A general principle is capable of systematic demonstration, not only once but repeatedly and invariably, under stated conditions. Given the principle, it is always possible to formulate a method or technic, by means of which the principle may be successfully applied to every case within its scope.
*The second requirement of a cure by medication is that it must be individual. A general principle according to which any action takes place is always capable of being individualized. The ability to meet the varying requirements of individual cases proves the existence and truth of the principle involved.
A true system of therapeutics must be able to adapt its basic principle and its remedy to the needs of each individual case.
There are no cures for “diseases,” no remedy for all cases of the same disease. Cure relates to the individual patient, not to the disease. No two cases of the same disease are exactly alike. Differences of manifestation in symptoms and modalities always exist in individuals. It is these differences which give each case its individuality, and create the need for an individual remedy.
The Morphological Factor.- Every individual develops according to a certain morphological tendency or presdisposition, inherent in his constitution. It is from this tendency that he derives his individuality. This tendency or predisposition may be or become morbid. If it does, the symptomatic form of that morbidity will also be individual. It is necessary, therefore, to study each case of disease from the morphological as well as the semeiological standpoint in order to be able to determine its individual form and characteristics.
The new morphology includes all the facts and phenomena, anatomical, physiological and psychological, functional and organic, normal or abnormal, which represent the individuality of the subject. It aims to establish in each concrete case the particular kind or variety of organization, development and functioning which gives it individuality and differentiates it from other similar cases, thus providing a reliable basis for the rational interpretation of symptoms and the selection of the remedy indicated for the patient.
The Examination of the Patient and Construction of the Case.- Disease is primarily a dynamical disturbance of the vital functions of the individual organism, manifesting itself by signs and symptoms. Symptoms are the only perceptible evidence of disease and the only guide to the curative medicine. For the prescriber the characteristic symptoms of each individual in the totality constitute the disease and their removal is the object of treatment and the cure.
*The third requirement for the performance of an ideal cure, therefore, is a complete and impartial collection and record of the facts which constitute the natural and medical history of the individual.
This should include not only physical and constitutional signs, the heredity and family history of the patient; how he was born, raised and educated; his occupation, habits, social and domestic relations; but a chronological symptomatic history of all his diseases, indispositions, idiosyncrasies, accidents and vicissitudes, as far as they can be recalled.
In considering the recorded results of each examination, the homoeopathic therapeutist pays particular attention to the unusual, peculiar, exceptional features or symptoms which give the case its individuality; for, by these, under the guidance of the principle of symptom-similarity, he is led to the remedy needed for the cure of the individual case.
Symptoms, general and particular, “behave themselves in a particular way,” take on peculiar forms, combinations and modalities, according to the morphological type, environment, personality and predisposition of the individual.
It is necessary thus to study the individual in order to understand how a general or particular predisposition to disease becomes concrete and the object of treatment and cure, as well as to elicit the symptoms which are to guide in the selection of the remedy.
Manner and Direction of Cure.- Cures take place in a definite, orderly manner and direction.
Normal vital processes, cellular, organic and systemic, begin at the center and proceed outwardly. Figuratively, if not literally, life is a centrifugal force, radiating, externalizing, concentrating and organizing spirit into matter – “from above, downward.” In the same sense disease is a centripetal force, opposing, obstructing, penetrating toward the center and tending to disorganization.
The progression of all chronic diseases is from the surface toward the center; from less important to more important organs “from below upward.”
Curative medicines reinforce the life force, reverse the morbid process and annihilate the disease. Symptoms disappear from above downward, from within outward and in the reverse order of their appearance.
When a patient with an obscure rheumatic endocarditis, for example, begins to have signs and symptoms of acute arthritis soon after taking the homoeopathic remedy and is relieved of his chest sufferings, we know that cure has commenced.
Cure takes place in much less time than natural recovery, without pain, physiological disturbance or danger from the use of the remedy employed and without sequelae. The restoration of health is complete and lasting.
