This book review is reprinted with the permission of the International Foundation for Homeopathy
PO Box 7
Edmonds, WA 98020
(206) 776-4147

The Magical Staff: The Vitalist Tradition in Western Medicine
by Matthew Wood
North Atlantic Books and Homeopathic Educational Services, Berkeley, California, 1992
209 pages, softcover, $14.95 [Editor's note: As of April 1996 Minimum Price Books' price is $14.50]
Reviewed by Lila Flagler, ND, DHANP and Samuel Flagler, ND, DHANP

The roots of homeopathic and eclectic medicine are clearly discussed in The Magical Staff. Our clinical ancestors and their contributions are acknowledged, honored, and connected. If you have wanted to know more about the symbolism of the caduceus, this book is a valuable reference. The symbolism is described as it relates to those people who revolutionized medicine in a vitalistic way: Paracelsus, Hahnemann, Rademacher, Thomson, the eclectics, Kent, Burnett, and Bach. The book describes how theories, techniques, and medicines were exchanged among the different schools of medicine.
Paracelcus was the first person to think of the body in terms of chemistry, the first to use opium in medical practice (as anesthesia), and the first to write about an occupational illness (of miners). He developed his own concept of the vital force as a dynamic and active inner intelligence. The doctrines of correspondence and of signatures were developed by Paracelsus; what the plant or medicine looks and smells like relates to what it is useful for in medicine. He was the first person to develop a system of medicine based on the law of similars. He coined the Latin phrase "similia similibus curentur" which means "let likes be treated by likes." He also used single medicines in small doses.
There is a good history of Hahnemann's life. Some interesting stories are included such as a proving of Calendula in which an old injury discharged purulent matter. Dr. Clarke said of Hahnemann, "I have never been misled by Hahnemann's positive directions, but I have usually found his negative proscriptions to be incorrect.... Such as he once said that a poison would result if a medicine was shaken two extra times." It is said that he once banned the use of any medicines diluted beyond the 30th potency.
Some of the first medicines he used were Aconite, Belladonna, Ignatia, Nux vomica, Veratrum, Chamomilla, Euphrasia, Inula, Sambucus and Tarax-acum. He gravitated more towards remedies derived from toxic sources because they produce symptoms more easily than non-toxic herbs and thus they have more uses which are easily discernible.
Rademacher used empiricism in his practice of medicine. He diluted the dose he gave as far as one drop of mother tincture per 1/2 cup of water. However, he rejected the law of similars. J. Compton Barnett recognized the value in those teachings and incorporated his organ specific remedies into homeopathy.
Samuel Thomson used herbs to stimulate the healing power of nature. He developed many theories about disease, one of which recognized the importance of fever in reestablishing health. He decided that he needed to experience yellow fever to help him understand acute and infectious disease, so he went to an area where it was epidemic. He then cured himself and others of it. It is interesting that he fought against the governmental policies which would limit the ability of the people "to choose and practice their own form of medicine" in the early 1800's. We are still struggling with this issue today. Many interesting stories of Lobelia are presented how Thomson discovered its medicinal virtues and utilized it for healing.
Eclectics utilized whatever they found to be most beneficial for medicine. Some well-known eclectics were Eli Jones, Wooster Beach, Harvey Felter, Rafinesque, and John Scudder. Scudder used poisonous remedies in a 3x dilution, and borrowed indications for their use from allopathic, homeopathic, Rademacherian, and other sources. He utilized the pulse, tongue, complexion, and a few key symptoms to come up with a specific diagnosis, and then gave a specific medication. Previous to Scudder's work, complex mixtures of medicines were used in the eclectic school.
Kent was a student of Scudder's who later became a homeopath. Eclecticism influenced homeopathy in the use of diagnostic patterns and keynote symptoms. In addition, remedies used by the eclectics such as Aesculus, Dioscorea, Iris, Phytolacca, and Sanguinaria were incorporated into homeopathic practice; and Shussler's cell salts were incorporated into eclectic practice. Also Boericke used eclectic literature in the writing of his materia medica.
Kent introduced the idea of medicines corresponding to personality patterns. He emphasized the innermost aspect of a person governing the organism. After his wife was cured by a homeopath, he obtained a second degree from a homeopathic college. After he became a homeo-path he severely criticized eclecticism. He learned about Swedenborg from his third wife and interpreted Hahnemann's writings in the light of his spiritual teachings. Swedenborg's concepts and how they relate to homeopathy are discussed in depth.
Burnett studied all schools of medicine. Some of his contributions to homeopathy include using nosodes extensively, treating vaccinosis, and recognizing the tubercular miasm. As a physician he was at first skeptical of homeopathy, and so he put it to the test. He used Aconite in a children's ward for acute fever and was astonished by the results. This experience led to his conversion to homeopathy. Burnett contributed flexibility in finding the best remedy for the person: besides the totality of characteristic symptoms, he sometimes used the pathological simillimum, the simillimum based on a few symptoms, the doctrine of signatures, etc.
Dr. Bach's life is also discussed. He developed Bach flower essences and die Bach bowel nosodes. Dr. Cooper's use of arborivital remedies is mentioned, as is the fact that their preparation was similar to that of the Bach Flower Remedies.
It is helpful to look at all these points of view about the nature of health and systems of medicine in developing a greater understanding of the vital force and how best to stimulate healing. In reading this book one is likely to develop a greater appreciation for many different schools of medicine and how they contributed to the evolution of homeopathic practice as we know it today.

RESONANCE MAY-JUNE 1993