Ma. PpB^LAR TRB^TliE
CONCERNING
HOKEOPATHT:
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
A BRIEF GLANCE AT THE FALLACIES
  OLD SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.


BY GEO. H. BLAIK, M. D.

       1 & 2 r ;
   COLUMBUS, 0.:
OSGOOD <fe PEARCE, PRINTERS.
      1857. 
i 
PREFACE.
           " The greatest study of mankind is man."—Pope.
           " Throw physic to the dogs."—Shakspeare.
  In this age of the world, with its vast improvements in all that
pertains to Science, Philosophy, and  the  Arts—with its gigantic
strides  in  Literature  and Politics—it is a lamentable fact that so
few of mankind should turn their attention to the great laws which
govern  Life and Health.   While  each annual  revolution witnesses
new discoveries and inventions  in  all the collateral branches of
learning, and  a corresponding recognition and acceptance of their
advantages, the subject of Medicine is left comparatively alone.  A
blind reliance upon the dogmas of two thousand years ago, or the
equally culpable disposition of encouraging quacks and charlatans,
have prevented, in some degree, the  advancement of a specific, and
therefore only true method of cure.
  It is with  a view  of  arresting this negligence,  and of calling
attention to the great importance of a proper understanding of the
laws which govern disease  and the administration of remedies, and
at the same time of furnishing some  practical facts and arguments
in support of  the doctrine  which the  author  advocates, adapted to
the comprehension of the non-medical public, that this little treatise
is undertaken.
  It has been thought proper, previous to entering upon an explana-
tion of  the beautiful simplicity which characterizes the Homoeopathic
System of Practice, to glance briefly at some  of the more prominent
theories which have from time  to  time been advanced by the ad-
vocates of the Old School, so called, with their ridiculous absurd-
ities and  graver effects; none of which, however, are more  absurd
or prejudicial  than many of the errors taught  and promulgated at
the  present day.
  A few facts are also added, relative to the  present condition of
Homoeopathy, from  which the friends of the system may judge of 
IV
the veracity of those who are constantly asserting that it is " dying
out."  Is not their desire substituted for the reality ?
  It may be proper, in order  to  disarm criticism, that  the author
should disclaim any effort at  originality, either  in composition or
matter;* and to  reiterate the assertion, that the enlightenment of
his immediate friends and patrons in regard to a system which they
have adopted, together with a desire to supply food for reflection to
those who are  earnestly inquiring  after light on the subject, have
been the only inducements to engage in the pleasant task.
  And to those who would attribute selfish or mercenary  views as
the motives for publication, he would  apply the  celebrated French
motto:
                " Honi soit qui mat y pense I "^

  * To " Paris' Pharmacologia " I am greatly indbeted for many of the strictly
historical facts contained herein. 
HOMEOPATHY.
                       RETROSPECTIVE.

  As far back as History gives us any information, we are  able to
find traces of a rudimental Healing  Art.   Indeed, we cannot im-
agine to ourselves a condition of society in which the ills of human
life were prevalent,  without  associating with it  a  corresponding
remedial element of  alleviation.  In the story of the Good Sama-
ritan we have an approximation to a true physician;  and the Bible
furnishes us  with numerous instances of disease, and of the simple
remedies then in vogue.  Even several hundred  years before the
Christian era, we can trace rude and fragmentary signs of the art,
but of so vague and unsatisfactory a nature as to give us no settled
views regarding its application.   It was not until  the establishment
of the  Temple  of Esculapius, in Greece, that records of  diseases
and their remedies were resorted to, and the confused elements  of
Physic obtained something like a system.   But of  the precise nature
of their remedial means we are left in ignorance ;  and not until the
days of Hippocrates do we find any satisfactory data from which
to trace our history.  From him were derived many of the doctrines
which prevail even now; and notwithstanding  the  changes which
may have occasionally occurred, or  the innovations made, he may
with truth be styled the  " Father of Medicine; "  and  he and his
immediate disciples be looked to as  the founders of the system, as
generally practiced at the  present  day.   True, their  notions  of
pathology were different in some respects, and from  the very nature
of things they were unable to employ the many and useless drugs of the
present; yet many,  if not most, of the  precepts they inculcated, in
modified forms, are adhered to even  now.
   It would be superfluous here to enumerate all the various theories
which have from time to time been advanced by the  more prominent
lights of the medical firmament—Paracelsus, Sydenham, Stahl and
others.   Suffice it, that they were a tissue of incongruous absurdities,
each  flourishing in its day, and  each disappearing  to  give rise to 
6
another equally absurd.   But  from the mass of experience thus
thrown together, much really useful information, and many valuable
hints have been derived, and to this  extent  should their  value be
acknowledged.
                      ACTION OP REMEDIES.

  In regard to the action of remedies, the most conflicting theories
have prevailed.  Galen supposed that the elementary properties of
bodies—heat, cold, moisture and dryness—constituted their  useful
indications.   Consequently, in disease characterized by coldness, it
was thought necessary that heat should be applied, or rather reme-
dies  containing the properties of heat; in those conditions in which
dryness was a predominant condition, moisture was supposed to  be
indicated ; and in reverse cases, the same rule should govern.
  The Methodic physicians attributed disease either to one  or the
other of two causes only—relaxation or over-action of the system;
and, as a consequence, but two conditions were to be accomplished—
tonic measures in one instance and depletion in the other.
  The Mechanical theory attributed all derangements to obstructions
in the blood ; and its remedies were those supposed to exert a me-
chanical force upon the cause of disease.   Upon this hypothesis the
action of  Mercury and Iron was  supposed to  depend ; that is,  by
their properties of gravitation.
  The  Chemists believed that the presence of disease was occasioned
by some chemical change in the fluids or solids—that there  must be
a predominance  of an acid or an  alkali; and their practice was
based thereon.
  The  most  superficial observer  cannot fail to perceive  that the
practice of the present day partakes more or  less of each of these
various theories; that, in fact, it is a medley of the whole, without
the  merit  they possessed  of being systematic.   According to the
whim of the individual physician, one or the other theory is adopted;
and  it  is  no difficult matter to  perceive  the immense bad results
which must follow such a condition.   As  a single instance of the
confusion  which must necessarily arise from this want of systematic
arrangement  and application, let us glance  for a moment at the
treatment of  cholera, as  practiced  by physicians influenced  by 
7
differents views of the pathology of the disease.   One advises cold
water externally and internally ;  another hot applications and sweat-
ing.   One maintains that oxygen reddens the blood, and  should
therefore be given; another, that because of the  loss of heat, car-
bonic  acid is  the  remedy.  In  consequence of  the  absence of
bile in the stools, mercury should be prescribed; and yet, as diarrhoea
is the great evil, opium, which checks  the flow of bile, can alone
save the patient.  One maintains that it is a stage  of intermittent,
and therefore quinine is the only hope ;  while  still another, disposed
to go  the full length, orders freely of arsenic.   One  advises  ex-
tremely small doses of mercury or opium ; while another positively
insists that the most enormous quantities  can alone avail.   Others
again, in  order  the  more  certainly to  " hit the mark,"  prescribe a
combination of the whole,  determined that nothing shall  be wanting
to constitute a scientific treatment!
  Any individual who has been at all observant of the course usually
pursued by physicians of  the ancient school will  bear witness to
the correctness of these assertions ;  and yet these same men have
the effrontery and coolness to style themselves " Regulars ! "   Their
regularity must consist in the united  and dogged  opposition they
manifest toward any suggested improvement over their time-honored
dogmas.
  It is not denied that Anatomy, Chemistry, Physiology, Surgery,
and the collateral  branches of a  physician's  education,  have made
rapid progress, indeed, are almost perfected;  but it must be borne
in mind that these adjuvants belong no more  to one form of prac-
tice  than  another.  Yet,  as a natural result, their application is
modified, in part, by the peculiar tenets one holds in  reference to the
theory of disease and cure, but their general practical  truths and
uses are common to all, of whatever profession.   Let  it be  under-
stood,  therefore, that in  maintaining the  general proposition that
the  science of  medicine  has progressed  but little, if  at all, for
centuries, among those who profess all the learning and all the skill
pertaining thereto, we do not include the accessory branches, which
are  considered necessary to the accomplished  physician. 
8
                     REMEDIAL MEASURES.

