Chronic Diseases, Psora


I have spent twelve years in discovering the sources of those incredibly numerous quantities of protracted illness, in exploring this great truth, which was unknown in the past, as well as to our contemporaries, in proving it and at the same time discovering the chief (anti-psoric) remedies which would cope with his thousand-headed monster of disease in all its different manifestations and forms….


SUPPLEMENT 83

HISTORY OF THE TIME PRECEDING “CHRONIC DISEASES.”

A letter a Hahnemann to the royal Prussian Consul-General, Dr. Friederich Gotthelf Baumgrtner (“Allg. hom. Ztg.,” Vol.32, page 42):

Right Honorable Doctor and Consul-General.

Beloved Patron,

I regard it as the work of Divine providence that you, a man of high standing in the world, should have the foresight and courage to try and bring honour to the art of healing, which has been maligned in a thousand ways, has frequently been suppressed and reviled by the great fraternity of physicians, on account of its simplicity, truth, nd astonishingly good results, they who are proud in their comfortable old humdrum ways.

I have read you report to Berlin, and pay you my whole- hearted respect for this great deed. May God give his blessing. I also thank you for the banquet which you gave in honour of this science of mine and I take great interest in this public acknowledgment of the value of our homoeopathy. It must have created quite a sensation among your friends.

I wish to God that the government of Saxony had acted more fairly toward me-for a genuine homoeopathic physician who will practise his system perfectly., and which the necessary conscientiousness, cannot employ an apothecary for the preparation of his medicines, even if the latter were an angel- for then I would not have been oblige to leave my beloved Leipsic, and come to reside out here, sacrificing more than 2,000 thalers.

I rejoice that you have progressed so far on the way to recovery. I do not advise you to insist on having these last discomforts, the dry mouth at night and the numbness of the big toe, removed by means of the homoeopathic instructions at present in existence. It has its disadvantages if you wish to force this, and the desired and will not be obtained.

There will always remain some ailments uncured by homoeopathy, the remains of some deep-seated chronic disease. All that has been published by me, on the homoeopathic healing art is not sufficient for the complete cure of a great family of chronic diseases. Incredibly more is effected by it in these old diseases than by the medicines prescribed by the allopaths. Yet in homoeopathic writings as yet published, there is still lacking the great key notes which binds together all that has been thus far published, so that we may only be able to improve the treatment of chronic diseases, but also able to effect a complete cure.

I have striven night and day for the last four years to discover the missing key notes, and thus find the means of stamping out the old chronic diseases. By thousands of experiments and experiences, as well as by uninterrupted meditation I have at last attained my object. None of my pupils as yet know anything of this invaluable discovery, the worth to mankind exceeds all else that I have ever discovered, and without which all existing homoeopathy remains defective or imperfect. It is still wholly my property, and enables me to cure the worst chronic diseases, which not only the doctors of the old humdrum school have to leave uncured, that would be natural, but also the best among my homoeopathic pupils (since, as I said before, although the homoeopathic art as it has been published by me so far, can accomplish a great deal, yet it is not sufficiently perfected to be able to cure chronic diseases, this has only become possible through this new discovery, and the result of unspeakable efforts).

But this knowledge now finally attained, is of such a kind that I could impart it to young physicians, in a practical way, at the beside of patients, in some clinical establishment, through their own observation. In order that I might do this before my death, I entreated our Duke to establish a hospital for the purpose. It appeared acceptable to him, but I see clearly that notwithstanding his seeming desire to do so, nothing will ever come of it. We have as yet no public hospital in Cothen.

Should nothing be done here in the matter, as I can see it will not, it would be more agreeable to me, to have such an establishment in a large place.

Since this knowledge cannot be communicated by written works, but men must hear, see, and be convinced for themselves, I shall perhaps have to take this treasure with me to the grave, and make use of it myself during my life-time to heal those invalids that no one else can cure-a slight advantage, which should be willingly granted me, who have so willingly communicated to the world everything previously discovered, but have received very little for it even from my own pupils (more likely have had patients frightened away, etc.), and have suffered persecutions from the doctors of the old school, as well as from people in authority, who were only anxious to look after the privileges of the apothecary.

