THE RELATIONS OF THERAPEUTICS 157 



morbid phenomena also disappear, and complete recovery soon 

 ensues. It is possible, though as yet unknown, that purely symp- 

 tomatic remedies may also influence the cause of disease. 



At the beginning of the nineteenth century, chemistry was still of 

 little service to the science of medicine. True, Lavoisier's greatest 

 discovery in regard to metabolism in the organism was known, that 

 is, that the oxygen of the air causes combustion, and when inhaled 

 accomplishes the same object in the system. This must have given 

 medical men an entirely new perception of the processes of life, but 

 the time had not yet arrived for experimental work on this subject. 



Even at that time numerous elements were known, 30 in number, 

 whereas at the end of the century 76 elements had been found. A 

 number of these elements were made use of in therapeutics in a pure 

 state or in combination, without our being able to base their appli- 

 cation upon rational, theoretical hypotheses, as, for instance, in the 

 case of iron and its compounds, the use of which extends to the 

 remotest times. On the other hand, there were among them ele- 

 ments employed as drugs, such as antimony, which first came into 

 use in the Middle Ages, and which may be cited less as a proof of 

 the therapeutic value of this matalloid than of the antiquated preju- 

 dice of a French faculty which absolutely refused to acknowledge 

 any "drug," owing to its predilection for blood-letting. The rage 

 of dogmatic physicians may be recognized in the w r ords of the 

 anathema against Torpet (cf. O. Liebreich, Die historische Entivick- 

 lung der Heilmittellehre, Lecture, Berlin, 1887). 



On the other hand, the science of therapeutics placed great hopes 

 in the isolation of alkaloids, which marked the beginning of the 

 century. This era began with the recognition of the importance of 

 morphia by Sertiirner in the year 1804. Then followed the discovery 

 of nicotine by Vauquelin in 1809, quinine in 1811, cinchonine in 

 1820, and of strychnine in 1818. This, at any rate, suggested the 

 method of obtaining from extracts, frequently incumbered by 

 useless matters, the active principle, and making it available for 

 therapeutics, and hence a certain practical utility must even nowa- 

 days be accorded to pharmaceutical chemistry. 



As regards a knowledge of the mode of action, however, the pro- 

 blem not only lies in the chemical composition and recognition of the 

 substance employed, but also in the chemism of the organism. Out- 

 side the organism it is a lifeless substance, but in the system it is not 

 only the substance itself but its metabolism and manner of action 

 which must be taken into consideration. The theory of metabolism 

 can only be of decisive value for therapeutics when not only the 

 properties of the drug applied but also the chemical action of the 

 organism are so far known as to enable us to judge of their mutual 

 effect. For this reason, of course, a knowledge of the chemistry of 



