Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-06-07

~ ia. 1--WE my election largely to
~. .ss eeelinquencies Of former presidents and
he -. nAea determination Of my colleagues to
'ace speech this year at all hazards.
.. VI inc present occasion. 1 shall depart to
some extent from the ordinary standard ~
medical addresses l shall SNEAK IA vo,,
upon subject which is too rarely ment;orsd
IA our societies. shall plead with Won for
neglected pathology.
Do hot misunderstood me. He who pre
scrioes Tor the name of a disease. allows No.
'no.oRy to usurp the field of therapeutics and
violates that law of strict individualiz.t;on
when Is the very essence of homeopathv vet
Is equally true that he who ignores ;he
teachings of pathology, voluntarily surren.
GERS one OF his most effective weapons. The
early disciples Of Hahnemann devoted All
'neir energies to the development of the
materla mejica. The other branches of
medical science were first neglected and then
uesplseo- The spirit of the older prac,i
uohers Is well illustrated BY the reply made
py one OF them to a patient, who asked tho
nature of his illness and the medicine admin
istered: The name of the medicine is none
OF your business, sir, and the name of rho
disease Is none of mine" This contemnt
tor the allied branches of medicine va. s,,,.
diously inculcated among their patrons and
was fostered by the pernicious system of ..do-,
"estic practice which made box and book
squNalent to thorough medical education.
!. Is only lew years since laymaD wrote to
the editor OF a leading medical journal. ask
ing II there were any college where his son
couid De taught matsria medica and tbera-
peutics without being obliged to waste his
tune on anatomy, physiology, pathology and
other non-essentiaIs
FOR several decades this doctrine held nm
disputed sway. but at length there came a re.
action. Physicians began to doubt whether
pathology was merely "a scientific plavtbinp."
lhey claimed that the discoveries of the old
sehooi IN pathological anatomy, microscopy,
Physicai diagnosis and chemical ANALYSIS
could De successfully utilized in HOMEOPATHIC
practice. They even asserted thai while !,
was undoubtedly the first duty of the physician
to heal the sick he was none the worse homno.
path for knowing uhat he cured and bo,r
and rhy the cure effected. Who can picture
the amazement, the wrath, the outbnrst of
hoiy horror with which this heresy was
greeted! As the old theologians used TO fear
tiat the light from the stars would put out the
sun OF righteousness, and the hammer of
the geologlst break the Rock of Ages, so the.
leaders OF our schools seemed to be appre
henslve lest the revelations of the microscope
should dim the light of homeopathy and the
study of pathology sap the foundations of
their faith. Liberty of opinion meant To
them what it did to the old Puritans-liberty
Tor themselves. persecution for their oppo-
nents. Like the Puritans, too, they
"Proved their doctrines orthodox
BY apostolic blows and knocks
" nat mas been the result of this suicidal
policy! Bigotry has begotten opposing big
otry. Absurdity on the one side has been
followed by equal or greater absurdity on the
other. Contempt of pathology has given
rise to pathological therapeutics The cred.
Utility, which accepted unquestioned the myth
lcai provlngs OF the nosodes and the high po-
tencles OF ice and snow, of sunshine and
moonshine and mackerel, has been confronted
by the Milwaukee Test. and the skepticism
which denies all medical power above the
twelfth decimal attenuation. Intolerance and
exclusiveness have been met by dogmatism
and license. We would not cast reproach
upon our pioneers, nor pluck one leaf from
their well-earned laurels. 1t needed men like
these-earnest, enthusiastic, fanatical-to
lead the new crusade against the conserva-
ton, which blocked the wheels of medical
progress. We admire their genius and their
herolsm but we cannot commend their mar
row. mindedness, Nor accept their teachings
as infallible.
What are the arguments against pathology
advanced by those who style themselves the
champions of Hahnemann?" The chief one
is founded upon the opening words of the
Organon The first and sole duty of the
physician is to restore health to the sick"
As the proposition stands we admit it; but
we deny the forced Interpretation, that in
order to cure, knowledge OF symptomatology
is all-suficent. If this were true, then in
1aa1 tha nf t1,a oil Al.
''anybOdy can practice homeopathic" be well
founded. IIahnemann himself did not claim
it, 1.-The OrganoD," says Durham. sis
strictly what its name implies-an instrument
of the rational art of healing-an exposition
of therapeutics, or that branch of medical
science, which concerns itself with healing
disease by means of drugs, and its author
assumed that those who would use it
would be men already versed in medical
science. In four of the terse and weighty
sentences which characterize this book,
Hahnemann takes it for granted, ''as a matter
of course" that ''every sensible physician"
before applying the law of cure which he is
unfolding. will first make certain investiga-
tons and take certain steps, which investiga-
tons and steps really comprehend all that we
now comprise under tie heads of etiology
semeiology and hygienic management
knOWleuSe OF materla meulca alone may
make a successful prescriber; but thorough
acquaintance with all branches of medical
science. broad and generous culture, tact,
common sense and knowledge of human ma
ture are the essential requisites of the ideal
physician.
Prof. Helmuth, in his inimitable manner.
tells the story of a practitioner who was called
in case of dislocation of the jaw. He was
an ultra Hahnemannian, who believed that
his first and sole duty" was to ''restore
health to the sick" by means of potentized
drugs. Surgery, diagnosis and pathology he
left to the allopath. With Symptomen Codex
in hand. he gravely ''looked up the case"
under the various rubrics of ''mouth open,"
features distorted" ''pain in the ears" ETC.,
selected a remedy and dropped a few pellets
on the tongue of the sufferer Now this man
II will not call him doctor) who attempted
to set a dislocated jaw with medicine, was
guilty of no greater absurdity than a recent
writer on gynecology, who claims that every
dislocated uterus can be replaced and held in
position by high potency of properly Sc
lected remedy. The danger 20 homeopathy
lies not in the opposition of Its enemies, bu,
in the fanaticism and folly Of its professed
adherents.
The second great argument of the anti
rathologists rests upon the sixth paragraph
of the Organon-"For the physician the
totality of the symptoms alone constitutes the
disease In a limited sense-the sense in