HOMOEOPATHIC POTENCIES-THEIR VALUES
JUDGED BY MODERN SCIENTIFIC STANDARDS.
Through correct observations and careful experimentations in connection with the practice of the Homoeopathic system of treatment Hahnemann came upon a remarkable pharmacological discovery about which he writes thus in the sec. 269 of the sixth edition of Organon:
The homoeopathic system of medicine develops for its special use, to a hitherto unheard – of degree, the inner medicinal powers of the crude substances by means of a process peculiar to it and which has hitherto never been tried, whereby only they all become immeasurably and penetratingly efficacious and remedial, even those that in the crude state give no evidence of the slightest medicinal power on the human body.
This remarkable change in the qualities of natural bodies develop the latent, hitherto unperceived, as if slumbering, hidden, dynamic powers which influence the life – principle, change the well – being of animal life. This if effected by mechanical action upon their smallest particles by means of rubbing and shaking and through the addition of an indifferent substance, dry or fluid, are separated from each other.
This process is called dynamizing, potentizing (development of medicinal power) and the products are dynamizations or potencies in different degrees.
On careful analysis of the section referred to we find the following ideas of Hahnemann implied therein:
(1) Hahnemanns conception of substance.
Substance, according to him, is what exists. When a substance is ponderable and perceptible to our senses it goes by the name of “Matter or Material substance.” But there are substances which are imponderable and not sense – perceptible and yet their existence is inferred through their action or effects which are perceptible to our senses, e.g. heat, light, magnetic and electric forces, mental ideas, thoughts, feelings, emotions etc. Thus matter turns out to be a particular formulation of substance – a chemico – physical structural formulation according to our modern scientific concepts.
A piece of matter may loose its materiality i.e. its chemico – physical properties under certain conditions (e.g. in case of an extreme dilution of a solute in a solvent) but the substance of that piece of matter does not vanish or become non – existent; on the other hand that substantial entity may manifest other properties different from its previous chemico – physical ones. With this ideas Hahnemann wrote a foot -note to section 280 of Organon (5th edition) which runs thus:
Let them learn from the mathematicians how true it is that a substance divided into ever so many parts must still contain in its smallest conceivable parts always some of this substance, and the smallest conceivable part does not cease to be some of this substance and cannot possibly become nothing. SO dynamisation means a preparation of a substance in a particular way so as to bring it into another state which facilitates other activities. Hahnemann here anticipated discoveries of modern physical sciences.
The discoveries of colloidal and radio – active states of matter are to the point. Heat, light, magnetic and electrical forces were considered to be imponderable in Hahnemanns time but modern advancement in physical science has turned the table and established that light waves are also material in the sense that they have also weight and obey the laws of gravity just like ordinary matter.
Another point to be noted is that the arbitrary classification of primary and secondary qualities of matter, since introduced by Galelio, is not accepted by Hahnemann. Though this classification and concentration of physical sciences on the primary qualities of matter have led to enormous development of physical sciences as regards their mathematical precision and exactitude of knowledge, this development has taken place at the cost of philosophical apprehension of actual concrete reality.
(2) Hahnemanns conception of a remedy.
Every remedy is a substance but every piece of substance is not a remedy. Only those substances that possess the power of deviating a living organism from its normal state of health and a as such of restoring the sick to its previous condition of normal health are eligible for the name of remedies. As the states of health and illness are but qualities.
As the states of health and illness are but qualitative conditions of the living organism: and the vital principle, being also of a qualitative nature, is responsible for the states of normal and abnormal health of a living being – the remedies which have the power of deranging health and restoring the deranged health to its former healthy condition, must possess some qualities, other than chemico – physical properties, to produce required changes in the states of health.
Hahnemann theorised that the particular process involved in the preparation of Homoeopathic potencies, brought substances into a state of higher remedial activity.
In other words, a drug produces disease – conditions by altering the sensations and functions of an individual being. As an organism is something more than a mechanism, so the drugs, besides their chemico – physical properties, possess another property or quality by virtue of which they alter the qualitative state of the organism through its altered sensations and functions.
This pharmacological quality of a drug does not depend entirely on their chemico – physical substratum which is ordinarily called matter. On the other hand, the more the materiality of a drug is reduced by process of dilution or trituration, the more manifest the pharmacological quality or the specific therapeutic quality lying hitherto dormant in the substance of the drug seemed to unveiled or liberated for effective action.
Here Hahnemanns ideas run parallel to those of the Indian Sankhya Philosophy i.e. something cannot come out of nothing, creation is nothing but a process of manifestation of what is latent, a process of evolution of what is already involved.
(3) Science of the dynamisation process.
It is not merely the process of dilution or attenuation that liberates the pharmaco – dynamic property of a drug but the friction which was taken recourse to the drug with inert vehicle by a process of succussion or trituration. So it is dilution plus friction which brings about the unfolding or intensification of the pharmaco – dynamic property of a drug.
Hahnemann wanted to interpret the drug – action from the plane of quality and not from that of quantity – an idea simple enough but hard enough to be realised by a mind with a crude materialist trend i.e. which regards the materiality of matter as the basic reality. Thus Hahnemann raised the study of pharmacological and therapeutic properties of drug to a level of energetics where quality or force is the primary consideration and matter, secondary.
Here Hahnemanns observations on potencies (within the molecular limits, of course) are in excellent agreement with the facts of physics, e.g., facts about colloids, electrolysis, surface tension, thermodynamics etc. It is known from a study of physics that increased surface, greater distance enforced by an indifferent medium (say, protective medium for colloids, dielectric for electrolytes) and greater regularity in their arrangement – all tend to raise the level of potential energy of a substance.
The retention of an elevated energy level in the case of such a potentised drug means stored energy which comes into operation when required conditions arise.
The specificity of matter depends on the specificity of molecules, aggregates of which constitute the said matter. Within molecular limits Hahnemanns ideas about manifestations of newer properties by molecules under the condition of an extreme dilution, perfectly tallies with those of modern developments in physical chemistry.
But modern physical sciences have taken exception to two facts in relation to Homoeopathic pharmacy which are.
(1) The question of solubility of some remedies in the preparation of their homoeopathic potencies.
Hahnemann has been accused of using solutions of certain substances e.g. Gold, Lead, Silica etc., which are normally insoluble in water and alcohol, the two solvents commonly used in preparation of Homoeopathic potencies. But this is easily explained. Hahnemanns intuition showed him the right way though he lacked knowledge of physical chemistry. The method he followed with regard to these insoluble substances is that of triturating those up to 6x with sugar of milk.
After the 6x, further potencies were made with alcohol and water. Prolonged triturations of these substances with sugar of milk prior to their mixing with a liquid vehicle produced a physical change which converted these insoluble substances into the colloid state – about which nothing was known during Hahnemanns days. In this condition those substances could be suspended in a fluid medium indefinitely and the suspensions behave like solutions for medicinal purposes.
(2) The limitation of the divisibility of matter.
Modern scientists find fault with the initial assertion of Hahnemann that a piece of matter can be divided infinitely. Modern physical science has found out by accurate mathematical calculations that the divisibility of any substance is limited by the size of its molecules. According to the established constant (Loschmidts constant) only one molecule, can be expected in a solution of approximately 1:10-(21)-1: 10 (23) (dependent on the molecular weight of the particular substance).
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