Dr. Samuel Hahnemann enunciated the law of Homoeopathic treatment as follows ( & 26 organon) “A weaker dynamic affection is permanently extinguished in the living organism by a stronger one if the latter (whilst differing in kind) is very similar to the former in its manifestation.”
The law requires the similarity between the natural disease and the disease produced by the drug in proving.
Dr. Hahnemann wrote (in & 34 organon) “The greater strength of the artificial diseases produced by medicines is however not the sole cause of their power to cure natural diseases. In order that they may effect a cure it is before all things a requisite that they should be capable of producing in the human body an artificial disease as similar as possible to the disease to be cured, in order, by means of this similarity, conjoined with its somewhat greater strength, to substitute themselves for natural morbid affection and thereby deprive the latter of all influence upon the vital force.
Here Dr. Samuel Hahnemann explained the action of the drug. The drug produce a disease similar to the natural disease and it will be more powerful than the disease and thereby cures the natural disease.
So the aim should be to get a picture of an artificial disease produced by drug from the Materia Medica. The Materia Medica of Hahnemann and his followers frustrated this objects. Dr. J.T. Kent in his lesser writings wrote. “The student of our materia medica must study a proving until he feels the image of the totality of such feelings of all his provers as if he had proved the remedy and felt all the morbid feelings of provers.”
He clearly admitted that the materia medica does not give the proper image of the disease and so he had given much stress on the reading of the proving.
Now symptoms from the provings of the drug should be collected in such way that the image and the picture of the disease should remain in tact.
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann wrote in Sec. 130 Organon. “If at the commencement first dose administered shall have been sufficiently strong, this advantage is gained, that the experimenter learns the order of succession of the symptoms and can note down accurately the period at which each occurs, which is very useful in leading to a knowledge of the genius of the medicine, for then the order order of the primary actions, as also that of the alternate actions is observed in the most unambiguous manner.
Here he has advised that the order of succession of the symptoms is essential for the proper knowledge of the drug. He has acknowledged the fact that the symptoms only cannot give the picture of the disease produced by the drug in the articles 131 and 132.
Now the symptoms of these provings and poisonings are taken in the order of succession.
Symptoms in the first place.
(a) (i) Persistent nausea. (ii) Slight burning pain the stomach with eructations.
(b) (i) Abundant vomiting with colicky pains and repeated stools (ii) dry tongue and thirst.
(c) (i) Vomiting came on which lasted 48 hours (ii) Vomiting occurred 1 to 4 hours after eating; several had diarrhoea at the same time. There were burning pain in the throat behind the sternum and in the epigastrium.
These symptoms are the symptoms of the various organs of the digesture apparatus. Physiologically the symptoms produced by Arsenic alb. in proving shows the derangement of the Nutritive function symptoms first.
Symptoms in the second place.
(a) (i) a pricking pain over the right eye, then neuralgic pain from the right shoulder to fingers with numbness.
(b) (i) His face was then pale and altered. (ii) he had chilly fits and got very pale; his face was white and pinched.
(c) (i) A feeling of coldness and numbness in the extremities. The cold then reached forearms and legs. (ii) Swelling of the eyelids and conjunctivitis. In some entire face was swollen and in some there was an eruption of urticaria. In two women, the eruption was scarlatinaform in character; one had herpes labials all who had no eruptions suffered from irritation of the skin and scratching caused a transient rash.
In eight of the number there were visual troubles.
All these symptoms are the symptoms of the various organs of the sensory and cutaneous apparatus i.e. physiologically the skin sensory function.
Symptoms in the third place.
(a) (i) Very tired without cause (ii) Dull acting pain in the left ulnar nerve.
(b) (i) His weakness was extreme (ii) Extreme prostration.
(c) (i) Great weakness of the hands and feet came on so that on the tenth day she could not walk without help and finally had to remain in bed, for six weeks she was unable to stand. (ii) Muscular weakness.
These symptoms are the symptoms of motor function.
Symptoms in the fourth place.
(a) (i) Sneezing came on with watery nose.
(b) (i) His pulse was weak and quick. These are the symptoms of respiratory and circulatory functions.
Symptoms in the fifth place.
(a) (i) Sleepy.
(b) (i) Absorbed in gloomy thoughts. These are the symptoms of the mental function.
Thus arsenic alb. is found to derange firstly nutritive function, secondly skin and sensory function; thirdly the motor function; fourthly the respiratory and circulatory function; fifthly the mental function.
The symptoms of thirty provings from cyclopaedia of drug pathogensy and constitutional Therapeutics were arranged according to the order of succession of symptoms and found that Arsenic all deranges nutritive – skin and sensory – motor – respiratory – mental – excretary functions one after another in a definite order.
Arsenic alb must be curative to those diseases which can derange the different functions in the order similar to the order of derangement of function by Arsenic alb. and the power of it must be superior to that of the disease. To illustrate:
1. Subrata Chowdhury, Calcutta, 10-7-54, age 15.
He has passed no stool for two days; in the evening, he felt chilly and went to bed early; at 11 p.m. he woke up with restlessness and felt pain in the chest and could not breath freely. He was much afraid and anxious. He asked his father to call a doctor as he was dying soon.
Arsenic alb. 30 1 dose at 12 p.m. He felt well within 15 minutes and slept well the whole night.
Here the disease – deranged.
Nutritive function – (constipation).
Skin and sensory function (chilly) – motor function (restless) – respiratory function (fear and anxious) one after another.
2. Ranita Mitra, Banibon, Howrah, age 15.
The patient relates her case as follows:
“I have been suffering from headache for two months. It began from the morning, increases at noon and gradually become less in the evening. I have no pain at night. During the pain I do not like to move, lie down in the bed and do not like noise and talking with others. I do not pass stool daily and I am constipated. According to old method I administered Bryonia – 30, 200 and Gelsemium – 30, 200 but no effect. On enquiry about the development of the disease she did not pass stool daily.
In the morning headache began. As soon as the headache began he could not walk and took to bed and kept quiet. During mid – day when headache became severe he felt difficulty in breathing. In the evening she became very irritable and disliked noise. The development of disease showed that it deranged nutritive function (constipation) skin sensory function. (headache) motor function (kept quite and lay down) respiratory function (difficulty in breathing) mental function (irritability) one after another.
On 4-9-54 Arsenic alb. 30 1 dose.
5-9-54 A bit less, phytum 1 dose.
6-9-54 No headache, Phytum.
The patient is alright and no medicine.
Those cases shows the patient suffered from different diseases namely breathing difficulty and headache respectively but the course of the development is similar to that of Arsenic alb. and so Arsenic cured them.
Now if the symptoms produced by drug in proving and poisoning are arranged according to the order of succession of symptoms, the feature of the drug disease is clearly obtained. A few drug diseases produced by the drugs in proving and analysed from the cyclopaedia of drug pathogensy are given below.
Aconite nap. deranges – Skin sensory, nutritive, respiratory, motor, mental, excretary one after another.
Sulphur deranges – Skin sensory, nutritive, circulatory, motor, mental, excretory, reproductive.
Nux vom. Skin sensory, motor, nutritive, respiratory, mental, urinary.
Lycopodium – Nutritive, skin sensory, respiratory, motor, excretary, mental, reproductive functions.
Pulsatilla – Nutritive, skin sensory, circulatory, motor, reproductive, mental, excretary function.
Phosphorus – Nutritive, respiratory, skin sensory, motor, mental, reproductive, excretary.
This is placed before the learned thoughtful and well – wishers of Homoeopathy for their opinion and discussion.
