fy.    Jb
T HE
PAST   AND   PRESENT:
tttrfluttritfrn  Wtctvctt,
DELIVERED TO
THE  CLASS IN HAHNEMANN  MEDICAL COLLEGE,
OCTOBER 25th, J/BSo,
ki  0^°
-<K
BY  A.  E.  SMALL,  A.M.,  M.D.
          CHICAGO:
C. S. HALSEY, 147 CLARK STREET.
             1865. 
» 
CORRESPONDENCE.
                        Hahnemann Medical College,
                                          Chicago,  October  26th,  1865.

Prof. A. E.  Small,  M.D.,

      Dear Sir,—We, the undersigned  Committee,  in  behalf  of the Class,
would most respectfully solicit your introductory letter for publication.

                                             C. H. COGSWELL,
                                             C. W.  MILLER,
                                             A. E. SMALL, Jun.,
                                             H. ALLEN,
                                             C. W.  PIERCE.
                                          Chicago,  October  30tt,  1865.

  Gentlemen,—The manuscript you ask for was written for your entertainment;
and I cheerfully submit it for your consideration as you request, regretting, of
course, that it does not better merit the favor you propose to bestow upon it.

                  I have the honor to remain,
                            Very respectfully,
                                    Your obedient Servant,
                                                       A. E. SMALL.
Messrs. C. H. Cogswell,     ""]
       C. W. Miller,
       A. E. Small,  Jun.,   V Committee.
       II. Allen,           I
       C. W. Pierce.       J 
 
     THE  PAST  AND   PRESENT:

AX INTRODUCTORY LECTURE, DELIVERED TO THE CLASS IN
            HAHNEMANN MEDICAL COLLEGE,
                   OCTOBER 2Dth, 1865,
       BY  A.  E.  SMALL, A.M., M.D.
Gentlemen :
       There is no rest, and no pause, while new wants demand
new supplies.  Duties already accomplished give way to those
yet to be done, and  thus the world rolls round in its endless
series: the years of labor come and go, until the Master calls
the weary to repose, and other workmen take their place.  The
teacher can cast but a glance after the retiring form of the pupil
who goes forth to test the value of his labors, ere another comes
to fill the vacancy.
   The lips that but yesterday bid you an affectionate but reluc-
tant good-bye, are now framed  in readiness to greet you with a
more  cheerful welcome.  Only a few months ago, with mingled
hope and fear, a band of alumni went forth from this institution,
whose future course, in all probability, will either crown us with
rejoicing,  or stamp us with ignominy ; and already others, we
rejoice to see, have come to fill their vacant seats, as well  as
their place in our hearts.
   The custom of the occasion requires from us a word of greet-
ing.   To all, then, we extend a mosi cordial  welcome.  We
rejoice to see you here for many reasons; but above all, we are
glad to witness your presence, because it makes us feel that our
past labors have been sanctioned and confirmed. 
6
THE PAST AND PRESENT '.
   It is an  old  saying, that we must learn  from the past and
 present the foundation of our future hopes and fears; and no
 theme can  occupy our attention to better advantage than the
 " past and present " of the Hahnemannian School  of Medicine.
   In the  latter  part  of the  eighteenth century, when darkness
 prevailed to a remarkable extent in the whole medical  profession,
 and ignorance of the art of healing was so profound as to be
 self-complacent,  there lived  in  Meissen, on  the banks of the
 Elbe, an unpretending youth, obliged to toil by day-light with
 his hands, but having an inordinate thirst for knowledge, he was
 bound to pursue it, even under difficulties.  His father did not
 encourage his endeavors to qualify himself for any other calling
 higher than that of a painter on porcelain, and  yet, when sup-
 posed to be sound asleep, he was consuming the midnight oil in
 study.  He would ponder over his books till  the gray dawn
 came to eclipse  the pale  flicker  of  his waning  lamp, which he
 had himself constructed out  of clay, as he was  apprehensive of
 being discovered if he  used  one  of  the household candlesticks.
 His father's opposition apparently strengthened  his purpose to
 be instant in season and out of season in the prosecution of his
 studies;  and notwithstanding the father failed to see the utility
 of conferring the advantages of a liberal education upon the son,
 he  had a great  and  good influence  upon  his character by his
 counsels.
