Supplement 11
ENTRIES IN THE CHURCH REGISTERS OR ST. JOHN IN DESSAU.
BIRTH
1764. On the January, Mr. Gotthard Heinrich kuchler, apothecary in this town, had a daughter baptised, born to him on the Ist inst. by his wife, Marthen Sophien.
The Godparents are:
I. Minister Robls
2. Mademoiselle Pauli.
3. Mayoress Krahmerin.
The name of the child is Johanna Leopoldine Henriette.
DEATH
1769. O n the 6th March, Gotthard Heinrich Kuchler,citizen and chemist of this town, who died on the 3rd inst. was buried. Age : 65 years, 5 months and 3 days.
MARRIAGE
1770. On the 21st May the banns were published for the first time between Joachim Haseler, architect,and Mrs.Susanne of Spandau; and Marthen Sophien Kuchlerin,widow of Gotthard Heinrich Kuchler, citizen and apothecary of this town; and on the 10th of June, after the banns had been published for the third time, these two persons were wedded.
The mother of Mrs. Hahnemann, Martha Sophie, died on the 19th March, 1797, aged 66 years 4 months 2 weeks and 3 days. The stepfather and father-in-law, Joachim Heinrich Haseler, who owned the Mohren apothecaries' shop in Dessau,and was adviser and medical assessor to the then-reigning Duke of Dessau, died at 1 a.m., on the 5th May, 1812,aged 72 years 3 months ad 4 days,of debility.
Wedding of Hahnemann with Johanna Leopoldine Henriette Kuchlerin Entry in the Church Register of St. John at Dessau.
1782. On the 17th November, Samuel Hahnemann ,Doctor of Medicine, Medical Officer of Health to the Saxon Electorate in Gommern, aged 28 years,eldest son of Christian Gottfried Hahnemann, a painter in the porcelain factory of Meissen,and Johanne Christanen: with spinster Johanna Leopoldine Henriette Kuchlerin, aged 19 years,only legitimate daughter of Gotthard Heinrich Kuchlers, who was apothecary here,and Martha Sophien. The banns were published for the first time on December 1st, and after the third time of asking the wedding was celebrated.
The remark in the autobiography of Hahnemann that at the beginning of his appointment in Gommern he got married must here be corrected,as Hahnemann lived for more than a year as a bachelor in the little town, having begun his appointment at the end of the year 1781.
Supplement 12
LETTER OF SAMUEL HAHNEMANN TO HIS FIANCEE , "Biographical Monument". Albrecht, p. 110 ( IST DECEMBER 1782.)
"Sentiments on the day of my union with the only daughter of Joh. Henr. Leop. Kuchlerin, born at Dessau."
(This letter the English editors have decided to omit from this work. It has no intrinsic merit, and it is more than doubtful that it is Hahnemann's at all. The sole authority for it is Albrecht (1851),who cut it out of his second edition, for very good reason it is to be supposed.)
Supplement 13
APPEAL OF HAHNEMANN TO THE PRINCE LEOPOLD FRIEDRICH FRANZ OF ANHALT-DESSAU.
Your Royal Highness,
I should seemingly be mistaking Your Royal Highness' kindness regarding the decree of October 2nd, were I not to express herewith my humble gratitude. But should Your Highness still be pleased to consider that the small fruits of my fatherin-law's diligence must have been depleted in order to pay for the cost of this research; and furthermore that a private scientist has nothing to spare, since the remuneration of study will hardly suffice for a scanty subsistence, the undersigned hopes to receive the full patronage from that gracious hand which has already deigned to acknowledge to him one half .The 1500 RThl and the furniture which I acquired through my marriage are after all only partly mine. My growing children will later on demand them as their right, and I should then rejoice to be able to tell them how much of it they owed to the favour of the kind Prince of Dessau, whose gift I should meanwhile remember with deepest respect, until such times as my children may be able to appreciate it for themselves.
Your Royal Highness's Most dutiful subject, Dr. SAMUEL HAHNEMANN.
Dresden, October 8th, 1786.
(The above extract is from the State Archives of the house of the Duke of Dessau. This appeal is not on behalf of the (still living) stepfather of Mrs. Hahnemann, Haseler, but concerns the work of Gottfr. Heinr, Kuchler, who had died 17 years before. The nature of this research and the reason why this transaction had been so long delayed could not be ascertained, neither is it of any importance to our object. What concerns us is, that Hahnemann, the husband of Kuchler's only daughter,still believes he has the right of making this claim for himself, to which act he probably may have been driven by the privations of that year)
Supplement 14
WRITINGS OF HAHNEMANN FROM 1777-1784 (a) TRANSLATIONS.
1777. Translation of Nugent's Experiment on Hydrophobia: Leipsic. J.G. Muller, from the English. 150 pages.
1777. Translation of Stedtmann's Physiological Experiments and Observations with Copper: Leipsic. J.G. Muller, from the English. 134 pages.
1777. Translations of Falconer's Experiments with Mineral Waters and Warm Baths. From the English. Two parts, 355 and 439 pages.
1777. Translation of Ball's Newer Art of Healing: Leipsic,1777 and 1780, with annotation under the name of Spohr. From the English.
1784. Translation of Demachy's Laboratory Chemist on the Preparation of Chemical for Manufacture as for Art: Leipsic, by Crusius. Two vols, ,302 and 306 pages. From the French, with supplements and copper plates. 2nd Edition, 1801.
