Quackery Unmasked/Chapter II
CHAPTER II
HOMŒOPATHY—ITS ORIGIN, PRINCIPLES, ATTENUATIONS,
ETC. CARBO VEGETABILIS.
In Great Britain, when any particular kind of quackery gains a temporary ascendancy over others, it is said to wear the bell. Although we have no authority to settle questions of rank in that army, I suppose no one will object to placing Homœopathy at the head of the regiment for a single review; and if, after sundry marches and counter-marches, this company shall be found at the other extremity of the regiment, no one need be disappointed. Samuel Hahnemann has been called the founder of this sect. He was born at a place called Messein, in Upper Saxony, in 1755, and graduated at the Medical School at Leipsic at the early age of 20. During his pupilage he seems to have imbibed a strong dislike to the profession, and instead of engaging in the practice of medicine after his graduation, he employed his time in translating several German publications, and contributing to various miscellaneous works. After plodding along in that way nearly twenty years, he broached the scheme of Homœopathy, and in 1796 published his first essay on the subject. It does not appear that he ever practised medicine as taught at Leipsic, but, after probably forgetting most that he had learned during the brief period of his scholarship, he broke out with a scheme of his own getting up, although it does not appear to have been made entirely of new materials. It is well known that, at the time Hahnemann was a pupil at Leipsic, medical science in that school was extremely crude and imperfect, and much of the theory that was taught him has long since been exploded. Many important truths had been established, but these were mingled with numerous false theories, and the clergy had not entirely released their hold upon the profession.
Hahnemann probably had for his text-books the writings of Galen, Sydenham, Boerhaave, Haller, Van Swieten and Cullen; Jenner was at that time in his early boyhood, and the great lights which have since illumined the medical world had not yet dawned. He appears to have imbibed the wild, visionary spirit of Galen, and like him to have manifested a haughty contempt for the doctrines and opinions of all other men. Instead of setting himself at work to correct errors, reform abuses, and enlighten and improve the profession, he cast it all aside at a single dash, repudiated all the truths that observation and experience had established, and set at naught every principle of philosophy and common sense. Bitterly prejudiced against all that had been taught him at the schools, and inheriting an intellect in the highest degree chimerical, he made a bold attempt to set up a scheme of his own. This was based upon two prominent ideas—the first of which is comprised in the Latin phrase, "similia similibus curantur"—likes cures like. This did not originate with Hahnemann, but was embraced in the old adage which had been current for centuries before his time, viz., that "the hair of the same dog will cure the bite." Hahnemann amplified this idea, and attempted to prove it by facts and observations. He discovered nothing, but merely seized upon this old false proverb, and used it for the foundation of his system. Because laxatives sometimes cure diarrhœa, frost-bitten parts are sometimes relieved by being rubbed with snow, and a dose of senna sometimes cures colic, Hahnemann fancied that he saw his theory confirmed. He forget another proverb, viz., "Like produces like in endless succession," and overlooked an established principle of philosophy which declares that (cœteris paribus) whatever increases the cause, increases the effect. His mind became riveted to this one idea, and he saw and heard nothing but "similia similibus curantur."
It is impossible to conceive a greater absurdity than is contained in this Homœopathic dogma. It is one of the wildest conjectures imaginable. The principle is contradicted by every rational thought and word and deed, throughout the world. Everywhere, in every vocation, and in every department of business, it meets with a flat contradiction. If the farmer's fields are too full of weeds, does he sow more weeds? If the soil is too wet, does he irrigate it? If his team is overloaded, does he add more by way of relief? If his wheels are blocked, does he pile the obstructions still higher? No, common reason and common experience teach the very reverse of all this; he cuts up the weeds, drains the wet soil, takes off a part of the too heavy load, and endeavors by the most direct means to remove whatever obstructs his way. If the painter's colors are too dark, will he add lampblack to make them lighter? or if they are too light, will he use whiting to make them darker? If they are too thick, will he add more dry material? or if they are too thin, will he add turpentine? Applied to any department of business, the idea is equally absurd and false. Every rational principle in medicine is founded upon, and guided by, the same kind of common sense that is always employed by the farmer and mechanic, and is manifested in every department of domestic life.
