rn rivals.

It takes a very moderate amount of erudition to unearth a charlatan
like the supposed father of the infinitesimal dosing system. The real
inventor of that specious trickery was an Irishman by the name of
Butler. The whole story is to be found in the "Ortus Medicinm" of Van
Helmont. I have given some account of his chapter "Butler" in different
articles, but I would refer the students of our Homoeopathic educational
institutions to the original, which they will find very interesting and
curious.

CURRENTS AND COUNTER-CURRENTS

My attack on over-drugging brought out some hostile comments and
treatment. Thirty years ago I expressed myself with more vivacity than
I should show if I were writing on the same subjects today. Some of
my more lively remarks called out very sharp animadversion. Thus
my illustration of prevention as often better than treatment in the
mother's words to her child which had got a poisonous berry in its
mouth,--"Spit it out!" gave mortal offence to a well-known New York
practitioner and writer, who advised the Massachusetts Medical Society
to spit out the offending speaker. Worse than this was my statement of
my belief that if a ship-load of miscellaneous drugs, with certain
very important exceptions,--drugs, many of which were then often given
needlessly and in excess, as then used "could be sunk to the bottom of
the sea, it would be all the better for mankind and all the worse
for the fishes." This was too bad. The sentence was misquoted, quoted
without its qualifying conditions, and frightened some of my worthy
professional brethren as much as if I had told them to throw all physic
to the dogs. But for the epigrammatic sting the sentiment would have
been unnoticed as a harmless overstatement at the very worst.

Since this lecture was delivered a great and, as I think, beneficial
change has taken place in the practice of medicine. The habit of the
English "general practitioner" of making his profit out of the pills and
potions he administered was ruinous to professional advancement and the
dignity of the physician. When a half-starving medical man felt that he
must give his patient draught and boluses for which he could charge him,
he was in a pitiable position and too likely to persuade himself that
his drugs were useful to his patient because they were profitable
to him. This practice has prevailed a good deal in America, and was
doubtless the source in some measure of th