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 UNITED STATES OF i^ERICA. 
 
SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE 
 
 IN ITS 
 
 Relation to Homeopathy 
 
 BY 
 
 v 
 PROFESSOR THEODOR BAKODY, M.D. 
 
 BUDA-PESTH UNIVERSITY. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN 
 
 BY 
 
 RUDOLPH F. BAUER, M.D. 
 
 a 
 
 3 0/) l o VV 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 BOERICKE & TAFEL. vo 
 
 1891. 
 

 Copyright, 1801, 
 By BOERICKE & TAFEL. 
 
This essay, written by Prof. Theodor Bakody, of Buda- 
 Pesth, for the Pester Loyd, was originally intended for the 
 laity. The interest awakened throughout the world by 
 Koch's great discovery was experienced in a lively degree 
 by all classes of men, and information concerning the new 
 remedy was eagerly sought after by layman as ' well as 
 physician. 
 
 Prof. Bakody, designing to write for the former, uncon- 
 sciously wrote for the latter, and in answering the questions 
 put to him concerning Koch's remedy touched upon such 
 important points in therapeutics that every physician, even 
 if not sympathizing with his views, will still give them seri- 
 ous consideration. 
 
 Rudolph F. Bauer, M.D. 
 
SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE 
 
 RELATION TO HOMEOPATHY. 
 
 I kespoxd with pleasure to your invitation, asking 
 me to express from my especial standpoint, my opin- 
 ions concerning the widely differing'- views entertained 
 regarding the value of Koch's method of treatment, 
 and also the assertions frequently made concerning 
 the similarity of the same to the Hahneniannian 
 methods. You must, however, allow me to discuss 
 the subject thoroughly ; otherwise your object of ex- 
 plaining to the educated laity a serious scientific ques- 
 tion will be futile. A certain preliminary knowledge, 
 generally wanting even in the best educated of the 
 laity, is necessary to properly understand medical 
 and scientific questions. I must, therefore, endeavor 
 to overcome this lack of knowledge by putting my 
 explanations into a form which will be familiar and 
 easily understood. 
 
 Before Kokitansky's time, the school of medicine 
 busied itself almost exclusively with problematic hy- 
 
6 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN IT3 
 
 potheses and theoretical pathological speculations, 
 particularly in the branches of pathology and diag- 
 nosis. In the eighth lustrum of the present century, 
 Rokitansky surprised the medical world with a work 
 which attracted universal attention, entitled, Manual 
 of Pathological Anatomy. I quote from this work 
 the following remarkable passage, so that it will be- 
 come clear to you what this great thinker strove to 
 do, and what new paths his pathological school 
 opened : 
 
 " Pathological anatomy has for its subject the devi- 
 ations of the organism and the disturbances of the 
 organs and tissues, as demonstrated by anatomical 
 research. Its importance becomes clear to us when 
 we place it in that relation to pathology which anat- 
 omy holds to physiology ; it becomes the principal 
 basis for a physiology of disease. Anatomy is the 
 basis of pathology, because the manifestations of dis- 
 ease are subject to the same laws, and because the 
 disease remains still a physiological condition, al- 
 though a morbid one." 
 
 In the first edition of his work, Rokitansky not 
 only declared his systematically ordered doctrine the 
 very foundation of medical knowledge, but also pro- 
 mulgated therein and established for all time the 
 thesis that a knowledge of the morbid disturbances 
 and changes in the organs and tissues must become 
 the basis of medicinal treatment ; also that patho- 
 logical anatomy was undoubtedly to be regarded as 
 the foundation upon which a physiological pathology 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 7 
 
 rested, and was the elementary principle in natural 
 researches pertaining to medicine. " It offers," the 
 text continues, "a reliahle, solid basis to semiology 
 and diagnosis, and establishes a rational therapeutics 
 based upon a thorough knowledge of morbid and cur- 
 ative processes." The learning and justice of this 
 eminent scholar induced him to add, with a modesty 
 worthy of imitation, the conditional observation, 
 " that what he himself designated as fundamental, 
 only pointed out for the present the possible tendency 
 and extension of future development." 
 
 His prognostication proved true. From the ma- 
 croscopic pathological anatomy developed the micro- 
 scopic pathological anatomy of Virchow. The or- 
 ganic tissue-changes, demonstrated mainly by the 
 naked eye by Rokitansky and his followers, w T ere 
 investigated still more closely by the microscopic 
 work of Virchow and his school ; the improvement 
 in optical instruments aided these efforts. The 
 knowledge gained by Virchow in his researches of 
 cell-life revealed the finer elementary changes and 
 the morbid processes going on in diseased cells, ap- 
 proached 600 times nearer the human eye. 
 
 Thereafter, investigators, with one accord, directed 
 their labors to the attainment of a thorough knowl- 
 edge of the cellular nature of the functions of life ; 
 and the results, collected with ant-like industry in 
 the archives of Virchow, revealed the fact, more and 
 more, that the delicate, jelly-like, microscopic struc- 
 ture, provided with a nucleus and nucleolus — the or- 
 
8 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 gaiiic cell — represented an independent, anatomical 
 physiological entity, and was the lowest form in which 
 there was active manifestation of life. Thereby was 
 the cell-doctrine founded, and pathological anatomy 
 was now designated pathological histology. This cell- 
 doctrine in its consequent application to the living 
 organism, the organs and tissues of which simply rep- 
 resent a complexity of cells and their derivatives, led 
 to the establishment of a cellular pathology and a 
 cellular physiology. 
 
 The inductive matter obtained in this department 
 accumulated to such an extent within the last forty 
 years that it was hardly possible for any hypothetical 
 pathological system to take deeper root. Medicine, 
 as a whole, however, derived but little practical use 
 therefrom. This, about eight years ago, induced 
 Professor Klebs, a pupil of Virchow (and who is to 
 be considered as the first of any importance advocat- 
 ing the microbe theory of disease, but who subse- 
 quently accomplished nothing of importance) to op- 
 pose his master, in one of his lectures entitled " The 
 Changes in Medical Views Within the Last Thirty 
 Years." With the injustice of a prejudiced thinker, 
 he wrote, in 1878, the following : " When we consider 
 that the old doctrine (that of cellular pathology) failed 
 in accomplishing what was expected of it, namely, the 
 healing of disease, it becomes my duty (the duty of a 
 theorist) to collect all facts which may be operative 
 in establishing a reformation in therapeutics, and give 
 to that which has already been done in this direction 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 9 
 
 a solid foundation ; for this we have labored, micro- 
 scopists and experimenters, for over ten years ; it 
 shall be our duty to show that the results thus far 
 obtained necessitate us to seek the cause of many grave 
 diseases outside of the body, and demonstrate that the 
 causes of disease are due to micro-organisms. 
 
 In an article entitled " The Nature and Cause of 
 Disease," which appeared in 1880, in the 79th vol. of 
 the Archives, and was devoted to the correction of Prof. 
 Klebs, Virchow writes : " All our experience teaches 
 us that life can only be manifested in concrete form, 
 and is associated with certain foci of matter, these foci 
 being the cells and cellular tissues. What is true of 
 the individual as a whole, that, and even more so, is 
 true of the cell. It is the central point of action of 
 mechanical substance, and is alone capable of pre- 
 serving within itself that activity which justifies the 
 name of life. . . . . When, however, we en- 
 deavor to understand and grasp the matter there re- 
 mains nothing for us but to return to the elementary 
 constituents, and these are for the biologist the cells. 
 . Should there be diseases dependent 
 upon changes in a single cell the treatment would 
 have to be directed to this single cell. At present, 
 however, in practice we have to deal, not with single 
 cells, but with groups of cells. Each group, or in 
 other words, each focus of disease, consists of a larger 
 or smaller, but always of a positive mass of living 
 cells. With this mass of elementary substance prac- 
 tice has to deal, and these foci are the objective points 
 
10 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 of diagnosis as well as therapeutics. This is the true 
 meaning of the ' localization-thought.' It would be 
 truly foolish to expect such a local action if we did not 
 know of the existence of special relations between 
 certain drugs and certain portions of the body. At 
 present it requires only an experienced hand to for- 
 mulate precisely a capable work on cellular thera- 
 peutics." 
 
 This declaration of Virchow led to the belief that 
 a cellular therapeutics based upon the cell-doctrine 
 was to be expected, but that the author spoken of was 
 first to be found. 
 
 As you see, here we arrive at the boundary separ- 
 ating two essentially different lines of thought in the 
 practical domain of medicine. 
 
 In the foregoing explanation of Virchow, we meet 
 the word " localization." In considering this, I must 
 point out to you the many ways in which the word 
 " specific " is understood, and, as we progress, you 
 will find that the conception of this is as important 
 to my line of reasoning as the keystone is to an arch. 
 
 You will scarcely believe that this frequently-used 
 word, " specific," not only formerly gave rise to mis- 
 conceptions, but even to-day leads to misunderstand- 
 ings, in accordance with the individual interpreta- 
 tion of its meaning. 
 
 The understanding of " specific," has to some ex- 
 tent a history of development, closely allied to the 
 development of medical science. The main principle 
 involved is that of " individuality." Accepted in 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 11 
 
 medicine and applied to the action of drugs, those 
 substances which were proven positively curative be- 
 cause qf their individuality of action in certain dis- 
 eases — as, for instance, china in intermittent fever — 
 were called specifics. With the advancement of med- 
 ical knowledge, and particularly through the methods 
 of Hahnemann, it became certain that many sub- 
 stances acted markedly upon particular organs in 
 preference to others, as, for instance, digitalis upon 
 the heart, and those substances, because of their pe- 
 culiar local action, were termed local-specific reme- 
 dies. As a result of the experiments of the Hahne- 
 mannian school and the provings of many substances 
 upon the healthy, the knowledge of local-specific 
 acting remedies became greatly extended, and so was 
 forced upon the medical mind that line of thought 
 which Virchow expressed as the " localization-idea," 
 and which, properly speaking, represented for med- 
 icine that which Hahnemann postulated as the spe- 
 cific principle. That the doctrine of specific action 
 was cultivated solely by the method of Hahnemann 
 is even acknowledged by Virchow. It was Hahne- 
 mann's object to discover remedies which would act 
 upon the cause of disease ; these he termed causal- 
 sj^ecific, in contradistinction to those drugs which 
 were given, not to remove the cause of disease, but to 
 ameliorate painful, tormenting symptoms, and which 
 he designated symptomatic-specific or, better still, 
 palliative-specific remedies. If the action of a causal- 
 specific remedy cannot be explained, then its use is 
 
12 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 purely empyric : if, however, the action is approx- 
 imately clear, then it becomes a scientific causal- 
 specific remedy, and one which stands in peculiar in- 
 timate relation with the vital activity of the cells. 
 The symptomatic remedies, as regards their action, 
 can be divided into the direct and indirect, while the 
 action of causal-specific remedies is always direct. 
 The action of the specifics is naturally a local one, 
 and limited to certain tissues, and thus is the desig- 
 nation " local action " only to be regarded as one in 
 contradistinction to that action which influences the 
 organism as a whole. 
 
