A letter to Professor J.Y. Simpson, President of the Royal College of Physicians ... concerning the resolutions recently passed by that body in reference to the therapeutic practice commonly called homoeopathy / by William MacLeod.

Date:
1851
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to Professor J.Y. Simpson, President of the Royal College of Physicians ... concerning the resolutions recently passed by that body in reference to the therapeutic practice commonly called homoeopathy / by William MacLeod. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    the method referred to is as sure as it is fertile f it has ahvajs appeared to me most important, as a verification, or rather confirmation, of Hahnemann’s views, that every- thing needful to the formation of a complete system and practical code, flows out of his first principle ; while, at the same time, such consequences are not involved in it by way of latent assumptions. And certainly Dr Alison cannot object to this special conclusion, inasmuch as he recommends a similar process of experimenting, as an aid in his own system. But, alas for Empiricism ; it is here attempting to thread the labyrinth without a clue I Lastly, We reach that formidable caviare to the mul- titude—the subject-matter of most of the wretched wit, and more absurd abuse, expended in this country on the discoveries of Hahnemann ; viz., the “ infinitesimal doses.” It would, doubtless, astonish not a few, to be assured that this portion of the subject has really no connexion with the scientific foundations of homoeopathy. It is essen- tially a separate substantive proposition, bearing on the question as to how medicines act on organised tis- sues ; and, as such, it professes to stand on the precise ground claimed in support of the opposing proposition, that efficiency is proportional to weight. The decision as to the comparative accuracy of these two doctrines rests, in the meantime, wholly with experience. But, be- sides full and satisfactory results already derived from such experience, I could claim on behalf of Hahnemann’s practice, singular confirmation from ordinary Medicine,