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League oration
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T R A N S L A T I O N OF T H E P R E L I M I N A R Y REMARKS I N I T A L I A N By DR. GA~TANO GAGLIARDI (Rome) ALL who know me for a long time, and know m y good--or b a d - - h a b i t of expressing myself--easily or hardly--in the language of my guests, shall be certainly surprised to hear me, once at least, speaking the language of Dante, with some trembling in the voice, but with all the ardour of m y Italian heart. I tell you, at once, that it was not a caprice, and not even a sudden impulse of patriotic feeling which suggested the idea to me. I only thought that the cordial greeting I want to give you--also in the name of m y Italian colleagues not able to make the long journey--could only keep its spontaneousness, and its warmth, on the condition that it should be expressed in m y own language, the only language I can talk. I know, among the others that I only have the pretension to speak. I then extend, to you all, the greeting of Italy and of Rome ; a greeting that can be translated into thousands of languages, but must be first of all understood and felt ; a greeting that may attend thousands of ears, but wants to travel and to reach the ways of the heart. I t is the greeting of the eternal city, the spiritual mother country of all those who, of the problems of spirit, art, science, have made a food of life, and, if this ambassador seems too inadequate to the delicate and high task, you will forgive his audacity, and only consider the worth of his goodwill and of his undoubted sincerity. LEAGUE ORATION By DR. GAETANOGAGLIARDI(Rome) Ladies and Gentlemen, I cannot tell you who compelled me to address in English such a brilliant audience ; I cannot tell you, because I would rather not expose him to welldeserved censure nor to the cruel criticism of you all . . . . One could not even say which was greater, his ingeniousness in proposing, or my boldness in accepting, a foreigner, to address you in English here, in the very heart of Britain, in this glorious hospital, heart and brain of British Homoeopathy ! - - I have only thought it might be of interest to some, to hear from abroad, of the subject which interests us so deeply. Above all, I was sure that your benevolence would be generous enough to neutralize the slings and arrows of m y embroiled accents, even admitted that the substance may ever meet with your agreement and your approval. Let me, then, start with m y deepest apologies, together with the promise, that I shall not abuse your patience. Once more, by this well arranged and successful Joint Congress, that marvellous art of healing, that we call Homceopathy, that wonderful lighted torch, that so many keen men, through a century and half of victorious trials transmitted to us well lit and burning, has given a testimony of its unexhausted strength and of its inexhaustible vitality. Somebody called Homceopathy "The Aristocracy of Medicine"; some others consider it a discipline of humanism ; endless discussions may arise in order to establish if it is a science or rather an art. I see to-day our Homceopathy as a real faith, with its human aspects and its divine performances, because only a firm faith gives courage to face struggles and anxieties of any kind, and above all because faith alone can work the miracle we have seen in recent days. People of so many countries and of different spirit and languages, assembled in fraternal harmony, after the sad events which poisoned the world, and threatened the purest springs of humanity and fraternity ! Homceopathy is the faith ; we are the priests. Have we done our duty
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and kept our moral engagements, or have we something with which to reproach ourselves ? I t is right to acknowledge that, if in the last ten years homceopathic organization and culture did not advance very much throughout the world, it is not our fault indeed. But it is also right to acknowledge that, as soon as the storms were over, the leaders of the International Homceopathic League took up again the ensigns of their authority, and blew the trumpets for the new assemblies. With pleasure I shall here remember, that it was a British President, our beloved Dr. Paterson, who accomplished the delicate and difficult task with all due care, keenness, and diplomacy. The aims of the International Homceopathic League do not need to be stated here ; we are engaged in the expansion of the homceopathic idea in all countries ; for the creation and maintenance of bonds among all who are interested in the Hahnemannian doctrine; for organization of homceopathic meetings, for the defence of the homceopathic interests. As for propaganda, our annual and quinquennial Congresses, hitherto held in the most strategical place of Europe, with the doors wide open to all medical men and scientific bodies, represented very good work in order to call attention to the existence of Homceopathy, and to have our moral assistance felt, and to re-animate the self-confidence in many Colleagues spiritually isolated. Concerning the task of recruiting as many homceopathic doctors as possible in our ranks, the main obstacle is in the distance ; nobody would, certainly, expect a large number of our Argentine, Brazilian, and Mexican colleagues to cross the ocean every year to meet us, since it would be as difficult for us, to return the visit . . . . Being acquainted with the spread of North and South American Homceopathy, it is our purpose to improve our scientific interchanges and establish a profitable collaboration with all colleagues overseas. Nor will we forget the colleagues in Ndrth and South Africa, who, by their good will and perseverance, keep very high the prestige of Homceopathy in that continent, and in India and Pakistan. Concerning the scientific aims, it should be recognized that our work has been satisfactory, if we think of how fugitive our meetings are, and of the long and sad parenthesis of the war. Critical people are accustomed to say that Congresses help a little to chat and a little to amuse one's self ; I m a y only agree, when I think of the real pleasure and spiritual enjoyment felt on meeting old and dear friends ; but I also think that our chats can be useful, because the whole success of a meeting, is not to be found only between the