No. 1428.

JANUARY 11, 1851.

L e c t u r e sON THE

PHILOSOPHY OF MEDICINE,DELIVERED IN THE

Lecture-room of the Literary and Philosophical Society,Newcastle-on-Tyne,

BY ROBERT M. GLOVER, M.D., F.R.S.E,

LECTURE VI.

Quackery: The New Spa, Ne2vcastle.-Pseudo-S’cieace: Phreno-logy, Mesmerism, .Hydropathy, Teetotalism, Vegetarian&iacute;srn,jS<MMCBOpa.&mdash;(70MCMN!OM.

TnE tendency of mankind to favour quackery is a necessaryconsequence of the difficulties which attend the treatment ofdisease. Where legitimate medicine fails, the patient, tor-tured, probably, by the misery of deferred hope, with thedread of death perhaps before him, is easily induced to throwhimself into the arms of the charlatan, who is ready to indulgehim in unbounded expectations. The greatest medical menhave always been the readiest to deplore the necessary imper-fections of their difficult art, even while they were striving forits advancement with their utmost energies. How great acontrast does this candour present to the vainglorious boastingsof the quacks !But it is easy to show how much medicine has done.

Hospital statistics are in existence, which prove, that in thesame institution, where, about two centuries ago, one man inseven died, the deaths now do not exceed one in fifty.

But, prepared as we might be to anticipate the existence ofquackery, the extraordiaar proneness of the public to it is cer-tainly a matter of surprise. Perhaps it arises, in great measure,from the ignorance of some of the sciences auxiliary to medi-cine which prevails. A moralist has remarked, that men arecontent to carry their minds like their watches, without anyattempt to investigate the mechanism by which the work isCarried on. But this moralist himself was probably contentto live on in a body, of whose structure and functions he wasignorant.

" Man," said D’AIembert, "is fire for falsehood, and ice fortruth;" and the readiness with which, in every age, mankindhave believed in one gross delusion after another certainlycountenances the assertion, especially if we contrast this

credulity with the reluctance with which great truths, likethose taught by Copernicus, Galileo, or Harvey, have beenreceived.There is an anecdote of Mead, which I shall quote, as it is

contained in a classical work.*" A man of good education had become a quack, and had a

booth in one of the most frequented streets of London. Hecalculated on the weakness and credulity of mankind, andmade a most fortunate speculation. Mead, regretting that anintelligent man, capable of advancing truth, should degradehimself to such a trade, advised him to abandon it. ’Howmany men a day,’ said the quack, do you think pass throughthis street ?’ Perhaps 20,000,’ said the doctor. And howmany of these do you suppose possess the right use of theirsenses, and a sound judgment ?’ ‘Five hundred.’ ‘The pro-portion is too great,’ said the quack. ’A hundred, then.’Still too much.’ At last they agreed to reckon them at ten.Let me alone, then,’ said the quack; let me levy on these19,990 fools the tribute which they owe me, and I have no ob-jection to the ten having in you that confidence which mostassuredly you well deserve."’ "Many sarcasms have been uttered against the medical pro-

fession ; and as often, jocularly, by medical men themselvesas by others. None was more forward to satirize our profes-sion than Jean Jacques Rousseau, but he lived to repentbitterly of this injustice. Although he had suffered all hislife from a painful and incurable disease, towards the closeof his career, he said to the celebrated Bernardin de SaintPierre, as the latter reports: " If I were to bring out a newedition of my works, I would alter what I have said of medical Imen. There is no profession which demands so much study

as theirs; in every country, these are the men most trulyand deeply learned and scientific." .

Unfortunately, quackery exists in the profession as well asout of it: where there is a demand there will be a supply.

