6. HOMCEOPATHY  AND THE  FUNDAMENTAL  LAWS

Among the followers of Hahnemann we often hear the state­ment that homoeopathy is fundamental; that it is scientific; that it is based on natural law. Let us grant, for the sake of argument, that this is true; the natural corollary of this state­ment is that these laws must be active in all realms of funda­mental science, i.e. that in those sciences that deal with the established laws of the universe the same natural laws must be active. It is self-evident that natural laws must work, not in contradiction to each other, but in sympathy and co-operation; these laws are fixed and immutable. That which sets the planet in its orbit so regulates the other planets that they obey the same laws; their difference lies not in the governing laws but in time, distance and circumstance, which is again ruled by law. If the planets moved at random, lawlessly, the result would be chaos.

So, too, if one realm of the universe was moved by fundamental laws which had no application or relation to other realms of the universe, the result must be chaos. If one science is seemingly governed by laws which are contradictory to those of another science, one must be lawless, not a science, or not science but chaos would be the result.

IF HOMCEOPATHY IS A FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE, OR A PART OF A FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE, AS WE BELIEVE, IT MUST WORK IN HARMONY WITH ALL THE NATURAL REALMS, AND THE LAWS WHICH APPLY TO THOSE REALMS MUST APPLY ALSO, IN SOME DEGREEE AND RELATIONSHIP,  TO HOMOEOPATHY.

In spite of the years that have been devoted to the study of homoeopathy, with their accumulated data, we glimpse but dimly the possibilities of these conclusions. When we realize the confusion that man has caused in his individual life, in every sphere, it is little wonder that he has misunderstood the natural powers and resources, and has failed to make use of natural laws. It is not strange, then, that medicine, among many other phases of our modern life, is but a series of experi­mental gropings without form or order.

The glimpse at our present state of social confusion cannot excuse our refusal to substantiate our claim that homoeopathy is based on natural laws. Let us consider the place homoeo­pathy must hold if our contentions be true.

If homoeopathy is founded upon fundamental laws, what are some of those laws? Our ignorance permits us to register but a few, but inevitably the time will come, if we keep a clear vision, when we will be able to add more to our burden of proof.

Let us look at the first formulated and recognized law of homoeopathy, Similia similibus curentur. Whence came this law? It was simply an intelligent observation of our natural resources, those in their closest proximity to our daily lives, in the vegetable kingdom, and their relation to disturbed and disordered conditions arising in mankind himself. It was found that the ills of individual man could be successfully treated thus; first doubtless these substances were found in the vegetable kingdom, later in the mineral and animal kingdoms also. Still later came the knowledge that this was not by chance, an occasional means of cure, but that by law these substances acted in an ordered and orderly manner under certain definite conditions and circumstances.

This recognition of law underlying cure is of ancient origin; no one knows when the first recognition of this law crept into use, but ancient Hindu manuscripts recorded its ap­plication. Certainly Aristotle recognized it, and Hippocrates sensed the possibilities of this law, and applied it in some recorded cases. From time to time all through medical history this hypothesis was enunciated or demonstrated in greater or less degree. Hahnemann later demonstrated this law to be universal and not an occasional circumstance. He called the science and art of healing which naturally followed, homceo-pathy, but the thought is not a new one; it was age-old before a science of healing was based solely on this law.

In other words, in even the embryonic stages of homoeopathy it was found that law governed. Gradual experimenta­tion widened the possibilities of application of these laws; no amount of experimentation extended the laws themselves. All that experimentation could do was to enlighten our minds regarding the scope of the law.

A law is a fundamental fact; because we do not recognize a law does not mean that the law does not exist. Even to man-made laws, which in their essence are not laws in the true sense but rules laid down by man for man, it is recognized that ignorance of the law is no excuse.

As observation became focused upon the unfolding of the law of cure, other regularities in reaction were discovered, and a second law of cure, this time pertaining to the direction of cure, was formulated.     This was: Cure takes place from

ABOVE DOWNWARD, FROM WITHIN OUTWARD, FROM AN IMPORTANT ORGAN TO A LESS IMPORTANT ORGAN; SYMPTOMS DISAPPEAR IN THE REVERSE ORDER OF THEIR APPEARANCE, THE FIRST TO APPEAR BEING THE LAST TO DISAPPEAR.

Simple disappearance of symptoms is by no means cure; symptoms often have periods of recurrence, but no true cure has ever been observed that did not follow the law of direction.

Another law, equally applicable throughout the universe, is that of mutual action: Action and reaction are equal and opposite.

To some of us who have thoughtfully considered these things they seem so self-evident that it would be almost unneces­sary to speak of them were it not for the purpose of urging you to observe the lawfulness of homoeopathy, and to prove our claim of the fundamental lawfulness of this true science of healing. Let us look at a law which follows naturally the law of mutual action.