(b) OWN ESSAYS.
1779. Dissertatio inaugur. medic: Conspectus adfectum spasmodicorum aetiologicus et therapeutics, Erlangae, 1779, 4. 20 pages.
1782. The first small medical essays appear in Dr. Fr.Chr. Krebs, Quedlinburg, " Medical Observations." Quedlinburg, 1781 - 1784.
1784. Directions for curing old sores and ulcers. Leipsic, by Crusius, 192 pages.
The first part (1781) contains the dedication; " To Dr. Blodau and Dr. Hahnemann,who were his co-operates and friends, the author dedicates these few pages." If any of the contribution in the first part, and which of them were really by Hahnemann, cannot now be determined. In the "Preface" to the second part (5th August,1782) it is definitely stated by the editor: " The author of the first section of the collection contained in this part is Dr. Hahnemann of Dessau, whom I thank herewith for his contributions for which I am much obliged."
The chief of first title of Hahnemann's essays reads: " On a putrid catarrhal fever, under observation from August, 1780 to the beginning of February, 1781, by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann."
Hahnemann describes an epidemic of putrid fever in Quenstadt in the Mansfeld district. The 25 year old physician, who is naturally still using the remedies of the old school, shows here his own thoughts and a deeper understandings of the causes of disease. He describes with forceful words the hopeless hygienic and sanitary conditions under which people live and sleep together, and says:
I am not daring too much when I maintain that epidemics, in the beginning are largely illness of isolated individuals, which could be easily subjugated: and that they only degenerate into an angle of general destruction by carelessness and ignorance. If I omit a prolonged spell of unhealthy weather conditions, penury and poverty, the remaining fault falls almost entirely on institutions, nurses and doctors, who alone by their combined bad behaviour are able to change a medium illness into a serious one.
Hahnemann thus already considered the possibility of infection from extraneous circumstances:
if one had a fair knowledge of the inner conditions of every household, and examined the means of protection that each employed, one might predict with considerable certainty if any would die in one case or all in another: especially if one took into consideration the greater or lesser possibility of infection owing to the individual constitution.
Hahnemann's treatment was in accordance with this conception, fresh air, less bed clothes, cold sustaining drinks and cleanliness. He describes four cases with more details, and adds two cases of chorea, where he already deals with the doubtful reliability of the old school medicine. One woman suggested, after his treatment proved unsuccessful, placing the child twice a day in a warm half-bath. Hahnemann writes:
The attacks diminished visibly, and in a few days she was completely free, which she still is after a whole year. Where then is our theory I should have sooner ordered a cold bath in chorea - I do not know what to say in this case, but quanta sunt quae nescimus ! (How much there is that we do not know !)
Dr. Ameke says in " Origin and Fight against Homoeopathy " (Journal of the Society of Homoeopathic Physicians in Berlin, 1884, Vol.III, page 145)
In the collection of recent treatises for surgeons (Leipsic, Weygand), several essays by Hahnemann (1783 - 1784- 1787) should be found.
That is inaccurate ,to say the least. For these essays are one and all- as the title already says -- translations from different languages, from the English and Latin. The name of the translator is never mentioned or indicated by initials. Moreover the small number of "Additions by the translator" do not show in any way the translator or author, even when they are a little more amplified.
SOJOURN IN DRESDEN AND LEIPSIC, 1785 - 1792
Supplement 15
HAHNEMANN'S APPLICATION FOR THE APPOINTMENT AS MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR DRESDEN.
AMONG the documents of the Health Department in the city hall of Dresden, the following application from Hahnemann is to be found:
Greatly esteemed and noble Sirs, staunch, learned and most wise Guardians of the Law,
It is an especial pleasure to me to offer you may services in then place of the late Dr. Wagner.
I should almost have hesitated to apply for so important an office as that which has become vacant, had it not been that your good will on the one side, and my great inclination for this branch of the profession on the other, had given me courage. My literary work in connection with forensic medicine, and the three years during which I held the post of Medical Officer at Gommern, are proofs of my suitability.
I have the honour to remain, with deep esteem,
Your obedient servant,
DR. SAMUEL HAHNEMANN.
It is astonishing that Hahnemann does not mention, in his briefly worded application, that he had already acted for Dr. Wagner for a whole year, during the latter's illness. He had probably been invited by the authorities to apply for the post of Medical Officer; and as his appointment as locum tenens for the same post previously, had also been with the consent of the authorities, he possibly took it for granted that they were cognisant of the circumstances.
It is further surprising that Hahnemann applies immediately after the death of Dr. Wagner. The reason for this was the prevailing putrid fever, which allowed of no delay in filling this very important post. In the documents in the Health Office of Dresden, of March Ist, 1788, we read:
Owing to the continued prevalence of the putrid fever, it became an immediate necessity to fill the post of Medical Officer of Health, which became vacant on February 21st, through the death of Dr. Wagner.
As mentioned in Volume I, Dr. Johann Georg Eckhardt was chosen. Dresden was not fortunate in the choice of this man, because in the middle of February, 1790, he died, and the post again became vacant.
The post of Medical Officer of Health for Dresden required a physician who possessed an extensive education, as the duties made great demand on his time and energy; for , according to documents in the Health Office, it was part of his official duties to :
(I) Supervise the Masters of Midwifery, the barber-surgeons and the surgeons of the Infirmary.
