WAS HAHNEMANN INSANE?

Was Guiteau Insane?

There is no intention of reproducing the somewhat sensational trial of Gruiteau here. There were in that melo-dramatie proceeding a number of novel, startling, and inexplicable episodes, calculated to interest and instruct our insular mind, but, except in so far as these incidents may cast a lurid light upon the conduct and character of the accused, they shall not be included in this inquiry. I...

Hahnemann and placebo.

Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) known today as the founder of homoeopathy, was - as far as we know - the first physician who administrated placebos to his patient on a systematic and regular basis. This study is based upon unpublished documents (e.g. patients' letters) in the Archives of the Institute for the History of Medicine of the Robert Bosch Foundation in Stuttgart. It also profited from th...

Insane Delusions

Introduction to Hahnemann ’ S Theory and Practice

Nowadays, we find the idea of a miasma old-fashioned but it was widely used in Hahnemann’s time. Diseases that were thought to be caused by miasma included cholera, dysentery, leprosy, malaria (which literally means “bad air”), bubonic plague, and pulmonary tuberculosis. Miasma was understood to be “a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere” – the “contamination” or “polluti...

Who Is Insane?

between himself and an insane woman, he comes close to a satisfactory definition of insanity when he says to her, "You, of course, are insane, for this reason, the law provides that only insane persons shall be confined in asylums for the insane, while the sane are rigidly excluded. Now, as between you and me, you are legally confined in this asylum, and I am legally excluded; therefore, when y...