THE

AMERICAN

HOMOEOPATHIST,

AN EXPONENT OF MEDICAL PROGRESS.

VOLUME XIII.

1887.

EDITOR:

B. F. UNDERWOOD, M. D.

NEW YORK:

A. L. CHATTERTON & CO.

F.3 8 1911

LIBRARY

THE

AMERICAN HOMEOPATHIST.

VOL. XIII. NEW YORK, JANUARY 1, 1887.

No. I.

The precarious state of Dr. Winterburn's health requires that he should live out of town, as he has been doing for some time past, and avoid fatigue and excitement. This renders it imperative that he should resign the editorial conduct of this journal, which he does with the regret that we all feel at the enforced close of a pleasant experience. He desires to return thanks to those who have helped him with pen and counsel, and bespeaks for his successor like goodly courtesies. Circumstances not to be controlled have made the journal very different from what he would have desired it to be, but though very unlike his ideal, it has been a source of pleasure to him, and he hopes of profit to the reader. And so, courteous reader, with the best of wishes, he says adieu.

Between the desire to be on the side of the Lord, and the wish to have the Lord on our side there is a wide difference The bearings of this 'ere observation, as Captain Cuttle might say, lie in the application thereof. In the first instance the truth, whether it suits our own particular views or not, is gladly welcomed, in the latter, if the facts do not coincide with our theory so much the worse for the facts.

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As far as Medical Philosophy is concerned, the personal equation, we imagine, of the most of us would give us a bias toward preferring to have the truth on our side rather than toward our being on the side of the truth. But so far as the AMERICAN HOMOEOPATHIST is concerned we shall gladly welcome the truth, from whatever source it may come, only let us be sure that it is the truth; and if the truth shall threaten any of our pet theories, so much the worse for the theory.

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We enter upon the new year as an exponent of liberal, progressive medicine, according to those who differ from us the same liberty of opinion that we claim for ourselves, and aiding, so far as we may be able, the advancement of medical science. We believe in progression, that the world moves, and that we are wiser to-day than we were yes

terday; and we also believe that to deserve success either as homoeopathists or as physicians, we must be found in the van of medical progress. The heterodoxy of to-day is the orthodoxy of to-morrow.

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We desire that the AMERICAN HOMEOPATHIST shall be a live, readable and practical journal, presenting the latest and best in medical theory and practice. To achieve this end we need and ask the co-operation of all our readers [and we hope that each one will take this paragraph as a personal appeal addressed to himself]. We want the results of your observation and experience for the benefit of your fellow practitioners. Give us an account of your successes, and do not forget your failures, if such things fall to your lot. Sometimes our failures benefit us more than our successes. Give us your views on the current medical topics and questions of the day. No matter if the scalpel is more potent in your hands than the pen, and you can not round a sentence as deftly as you can ligate an artery, let us have your ideas and it will be our part to put them into shape. You can not expect the editor to write the whole of the journal and you would not read it if he did.

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Our readers will notice with regret in the present number the announcement from the pen of Dr. Winterburn that the pressure of other duties has compelled his retirement from the editorial charge of this journal. We know that the many friends he has made while occupying that position will join with us in wishing him an equal success in his other labors. It also affords us pleasure to announce that he will continue to contribute to the AMERICAN HOMEOPATHIST, from time to time, from the rich stores of his experience.

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On taking up the editorial pen laid down by the doctor, custom seem to demand from us an expression of our views concerning things in general and the conduct of a medical journal in particular, as a kind of an introduction to our readers; and a statement of the wonderful work

we expect to accomplish in the future. But bearing in mind the wisdom of the admonition of old, "Let him that putteth the armor on boast not like him that layeth it down," we prefer to let the future conduct of this journal speak for us. Beside this, before we were fairly settled in the editorial chair the devil appeared at our elbow, with the demand for" copy," and the statement that he-that is-that the publisher wanted to bring the journal out on time, and that commencing with the new year he meant that the AMERICAN HOMEOPATHIST should always appear promptly on the first of the month, and be, as all homœopa

thists ought to be, always on time and up to date; so not to discourage his good intentions we reluctantly pigeon-holed the able editorial we were going to write, and let him send this number, like Richard III., "Out into the breathing world, scarce half made up." Hereafter we shall bid the devil defiance and have his copy always ready for him.

1.

CASES CURED WITH CAUSTICUM.

FROM THE GERMAN OF DR. H. GOULLON, WEIMAR.

TRANSLATED BY PROF.

Lilienthal

Populare Zeitschrift, June, 1886.

AN old man of sedentary habits, off and on suffering from catarrh and emphysema, complains now of frequent micturition, especially at night, nearly every quarter of an hour, and though he passes only a few drops, he has to strain a great deal, and the ischuria is extremely pain. ful. No cause for it can be detected. The patient describes the pain as burning and cutting, and though causticum is too often overlooked in diseases of the arcpoetic organs, it seemed to be indicated for this aged man, as enlargement and induration of the prostate are ailments of senilty. He took causticum 6th dec., 4 drops in half a glass of water, a teaspoonful three times a day. It cured him in two days, so that his nights are good and his sleep refreshing. It produced also a diarrhoea.

2. A young lady caught cold in bathing, which caused a short cough, but only in day time. The irritation seemed to be seated in the mucous membrane of the throat. The urine looks like whey. After the failure of aconite and belladonna; she was greatly relieved after a few days by causticum. We should always remember causticum, where in affections of a mucous membrane, especially of the urinary and respiratory organs, the urine appears abnormal. In crusta lactea with muddy urine it acts nicely. Although causticum is greatly related to calcarea, only the former has burning pains. The mucous affections yielding to calcarea, are mostly gastric and intestinal, or in the eye or ear. Polyps of the nose were cured by either one, both suit the scrofulous dyscrasia, and here again particularly children with protruding abdomen.