Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-06-21
ANSWER TO THE ABOVE.

trademark turns to- his advantage.
ANSWER TO THE ABOVE.
LE
What Hemeopathy IL.
An EXPOSITION OFTHE HAHNEMANNIAN DOCTRINE
BIZ TRUE RBLIEvER In IT.
From the Philadelphia Times
In your issue Of last Sunday under the cap
tion OF Medical Ethics" you state that 'sthe
average layman has no idea of what homeop-
athy means" tits with view of furnishing
just this Information and not with any intent of
''hitting" the opposing school that the writer
attempts reply. The hOmeopathician is GOV
erned by fundamental law, the discovery and
not the invention Of Hahnemann, viz, that
drug capable of producing given symptoms
when administered to a healthy person, if given
In minute doses to diseased organism present.
Ing these same symptoms, which are the result
OF another cause, it will remove them.
All drugs used by him must be first ssproren,"
or their sick-making properties ascertained, by
being given to healthy persons in certain GUAM
titles and repeatedly for time Many provngs
must be thus made with each medicine, and all
symptoms which are reported by eye,y proven
are accepted as the result Of drug action, while
those noticed only by few are rejected as being
each medicine complete list of symptoms be-
longing to It. These records constitute the
homeopathic materia medica. A rough idea of
the amount of matter thus obtained may be
gathered from reference to Aliens Encyclopedia,
recently completed work on this subject.
where we find ten volumes 8vo., small print-in
all about GOO pages. The linden to this ency-
clopedia, giving an Authorization of the same in
alphabetical order, makes up an 8vo. volume of
], 400 pages.
The Inference which 1,our roodors mar dro,,
from your article would be that we do not still
adhere to the original theory OF homeopathy.
In answer to this let me state that the moment
we cease to do SO we ceaseto be hOmeOpathists.
W., we 90 not discard the study Of collateral
branches, but regard them as subservlent to the
study of synpton,atology. How is disease mani
tested but by the presence of symptoms? No
two cases Of any disease can be found to exactly
agree These symptoms, without which the pa
tient would be well, furnish us with the indica-
ton for a remedy which will cure the disease
quickly and permanently, while, to quote your
article, 1.-The other school having been taught
that fact must precede theory is trying to find
out what is the matter with the patient" Thus
the homeopathic physician has. in his immense
list OF symptom producers (medicines) ,ammun-
ton with which to attack any aeao disease. Sup
pose an epidemic occurs for instance, of some
maiady entirely unknown to the profession, the
homeopath does not waste many lives in expert
neentang with this and that drug, but can pre-
scribe for the first case as accurately and with as
much certainty OF cure as though he had treated
the disease for years.
THE ONLY TRUE HoMEOPATHIsT
Our system has one fault, and it is but fair to
state it. Acknowledging the fact that the
symptoms furnish the sole guide to prescription,
irrespective of the name Of the disease. nothing
can be palmer than the fact that we can have no
list or set of remedies for any given disease In
other words, any one OF thousand or more
medicines can be used In any disease In order
to prescribe the correct one in every case the
physician must devote himself increasingly to
study. When prescribing for case, he records,
either mentally or, much better, on paper
everything that Is complained Of This does
not consist alone Of ''external" symptoms, as
you intimate, but. embraces every symptom,
objective Chose which can be discovered by the
doctors sense OF sight, hearing, feeling,
and even smelling.1 and subjective Chose
sensations and pains which the pa
complete he must find that remedy which will
reflect perfect image of his case. This, al
though sometimes an easy task, is Outlines ar
du0us, and means real bard mental tcOyk. Just
here arises the trouble: many doctors. as other
people, are lazy. Many man has graduated
with honest intention (some have not, and tor
| time adhered closely to the law of "sinailia
sinaitb,ts curantur." But before long comes q
serious case. He feels his deficiency but rather
than closet himself in his library and find
case, he follows the advice of some other sin
ner and departs from his rule (his principally
and gives purgative OR what not. yet calls
himself no less believer in homeopathy. Very,
very many Of just such men arc to-day polluttng
the good name Of homeopathy. They have crept
into medical societies and into college chairs.
and persist in calling themselves homeOpaths
because they know that the wealthy and intel
ligent classes are seeking thai school, and fool
themselves into the belief that these will not
SSh0mpOnathy a 6rov, of
blood, administers no emetics, purgatives, laxa-
tivcs or diaphOretics. never subdues pain BY
opium, ETC." (Hahnemann's "Organon," p. 17.)
The SYSTEM never has and never change any
more than can any other flxedlaw Ofnature, vet to
say that we nave not progressed with the times
| Is unjust, when the great number of new and
valuable remedies and provings which have
yearly been added to our list is taken into ac-
count.
To completely master this enormous materia
medica is an utter impossibility, and no homeo-
path should be too lazy nor should he hesitate
for fear OF making his patient think him def
clent, to consult his books at any time. The
eminent lawyer will answer his client only
when he has ''looked up" the points of law
The skill OF the homeopath lies in his knowing
how to question and examine his case how to
find the remedy and how to give it. For him
to argue that he only uses other means when he
cannot find the remedy always implies that he
has not sufficiently looked for it, If his method
OF cure is correct it should be the more strenu-
ously adhered to because his case is urgent; if
1t is not, he has no business to use it In milder
ones.
THE CAUSE OF DISEASE UNIMPORTANT.
In illustration Of the point that the cause of
disease, in non-surgical cases, is of no import
ance in prescribing, let me cite certain skin
disease, vulgarly called ''ringworm," and in
medical parlance styled, among other names,
tfnea trichOphytina. The allopaths declare that
this affection Is due to vegetable parasite
which they call trichopnyton. and they assert
that this fungus. growth must be DESTROYED be-
fore the disease can be cured. There is the
disease, the cause and the theory of cure. It
certainly is logical. We acknowledge the pres
ence OF the parasite Tin fact, to dispute that
which can be clearly demonstrated blythe micro
scope WOULD be insane), but whether we believe
that to be the cause of disease is another
question. We do not seek to remove the para
site by sny application to the part, but, follow
ing our la,o Inquire the sensation experienced
and take into account what we can see. We
have medicines which are capable of producing
gerry similar conditions. The medicine
which corresponds most closely to the indiyid-