Allopathy and Homoeopathy Before the Judgement of Common Sense! Part 2

A year after this important occurrence, the Asiatic Cholera came marching from the East, for the first time. This aroused the medical profession in general. Physicians were helpless, and none of them had ever seen a case of this fearful disease. But Hahnemann, after learning the symptoms of the disease, advised the mode of treatment by which the mortality of that terrible scourge was threefold reduced, and numerous testimonials were published, showing the immense success of his mode of treatment. In 1831, he lost his partner in life, having been married forty-nine years and a few months.

About four years after the death of his wife, a most interesting, intelligent and estimable lady, applied to Hahnemann for advice for lung and heart disease. It has been humorously stated that though the lung disease was effectually cured, the trouble of the heart must have a.s.sumed a chronic form, for the fascinating Parisienne seemed deeply enamored with the great doctor. She was 35 years of age, the daughter of Louis Jerome Cohier, formerly Minister of Justice and President and Director of the French Republic, her name was Marie Melanie d'Herville Cohier. This lady of position and wealth offered her hand to the octogenarian, which he accepted, and after having divided his considerable fortune among his children, upon which his young wife insisted, he was induced by her to pa.s.s the rest of his life in Paris, where he enjoyed a great reputation till his death, which took place July 2nd, 1843. On the centenary of his birthday in 1855, a statute was erected to his memory at Leipzig.

To complete the picture of this great man, I have to cite from a letter written by Dr. Jahr in Paris on the fourth of July 1843, where he says:

"Hahnemann is dead! In fact, dear friends, our venerable father had finished his career. A pulmonary paralysis had set him free, after an illness of six weeks, finally liberating the great soul from its earthly tenement. To the last moment, he was in the possession of his mental faculties.... In the commencement of that illness he announced that it would be his last, as his body was worn out. At first he prescribed for himself, and nearly to the period of his death delivered his opinion of the remedies offered him by his wife and Dr. Chartran.... When his wife, on account of a fit of suffocation, said to him, 'Providence ought to exempt you from these sufferings, as you have relieved so many, and endured such numerous persecutions,' he replied, '_Me: why me?

Every one works according to the abilities and powers which Providence has bestowed upon him. Superiority or inferiority exists only before the tribunal of men, not before that of Providence. Providence owes nothing to me, but I am indebted to Providence for all._'"

I leave these memorable words, for every one to deduce from them the natural conclusion, and especially as truly ill.u.s.trative of the character of Hahnemann. The grand old man, at 80 years of age, launched himself upon a new career in the capital of France. In three years we find him making an income of 200,000 francs a year from his professional exertions, and giving gratuitous advice to crowds of the poor.

Year after year his wonderful successes brought him a rapid increase to even this large income. In his 89th year he died and left a fortune of 4,000,000 francs, nearly a million of dollars.

Seldom has a man ended his days in so glorious a sunset, or in a surer hope for the future.

The merit of Hahnemann, and that for which we ought to bless his name and cherish his memory, is his rejection of theory and the establishment of the curative art upon the solid foundation of science. All that was merely speculative he rejected as unsafe, and sought by pure experiment and objective observation, to find out Nature's law of cure. Taking nothing for truth that could not be proved by experiment, he, by careful and untiring observation, obtained from Nature the answer that _Similia Similibus Curantur_ was the law of cure, the only scientific law to heal disease.

This science is not wafted to and fro by the winds of opinion and supposition. It is through its organic unity, as firm and unchanging as Nature itself. In it all medical men must agree, because the reign of _supposition_ has been replaced by that of _facts_, and all animated by the spirit of progress will work actively and earnestly in promoting science and the art of healing for their own benefit, and that of suffering humanity in general. To get such a science recognized and spread over the world, is undoubtedly a n.o.ble problem of the age. Hahnemann also discovered by experiment and pure objective observation, that disease renders the organization wonderfully sensitive to their specific remedies, so that the mere smell of the specific drug can, in many cases effect a cure; and that in all cases, a very small dose of the true remedy is all that is required; so small as to have no effect whatever on the organism in a state of health; and further, that large doses, even of the proper remedy, are not only useless, but hurtful, being calculated to aggravate the disease and endanger vitality.

Time will not permit me to attempt here an elucidation of the principles and doctrines promulgated by Hahnemann; yet I wish to notice briefly some of the results following the introduction of Hom[oe]opathy into the medical world. It is now about seventy-five years since Hahnemann made public, and taught this new system of medicine. The bold reformer and his disciples were persecuted, ridiculed and scorned in every manner by the so-called orthodox doctors, who declared their principles so ridiculous and nonsensical, that it would be below the dignity of a scientific man to make himself acquainted with the laws and practice of Hom[oe]opathy. But Hom[oe]opathy in the theoretical and practical proofs of its universal importance, deserves to be ranked among the most important discoveries of the age, and as one of the most beneficial discoveries that humanity has ever been blessed with.