, A deeply learned physician of the old school, now nearlyninety years of age, and long retired from practice, once toldme, when we were speaking on this subject, "The fact is this- Populus vult hu7abugi, et humbugge2idug est!"We often, in society, hear medical men praised for what, in

reality, they should be condemned for. Thus, how often havewe heard the trick of a celebrated fashionable physician ex-tolled. Being of opinion that one of his patients, a- lady of

rank, required exercise, which she was unwilling to take, he,

took her out in his carriage, and having persuaded her to dis-mount, drove off, and left her ! It would astonish the popularadmirers of this man, were they to read the expressions ofdisgust which the orthodox LANCET once thought right to

utter, in reference to this transaction-A physician should"know no legerdemain, do no conjuring tricks."One extraordinary thing about quacks is their stolid indif-

ference to praise or censure; so they procure publicity. Aquack wrote to a friend of mine, the editor of one of our localjournals, requesting him to insert a long and costly advertise-ment, conditionally that at the same time a puffing editorialparagraph was inserted. This my friend refused, on whichthe quack wrote to say that a good cutting up would answerquite as well, and he might insert the advertisement just thesame. This also the conscientious editor refused.

Public morality on this point is at a very low ebb. Sometime ago a paragraph went the round of the newspapers, ex-tolling the benefits of advertising, and giving as an illustrationthe extraordinary energy and skill of 11 professor" Holloway.Apparently not the least idea was entertained by the writerof the article, or those who copied it, of the fearful immoralityof quackery. Nay, as far as I can see, if" Professor" Hollowaybecame only rich enough, he might be made a baronet as easilyas Dr. Bright or Dr. Chambers.As a most singular illustration of popular delusions regard-ing curative means, I shall relate an incident which happenedin this town about ten years ago.A new spa of wonderful merit was all at once discovered in

a romantic dene near Newcastle. My attention having beenattracted to the matter, I went to visit the spot, all the roadsto which were covered with crowds bearing pitchers of waterfrom the " spa," while hundreds were struggling and pushingwhich should be first to drink of the salutiferous waters. Onmaking a rough examination of the water, I was amazed atthe absurdity of the affair, and wrote a quiz of it in the Gates-head Obsener, under the signature of" ‘‘ CT:’ I jocularly hintedat the possibility of the medicinal virtue being owing to thedrainings of certain dung-heaps. I did not long want ananswer, being attacked in the Tyne llfercu7y by one whosigned "lZedicus," who called me a "wondrous boy and awould-be philosopher," and gave two reasons why the drainingsin question could not flow into the " spa"&mdash;one being that the" spa" ran more than the drainings, and therefore the greatel’could not hold tlte less ; the other being, that the spa" was lowerthan the "middens," so that, of coicrse, avater could not ruaadown hill!! He then proceeded to extol the virtues of thecc spa" to the highest degree. The mania increased to a pro-digious extent, and was not by any means confined to thelower classes; five hundred people might be seen at oncearound the spot; and ’:&-am ashamed to say that some medicalmen were not bold enough to avoid countenancing the delusion.Upon this, finding the matter grow serious, I published ananalysis of this interesting fountain, and showed it to be notquite so strong as some of the spring waters about Newcastle,with a mere trace of sulphuretted hydrogen, derived probablyfrom the decomposition of sulphates by organic matters. Acommittee was then formed to investigate the matter, who,with characteristic rashness, commenced their investigationby publishing a list of wonderful cures performed by the water,including one of " stoppage of the windpipe." However,they made some investigations, to ascertain the source of thewater, and stopped up sundry holes, by which it might becontaminated from a brook near, which is little better than acommon sewer, and the result was a stoppage of the water,until some heavy rains forced a passage. This was too mucheven for the madness of the "spa" goers. Now, not a solitaryvotary ever visits the neglected spot, and the poor Naiad sitsin melancholy seclusion amid the ruins of the temple erectedto her. But the majesty of popular opinion cannot be affrontedwith impunity; and when all was over, poor I, who had been

36

nearly a martyr in the business, actually got the credit of havingpuffed off the "spa" !*

Under the head of pseudo-science, I propose to treat, in asummary manner, of the merits of Phrenology, Mesmerism,Hydropathy, Teetotalism, Vegetarianism, and Homoeopathy.