lines of scientific papers. However, apart from the importance and the value of the isolated and individua] works, we have gone, with our achievements, even beyond our duties, carrying o u t - - a s was done before the war--some good contributions on the therapeutic use of the snake and spider poisons, a n d now with the experiment of proving drugs on the healthy body, according to Hahnemann's teachings. Being the most genuine and typical expression of the homceopathic genius, provings deserve to be pointed out, and encouraged and supported by all of us. Provings have been the indispensable foundation of the homceopathic practice ; provings are the best way to insure the homceopathic tradition ; provings are our most legitimate pride, because they give Homceopathy the peculiar feature of individual medicine, and to us the certainty to treat men, and not only deal with diseases. Medical science, gentlemen, is still on the march ; it does not stop ; it cannot stop. I f the means for destruction and killing 'make everyday quick and disquieting advancements, the art of healing (I would say the art of loving one's fellow creatures) should overcome it in speed. The official school shows with pride many discoveries and some so-called discoveries ; surgery tends to improve its technique as well as the boldness of its representatives ; if Homceopathy should stop at its level of Hahnemann's times, its existence could even be - - m o r e or less--fair, but it could be a fault of ours, 'of which nobody could
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foresee the consequences, and a responsibility from which nobody could ever alleviate us. Prove, thenl but also re-prove, certainly not in order to c o r r e c t hypothetic errors of the Master--that would indeed not be very e a s y - - b u t in order to re-examine the oldest pathogenesis in the light of the modern biological controls and laboratory tests, the only way to obtain more complete pictures and make more scientific the ground of our prescriptions. Entering our consulting-rooms, through his exterior and somatic features, a patient may give forth, for instance, the strongest S e p i a , or P h o s p h o r u s , or S u l p h u r indications ; but, if we follow the good rules of the modern semeiology, and go further, to inquire into the metabolism and constitutional changes of that patient, one may obtain some indicative d a t a - - e v e n w o r t h y - - o f which no mention is to be found in the oldest pathogenesis, and which may be decisive in making sure the clinical diagnosis and a better choice of the remedy. I t was by impulse of the I.H.L. that a number of colleagues took up again the classical drug-testing, with all possible guarantees of scientific earnestness : we must see there the highest hopes for the vitality and future developments of Homceolaathy. Once more Britain through the " drug-proving Committee " of the Faculty, holds a first place ; Switzerland, U.S.A. and South American States make worthy attendance ; it is hoped that such example will be followed by many eager and courageous men, in all countries. A little while ago, I took the liberty of reminding you that medical science is still on the march. How many jokes have been told in all times of the progress in medicine. Few can be referred to here ; I shall only mention that wonderful magician of the mind, by the name of Bernard Shaw, I could enterrain you for a while. I t has been said that, in medicine, all that is new is not good, and all that is good is not new. A celebrated Italian Master (Professor Semmola of the Faculty of Naples) defined medicine as " an old comedy every now and again carried back to the theatre, with a new scenery according to the resources of the times " However sceptical one may be, it is not permitted, to homceopathic doctors, to refuse inconsiderately or--even worse--to ignore the performances of the official school ; this is often the typical and unpleasant habit of some allopathic bodies in regard to us ; it is not certainly in this that we shall imitate them ! After the advent of the atomic bomb, perhaps the only event that did astonish mankind has been the introduction of the " antibiotics " in therapy. Penicillin by Sir Alexander F.leming, to whose talent everyone must bow with respect, has marked without doubt, a great advance in the evolution of the official therapy in infectious diseases. We are all acquainted with the clamorous recoveries of many severe and desperate cases where the common medicines, vaccines or surgical interventions, could oppose nothing but total impotence. Though valiant and triumphant, penicillin was only a vanguard ; a full army of beneficial " mustinesses " (a real Salvation Army) did rush, more "or less tumultuously through the gap, and still, to-day, one cannot say to what extent the antibiotic invasion could carry forward its pacific flags. The poor sulpha drugs of Gerhard Domagk, that are in a certain way the legitimate parents of the antibiotics, seem to be overturned and surpassed, though a collaboration established itself very soon between the two different types of drugs. Whether the enthusiasms are all justified and hopes all well-founded, it is not our task to judge here. But we think the moment has come when every honest d o c t o r - - a n d not homceopaths alone--ought to feel the duty to prevent in the public that dangerous conviction that almost every illness m a y be healed by Penicillin and Co. I t is a fact that, if somebody affected with the most simple and banal fever, does not recover in three or four days, some other, among the relatives, more or less clad in the mantle of a cultivated person, will begin to whisper the