Having laid down his principles, Hahnemann set about making experiments upon himself and others in order to find articles which, given to a well man, would induce the disease or symptoms of the disease he wished to cure; because, according to his doctrine, whatever would make a well man sick, would cure one sick and having the same symptoms. His theory of cure was this: "The medicine (he says) sets up in the suffering part of the organism an artificial, but somewhat stronger disease, which on account of its great similarity and preponderating influence, takes the place of the original disease, and the organism from that time forth is influenced only by the artificial complaint; and as soon as the temporary effect of the medicine passes off, the patient is cured." This is the rationale of his theory. Now let us examine its workings. Take a case of epistaxis, which in common language is bleeding at the nose. Hahnemann's remedy is charcoal, which, according to his theory, sets up in the system of the patient an artificial action somewhat stronger than the original disease—or, to use his own language, "slightly aggravates the disease," and when the effect of the medicine passes off, the patient is to be cured. But how long must the patient continue to bleed faster than before, in order to be cured? The effects of the medicine last, according to Jahr's and Possart's New Manual (page 565) just thirty-six days, and if the patient can hold out until that time, he will be sure to be cured homœopathically.
Take another case. A child is sick with croup—he breathes with great difficulty—he throws his head back and gasps wildly at every sonorous inspiration. He cannot hold out much longer, and the least aggravation of his must destroy him immediately. But before he can be cured or relieved homœopathically, he must swallow a medicine that will produce, at least, a small increase of the symptoms immediately after it is taken. (See Organon of Homœopathic Medicine, page 204.] The articles proper to be given are, according to Hull's Laurie, page 348, aconite, and sulphuret of potash. The effects of the former continue from one to two days, and of the latter sixty days.—[See Jahr's Manual, pages 1 and 267.]
So, then, after bringing separate parts of this fine theory together, we see that if the patient is not destroyed immediately by the small increase of his disorder consequent upon the first homœopathic dose, he may live, if he can, until the end of sixty days, when he will surely be cured homœopathically. In like manner this homœopathic principle of cure may be applied to almost any other disease with the like result. Now what man of common sense would think of conducting any kind of business upon such a theory? What man, having a friend nearly strangled, would draw the cord a little tighter to relieve him? What engineer, whose boiler was ready to burst, would let on more steam to save it?
As has been already stated, Hahnemann's system was based upon two chief principles. The first was his "similia similibus curantur" which we have briefly considered. Of this he did not claim to be the original inventor, but said that it had long been recognized and acted upon. But he did claim to be the first to discover that the power of medicinal substances may be indefinitely increased by dilution and trituration. The power thus imparted to medicines he called their dynamic power; in other words, their strong or powerful power. Having settled in his mind this second principle, he proceeded to fix upon the details, and accordingly established the following rules of attenuation. When the article to be used is a solid, he directs one grain of it to be mixed and pulverized with one hundred grains of sugar of milk—the rubbing be continued a long time. This is what Hahnemann called dynamizing—that is, making the article powerful. When this process has been continued long enough, it is called the first attenuation. One grain is next to be taken from; and added to another hundred grains of and dynamized as in the first instance. This makes the second attenuation. One grain next to be taken from this, and added to another hundred grains of sugar, and the process continued as before. By this rule, all the attenuations are to be made. Hahnemann considered the thirtieth as the most proper for use.
If the medicine is a liquid, the first attenuation is made by adding one drop of the tincture to one hundred drops of alcohol contained in a new vial; it is then to have at least one hundred shakes. The bottle is then to be marked 1, that is, the first attenuation. One drop from this vial, added to one hundred drops of alcohol in another new vial, with the hundred shakes, makes the second attenuation, and the vial is to be marked 2. One drop is next to be taken from the second, and added to one hundred drops of alcohol in another quite new vial, and after receiving its hundred shakes it becomes the third attenuation, and is marked 3. In this manner the fourth attenuation is made from the third, the fifth from the fourth, and so on up to any required number; and as the power of the medicine is increased by every attenuation, it is generally thought most prudent to stop at thirty, as it might be unsafe to carry it farther—although Hahnemann did carry some of his as far as two thousand, but says he came very near killing his patient by giving him six or eight drops of this high attenuation.