   Among the remedial measures  which have, at times, attained to
popularity, and  which have  been recognized as standard  prescrip-
tions—some of them occupying a place even in the  Pharmacies of
but a few years  since—it is proposed to mention a few of  the more
superstitious and absurd, and to demonstrate if there be not in our
own day and generation a course of practice partaking more or less
of the same fallacies, and equally ridiculous, considering the relative
opportunities which existed in ancient and modern times for enlight-
enment and observation.
   Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells us  that  Solomon  employed
charms and incantations to promote the effectual action of remedies.
Pericles, one of  the wisest  of Athenian statesmen, wore an amulet
about  his neck  to prevent sickness.  Music was  also a popular
means, in ancient times, of  soothing and allaying disorders.   Even
Democritus assures us that many ills may be cured by the  tones of
a flute.   Celsus  mentions as a sure cure for epilepsy the warm blood
of a recently slain gladiator, or human or horse flesh ; and as late
as the time of Boerhave, these and similar offensive  measures were
adopted in the treatment of that affection.   Homer says  that the
bleeding of Ulysses was stopped by a charm ;  and Lord Bacon, the
greatest of philosophers, had implicit faith in the efficacy of this
measure.   Sir Theodore  Mayerne,  physician to three successive
English  Sovereigns, was in the habit of prescribing, among other
equally disgusting appliances, the entrails of a mole cut open alive,
and even the lungs of individuals who had died violent deaths 1
  Another remarkable instance which prevailed as an almost uni-
versal superstition, was the belief that  scrofula  could be  cured by
the touch of  royal hands;  and hence is derived the appellation of
"king's evil," which is even now given to this disease.  It was  not
until the accession of the House of Hanover to the English throne
that this opinion was discountenanced; and to this day, among the
vulgar, it is not entirely eradicated.
  Not only  were the  remedies employed themselves absurd,  but
very frequently the observances to be performed in  obtaining and
administering them were of the same nature.  Thus  the stars and 
9
planets and their relative positions were to be studied and consulted,
as they were  supposed  to  exercise  a mysterious influence  in the
selection of a drug.   Pliny tells us that vervain should be gathered
at the rising of the dog-star, when neither sun nor moon shines, and
with the left hand only, if we would secure its virtues.   Hundreds
of similar examples might be  adduced, showing the prevailing ig-
norance and belief in the marvelous.
   The same superstitious tendency was manifested in their attributing
the causes of  disease to  the changes in  the  planetary system, and
to the influence of witch-craft  and other  kindred sources.  We are
even  told that to secure ourselves against  the  evil influences of
sorcery, three scruples of the ashes of a  witch, well and carefully
burnt,  may be relied on !
   A  system of medical  practice, founded on such  errors and super-
stitions, may well be supposed to have undergone  an entire change
as the world  advanced  in reason and wisdom.   But is such the
case ?  Are there not  various popular  beliefs existing now which
are full as delusive, and which rival in  absurdity those just men-
tioned ?
   How many mothers consult the signs  of the zodiac  in  weaning
their children, with firm faith  in  the benefit resulting  therefrom.
Who has not been profoundly impressed, in his younger days, with
a belief in the virtues of a red string in  arresting  hemorrhage from
the nose.*  The use of  coral as an  article from which to manufac-
ture beads was induced  from its supposed efficacy in this complaint.
The natives of the  West Indies  extol  its virtues highly.  Many
otherwise sensible people, have unlimited confidence in the common
" buckeye," when simply carried about the person, as a  preventive
of hemorrhoidal affections.   The importance attached to the changes
of the  moon,  are  too well known  to require notice.   Indeed, we
might enumerate scores  of simple conceits and fancies, showing that
  * The writer was once called upon to visit a patient suffering from this cause;
and found him with each finger and toe firmly bound round with cords, at the
instance of a prominent physician of this city!  True, there is a slight  sem-
blance of reason in  thus attempting  to prevent the return of venous blood in
some degree, and thereby lessening the intensity of the circulation ; but in view
of the sufficiency of proper means, it certainly appeared childish  and silly. 
10
 the common mind, even in  our own day, is  greatly influenced by
 mysterious and unaccountable  phenomena, and frequently by minor
 occurrences.
   But  by far the  most stupendous humbug of modern days is the
 so-called Spiritualism.  It would  be foreign  to our purpose to
 attempt here an analysis of many of the  conditions to which  it  is
 said to give  rise ; nor is it necessary to discuss the  question of its
 truth or falsity,  except to that degree in which it legitimately relates
 to medicine.  Consequently, the pretensions of the alleged "Heal-
 ing Mediums " will only be noticed.   And in doing this, let it be
 understood that no direct fraud or collusion is charged upon  any
 individual,  although  a recent ludicrous  exposure of  pretended
 "manifestations" of  "harmonious  spirits" in this city, would
 seemingly justify the course; but, on the  contrary, it is  charitably
 supposed that many of those who participate in these things delude
 themselves into the belief that they are actually capable of becoming
 the means through whom spiritual agencies may operate.  It is
 purposed only to explain some points, and to demonstrate the folly
 of others, which seem so marvelous.
  That which seems most unaccountable, and which these wondering
 fanatics parade as conclusive  evidence of the truth of Spiritualism,
 is the seeming power  which the " medium " possesses of describing
 an affection, without inquiry or previous knowledge of the patient.
 Now, we undertake to say that, so far as this is really accomplished,
 it requires but very little ingenuity.   Any shrewd individual  can
 accomplish the same thing.  Nearly all those cases of disease which
 present themselves to the Spiritualist, are  of long standing.   Now,
 in all chronic diseases, there are certain groups of symptoms which
 are almost invariably present;  and it may be safely said, that, with
 a little reflection, nine in ten of  them  could be repeated, in a general
 manner,  by any  observant person.   Thus, for instance, headache,
lassitude, aching of the back  and limbs,  occasional nausea, bad
taste, variable appetite, pain under the shoulder-blade, fullness and
heaviness at the pit of the stomach, deranged digestion, flushes of
 heat about the face, giddiness, disturbed sleep, cold extremities, &c,
 are common to every one whose health is  impaired.   Yet, if these
should be enumerated by the "medium," with the accompaniment 
11
 of a little mummery in the  way of jerks and contortions, with the
 addition  of some unfounded assertions in regard to the state or
 condition of the internal organs, it would be regarded as little short
 of miraculous.  There are other points, perhaps more pertinent to
 the case, which cunning management can always develop.   Besides,
 to persons unacquainted with Anatomy and Physiology, and the
 technical terms therein employed—and of  such  are those who gen-
 erally consult " mediums "—it is the easiest matter imaginable to
 impress them with an idea that  their cases  are  understood.   Even
 those who make no pretensions  to  more than flesh  and blood, are
 not always guiltless of  resorting to this, either to impress their own
 importance, or to  silence prying inquisitiveness.
   If, as is claimed, these " mediums "  are capable of seeing and
 describing the internal arrangement of the human  organism, why
 cannot they as well describe the contents of one's pocket or trunk ?
 This would convince the most skeptical that  something  more than
 any known physical law was employed.  But this means could too
 easily be proved either true or false ; whereas, the assertions made
 as to the  state of the internal organs,  cannot  very  readily  be
 disproved.
   But suppose, for the sake  of argument, we  should grant that
 spirits did take possession of the medium.   In every instance which
 has come  under the writer's  knowledge, the " spiritual  physician "
 was generally one  who lived upon  the earth many years  since, and
 professed   to treat disease  upon the  same principles which then
 actuated him.  Now, we moderns  are  very apt to think we know
 full  as  much as our fore-fathers, and claim even a little more skill
 than they,  in the treatment of diseased humanity.
   But we have noticed  this  " ism " further than  its merits deserve ;
 and have been betrayed into it more at length from  the fact that
 many persons who in other respects claim our regard, are dabbling
 in its dirty pool.

                  COMPOUNDING OF REMEDIES.