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fatal name of the magic drug. Next day, the situation being possibly unchanged, a voice will start from the house on the floor, up- or downstairs. Another day, and the . . . janitor will mention of some patient cured of just the same disease, in two days, by so many million units of penicillin ! Decisively, it is not easy to be a homceopath nowadays ! I t is not enough to follow what one's conscience dictates ; it is almost useless to call out the best resources of the personal experience ; you must deal with the . . . janitor and, of course, with penicillin ! I think it can be of interest to give you a short account of a typical case that occurred in m y practice. I n November, 1948, I was called to a young boy, aged 9, struck by intense fever which went up to 104 ~ in a few hours and very violent c o u g h . He was rather puny and liable to long lasting colds ; his father died from broncho-pneumonia soon after his birth. Clinical examinations quite negative for throat and digestive t r a c t ; auscultation showed rhonchi spreading from large and middle bronchia, more marked in the lower right chest. Pulse between 110 and 120; quite evident dyspncea. The clinical diagnosis appeared not so difficult ; not so easy the diagnosis of the remedy. Patient was thirsty, without perspiration; wanted to uncover; no peculiar Symptoms. Aconite was given first; then Ferr. phos. ; later Bryonia. Up to the fourth day, no changes at all! Fever still very h i g h , remittent morning and rising again at noon and after. The patient being very low, sleepless (also on account of persisting cough) with loathing of any food, and the mother being very anxious I asked for a consultation. A perfect agreement as for diagnosis ; concerning treatment, my eminent colleague--allopathic, of course--told me in full frankness that it might have been a heavy responsibility to go on with Homceopathy alone and suggested--of course--penicillin. He assured me that in three or four days the boy could be healed. Somebody might now think I have failed in courage and, perhaps, in faith, but there are psychological moments in life, where the human soul seems unable to give any support to our brittle flesh ; it was at the time of the greatest fanaticism for the great medical discovery ; I felt that a support from abroad was anxiously wanted, though not clearly asked. In face of the persistent failure of m y prescriptions, I thought what could arrive as a result of an unhappy intransigence ? I trusted, then, the case into the hands of m y colleague, only asking for the role of a simple, but attached spectator. Penicillin was given at the current rate during five days ; the fever went down but coughing became quite constant and shocking and so exhausting that, at moments, it was nothing but a pitiful moaning ; the heart conditions, that might have been better on account of the lowered fever, were aggravated by the strain of coughing. Then cardiac tonics and lincti for cough were given. Meanwhile, tests were negative for typhus, undulant fever, malaria and for T.B. When, on the sixth day of allopathic intervention the fever did rise again up to 102 ~, the situation became critical enough. Penicillin was then replaced by Streptomycin ; a new abasement of the fever, but general conditions persisted very b a d ; dyspncea very m a r k e d ; the cough incessant, with little expectoration of a colourless, sometimes frothy mucus. Between the coughing spells, the poor boy was saying, " Mammy, I cannot endure any more ! " At that moment Homceopathy was called for again; the little patient himself demanded to have again his pellets ! Though the situation was much more severe, and diagnostic hints much more confused, I could not refuse. I only asked for a new consultant and for an X-ray chest examination in order to supply a better diagnostic definition. The new consultant, among the best clinicians in Rome, agreed with my unconfessed suspicion that very likely a pulmonary form of acute miliary T.B. might be in question. Subsequent X-ray examination gave " a sprinkling of small nodules
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throughout the lungs, with accentuation of the pulmonary sounds on the right side, with right basal pleuritic reaction " I could put down the following picture : great general weakness and mental depression. Cough during fever. Cough worse lying on the left side. Cough worse by motion of arms. Spasmodic, incessant, rattling cough. Expectoration tasting salty. Thirst, with desire of cold drinks, in large quantities. Chilliness morning and forenoon. Desire for uncovering during fever and during perspiration. Unfortunately, no peculiar symptoms of the mind. I gave Phosphorus 30x, three doses in two days. No special improvement took place, but two noteworthy symptoms were appearing ; the first, seized only b y chance : a difficult urination in presence of strangers ; the second : the morning chill came definitely at 10 a.m. ! You are now acquainted with what remedy was give n and what remedy did cure--Natrum muriaticum 30x, three times a day, brought on the fever to 104-5 ~ at first, then a wonderful and progressive improvement of cough and fever, together with a ravenous appetite ; for the first time in twenty days, the boy could sleep uninterruptedly seven hours long ; the fever went to normal in four days ; little alteration in evening hours for some days ; everything all right in two weeks of a peaceful and easy convalescence. The patient is to-day a sturdy and healthy boy, brilliant and an indefatigable little football player ! Decisively, it is not easy to be a homoeopath nowadays ! But Homoeop a t h y does never deceive her faithful followers. Is it possible that a homoeopathie practitioner can betray Homceopathy because, in some cases, he might reach his goal without straining the mind and without going against the . . . public opinion ? I t is hardly necessary to repeat here t h a t we are homoeopaths not as a result of a vow taken, nor for mania of extravagance of prescribing pellets instead of injections, but for the conviction, confirmed every day by thousands of cases, that Homwopathy is the best way for a speedy, gentle and permanent restitution of health in the shortest, most reliable and safest manner. If, as in the case above, the recovery is not so speedy, you realize t h a t the fault was not of H a h n e m a n n ; perhaps another homceopath could have succeeded where you have failed ; but when recovery does not take place in any way, you m a y be sure t h a t the illness is incurable, and t h a t other methods and other drugs could not succeed where Homceopathy has failed ! On the other hand, as the above case has pointed out, not all infectious diseases are curable b y antibiotics. Streptomycin, neomycin, aureomycin, chtoromyeetin, tirotricin, bacitraein, aerosporin etc., represent a big choice, and give m a n y chances for finding the best suitable produce against the germ concerned, but the m a n y cases of infra-virus infections still represent a big gap, and m a