(2) Be willing to treat the inhabitants of the city; advise and treat the wealthy for a small remuneration, and the poor, out of Christian charity and compassion, for nothing.
(3) To treat and medically supervise the inmates of:
1. The Military supervise the inmates of :
2. The Workhouse
3. The Cross School.
4. The Orphanage,
5. The Prisons.
(4) To render to the ruling Mayor, each month, a record of all patient in the above institutions, together with an accurate statement of the nature of the disease and the condition of the patient.
(5) Make two inspections of the apothecaries' shops and of the drugs contained therein, both of simple and compound. The Medical Officer of Health is also responsible for seeing that " the assistants and head men in the apothecaries' shops undertake to prepare correctly the prescriptions sent to them by the physicians, and that they make a reasonable charge for the medicines."
(6) Investigate all cases of suicide and undertake all postmortems, and give his report.
(7) Render to the Municipal Council all reports that are required on criminals.
(8) Supervise all foreign physicians who have to be examined by him. Especially to grant concessions to those who arrive at the time of the fair, for the sale of medicines and to inspect all vendors of medicine and medicaments.
(9) Examine those persons who wish to become midwives or monthly nurses in this city. He must examine them, with the assistance of the Master of Midwifery, to find out if they possess the necessary knowledge and skill; he must supervise the activities of the midwives.
The salary was altogether paltry and inadequate when we consider the duties required of the Medical Officer of Health for Dresden, as outlined in the brief extract given above.
In addition to a free residence -- which was magnanimously permitted to sublet -- he received 80 guldens a year, divided into four quarterly payments; he was also allowed 12 thalers for fuel and a bonus of 50 thalers. It was hardly possible for a physician with a large family to exist on such a salary, and he was more than likely to be constantly under the pressures of cares for the most necessary commodities. Among the documents in the Dresden Health Officer we find, therefore, a request from a medical officer of that time, Dr. Samuel August Wagner, dated October 7th, 1784, in which he implores the Municipal Council, with almost pathetic appeal, to make an additional grant to his salary; as the prospects for the future loomed almost too black before him, especially as, owing to bad health, he was unable to do much private practice. In this request he says:
The late Mayor Glasewald said to me, when he handed the Office over to me in the name of his noble Councilors, " I wish that I could congratulate you on something more important. Your future salary is small, yet it is a beginning: do not lose courage, the Councilors will not let their Medical Officer suffer want."
Supplement 16
THE WRITINGS OF HAHNEMANN DURING HIS STAY IN DRESDEN, 1785- 1789 TRANSLATIONS.
1785. Translation of Demachy's "Art of distilling Liquor." Leipsic. Two parts. From the French, with additions, 332 pages and 284 pages.
1787. Translation of Demachy's "The Art of the manufacture of Vinegar." Leipsic, by Crusius. From the French, with additions and one supplement. 176 pages.
1787. "Signs of the purity and adulterations of drugs," by B. van den Sanden, chemist in Brussels, and Hahnemann,Dresden,by walther. 350 pages.
1789. Translation of the story of Abelard and Heloise. From the English. Leipsic, 638 pages.
HIS OWN WORKS ON CHEMISTRY AND NATURAL HISTORY
1787. "Prejudice against heating with coal, and ways of improving this fuel, etc." With two copper plates. Dresden, Walther.
1787. Relating to the difficulties in the preparations of mineral alkaline salt by means f potash and kitchen salt. Crell's Chem. Annals II, Part II, pages 387-396.
1788. The influence of certain gases in the fermentation of wines, Crell's Chem, Annals, Vol.I, Part 2, pages 141-142.
1788. On the wine test for Iron and Lead. Crell's Chem. Annals, Vol.I, Part. 4, pages 291-306.
1788. Concerning Bile and Gallstones. Crell's Chem. Annals. Vol.II, Part 10, pages 296-299.
1788. An unusually strong remedy for checking putrefaction. Crell's Chem. Annals. Vol. II, Part 12, pages 485-486. Translated into French by Cruet.
1789. Unsuccessful experiments with some new discoveries Crell's Chem. Annals. Vol. I, Part 3,pages 202-207.
1789. Discovery of a new constituent in plumbago. Crell's Chem. Annals, Vol. II, Part.10, pages 291-298
1789. Observations on the astringent properties of plants. Contribution to the Chem. Annals. Vol.IV.Part 4, pages 419-420
MEDICAL WORKS
1786. On poisoning by Arsenic: Its treatment and forensic detection. Leipsic. Lebrecht Crusius. 276 pages.
1789. Instructions for surgeons on venereal diseases. Leipsic, by Crusius, XIV and 292 pages.
DISCUSSIONS.
"The Manufacturer of Liqueur." In French,by Messrs, Demachy and Dubuisson, translated and enriched by additions. Leipsic,1785 ( in two parts pages 332 and 284).
Westrumb writes in Crell's Annals (1792, I, 490.)
SOJOURN IN DRESDEN AND LEIPSIC ,1785-1792
Few manufacturers have listened to my suggestions of arranging their alembic as Demachy and Hahnemann suggest. These latter increased the height of the distilling cauldrons, gave to the cauldrons the form of a cone, provided it with a gutter and surrounded it with a blackcap. In this way they saved one-half of their time, one third of the fuel, and furthermore gained considerably more spirit.
All producers who need distilling installations should entirely discard the old Distillery apparatus, and use the French arrangement clearly described by Hahnemann.
