  grs. 

(2).  Spec. grav.  of  "  T  "=0.81819  grs.)   "T"  the  greater 
Spec.  grav.  of  "S  "=0.81657  „  i    by  0.00162  grs. 

A  simple  inspection  of  the  above  figures  seems  to 
suggest : — 

First.  That  the  effect  of  lye.  spores  is  to  increcue  the 
specific  gravity  of  the  vehicle. 

Second.  That  of  the  two  tinctures,  "  S  "  and  "  T,"  the 
latter  is  much  the  strongest,  and 

Third.  That  positive  advantage  arises  from  the  pre- 
liminary triturating  with  the  emery. 

While  in  the  act  of  cleansing  the  glass  capsule,  through 
an  inadvertence,  I  used  distilled  water,  vice  alcohol.  A 
precipitation  of  lye,  immediately  occurred  which  was  at 
once  put  to  a  practical  purpose,  to  wit : 

Selecting  two,  2-fluid  drachm  flat  sample  vials,  I  intro« 
duced  into  each  respectively,  1-2-flaid  drachms  of  samples 
**  S  "  and  "  T,"  adding  immediately  to  each,  1-2  drachms 
of  distilled  water.  The  lyeopodium  matter  was  at  once,  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  thrown  out  of  solution  in  both 
vials,  the  contents  of  each  vial  became  cloudy.  The 
particles  thus  thrown  out  of  solution  do  not  sink  after 
standing  quietly  fifteen  days.  A  result  which  might  have 
been  inferred  from  the  specific  gravity  of  the  samples  '^  S  " 
and  "  T  "  as  compared  with  distilled  water. 

The  slightest  glance,  however,  at  these  two  vials  demon- 
strates instantly  that  the  tincture  in  *'T**  is  very  much 
stronger  than  that  of  "  S." 

The  two  samples  of  lyeopodium  tincture,  after  having 
been  digested  in  alcohol  for  the  period  of  time  above 
mentioned,  appear  to  the  naked  eye  almost  identical ;  thej 
are  each  of  a  clear  lemon  or  canary  colour.    On  shaking 


u- 


JS^^nrS^"  HOM<BOPATHIO  TMTURATIOHS.  728 

slightly  both  vials,  the  **  T  "  sample  seemed  to  be  more 
oily  and  heavier  than  the  '*  S." 

(Note :  The  qaestion  here  suggested  itself,  wonld  it  not 
be  a  good  plan  to  determine  accurately  the  specific  gravity 
of  all  oar  homoeopathic  tinctures  ?) 

If  it  be  admitted  that  **  T  "  is  a  much  stronger  tincture 
than  ''  S/'  the  question  arises,  may  not ''  S  "  gain  strength 
by  longer  digestion  in  the  alcohol?  To  determine  this 
point  a  second  specimen  of  '^  S  "=''  S^  "  has  been  prepared 
precisely  like  the  first,  excepting  that  the  latter  has  been 
allowed  to  digest  in  the  alcohol  double  the  time  given  to 
'*  S,"  viz. :  fourteen  days,  after  which  the  specific  gravity 
was  determined  as  follows : 

Capsule  vol.  of  distilled  water  at 

74?  F 99.8631  grains. 

Capsule  vol.  of  Unct. "  S* ''  74^  F.    81.5988      „ 

Specific  gravity  of  tinct.  "  S*  "  . . .      0.81706 
Comparing  "S'  *'  with  "  S  "  and  "  T  "  we  have:— 

(1).  Spec.  g.  of  "S*"  =  0.81705\     "  S* "  greater  by 
Spec.  g.  of   "8"  =  0.81667]  0.00048. 

(2).  Spec.  g.  of  "  T  "  =  0.81819)     "T  "  greater  by 
Spec.  g.  of   "S*"  =  0.81705  J  0.00114. 

Thus  it  becomes  evident  that  ''  S^ ''  gained  but  little 
strength  from  the  prolonged  digestion  in  alcohol.  Fur- 
thermore it  is  improbable  that  any  amount  of  time  would 
suffice  to  bring  "  S  "  to  the  standard  of  "  T." 

Bepeating  the  **  flat-vial*'  test  with  sample  ^^S""  and 
comparing  with  **  S "  and  ^*  T,"  the  specific  gravity  test 
becomes  at  once  confirmed  by  the  eye  alone. 

Obviously,  the  spec.  grav.  of  lye.  tinctures  only  becomes 
an  index  of  strength  when  the  spec.  grav.  of  the  alcohol  is 
known.  Ergo,  fluting  the  alcohol  with  water  would  serve 
to  increase  the  spec,  gravity,  and  also  to  reduce  its  solvent 
properties. 

It  may  be  observed,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  ^'  flat* 
vial "  test  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  rough  analysis  by 
the  volumetric  method,  and  yet  sufficiently  determinate  for 
the  general  purposes  of  the  practitioner.  In  the  case  of 
lye,  Sie  ''  standard  solution  "  is  simply  pure  water,  which 
will  always  serve  the  purpose  with  all  tincts.  prepared  with 
strong  alcohol  as  a  solvent.    It  would  not,  I  opine,  require 


724  HOMCEOPATHIO  TBITT7BATION8.  ^'S^^S^^um!, 

macb  Btndj  to  adapt  this  yial  metliod  to  the  ezaomnatiim 
of  nearly  all  onr  homoeopathic  tmctmeEr. 


My  next  experiment  was  to  tritozate  the  spores  first  with 
aleokol  before  adding  the  sugar  of  milk.  In  order  to  giuurd 
against  tixe  effects  of  evaporation  the  aloohol  was  added  in 
fractional  portions,  thus  : — 

(W)=One-foarth  ounce  of  lye.  spcfren  tritunU»d  wiili  two 
and  one-fourth  fluid  ounces  of  98,  1-2  per  cent,  alcohol, 
the  alcohol  was  added  in  divided  lots  for  three  and  on^ 
half  hours,  finally  adding  two  and  one-fourth  ounces  of 
sacch.  lac.     Mix  and  again  triturate. 

(W* ) — "  W  "  triturated  one  and  one-half  hours.  Besult : 
spoi^es  but  little  broken,  and  aggregated  together  in  large 
**  colonies." 

(W** )  -- "  W '  triturated  two  and  one-half  hours.  Result : 
the  aggregations  or  "  colonies "  become  more  numerous 
and  smaller,  yet  the  contained  spores  still  appear  to  be  but 
little  injured. 

(W')="W"  triturated  three  and  one-half  hours. 
Besult:  the  spores  are  now  observed  to  be  getting  decidedly 
the  worse  for  wear  under  the  pestle.  Nevertheless^  iheie 
are  but  few  spores  actually  broken  up,  the  ^*  colonies  "  are 
getting  smaller,  but  are  plainly  recognised. 

(W^)=.'*W"  triturated  four  and  one-half  hours. 
Besult :  spores  about  the  same  as  in  *'  W* "  — a  plenty  of 
whole  spores  to  be  seen^  say  30  per  cent. 

Thus  far  it  will  be  noticed  that  all  the  triturations  dealt 
with  were  prepared  according  to  the  decimal  scale.  I 
therefore  deemed  it  advisable  to  introduce  a  centesimal 
trituration,  as  follows : — 

(B)    -  10  grains  lye.  spores  \=  1st  cent.  trit. 
+990  grains  sacch-  lac,  /Mix  and  triturate. 

(B*)  =  "B"  triturated  one  hour.  Besult:  no  un- 
doubtedly wholly  unbroken  spores  seen.  The  fracture- 
spores  congregate  in  masses. 

(B^)==«B"  triturated  two  hours.  Besult:  Five 
unbroken  spores  discovered. 

(B* )  =  **  B  "  triturated  three  hours.  Result :  Four 
nnbroken  spores  seen.  Also  several  large  pieces  in  a 
ehimp  together. 


ISlSSiH^S^im^  HOM(EOPATRIC  TBSTlIB&TIONS%  725 

(B^)  =  "B"  triturated  Sowc  hours.  Besult:  TliMe 
eutire  spores  discovered.  Also  several  pieces  easily  reeog* 
nised. 

(B* )  =  "  B  "  triturated  five  koois.  Heffult :  No  whole 
spores  seen.  One  large  piece,  as  large  as  four-fifths  of  a 
spore,  was  discovered.    Also  several  tolerably  large  pieces. 

(B' )  =  "  B  "  triturated  six  hoars.  Result :  No  whole 
spores.     Several  tolerably  large  pieces,  noticed. 

(B"f)  =  "  B"  triturated  seven  hours.  Result:  Several 
places  are  still  to  be  seen,  but  no  whole  spores. 

(B"" )  r=  <'  B ''  triturated  eight  hours.  Result :  No  whole 
spores*    There  were  a  few  pieces  still  to  be  seen. 

Bbmabks.— Comparing  "B*"  with  "B^,'*  *'B*"  and 
'"B"^,"  it  will  be  noticed  that,  although  no  whok  spores 
wwe  tfscovered  in  '^B*",''  the  contraafy  was  the  case  with 
the  subsequent  Mturations;  this  apparent  anomaly  may 
possibly  be  reconciled  when  it  is  remembered  that  we  are 
BOW  dealing  with  a  centesimal  trituration,  requiring  a 
longer  time  to  secure  the  equai  dififusion  of  the  c&ug 
throughout  Ihe  mass  of  the  trituration. 

It  is  a  rule  among  pharmacists,  I  believe,  to  triturate 
100  grains  ten  times  as  long  as  they  do  10  grains.  Recog- 
nising this  law,  the  whole  amount  of  material  triturated  in 
*'  B  "  was  arranged  to  approximately  correspond  to  that  of 
the  (1st  dec.)  ^*  0  "  trituration  previously  mentioned. 

HANB-KABE   TBITUBJLZIONS. 

By  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  M.  J.  Rhees,  of  Wheeling,  West 
Virginia,  I  am  enabled  to  include  in  this  paper  the 
examination  of  the  following  hand-made  triturations  of 
lycopodium  (prepared  by  the  Doctor  personally)  lately  sent 
to  me  for  study  under  the  microscope.  Believing  the 
details  of  the  method  pursued  by  Dr.  Rhees  to  be  of 
interest,  I  present  them  entire,  to  wit : — 

His  first  decimal  trituration  is  obtained  as  follows  (I 
quote  from  his  letter  by  permission) :  **  I  first  rubbed  one 
grain  of  lye,  spores  in  a  Wedgwood  mortar  alone  three 
minutes;  scraped  it  together  five  minutes;  rubbed  five 
minutes;  scraped  five  minutes;  rubbed  two  minutes; 
=  20  minutes.  Added  one  grain  sacch.  lac,  and  rubbed 
three  minutes ;  scraped  five  minutes ;  rubbed  two  minutes; 
seraped  five  minutes ;  rubbed  five  minutes ;  scraped  five 
minutes;  =s  25  minutes  (total  46  minutes).    Added  eight 


726  HOMCEOPATHIO  TBITUEATIONS.  '"aSSr^ET^ 


Beview,  Dm.  1,  UBt. 


grains  sacch.  lac.f  and  triturated  three  xninntes;  scraped 
six  minutes ;  triturated  six  minutes ;  scraped  fiye  minutes  r 
=  20  minutes.  This  is  iixe  1st  x  trituration.  Time  = 
65  minutes.     Took  out  one  grain,  which  I  sent  to  you." 

Microscopic  examination. — ^The  lycopodium  appears  in 
masses.  My  first  observations  over  this  specimen  failed 
to  show  eyen  one  whole  spore,  which  fact  was  at  once 
reported  to  Dr.  Bhees.  A  protracted  subsequent  examina- 
tion, howeyer,  displayed  one  whole  spore. 

Dr.  Bhees'  second  decimal  =  1st  centesimal  trituration 
was  prepared  as  follows  (I  quote  again  from  his  letter),  to 
wit :  '^  I  now  added  81  grains  of  sacch.  Uic.  to  the 
remaining  nine  in  the  mortar.  Triturated  eight  minutes ; 
scraped  seven  minutes ;  triturated  eight  minutes ;  scraped 
seven  minutes ;  =:  80  minutes.  Total  time,  1  hour  and 
86  minutes.  This  completed  the  1st  centesimal  tritura- 
tion, of  which  I  sent  you  a  powdar." 

Microscopic  examination : — Two  tolerably  large  masses- 
of  the  drug  seen;  otherwise,  it  seems  well  distributed* 
My  experience  with  this  trituration  was  quite  similar  to 
that  of  the  preceding,  i.e.,  on  the  first  examination  I 
found  not  one  whole  spore,  but  on  re-examination  I  did 
discover  but  one  solitary  whole  spore.  In  this  connection 
I  beg  to  refer  the  reader  to  my  previous  experience  with 
my  own  1st  centesimal  trituration.  I  can  have  no  reason- 
able doubt  that  if  the  opportunity  could  have  been  had  of  a 
thorough  re-examination  of  ''  B%"  the  finding  of  a  whole 
spore  or  two  would  only  have  been  a  matter  of  time. 


PUBITY  OF  THE   SUGAR  OF  MILK. 

A  sample  of  the  sugar  used  in  all  my  machine  tritura- 
tions, and  also  a  sample  of  that  used  by  Dr.  Bhees  in  hia 
hand-made  triturations,  has  been  subjected  to  incineration 
for  the  detection  of  inorganic  matter,  to  wit : 

200  grs.  of  sugar  used  by  Dr.  Bhees 

gave  residue « =0.020  grs. 

200  grs.  of  sugar  used  by  J.  Ed.  S. 

gave  residue =^0.016  grs. 

Consisting  of  silicaf  alumina,  lime,  iron  and  phos.  acid, 

CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS. 

The  following  letter  from  Prof.  Wood,  accompanying  hia 
analysis  of  lycopodium  spores,  will,  I  believe,  interest  the 


tS!^SSTiSS^  HOMCBOPATHIO  TBITUBATIONS.  727 

profession.     I  therefore,  with  his  permission,  present  it 
verbatim : — 

<<  August  27th,  1882. 
"Deab  Doctob: 

« I  haye  just  finished  examining  the  lyeopodium  spores,  with 
results  as  follows : — 

''  Total  amount  of  spores  experimented  on,  ==  25  grains ;  ash,. 
0.5  grains. 