y only offer temptation for some blind prescription, without any chance of specific adequateness. Moreover, circumscribed infections as adeniiJis or purulent collections, b y effect of the only and strictly " antibiotic " action, m a y be reduced as for inflammatory signs, but often leave sequelae of painful infiltrates, lasting days and weeks, and requiring even surgical interventions. That m a y be accepted as a profitable compromise in special circumstances, but it is not a great clinical success ; in any case, it is not a cure ! The latest fashion, springing from the certainty of the success a n d - happily--coming from only a small number of practitioners, perhaps too busy, is now to give penicillin at first sign of every febrile disease, often before any diagnostic attempt, and without any laboratory test. And this m a y be very easy indeed, but it is not scientific ? Finally, as for years with the sulpha drugs, m a n y people now take penicillin even without calling a physician ; and this is dangerous from all points of view. I f penicillin does not deserve full confidence, it is a mistake to take it inconsiderately ; but, if it is a serious thing--as we believe there is no reason for
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placing it on the level of the tomato-sauce, t h a t can be p u t on a n y food, or o f the Coca-Cola, t h a t can be taken at e v e r y . m o m e n t of the day. Homceopathie practitioners never opposed Alexander Fleming's discovery ; and some of t h e m do not disdain to prescribe antibiotics in severe casualties when the urgency does not yield time enough for a full record and a careful s t u d y of the s y m p t o m s ; but we m u s t realize t h a t this w a y of quick prescribing, even if imposed b y urgent circumstances, is not H o m c e o p a t h y a n y more ; it m a y be something better, if you like, but it is not Homceopathy ! Our t h e r a p y does not cause the suppression of s y m p t o m s such as fever, pains, or diarrhoeas, but wants to get t h e m and their modalities in order to understand the whole individual reaction of the sick, the only rational and scientific w a y to make sure of finding the individual remedy. Here is the most striking difference between the orthodox school and us. Here are the reasons w h y the latest achievements of the all0pathic system cannot rouse our enthusiasm, in spite of the assurance t h a t their drugs are acting only on the infectious agents, and do not h a r m the healthy cells. T h e y w a n t t o hurt as strongly as possible the microbes, but, as in this fight, the field of battle is always the h u m a n suffering body, it would be illusory to hope to find t h a t the system was u n h a r m e d when the battle is over. Our goal is not to fight germs " per se ", b u t to strengthen and co-ordinate the natural reactive energies, o f which s y m p t o m s are the m o s t genuine expression. Under the constitutional action of a homceopathic remedy, specific for the whole humoral system, the germs m a y die, or sleep for ever, or go a w a y even alive ; it does not m a t t e r ; if the sick m a n is homceopathically cured, the destiny of microbes will no longer affect his health. Concerning the health of others, not less worthy, the conceptions of disinfection and sterilization are still the most seductive, but it is a m a t t e r of fact t h a t microbes are far more easily destroyed " in vitro " t h a n " in vivo ", and no " Health Service " could ever expect to sterilize, for instance, all the germ-bearers, who are so m a n y and so widespread. Yet, H a h n e m a n n ' s conception includes also sterilization. I m a y quote, if the analogy m a y be admitted, the t r e a t m e n t of intestinal worms : for instance " asearis lumbricoides ". Old a n d new drugs are administered b y the orthodox school in order to kill the unwelcome guest ; after supposed killing, a big, often repeated purging, takes charge of the funeral of the w o r m . . . . U n d e r the action of a well-chosen constitutional remedy, no w o r m murder takes place; the worm goes a w a y by itself, alive, together with its eggs, to fertilize other soils, as the h u m a n ground is no more suited to him. This is our war ; without dead and without f u n e r a l s - - b u t possible ! . . . Where, for lack of concrete . . . enemy bodies, there are but a few chances for belligerence as, for instance, in allergic conditions, in endocrine syndromes, in vagal-sympathetic unbalances etc., the fair play of the homceopathic m e t h o d is not less classical and not less effectual. We do not need to give substitutive nor antagonistic substances, with the risk of going too far, or beyond the mark. We only give, once more, the r e m e d y suggested b y the totality of symptoms, and acting according to the law of similars. The coming back to t h a t right balance of the humours to t h a t h a r m o n y of the whole, to the finest mental disposition which confirms a state of perfect health, enables us to consider the homceopathic drug as a true harmonizing r e m e d y and H o m e e o p a t h y as the medicine of the ideal h a r m o n y . Hom~eopathy is now one and a half centuries old, but until our d a y no other therapeutic system, no new biological conception, no bio-chemieal nor biophysical d i s c o v e r y - - t h o u g h brilliant and profitable--could ever reduce her consistence, undervalue her worth, or waste the signs of her eternal youth. One might rather say t h a t all the new and true medical acknowledgements are a p t to give her the most shining confirmation. A law b y n a t u r e - - e t e r n a l and i m m u t a b l e - - a s s u r e d her origin and ruled her destiny ; the most genial interpreter of t h a t Hippocratic idea on which all
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schools seem now to agree, gave her the best means for good working. In refusing Homceopathy its place medical science would be forswearing too m a n y of its h a p p y innovations and lose the best fruits of its spiritual evolution. I t will no longer do that. We ourselves will continue to make clear, with all our strength, the road for a better understanding. And one day, perhaps not too far off, medical science will accept the great H a h n e m a n n ' s heritage as everybody's p~trimony, for the good of everybody. On t h a t day we will have won our greatest battle.
