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FONDS,
FONDS BOIRON
 LB -/b3

PRACTICAL OBSERVATION^

ON

HOMCEOPATHY:

WITH

A VARIETY OF CASES,

TENDING TO PROVE ITS DECIDED SUPERIORITY OVER THE

ORDINARY SYSTEM OF MEDICINE.

BY

W. BROACKES, M.R.C.S.

LONDON :
PUBLISHED BY EFFINGHAM WILSON,
ROYAL EXCHANGE ;
AND TO BE HAD OF THE AUTHOR,
HEGENT PLACE, CITY ROAD, AND No. 33, OLD JEW*.

1836.
 LONDON !
JOSEPH B1CKEKBY, PRINTER,
SHERBOURN-I.AXE.
 CONTENTS.

Page
Introduction 1
Chapter I.The Manner in which the System of Homoe
opathy first became known to the writer.The Ob
stacles that presented themselves to his trying Experi
ments, and their Results 7
Chapter II.On Homoeopathy 18
Chapter III.To the Public and the Medical Profession 25
Chapter IV.On Disease aud its Mode of Treatment . . 42
Chapter V.On the Attenuation and Administration of
the Remedies ........... 60
Chapter VI.On the Opposition and Prejudice with
which the Science has to contend 76
Chapter VII.Comparison of the two Systems 83
Chapter VIII.Sketch of the Life of Hahnemann .... 9.5

CASES.
Notice to the Reader 102
Ague, TertianJ. B... ... ...... 128
Apoplexy Mr. A 130
Asthmatic CoughMr. H 112
r B. R. Esq H4
Asthma, ChronicMr. W 1 lf>
A.R. Esq 116
J. P. Esq 117
Rev. Mr- 1,8
Cholera, SpasmodicJ. R. 1 09
- EnglishMr. J. 109
Colic, PaintersT. P . - l&t
 CONTENTS.
Page
Colic, PaintersD. L 133
ConsumptionMiss E 115
Cough, ChronicMr. J Ill
, and Spitting of BloodMrs. C 113
Eruption, Scorbutic 120
Eruption, with UlcersMr. S 121
Eruption with DyspepsiaMiss A , 120
Extremities ColdMiss T 128
Fever, ScarletMr. F. . 122
Mr. B.'s children ,, 122
Fever, TyphusMr. T..... 123
FistulaA. M 131
IndigestionMrs. R 104
Mr. J 105
IndigestionMrs. P 106
Mr.N 106
Inflammation of the BowelsMrs. D. 125
of the KidneysMr. Y 125
. of the EyesMr. C.'s child 131
JaundiceMr. O 108
Mrs. M 108
Liver DiseasedMr. H.. 105
1 Mrs. M 107
Mercurial ActionMrs. D. 129*
Opthalmia-C. R. Esq 132
Palpitation of the Heart Mr. P 126
ParalysisJ. C. Esq 129
Piles and HaemorrhageMrs. W 124
Pulmonary AffectionCapt. G 110
Rheumatism, AcuteO. H. Esq 118
Mr. B
Spine, disease ofMiss S 127
Stricture of the RectumMrs. B 123
Toothach 13*
 HOM(EOP ATHY.

INTRODUCTION.

It is with the greatest diffidence that I

appear before the public in the character
of an author ; a character, which I feel and
confess myself unequal to sustain in the
way that I could wish, from being unac
customed to literary composition,from my
various avocations, and from the pressure
of many other engagements, which are too
unimportant to be intruded upon the at
tention of those whom I venture to ad
dress.
 2

For upwards of twenty years my time

and attention have been wholly devoted to
the arduous duties of an extensive practice ;
nor would any motive, but that which arises
from the sense of the obligation which
binds me to promote, as far as I am able,
the welfare of my fellow-creatures, have in
duced me to encounter such an under
taking as the present. But I am so per
fectly and so sincerely convinced, both from
practice and theory, of the vast superiority
of the Homoeopathic practice of medicine
over the old', or Allopathic system, that I
should consider myself guilty of a derelic
tion of duty, and of an act of injustice to
the public, were I to refrain, through the
fear of personal inconvenience, from pub
lishing the result of a series of experi
ments, which have been carefully made,
and long and sedulously continued.
It will no doubt be admitted, by every
candid and unprejudiced mind, that the
 3

present system of medicine is very uncer

tain in its operation at all times ; andy in
many cases, is totally inadequate to the re
moval of disease, even though it may pro
duce very considerable ameliorationan
uncertainty which arises, in some mea
sure, from the complication of the drugs
which are so generally employed, and
to which I shall more particularly advert
hereafter.
I am perfectly aware that, for a practi
tioner of my standing, to write in favour of
a system which is diametrically opposed to
the one that he has been pursuing for more
than twenty years, will, most probably, draw
upon him the animadversion and censure
of not a few of his profession ; and will,
perhaps, expose him to the severe criticism
and satirical remarks of many others. To
such persons he will only say, that the motives
which influence him will fully satisfy his own
conscience, and that the time and labour

b 2
 4

which he has devoted to the study of the

system that he now advocates, should in
duce those who differ from him, to receive
the results of his investigation with candour,
and not to decide till they can speak from
equal experience upon the subject with
himself.
Such persons indeed must, if they would
avow it, feel convinced from their own
knowledge, of the necessity of some im
provement in the practice of medicine ;
and if they will only be prevailed upon to
examine the principles of the Homoeopathic
treatment, and to try the effects of the re
medies which it proposes, with a mind un
biassed and open to conviction, the result
can only be that which has been produced
upon myself ; namely, a thorough assurance
of its being the greatest acquisition to, and
improvement that has ever yet been made in,
modern science. But those who have not
received a medical education, if their ge
 5

neral acquirements be liberal, are unques

tionably fully competent to form an opinion
on the advantages of the different modes of
treatment, after having perused a discus
sion of them both. To come to a just con
clusion on their respective merits, it is not
essential to possess any advanced know
ledge on medical subjectsfar from it ; for
professional men, as I have frequently had
occasion to observe, are much less likely
than others to decide correctly in such a
case as the present ; the prejudices of their
education, and consequent bias of their
minds, inducing them to determine, at all
events, in favour of the old and established
mode of practice.
I shall now, and without further intro
duction, proceed to state in what the dis
tinction principally consists, between the
new, or Homoeopathic, and the old, or Al

lopathic practice.
This it will be my endeavour to accom
plish as briefly as the subject will permit,
without at present entering into the slight
est disquisition, which is merely profes
sional ; and I trust to be able to do so, in
a manner which shall be plainly and per
fectly understood by those who may not
as yet have heard of the system, even by
name.
However the success of that system may,
from a variety of causes, be for a time im
peded, I feel the most perfect confidence
that it must and will utimately prevail
"Magna est Veritas, et pravalebit." And
in the cause which I now undertake, I trust
I shall never experience any other occasion
of regret, than that the powers of its advo
cate are not more commensurate with its
great and unequalled merit.
 7

CHAPTER I.

The Manner in which the System of Homoeopa

thyfirst became known to the writer The Ob
stacles that presented themselves to his trying
Experiments,and their Results.

That the practice of Homoeopathy had

been making rapid progress on the conti
nent I had heard ; but my first introduc
tion to any knowledge of its principles was
purely accidental.
I was dining one day at the table of a
friend, whose lady was seized with a violent
toothach and swelling of the face. Not
being at that time the professional at
tendant of the family, I merely proposed
something which should produce a tempo
rary alleviation of pain, till her own prac
 8

titioner should arrive ; but her aversion to

medicine I found so invincible, that to pre
vail on her to take a dose on the old sys
tem was utterly impracticable. This led
to a discussion on Homoeopathy and its
principles : and deep cause, indeed, had
my friends for speaking and feeling so
warmly as they did in favour of that sys
tem ; a system which had been the means
of saving the lives of my worthy host and
one of his partners ; and that too, when
their recovery had been pronounced im
possible by many of our most eminent
practitioners.
Shortly after this I was introduced to
several other parties, all of whom felt as
warmly interested in favour of this system
as the family to which I have just alluded ;
and I naturally became anxious to acquire
some further information on the subject.
I must candidly admit that I considered
them little better than enthusiasts. That
 9

they had been benefited, and to a great

extent, by the system in question, I could
not, for one moment, either deny or even
doubt. But even after this admission, I
was reluctant to shake off the trammels of
ancient usage : I was still influenced by
prejudice ; and I could not bear to think
that the principles which I had been so
long practising, were, if not altogether er
roneous, at least far less efficacious than
those to which my attention was now di
rected.
I was perfectly willing to allow that im
provement, and that to a great extent, was
necessary, in the practice of medicine ; but
still, and for a length of time, I perse
vered in attributing their recovery to some
accidental cause, for which I could neither
explain nor account.
I was at length prevailed upon to make
a trial of some of the remedies, under the
direction of a gentleman, who had, for se
 10

veral years, made Homoeopathy his study.

I feel that it is the first duty of those who
undertake to devote their time, their talents,
and occasionally their very lives, to relieve
the suffering part of the community, to re
ceive, though with prudence and caution,
any suggestion, and to attempt every expe
riment which may enable them to select and
make efficient the best means of adminis
tering to disease, from whatever source
those means may be derived.
Until the introduction of Homoeopathy,
a spirit of slumber in the science of medicine
appears to have oppressed our faculties;
several centuries having elapsed without
any very decided efforts being made to
improve the existing system ; and even from
the few efforts that have been made, no very
effectual or beneficial results have been ob
tained, or principle established.
The language of the advocates of Homoeo
pathy isdo not place implicit confidence
 11

in that which is related, but lay and judge

for yourself; make such experiments as
you are directed to pursue ; follow atten
tively the rules that are prescribed ; and you
will not fail of being eventually convinced.
This must appear to all to be the lan
guage of conviction and truth. It must,
in every thinking person, produce a deter
mination to try, by a repetition of expe
riments, whether all that is stated by
Hahnemann and his followers, which
sound so well in theory, can be advan
tageously reduced to, and corroborated by
practice.
To a person, however, who has been
long established in the profession, almost
inconceivable impediments arise. Much
greater difficulties, in fact, present them
selves, than could be possibly imagin
ed ; and many obstacles are continually
thrown in the way of a change of sys
tem. Opportunities are also wanting to
 12

try those experiments, which are absolutely

requisite to be made, and which must be
constantly repeated, before any reflective
mind can suffer itself to be convinced of the
advantages of a system so novel, and so
much at variance with received opinions.
Aware, however, that facts are the only
sure guide to the discovery of truth, and
that they are the foundation of universal
principles, I determined to be influenced
by facts alone, and by the clearest results
of experiments, which should be com
menced and carried on under my own im
mediate observation and persevering inspec
tion.
But now many difficulties began to arise.
The medicines, although many of them
are the same as those which are every day
prescribed, being so different in their bulk
and form, could not be administered with
out exciting remark and enquiry.
These, in almost every case, produced
 13

objections : for let me ask any invalid,

who reads this book, if he would like to be
the subject experimented upon ; and al
though he would very readily admit the ne
cessity that the trial should be made, yet
he would not as readily be induced to be
come the passive medium through which it
should be attempted.
But supposing an invalid to be so dis
posed as to try the effect of a new remedy.
The nervous feeling which would in all
probability be excited on the occasion,
would prevent the medicines from acting
so satisfactorily and so decidedly, as they
would under other circumstances.
Having an extensive dispensary practice,
these obstacles were not only foreseen, but,
to a great extent, provided against, by pre
scribing the Homoeopathic remedies to all
the dispensary patients; few of whom had
the slightest idea that any but the usual
remedies were administered.
 14

By this means an opportunity has been

obtained of observing, and of noting the
most minute symptoms produced by the
several remedies, on diseases equally vari
ous, and of remarking the different periods
at which the action of each became per
ceptible, and also the length of time that
elapsed before the action ceased. It will
be very readily perceived, that a great degree
of anxiety must have been encountered,
and a vast deal of time consumed, before
the results of these experiments could be
so clearly ascertained as to carry perfect
conviction to the mind. Eventually, how
ever, the results were satisfactory, even
beyond what I had anticipated ; and it pro
duced such a decided effect on my mind,
of the superior mode of removing disease,
which Homoeopathy offers, that I was de
termined, without further hesitation, im
mediately to study, and to make myself
thoroughly acquainted with the system.
Having done this, I fearlessly assert, that
disease can be eradicated by it in much less
time than we had previously the means of
effecting ;that, on the effects which the
remedies will produce we can calculate
with much greater certainty ;and that they
decidedly leave none of those debilitating
consequences, which the practitioner has
frequently so much difficulty to remove,
and sometimes occasion to deplore.
Another cause of considerable anxiety
arose in my mind, from the risk a profes
sional man incurs of injuring, even in the
slightest degree, his reputation, should the
remedies not produce the desired effect.
For although a patient may not be aware
that the system on which he has been treat
ed is any other than that to which he has
been accustomed,, yet all invalids will very
shortly become restless and dissatisfied, un
less something approaching an amelioration
of their complaint takes place. But this
 16

is a source of anxiety to which he Ho

moeopathic practitioner will never be sub
jected, provided he acts with consideration
and caution ; provided also, he has tho
roughly studied, and perfectly understands
the theory of the system : for that it is a
system which requires the deepest study,
and the most deliberate attention, before it
can be made subservient to the removal of
disease, will very shortly be discovered by
all persons who may attempt to practise it
without having first read the works that
are published,without having resorted to
a long course of tedious experiments, and
reflected with that seriousness on the sub
ject which it imperatively demands. It
has been certainly asserted, that a know
ledge of the theory may be acquired in
a few hours. But those who draw such
hasty and bold conclusion, can have de
voted but a very small portion of their time
or consideration to its study, or they would
 17

have discovered many, and almost innu

merable difficulties to arise in the applica
tion of the system, notwithstanding it is so
simple in appearance.
The various impediments which are at
present thrown in the way of Homoeopathy,
when it is more generally understood,
and the science becomes better known and
appreciated, will no doubt be gradually di
minished, or altogether removed. But im
pediments will still long continue ; and one
of the principal ones with Avhich we have
to contend, proceeds from the want of some
English publication on the subject ; the
works which have been as yet written
being either in the German or French lan
guages.

c
 18

CHAPTER IT.