   He  exhorted  him  to exercise independent judgment in all
 cases—not to take anything on trust, but in  every case to act
 as reflection assured him,  was the best.  "Prove all things, hold
 fast that which is good," was the substance of his advice,  and by
 it he profited.   For, in acting according  to  his convictions, he
 surmounted  all   obstacles,  even his  father's  opposition, and
 became one of the ripest  scholars of his time,  His researches
 were constant and unremitting in the department of medicine.
 He became  distinguished  in  his attainments, and honored as a
writer and practitioner of great merit.  After  exercising the
keenest observation, and feeling sad that the profession was so
powerless for good, and%hen on the  eve of giving up in  despair,
under the impression  that uncertainty in medicine was so great,
a seemingly accidental thought gave  new direction to  his labors. 
AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
7
When the idea flashed upon him that the cinchona possessed
fever producing as well as fever  curing  power, and that this
might afford a reason for its therapeutic action, he commenced a
new series of observations and experiments, which led eventually
to the promulgation of a great central principle of  determining
the  curative action of drugs.  This  discovery  led to  a new
method of studying materia medica, and the publication of the
Organon, and other works, delineative of  its novel peculiarities.
   This provoked a determined opposition from Professor Hecker,
of Berlin, who wrote a violent diatribe against the book.   From
this moment there was a manifest tendency to  the  formation of
two parties—one in favor of, and the other opposed to the new
doctrines.   At first the discussion was carried  on in a spirit of
fairness  by Hahnemann's opponenfs, but  when it became mani-
fest that his doctrines  were attracting considerable attention and
favor with the  public,  older authors began to fear and tremble.
The book stores were  laden with their works,  and the new doc-
trines bid fair  to  abridge  the  sale  of them,  or render them
obsolete.
   The science of astronomy had swept the terrors of astrology
from the sky.    The science of chemistry  had cast the notion of
philters and  charms into the shade, and  science in general had
banished witches, gnomes, ghosts, and hobgoblins from respect-
able society, and it required but a faculty for partial  discernment
to  perceive that  Hahnemann's well-founded  doctrines  would
sweep from the medical sky the phantoms of theory, supersti-
tions, and guesses, that constituted  the medical literature  of his
time.
   Succeeding the  appearance  of  the  Organon and Materia
Medica Pura,  Hahnemann established a school  for the dissemi-
nation of his doctrines.  The brilliant inauguration of the lec-
tures to his admiring  students,  was the magnificent defense of
that able  essay, mentioned in his lesser writings, entitled " De
Helleborismo Veterum" which no one can read without acknow-
ledging his masterly manner of treating the subject, and his vast
amount of acquaintance with the Greek, Latin, Arabian, and
other physicians, from Hippocrates to Hufeland—by no means
excelled  by any of the faculty, and scarcely equalled  by his 
8               THE PAST AND  PRESENT :
 critics.   He gathered around him grey-headed old doctors, and
 other students, attracted by his learning  and the fame of his
 doctrines.
   This first school was established in the summer of 1812, and
 was composed of those, both in and out of the profession, who
 had become admirers of his writings.  He lectured to them twice
 a week, and selected from among them a number  to assist him
 in his labors of proving medicines.
   From this time  may be dated the existence of the Hahneman-
 nian system, and  the limits of its influence then were confined
 to a small part of  Germany.   But doctrines elicited from a dili-
 gent inquiry of nature, were calculated to find  favor with candid
 and observing  minds  everywhere.   Not many years  elapsed
 before their peculiar influence  was  felt  in England,  France,
 Sweden, Norway, and the United States of America, where  they
 have continued to  find favor, until, associated with the collateral
 sciences, they have become respected in every community.  Vain
 have been the efforts of their opponents to impede their progress.
 Every species of persecution, as  well  as every possible misrepre-
 sentation have been  called into requisition to cast  them into the
 shade,  but they  have risen above  calumny, and  flourished
 wherever tolerance and education are suffered  to take the place
 of a heartless bigotry and a  blind devotion to ancient error.
  Ever and anon  we have  heard the cry from our  opponents,
 that the Hahnemannian system  of  medicine has exploded in
 Europe, where it had its  origin—that its schools are defunct—
 that its hospitals and dispensaries have passed  into hopeless dis-
 uetude—that in this country it is on the decline — and that its
 tottering fabric is upheld only by the ignorant and uneducated class.
