An extremely powerful remedy for arresting putrefaction. Crell’s Annals 1788, XII, page 485:
This remedy is nitrate of silver (lapis infernalis). In a very small quantity, 1,500 dissolved in water, it will prevent the putrefaction of meat. Big pieces are steeped in a slightly stronger solution for 14 days, which procedure gives it no smell; worms will not touch it. It is also very useful in septic quinsy and ulcers of the mouth used as a gargle. The foul smell and the ugly look of chronic sores is removed in a very short time by a solution of I:I000.
This shows that Hahnemann was then already convinced of the effect of fairly weak solutions.
“Instructions to Surgeons on Venereal Diseases.”
Hahnemann was here still sailing in the old channel. He cures with mercury, but, according to the evidence of other doctors, he applied a mild and excellent preparation, the extraordinary usefulness of which has proved itself. (Kurt Sprengel, History of Medical Art. Halle, I828. Section V, pages 591).
This work was universally adopted with great praise. In the “Medorrhinum and Phys. Journal,” 1790, page 76, Professor Fritze of Berlin writes:
This book also contains much that is good. Both authors (he had previously mentioned another book) have thought for themselves and have written not only thoroughly, but also concisely and clearly.
In the ” N. Lithium carb. News for Physicians” (Halle, 1789, page 785), we read:
Our readers will see from the above abstract that this writing by no means belongs to the ordinary category, but is written with unusual technical knowledge, reflection and original thinking.
And in the ” Medorrhinum Chir. Newspaper,” edited by Professor Hartenkeil (Salzburg, 1790, III, page 345) is remarked :
The book is not only the work of a man of intellectual and scientific knowledge, but it is also written with a brevity suggestive of aphorisms. It is a book for academic lectures, although the author has not produced it with that intention.
SUPPLEMENT 17
HAHNEMANN AT STOTTERITZ.
Letters from Stotteritz (Leipsic. Pop. Ztschr, 1891. Vol. XXII, page 159) Stotteritz, 29th August, 1790.
If I were single, or had not five children, it would be different. But in any other place my expenses would be heavier. Besides I am so much my own master here, where I am removed from the jealousy of my colleagues to an extent which would be impossible elsewhere. What I now earn — little as it is — more than suffices here. I cannot reckon much on income from practice. This I known from fourteen years’ experience, and my sensitive temperament forbids me to put myself forward: I am too conscientious to prolong illness, or make it appear more dangerous and important than it really is. Pit, or love of peace, make me reticent in my claims — I am therefore constantly the loser, and I can only look upon my practice as food for the heart.
Stotteritz,
29th August, 1791.
It is impossible to live another year here in this village. I cannot subsist on literature alone; moreover, I have no suitable room for chemical work. I have to send for everything from the town, by special messengers, except dry bread. I should have taken a house in Leipsic long ago, when I should like to live, had not famine, unhealthy air and high rents driven me out of the town for the sake of my sickly children; now that they are sturdy and strong, should I shut them up again in the town atmosphere of Leipsic with all its expenses? Life there means almost unsurmountable hardships, especially with a crowd of five small children. I would risk being criticised for wandering about the earth; it suffices that I undertake nothing without good reason, and never swim against the stream when I can reach the land in case of need. I desire a residence where I can live with my family fairly comfortably, and not too expensively, in good society. now I know that my daily bread is assured for several years to come by my writing, but I have nothing to spare. I have entirely given up my practice for the past year, because it cost me more than it brought in, and I was usually rapid with ingratitude. I want a place where I can live quietly and privately and yet can enlarge my knowledge as a scholar, surrounded by good people, and able to bring up my children straight and sensibly. My best friends in Leipsic would like to have me among them again; but they are too wealthy on the one hand to be able to understand my position, and on the other hand they cannot look at it with the eyes of a medical man.
On September 77th, 1791, at the end of a letter to a Mining Director V.B:
Are you now able to give me good counsel concerning my change of abode? I am longing for it.
Dr., Burnett tells us of Hahnemann’s poverty during this time in “Ecce Medicus,” page 43:
He (Hahnemann) there clad himself in the garb of the very poor, wore wooden clogs, and helped his wife in the heavy work of the house, and kneaded his bread with his own hands.
