Collecting and Recollecting: Gifts from the Recent Past
Raw Materials for Homeopathic Medicines
| Plants and minerals were the main ingredients in homeopathic medicines. These raw materials were ground to a very fine powder with a mortar and pestle, and diluted with milk sugar to provide the minute doses used in homeopathic therapy.
Homeopathy was founded by S. Hahnemann in Germany in 1810. The theoretical basis of homeopathy was to treat a disease with a substance which in large doses could reproduce the symptoms of that disease in a healthy person. For example, a substance which would create a fever should be administered in minute doses to cure a fever, according to the guiding principle, "like is cured by like."
Homeopathic medicine provided an alternative to the sometimes abusive treatments of conventional medicine of the day, such as bleeding, vomiting and purging. For a time, it aspired to rival mainstream or "allopathic" medical practices. In 1889, there were more than 100 hospitals providing homeopathic treatment and more than 20 medical schools offering training in homeopathy in the United States. The University of Iowa had a College of Homeopathic Medicine from 1887 to 1919. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, the donor of these materials, also trained students in homeopathy. |
26. Homeopathic medicine kit |
27. Homeopathic display as seen in exhibit
28. Homeopathic medicines |
Although stigmatized as a dissenting sect, the homeopathic school contributed to advancement in healing practices. It encouraged a reduction in the amount of medicine being administered, stimulated exploration of empirical testing of drugs, and broke with the often rude methods of "heroic" medicine. The popularity of homeopathic medicine peaked in late nineteenth century America and then steadily dwindled, as research yielded more effective medicines.
Treatment on the principle of "like is cured by like" has found a certain place in modern serum therapy for diseases like rabies. In serum therapy, the toxins which produce the disease are injected into the body in a modified form.
circa 1900
Gift of Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois |
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