  But  the past  and  present of Homoeopathy in Europe proves
 beyond all cavil, that its  progress from its first announcement
 by the  distinguished Sage of Coethen,  has suffered no serious
 impediment.  In proof of this we will cite to England, Scotland
 and France, as  well  as to many other countries where Homoe-
 opathy is now  enjoying  a prestige, before  unknown.  She has
risen to respect and confidence in the most populous countries;
she has had a hearing in  their legislatures, and commanded the
the respect  of  their nobility.  We have taken some pains to 
AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
9
 acquire the  most reliable information concerning the present
 status of  Homoeopathy in  Europe, which I now respectfully lay
 before  you.    Having recently visited  Liverpool, Lancaster?
 Chester, Manchester,  London; and also Edinburgh,  Glasgow,
 Aberdeen, and  other  cities  in  Scotland; and Paris and other
 places in  France, we made it a point to ascertain the present
 state and future prospects of our  school in these places, com-
 pared with the same it enjoyed twenty-five years ago.
   We will begin with  Liverpool, a city of 360,000 inhabitants.
 But a few years ago not a representative of our school was to be
 found among the  practitioners of medicine; not a chemist or a
 pharmacy that fabricated medicines for Homoeopathic practice;
 not a dispensary where the poor could derive the practical bene;
 fits of the system; only here and  there  a patron who found it
 necessary to send to London or some other place for advice and
 medicine.  Now there are  eight physicians and surgeons, mem-
 bers of the Royal College, duly licensed  and registered, having
 the same legal status as those of the old school, who are in suc-
 cessful practice, and  in   the  enjoyment of a  patronage that
 excites the envy, jealousy and enmity of Old  Physic.  Very
 many of the best people of this city  yield a cordial support to
 the system, and contribute liberally for the support of  a large
 dispensary where the poor can be  treated gratuitously.  There
 is in Hardman Street a  large and  imposing building owned
 entirely by the Dispensary Association, where several thousand
 patients have received treatment for  various diseases.  There
 are three Pharmacies doing a lucrative business in the retail trade
 of Homoeopathic medicines.   In the  City of Birkenhead there
 is a similar current setting in favor of Homoeopathy, and it is
 the more pleasalnt and gratifying to its  friends to know, that
 numerous are the converts  to this kind of practice in the middle
 and higher classes of society.  In the old walled City of Chester,
 about twelve miles from Liverpool, there is an excellent physi-
 cian who  graduated at the  Homoeopathic  Medical College of
 Pennsylvania,  a.bout twelve years ago.   He  is held  in  high
repute, and numbers among his patrons the households of seve-
ral distinguished persons, who have contributed liberally to the
 support of our hospitals and dispensaries. 
10
THE PAST AND  PRESENT :
  In the  City  of  Glasgow, where  Homoeopathic  practice was
unknown  fourteen years ago, light seems to  have penetrated.
The  character  and  prejudices  of the  people being so  fixed
and determined, renders it little less than miraculous that any
novelty should gain a hearing.  A city of 400,000 inhabitants,
reared in an iron region, with iron hands, would naturally argue
the existence of a corresponding hardnesss of mental  charac-
teristics.  Proud of their  University and  College, their Royal
Medical Institutions and  Hospitals,  the  inhabitants are not
easily moved.   New  things are not  allowed to intrude.  Hoary
headed  error is suffered  to  reign  triumphant, while truth, if
novel in its development, must at best be  but  a suppliant at its
gates.  Old prejudices are slow to yield ; and yet truth, properly
endorsed,  is abundantly competent to  enter into conflict.   The
practical worth of  Homoeopathy has been demonstrated in Glas-
gow.   There are four physicians and  surgeons duly registered
and  licensed,  with an  overflowing patronage.   More  are re-
quired for public service, and an additional number is expected.
  There are  two Pharmacies, apparently doing  a good  retail
business ;  one  very  recently established  by  Mr. Pottage,  of
Edinburgh, in obedience to the growing  demand for such insti-
tutions.
  There is quite a large and well  supported Dispensary, under
the supervision of  Dr.  Cockburn and  brother, which has
been in operation  for three years.   Several  thousand patients
have been treated at  this  charity.  We were  informed  that
several graduates of  the University, and members  of the Royal
College of Physicians of Edinburgh, were instituting inquiries
upon the subject of Homoeopathy,  and  one,  at least,  signified
his willingness  to  come  out boldly in its favor,  provided the
Homoeopathic Society  would guarantee him  <£500 for the first
year.   The offer was very  properly declined.  Our cause,  be it
known, is not in need of purchased votaries.   When one is free
to embrace the truth, and freely practices it, his trust is in God
for his reward.
