A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



methods. Stated briefly, his theory was that if a 

 tincture be reduced to one-fiftieth in strength, and this 

 again reduced to one-fiftieth, and this process repeated 

 up to thirty such dilutions, the potency of such a med- 

 icine will be increased by each dilution, Hahnemann 

 himself preferring the weakest, or, as he would call it, 

 the strongest dilution. The absurdity of such a theory 

 is apparent when it is understood that long before any 

 drug has been raised to its thirtieth dilution it has been 

 so reduced in quantity that it cannot be weighed, 

 measured, or recognized as being present in the solu- 

 tion at all by any means known to chemists. It is 

 but just to modern followers of homoeopathy to say 

 that while most of them advocate small dosage, they 

 do not necessarily follow the teachings of Hahnemann 

 in this respect, believing that the theory of the dose 

 " has nothing more to do with the original law of cure 

 than the psora (itch) theory has; and that it was one 

 of the later creations of Hahnemann's mind." 



Hahnemann's theory that all chronic diseases are 

 derived from either itch, syphilis, or fig- wart disease 

 is no longer advocated by his followers, because it is 

 so easily disproved, particularly in the case of itch. 

 Hahnemann taught that fully three-quarters of all 

 diseases were caused by "itch struck in," and yet it 

 had been demonstrated long before his day, and can 

 be demonstrated any time, that itch is simply a local 

 skin disease caused by a small parasite. 



JENNER AND VACCINATION 



All advances in science have a bearing, near or re- 

 mote, on the welfare of our race; but it remains to 



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