Page 5 - Autumn 12

From Leipzig to the Organon – The roots of homeopathy by John Saxton, UK
When describing the ‘Cinchona experiment’ homeopaths sometimes give the impression, perhaps unintentionally, that it was something of a ‘Eureka’ moment, a blinding flash of inspi- ration that changed the course of medicine for- ever – and indeed some may genuinely think of it in those terms. In fact it was more the culmi- nation of a process that had been going on for at least the previous fifteen years, the final piece of the jigsaw that enabled Hahnemann to carry his ideas forward into the practical sys- tem of today; and it still hasn’t changed the course of western medicine as homeopaths had hoped. But the foundations of the Organon were laid during those fifteen years. Important concepts were added later but these were developments on a sound basic structure, not changes of direction. Hence it is both important and interesting to understand how those foun- dations were laid.
Hahnemann could be described as having been a somewhat precocious child, yet judging from the amount of help he received during his early education, from outside sources as well as from his family, there must have been more to him than just that – a certain charisma per- haps as well as obvious talent. In any case he obtained a good early education in both ancient and modern languages, mathematics and botany. By his own admission, he “read little but correctly” and “digested what he had read” – a critical student even at that stage! However, his grounding in languages was important as that gave him access to the whole range of ancient and modern writings that would influence him later.
And so to Leipzig University (1775), where the homeopathic story really starts. At that time Leipzig was the premier medical school in Germany and it can only be imagined with what anticipation the young Hahnemann arrived there (do personal memories stir?). Unfortunately the reality did not live up to the expectation and from the outset he was dissat- isfied with the teaching, he received. Leipzig medical school had no clinic or hospital attached. The concept of medical education there was that students were to be “crammed with theories and systems and then, after a few terms, were let loose on suffering humanity there to win experience, knowledge and skill for themselves”. The result of this was that he “attended only such lectures as I considered useful”, whilst at the same time reading widely and teaching German and French to private
pupils, principally a rich young Greek. At this time he also began to translate scientific texts professionally from English into German, there- by gaining both knowledge and income. He had always been persuaded of the importance of what would nowadays be described as keeping fit, stating that “I did not forget, as of old, to pro- cure for my body, through exercise and fresh air, that vitality and strength by which alone continual brain work can be endured with success”.
The medical world was changing greatly at that time. The old ideas and practice descend- ed from the ancient world were being chal- lenged by discoveries in anatomy and physiology/ pathology and this led to the emer- gence of a whole range of new medical theo- rists. Foremost among these were the iatro-mechanics, who viewed the body as essentially a vast machine and iatro-chemists, who considered the body as in effect a giant test tube (iatro- relating to medical treatment). Although Hahnemann was able to attend the lectures of the most eminent professors of the time he never made any subsequent refer- ences to them as having made any positive contribution to his education – or indeed any reference at all. How deeply his experiences at this time affected him can be seen from the footnote to paragraph 1 of the Organon ‘the physician’s calling is not to spin so-called sys- tems from empty conceits and hypotheses concerning the inner workings of the life process and the origins of disease... of such learned fanaticism (to which the name theoret- ical medical art is given and for which special professorships are instituted) we have had quite enough. It is high time for all who call themselves physicians, once and for all, to stop deceiving suffering humanity with idle talk, and to begin now to act, that is to really help and cure’.
After two years of this he left Leipzig in pur- suit of more practical instruction and headed towards Vienna. Here he at last learned the practical medical skills of his time working in the hospital of the ‘Brothers of Mercy’ for about six months. From there he obtained a position as librarian and personal family physician to a Saxon nobleman and moved with him to his house in Hermannstadt (now in Hungary). There he continued his private medical studies and was able to practice on his employer’s family and on the inhabitants of the town. After eight- een months he moved again, this time to the
University of Erlangen, where he arrived in the spring of 1779. Erlangen was a new university and a major consideration was undoubtedly the much-reduced fees compared to those of Leipzig; another factor may have been his dis- illusionment with the tuition and ethos of his original alma mater. Be that as it may, he obtained his medical degree from Erlangen in August 1779.
From that point until his return to the Leipzig area in 1792, Hahnemann moved fre- quently. Between 1782 and 1784 he was Medical Officer of Health in Gommern (Hahnemann as a civil servant!) and again in Dresden for a year as locum for the permenant official, who was ill. This gave him the opportu- nity to expand his experience and knowledge into new fields of medicine beyond treating individual illness. When the official incumbant died, he applied for the permenant post but was unsuccessful. It is interesting to speculate as to how long he would have stayed in such a post, had he been successful and also as to how the future would have developed, had he made a career in public health. Certainly his experiences in that role influenced his thinking and practice.
However, Hahnemann was never a full time civil servant, continuing with both his private practice and his writing/studying, the latter occupying a major part of his time. Whilst in Gommern he began to make regular contribu- tions to a medical journal as well as producing other major literary works. In one of these, Directions for curing old sores and indolent ulcers, he extolls the skills of veterinary sur- geons: “My pride does not prevent me from confessing that veterinary surgeons are usually more successful, that is, have more skill in the treatment of old wounds than the most learned professors...I wish I had their professional skill based on experience”. At one level this could be considered a very back handed complement – ‘vets don’t know much about what they are doing, just fly by the seat of their pants’ – but what Hahnemann was really doing here was to emphases the virtues of practical experience over theoretical considerations.
Over this period another medical theory had come to the fore, possibly in part as a reac- tion to the more complex theories being devel- oped. This idea originated from a Dr John Brown in Edinburgh, who viewed health as a state, where there was the correct amount of
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