Demachy's "Art of the manufacturer of vinegar." From the French, published with remarks and a supplement with one copperplate. Leipsic, 1787, 176 pages.
"The New Medical Literature" by Schlegel and Arnemann, Leipsic, 1788, says (pages 56, 57, 59):
From many poor descriptions on the fitting up of vinegar breweries the writings of Demachy deserve more appreciation: and it is of value that they should have been made known to the Germans by translation, all the more so as Dr. Hahnemann has put the author right on many points. He has also been able to correct errors by annotations. The supplement of Dr. Hahnemann on vinegar brewing, particularly on the vinegar brewed from grain, is as through as it is clear.
Naturally these works must be judged by the standard of scientific knowledge and industry at the end of the eighteenth century. They contain some errors and much that is now obsolete and has been superseded by science and industry, which at that time was very advanced.
"On poisoning by Arsenic, its treatment and forensic detection "- Leipsic, Lebrecht Crusius, 1786(276 pages): - "Offered as the first fruits of the author to His Majesty the good Kaiser Joseph." Crell's "Annals" announces the book as follows:
As the author starts from chemical principles, and has made some experiments to confirm them, this book is written with such literary care that it is worthy of an advertisement.
N. Litter's "Information for Physicians," 1787, pages 49 and 51, says:
These latter essays (of the book: forensic investigations -pathology -- chemical properties -- cause of death) give this publication a great value.
Professor Henke still writes in 1817, in Horn's Archiv. for Medical experience (page 181):
Samuel Hahnemann's publication on arsenic, which at that time was classical, has introduced the best tests into forensic medicine.
The prejudice against heating with coal, the ways of improving this fuel its use for heating baker's ovens, together with a supplement by Lanoix and Bruns. The prize essays on this subject, with two copperplates, Dresden, 1787. Walther, bookseller to the Court. Dedicated by the author with homage to the Economical Society of Patriots in Leipsic.
In the first chapter of this publication numbering 72 pages, to which have been added 39 pages, the translations of both prize essays on the "Memories sur les Fours de Boulangers chauffees avec du charbon de terre," with two copper plates, Hahnemann remarks on the prejudices against using coal for fuel with the following introductory words.
Districts where, owing to the increase of coal fires, experience should have destroyed all prejudices against this fuel, are still under the illusion that coal is a dirty fuel; that its economical advantages are doubtful; that its smoke, if not dangerous to health, is at least suspicious, that its drawback for cooking utensils is as good as established; and that its use is only applicable to certain kinds of work; also that the lighting and keeping up of these fires is laborious and difficult.
As I should never like to remain behind where there is harmful prejudice to contend against, I wish to emphasis what is necessary on the subject, although here and there similar statements have already been made, because much good seed must be sown in order to reap a good crop.
Hahnemann attacks first the aesthetic objections that coal soot and smoke would make everything dirty and smoky, and emphasises that with every kind )of combustion there must needs be smoke and soot liberated. This was proved by Paris, Vienna and Berlin, where no coal is burned, but which seem buried in fog. "Is there anything useful without inconveniences " On the other hand, Hahnemann by means of accurately worked out figures shows that heating by coal is more economical and advantageous than the most varied kinds of wood fires. He then, with great thoroughness, investigates the objections raised on hygienic grounds, and rejects the idea, that coal-heating is detrimental to health, by many arguments. He is rather inclined to assume that " coal smoke is purifier of the polluted air in big cities and swampy localities " Charcoal fumes in a closed room are as harmful to health as coal fumes. " All burning or glowing bodies absorb, in a closed room, the only air that is useful to life and exhale air that is detrimental." Hahnemann then continues " the objection that fire-irons would be more easily, destroyed by coal fires is just as untenable," which he confutes by experiments. The contention that coal is difficult to ignite, he meets with a rational exposition on fire-lighting. The contention which owed its origin to indifference and laziness, that coal should not be used for certain kinds of work, he confutes by enumerating all the extravagances compared to that of the use of coal which have been employed in the production of delicate works of art, and in the cooking of victuals, as well as in the baking of bread. (A third chapter, together with supplement and illustrations,then deals with the heating of bakers' ovens with coal.) The second chapter deals with "methods of improving raw coal." Hahnemann then speaks of the production of coke or cinders, naturally without yet knowing of the extraction of gas. He only recommends the different ways of producing coke by means of coal-kilns (Similar to charcoal kilns) and in special ovens, whereby the value by products -- oils, styptic water, tar and pitch -- were already then being produced. Hahnemann also recommends the preparation of coal-bricks and coal-cakes with the slack and coal-dust, and he describes this proceeding accurately and gives diagrams.
The whole of this little book, with its large number of striking explanations and literary references, proves as completely Hahnemann's extraordinary erudition in literature, which was extraneous to his professional activities, as it does the practical sense and elastic mind of the 32 years old physician.
HAHNEMANN'S WINE TEST.