PercerUagei.  ConsHtuinU. 

20.2 Silica 0.101  grains. 

44.8 Almmna    0.224 

9.8 Iron  (ferric)      ...  0.049 

5.6 •     ...  Lime 0.028 

7*1 Pbos.  acid 0.0855 

1.0 Potash  &  soda  ...  0.005 

Magnesia,  a  trace — ^not  weighed. 
11.5 Loss,  &e 0.0575 


100.0  0.5000 

''The  combination  of  the  elements  is  not  quite  clear,  but 
probably  the  silica  is  a  very  fine  sand,  washed  by  the  rains  on  to 
the  lyeopodium  plants.  I  tbink  I  can  detect  Uie  small  grains 
even  with  my  microscope.  You  can  settle  that  point  more  satis- 
factorily by  a  thorough  examination  of  the  untouched  spores. 
The  alumina  may  come  in  the  same  way. 

«  The  lime  and  magnesia  are  undoubtedly  phosphates ,  and  the 
potash  and  soda  should  be  carbonates,  though  I  did  not  disooTer 
any  carbonic  acid ;  the  quantity  was  so  small  that  it  probably 
escaped  notice.  The  whole  work  might  be  revised,  using  larger 
quantities. 

"  As  ever,  yours  truly, 

«'  (Signed)  N.  B.  Wood." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  of  the  eight  constituents 
mentioned  in  Prof.  Wood's  analysis,  four  of  them,  viz., 
silica,  lime,  phos.  acid,  and  soda,  were  already  recognised 
as  anidognes  of  lyeopodium.    See  Hall's  Jahr.,  p.  88. 

It  so  happened  that  I  was  present  in  Prof.  Wood's 
laboratory  while  the  reactions  for  phoa,  acid  were  under 
consideration ;  and  on  returning  to  my  office,  I  at  once 
compared  the  symptoms  of  lycopodivm  with  those  of  phos^ 
a^Ad,  as  given  in  Dr.  Lippe's  text-book.  For  the  conve- 
nience of  thiO  reader,  I  have  transcribed  the  identical  or 
similar  symptoms  in  parallel  columns,  thus : — 


728  HOIfCEOPATHIO  TBITtUUTXOKB*  ^'sS^^^^^Tmt 


Ltgo»oi»com, 

Mind  and  Disposition. — ^Ex- 
tremely indiffierent;  low  spirited 
and  doubts  abont  his  salvation; 
desponding,  grieving  mood. 

Head.  —  Stupefying  head- 
ache ;  pressing  headache ; 
sensation  of  scraping  on  ex- 
ternal head ;  hair  becomes 
grey  early ;  baldness ;  hair  falls 
out. 

Eyes. — Cold  feeiing  in  eyes; 
inflammation  of  eyeB, 

Ears. — Over-sensitiveness  of 
hearing ;  music  and  sounds 
affect  ears  painfully. 

Face. — Swelling  of  nose ; 
earthy,  yellow  complexion,  with 
deep  furrows;  blue  circles 
around  eyes  ;  a  large  ulcer  on 
vermilion  border  of  lip  ;  erup- 
tions around  month. 

Mouth  and  Throat. — ^Yellow 
c<^our  of  teeth ;  toothache ; 
gums  bleed  violently  on  being 
touched ;  gumboils ;  dryness  di 
mouth  and  tongue  without 
thirst ;  posterior  part  of  mouth 
covered  by  tough  mucus. 

Stomach  and  Abdomen. — 
Nauseainpharynx  and  stomach ; 
aceumolation  of  flatolenca. 

Urinary  Orgami.^-FreqaGDi 
desire  to  urinate,  with  dis*- 
charge  of  large  quantities  of 
pale  urine ;  greasy  pellicle  on 
urine. 

Sexual  Organs.— Sexual  de- 
sire suppressed ;  excessive  and 
exhausting  pollutions ;  bloated- 
ness  of  abdomen. 


IteararoBiG  Acm. 

Mind  and  Disposition. — ^Per- 
fect indifference ;  low-spiiited ; 
anxiety  about  the  future ;  sad- 
siknoe. 


Head. — ^Stupefaction  in  far^ 
head ;  pressing,  tensive  head- 
ache ;  feeling  as  if  swollen  and 
tender  periosteum  was  scraped 
with  kmfe  ;  hair  beccMnes  gray 
early  ;  falling  off  of  hair. 

Eyes. — Coldness  in  internal 
rarface  of  eyes ;  inflammation 
of  eyelids. 

Ears. — ^Every  sound  re- 
echoes loudly  in  ears ;  intole- 
rance of  all  sounds,  especially 
music. 

Face. — Swelling  of  dorsum  of 
nose;  pale,  sickly  complexion; 
lustreless,  sunken  eyes,  sur- 
rounded by  blue  margins ;  pim- 
ples and  scurfs  on  vernuhon 
border  of  lip  ;  lips  dry,  scurfy, 
and  suppnratmg. 

Month  and  Throat. — Teeth 
become  yellow;  toothache; 
gums  are  swollen;  stand  off 
from  teelih  and  bleed  easily; 
painM  tubercle  on  gums ;  dry- 
ness of  throat  (palate)  without 
thirst ;  hawking  of  tough 
mucus. 

Stomach  and  Abdomtn. — 
Continuous  nausea  in  throat; 
rumbling  in  intestines. 

Urinmry  Orgams. — ^FVeqnettt 
piKsfose  emission  of  watorf 
urine ;  eloud  forms  on  top  of 
urine. 

Seamal  Organs. — Sexual  de- 
sire suppressed ;  frequent  in- 
voluntary, very  debihtatiag 
emissions;  meteoristic  disian- 


r 


iS^Sn^S^    OHBOMO  PBAFNS8S. 


729 


LYGOFODimMU 

BespirtUory  Organs, — Sbcttt- 
iMBs  and  opprefiinon  of  break- 
ing ;  ooagh  with  eopions  pom- 
lent  ezpectoratiaii ;  con^  irith 
expectoration  of  blood. 

Extremities, — Arms  and  fin^ 
gers  go  to  sleep  easily ;  skin  of 
band  is  dry ;  old  ulcers  on  lower 
legs,  with  tearing,  itching,  and 
bnming  at  nigbt ;  sweUing  of 
feet  aroand  ankles ;  profuse 
sweat  of  feet. 

Oeneralities.  —  Tbe  whole 
body  feels  braised. 

Sleep, — Sopor. 

Fever,  —  Chills  and  heat 
attemating;  violent  perapira- 
tim ;  clammy. 

8km, — Bloodboils  (periodi- 
eally) ;  inflammation  of  bones* 
with  pains  at  night ;  caries  and 
softening  of  bones  ;  chilblains. 

Conditions, — Whilst  at  rest 
the  debility  is  mostly  felt,  but 
there  is  also  great  aversion  to  I 
exercise.  ' 


P&0£P8QiaC  A(2Pk 

Rstpiratary  Organs, — Short- 
of  breath ;  cough  with 
pvulient,  ¥erj  offensive  ozpeo- 
tozatton;  oo«gh  with  expeeto- 
ration  of  dark  blood. 

EatrmUties*SkajqpLy  marked 
deadness  of  one-half  of  fingers ; 
shrivelled,  dry  akin  of  hands 
and  fingers  ;  ulcers  on  lower 
extremities  with  itching;  feet 
swollen^  sweaty. 

Oeneraitties, — Sensation  as  if 
bedy  and  Hmbs  were  bruised. 

Sleep, — Great  drowsiness. 

Fever, — Chili  and  heat  fre- 
qventiy  alternating ;  profaie 
perflpieation ;  clammy. 

iS/etn. — Bloodboils ;  inflam- 
mation of  bones,  witlx  burning 
at  night ;  caries  with  smarting; 
swelling  of  bones ;  chilblains. 

Conditio7is, — ^Most  of  pains 
are  only  felt  during  rest,  and 
are  ameliorated  by  motion* 


Prof.  Wood's  soggestioa  a&  to  tbe  silica  will  be  acted 
upon,  and  with  the  advent  of  cooler  weather  a  supplenaent 
to  tbe  preceding  obsermfcions  will  be  probably  given  to  the 
readers  of  tbe  Times* 

Cleipeland,  Okio^ 

September,  1882* 


INDICATIONS  FOR  REMEDIES  FOB  CHRONIC 

DEAFNESS. 

By  RcBonr  T.  Coofsb,  MJ>. 

Fbysician,  Diseases  of  the  Esr,  London  Homodopathic  Hospital.    Hono- 
rary Member,  Amerieaa  Ophtiialm^ogieid  and  Oiologieal  Society. 

After  bjaviug*  had  nutny  yeajrg'  experienee  in  the  treatment 
of  ear  diseaaae  with  lioiBUAopathio  riemedies,  upon  looking 
back  and  considering  the  caaeg  tbftt  have  £aUen  to  my  caca, 


780  CHRONIC  DEAFNESS.     ^^IS^^dSJ^JwS 

I  feel  inclined  to  divide  all  ear  cases  into  two  great  classes 
— the  very  easily  cured,  and  those  that  are  very  difficult  to 
cure.  To  the  first  class  belong  some  of  the  simple  and  most 
of  the  complex  deaCaesses  {vide  my  paper  in  Annals  of 
the  British  Homoeopathic  Sodetyy  read  before  the  Society 
February,  1879),  and  to  the  second  belong  all  three,  but 
especially  the  complicated  deafnesses. 

The  division  into  curable  and  obstinate,  is  in  practice 
very  obvious  when  we  are  called  upon  to  express  an  opinion 
upon  the  probability  of  being  able  to-  effect  any  marked 
improvement. 

In  some  cases  of  obstinate  deafness  it  is  really  impossible 
to  foretell  what  amount,  if  any,  of  improvement  is  likely  to 
take  place,  and  as  to  the  period  of  time  required  to  effect 
improvement,  we  are  altogether  in  the  dark. 

For  example,  some  time  ago  two  ladies  came  to  me 
tmffering  from  deafuess  of  a  very  obstinate  description.  The 
one  was  a  lady  of  about  fifty  years  of  age,  but  young  looking 
for  this  age,  and  with  plenty  of  reaction  in  her  system,  who 
dated  her  deafness  back  some  fourteen  years ;  the  other  was 
an  old  lady  of  seventy,  who  had  been  deaf  all  her  life, 
having  had  scarlatina  at  two  years  old,  and  had  used  a 
trumpet  in  public  meetings  ^'  within  the  memory  of  man." 

In  the  former  case  one  might  reasonably  have  expected 
to  do  some  good,  in  the  other  it  would  have  appeared  to 
those  not  experienced  in  such  matters,  impossible,  and  even 
as  it  was,  the  highest  authorities  of  the  day  among  the 
allopaths  had  declared  the  case  beyond  help. 

It  was  not  so,  however,  for  under  homoeopathic  treatment, 
I  am  proud  to  say,  this  lady  is  hearing  well,  and  no  longer 
uses  a  trumpet ;  and  as  the  case  is  known  far  and  wide,  the 
impression  made  upon  her  friends  is  veiy  considerable, 
many  of  them  having  consulted  me  in  consequence. 

But  my  reason  for  bringing  forward  these  cases  is  to 
illustrate  the  difficulty  that  attends  the  expression  of  an 
opinion  in  deaf  cases.  In  both  these  cases  I  had  reason- 
able grounds  for  hoping  that  improvement  would  take 
place.  In  neither  was  there  present  any  feature  leading 
me  to  suppose  the  case  incurable.  In  both  cases  it  would 
have  been,  I  feel  convinced,  inconsistent  with  my  duty  not 
to  have  undertaken  the  case,  and  yet  in  the  one  instance 
marked  and  immediate  recovery  resulted ;  in  the  other,  I 
grieve  to  say,  and  that  the  apparently  most  curable,  no 
improvement  whatever  was  effected. 


SS^rSTiTSSS^    OHBONIO  DSAFNEBS*  731 

I  refer  to  these  oases  simply  ''  to  point  a  moral.*'  At 
some  fdtare  time  we  may  take  advantage  of  one  of  them 
**  to  adorn  a  tale." 

Comparatively  few  oases  of  dea&iess  present  any  features 
justifying  as  in  pronouncing  them  incurable.  Instances 
of  the  curability  of  the  most  chronic  forms  of  dea&ess  are 
continually  cropping  up.  In  this  fact  rests  our  hope,  and 
I  must  repeat  what  I  have  often  insisted  upon,  that  with 
fiur  play,  if  we  only  search  out  in  a  painstaking  manner 
the  indications  for  our  remedies,  we  are,  with  homoeo- 
pathy, in  a  position  to  do  a  great  deal  for  the  treatment  of 
chronic  deafness. 

For  myself  I  have  tried  all  means  that  have  been 
suggested  for  the  relief  of  this  obstinate  affection,  and 
from  none  have  I  derived  any  benefit  worth  speaking  of, 
except  from  pure  homoeopathy. 

The  low  dilutions,  which  I  honestly  confess  I  have  a 
partiality  for,  act  very  well  in  recent  and  comparatively 
curable  cases;  while  in  obstinate  chronic  cases,  however 
useful  the  low  dilutions  may  be  as  inter-current  remedies, 
it  is  upon  the  high  dilutions  we  must  depend  for  the  com- 
pletion of  anything  like  a  satisfactory  cure. 

In  such  cases  as  the  following  a  low  dilution  will  act 
very  well : — 

H.  M.  T.,  a  gentleman,  of  28  years  of  age,  fairly  healthy 
looking,  of  lightish  complexion,  and  nervo-sanguine  dis- 
position, consulted  me  in  the  end  of  August  for  deafness, 
with  recurrent  abscesses,  which  settle  in  different  parts, 
but  generally  upon  the  walls  of  the  meatus  of  the  right, 
but  sometimes  also  of  the  left  ear ;  has  been  getting  much 
worse  of  late,  the  ''  gatherings  "  being  attended  with  con- 
siderable earache.  The  ear  discharged  up  till  three  or 
four  days  ago,  and  now  feels  hot,  and  full,  and  uncomfort- 
able. The  head  sympathises  with  the  condition  of  the 
ear,  feeUng  heavy  and  uncomfortable  also.  Appetite  is 
poor;  sleep  good;  bowels  regular;  pulse  fair.  Has  not 
had  trouble  with  the  wisdom  teeth,  and  the  family  history 
is  not  unfavourable. 