On Homoeopathy.

The term Homoeopathy is compounded

of two Greek words, 'O^oioe, like, and iraOog,
an affection or disposition, which, in some
measure, explains the principles upon
which it is founded, and at the same time
accounts for the name which has been as
signed it by the illustrious founder of the
system. As a clearer illustration of the
principles, it should be stated that its fun
damental points are,
First, to ascertain what symptoms each
medicine is capable of producing upon a
healthy subject, previously to applying it
to the removal of disease.
 19

Secondly, that to effect the removal of

any given complaint, a specific remedy
alone should be administered, the effects
of which are observed to bear the strongest
resemblance to those of the disease.
These are the leading points upon which
the system rests ; a system which is far from
being so perfectly novel as is generally as
serted ; for, as far back as the year 1738,
a Danish physician expressed, most un
equivocally, his conviction of its truth.
He remarks, that the received method of
treating disease by opposite remediesthat
is to say, by medicines which produce ef
fects opposite to those of the diseaseis
completely false : on the contrary, he felt
persuaded that disease was only to be
subdued by agents which produce a " simi
lar affection." For example, burns by the
heat of a fire, inflammation and contu
sions by spirituous applications. By these
means, he says, he succeeded in curing

c 2
 20

a disposition to rigors with very small

doses of sulphuric acid, in cases where a
multitude of absorbing powders had been
administered without effect. Thus far the
great truth has, more than once, been
approached, although a transitory idea was
all that presented itself. Stoerck was also
struck with the idea, that if strammonium
disturbs the senses, and produces mental
derangement in persons who are healthy,
it ought to be administered to maniacs, for
the purpose of restoring the senses, by ex
citing a change of ideas.
In almost every age there have been
physicians whose minds were imbued most
forcibly with the impression, that medi
cines might remove disease by the faculty
which they possess of exciting morbid
symptoms resembling the disease itself.
Physicians of a later period have also
knownand proclaimed the truths of Homoeo
pathy. Boulduc, for example, discovered
 21

that the purgative property of rhubarb was

the faculty by which this plant removed
diarrhsea. Detharding supposed that senna
would cure the cholic, by virtue of the
power it possessed of exciting that malady
in healthy individuals.
John Hunter likewise pointed out the
evil results attending the treatment of burns
by cold water. Many other writers assure
us that cold applications are very hurtful
in such casesthat they produce the most
disastrous effects ; that inflammation, sup
puration, and sometimes gangrene are the
consequences. The inhabitants of warm
countries usually drink a small quantity of
spirituous liquors when they are much heat
ed. Experience, the source of all truth,
has convinced them of the advantage and
efficacy of this Homoeopathic mode of pro
ceeding.
In England, although not acknowledged,
the system has been acted upon very gene
 22

rally. Nitric acid is frequently recom

mended in cutaneous disease : the internal

use of this remedy, in an extremely diluted

form, produces eruption over the whole sur
face of the body ; whilst the external appli
cation of a solution, in the proportion of
one part of acid to one hundred and twenty
parts of water, will produce inflammation
and ulceration of the skin. The natural
conclusion therefore is, that nitric acid re
moves cutaneous disease by the power it
possesses of producing a similar affection.
The ordinary effects of hyosciamus are
vertigo, stupefaction, and delirium ; yet
diseases will be found to yield to small doses
of the tincture of this plant.
Innumerable other medicines might be
named, which have always been made use
of on the same principle. Neither let it be
erroneously supposed, that till the discovery
of Hahnemann, a method so natural, and
so perfectly true, as that of observing the
 23

pure effects of each medicine individually,

in order to ascertain by that means the dis
eases it was capable of removing, had never
suggested itself. Haller was the first who
felt the necessity of pursuing such a plan ;
but to Hahnemann alone is the gratitude of
mankind due for pursuing, with a persever
ance that could only result from, and be
supported by the perfect conviction of a
truth so valuable to the human race, that
the Homoeopathic administration of medi
cines is the most scientific and certain me
thod of curing disease.
On perusing the works of authors who
have written on the morbid effects caused
by medicinal substances, which through neg
ligence, criminal intent, or otherwise, had
got into the stomachs of healthy individuals,
which are reported as cases of poisoning,
and as proofs of the inherent pernicious
effects of these energetic agents, it will be
found, that the facts narrated coincide with
 24

the experiments and observations which

have been made by Hahnemann. But not
one of these writers had the slightest pre
sentiment that their histories of disease pro
duced by medicines would, at some future
period, furnish the elements of a pure and
true materia medica, which has at length
almost attained perfection through the in^-
defatigable exertions of one enterprising in^
dividual.
 25

CHAPTER III.

To the Public and the Medical Profession.

In commencing this little work, it was nei

ther my intention nor my wish to enter
into details on the science or the practice
of Homoeopathy ; but merely to explain, as
concisely as the nature of the subject would
admit, what that system means, and wherein
it materially differs from the present mode
of practice.
The work before me has, however, una
voidably increased far beyond the limits
which I at first proposed to myself ; and I
can only express, as I have already done
before, my most anxious wish that it may
be received with the spirit in which it has
been written, and estimated by the motives
 26

which led to its production ; motives which

have been explained more at large in ano
ther place.
I have long waited for some publication
on the subject, from those more compe
tent than myself to discuss and explain
its merits ; but none having yet appeared,
at least in the English language, I deter
mined to make known my own humble
opinions, and to offer the result of my own
experience ; assured, as I feel, that there
is not an individual in the community who
is not most deeply interested in ascertain
ing whether the practice of Homoeopathy
be right or wrong, be founded on fallacy
or on truth. All terms which are merely
technical and professional I have studi
ously avoided. My highest aim has been
to diffuse, as clearly as I was able, the
knowledge of a system of medicine, which
I firmly believe to be true ; and I humbly
conceive that, imperfect as the attempt
 27

may prove, it cannot reasonably be cen

sured, or the science itself injured by the
weakness of its advocate.
From the works of Hahnemann, Dr.
Bowninghausan, and other writers on Ho
moeopathy, have many of the remarks on
the fundamental principles of the system
been extracted. An acknowledgment which
I here candidly and fully make ; and once
for all, both as it regards those writers
themselves, and as it may apply to others,
upon whose labours I have occasionally
drawn. In the more practical remarks,
however, nothing has been stated from the
labours or from the knowledge of others ;
for in them, whatever is advanced is the
distinct result of my own experience ; and,
I may venture to hope, my own accurate
observation.
As years have already been expended on
the experiments which have been made in

the practice of Homoeopathy, it cannot be

 28

asserted that it is a sudden and violent in

novation on that system of medicine which
now prevails. A system which time has
consecrated, and the prejudice in favour
of which time alone will be able to extin
guisha prejudice which, it is to be feared,
will still continue to be cherished by many,
whose names stand most deservedly high,
and to whose opinions we are, in many in
stances, inclined to bend. Deference to
great names and distinguished talent is a
tribute which they richly deserve ; a tribute
which it would be criminal even to attempt
to diminish, and impossible, indeed, were it
to be attempted. But whatever respect
may be due to the scruples, to the preju
dices, or to the reputation of others, nothing
can justify our persevering in a course of
opinion, or of practice, which our own
judgment teaches us entirely to condemn.
The conquests achieved by just and scientific
principles are always firm and durable ; and
 29

the opponents of the science of Homoeopa

thy are aware that a current has already
set in, which threatens, at no very distant
period, to subvert the system which they
continue to uphold ; and we have every
reason to expect that the revolution, which
has already commenced amongst those who
are destined to guide the public health, and
by whom no compromise can be made be
tween the professions of individuals and
the general good, will shortly lead to much
greater results, and produce still more
powerful effects. But he who aspires to
combat prejudices and opinions which
have been long established, must regard
them with becoming courtesy, or he will
only contribute to perpetuate the evil which
he is aiming to remove. If, therefore, the
author should have inadvertently been be
trayed into any remarks that can be deemed
in the least disrespectful to the profession
of which he is a member, it will cause him
 30

unfeigned regret. He has the happiness to

know many whose characters and abilities
entitle them to his highest esteem ; and for
their more immediate consideration he has
commenced, and hopes shortly to complete
a work on the subject of Homoeopathy, re
garded in a more professional and scientific
point of view than the nature of the present
will permit. Had he, however, consulted
merely his own private interest he would
never have advocated the practice of Ho

moeopathy.
He has already an extensive and long-
established practice ; and a conviction of
its propriety alone has induced him to
pursue his present line of conduct. His
first experiments were commenced without
any idea, andx he will even admit, without
any wish, that they should succeed. But
the results proved so startling, the cures
were effected so rapidly, that, although he
foresaw the certain opposition, and the
 O1

probable censure pf the profession, yet he

felt it his duty to continue, uninfluenced
by such apprehensions, in a course of
practice from which it evidently appeared
that so great a public benefit would, if not
immediately, at least eventually accrue.
The virtues of the Homoeopathic system,
he is well aware, are doubted by a large
majority of the medical profession ; and by
many others of it, unreservedly ridiculed,
and abruptly denied.
That some parts of it are startling, at a
first and superficial glance, he unhesitat
ingly admits ; but it should not, from that
cause alone, and without any further in
vestigation, be deemed wild and visionary.
That it opposes all previously received
opinions and established maxims, and that
it shows a perfect disregard to all that has
been taught in medicine for many centu
ries, is most true : but why should we
hesitate to shake off the errors of centu
 32

ries, when they are so clearly proved to

be errors ; and that, too, in cases in which
not only health, the greatest of all bless
ings, is concerned, but in which, perhaps,
the life of our fellow-creatures is at stake ?
Should we not rise superior to all forms
and prejudices, however specious, however
venerable they may be, or however hal
lowed by the acceptance of past ages?
Amongst the discoveries which have been
made, and the improvements which have
been introduced into almost every branch
of human knowledge, is it not surprising
to find the most important branch of all,
that of medicine, still remaining, if not
stationary, yet certainly without making
that progress towards perfection which
might have been rationally expected, while
the art of surgery has, at the very same
time, so wonderfully advanced as to leave
but little to be desired by posterity.

It must be candidly confessed, that the

 33

properties of medicines, and the powers

which they possess for the removal of dis
ease, still continue, comparatively, but lit
tle understood, in defiance of all the re
searches that have been made, and the
perseverance that has been bestowed.
Now, with all due submission, I would
ask any professional man, are not the
time and talent which have been thus ap
plied, and thus, alas ! consumed with so
little success, the very best possible evi
dence that can be adduced, that medical
science is not only still far from having
arrived at that point which we must all
so ardently desire ; and whether the mode
of practice which is now followed is not
altogether a mistaken one, and the princi
ple itself too surely erroneous? Sincere
ly, then, do I trust, that so scientific a
body of men as my brother practitioners
will not slightly condemn, much less wholly
reject the system of Homoeopathy, till they

D'
 34

have satisfied themselves, by actual expe

riment, of its fallacy, and its inadequacy
to realize the benefits which it professes to
dispense.

I would beg further to observe, if the

system has been really introduced by an
ignorant pretender, or by one, who, from
mercenary motives, endeavours to delude
the public ; nothing can be more simple or
more easy than to prove him an impostor,
and to expose his unfounded pretensions ;
but by assertions alone, or by unqualified
censure and opposition, this can never be
effected. It is not by calling a man an im
postor ; it is not by railing at him as an em
pirical enthusiast, that you can prove him
to be such ; but by a just and candid exa
mination into the truth of his statements ;
by a fair and patient trial, whether the
medicines really will produce the effects
asserted, whether the statements made of
the cures which have been performed are
 35

correct or false,and whether the system is

equal to effectuate all the benefits that it
assumes the power to do, that the theory
of Hahnemann must stand or fallmust be
altogether admitted or rejected. Jt allows
of no middle course, of no temporising
compromise ; nor will it, much less, amal
gamate, in any degree, with the existing
practice. The author of this publication
takes the liberty to observe, that no mer
cenary motive cap be fairly imputed to
him? for endeavouring to draw the serious
attention of the medical profession to the
investigation of a science which he has
found to succeed, almost in every instance,
far beyond his expectations, and in the
most minute particulars.
His interest, could such a subject in
deed be regarded as a matter of interest,
would, it must be evident, be better pro
moted by his applying the results of his
experience to the benefit of his own im
d 2
 36

mediate connexions, and individual prac

tice. He however altogether repudiates
the idea of being influenced by any mer
cenary motive ; and for the encourage
ment of his brother practitioners, he would
here be allowed to state, that his first ex
periments were commenced with a mind
as prejudiced against, and as determined
not to be influenced by their results,
as any of theirs can now bethat he never
suffered his prepossession in favour of the
mode of practice to which he had been so
long accustomed, to diminish in the least,
so long as he could possibly adhere to it ;
and that, by facts aloneby facts which
no reasonable person could resist, he has
been compelled, even against his inclina
tion, to acknowledge the indisputable su
periority of the Homoeopathic system.
Should his observations, therefore, be the
means of exciting only a small portion
of the profession to reflect on the great
 37