Hahnemann's wine test was at this time very much discussed. Since 1707, the so-called " Wurtemberg wine test" had been established. It was especially in official use by most States for the detection of adulteration with lead. The wine merchant not infrequently sweetened his wines with sugar of lead : the drinking of such a wine was known to produce colic, spasms and even consumption, with fatal results. The "Wurtemberg wine test" applied for the detection of such adulteration consisted of two parts of experiment, four parts of quicklime, and twelve parts of water, which was heated or digested. These "sulphurets of potash" were then added to the wine, which consequently showed a dark deposit by means of which the adulterer could be detected. It was subsequently proved that the investigation gave a very similar result when iron had fallen into the wine. Hahnemann, through his chemical investigations, now discovered a new, reliable and comprehensive process in which he used acidulated water saturated with "sulphuretted hydrogen water and sulphuretted hydrogen gas," which was also useful in testing other liquids. Professor Eschenbach, of Leipsic, writes about this discovery:
Among the varied recent observations and experiments in chemical science, I was particularly pleased with Dr. Hahnemann's wine test: I have repeated it and it has fulfilled my expectations. (Crells' Annals, 1789. Vol.III, pages 516)
Hahnemann's wine test was afterwards officially adopted in Prussia, An order of September 7th, 1791, reads as follows:
The public receives here form the Highest Authority the necessary information regarding Hahnemann's wine test, which has hitherto been very little known except to those experienced in chemistry. This test serves to reveal the deadly adulterations of sour wines, or wines that have become sour owing to the presence of lead substances, such as sugar of lead and litharge of silver. These materials are very detrimental to the health of man, since they produce an incurable constipation or strangulation of the inner organs, with all the sad consequences arising therefrom, which are all the more dangerous as the effects only show themselves slowly and are at first imperceptible.
After having described accurately the method of using Hahnemann's liquors, which can be obtained from all apothecaries for the sum of 4 gute groschen, the order continues:
In spite of the fact that the merchants and the wine dealers have never been found guilty of such deadly adulterations, and without considering the tests previously made, it will nevertheless be beneficial to the public ,and to the best interests of all those concerned in the wine-trade, to have their present stock and their future supplies tested at once with Hahnemann's liquor; and if they find that adulteration with lead is present, they are to notify this immediately to the director of Police, and to place the wine at his disposal. Otherwise if, when the wine cellars are inspected by the sanitary authorities and the police, an admixture of lead is found in the wine,such merchants and wine dealers with have themselves to thank if they are severely dealt with as intentional offenders, in addition to which their goods will be confiscated.
(Signed) ROYAL PRUSSIAN CHIEF CONSTABULARY
Berlin.
September 7th, 1791.
"Signs of the purity and adulteration of drugs."
Professor Baldinger writes regarding this work in the "Medicinal Journal," 1789:
This work is very important and is indispensable for every practitioner, and even more so for every medical officer, whose duty it is to inspect apothecaries' shops. Much that is good is taught in this important and indispensable book: I cannot sufficiently recommend it.
New Medical Literature of Schlegel and Arnemann. Leipsic, 1788. Vol.I, page 34:
This essay does not require special recommendation; from what has been quoted above every physician and chemist will recognise how important and indispensable a work it is.
"Something on bile and gallstones."
Hahnemann made investigations with the fresh of a thoroughly healthy man who had been shot dead. He made several salts act on the bile, in order to use later these salts in diseases of the liver and in obstructions of the gall-bladder.
An extremely powerful remedy for arresting putrefaction. Crell's Annals 1788, XII, page 485:
This remedy is nitrate of silver (lapis infernalis). In a very small quantity, 1,500 dissolved in water, it will prevent the putrefaction of meat. Big pieces are steeped in a slightly stronger solution for 14 days, which procedure gives it no smell; worms will not touch it. It is also very useful in septic quinsy and ulcers of the mouth used as a gargle. The foul smell and the ugly look of chronic sores is removed in a very short time by a solution of I:I000.
This shows that Hahnemann was then already convinced of the effect of fairly weak solutions.
"Instructions to Surgeons on Venereal Diseases."
Hahnemann was here still sailing in the old channel. He cures with mercury, but, according to the evidence of other doctors, he applied a mild and excellent preparation, the extraordinary usefulness of which has proved itself. (Kurt Sprengel, History of Medical Art. Halle, I828. Section V, pages 591).
This work was universally adopted with great praise. In the "Med. and Phys. Journal," 1790, page 76, Professor Fritze of Berlin writes:
This book also contains much that is good. Both authors (he had previously mentioned another book) have thought for themselves and have written not only thoroughly, but also concisely and clearly.
In the " N. Lith. News for Physicians" (Halle, 1789, page 785), we read:
Our readers will see from the above abstract that this writing by no means belongs to the ordinary category, but is written with unusual technical knowledge, reflection and original thinking.
And in the " Med. Chir. Newspaper," edited by Professor Hartenkeil (Salzburg, 1790, III, page 345) is remarked :
The book is not only the work of a man of intellectual and scientific knowledge, but it is also written with a brevity suggestive of aphorisms. It is a book for academic lectures, although the author has not produced it with that intention.
Supplement 17
HAHNEMANN AT STOTTERITZ.
Letters from Stotteritz (Leipsic. Pop. Ztschr, 1891. Vol. XXII, page 159) Stotteritz, 29th August, 1790.
If I were single, or had not five children, it would be different. But in any other place my expenses would be heavier. Besides I am so much my own master here, where I am removed from the jealousy of my colleagues to an extent which would be impossible elsewhere. What I now earn -- little as it is -- more than suffices here. I cannot reckon much on income from practice. This I known from fourteen years' experience, and my sensitive temperament forbids me to put myself forward: I am too conscientious to prolong illness, or make it appear more dangerous and important than it really is. Pit, or love of peace, make me reticent in my claims -- I am therefore constantly the loser, and I can only look upon my practice as food for the heart.