 In vol. vi. of Virchow's Archives we read in an 
 article entitled " Specifics and Their Advocates," the 
 following : " The attention of specific homoeopaths 
 has been constantly directed to organic healing rem- 
 edies, that is, those acting on certain localities. . . 
 But one is unable to do more, in the artificial 
 cure of disease, than to make such use of the 
 mechanism of the organism as to assist the equi- 
 librium maintained by the regulatory arrangements 
 of the body. Internal medication aims to set into 
 action the organs of the body for the accomplishment 
 of its purpose. To effect this, specific remedies are 
 employed to operate upon certain regulatory organs, 
 not always, however, to influence the diseased organ 
 in a gentle way, but frequently enough in an inim- 
 ical, antagonistic (contraria) manner. Everywhere 
 are we compelled to attack the exponent of specifics, 
 and yet, nevertheless, hope for the specific. 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 13 
 
 Does this not seem questionable? These express- 
 ions, however, belong to the first period of Virchow's 
 labors. We will see how, in the course of time, his 
 therapeutic-medical convictions in this direction were 
 altered. In the 79th vol. of the Archives, in the pre- 
 viously-mentioned article, which was mainly directed 
 against Klebs, he writes, under the heading of 
 " Cause and Nature of Disease," the following : " The 
 treatment of pneumonia is decided primarily by the 
 fever. The clinician separates the two most important 
 factors, the fever, and the local inflammatory pro- 
 cess. The first brings the greater danger, the latter 
 the least. Attention is directed to the fever, or, in 
 other words, to a sum of disturbances which have 
 their real seat in a certain portion of the nervous 
 system. What we do in this direction may hardly 
 appear cellular-therapeutic, and yet it is eminently 
 so, for there is always behind such a disturbance a 
 certain number of altered ganglia-cells." 
 
 In my explanation I have several times mentioned 
 " Spontaneous Cure." Rokitansky as well as Virchow 
 recognized as something positive the Nature cure. 
 
 This spontaneous cure (which, naturally, cannot be 
 expected in all diseases) we will divide for present 
 pui^poses simply into three classes : 
 
 I. Spontaneous cure without remedies. 
 II. Spontaneous cure by means of remedies. 
 
 III. Spontaneous cure despite (suj)posed) remedies. 
 
 The first variety runs its course (if at all possible) 
 without any medication, and is influenced only by 
 
14 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 dietetics and other measures calculated to bring about 
 a spontaneous cure. This form of treatment is desig- 
 nated the " expectative method," a term which bears 
 anything but that of a biological stamp. 
 
 The second variety is accomplished only then, 
 when an operative remedy, given for the purpose, re- 
 moves the cause of the disease — the action being in a 
 line with the vital regulatory factors of the organism, 
 and assisting the natural curative process. In this 
 instance the natural cure is elevated, and becomes a 
 scientific one. The third variety conforms to those 
 cases where the cause of the disease is ignored and 
 remedies administered, the action of which is directed 
 to symptoms which are tormenting, or by faulty rea- 
 soning are considered dangerous. Through these 
 remedies the organic regulatory arrangements are 
 disturbed in their curative functions, and the true 
 curative process — in the most favorable case — re- 
 tarded, or, in a pathological-anatomical sense, com- 
 pletely arrested ; for the biological forces, hampered 
 as they are by the action of these palliative agents, 
 do not always possess sufficient vital energy to over- 
 come the cause of disease. 
 
 In this third classification belongs the treatment of 
 pneumonia spoken of by Virchow, where not the 
 local process but the fever, which is a natural accom- 
 paniment of the inflammation, becomes the object of 
 medicinal treatment. 
 
 I have disputed this opinion since 1873, and in a 
 work of mine in reference to this can be found the 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 15 
 
 following passage : " Doctor Kocher has the art of 
 saying so much that is enticing regarding the treat- 
 ment of pneumonia by antipyretics, as practiced by 
 Prof. Biermer, of Zurich, that one finds it natural 
 when viewed from a symptomatic-therapeutic stand- 
 point, that it should be deemed worthy of therapeutic 
 application in wider circles/' In fact, the pulse and 
 temperature become so greatly altered that both may 
 sink below normal. Dyspnoea, expectoration, pain, 
 and restlessness are diminished, but the mass of pro- 
 liferated cells which fill the lungs as a result of the 
 inflammatory process are scarcely or not at all re- 
 moved. 
 
 In the Pester Medicinisch- Chirurgical Presse, in 
 1885, appeared an article entitled " A Criticism of 
 Medical-Symptomatic Antipyresis," which I read in 
 1884, during the December convention of the Hun- 
 garian Biological Society, and which was accompanied 
 by microscopic demonstration. From this I must 
 also quote you some passages relative to that which we 
 have in hand : " The practical i^hysician needs a 
 definite guiding principle for his actions, and by the 
 selection made is distinguished even to this day the 
 followers of Galen and those representing the tenden- 
 cies of the Hippocratic school. In the course of the 
 development of medicine we constantly meet these op- 
 posing factors, even though they be in different guise, 
 and the ceaseless contention existing between them 
 effects a greater perfection of therapeutics. To-day, 
 also, we see therapeutics conducted on one hand by a 
 
16 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 peculiar method which bases its procedures on pure ob- 
 servation of Nature, subordinates the laws of organic 
 life, and keeps in view the correct mutual relationship 
 existing between therapeutics and life. On the other 
 hand, however, it is practiced as a curative science 
 more after a form than after Nature, and frequently 
 enough ignores the always just biological postulates, 
 and strives with hair-splitting reasonings to conquer 
 the regulatory laws of organic life." 
 
 " To prove the justice of my assertion, I will describe 
 the course of treatment of an acute febrile diseased 
 process, the clinical course of which is well known, 
 and sketch more closely its rapidly changing phases. 
 After a restraint had been placed upon bleeding in 
 the treatment of pneumonia by the favorable results 
 obtained by the homoeopaths who were opposed to 
 vampirism, the use of tartar emetic was introduced by 
 the Vienna school, and was considered with great 
 favor ; the results, however, when compared with 
 those obtained by the homoeopaths, left much to be 
 desired ; so that those of a skeptical turn of mind 
 were induced to treat the named disease on purely 
 dietetic principles. The result obtained in regard to 
 recovery was very favorable, inasmuch as the death- 
 rate, which was 20.4 after bleeding, and 20.7 after 
 the treatment by tartar emetic, fell to 7.4 by the diet- 
 etic treatment ; this, however, was offset by a death- 
 rate of 3 to 4 per cent, shown by the homoeopaths. 
 The latter employed, then as now, in the first stage 
 of the disease, their remedies influencing the vaso- 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 17 
 
 motor nerves and vascular system, and in the stage 
 of completed exudation, medicinal substances which 
 favored resolution, and finally drugs which aided the 
 energies of absorption, a method of treatment which, 
 by its excellent results, has given them no cause to 
 change for any other form of treatment for nearly 
 forty years, inasmuch as nothing more was to be de- 
 sired regarding the course of convalescence and com- 
 plete restoration of the diseased organ." 
 
 In consequence of the satisfactory results obtained 
 by the biological-medical therapeutics, one could have 
 expected with justice that this method of treatment 
 was worthy of general trial. But medical thera- 
 peutics, in consequence of the accepted antipyretic 
 treatment, from a rationalistic standpoint, took a 
 course diametrically opposed to the Hahnemannian. 
 Through the accepted views regarding the nature and 
 danger of fever, a new Galenic method arose, which, 
 in a consequential way, looked proudly down upon 
 the others. The results obtained by experiment and 
 research gave to it those so-called exact scientific 
 principles for its seemingly wise procedures, and 
 gradually, as the theoretical views regarding febrile 
 consumption received greater scientific recognition, 
 the antipyretic method of treatment proportionately 
 developed to a higher degree. 
 
 At length the bacillus theory sprang into existence, 
 and therapeutics had to be adapted to these new 
 pathological views. In pursuit of this new fact, the 
 question necessarily arose, whether these low organ - 
 
 2 
 
18 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 isms were the direct cause of fever, or whether they 
 developed pyrogenic matter by their tissue changes, 
 or by their action upon surrounding tissues ; and it 
 was concluded that even if the action of these micro- 
 organisms, which were always present, be productive 
 of disease, the fever still remained the most important 
 factor for the consideration of therapeutics ; this, in 
 consequence of the newly accepted theory, led to the 
 introduction of an antipyretic method of treatment 
 which should at the same time be antizymotic. 
 