BRITISH
HOM(EOPATHIC
JOURNAL
209
T R A N S L A T I O N OF T H E P R E L I M I N A R Y REMARKS I N I T A L I A N By DR. GA~TANO GAGLIARDI (Rome) ALL who know me for a long time, and know m y good--or b a d - - h a b i t of expressing myself--easily or hardly--in the language of my guests, shall be certainly surprised to hear me, once at least, speaking the language of Dante, with some trembling in the voice, but with all the ardour of m y Italian heart. I tell you, at once, that it was not a caprice, and not even a sudden impulse of patriotic feeling which suggested the idea to me. I only thought that the cordial greeting I want to give you--also in the name of m y Italian colleagues not able to make the long journey--could only keep its spontaneousness, and its warmth, on the condition that it should be expressed in m y own language, the only language I can talk. I know, among the others that I only have the pretension to speak. I then extend, to you all, the greeting of Italy and of Rome ; a greeting that can be translated into thousands of languages, but must be first of all understood and felt ; a greeting that may attend thousands of ears, but wants to travel and to reach the ways of the heart. I t is the greeting of the eternal city, the spiritual mother country of all those who, of the problems of spirit, art, science, have made a food of life, and, if this ambassador seems too inadequate to the delicate and high task, you will forgive his audacity, and only consider the worth of his goodwill and of his undoubted sincerity. LEAGUE ORATION By DR. GAETANOGAGLIARDI(Rome) Ladies and Gentlemen, I cannot tell you who compelled me to address in English such a brilliant audience ; I cannot tell you, because I would rather not expose him to welldeserved censure nor to the cruel criticism of you all . . . . One could not even say which was greater, his ingeniousness in proposing, or my boldness in accepting, a foreigner, to address you in English here, in the very heart of Britain, in this glorious hospital, heart and brain of British Homoeopathy ! - - I have only thought it might be of interest to some, to hear from abroad, of the subject which interests us so deeply. Above all, I was sure that your benevolence would be generous enough to neutralize the slings and arrows of m y embroiled accents, even admitted that the substance may ever meet with your agreement and your approval. Let me, then, start with m y deepest apologies, together with the promise, that I shall not abuse your patience. Once more, by this well arranged and successful Joint Congress, that marvellous art of healing, that we call Homceopathy, that wonderful lighted torch, that so many keen men, through a century and half of victorious trials transmitted to us well lit and burning, has given a testimony of its unexhausted strength and of its inexhaustible vitality. Somebody called Homceopathy "The Aristocracy of Medicine"; some others consider it a discipline of humanism ; endless discussions may arise in order to establish if it is a science or rather an art. I see to-day our Homceopathy as a real faith, with its human aspects and its divine performances, because only a firm faith gives courage to face struggles and anxieties of any kind, and above all because faith alone can work the miracle we have seen in recent days. People of so many countries and of different spirit and languages, assembled in fraternal harmony, after the sad events which poisoned the world, and threatened the purest springs of humanity and fraternity ! Homceopathy is the faith ; we are the priests. Have we done our duty
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and kept our moral engagements, or have we something with which to reproach ourselves ? I t is right to acknowledge that, if in the last ten years homceopathic organization and culture did not advance very much throughout the world, it is not our fault indeed. But it is also right to acknowledge that, as soon as the storms were over, the leaders of the International Homceopathic League took up again the ensigns of their authority, and blew the trumpets for the new assemblies. With pleasure I shall here remember, that it was a British President, our beloved Dr. Paterson, who accomplished the delicate and difficult task with all due care, keenness, and diplomacy. The aims of the International Homceopathic League do not need to be stated here ; we are engaged in the expansion of the homceopathic idea in all countries ; for the creation and maintenance of bonds among all who are interested in the Hahnemannian doctrine; for organization of homceopathic meetings, for the defence of the homceopathic interests. As for propaganda, our annual and quinquennial Congresses, hitherto held in the most strategical place of Europe, with the doors wide open to all medical men and scientific bodies, represented very good work in order to call attention to the existence of Homceopathy, and to have our moral assistance felt, and to re-animate the self-confidence in many Colleagues spiritually isolated. Concerning the task of recruiting as many homceopathic doctors as possible in our ranks, the main obstacle is in the distance ; nobody would, certainly, expect a large number of our Argentine, Brazilian, and Mexican colleagues to cross the ocean every year to meet us, since it would be as difficult for us, to return the visit . . . . Being acquainted with the spread of North and South American Homceopathy, it is our purpose to improve our scientific interchanges and establish a profitable collaboration with all colleagues overseas. Nor will we forget the colleagues in Ndrth and South Africa, who, by their good will and perseverance, keep very high the prestige of Homceopathy in that continent, and in India and Pakistan. Concerning the scientific aims, it should be recognized that our work has been satisfactory, if we think of how fugitive our meetings are, and of the long and sad parenthesis of the war. Critical people are accustomed to say that Congresses help a little to chat and a little to amuse one's self ; I m a y only agree, when I think of the real pleasure and spiritual enjoyment felt on meeting old and dear friends ; but I also think that our chats can be useful, because the whole success of a meeting, is not to be found only between the lines of scientific papers. However, apart from the importance and