Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Remedy (part 1 of 3)

Hahnemann made his astonishing re-discovery of “like cures like” when he came across a medical case during a translation job. Besides being a top notch chemist and medical doctor, he often translated texts for a living and was conversant in several languages (check his biography). The text that he translated involved the use of a Peruvian tree bark (Cinchona) for the ailment of malaria. He noted that the ingestion of the bark created the same symptoms of malaria and tested this on himself (numerous times). Satisfied that it was possible the bark was creating the same symptoms of malaria and that this was the way it worked to cure that same disease, the idea of “like cures like” was reborn. It is often speculated that during this time Hahnemann researched history for this fundamental idea and others. It was the action of putting the pieces together that created his place in history. Yet, his most important discovery was yet to come.

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