The rules for attenuation have already been given. Now let us suppose that the pharmaceutist—that is, the apothecary who prepares the medicine—in order to have a sufficient supply on hand to meet the demands of all his customers, weighs out a single grain of chalk or any other article which he intends to attenuate only to the fifteenth degree; now, how much sugar will it require to complete the process?
The computation is readily made as follows:
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 grs.
÷ 240 grains in a cubic inch.
= 4,166,667,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 cub. in.
÷ 254,358,061,056,000 inches in a mile.
= 16,381,000,000,000 cubic miles.
÷ 263,900,000,000 cubic miles in the globe.
= 61 globes.
By this calculation, we see that the mass of sugar required to carry the process only to the fifteenth degree, would be sufficient to form sixty-one globes of the size of the earth.
The quantity of water or alcohol required to attenuate a single drop of any liquid to the thirtieth degree, would exceed the utmost bounds of the imagination.
If perchance a single drop of the juice of pulsatilla, or any other medicinal plant, has fallen into the Atlantic Ocean, and the winds and tides have given it a sufficient number of shakes, then every drop of that ocean is more than a million times as strong as the thirtieth attenuation; and yet, according to homœopathic rules, in order to give it sufficient dynamic power, one drop from this ocean would require further attenuation by being mixed with the waters of millions and millions of other oceans. The whole quantity required to attenuate a single drop of any fluid to the thirtieth degree, would be more than sufficient to fill the orbit of Saturn, to blot out the sun and quench the stars.
If it be thought that these statements are extravagant and untrue, any one may make the calculation for himself, or get any competent mathematician to do it. But if the thirtieth attenuation creates so much surprise, what shall be thought of the two thousandth? Hahnemann once, at least, according to his own statement, carried the process thus far; but no mathematician has ever undertaken to give the result of a dilution of a single drop to that extent. No one has ever dared to attempt the computation—the whole universe would be quite too little, and infinite space scarcely sufficient to afford it room. In this contemplation we may be lost in amazement for a moment, but a little attention to the subject will show us that so much as a whole drop has never been attenuated to the thirtieth degree, only extreme fractional parts are carried forward to the end of the process that at last an ounce of the liquor may not contain more than a decillionth of the drop first employed.
Nearly the same result may be obtained in the following manner, viz.: Take a new vial and put into it one hundred drops of alcohol, then add one drop of whatever liquid may be required, give the vial one hundred shakes, and then turn out all except one drop. Quite as much as one drop will adhere to the sides of the vial after all has been emptied out that will run. Next add another hundred drops to this apparently empty vial, and give it another hundred shakes, and so continue the process up to the thirtieth time; and the last hundred drops will contain the decillionth of a drop of the tincture first employed, if the process has been correctly performed. But whether it does or does not contain any of the medicine used in the beginning, is beyond the power of man to tell.
Hahnemann assures us that the almost infinitesimal doses of articles that have been considered inert, do, after being prepared in the manner described, actually possess immense power. The following are the effects of one decillionth of a grain of charcoal, as stated in Jahr's and Possart's New Manual, page 111.
"General Symptoms.—Pains with anguish, heat, despair, or followed by languor. Rheumatic drawing and tearing, with lameness, especially in the limbs, with distress caused by flatulence, or with stoppage of breath, when affecting the chest. Pains as if sprained in the lower limbs, or as after straining by lifting. Burning pains in the limbs and bones. Throbbing in the body, here and there. Ailments caused by straining in lifting, and by riding in a carriage. Chronic ailments caused by abuse of cinchona. Morbid conditions like influenza. Cholera. Tremor and twitching of single limbs, in the day-time. The limbs go to sleep. Paralysis. Most of the pains come on during a walk in the open air. The limbs, early in the morning, after rising, feel lamed and bruised. Debility of the bends of the joints. Very weak, sometimes into fainting, early in the morning, in bed, or when beginning to walk. Sudden prostration of strength. Towards noon he feels weary all over, with disposition to lean the head against something and to rest himself. Paralysis and complete colapse of pulse in the Cholera Asiatica. Liable to taking cold.
"Skin.—Formication over the whole skin. Itching all over, in the evening, after getting warm in bed. Burning of the skin, here and there. Itch, especially dry, like rash. Fine, granular eruption. Nettlerash. Herpes. Reddish-brown moles. Aneurisms by anastomosis. Aneurisms. Painless ulcers at the tips of the fingers and toes. Readily bleeding, fetid ulcers, with burning pain, and acrid ichorous pus. Chilblains. Varices. Glandular indurations.