The  right  membrane  is  not  perforated,  but  it  is  bulged 
outwards  to  a  slight  degree ;  is  purplish  looking,  and  the 
malleus  handle  is  of  a  pinkish  suffusion;  the  left  membrane 
partakes  of  the  same  characters,  though  not  bulged. 

I  lay  stress  upon  this  appearance  of  the  membranes,  as 
being  a  marked  indication  for  hydrastis,  12  drops  of  the 


732  43HBOinC  DSAFHES8.     ^'nS^ 


.Dm.1. 


^  tincture  of  wfaieh  was  giTen  to  go  orar  a  fortniglity  and 
15  drops  of  the  same  to  half  an  onnee  of  glycerine  and 
water,  to  be  used  as  a  lotion  to  the  right  ear. 

On  16th  Octdber  he  i^etaimed,  sajing  he  was  qnito  well ; 
the  kevvj  feeling  had  quite  gone  from  the  ear,  and  his  head 
felt  much  clearer.  He  eoiild  also  hear  every  soond  qnito 
naturally  (which  was  not  the  ease  before,  ihongh  on  oemiBg 
to  me  the  watch  hearing  was  nenial).  The  left  ear  beeanie 
swollen  soon  after  seeing  me,  but  it  came  to  nothing  ;  and 
altogether,  except  for  a  sligfat  hoarseness,  for  wiiicfa  I 
prescribed  tnangcmum,  he  feels  infinitely  better  than  he 
did. 

This  was  an  example  of  easily  curable  deafeess ;  eaaily 
carable,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  indicated  remedy^  bi^ 
oertadnly  not  eamHy  corabie  after  the  haphazard  manner  of 
the  allopaths.  The  following  is  an  example  of  yeiy  obsti- 
nate deafDees  :•*«- 

M.  K.,  aged  24,  liying-  in  the  Sonth  of  England,  eamt 
to  me  with  deafness,  whieh  had  been  coming  on  gradnaliy 
for  many  years,  the  supposed  cause  being  a  succession  ot 
ulcerated  sore  throats.  She  has  been  to  two  of  the  leadii^ 
specialists  in  London,  both  of  whom  declared  her  case  to 
be  beyond  their  power  to  reliere,  and  besides  this*  every 
now  and  then  her  family  doctcH:  has  drawn  a  bow  at  a 
yenture,  but  all  to  no  purpose. 

Up  tUl  three  years  ago  her  dea&ess  got  gradually  worse, 
but  now  it  appears  staitionaryy  upon  whicb.  &ct  rests  her 
(mly  hope  '*  that  something  may  be  done.'* 

Miss  W.  has  been  a  great  suSerer  from  headaehei^ 
which  generally  end  in  hysterical  attacks,  bat  this  has 
been  rather  lem  the  case  of  recent  years  than  formerly. 
With  the  monthly  iUaees  alsa  much  headache  and  pain  ]» 
suffered,  and  on  the  tldrd  day  die  becomes  hygterioaL 
Hysterical  attacks^  however,  nerer  occur  without  good  and 
tangible  reason. 

Complains  mu^  of  noises  in  the  head,  but  only  whsB 
tired,  and  is  subject  to  much  sinking  in  the  pit  of  tbs 
chest,  but  this  also  is  present  only  when  tired*  Bowels 
are  regular ;  appetite  is  feucr ;  sleep  fairly  good. 

hearing. — None  wikatever  on  tike  ri^t  side ;  caB  just 
discern  the  tick  of  a  watch  when  pressed  agaittst  the  kA 
ear. 

Ttnting  fork  heard  fairly,  best  with  the  right  ear. 

Membranes  pale,   psssesting  the  appearance  I  ksf» 


ih^o£n?u£^     OHBONIO  DBAniliBB.  783 

described  as  accompanying  nervotis  deafness   (vide  my 
DUecues  of  Ear y  Second  EcUtion,  p.  178). 

The  indications  for  picric  acia  were  very  marked,  the 
Aoises  in  the  head  and  sinking  in  the  chest  being  worse 
when  tired  {vide  Transactions  of  the  International  HomosO' 
pathic  Convention,  the  Minntes  of  the  Meetings,  p.  186, 
where  I  make  some  reference  to  this),  and  the  alteration  of 
ihe  symptoms  during  a  condition  of  exhaustion  point  very 
clearly  to  it. 

I  wish  particular  attention  to  be  paid  to  each  report  of 
tiie  case,  as  it  illustrates  how,  eyen  if  we  choose  the  right 
remedy,  we  may  often  go  astray  from  not  disposing  the 
dose  in  accordance  with  the  varying  requirements  of  the 
i^se. 

On  the  28rd  January,  1882, 1  first  prescribed  a  grain  of 
picric  acid  to  6  ounces  of  water  for  this  case,  and  on  the 
6th  February  again  saw  my  patient,  who  gave  this  report : 
Wakes  every  morning  with  very  much  headache,  and  the 
headaches  last  longer  than  they  did ;  constant  twitching  of 
ihe  left  eyelid;  noises  stiU,  which  are  a  great  deal  worse  on 
getting  up  in  the  morning  and  when  tired;  monthly  period 
has  been  on,  but  with  much  less  headache. 

Hearing  rather  better. 

The  italicised  symptoms  I  looked  upon  as  aggravation, 
and  therefore  gave  instead  the  sixth  decimal  of  picric  acidf 
7  drops  for  the  fortnight. 

20th  February. — ^Has  felt  better,  but  hearing  the  same. 
The  twitching  of  the  left  eyelid  and  the  headaches  are 
much  better ;  noises  are  worse. 

To  have  ac.  pic.  6  ce.,  7  drops  for  the  ^r«£  fortnight,  and 
terebinth  second  decimal,  12  drops  for  the  second  fort- 
Bight. 

7th  March.  Hears  better ;  appetite  not  good ;  feels  weak 
and  easily  upset.  Had  a  very  bad  headache  with  the  last 
monthly  illness.  Noises  are  much  better.  At  times  the 
hearing  is  markedly  improved.  Membranes  of  both  ears 
look  certainly  more  natural  than  they  did. 

Considering  the  improvement  to  be  due  to  the  picric 
acidy  I  gave  it  again  in  the  6th  ce. 

4th  April.  Is  much  better ;  slight  but  decided  improve- 
ment ;  feels  stronger,  but  still  has  head  and  backache  after 
a  short  walk.    To  continue. 

SrdMay.  Decidedly  better  and  stronger;  general  health 
much  better.    To  continue  for  another  month. 

Vol.  36,  No.  18.  8  0 


T84  GHBOmO  DEAFNESS.      "ffiw^SHfuS^ 

28th  Jane,  1882.  Betnrns,  saying  that  it  is  two  weeks 
since  she  took  the  medicine,  and  misses  it  greatly.  On 
leaTing  it  off  her  general  health  suffered,  and  her  hearing 
heoame  yery  painfully  confused ;  then  took  cod  liyer  oil,  and 
felt  hotter,  but  not  so  well  as  when  taking  the  medicine. 
likiiseB  (the  noises  are,  I  should  mention,  of  a  throbbing 
oharacter)  still  continue,  but  are  less. 

To  haye  two  pilules  of  the  same  dilution  of  picric  add 
three  times  a  day. 

I  heard  nothing  farther  of  this -patient  till,  on  the  12th 
of  this  month,  a  friend  of  hers  came  to  consult  me  in  con- 
sequence of  the  astonishing  improyement  that  had  taken 

place  in  Miss  K 's  case,  so  great,  that  it  was  regarded 

as  perfectly  remarkable  by  all  her  friends,  and  though  her 
hearing  had  not  entirely  recoyered,  she  yet  was  hearing 
aomids  it  would  haye  been  impossible  for  her  to  haye  done 
befixre,  and  was  continuing  to  get  better.  A  recent  letter 
from  this  patient  entirely  oonfinns  this  report. 

This  interesting  subject  of  the  UnnitiLB  of  picric  add 
deseryes  farther  illustration* 

In  July,  1881,  a  brother  practitioner  brought  his  wife  to 
me  for  adyice  for  deafiiess  which  had  come  on  from  sore 
throats  six  years  before ;  the  right  ear  alone  is  affected,  and 
ijr  aches  and  becomes  tender  when  lying  upon  it.  Is  mudi 
distressed  with  noises  like  booming  in  the  ear.  The  right 
membrane  is  white  and  polished. 

For  these  symptoms  I  prescribed  a  trituration  of  ignoHa, 
and  heard  nothing  further  till  the  following  year,  when 
(June,  1882)  her  husband  wrote  to  say  his  wife  had  been 
nmch  better  of  the  tinnitus  after  taking  tibie  ignatia,  "though 
neiver  quite  reeoyered  the  faring  of  tixe  ear." 

Now  reports,  that  for  the  last  two  weeks  she  has  had  a 
return  of  the  noises  worse  than  before,  with  yertigo  brought 
on  by  the  slightest  moyement. 

Tympanic  membrane  he  describes  as  y^ry  tense  and 
shiny,  the  malleus.  hancUa  standing  out  prominently • 
These  symptoms,  are  ascribed.,  to  her  haying  been,  oyei^ 
worked,  seeing  visitors,.  Ac 

I  ordered  in  reply  to  the  aboye  report^  ac.  pie.  a  graiB» 
tabe^diBsolyed  in  4  ozs^  o£  water  and  a  teaspoonful  to  be 
taJDon  fiourtimes  a  day.. 

On  18th  June,  1882,  he  wrote  in  great  distress  to  say 
Mk  wife  was  yery^mndi  worse  for  the  picric  acid ;  daring 
all  Sunday  and^  yesterday  wa&  worse  than  she  has  been  yet,. 


^jjttlyHaiMeogfflito       bbIGHT'S  DISEASE.  785 


B«vi0w,  Deo.  U  1889. 


the  noises  being  veiy  distressing,  and  for  about  an  bonr 
yesterday,  when  the  noises  were  at  the  worst,  the  vertigo 
was  yery  distressing,  being  accompanied  by  naasea,  bat  no 
actual  Yomiting. 

Fatigue,  he  describes',  always  produces  marked  aggrava- 
tion of  the  noise,  and  vertigo  has  also  a  constant  dull 
pressive  headache,  which  is  present  even  on  waking,  worse 
before  rising  than  during  the  day. 

Taking  food  relieves  the  vertigo,  but  not  the  noises, 
temporanly.  The  headache  seems  to  extend  all  the  way 
up  from  the  root  of  the  neck,  and  is  worse  in  a  line  straight 
through,  just  above,  and  in  front  of  the  ears. 

The  above  is  a  full,  and»  I  think,  verbatim  report,  as 
given  me  by  her  husband;  it  is  well  worthy  of  careful 
perusal. 

Becognising  aggravation,  I  ordered  a  drop  of  the  twelfth 
of  the  ac.  pic.  instead  of  the  solution  of  the  crude 
substance,  and  soon  after  had  a  letter  thanking  me  most 
heartily  for  the  benefit  my  prescription  had  given  ;  it  was 
marked  and  satisfactory,  and  has  proved  a  permanent  relief. 

Dr.  Macnutt  mentioned  to  me  a  case  of  a  lady  in  whom 
picric  acid  had  removed  a  zone  of  yellowish  discoloration 
that  surrounded  the  mouth,  causing  great  disfigurement. 

Possibly  this  may  be  amongst  its  indications. 

21,.  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendisli  Square,  W. 
October,  1882- 

—       — ■ — — — ■ — .^— — »— ^.^^ 

BKEEF  NOTES  FROM  CASE  BOOK. 

By  T..  E.  PuxDoit,  M.D.y  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

Brighfs  Disease — Bronchitis. 

Mr.  J.,  $bL  about  6S,  tailor. 
Present  condition,  November  17th,  1876 : — 
Bronchitis,  with  morning  sickness.      The  latter,  bfr» 
thinks,  is  brought  on  by^  violent  coughing.     Heart  hyper- 
trophied  and  sounds  muffled*     Pulse  &st  and  full,  but 
feeble.    Dull  aching  pain  across  the  lumbar  region.    Urine 
somewhat   scanty,  with    some   sediment.     Dull  frontal 
headache  and  feeling  of  intoxication.    Face  pufiy  and  pale*. 
Bowels  very  protuberant,  but  from  adipose  tissue.-    Urine 
ocntains    l-12th  of  dbumen,    with    some   debziSr  <dso 
granulflx  and  fatty  oasts  in  small  fragments. 

8  0-2 


736  BRiaHT's  DISEASE.      "'S^fSSTSS 

Diagnosis. — Chronio  tabular  nephritis. 

Prognosis. — ^Unfavoarable  oltimately,  but  fiAYonrable  at 
present. 

Treatment. — Ars.  8  x — 2  x,  and  ant.  tart.  8  x — 2  x. 
Soon  removed  the  bronchitis  and  reduced  the  quantity  of 
albumen  considerably. 

He  then  took  ars.  alb.  8  x  and  infusion  of  digitaUs 
(concentrated),  6  drop  doseSi  being  equal  to  forty  drops  of 
the  ordinary  inftision. 

November  SOth,  1875. — The  last  prescription  has  done 
him  much  good.  ' 

In  1882  he  is  in  fairly  good  health. 

Bronchitis — Rachitis — Whooping  Cough. 

Wilson,  J.y  83t  19  months. 

Bronchitis  from  exposure  at  open  window.  Aeon.  Bry. 
Previous  to  this  he  had  been  strong  and  well  developed. 
Acute  symptoms  relieved.  Restlessness;  Chamom.  and 
china  for  debility. 

February  14th,  1875.  Is  teething.  Languid ;  cannot 
stand ;  spine  seems  curving  backward  at  root  of  neck  as 
if  from  debility;  chest  is  projecting  in  pigeon-breast 
fashion.  Bachitis  had  evidently  set  in  as  a  result  of  the 
bronchitis,  and  consequent  debility  during  dentition. 

