Letter to Worthington Hooker, M.D., of Norwich, in relation to so much of his book, entitled, "Physician and Patient", as has reference to homoeopathy / by F. Matthes.

  • Matthes, F. (Felix), 1809-
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letter to Worthington Hooker, M.D., of Norwich, in relation to so much of his book, entitled, "Physician and Patient", as has reference to homoeopathy / by F. Matthes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    (Append, p. 453) : The public ought likewise to entertain a just appreciation of medical qualifications ; to make a proper discrimination between true science and the assumptions of ignorance and empiricism. But the reader must accustom himself to contradictions, when it is attempted to sustain an untenable position. I should far exceed the limits allowed me, were I to notice, individually, all the inconsistencies of your book. The weapon of which you make the most use in your attack upon homoeopathy, is, the expression of the low estimation in which you hold its professors as a body. In reply to this, it is needless for me to do more than to refer you to the well known article of Dr. Forbes,* entitled Homoeopathy, Alloeopathy, &c. in which he writes as follows, p. 21: And it (HomoeopathyJ comes before us now, not in the garb of a suppliant, unknown and helpless, but as a conqueror, powerful, famous, and trium- phant. The disciples of Hahnemann are spread over the whole civilized world. There is not a town of any considerable size in Germany, France, Italy, England, or America, that does not boast of possessing one or more homoeopathic physicians, not a few of whom are men of high respectability and learning ; many of them in large practice, and patronized especially by persons of high rank. New books on homoeopathy issue in abundance from the press ; and journals, exclusively devo- ted to its cause, are printed and widely circulated in Europe and America. Numerous hospitals and dispensaries for the treatment of the poor on the new system, have been estab- lished, many of which publish reports blazoning its successes, * John Forbes, M. D., one of the editors of the Cyclopedia of Practical Medi- cine, editor of the British and Foreign Medical Review, etc. etc. is one of the most distinguished authorities among the regular physicians of Europe and America. In the article referred to, he appears as an opponent of Prof. Henderson, of Edin- burgh. Henderson's Inquiry into the Homoeopatbio Practice of Medicine, Forbes's Homoeopathy, Alloeopathy, etc., and Henderson's letter to Forbes in relation to the preceding article, may be obtained, in one volume, in Boston, at the office of pub- lication of this journal.