"Sleep.—Very drowsy in the day-time, passing off by motion. Falls asleep late, sleepless owing to restlessness of the body. Nightly raving of the fancy, with starting on account of anxious dreams.
"Fever.—Chilliness and coldness of the body. Chilliness, evening and night, followed by flushes of heat. Intermittent fever, with thirst only during the chilly stage. Frequent flushes of heat. Night-sweat. Sourish morning-sweat. Typhoid fevers, with loss of consciousness. Collapse of pulse during an attack of cholera. Disposed to sweat.
"Emotive Sphere.—Anguish and restlessness, especially in the evening. Dread of ghosts, especially at night. Little courage. Whining despair, with longing for death. Tendency to start. Irritable and passionate.
"Sentient Sphere.—Sudden weakness of memory, periodically. Slow ideas. Fixed ideas. Confused head. Vertigo when moving the head ever so little, or after sleeping.
"Head.—Headache from getting heated, or with trembling of the jaws. Headache with nausea. Nocturnal headache. Spasmodic tension in the brain, or pain as from contraction of the scalp. Heaviness of the head. Oppressive headache, especially above the eyes, in the temples and occiput. Drawing pain in the head, from the nape of the neck, with nausea. Stitches in the sinciput. Throbbing in the head, with rush of blood to the head, and heat in the same.
"Integuments of the Head.— Tearing in the outer parts of the occiput and forehead, frequently emanating from the limbs. Painful sensitiveness of the scalp to external pressure. Liability of the head to taking cold. Falling out of the hair, especially after a severe illness.
"Eyes.—Pain in the eyes from straining them by looking. Pain in the muscles of the eye when looking upwards. Itching, smarting, heat; pressure and burning in the eyes and canthi. Nightly agglutination of the eyes. Hæmorrhage from the eyes, with violent rush of blood to the eyes. Twitching and trembling of the eyelids. Near-sighted.
"Ears.—Otalgia in the evening. Heat and redness of the outer ear, in the evening. Want of cerumen. Fetid otorrhœa. Stoppage of the ears. Ringing and humming in the ears. Swelling of the parotid glands.
"Nose.—Itching of the nose, with tickling and internal tingling. Scurfy tip of the nose. Frequent continued bleeding of the nose, especially at night and early in the morning, with pale face.
"Face.—Pale face. Gray-yellow complexion. Hippocratic countenance. Tearing and drawing in the fascial bones. Swelling of the face and cheeks. Crusta lactea. Herpes in the face. Ulcer in front of the ear and below the jaw. Eruptions in the face. Pimples on the face and forehead, also like acne. Swelling of the lips. Cracked lips. Pustules on the lips. Ulcerated corners of the mouth. Twitching of the upper lip.
"Teeth.— Toothache drawing-tearing, or contractive, or gnawing or bubbling, excited by cold, warm, and salt things. Chronic looseness of the teeth. The gums are sore, suppurate, and recede from the teeth. Bleeding of the gums and teeth.
"Mouth.—Stomacace. Heat and dryness or flow of water in the mouth. Rough mouth and tongue. The tongue is sore and difficult to be moved.
"Throat.—Sore throat, as if swollen internally. The fauces feel constricted, with impeded deglutition. Smarting, scraping and burning in the fauces, throat and palate. Sore pain in the throat when coughing, blowing one's nose and swallowing. Œsophagitis. A good deal of mucus in the throat which is easily hawked up. Sore throat, after measles.
"Appetite and Taste.—Bitter taste. Salt taste in the mouth and of the food. Loss of appetite. Chronic aversion to meat, butter and grease. Desire for salt and sweet things. After eating, especially after milk, considerable distention, acidity in the mouth and sour eructations. Sweat when eating. Very much heated by drinking wine. Confusion of the head and pressure at the stomach, after eating. Excessive desire for coffee. Excessive hunger and thirst Dyspepsia, especially after the abuse of mercury. Even the most innocent kind of food causes distress.
"Gastric Symptoms.—Raising of air, or bitter eructations. Rising of the ingesta and of the fat one had eaten. Heartburn. Sour eructations. Hiccough after moving about. Gulping-up of mucus, after eating. Nausea early in the morning. Constant nausea. Waterbrash, also at night. Hæmatemesis. Gastric derangement after drinking wine.