the value of the isolated and individua] works, we have gone, with our achievements, even beyond our duties, carrying o u t - - a s was done before the war--some good contributions on the therapeutic use of the snake and spider poisons, a n d now with the experiment of proving drugs on the healthy body, according to Hahnemann's teachings. Being the most genuine and typical expression of the homceopathic genius, provings deserve to be pointed out, and encouraged and supported by all of us. Provings have been the indispensable foundation of the homceopathic practice ; provings are the best way to insure the homceopathic tradition ; provings are our most legitimate pride, because they give Homceopathy the peculiar feature of individual medicine, and to us the certainty to treat men, and not only deal with diseases. Medical science, gentlemen, is still on the march ; it does not stop ; it cannot stop. I f the means for destruction and killing 'make everyday quick and disquieting advancements, the art of healing (I would say the art of loving one's fellow creatures) should overcome it in speed. The official school shows with pride many discoveries and some so-called discoveries ; surgery tends to improve its technique as well as the boldness of its representatives ; if Homceopathy should stop at its level of Hahnemann's times, its existence could even be - - m o r e or less--fair, but it could be a fault of ours, 'of which nobody could
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foresee the consequences, and a responsibility from which nobody could ever alleviate us. Prove, thenl but also re-prove, certainly not in order to c o r r e c t hypothetic errors of the Master--that would indeed not be very e a s y - - b u t in order to re-examine the oldest pathogenesis in the light of the modern biological controls and laboratory tests, the only way to obtain more complete pictures and make more scientific the ground of our prescriptions. Entering our consulting-rooms, through his exterior and somatic features, a patient may give forth, for instance, the strongest S e p i a , or P h o s p h o r u s , or S u l p h u r indications ; but, if we follow the good rules of the modern semeiology, and go further, to inquire into the metabolism and constitutional changes of that patient, one may obtain some indicative d a t a - - e v e n w o r t h y - - o f which no mention is to be found in the oldest pathogenesis, and which may be decisive in making sure the clinical diagnosis and a better choice of the remedy. I t was by impulse of the I.H.L. that a number of colleagues took up again the classical drug-testing, with all possible guarantees of scientific earnestness : we must see there the highest hopes for the vitality and future developments of Homceolaathy. Once more Britain through the " drug-proving Committee " of the Faculty, holds a first place ; Switzerland, U.S.A. and South American States make worthy attendance ; it is hoped that such example will be followed by many eager and courageous men, in all countries. A little while ago, I took the liberty of reminding you that medical science is still on the march. How many jokes have been told in all times of the progress in medicine. Few can be referred to here ; I shall only mention that wonderful magician of the mind, by the name of Bernard Shaw, I could enterrain you for a while. I t has been said that, in medicine, all that is new is not good, and all that is good is not new. A celebrated Italian Master (Professor Semmola of the Faculty of Naples) defined medicine as " an old comedy every now and again carried back to the theatre, with a new scenery according to the resources of the times " However sceptical one may be, it is not permitted, to homceopathic doctors, to refuse inconsiderately or--even worse--to ignore the performances of the official school ; this is often the typical and unpleasant habit of some allopathic bodies in regard to us ; it is not certainly in this that we shall imitate them ! After the advent of the atomic bomb, perhaps the only event that did astonish mankind has been the introduction of the " antibiotics " in therapy. Penicillin by Sir Alexander F.leming, to whose talent everyone must bow with respect, has marked without doubt, a great advance in the evolution of the official therapy in infectious diseases. We are all acquainted with the clamorous recoveries of many severe and desperate cases where the common medicines, vaccines or surgical interventions, could oppose nothing but total impotence. Though valiant and triumphant, penicillin was only a vanguard ; a full army of beneficial " mustinesses " (a real Salvation Army) did rush, more "or less tumultuously through the gap, and still, to-day, one cannot say to what extent the antibiotic invasion could carry forward its pacific flags. The poor sulpha drugs of Gerhard Domagk, that are in a certain way the legitimate parents of the antibiotics, seem to be overturned and surpassed, though a collaboration established itself very soon between the two different types of drugs. Whether the enthusiasms are all justified and hopes all well-founded, it is not our task to judge here. But we think the moment has come when every honest d o c t o r - - a n d not homceopaths alone--ought to feel the duty to prevent in the public that dangerous conviction that almost every illness m a y be healed by Penicillin and Co. I t is a fact that, if somebody affected with the most simple and banal fever, does not recover in three or four days, some other, among the relatives, more or less clad in the mantle of a cultivated person, will begin to whisper the