  In the  beautiful city of Edinburgh, the new school has been
gradually gaining  strength for more than  twenty years.   There
was, in 1845, but one physician, except Prof. Wm. Henderson, 
               AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.             11

who had recently become a convert.   The  strong  opposition
manifested to these pioneers, and the limited number of patrons,
who sympathized with them, were matters of observation.   Now
there are  six  highly  educated and accomplished physicians,
honored and respected as such,  in this city, and each enjoying a
patronage ample and sufficient  for his support.   From informa-
tion obtained from Mr. Pottage, the chemist, it appears that the
patronage  of our  schools has  multiplied much  faster than the
physicians.  Prof. Henderson has an  exalted reputation  as a
gentleman  and  a scholar, and still retains the chair of General
Pathology  in the University.  But he, some time since, resigned
that of Clinical Medicine, and  his position as Physician of the
Royal Infirmary.
   There is in Edinburgh a capacious Homoeopathic Dispensary,
No. 5 St. James Square, which reckons among its supporters a
large number  of  the  most honorable  and worthy  citizens.
Among these  may be  named the  Right Hon. Lord  Gray,  the
Right Hon. Lord Kinnaird, Hon. A. H.  McDonald Moreton,
and Sir Thomas Hepburn.
   Homoeopathy has also a  firm footing in the city of Dundee,
and a few other places.   All the accession to our school, and all
the favor it now enjoys in Scotland,  have been added within the
last twenty years ; and even if the increase has  not been rapid,
or so mighty as in other countries, it has been sure and highly
respectable.  It cannot be said that the system has exploded, or
that the  bubble has burst, when it yearly gains in strength and
public confidence,  if even at a slow rate.   Scotland is inhabited
by a  peculiar people, remarkable for physical and  mental  traits
that command  the respect of the Avorld.  Decision of character
and fixed  ideas, whether right  or  wrong, appears  to be charac-
teristic of this  people.   It is difficult to make  a Scotsman believe
that his ancestry were in the wrong.  He approves and upholds
that which was instilled into him in infancy;  and it  is a very
difficult thing  to  get pills,  boluses, black draughts, opiates and
castor oil out of his mind after  once being enthroned there ;  yet
there are a few who can forego their  prejudices, and rise to a
full view of a new development of truth, and this will ensure the
future growth and prosperity of our  cause in Scotland. 
12
THE PAST AND  PRESENT :
  While in  London, I visited  the  hospital in Great  Ormond
Street, a large and commodious building  and a large number of
beds.   Drs.  J.  Rutherford Russell  and Edward Hamilton are
the physicians.   The celebrated Frederick F. Quin, M.D., is the
consulting physician, and besides these are four surgeons and
accoucheurs,  and six assistants,  in the medical and  surgical
wards.  We have been gravely informed that the London Lancet
published the demise of this institution more than six years ago,
but this periodical is  not good authority upon  this  subject,
though perhaps quite as much so as  on any other.
  It is a matter of interest to the  friends of Homoeopathy to
know that this  hospital is a living  charity; that it contains a
large number of beds, and is all the  time well filled with patients
coming and going. . No institution of the kind  in this great city
can boast of a more respectable and intelligent board of manage-
ment— none can claim to receive the countenance and support
of a more honorable, noble, and respectable class of persons.
  There are three  other living institutions  of the  kind in
England: one at Bath, under  the special management of Drs.
Newman and Morgan ; one at Doncaster, under the management
of Dr. Dunn.   Six thousand patients, of variously diseased con-
ditions, have been treated for the  same in this hospital  since
1852.   There is another hospital at  Manchester, which  has been
in operation 23 years.   Attached  to this is a dispensary, from
which more than 56,000 patients have received  treatment during
the time.  The distinguished patron of this hospital is the Earl
of Wilton, who  is also the patron of  an institution at Manchester
for the homoeopathic treatment of consumption and  diseases of
the chest.  These charities are severally dispensing their  bene-
fits at the present time, and not one of them was in existence
twenty-five years ago.    To these may be added the hospital at
Birmingham, having about twenty beds, and  the Southport
Sanitarium for  children, together with thirty dispensaries in the
United Kingdom: each and every one of them dispensing its
blessings to  the  poor, and not  one of them  had  an existence
twenty-five years ago, when Leo Wolfe declared to the  people of
this country that Homoeopathy had  gone into hopeless disuetude
in Europe;  that the great soap bubble had burst, and became 
AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
13
dissipated in moonshine, and to this day his Allopathic brethren
quote him as reliable authority.
