HOMOEOPATHY

                                   

                  HOMOEOPATHY MY LIFE,MY  LOVE,MY INSPIRATION
Hippocrates and Hahnemann
 There are two books in the literature of medicine, and two only, which stand out in absolute pre-eminence over all other medical writings, however excellent these may be. With the Aphorisms of Hippocrates medical history had its beginning, and with the Organon of Hahnemann medical history begins anew. The Father of Medicine sums up in eight books of aphorisms, numbering 422 in all (supposing them all to be authentic), the practical wisdom of his day in the art and science of medicine; and so true is his estimate of hat he observed, and so sound his judgement, that his descriptions of diseases and their gravity, and his general rules of treatment have scarcely been bettered by writers who have come after. Hahnemann, in his Organon, has likewise chosen the aphoristic form as the vehicle for his teaching. In a series of 294 aphorisms he sets forth the whole duty of the medical man. Hippocrates is more the artist of medicine, who saw clearly and described truly what he saw. Hahnemann is philosopher as well as artist : no less practical than Hippocrates he goes down into the reasons of things in a way it was not possible for Hippocrates to do.
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 Let me quote, almost at random, a few of the sayings of the Father of Medicine, to illustrate my meaning :-
 "When the disease exists in all its vigour, it is necessary to use the most sparing diet" (i. 8).
 "Old men are best able to bear fasting, middle-age persons bear it less easily, youths with still less ease, and children least of all. Of the last, those especially who are of a lively and active disposition" (i. 13).
 "Those diseases which are undergoing, or have already undergone, the crisis should neither be disturbed nor altered by medicines, or anything else that may cause excitement, but should be suffered to take their course" (i. 20).
 "Too much sleep and too much watching are equally injurious" (ii. 3).
 "Spontaneous lassitude is the forerunner of disease" (ii. 5).
 "Diseases arising from repletion are cured by evacuation; and those which proceed from evacuation are cured by repletion; an so in other cases diseases are removed by means which are exactly contrary to the causes" (ii. 22).
 Here, I may remark, is the genuine sphere of an allopathic principle, which is sound enough provided it is confined to the cases in which it is fairly applicable.
 "Acute diseases come to the crisis in fourteen days" (ii. 23).
 "the fourth day is the indicator of the seventh; the eighth is the commencement of the second week. The eleventh day should likewise be attended to, for it is the fourth of the second week; we should also remark the seventeenth day, for it is the fourth from the fourteenth and the seventh from the eleventh" (ii. 23).
 "It is better that a fever should happen after a convulsion than a convulsion after a fever" (ii. 26).
 "A convulsion caused by a sorrow is mortal" (v. 2).
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 These are sufficient to remind you of the character of this monument of antiquity. The celebrated passage in which the homeopathic idea is stated doses not occur in the book of Aphorisms, but in another work attributed to Hippocrates-"p???    " and, whether really his or not, the book is of undoubted antiquity. Hahnemann quotes it in his Introduction. The following is the passage :-
 "???    "
 ("Through likes disease arises, and through like being made us of 
 diseases are healed in the sick-through vomiting sickness ceases")
 The difference in the tone and the scope of the two works will be apparent if we place side by side the first of the aphorism of Hippocrates and the first two of those by Hahnemann. There is no more hackneyed quotation in the whole of medical literature than the 
 "Ars longa, vita brevis'", which opens the Hippocratic book : 
 "Life is short; the art is long; the occasion is sudden, experience deceptive, and judgement difficult. Nor is it enough that the physician do hi duty; he should also see that the patient and his attendants do  theirs, and that external things be well managed."
 Compare with this-true enough, but not very inspiriting-estimate of the doctor's difficulties and duties the tone and confidence of Hahnemann's exordium :-
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 "The physician's high and only mission is to restore the sick to health - to cure, as it is termed".
 This is his first aphorism, and here is his second :-
 "The highest ideal of a cure is rapid, gentle and permanent restoration 
 of the health, or removal and annihilation of the disease in its whole 
 extent, in the shortest, safest, most reliable, and most harmless way, on 
 easily comprehensible principles".
 Between Hippocrates and Hahnemann there is the difference between dim twilight and broad daylight. The difficulties of the doctor's position remain much as Hippocrates described them, but Hahnemann has brought the fullness of light to bear upon the difficult places and has shown him a way through some of them. He has brought a new life, hope, and confidence into the practice of the medical art.
 To sum up : Hippocrates's Aphorisms may be described as a well-ordered collection of excellent tips; Hahnemann's constitute an organic philosophy of medicine. Hippocrates's work reminds us of isolated fragments of some wonderful statue, whilst Hahnemann's is like the living human organism itself.
 It is astonishing how little is known by homeopaths generally about the Organon. It is seldom the fits book that is given to a student. I believed there is a notion that it is chiefly concerned with the theory of homeopathics and everybody is so "practical" nowadays! Besides, Hahnemann's pathology, we are told, was so crude and so different from modern pathology! And we know so much more about homeopathy and drug action than he did, that if we take his drug-provings and make use of them we may look upon the rest of his works as entertaining and interesting but scarcely practical and useful!
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 Now this is as far as possible from the actual truth. If there is one distinguishing feature more tan another about the Organon it is that it is practical. It contains theory, no doubt; but theory is the most practical of all things-we cannot make progress without it. A theory is "something to see by"; the better and truer the theory the more intelligent the practice. Homoeopathy is based on certain theories of disease and drug-action which experience in practice has proved to be sound. But leaving aside all that is theoretical, the bulk of the Organon deals with matters of fact and rule of practice.
 Before going into details I will just rapidly sketch for you the contents of the volume. My remarks must all be understood to refer to Dr. Dudgeon's translation of Hahnemann's fifth edition, which is the best English translation we have. The fifth edition was published in 1833, Dr. Dudgeon's translation in 1849, the revised translation, from which I quote, in 1893.             Dr.John Henry Clarke