importance of the subject to which he has

presumed to invite their attention, he shall
rest satisfied that, what he has deemed the
faithful discharge of his duty, has not been
unavailing.
In concluding, he would beg to strengthen
this address to his brethen, by claiming
their impartial attention to the following
observations of the Rev. T. Everest, who
thus expresses himself upon a subject of
such paramount importance to the health
and happiness of mankind.
" The medical practitioners of England
have higher occupations than to study and
refute every whimsical theory and bold
assertion ; but a circumstance might oc
cur, and such is the present, when inves
tigation becomes a sacred duty. If they
find its principles fallacious, the public
will indeed feel grateful for having taught
them to avoid a gulf, into which great part
of the world is falling ; and will be proud
 38

to think, that the practitioners of England

alofte remain free frohV its infection ; that
they have waited so long before investi
gating ; that they have suffered the system
to be fully tried and experimented upon in
other countries ; that they have waited to
see its full effects produced, and to hear
all the arguments in favour of, or against
its adoption, before they would admit
either its truth or fallacy, is the surest evi
dence that, if once admitted by them, it
will only be from the perfect conviction of
its truth. What reliance could be placed
on the decision of men, suffering them
selves to be influenced by every visionary,
to be led astray by every enthusiast Y'
That the science of Homoeopathy is
based upon principles which will stand
the severest test, cannot be more convinc
ingly proved, than by the efforts which have
been so vainly made to crush its founder.
Under the persecutions he has experienced,
 39

and the privations he has undergone, would

not both he and his discoveries, have sunk
into oblivion ? Whilst, on the contrary, they
have withstood, for a quarter of a century,
the most violent efforts to extinguish them.
True it is, that the system is new, the name
new, the practice dissimilar to that to
which we have been accustomed. Ne
vertheless it advances steadily ; for this
simple reason, that it has performed cures
which no other system could perform ; the
only thing still requisite to smooth its pro
gress, is to familiarize the mind with a few
of the arguments in its favour.
An attempt to explain the principles upon
which it is founded, may probably procure
a trial from some who have formed unrea
sonable prejudices against it.
No arguments can either establish or
shake its truth ; on experiment alone it
rests : nor is it probable that it would so
loudly call for, and provoke a contest with
 40

men of talent, stimulated by interest, un

less it were tolerably confident of the result.
In foreign medical works, numberless cases
are described, which at least demand in
quiry : it cannot be supposed that all the
numerous supporters of Homoeopathy are
either enthusiasts or madmen. Can it be
believed that so many celebrated men have
combined to cheat the public into a belief
of a system which has neither truth for
its basis, nor evidence to support it ? Would
such a man as Rau, of Berlin, who com
menced by assailing and endeavouring to
write down the system, would he after
wards have become a convert, except from
its truth having been made so apparent,
that to resist its evidence was impossible ?
Will any one venture to say, that the innu
merable cures which are daily asserted to
be performed by the Homoeopathic prac
tice are merely visionary ; that the system
itself is a foolish theory, a ridiculous dream,
 41

and a delusion to which no man of sense

can give credit ? On what evidence are these
objections founded ? Have not the public a
right to demand a thorough investigation
of a system which promises, and is avowed
to have performed so much ?
Supposing it to be a vain hypothesis, it
has now so many devoted adherents in
other countries, that it is certainly enti
tled to at least a trial in this.
I hope that every practitioner will con
vince himself of the truth or falsehood of
the principles inculcatedthat he will not
rest satisfied with asserting that the minute
ness of the dose is absurd, but ascertain if
it really produces the effects described.
Facts are the only arguments to which the
system appeals, it is consequently by them
only that it can be opposed ; they must
either be admitted as truths, or exposed
as the misrepresentations of enthusiasm.
 4(2

CHAPTER V.

On Disease, and its Mode of Treatment.

The vital principle is a thing but little

known to us, except by its effects ; nor can it
ever be made perceptible to the senses. No
idea of its nature can be obtained from
a reference to any of those illustrations,
or conjectures, which serve to explain other
phenomena.
It does not obey the ordinary laws of
nature which govern inorganic bodies.
The living organization possesses a fun
damental inherent force,a principle which
can put the body in motion, contrary to the
law of motion, which determines, that
 43

matter at rest shall continue at rest, till

acted upon by some external force.
This energetic principle which enables
the body to disobey the common law of
matter, is purely spiritualit cannot be
touched.
When this mysterious principle is in full
and vigorous operation, the body is strong,
and in that state which we designate
health. There is no pain, no appearance
of anxiety, the mind is at ease ;but still
this principle is subject to certain altera
tions, or changes, which, when communi
cated to the organization, produce that
state of suffering which we term disease.
This principle of life is never disturbed
without the individual feeling it, and that
feeling constitutes what is termed a symp
tom.
The degree of disturbance is measured
by the symptoms of which the person
 44

complains, and they indicate the disease by

which he is afflicted.
The only aim of the physician is to re
store to its regular state, whatever has thus
suffered disturbance ; and to remove, as far
as possible, every inconvenience, of which
his patient complains.
The perceptible changes are all he has
to consider.
If he gets rid of them, disease is eradi
cated, and nothing but health can remain.
To effect this object, it has hitherto been
the practice to inquire into the circum
stances which have produced this change,
in order that, the cause being known, the
effect may be removed.
That this treatment would be effectual,
provided the causes were more easy to be
appreciated, is probable, and exemplified
by any foreign body being introduced into
the system ; as dust, for example, into the
 45

eye,remove the substance and the symp

toms disappear.
But, in by far the majority of cases, the
origin of disease is a virtual disturbance of
a purely spiritual principle, which cannot
be submitted to the eye ; and whilst the
causes are, from the limited nature of our
faculties, so much beyond our perception,
it is a waste of time to search after that
which cannot be apprehended, and which,
if it were apprehended, could not be con
trolled ; for in almost every case, even
where the cause is evident to our senses,
we are unable to appreciate its mode of
action.
In the epidemic fevers of marshy coun
tries, what do we know of their produc
tion, except that something arises to dis
turb the state of the human organism?
How much time elapses, also, before a
fever, which has been communicated by
infection, shows itself ; and yet the seeds
 46

have been lurking in the system long be

fore the attack commenced, although we
cannot perceive the changes which they
must have gradually introduced.
If a person, labouring under an attack
of inflammation of the liver, is told that
inflammation is the origin of his suffering,
will not his own sense tell him, at once, that
it is the disease itself, and not the cause ?
Of that cause we really know nothing,
we can explain nothing. We may attri
bute it to irritation, to morbid secretions ;
but why these secretions, or why the vital
powers are disturbed, we still remain igno

rant.
It were wiser, therefore, not to perse
vere in investigating the cause of disease,
which can never be clearly ascertained,
but to proceed at once to its symptoms.
A patient does not complain of the ori
gin of his complaint, but of such or such
painful sensations. Remove, then, the
 47

symptoms, and what more can be reason

ably required?
The points which Hahnemann considers
as requiring the deepest consideration in
the treatment of disease, are the three fol
lowing :
1st. By what means is a practitioner to
arrive at the necessary information, relative
to the disease, that he may be enabled to
undertake its cure ?
2nd. How is he to discover the morbific
powers of medicines ; that is to say, of the
remedies which are best suited to remove
natural disease ?
3rd. What is the best mode of applying
these artificial powers ?
Relative to the first point, it will be ne
cessary to enter into some general consi
derations. The diseases of mankind re
solve themselves into two classes.
The first are, rapid operations of the
vital power departed from their natural
 48

condition, which terminate in a shorter, or

longer period of time, but are always of
moderate duration : these are denominated
acute diseases.
The others are less distinct, and often
almost imperceptible on their first appear
ance ; but they seize upon the organism, and,
by degrees, so far remove it from a state of
health, that the vital energy cannot resist,
but in an imperfect manner ; we are, there
fore, compelled to let them grow, until in
the end they completely destroy the or
ganism.
The latter are known by the appellation
of chronic diseases.
Acute diseases may be classed under two
distinct heads.
The first attack single individuals, and
arise from some pernicious influence to
which they have been exposed.
Of these, immoderate excess in either
eating or drinking, violent impressions
 49

of physical agents, or mental excitement,

are the most frequent causes.
The others attack a plurality of indi
viduals at once.
To this class belong all those which arise
from one cause, and which exhibit symp
toms that are analagous. These usually
become contagious when they act upon
close and compact masses of human be
ings ; and to these, war, inundation, and
famine frequently give rise. The term
chronic is very improperly applied to those
which attack persons who are constantly
exposed to baleful influences, from which
they might have screened themselves. Per
sons who constantly make use of ali
ments that are hurtful to the system ; who
commit excesses that are injurious to the
health; who inhabit unwholesome coun
tries, and, above all, marshy places ; who
are exhausted either by immoderate labour
 50

of the mind or body, and who are con

sumed by perpetual ennui.
These diseases, or rather these privations
of health, frequently disappear of them
selves, by a new change of regimen, pro
vided there be no chronic miasm in the
body ; but they cannot, therefore, be call
ed chronic diseases. True chronic dis
eases are those which make continual pro
gress in the system, when no specific
curative remedy is Opposed ; and Avhich,
notwithstanding all imaginable care, both
with regard to the regimen of body and
mind, never cease to torment the patient
with an accumulation of miseries. These
are the greatest and most frequent scourges
of the human species ; since the most ro
bust constitution, the best-regulated life,
and the greatest energy of the vital powers
are insufficient to resist them. The exami
nation of every particular case of disease, in
order to ascertain whether it is acute or
 51

chronic, which information it is indispen

sable that a physician should possess pre
viously to undertaking its cure, requires an
unprejudiced mind, sound understanding,
and calm reflection.
On enquiring into the state of a chronic
disease, it is requisite to consider the cir
cumstances in which the patient may be
placed, with regard to his ordinary occu
pation, mode of life, and domestic situa
tion, to discover whether there is any thing
that could give birth to, or continue the
disease. In chronic affections, patients
become so accustomed to their sufferings,
that they pay but little attention to those
minor symptoms, which are frequently very
characteristic of the disease. They are
also of such various tempers, that some,
particularly those who are hypochondriacal,
and others who are sensitive, depict their
sufferings in exaggerated terms, to induce
the physician to relieve them promptly.

e 2
 52

Others, from resignation or mildness of dis

position, are much more silent, with re
gard to the sufferings they endure, and
only hint at many of those symptoms of
which others would forcibly complain : it
is therefore necessary that a practitioner
should possess an intimate knowledge of
the human heart and disposition, to en
able him completely to comprehend the
disease in all its details.
An examination of acute disease is ge
nerally less difficult. The patient is more
alive to the difference between the existing
state of things, and the health that has been
so recently destroyed.
With regard to a search after the symp
toms of an epidemic disease, it is wholly
indifferent whether any thing similar ever
existed before. Under whatever name,
neither the novely nor the specific charac
ter of an affection of this kind will make
any difference in the mode of studying it,
 55

or in that of its peculiar treatment, on the

Homoeopathic system. We must regard
every prevailing disease as a thing that is
unknown ; we must not substitute hypo
thesis in the room of observation ; we must
act upon disease, not from the name by
which we have been accustomed to hear it
designated, but from the symptoms which
it developes.
The second point in the duty of a phy
sician, is to examine carefully the proper
ties and the instruments which are destined
to be employed by him ; to study the mor
bific powers of medicine, that he may be
enabled to select one whose list of symp
toms constitutes a fictitious disease, resem
bling, as closely as possible, the principal
symptoms of the natural malady which he
intends to cure.
It is requisite to ascertain the full extent
of the power by which each medicine
excites a disease. If to arrive at this
 54

knowledge medicines were only to be ad

ministered to invalids, little or nothing
would be seen of their pure effects ; the
symptoms of the natural disease, then ex
isting, mingling with those which the me
dicinal agents are capable of producing, the
latter would rarely be distinguished, with
any clearness or precision, from the former.
There cannot, therefore, be a more na
tural, or a safer mode of discovering the
effects of medicines upon the health of
man, than by trying them separately and
singly, in moderate doses, upon healthy
individuals, and observing what changes
they create in the moral and physical state.
That is to say, what elements of disease
these substances are capable of producing.
For, as has been before stated, the entire
curative virtues of medicines depends solely
upon the power they possess of modifying
the state of health.
Each medicine produces particular ef
 55

fects on the body of man, and no other

medicinal substance can create any that
are precisely similar.
In the same manner that each distinct
species of plant differs from all others in its
external form, and peculiar mode of vege
tation, its smell, and taste, so, in the same
manner, do all these substances differ from
each other in regard to their morbific
effects, and consequently in their curative
properties. Each substance exercises upon
the health a certain and particular in
fluence, which does not permit itself to be
confounded with any other. Thus we
ought to distinguish medicines carefully
one from the other, since it is upon them
that life and death, disease and health,
depend.
Nor can any thing but a judicious choice
of the remedy ever restore, in a prompt
and permanent manner, that greatest of
earthly blessing, " a sound mind in a heal
thy body." Every medicine must be given
 56

in its simple and pure form, as on its being

so administered depends the restoration of
health, and the welfare of future genera
tions.
It is absolutely indispensable that such
medicines only should be employed as are
well known ; and only such as we are con
vinced remain pure, unadulterated, and
possessed of their full energy.
The third point is to employ those medi
cines whose effects have been proved upon
a healthy person, in the manner best suited
to the removal of disease.
Of all the remedies, that one of which
the symptoms bear the greatest resemblance
to the totality of those which characterize
any particular natural disease, is the most
appropriate and certain Homoeopathic re
medy that can be employed, and is the
specific remedy in that case of disease ;
and which, from its greater intensity and
by reason of its similitude, now substitutes

istelf for the natural disease.

