A picture is worth a thousand words!
What strikes your mind when you look at this photo? What do you see? Leave your impressions in comments on our Facebook page…
What do I see? I see a person deeply absorbed in analyzing and thinking about something that he had read moments earlier. He appears to be deeply pondering on the subject.
This amazing life-like sculpture was created by Sculptor Charles Henry Niehaus.
This is a statue of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the Father of Homeopathy, a learned physician, brilliant chemist, great reformer, skilled scientist, and a truly cultured man.
This statue is located at the Scott’s Circle in Washington DC and was inaugurated on June 21, 1900. This is the only monument honoring a physician in Scott’s Circle in Washington DC and has served as an inspiration to everyone dedicated to the art and science of homeopathic healing over the past century. The inauguration ceremony of this monument was attended by many dignitaries, including the then sitting President McKinley of the United States of America.
A Tribute to Dr. Samuel Hahnemann…
“I was less solicitous about reading than about digesting what was read, and careful to read little but to read correctly and to classify it in my mind before reading further.” – Samuel Hahnemann.
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) was born in Saxony, Germany on April 10, 1755. He grew up in a family imbued with great moral values. His father’s porcelain pot making did not earn enough money to pay for his school fees. However, deeply impressed with his desire to learn, his teachers taught him free for the last eight years of his schooling. He managed his livelihood and paid his way to higher education in Leipzig (Germany) by doing translations. During his stay in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, he was highly appreciated by one of his teachers, Dr. Von Quarin who was also the family physician of the Prince. Among all his students, he allowed only Hahnemann to accompany him during his private patient visits. Brilliant and with a burning desire to serve humanity, Hahnemann studied medicine and chemistry to become a physician.
At the age of 22, he was already a polyglot with mastery over Greek, Latin, English, Italian, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Spanish, German and some smattering of Chaldaic. He then went on to write and translate thousands of books and articles, in many different languages throughout his life.
He was also a well-regarded Chemist in his time. He had invented the wine test to detect the presence of trace metals in wines e.g. Pb (metallic Lead) in a solution with a trace concentration of 1:30,000. This test was highly regarded by the scientific and chemical journals of the day. A consummate chemist, botanist, and a practical pharmacist, Samuel Hahnemann wrote treatises on these subjects during the course of his life and was arguably the most qualified man of his time in these fields.
However, disillusioned and disenchanted with the prevailing practices of the conventional medical system, he quit his own medical practice and focused his energies on translating medical researches in the published literature of his time. His translations were widely appreciated and highly regarded for their accuracy. It was during this period of general disillusionment and disenchantment with the prevailing medical system that he was inspired to initiate his own research in medicine leading to the development of an entirely new system of medicine that is now referred to as Homeopathy.
It was in 1789 when Dr. Hahnemann was working on the translation of the second volume of Dr. William Cullen’s book ‘Treatise of Materia Medica’ that he chanced upon a mention of the use of Peruvian bark (Cinchona Officinalis) for the treatment of an intermittent fever like malaria. The active ingredient of the Peruvian bark is Quinine and it was being used to treat malaria through the prevalent conventional methods of treatment at that time. Being a physician, Dr. Hahnemann was quite aware of the therapeutic value alongside the toxic effects of this particular substance. The way it was referenced by Dr. Cullen in his treatise sparked his curiosity, and raised several questions in his mind. He thus started to experiment and research on his own body with the Peruvian bark by ingesting regular doses. To his surprise, he developed symptoms similar to malaria characterized by chills minus the associated rigors. He also noticed that the symptoms subsided when he stopped the dose and appeared again on re-dosing.
This methodology of discovering novel therapeutic substances by testing them on healthy human subjects has now come to be known as ‘proving’. Encouraged by this discovery, he carried out the provings of several potentially medicinal substances on himself, his family, and disciples under his close supervision. Thus, following six years of continuous research and experimentation, he developed a new system of treatment based on the Nature’s Principle of ‘Like Cures Like’. This principle has of course always existed, just as the apples had been falling from apple trees since eternity until it was Sir Isaac Newton’s brilliant mind that first led to the propounding of the laws of gravity as it acts between objects with masses. Similarly, it was Dr. Hahnemann’s ingenuity and astute observations of this principle in action that first led to the realization of ‘Like cures like’ and its pioneering application to the treatment of the sick.
Under the sun, everything is a medicine and in excess any medicine can be toxic. Dr. Hahnemann continuously researched and developed the homeopathic system of medicine with the singular aim of making available a therapeutic method that helps the immune system affect a cure naturally and reduces undesirable harmful side effects through the use of the lowest viable dosage.
In 1796 Dr. Hahnemann published his collective ideas on Homeopathic treatment as ‘An essay on the new principle for ascertaining the curative power of drugs’ that was followed in 1810 by the publication of the first edition of his famous work ‘The Organon of the Healing Art’.
He started his medical practice in Germany using his invented technique and dispensed the homeopathic remedies to his patients. His newly invented treatment technique benefited many of his patients. However, his journey was also full of struggle, opposition, and adversity. A revolutionary new idea is often not welcomed by an established system. As a result, he faced immense skepticism and opposition from the fellow members of the health care community of his time. However, at the same time several of the medical practitioners, witnessing first-hand the life-altering potential of homeopathy, dedicated themselves to learn and practice the art and science of homeopathic healing.
In the summer of 1799, during an epidemic of scarlet fever, Dr. Hahnemann discovered the great prophylactic value of a homeopathic medicine against this serious disease. He was greatly successful in both prevention and treatment of scarlet fever during the epidemic at that time.
In 1813, the contagious typhus fever, the typhus of camps struck throughout the length and breadth of Germany. Dr. Hahnemann attended to the cases of this disease with great success and again proved the effectiveness of his method and the truth of its principle ‘Like cures like’. Following this magnificent success, he published an article in 1814 on the treatment of typhus or hospital fever.
He published the second edition of Organon of Medicine in 1819, the third in 1824, followed by the fourth, and the fifth in 1829 and 1833, respectively. He completed its final sixth edition, and left a note for its publication before his immortal soul rested in peace at the age of 88 years, on July 2 1843 in Paris.
The title page of the first edition of Organon of Medicine (‘The Organon of the Healing Art’) was adorned by this inspiring verse from Gellert’s poem:
The truth we mortals need
Us blest to make and keep,
All-wise slightly covered o’er
But did not bury deep.
These lines were replaced in later editions by:
‘Aude Sapere – Dare to be wise.’
April 10th, 2023, marks the 269th Anniversary of Dr. Samule Hahnemann, let us pay our tribute to this truly immortal soul who braved all the adversities in his life with great perseverance and gifted mankind with Homeopathy, to heal gently, effectively and naturally.
Happy Birthday Dr. Christian Fredrick Samuel Hahnemann!
References
- The life and letters of Hahnemann - Bradford Thomas –Radar Opus
- Journals – American Homeopath 2000 - Radar Opus