March,  1875.  He  had  chamom.^  calc.  phos.,  cod  Uver 
oil,  syrup,  lact.  phos.,  phos.  calcis,  with  as  nourishing  diet 
as  possible.  Regulated  pressure  on  sternum  to  help  the 
expansion  of  the  ribs.     Salt  baths. 

May,  1875.  Difficult  breathing ;  cough,  with  no  power 
to  expectorate;  respiration  almost  normal;  tonsils  en- 
larged; feverish  and  fretful;  great  cephalic  perspiration. 
BeU.  1,  Phos.,  8,  friction  with  cod  liver  oil. 

May  6th,  1875.  Cough  much  better,  scarcely  any 
perspiration  on  head.  Ac.  phos.  8  and  sUicea  6,  were 
prescribed  for  this.  The  child  kept  improving  a  little 
till  the  autumn,  when  he  began  to  lose  ground  again.  A 
change  to  the  seaside  then  picked  him  up  wonderfrilly. 

April  19th,  1876.  For  several  days  has  been  coughing, 
(brother  has  whooping  cough)  and  though  looking  better 
I  felt  that  if  this  developed  into  whooping  cough,  in  his 
rickety  condition,  he  would  have  very  Uttle  chance  of 
recovery. 

He  improved  a  little  till  April  80th,  when  his  respiration 
suddenly  became  much  worse.    Cough  parosysmid  but 


SiSS^SnrS^     bmoht's  disbabb.  737 

very  little  power  with  it.  No  whoop  developed;  no 
expectoration;  great  distress;  conynlsions;  death;  the 
last  severe  symptoms  lasting  only  fourteen  hours.  For 
the  last  attack  he  had  beli,,  ipecac, ,  ant  tarL;  cuprum 
with  brandy  as  a  stimulant. 

In  this  case  the  bellad.,  phos.^  ac.  phos.  and  dlicea  were 
useful.  Sea  air  had  a  very  good  effect ;  but  there  was  no 
stamina  to  resist  any  fresh  disease,  and  specially  whooping 
cough. 

MeoBles,  Scarlet  Fever,  Acute  BheumatUm. 

M.  W.»  SBt«  7.  Measles  well  developed,  and  treated  in 
the  usual  way.  As  the  measles  rash  was  fading,  he  was 
evidently  still  far  from  being  well ;  this  was  explained  by 
the  distinct  rash  of  scarlet  fever  developing  with  sore  throat, 
and  swollen  glands.  Soon  after  these  symptoms  developed 
he  complained  of  pains  in  various  joyits.  Ere  the  scarlet 
fever  rash  was  well  away,  he  was  evidently  suffering  from 
acute  rheumatism  with  high  fever.  Two  weeks  saw  him 
through  what  may  be  called  three  fevers ;  the  finale  being 
a  profuse  perspiration  and  a  copious  eruption  of  sudamina. 
The  heart  was  slightly  injured,  and  its  action  was  quick  and 
excited  for  some  time  after.  I  record  this  as  an  interesting 
instance  of  one  fever  merging  into  another ;  the  one  poison 
being  in  abeyance  while  the  other  was  at  its  height.  Some 
of  his  brothers  had  measles  at  the  same  time,  but  nothing 
more.  There  was  nothing  special  in  the  treatment,  save 
that  I  noted  that  verat.  viride  seemed  to  reduce  the  fever 
in  its  third  rise  very  quickly. 

Acute  Chorea  masking  (for  a  time)  Rheumatic  Fever. 

Cardiac  complication. 

L — .,  aet.  17.  Works  in  Ship-yard.  Two  or  three  weeks 
ago  his  movements  were  noticed  to  be  slightly  irregular. 
Able  to  remain  at  work  till  a  few  days  ago*  Has  grown 
very  fast,  but  has  had  no  illnesses  to  speak  of.  Generally 
very  healthy.  He  is  exposed  to  changes  of  temperature  at 
work.  Has  been  under  treatment  for  some  days,  and  has 
had  a  draught  to  moderate  movements  and  promote  sleep. 

November  6th,  1881.  Saw  him  for  the  first  time,  and 
found  him  suffering  from  excessive  irregular  muscular 
movements.  These  affected  both  sides,  but  specially  the 
right  arm  and  leg.  Great  mental  agitation.  Shouts  out 
occasionally.    Tongue  swollen,  protruded  with  jerks,  and 


788  Bxmsw.  ^■"S^^STffSS 


furred.  Speech  thick  and  staimnermg.  No  sleep  saiB 
from  draught,  which  soon  loses  its  effect.  Bowels  costive. 
No  history  nor  complaint  of  rhenmatism.  Heart  acticm 
excited.  Systolic  brait;  temperature  104S.  Perspiring 
freely ;  the  perspiration  being  sour.    Urine  high  coloured. 

Aeon,  (p  and  actaa  (p  were  prescribed  in  fractional  doses 
every  alternate  hour.  These  were  taken  for  three  days,  with 
considerable  abatement  of  the  movements. 

10th  November.  Movements  less ;  looks  very  exhausted ; 
mind  wandering;  heart  is  quicker.  Bheumatism  now 
developed  in  two  or  three  joints.    Aeon,  1  x,  bry.  alh.  1  x. 

11th  November.  Movements  worse  again*  Fever  still 
present.    Aeon.  ^,  acUea  (p. 

14th  November.  Violent  movements,  almost  throwing 
himself  out  of  bed.  Delirious;  shouting.  Actaa  9,  jitra- 
mon.  (p  in  fractional  doses. 

16th  November.  Slept  several  hours,  which  he  had  alao 
done  under  aeon*  and  dctaa  at  first.  The  stramonium  con- 
trolled the  movements  and  mental  state  wonderfully. 
Continue  acUea  alone,  giving  the  stramonium  if  necessaiy. 

16th  November.    Beported  much  better. 

18th  November.  Improving.  Sleeping  well ;  still  slight 
movements,  with  partial  paralysis  of  right  arm  and  leg. 
Actaa  9,  sidph.  (p, 

November  26th.  Has  been  up.  CSardiac  sounds  normal; 
pulse  regular ;  all  chorea  gone.  Still  some  want  of  power 
in  right  arm.  Tongue  raw  (this  was  severely  bitten  at  the 
first,  when  he  had  to  be  held  in  bed).  Liq.  araenicalisy  mj. 
ter  in  die.    Pil.  svlph.    Nocte. 

The  action  of  acUea  and  stramonium  in  this  severe  case 
was  well  marked.  I  only  saw  the  patient  occasionally,  as 
he  lived  at  some  distance. 

REVIEW. 

T?ie  Vmtmg  lAst  and  Pocket  Bepertory.    By  Bobebv  Taulsmzb, 

M.D.  Boericke  &  Tafel.  New  York. 
We  have  received  a  copy  of  this  convenient  visiting  list  for  1888. 
It  is  a  veniable  muUum  in  parvo^  for  in  addition  to  ample  spaoe 
for  visiting  list,  it  has  also  columns  for  daily  record  of  medicines 
prescribed  which  are  often  apt  to  slip  oat  of  the  memory.  The 
Bepertory  at  the  commencement  is  of  necessity  brief,  and  with- 
out pretending  to  be  more  than  a  mere  sign-post  to  a  remedy, 
yet  will  serve  well  enough  when  larger  volumes  of  reference  ace 
out  of  reach.  The  book  is  well  got  up,  and  much  superior  to 
many  visiting  lists  we  have  seen,  and  has  an  additional  chum  to 
notice  in  being  purely  homodopathic  throughout. 


^^^S!u^  MBBTIKOS.  789 

MEETINGS. 


LONDON    SCHOOL    OF    HOMiEOPATHY. 

A  Special  General  Meeting  of  the  Governors  and  Sabscribers 
of  this  Institution  was  held  in  the  board  room  at  the  London 
Homoeopathic  Hospital,  on  Thursday,  October  26th,  at  three 
o'clock.  The  meeting  was  an  a4}oanmient  from  the  20th  April, 
and  was  called  to  receive  the  report  of  the  sub-committee,  which 
had  been  appointed  at  the  April  meeting,  to  make  enquiries  as 
to  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  Boyal  Charter  for  the  Schocd, 
and  legal  sanction  for  its  Diploma.  Among  the  governors  and 
subscribers  present  were  Dr.  Matheson,  Mr.  Harris,  Dr.  Hughes, 
Dr.  Dudgeon,  Dr.  Bayes,  Mr.  Bosher,  Major  W.  Vaughan- 
Morgan,  Dr.  Marsden,  Dr.  Blackley,  Dr.  Epps,  Dr.  Black, 
Dr.  Jagielski,  Dr.  Goldsbrough,  Dr.  Noble,  Dr.  Anderson,  Dr. 
Moir,  Dr.  Clarke,  Dr.  Dyce  Brown,  Dr.  Pope  (the  honorary 
secretary). 

In  the  absence  of  Lord  Ebuty,  Dr.  Bayes,  as  vice-president, 
occupied  the  chair. 

Dr.  Bates  said  that  the  principal  business  of  the  meeting  was 
to  receive,  and  if  approved,  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  sub-oom- 
mittee  appointed  on  the  20th  April,  and  he  would,  therefore,  call 
upon  the  honorary  secretary  to  read  that  report. 

Dr.  Pope  then  read  the  report  as  follows  : — 

'*  The  committee  appointed,  consisting  of  Dr.  Bayes  (V*P.)) 
Dr.  Hughes,  Dr.  Galley  Blackley,  Mr.  Pite,  and  Dr.  Pope  (Hon. 
Bee.),  have  to  report  that  in  considering,  the  question  submitted 
to  them,  they  have  met  on  five  occasions. 

''  They  found  that  there  were  three  methods  of  incorporation 
•^one  by  Boyal  Charter ;  one  by  a  Special  Act  of  Parliament ; 
and  one  by  general  Acts  relating  to  the  incorporation  of  learned 
and  other  societies,  passed  between  the  years  1862  and  1867. 

**  Incorporation  by  Boyal  Charter  presented  numerous  dffi- 
culties— -difficulties  which  have  be^a  materially  increased  of  Mo 
years,  owing  to  Parliament  having  passed  measures  enablixig 
bodies,  desirous  of  incorporation,  to  obtain  all  the  advantages  of 
a  Boyal  Charter,  without  adding  to  the  business  of  the  Pxfvy 
Council  Office. 

'*A  Special  Act  of  Parliament  might  possibly  have  been 
secured,  but  the  expenses  attendant  on  doing  so  were  so  great 
as  to  place  attempting  it  beyond  the  power  of  the  London  S&ool 
of  Homoeopathy. 

<*  The  tlurd  plan,  they  found,  was  one  that  would  enable  them 
to  acquire  the  rights  and  privileges  of  an  incorporated  society, 
and  that  the  expenses  of  securing  it  would  not  exceed  £Q0  or  £70. 


740 MEETINGfl;  '^^g^^SySL 

**  They  have,  therefore,  to  propose  to  the  goyemors  of  the 
London  School  of  HomoBopathj,  that  an  application  shall  be 
made  to  the  authority  appointed  by  Act  of  Parliament — ^in  this 
instance  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade — to  grant  the 
School  letters  of  incorporation  and  a  common  seal.  In  taking 
this  step  it  is  necessary  to  comply  with  special  instmctions  from 
the  Board  of  Trade.  These  inyolve  &e  presentation  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Board,  and  by  him  to  the  Comisel  of  the  Board, 
a  memorandum  setting  forth  the  proposed  name  of  the  institu- 
tion, its  locality,  its  objects  and  management,  together  with  th» 
articles  of  association  under  which  the  members  of  the  proposed 
Incorporation  intend  to  act  together,  and  the  rules  by  which  they 
will  be  governed. 

'*  The  consideration  of  these  various  points  has  been  attended 
with  much  anxious  discussion  by  the  members  of  your  com* 
mittee,  in  which  they  have  had  the  assistance  of  the  solicitors 
consulted  by  them — ^Messrs.  Eimber  &  Co.,  of  Lombard  Street. 
The  result  of  these  deliberations  is  contained  in  the  memorandum 
and  articles  sent  herewith. 

**  The  memorandum,  it  will  be  observed,  is  much  more  com- 
prehensive in  its  scope  than  may  at  first  sight  appear  necessary 
to  attain  the  objects  of  the  institution.  But  your  committee 
were  advised  that  it  was  necessary  to  insert  in  this  document, 
not  only  everything  that  was  desirable  now,  but  also  everything 
that  there  was  the  least  probabihty  might  ever  be  required  in  the 
interests  of  the  School.  The  reason  urged  by  the  solicitors  for 
this  course  being  that  no  addition  or  alteration  could  at  any 
future  time  be  made  in  the  memorandum.  To  the  lines  laid 
down  in  this  document  the  members  must  adhere  for  all  time. 
Hence,  eveiy  object  that  the  members  of  the  School  might  now 
or  at  any  futiure  period  be  likely  to  desire  to  carry  out,  must  be 
inserted. 

'<  By  incorporation  the  School  acquires  legal  power  to  act  in 
all  the  circumstances  set  forth  in  the  memorandum ;  its  manage- 
ment becomes  more  exact  and  precise ;  it  will  be  more  likely  to 
secure  public  confidence ;  its  permanence,  as  an  institution,  is 
more  thoroughly  assured. 

''  For  these  reasons  your  committee  submit  that  incorporation 
is  desirable,  and  that  the  scheme  now  proposed  is  that  whichia 
most  likely  to  ensiure  its  being  obtained. 

'*  Signed  on  behalf  of  the  committee, 

«  A1.FBED  C.  Pope,  Hon.  Sec" 

The  CHAmifAN  then  said  that  as  presumably  aD  present  had 
received  the  printed  memorandum  of  association,  which  had 
been  sent  to  all  the  subscribers,  it  would  perhaps  not  be 
desirable  or  necessary  that  it  should  be*  read.  It  was  a  long 
document,  and  he  would,  if  that  were  the  general  wish,  take  it  as 


SS^STfS^  MBBTINQS.  741 


BovlsWy  Doo.  If  1868* 


read,  as  the  portions  they  wonld  hare  to  disenss  were  no  donbt 
pretty  generally  understood. 

