National Republican., 1881-07-05
DO DOCTORS AGREE 3?
ALLoPATHs AND HoMGoPArHs.
Why the Former DO Not Consult with the Lat.
tcr-The Rules Laid Down By Hahne.
mann-what the Objection to
Homeopathy is.

"V""Vp"'Hl ia'
A physician furnishes The RErrR-
icNN tho following artclc Why may
wo not meet profcsscd homWopaths in con.
sultation2' is constantly recurring qucs.
ton to which recent events have given
an unusual degree Of urgency and impor.
tnncc. The answer is n dual one, aud apparently
paradoXIcal. We decline to have professional
intercourse with proteSscd or rCpu,cd hOmm0paths
for one or both OF two rcasons-cithcr
because they are believers in method Of thera-
peuttcs which Is at once fautaslical aud absurd,
or because they arc not believers in other words
either because they are true disciples of IIahnc-
mnnn or because they are not In one instance
the objection is scientific In the other it Is ethical.
Despite the prcvOriCaiions aud protestatiOns Of
those nfhcnrtcd professors OF homeopathy.
whom ilnhnomann and his slrctGr ndhcrcnts
would have denounced by the name Of "mon.
grels,' homeopathy is logically Hahncmannsm
or nothing, From the rules
LAID nOwN ny UAHNFMANS
ihcro can bo no material departure without
practical nhrogHtiou Of the doctrine nj fhommopathy
itself aud with 1t the So.cnllcd law OF smlnrs.
This cannotbo fairly gninsad A recent exponent
Of pure homeopathy said Hahnemaun discov.
cred, founded, aud elaborated n system of healing
hy medicines To this system he gave the name
plsincst and most minute rules for the nppl.
cation Of his teachings, and he challenges the
medical profession to put his teachings to the test.
It would seem. therefore, very simple matter to
define homeopathy; II would seem also self.cvi.
dent that, while every physician has n right 10
practice that system Of medicine which he deems
best, on the other hand no one has right to call
himself hom~opathican, who does not firmly
believe
IAHNESiASN's PRACTICAL RULES,
and strive In every case to carry them out to the
best Of his ability; aud II would seem only con.
sistent that the name OF homeopathy should not be
appropriated to any other system than that to
which ll0hncmann gave II: yet that which would
appear 10 be selfevidently just and true has not
been followed, and lIahnemanns fundamental
rules are daily violated by those who call them.
selves his disciples. "This is, nt least, an ntei-
giblc, if not nm intelligent position.
Pure homeopathy differs from scientific
medicine by claiming to be a complete and
final system Of therapeutics, based on constant
and universal laws. These laws as defined by
Hahnemnnn, are chiefly two: First the law of
smilars; and second, arising out of this, the law
of ofdynamIsution of medicines. II is not now nee.
cssary to combat seriously either the flnciful hy.
pothcsis on which the law Of similars is based
that disease is Il spiritual dynamic arrangement
OF our spiritual vital principle nor the cxtraya
CANT notion that dynamisations ofdrugs are real
awGkcnings Of the medicinal
PROPERTIES THAT LIE DORMANT
in natural bodies during their crude state, which
then become capable Of acting in an almost spirit
ual manner upon our life; that is to sny, on our
pcrcipent tscnsiblc) and cxGitablc Qrritablc)
hbrcs," This has been already accompanied by
the unanimous condemnation ofscientistS, philoso-
piers, and practical physicians. 1t is enough for
our purpose to call attention TO the fact that obcd
ence to the law of similars has led homeOpnths
to give diutiOns of bugs to cure the infamma-
ton arising from bug bites cholera ovacuations
for the cure of cholera, and the eSpcctoration of
phihisical persons for the arrest Of consumption
and that the belief In "dyna misation has carried
some OF the diciples of Hnhnennnn TO the last
stage Of impudCnCe or imbecilty Of claiming to
have Obtained distinct results, not only by means
of oliaction or smelling globules containing the
decilionth of grain of drug, but also by means
Of medicines contained in closed vessels held in
the hand. These ridiculous pretonSons can have
no place in scientific medicine, and therefore
practitioners Of scientific medicine can have no
professional association with those who advance
them. The objection to
4 PROFESSION or HOMEOPATHY
Is, however in the present day ethical rather than
scieRtihc, because the scientific ftllacy has been
forever exploded. Few protested houfpopaths
now.a-dayS owe allegiance TO Hahnemann, still
less do they accept homeopathy rs n complete sys.
TEN of therapeutics II will he remembered that
about four years ago the e.prcsdcnt of the
British Homeopathic Society, speaking for him
self aud n certain section Of his colleagues, wrote;
" We admit, first, that the views expressed by
llnhnelnann are often cxtrayagant and incorrect;
secondly, that lIypocratcs was right when he said
some diseases are best treated by smilars and
some by contrares, and therefore II is uuwisc and
incorrect to assume the title Of homToputhsts;
thirdly, that although many believe that the ac-
tion Of the nrnitesimol in nature can be demon
stratcd its Use in medicine is practically, by
large number In this country, all but abandoned"
The plain meaning Of this statement is that the
law of similars has broken down, and that 1.-THE
homeopathic therapeutic maxim"
OF lSFISITEstNAL DOSES
which lIahncmann alleged was mot to be rerlted
by any experience In the world Is false The re.
tcntion Of the name OF homwopath byR medical
practitioner under such circumstances is, there.
fore, misleading, irnot actually uniuStnablc, since
II has no scientific or logical significance. Those
who persist in retaining the name have themselves
10 blame If they arc said to do for the purpose
Of attracting u certain portion OF the lay
community. Pure homeopathy has been
condemned by the best minds as false
and absurd and without any sCicu.
tic sanction. We cannot consult with the con.
sistent hommopath, If for no other reason. because
his notions of pathology and therapeutics are
fundamentally contradictory and auagonistic to
ours; nor can We consult with the prOfcsScd
homUopa'h, though he may occasionally practice
according to the principles Of scientific medicine,
because hc employs name that, in his case, pos.
ScsScs no scientific meaning and is used for sec
tartan purposes.