I make you a confidant of this important confession, you will tell no one in Leipsic, and I pray that you, my dear friend, as I am convinced you will, you whose heart is all aglow for the welfare of humanity, will make the very best use of it.

With great esteem, I am, Your devoted, SAMUEL HAHNEMANN.

then, 10 January, 1823.

Similar trends of thought are to be found in the preface to the first edition of “Chronic Disease,” which also appears as the preface to the second improved edition (1835, Dresden and Leipsic, by Arnold). He writes in it as follows:

Did I not know for what reason I have come to this earth-to grow better myself and to do good to others as far as my powers allow it,- I should have to consider myself very little worldly- wise, to give away for the good of others before my death an art, which I alone possessed, and which therefore through its concealment would continue to provide me with comforts.

Whilst I am giving to the world this great discovery, I grieve to have to doubt whether my contemporaries will realise the logical consequences of this doctrine, will carefully follow it and achieve the results which will not fail to appear if this teaching is faithfully and accurately carried out, and suffering humanity will derive great benefit from it-or will they be frightened away by the unheard-of disclosures, and prefer to leave them untested; and, by not following them up, will they leave them untried?

In a footnote to 80 Hahnemann writes in the 6th edition of his “Organon”:

I have spent twelve years in discovering the sources of those incredibly numerous quantities of protracted illness, in exploring this great truth, which was unknown in the past, as well as to our contemporaries, in proving it and at the same time discovering the chief (anti-psoric) remedies which would cope with his thousand-headed monster of disease in all its different manifestations and forms.

CHRONIC DISEASES: THE THEORY OF PSORA LETTER OF HAHNEMANN TO DR. STAPF ON PSORA.

then, 6 Sept., 1827.

Dear Doctor,

Your inpatient vehemence is no doubt owing to your praiseworthy desire for knowledge, but it may be considered as a sight mistake on your part, by him whom it concerns. I have only written one clean copy of the symptoms of the anti-psorics, and it is in daily use; it is therefore impossible for me to communicate them to you. You cannot possibly be serious in expecting me to prescribe a treatment for the pathological names you mention. But if you will sometime communicate to me the symptoms of disease, then if my limited time and my remaining vital powers will allow me. I shall be happy to advise you. You have to be thankful to start with, that you need not regard chronic diseases as paradoxes or inexplicable phenomena, the nature of which is hidden in impenetrable obscurity. You possess now the solution of the middle why neither Nux vomica, nor Puls, nor Ignat, etc., will or can do good, whilst the homoeopathic principle remains unaltered. You know the estimable remedies, and possess them, and can employ them empirically at least, for you know in what doses to give them. Just imagine how arduous it has been for me to sacrifice myself in order to carry to the end these investigations, for you benefit and that of the whole medicinal world. I cannot do more until my look appears, and it still demands an amount of work, which is almost too much for my vital powers. Therefore, be reasonable, and do what you can with your antipsorics. Even after I had them I did not at first know what they would do.

You may while using them, make excellent observations on their peculiar effects and gain much knowledge, as also from the splendid cures you may perform with them. You have only six or eight medicines to choose from, and not the whole Materia Medica.

You and Gross are the only ones to whom I have revealed this matter. Just think a start you will have in advance of all the other physicians in the world! At least a year will elapse before the others get my books; they will then require more than six months to recover from the stock and astonishment at the monstrous and unheard of thing, perhaps another six months before they believe in it, at all events before they provide themselves with the medicines, and they will not be able to obtain the right medicines unless they prepare them themselves. Then it is doubtful whether they will accept the smallness of the doses, and wait the long interval they ought to allow for each dose to act. Hence three years from now will elapse before they can do anything useful with it.

Richard Haehl
Richard M Haehl 1873 - 1932 MD, a German orthodox physician from Stuttgart and Kirchheim who converted to homeopathy, travelled to America to study homeopathy at the Hahnemann College of Philadelphia, to become the biographer of Samuel Hahnemann, and the Secretary of the German Homeopathic Society, the Hahnemannia.

Richard Haehl was also an editor and publisher of the homeopathic journal Allgemcine, and other homeopathic publications.

Haehl was responsible for saving many of the valuable artifacts of Samuel Hahnemann and retrieving the 6th edition of the Organon and publishing it in 1921.
Richard Haehl was the author of - Life and Work of Samuel Hahnemann