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fatal name of the magic drug. Next day, the situation being possibly unchanged, a voice will start from the house on the floor, up- or downstairs. Another day, and the . . . janitor will mention of some patient cured of just the same disease, in two days, by so many million units of penicillin ! Decisively, it is not easy to be a homceopath nowadays ! I t is not enough to follow what one's conscience dictates ; it is almost useless to call out the best resources of the personal experience ; you must deal with the . . . janitor and, of course, with penicillin ! I think it can be of interest to give you a short account of a typical case that occurred in m y practice. I n November, 1948, I was called to a young boy, aged 9, struck by intense fever which went up to 104 ~ in a few hours and very violent c o u g h . He was rather puny and liable to long lasting colds ; his father died from broncho-pneumonia soon after his birth. Clinical examinations quite negative for throat and digestive t r a c t ; auscultation showed rhonchi spreading from large and middle bronchia, more marked in the lower right chest. Pulse between 110 and 120; quite evident dyspncea. The clinical diagnosis appeared not so difficult ; not so easy the diagnosis of the remedy. Patient was thirsty, without perspiration; wanted to uncover; no peculiar Symptoms. Aconite was given first; then Ferr. phos. ; later Bryonia. Up to the fourth day, no changes at all! Fever still very h i g h , remittent morning and rising again at noon and after. The patient being very low, sleepless (also on account of persisting cough) with loathing of any food, and the mother being very anxious I asked for a consultation. A perfect agreement as for diagnosis ; concerning treatment, my eminent colleague--allopathic, of course--told me in full frankness that it might have been a heavy responsibility to go on with Homceopathy alone and suggested--of course--penicillin. He assured me that in three or four days the boy could be healed. Somebody might now think I have failed in courage and, perhaps, in faith, but there are psychological moments in life, where the human soul seems unable to give any support to our brittle flesh ; it was at the time of the greatest fanaticism for the great medical discovery ; I felt that a support from abroad was anxiously wanted, though not clearly asked. In face of the persistent failure of m y prescriptions, I thought what could arrive as a result of an unhappy intransigence ? I trusted, then, the case into the hands of m y colleague, only asking for the role of a simple, but attached spectator. Penicillin was given at the current rate during five days ; the fever went down but coughing became quite constant and shocking and so exhausting that, at moments, it was nothing but a pitiful moaning ; the heart conditions, that might have been better on account of the lowered fever, were aggravated by the strain of coughing. Then cardiac tonics and lincti for cough were given. Meanwhile, tests were negative for typhus, undulant fever, malaria and for T.B. When, on the sixth day of allopathic intervention the fever did rise again up to 102 ~, the situation became critical enough. Penicillin was then replaced by Streptomycin ; a new abasement of the fever, but general conditions persisted very b a d ; dyspncea very m a r k e d ; the cough incessant, with little expectoration of a colourless, sometimes frothy mucus. Between the coughing spells, the poor boy was saying, " Mammy, I cannot endure any more ! " At that moment Homceopathy was called for again; the little patient himself demanded to have again his pellets ! Though the situation was much more severe, and diagnostic hints much more confused, I could not refuse. I only asked for a new consultant and for an X-ray chest examination in order to supply a better diagnostic definition. The new consultant, among the best clinicians in Rome, agreed with my unconfessed suspicion that very likely a pulmonary form of acute miliary T.B. might be in question. Subsequent X-ray examination gave " a sprinkling of small nodules
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throughout the lungs, with accentuation of the pulmonary sounds on the right side, with right basal pleuritic reaction " I could put down the following picture : great general weakness and mental depression. Cough during fever. Cough worse lying on the left side. Cough worse by motion of arms. Spasmodic, incessant, rattling cough. Expectoration tasting salty. Thirst, with desire of cold drinks, in large quantities. Chilliness morning and forenoon. Desire for uncovering during fever and during perspiration. Unfortunately, no peculiar symptoms of the mind. I gave Phosphorus 30x, three doses in two days. No special improvement took place, but two noteworthy symptoms were appearing ; the first, seized only b y chance : a difficult urination in presence of strangers ; the second : the morning chill came definitely at 10 a.m. ! You are now acquainted with what remedy was give n and what remedy did cure--Natrum muriaticum 30x, three times a day, brought on the fever to 104-5 ~ at first, then a wonderful and progressive improvement of cough and fever, together with a ravenous appetite ; for the first time in twenty days, the boy could sleep uninterruptedly seven hours long ; the fever went to normal in four days ; little alteration in evening hours for some days ; everything all right in two weeks of a peaceful and easy convalescence. The patient is to-day a sturdy and healthy boy, brilliant and an indefatigable little football player ! Decisively, it is not easy to be a homoeopath nowadays ! But Homoeop a t h y does never deceive her faithful followers. Is it possible that a homoeopathie practitioner can betray Homceopathy because, in some cases, he might reach his goal without straining the mind and without going against the . . . public opinion ? I t is hardly necessary to repeat here t h a t we are homoeopaths not as a result of a vow taken, nor for mania of extravagance of prescribing pellets instead of injections, but for the conviction, confirmed every day by thousands of cases, that Homwopathy is the best way for a speedy, gentle and permanent restitution of health in the shortest, most reliable and safest manner. If, as in the case above, the recovery is not so speedy, you realize t h a t the fault was not of H a h n e m a n n ; perhaps another homceopath could have succeeded where you have failed ; but when recovery does not take place in any way, you m a y be sure t h a t the illness is incurable, and t h a t other methods and other drugs could not succeed where Homceopathy has failed ! On the other hand, as the above case has pointed out, not all infectious diseases are curable b y antibiotics. Streptomycin, neomycin, aureomycin, chtoromyeetin, tirotricin, bacitraein, aerosporin etc., represent a big choice, and give m a n y chances for finding the best suitable produce against the germ concerned, but the m a n y cases of infra-virus infections still represent a big gap, and m a y only offer temptation