1. Of .P/eMooyy.&mdash;Some may be surprised at my placingphrenology at the head of this list. I admit that a phreno-logist has the disease which disposes a man to believe inthese false sciences in a mild form; but he is in a condition ofmind fit to go on. He has consented to believe in doctrinesestablished on insufficient grounds; to pin his faith to certaindogmata as matters of belief, and to slluare all facts whichcome in his way to the principles of his creed. I have not spaceto enter into the estimation of the amount of truth whichthere may be in phrenology, by which I mean the doctrine ofGall, Spurzheim, and Mr. Combe.t But I shall make somegeneral objections, which will show how far I am in error interming it on the whole a false science.From the very beginning it was easy to observe the ten-

dency of phrenologists to take note of all positive facts, and ito disregard negative ones, to avail themselves of whatever Ifavoured their doctrines, and to ignore all that was opposed tothem. If a man had a certain part of the skull which theycall an organ (for corresponding IYJ’gans in the brain there are I

none) largely developed, and a corresponding manifestation ofthe mind or propensity belonging to it, then the fact wasloudly proclaimed, and that without much reference to any-thing that might account for the character in the tempera-ment, circumstances, or education of the individual. But ifthe contrary were the case, if the development of the allegedorgan and its manifestation did not coincide, then everythingwhich could be brought to bear was dragged forward, in orderto account for the discrepancy. Many instances of this kindmight be cited. I shall quote one as an example, and anillustration of the kind of proof, as regards application to factson which phrenology reposes. And here it may be remarked,that it is of little use trying to prove or disprove phrenologyfrom the evidence afforded by ordinary characters, since it isalmost impossible to tell what an ordinary man’s real ornative character has been amid the influences to which we areall subjected. The very thief in jail may have been a betterman naturally than a lord mayor of London, or a monarchupon the throne. The best evidence of the kind we can get,is that perhaps which is derived from the study of history;and here again we are beset with a thousand difficulties.However, let us proceed.The bones of King Robert the Bruce were discovered in

his tomb at Dunfermline, and phrenologists have his develop-ment. According to 11-Tr. Combe,::: he had the organ of combat-iveness large, cautiousness large, veneration large; of benevolenceI find no mention. Alr. Combe considers this to be in accord-ance with the character of the man as revealed to us byhistory. As far as combativeness is concerned the conclusionmay be granted; and it would be difficult to find a singlebaron in that warlike age whose character would not warranta similar inflnence. If Robert Bruce indeed had been a manof feeble stature, instead of gigantic frame and strength, thenthe exhibition of combativeness in him would have some value;as it is, the fact is worthless. Then, as a proof of his excessiveveneration, 3,fr. Combe reckons the ordering his heart to besent to the Holy Land. What does this signify ? Had RobertBruce, in that age, himself conducted a crusade, andsacrificed his personal ambition-had he obeyed the edict ofthe Pope, instead of resisting it - had he refrained fromstabbing the Red Comyn in a CHURCH&mdash;there might have beensome evidence of his veneration. But to pretend, in that age,when it was common for nobles to bequeath houses and landsfor the sole privilege of being buried in the robes of theHospitallers and Templars, to derive anything in favour ofthe veneration of Robert Bruce from his dying act, is absurd.Then with regard to his cautiousness and benevolence. Hadhis cautiousness been small, Mr. Combe would have consi-dered his encounter with Bohun, before the battle of Bannock-burn, taking into account his large combativeness, a sufficientjustification, so far, of phrenology. But surely his benevolence

* It is very extraordinary that there are really near Newcastle waterswell worthy of attention, and which never excited the least furor. In allthese matters mystery has a great charm. The very out-of-the-way compo-sition of the spa" was likely to lead people to believe in its possession ofsome mysterious virtues. I was credibly informed at the time of one manhaving drunk in the course of a forenoon forty tumblers of the stuff, whichlooked just like dirty rain water !

t I had delivered before many of the audience two lectures on phreno.logy, some time before, in the same place.