Stotteritz,
29th August, 1791.
It is impossible to live another year here in this village. I cannot subsist on literature alone; moreover, I have no suitable room for chemical work. I have to send for everything from the town, by special messengers, except dry bread. I should have taken a house in Leipsic long ago, when I should like to live, had not famine, unhealthy air and high rents driven me out of the town for the sake of my sickly children; now that they are sturdy and strong, should I shut them up again in the town atmosphere of Leipsic with all its expenses Life there means almost unsurmountable hardships, especially with a crowd of five small children. I would risk being criticised for wandering about the earth; it suffices that I undertake nothing without good reason, and never swim against the stream when I can reach the land in case of need. I desire a residence where I can live with my family fairly comfortably, and not too expensively, in good society. now I know that my daily bread is assured for several years to come by my writing, but I have nothing to spare. I have entirely given up my practice for the past year, because it cost me more than it brought in, and I was usually rapid with ingratitude. I want a place where I can live quietly and privately and yet can enlarge my knowledge as a scholar, surrounded by good people, and able to bring up my children straight and sensibly. My best friends in Leipsic would like to have me among them again; but they are too wealthy on the one hand to be able to understand my position, and on the other hand they cannot look at it with the eyes of a medical man.
On September 77th, 1791, at the end of a letter to a Mining Director V.B:
Are you now able to give me good counsel concerning my change of abode I am longing for it.
Dr., Burnett tells us of Hahnemann's poverty during this time in "Ecce Medicus," page 43:
He (Hahnemann) there clad himself in the garb of the very poor, wore wooden clogs, and helped his wife in the heavy work of the house, and kneaded his bread with his own hands.
Mr. Everest, an English preacher and personal friend of Hahnemann, to whom the latter related many instances of his earlier years, wrote as, follows on the want and distress in Hahnemann's house during this time:
Hahnemann set himself a high task in the midst of his poverty. His whole family lived in one small room, from which he was only separated by a curtain. Among all other unthinkable hindrances he was always surrounded by a hungry family, for whose maintenance he had to fight by hard work. One gains perhaps a better insight into this man's character, if I mention his answer to a question I once put to him on his habit of smoking; "Oh, that is another useless habit of earlier days when I had to sit up every other night to earn bread for my children, whilst I pursued my own researches during the day." I found out then through further enquiry that after he had given up his medial practice he was obliged to earns his every other night in order to make it possible to continue his researches during the day.
A HOUSEHOLD REMEDY FOR GANGRENE
In the "Anzeiger " (Gotha) No. 136, June 9th, 1791, Hahnemann published the following :
The surest and most certain household remedy for gangrene: 12 loth (I loth 2oz.) of good medium powered oak-bark boiled, with eight pounds of water from a stream, so long that the fluid, after being pressed through a cloth, should weigh only one pound. In this dip a piece of linen, fourfold, which is a little larger than the affected part. This is to be changed every halfhour, washing the linen each time carefully, or replacing it with afresh piece. Within a few hours the gangrene will stop spreading and will not smell when it is moist. The proceeding must be continued until the gangrenous part has become detached and has formed an abscess. To completely remove this the compress is at first applied every three or four hours, and afterwards every eight to twelve hours.
Supplement 18
HAHNEMANN'S WORKS DURING HIS FIRST STAY AT LEIPSIC.
1790 - 1792
TRANSLATIONS
1790 Ryan. Enquiries into the Nature and Cure of Phthisis. Leipsic, by Weygand, From the English . 164 pages.
1790. Fabroni. The art of making wine in accordance with sensible principles. Leipsic. 278 pages. From the Italian, with additions.
1790. Arth. Young. Annals of Agriculture. Leipsic, by Crusius. From the English. 2 vols. 290 and 313 pages.
1790. Cullen. A treatise on Materia Medica. Leipsic,by Schwickert. 2 vols, 468 and 672 pages. From the English with annotations.
1791. Monro's Materia Medica. Leipsic, by Beer. 2 vols.480 and 472 pages. From the English with annotations. 1794 2nd Edition.
1791. Grigg's Precautionary Measures for the Female Sex. Leipsic, by Weygand. From the English. 285 pages.
1791. De la Metherie. On pure air and different kind of air. Leipsic, by Crusius. 2 vols. 450 and 598 pages. From the French.
1791. Rigby's Chemical Observations on Sugar. Dresden, by C.C.Richter. 82 pages. From the English with annotations.
HIS CHEMICAL RESEARCHES.
1790. Minor essays on various subjects. Crell's Annals,Vol. I, Part 3, pages 256-257.
1790. Complete directions for the preparation of Mercurius Solubilis, Crell's Annals, vol. I, Part I, pages 22-28.
1791. Insolubility of some metals and their oxides in caustic ammonia. Crell's Annals, Vol.II, Part 8, pages 117-123.
1792. Contributions to the Wine Test. Scherf's contributions to the Archiv. of the Med. Police. Leipsic, Vol.3.
1792. On the preparation of the Glauber's salts according to the method of Ballen. Crell's Annals, Vol.I, Part I, pages 22-23.
HIS MEDICAL WORKS.
1790. A. method to check Salivation and the destructive effects of Mercury. J. Fr. Blumenbach's Medic, Library, Vol.3, pages 543- 548.
