William Sharp 
Tracts on Homopathy [PDF ebook] 

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Every one knows, that the Spanish fly, cantharides, even when only applied externally in the form of a blister, very often acts injuriously upon the bladder, causing strangury and other painful symptoms connected with that organ. I hold in my hand a little book with the following title Tutus Cantharidum in Medicine Usus Internus, per J oannem Groenevelt, M.D., e Coll. Med. Lond. Editio Secunda. This book is full of interesting cases of strangury and other affections of the bladder very successfully treated by the internal use of cantharides. Here is a special case of Homopathy, – of like curing like – or in the words of the old translator of Hippocrates already quoted, Velut urinae stillicidium idem facit si not sit, et si sit idem sedat. The drug produces the complaint if not there, but if it be there, (arising from another cause), it cures it. For this method of treatment, the author tells us in his preface he was com mitteol to Newyate, on the warrant of the President of his own College – The Royal College of Physicians of London Charta quadam manibus propriis signata, sigilloque firmatzi me sceleratorum carceri (newgate vulgo dicto, ) ma ee praxeos reum asseverantes, tradiderunt! This happened in 1694 just a century before hahnemann. It is worthy of remark, before quitting Dr. Greenfield, that the dose of cantharides which he gave was such as to oblige him to give camphor along with it, as an antidote to correct the otherwise aggra vating effect of the fly. The present method of reducing the dose, which we owe to hahnemann, has enabled me to cure similar cases of diseased bladder without the addition of the camphor, and without fear of aggravating the symp toms.