This  coarse  being  approved, 

Dr.  Bates  then  said  he  would  also  propose  that  they  should 
proceed  immediately  to  the  discussion  of  Uie  report,  which  had 
been  read  in  their  heaiing,  so  that  full  opportunity  might  be 
given  for  any  remarks  which  it  might  be  desired  to  make.  He 
proposed  that  the  report  they  had  heard  be  adopted. 

Dr.  Mathxbon  seconded  the  proposition. 

Dr.  Dttdgeon  said  that  it  was  not  apparent  to  him,  on  the  face 
of  the  report,  what  advantages  could  be  gained  by  the  proposed 
incorporation.  Let  them  ask  what  is  incorporation  ?  It  is  not 
a  cliarter.  It  gives  no  privileges.  A  deed  of  incorporation  is 
merely  a  commercial  document  forming  us  into  an  association, 
and  incurring  certain  liabilities  and  responsibilities.  Coming  to 
the  memorandum  of  association,  what  would  be  the  effect  of  that 
on  the  School  ?  They  would  be  crystallised  in  their  present 
form,  and  they  would  never  be  able  to  stir  from  the  terms  of  that 
memorandum.  Medicine  was  a  progressive  science,  and  homceo- 
paths  were  not  going  to  stand  still,  any  more  than  their  other 
medical  confreres.  Even  now,  homoeopathy  is  modified  from 
what  it  was  in  the  times  of  Hahnemann.  Why  should  the 
School  be  crystallised  in  this  way  ?  It  might  be  said  that  though 
they  might  crystallise  the  School,  they  would  not  necessarily 
crystallise  homoeopathy,  or  stay  the  progress  of  science.  But 
what  advantages  were  to  follow  from  their  binding  themsdves 
by  terms  like  the  laws  of  the  Modes  and  Persians  ?  It  was  only 
right  that,  when  invited  to  place  themselves  under  conditions  and 
regulations  of  association,  in  which  no  alteration  could  ever  be 
made,  they  should  ask  themselves  what  they  were  doing  this 
for  ?  Is  it  to  gain  any  advantages  ?  For  his  own  part  he  had 
not  seen  any  advantage  pointed  out  as  the  consequence  of  this 
memorandum  of  association,  and  he  would  be  very  pleased  to 
hear  what  advantages  they  were  to  gain  from  it.  In  the  British 
Homoeopathic  Society  they  had  no  such  memorandum  of  associa* 
tion,  yet  that  society  was  perfectiy  competent  to  create  fellows 
and  members.  The  School  had,  without  any  incorporation,  pre- 
cisely the  same  powers  as  the  society,  and  the  proposed  incorpo- 
ration could  confer  no  others.  They  had  heard  that  the  expense 
of  incorporation  would  be  about  £60  or  £70,  and  he  would  ask, 
is  it  worth  while  to  make  that  outiay  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
themselves  in  a  stereotyped  form,  witiiout  any  possibility  of  ever 
altering  it.  As  an  amendment,  he  proposed  that  the  report  of 
the  sub-committee  be  not  adopted,  presuming  that  if  that 
amendment  were  carried,  it  would  have  the  effect  of  allowing  the 
School  to  remain  as  it  was. 


742  joxtaaB.  '^^ 


Dee.lt 


Dr.  BiACK  rose  to  second  the  aznendment,  and  said  that 
before  speaking  on  it,  be  would  much  prefer  that  someone 
would  point  oat  what  were  snpposed  to  be  the  adTantages  of 
incorporation.  This  course  would  allow  him  the  opportunity  of 
testing  the  reality  of  those  adyantages. 

Dr.  Dtoe  Bbown  said  he  had  been  under  the  impression  fin 
now  that  the  advantages  of  incorporation  were  admitted  by  afl 
their  body.  (Hear,  hear).  The  School  of  Homoeopathy  had 
existed  for  a  number  of  years,  and  it  had  recently  been  proposed 
that  it  should  grant  a  diploma  of  '*  Licentiate  in  Homoeopathy.*' 
That  had  been  met  by  a  number  of  objections,  the  most  impor- 
tant of  which  was  that  to  such  a  diploma  so  granted  there  could 
attach  no  legal  standing.  Now,  under  a  deed  of  incorporation 
the  position  would  be  somewhat  different. 

Dr.  Black  :  What  legal  standing  can  incorporation  giro  ? 

Dr.  Dudgeon  :  It  gives  no  legal  value  whatever. 

Dr.  Dyce  Bbown  :  [Those  genUemen  who  objected  said  that 
having  a  School  of  Homoeopathy,  merely,  the  diploma  had  no 
value ;  but  if  the  School  were  on  an  incorporated  basis,  then 
the  diploma  might  have  some  legal  weight  virtually*  As  to  the 
incorporation  stopping  progress,  every  means  had  been  taken,  in 
drawing  up  the  deed,  to  obviate  any  danger  of  that.  Of  course 
if  a  Boyal  Charter  could  be  obtained,  that  would  be  the  most 
desirable  thing  ;  but  it  was  generally  understood  that  the  next 
best  was  to  secure  a  charter  of  incorporation,  as  calculated  io 
give  any  diploma  issued  by  the  School  more  weight.  And  to 
prevent  any  danger  of  the  crystallisation  which  had  been 
suggested,  every  possible  means  of  enlarging  the  sphere  of  the 
School,  and  taking  in  a  wider  curriculum,  had  been  adopted. 
While  they  had  endeavoured  to  give  a  firm  legal  standing  to  the 
School  and  its  diploma,  they  had  secured  every  possible  chance 
of  deviating,  if  necessary,  from  a  stereotyped  form. 

Dr.  Black  said  he  thought  he  would  now  be  able  to  under- 
stand the  position.  It  was  clearly  understood  that  this 
incorporation  by  the  JBoard  of  Trade  was  not  in  any  sense 
a  charter.  The  Board  of  Trade  had  no  power  to  give  a 
charter,  and  their  deed  of  incorporation  gave  no  more  legal 
value  to  the  proposed  diploma  of  *'  Licentiate  in  Homoeopathy  *' 
than  it  possessed  before.  The  fact  was  that  any  man  could  call 
himself  F.L.S.H.,  and  would,  by  so  doing,  incur  no  legal  penalty. 
He  knew  perfectly  well,  from  experience,  the  difficulty  of  obtain- 
ing a  charter,  and  between  a  charter  granted  by  the  Privy 
Council,  or  by  Parliament,  and  an  incorporation  by  the  Board 
of  Trade,  there  was  the  widest  difference.  It  did  not  follow 
either  that  they  would  get  what  they  were  asking  for.  Incor- 
poration itself  was  not  an  easy  matter.  And  if  a  dozen  men 
were  to  write  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  say  that  they  regarded 


the  proposed  incorporation  as  not  for  the  advantage  of  tibe 
School,  the  probability  was  that  it  would  not  be  granted.  There 
was,  in  his  opinion,  another  serions  objection  to  the  memorandmn 
of  association.  K  the  School  became  incorporated  nnder  that 
memorandmn,  they  would  never  be  able  to  get  away  from  the 
name  homoeopathy.  He  regarded  it  altogether  as  most  nnfortn- 
jiate,  that  jnst  as  there  was  a  prospect  of  peace  and  agreement 
between  the  supporters  of  the  School,  there  was  set  up  this 
•question  of  a  diploma,  which  would  be  a  fresh  cause  of  lack  of 
sympathy.  Men  who  were  quite  as  zealously  attached  to  homoeo- 
pathy as  the  promoters  of  this  measure,  were  anxious  that  the 
^School  should  strictly  limit  itself  to  its  proper  function  of 
teaching.  It  comes  to  this — ^if  you  wish  to  give  a  certificate, 
well  and  good,  but  if  you  wish  to  give  a  diploma,  then  the  moacse 
men  become  qualified  the  more  superior  they  will  becomBix) 
£uch  diplomas  as  have  no  legal  value.  By  diis  measure  yon 
resuscitate  that  lack  of  sympathy,  which  has  before  been  so 
much  regretted,  you  stereotype  your  sectarian  position,  and  yon 
merely  place  yourselves  on  a  commercial  basis,  such  as  a  gas 
company  or  other  association,  and  you  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of 
the  public,  by  your  diploma,  seeiQg  that  you  cannot  say  yon 
have  a  charter. 

Dr.  Pope  said  that  with  regard  to  the  objection  which  was 
made  by  Dr.  Dudgeon  as  to  stereotyping  the  form  of  homoeo- 
pathy, if  Dr.  Dudgeon  would  read  clause  c  of  paragraph  8  of 
the  memorandum  of  association,  he  would  see  that  by  that 
clause  stereotyping  will  be  impossible.  That  clause  provides  for 
**  the  consideration,  discussion,  and  determination  of  questions 
relating  to  general  and  special  therapeutics,  practical  medicine, 
.and  surgery,  physiology,  pathology,  chemistry,  botany,  pharmacy 
and  other  branches  of  the  science  and  art  of  medicine  and  sur- 
gery, and  the  dissemination  of  the  results  of  such  deliberations, 
or  any  of  them."  Clause  g  of  the  same  paragraph  also  sets 
forth  that  the  School  was  established  for  ''the  advancement, 
encouragement  and  dissemination  of  professional  knowledge, 
study  and  research,  and  the  results  thereof  respectively  by  all  or 
Any  of  the  following  methods,  viz : — by  the  establiahment  and 
maintenance  of  physiological,  pathological,  pharmaceutical, 
.chemical,  botanical,  surgical,  and  other  laboratories,  museums 
and  institutions ;  by  the  delivery  of  lectures  and  instructions  in 
all  or  any  branches  of  a  complete  medical  and  surgical  education ; 
/by  giving  prizes  and  rewardB ;  and  by  giving  to  such  persons  as 
-—being  already  legally  qualified  practitioners  of  medicine  or 
surgery  iu  the  state  or  country  of  which  they  are  citizens — shall 
liave  attended  such  courses  of  instruction  given  by  the  corpora- 
tion during  such  a  period  or  periods  of  time,  and  shall  have 
passed  such  examinations  as  may  from  time  to  time  be  prescribed 


744  MBBTiHaB.  **2S2L^ffST^ 


1. 


1 

i 


by  the  governing  body  of  the  corporation  (such  examinations  to 
be  conducted  by  teachers,  professors  or  practitioners  of  medicine 
or  surgery  duly  qualified  by  law  and  appointed  from  time  to 
time  by  the  council),  a  certificate  of  fdlowship  certifying  the 
recipient's  knowledge  and  proficiency  in  and  fitness  to  practise 
'  homoaopathy,'  or  any  modification  thereof.'*    The  fiict  was  the 
whole  deed  had  been  drawn  up  with  the  greatest  care  to  pre- 
vent the  possibility  of  any  stereotyping.    (Hear,  hear).    It  was 
also  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  anything  less  than  a  Boyal  Charter 
could  confer    no  advantages  in  point  of  position.      Several 
societies  of  known  position  were  incorporated,  but  had  no  Boyal 
Charter.    The  British  Medical  Association,  the  Anthropological 
Sociely,  the  Philological  Society  were  incorporated,  but  had  no* 
Boyal  Charter.    If  the  point  were  of  no  more  importance  than 
Dr.  Black  had  represented,  those  bodies  would  not  have  attached 
the  weight  that  they  do  in  securing  it.    It  would  be  a  very  great 
advantage  if  we  could  obtain  a  Boyal  Charter,  we  admit ;  and 
that  a  deed  of  incorporation  is  not  all  we  desire  is  quite  true  p 
but  it  is  all  we  can  get.    It  will  certainly  increase  public  con* 
fidence,  in  the  stability  and  proper  management  of  tiie  Schoolv 
and  just  in  proportion  as  it  does  this,  it  will  be  valuable  to  ns^ 
and  fulfil  the  desired  purpose.     Dr.  Black  has  objected  to  tba^ 
permanence  which  the  deed  of  incorporation  will  give  to  the 
School  and  homoeopathy  in  the  present  form.     He  says  that  the 
name  homoeopathy  may  die  out.    Well,  I  am  sure  that  we  shall 
all  die  out  before  it  does  (laughter),  at  least,  I  hope  so.  (Cheers). 
It  had  been  stated  that  &e  proposed  incorporation  would  place 
the  School  on  a  commercial  basis,  but  paragraph  4  of  the  articles 
of  association  would  show  that  there  was  no  danger  of  that. 
This  paragraph  set  forth  that — <<  The  income  and  property  of  the 
corporation  whencesoever  derived  shall  be  applied  solely  to  the 
promotion  of  the  objects  of  the  corporation  as  set  forth  in  this 
memorandum,  and  no  portion  thereof  shall  be  paid  or  transferred 
directly  or  indirectly  by  way  of  dividend,  bonus,  or  otherwise 
howsoever  by  way  of  profit  to  the  members  of  the  corporation. 
Provided  that  nothing  herein  shall  prevent  the  payment  in  good 
faith  of  remuneration  to  any  officers  or  servants  (whether  mem- 
bers, governors,  life-governors  or  otherwise)  of  the  corporation, 
or  other  person  in  return  for  any  services  actually  rendered  to 
the  corporation."  There  was  nothing  commercial  in  that.  (Hear» 
hear).    It  was  not  to  be  in  any  sense  an  association  for  profit. 
Dr.  Pope  then  read  an  extract  firom  the  laws  affecting  corporate 
bodies,  and  proceeded  to  show  that  they  were  quite  prohibited 
from  receiving   profit.      As  to  those  gentlemen  who  do  not 
think  that  the  incorporation  of  the  School  will  improve  the 
position  of  the   School  with  the  public,  he  entirely  differed 
^  'sm  them.     Undoubtedly  it  secures  permanency  (applause^ 


^S^SST^SS^  MEExraqa, 745 

and  is  oalcnlated  to  promote  a  more  general  stady  of  homoeo- 
pathy.    (Cheers). 

