Gentlemen,
I have been requested by the Secretary of the Bengal Homoeopathic Institute, to read an article on the occasion of the Death Anniversary of revered, late Dr. Jitendra Nath Mazumdar.
I regret, I can not say much about him, because I had not the privilege of coming into close contact with him. I met him only thrice and in all those occasions he showed great love and sympathy towards me. One great thing which I know about him is that he was one of the greatest lovers of Homoeopathy, and in his life-time he took tremendous pain in raising the status of Homoeopathy before the public eye and the then Government.
To my mind, it would be doing to this noble departed soul, a great honour, and it would bring a great happiness in his still living soul if we can, in any way, make an advancement in the line of work which he undertook and improve the status of the great science homoeopathy.
It is our saddest experience that the Government, instead of helping this great attempt, has all along tried and is still trying to drag this great science to the background. It now lies with us to find out the best means to fight for its cause.
Now in the economic field, there is going on a tough strife between the mass and the capitalists; the same also is going on here. The Government and the Capitalists, on account of their vested interest, will never allow homoeopathy to have a great circulation. So we cannot cherish any hope from that quarter. We shall have to win over the situation by actually establishing the uncommon merits and usefulness of homoeopathy before the public eye. This object can only be obtained by our arduous labour, patient waiting and mutual co-operation.
It should be the bounden duty of every member of our profession to be sincerely working and study hard for each and every case, so far as possible, in our daily practice; otherwise we would not only prove ourselves to be imposters and mean exploiters on the party who pays us but also disloyal to the science which we profess and bring discredit on it. By so doing we are sure to reduce the number of our failures to the minimum and gain more and more reputation for our system of medicine.
This applies only to our individual duty that is, a thing which each and every one of us should practise individually. There is another duty which is equally necessary and which lies in our immediately communicating any new finding to our brother profession, leaving aside all selfish feelings and apprehensions from our mind.
Working in this line, we are sure to get, day by day, new light and a greater understanding in the science, and raise its status in public estimation.
Of late, on account of the sensational discovery of the antibiotics and other so-called specific drugs, the merits of Homoeopathy seem to have been a little bit eclipsed.
Even if we admit the value of antibiotics to be great no doubt, yet they can never belittle the value of homoeopathy. A carefully and properly selected homoeopathic remedy is always as useful as the antibiotics and the different specific remedies of the other school, on the other hand they are free from the disastrous after-effects which we sometimes meet with the latter.
Till very recently it was a public belief, not an unfounded one, that the best treatment of typhoid fever lies in the system of homoeopathy; but the discovery of chloromycetin which, no doubt, shows a charming power in bringing down the temperature with a phenomenal quickness, seems to have reduced the value of homoeopathy in public mind in the treatment of the said disease. Nay, it is more deplorable that it also seems to have shaken the faith and respect for our science, in the mind of some of the junior members in our profession.
In this connection, I should remark that we cannot estimate the amount of merit of a drug unless and until we judge and calculate the sum total effect of the drug, it produces.
Chloromycetin, no doubt, reduces the temperature in a very short time; but the total time taken by the patients to get rid completely of their troubles have, in many cases, in my experience not been shorter than the time taken by patients placed under well conducted homoeopathic treatment. We fail because we do not take proper care to find out the real totality. We fail because we lack in our knowledge, but not because the science lacks in its treasure.
I can cite many practical cases in support of my statement but it is not the proper time for that. I can only mention one case which I publish in “The Homoeopathic Herald” in the May issue of 1951, and I request my friends to go through it. What I say is absolutely true and there is not a bit of exaggeration of facts.
I can cite many draw-backs and many seriously injurious after- effects of chloromycetin but it does not concern me. I have got only to establish that our homoeopathy is not a weak science and is more competent to cure a case of typhoid fever.
As regards other antibiotics everybody has, no doubt, experienced their marvellous action in certain diseases particularly of the infectious type. The usefulness of penicillin in different types of pneumonia and other bacterial infections the usefulness of streptomycin in acid fast infections cannot be disowned. Here also, I should say that homoeopathy has not lost its ground. Carefully selected homoeopathic remedies have given in many cases of pulmonary tuberculosis much better results when used along with streptomycin than where the latter is used alone. In one very chronic case of P.P. of bilateral infection where streptomycin failed to stop the fever and bring about an all round improvement, a highly satisfactory result was obtained by placing the patient under homoeopathic treatment.
So in this particular case also we need not be disappointed and think that we are losing ground day by day.
Next I want to show the great usefulness of homoeopathy in Surgery and Obstetrics. Of the former, I need not say anything particular as it is a well-known fact that we can minimise to a great extent the uses of knife by our well selected remedies.
In obstetrics and gynaecological practice the usefulness of homoeopathy is also tremendous.
In many of the toxic manifestations during pregnancy, for instance, “Hyperemesis gravidarum” and “Pre-eclamptic toxaemias” which seem to be the objects of terror to the allopaths, the usefulness of homoeopathy can never be overrated.
Recently a case of a very severe type of Hyperemesis gravidarum came under my treatment. She had the same trouble in her last pregnancy and ultimately they had to take recourse to induction of labour. But this time I could bring about a complete cure, by a few doses of Symphoricarpus R, I do not claim any credit for myself but I claim credit for the science and its potent weapons.
About 10 months back, I had the occasion to attend a patient in the first stage of labour. The patient was thin and lean and there was no difficulty to ascertain by abdominal palpation and auscultation of F.S.H. that the presentation was a transverse one. The case happened in my own house. After a great struggle in my mind, I prevented myself from sending her to any hospital or a nursing home, and kept the patient under homoeopathy; and the labour terminated in a breech both the mother and the child remaining quite safe.
Many would say that it was a mere accident that such a delivery could take place. But the following is my explanation how a well selected homoeopathic drug can help us in condition like the above. By consulting obstetrical text-books, we find that very occasionally a spontaneous delivery does occur in transverse presentation in one of the following ways –
(a) Spontaneous version.
(b) Spontaneous evolution
(c) Partus Corpore Conduplicatio
(Body doubled up)
In the above case apparently spontaneous version took place and it must have been Natures manipulation. As a matter of fact all cures are brought about by Nature; but there are always some definite processes through which Nature works; and the business of a physician lies only in removing the hindrances and obstacles in those processes and helping Nature in her line of work, that is to keep the system always at par. There is no difficulty in understanding that this can be done only by removing any abnormal condition in the system general and local; and we know these abnormal conditions by the totality of symptoms only. They can be set right by the proper similimum.
So what I mean to say is that spontaneous version in cases of transverse presentation is a natural phenomenon which will occur more frequently if Nature be helped in her work and that help can undoubtedly be rendered by well selected homoeopathic remedies.
Besides above, the usefulness of homoeopathy in cases of dystocia due to primary inertia is unquestionable. Guernsey gives us plenty of therapeutic hints which in addition with a deeper knowledge in the subject can save many cases of dystocia in the primary and secondary stages of labour from taking recourse to instrumental delivery. In fact, during the last one year, I had the occasion of conducting several such cases sometimes in consultation with some eminent obstetricians and I am happy that I can tell you that I always met with wonderful success and could bring in the mind of the parties concerned and also in the mind of those specialists immense respect for our science.