   In relation to the compounding of remedies, the greatest ignorance
and disregard of scientific principles have been and are now evinced.
Remedies  supposed to  exert  a good  effect upon certain diseases 
12
have been thrown  promiscuously together, without consulting the
nature of  their properties  or their  chemical affinities.   Hence
various antidotal drugs, acids and alkalies, stimulants and depletives,
cathartics and opiates, have been combined in one mass.   Such a
compound, having  once obtained a place in the pharmacoporias of
the day, is looked upon  as a " fixed fact," the merits  of which no
one has the  temerity to call  in question.  In the  Codex  Medica-
mentorius, or  Materia Medica, of Paris, may yet be'found the
celebrated catholicon of Mithridates, containing seventy-two ingre-
dients ; the original having  been only modified  by discarding the
former component part of  vipers !  In the same work, in treating
of the manner in which a certain  extract of opium should be pre.
pared, it  is directed that the preparation be boiled  for  six  months
incessantly, the waste of water to be constantly supplied during the
time 1  This, however, is really no more absurd than many modern
formulas, and is quite as harmless.   It simply shows the  tenacity
with which the " authorities " adhere to old notions, and the difficulty
of overcoming established prejudices.
  Few people are  aware of  the antiquity of many  of the practices
now in vogue.  Physicians themselves are lamentably deficient in a
knowledge of the  history of their own  art.  Many, nay  most,  of
the discoveries of recent times, find remarkable coincidences in the
works of the ancients.  There are those no doubt, who,  ignorant
of what  has preceded them, discover anew certain principles  or
facts, and are thus really bona fide originators;  others again, and
by far the greater  part, plagiarize from the  works of their almost
forgotten brethren, and  parade as  a new principle  in medicine that
which was taught centuries since, but which  had become obsolete.
  Take as an example the apparently new  and almost  universally
prevalent practice  of inhalation.   Galen, who flourished but a few
years after Hippocrates, was in the habit of using the fumes  of
orpiment;  and Rhazes, one of his disciples, gave it, combined with
myrrh, galbanum, &c, for the cure  of consumption.   Sir A.
Crichton, in later years, advocated its employment;  and Dr. Mudge,
in the year  1782,  invented  an "inhaler"  for  administering the
fumes of tar in pulmonary complaints.   He expressed it as his
opinion  that "much of the benefit derived by consumptive patients 
13
from a sea voyage, arises from the tar  vapor constantly present on
board a ship."   A mania for using " tar vapor " is at present pre-
vailing all over the Southern States;  and this new discovery is to
prove specific in lung disease !
  The use of water, too, has been in vogue since the days when
Rome was in her glory.   The disciples of Preissnitz will perhaps
be astonished to learn that the Emperor Augustus was an adherent
of their system ;  yet, it is related that  he was cured of a dangerous
illness by the use of the cold bath, under the direction of Antonio
Musa.  Unfortunately, however, for the  reputation  of the means
employed, he was afterwards killed by the same means !
   Calomel, Opium, and the  Lancet are nearly as old as the practice
of medicine itself.  Indeed, it may be safely said that they constitute
a Materia Medica within themselves, inasmuch as with them may be
produced almost any required result arising from Old School views
of pathology and practice.   And this assertions brings us to the
consideration of Allopathy proper.

                          ALLOPATHY.

   Notwithstanding the various and conflicting  notions  which  have
been and are now entertained respecting the cause of disease, and
the  remedies  to be used,  the same  governing theory of  cure is
adopted by all those who range themselves under the banner of Allo-
pathy.   " Contraria, contrariis, curantur," say they;  that  is,
Diseases are cured by remedies which set up a contrary disease
in  a different part of the organism.   We shall briefly examine
whether their practice coincides with  their profession, and in those
instances where it does, with what effect.
   As a natural result of the Allopathic law, its remedies are divided
into classes corresponding with the object which they are  supposed
to accomplish.   Hence we  have cathartics,  emetics, diaphoretics,
astringents, &c, according  to their virtue  in  producing  purging,
vomiting, sweating, &c.  And although there are scores of remedies,
perhaps, under each  of these divisions, whose lesser qualities are
widely different, the physician is left to  his own judgment in selecting
which of the number he may legitimately use.  It requires no great 
14
degree of perception to see where such a doctrine must lead.  For
instance, in order to  allay pain, it  is  only necessary to resort to a
sedative,  or an opiate;  and chloroform, aether, or opium, may be
used  at the  option of  the  practitioner,  irrespective  of the other
properties which  it may contain.   So of  inflammation or fever :
bleeding,  purging, the  use  of emetics—anything  which will  lessen
or  allay  excitability—may be  resorted to with  the assurance of
finding one's self sustained by authority.
  But to  illustrate the  confusion into which this  law of contraries,
with the system of therapeutics based upon it, leads us, perhaps we
cannot do better than relate a little  incident in the experience of
Prof. McLeod, of  Edinburgh.  He says :  " Formerly there  were
several  fever wards in the  Edinburgh Royal  Infirmary, of which
three fellows of the Royal College of Physicians  had the charge.
One had the top ward, another the  middle  ward, and the third the
low ward.   It happened that on the same day three young persons
of nearly  the same  age,  ill  of typhus fever,  were admitted to the
hospital.   The disease was of equal severity in each, and the stage
of complaint the same in all.  What was the treatment, think you,
pursued in the three cases, by the three fellows of the college ?  It
should have been the same,  at least if the  system be  correct; for
the physicians in question would choose the best.  But, sir, it was
not the same.   He in the top ward bled his patient with lancet
and with  leeches.  He in the middle  ward physicked his patient
with drastic purgatives, and if he  saw a large, comfortable effect,
he gave praise  and was content.  He in the low  ward, again, gave
whisky, wine and opiates.  What was the result of such deplora-
ble freaks ?  I refer you to the statistic book ;  I have no doubt you
will find it there 1 "
  Dr. McLeod's  experience is a  fair illustration of the practice
pursued by the " fellows " of our American colleges, as well as that
of  our  trans-Atlantic neighbors;  and it  is  not strange that  he
should have exclaimed: " No wonder that Sir  James Macintosh
forsook the study of medicine ! "  Every one of the methods resorted
to in the foregoing instances has high  Allopathic  authority to sus-
tain it.   He of the lancet was lessening the force of the circulation
and releasing the capillaries of their engorgement.    He  of the 
15
purgatives was removing  intestinal irritation or obstruction;  while
the wine and opium advocate was quieting  excitability, and at the
same time giving strength to the system.  And yet, conflicting as
^hese cases of treatment are, they are no more so than those of the
same number of any given disease.   Indeed, if we  except the  use
of calomel and opium, we can scarcely find two prescriptions exactly
alike, notwithstanding the group of symptoms for  which they are
made may be precisely similar.   Yet, in regard to the exceptions
mentioned, there seems to be a wonderfnl unanimity of sentiment,
as  they are given  almost  universally.   In  Eberlie's Practice  of
Medicine—a standard Allopathic work—we find that in the one
hundred and thirty-nine diseases  spoken of,  mercury and opium, in
some form, are  recommended in one hundred  and  twenty-nine!
The  frightful effects of  mercury are well known ;  and when we
consider the immense number of those who are continually drugged
with it—many  of  them  willingly—it is not at all singular.  In
reference to the alarming  control which  this remedy exercises  over
the system, Prof. Chapman may well ask:  " Who is it that can
stop the career of  mercury at will, when it has taken the  reins
in its own destructive and ungovernable hands ? "   Who has not
seen, or needs to be told of the awful results of this pet monster of
the "Regular "  School ?  What  has caused the trembling limbs,
the racking pains, or the carious bones which meet us at every turn ?
The experienced physician, even of that class who most employ the
drug itself, will not hesitate to answer mercury !  And yet, actuated
by  the same  motive which induced Massaria  to  assert that he
" would rather  err with Galen than  be in the right  with any other
physician," they continue  to use this poison indiscriminately rather
than deviate from established precedent.
  Dr. Paley says " we are more the creatures of habit than reflec-
tion ; " and the aphorism is eminently applicable  to  professors  of
medicine.   There has been but a slight deviation from the prescribed
rule of  practice for  centuries.  True, there have  been many earnest
inquirers, who, not satisfied with  an ipse dixit, which  experience
did not verify, attempted to base their acts upon reason  and obser-
vation.  But no sooner had the fact  become  public than they were
denounced as apostates—as being unworthy of former  associations; 
16
 and thus through fear of their more " regular," but less enlightened
 brethren, were induced to forego the improvement  they had enter-
 tained.  Many, again, after long practice, have retired in  disgust
 from the field of their labors, painfully impressed with the uncertainty
 and blindness of their system ;  and have not hesitated to express
 themselves accordingly.  Of such was the eminent Dr. Baillie, who,
 losing all confidence in the usual routine of practice, exclaimed:
 " Tell me what will cure my patients, and  I will give it to them 1 "
  A true  knowledge of the effects  which drugs produce  upon the
 human system, is  unknown to  Allopathy, from the  fact that the
 seeming symptoms to  which they give rise are  usually obtained
 from their  administration in sickness;  and who can distinguish
 with any degree of certainty between  the  proper drug symptoms
 and those consequent upon the disease itself ?  Moreover, what two
 diseases are precisely  similar  in all their manifestations ?  And
 herein we have the clue to that difficulty which besets the adherents
 of the Old School,  in making up a proper diagnosis or picture  of
 any particular morbid  condition.  Take as an instance  a case  of
 inflammation of the lungs.   The physician has  resorted to blood-
 letting, antimony and  opium.  Is it possible for  him, on visiting
 the patient a second time, to tell with certainty whether the drowsi-
 ness and stupor which may have intervened, be  consequent upon a
 diseased action of the brain, or whether it be a medicinal  effect ?—
 whether the decreased  arterial excitement and easier expectoration
 be temporary or permanent ?
  Again, it is not often that drugs are administered singly.  "Very
 frequently they are  combined with an utter disregard  of all natural
 affinities.   It is sufficient that Dr. A. has found this remedy useful,
 and Dr. B. that, in order to combine the two, to make them doubly
 effective.  But who can comprehend the important changes which
 may be generated by a combination of their particles ?  A candid
 writer in Hufeland's Journal exposes this uncertainty, when he says:
 " Our knowledge of the affinities which drugs enter into when mixed
up together, is too limited for us to be  able to say, with any degree
of certainty, what will be the mode or degree of action of  a subject,
even the most insignificant in appearance, when introduced into the
human  system."  This is  the  inward conviction  of all observant 
17
practitioners ; but how few are willing to  publicly acknowledge the
fact!
   The size of the dose  seems to be of little moment  among our
Allopathic friends, provided it stops short of fatal poisoning.  How
common the advice—" Give as much as the system will  bear ; " or,
" Dose  from two to twenty ! "   Certainly this is not very definite,
and one would suppose it did not matter much, provided they were
made to feel sensibly the effect of a dose.  But is this the case ?
Experience teaches us that different amounts of the same medicine
very often produce quite different results.   Thus, calomel is alter-
nately an alterative, purgative, sialagogue, diuretic, or diaphoretic,
according to the amount given.   But who is able to define distinctly
where one action supersedes the other ?  Dr. Pereira may well say,
in speaking of this oldest and  most commonly used drug : " We
confess  we have very imperfect information respecting the nature
of its action."  Dr. Pereira is probably the highest authority which
Old School physicians delight to honor,  yet if he acknowledges an
ignorance of mercury, what  may we not think of the  obscurity
which must necessarily attach itself to newer remedies in the hands
of less able men 1
   The fact is, the entire medley of Allopathy is  made  up of  false
reasoning and  equivocal results.  From the very nature of things,
it cannot be otherwise.   The best and ablest of its  disciples have
been reluctantly compelled to admit the fact.   Even empiricism has
been more successful in practice ; and  Dr. Forbes, the great leader
of British medicine, admits that, " in most diseases, non-medication
is preferable ;  Nature alone will cure ! "