 Now follows the proof established by myself on 
 pathological-physiological and pathological-chemical 
 grounds, that the effect obtained by the antipyretic 
 symptomatic remedies, of checking the oxidation pro- 
 cess going on in the tissues, is injurious to the cura- 
 tive process. I will omit discussing this further, as 
 it would be unintelligible to the laity, but will ac- 
 quaint you with that portion of my work, in which it 
 is proven that the harmfulness of antipyretic treat- 
 ment, when regarded from the standpoint of the 
 modern bacillus-theory, contains matter of still more 
 serious import. As this is of interest to every edu- 
 cated layman, and is easily understood, and moreover 
 deals with a fact which can be demonstrated beyond 
 all doubt by the aid of optical instruments, I will con- 
 tinue by quoting the following : By the name amoeba 
 we designate microscopic protozoa, living in water, and 
 consisting of a mass of nucleated j^rotoplasm without 
 a membrane, and constantly showing a change of 
 form. The white blood-corrjuscles and the cells of 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 19 
 
 the cellular tissue of the animal organism resemble 
 these amoeba, and like them are distinguished from 
 other cells of the body by their capability of locomo- 
 tion. Inasmuch as they are able during life to change 
 their form, and are capable of motion, whereby they 
 can permeate the tissues, they are also termed mi- 
 gratory cells. Locomotion is accomplished by send- 
 ing out broad sprout-like projections, while others are 
 drawn in, contract, and become shortened, so that the 
 body of the cell crawls forward to a certain extent. 
 Those containing large granules display much greater 
 activity than those containing small ones ; according 
 to Lanclowsky's observations, 80 out of 100 of the 
 former require but II to 2 hours to travel 1 mm. 
 over the surface of a perfectly smooth glass, while 72 
 out of 100 of the latter require from 3 to 6 hours to 
 accomplish the same distance. During locomotion it 
 frequently can be seen how the cell, before going on, 
 accommodates itself to obstacles in its way and to a 
 certain extent seems to feel them by means of its pro- 
 jections, and, Avhile continuing on its way, an empty 
 projection gradually forms, which, by-and-by, takes 
 up into itself the foreign particles. That the cell de- 
 velops considerable force in its progression can be 
 determined by the fact that they are able to force 
 their way through fibrillar, lamellae, and even ejn- 
 thelial cells. 
 
 The power of these cells to take up into themselves 
 various bodies and digest them is termed intra- 
 cellular digestion. The experiments of Metschnikoff, 
 
20 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 conducted especially for the purpose of answering 
 this question, showed that the amoebse actually di- 
 gested those substances which they took up into them- 
 selves which were capable of being digested ; also, 
 that the bacteria, bacilli, and fungi, which are eaten 
 are killed and undergo more or less change. Metsch- 
 nikoff therefore called these cells phagocytes. 
 
 I clearly demonstrated the principal phases of this 
 phagocyte irritation with freshly-prepared micro- 
 scopic slides during the course of the lecture. 
 
 It follows, therefore, positively, that what we term 
 inflammation is not a passive process but is the re- 
 sult of the activity of living cells, when viewed from 
 a cellular-pathological standpoint. The greater the 
 irritation occasioned by the cause of the disease, the 
 more intense are the reactionary manifestations — in 
 other words, the greater is the accumulation of migra- 
 tory leucocytes. The inflammatory process is there- 
 fore a struggle between the phagocytes and the local 
 accumulation of the products of disease. Many of 
 the bacteria are pursued by the leucocytes, and where 
 the strength of one of the latter is insufficient to over- 
 power the former, they frequently coalesce and form 
 plasmodia, in order to accomplish their work. From 
 the results obtained by the comparison of many par- 
 allel ex]:>eriments, we can conclude that the original 
 impetus of reaction against a given irritation consists 
 in an accumulation of phagocytes around the foreign 
 body, or around the displaced cell. 
 
 The many opinions expressed in medical literature 
 
RELATION TO HOMCEOPATHY. 21 
 
 regarding the relation of tubercle bacilli to giant 
 
 © • © © 
 
 cells agree that here also the question is one of a 
 struggle between bacilli and phagocytes. 
 
 Inasmuch as the phagocytes seem to play the most 
 important part in inflammatory conditions, and, as 
 we also know that the amoebae are extremely sensi- 
 tive to changes of temperature, we must pay especial 
 attention to the biological reaction existing between 
 the activity of phagocytes and certain degrees of tem- 
 perature. As the investigations of Max Schulze 
 teach us that the motions of leucocytes are quickened 
 by raising the temperature 45° C, we may conclude 
 that a febrile temperature must result in an increased 
 activity of the phagocytes. All this tends to lead us 
 to the conclusion that the elevated temperatures of 
 infectious diseases assist the phagocytes in their 
 struggle against the disease-producing microbes. The 
 theory teaching the utility of fever is based upon the 
 fact that the elevation of temperature exerts a bene- 
 ficial effect by causing an increased activity of the 
 phagocytes, and that these can accomplish their task 
 more easily in a higher temperature than when their 
 functional activity becomes weakened by an artificial 
 lowering of the temperature. 
 
 We must therefore regard the phagocytes as the 
 carriers of the curative forces of Nature. Koch, the 
 master of bacteriology, admits that the bacilli are still 
 alive in the younger giant-cells, while in the older 
 ones they are already dead, and that the giant-cells 
 eat and then kill the bacilli. When we regard this 
 
22 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 matter from this standpoint it follows that in infec- 
 tious diseases the disease on the whole represents a 
 battle between two living organisms, a battle between 
 bacteria and phagocytes. 
 
 It is understood, of course, that what I have said 
 is applicable only to medical-symptomatic antipyresis, 
 for the hydrotherapeutic method when rightly ap- 
 plied, must be considered a causal antipyretic in ac- 
 cordance with biological laws, inasmuch as the oxi- 
 dation process going on in the tissues is increased, 
 and not lowered by this method. The process, how- 
 ever, which we term inflammation in reality repre- 
 sents a useful agent, the action of which has a 
 tendency to establish a healthy reaction in the animal 
 organization, and is to be regarded, with its accom- 
 panying elevation of temperature, as a process favor- 
 able to the diseased organism and one tending to 
 restoration of health. 
 
 What relationship, do you suppose, exists between 
 this therapeutic view and the one assumed by Vir- 
 chow ? Here we plainly see how different is patho- 
 logical reasoning and therapeutic reasoning. 
 
 Virchow says, as you will remember, in regard to 
 the treatment of pneumonia, that the danger of the 
 disease lies in the fever, and that this, above all, 
 must be controlled. This is the conviction of the 
 master — why, then, should we be surprised if the 
 great mass of practicing physicians follow his foot- 
 steps ? He himself says that these procedures do not 
 appear to be cellular-therapeutic in nature, but are 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 23 
 
 nevertheless eminently so. Heavens ! In accordance 
 with this acceptation every invasion of the organism, 
 even when clue to the effects of a fatal bullet, is to be 
 considered "cellular." To apply the cell-doctrine in 
 such a way to therapeutics and explain cellular thera- 
 peutic action in such a manner, is a most convenient 
 method of solving the problem of " localization." 
 Beyond all doubt, Virchow's therapeutic views must 
 be changed and adapted to these indisputable facts as 
 now revealed by such microscopic organisms as the 
 bacilli and phagocytes. A complete transformation 
 of therapeutic opinions will, however, only occur 
 when such men as Prof. Strassburger, Flemming, 
 Pfitzner, Jurany, myself, and a few other new men, 
 succeed in demonstrating to the medical world gen- 
 erally the natural configurations of finer morpholog- 
 ical changes of living cells, and thereby show the 
 wonderful vital activity of cell life. . . . 
 
 Virchow's frequently incorrect therapeutic propo- 
 sitions induced me to say the following in a work es- 
 pecially directed to him : "Despite the acknowl- 
 edged value of the principles of localization by 
 therapeutics, despite the prominence and recognizance 
 given to the value of the facts discovered and the ad- 
 vantages to be derived therefrom by medicine, I 
 cannot refrain from saying that when medicine has 
 reached a higher stage of development by means of 
 the paths opened by toxicology, therapeutics also, 
 influenced to a certain extent by a mode of inter- 
 preting symptoms, and by misunderstanding the true 
 
24 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 object of our school, may become blemished in the 
 purity of its operations." 
 
 As a scientific follower of the doctrines of Hahne- 
 mann, I have always endeavored, in keeping with the 
 progressive spirit of the time, to give to the same a 
 suitable, substantial basis, and one in accordance with 
 the scientific knowledge of the day. With the ad- 
 vance of science, homoeopathy has only gained in 
 importance, for the onward strides of development 
 reveal still higher degrees of vitality. The illumi- 
 nating torch of the doctrine of specifics has passed 
 from hand to hand for nearly a century, and the 
 "symptomatic" spirit will finally be put to flight 
 entirely thereby. I must confess that I cannot des- 
 ignate Hahnemann's method the only starting-point 
 for investigations and experiments in medicine ; I 
 therefore make the following distinctions (excluding 
 operative work and specialties) : 
 
 I. Symptomatic specific medicine, or the application 
 of drugs on palliative principles, and not based upon 
 the cause of disease. 
 
 II. Causal-specific medical therapeutics : 
 
 a. Homoeo-therapeutics. 
 
 b. The doctrine of chemical antidotes. 
 
 c. Me tallo- therapeutics. 
 
 III. The biological, not medicinal (i.e., using no 
 drugs) method : 
 
 a. Hydro-therapeutics, balneology, climatology ; 
 
 b. Electro-therapeutics ; 
 
 c. Massage and gymnastics. 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 25 
 
 d. Dietetic method of cure and ^etiological prophy- 
 laxis. 
 
 The scientific, educated physician must clearly de- 
 fine these various methods of treatment, and be well 
 versed in the proper application of each, in order to 
 do justice to his calling; the knowledge thereof 
 should, however, be made certain by an obligatory 
 course established by a faculty. 
 
 All this preceding matter was necessary, in order 
 to do justice to your questions. 
 
 Your first question, then, into which class of cura- 
 tive methods is Koch's system to be placed, can be 
 answered with precision. 
 
 Koch terms his remedy a specific, and says it is 
 specific against the tubercular processes. As you are 
 already acquainted with my classification, it will ap- 
 pear correct to you, in consideration of what he him- 
 self says regarding the action of his remedy, if I add 
 to this attribute " specific," the epithet " causal." 
 Therefore, it is to be placed in the second class of 
 curative methods. As we moreover know that Koch 
 is master in his own field of investigation, that of the 
 bacilli, and as his remedy is to be regarded as the re- 
 sult of combined inductive experimental methods, so 
 far known to Koch alone, and as these are also of a 
 biological nature, the term " scientific causal specific " 
 cannot be denied his remedy. 
 