Men of the highest standing in the profession have given their unqualified indors.e.m.e.nt of its foundation as an indisputable law of Nature, and of its right to be considered high in the order of science.

The truth of its principles has been practically proven by its success, not only in isolated cases, but in great epidemics, as those of dysentery, cholera, yellow fever, typhus, smallpox, scarlet fever, measles, diptheria, etc.; and this, too, in so conspicuous a manner, that year after year, it has forced its way into larger and higher circles, and is now practiced in all countries by a large number of scientific and intelligent physicians, who, after having studied and practiced for a longer or shorter length of time the murderous system of Allopathy, are acquainted with both, and have given the preference to Hom[oe]opathy, only after mature reflection, investigation and numerous comparisons of the result of both systems in their practice.

The great majority of Old-School physicians, only know Hom[oe]opathy by hearsay, and look upon it through the dim gla.s.ses of the prejudices of the past. None of those who have abused Hom[oe]opathy have previously examined and studied the matter thoroughly, because all those who have conscientiously done this, have soon been converted to the truth of the system and have adopted its practice.

In the ranks of the pract.i.tioners and believers in Hom[oe]opathy, we see physicians whose writings prove, and to whom n.o.body can deny an extended and profound medical knowledge, as well as judgment.

Hom[oe]opathy can boast of a rich and scientific literature, and a great number of profound writings in all the languages of the civilized world.

Hom[oe]opathy is a vast and steadily growing power in the medical and scientific world, demanding earnestly the attention of every intelligent man. Its real merit may be partially measured by the strength of obstacles it has had to overcome.

Hom[oe]opathy is a reform in the central and main field of medical practice, a reform effected by the discovery of a great and true therapeutic law, and by the construction of a new _Materia Medica_, which reveals to us the disease-producing properties of drugs. It has rendered pathology the highest service by making that great branch of medical science truly practical; for, an exact parallel functional and organic law between the phenomena of diseases and drugs is necessary to the scientific selection of hom[oe]opathic medicines. By its great therapeutic law, it has introduced new light, order, beauty and efficiency into the theory and practice of medicine. It has cured thousands of cases of chronic disease, beyond the reach of allopathic art, and has treated all acute diseases with admirable ease and success. In great epidemics, it proved always superior to the old system. I was converted by experiencing the wonderful effects of hom[oe]opathic medicine on myself, but particularly by witnessing the triumphs of Hom[oe]opathy in the treatment of the Asiatic cholera, in the terrible epidemic of 1849-'50 and '51.

Allopathic mortality was 56 per c.

Hom[oe]opathic mortality was 12 per c.

In yellow fever, its success was equally surprising. Drs. Davis and Holcombe treated over a thousand cases at Natchez in 1853 and '55, with a mortality of 7 per cent. Allopathy lost two-thirds of its patients. On account of this great victory, they were elected physicians and surgeons of the Mississippi State Hospital, which was till then under allopathic government. The reports from that Inst.i.tution are triumphs to Hom[oe]opathy up to the present day, and confirmatory of the superiority of this system of medical treatment.

Hom[oe]opathy has saved thousands of cases from surgical operations, and has introduced safety into the lying-in-room of woman. It has been a blessing to children, and to mothers incalculably beneficial. It has been found equally useful in the diseases of animals, and many veterinary inst.i.tutions have been established for its practice.

Finally, it has shortened the average duration of disease, diminished the expense of treatment enormously, economized the vital resources of the patient, and delivered its friends from the frequently baneful and long-lasting effects of enormous doses of medicine.

In conclusion, I will give a few statistics, from different and reliable authorities; but first, the testimony of Dr. Routh, an eminent Allopathic physician of London, given under circ.u.mstances which make it significant and interesting.

In 1852, Dr. Routh published in London a book which he ent.i.tled the "Fallacies of Hom[oe]opathy," which he says he was constrained to do, because

"This system of medical practice has of late unfortunately made, and continues to make, such progress in this country, and the metropolis in particular, and is daily extending its influence even among the most learned, and those whose high positions in society gives them no little moral power over the opinions of the mult.i.tude, that our profession is, I think, bound to make it the subject of inquiry and investigation."

To that end, he collected statistics of different hospitals, to the number of thirty-two thousand six hundred and fifty cases, treated in hom[oe]opathic hospitals, and compared them with an equal number of cases from old-school hospitals. He was astonished to find that the average mortality under allopathic treatment was 10.5 per c.; while under hom[oe]opathic treatment it was only 4.4 per c. Still he was honest enough to publish the results. He further states that, proportionally to the number of beds, in hom[oe]opathic hospitals there are twice as many patients admitted and cured, as in allopathic hospitals.