  It is a relief  to turn from the contemplation  of such  a jumbled
mass  of  confusion, to the consideration  of  a rational system of
medicine—to a doctrine of Specifics; one based upon  immutable
truths, and which we  propose to demonstrate to the  satisfaction of
the plainest understanding.
                         HOMOEOPATHY.

  Homoeopathy is a theory of  cure, having for its guide the maxim:
" Similia,  similibus   curantur," or,  that all  may understand:
Medicines tend to cure diseases similar to those which they tend
         2 
18
to produce.    If  a drag  develops  upon  a healthy individual  a
certain train  of symptoms, we  hold  that  it is capable of curing
similar symptoms produced by disease.  It  is a well attested fact,
that no two similar diseases can exist in the same organ at the same
time.  One must give way to the other.  As a familiar illustration,
take the case of small-pox and measles.  It frequently happens that
during an attack of the one, it is superseded by the other, and dis-
appears until the intruder runs its course, when it again appears.
Both cannot manifest themselves simultaneously.  So of many other
diseases.
  Even as early as the year 1738, the eminent Danish physician,
Stahl, expressed his conviction  of the  Homoeopathic law.  He
wrote thus: " The received method in medicine of treating diseases
by opposite remedies—that is to say, by medicines which are opposed
to the effects they produce—is completely false and  absurd.  I am
convinced, on  the  contrary, that  diseases  are  subdued by agents
which produce  a similar  affection : burns  by the heat of a fire to
which the parts are  exposed; the frost bite  by snow or icy cold
water, &c."
   Many others, before and  since his time, have  approximated to a
true idea;  but they did not push their investigations and experiments
far enough into the field of science to arrange and classify their
observations into anything like a system.  They suffered themselves
to hesitate, occasionally a ray  of light breaking in  upon  them, yet
they lacked originality and perseverance, and finally relapsed into
former  errors.   Or, it  may have  been, they were  fearful  of  the
sneers and raillery  which, as  at the present day, would  have
followed an expression of their convictions,  and were thus deterred
from giving their  opinions  publicity.   However, be this as it may,
it was reserved to  a German physician to give to the world a treatise
concerning the merits of this system, and to establish, by an immense
array of facts, its truth and superiority.
   Samuel  Hahnemann, the father of  Homoeopathy, was born in
Meissen, in Germany, in the year  1755.   He  received his medical
education at the celebrated University at Leipsic, and stood deserv-
edly high in the estimation of his  colleagues as a ripe scholar and
accomplished physician.  He devoted much of his time in translating 
19
foreign medical works into German, and it was while engaged thus
upon Cullen's Materia Medica, in 1790, that it occurred to him to
inquire why Peruvian bark should cure ague.  No  theory  with
which he was acquainted seemed to give a satisfactory explanation,
and he therefore determined to investigate the matter for  himself.
With this view he commenced testing the drug upon his own person,
and at the same time administered it to others.  The result was, he
found to his astonishment that in each  instance  it produced chills
and fever—a condition which it was known to cure,  with so  much
certainty 1   Here,  then, was the secret  of  its  success;  and the
question very naturally followed: " If this  be  the  cause of the
virtue which bark possesses, may not the  same rule of action apply
to all drugs ? "   Resolved  to sift the subject thoroughly, he called
to his aid many of the intelligent and  enthusiastic students of the
University, and commenced upon them a system of experimentation
regarding the effects of  medicines upon individuals, when  taken in
health.  From the results obtained, he became fully  convinced that
the  suspicions which he  had entertained  as to the curative process
were correct; and in accordance with this opinion he at once pro-
ceeded to put them into  practice.

                        MATERIA MEDICA.

  The immense success attending his efforts  soon drew around him
a host of eager inquirers—many of them  the  most brilliant minds
of Europe—who, becoming convinced  from  actual  observation of
the truth of the new  doctrine, entered earnestly into a combination
for its more perfect development.  The method  adopted was this :
Several perfectly healthy individuals were selected, who  were free
from any pernicious  habits, and placed upon a  strictly temperate
diet, with proper exercise for both body and mind.  The drug to be
" proved " was then  administered to  each at the same time,  the
quantity being augmented, if necessary, until the system was  brought
thoroughly under its  influence.   A close and careful record was
kept of every symptom which developed itself, mental and physical;
the  time of  action ; at what period of  the day the effect  was most
marked ; indeed,  nothing was omitted to form  a perfect under- 
20
standing of the qualities it possessed.   The symptoms of each case
were then  diligently compared, one with  another ; and  if in each
instance the results corresponded, they were noted as positive effects ;
the isolated  symptoms always  being  discarded, or  qualified as
such.   For the post mortem appearance,  or pathological condition
produced, cases of accidental and criminal poisoning furnished the
means of information.  From  this source, too, many symptoms of
the more virulent drugs have been grouped;  but  always  with great
care and in such instances as have been repeatedly observed.
   The drugs, having been thus proved, were again tested in their
curative action; that is, by actual experiment  upon diseased sub-
jects, in administering for symptoms similar to  those  produced by
the remedy, it was found whether they yielded readily and promptly.*
   This, then, forms the  Homoeopathic Materia Medica.   Every one
will concede  that such an one, based  upon so thorough and perfect
an organization, and  so minutely corrected in  all its  details, must
be vastly superior to the confused mass of uncertain deductions,
brought together from dissimilar sources, and oft times contradictory,
to which  our Allopathic brethren look  as  to the  "law and the
prophets."
            ILLUSTRATIONS  OP THE TRUTH OF THE LAW.