 Your second question is as follows : " What is my 
 opinion of the value of Koch's remedy as a curative 
 agent?" 
 
26 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 This question, regarded from my standpoint, is one 
 not so easily answered. Koch says : " The most im- 
 portant quality of this remedy is its specific action 
 upon tubercular processes." In considering this 
 question more closely, I shall keep in view only its 
 action in tuberculosis of the lungs. 
 
 The diagnosis of this disease in the present condi- 
 tion of things seems greatly simplified by demon- 
 strating the presence of the tubercle bacilli of Koch, 
 and it is understood, of course, that the remedy is 
 applicable only to those cases in which the sputa con- 
 tain bacilli. Here, however, I must observe, that 
 five years ago at my clinic, Dr. Baudis carefully ex- 
 amined the sputa of those suffering from diseased 
 lungs, and out of 100 chronic cases the sputa of only 
 20.23 contained bacilli ; and moreover, it is to be re- 
 marked, that in the sputa of many of those discharged 
 as cured at the time, Dr. Baudis found bacilli, while 
 on the other hand very many cases terminated fatally 
 in which the sputa were proven to be free of bacilli. 
 After many experiences of this sort, clinicians con- 
 sidered the statement of Koch, that his new remedy 
 was an aid to diagnosis of the greatest importance. 
 According to Koch, his fluid is to be used for diag- 
 nostic purposes in such cases where negative results 
 are obtained by examination of the sputum; as it is 
 capable of producing such a characteristic reaction, 
 even in a dose of 0.01 when there is present any latent 
 tubercular process, it will in doubtful cases, and in 
 such where physical examination gives no clue to the 
 
RELATION TO HOMCEOPATHV. 27 
 
 nature of the disorder, reveal the hidden presence of 
 this disease. Here we are met by the question, will 
 Koch's remedy prove itself worthy of so much im- 
 portance as a criterion of disease in all cases ; will 
 there not be some intercurring cases which may mis- 
 lead clinicians? This is a question of the future. 
 On the whole, you may see that the case is not as 
 simple as it appears. At least one thing is certain, 
 that the clinician must absolutely keep in view all 
 other diagnostic points in order to keep from going 
 astray in such cases where the diagnostic aid spoken 
 of leaves him in the lurch. Therefore we must re- 
 store to its proper place the pathological histology of 
 tuberculosis which has been so greatly neglected in 
 consequence of the bacillus theory, for by its assistance 
 we are better enabled to diagnose and understand the 
 special as well as general relations, conditions and 
 circumstances of this disease. 
 
 In regard to this, however, we meet with consider- 
 able difficulty, as the opinions of able specialists of 
 pathological anatomy greatly differ concerning the 
 various morbid conditions which come under the 
 heading of " pulmonary tuberculosis." Yirchow 
 (who, in company with his deceased friend Bern- 
 hardt, may be regarded as the originator of correct 
 views on this subject), discovered this to his sorrow, 
 and at the last convention of scientists at Weisbaden 
 was so disconcerted by the confused discussion on 
 this subject, that he left the room. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, we need not be surprised that the views 
 
28 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 of practicing physicians greatly differ upon this sub- 
 ject. Of course, I do not here speak of the pronounced 
 cases of phthisis met in practice. It is a very differ- 
 ent matter to diagnosticate a cavern, and the insidious 
 beginning of a dangerous lung affection, especially in 
 individuals who have not the physical traits of phthis- 
 ical subjects. It would be a great acquisition if 
 Koch's remedy proved itself a reliable diagnostic 
 guide. 
 
 Concerning the curative power of the remedy, 
 Koch says : " Those treated in the initial stage of 
 phthisis were all, in the course of four to six weeks, 
 entirely free from all symptoms of the disease, so that 
 they may be regarded as cured. Also those patients 
 having cavities of moderate size in the lungs were 
 greatly improved and nearly cured In conse- 
 quence of these experiences, I would like to assume," 
 continues Koch, "that phthisis can be cured with 
 certainty in the first stage." Koch says, "only then 
 will this new remedy become a blessing to suffering 
 humanity when it becomes possible to treat all cases 
 of tuberculosis (as exactly defined by the bacillus 
 theory) in the early stages, and when the development 
 of the neglected serious forms of the disease is no longer 
 possible." Would Koch write all this if he did not 
 think so? — this industrious, secluded pioneer of sci- 
 ence, this honest investigator cannot be treated with 
 superficial doubt. The experimental results with 
 which he astonished the world, and which so suddenly 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 29 
 
 produced a complete transformation of medical views, 
 must be regarded with deserving seriousness. 
 
 This obliges us to consider carefully what he says 
 regarding the action of his remedy. Koch asserts 
 that his remedy does not destroy the bacilli, but that 
 the tissues enclosing the tubercle bacilli are influ- 
 enced by the action of the fluid. It is capable of act- 
 ing only on living tubercular tissue and has no 
 action on dead masses, as, for instance, those which 
 have undergone caseous degeneration. Marked dis- 
 turbances of circulation occur in the tissues which 
 enclose the tubercles, as indicated by the visible red- 
 ness and swelling, and necrotic changes occur to a 
 greater or less degree in accordance with the manner 
 in which the drug is allowed to act. This very pe- 
 culiarity of the remedy must be carefully watched in 
 order to take advantage of its curative action. 
 
 We here meet with a remarkable phenomenon. A 
 remedy, praised as reliable by its discoverer, a man 
 of truth, and accepted by the jubilant medical men 
 with the greatest confidence as a panacea for tuber- 
 culosis, becomes an object of hostile attack on account 
 of the many imitative curative experiments of others, 
 and is declared by some to be a disappointment, and 
 by others even dangerous. The intense expectation 
 regarding the absolute positive therapeutic value of 
 Koch's remedy was transmitted from the so-called 
 medical world to the laity, where, in mathematical 
 progression, it assumed such a degree of exaltation 
 that tranquil medication became impossible. It is 
 
30 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 not likely that a remedy will ever be found which 
 will render us immortal, and yet, in the beginning, 
 the strings of hope were tuned to such a pitch. 
 Carelessness in the selection of cases, perhaps too 
 bold procedures of some experimenters, may be the 
 cause of the antagonistic views appearing here and 
 there of late concerning the therapeutic value of the 
 remedy. Does not the discoverer himself speak of 
 the necessity of caution? The words of Michael 
 Angelo here come to mind : " There is a statue in 
 every block of marble, but we must hew away the 
 superfluous." This is the task of art — even in the 
 domain of therapeutics. For this reason I follow 
 with the greatest interest the results of the curative 
 experiments of Prof. Koloman M tiller and Dr. Hoeh- 
 holt, inasmuch as they strictly individualize in the 
 selection of their subjects for the treatment by " Tu- 
 berculin " (propose this in place vf Kochine), and 
 are very correct in their treatment of the patients. 
 I am convinced that Koch's remedy undoubtedly de- 
 serves the highest regard, only the methodical pro- 
 cedures of its application must first be learned of the 
 master. The therapeutic value of this remedy would 
 not depreciate if we regarded the possibility that a 
 certain fractional part of the favorable results was 
 due to the palliative means formerly employed to as- 
 sist the action of the lungs and heart (as digitalis, 
 morphia, and the antipyretics), for in judging the 
 action of Koch's remedy we must not forget that the 
 biological regulatory arrangements of life do not stand 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 31 
 
 still. Statistics will clear up this matter for us later 
 
 Oil. 
 
 In speaking of reprovings in one of my works, en- 
 titled " Karyomitosis," I said : That if we, in full 
 accordance with biological-medical principles, expect 
 nothing wonderful while determining the therapeutic 
 value of a remedy, but are satisfied by sensible de- 
 mands which harmonize with physiological possibil- 
 ities and laws of life, we will not be disappointed in 
 our expectations. We must never lose sight of the 
 guiding principle of biological thought." This guid- 
 ing principle I find entirely wanting in the recent 
 pathological-anatomical autopsies of Virchow, which 
 were made upon subjects who died after being treated 
 by Koch's injections ; for overlooking the fact that 
 several of the cases described by Virchow must be re- 
 garded by every thinking physician as cases in which 
 a fatal termination was inevitable, the intense local- 
 specific action of the remedy may have hastened the 
 end. Prof. Virchow's precise and strictly scientific 
 demonstrations proved this an indubitable fact. Per- 
 sonally, I was only the more convinced by the facts 
 laid bare by Virchow that Koch's remedy must con- 
 tain a heroic specific local-acting substance. Physi- 
 cians, therefore, instead of falling from their happy 
 state of mind into one of the greatest depression in 
 consequence of Virchow's enunciations, should give to 
 Koch's remedy the regard it so highly deserves. 
 
 If Virchow, who to-day is but a lukewarm friend 
 of specifics, and who, moreover, is neither a clinician 
 
32 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 nor therapeutist, if he, as the first man making an 
 autopsy, had viewed with a friendly eye the results 
 of his investigations, then would medical thought 
 have made a marked onward stride and have ob- 
 tained clearer views. 
 
 The cases, however, in which experiments with 
 the new remedy are harmless and beneficial are to be 
 selected with the greatest care. This is only possible 
 when the prover is skilled in diagnosis and prognosis, 
 and is moreover a thoughtful clinician and thera- 
 peutist. Therefore, should Koch call to his followers 
 the words of Hahnemann : " Copy after, but copy 
 faithfully/' 
 
 After Koch's remedy has been thoroughly estab- 
 lished and recognized as one having a local-direct- 
 causal-specific action (its action at present forming an 
 absolute material basis for it to rest upon), and only 
 the relations and counter-relations of the remedy are 
 to be made evident, it is to be hoped that exact 
 experimental researches into the finer details of the 
 remedy will record undoubted favorable effects within 
 the bounds of reason, and so lead to the formation of 
 a clearer judgment. The clearness of the decision of 
 the experimenter is proportioned to the amount of 
 detail knowledge at his command. Competency of 
 judgment, however, has many gradations, and only 
 the decisions of a few may be regarded as trustworthy. 
 