:j: System of Phrenology, ed. 1825.

should have been enormous, since he, a king and a general, inspite of his cautiousness, risked the defeat of his whole army,in Ireland, rather than desert the wife of a common soldier,suddenly seized with the pangs of childbirth! Upon such asthis, and slighter facts, is this alleged science chiefly founded.

Again,it may be denied that many of tltephrellological organsreally represent functions of the mind, or of the brain; many ofthem correspond to mere manifestations which may arise fromthe most complex motives. Many of them are propensitieswhich exist in animals without brains, and even in plants.

I cannot see, if there be an organ of locality, why thereshould not be, according to the phrenological way of going towork, an organ of love of home. If a man manifests anyparticular tendency, a phrenologist goes and lays his hand onhis head, and finding one part bigger than another, exclaims,"This is the organ !" It is well known that many men havea passionate attachment to the place of their birth, whileothers have no such feeling. Anything connected with theorgan of locality itself will in nowise account for this feeling.I ask this question-Have the Swiss troops in the service ofthe King of Naples, whose bands dare hardly play the airs ofSwitzerland, without exciting feelings of longing for homeamong the soldiers,-have they the organ of love of home-as good an organ as any phrenological one with which I amacquainted,-have they this organ more highly developedthan the troops of any other nation ? It would be easy to

prove, from the works of phrenologists themselves, that theirconclusions from the skulls of various nations, with regard tonational character, are entirely erroneous.There are no divisions in the brain itself corresponding to

the phrenological organs. The very attempt to show thatsome of the convolutions faintly correspond to the phrenolo-gical divisions only shows the weakness of the system, since,according to this, corners of convolutions must be cut across bythe phrenological lines as remorselessly as an American carrieshis boundaries across rivers, seas, lakes, and mountains, in onestraight line.But there are real anatomical divisions in the brain, of which

phrenology takes no note; and,as far as experiments on animalsare concerned, and pathological facts also, everything tends toshow, that the functions performed by parts of the brain anato-mically distinct have nothing in common with phrenology,except, perhaps, the single fact of the grey matter of the cere-brum being the organ of perception, judgment, and volition.Experiments on animals show that the cerebellum, esteemed

by phrenologists the stronghold of their doctrine, does not per-form the functions which they ascribe to it, and performsother functions which they do not place there at all.The phrenologists themselves are obliged to admit that the

power of an organ may depend on its intensity as well as itsquantity; and how are we to judge of the intensity? It isplain from the admissions of phrenologists themselves, that aman with a small organ may have more power than anotherwith a larger one. How, then, are we to judge of the truth ofphrenology by measurement of skulls ?Then Dr. Skae, by adopting a more scientific mode of mea-

suring the head than that in ordinary use, has shown, itappears to me, the utte1’ fallacy of the alleged science. It istrue, Mr. Combe objects that Dr. Skae’s mode is not thatadopted by phrenologists. This, if it mean anything, meansthat the phrenologists are to have their own way of measuringthe head, and their own way of estimating character, and thenundertake to make a science.How are we to judge of the true character of a man ? Sup-

pose two men pass a beggar in the street. One of them giveshim alms, and the other declines. Which of the two has morebenevolence ? A superficial observer would say the giver;but the alms may be conferred from carelessness, from a wishto be relieved of importunity, from the mere redundance of afull pocket; and may be refused froma conviction that thegift in the long run may do more harm than good, or from asense of justice, which reflects that the alms cannot properlybe afforded. Now it appears to me that out of such conflict-ing circumstances, phrenologists always reserve to themselvesthe power of choosing or rejecting what respectively favoursor opposes their views. By such evidence you can provenothing, least of all an alleged science, which stands in oppo-sition to anatomy, physiology, and pathology.