 57

From that moment it results that the

vital powers no longer suffer from the ori
ginal disease, the organism being no
longer attacked, but from the medicinal
disease, and the dose of the remedy admi
nistered being feeble, the medicinal disease

very shortly disappears.

Subdued by the energy of the vital
power, like every other mild medicinal
affection, it leaves the body free from suf
fering ; that is, in a perfect and permanent
state of health.
When a proper selection of the Homoeo
pathic remedy has been made, the disease
which is to be removed, however malig
nant and painful it may be, subsides in a
few days, if recent, and in an incon
ceivably short period if of longer standing ;
every trace of indisposition vanishes,
scarcely any thing is seen of the artificial
disease produced by the remedy, and health
is restored by a rapid and almost insen
 58

sible transition ; but those diseases which

are of very long standing, particularly
when complicated, of course require a
longer course of treatment.
It is perfectly certain that a Homoeopa
thic remedy eradicates disease without
producing any great degree of suffering,
its effects being felt in those parts only of
the organism that are already a prey to
irritation, and by exciting in them a
stronger medicinal affection, extinguishes
and annihilates the other. Nevertheless,
some slight inconvenience is generally ex
perienced, particularly in very sensitive or
irritable patients ; and it frequently occurs
that at the expiration of a few hours, a
state rather less favourable, and which
the patient supposes to be the original
disease aggravated, is produced ;notwith
standing this, the re-establishment of health
goes forward, and it is in reality nothing
more than a medicinal disease, very similar
 59

to the primitive one, but rather more in

tense in its nature. This aggravation is in
almost every instance the omen which
announces that the complaint will very
speedily be removed.
 60

CHAPTER VI.

On the Attenuation and Administration of the

Remedies.

One great source of the opposition to the

science of Homoeopathy, is stated to be
the very small particle of medicine which
is administered, and the degree of attenua
tion to which that particle is reduced.
But are we to consider all things, of
which we have hitherto been ignorant, as
a paradox or an absurdity ?
Is the great activity of medicinal sub
stances, or the smallness of the dose which
Homoeopathy prescribes, more repugnant
to reason, than the velocity with which

light traverses space ?

 61

Why should it be conceived ridiculous,

that a powerful curative property is found
in a substance so attenuated as not to al
low of chemical analysis ?
The remedies are merely stripped of
their bodies, of their matter, that the
spirit only may be employed, and that they
may be rendered palatable.
Are we not equally ignorant of the
cause of the developement of seeds com
mitted to the earth ; but do we, therefore,
refuse to profit by the results ? Certainly
not. Neither, then, let us neglect at
tempting to relieve the sufferings of our
fellow-creatures, in a safe and easy man
ner, by applying a minute particle of medi
cine, which will only act upon the part
affected, rather than to disarrange still more
the diseased organ, by a superabundance of
medicine, and an attempt to procure the
restoration of health by a revolution in
the whole system.
 62

In whatever manner the Homoeopathic

remedies act, whether by transforming a
real disease into one produced by the re
medy, which is promptly removed; or
whether they assist nature in the develope-
ment of her restorative energy, in order to
make her arrive more readily at the de
sired end, which is the re-establishment of
health ; or, whether the action of the re
medy, and the disease which has a resem
blance to it, be, like the similar poles of
a magnet, which mutually repel each other,
so that the one expels the other from the
body, is perfectly immaterial.
It is sufficient for us to have ascertained;
that whatever the process may be by which
it is effected, the desired result is invari
ably obtained. . . .
It has been found that constant and long-
continued trituration augments to a won
derful degree the inherent properties of
medicinal agents ; and, in many cases, de
 63

velopes new energies in substances, which

have hitherto been regarded as completely
inert.
This has been repeatedly proved, beyond
the power of misrepresentation, or the pos
sibility of error.
Amongst many others that might be
adduced, gold, silicia, charcoal, &c. have
been found to acquire from trituration a
very strong medicinal action.
This fact is, in itself, a sufficient refuta
tion of the charge made by some of its ad
versaries^ that the Homoeopathic remedies
are without effect, or that they are poi
sons.
The minute particles to which they are
reduced form a very valuable part of the
system. ;

One grain of the medicines, divided into

several hundred, is found to act more be
neficially, and more mildly, upon the hu
man frame ; to continue that action longer,
 64

nay, for days, and occasional^ even for

weeks to produce an action, which several
grains, given according to the old system,
would have failed to produce.
All substances possess attractive, or re
pulsive powers, to a certain degree, and
are susceptible of being altered, or dis
turbed in their state of existence.
They may also equally alter or disturb
the existence of another body, by producing
upon it a physical action.
All substances, therefore, may be em
ployed as remedies, because they^ are ne
cessarily active.
The medicines administered are in many
cases the same that have always been em
ployed in the Allopathic practice ; but the
mode of preparing them is so totally dif
ferent, and the quantity given so much
smaller, as to render them much safer in
their action, and more durable in their
effects.
 65

Hahnemann assures us that immediately

after his discovery of the great principle of
similia similibus, he ascertained that the
remedies, unless administered in most mi
nute doses, would produce effects much too
powerful.
This compelled him to reduce the strength
of the medicaments to that degree which
experience proved to be the most desirable
for producing, without trouble or commo
tion, a salutary reaction, and the conse
quent cure of the patient.
It was by long and laborious experi
ments, the necessity of which has been con
firmed by every Homoeopathic practitioner
to the present day, that the highest degree of
attenuation and reduction in the remedies,
was found to be indispensably necessary.
It is only by persons little familiarized with
the most common phenomena of nature,
that the smallness of the remedy, or that its
minuteness and unity will be considered
F
 66

sufficient to deprive it of its medicinal pro

perties.
Do we not constantly see that great re
sults proceed from the most trifling causes ?
Do we not, also, frequently remark, that
the most healthy individuals possess the
greatest susceptibility to certain influences ?
And have we not seen robust persons vio
lently affected by the perfume arising from
incense? Are not surfeits too, occasion
ally produced by the smell of viands ?
If a simple smell then, or if influences
equally minute, be capable of producing so
much effect, in how much higher a degree
would the same agents act, if applied to a
sickly state of body, which must be so
much more easily excited ?
Do not these facts prove most indis
putably, that medicinal substances should
be employed in the smallest quantity to
which it is possible to reduce them? It
must moreover be remembered that not
 67

one remedy is employed, the effects of

which have not been fully proved, either in
the Homoeopathic hospitals, or in the prac
tice of the principal Homoeopathic physi
cians.
Allopathy acts physically upon the or
gans when it intends to produce evacua
tions or relaxations. At other times it is
applied chemically to disperse, neutralize,
or destroy any humour, or substance, which
appears to be the cause of complaint ; and
in order to obtain such an effect, it must be
necessary to administer large doses of medi
cine. But Homoeopathy, which acts merely
upon the principle of life, which principle
is always susceptible and easily excited,
particularly in a state of disease, requires
only the smallest possible dose to produce
the desired effect.
This effect explains itself, on the one
hand, by the susceptibility of the organ, and
on the other by the remedy possessing the
r 2
 68

power of specifically producing on the body

the same disease, the same species of irri
tation that it has already felt.
Thus, in acting upon the principle of
similarity, it is easy to perceive that the
action of the remedy being directed imme
diately upon the sickly organ, it must be
requisite to give a dose extremely small,
and that the more closely the effects of
the remedy correspond with those of the
disease, the greater attenuation will be ne
cessary to be made in the strength of the
medicine ; whilst, on the contrary, should a
remedy be administered, which is not strictly
indicated, the patient will be saved from
any inconvenience ; for, in that case, the
medicine will not act upon the disease,
nor will it be sufficiently powerful to pro
duce irritation on the healthy parts of the
body, the quantity prescribed being always
proportioned to the strength, sex, age, and
susceptibility of the patient, as well as to
 69

the state of the disease, whether it be chronic

or acute.
But there are degrees of attenuation
almost as various as the remedies which
are applied. It is, therefore, an absurdity
to suppose that they are reduced to a par
ticle so minute as to deprive them of ac
tion.
It was deemed expedient by Hahnemann,
that the effect of each medicament should
be proved upon as many persons as pos
sible, of both sexes and of all ages ; that
the various symptoms, which might be
produced, should be clearly understood :
thinking it also probable that each indivi
dual not being equally susceptible, every
effect, which a remedy is capable of pro
ducing, might not manifest itself upon the
same person.
The minutest symptoms were remarked
with care ; for it must be remembered that
the grand principle of the system is, that
 70

the symptoms produced by the remedy

must correspond most accurately with those
of the disease. It will, therefore, be appa
rent, that great care is requisite in ascer
taining the symptoms, in the first place ;
and that, afterwards, the greatest considera
tion and reflection must be required before
a remedy can be selected for it ; and it
will most generally occur, that two persons,
who are apparently affected by a similar
disease, will yet require a very dissimilar
remedy.
By the variations in sex, constitution, and
susceptibility are we also guided as to
the repetition of the medicines ; precisely
as in the Allopathic mode of treatment ;
some persons being affected by very mild,
whilst others will require several repeti
tions, before any decided amelioration takes
place. One of the greatest advantages to be
derived from so clearly ascertaining the
symptoms which each remedy will pro
 71

duce, is the power which this knowledge

gives us of directing its effects immediately
and pointedly towards the organ that is dis
eased, whilst the contiguous parts entirely
resist its influence. This fact alone must
prove that medicines have not those general
effects which have been attributed to them ;
for it has been generally found, that those
remedies which have been administered
with the view of producing symptoms op
posite to the disease, have acted as mere
palliations, and that the evil reappeared,
after a short period, more aggravated than
before. Physicians have flattered them
selves that they could subdue an inveterate
tendency to constipation, by purgatives
administered in large doses ; but the se
condary result of this treatment is gene
rally that of constipating the bowels in a
still greater degree.
Wine is prescribed as a remedy in chro
nic debility, but it is only the primitive
 72

action of this agent which is stimulating ;

its definitive results are those of reducing the
powers still more. Immersion in cold water
instantly relieves the pain occasioned by a
severe burn; subsequently, however, the
pain is increased to an insupportable de
gree, and the inflammation extends to the
neighbouring parts. Bleeding has been
supposed a proper remedy to stop the
temporary flow of blood to the head ; but
this mode of treatment is always succeeded
by a still greater determination of blood
towards the upper parts of the body. The
\ present school of medicine has never suffi
ciently reflected on the secondary effects
of their remedies. If the disease has in
creased, a still stronger dose has been ad
ministered ; but from this treatment mo
mentary relief must be the only result.
And a more striking proof of the perfect in
efficiency of the Allopathic treatment of
disease cannot be adduced, than the fact
 73

of opium, or any other narcotic, being em

ployed with the view of promoting sleep.
The primitive effect we admit to be
palliative ; this palliation, however, is but
of short duration; and experience con
stantly proves, that, notwithstanding the
addition or augmentation of the dose, the
loss of sleep again returns with greater
force. The remedy is then changed, per
haps ; but should the whole series of nar
cotics be exhausted, the same result alone
would be obtained.
The reason assigned for this, has always
been that the patient had become accus
tomed to the remedies, and that, conse
quently, their efficacy was diminished or
destroyed. But can this be called the re
moval of disease ; or ought any practi
tioner to feel satisfied with, and persevere
in a mode of treatment which only pro
duces such a result? Assuredly not ; and,
as every professional man has seen and
 74

felt these difficulties, does it not appear

extraordinary, that, during so many centu
ries, the same course should still con
tinue to be pursued, notwithstanding the
acknowledged inefficiency of the remedies ?
But does it not appear even yet more
extraordinary, that finding the applica
tion of remedies in a mixed state, and
given with the intention of producing
effects opposite to those apparent in the
disease, did not succeed in its removal, that
the idea should never have suggested itself,
that the use of only simple remedies, and
the application of them in a manner directly
opposite, might, probably, lead to a method
of treatment by which a perfect and per
manent cure would be effected ? If, again,
a medicinal effect, contrary to the symp
toms of the malady, only procures temporary
relief; by the same rule the inverse method,
that is to say, the Homoeopathic applica
tion of medicines, administered according
 75

to the analogy existing between the symp

toms they excite and those of the disease
itself, substituting, at the same time, in lieu
of the enormous doses that are prescribed,
the smallest that could be applied, might,
and most probably would, produce the per
fect and rapid removal of disease. The
pernicious results of mere palliative treat
ment, and the salutary effects proceeding
from the reverse method, have, 1 trust, been
now sufficiently explained, by the numerous
observations that have been made, and by
the facts that have been stated ; and facts,
we know, to be the only sure guide to the
discovery of truth, and the only sure found
ation of universal principles.
 76

CHAPTER VII.

On the Opposition and Prejudice with which the

Science has to contend.