Br.  Mabsden  said  he  had  always  agreed  with  Drs.  Black  and 
Dadgeon  on  previons  questions  on  wlueh  differences  existed,  and 
when  some  time  ago  it  was  stated  to  him  that  the  School  desired 
«to  grant  a  diploma,  he  coold  only  make  the  simple  hat  conclnsive 
:«nswer — ^they  have  no  right  to  do  so.  Bat  when  the  School, 
if  it  could  not  secure  a  Boyal  Charter,  might  become  incor- 
porated, thoagh  he  could  still  see  the  disadvantages  as  to  legal 
standing,  yet  that  seemed  to  him  to  alter  the  case.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  nothing  in  the  memorandum  was  calculated  to  pre- 
vent progress.  There  were  in  the  articles  of  association  clauses 
which  amply  allowed  for  progress  in  the  principles  of  medicine. 
On  the  other  hand  it  was  very  hard  that  students  of  the  School 
should  be  launched  into  the  world  without  such  certificates  as 
were  in  contemplation,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  quahfica- 
tion  in  question,  though  not  what  mi^t  be  termed  a  legal  quali- 
fication, yet  carried  practical  advantages  with  it.  At  present 
homoeopaths  were  isolated,  and  the  probabilities  of  recognition, 
in  the  allopathic  sense  of  the  word,  seemed  to  him  to  be  still 
distant.  For  that  reason  he  came  to  vote  for  the  measure  as 
calculated  to  improve  the  status  of  homoeopathic  practitioners. 
He  maintained  that  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy  had 
done  as  much  as  could  reasonably  be  expected  from  it  in  the 
short  time  that  its  lectures  had  been  in  progress.  The  lecturers 
had,  in  his  opinion,  shown  great  determination,  and  perseverance 
and  learning,  in  their  endeavours  to  promulgate  the  great  dis- 
covery which  he  thought  had  done  as  much  to  revolutionise 
medical  science  as  the  discoveries  of  Harvey  and  Jenner.  As 
Dr.  Pope  had  said,  the  proposed  incorporation  was  not  what  they 
wanted,  but  it  was  aU  they  could  get,  and  was  calculated  to 
induce  a  greater  number  of  young  supporters  of  homoeopathy. 
(Applause). 

Ihr.  Jaodblski  asked  whether  Dr.  Pope,  who  had  visited  the 
United  States,  could  tell  them  whether  any  precedent  existed  in 
that  country  for  the  incorporation  of  homoeopathic  medical 
bo^es,  and  whether  any  great  advantages  had  been  found  to 
result  from  such  incorporation.  The  United  States  had  pro- 
gressed so  greatly  in  advance  of  English  homoeopaths  that  it 
might  be  well  if  they  could  follow  so  good  an  example. 

Dr.  Pops,  in  reply,  said  that  all  the  homoeopathic  medical 
colleges  of  the  United  States  had  received  charters  of  incorpora- 
•tion  from  their  Legislatures.  But  then  it  must  be  remembered 
that  obtaining  a  charter  from  a  State  Legislature,  and  procuring 
a  Boyal  Charter  in  England,  were  two  totally  different  things. 
The  one  was  a  very  simple  and  easy  process ;  the  other,  one  of 
the  most  difficult,  and  at  the  preseiit  tune  almost  impossible. 


746  lavTiKos.  "SSSL^TEf^SSr 


BcnrioWy  Dec*  It  tttt* 


Dr.  Mont  said  that  as  reference  had  been  made  to  young' 
members,  be  would  take  the  opportonitj  of  saying  that  he  knew 
the  feeling  of  several  yom^  members  of  the  profession,  and 
they  were  against  the  diploma.  The  eertifieate  ^ich  the  School 
might  give  would  derive  no  additional^valne  from  the  incorporation 
of  liie  School.  Dr.  Pope  had  admitted,  that  while  he  considered 
the  incorporation  good,  it  wonld  also  be  very  expensive,  and  he* 
{Dr^  Moir)  was  of  opinion  that  the  position  taken  np  wonld 
drive  students  from  ^e  SchooL 

Dr.  GoiJ>sBBOU6H  saidthati  acra  former  student  of  the  Schod^ 
he  was  sorry  to  disagree  with  Dr.  Moir.  He  also  thought  thai 
the  diploma  of  the  School,  while  it  might  not  have  much  weight 
with  those  gentiemen  who  were  settled  in  London,  it  would  have- 
a  real  value  in  the  case  of  practitioners  going  to  a  new  place  in 
the  country.  In  addition  to  their  legal  certificates,  it  would 
riiow  that  tiiey  had  studied  homceopathy.  (Hear,  hear).  It  was 
true,  as  Dr.  Black  had  pointed  out,  that  the  letters  "  F.L.S.H."^ 
or  *'  L.H."  could  have  no  legal  value,  yet  he  thought  that  they 
must  have  some  weight  as  given  by  an  incorporated  body. 
(Hear).  Dr.  Black  also  had  rather  put  it  as  possible  that 
homoBopathy  might  become  so  triumphant  that  it  would  he- 
desirable  to  drop  the  distinctive  titie  of  '*  homoeopathy.*'  Well, 
there  was  a  clause  in  the  memorandum  of  association  which, 
when  homoeopathy  is  triumphant,would  provide  for  the  winding  up 
^  The  Incorporated  London  School  of  Homoeopathy.'*  (Cheers). 
But  there  was  one  question  which  he  would  like  to  ask,  and  it 
was,  whether  the  provings  of  medicine  by  the  School  would  be 
legal  under  the  articles  of  association  ?  He  regarded  the  provings 
of  medicine  on  the  healthy  human  body  as  entirely  distinctive  of 
homoeopathy,  and  as  a  valuable  means  of  discovery.  He  would 
like  to  know  whether  the  proposed  incorporation  would  admit  of 
the  provings  of  drugs  under  the  auspices  of  the  School  ? 

Dr.  Pope  said  that,  in  reply  to  that  question,  there  wezB; 
several  clauses  in  the  articles  (tf  association,  under  which  they 
would  have  the  right  to  conduct  experiments  of  the  kind  referred 
to. 

Dr*  GoLDSBRoiTGFH  mod  that,  with  all  due  respect,  the  artides: 
only  provided  for  ''the  consideration,  and  discuscnon,  and 
determination  of  questions." 

Dr.  HuoHES  said  ho  should  think  such  ezpaiments  would 
oome  under  the  head  of  ''  determination  of  questions."  But 
there  was  present  a  gentleman  from  the  firm  of  Messn; 
Kimber  &  Co.,  of  Lombard  Street,  who  had  been  the  legal 
advisers  in  this  matter,  and  perhaps  he  would  be  able  to  answer 
that  questiout^and  settle  sevconl  points  of  a  legal  character,  which 
had  been  asked.  He  (Dr.  Hu^es)  would,  however,  tkke  tiw 
opportunity  of  saying  tiiilthenrwB&nothing  in  the  memorandunr 


S^gnnsr  MgrriNqs. 747 

of  asBOciatioii  wldoh  wonld  neeessitate'  stereotyping  or  crystallisa- 
tiozL;  and  as  to  the  supposed  continnation  of  the  School  after 
the  word  *'  homoaopathy "  had  ceased  to  exist,  if  ever  that 
happened,  the  necessity  for  the  School  itself  would  cease  to  exist. 
(Hear,  hear).  He,  however,  regretted  very  mncb  to  hear  that 
the  endeavours  to  secnre  the  incorp(»iition  wotdd  he  likely  to 
canse  any  renewal  of  the  differences  of  opinion  hetween  some 
memhers  of  the  School  and  those  who  acted  officially  for  the 
School. 

Dr.  Black  explained  that  there  could  not  hut  he  a  want  of 
sympathy  hetween  the  memhers  referred  to  and  those  who  were 
xesponsihle  for  such  measures  as  were  now  proposed. 

Dr.  Hughes,  continuing,  said  that  the  question,  which  seemed 
to  him  the  real  question,  was  whether  the  game  was  worth  the 
candle.  He  had  signed  the  memorandum,  although  personally 
not  well  acquainted  with  legal  details,  hut  relying  mainly  on  the 
advice  of  their  legal  advisers  and  the  judgment  of  his  colleagues. 
He  hoped  that  1V&.  Watts,  who  was  present  to  represent  Messrs. 
Eimher  &  Co.,  would  he  received  as  a  memher  of  that  meeting 
pro  tem,f  and  permitted  to  speak,  as  ho  (Dr.  Hughes),  for  one, 
would  he  guided  by  what  he  said.. 

Mr.  Watts,  being  called  upon  by  the  Chairman,  said :  I 
feel  rather  under  a  difficulty,  because  I  did  not  expect  to  be 
called  upon.  But  I  may  say  generally,  i^iat  when  we  were  con- 
sulted upon  the  proposition  to  apply  fat  a  Royal  Charter,  we 
said  that  that  was  the  only  thing  which  would  give  a  right  to 
grant  diplomas  possessing  any  legal  value.  But  we  said  you  can 
incorporate  under  the  Act  of  1867,  and  that  course  will  give 
you  several  advantages,  such  as  having  the  regulations  of  the 
society  sanctioned  by  the  State ;  and  as  regarded  the  right  to 
grant  certificates,  we  thought  that  there  could  be  no  harm  in 
making  application  for  it.  If  the  Board  of  Trade  grant  the 
power  sought  the  document  awarded  by  the  School  would  not  be 
a  diploma,  but  simply  a  certificate ;  it  would,  however,  have  this 
value — ^that  you,  an  incorporated  body,  have  examined  the  person 
holding  the  certificate,  and  certify'  that  he  possesses  certain 
qualifications.  All  along  we  have  placed  this  view  before  your 
flub-conmiittee.  If  the  proposal  now  meet  with  your  approval, 
we  shall  send  it  in  to  the  Board  of  Trade.;  and  although  some 
may  consider  the  valua  of  the  certificate  doubtful,  I  think  I  am 
expressing  the  general  opinion  of  the  sub-committee  when  I  say 
liiat  the  certificate  will  certainly  ha\(e  a  value  to  all  who  value 
you. 

Dr.  Black  said  he  knew  quite  well  what  the  fate  of  the  pro- 
posal would  be.  The  Board  of  Trade  would  naturally  refer  it  to 
ttieir  legal  advisers,  who  in  their  turn  will  refer  it  to  their 
iiwdical  advisers,  and  the  School  would  soon  get  its  answer; 


748  MBBTIKGS.  "^S;r?DS?i!SSf 


He  bad  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  seenring  a  charter^  and  ha 
cotdd  well  forecast  the  coarse  which  would  be  taken.  Then, 
suppose  that  any  man,  not  being  a  member  of  this  body,  were  to 
call  himself  *<  F.L.S.H/'  what  conld  yon  do  ? 

Mr.  Watts  :  Well,  it  would  be  open  to  the  School  to  remon- 
strate with  him.     (Lan^ter). 

Dr.  Black  :  We  conld  take  no  action  whatever. 

Mr.  Watts  :  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  same  objection 
obtains  in  the  case  of  the  initials  of  any  learned  society  or  any 
degree  whatever.  He  might  clear  the  ground  by  stating  distinctly 
that  no  law  prevents  the  use  of  initials,  which  may  mean  any- 
thing. The  same  remark  applies  to  tities.  Any  person  oouLd 
put  F.L.S.H.  after  his  name ;  but  no  one,  supposing  the  School 
be  incorporated,  could  add  the  words  Fell.  Lond.  Sch.  Hom., 
because  they  would  have  a  signification  as  the  title  of  this 
,  incorporated  Society.  The  plan  would  be  not  to  use  initials  but 
syllables. 

Dr.  Hughes  thought  that  was  of  very  great  impcnrtanee, 
because  their  solicitor  now  said  that  in  that  form  their  title 
would  have  a  legal  value. 

Mr.  Watts  :  No  two  companies  can  be  incorporated  in 
precisely  similar  names.  When  a  proposal  is  first  made  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  first  thing  he  does  is  to  see 
if  there  is  any  other  Society  bearing  the  same  titie  on  the  books. 
If  not,  and  the  Society  is  incorporated,  no  other  society  or 
individual  can  adopt  that  name. 

Dr.  Pope  said  that  Dr.  Black  a  few  minutes  previously  had 
referred  to  him  as  having  said  that  the  School  would  in  tiie 
future  restrict  itself  to  teaching  and  make  no  pretensions  to 
qualifying.  It  was  just  because  this  proposed  deed  of  iocorpora- 
tion  would  so  restrict  them,  and  limit  them  to  issuing  certificates, 
and  render  all  further  disturbance  and  dispute  impossible,  that  he 
supported  it  and  advocated  its  adoption. 

Dr.  Clarke  said  that  they  would  aU  agree  upon  one  point — 
that  to  secure  a  Boyal  Charter,  and  legal  sanction  for  tibe  pro- 
posed diploma,  was  practically  impossible.  But  their  sub- 
committee was  appointed  to  make  enquiries  as  to  the  possibility 
of  obtaining  such  a  Boyal  Charter  and  legal  sanction  for  their 
diploma.  That  being  so,  all  this  memorandum  of  association 
was  apart  from  the  object  for  which  the  committee  was  appointed ; 
and  although  it  is  said  that  we  can  get  certain  advantages  from 
this  proposed  incorporation,  he  did  not  quite  see,  from  a  business 
point  of  view,  what  those  advantages  were.  They  could  do  as 
much  without  incorporation  as  they  could  do  with  it.  It  was  as 
stated — ^a  mere  question  of  trying  it  on ;  and  as  that  prooesi 
eonfessedly  involved  considerable  expense,  he  thought  that  it 
would  perhaps  be  better  to  let  some  other  society  try  it  on  first. 


JfiSS'STfa^  MEBTINOS.  749 


Biffew,  Deo.  1,  lfi88. 


and  bear  the  expense.    It  seemed  to  him  that  they  were  doing  a 
great  deal  to  gain  nothing. 