2. Mesmerism.-I shall not attempt, out of the vast mass ofmaterials, to extract the amount of truth which exists inanimal magnetism, but shall confine myself to the relation ofsome facts which will serve to show the extreme amount ofcaution which is required before we should give our assent tosuch marvels. Impostors like Mesmer have existed in all

37

ages. Apollonius of Tyana was believed to have restoredsght and raised the dead. In the time of Richelieu, there werethe convulsionaries of Loudon, whose tricks brought UrbainGrandier to the stake. Just before the appearance of Mesmerthere occurred the miracles which began at the tomb of thepriest Paris at Saint M6dai-d,and which, after the cemetery wasshut up, were continued in private houses. These performancesare as well authenticated as any of the facts of mesmerism.A councillor of the parliament of France presented an accountof them to the king! Of what kind they were will appearfrom the following:-" A young girl of twenty-two or twenty-three years, erect, and with her back against a wall, hadadministered to her as alms a hundred blows of a chenet*weighing thirty pounds: she could only be comfo2-ted by vio-lent blows. Carre de Montgeron took it in hand to administerthem: he had already given sixty; but the sister found theminsu,f)’ccie7at, and a more vigorous man began to administer theblows which she yet wanted. However, Carre de Montgeron,in order to be sure of the force of his blows, started to battera stone wall with his chenet; at the twenty-fifth blow the wallwas shivered to pieces !"t

I should like to ask the magnetizers why somnambulismwas not produced by Mesmer? The history of mesmerismbefore the Academy of Medicine of France is peculiarly in-structive. At one time a favourable report on it was sub-mitted by M. Husson; and at length, after the exposure of apretended claiTvoyante, in 1840, the Academy, on the proposi-tion of M. Double, resolved to have nothing more to do with thesubject. Behold in what terms the dupe of an unmasked im-postor speaks:&mdash;"I am horrorstrnck, murdered, confoundedby all that you have made me see this morning. Four years ofcunning! What audacious perseverance! Oh! she is a mis-tress of a woman, this Mlle. Emilie! But you also are amaster who have unmasked her in four days."

I am myself acquainted with an instance where a somnam-bulist, in Paris, after deceiving thousands, was discovered tobe an impostor. Look at the sham phreno-mesmerism. Nosensible man could even witness the performances whichappeared so convincing to the vulgar without being certainthat the whole affair was a hoax.In regard to such matters, then, let us suspend our belief-

let us wait; and for my part I shall probably be content towait the term of my natural life before believing many of themarvels of animal magnetism.

3. jH’rop6/M/.&mdash;With regard to this quackery, we cannotdoubt but that there is power in it. The virtues of bathingwill be found as well stated, by Sanctorio, in his " MedicinaStatica," as could now be done. But there is no reason whywhat is beneficial in the application of water should not bepursued under the direction of medical men, and combinedwith suitable treatment. A great many of the pretended curesat hydropathic institutions are doubtless due to other causesthan the treatment, while the mischief done is concealed.

4. Teetotalism.&mdash;The assertion made by the teetotallers, thatalcohol is poisonous in all doses, in the sense in which arsenicand prussic acid are poisonous, is rank quackery. Alcohol, insmall quantities, is an aliment which the common poisonsnever are. Cold water itself might be made to be a poison,reasoning after the teetotal fashion. ’

5. Vegetarianisaaa.-This is a harmless delusion. No doubtbread contains the chemical elements which the body requires;but I shall cut this matter short by remarking, that as we mustkill animals, in order to prevent them shoving us out of theworld, we may as well cat them into the bargain.

6. Hom&oelig;opathy.&mdash;But all the false systems and all thequackeries that ever did prevail, or, I believe, ever willprevail, are eclipsed by one so absurd that the human minditself cannot measure the extent of its monstrosity-this isthe offspring of Samuel Hahnemann. In speaking of him wemight address all the quacks from Apollonius of Tyana toMesmer, in Wotton’s lines to Elizabeth of Bohemia.

"You meaner beauties of the night,That poorly satisfy our eyes,More by your number than your light!You common peop.’e of the skies!What are you when the sun shall 1’&Igrave;Se ,.,

The author of this system was born in Saxony, in 1755,studied at Leipsig and Vienna, and graduated at Erlangen.It is curious that from about the same region we should havederived these three transcendent geniuses-Gall, Mesmer,and Hahnemann.