 Your third question is as follows : " What rela- 
 tionship exists between the experimental methods of 
 Koch and the postulated reforms of Hahnemann ? " 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 33 
 
 I regret that it would lead me too far from my 
 present purpose if I culled some thoughts from my 
 " Hahnemann Redivivus " and interwove them with 
 my subject. You would follow me with pleasure; there 
 is so much contained therein which gives light to the 
 educated layman ! For Hahnemann wrote for healthy, 
 sound minds, and was an example of medical per- 
 spicuity. His reforming principles, proclaimed a 
 century ago, have constantly grown in importance 
 since the time when he first appeared i n Huf eland' s 
 Journal, in 1796. Their innate force, however, was 
 only revealed in our time, within the last decennium. 
 The fundamental principles of Hahnemann proved 
 themselves to be the real forces which were urging 
 forward the multiplication and perfection of methods. 
 The attempt has often been made to ignore the prag- 
 matic historical claims of right and priority to these 
 principles, but this is no longer possible. Hahne- 
 mann is and will remain a law-giving reformer ! For 
 he who thoroughly rights the past and successfully 
 combats the errors of his own time, and who, more- 
 over, establishes principles for the gradual develop- 
 ment of science, is a reformer, a prophet ! 
 
 Now, to the answering of your question. 
 
 The process of crystallization, even when mental, 
 should not be disturbed by any commotion ; proba- 
 bly, therefore, it was not a very cautious proceeding 
 to compare Koch with Hahnemann, and strive to 
 identify the methods of one with those of the other. 
 
 The reformative doctrines of Hahnemann agree 
 
34 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 with the methods of Koch in general, but do not 
 agree in an especial manner with the details of the 
 methodical requirements ; there still remains, how- 
 ever, the following important points of similarity : 
 1. Koch, in investigating the action of his remedy, 
 experimented with but a single substance upon the 
 healthy organism. 2. After determining its action, 
 he made experiments with the same substance upon 
 the diseased organism. 3. He applied his remedy in 
 a diluted form, as formulated by Hahnemann during 
 his earlier labors, and as is still customary among 
 scientific thinkers advocating his principles ; that is, 
 a dilution of such strength was used as would influence 
 the diseased tissue, but would have no harmful effect 
 upon the healthy structures. 4. Koch's efforts were 
 directed to the discovery of a causal specific-remedy 
 through combined experiment. This is in accordance 
 with the methods of Hahnemann, but the manner of 
 applying the remedy (by injection) is not. 
 
 It is an ominous trait of the present age to deny 
 the justice due him, and this is the reason why pro- 
 gress in medicine is so slow. Meanwhile, the spirit 
 of the Hahnemannian doctrine bursts forth at oue 
 time here, at another there ; every clear, thinking 
 mind that can trace the threads of thought which 
 connect the past with the present, and watch their 
 further progression, will recognize that through the 
 influence of this great thinker the problems will 
 slowly but surely be solved. That which I have 
 stated, to some extent already finds its affirmation in 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 35 
 
 the fact, that at the present day it is possible to ask 
 such a question as I have answered you. But some- 
 thing of still greater importance will follow in answer- 
 ing your fourth query. 
 
 You ask, " What is the relationship, in a more di- 
 rect sense, existing between the homoeopathic curative 
 principles and the curative experiments of Koch ?" 
 To do full justice to this question, a digression is ne- 
 cessary. 
 
 In 1873, after being chosen professor of pathology 
 and therapeutics, I saw that the orthodox physicians 
 began to intrigue against me in consequence of the 
 views which I promulgated. I attended, in company 
 with my friend, Dr. Clotar Muller, now deceased, the 
 44th general convention of the Homoeopathic Central 
 Society of Germany at Buda-Pesth, at which assembly 
 the foreign advocates of my theories were well repre- 
 sented. As president of the assembly I announced 
 openly and unreservedly, in the form of an opening 
 speech, the position which I took as a member of the 
 faculty, and what I deemed necessary of acceptance 
 for the scientific development of my especial branch, 
 and solemnly declared that I considered the doctrine 
 of specifics in the Hahneinannian sense as the central 
 point of my labors, and one which, on the whole, 
 tended in our direction, but that I subordinated the 
 specific law of similarity to the former, inasmuch as 
 the law of similars is embraced as one of lesser exten- 
 sion within the more universal law of specifics. That 
 the law of specifics was no longer unknown to the 
 
36 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 medical world, inasmuch as every physician was ac- 
 quainted with the existence of remedies which, when 
 taken into the system, show a constant and peculiar 
 affinity to certain tissues, and thereby cause a peculiar 
 alteration in the anatomical structure and function of 
 the part. But that the fact that these changes fre- 
 quently occurred on the principle of the law of simi- 
 lars, as yet awaited general recognition. In the 
 second place, that I designate this law of similarity, 
 as a strictly causal one, and no longer wished to see 
 it dealt with in a superficial manner ; that in making- 
 drug provings we should not be satisfied with the 
 manifestation of mere subjective or general functional 
 symptoms, but in accordance with the scientific 
 knowledge of our day also include in the field of our 
 observations the finer pathological-physiological, ana- 
 tomical and chemical manifestations. The specific 
 relations of single drugs to the various tissues must 
 be closely studied, and their genetic changes noted, 
 so that the nature of artificial drug diseases may be 
 better and more clearly understood. In other words, 
 drug provings should rest upon a cellular-pathologi- 
 cal basis, and, supported by pathological physiology, 
 develop into a cellular-therapeutics. In the third 
 place, that it must be acknowledged that the funda- 
 mental thought of Hahnemann's Organon clearly ex- 
 presses, that not homoeopaths, in a restricted sense, 
 are to be formed, but physicians, who know how to 
 apply a proper remedy in a proper way. In the 
 fourth place, that the dilution of medicine should not 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 37 
 
 be carried to a point beyond scientific recognition, 
 and that the proper application of our direct causal 
 acting remedies consists in using them in such 
 strength and quantity that they will act only on the 
 diseased tissues and leave the healthy ones intact. 
 Finally, that I do not consider the biological-medical 
 therapeutics of Hahnemann a universal one, inasmuch 
 as it covers only that department of practical activity 
 where medicinal therapeutic causal cures can be 
 effected. 
 
 This address, at the time, was considered as a 
 doubtful achievement in the history of homoeopathy. 
 In my reply to this attack, I expressed the opinion 
 plainly, that my address might possibty also be re- 
 garded as an achievement in the history of general 
 medicine. 
 
 Conformably with the views just expressed, I de- 
 clared, as shown in my open letter to Virchow, en- 
 titled "The Keform of Medical Therapeutics," that 
 the idea from which the word homoeopathy sprang, is 
 furthermore only applicable to our peculiar experi- 
 mental pathology, the object of which is to compare 
 genetically the artificial drug diseases with natural 
 diseases, they having generated, according to a hy- 
 pothesis, from causes which act in a similar manner ; 
 and that to the therapeutics evolved from this pa- 
 thology, another name than the one now in vogue 
 should be given. 
 
 As a transition to another name to be determined 
 upon later on, it should be called homoeo-therapeutics. 
 
38 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 From all that has been said, it is evident that I 
 regard only the fundamental principles of the great- 
 reformer, aided by all the scientific knowledge of the 
 day, as the true basis for the scientific development 
 of homoeopathy ; I therefore considered it my duty to 
 present to competent circles this method which T 
 advocate and which is so misunderstood, freed from 
 all impurities, and therefore have based the methods 
 of Hahnemann upon the four following fundamental 
 principles : 
 
 I. Experimental provings with single remedies 
 upon the healthy animal organism, and in continually 
 increased doses ; with the recognition of all functional 
 pathological-physiological, pathologieal-histological, 
 chemical and toxical changes. 
 
 II. A thorough genetic comparison of these changes 
 with the corresponding changes occurring in natural 
 disease, and hypothetically due to the same cause. 
 
 III. The application of but a single remedy for 
 therapeutic purposes, and one in accordance with the 
 laws of similarity as taught by preceding experiments 
 on the healthy organism, it being a causal specific 
 action on the tissues resembling the various genetic 
 phases of the corresponding diseases of the tissues. 
 
 IV. The application of the causal-specific remedy 
 in such a manner and dose as will answer the thera- 
 peutic purposes without causing any accompanying 
 pathogenic action upon the healthy tissues. 
 
 For the purpose of obtaining these therapeutic re- 
 sults, I established six degrees of attenuation accord- 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 39 
 
 ing to the decimal scale, the quantitative relations 
 being as follows : 
 
 I degree contains 0.1 gramme of the principle. 
 
 II degree contains 0.01 
 
 III " " 0.001 
 
 IV " " 0.0001 
 V " " 0.00001 
 
 VI " " 0.000001 
 
 The shibboleth, similia similibus, I formulate as 
 follows : " After the combined inductive empyric 
 method of Hahnemann, such drugs are used (in rela- 
 tively small doses) as curative agents, in accordance 
 with the genetic phases of the internal morbid pro- 
 cesses, which will effect in a specific (direct, local) 
 manner those tissues in the diseased organism, which 
 are affected when the drug is introduced for experi- 
 mental purposes (in relatively larger doses), and 
 which is capable of producing pathological, physio- 
 logical and histological changes similar to those occur- 
 ring in the disease. 
 
 These principles of reform have borne good fruit ; 
 for instance, for the last fixe years, lectures have been 
 given on the doctrines of Hahnemann at the Univer- 
 sity of Greifswald. 
 