Dr.  DuDOBON  said  he  would  now  be  obliged  to  leave  the 
meeting,  bat  before  going  he  wotdd  like  to  say  that  the  whola 
thing  appeared  to  him  to  be  a  sham.  At  the  best,  they  had  been 
told,  they  were  only  going  to  try  it  on.  It  had  never  been  done 
before,  and  the  object  was  to  take  advantage,  if  possible,  of  some^ 
want  of  observation  on  the  part  of  the  Board  of  Trade.  (Cries 
of  "  No,  no.") 

Mr.  Watts  :  We  did  not  say  we  intended  to  slip  it  in  unob- 
served, but  simply  to  make  the  experiment. 

Dr.  Dudgeon  said  that  in  the  case  of  the  British  Homoeopathic 
Society,  the  letters  '*  MJB.H.S.*'  were  assumed  when  chosen. 
That  society  is  not  an  incorporated  body,  but  it  has  the  power  to 
confer  those  initials,  which  have  their  meaning,  and  can  be  used 
if  thought  proper,  but  the  present  proposition,  while  it  can  confer 
no  real  advantages,  will  have  the  effect  of  raising  a  great  deal  of 
opposition.     (Cries  of  **  Divide  "). 

The  Chaibman:  By  being  an  incorporated  society  we  can 
secure  permanence.  I  understood  Dr.  Black  to  thmk  that  a 
disadvantage. 

Dr.  Black  said  he  agreed  entirely  with  permanency.  What 
he  objected  to  was  perpetuating  distinctions  and  differences. 

The  Chaibmam,  to  "Mx.  Watts :  Does  not  incorporation  give  us 
some  real  advantages  in  dealing  with  the  money. 

ILr.  Watts  :  Yes — greater  legality. 

The  Chaibman  :  When  the  new  Medical  Act  comes  into  force 
it  will  give  greater  facilities  to  incorporated  bodies,  and  it  would, 
give  us  a  greater  chance  of  getting  examining  power.  Mean- 
while I  apprehend  that  no  one  fears  our  being  driven  to  legal 
proceediiqgs  to  prevent  anyone  adopting  our  title,  which  I  take  it 
no  one  could  legally  do. 

Mr.  Watts  :  In  doing  so,  presuming  that  he  used  the  words- 
**  Fellow  of  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy,"  he  would  be 
using  words  which  would  constitute  an  infringement  of  your 
right,  for  which  you  could  proceed  against  him. 

The  Chaibman  said  that  the  great  value  of  the  diploma  would 
be  its  evidence  that  the  person  holding  it  was  competent  to 
practise  homoeopathy.  (Hear,  hear).  He  had  again  carefully 
looked  through  the  memorandum  of  association,  and  he  did  not 
see  that  there  was  much  in  the  objections  which  had  been  raised. 
They  could  still  take  care  to  make  every  enquiry  on  all  matters 
of  importance,  but  as  to  the  document  in  general,  he  was  per- 
fectly satisfied.     (Cheers). 

Dr.  Mabsdbn  said  that  the  School  at  present  was  an  individual 
body,  but  when  it  was  a  corporate  body  its  teachers  would  be 
much  more  generally  recognised.    He  agreed  with  the  chairman 

Vol.  26,  No.  12.  8  n 


750  NOTABILIA.  ^'^gS; 


B0Vi6Vt  Dwi.  1« 


in  the  desirability  of  earafoDy  obTiatmg  any  distant  dangen,  bol 
he  eonld  see  many  advantages  id  the  proposed  inoorparation. 

The  Chaibmam  then,  in  response  to  invitations  £rom  the 
meeting,  put  the  motion  and  the  amendment  to  the  vote,  calling 
attention  to  the  fact  that  at  that  meeting  proxies  were  admissible^ 
and  suggested  that  scmtineers  be  appointed  to  examine  those 
tendered. 

Br.  Pope  and  Dr.  Clarke  were  appointed  scratineera. 

The  Ghaibbcan  said  that  the  moUon  was,  "  That  the  report  d 
snb-committee  be  adopted."  The  amendment  was,  *'  Thai  the 
report  of  the  snb-committee  be  not  adopted." 

The  amendment,  '*  That  the  report  of  the  sab-eommittee  be  not 
adopted/'  was  then  put,  when  the  voting  was  as  follows : — 

For  the  amendment 5 

Against  ...         ...         ...         ...      11 

Majority  in  favour  of  the  motion        6 

The  motion,  '*  That  the  report  of  the  sub-committee  be 
adopted,"  was  then  pat  to  the  vote,  which  was  as  follows  : — 

For  the  motion 12 

Proxies...         ...         ...         •••         15 

—    27 
Against...         ...         ...        «••  5 


Majority  in  favour  of  the  motion      22 

Dr.  Bayes  then  proposed  the  following  resolution : — **  That 
an  application  to  incorporate  the  London  School  of  Homoeopathy 
in  the  terms  of  the  printed  memorandum  and  articles  of  asso* 
eiation,  be  made  to  ihe  Board  of  Trade,  by  the  chairman  of  the 
present  meeting,  on  behalf  of  the  Sobiety." 

The  resolution,  having  been  seconded  by  Dr.  Matbxsok,  was 
carried. 

The  proceedings  terminated  with  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
chairman. 

NOTABILIA. 


KOTES  ON  THE  LONDON  HOlCiEOPATHIC  HOSPITAL. 

Thb  supporters  of  the  hospital  will  learn  with  satisfaction  that 
the  amount  of  subscriptions  received  in  the  first  half  of  the 
corrent  year  is  slightly  in  excess  of  the  sum  received  last  yeaf , 
although,  owing  to  the  death  of  some  subscribers,  some  valuable 
sabscriptions — ^including  one  of  £86  per  annum,  some  of  ten 
guineas,  and  others — ^have  been  lost.  Should  this  increase  be 
maintained,  the  present  financial  year  (1882-8)  will  compan 


SS^5ri?3^  NOTABIUA.  761 


favourably  with  the  year  1881-2.  The  same  may  be  said  in 
xegard  to  donations. 

There  has,  however,  been  a  decrease  in  the  amount  of  the 
Hospital  Snnday  grant  of  £4S.  This  is,  however,  entirely  owing 
to  the  complicated  system  of  assessment,  and  the  charges  made 
on  the  reserve  fund  for  repairs.  These  sums  are  deducted  by 
the  authorities  of  the  Hospital  Sunday  Fund  from  the  amount  of 
the  grant,  so  that  the  hospital  does  not  benefit  proportionately. 

The  nursing  fund  receipts  also  continue  to  increase. 

The  proposed  extension  of  the  nursing  institute  seems  to  be 
generally  considered  a  very. desirable  thing,  and  it  is  proposed 
to  pull  down  and  reconstruct  No.  1,  Powis  Place  (purchased 
some  years  ago  by  the  hospital),  and  to  adapt  for  the  present 
reception  of  additional  nurses ;  but  later  on — when  sufficient 
income  shall  have  been  secured — ^to  utilise  it  for  new  wards  con- 
taining a  large  number  of  additional  beds. 

We  sincerely  hope  that  this  praiseworthy  effort  of  the  hospital 
authorities  will  receive  the  fullest  support  of  our  medical 
brethren,  and  that  the  demand  for  traiued  nurses  will  increase  in 
ratio  to  the  supply,  and  so  insure  great  pecuniary  results. 

The  estimated  expense  of  preparing  the  house  will  be  £1,000, 
and  the  treasurer — Major  W.  Yaugluin-Morgan — has  opened  a 
special  subscription  list  by  a  donation  of  JSIOO. 

Apart  altogether  from  this  fund,  the  indefatigable  official 
manager,  Mr.  Chambre,  has  arranged  for  a  dramatic  performance 
in  January  next,  and  we  doubt  not  that  the  afiair  will  prove  as 
successfol  as  former  efforts  in  the  same  direction.  Our  old 
friends,  *'  The  Thalians,"  under  the  management  of  Captain  and 
Mrs.  Conyers  d'Arcy,  wiH  be  the  performers,  and  so  we  think  we 
may  predict  a  thoroughly  good  entertainment. 

HOMCEOPATHIO  CONVALESCENT  HOME  FOR 

CHILDREN,   SLOUGH. 

We  are  pleased  to  notice  that  some  kind  friends  are  anxious  to 
provide  a  convalescent  home  for  the  little  ones.  The  hospital 
can  do,  and  does  much  for  them,  but  the  requisite  change  of  f^ 
to  complete  the  good  work  is  often  hard  to  come  by,  owing  to 
poverty  or  other  circumstances. 

A  suitable  house  has  been  selected  at  Slough,  where  six 
patients  can  be  received.  Mr.  Deane  Butcher  has  kindly  promised 
to  become  honorary  medical  officer,  and  a  lady  residing  near 
(Miss  Forsyth)  will  become  honorary  superintendent.  £800  a 
year  will  defray  all  expenses.  Will  all  who  are  well-wishers 
to  this  kind  effort  on  behalf  of  the  little  ones,  send  help. 
Mr.  Craske,  London  and  County  Bank,  Slough,  has  kindly 
promised  to  receive  remittances. 

8  D— 2 


762  NOTABILIA.  "S^^SfifwS 


BeTi0«,  Dec  1, 1881. 


»t 


A  MEDICAL  CATECHISM. 

Patient  :  Now,  doctor,  how  would  you  define  <<  medical  science  ? 

Doctor :  Well,  medical  science  sometimes  consists  in  making 
a  person  think  he's  very  sick  when  he  isn't,  and  at  other  times  it 
teUs  people  there  isn't  much  the  matter  with  them  when  they 
•are  half  dead.  Sometimes  all  this  depends  on  the  size  of  the 
patient's  pocket-hook.  That  in  medicine  is  a  very  important 
and  vital  organ.  The  great  aim,  however,  in  my  experience,  is 
to  have  as  many  folks  sick  as  possible,  and  to  keep  them  sick. 

Patient :  What  is  your  idea  as  to  the  naming  of  diseases? 

Doctor :  To  change  the  name  at  least  once  in  ten  years. 

Patient:  Why? 

Doctor :  Because  old  names,  such  as  "  croup,"  "  lung  fever," 
i^c,  get  too  common.  People  are  too  apt  to  find  out  how  to 
treat  such  diseases  themselves.  But  when  we  clap  a  Latin 
Jiame  on  the  old  complaint,  it  mystifies  the  public,  scares  them, 
and  sets  them  all  adrift  again.  There'd  be  millions  of  doUars 
lost  to  the  medical  profession  if  we  didn't  change  the  names  of 
our  complaints  occasionally. 

Patient :  Suppose  a  well-to-do  person  is  a  little  out  of  sorts 
and  comes  to  you  with  an  idea  that  something  very  serious  is 
the  matter  him,  what  will  you  do  ? 

Doctor :  This  affords  me  some  of  my  best-paying  practice. 
In  such  cases  I  ''break  up  the  disease."  I  tell  him  that  he  is 
seriously  threatened  with  something  awful  in  Greek  or  Latin, 
•composed  of  two  words,  seven  or  eight  syllables,  and  one  hyphen. 
Then  I  put  him  on  a  course  of  hannless  drugs,  to  be  taken  at 
regular  intervals  of  two  hours.  I  put  him  also  on  a  strict  system 
of  diet,  and  keep  him  in  bed.  It  requires  about  a  week  to 
''break  up  the  disease."  Such  prevention  is  better  than 
immediate  cure.    It  pays  better  too. 

Patient:  When  you  are  called  in  and  are  yourself  uncertain 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  patient's  sickness,  what  do  you  say  to  his 
enquiring  friends  or  family  ? 

Doctor :  The  proper  course  in  aU  such  cases  is  to  look  wise 
and  grave,  and  to  say  as  little  as  possible.  We  leave  some 
medicine,  of  course.  How  can  one  be  a  doctor  unless  he  always 
gives  medicine  ?  The  medicine  quiets  the  patient's  mind  and  those 
of  his  friends.  Patients,  to  tell  the  truth,  are  as  bad  as  the  doctors 
iu  this  respect.  They  will  insist  on  having  some  medicine  when 
they  do  not  need  it.     But  it  never  pays  for  a  doctor  to  talk  much. 

Patient :  If  you  are  called  in  after  the  sick  person  has  been 
for  several  days  previous  in  the  care  of  another  physician,  and 
the  patient  dies,  what  is  your  course  ? 

Doctor  :  Invariably  to  regret,  to  particular  friends,  in  a  sab- 
odued  manner,  at  the  proper  times  and  places,  that  I  had  not 
been  called  in  before  ^e  disease  had  made  such  headway. 


]S5i^5nrSC^  KOTABILU. 758 

Patient :  Do  yon  not  think,  in  many  cases  of  sickness,  that 
natore,  aided  by  plenty  of  rest  and  good  nursing,  would  effect 
•«  core  ? 

Doctor :  We  do  not  encourage  nature  in  such  practices.  It 
•would  ruin  the  profession. 

Patient :  Now,  if  you  treat  a  patient  for  you  don't  exactly 
know  what,  and  he  reoorers,  don't  you  take  all  the  credit  for 
such  recovery  ? 

Doctor :  Sir,  that  is  a  professional  secret. 

Patient :  Can  you  tell  me.  Doctor,  why  it  is  that  an  expensive 
office,  a  horse  and  carriage,  and  a  residence  in  the  fashionable 
<qaarter  are  practically  considered  as  of  as  much,  if  not  more, 
importance  to  a  doctor  than  his  skill  or  experience  in  his  art, 
and  that  a  doctor  without  the  capital  to  set  himself  up  in  this 
manner,  be  his  skill  ever  so  great,  can  never  hope  to  obtain  a 
fashionable  practice  ? 

Doctor  :  Certainly  I  can.  It's  custom  and  stupidity.  But 
stupidity  makes  money  for  us.  Are  we  going  to  try  and  cure 
stupidity — ^kill  the  goose  that  lays  for  us  golden  eggs  ?    Never  I 

Patient :  What  other  means  have  you  for  stimulating  and 
developing  practice  ? 