* A kind of andiron, on which wood is burned. It Histoire Academique du Magnetisme Animal.I Sect. 2. Of Air and Water, with Explanations by Quincy. Lond. 1728.

’ The last named appears to have been a somewhat learnedphysician, and we may presume, without offence, unsuccessfulin practice. Without offence, certainly, since learning andscience have little or nothing to do with success in practice.

The greatest moralist of modern times, Samuel Johnson,has said that a physician in a large town is the mere sport offortune; those who employ him and those who reject him arealike ignorant of his defects and his merits. But what is theduty of one placed in the position of the inventor of homoeo-pathy? It is not his duty to quit the standard of his profession,and start a new system to catch the credulity of the vulgar.It is true, that by such a course he is almost sure to realize afortune; and the example of Hahnemann shows us that thegreater the absurdity the more sure the success. But Sciencehas had its martyrs as well as Religion; and in such cases a con-scientious man should resign himself to his destiny, and say toFortune, with Horace-

I " Laudo manentem, si celeres quatit, Peimas; resigno quse dedit, et men

Virtute me involvo, probamquePauperiem sine dote qu&aelig;ro."

, But Hahnemann imagined, and gave to the world a systemwhich has not an atom of common sense in its composition-so totally absurd, that a single ray of rationality might haveserved to make the darkness visible. It is difficult to reason

on such a subject. When a man takes refuge in an absurdityhe is beyond the reach of argument. I shall proceed to exposethe doctrines of homosopathy, and then briefly refer to thealleged cures of disease which it is said to have produced.Hahnemann, then, disgusted, as he says, with the results of

ordinary treatment, was led to the discovery of an infalliblemode of combating disease. The fundamental principle ofhis doctrine is, that like cures like; and so he called it homoeo-pathy, from the Greek, 7MMOMS, "the same," while the nick-name of allopathy is given by his followers to the divine art ofmedicine. Hahnemann maintains that diseases are cured byremedies which would, especially in health, used sufficiently,bring about symptoms similar, or, as he afterwards modifieshis views, analogous at least to the diseases which they cure.In support of this view, homoeopathists allege a few vaguefacts, all susceptible of explanation, on the Hippocratic axiom," contraria contrariis curantur," or else absolutely false.Thus the cure of intermittent by cinchona is accounted for

on the supposition that the remedy can in health occasionsymptoms similar to those of ague. Now this is not true.Bark does not produce symptoms like those of ague. It istrue in large quantity it does produce some febrile symptoms,and, on the liomoeopathic principle, it should be a specific incommon continued fever rather than in intermittent.* Thenthe workmen in quina manufactories are subject to a cutaneouseruption. Quina, therefore, should be a specific in skin dis-ease ! Does arsenic, which also cures intermittent, producesymptoms like ague in a previously healthy person ?To cure disease in an organ, we have often of course to

administer a remedy which has some kind of action on theorgan. Thus, strychnia, which can produce paralysis, is givenin paralysis. But, in fact, the action of strychnia is to destroythe influence of the will, but to exalt the sensibility of thetrue spinal system; and it is given in a case of atony to rousethe spinal cord. As a specimen of the loose assumptions onwhich homoeopathy is founded, take the following:-" Amongthe disorders which belladonna provokes in a healthy man,are symptoms, which, put together, resemble very much thehydrophobia produced by a mad dog - a disease whichlVIayerne, Munch, Bucholz, and Neimike, have really andperfectly cured by this plant."t So that we need no longerbe afraid of this terrible malady! But I may certainly con-gratulate myself on having discovered a remedy for hydro-phobia ; for I have been making some experiments on animalslately with picrotoxia, and 1 find this substance producesymptoms very closely simulating hydrophobia.;When a substance like nitrate of silver is used to cure in.

flammation, which it will produce when applied to a healthypart; it is to cause the dilated vessels to contract, and so restorethe circulation; the after processes of suppuration &c. de-pending on the blood-globules being separated from thegeneral circulation, and taking on a diseased action of theirown. This, therefore, is the very reverse of similia similibuscurantur.One of Hahnemann’s illustrations is the following: ‘ The