   And now  let us  inquire if the theory to which this plan of ex-
perimentation gave rise  be true—whether,  after a  knowledge  of
the relations of a  drug  be understood,  its  application, under the
law of " similia," be correct.   It has already been remarked that
 physicians, before the time of Hahnemann, suspected and imperfectly
 suggested the  theory.    It is  now  proposed  to demonstrate that
 every well defined, specific  cure, known positively to be consequent
 upon the power of the remedy,  is performed in accordance with the
 Homoeopathic law.  Take the following  prominent examples :
    1. Mercury has from  time  immemorial been looked to   as the
  * The reader will please mark the distinction between the terms j" similar "
and " same," and not fall into the common error of supposing that the remedy
cures its own symptons ; or, in vulgar phrase, that "the hair of the dog cures the
bite." 
21
" sine qua non " in the  treatment of syphilis.   The frightful ravages
of this disease are foo  well known to require mention.   According
to all authority, the effects of mercury are so precisely similar as to
defy the skill of the most eminent diagnostician to distinguish between
them.
   Again, this remedy is known to be  the best means  in the treat-
ment of  dysentery, yet all dispensaries agree  in  attributing  to  its
use, griping, tenesmus, bloody and mucous stools, ulceration  of the
bowels, &c.; a very picture of the disease for which it is so highly
extolled.
   2. Nux vomica is the sheet anchor of  Allopathy in the treatment
of paralysis, notwithstanding the veriest  tyro in medicine knows full
well that it produces the same condition in a greater  degree than
any other drug with which we are acquainted.
   3.  Opium is the specific in delirium tremens, while, at the same
time, it is capable of producing the same horrible condition.
   4. Ipecac is relied upon as one of the most active emetics, yet
modern writers on Practice  all admit that in minute doses it is
frequently prompt in allaying nausea and vomiting.
   5. Rhubarb, the most common  laxative, or cathartic, is equally
common in the treatment of diarrhoea.
   6. Nitrate of silver  or caustic  potash, either  of which burn the
flesh of an individual like  living  coals,  are very generally used in
the treatment of the so-called local inflammations.
   7. Cantharides and copaiba produce specific effects upon the kid-
neys, bladder, &c, creating heat, irritation and burning.  In inflam-
mation  of those organs,  what remedies exercise more power in
allaying  similar symptoms ?
   These few instances  are noted  at random  as  they happened to
suggest themselves.  The list might be extended indefinitely.  In-
deed, the same analogy may be found in  all those remedies  which
are known to be specific.   And  yet,  the Homoeopathist is scoffed
at and ridiculed  for adopting this method of cure  upon  a more
perfect and extensive plan.
  That patients very often recover under dissimilar forms of treat-
ment, is readily admitted.   In fact they get well in  spite of the
Doctor ; but in all cases where the good effect is invariably apparent, 
22
following the exhibition of a remedy, it will be found in consequence
of its Homoeopathic relations.   The recoveries frequently in defiance
of the most barbarous treatment, only serve to lend additional sar-
casm to the remark of a celebrated medical writer :  " Physic is the
art of amusing a patient, while Nature performs the cure ! "

                POWER OF INFINITESIMAL DOSES.

   We come now to the  consideration of a subject which has been
the more immediate cause  of  the  sneers and taunts of which  our
Old School brethren are so profuse, namely : the Size of the Dose.
And here, before proceeding to discuss the  power  of infinitesimal
doses, we  wish to state distinctly and unequivocally that the quantity
of a remedy to be administered, has nothing whatever  to  do with
Homeopathy proper.  The physician may, if he sees proper, give
crude drugs in any quantity not inconsistent with safety, and yet be
a strict Homoeopathist.   Indeed,  many of the oldest and best phy-
sicians of  our  school invariably  prescribe palpable  doses.   The
magnitude of the dose has not necessarily anything in common
with the law of cure.   Let  this  be  firmly impressed.   And yet,
as a logical deduction from the nature of the law, it is  apparent that
very small doses will suffice  for  the  purpose  of establishing  the
desired medicinal action.   Thus, if, for instance, we have a case of
inflammation of the stomach in which arsenic  is the appropriate
remedy, it can easily be conceived how minute must be the  amount
which the highly irritated mucous membrane would not reject.   Or,
in congestion or inflammation of the brain, how much belladonna,
a powerful irritant of  that organ and the spinal marrow, could with
safety be administered.
   The medicines we  prescribe have a direct and specific effect
upon the diseased parts; and it is only requisite that we produce
a medicinal action  of  a  similar kind, in the same organ, of
greater intensity, in order to expel  that already existing; and
this medicinal disease having subsided by its own limited duration
of action, leaves the parts free.   Hence it will not  be difficult to
understand that, in order to avoid  greatly aggravating the original
affection, it is enough  that we give only  a sufficient  quantity of a
drug to overcome the  intensity of the existing morbid  condition. 
23
  As a farther and plainer illustration of the susceptibility of or-
gans to influences which ordinarily have no  effect  over them, take
the human eye.   We all know that light, so far from being generally
injurious, is absolutely necessary to its  perfect development and
strength; yet when its delicate coats become inflamed, even mod-
erate light is sometimes entirely insupportable.   Cases are on record
where the rays of a candle produced  the most  excruciating pain,
even through  seven or eight folds of linen.
   After all, the size of a thing is only relative.   What seems to us
as exceedingly minute, is, in comparison  with other objects, of im-
mense proportions.   The microscope reveals to the eye animalculae
so extremely minute as to require millions upon millions of them to
make up enough in bulk to be appreciated by the  naked  eye ; yet
these possess  all the  intricate organs of life—breathing, digestive,
and circulating apparatus.   Light, heat, and electricity are probably
all composed  of particles  of matter, but what human  agency can
detect them ?   Who  can appreciate the quantity of atoms contained
in an amount of hydrogen or carbonic acid gas sufficient to destroy
life ? or who has ever seen or handled the particles of noxious mat-
ter arising from decayed vegetable formations,  which lay prostrate
a whole community with some virulent disease ?
   A single grain of musk will give off its particles for years, sufficient
to scent a room during the whole period, yet not perceptibly dimin-
ish in weight.
   Kane, in his Chemistry, tells us that " gold may be  divided into
particles of at least 1-1,400,000,000 of a square inch in diameter,
and yet possess the color and all other characteristics of the largest
mass."  Also, "that  a single drop of a strong solution of indigo
colors 1,000 cubic inches of water; and  as this mass of water con-
tains 500,000 times the bulk of the drop of  the indigo solution, the
particles must be smaller than 1-2,500,000,000 of a cubic inch."
   A person of sensitive taste can distinguish the bitterness of quinine
very distinctly, when but one grain of the substance has been dis-
solved in a barrel of water.
   Every one  is familiar with the fact that the most minute quantity
of the vaccine virus is capable of producing a  powerful, and some
times dangerous effect upon those who resort to its  protecting in- 
24
fluence;  and this, too, when it is  inserted by the merest  prick of
the lancet.
  These  examples of the divisibility of matter might be  multiplied
to any extent, but they are sufficient to lead reflecting minds to the
conclusion that it is not always necessary that  a substance should
contain appreciable weight and bulk to be effective, nay, powerful,
in its results.
   The Homoeopathist uses none but the purest of drugs, free from
every thing which  could possibly interfere with their  properties.
The active principle contained therein is thoroughly developed by
breaking up  the cohesion of particles, either  by trituration with
sugar of milk or by succussion with  alcohol  or  distilled water.
And inasmuch as the properties  of remedies  are  only manifested
from their surface, it must follow  that  this method  of  increasing
the amount  of  surface  diminishes the  need of quantity.   The
Allopathist must be  aware, if he  reflects  at all, that the curative
action of a  drug is produced only by absorption; but  he forgets
that only the  most minute quantities can be taken up by the delicate
mouths of the absorbent vessels, and only from the surface exposed
to them, while the bulk of  the  dose  passes  off  in the grosser
secretions.
   Again, if the chemical theory of La  Place  be true, in reference
to one molecule transmitting motion to others  with  which it comes
in contact, in the  same  manner in which  the  decay of  a tooth is
imparted to  those with which it is associated, the property of a
drug may be  infused  into the  medium that contains  it.   Thus  the
surface of which we have spoken  becomes greatly enlarged, and the
 effective virtue correspondingly increased.
    The salivation so often attending the exhibition of calomel is in
 all probability due to the absorption of particles of mercury ; yet
 they are so exceedingly small as to defy the detection of the ablest
 chemist.   That  this  excitement  of the salivary glands is  due to
 sympathy,  as the sapient Allopathist would  have us believe,  is
 simply absurd.  They tell us that mercury cannot be  absorbed in
 this manner; and  yet their  records  show us  hundreds of cases of
 salivation produced by the fumes of mercury, arising even during
 an ordinary temperature !  If these "fumes" are not absorbed, pray
 tell us in what mysterious manner they do operate ! 
25
   From these considerations, Hahnemann and his disciples were led
 to adopt  the system of small doses, gradually lessening them  as
 positive experience proved their utility.  Nor should it be matter
 of astonishment if the founder of  Homoeopathy, dazzled  by the
 magnitude and sublimity of the doctrines he had discovered, should
 in a measure have carried his  notions to an  extreme length.  We
 have only to adopt his facts, however, not his fancies.  We  adhere
 to the truths he advanced and discard the errors.   Consequently, it
 is not to be supposed that because we  advocate the great law of
 cure which he so ably presented, we must necessarily indorse what-
 ever else he may have written.

       ALLOPATHIC AND HOMOEOPATHIC STATISTICS COMPARED.