 In order to be better enabled to answer your ques- 
 tion, it is necessary for me to add the following in 
 regard to the differentiations I have established in the 
 theory of specific action. Hahnemann in his time 
 made a distinction between remedies having a posi- 
 
40 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 tively curative action and those which were problem- 
 atic. The first he termed specifics. In this class he 
 placed china. In order to better understand the 
 action of these specifics, and in order to discover new 
 ones, he established the principle that they, as far as 
 their former action was concerned, should be proven 
 on the healthy organism. The provings which he 
 made with china upon himself while in a healthy 
 condition, produced several symptoms characteristic 
 of intermittent fever. In accordance with his newly 
 established principles of similarity, he termed china, 
 which positively cures intermittent fever, a homoeo- 
 pathic remedy for certain forms of intermittent fever, 
 inasmuch as it produced on the healthy organism a 
 similar disorder. Subsequent experiments record no 
 reliable proving producing a true intermittent febrile 
 attack. As the nature of intermittent fever was not 
 known until 1884, the action of the remedy could 
 not be explained. It was only demonstrated within 
 the last few years that the blood of ague patients con- 
 tained micrococci and also annular bodies, some mo- 
 tionless, others provided with flagellae which are in 
 constant motion, the body meanwhile assuming the 
 most curious shapes, and finally returning to its 
 original round form. The infection of the blood by 
 these malarial agents is productive of intermittent 
 fever. The injection of the smallest quantity of blood 
 drawn from a subject suffering from ague, will pro- 
 duce, as shown by experiment, an actual well-devel- 
 oped form of the disease. The invasion of the sys- 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 41 
 
 tern by these specific bacilli occurs through the 
 lungs, and may be very slow in nature. 
 
 Even strong, healthy individuals, who are capable 
 of great resistance to disease, may be infected in a 
 chronic manner by living in a malarial region. 
 These bacilli, when once introduced into the circula- 
 tion, may, without producing any marked immediate 
 action, accumulate in the spleen and remain quiescent 
 for some time until finally, by some internal or ex- 
 ternal cause, they are driven violently into the cir- 
 culation. Recent clinical experiences show that in- 
 dividuals who have had an attack of ague and have 
 not completely recovered therefrom, may be suddenly 
 seized with a paroxysm of intermittent fever after the 
 administration of quinine for some other disease ; the 
 specific intermittent action of the quinine, and its re- 
 lation to the nervous system and these microscopic 
 bearers of contagion caused the still latent bacilli to be 
 forced into the circulation, the following reaction of the 
 organism resulting in a typical paroxysm of fever. 
 The nervous system, stimulated by the action of the 
 quinine, drives the dormant bacilli into the circulation, 
 and an attack of intermittent fever is the result. Many 
 such experiences have been lately recorded. This in- 
 disputably indicates that in intermittent fever there 
 exists a causal relationship between the nervous 
 system and the microbes producing the disease. 
 Quinine is moreover curative because it destroys 
 and makes impotent the bacilli causing the disease. 
 Hahnemann, who resided a long time at Sieben- 
 
42 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 biirgen, as family physician to Baron v. Bruckentlial, 
 may have, by inhaling the air of the Hungarian 
 swamps, taken into his system a large number of 
 these bacilli, which, collecting in the spleen, pro- 
 duced but slight disturbances in one of his sturdy 
 constitution, until he began his proving of cinchona, 
 when the dormant micro-organisms of malaria, driven 
 into the circulation, produced the symptoms of inter- 
 mittent fever which he recorded. Although cin- 
 chona and quinine are valuable specific homoeopathic 
 remedies for innumerable diseases, they cannot be 
 regarded wholly as such in intermittent fever. 
 
 Phosphorus has a specific homoeopathic action in 
 certain diseases of the bones. Kassovitz proved this 
 conclusively from a histogenetic standpoint, in Zeit- 
 schriftfitr Klinische Median, he showing that phos- 
 phorus when introduced into the circulation of grow- 
 ing animals in large doses, produced changes in the 
 osseous structures (as demonstrated by the micro- 
 scope) similar to those occurring in morbid pro- 
 cesses which he cured by small doses of the same 
 drug with the greatest success. 
 
 Arsenic is a similarly homoeopathic specific remedy 
 in cholera. Virchow says, in the 47th vol. of his 
 Archives, that in arsenic poisoning there are severe 
 pains in the abdomen, great thirst, constant diar- 
 rhoea and vomiting, small, scarcely perceptible, 
 pulse, very weak heart-sounds, cyanosis of the face 
 and lips, with quick respiration, and, particularly in 
 experiments, very cold skin, subsultus tendinum, 
 
RELATION TO HOMCEOPATHY. 43 
 
 cramps in the calves of the legs ; so that all the 
 symptoms of cholera are presented, and, moreover, 
 microscopic and macroscopic investigations show the 
 same pathological-anatomical-histological changes in 
 the bowel as occur in cholera. " It requires," he con- 
 tinues, " no further demonstration to show how sim- 
 ilar are the changes occurring in arsenic poisoning 
 and those presented by cholera." Arsenic, there- 
 fore, produces in large doses not only the general 
 functional symptoms of cholera, but also shows (in 
 accordance with my postulated method of proving) 
 those pathological -histological genetic changes in the 
 diseased mucous membrane of the bowel, which, in 
 small closes in an actual case of cholera, it is capable 
 of curing. 
 
 We will now consider what relation the action of 
 Koch's remedy holds to this question, and, guided by. 
 the expressions of Prof. Koch himself, seek to answer 
 the same. 
 
 Koch describes the discovery of the new remedy in 
 the following manner : Inoculation with purely 
 cultivated, living tubercle bacilli produces different 
 symptoms in healthy guinea-pigs than in those al- 
 ready infected by tuberculosis. In healthy guinea- 
 pigs an ulcerating spot is formed in the skin which 
 remains throughout the life of the animal. In guinea- 
 pigs already infected by tuberculosis, the skin in a 
 diameter of 0.05 surrounding the spot of inoculation 
 becomes darkly discolored ; at the point of inocula- 
 tion the skin becomes necrotic, leaving behind a 
 
44 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 superficial ulcer which heals permanently, without 
 having infected the adjacent lymphatic glands. But 
 the behavior of tubercle bacilli which are dead and 
 which have been triturated and washed in water, is 
 very different. Inoculation of healthy guinea-pigs 
 with this fluid produces local suppuration, while 
 tuberculous guinea-pigs are killed. If, however, the 
 dose is so far diminished that the animal remains 
 alive, there is developed a necrosis of the skin in the 
 region of inoculation ; if, however, the fluid is still 
 further diluted, marked improvement is noticed in 
 the wound of inoculation ; it grows smaller and 
 cicatrizes (which never occurs without such treat- 
 ment), and the lymphatic glands which were pre- 
 viously swollen diminish in size. The use of these 
 dilutions of dead tubercle bacilli was accompanied, 
 however, by these unfavorable circumstances, that 
 the tubercle bacilli remained at the point of infection 
 and were not absorbed, whereby they produced sup- 
 puration. Koch, therefore, concluded that the cura- 
 tive principle was a soluble substance, which was 
 dissolved by the fluids of the body environing the 
 tubercle bacilli and brought pretty rapidly into the 
 general circulation, while the substratum causative of 
 suppuration remained behind in the tubercle bacilli. 
 Koch endeavored, therefore, to abstract the curative 
 agent itself from the destroyed tubercle bacilli. Fi- 
 nally he succeeded in obtaining a 40-50 per cent, 
 glycerine solution of the substance from the tubercle 
 bacilli, which he forthwith tested on men and 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 45 
 
 animals. Koch's remedy for tuberculosis is therefore 
 a glycerine extract obtained from the pure culture of 
 tubercle bacilli. This fluid, made turbid by sub- 
 stances which are innocuous to the human organism, 
 may be further purified by manipulation with alcohol, 
 but this may be omitted because of the expense. 
 Koch says at present only theories can be formed re- 
 garding the composition of the effective agent. He 
 considers it a derivative of albuminoid bodies, and 
 places it in the grouj) of the so-called toXalbumens, 
 remarking that the quantity of the active agent in 
 the extract is very small — he considering it a frac- 
 tional part of 1 per cent. Koch says : "If my sup- 
 position is correct, we have to deal with a substance 
 the action of which in tubercular diseased organisms 
 far exceeds that of the most powerful medicinal agents 
 known to us." 
 
 The results of experiments on the healthy organ- 
 ism and the curative process Koch describes as fol- 
 lows : " The symptoms occurring in healthy man I 
 have experienced myself; they are briefly as follows : 
 Three or four hours after the injection drawing jmins 
 in the limbs, lassitude, inclination to cough, oppression 
 of breathing, these rapidly increasing in severity ; 
 during the fifth hour a remarkably violent shaking 
 chill occurred, lasting nearly one hour ; at the same 
 time there was present nausea, vomiting, and rise of 
 temperature to 3\).6°. After about twelve hours there 
 was an amelioration of all these symptoms, the tem- 
 perature sank, and on the following day reached 
 
46 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 normal ; heaviness in the limbs and lassitude con- 
 tinued for several days. The manifestations, how- 
 ever, are entirely different when the same quantity of 
 the remedy is injected into a tuberculous subject. 
 Then there occurs a violent general and also local re- 
 action. To children we gave 0.001, and, if very 
 weak, only 0.0005 ccm., and have thereby obtained 
 a very strong but not alarming reaction. The general 
 reaction consists in a febrile attack, generally begin- 
 ning with rigor, the temperature rising above 39°, 
 often to 40°, and even to 41° ; at the same time there 
 is present pain in the limbs, irritation to cough, great 
 lassitude, frequent nausea and vomiting." These 
 symptoms are only general symptoms, for they occur 
 in various forms of disease. In regard to the local 
 changes Koch says : " The local reaction can be ob- 
 served in such cases where the tubercular disease is 
 visible, for instance lupous ulceration of the skin. 
 Here are noticed changes which show the specific 
 anti-tubercular action of the remedy in a most sur- 
 prising manner. The lupous places begin to swell 
 and redden, usually even before the onset of the 
 chill. During the fever swelling and redness increase 
 more and more, and may attain a high degree of in- 
 tensity, so that the lupous tissue becomes brownish- 
 red and necrotic. At more sharply defined foci of 
 lupus the greatly swollen and brownish-red discol- 
 ored spot was frequently surrounded by a whitish 
 zone nearly a centimetre broad, and this again circum- 
 scribed by a broad, intensely red margin. After sub- 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 47 
 
 sidence of the fever the swelling of the lupous places 
 gradually decreases, and after two or three days may 
 have entirely disappeared. The lupous centres are 
 covered with crusts consisting of the exudated serum 
 which has become dry by exposure to the air. After 
 two or three weeks these crusts, which have become 
 very thick, fall off and leave occasionally, even after 
 but one injection, a smooth, red cicatrix. It is to be 
 considered of especial importance that the changes 
 just described are limited exclusively to those por- 
 tions of the skin affected by lupus ; even the smallest 
 and apparently most insignificant nodule hidden 
 away in the cicatricial tissue is attacked by the pro- 
 cess, and becomes visible in consequence of the swell- 
 ing and change of color, while on the other hand the 
 cicatricial tissue proper, in which all the lupous 
 changes have occurred, remains intact. The obser- 
 vation of a patient suffering from lupus, who is 
 treated by this agent, is so instructive, and, at the 
 same time, so convincing in regard to the specific 
 nature of the remedy, that every one wishing to make 
 use of it, should first begin his experiments, if at all 
 possible, with the treatment of lupus. Reaction in 
 the lungs cannot be observed, unless one considers 
 increased cough and expectoration after the first in- 
 jection in those suffering from lung affections as a 
 local reaction. In such cases the general reaction 
 predominates. At the same time, one must assume 
 that here also the same changes occur, as are directly 
 observed in lupus. The manifestations of reaction 
 
48 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 here described have occurred without exception in 
 all experiments so far made after a dose of 0.01 ccm. 
 if there was present any tubercular process whatever 
 in the body." 
 