* See Dr. Wood’s admirable exposure of homoeopathy.t Hahnemann, Exposition de la Doctrine Medicale, &c., p. 74.

t I expect shortly to communicate these experiments to the MedicalSociety of London. -

38

cook who has burnt his hand presents it to the fire, at a cer-tain distance, without paying any attention to the increase ofpain which results at first, because ho has learned, that indoing so, in a short time after, in a few minutes, he will per-fectly cure the burn, and cause it to disappear, without theleast trace of pain."*"Un peu de v&eacute;rit&eacute; fait 1’erreur des vulgaires." Let us hear

Dr. Billing’s explanation of the same fact. "The sameobservations are applicable to the blush produced by heat froma fire; and we have a proof that this is the effect of nervousinfluence before injury or alteration of the structure of thevessels, by the common experiment of those who have resolu-tion to hold the burned or scalded part to the fire, and removeit gradually, which will prevent the disorganization thatwould otherwise take place - in common language preventblistering. The mischief is caused by exhaustion of thenervous influence; the sudden removal of the excitant leavesthe capillaries destitute, and they yield immediately to theordinary injecting force; but if the excitation be renewed byholding the part to the fire, nervous influence is supplied fromthe neighbouring parts to the capillaries, with pain certainly,but by slowly removing from the heat, the nervous influence willbe gradually supplied, till the excitant be reduced to a naturalstandard, relieving the pain and incipient inflammation."t

Similar explanations may be given in other cases. As tothe alleged foundation of homoeopathy on experiments onhealthy persons, I make this reply:-I deny totally thatallopathic doses will produce the symptoms generally describedby homoeopathists; and as for homoeopathic doses, a healthyman may swallow the whole pharmacopoeia with perfectimpunity; it is therefore unnecessary to enter into any accountof the horrible and disgusting twaddle which constitutes thephysiology of medicines of Hahnemann.The next branch of the doctrine is the theory of small doses.It is difficult to make the public understand that it is impos-sible, by any refinement of chemistry, to detect anything ex-cept the vehicle in the homoeopathic medicines properly pre-pared ; although some of the homoeopathic medicines have beenfound to contain poisonous doses. A fact has come to myknowledge. A London wholesale druggist informed one ofthe most respectable citizens of Newcastle a few days ago,that his firm manufactured sixty pounds weight of hom&oelig;o-pathic drugs every fortnight, and sold them to the varioushomoeopathic institutions; and that they were so well awareof the farce, as never even to attempt the troublesome modeof manufacture required by homoeopathy; so that the drugsreally and truly contain nothing.:): To show how little thepublic can estimate the absurdity of the homoeopathicdoses, a layman wrote lately to the Medical Gazette, pointingout the poisonous effects of small doses of lead as a corrobo-ration of homoeopathy. But the smallest dose of lead likelyto have an effect is, in comparison with the homoeopathicdoses, like a mountain to a molehill.

I once heard the law of infinitesimal doses compared tothe law of gravity ? Much gravity was required to makethe comparison. In the law of gravity a relation exists be-tween the masses and the forces. But homoeopathy requiresus to divorce the relation which we are compelled to believein between quantity and quality.But then it is said they make cures. But there are the

strict diet and the imagination to account for these. Thehistory of Perkins’s metallic tractors may serve to show whatthe mind will do. Sometimes, too, an overdrugged patient maybe benefited by the mere absence of treatment.