This is the law designated as the law of least action, which was formulated by Maupertius, the French mathematician. To us as homoeopathic physicians and students it may be known as the law of quantity and dose:  The quantity of action

NECESSARY TO EFFECT ANY CHANGE IN NATURE IS THE LEAST possible; the decisive amount is always a minimum, an infinitesimal.

Health is a matter of perfect equilibrium, perfect balance; trifling circumstances may sway it, and even as seemingly trifling circumstances may sway it, so may it be balanced by the least possible in medication, which may, in conditions of perfect health, cause the same loss of balance, or a correspond­ing loss of equilibrium.

Another law of quantity to be considered here is:

The QUANTITY OF THE DRUG REQUIRED IS IN INVERSE RATIO TO THE similarity. In other words, the greater the similarity of the drug symptoms to those of the patient, the less quantity will be required, for the greater will be the state of susceptibility of the patient.

A corollary to the law of quantity is: The Quality of THE ACTION OF A HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDY IS DETERMINED BY ITS quantity, in inverse ratio. Again this is a problem of the susceptibility of the patient and the similarity of the drug; the laws of quality and quantity go hand in hand.

Biology gives us this law: Function creates and develops tjje organ. It has been observed in the study of homoeopathy that functional symptoms are produced by the vital force in exact proportion to the profundity of the disturbance. Often, however, when pathological changes occur the symptomatic picture changes greatly in that functional symptoms do not manifest themselves in as great a degree; the disease condition has struck deeper and manifests itself less on the surface. Fol­lowing the biological law, therefore, homoeopathy postulates the law of symptom development: Functional symptoms precede STRUCTURAL CHANGES.

Now the law of use governing the homoeopathic remedy must  therefore  be:    The  dose  and  quantity  that  will THOROUGHLY PERMEATE THE ORGANISM AND MAKE ITS ESSENTIAL IMPRESS UPON THE  VITAL FORCE IS THATWHICH WILL AFFECT "the functional sphere of the individual.

We say: "This must therefore be"; if we reason logically, and have observed carefully, keeping our line of reasoning along the lines of laws already formulated and proven sound, we can do no less than believe that this is a truly fundamental law.

For many years daily practice has proven the value of the law of repetition of the dose: Never repeat your remedy so long as rr continues to act. This governs the adminis­tration of remedies to individuals in states of disease; let us look at the law that must govern the production of symptoms by artificial means, i.e. drug provings, by which we get our guidance for the administration of drugs to the sick. The object of proving drugs is the production of artificial diseases that we may observe the symptoms and apply the substances so proven in like states of natural disturbance. The law gov­erning this must be closely allied to the law of administration in states of disease, or else our case is not logical. We find this law: Never repeat the pose in proving while symptoms ARE MANIFEST FROM THE DOSE ALREADY TAKEN.

Again granting that homoeopathy is allied to all nature, we must concede that orbits or cycles of action are a fundamental part of natural manifestations. So also we find that the homoeopathic remedies have cycles of development and recession. If the natural cycle of symptom development is interfered with, we gain no knowledge of the true nature of the substance being proved; at best we can get but a distorted comprehension of its nature when there is any interference. Continuing to administer repeatedly a remedy while it is producing disease symptoms in a prover would make chaos out of a normal cycle of disease symptoms^ which have been in process of development.     This is simply the result of logical reasoning.            """

Examining still further into laws governing the production of artificial disease states, we find there are laws governing the various states or types of substances which we desire to prove. As yet we may find these laws crudely phrased, but they follow closely the law of mutual action, the law of least action, and the laws of quantity and quality.

1. Any drug which in its natural state affects the vital energy but little will develop a proving only in a high potency.

2.         Any drug which in its natural state disturbs the VITAL   ENERGY   TO   functional   MANIFESTATIONS   ONLY   may   BE proven in a crude form.

3.         Any drug which in its natural state disturbs the VITAL   ENERGY   TO   DESTRUCTIVE   MANIFESTATIONS   SHOULD   BE PROVEN Only IN A POTENTIATED FORM.

It has been demonstrated that planetary movements have a definite relationship to life. The power of the moon over the tides is an ancient and constant observation. The relation­ship of the earth and sun offers an irrefutable argument in favour of the correlation of the planetary influences. The in­fluence of the phases of the moon on some mental conditions and nervous complaints has been noted from the earliest times. For instance, the appellation lunacy designated a mental dis­turbance definitely related to moon phases; epileptic conditions also have shown some response to the cycles of the moon. In other words, through these abnormal conditions of mental and nervous disturbance we have perceived dimly from time to time the outlines of a great truth.