 Lately, Prof. Koch described the specific action of 
 his remedy upon tubercular tissues as follows : He 
 establishes the fact that tubercle bacilli in their de- 
 velopment in living tissue, as well as when cultured 
 artificially, produce certain substances, which in va- 
 rious ways act in a harmful manner upon the cells; 
 among these substances there is one which destroys 
 protoplasm, thereby causing cheesy degeneration ; 
 in these cheesy masses the bacilli, deprived of those 
 conditions necessary to their activity, no longer in- 
 crease but die. In the small, gray, newly developed 
 tubercular tissue, a large number of bacilli are found ; 
 while, on the other hand, they are entirely absent in 
 the large, whitish centres which have undergone all 
 the changes of cheesy degeneration. The protoplasm 
 destroying action of the substance is limited, for as 
 soon as the degenerative changes have reached a cer- 
 tain point, the tubercle bacilli decrease in number, 
 and thus their production of this destroying substance 
 becomes less or ceases. In this manner a certain 
 degree of compensation is established, thus causing 
 the extension of the bacilli centres to be so greatly 
 limited. It follows, therefore, that if we artificially 
 bring about a destruction of the cells environing such 
 bacillus foci by introducing the destructive agent, the 
 necrotic changes will be much more extended, and 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 49 
 
 the bacilli will also be destroyed, inasmuch as the 
 conditions necessary to their life become unfavorable. 
 Finally, the destroyed tissue will disintegrate, and 
 becoming separated, will, under favorable circum- 
 stances, be expelled, thus carrying along with it the 
 enclosed bacilli. At all events the vital activity of 
 the bacilli will be so disturbed, that they are much 
 more apt to die than under ordinary circumstances. 
 According to Koch, the curative action of the remedy 
 seems to consist in the production of such changes. 
 It contains a certain quantity of that substance spoken 
 of, which causes a destruction of the cells. A rela- 
 tively larger dose of this substance, given to a healthy 
 subject, also causes an irritation of certain elementary 
 tissues, thereby producing fever and the whole pe- 
 culiar complex of symptoms, without causing any 
 further harm. In a tuberculous subject, however, it 
 requires a much smaller dose of the same substance 
 to act upon certain diseased localities (where the 
 tubercle bacilli vegetate in the tissues and impreg- 
 nate their surroundings with their destructive pro- 
 ducts), and cause a more or less extensive necrosis of 
 the cells, and thereby indirectly a destruction of the 
 bacilli. 
 
 In view of this explanation I am enabled to make 
 the positive assertion that I regard Koch's method 
 an exact scientific confirmation in vindication of 
 isopathy. The latter, as is well known, is a branch 
 deviating from the more advanced Hahnemannian 
 principles, and extends far beyond the limits of the 
 
50 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 law of similarity. Hahnemann's principle is Homio- 
 Pathos (similar disease), that of isopathy is Iso- 
 Pathos (same disease). Isopathy was founded upon 
 a theory, which, at that time, found no scientific sup- 
 port, namely, that contagious diseases contain in the 
 medium of contagion self-curative substances. To 
 this bold, unproven, and greatly ridiculed hypothesis 
 a scientific aspect has been given by the sagacity 
 of Koch's methods. Accordingly, Koch is to be 
 regarded as the scientific founder of the isopathic 
 doctrine, which (if we classify the various medical 
 doctrines according to the guiding principle of their 
 investigations) must be placed in the category of 
 causal -specific medical therapeutics, and be known as 
 iso- therapeutics. 
 
 Jenner's method, that of vaccination, is at present 
 only a prophylactic measure against smallpox. The 
 future will tell whether or no this talented German 
 investigator, in pursuing these newly opened paths, 
 will not succeed in making it also a curative agent. 
 Pasteur is accomplishing a similar object in another 
 direction. 
 
 The answer to your fifth question, "What changes 
 in medical opinion generally is to be expected in 
 consequence of Koch's discovery ?" is perfectly clear. 
 Inasmuch as Koch's method is founded upon a new 
 pathological fact, the bacillus doctrine, which, as a 
 basis of pathology, demands an entirely new line of 
 thought, it must, despite its partial resemblance to 
 the fixed Hahnemannian experimental principles be 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 51 
 
 regarded as an entirely new method. To the view 
 expressed by Prof. Koloman Mueller in one of his 
 lectures, u that from it will emanate incalculable new 
 patient studies and experiments, and that also in the 
 treatment of other diseases, imitative efforts in the 
 same direction will be made and finally bear good 
 fruit," I add the hope that it will be fruitful of good 
 to the whole medical world. 
 
 Koch's method, as has been already stated, is rooted 
 in homoeopathic soil ; his effort is essentially one in 
 accordance with the Hahemannian principle, which 
 seeks after causal-specific remedies ; there is, how- 
 ever, only a resemblance between the two as Koch's 
 method becomes more fully developed; it however 
 discloses new and previously unknown views, and 
 thus causes a most surprising advancement of medi- 
 cal therapeutics ; for it is a fact, that medicine, which 
 is in a constant state of development, has just as many 
 roots, all of which collectively aid its advancement, 
 as there are fields for biological study and methods 
 of investigation. Above all, Koch's method will be 
 of the greatest service in aiding to explain to medicine 
 the important law of specifics. As regards the rest, 
 it is highly probable that Koch's unexpected appear- 
 ance will cause the specific-symptomatic, palliative 
 treatment, so harmful in diseases of the lungs to tot- 
 ter, and will give this method, at least in these forms 
 of disease its death-blow ; if this is happily accom- 
 plished, it will be a great blessing to suffering hu- 
 manity, and a wonderful transformation of medical 
 
52 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 opinion will have to be recorded, for which we can 
 alone be thankful to the suddenly introduced methods 
 of Koch. It is to be hoped that enduring good will 
 be derived therefrom. 
 
 While speaking of symptomatic treatment, I must 
 state that I personally, as a true follower of the 
 Hahnemannian tendencies, practically, as well as 
 theoretically, reject symptomatic remedies, both as 
 regards the patient, as well as myself. It is my 
 object to act upon the cause of disease by causal- 
 specific remedies, and not simply cause an ameliora- 
 tion of annoying symptoms arising therefrom. Cough 
 and expectoration, therefore, do not become an object 
 of treatment ; the same is true of elevation of tem- 
 perature. For I regard the so-called symptom of 
 disease a curative symptom in the majority* of inter- 
 nal diseases. This harmonizes with the method of 
 Koch. 
 
 In saying this, I have unwittingly come upon the 
 last question you ask, which is as follows : " What 
 relation do your methods, especially in diseases of the 
 lungs, hold to those of Koch ?" 
 
 I have always made diseases of the lungs an espe- 
 cial object of investigation, and have made many 
 pathological-histological researches in this field of 
 labor. Professor Arnold (from whom Koch declares 
 he first derived the idea of coagulation-necrosis) says 
 in his " Contributions to the Anatomy of Miliary 
 Tuberculosis "( Virchow's Archives, vol. 88), "through 
 the investigations of Virchow, Colbert and Bakody 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 53 
 
 we have learned the nature and development of mili- 
 ary tubercle of the lungs, and through those of 
 Deiehler, Rindfleisch and Bakody, that of the nodule 
 affecting the adventitia of the bloodvessels." I be- 
 lieve, therefore, that I have accomplished something 
 useful by my histological-researches, and am there- 
 fore justified in calling myself a specialist (in the 
 restricted sense), and of speaking authoritatively on 
 the subject, despite the fact that twenty-five years ago 
 I opposed the hypothesis which could not at that 
 time be proven, that there was present in the alveoli 
 of the lungs a layer of epithelial cells, since then dis- 
 covered by the advancement in knowledge of staining 
 materials. 
 
 Even as late as the 13th of November, 1890, Koch 
 says in the Berlin Medical Weekly: "In what 
 manner the curative process is accomplished cannot 
 at present be definitely stated, as the necessary his- 
 tological investigations have not been made." Less 
 than three months thereafter, supported by Weigert, 
 he attempted to give a histological explanation of his 
 method, the substance of which any expert histologist 
 might have guessed ; but still this explanation could 
 not be called a very exact one. At all events the 
 conclusion could be drawn therefrom, that his remedy 
 does not destroy the bacilli directly, but does so only 
 by its action upon the tubercular tissue impregnated 
 by the remedy, and that it has no action whatever 
 on cheesy degenerated masses. 
 
