Try as we may, we fail too often to find the open sesame; we catechize and cross-examine, split hairs and thumb the repertory, while the devilish cough goes blissfully on its way; eventually, the lack of success becomes an obsession with us; we dread to see the patient come into our presence; that infernal cough haunts us and makes us wish that we might consign our patient to Kamchatka or any other equally remote region. Even the thought of homicide comes into our distressed minds, anything would be better than listening to this diabolical, mocking cough.
Of course, some one will say, as we ourselves are wont to say it, treat the patient and never mind his cough! True, beautifully true, but unfortunately not always possible, for reasons unnecessary to state. To us it seems as though much useful work could and should be done, in the revision of that part of our wonderful materia medica, which relates to coughs. There is at present too much confusion, of remedies listed under the rubric cough, too many things stated that aint so.
Simplification is necessary, if the combination tablet and the suppressive heroin are to be driven from their illegal intrusion upon the sanctity of the homoeopathic field. We must be helped to pick the needful remedies more rapidly, as well as unerringly. We all know the joy of making a bulls-eye prescription, the glamour of it far outweighs any consideration of the fee; but the humiliation of repeated failures, is apt to arouse in us a consciousness of an inferiority complex, that bodies no good to anyone and is fatal to future success.