1792. The Friend of Health. Frankfort, Fleisher. Vol.I, 100 pages.
Reviewing the translation of Cullen's Materia Medica, the "Med. Chir Zeit." (1791, I pages 117 and 231) says:
Dr. Hahnemann has completed these translation with great diligence notwithstanding the obscurity of the original. The annotations of the translator are for the most part very instructive, and his occasional corrections increase the value of this important work.
Dr. Cullen, who was born in 1710 and died in the year 1790, was an authority on Materia Medica. He was a good lecturer and an able chemist, and therefore an experienced and beloved teacher in Edinburgh. The first edition of his work appeared in London in 1773, the second followed -- in two volumes -- in the year 1789, under the title: "Treatise of the Materia Medica." Hahnemann used these for his translation. In the second volume Cullen devotes twenty pages to Cinchona bark (Cortex Peruvianus). The researches of Cullen induced Hahnemann to make experiments upon himself with this remedy, in order to find out what effects it would produce on perfectly healthy person. We have here therefore the first case f self-observation on the effects of medicine and the first foreshadowing of the Law of Similars (more fully dealt with in Chapter VIII.)
Hahnemann's remarks on Cullen's work show already a great deal of practical experience, especially in dietetics had hygiene, for which reason they can be quoted in extracts. (See Chapter VII, and Supplement 34.)
Grapes certainly lose important constituents in the process of drying, which would be useful to the body. (page 278)
Does not this exception of Hahnemann sound like a foreshadowing of what science to-day terms "Vitamins"
I often saw the poorer people of Transylvania and Banat eating large quantities of raw, ripe cucumbers, with salt and pepper and wheatmeal bread. They considered them great delicacies, highly extolled the flavour, and considered them very digestible. (Page 283)
A ripe melon eaten in the morning with moderation, is a mellow and easily digested fruit. I have even seen people in hot countries overeat themselves with it without experiencing any marked harmful results. Only it must not be eaten unripe, as is usually the case in the North of Europe. It then resembles in toughness our most indigestible cucumber salad (Page 284.)
Spinach, notch-weed, cauliflower, and other just as delicate vegetables of little taste, are not the most digestible, and are often quite the contrary, especially for a weak stomach which requires a stimulus to enable it to carry on its work. For this latter, more stimulating vegetables are required or spices must be added. Eaten by themselves they weaken the stomach more and more . ( Page 287)
Cullen is mistaken. Cabbage loses hardly any of its power of producing flatulence by long cooking. The same applies to peas, kohlrabi, dried beans and other similar vegetables, the reason being that the carbonic acid gas is not yet present (and cannot therefore be expelled by cooking) as it only develops after fermentation. (Page 290).
The Teltower of Markisch turnip is cultivated in many parts of Germany. It requires mild, sandy rather than heavy soil. Its nourishing properties are very considerable, consisting of starch and other farinaceous substances, which are easily digested and produce very little flatulence. It forms a dish that is not too sweat, yet is palatable (Page 297).
Flour eaten as a pap, and so forth, is far more nourishing than an equal quantity made into bread by fermentation. We have well experience this during this famine. (1771-1773). But i have found that delicate stomachs that are unable to digest bread without flatulence, will digest a flour pap much more easily, provided it is taken in moderate quantities and is not made from the darkest rye flour. We give flummery to debilitated patients with good results (Page 316.)
I have noticed an idiosyncrasy to attacks of colic after eating buck-wheat meal. This flour does not appear to be very m nourishing or palatable, but after ferments have been introduced, it undergoes very strong fermentation and then consists of many starch particles. (Page 317)
Over-feeding, one of the chief causes of ordinary ailments in children, has given flummery a bad reputation as a food for them. Of course, over-feeding with it is more harmful than if the pap were prepared with wheat bread and similar substances: but I have seem many instances where even the most delicate children will thrive on flummery, if it be given at regular intervals and with moderation. (Page 315).
Cream and milk can be kept fresh for several days, even during hot and thundery weather, if boiled once a day; by this process, I believe ,the gases of fermentation are expelled each time (Page 382).
Here Hahnemann was on the way to the discovery of the "Pasteurising " of milk.
On Page 385, Hahnemann gives an explanation why sheep and goat cheese are more digestible and agree better than ordinary cheese prepared from sour cows' milk.
The teaching of Pythagoras --- to limit the consumption of meat as much as possible has many points in its favour. This sentence loses much of its general applicability if we consider how many races live almost entirely on animal food, suffering from few illness and enjoying as long a life as other nations living almost entirely on vegetable food. In this respect we must take into consideration the temperament; choleric people have little desire for meat, whilst phlegmatic ones can hardly discard it without injury to their health (Page 402)
I recall here that no meat partakes so much of the animal nature as pork, or contains more unmixed animal bodies that so easily putrify. In every case where there is an inflammatory tendency in the blood, as in intermittent and hectic fevers, in suppuration, tendency to erysipelas, disturbances of the bile, in skin diseases, and even in some forms of hysteria, it has proved harmful. It often aggravates the affection visibly or produces a recurrence. It is a very nourishing food for healthy people if eaten with great moderation, and when good deal of physical exercise is taken it is quite harmless and easily digested . Any excess, however, has injurious consequences even for healthy people to a greater extent than any other kind of meat.