He also states that the mean duration of treatment in pneumonia was

Hom[oe]opathic, 11-2/3 days.

Allopathic, 29 days.

After visiting Vienna, Dr. Routh gives the following statistics of cases of inflammation of the lungs, treated respectively in the Hom[oe]opathic and Allopathic Hospitals of that city.

Allopathic mortality 23 per c.

Hom[oe]opathic mortality 5 per c.

Here, then, is allopathic testimony, the most conclusive; that, in this fatal disease, the old system involves a mortality of 23 per c., while that of Hom[oe]opathy is only 5 per c.--just about one-fifth!

I have in my possession, and could adduce here, numerous equally valuable statistics, but as I have already trespa.s.sed upon your time, I will sum up the whole in a carefully prepared table of several life insurance companies which have investigated the influence of medical treatment as affecting human life, and from which they feel authorized in offering an annual reduction of 15 per c. to practical hom[oe]opathists. We find the "Atlantic Mutual" making the following deductions:

_First._ "That practical Hom[oe]opathists enjoy more robust health."

_Second._ "That they are less frequently attacked by disease."

_Third._ "When attacked, they recover more rapidly than those treated by any other system."

_Fourth._ "That the mortality in the more fatal forms of disease is small compared with that under Allopathic treatment."

_Fifth._ "That many diseases, which are incurable under any other system, are curable under Hom[oe]opathic treatment."

This statement is followed by a general summary from carefully prepared tables, comprising a large ma.s.s of statistics, collected from all parts of the world, and embracing the records of the treatment of some 300,000 cases of disease. We find that the ratio of mortality between Hom[oe]opathic and Allopathic treatment, omitting the fractions, to be,--

In General diseases as 4 to 13 " Cholera, as 16 to 49 " Typhus fever, as 8 to 33 " Yellow fever, as 5 to 43 " Pneumonia, as 5 to 31

The general average of all diseases being as 8 to 34, while the average length of sickness under the two systems, is as 2 to 3, a clear gain of over fifty per c. is shown in favor of Hom[oe]opathy.

The inquiry will here naturally arise:--Why is it that, if the Hom[oe]opathic system presents such superior results, that it has not been adopted by the profession generally? While its adherents may with pride refer to its rapid growth in this country, its pract.i.tioners having increased from 6 in 1830 to over 6,000 in 1871; yet, if the system is all that its adherents claim, why should it still meet with the most bitter opposition of the old school, instead of that hearty acceptance which its merits would seem to demand?

Before answering this question, let us see how the medical profession, and professors of other branches of science have received the several great discoveries of the last four hundred years.

Copernicus, who taught that the sun is stationary; that the planets revolve around the sun, and that the apparent revolution of the heavens is caused by the rotation of the earth on its axis,--a system now generally received and acknowledged, was persecuted nearly to death. I found, only twenty years ago, a sect of people in Wisconsin, who still disbelieved this great fact, that the earth moves around the sun.

Gallileo, after being converted to the Copernican theory of the revolution of the earth around the sun, and after having improved the telescope of Copernicus, invited his fellow-professors to make these observations with him. They absolutely refused to even look through Gallileo's telescope, and after he had demonstrated to them by actual experiment, that the trifling difference in the falling of two unequal weights is owing only to the resistance of the air, and after making the experiment twice before the eyes of his opposers in dropping two unequal weights from the tower of Pisa, they did not believe it. He also was persecuted through life.

Franklin's electric experiments were received in like manner. After they had been read before the Royal Society, they were considered worthless, and he earned nothing but ridicule and abuse.

So it was with Fulton, when he was moving upon the Hudson River with his imperfect steamcraft before the eyes of the people; they said it was impossible, and could not be done. Yes, they denied the fact, and declared him insane after he had done it.

Harvey, who discovered and taught that there is an arterial circulation of blood through the human system, was persecuted through life, his professional enemies styling him the "Circulator," a word, in its original Latin, synifying vagabond or quack.

In the light of these facts, it was not surprising that Hahnemann, after the promulgation of his doctrine, meets the same fate, and from that day to the present, the most bitter denunciations have been poured by the Old School, not only upon him, but on all who have adopted, or have investigated his method.

But Time ever rectifies the mistakes of mankind. The value of the discoveries of all these great men has long since been acknowledged by the world; and the day will and must surely arrive, when the little acorn of Truth, planted by Hahnemann, which has already taken deep root, and is lifting high its vigorous stem, shall tower far above all other giants of the medical forest, and its wide-spreading branches cast their beneficent shadows over the whole earth.