From the violent prejudices, and decided

opposition which marks the reception by
the public of every discovery or alteration
in science, it appears as though it was in
the nature of man, at first to reject truth,
when suddenly introduced ; and to satirise
and ridicule that, which comes, however
slightly, in collision with his self-love or pri
vate interest. Such has been the reception
of all those discoveries which have occa
sioned scientific revolutions; and it was thus
that the discoveries of the motion of the
earth, of electricity, and the circulation of
the blood were rewarded. It will not then
 77

be deemed surprising that a system which

not only endangers, but which almost sub
verts and destroys the very means of ex
istence of so many highly respected and
talented men, should encounter opposition ;
that a disposition to place every obstacle in
the way of its rapid promulgation should be
evinced ; and that every attempt should be
made to throw indiscriminate ridicule over
the whole system. Does it not appear more
extraordiaary that so little criticism has
been exercised on an occasion by which so
many private interests are affected ? It is
certainly to be regretted that no decided
alteration can be made, no extensive im
provement can take place in science, with
out injuring, in a very great degree, the pros
pects of so many individuals ; but it has
always been deemed expedient that private
interest should yield and become subservient
to that which appears likely to produce a
public benefit.
 78

Many of the first and most bigoted op-

posers of Homoeopathy, have now declared
themselves in favour of the system, and are
amongst its most zealous advocates; and
many others are, at the present moment,
studying it deeply, with the intention of
commencing its practice as speedily as pos
sible. Some of these are gentlemen who
stand deservedly high, and are in extensive
business as Allopathic practitioners. Nor
is it in England alone that Homoeopathy is
progressing. On the Continent there are
already several hundred practitioners, and
their numbers are already increasing : there
remain, however, still very many profes
sional men, who reject Homoeopathy, with
out understanding its principles, and without
endeavouring to understand them.
There are even some who contend against
it with asperity, and who endeavour to
arrest its progress, by every means in their
power. But feeble indeed will these ob
 79

stacles prove, to the promulgation of truth ;

for, in despite of all opposition, the science
is advancing with astonishing rapidity.
Those who oppose it with the greatest
violence are perfectly aware that it is not
a system brought into notice by a few vi
sionary enthusiasts, but that it is advanced by
men of great observation, of deep learning,
and decided talent; by men who have de
voted their time and property, who have
risked their constitutions by the innumera
ble experiments which they have been com
pelled to make ; and who then offer the
benefit of their discoveries and the result
of these experiments to the world, without
recompense or reward. Can any person
venture to assert that such men as these
are mere enthusiasts, or that they only seek
the applause of the public, or their own
private emolument? " Certainly not" for
widely different would be found the con
 80

duct of persons who were influenced by

mere mercenary considerations.
The opposers of the system are also per
fectly aware* that amongst the members of
the new school are men of the most dis
tinguished talent, who have practised Allo
pathy with success, and whose names now
appear amongst those who, by their writ
ings, promulgate in every part of the world
the principles and benefits of this medical
doctrine.
Can there be any laudable motive to jus
tify the conduct of persons, who will not
allow themselves to be convinced of the
efficacy of a method possessing so many

great and evident advantages ? Let them

at least acknowledge, as very many scien
tific men have already done, that great im
provement in the science of medicine is re
quisite ; that much remains to be under
stood, which up to the present time, there
 81

have been no means of effecting, and that

that improvement, at all events, should be
sought for in the system of Hahnemann,
whose name will be pronounced with gra
titude and admiration, long after the adver
saries of his doctrine shall be forgotten.
Even should it be proved that he has not
founded a new and splendid system, he
has, at least, put us in possession of an ac
curate knowledge of the full and proper
effects of medicinal substances, for which
alone he deserves the thanks and veneration
of mankind.
But this is not all, for he has taught us to
base our knowledge on pure experiment ;
and has given an impulse to investigation,
the ultimate consequences of which no man
at present can conjecture. Succeeding
generations will, in all probability, admit
much that we have rejected as mere idle
speculations, as we have admitted much
that was refused by those who have pre-
G
 82

ceded us. Newton was regarded as a mere

visionary ; the inventor of steam-boats met
with little encouragement ; and the intro
ducer of gas into our streets was rewarded
with a prison. A reverence for long-received
opinions is far from blameable. Without
it we should be at the mercy of every inno
vator, or enthusiast, and to-morrow would
destroy what yesterday had raised : but
still we must not forget that improve
ment is requisite in every branch of human
knowledge, and that it is now too late to
treat the advocates of Homoeopathy with
contempt ; for it now no longer depends on
the talent of its defenders, but stands firmly
* upon its own basis, truth. A few months
ago there were but two Homoeopathic prac
titioners in London ; there are now eight,
and the numbers will no doubt rapidly
increase.
 83

CHAPTER VIII.

Comparison of the Two Systems.

The Homoeopathic system is one of speci

fics. It employs only simple medicines,
and allows of no combination.
The Allopathic is a system of anti
dotes, and administers compound prescrip
tions.
The rule of the one is " Similia Simili-
bus Curanter" or, that remedies will re
move the same disease which they are
capable of producing.
That of the other is " Contraria Con-
trariis," or that, to effect the removal of
disease, it is necessary to give only such

G 2
 84

medicines as will produce one diametrically

opposite to that which already exists.
The former administers infinite small
doses with the intention of producing infi
nite small aggravation.
The latter creates a violent temporary
disease, by the administration of drachms
and ounces. The one rejects external appli
cations,the other prescribes liniments and
lotions.
The first step which every practitioner of
the old system would immediately adopt,
would be, either to bleed, blister, leech,
give emetics, or purgatives. In every in
stance, one or other of these modes of treat
ment, " varied of course, according to the
nature of the disease," would be resorted
to : and this is asserted without the slightest
inclination to detract from the high reputa
tion which so many of our physicians
and general practitioners have so justly ac
quired.
 85

But the practitioner of Homoeopathy

never resorts to any of these modes of
procedure. All his efforts are directed to
the support and improvement of the consti
tution, but never to depress and produce
debility by forced evacuations, which must
evidently tend to dissipate the strength, to
exhaust the powers, and to procrastinate
the sufferings of the patient. . -.
The following case, which is one of almost
daily occurrence, will place this circum
stance in a stronger point of view. It often
happens that within one hour before that
shivering is felt, which always precedes an
attack of acute pleurisy, the pulse of the
patient continues to be regular and steady.
In a very short time after the attack, fever
commences, violent plethora exists, and the
practitioner assures the patient that re
peated copious bleeding is absolutely neces
sary to effect his recovery.
Now will not the patient most probably be
 86

impelled to ask,from what extraordinary

cause is it, little less indeed than miracu
lous, that those pounds of blood, which
were, only an hour or two previously beat
ing within him, with a tranquil movement,
should have obtained an entrance into his
arteries? His reason tells him that there
cannot be one ounce of blood more in his
circulation than there was, when just before
he felt in perfect health. And he is un
questionably right ; for his malady proceeds
from an irritation of the vascular system,
and not from a superabundance of blood :
nothing can therefore warrant our proceed
ing with such a debilitating mode of treat
ment as the prevailing practice directs.

A prescription written according to the old

mode of practice, would generally be com
posed of one principal drug as a basis, and to
this would be added several others, occa
sionally mixed together with the addition of a
syrup, which likewise possesses distinct medi
 87

cinal properties ; and it has been imagined

that each component of this mixture will
perform the part that has been assigned to
it, without allowing itself to be disturbed,
or led astray by the others. Can any ra
tional being, or can any reflecting mind
expect the best, the most speedy, and the
most salutary result from such a mode of
practice; can, moreover, the most scientific
chemist venture to decide upon the effect
which those compound medicines will pro
duce, which are, under the present mode of
practice, introduced in such variety into the
stomach ? Can he form even an idea of
the influence which one may exert over
the other, and the consequent derangement
which will follow of the digestive organs ?
One only of these drugs may be sufficient
to destroy wholly, or in part, the operation
of either of the others, or may give to the
remainder a mode of action altogether dif
ferent to that which was intended ; so that
 88

the effects calculated upon could not be, by

any possibility, produced. This inexplica
ble mixture must frequently produce symp
toms which were little expected, and most
assuredly not desired. Nor can there be
any hope of disease being removed speedily
and effectually, so long as this mode of
associating various medicinal substances
continues to be employed.
The stomach, also, becomes distressingly
affected, from being so constantly loaded
with nauseating drugs, and the patient, on
any but a case of necessity, defers to send
for a professional man to the latest moment,
at the sacrifice of his feelings, and at the
risk of increasing the disease under which
he labours, from his utter aversion to take
the quantity of medicine prescribed, and,
from the length of time that is generally
occupied before the disease is subdued.
For many years past, even among the ablest
practitioners on the old system, there have
 89

been some, who felt the absurdity of mixing

such a variety of medicines, without how
ever being able to discover any means of
obviating the difficulty, and who, conse
quently, have been compelled to follow a
routine which was condemned by their bet
ter judgment.
It has been stated in the introductory
chapter, that the combination of drugs ap
pears to be one of the most objectionable
parts of the old system ; the perfect avoid
ance of such practice is, therefore, the
strongest recommendation that can be ad
duced in favour of the new.
By the Homoeopathic mode of practice,
all these difficulties are obviated, all un
pleasantness is removed, and the drugs are
only administered singly, in a highly con
centrated, though in an attenuated form.
They are perfectly free from taste, and are,
at the same time, agreeable from the man
ner in which they are administered.
 90

Next to the stomach, the tongue and

mouth are the parts most susceptible of re
ceiving medicinal influence.
The Homoeopathic remedies, therefore,
being given in minute quantities, are ge
nerally administered by being placed upon
the tongue and suffered to dissolve. By
this means the stomach is preserved from
every species of annoyance, from that de
rangement which invariably engenders in
digestion, ennui, and hypochondriacal sen
sations of every description.
The contrast between the two systems
must be observed in another strong point
of view : I allude to the invariable practice
of prescribing purgative medicines, of the
injurious effects of which we are all
aware. They produce immediate relief, it
is true ; but it is also equally true, that they
at the same time produce debility ; and
that so far from removing constipation, they
rather tend to confirm it, by rendering it
 91

necessary to increase the strength of the

dose, and the frequency of its repetition.
The number of Homoeopathic medicines
amount to nearly three hundred ;amongst
these, not one purgative is admitted ; but
they produce, after taking a few doses, that
which is infinitely superior, such a healthy
action in the digestive organs, as not only
to render the immediate use of aperients
unnecessary, but to prevent their being
afterwards required.
On this point I can speak decidedly from
experience.
The next most striking variation from
the present system is, that of never having
recourse to the lancet ; a practice which is
wholly avoided in the new, and so fre
quently resorted to in the old.
If the substitute be equally efficacious,
and if bleeding can, in all cases, be
dispensed with, it will, I imagine, require
no eloquence on my part to convince my
 92

patients and the public, that it is the most

agreeable, as it is the most desirable mode of
practice. To the use of the lancet, ex
cept in cases of apoplexy, the Homoeopa
thic practitioner never has recourse.
When the Allopathic physician prescribes
venesection, it is not all superfluous blood
that he draws from the patient ; this fluid
never existing in too great a quantity ; but
he deprives him of a portion of that blood
which is indispensable to his existence,
and to the re-establishment of his health.
The true cause of his malady is not from a
superabundance of blood, but merely, as
was before stated, from an inflammatory
action of the vascular system. But, replies
the practitioner, I see the ill effects of so
much depletion, and am aware of the fre
quently lamentable effects resulting from it ;
but in what manner can it be obviated ?for,
unless we immediately relieve the circula
tion, and we are aware of no other means
 93

of doing so, than the existing one, the most

imminent danger to the patient will, in all
probability, be the result. I admit that, in
all human probability, such would be the
case ; but we are now no longer reduced to
the extremity of endangering the life of the
patient whom we are expected to relieve,
or of resorting to a mode of cure, of which
our reason wholly disapproves ; and which
we, at the same time, feel conscious is per
fectly inadequate to obtain the desired end.
Partial bleedings, by the application of
leeches, in local inflammation produce, it is
true, a palliative relief, but not a perfect

cure.
This is sufficiently apparent from the
weakness to which the diseased parts, if not
the body generally, are reduced.
By one of the Homoeopathic remedies,
the whole cause of the disturbance in the
vascular system may immediately be ar
rested without loss of blood : and surely no
 94

person will deny that this is the most plea

sant, the most rational, and the most scien
tific mode of treatment.
From what has been already stated, it is
apparent that the Homoeopathic treatment
can never do any positive injury, even
should it fail in removing disease ; nor can
it ever, under any circumstances, injure the
constitution of the most delicate patient.
 95

CHAPTER IX.

Sketch of the Life of Hahnemann.

