EVOLUTION OF HOMEOPATHY

Homeopathy is a system of drug therapeutics based on the law of similars. It was discovered by a German Physician, Dr Samuel Hahnemann in 1790 and declared to the world in 1796 in "An Essay on Ascertaining the Curative Powers of Drugs" published in the Hufeland's Journal. It was in 1790, when Hahnemann was translating William Cullen's Materia Medica from English to German that he came across a chapter on Cinchona bark, which was a specific medicine for Malaria; it was to him what the falling apple was to Newton.

The Materia Medica clearly stated that if Cinchona bark was taken by a healthy human being it would produce same symptoms as that of Malaria. On the other hand, Cinchona bark was used for the treatment of Malaria. This was something Hahnemann refused to believe, and to find the real effect of Cinchona, he started taking 4 drachms of Cinchona juice everyday.

To his utter surprise, he found that he developed the symptoms of Malaria, which wore off along with the wearing off of the action of the juice. For a couple of years he kept experimenting more drugs on himself, his family members and his close associates, and was convinced that the medicines produced some effects on healthy human beings. If these signs and symptoms are seen in a diseased person and if the medicine is administered on the basis of the law of similars, it would bring about cure on the principle of Homeopathy, ie.Similia Similibus Curantur, or like cures likes.

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