The History of American Homeopathy: From Rational Medicine to Holistic Health Care

210 Pages·2009·0.8 MB·English

by  Professor John S Haller Jr

The History
of American
Homeopathy

The History of
American
Homeopathy
From Rational
Medicine to
Holistic Health
Care
John S. Haller Jr.
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haller, John S.
The history of American homeopathy : from rational medicine to holistic health care /
John S. Haller Jr.
p. ; cm.
Continues: The history of American homeopathy : the academic years,
1820–1935 / John S. Haller Jr. c2005.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8135-4583-7 (hard : alk. paper)
1. Homeopathy—United States—History—19th century. 2. Homeopathy—United States—
History—20th century. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Homeopathy—history—United States. 2. History, 19th Century—United States.
3. History, 20th Century—United States. 4. Homeopathy—trends—United States. WB 930
H185ha 2009]
RX51.H33 2009
615.5’32—dc22
2007048025
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2009 by John S. Haller Jr.
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized inanyform or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission
from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue,
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Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
For
Peter and Jon
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
Walt Whitman,
“Song of Myself”
CONTENTS
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. The Decline of Academic Homeopathy 5
The “Holy Grail” 7
The High-Potency Conservatives 8
Educational Standards 11
The Flexner Report and its Aftermath 14
Merger 20
Looking for Scapegoats 25
Stuart M. Close 27
Thinking the Inevitable 30
On Reflection 32
Chapter 2. Esoteric Homeopathy 35
Vitalism 35
Emanuel Swedenborg 39
Homeopathy as a Belief System 42
High Potencies 46
X-Rays 49
Tissue Remedies 50
Bach Flowerism 51
Sixth Edition ofOrganon 52
Energy Medicines 54
Law or Principle 57
Chapter 3. The Laity Speaks Out 63
American Foundation for Homeopathy 64
Laymen’s Leagues 69
Concerns 73
The Layman Speaks 76
Luyties Pharmacal Company 81
Vulgarization 83
Chapter 4. Postwar Trends 87
Atomic Energy 88
Eastern Philosophy 93
George Vithoulkas 96
Psychosomatic Medicine 101
New Challenges 104
Controlled Studies 108
Chapter 5. Roads Taken and Not Taken 115
The Cultist Threat 116
Hour of Decision 118
Members Only 121
Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia 131
Questionable Legitimacy 134
College Training 136
Chapter 6. Whither the Future? 141
Notes 153
Bibliography 175
Index 181
Foreword
Foreword
In 1978 Dr. Ramunas Kondratas, then assistant curator at the
NationalMuseumofAmericanHistory,DivisionofMedicalScience
at the Smithsonian Institution, made a rather unique documentary
film on homeopathy. Featuring Gustav “Gus” Tafel, who took the
audienceona30-minutetourofthelargestmanufacturerofhomeo-
pathicmedicinesintheUnitedStates,Boericke&Tafel,“Reunions:
Memories of an American Experience” presented a distinguished
looking gentleman in his late sixties, the grandson of co-founder
Adolph J. Tafel, who waxed nostalgic over his time at the “B & T”
firm.LocatedinPhiladelphiaat1011ArchStreet,thebuilding,appa-
ratus, and manufacturing processes had changed littlesince moving
tothatlocationin1880.*TheSkinnerpotencies†usedbyB&Tuntil
1991,forexample,hadbeenrecommendedbytheeminenthomeopath
JamesTylerKentin1903,andevenGusTafeladmittedthatmanyof
the bottles of assorted attenuated and diluted tinctures made by that
process had been lining the storage shelves for years.
Butwhatexactlyishomeopathy?Thefilm’snarratorexplainedthat
homeopathywas“avitalisticandholisticmedicaldoctrineformulated
by a German physician, Samuel Hahnemann” in the early nineteenth
century.Afterreviewingthecompany’shistory,Tafeltouredthefacil-
ity,introducedtheaudiencetothefirm’spresident(a“secondcousin
bymarriage”),discussedthebusinessthroughtheyears,andconcluded
withalmostfatalisticresignation,“it[homeopathy]lasteduntilabout
1900andthenitslowlystartedtodeteriorateandthentheallopathic
schools took over.” Happy with his B & T career, Tafel gave a wry
*In1987Boericke&TafelwaspurchasedbyVSMinHolland.B&Tmovedin
1992 to Santa Rosa, California.
†Named after Scottish homeopath Thomas Skinner, the “Skinner Continuous
Fluxion Apparatus” used by B & T was designed to produce highly dynamized
products.
ix