As it must be interesting to the public

generally to be made acquainted with any
particulars relating to an individual who
has done more to improve the science of
medicine than any man who has preceded
him for centuries, I shall give a short
sketch of the life of Samuel Hahnemann,
the founder of the Homoeopathic system of
medicine.
This great man was born in 1755, at
Misnia, in Upper Saxony.
At an early age he exhibited traits of a
superior genius ; and his school education
 96

being completed, he applied himself to the

study of natural philosophy, and natural
history. Shortly afterwards he prosecuted
the study of medicine at Leipsic, and at
other Universities. A most accurate ob
server, a skilful experimentalist, and an
indefatigable searcher after truth, he ap
peared formed by nature for the investiga
tion and improvement of medical science.
On commencing the study of medicine, he
became annoyed at the contradictory asser
tions and theories which existed ; and find
ing so much that was vague and obscure,
he resolved on abandoning altogether the
medical profession.
Having been previously engaged in the
study of chemistry, he determined on trans
lating into his native language, the best
English and French works which were ex
tant on the subject; and whilst occupied
in translating the Materia Medica of Cul-
len, 1790, in which the febrifuge virtues of
 97

cinchona bark were described, he became

very desirous of ascertaining its mode of
operation : though he was at the time in the
enjoyment of the most robust health, yet he
determined to commence the use of this
substance on his own person ; and in a
short period was attacked with all the symp
toms of intermittent fever, similar, in every
respect, to those which that medicine is
known to remove.
Being struck most forcibly with the iden
tity of the two diseases, he immediately
divined the great truth, which has become
the foundation of the new medical doctrine
of Homoeopathy. He did not, however, re
main contented with making an experiment
in one single instance, but proceeded to
try the virtues of various medicines, as well
on the persons of others as on himself.
In his investigation he arrived at this
conclusion, that the substances employed
H
 98

possessed an inherent power of exciting, in

healthy subjects, the same symptoms which
they are said to remove in disease.
He next compared the investigations of
the ancient and modern physicians, upon
the properties of poisonous substances, with
the result of his own experiments, and
found them to coincide in every respect ;
and, upon these deductions, he laid the
foundation of that system which he has
since published to the world.
Taking this law of Homoeopathy for his
guide, he recommenced the practice of me
dicine, which he had for a time relin
quished, with every prospect of his labours
being crowned with success. His first dis
sertation on the system was published in
1796 ; and his friends, his family, and him
self devoted, for upwards of twenty years,
their whole time and energies in making
those experiments which they deemed: ne
 99

cessary, to convince themselves and the

public of the truth of the system which they
had discovered.
In 1811, Hahnemann, commenced as a
public lecturer in Leipsic, where, with his
pupils, he zealously continued to investigate
the effects of medicines on the healthy
body, which formed the basis of the Materia
MedicaPura that appeared during the same
year.
In 1820 he retired with some of his
pupils, and formed with them a society for
the purpose of prosecuting the study of the
Homoeopathic system', and of reporting their
progress and observations. Several works
have since appeared containing the detail
of these investigations.
In 1824 the Homosopathic doctrine was
embraced by Rau, physician to the Duke
of Hesse Darmstadt ; by Bigelius, physi
cian to the Emperor of Russia ; by Steg-
mann Hiifeland, and many other persons
h 2
 100

celebrated in medicine ; and we must not

lose sight of this fact, that the system is
spreading most rapidly throughout the whole
continent of Europe.
Germany, Austria, Russia, and Poland
have already done homage to the soundness
of its doctrine ; and physicians have been
appointed in those countries to make a spe
cific trial of its effects ; the results of which,
as far as they have been published, are un
equivocally acknowledged to be of the most
favorable nature.
The writings of Hahnemann have been
translated into five different languages. In
France alone they have reached a fourth
edition.
Had Hahnemann been a charlatan, as
some persons have designated him, he might
have lived unassailed, and have died weal
thy. With a liberality, however, which is
by no means rare in the annals of medi
cine, he gave to the world all the bene
 101

fits of that discovery, which it cost him so

many arduous and anxious hours to ac
complish.
When his name is mentioned, we cannot
forget that hitherto obloquy and reproach
have been his sole reward ; but he will
stand before the tribunal of posterity, by
whom his discovery will be assuredly
adopted, and who will respect his perse
verance, and appreciate his disinterested
motives.
An untrodden field was before him : he
felt that from the labours of his predeces
sors he could derive little or no assistance ;
and he applied himself steadily to execute
the gigantic task which he had assigned
himself. Nor did he publish to the world
that theory, which it had caused him so
much labour to mature, till twenty years of
silent and incessant application had taught
him to classify, compare, and connect all
the results he had obtained.
 NOTICE TO THE READER.

The following cases, selected from a great many others,

have been drawn up to the best of the author's ability in
a strictly popular form, professional technicalities being as
much as possible avoided. For a similar reason the
names of the various medicines have not been introduced,
under the impression that they would not be understood
by the general reader"; but to any member of the profes
sion he will, with the utmost pleasure, communicate any
information which may be desired.
Many of the persons whose cases are annexed were ex
ceedingly desirous that their names and places of resi
dence should be published at full length; but others
having objections, it was deemed more expedient merely
to insert the initials. A certain class of diseases have
been omittedthe description of which, it will be imme
diately perceived, could not be introduced into a popular
work with a due regard to delicacy ; but many experi
ments have been made upon them, and it can therefore
be affirmed with confidence, that they can be eradicated
with greater facility by the Homoeopathic practice than by
the prevailing system. Finally, the author begs again
to embrace the opportunity to offer an apology for any
repetitions which occur in the different divisions of his
little worka fault which he is perfectly aware would
have been avoided by a person more experienced in com
position.
 CASES.

DISEASED LIVER.

Mrs. H. had been in a delicate state of health for many

years, labouring under dyspepsia until it terminated in a
confirmed case of diseased liver. She was periodically
attacked with violent pains in the stomach, palpitations of
the heart, sickness, and general debility, attended with a
high degree of nervous excitement. The medical prac
titioner, who had attended her for many years, considered
her case so desperate that he could hold out no hope of
being able to effect a cure ; and the utmost that could be
expected, was a temporary palliation of the disease by
the administration of opiates. Additional medical aid
of the most respectable character was also called in, with
no other result than fully to confirm the above opinion,
with the further painful assurance, that death must,
at no remote period, terminate her sufferings.
In one of the above-described attacks I was re
quested to visit her, about eleven o'clock at night, when
I ordered two of the powders to be administered. Upon
calling the next morning, 1 was informed she had
 104

experienced considerable relief, and felt better than she

had usually done at the end of a week, after any of the
previous attacks. She had been for a considerable pe
riod unable to eat animal food without immediately
after suffering violent pain in the stomach, attended with
other symptoms of indigestion ; but in less than a month
she was able to digest a moderate quantity of animal food
without feeling the slightest inconvenience, and enjoyed
better health than she had done for a number of years.
I visited her a few days since, and found her in excellent
health and spirits ; and expressing her gratitude that the
practice prescribed had been the means, in the hands of
Providence, of rescuing her from an untimely grave.

INDIGESTION.

Mrs. R. had been long afflicted with a severe stomach

complaint ; and I was requested to visit her, after she had
been under the treatment of several eminent medical
practitioners, without deriving any benefit beyond occa
sional temporary relief. She had the usual symptoms
attending dyspepsia, viz. incessant pain in the stomach
after taking foodflatulence and distention of the abdo
menpalpitation of the heart, and irritability of the whole
nervous system, accompanied with great depression of
spirits. After detailing her case at considerable length,
she informed me that her sufferings had been so severe,
and so long protracted, that death would be a welcome
visiter ; and that, although she had little hope of deriving
permanent benefit from any thing that could be done,
after what she had already experienced, she had been ad
vised by her friends to apply to me, as a last resourse ;
 105

and she therefore solicited my candid opinion, whether

or not I could render her any service. I informed her,
that although her case was complicated and of long stand
ing, and attended with symptoms which, in many instances
proved fatal, yet that.there was no ground to despair of her
recovery, as I felt assured that I could effect a permanent
cure of her malady. I administered medicines, enjoin
ed the necessary regimen ; and within two months she
was restored to perfect health ; and has subsequently
suffered no relapse. Indeed it may with propriety be here
observed, that one of the great advantages of the Homoe
opathic practice is, that the medicines render the patient
much less susceptible of disease ; so that they combine the
two essential qualities of being a remedy for the disorder,
and a preventive, in many cases, against its recurrence.
Upwards of fifty cases of a similar description could be
enumerated, which were attended by analogous results.

Mb. J. a gentleman upwards of sixty years of age, was

introduced to me by a friend, who had himself derived
great benefit from the Homoeopathic medicine. He was
in a state of great nervous debilityhad no appetite for
food, and even when taken in the form of fluid, it was
immediately followed by great pain in the stomach and
bowels. He was a constant martyr to headach, arising
from vitiated biliary secretion, accompanied with nausea
and vomiting, which had completely exhausted his phy
sical power. With all this complication of diseases, by
following the course 1 prescribed, he was perfectly re
covered in one month, to the utter astonishment and
high gratification of his family and friends.
 106

Mr. S., a gentleman following a sedentary occupation,

applied to me four months ago. He complained of indi
gestion, food of every description disagreeing with his
stomach, and producing nausea. It was accompanied
with hectic fever, furred tongue, morbidity of the bowels,
great irregularity in his motions, frequently recurring
pain in the head, lassitude, and a high degree of nerv
ous irritability. I furnished him with a packet of the
Homoeopathic powders ; and at the end of a week, he
called upon me, expressing his astonishment at being, in
so short a space of time, perfectly restored to health.

Mrs. P. had, for upwards of four years, suffered most

severely from debilitated stomach. During the greater
part of the time she had been unable to eat animal food,
even of the most delicate description, without its being
immediately followed by acute pain, and great irritability
of the stomach. For a considerable time she had in con
sequence been literally reduced to the alternative of sub
sisting upon fluids, and even then she was subject to fre
quent vomiting and palpitation of the heart, attended
with great lassitude and debility. In less than one month
after she commenced taking the Homoeopathic medicines,
the whole of the symptoms above described disappeared,
her appetite and physical energy returned, and she has
since enjoyed perfect health.
 107

Mb. N., a gentleman who had been all his life accustomed
to luxurious living, and of a plethoric habit of body,
made application to me, in a state of great alarm, under
the impression that he should die of apoplexy.
His stomach was disordered, and his appetite bad, at
tended with severe pain and restlessness after taking
food, acute pains in the region of the kliver, followed by
nausea, and frequent vomiting of the biliary secre
tion. I endeavoured to remove his apprehension of
any immediate danger from apoplexy, and administered
two powders. In three or four days after, he called
upon me greatly improved in health and spirits ; and by a
repetition of the medicine, in eight days he was com
pletely recovered.

DISEASED LIVER.

Mrs. M. had been in bad health for many months from

diseased liver ; and although she was under the treatment
of a gentleman ranking high in the profession, he had
failed in producing the slightest amelioration, and had
abandoned her case as hopeless. When called upon to
visit her, I found her suffering the most acute pain from
inflammation of the liver, with the skin deeply tinged,
the appetite gone, the urinary organs incapable of per
forming their functions; the strength exhausted, the mind
in a state of depression, and she exhibited every appear
ance of speedy dissolution. In two days after adminis
tering the Homoeopathic medicines, the pain had nearly
subsided, the skin had resumed its natural colour, the
appetite progressively returned, and within a fortnight
she was convalescent.

-
 108

JAUNDICE.

Mr. O. had for a considerable time laboured under an

affection of the liver, which at length terminated in a very
bad case of jaundice, with all the symptoms uniformly
attendant upon the disease of that important organ. He
had consulted several medical men, who had exhausted
all the antidotes which are usually efficacious in such
cases ; but the disease was so confirmed and inveterate,
that it had in no perceptible degree yielded to the ordi
nary treatment. He was literally reduced to a skeleton,
and in a state of great mental depression, when he was ad
vised to apply to me. In a very few days the Homoeo
pathic medicines made a sensible impression ; and in a
month he was restored to sound health, and the liver has
since executed its functions with perfect regularity.

Mrs. M.This was another case of jaundice I was

requested to visit, a short time ago, by the relations of the
patient. She had been attended by two different profes
sional gentlemen for several weeks ; and although the
treatment, according to the ordinary rules of practice, had
been highly judicious, it had altogether failed in produc
ing even an amelioration of the complaint. When I
visited her, she complained of violent pain in the region
of the liver, which was greatly increased by external pres
sure. The collateral symptoms were loss of appetite,
nausea, excessive headach, and frequent vomitings, when
liquids were taken into the stomachthe use of solids
being out of the question. She also complained of ex
 109

treme lassitude, and appeared to be rapidly sinking under

the protracted influence and violence of the disease. In
the course of three or four days after I commenced ad
ministering the Homoeopathic medicines, the skin began
to assume its natural hue, her appetite was improved,
her strength progressively returned ; and in a short time
I discontinued my attendance. She has ever since been
in the enjoyment of perfect health.

CHOLERA.

J. R.This was a decided case of spasmodic cholera,

which I was called upon to visit in great haste. On my
arrival at the residence of the patient, he appeared to be
in the last stage of the disease. Spasms in the stomach
and bowels, cramp in the lower extremities, eyes sunk,
skin blue, voice weak and tremulous, the pulse scarcely
perceptible, and the body cold, with profuse and con
tinual evacuations. After administering three or four
doses of the medicines, he was entirely relieved of pain ;
the circulation became active, the body warm : he was
soon enabled to take nutritious food, and in five or six
days to resume his usual avocations.

Mr. G.This patient had an attack of cholera, when it

first visited this country ; and during the summer of last
year, he was seized in precisely a similar manner.
I was called upon to visit the case with every pos
 110

sible dispatch ; and on my arrival I found the symptoms

indicated a very highly aggravated attack of English
cholera. Being always provided with medicines during
the prevalence of the disease, I immediately administered
one dose, and left instructions that I should be informed,
as soon as possible, if any change occurred in the condition
of the patient. At the end of six hours, I was apprized
that the effect of the medicine had been so instantaneous
and effective, that there had been no necessity to repeat
the dose ; that the evacuations had entirely ceased, the
pain was removed, and with the exception of a little lan
guor, the patient felt as well as he was previous to the
attack.
I have succeeded in curing a vast number of cases of
Diarrhoea with the Homoeopathic medicines, in the course
of my practice during the last summer, in an almost incre
dibly short period of time. Hundreds of cases have
instantly yielded to a single dose ; and in the most in
veterate cases of the very worst type, I have scarcely ever
found it necessary to exceed two doses. From my own
experience, indeed, I feel myself warranted in affirming
with confidence, that were this mode of treatment adopted
generally, during the prevalence of malignant spasmodic
cholera, a much greater number of lives would be pre
served.

PULMONARY AFFECTION.

Capt. C. had been ou service in India for upwards of

thirty years. In the course of the second year after his
return to England, (about three years since,) he was se
 Ill

verely attacked with spasmodic asthma. On my first

visiting this gentleman, I applied the usual remedies ac
cording to the Allopathic system, but they entirely failed
in affording him even temporary relief. I then had re
course to the Homoeopathic medicines, which instantly
mitigated the obstructed respiration; and in a short
time he breathed with perfect freedom.
I have subsequently, on several occasions, been called
to attend this gentleman during paroxysms which were
so severe that his family experienced the utmost alarm,
and thought it impossible that he could survive until
medical assistance was procured.
The Homoeopathic medicine I invariably found to
prove efficacious : relief almost instantaneously followed
their application; and the interval between the attacks
has become so progressively extended, as to afford the
most pleasing and confident belief that the complaint
will be entirely subdued.