’

Absurd as are the doses, the PATHOLOGY of Hahnemanntranscends even his therapeutics. The following choicemor&ccedil;eau should be printed in large letters in every homceo-pathic institution. "It is only after having infected theentire organism, that the ITCH announces its immense internalchronic mia8,ina by a cutaneous eruption quite peculiar, accom-panied by an insupportable itching, and peculiar odour. Thisitch is the true fundamental and producing cause of the innu-merable morbid forms which occur under the names of nervousweakness, hysteria, hypochondriasis, madness, melancholy,dementia, rage, epilepsy, and all kinds of spasms, softening ofthe bones, or rickets, caries, cancer, dropsy, spitting of blood,asthma, deafness, cataract, paralysis, &c."&sect; He adds in a notethat it has cost him many years’ research to discover this greattruth, unknown to his predecessors. Mercy on us! What astate poor Sawney must be in? But we know that the itch is

* Exposition &c., p. 104. Principles of Medicine, pp. 29, 29.If this fact be disputed, I have no objection privately to give the Editor

of THE LANCET a reference to the party who informed me.&sect; Exposition, &c., p. 17.

dependent on a parasite; and has nothing on earth to do withany of the diseases with which Hahnemann connects it. It isenough to make one’s blood boil with indignation, to knowthat in the nineteenth century this drivelling idiocy has beentaken for the oracles of Science. To be told that the images ofthe immortal benefactors of mankind who have adorned ourprofession are to be displaced from the temple of Fame infavour of Samuel Hahnemann !

In conclusion, there are certain tests by which falsesciences may be recognised. One is, the fanaticism of thosewho are believers in them. Yes ! they believe-they do notreason. They believe in Hahnemann as the Mormonitesdo in Joe Smith.True science is of slow growth, like the majestic oak, which

has withstood the storms of a thousand winters; but thesefalse sciences are like mushrooms, they spring up in a singlenight. The day before, you saw them not; and the day after,you may look for them in vain. False science is like themeteor, which flashes for a moment, and then is buried in thegloom of everlasting night. True science is like the star,whichmay indeed be obscured by a passing cloud, but which willcontinue to shine on for ever in the firmament of heaven.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE ARCUS SENILIS, ORFATTY DEGENERATION OF THE CORNEA.*

BY EDWIN CANTON, F.R.C.S.,CONSULTING-SURGEON TO THE KENT OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL; ASSISTANT-

SURGEON TO THE ROYAL WESTMINSTER OPHTHALMIC HOSPITAL.

PART II.The Arcus affected by Disease.&mdash;We occasionally find the

cornea attacked by ulceration at the site of the senile zone,and it is the upper portion of it which I have noticed to beusually affected; the complaint, however, is not of frequentoccurrence,and takes place,forthe most part,in persons of debi-litated constitution, who have led irregular lives, and are thesubjects of chronic rheumatic complaints; in persons whose vitalpowers are enfeebled, and nutritive functions impaired. Theulceration ordinarily follows the curve of the arc, and extendsmost deeply at its central part; small ulcerated spots may besometimes seen towards the cornua of the arc. The exposedsurface is jagged, and presents a greyish hue; no red vesselspass to it, but should the eye be attacked by cold under thesecircumstances, a general vascularity suffuses the globe, andclosely approaches the disease by extending into that portionof the conjunctiva, C, which overlaps the sclerotic, A, butwithout implicating the clear portion of cornea, B, imme-diately enclosing the arc, E. There is no pain or intolerance oflight. In some cases slight vascularity may be noticed fromthe onset of the complaint, presenting a dusky red or con-gestive hue. The consistence of the eyeball may be increased,and an aching or obtuse pain be complained of at night in theglobe. The sclerotic appears thinner than natural, andespecially so over the sinus circularis iriclis, where a bluislacircle, F, marks its situation immediately external to thewhole of the senile zone. The subjoined diagram may servein explanation of the parts referred to:-

* "On suppose, et je crois avec raison, que cette opacit&eacute; circulairer&eacute;sulte d’un d&eacute;faut de nutrition."&mdash;MAGNE, Gazette M&eacute;dicale, 1845.

" C’est une grande loi de l’&eacute;conomie, en vertu de laquelle tous les foisqu’un organe tend &agrave; s’atrophier une mati&eacute;re graisse vient &agrave; se s&eacute;cr&eacute;terautour de cet organe, ou &agrave; la place de ces mol&eacute;cules,"&mdash;ANDRAL, AnatomicPathologique, vol. ii. p. 597.