ESSAY XXVI. ORGANS HAVE THEIR OWN DOSES. "All yet seems well; and if it end so meet, The bitter past, more welcome is the sweet!" "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL." Vive, vale, si quid novisti rectius istis HORACE. "Farewell! and if a better system's thine, Impart it frankly, or make use of mine." FRANCIS. ESSAY XXVI. ORGANS HAVE THEIR OWN DOSES. "Nos jam sub initiis et ad tempus tantum lucifera experimenta, non fructifera quærere." LORD BACON, Nov. Org. "Now at the beginning and for a time, we seek only Lightbringing, not Fruit-bearing experiments." KITCHIN. In It is night with us. Experiments are torches. tellectually we are living in a darkened world. We have no day light, and see nothing but by torch light. When we have made an observation or tried an experiment, and have thought about it, we have brought flint and steel into collision, and have struck a spark; some of these sparks kindle a torch, and by its light we take a step in advance. This is true of medicine. It is true of all natural knowledge. We have to thank God that, for our moral and spiritual progress, we have the Lamp of His Word to guide us, which is a much brighter and steadier light than any of our own torches. By this torch-light let us proceed. Every "lightbringing" experiment is a fresh torch. It may contribute to the better understanding of antipraxy-the contrary action of the larger and the smaller doses-if we go a little further into its details, and try to examine more carefully the various actions of different doses of drugs. We shall find that each organ as well as each drug has its own two ranges of doses. This will necessitate new experiments, which may, perhaps, suggest new thoughts. A reward will accompany them if they are torches or light-bringing experiments. By this increasing light we may go on weaving our piece of tapestry. The thread to be gathered up, in order to continue the work, will be found in the Letter to Sir Benjamin Brodie'; and a rather long quotation will be necessary, but time will be saved by it. All which fluctuations (in the dose) must continue to prevail, as they do in the old school, so long as, in both cases, the subject is one of personal experience only. "A question of great interest, therefore, arises: can any law or principle for the selection of the dose be discovered, as there has been for the remedy? "The earlier homoeopathic writers answer this inquiry by a direct negative. Later authorities are of the same way of thinking. "The truth is that so long as physicians looked only in the direction of the disease and the patient, Sydenham's earnest wish for the possession of a 'fixed, definite, and consummate method of healing' could not be attained, though pursued for many centuries; and in like manner, while the attention of practitioners is directed only to the same objects, the possession of a fixed rule for the dose will be equally unattainable. But no sooner was the direction changed, and the thinking mind turned towards the drug as well as towards the disease, than the first law of healing was laid hold of, imperfectly, indeed, at that time, but so as to admit of more distinct and accurate definition now. And if we tread in the same steps, if we look in the same direction, that is, if we examine the drug with more care and precision, we shall find the law of the dose. It is the counterpart of the law of the remedy, and may be expressed provisionally in these words: "Different doses of the same drug taken in health, select different organs on which to act injuriously. Corresponding but smaller doses of the same drug are to be given as remedies in the diseases of the organs which they select." An example is given as an illustration, from Christi son: "Oxalic acid. This drug as a poison acts in the largest doses upon the alimentary canal; in smaller ones upon the heart; in still smaller upon the spinal cord; and in the smallest upon the brain. 66 According to the rule just expressed, this drug must be given in corresponding but smaller doses as a remedy. If for an affection of the brain, the dose must be the smallest which will produce any effect; if for one of the spine, a somewhat larger dose will be required; if for a disease of the heart, the dose is to be still further increased."" It is to be noticed that the conclusions with respect to the action of oxalic acid drawn by Professor Christison, were from experiments on dogs. How far they are applicable to man must be ascertained by experiments upon ourselves. For this purpose the following provings of it were undertaken :— 7.0 P.M. Pulse 72. Oxalic acid. 1874, April 11. Five hours after taking food. Oxalic acidth of a grain taken in 10 minims of water. Taste strongly acid. 7.10 P.M. Pulse 76. 7.30 Soon after 8 o'clock, giddiness; with slight griping; loose motion; and a little nausea. 8.30, called out to visit a patient. 1 'Letter to Sir B. C. Brodie,' p. 109. 1861. |