The hunting of hare and deer produces in these animals a form of heated fever, and their flesh is then much nearer decomposition and therefore much easier to digest than that of animals who have been slaughtered in the ordinary way. That this tenderness of game can be brought about in another way by hanging in the air, steeping in vinegar and so forth, I leave to the kindly disposition of the cook to suggest to his employer (Page 409.)
The preponderance of animal properties in the flesh of the duck brings it very near to that of pork. It owes its palatable and nourishing qualities to this, and also harmfulness similar to that existing in pork. This harmfulness arises from the exhalations of the already disintegrating animal particles which are injurious to the human body. The flesh of the duck approaches very near to that of the goose, yet there is a different.
People who habitually eat little meat feel very well during Lent. Those who use meat continually, especially beef, for their sustenance become flabby and sickly during Lent, owing to the abrupt adoption of a fish and vegetable diet. (Page 424.)
The transaction of Monro's Materia Medica was announced in Crell's Chem. Annals (1792, Vol..II, page 138) as follows:
The translation of this work was very desirable . Dr. Hahnemann has amplified, verified and corrected it. This gives the translation many advantages over the original work. Through his careful corrections, Hahnemann has earned new honour from readers of this class of literature.
Hahnemann also made numerous annotations and corrections in this work based on his own researches and observations. Thus he quotes on pages 388 and 389 " On the efficacy of moderate doses in intermittent fever ".
Patients must not be over-dosed, as the same end will be attained, in the case of intermittent fever, if one or two good doses are given shortly before the expected attack, that is, an hour or so before the paroxysm starts, each time 12 or 2 drams or more of reliable bark.
John Grigg's "Rules of Conduct for the Female Sex, especially during Pregnancy and Child-birth," was translated by Hahnemann from the English without additions or remarks. In addition to the twenty-one chapters which comprise 225 pages, an appendix is added " on the treatment of children in the first period of life" (59 pages). Here Hahnemann confines himself entirely to the translation of the original without additions or annotations.
The "Contributions" in Crell's Annals, Vol.I, part 3, page 256,deals with the preparation of loaf sugar from saccharic acid, 0.02, heated with brown syrup; a process for heating with slack; a preparation of carbonic acid, mercury and pure mercury for Syphilis; and the preparation of an alcoholic solution of spirits of sal ammoniac.
In Vol.II, part 7, page 52, Hahnemann deals with the dark grey chalk of mercury, its preparation and its properties. The complete preparation of Mercurious Solubilis represents, as Hahnemann expressly declares, a completion and correction of the instructions given in his book "Instructions for Surgeons on Venereal Diseases" (1789), for the production of the best mercurial preparations. In this book he had indicated spirits of wine as a solvent for nitrate of mercury, which is a mistake as this salt not only does not dissolve in alcohol, but even when triturated with it loss entirely its solubility in water. Hahnemann then gives full details of the best method of preparing this preparation "after this frequent repetition of the process."
On the translation of Fabroni's "Art of Wine-making according to rational principles," Crell's Annals (I,6, 562) speaks as follows:
We owe this translation to a man who has won the esteem of all physiologists partly through his own writings and partly through translations of important works. Apart from being accurate and accomplished, Hahnemann, as he always did in such works, has made valuable additions; which partly amplify and corroborate Fabroni's principles, and partly define them more clearly, in this way giving it a higher value.
Supplement 19
PROPOSITION FOR COMPILING A COMPLETE DICTIONARY OF MEDICINE
In Hahnemann's room in Leipsic there has been preserved a letter of his of the year 1791, which runs as follows:
Very esteemed Patron,
Dear Sir,
I have had to-day a proposal for a rather large enterprise forma prominent published in Leipsic, which is the compilation of a more or less complete medical dictionary. As it would be impossible for one man alone to do justice to the work -- the publisher at first stipulated that I alone should undertake it -- I therefore retained the right of introducing him to the coworkers, with whom he could communicate and come to an agreement in order that each as far as possible should deal with his own branch. I do not consider myself competent to choose satisfactorily, and therefore take the liberty of requesting you, Sir, to let me know, when you have time, your views on the subject, and suggest men who are competent in their own branches (History of Medicine, Anatomy, etc., Pharmacy, Physiology, Pathology, General and Special Therapy, Surgery, Obstetrics, Dietetics, etc., Forensic Medicine, Public Health, Comparative Anatomy, Animal Pathology and Therapy). I am thinking of a dictionary that will comprise subjects under the headings of 20 to 24 letters of the alphabet; and I have fixed the price at ten golden thalers per folio, in order that everyone can carry out his work with pleasure. These conditions have been granted preliminarily without restrictions.
If your time will allow you, Sir, to take a large or small part in this undertaking, will you please let me know. I shall undertake nothing until I have your suggestions on the subject. I would not let them fix the time for this work, because I am still too busy this winter; but by Easter I should like to see the contracts put in order.
Nothing ever came of this great plan. Probably Hahnemann could not find the necessary collaborations for it.
Supplement 20
THE APPOINTMENT AS HONORARY MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY OF MAINZ
Hahnemann wrote, on the 29th August, 1791, to Bergrat von B.: "To you and to the incomparable Coadjutor (unreadable) I owe to the unmerited distinction with which I have been honoured,through the Diploma of the Ducal Academy of Mainz. Tender, please to this exalted personage my best thanks and assure him of my obsequiousness."
(The original is in the Homoeopathic Hospital in Leipsic).