If we consider the harsh, or, preferably-termed, _heroic_ treatments, then in vogue, we need not be surprised that the pendulum of medication should have swung in the opposite extreme. Blood was drawn from the already enfeebled body, emaciated by disease; emetics were administered to sensitive and inflamed stomachs, and only aggravated into greater disorder; blisters, or the burning moxa, scorched into greater agony the suffering mortal, while large doses of drastic cathartics depleted the waning forces of nature. There was a tendency of the medical profession about that time to entirely ignore the _curative forces_ of nature, and to attack disease as you would a midnight marauder, with the most powerful and dangerous weapons at command; and there is no doubt that with these powerful expedients, disease was destroyed, but life also. Under these conditions Hahnemann appeared on the scene, and I am frank to admit that he rendered suffering humanity invaluable service by espousing a system of cure which had the merit of being harmless. If we take into account that physiological studies were then in their infancy, and that the word “Biologie,” from the Greek words which signify a discourse upon life and living things, was made use of for the first time by Lamarck, in a work published in 1801, it will not seem altogether strange that even learned men were mystified into beliefs which, in the light of our present knowledge of the subject, appear preposterous. This was a most opportune time to fasten on the healing art any doctrine or dogma, however absurd, and on this tide of ignorance and superstition, the doctrine of infinitesimal dilutions floated into popularity. Homeopathy affords us one of the most striking illustrations of the uselessness of drugs in ordinary ailments, and conclusively proves that nature possesses inherent curative powers. Cases treated under this system make splendid recoveries, and often much better than when the powers of nature are opposed or weakened with nauseating drugs and poisonous doses, prescribed by incompetent persons. Hahnemann truthfully observed that existing diseases are liable to become aggravated, complicated or replaced by _drug diseases_.