The Trend of Modern Therapeutics.- Cure, as a medical ideal, appears to have been abandoned by the dominant school of medicine. Formerly, every new therapeutic method or measure based its claims to acceptance upon alleged cures. If the results of its use could be made to pass for cures, it was given some sort of standing in the medical world. If not, or if time revealed the falsity of the claim, it was relegated to the limbo of exploded theories.
With the progress of science and the general diffusion of knowledge, both profession and people have begun to realize their mistakes. A great majority of the alleged cures are found to be not cures at all, but, at best, only recoveries. In many cases, the condition of the patient after his supposed cure is found to be worse than it was before, for the removal or suppression of some of his superficial symptoms, which was all that was accomplished, was followed by other symptoms indicating the invasion of deeper and more important organs by metastasis. The young man, for instance, whose gonorrhoea was treated by injections, and who was told by his physician, after the discharge disappeared, that he was cured and might marry the girl of his choice, soon found that his previously healthy young wife began to complain of serious trouble in her reproductive organs. He found himself watching the gradual fading of the roses in her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes; her lassitude, failing strength and falling weight; her mental depression and irritability; until, finally, consultation with a gynaecologist and a physical examination revealed a gonococcic salpingitis, “a pus tube” or a degenerated ovary, for which the only recourse is an operation and removal of the diseased organs. Result, a mutilated and crippled reproductive organism and a farewell to all hopes of a family. The young man learned too late that he was never cured of his gonorrhoea, but that the measures used merely drove the disease to deeper parts, from whence it was communicated to his innocent wife with such dire results.
Seventy-five per cent. of the alarmingly large and increasing number of operations on the female sexual organs are said by high authorities to be due to chronic gonococcic infection, caused by suppression (by local treatment) and metastasis of the acute disease in the husband. It is a sad commentary on the boasted efficiency of modern therapeutics.
Examples in many forms of disease might be given to illustrate the results of a false and pernicious therapeutics and ignorance of what cure really means; but enough has been said to indicate the importance of a re-examination of the subject.
The abandonment of the ideal of cure by the general profession and the disappearance of the term from current medical literature does not mean that cure is impossible. It only means that the wrong method has been pursued in the effort to attain it.
Many great truths have had their rise, acceptance and period of sway, followed by a long period of decline and obscurity; but never has a great truth been lost. There is always a “Remnant in Israel” who survive to hold the truth committed to them as a precious possession and cherish it until a revival comes.
The hahnemannian ideal of cure by medication, according to the principle of symptom-similarity, largely lost sight of for a time in the dazzling accomplishments of modern surgery and laboratory research, has been passing through such a period of neglect and obscurity. But already there are signs of a revival of this great truth, as science, in its wider reaches, is beginning to correlate the results of its work. The whole trend of modern medical thought is toward the confirmation and acceptance of fundamental postulates and principles first enunciated by Hahnemann. Homoeopathy is gradually being rediscovered by modern science.
Dr. Close was born November 24, 1860 and came to study homeopathy after the death of his father in 1879. His mother remarried a homoeopathic physician who turned Close's interests from law to medicine.
His stepfather helped him study the Organon and he attended medical school in California for two years. Finishing his studies at New York Homeopathic College he graduated in 1885. Completing his homeopathic education. Close preceptored with B. Fincke and P. P. Wells.
Setting up practice in Brooklyn, Dr. Close went on to found the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Union in 1897. This group devoted itself to the study of pure Hahnemannian homeopathy.
In 1905 Dr. Close was elected president of the International Hahnemannian Association. He was also the editor of the Department of Homeopathic Philosophy for the Homeopathic Recorder. Dr. Close taught homeopathic philosophy at New York Homeopathic Medical College from 1909-1913.
Dr. Close's lectures at New York Homeopathic were first published in the Homeopathic Recorder and later formed the basis for his masterpiece on homeopathic philosophy, The Genius of Homeopathy.
Dr. Close passed away on June 26, 1929 after a full and productive career in homeopathy.