Some suppose that medical theories are of little or no consequence, and that a man may be a good practitioner with a false theory, or no theory at all. This is a great mistake. Every one must have some sort of theory; it may be faint and imperfect, but it is, nevertheless, the guide of his conduct. Therefore it is wrong to suppose that two systems, founded upon opposite theories, are alike in practice. If one man sows wheat and another thistles, they cannot expect similar crops; so if one gives his patient the decillionth of a grain of oyster shell, and another gives his a dose of ipecac, they cannot expect similar results. Homœopathic theories are so absurd, that all sagacious practitioners take special care to keep them as much as possible out of sight. All that they wish the public to know is that their scheme is a new and wonderful discovery made by the immortal Hahnemann; that it is the shortest, easiest, and surest road to health, and that it wholly discards all that pertains to the old and all but defunct system, and they assure us that the success of their mode of treatment is without a parallel. But we learn