Mr. Everest, an English preacher and personal friend of Hahnemann, to whom the latter related many instances of his earlier years, wrote as, follows on the want and distress in Hahnemann’s house during this time:
Hahnemann set himself a high task in the midst of his poverty. His whole family lived in one small room, from which he was only separated by a curtain. Among all other unthinkable hindrances he was always surrounded by a hungry family, for whose maintenance he had to fight by hard work. One gains perhaps a better insight into this man’s character, if I mention his answer to a question I once put to him on his habit of smoking; “Oh, that is another useless habit of earlier days when I had to sit up every other night to earn bread for my children, whilst I pursued my own researches during the day.” I found out then through further enquiry that after he had given up his medial practice he was obliged to earns his every other night in order to make it possible to continue his researches during the day.
A HOUSEHOLD REMEDY FOR GANGRENE
In the “Anzeiger ” (Gotha) No. 136, June 9th, 1791, Hahnemann published the following :
The surest and most certain household remedy for gangrene: 12 loth (I loth = 2oz.) of good medium powered oak-bark boiled, with eight pounds of water from a stream, so long that the fluid, after being pressed through a cloth, should weigh only one pound. In this dip a piece of linen, fourfold, which is a little larger than the affected part. This is to be changed every half- hour, washing the linen each time carefully, or replacing it with afresh piece. Within a few hours the gangrene will stop spreading and will not smell when it is moist. The proceeding must be continued until the gangrenous part has become detached and has formed an abscess. To completely remove this the compress is at first applied every three or four hours, and afterwards every eight to twelve hours.
SUPPLEMENT 18
HAHNEMANN’S WORKS DURING HIS FIRST STAY AT LEIPSIC.
1790 – 1792
TRANSLATIONS
1790 Ryan. Enquiries into the Nature and Cure of Phthisis. Leipsic, by Weygand, From the English. 164 pages.
1790. Fabroni. The art of making wine in accordance with sensible principles. Leipsic. 278 pages. From the Italian, with additions.
1790. Arth. Young. Annals of Agriculture. Leipsic, by Crusius. From the English. 2 vols. 290 and 313 pages.
1790. Cullen. A treatise on Materia Medica. Leipsic, by Schwickert. 2 vols, 468 and 672 pages. From the English with annotations.
1791. Monro’s Materia Medica. Leipsic, by Beer. 2 vols.480 and 472 pages. From the English with annotations. 1794 2nd Edition.
1791. Grigg’s Precautionary Measures for the Female Sex. Leipsic, by Weygand. From the English. 285 pages.
1791. De la Metherie. On pure air and different kind of air. Leipsic, by Crusius. 2 vols. 450 and 598 pages. From the French.
1791. Rigby’s Chemical Observations on Sugar. Dresden, by C.C.Richter. 82 pages. From the English with annotations.
HIS CHEMICAL RESEARCHES.
1790. Minor essays on various subjects. Crell’s Annals, vol. I, Part 3, pages 256-257.
1790. Complete directions for the preparation of Mercurius Solubilis, Crell’s Annals, vol. I, Part I, pages 22-28.
1791. Insolubility of some metals and their oxides in caustic ammonia. Crell’s Annals, Vol.II, Part 8, pages 117-123.
1792. Contributions to the Wine Test. Scherf’s contributions to the Archiv. of the Medorrhinum Police. Leipsic, Vol.3.
1792. On the preparation of the Glauber’s salts according to the method of Ballen. Crell’s Annals, Vol.I, Part I, pages 22-23.
HIS MEDICAL WORKS.
1790. A. method to check Salivation and the destructive effects of Mercury. J. Fr. Blumenbach’s Medic, Library, Vol.3, pages 543- 548.
1792. The Friend of Health. Frankfort, Fleisher. Vol.I, 100 pages.
Reviewing the translation of Cullen’s Materia Medica, the “Medorrhinum Chir Zeit.” (1791, I pages 117 and 231) says:
Dr. Hahnemann has completed these translation with great diligence notwithstanding the obscurity of the original. The annotations of the translator are for the most part very instructive, and his occasional corrections increase the value of this important work.
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