Organon of the specific healing art / By Gottlieb Ludwig Rau, M.D. Translated from the German, with an essay on the present internal condition of the homoeopathic school, by C.J. Hempel. M.D.
- Gottlieb Martin Wilhelm Ludwig Rau
- Date:
- 1847
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Organon of the specific healing art / By Gottlieb Ludwig Rau, M.D. Translated from the German, with an essay on the present internal condition of the homoeopathic school, by C.J. Hempel. M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![ae TT, 2 > an ORGANON OF THE SPECIFIC HEALING ART. 93. many other estimable savans, in regard to the imperfections of medicine; and they do not hesitate to designate by the term rational any treatment, even unsuccessful, which is based. upon a hypothesis, provided it is defended with a show of logic. That kind of logic, however, is of less importance to the pa- tient than his recovery ; the patient cares little about the princi- ples of the schoo], an ideal system: he wants to be cured.* The physician who obstinately pursues an ideal object, frequently loses sight of the actual object of his treatment. Mesmer was once asked what baths were most healthy; he answered : Formerly it made no difference whether a bath was taken in a room or in the open air; but ever since I have mag- netized the sun it is better to bathe in water that the sun is shining upon. Another Jearned man, who is still living if I am not mistaken, and’ who has made himself known by his medical: publications, magnetized, some years previous, the university buildings of Heidelberg, in. order to inspire the stu- dents with a higher enthusiasm for science. Such errors excite our mirth, whereas the daily example of the obstinacy with which prejudices are defended, excites rather. our compassion. ~The celebrated author. of the work on “ E'xperiénce,” the Chevalier Zimmermann; saw in every disease visceral ob- structions, and prescribed to all his patients dandelion, on. which account he was surnamed the Knight of the Dandelion. I know a well-informed physician who imagines that in every case of disease that’ he treats there is some latent affection of the spleen. Some see in every disease masked gout; others lose themselves in the dark region of the piles; others again, a * Some time ago I lent to a learned friend of mine, who is no profes- sional physician, a manual of special therapeutics which is in the hands ef every physician. He wished to consult the work in relation to the case of a person who was closely allied tohim. On returning it to me, he told me: ‘“ The reading of this book has discouraged me entirely, for Thad a much higher idea of your science ; but all I found, was a variety ef methods according to which this or that disease can be treated, with- eut discovering any specific indications for one or the other method. It seems to me, therefore, that.it is the caprice of the physician which decides about the method, and that the patient’s life frequently depends — upon the chance of a lucky choice; if the cure does not take place, plied that a manual of therapeutics could not be as positive as that of a brewer or dyer, and that it must be left to the judgment of the physi- cian to decide what method is the best in every case. My friend, however, was perfectly right in saying, that too much room is left to the arbitrary disposition of the physician, and the patient’s fate fre- quently depends. upon.the school in which he has formed himself, upon tae system he has adopted, or upon the method he follows. rw](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33098062_0029.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
