Femina, A Work for Every Woman — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Femina, A Work for Every Woman
John Stuart Mill · en
The Weapon Ointment affords another instance where the credulity of the
public was supported by abundant facts to prove the efficacy of the
remedy, yet it was based on the wildest superstition. This ointment
was employed for the healing of wounds, but instead of being applied
to them, the weapon with which the wound was inflicted was carefully
anointed and hung up in a corner, and the wound was washed and bandaged
without the salve being allowed to touch it. This ointment created such
a furor that eminent medical men indorsed its virtues as a healing
agent. Another example of superstition and charlatanry was the equally
famous Sympathetic Powder, which, when applied to the blood-stained
garments of wounded persons, cured their injuries even when miles
away. That dukes and knights vied with each other to obtain the secret
of its preparation and ingredients is a matter of history. Instances of
delusions on medical subjects could be multiplied a thousand fold, but
they prove nothing but ignorance and superstition on the one side, and
the inherent all-powerful curative force of nature on the other. While
I wish to avoid wounding the fastidious and sensitive in the matter of
their faith in their cherished system of cure, I cannot refrain from
classing homeopathy as a similar delusion.
I am glad to admit at the outset that I have read Hahnemann’s “Organon
of the Art of Healing” with a great deal of interest and some profit.
I am convinced that his theory of infinitesimal dilutions is as absurd
and ridiculous as either the Weapon Ointment or the Sympathetic Powder
treatment already referred to.