  Only seventy physicians of  our school in Great Britain could
be found in 1845 : now more than 500 have their names enrolled
as advocates and practitioners of the Halmemannian system.
  In 1844, the British Homoeopathic Society was instituted, for
the purpose of extending the principles of medical science.   No
one was allowed to become a member unless  he was at the  time
a member of some recognized university or college of the United
Kingdom.   It had but seven members the first year, fifteen the
second, eighteen the third.   Those  found worthy of becoming
members gradually increased in number, until at the commence-
ment of the  present year 140 names were enrolled; thus  con-
stituting one of the most imposing bodies of literary and scientific
physicians in the civilized world.
   There are at this time in England four periodicals devoted to
the dissemination  of medical science, including that of Homoeo-
pathy, ably edited and supported.   Twenty-five years ago there
was but one, and  this indifferently sustained: all of which goes
to  prove  the unmistakable progress our school is making in
in Great Britain.
   In France the  progress of the Homoeopathic school is still
more apparent.  There are 105 physicians and  surgeons whose
names are enrolled in Paris.   In  the list there  are ten house
surgeons of Parisian  hospitals, five  honorary physicians to the
hospitals, three honorary physicians  to Le Ecole Pratique, eight
Knights of the Legion of Honor, one Commander of the Order
of Isabella le Catholique, two  Knights of the same Order, and
six  Chevaliers de V Order de Charles III.  In Marsailles there
is also a goodly number of practitioners, and the cause is pros-
perous ; and this may be said  of the present status of Homoeo-
pathy throughout  the Empire.*
   The number of  physicians in France who now practice Homoe-
opathy  is  five hundred or more, whereas in 1840 there were but
a dozen, or a more limited number.
   There are no hospitals in France  specially homoeopathic, but
the practice was introduced by Tessier in L'Hopital  Sainte Mar-
* See British and Continental Register. 
14
THE PAST AND  PRESENT :
garite  annexed  to  the Hotel Bleu,  L'Hopital  Beaujon and
L'Ropital des Enfans some time ago, and is continued to the
present time.  It was introduced into the  military hospital of
the  Vol du  Grace by Dr. Gabrol,  principal surgeon of the
armies, and special physician to  the Marshal St. Arnaud; but
when the Marshal was called to active service  in the Crimea, Dr.
Gabrol's trial, after seven months, was interrupted by reason of
his services being required at the theatre of war.   He  however
continued  the services  among  the  ambulance wagons, at that
place, with perfect success.
   Homoeopathic practice has been introduced into several of the
more or less important  hospitals of the empire, among which are
the hospitals of Bourges, Charenton,  Harcourt, Sens Roubaix,
Cavaillon and Bar-sur-Seine.
   The success of Homoeopathic  practice in some of these hos-
pitals has  been  settled by  an official act,  duly signed by the
highest civil authority.  There are nine Dispensaries in France,
three of which are in Paris, two in Bourdeaux, one at Lyons, two
at Marseilles,  and one at Nantes.  In each of these are  annually
from 2,000 to 3,000 patients treated.
   The Homoeopathic Medical Society of France, formed in 1859,
is in a most flourishing condition, and has been successively pre-
sided over by M.  M.  Davit, Leon Simon, Teste and  Serrand.
The officers at the present time are  President Molin, Vice Presi-
dents Leon Simon, Lenoir and Leboucher,  General Secretary
Leon Simon,  Jr.,  Assistant Secretary Boyer, and Treasurer
Dezermaux.   The meetings of this  Congress are held semi-
monthly,  and are kept up with considerable interest.
   There is a Central Homoeopathic Commission of  Paris, which
has for its object the dissemination  of Homoeopathy, by passing
 and  recommending to public favor  such  physicians  as prove
 themselves well qualified in a  practical and scientific point of
 view.  The members  of the Commission together, form an im-
 posing Faculty; their names are familiar to the friends  of science
 in all the countries of Europe and America.   Among them are
 those of Jahr, Simon, Molin, De Bonneval, and others.
    There  are five medical journals  devoted to Homoeopathy and
 general science published monthly  in Paris, and several others in
 less conspicuous towns. 
AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
15
  Twenty-five years ago there were but a dozen Homoeopathic
physicians in the country, no  hospitals, no dispensaries, and no
journals;  now there are five hundred Homoeopathic physicians,
and seven hospitals and nine dispensaries in which Homoeopathy
is practiced.   In addition  there are five  Pharmacies in Paris,
three of  which are under  the management of the  Catellan
brothers, of world-wide reputation as chemists,  and two under
that of the Webers.  In view of all these  facts, it is difficult to
perceive how the opponents of our school of  medicine, can shut
their eyes to its progress,  or even  doubt  its ultimate triumph
over all opposition.  During  the present year the claims of
Homoeopathy have been ably  discussed  in the Palais Legislatif,
in a way that must prove  prophetic of its future  status.   We
became satisfied, from personal observation, that both physicians
and  distinguished  laymen,  including members  of the French
Senate and House  of Deputies, were alive upon  the subject, and
their influence appeared to  alarm old  school physic.  For the
want of time and space, we are obliged to omit many interesting
particulars, which we learned both in England and  France.
   It appears from  records and statistics  which I  was supplied
with, that there is not the  least foundation for  the assertion of
our  opponents, that our school has fallen into disrepute in Ger-
many, or any other country, as I will proceed to  show.  In 1840
there were but a hundred or  two hundred practitioners in Ger-
many, now there are about six hundred physicians of our school.
Many of  them were formerly members  of the Allopathic school,
and graduates  of  some  of  the  best  universities  in Europe.
Several have enjoyed positions of distinction on account  of  pro-
fessional merit.   Several have been  Professors in the oldest and
best colleges, even since the  truth  of  Homoeopathy has forced
itself on their convictions.
   There are eleven hospitals and  thirteen  dispensaries in active
operation, dispensing relief to thousands of the  afflicted.
   Six  ably conducted  quarterly journals are now in existence,
which  add continually to the literature  of Homoeopathy in Ger-
many.  An increase of more than one hundred per cent within
the last twenty years,  and more than twice  that percentage in
the increase of the number  of physicians.   Sixteen pharmacies 
16
THE PAST AND  PRESENT :
 doing an  immense trade,  under  the  supervision of  licensed
 chemists, and eight general  associated bodies of physicians with
 their shoulders to the wheel in a concert of action, have been
 instrumental in  bringing about  a visible reform in medicine
 throughout the German States.
   In Spain there are about two hundred physicians of our school
 in active practice, two public dispensaries, one at Madrid and one
 at Valladolid, three pharmacies  and two semi-monthly journals.
 A school has just been established,  by Royal  decree, for instruc-
 tion in Homoeopathic medicine, with Dr. Nunez at the head of
 it.   Twenty years  ago there was not a physician, dispensary,
journal or  pharmacy in the  interests of Homoeopathy in Spain.
   In Italy, Naples  and Sicily are one hundred and seventy-five
Homoeopathic physicians, four public dispensaries, seven phar-
macies and five journals,  and two academies officially recognized
and  approved by  the government, together with a large hospital
at Turin.   The  Palermo  Academy  has been  flourishing  for
twenty-one years.  In Belgium  there are more than a hundred
practitioners of our school, three  pharmacies, and seven dispen-
saries, a National Society of Homoeopathic Medicine, and three
journals ably edited and  well conducted.   All  have come into
existence since 1840.
  In the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia  and  Switzerland  there
are several hundred  practitioners, two hospitals, eight pharma-
cies, six public dispensaries  and four journals, and the cause is
still  advancing—all within the last twenty-five years.
  In Denmark, Sweden,  Norway and Poland there is a similar
progress.   The same is true in  Turkey, Egypt, and the islands
of the Mediterranean, where Homoeopathy was unknown twenty-
five years ago ;  and, lastly, in the far-distant region of Australia
there are scores of physicians who practice Homoeopathy.
  From the foregoing we are led to conclude that opposition
and  persecution from our opponents, have availed but little in
the way of impeding the  spread of Homoeopathy.
  By way of recapitulation we find, then, in England and on the
continent of Europe :
  2,300 Homoeopathic practitioners;
      22 Hospitals ; 
AN" INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
17
      56 Public dispensaries;
      78 Pharmacies;
      28 Journals,  including  quarterlies, monthlies,  and semi-
 monthlies.
   Two of the pharmacies and two of the hospitals were founded
 by order of the Emperor of Russia,  and one by Prince Michael-
 owitsch, at Moscow.