   But the most  convincing argument  in favor of Homoeopathy—
 one  which  comes home to the understanding  of every man who
 views surrounding circumstances with an unbiased judgment—is
 the  overwhelming success  evinced in its statistical facts.   It is a
 self-evident truth, that whatever system of medicine is capable of
 performing the greatest number of cures in the shortest time, with
 the least detriment to the  patient,  is the best.   We propose, there-
 fore, to give some figures,  showing the relative proportion of cures
 and deaths  resulting from either form  of practice, in the ordinary
 diseases of human life.   It may be  proper to mention, moreover,
 that  these statistics  are taken from government institutions, and
 are, consequently, as reliable as human  testimony can make them.
 This remark is made because our Allopathic brethren, startled by
 the success as exhibited in the  figures, may charge us with unfairness
 in presenting them.
   Among the diseases most generally known, is inflammation of the
 lungs.  And in giving  the  results  of Allopathic treatment in this
 affection, we confine  ourselves  to the statistics of  eminent French
 physicians, who are confessedly the most learned as well as the most
 successful of medical men.   Lest, however, there may be  any mis-
 understanding, it may be distinctly stated that the mortality in other
 countries is much greater than is here exhibited.
  Barthez, Relliet and Leroux, in presenting  what they considered
successful results, show a mortality of 1 in 12. 
26
  Louis, Trousseaux, Grisolle, Laennec and Bouillaud record 531
cases, with 81 deaths, or one in 6§.
  Dr.  Chomel, physician to the  Hotel Dieu, lost 1 in 8.   These,
being the very highest authorities  in  the  medical world, and the
mortality being comparatively  slight as compared with the results
obtained by less skillful  practitioners,  are  considered sufficient for
the purpose.
  On the Homoeopathic side, we have Dr. Fleischmann's earlier
tables, showing 300 cases, and 19 deaths, or about 1 in 16.  In the
Homoeopathic  Hospital of the  Sisters of  Charity,  at  Linz, the
average mortality is 1 in 20.   In the Hospital at Gumpendorf, the
whole number admitted was 1058, with 58 deaths,  or about 1 in 18
The records  of the Hospitals in Yienna,  Marseilles and  London
show about the same average result.
  In  our  country, Dr. Jackson, Secretary  of the  Massachusetts
Homoeopathic Medical Society, gives  the reports of twenty six of
its members, showing a mortality  of 1 in 20.   The statistics of the
Mississippi  State Hospital, of the  Chicago Hospital, and of the
New York Half-Orphan Asylum, are still more gratifying.
  In  the  treatment  of epidemic diseases, the vast superiority of
Homoeopathic practice is  most distinctly seen.   In yellow fever,
that scourge of the South, the remarkable success of Homoeopathic
physicians attracted very general attention  and was  acknowledged
every where.   It was through the good results following their treat-
ment of this disease, that the Legislature of Mississippi gave them
the Hospital at Natchez.  In this  Hospital, as well as in that at
Rio, the mortality in yellow fever was  from 6 to 10 per cent, while
the mortality in the Allopathic Charity Hospital at New  Orleans
reached a per centage of 66 !
  The statistics of private practice in New Orleans, Charleston,
Norfolk and Portsmouth, show about the same comparative results.
  Of the astonishing  good effects  of  Homoeopathic treatment in
Asiatic cholera, the public have had abundant opportunity to con-
vince themselves ; and were it  not that Old School physicians, with
an utter disregard of all truth  or  courtesy, charge us with falsifying
the records, it would be unnecessary to allude to it here.
  In 1849, Drs. Pulte and Ehrmann, of Cincinnati, treated 1,116
cases of genuine  Asiatic cholera, with a total loss of only thirty- 
                              27

five.   This extraordinary success so exasperated the adherents of
the Old  School that they publicly denounced these gentlemen as
having reported  imaginary cases  to the Board of Health.   This
malicious charge  was promptly met by a statement of the names
and places of residence of each case; and the truth of their report
was substantiated by the affidavits of the relatives, clergymen and
friends who visited the patients.
   In  New Orleans, St. Louis, Sandusky and elsewhere that it raged
most  violently, the reports of Homoeopathic practice compare favor-
ably with the foregoing.
   The following  brief tabular view of the mortality of the  most
common diseases met with, has been prepared with great care, and
is believed to be  as near correct as it  is possible  to arrive.   The
average  per centage of deaths is given as occurring in  the Hotel
Dieu and Hospital des Invalides, of Paris;  St. Thomas' Hospital,
London ; Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston ;  Bellevue Hos-
pital,  New York, and  Charity Hospital,  New  Orleans,  on the
Allopathic  side ;  and the Hospitals at Gyongyos, Yienna, Gum-
pendorf,  Leipsic, Marseilles,  and London, in Europe; and the
Hospital at Natchez, and New  York Half-Orphan Asylum, in
America, on the side of Homoeopathy.
    ALLOPATHIC  MORTALITY.

                       PEE CENT.
Apoplexy....................  65
Dysentery....................  30
Dropsy.......................  55
Small-Pox...................  25
Scarlet Fever..................  33
Typhus......................  30
Pneumonia..................  15
Inflammation brain............  70
      "     bowels..........  42
Paralysis.....................  10
Croup........................  18
Erysipelas....................  15

  The average mortality in all
ment is  above 8 per cent., while
only reaches about 2£ per cent.
  HOMOEOPATHIC MORTALITY.

                      PEE CENT.
Apoplexy....................  20
Dysentery...................   3
Dropsy.......................  19
Small-Pox...................   7
Scarlet Fever..................   8
Typhus......................  10
Pneumonia...................   5
Inflammation brain..........  12
      "     bowels..........  20
Paralysis.....................   2
Croup........................   2
Erysipelas...................   1
diseases under  Old School  treat-
under Homoeopathic  treatment it 
28
  These facts and figures certainly ought to furnish food for reflec-
tion to every unprejudiced mind.  If they be true—and the inference
is that one side is as fairly represented as the  other—there certainly
must be virtue in the infinitesimal doses of  Homoeopathy, and posi-
tive harm in the massive doses administered  under the  law of
Allopathy.   Nature, if left to herself, does not  show as favorable
a representation as the former, nor as deplorable a one as the latter,
as the  experiments of Biett and Magendie most conclusively demon.
strate.   And that the statistics given have not been perverted, can
be relatively tested by any  common observer.  It is only necessary
to look around upon the circle of one's own immediate  acquaintance.
Satisfy yourselves of the number who  employ either  form of prac-
tice, and then inquire  as  to the comparative  number  of deaths
occurring under them.   Ask the sexton or the undertaker who they
derive their  business from!  And from  such practical inquiries
draw your own conclusions.
   Nor is this all.  We claim that the average duration of treatment
is much less  under  the specific treatment than under  any other.
And a still more important fact is, that upon the disappearance of
the original malady,  the patient is not left with a worse drug-disease
entailed upon him.  It may be safely stated that more than one-half
the number of chronic diseases which come under  the  observation
of the physician, originate in  the  inhuman  system of  drugging.
This is  even partially admitted by the very men who  uphold the
practice; yet is looked upon  as a "necessary evil."   Under the
auspices of Homoeopathy,  on the contrary, when the affection which
has prostrated  the  patient subsides, he regains his usual  health
rapidly  and  perfectly, and expresses himself "as  good as  new."
It is within the  province of any individual to convince himself of
this assertion before trusting himself to its care.
   And yet, with this  array  of facts presented to the senses of our
 Old School  cotemporaries,  we are stigmatized as " quacks " and
 " imposters," and with like opprobrious epithets.  We leave an intel-
ligent public to decide who most justly merit such imputations.
                  THE CLAIMS OF HOMOEOPATHY.
   Homoeopathy is not  ashamed of her professions,  nor  does she
 seek to hide them.  There is  no mystery, no pretensions, no  rash 
29
assumptions unsupported by facts, in  connection  with her claim to
public attention.   What we desire is, that her claims may be closely
scrutinized;  that  her  errors, if any, be fully met and publicly de-
nounced.   Let the two systems be tested, side by side, with impar-
tiality, and we are willing to abide the issue.
   But we are denied the common courtesies due to gentlemen.  No
matter that our acquirements may be as varied, our talents as great
or our morals as good, because we happen to differ honestly as to the
best method of alleviating the ills of suffering humanity, we must be
banished without the pale of society,  and  are not recognized by
these  " Regulars"  as medical men.   Our  discoveries  in science
and  our remedies in  disease,  are stolen  with the utmost coolness,
and without the least credit, are paraded as something new.  As
pertinent to this  assertion, let us inquire where they learned that
belladonna would cure hooping-cough and scarlet fever; that nux
 vomica  would cure paralysis;  that  aconite would  allay rheumatic
 pains, and that arnica was  such a sovereign remedy for bruises 1
 And pray, why is it, that your doses are " growing small by degrees
 and  beautifully less "  each succeeding year ?  And why is  it, that
the lancet, instead of thirsting for and rioting upon human blood, as
 of yore, is quietly rusting in  its case ?  You have learned some-
 thing, at least, and  we strongly suspect you will live to learn more.
 Like Rip Yan Winkle, you will awaken ere long to find that your
 sleep has been more lengthy than refreshing.
    Fortunately for the advancement of  truth, the intelligent masses
 of the people think for themselves.   They are not to be controlled
 in matters pertaining to the welfare of their own lives and health,
 by the simple assertions,  devoid of proof, which emanate from the
 mouths of these  self-constituted medical oracles.  This age is emi-
 nently progressive ; and it were strange indeed, if, while every other
 department of human science is so rapidly advancing, that of medi-
 cine should remain stationary.   No matter how  preposterous a sub-
 ject  may at first seem, or how conflicting it may be with preconceived
 notions—if it emanate from a respectable  source and  presents an
 array of facts and arguments in its support, it should receive a fair
 and  impartial investigation.   And a  non-compliance with this course
 is, we apprehend, in part the  secret  of the violent opposition which 
30
 Homoeopathy has  experienced.  Because of the entire neivness of
 its precepts, of its direct contradiction of the received opinion, it
 has been scouted  without even the formality of an examination.
 That it is a  " humbug " is assumed a priori;  and instead of an inves-
 tigation of  its claims, and a candid argument based thereon against
 its fallacie, we have the  vulgar denunciation,  without reason, of a
 body  of  men who would  have themselves  considered respectable
 and liberal.
   The truth of the matter is, the propositions laid down in Homoe-
 opathy cannot be successfully controverted.  The attempts of Prof.
 Simpson and Dr. Hooker served only to show their utter ignorance
 of even the commonest knowledge of its principles.   The able re-
 plies of Prof.  Henderson to the former, and  of Dr. Marcy to the
 latter, most conclusively show this fact.
   Hundreds of  other physicians have gone into an investigation of
 the system  thoroughly, with the express purpose  of exposing its
 errors; but upon testing  the matter honestly, these same men have
 become its  warmest  adherents.  Conviction is  almost certain  to
 follow candid examination.
   In pleasing contrast with the narrow and selfish  course pursued
 by the physicians of the  Old School, we are proud to point to the
 position taken by the friends of Homoeopathy.  Were we disposed
 to advance our own selfish interests, it would certainly inure to our
 advantage to  prevent  as  many medical men as possible  from em-
 bracing our doctrines.   In proportion to our  number, no one will
 pretend to  deny that the circle  of our  practice  is not by far the
 largest;  and that, in a still greater  degree, it embracesthe in telli-
 gence  and  wealth  of  the people.    But  instead of discouraging
 investigation, and thus  monopolizing the field, we openly court it.
 It would  afford us the greatest satisfaction to show  the  practical
 merits of the  system at the bed-side  of the  patient to any truthful
inquirer;  or in any way lend our aid and assistance in testing it to
its  fullest extent.   We hold ourselves in readiness at all times to
 discuss the question, publicly or privately, or in any manner to give
its truths or its falsities the utmost publicity.   Surely, this does not
savor of " quackery ! "
  But we do not apprehend a discussion.   The advantages are all 
31
on one  side; for,  whereas it is essential to a knowledge  of our
system that we should at the same time be conversant with Allo-
pathic medicine, they, on the contrary, endeavor to prevent by every
possible means an  examination of  our doctrines.  Consequently,
we know whereof  we speak, while any attempt at controversy with
us, except by ridicule, is  a blow in the dark.