for some blind prescription, without any chance of specific adequateness. Moreover, circumscribed infections as adeniiJis or purulent collections, b y effect of the only and strictly " antibiotic " action, m a y be reduced as for inflammatory signs, but often leave sequelae of painful infiltrates, lasting days and weeks, and requiring even surgical interventions. That m a y be accepted as a profitable compromise in special circumstances, but it is not a great clinical success ; in any case, it is not a cure ! The latest fashion, springing from the certainty of the success a n d - happily--coming from only a small number of practitioners, perhaps too busy, is now to give penicillin at first sign of every febrile disease, often before any diagnostic attempt, and without any laboratory test. And this m a y be very easy indeed, but it is not scientific ? Finally, as for years with the sulpha drugs, m a n y people now take penicillin even without calling a physician ; and this is dangerous from all points of view. I f penicillin does not deserve full confidence, it is a mistake to take it inconsiderately ; but, if it is a serious thing--as we believe there is no reason for
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placing it on the level of the tomato-sauce, t h a t can be p u t on a n y food, or o f the Coca-Cola, t h a t can be taken at e v e r y . m o m e n t of the day. Homceopathie practitioners never opposed Alexander Fleming's discovery ; and some of t h e m do not disdain to prescribe antibiotics in severe casualties when the urgency does not yield time enough for a full record and a careful s t u d y of the s y m p t o m s ; but we m u s t realize t h a t this w a y of quick prescribing, even if imposed b y urgent circumstances, is not H o m c e o p a t h y a n y more ; it m a y be something better, if you like, but it is not Homceopathy ! Our t h e r a p y does not cause the suppression of s y m p t o m s such as fever, pains, or diarrhoeas, but wants to get t h e m and their modalities in order to understand the whole individual reaction of the sick, the only rational and scientific w a y to make sure of finding the individual remedy. Here is the most striking difference between the orthodox school and us. Here are the reasons w h y the latest achievements of the all0pathic system cannot rouse our enthusiasm, in spite of the assurance t h a t their drugs are acting only on the infectious agents, and do not h a r m the healthy cells. T h e y w a n t t o hurt as strongly as possible the microbes, but, as in this fight, the field of battle is always the h u m a n suffering body, it would be illusory to hope to find t h a t the system was u n h a r m e d when the battle is over. Our goal is not to fight germs " per se ", b u t to strengthen and co-ordinate the natural reactive energies, o f which s y m p t o m s are the m o s t genuine expression. Under the constitutional action of a homceopathic remedy, specific for the whole humoral system, the germs m a y die, or sleep for ever, or go a w a y even alive ; it does not m a t t e r ; if the sick m a n is homceopathically cured, the destiny of microbes will no longer affect his health. Concerning the health of others, not less worthy, the conceptions of disinfection and sterilization are still the most seductive, but it is a m a t t e r of fact t h a t microbes are far more easily destroyed " in vitro " t h a n " in vivo ", and no " Health Service " could ever expect to sterilize, for instance, all the germ-bearers, who are so m a n y and so widespread. Yet, H a h n e m a n n ' s conception includes also sterilization. I m a y quote, if the analogy m a y be admitted, the t r e a t m e n t of intestinal worms : for instance " asearis lumbricoides ". Old a n d new drugs are administered b y the orthodox school in order to kill the unwelcome guest ; after supposed killing, a big, often repeated purging, takes charge of the funeral of the w o r m . . . . U n d e r the action of a well-chosen constitutional remedy, no w o r m murder takes place; the worm goes a w a y by itself, alive, together with its eggs, to fertilize other soils, as the h u m a n ground is no more suited to him. This is our war ; without dead and without f u n e r a l s - - b u t possible ! . . . Where, for lack of concrete . . . enemy bodies, there are but a few chances for belligerence as, for instance, in allergic conditions, in endocrine syndromes, in vagal-sympathetic unbalances etc., the fair play of the homceopathic m e t h o d is not less classical and not less effectual. We do not need to give substitutive nor antagonistic substances, with the risk of going too far, or beyond the mark. We only give, once more, the r e m e d y suggested b y the totality of symptoms, and acting according to the law of similars. The coming back to t h a t right balance of the humours to t h a t h a r m o n y of the whole, to the finest mental disposition which confirms a state of perfect health, enables us to consider the homceopathic drug as a true harmonizing r e m e d y and H o m e e o p a t h y as the medicine of the ideal h a r m o n y . Hom~eopathy is now one and a half centuries old, but until our d a y no other therapeutic system, no new biological conception, no bio-chemieal nor biophysical d i s c o v e r y - - t h o u g h brilliant and profitable--could ever reduce her consistence, undervalue her worth, or waste the signs of her eternal youth. One might rather say t h a t all the new and true medical acknowledgements are a p t to give her the most shining confirmation. A law b y n a t u r e - - e t e r n a l and i m m u t a b l e - - a s s u r e d her origin and ruled her destiny ; the most genial interpreter of t h a t Hippocratic idea on which all
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schools seem now to agree, gave her the best means for good working. In refusing Homceopathy its place medical science would be forswearing too m a n y of its h a p p y innovations and lose the best fruits of its spiritual evolution. I t will no longer do that. We ourselves will continue to make clear, with all our strength, the road for a better understanding. And one day, perhaps not too far off, medical science will accept the great H a h n e m a n n ' s heritage as everybody's p~trimony, for the good of everybody. On t h a t day we will have won our greatest battle.