 I will now endeavor to explain more closely the 
 
54 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 action of the remedy employed by me almost without 
 exception in cases of chronic affections of the lungs. 
 The remedy is phosphorus. The quantity of this 
 agent in 10 grammes of the solution is exactly 
 0.00001 gramme. The quantity of the active prin- 
 ciple in this dose is about equal to that of Koch's 
 remedy, the more so, as he latterly says that the 
 quantity of the active principle present in the 
 extract fluid is to be reckoned in all probability as 
 only a fractional part of 1 per cent. According 
 to the hypothesis which I have formed regarding 
 the action of phosphorus, it aids as soon as it is 
 taken up into the circulation the natural curative 
 retrogressive, fatty changes occurring in those dis- 
 eased foci which can be reached by the circulation ; 
 these necrobiotic changes are followed partly here 
 and there by cheesy degeneration or tyrosis proper, 
 the latter forming a part of Weigert-Koch's coagula- 
 tion-necrosis. The finely degenerated tissues, con- 
 verted into molecular detritus and now rendered 
 innocuous and capable of being absorbed, are carried 
 by the lymphatic vessels of the lungs into the general 
 circulation and burnt up, thereby generating a febrile 
 temperature. As much of the remaining tissue as 
 possible is removed by expectoration through the 
 energy remaining intact in all the mechanical agents 
 of the lungs. Even after the discovery of the tuber- 
 cle bacilli, I have to alter nothing concerning this 
 pharmaco-dynamic theory. 
 
 I have frequently enough microscopically studied 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 55 
 
 the acute lobular infiltrations occurring after phos- 
 phorus poisoning, and have watched the develop- 
 ment of the numerous small insular foci of infil- 
 tration, which are surrounded by a red zone, and 
 have found, that in consequence of the necrobiotic 
 disintegration, this red zone, which is due to capillary 
 extravasation, and also the cell elements contained 
 therein have succumbed partly to cheesy, partly to 
 fatty degeneration. This action of phosphorus, which 
 is so destructive to the anatomical structure of the 
 lung tissue after a large dose, is the homoeopathic 
 causal indication for its use in small doses. 
 
 The above-mentioned cheesy masses, foci, no mat- 
 ter whether they appear in the smallest bronchioles, 
 or in these and in the air vesicles, of which there are 
 about 1800 millions in the lungs, are, however, not 
 composed throughout of a single variety of cell, and 
 exhibit very different relations while passing through 
 the degenerative changes, in accordance as the cells 
 are of a higher or lower order. Thus, for instance, 
 the white, as well as the sparingly occurring red 
 blood corpuscles and also the extremely delicate non- 
 nucleated epithelial cells of the alveoli (which can be 
 demonstrated by the microscope by means of aniline* 
 and to which is also due the discovery of the bacilli), 
 all these undergo complete fatty metamorphosis ; the 
 body of the so-called ciliated epithelial cell only 
 partly succumbs to fatty degeneration, while the cilia, 
 which constantly expel foreign mechanical matters 
 from the bronchioles by their marvellous, untiring, 
 
56 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE IN ITS 
 
 whirling activity, undergo complete fatty metamor- 
 phosis. All these cells easily and rapidly undergo 
 fatty degeneration, so that in their removal they may 
 be carried through the lymphatic vessels which have 
 absorbed them without injuring their delicate walls. 
 But an infinitely larger number of other cell forms 
 are in themselves not capable of undergoing this 
 pure and genuine fatty degeneration, but become the 
 chief elements of those cheesy masses spoken of. To 
 act upon these is the chief task of the therapeutist. 
 For instance, many of the older giant cells undergo 
 at first only partial fatty degeneration, which appears 
 to be completed only then, when, as it appears from 
 Professor Koch's recent explanation, the irritation 
 formerly caused by the i)resence of the now dead 
 bacillus ceases to act. By all this I only wished to 
 indicate to you that the term coagulation-necrosis 
 is not applicable to the whole mass of cells which are 
 passing through the various forms of retrogressive 
 metamorphosis. Such masses consist of cells, some 
 of which have undergone fatty, others cheesy degen- 
 eration, the latter being the coagulation-necrosis 
 spoken of. We are, therefore, justified, after closer 
 investigation of the histological details, in aiding, by 
 means of medicine, the fatty changes commenced by 
 nature, in order to accomplish the removal of the fat 
 molecules. Phosphorus, as already stated, does this. 
 The general vital energy of the functions of the lungs 
 must, whenever necessary, be assisted by the use of 
 arsenic, which greatly stimulates the activity of the 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 57 
 
 absorbing lymphatic vessels. The removal of those 
 degenerated tissue elements, which are capable of 
 being discharged by expectoration, is greatly aided 
 by stimulation of the nerves of the delicate organic 
 muscular apparatus of the bronchioles through the 
 direct action of our causal specific remedies, and thus 
 the automatic curative efforts of the organism are 
 supported in every direction, 
 
 The large number of cases of lung diseases treated 
 at my clinics, offers favorable material for statistic 
 conclusions. Moreover, the strict classification of 
 cases obtained by the most exact methods of diagno- 
 sis, place my statistic results beyond all doubt. I 
 have always kept in view the more or less similar 
 local pathological-anatomical basis of the various 
 disorders, and especially the many pathological- 
 anatomical complications and their various stages of 
 development, and I may say, that the curative results 
 obtained by me in diseases of the lungs are relatively 
 good. 
 
 Prof. Koch says : " In many cases I have received 
 the distinct impression that the care given the patient 
 was an important factor influencing the curative re- 
 sults," and he gives preference to such institutions 
 where careful observations and the necessary nursing 
 of the patient can be readily carried out. 
 
 That the curative results obtained by a similar 
 method of treatment greatly varies in accordance 
 with the circumstances surrounding the patients, is 
 demonstrated by comparing the statistics of the old 
 city hospital of St. Rochus with those of Bethesda, 
 
58 SCIENTIFIC MEDICJNE IN ITS 
 
 where, six years ago, I was chief of the hospital, and 
 where the patients were subjected to the same methods 
 of treatment. Comparisons show the following death- 
 rate : Acute and cheesy bronchiolitic disease, in 
 Rochus, 0.26 ; in Bethesda* 0.41 ; acute cellular in- 
 filtration of the lungs, in Rochus, 5.07 ; in Bethesda, 
 5.73 ; chronic cheesy forms of infiltration, in Rochus, 
 30.23 ; in Bethesda, 17.43 ; phthisis with cavities, in 
 Rochus, 74.60 ; in Bethesda, 53.50 ; general tuber- 
 culosis (other organs also affected) , in Rochus, 84.30; 
 in Bethesda, 40.74. It may be seen from this how 
 difficulty it is to properly judge the value of statistics 
 and deduct correct conclusions therefrom. At that 
 time I therefore wrote regarding these statistics, that 
 the numeric method should not take into considera- 
 tion solely the figures upon which it was based, but 
 that if it is to become a potent factor of judgment, it 
 should also endeavor to fix the value of the numbers 
 given. 
 
 Conscientious, scientific, reliable observations will 
 give us more precise, and thus more sufficient mate- 
 rial by which the value of Koch's remedy can be de- 
 termined by statistic comparison. 
 
 In conclusion I would like to add the following : 
 After I had been appointed Professor of Homoeo- 
 therapeutics, the following toast was proposed by a 
 Polish physician at the general assembly of German 
 homoeopaths, which met at Vienna in 1873. 
 
 " Hungary is the wall and breastwork upon which 
 Turkish desires of supremacy were shattered. For 
 years it struggled against heathen barbarism * and 
 
RELATION TO HOMOEOPATHY. 59 
 
 saved the German fields and provinces from destruc- 
 tion. Hungary received in return the germs of sci- 
 entific knowledge from Germany. By careful cul- 
 ture and protection of the German seed we now see 
 the doctrine of Hahnemann flourishing as a sturdy 
 tree ! To Hungary was reserved, by the facultative 
 culture of this doctrine, the honor of strictly defining 
 its scientific value ; may this splendid fruit develop 
 still more magnificently in German soil !" 
 
 The hope of this inspired disciple of Hahnemann 
 has been fulfilled ; for five years Prof Hugo Schulz, 
 of the University of Griefswald, has adapted the 
 Hahnemannian principles to cellular therapeutics, 
 and has cultivated this branch in entire accordance 
 with my views. I am well aware that Prof. Schulz's 
 position in regard to this question is, in Germany, a 
 very difficult one ; therefore, he hesitates as yet to 
 pronounce the pass-word " Hahnemann," but as soon 
 as he is enabled as a competent authority to overcome 
 the obstacles which act as opposing factors to science 
 proper, and when he will have pointed out the 
 glaring difference existing between the lay practice 
 of this method, which is so common in Germany, and 
 a serious scientific cultivation of the Hahnemannian 
 principles, then will he openly continue the labors of 
 that man of whom all Germany will some day be 
 proud. His first duty is, therefore, to boldly declare 
 that an idea developed in a thinking brain can never 
 be entirely lost, inasmuch as the germs of truth are 
 hidden therein, and as every reformer is under the 
 influence of the age in which he lives, the new 
 
60 SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE. 
 
 thought, by the admixture of secondary matters, 
 carries in itself errors due to the deficiencies of that 
 age. On the other hand, it must also be acknowl- 
 edged that the original fundamental principles of the 
 method introduced by Hahnemann in 1795 were not 
 ephemeral manifestations in the development of med- 
 icine, but are still to this day progressive, reforming 
 factors. 
 
 The connecting links which will unite Germany 
 to the doctrines of Hahnemann are now being forged 
 at Greifswald, and no human hand will be able to 
 destroy them. 
 
 But that this is so, is alone due to the munificence 
 of the Hungarian legislative bodies ; I would like to 
 have this fact made known and acknowledged far 
 and wide. In the course of time it will become con- 
 stantly clearer that the fundamental principles of 
 homceo-therapeutics which have been restored their 
 proper rights in Hungary through facultative repre- 
 sentation, have exerted a beneficial influence, inas- 
 much as through my labors a stimulation, interna- 
 tional in character, has been given, the influence of 
 which will extend abroad and be felt for some time. 
 I however look back upon my former activity with 
 happy satisfaction, for I can say, with a good con- 
 science, that I have honestly labored in contributing 
 my share to that which may lead to a proper un- 
 derstanding of this great question. 
 
 Dixi et salvavi animan meam. 
 
 Budapest, January 21, 1891. 
 
 Prof. Dr. Theodor Bakody. 
 
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