History of substances



We homoeopathic doctors, do not use the primary effects of medicines for psychic treatment which is always very temporary, but their secondary effects, having sometimes indefinite persistence. Thus for example, while coffee by its primary effects favours the intellectual work for few hours only, Nux- vom. or any other indicated remedy, given once and in very high dilution may often, by their secondary effects favour the same work for weeks together, years and months.

Hahnemann while experimenting on healthy man, was able to recognise their effects on the character and intelligence, i.e. to say their psychic effects. Thus he was able to note the very numerous psychic indications of medicines, as for example, the indication of Ignatia against sadness resulting out of concentrated griefs, that of Staphysagria against sadness coexisting with indigestion, that of Ignatia against unfortunate love with concentrated grief, that of Hyoscyamus against unfortunate love with jealousy etc.

“It will be enough to take a trituration of Aurum metallicum for a melancholic person in whom the disgust of life is so much so great that he pushed to suicide, so that the unfortunate person is delivered from the evil spirit and finds charm if life” (1821).

It is regrettable that Hahnemann stopped short in so fecund a path when he advises to leave in their unfortunate fate the people who are continually in prey of griefs and who have not sufficient philosophy, religion and control over themselves to bear their griefs patiently, because, he adds, the medicines are of no use in case of these people. It is here he made a grave error. I was able to develop the will power in a young girl with Calcarea carbonica 30; cured with Staphisagria a young girl who became phthisic after having missed a very desired marriage; dissipated with Nux 200, the grief of a father who knew not whether his son, a young military man was dead or alive; give Lachesis 30 then Colocynthis 30 to an old man, not only irreligious, but doing anti-religious propaganda and thus could recite spontaneously a Pater and an Ave, two prayers which he has not said probably since 30 years.

In similar cases the medicine does not create mental or intellectual disposition, but, develops it when it exists in a latent stage in the subject to be treatment. A doctor here fulfills the role of a gardener who by smoking and watering the ground makes to germinate the seeds if they are there.

What prevented Hahnemann and other homoeopaths to do such cures, deep and durable, is because in special cases they have used and still use the medicine very frequently and in very low dilutions. For obtaining cures, one should use a single dose of medicine at least in the 30th in children, in old men, in businessmen and from the 200th up to 20,000th in robust adults and should leave the medicine to act more or less for a long-time. The following example will convince the readers about the superiority of this last method of treatment.

Dr. Compton Burnett, the editor of the periodical “The Homoeopathic World” and the prof. of Materia Medica in the School of Homoeopathy of London, sent me at Lyon a gentleman suffering from hypochondriasis, vainly treated for 4 to 5 years by more than 100 homoeopaths of England (case reported in Medical Advance, Ch.VI). The gentleman had his pockets full with medicines of lower dilutions.

Among other symptoms he had the following two:

(1) Hypochondriasis with impulse to drown himself. He never journeyed on a ship but always with one of his relatives, who may stop him from throwing himself into the water.

(2) Repulsion, rather of women so much so that he could not remain in drawing room with a woman. In the street he walked away from a woman. I gave him once 6 to 7 globules of Staphysagria 200 which ameliorated his hypochondriasis and cured him of his tendency to drown himself. A few weeks after I sent him a second medicine which cured him of his repulsion to women so well that sometime after he was bethroted. As he had to take a long sea voyage, going to Canada I sent him, for taking once, 6 to 7 globules of the first remedy, not in the 200th but in the 10,000th, in order to prevent the return of the tendency of drowning himself. He wrote me from Canada “that he was so well that he did not think to ask me for a slight relapse. One will see how durable was the action of the same remedy when it was used in the 10,000th instead of 200. When one knows the great difference of the action of the same remedy according to the dilutions prescribed and the repetition of the dilution one understand why these two medicines which are used frequently, and so prescribed by many doctors but in the 3rd and the 6th dilutions according to their habit and repeated frequently, have not produced the same effect obtained by the same remedies given once at a long interval in the 200th and 10,000th.

(3) In. order to give to his article a practical utility, I am going to indicate to the reader a way to be convinced and to convince his friends the utility of medicines to cure some defects of character and intelligence. I will describe the useful medicines in Ch. IX against irreligion, pride, avarice, luxury, habit of gambling jealousy, envy, prodigality, drunkenness, different ineptitudes, teasing, sulky, authoritative characters, non-motivated, indecision to marry or to do his will. Now I am going to indicate two habitual which are useful against anger and the irresistible desire to strike and kill.