CHRONIC COUGH.

Mrs. J.This lady had been afflicted with a chronic

cough of many years' duration, accompanied with de
rangement of the digestive organs. The stomach was so
much debilitated that she was unable to digest solid food
of any kind for many months, and even fluids were fre
quently rejected. When medicines were administered for
the purpose of relieving the cough, the irritation of the sto
mach was thereby greatly increased, and vice versa ; so
that the amelioration of the one was an aggravation of
the other.
Exclusive of her own regular medical attendant, she had
 112

consulted many physicians of the most extensive hospital

practice in the metropolis, without receiving any perma
nent benefit; and had thus expended large sums of money
ineffectually in search of relief. When she applied to
me, she stated that it was only in compliance with the
pressing solicitations of her friends, and not from any
hope she herself indulged, that the Homoeopathic medi
cines would be more effectual in subduing the complica
tion of disorders under which she laboured.
It was obvious, therefore, that the power of the ima
gination, which is frequently assumed to be, and which
probably often is, the chief agent in the cure of chronic
diseases, could exercise no influence in this case.
I, in the first instance, directed my attention to the state
of the stomach, as the more immediately urgent part of
the case ; and in one month she was able to retain and di
gest any kind of solid food without inconvenience. The
cough had, however, become so severe during that inter
val, that in some of the periodical paroxysms she was in
imminent danger of suffocation. I then introduced an
alterative for the purpose of subduing the cough, and
with such success, that in another fortnight it had entirely
subsided. The stomach also continued to improve and
maintain a stronger tone; and she is now enjoying perfect
health, after many years of severe suffering, which the
most skilful practitioners had failed in relieving, by all
the expedients they could devise under the ordinary mode
of practice.

ASTHMATIC COUGH.

Mr. H. This young gentleman had been a severe suf-

 113

ferer for many years from a chronic cough, hereditary in

his family, his father having been subject to asthmatic
affection, which accelerated his death. As usual in such
cases, it was much worse during the winter months, and
was greatly aggravated by a humid atmosphere. The
cough was hard and dry, with occasional expectoration of
mucus, of a quality which indicated partial suppuration
of the lungs ; and his general health was so much injured,
that he was afraid he would be compelled to resign a
lucrative situation he held* from inability to perform the
duties. In addition to the necessary course of regimen,
he only received two supplies of medicine, when he was
so much improved that the cough had entirely subsided,
and his health was so far restored, that he had no diffi
culty in fulfilling the duties of his station. Since then,
without any repetition of the medicine, he has progres
sively improved, until his health is completely confirmed.

COUGH AND SPITTING OF BLOOD.

Mrs. C. This lady had borne nine children within ten

years ; which operating on an originally delicate constitu
tion had so much impaired her general health, that when
I was called upon to visit her, she exhibited every symp
tom of pulmonary consumption. For several months pre
vious she had been afflicted with a severe cough, accom
panied with spitting of blood, which had then become so
frequent and profuse, that she was greatly debilitated ; and
her friends were strongly apprehensive that it would soon
terminate fatally. I recommended the immediate adop
 114

tion of the Homeeopathic regimen, and administered

two or three doses of the requisite medicines, which did not
require to be repeated, as on my next visit, at the end
of a few days, I found her comparatively well ; the cough
had nearly subsided, and the spitting of blood entirely so.
She has had no return of either, although upwards of
twelve months have since elapsed. Her general health
has also had a corresponding improvement.

ASTHMATIC TOUGH.

B. R. Esq.This gentleman made application to me

on the recommendation of a friend whom I had succeeded
in curing of an asthmatic affection, by the new system of
practice. He stated, that he had a constitutional cough
of many years standing, accompanied with great difficulty
of breathing, which became almost insupportable on any
rapid change of temperature,on his attempting to walk
quickly, or ascending stairs, &c, which rendered him in
capable of all active exertion. Being possessed of an
ample fortune, he had consulted medical practitioners of
the first eminence, without receiving any benefit, beyond a
very partial and temporary relief ; and he had abandoned
all hope of being effectually cured. As this was a chro
nic case of very long standing, I did not feel very confi
dent in the perfect efficacy of the medicine ; but, much to
my surprise, the cough, and also the other symptoms, dis
appeared in less than a fortnight, and no relapse has since
taken place.
 115

In this instance only a few d6ses of the medicine were

administered.

CONSUMPTION.

Miss E. This was a case of pulmonary disease, in a

girl eighteen years of age, attended with the usual symp
toms. She complained of continual oppression and acute
pain in the chest, after which the expectoration of mucus
was copious, mixed with coagulated blood. Her strength
was greatly impaired ; and as several members of her fa
mily had sunk under the same disease, her relatives were
in a state of great alarm, lest a similar fate awaited her.
With the conviction before me, that the highest order of
medical talents had been in vain exerted to find a remedy
for this insidious complaint, I was diffident in holding out
any confident hope that I could effect a cure ; and the
more especially so, as the disease appeared to have made
great progress within a short period. I, however, under
took to make the experiment ; and, in a fortnight from the
commencement of the administration of the medicines, the
expectoration of blood had ceased,the cough gave little
uneasiness,the pain in the chest had greatly diminished,
and in six weeks all the symptoms had entirely disap
peared.
This case occurred above twelve months ago ; and on
my paying a visit to the family a few weeks since, to ascer
tain how far the effect had been permanent, I found her in
good health.
 116

CHRONIC ASTHMA.
Mr. W. had for many years suffered under chronic
asthma, with all its distressing and afflicting concomitants.
On my first visit I found that he had been unable to lie
down in bed for eight successive nights ; and that, during
this protracted period he had obtained no sleep, nor had
been able to take any sustenance whatever. In one
hour after the Homoeopathic medicines, were adminis
tered, he was enabled to lie down in a horizontal posi
tion : he reposed soundly for eight or nine hours, and,
on awaking partook of a hearty meal, the enjoyment of
which was much enhanced by long abstinence.
I could adduce many instances which have occurred in
the course of my practice during the last winter, which
were attended with precisely similar results : cases of this
kind having been more frequent in the metropolis, than in
any season during the period of my recollection.

A. R. Esq. a gentleman in affluent circumstances, re

siding a few miles from town, applied to me recently, for
relief.in a case of chronic cough, and general asthmatic
affection of very long standing. He had been under the
treatment of the most eminent medical men in the pro
fession, and had unavailingly spent many hundred pounds
in pursuit of relief. The slightest physical exertion, or
change of atmosphere, immediately brought on the most
distressing fits of coughing, which in a great measure ex
cluded him from society ; and, except in a carriage, it de
barred him from all exercise. He was induced to apply
to me in consequence of the benefit which a friend of his,
 117

similarly affected, had derived from the Homoeopathic me

dicines, and said, that he should be satisfied if partial re
lief from his suffering could be afforded hima perfect
cure being beyond his expectation. In less than two
months after commencing the medicines, the cough en
tirely left him, and his breathing was so much improved
that he walked a distance of several milesa degree of
exertion altogether beyond his power of locomotion for
upwards of fifteen years before.
I could adduce upwards of fifty other cases of invete
rate cough and chronic asthma within the range of my
own practice, in which perfect cures have been effected
by the Homoeopathic medicines.

J. P. Esq.This gentleman had for several years, during

the autumn, been attacked with a cough and difficulty of
breathing, which had confined him to his room for many
weeks. In the autumn preceding that in which he called
upon me, " at the request of a friend," he had been at
tended for six weeks by one of the leading physicians of
the metropolis ; who had debilitated him so much, by
cathartic medicines and spare diet, that he did not re
cover his general health until the following summer.
When I first saw him he was unable to walk any con
siderable distance, from the lassitude produced by the diffi
culty of breathing, although his health was in other re
spects good. I had occasion to administer only one dose
of medicine when the cough immediately disappeared, and
in the course of a few days he was enabled to breathe
with perfect freedom.
 118

Rev. Mr . A clergyman of the church of England

had laboured under incipient asthma for several years,
attended with cough and difficulty of breathing, es
pecially when performing his Sunday duties. The ail
ments of which this gentleman more particularly com
plained, and which, he assured me, were frequently
experienced by many of his brethren, who had heavy
duties to perform, were, continued irritation of the
trachea, which was always attended, as soon as the winter
commenced with violent cough, and difficulty of breath
ing, particularly when walking upon a rising ground,
however trifling the ascent might be, with a sharp pain
upon the ribs, and with oppression when he lay down to
rest at night. He had received advice from many who
were considered to be the most eminent in removing
diseases of this nature, but with little temporary, and
certainly with no permanent relief. The nauseous medi
cines he took, and which were repeated thrice a day, for
months, produced but little alleviation ; and, till the
spring advanced, when his complaint gradually subsided,
he remained a sufferer in the way described. I adminis
tered the Homoeopathic remedies, with the usual success.
The general health of this gentleman has been, as he
thankfully acknowledges, decidedly improved ; and were it
not that the weekly nature of his laborious duties, renews
as often the causes of his disease, he would be effectually
relieved.

RHEUMATISM, ACUTE.
0. H. Esq.In the month of February last this gen
tleman had so severe an attack of acute rheumatism, ac
 119

companied with a high degree of febrile action, that he

was unable to move any of his limbs, and had lain nearly
motionless for upwards of a fortnight. He was attended
by one of the most eminent physicians of the day, under
whose direction upwards of seventy ounces of blood had
been extracted. Digitalis, tartarized antimony, &c.
had been administered, and the whole arcana of active
practice exhausted, without the least appearance of allevia
ting the disease. The patient having previously had an
opportunity of hearing my opinion of the Homoeopathic
system, and its effects on similar diseases, was induced,
from his rapidly increasing danger, to have recourse to it.
Within six hours after the medicines were administered,
his skin became moist and cool, the limbs relaxed, and his
pulse, which had previously been at 130, was reduced to
84. A speedy convalescence followed ; and he has since
enjoyed more perfect health than he did for many years
previous to the attack.

Mr. B., a mercantile gentleman, had been for a consi

derable period subject to frequent attacks of rheumatism.
When called upon to visit him, he had been confined to
his room for upwards of three months, the attack being
more severe than he had ever experienced on any former
occasion. His upper and lower extremities were swollen
and inflamed to such a degree, that locomotion became im
possible ; and he experienced, at the same time, the most
agonizing pain in nearly every joint. In twenty-four
hours the pain in the lower extremities was subdued, and
the swelling dissipated. In forty-eight hours the same
effect was produced on the arms and upper part of the
body ; and in less than a week he was able to resume his
business, and has ever since enjoyed uninterrupted health.
 120

SCORBUTIC ERUPTION.
W. T. Esq.This gentleman had been affected with an
inveterate scorbutic eruption for many years; and although
he had consulted several professional men of the highest
reputation, all the means which their skill could devise
had failed in affording him any relief. When he called
upon me recently for my opinion of his case, it was ap
parently under the impression that he had very slender
hopes of my being able to render him any benefit ; and
from its long standing and great virulence I confess that
I did not feel very sanguine of being able to effect a
radical cure. This I candidly told him ; but as he still
expressed a strong desire to avail himself of my advice, I
furnished him with the necessary medicines, requesting him
to call again upon me at the end of a week. At the expi
ration of that period, to his great astonishment, as well in
deed as to my own, the eruption had nearly disappeared ;
and by continuing the medicines for another forttiight, it
was entirely obliterated. He has since had no return of
the eruption, and enjoys better general health than he
did previously.

ERUPTION WITH DYSPEPSIA.

Miss A.This young lady had, for several years, been
subject to frequent attacks of dyspepsia, accompanied by
a most painful and distressing eruption in different parts
of the body, the latter being greatly aggravated by the
slightest deviation from regularity in diet or exercise.
Every means had been pursued which easy pecuniary cir
cumstances could command, or the medical art could de
vise, to subdue the complaint, but without effect ; and her
friends had been assured, by several eminent practitioners
 121

who had been consulted, that nothing more could be done

for her. She incidentally heard of the success of the
Homoeopathic practice in similar cases, and was advised
to apply to me : and although the eruption was extremely
obstinate, it yielded to the medicines in six weeks from the
date of their first administration. She has since had no
return of the eruption, and the dyspeptic symptoms have
also disappeared.

ERUPTION WITH ULCERS.

Mr. S.This gentleman applied to me in a very painful
and distressing case of cutaneous disease. He had been
for a considerable time afflicted with a most irritating
eruption on different parts of the body ; but it was more
especially troublesome and painful on the face and ears.
It appeared first in livid spots, attended with itchiness
and great irritation ; and in this stage there was a
copious discharge of watery acrid fluid. In a few days
these spots became dry, formed a thick, disagreeable
coating or crust, which after a short interval scaled and
dropped off, when the process was again repeated.
In one month from the application of the medicines
the eruption had entirely disappeared,the skin had be
come soft and resumed its natural colour, and there has
since been not the slightest symptom of its return.
I could adduce a number of other similar instances, for
there is no class of cases in which the Homoeopathic
system has been more successfully applied than in every
description of cutaneous disease.
 122

SCARLET FEVER.
Ma. F. a young man about twenty-five years of age, who
was in a very dangerous state with scarlet fever. He
complained of violent pain in the head, alternate heat and
cold, shiverings, insatiable thirst and great lassitude ; and
the usual eruption was general over the whole body ; the
glands of the throat were ulcerated, and inspiration and
respiration were attended with excessive pain and diffi
culty. I immediately administered the belladonna, which
afforded instantaneous relief. On the seventh day from the
time I was called in he was able to resume his usual avo
cations in the counting-house.
I could adduce numerous examples of the same descrip
tion attended with precisely similar results.