   Add to this account the present  and past status of Homoeo-
 pathy in North and South America.
   An increase from 15 to  3,500 physicians in twenty-five years,
 and we are able to form some estimate of the  present status of
 the  Hahnemannian school of medicine throughout the civilized
 world.
   What has been  accomplished aside from this increase of the
 number of physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, dispensaries,  and
 journals ?  Let the public answer.   A radical  change has been
 effected by it in old school  medicine.  Reckless  heroism  has
 received its death-blow—the indescriminate use of the lancet has
 become  obsolete—less medicine—less severity in  all kinds of
 medication—a gradual tendency towards the  standard erected
 by Homoeopathy,  has been the result.  And when the great
 truth discovered  by Hahnemann becomes universally acknow-
 ledged in medicine, as it is destined to be, then will the Homoeo-
 pathic school  be  swallowed up in the universal profession—its
 mission having been accomplished.
   As to the present status of our school in point of scientific
 attainments, we will use the words of Sir John Forbes, who, in
 1846,  said "That the  Homoeopathic school  had become so
 numerous, that although it had its mountebanks and quacks, yet
 scarcely a town or city in the civilized world could be found that
 had not one or more educated physicians of this school.   It  has
 its colleges, in which are taught all the sciences of the curricu-
lum ; its hospitals for practically testing its principles; and an
acknowledgment from  an intelligent  public,  as well as a conces-
sion  of its claims to education  and standing, that old school dig-
nitaries may well envy, even if treason against truth and justice
compels them  for  a longer  period to deny this self-evident fact. 
18
THE PAST AND  PRESENT .
    The advantages of Homoeopathic practice have been conceded
 by two life assurance companies, who have placed their premiums
 ten per cent, less for insurance on the lives of those under Hom-
 oeopathic treatment.   This fact of itself appeals directly to the
 interest everywhere  felt in  the  triumph  of Homoeopathy.
 When business men and bankers are willing to risk their money
 upon what becomes  apparent from  careful statistics, duly en-
 dorsed by  the highest fiscal  authorities, and carefully selected
 tables of mortality from all the countries of the civilized world,
 an argument  in favor of the present status  of our practice is
 presented to mankind that neither ridicule or misrepresentation
 can set aside.  It is a matter of rejoicing that under the auspices
 of Divine providence, such a  foundation so broad and deep has
 been laid,  to  ensure  the prosperity of a  cause which defies the
 edicts of the assembled aristocracy of old  physic.
   The question has sometimes  been raised, whether physicians
 of the  Homoeopathic school  are endowed with the same legal
 rights to public recognition  as those  of the  old school.   In
 answer let  it be understood  that our school was  legalized in
 Bohemia in 1821; in America in 1825;  Russia, 1833; France,
 1835; Austria, 1837 ; Prussia,  1843; and in England it might
 be said to have become fully recognized as a system of medicine
 in 1858—just three years after the abortive attempt to suppress
 the returns of the Inspector of Hospitals concerning cholera.
   It is true the American Medical Association pretend to ignore
 the fact, and refuse  to recognize us as  physicians.   It is  en-
joined upon its members, including  all the  self-styled regulars,
 that those of the Homoeopathic school shall not be recognized as
 physicians.   Their enactment  may have been a  convenient ave-
 nue for the venting of spleen,  and as powerful  against Homoe-
 opathy as the  Pope's  bull against  the comet,  but not at  all
alarming.  Some of the former  leaders of the old school have
tested the Homoeopathic law, and found  its claims more than
realized.   We will name these leaders : Profs. Amador, Tessier
and Cabrol, of the French army;  Count Guidi, Prof.' Parlier,
of Montpelier; Henderson, of Edinburgh; McDonald,  of  St!
 Andrews, and many others of England.    Vanderburg, Joslin,
 Kilchen, Matthews and Jeanes, of this country.   True, some of 
AN INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
19
the Allopaths swear under oath that these men are either knaves
or fools, or otherwise, that they are uneducated.  We  would
characterize  this as tall  swearing; ■ but the oaths of a whole
population of such men cannot destroy a single existing fact, or
make those  fools or knaves, or  ignorant, against whom they
swear.  The time will come when they will regret that they had
not obeyed the injunction, " Swear not at all, neither bear false
witness against thy neighbor."   Gentlemen,  let us  abide  the
time, and  be in season and  out of season at our work, and  the
triumph in the future will be full and complete.