Doctor  !  A  good  doctor  will  always  have  a  reputable  standing 
in  some  respectable  church.  He  will  at  least  hire  a  pew — ^front 
pew  if  possible — and  send  his  family  regularly.  Of  course 
lie  must  have  a  family.  A  doctor  without  a  family  is  unsafe — 
hasn't  given  any  hostages  to  society.  He  needn't  attend  church 
regularly  himself.  If  he  has  much  practice,  it  isn't  supposed  he 
can.  The  sick  must  be  visited,  Sunday  or  no  Sunday.  And 
when  he  does  come  to  church,  it  is  well  to  have  him  called  out 
occasionally — case  of  sudden  illness — doctor  sent  for ;  so  hard  on 
the  poor  man,  too,  when  he  has  so  little  opportunity  to  worship. 
Yet  no  rose  without  its  thorns.  No-— I  mean  no  cloud  without  its 
silver  lining.  When  the  doctor  is  called  out  of  church  all  the  con- 
gregation will  see  he's  in  demand.     It's  splendid  advertisement. 

Patient:  Who  are  the  most  permanent  and  lucrative  patients ? 

Doctor:  Women. 

Patient:  Why? 

Doctor :  Well,  I  think  sometimes  they  had  rather  be  sick 
and  under  a  doctor's  supervision  than  not.  Another  reason  is 
they  are  more  perverse  than  men  iu  clinging  to  the  causes  of 
their  ailments.  A  man  better  realises  that  without  health  he 
•cannot  carry  on  his  business.  So  when  he  finds  out  the  cause 
•of  disease  he'll  set  to  work  to  stop  it.  Tell  a  man  he  needs  more 
fresh  air  and  he'll  try  and  get  it.  Tell  him  he  needs  more  out- 
door exercise  and  he'U  try  and  take  it.  But  most  women  won't. 
They  squeeze  themselves  into  corsets,  and  insist  on  being  cured 
of  ills  caused  by  corsets  with  pOls.  They'll  go  out  in  cold,  damp 
ireather  in  costumes  which  show  off  their  figures  and  without 


764  OOBBESPONDBNCE.       ""^JL^S*?^ 


Beviev,  Bee.  1, 1888. 


cloaks,  wben  the  cold  drives  sJl  the  blood  from  their  skin,  for 
biogrs.  They'll  insist  on  being  cured  by  doctors  and  pills.  They'll 
wear  tight  shoes,  which  deform  and  pain  their  feet,  and  this  plan 
drawing  indirectly  from  their  strength — ^they'll  insist  on  being 
cured  with  more  pills.  Nor  is  this  ^.  But  I  shall  tell  no  mors. 
It  is  giving  the  '*  profession  "  away.  These  things  involve  our 
most  lucrative  secrets.  I  shan't  be  thanked  now  by  thousands 
of  brother  medical  nurses  of  disease  for  what  I  have  told.  Go 
to,  young  man !  Go  tol  You've  got  enough,  and  how  in  the 
world  you've  managed  to  worm  out  of  me  what  you  have  is  a 
mystery.  Get  thee  to  a  nuimeiy  I  I'll  never  more  have  one 
such  as  thou  pumping  from  me  tiiat  information  which  is  to  me 
my  professional  life-Uood.  Thou  art  an  interviewer  disguised  in 
the  likeness  of  a  sick  man.     Go  to ! — New  York  Daily  G-raphk, 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

THE  REVISION  OP  THE  MATERIA  MEDICA. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  ^^  Monthly  Honueopathic  Review, ^^ 

Gentlemen, — ^As  this  subject  is  being  actively  discussed,  will 
you  permit  me  to  make  a  few  remaiks  upon  it  ?  As  I  had  not 
the  opportunity  of  being  present  at  the  Edinburgh  Congress,  I 
will  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  my  general  agreement 
with  the  views  of  Dr.  Nankivell  and  those  on  his  side,  as  reported. 
But  my  criticism  must  take  a  wider  scope.  I  include  the  general 
relationship  of  the  work  of  the  Hahnemann  Publishing  Society 
to  the  wants  of  the  profession.  This  Society  has  enlisted  in  its 
service,  it  is  presumed,  most  of  the  active  spirits  of  our  small 
body,  and  it  is  on  this  side  of  the  water  the  only  working 
organisation  we  have,  and  for  the  painstaking,  self-denying,  and 
Si^If-imposed  labour  exhibited  by  it,  nothing  but  the  wannest 
a^Qloiowledgment  is  due.  With  the  method  and  scope  of  its 
worky  however,  some  difference  of  opinion  may  exist.  It  started 
with  the  praiseworthy  object  of  supplying  us  with  a  reliable 
Materia  Medica,  a  Repertory,  and  a  Therapeutic  Companioiit 
These  constitute,  in  my  opinion,  the  desidera^  for  practice. 

It  is  now  thirty  years  since  the  first  instalment  of  the  Materia 
Medica  was  issued ;  during  that  time  the  work  has  dragged  its^ 
slow  length  along,  and  five  medicines  in  all  have  been  presented 
to  us,  Uie  Repertory  chapters  and  the  tentative  essays  in  the 
therapeutic  part  not  being  here  referred  to.  After  thirty  yean 
of  effort  in  itxe  Materia  Medica  section,  a  dispute  springs  up  as 
to  whether  future  medicines  are  to  be  worked  in  a  Schema  form 
or  uot.  At  this  rate  the  blocks  that  are  being  quarried  and 
shaped  for  the  homoeopathic  pyramid  will  have  crumbled  away 
before  the  last  are  finished,  and  we  shall  never  build  the  structure 
intended.  For  it  is  in  the  nature  of  physiological  science  that  it 
i3  progressive  and  cumulative,  and  books  upon  it  become  rapidly 
l^:|ti4uated^    Fortunately  for  us,  we  have  had  the  materials  f^r 


Mjn^^aoBjgWo        COBBBSPONDBNCE.  756 


practice  more  or  less  accnrately  supplied  by  a  host  of  other  e^tii' 
pilations,  and  we  have  now  the  excellent  Materia  Medica  of  Alien 
along  with  the  couple  of  volnmes  of  Hahnemann's,  recently  trakm* 
lated  by  Dr.  Dudgeon,  giving  us  our  working  material.  But  aitixbi 
stage  a  cry  is  heard  for  a  revision  of  the  whole,  and  not  wi^ool 
cause.  It  has  been  felt  all  along  that  to  present  us  with  thto 
provings  chopped  up  in  the  Schema  is  feeding  us  with  thefa- 
peutic  mincemeat,  and  we  require  the  whole  joint  in  itslftir 
proportions,  or  even  the  entire  animal,  to  enable  us  to  foim  a 
true  judgment  of  what  will  suit  us. 

Besides  this,  we  wish  to  get  rid  of  redundancies  in  the  way  of 
vain  repetition,  and  to  see  wherein  we  are  deficient.      It  is 
evident  that  to  go  on  with  the  superstructure  when  the  fonudta^ 
tioHs  are  impeifect  is  to  waste  tune  and  labour.    We  reqrwte  a 
Council  of  the  Church  to  determine  vrhioh  of  our  books  are  to  be 
considered  canonical,  and  to  have  them  collected  in  a  systematic 
form,  for  it  is  undoubted  that  we  have  a  large  amount  of  what  is 
spurious  and  what    is    apochryphal  mixed  up  with  what  is 
genuine.     The  lawyer  has  his  Acts  of  Parliament  and  the  tbeo^ 
logian  his  canonical  writings  to  refer  to,  but  ours  we  have  not. 
It  seems  to  me  the  most  pressing  necessity  of  our  time  to  pass 
under  review  our  provings,  and  publish  them  in  full  in  narrative 
form  without  gloss  or  comment,  except  by  way  of  explanation*  The 
■attempt  in  this  direction  in  the  aconiti/imm  diapter,  lately  issued, 
has  given  a  life-like  picture  of  the  drug,  and  teaches  us  more 
than  the  best- arranged  Schema' possibly  could.  A  Materia  Medica 
sifted  and  supplied  in  full,  excluding  redundancies,  after  this  fiEtshion 
would  not  be  likely  to  grow  antiquated,  for  it  coidd  be  added  to  by 
way  of  supplement  from  time  to  time  as  new  provings  appeared. 
It  appears  to  me  to  be  wasting  the  time  of  the  Hahnemann 
Society  to  even  undertake  the  arrangmg  of  a  medicine.    The 
Council  of  Trent  did  not  spend  its  time  in  making  a  Concordance 
to  the  Scriptures ;   a  Cruden  could  do  that.     So  I  hold  the 
Hahnemann  Society  might  more  profitably  occupy  itself  with 
giving  us  an  authentic  Materia  Medica  to  tilie  best  of  its  ability, 
and  leave  the  depicting  and  tabulating  of  the  symptoms  to  a 
future  time  or  to  other  hands,  for  repertories  are  and  must  be 
variously  constructed  to  meet  the  various  tastes  and  Wttjs  of 
working  out  our  cases.    The  Cypher  Eepertory  does  not  com- 
mand universal  approval,  and  it  is  a  pity  to  employ  such  good 
working-power  in  a  direction  that  is  of  only  partial  ace^tance. 

I  would  propose,  therefore,  that  the  volunteers  ready  Ibr  the 
purpose,  form  themselves  into  a  purely  revising  committee 
and  get  the  work  already  to  their  hands,  passed  under  scrutiny 
and  stamped  with  their  approval,  and  published  in  order  from  A 
to  Z.  The  provings  have  not  to  be  made,  they  exist  in  our 
literature,  and  this  being  the  case  we  see  what  can  be  done  in 
the  Hahnemann  Materia  Medica  lately  traushted. 


766  GORBEBPONDENTS.        ''^2L^Sf?*?2J' 


Beriew,  Dw.  1, 1882. 


The  Hahnemann  Society  has  attempied  too  mnoh,  in  my 
opinion,  and  if  it  will  disencnmber  ite^  of  the  mere  work  of  a 
dictionary  maker,  it  may  serre  a  high  purpose  in  gathering 
together  and  assaying  the  precious  metal  that  constitutes  onr 
real  wealth,  and  when  this  is  done,  the  work  of  minting  it  into 
current  coin  may  be  left  to  whoever  will  undertake  it,  as  it  is  of 
minor  importance,  and  as  before  said,  will  doubtless  be  yariously 
done.  In  the  meantime  we  wiU  make  shift  with  our  present 
repertories. 

As  regards  the  Schema,  it  appears  to  me  to  be  quite  unne- 
cessary. It  is  only  a  collection  of  symptoms  dissected  out  and 
grouped  artificially,  and  if  the  provings  were  indexed  in  some 
such  manner  as  the  verses  of  the  Bevised  Version  of  the  New 
Testament,  they  could  be  noted  in  any  fonn  of  repertory  and  ao 
allow  of  ready  reference  to  them.  The  Schema  is  only  a  middle- 
man coming  between  the  provings  and  the  repertory,  and  as  he 
is  only  a  thing  of  shreds  and  patches  he  may  be  dispensed  with. 

Let  us  but  have  a  reliable  record  of  provings,  and  indexes,  con- 
cordances, and  repertories,  cypher  and  others,  general  and 
special,  will  spring  up,  and  with  monographs  on  all  subjects  we 
duil  not  have  to  find  fault  with  the  materials  for  homcsopathic 
practice,  excepting  of  course  the  inadequacy  of  every  human 
means  for  meeting  all  the  contmgencies  of  disease. 
P.  Pboctob,  L.R.C.P. 

NOTICES   TO   CORRESPONDENTS. 

«%  We  cannot  undertake  to  return  rejected  manuacripte, 
GommonioatioDS,  Ao.,  have  been  received  from  Dr.  Coofbb  (London) ; 
Dr.  BsMJAFiBLD  (Tasmania) ;  Dr.  Pubdom  (Newcastle) ;  Dr.  Sioth  (Cleve- 
land, U.S.) ;  Dr.  Pboell  (Gastein);  Dr.  Blacklet  (Manchester) ;  AziAK 
£.  CHAMBRfe,  Bsq.  (London) ;  Miss  Fobsitb  (Slough) ;  Dr.  Hawm^^  Siotr 
/Bamsgate) ;  Dr.  Pboctob  (Liverpool^ ;  Dr.  BLatiiB  (Boohdale).  Several 
important  commnnications  are  anavoidably  crnshed  out. 

BOOKS  RECEIVED. 

The  Homeeopathie  World, — Homeeopathic  Medical  Progress, — The  New 
York  Medical  Timei,^The  Calcutta  Journal  of  Medicine—The  New 
England  Medical  Gazette,  Boston. — The  Clinique.  C^cago. — Bibluh 
tf^ue  Homasopathique.  Paris. — Bulletin  de  la  Soci€tS  MediaUe  Homaso- 
oathique,  Paris. —  The  Melbourne  Argue, — The  Hobart  Mercury, — 
AUgemeine  Homdopat,  Zeitung.  lieipng.Soletin  Clinico,  Madrid. — 
Homeeopathie  Pharmacopeia.  U.S.A.  Boerieke  &  Tafel. — Faiulkner''e 
Viiiting  List  for  1883,  Boerieke  Ss  Tafel.— Pr«ndmetaZ  Addrett,  Homa- 
opathie  Society  of  Pennsylvania, — North  American  Journal  of  HomoNh 
pathy. — The  Therapeutic  Oazette,  Detroit. — A  Momentous  Education 
Question.  By  P.  A.  Siljestrom.  Translated  by  Dr.  Garth  Wilkinsen. 
Young:  London. — Spinal  Curvature.  By  Heather  Bigg.  GhurdbilL 
Indian  Homaopathie  Beview,  Calcutta.^^tiultfnts*  JoumaL — El  Criteria 
Medico, — The  American  Observer, — The  Medical  Advance, — The  Hahne* 
marmian  Monthly, — Burgoyne's  Monthly  Magatine  of  Pharmacy, 

Papen,  Dispensary  Beporto,  and  Bo^n  lor  Reriew  to  be  sent  to  Dr.  D.  Droc 
Bbowji,  89.  Seymour  Street.  Fortman  Square,  W.;  or  to  Dr.  KsmraDT,  16,  MontpeUer 
Bow,  Blaekheatfa,  S.E.  AaTertiaementa  ana  Buainesa  oommanioatlons  to  be  aent  ta 
Meaan.  E.  Gould  &  Sov,  80,  Mooigate  Stnet,  B.C. 


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