"Stomach.—Pains at the stomach, in case of nursing females. Heaviness, fulness and tension in the stomach. Contractive or burning-aching cardialgia, with a good deal of flatulence and painfulness of the pit of the mach to the touch. Clutching and trembling in the stomach.
"Abdomen.—Pains in the hypochondria as if bruised, especially in the region of the liver. Stitching pain below the ribs. Tension, pressure and stitching in the region of the liver. Splenetic stitches. The clothes press on the hypochondria. Colic around the umbilicus, when touching the part. Heaviness, fulness, distention of the abdomen, with heat in the whole body. Colic from riding in a carriage. Pressure and crampy feeling in the lower abdomen. Pain in the lower abdomen brought on by a strain while lifting. Pinching in the abdomen, shifting from the left to the right side, with lame feeling in the thigh. A good deal of flatulence. Crampy flatulent colic, also at night. Incarcerated flatulence. Rumbling and fermentation in the abdomen. Excessive fetid flatulence. The distress from flatulence comes on again after eating ever so little. Hæmorrhoidal colic.
"Catarrhal Symptoms.—Stoppage of the nose, or discharge of water, without catarrh. Violent catarrh, with hoarseness and roughness of the chest, tingling in the nose, with ineffectual desire to sneeze.
"Windpipe.—Continual hoarseness and roughness. Morning or evening hoarseness aggravated by talking. Catarrh and sore throat during measles. Tracheitis, with tightness of the chest. Laryngeal and tracheal phthisis. Dry catarrh, with hoarseness and rawness of the chest. Cough, with titillation in the throat, or with raw and sore feeling in the chest. Spasmodic cough, also with choking and vomiting, three or four paroxysms a day, or in the evening, continuing a long time. Cough in the evening, before going to bed and in bed. Cough after the least cold. Painful stitches through the head, when coughing. Cough with expectoration of green mucus or yellowish pus. Suppuration of the lungs. Bloody cough with burning pain in the chest. Whooping cough.
"Chest and Respiration.—Oppressed and short breathing, when walking. Tightness and oppression of the chest. Stoppage of breath caused by incarceration of flatulence. Painful beating in the head when drawing breath. Suffocative paroxysms and paralysis of the lungs of old people. Pressure at the chest. The chest feels full, husky, oppressed with anxiety. Hydrothorax? Smarting as from excoriation, sore pain and burning in the chest. The chest feels exhausted. Burning in the region of the heart, with rush of blood to the chest and palpitation of the heart. Rheumatic pressure, drawing and tearing in the chest. Brownish spots on the chest. Inflammation of the mammæ.
"Trunk.—Rheumatic drawing, tearing and stitching in the muscles of the back, nape of the neck and neck. Itching pimples on the back. Itching, soreness and dampness of the shoulder- pits. Stitching in the small of the back when making a wrong step. Painful stiffness in the back and nape of the neck.
"Upper Extremities.—Tearing and burning in the shoulder and shoulder joints. Drawing and tearing in the forearms, wrists and fingers. The muscles of the arms and hands feel relaxed when laughing. Rigid feeling in the wrist-joints as if too short. Spasmodic contraction of the hands. Lameness of the wrist-joints and fingers when grasping any thing. Fine, granular, itching eruption on the hands. Heat in the hands.
"Lower Extremities.—The lower limbs feel numb. Laming-drawing pain in the lower limbs. Burning, tearing and drawing in the hip. Rigid and crampy-feeling in the hip-joints, thighs and knees. Uneasiness and heaviness in the lower limbs. Aneurism on the knee. The knees feel stiff and go to sleep. Herpes on the knee. Crampy feeling in the legs and soles of the feet, and, at night, in the calves. Sweaty feet. Chronic numbness of the feet. Redness and swelling of the toes, with stinging pain, as if frozen."
Now if homœopathy is true, all the foregoing symptoms and affections, with sixty more belonging to the same catalogue, which are quite too vulgar for common readers, are produced whenever a healthy individual swallows the decillionth of a grain of common charcoal, and these affections last thirty-six days. (See Jahr's and Possart's New Manual, page 565.)