Ma. B's children. These were two very bad cases of

scarletina, the one six, the other ten years of age. One
of them had been previously in a delicate state of health ;
and when applied to I considered them both to be in a very
dangerous situation ; for independently of other symp
toms, the trachea and thorax were in a state of active in
flammation. On the fourth day the one was able to eat
heartily ; and at the end of a week the other was also per
fectly recovered.
These rapid changes were effected exclusively by the
administration of belladonna ; and not more than three or
four doses were required in either case to complete the
recovery. Judging indeed from an extended experience,
without encountering a single case of failure, I have
every reason to- believe that that medicine is a specific in
inflammatory and eruptive fever.
 123

TYPHUS FEVER.
Mb. T. together with several of his family were attacked
with typhus fever ; and when I was called upon it had in
all the cases assumed a very malignant aspect. The pre
eminence of the Homoeopathic practice was strongly
manifested on this occasion, as the whole of them re
covered in less than one half the usual time required under
the ordinary method of treatment. Having for a number
of years had the appointment of surgeon to the extensive
and populous parish in which I reside, and in which a
large proportion of the lower class of its inhabitants are
of irregular habits, and occupy badly ventilated houses,
I have had abundant opportunities of witnessing both
typhus and scarletina in every possible form and degree ;
and I can without hesitation affirm, that I have not failed
in a single instance with a patient in either, since I
adopted the Homoeopathic practice.

STRICTURE OF THE RECTUM.

Mrs. B. This lady, immediately subsequent to her last
accouchement, which occurred about sixteen years ago,
was attacked with stricture of the rectum, accompanied
with confirmed constipation of the bowels. To such an
extent was constipation carried, that twelve or fourteen
days frequently elapsed before she could obtain relief,
and never, in any instance, without the administration of
the strongest purgative medicines, the influence of which
was often imperceptible for many successive days. Ulce
ration of the intestinal canal followed, often accompanied
with profuse haemorrhage, and a most copious discharge
of mucus. Lavements and other mechanical means had
 124

also been exhausted, without affording any permanent re

lief ; and when an evacuation was procured, it was in
variably accompanied with intense pain and suffering,
which continued for a considerable length of time. Her
nights were sleepless, and her general health so greatly
impaired that her friends expected that she must very
soon sink under the influence of the disease.
As this lady is the wife of a professional gentleman,
who had commanded the assistance of the first order
of medical talent in the metropolis, it was with no small
degree of diffidence, and a strong doubt of being able to
afford her effectual relief that I undertook the case.
I first gave directions to discontinue the use of all
aperient medicines, which had previously been considered
essential ; and, by substituting the new system, in about
three weeks I succeeded in removing all inconvenience
arising from constipation. I then directed my attention
to the local seat of the disease, which, contrary to my most
sanguine anticipations, immediately gave way, and by
continuing the medicines for two or three months longer,
a perfect cure was effected. Nine months have since
elapsed without her using a single grain of purgative
medicine ; and to the surprise of her friends and her own
gratification she is now in the enjoyment of uninterrupted
health.

PILES AND HEMORRHAGE.

Mrs. W.This lady, after having had a numerous family,

was severely afflicted with piles, frequently accompanied
with haemorrhage to an alarming extent. Previous to
her application to me she had exhausted all the usual
 125

remedies under the direction of her medical attendants,

without deriving any benefit ; and had arrived at the con
clusion that no relief could be afforded her by the ordi
nary system of practice. By the new method of treat
ment she was speedily recovered ; and several months have
since elapsed without her experiencing the slightest in
convenience. I have witnessed the same result in a great
number of similar cases.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS.

Mrs. D.This was a case of violent inflammation of the
bowels, which had made great progress before application
was made to me. The usual treatment in such a case is
profuse bleeding, cupping, leeching, blistering, or all of
these combined, the warm bath, and a copious administra
tion of aperients. The patient, however, soon recovered
by the Homoeopathic treatment,which embraces none
of the above means ; and I have since been equally suc
cessful in many similar instances. There is, indeed, no
greater error than the assumption that the practice must
be inapplicable to emergencies of the above description
from the slowness of its progress, for it is particularly in
acute diseases that its superiority becomes most con
spicuous in its effects.

INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.

Mr. Y.This was a case of inflammation of the kidneys,
which had continued for upwards of a week previous to
my being called upon. The pains in the back and loins
 126

were exceedingly acute, and attended with all the other

symptoms, which usually accompany the derangement
of the urinary organs. Having fully satisfied myself as
to the nature of the attack, I ordered three doses of
medicine, with the necessary instructions respecting the
intervals at which they were to be taken, if the pains
were not removed. On calling next morning I found
they had subsided in two hours after the first dose had
been administered, and in two or three days the patient
was convalescent.

PALPITATION OF THE HEART.

Mb. P., a young gentleman, who had, for a considerable

number of years, been affected with palpitation of the
heart. The disease had been progressively gaining
ground, notwithstanding the ordinary means of treatment
had been resorted to, combined with the strictest atten
tion to prescribed rules, on the part of the patient. The
action of the heart, and nervous irritability, had so much
increased, that any abrupt or rapid physical movement, or
sudden or unexpected mental excitement, brought on such
a quick respiration and alarm, as frequently to threaten
syncope. He had been explicitly informed, by his medi
cal attendant, that he could afford him no further assist
ance ; and having accidentally heard of the Homoeopathic
mode of treatment, he applied to me as a last resource,
with his mind in a state of great perturbation and alarm,
from an apprehension that he would be taken off suddenly
in one of the attacks. I had some difficulty in removing
his apprehension of immediate danger ; but having suc
ceeded in doing so, he attended most minutely to my di-
 U7

rections respecting regimen and the medicines. In one

month from my first visit he was restored to perfect health,
and enabled to resume his business in the counting-house ;
since which time he has felt no inconvenience.
Other cases of affections of the heart have yielded to
the new practice with equal facility, and under equally
adverse circumstances.

DISEASED SPINE.
Miss S.About three months since I was applied to by
the relatives of this young lady, who for two or three
years had grown with unusual rapidity. She was suffer
ing under great debility ; the vertebral column was much
distorted, one of the hip-bones was two inches higher than
the other, and, as the leg was necessarily shortened, she
was consequently so lame as to walk with difficulty. I
could hold out no very confident hope to her parents of
being able to effect a perfect cure ; but recommended a
trial of the Homoeopathic medicines, by way of experi
ment. She is now very much improved under the prac
tice; and, judging from the progress made in so short a
time, I have not the slightest doubt but the curvature of
the spine will soon be entirely removed, and the just pro
portion of the limbs restored. I feel myself perfectly
warranted in coming to this conclusion, from the progress
already made in the case, strengthened by my experience
of one of an analagous kind, which occurred about nine
months ago, and terminated in the most satisfactory
manner.
 1<28

AGUE, TERTIAN.
J. B.A mechanic at Woolwich, had suffered most se
verely from tertian ague, which had continued for fifteen
months. He had consulted several respectable profes
sional men, who had administered the usual correctives,
such as quinine, mercurials, acids, port wine, &c, without
affording him permanent relief, the attack returning im
mediately after the medicines were discontinued.
He had, in consequence, become so much reduced in
pecuniary circumstances that he was unable to pay any
longer for medical advice, when he called upon me, and
made the foregoing representation, requesting my gratu
itous assistance. I supplied him with two doses of medi
cine, prescribing one to be taken immediately, and the
other at the end of a week ; and requested him, on the ex
piration of a fortnight, to call again. *
At the end of that interval, he stated that he had only
required one of the doses, when he found himself com
pletely recovered ; and expressed his astonishment at the
result from a remedy apparently so simple. I heard,
after several months had passed, that he continued to en
joy uninterrupted health, without the slightest return of
his complaint.

COLD EXTREMITIES.
Miss T.A young lady had long been subject to great
inconvenience and discomfort from cold in the extremities,
arising from languid circulation. Even in the summer
months she suffered greatly from cold in the feet, and con
sidered there was no remedy for it, until she accidentally
heard that I had afforded relief in a similar case. I had
occasion to administer the necessary medicine to accelerate
 129

the circulation only once, when the extremities became

perfectly warm and comfortable ; and during the last three
months she has had no cause of complaint.

PARALYSIS.

J. 0. Esq.An intimate personal friend of my own,

had for a considerable time complained of a numbness on
one side of the body, which extended to both the arm and
leg. It had been gradually increasing for several weeks;
and in consequence he became greatly alarmed, appre
hensive that it would eventually terminate in paralysis.
The collateral symptoms were irregular pains in the
head and singing in the ears, with partial loss of the
power of motion in the arm and leg on the affected side.
In one week from the time I commenced adminstering the
medicines, the system recovered its usual tone, the mus
cles of the limbs their power ; and he has since had no
return of the sensation.

MERCURIAL ACTION.

Mrs. D.This lady was in the habit of taking what she

termed family pills for a considerable time ; and when I
was called upon to visit her, I found her in a profuse sali
vation. The tongue was enlarged, the jaws fixed, the
teeth were loose, and she was unable to open her mouth
so as to swallow even fluids. With a few doses of the me
dicine she was in two days enabled to take farinaceous
food, and in four or five to eat solids with perfect freedom.
There was no doubt that a large quantity of calomel had
K
 130

been thrown into the system, and in this, as on many other

occasions, I experienced the astonishing rapidity with
which the Homoeopathic medicines destroy or neutralize
the influence of mercury.

APOPLEXY.

Ma. A.A young gentleman of plethoric habit, who

for upwards of two years had at intervals been attacked
with a pressure of blood upon the brain, accompanied with
all the symptoms which usually precede apoplexy. At
the time I was called to his assistance, he had been sud
denly seized with a fit of giddiness, and had fallen down
in the street, from whence he had just been removed to
his own house. On former occasions of a similar kind, he
had been bled profusely ; and he exhibited no small degree
of astonishment when I informed him that I had adopted
a very different course of practice, which superseded the
necessity of depletion in any form. It was with diffi
culty that I could convince him that to delay extracting
blood was not placing his life in imminent peril. I how
ever at length succeeded in satisfying him, that there was
not only no immediate danger to be apprehended, but
that the new method of practice would render depletion
altogether unnecessary. I adminstered the remedies,
which in a short time removed all inconvenience ; and
seven or eight months have since elapsed without any re
turn of the attack.
This is a near approach to one of the hypothetical
casej, which have been adduced to prove the inapplica
bility of the Homoeopathic practice, and which I consider
places its efficacy in a very strong point of view.
 131

FISTULA.

A. M.A poor woman, who had been discharged from

one of the public hospitals as incurable, with a case of
fistula. The disease had existed for several years, and
the patient was so much debilitated, that it was with
great difficulty she was able to walk a short distance to
my house. As the case, on examination, appeared to me
to be in a great measure a surgical one, the edges of the
orifice being indurated, I entertained some doubt of the
perfect efficacy of the medicines ; but they had not been
administered more than a fortnight, when the discharge
had assumed a more healthy appearancethe opening
began to close, and in six weeks the ulcer was healed.
This case, contrary to my own expectation, was effected
entirely by the internal influence of the medicine, with
out the aid of any operation or external application of
any description.

INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES.

Ms. C.'s Child.This child had been severely afflicted

with weak and inflamed eyes almost from its birth.
Bleeding, blistering, lotions, and other topical applications
had been exhausted without producing any permanent
benefit, and the parents of the child began to conclude
that the disease was beyond the power of medicine to
control. When I was called upon to visit the case, the
eyes were in a much worse condition than usual ; but with
only four doses of the medicine, and without any exter
 132

nal application whatever, they were completely restored

to a healthy state. The child has since had no return of
the complaint.

OPTHALMIA.
C. R. Esq. had been many years in India, and during his
residence there had suffered severely from opthalmia.
Some time after his return to England he was visited with
a similar attack, when he called upon me with his eyes
discharging profusely, and in such a state of inflamma
tion, that the rays of light, and even the action of the
air, distressed him exceedingly. I ordered the necessary
medicines, and desired him to confine himself to a room
from which the light was excluded until my next visit.
To my great surprise, however, on the third morning he
visited me again, and stated, that on the second day after
he had taken the powders, the inflammation and discharge
had nearly subsided ; that he felt little inconvenience from
the light ; and that he had called for the purpose of asto
nishing me with the unexpected result.

PAINTERS' COLIC.
T. P.This was the case of a painter, who had several
severe attacks of colic, a disease peculiar to this trade,
superinduced by the effluvia arising from lead.
When he applied to me, he stated, that on a former oc
casion he had been confined to his bed for six or seven
weeks, and not then expecting to be a shorter period, he
solicited my interest to get him admitted into one of the
 133

public hospitals, as he was not in circumstances to pay

for medical attendance. He was then suffering most
acute pain ; but I informed him that there would be no
necessity for his leaving his own house, as I had no doubt
of his being able to resume his work in a few days. He
had not taken the medicines many hours before the pain
began to subside ; and in three or four days he was suffi
ciently recovered to return to his usual employment. He
was quite astonished at the rapidity of his recovery, ex
claiming, that he had never heard of such extraordinary
effects being produced by medicine.

D. L. This was a case precisely similar to the preceding,

which occurred only a few days ago. When called upon
to visit the case, I found the patient in bed, suffering the
most excruciating pain, accompanied with all the usual
symptoms of the disease. Two doses of the medicine were
sufficient to relieve the paroxysm in a few hours, and on
the following day he was able to sit up, and on the second
to resume his employment.

TOOTHACH.
I have administered the Homoeopathic medicines in a
great variety of cases of toothach, and always with suc
cess. The medicines afforded relief m a very short period.

THE END.

J. Kickerby, l'rinter, Sherbourn-lane.

V J
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