Homoeopathy Defined. In a work in which it is sought to give information on every branch of household management, and in which even the treatment of diseases and their prevention and cure, must of necessity be briefly discussed, it is manifest that the important mode and means of medical treatment known as Homoeopathy ought not to be ignored. In order to arrive at a correct idea of what homoeopathy is, it is necessary first of all to ascertain the meaning of the word itself, and to understand why it is used to designate that form of medical practice to which it was applied by the founder of this system of medicine. Dr. vSamuel Hahnemann, who first announced his discovery to the medical world in 1796. Theory, generally speaking, forms the basis of practice in every art and science, and in no science is this more perceptible than in 'he science of medicine. Thus in medical practice it has arisen that there are two great and opposing schools of medicine, each of which is based on a widely different theory; that of the or- dinary medical practitioner being Coutraria contrariis curantur^ a sentence in Latin which means, when rendered as simply and concisely as possible, "Opposites are cured by oppo- sites;" and that of the homoeopathic practitioner, Similia siviilibus curantur, another sentence in Latin, which means "Likes are cured by likes." Going a little deeper into the matter, the first of these sentences implies that in the treat- ment of any disease, be it what it may, drugs should be used which will produce in the body of the patient a condition opposite to that, induced by the disease to 343 344 '^^^'^ Family Doctor be cured, or in other words that it is needful to counteract the disease and arrest its progress by the administra- tion of medicines that will produce effects different from those resulting from the disease itself. The second, on the contrary, implies that in the treatment of any dis- ease, be it what it may, drugs should be used which would produce in a healthy person symptoms resembling, otIikeXo, those occasioned by the disease by which the patient is affected. Hence Hahnemann was led to apply to the gener- ally accepted mode of medical treatment the term Allopathy from two Greek words, allos^ another, and pathos, suffering; and to his own method the term Homeopathy, also from two Greek words, homoios, similar, or like, and pathos, suffering. Thus Allopathy, to be perfectly clear and plain even at the risk of repetition, implies that mode of medical practice which consists in using drugs to produce in the body a condition opposite to the disease to be cured, and which has been treated first in this department of Treasures Old and New ; and Homa-opathy a mode of treating diseases by the administration of medicines capable of ecxit- ing in healthy persons symptoms closely similar to those of the disease for which they are given.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Homoeopathy Defined. In a work in which it is sought to give information on every branch of household management, and in which even the treatment of diseases and their prevention and cure, must of necessity be briefly discussed, it is manifest that the important mode and means of medical treatment known as Homoeopathy ought not to be ignored. In order to arrive at a correct idea of what homoeopathy is, it is necessary first of all to ascertain the meaning of the word itself, and to understand why it is used to designate that form of medical practice to which it was applied by the founder of this system of medicine. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, who first announced his discovery to the medical world in 1796. Theory, generally speaking, forms the basis of practice in every art and science, and in no science is this more perceptible than in the science of medicine. Thus in medical practice it has arisen that there are two great and opposing schools of medicine, each of which is based on a widely different theory; that of the ordinary medical practitioner being Contraria contrariis curantur^ a sentence in Latin which means, when rendered as simply and concisely as possible, "Opposites are cured by opposites;" and that of the homoeopathic practitioner, Similia siviilibus curantur, another sentence in Latin, which means "Likes are cured by likes." Going a little deeper into the matter, the first of these sentences implies that in the treatment of any disease, be it what it may, drugs should be used which will produce in the body of the patient a condition opposite to that, induced by the disease to 344 '^^^'^ Family Doctor be cured, or in other words that it is needful to counteract the disease and arrest its progress by the administration of medicines that will produce effects different from those resulting from the disease itself. The second, on the contrary, implies that in the treatment of any disease, be it what it may, drugs should be used which would produce in a healthy person symptoms resembling, or like to, those occasioned by the disease by which the patient is affected. Hence Hahnemann was led to apply to the generally accepted mode of medical treatment the term Allopathy from two Greek words, allos^ another, and pathos, suffering; and to his own method the term Homeopathy, also from two Greek words, homoios, similar, or like, and pathos, suffering. Thus Allopathy, to be perfectly clear and plain even at the risk of repetition, implies that mode of medical practice which consists in using drugs to produce in the body a condition opposite to the disease to be cured, and which has been treated first in this department of Treasures Old and New ; and Homoeopathy a mode of treating diseases by the administration of medicines capable of exciting in healthy persons symptoms closely similar to those of the disease for which they are given.

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