That cyclic manifestations have been demonstrated in other fields than medicine is easily seen from the most cursory glance at the science of astronomy. In its earlier stages astronomy suffered from the same blind groping, ignorance and superstition that has hampered the intelligent observation of all natural phenomena; nevertheless, it has emerged as a true science of mathematical exactness. It is still true that the deductions from the most careful measurements and computations vary between different schools, yet it is the most closely measurable of all the sciences to-day.

Let us quote from The Concise Knowledge of Astronomy: History, by Agnes M. Clerke, pages 12, 13:

The subjection of the moon to known law was completed by the dispersal of the mystery surrounding a slight, continuous acceleration of her orbital velocity detected by Halley in 1693. It had been in pro­gress since the earliest recorded eclipse in 721 B.C., if not longer; there was no sign of its cessation or reversal, and the grave question arose: Was the principle of universal attraction, elsewhere unreservedly obeyed, here fatally complicated by the action of a resisting medium involving the eventual collapse of the earth-moon system? Laplace gave the answer in 1787 by proving the observed quickening of pace to be a necessary and simple consequence of a secular diminution in the ellipti-city of the earth's orbit. This, however, will not go on for ever in the same direction; after many ages the tide of change will turn, and a complete restoration to status quo ante will ensue... Ruinous disturbances were shown to be excluded by the overwhelming disparity of mass between the central body and its attendants, no less than by the regularity and harmony of their movements and distribution. Thus only slight oscillatory changes can occur. Millions of years will elapse without producing any fundamental alteration. The machine js so beautifully adjusted as to right itself automatically through the mutual action of its various parts. And it is the force which perturbs that eventually restores.

Let us repeat the last lines of this quotation in the light of our observation into the relation of homoeopathy and the fundamental laws: The machine is so beautifully adjusted as to right itself automatically through the mutual action of its various parts.     And it is the force which perturbs that ENTUALLY RESTORES.

This last observation, acknowledged by the most exact of all sciences and a deduction from observation of the most observable of all cyclic phenomena, is equally pertinent to homoeopathy and our belief in the lawful flow of vital energy. This deduction, so fundamental that it might well be called a law, is closely allied to that law of mathematics: The quantity of action necessary to effect any change in nature is the least possible.

These are but a few of the laws which we, in our ignorance, have assembled from the vast resources at our command to demonstrate that homoeopathy is governed by laws that are universal, and that homoeopathy, therefore, is a part of the fundamental lawfulness and orderliness of the universe. If we can apply a known law of biology, a known law of mathematics, and a known and accepted deduction of astronomy, we can as surely apply the tested laws of any other sphere of universal activity.

At some future time we will be able to formulate definitely those laws which govern the vital force and its action in the human economy. This vital energy, which is the sun of our individual human economy, has a distinct relationship to uni­versal vital energy. It is vital energy in the individual which offers homoeopathy its scientific demonstration of healing. Of this mystery we now comprehend but this: The state of the dis­ordered vital energy is that state in which homoeopathy offers the greatest hope of regaining the lost balance of power in each individual, and that not by coercion of the vital force, but by so stimulating it that the equilibrium is restored by the same force that disturbed it; that the vital energy in itself is capable of disturbance and of self-restoration under the proper circumstances. We have used the laws of homoeopathy half blindly, as it were, yet we recognize their tremendous significance and their possi­bilities; we have observed their action in countless cases of human misery.

Let us be alert to observe and accurate to correlate the plain facts before us, that we may recognize, formulate and work in accord with the fundamental laws that govern homoeo­pathy and all nature.

HOMCEOPATHIC LAWS Of Cure :

Similia similibus curentur.

Cure takes place from above downward, from within outward, from the more important to the less important organ, and ]n the reverse order of the onset of the symptoms.

Of Action:

Action and reaction are equal and opposite.

Of Quantity and Dose:

The quantity of the drug required is in inverse ratio to the similarity.

Of Quantity:

The quantity of action necessary to effect any change in Nature is the least possible. The decisive amount is always a minimum, an infinitesimal.

Of Quality:

The quality of the^action of a homoeopathic remedy is deter-mined by its quantity, in inverse ratio.

Of Use:                             

The dose and quantity that will thoroughly permeate the organ­ism and make its essential impress upon the vital force is that which will affect the functional sphere of the individual.

Of Biological Development: Function creates and develops the organ.

Of Disease Development:

Functional symptoms are produced  by the vital force in exact proportion to the profundity of the disturbance.  Functional symptoms precede structural changes.

Of Proving:

1. Any drug which in its natural state affects the vital energy but little will develop a proving only in a high potency.
2. Any drug which in its natural state disturbs the vital energy to functional manifestations only may be proven in a crude lorm.
3. Any drug which in its natural state disturbs the vital energy to destructive manifestations should be proven only in a potentiated form.

Of Repetition (for Provings):

Never repeat the dose while symptoms are manifest from the dose already taken.

Of Repetition (for Cure):

Never repeat your remedy so long as it continues to act.

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