If a man follows where homoeopathy leads he must be able to follow those laws and hold close to them, regardless of pressure or influence. On the other hand, the very principles which he follows stabilize him and make him sure in his work.



This stability can be maintained equally well in chronic work, in acute cases or amidst the panics of epidemics of unknown origin, such as influenza, poliomyelitis; outbreaks of such conditions as encephalitis; for here, as in all other manifestations of illness, the fundamental laws remain firm and intact, and they are sufficiently basic to provide a sure guide to health.

A man who adopts the homoeopathic methods must be free from prejudice, and able to look fairly at disease conditions from a new angle. He must look at the patient as an individual, not as a disease, and he must treat the patient and not the disease. He must learn that the symptoms that under ordinary training would have been discarded as confusing the issue or as of no value are the very symptoms which, to the homoeopathic physician, simplify the case and provide the strongest clues to the surest method of assistance.

The vista in the field of medicine which is opened up for cure under the homoeopathic method of treatment is a wide one, and cure is always accomplished with the least possible disturbance to the patient and in the gentlest manner, yet with the most profound effect on the whole individual.

Homoeopathy is a system of medicine upon which we can depend to set the individual system in order and the patient on the high road to recovery, if recovery is possible. If we fail, we may know that the failure is ours, in that we have not fully compassed the case or knowledge of the remedies.

In a field so vast, it is conceivable that not all available agencies have yet been developed; and our own ignorance may limit us in the use of those remedies which we already have. But those who study homoeopathy with an unprejudiced mind, and those who have practiced it faithfully and purely, can and do attest its unsurpassed results when conscientiously applied to the sick.

The very foundation of homoeopathic practice considers man not only as an individual, but as a complete unit in himself, of which all his parts comprise a well-balanced whole. Homoeopathy, therefore, does not consider any one part as being ill, but considers the manifestation of illness in one part in its relation to the whole man.

Homoeopathy seeks to relieve the individual as much as possible from the heavy burden of hereditary tendencies he carries, and to guard against increasing this load by enabling his vital energy to provide its own immunity against disease. Homoeopathy looks upon the health of the individual as a precious charge, and his return to health as almost certain if we but follow the fundamental laws.

Homoeopathy accentuates the study of the action of drugs upon healthy human beings, with little consideration of their action on the lower animals, for homoeopathy recognizes that it is only through knowledge of their action upon man that we can obtain a correct perception of their applicability in disease.

These are some of the main characteristics of homeopathy, and it can be seen that there are many distinct differences between this discipline and regular conventional medicine.