                     HOMOEOPATHY IN 1857.

  It is extremely amusing to witness the energetic attempts of these
" regular "  gentlemen, to convince their patrons that Homoeopathy
is an exploded idea; that, like many of their own evanescent theories,
it is dying away, to be thought of only as one of the follies of the
past.   Our friends remember this same story, as having an existence
ever since they have known anything of the system.   Assuredly, it
is a long time in "going down." Like the leaning tower of Pisa,
its readiness to fall must be much more seeming  than real.   And,
unfortunately for the  veracity of these gentlemen, some things are
susceptible of a mathematical demonstration.  Let us examine the
true present position of  this "dying humbug."
  About half a century since, Homoeopathy was scarcely  known
beyond  the immediate circle of its founder and his few friends. For
several  years  following  its discovery, the government forbid its
being put into practice, and even Hahnemann himself  was banished
from  the country.  Twenty-five years ago,  there was scarcely an
advocate  of the  system in America; and less than  fifteen years
since, there were less than half a dozen west of the Alleghanies.
  Now, in  the city of Leipsic, the former home of Hahnemann and
scene of his earlier persecutions, a monument is erected in his honor
under the  patronage of the  authorities;  and the centennial anni-
versary of  his birth day was  celebrated there with great pomp and
ceremony.
   Homoeopathic  Hospitals and Dispensaries are  scattered all over
Europe.  Emperors,  princes and the nobility, as  well as the  mos^
distinguished literary and scientific men, are  its  warmest patrons.
And  lest it may be suspected that the  facts are exaggerated, we
trust we may be pardoned in giving the names of a few  of the most
widely known.   It is not pretended that because of their patronage 
32
the system is any the more true ;  but the fact of their encourage-
ment does go a great way in disproving the malignant assertions of
its opponents, to the effect that in Europe it scarcely has existence.
These  names are taken from a work  published in London, entitled,
" Homoeopathy in Europe."
  In addition to the  Emperors of Russia and  France, the  Queen
of Spain and numerous lesser potentates  on the Continent, we have
the well-known English  names of the Earl of Wilton, the Earl of
Airlie, the Earl of Roden, the Earl of Erne, Lord Gray,  Lord
Kinnaird, Lord Lindsay, Lord Colville,  Lord  Robert Grosvenor,
Lord Newport,  Mr.  Elliott  Lockhart,  Archbishop Whately,  the
Bishop of Downs, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Dean  of Dublin,
Major-General Farquharson, the Chevalier Bunsen, beside some two
hundred  eminent  English clergymen, upwards  of one  hundred
military and naval officers, &c.
  In our own country, the progress of Homoeopathy has been still
more rapid.  At present we have four Hospitals, twelve Dispen-
saries, two Colleges, twenty-four  organized Societies, and  upwards
of two thousand regularly educated physicians.  Our literature is
rapidly multiplying,  and for the  great research displayed therein
and vast  accumulation of new facts, is far in  advance of contempo-
raneous Allopathic publications.
  A strong argument in favor of our system, is the character of
those who generally employ  it.   Instead of the  credulous  and
ignorant, we have the refined, the intelligent  and the liberal-minded
in the community.   And a still stronger item in its favor is the fact,
that having once adopted the practice, they adhere to it.   Certainly
but few men would persist in employing a practice  which did  not
readily and satisfactorily  relieve their sufferings.

                     OBJECTIONS EXPLAINED.