These two remedies are Nux vomica and Hepar. At first should be given once 7 to 8 globules of Nux and let it act for 2, 4, 5, 6 weeks according to thee intensity and the duration of its action. IT this one does not acts give in the same way Hepar.

In what dilutions they should be used? Generally speaking it is the doctor who can reply. The 200 dilution has deeper action and more durable action than 30th. The 10,000 dilution has a much more deeper action than the 200th, I generally give 200 and in vigorous subjects Nux 10,000. Up-till-now Hepar has seemed to me to act in all cases except one, in a husband who became easily angry and used to beat his wife whom I cured with Hepar, 10,000.

Nux and Hepar are not, to be sure, the only remedies suitable to anger. But they are sufficient to cure this defect of character, if not in persons at least in most cases. I have observed in my clientele a husband who became excessively angry and could not control himself, was cured by a single dose of Nux 10,000; an other who became much more angry, was very much ameliorated by 200 and completely cured by Hepar 200; a father who loved very much his family but became easily angry and used to beat his children, was treatment unsuccessfully by Nux 10,000 and completely cured by Hepar 200.

It is difficult to believe, until having experimented, the good relations in how many families can bee re-established by the help of these two medicines or other more appropriate for each subject.

The two remedies should be particularly useful in the countries where the inhabitants often play with daggers or big knives between them.

If Nux and Hepar are nor enough to cure the tendency to become angry, one may use for these cases and according to the individual indications or even one after the other Nitric acid, Sulphur, Bryonia, Colc.carb., Natr.mur.

Frequently Nux., Belladonna, Bryon., Hyosc., Stramonium, Calcareac., puls. in persons having red anger i.e. to say when he becomes purple when angry, and Staphysagria, Platina, Nat.m., Arsenicum, Carbo vegetabilis, Petroleum, for him whose anger is pale i.e. to say say when he becomes pale livid when angry.

Against the consecutive morbid state after a fit of anger, specially Aconite is to be given, then according to the indication: Nux., Bryon., Calcareac. etc.

It is preferable to use these remedies without the knowledge of the patient. The change in their character and intelligence will be spontaneous, so that the patient may not hamper the effect wishing either to counteract or helping it awkwardly or being very much over occupied. When they are cured they should not be told that they have taken to treatment without knowing it, if not the preoccupation of the mind might cause a relapse of their defects, or they may become so disbelieving that it would be difficult to treat them again during a relapse which is spontaneous or the mind might cause a relapse of their defects, or they may become so disbelieving that would be difficult to treat them again during a relapse which is spontaneous or the appearance of new defects.

In order to treat them without their knowledge all the globules are to be dissolved in one-third of a glass of water which should be stirred for 5 to 6 minutes with a small spoon, then the whole solution is to be mixed in a soup, or in a cup of coffee, chocolate, cocoa, milk, tea, any infusion plain or sweetened water but on condition that the person in question does not drink or eat anything for at least half an hour after the administration of the water. Persons who are defiant and become very angry, for them one will be forced to forced to dissolve the globules in 2 to 3 spoonful of brandy, then put in a big glass of water which is then mixed with a small glass of liquor and is offered to him as a drink. I have seen, in some cases, the medicine reacts although the medicine is used with coffee. When the patient treated has taken a portion of the soup, milk etc. containing the remedy, he should not take the rest of the remedy on the same day or the following day, because it should be used once only unless it will aggravates the case.

Jean Pierre Gallavardin
Jean Pierre Gallavardin (1825 – 1898) was a French orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy to gain international renown. Gallavardin was a Physician at the Homeopathic Hospital in Lyons.
Gallavardin set up a homeopathic Dispensary for the cure of alcoholics, often working in conjunction with priests, and he wrote several books on this subject.
Jean Pierre Gallavardin wrote Psychism and Homeopathy, The Homoeopathic Treatment of Alcoholism, How to Cure Alcoholism the Non-toxic Homoeopathic Way, Repertory of Psychic Medicines with Materia Medica, Plastic Medicine, and articles for The British Journal of Homeopathy, On Phosphoric Paralysis, and he collated the statistics on pneumonia and other cases for the United States Journal of Homeopathy, and he contributed widely to homeopathic publications.