PSYCHIC EFFECT OF HOMEOPATHY. 51 fession and the laity for the still more subtle methods now coming in. The gross thought of the time could not tolerate the refinement of therapeutics that he proposed. It was spurned and Hahnemann himself was subjected to indignity. Because of persecution he was obliged to forsake his home city, which, be it added, has since publicly acknowledged itself greatly honored by his former citizenship. Psychic Effect of Homeo pathic Treatment. Though educated in a homeopathic school and still holding the law of simila similibus curentur as a valuable therapeutic discovery, I am not ready to contend that homeopathic remedies per se possess the wonderful curative powers by many enthusiasts attributed to them. Much of the advantage shown by the practitioners of those early days over the votaries of the dominant school was fairly attributable (1) to the harmless dosage and (2) to psychic impression. Hahnemann himself was astonished at the apparent efficacy of his attenuated remedies and, philosopher that he was, was led to attribute to them an occult-a 'spiritual"-power which he believed to be developed by his processes of trituration and suc cussion. It may be asked why the homeopathic methods should carry with them peculiar psychic energy. The reason should be evident to every one familiar with the theory of suggestive therapeutics. There was, first, their newness and novelty to attract and hold attention. A large part of the therapeutist's work is done when he is able to rivet his patient's attention. There was, secondly, the mystery in which the curative phenomena were enshrouded, which to the prevailing superstition of the times partook of the mystery of the infinite. There were also the peculiar methods of clinical inquiry, full of detail, with a record of each symptom, to still further impress. There was the announcement, after careful study, of the alleged similimum of the case to give assurance. And, finally, there was the unwavering faith of those early disciples of Hahnemann in the efficiency of their remedies to complete the conviction and fully establish the conditions of psychic cure. And now I may be allowed to add what may be extremely distasteful to many of my confreres, that the reason why komeopathic cures are not now so numerous or startling in the practice of individual physicians of the homeopathic school is found in the elimination of the machinery for psychic impression, the several parts of which I have just listed. Revulsion from Old Theories Concerning Matter. There is no doubt that the revulsion taking place from the old theories concerning matter is having its effect on medical opinions. Atoms were formerly supposed to be the smallest particles into which matter could be divided. Matter itself was held to be an entity. We have been told by scientists that the atoms representing the constituents of matter are REVULSION FROM OLD METHODS. 53 At last it has nothing but vortex rings of ether. been found that even atoms are divisible into still smaller units, each of those of the new substance, radium, containing 150,000 of them, with each unit, or ion, rotating at tremendous speed. It is said that 11,200 of such ions in each atom would produce oxygen and 137,000 of them gold. Prof. Crooks says "that not only are the atoms apparently going to pieces, but the masses of molecules probably dissolve themselves into the ether waves which fill the universe or into electrical energy. Thus we stand on the border line where matter and force pass into each other." Thus the material and the spiritual have so changed our concepts of the cosmos and its forces that we are prepared to accept the constituent unity of all things. The power that causes the protoplasmic cell to develop into the human form is the same power that enables us to realize our existence. The energy seen in the majesty of a tornado is the same that exhales in the perfume of the flower and that gives to all pleasure its zest. The true etiology of disease will be found to lie in the subtle and insidious action of unseen forces, operating upon the subconscious nature; and the efficient cure will be recognized, not so much in the remedy that acts according to the laws of physics as that which reaches deeper, having its tap root in the metaphysical sphere. Hitherto we have been dealing with secondary causes. We shall now be led to recognize and consider first causes. t Unity of All Things. Emerson foreshadowed a truth which is becoming recognized, the effect of which on medicine is bound to be tremendous. I quote: "There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same and to all of the same. What Plato thought, he may think; what a saint has felt, he may feel; who hath access to the Universal Mind is a party to all that is or can be done, for this is the only sovereign agent. Of this Universal Mind each individual is one or more incarnation." |