  In explanation  of  the success  which attends  our efforts, it is
asserted  that  our  patients do not get as sick as those of  other
practitioners.  We grant the correctness of the remark, as a rule ;
but beg leave to inquire why disease treats our friends so leniently?
The  answer is very simple, and certainly  avails nothing against  us;
for while nature in the one case has to contend with the disease as it 
33
originally exists, in the other she has a double enemy in the addition
of the drug-disease.   Upon no other theory can an explanation be
given, and we feel confident  that our patrons do not desire a pros-
tration at death's  door, for the purpose  of having the subsequent
satisfaction of knowing that they have barely escaped its entrance !
   Among the minor  and more foolish  objections purged  against
Homoeopathy, the fact of the comparative  inertness  of  the small
doses, is dwelt upon with great gusto.  " Why," says the Allopathist,
"I can  take  a vial  full of their  globules with impunity ! " and,
therefore, it is assumed  that they possess no  virtue.   With them
such  reasoning may be considered  logic; with us, it is  gammon,
Our  object is not to make sick, but to  cure;  not to tear down  in
order to build up.   With as  much propriety might they say that
because a man's daily ration  of pork and beans produces no  delete-
rious consequences when taken in  health, the same  would prove
harmless in sickness.  Or because the  rattle of the drum and the
piercing whistle of the fife may be rather pleasant than otherwise  to
an individual under  ordinary circumstances, they would remain  so
if one was suffering with an acute attack of headache.  Our-medi-
cines are designed for the sick, not for the healthy;  and to those
who  have  attentively read  the  preceding pages,  it will  not   be
requisite to notice this simple objection any farther.
   But the objection which we most frequently meet with is, that we
do not usually resort  to cathartics.   The received opinion is, that in
nearly every form  of  disease there must exist some obstruction  in
the alimentary canal which ought to be removed.   No matter what
the cause, or what the symptoms may be, the bowels must be attacked
as the first and main  consideration in producing a cure.   And here
let us say, that no greater curse to health ever befell mankind, than
this same opinion.
   Nature has provided to a  great extent many of the  means  of
alleviating the ordinary ills of life.  In  a  usual  state of health,
many ounces  of the food taken into the stomach pass through the
skin  in the form  of  insensible perspiration,  and  very frequently,
when, from any cause, the daily secretions from the bowels are pre-
vented or  delayed, this  perspiration is greatly increased.   Again,
in sickness, Nature very wisely diminishes the desire for food, and
         3 
34
very generally to  an extent commensurate  with her ability to  dis-
pose of it in this  manner.   Yet, without regarding this  fact,  it is
foolishly supposed that the alvine evacuations must be increased
during illness; and this, too, when perhaps not a mouthful of solid
food had been  taken meantime 1   The only  sensible method  of
overcoming constipation, is to correct the condition on which it
depends,  and, as a natural consequence,  they will be restored  to
their normal condition.   The simple removal of the contents  of the
bowels, by the use of cathartics, will never effect  this.  The relief
which follows their administration, is only temporary; and the action
produced by the medicine having subsided, the tone  and strength
of the  organ are  diminished  in  a degree  corresponding  to the
stimulus produced.  The consequence is, as may be daily witnessed,
that the repetition of the dose is more frequently demanded, and, at
the same time, larger quantities are required, until finally it is  almost
impossible to produce the desired result,  except  at the  hazard of
great  physical derangement,    Every  experienced Homoeopathic
physician can point to  hundreds of such cases, where  the poor
patients  were dragging out a miserable existence,  having to resort
to almost incredible doses in order to produce an effect; and suffer-
ing with the invariable consequences resulting  therefrom—dyspep-
sia, hemorrhoids, &d
   And in order to show  that frequent evacuations are not always
necessary, the writer of this may be pardoned for stating that, in
spite of the assertions of Old  School physicians that he was  pur-
suing a course of mal-treatment, he persisted  in  letting  a patient
with typhus fever remain twenty-eight days without a  movement of
the bowels.   At the end of that period, the secretion occurred  as
naturally as in health ;  and a rapid recovery, such as could not  have
taken place under a depleting  course of cathartics, was the  result.
Usually, the bowels  do not ferriain inactive  so long as in  this
instance ; but it is no  uncommon thing  to see our patients remain
ten or  fifteen days in this condition.  Nor does any bad result follow
therefrom.  On the contrary, the strength of the patient is preserved,
and, of course, convalescence and health more speedily re-established.
   In mechanical obstructions of the bowels, or in cases of poison-
ing, of course a resort to emetics or cathartics is indispensable ; but 
35
the means, under such circumstances, do not belong to any school
of medicine.   Common sense dictates such a course, as much so in
the removal of a foreign substance from the stomach and bowels, as
from any other part of the human body.
   As another explanation of the good results of our practice, it is
said that imagination effects the cure.  Suppose this were so, does
not the assertion reflect more severely upon the advocates of Allo-
pathy than upon ourselves ?  In the name of humanity, if the simple
impression made upon the mind can exercise a controlling curative
power over disease, why not resort to it, instead of submitting  the
patient to a nauseating system of drugging ?   But the charge is too
silly to require a discussion.  We must have extraordinarily preco-
cious infants  to  administer to,  if they are capable of fancying an
impression is being made, either  for good or evil!   Besides, we
suspect the massive doses of the Old School would be full as likely
to impress the imaginative powers, as the simple remedies of Homoe-
opathy !
   Again, for lack of any other objection, a resort is had to the  diet
we allow our patients, as  an explanation of their recovery.  It is
charged that ours is  a "starvation plan"  of treatment.  And
although  we confess  that vigorous  abstinence from food  is  very
often productive of great good,  in derangements of  the  animal
economy, especially of the digestive functions, yet a perusal of the
following " Diet Card," which is  appended for the sake  of con-
venient reference, will show  that we are sufficiently liberal. It is
not the quantity of food we object to, but the quality.
   Thus we believe we have very briefly  met all the common objec-
tions against the adoption of  Homoeopathy; and have demonstrated,
in language  suited to a popular understanding, the superior merits
which it claims.   If we have been the  means of correcting erron-
eous impressions and  of satisfying  popular inquiry in regard to the
subjects of which we have treated, our aim will have been  accomr
plished. 
APPENDIX.
DIRECTIONS FOR THE REGIMEN OF THE  SICK DURING HOMOEOPATHIC
                           TREATMENT.
  The needful dietetic observances during Homoeopathic treatment are
comprehended under the following general rule, viz:—The patient should
abstain  from everything  of a medicinal nature, and should partake  of
light, digestible food to  satisfy  hunger, and of such drink as nature re-
quires to allay thirst.  Agreeably to this rule, the aliment may be classi-
fied under the following subdivisions :

                         ALIMENT ALLOWED.
  In  Acute Diseases,  Nature herself generally dictates the  needful
abstinence, and the patient is permitted—
  Pure  water in  preference to all other  drinks, or water  with the
addition of  sugar, raspberry or strawberry syrup.  Barley-water, rice-
water, oatmeal gruel,  farrina,  panada, gumarabic water, whey, milk
and water, preparations of sago, tapioca and arrow  root, without any
seasoning other than a  little salt  or loaf sugar, or one of the syrups
mentioned.
  Beef-tea,  veal or chicken  broth,  thickened with rice, maccaroni, or
sago,  and seasoned merely with  a little salt, are allowable.
  After the more violent symptoms have subsided and the appetite calls
for  more  substantial food, a wider range may be taken, and the diet
allowed in chronic diseases may be  resorted to.
  In  Chronic Diseases, the following  articles, in addition to those al-
ready enumerated, may be allowed, viz :—
  All kinds of light bread or biscuits not containing potash, soda or
other similar ingredients, and not too fresh ; cakes made of meal, eggs,
sugar and a little butter; buckwheat  cakes;  light puddings of wheat,
Indian meal, rice, oatmeal or bread, without wines, spices or rich sauces ;
hominy, Indian mush, rye  mush, pearl barley.
  Potatoes, turnips, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, asparagus, green or
dried peas and beans ; (but these vegetables should not be used  in colic
or diarrhoea.)
  Milk not too recent from the  cow; butter-milk, boiled milk, unspiced
chocolate or cocoa and weak black tea.
  Sweet butter, cream, new cheese, curds and  other preparations  of
milk,  plain custards, raw or soft-boiled eggs, (except in diarrhoea.)
  Animal and vegetable  soups seasoned  with  salt only; beef-tea,  to
which may be added bread or toast; well boiled vermicelli, maccaroni,
rice, &c, together with a few wholesome vegetables, according to taste.
  Beef, mutton, lamb, not boiled too young, venison, hares and rabbits ;
chickens, pigeons, turkeys, partridges, quails, woodcocks, snipes and larks.
  All fresh  fish, having scales.
  Salt, sugar, ice-cream, with the  addition of strawberry syrup,  or that
of other allowed  fruits, and not flavored with aromatic substances, in
moderation. 
37
                    aliment strictlv forbidden.

  Apples, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, cherries,  currants, blackber-
ries, strawberries, raspberries, &c, (except in diarrhoea.)
  Old  smoked salt meat, salted fish, veal, geese, ducks, ham, bacon,
pork (salted or fresh) and sausages.
  Rancid butter, old cheese, lard, hard-boiled eggs, omelets, fish without
scales, as cat-fish and eels;  lobsters, crabs, clams and soups made from
them.
  All kinds of nuts.  Coffee and green tea.
  The flesh of all young animals.  Highly seasoned soups and sauces.
  Cakes prepared with much fat, or aromatics.
  All kinds of colored confectionery, pastry and honey.
  Cider, vinegar, salads or cucumbers  prepared with it; sauerkraut,
pickles, catsup, garlic, onions, sage, mint,  parsley, thyme, lemon and
orange  peel,  celery,  horse-radish, allspice,  mace,  nutmegs,  cinnamon,
cloves, ginger, saffron,  vanilla, coriander, fennel, all kinds of  pepper,
tomatoes, beets, radishes,  green corn, boiled or roasted.
  All kinds of fermented and distilled liquors, wine  and  lemonade, and
drinks made from acids.   All natural and artificial mineral waters, &c.

  Note.—Should any of the articles allowed disagree with the patient,
of course they should be abstained from.
  During the  treatment of  a nursing child, the mother  should abstain
from eating any of the articles of food which are prohibited.
  Perfumeries, camphor and tooth powders must be  avoided.
  All medicines  or baths not prescribed by the  physician,  should  be
carefully rejected.
  Tobacco  should not be used, except in small quantities, and at long
intervals.
  Exercise in  the open air and thorough ventilation  are  necessary.
  The medicines should not be taken for at least half an  hour before  or
after eating.   They may be kept in a cool dry place,  free  from odors,