QUESTION AND ANSWER DEPARTMENT


QUESTION AND ANSWER DEPARTMENT. Low potencies have acted favorably in the single dose and conversely high potencies have undoubtedly acted curatively when repeated. It is best to accept in principle the word of the masters of the homoeopathic art, but be ready to do something on ones own judgment and initiative then circumstances require.


Note: Send questions to Dr. Eugene Underhill, Jr., 2010 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Penna.

Question: DO YOU BELIEVE IN PSORA? JUST HOW DO YOU REGARD THIS THEORY OF HAHNEMANN?.

Answer: It is time for us to modernize our views concerning this so-called miasmatic complex. Homoeopathists are prone to criticize the “old school” of medicine for labeling and cataloging various diseases, yet we still cherish the three chronic diseases–psora, syphilis and sycosis.

Psora is becoming a pretty poor crate for homoeopathic physicians to go places with and when once fully dismantled and its component parts thoroughly examined no one will ever care to reassemble the old “Lizzy”.

What is commonly understood as psora must include:.

1. Structural weaknesses.

2. Inherited or congenital dyscrasias or disease tendencies.

3. Nutritional deficiencies.

4. Food toxemias.

5. Drug toxemias.

6. Depletions.

7. Warpings caused by serious or long continued environmental stresses.

In the final analysis (or should we say synthesis?) psora is the homoeopathic dump heap and in it one may find a little of nearly everything. It really has no order, rhyme or reason and Hahnemann himself never gave it a standing beyond that of theory.

Question: WHY IS IT CUSTOMARY TO REPEAT LOW POTENCIES AT FREQUENT INTERVALS AND TO GIVE ONLY A SINGLE DOSE OF THE HIGHEST CENTESIMAL PREPARATIONS?.

Answer: The entire potency question is one of preference based upon individual and collective experience. The combined testimony of many expert prescribers favors the use of the higher potencies in the single dose and the lower decimal potencies in more frequent repetition.

However, no hard and fast rules should be followed in this matter. Low potencies have acted favorably in the single dose and conversely high potencies have undoubtedly acted curatively when repeated. It is best to accept in principle the word of the masters of the homoeopathic art, but be ready to do something on ones own judgment and initiative then circumstances require.

Eugene Underhill
Dr Eugene Underhill Jr. (1887-1968) was the son of Eugene and Minnie (Lewis) Underhill Sr. He was a graduate of Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. A homeopathic physician for over 50 years, he had offices in Philadelphia.

Eugene passed away at his country home on Spring Hill, Tuscarora Township, Bradford County, PA. He had been in ill health for several months. His wife, the former Caroline Davis, whom he had married in Philadelphia in 1910, had passed away in 1961. They spent most of their marriage lives in Swarthmore, PA.

Dr. Underhill was a member of the United Lodge of Theosophy, a member of the Philadelphia County Medical Society, and the Pennsylvania Medical Society. He was also the editor of the Homœopathic Recorder.