What is Electro Homeopathy?

What is Electro Homeopathy?

The subject of Electro-Homoeopathy, and its special claim on public notice, has been fully brought before the public by the papers written in various periodicals, especially Lady Paget’s article in The National Beviezv and Mr. Stead’s very admirable historic and biographic surveys of the system in The Review of Bevietvs. It is now pretty generally allowed that the system of Count Mattei has vindicated its claim to earnest and practical investigation. Testimonies to its value are constantly accumulating, and its representatives may now be found in civilized countries all over the world.

My own conviction regarding them is that they form a large and important province of the older Homoeopathy of Hahnemann, and that the two are destined to work side by side in friendly cooperation. And so far as Electro-Homoeopathy is approved, its success is a witness in favour of the more refined, infinitesimal Homoeopathy of the earlier Hahnemannians rather than the somewhat coarse material methods of allopathising with Homoeopathic resources, which in many places have supplanted it.


The globules of Mattei, and his first, second, third, and even higher dilutions, help to authenticate the claim made by the best practitioners of Homoeopathy that medicine should be administered in such a form that its mere physical, chemical, and physiological qualities retreat into the invisible, imponderable, insensible conditions of infinitesimal substances. Here chemical analysis can have no place : we do not pretend to employ such measures and weights as, even the most dehcate scales and meters of the laboratory can verify. And therefore, when the: analyst reports that he can only find sugar or water or spirit in our preparations, we have only to thank him for confirming the sincerity of our infinitesimal professions. We accept his analysis, while we demur to his assumption that all the potencies of matter are capable of detection by the tests and re-agents which he employs. It is necessary to make this principle well understood, because some of our friends have been painfully.

The human body is composed of blood and lymph, two substances to which is entrusted the constant nutrition and preservation of the different parts of the organism, which, though different in themselves, both in form and in the functions they are called upon to discharge, are, notwithstanding, essentially similar, since they are all primarily composed of blood and lymph, and perpetually receive their nutrition from these two elements.

Any change in one or the other of these liquids must necessarily lead to a change in the normal state of the individual, and produce an abnormal or pathologic state. In accepting this fundamental theory, as simple as it is true, it is easy to understand that the composition of my remedies, called electro-homoeopathic on account of their instant and efficacious action, must embrace a number of simple medicinal principles, which, in virtue of then- nature and their mode of action on the whole body and on the different parts of which it is composed, must respond to the combined requirements of the various morbid elements, which, by changing the normal state of the blood and the lymph, create all varieties of disease—that is to say, all those hostile elements which oppose themselves to the free exercise of our organic functions. We are indebted to the great Hahnemann for the discovery of the specific nature of remedies.

Still, Hahnemann’s doctrine, being founded on the use of single remedies, limits itself to fighting against symptoms; in following his system, only one medicine is given at a time, and it is on this important point that I part company with him.

If I allow with him that a single remedy is capable of a simple action bearing only on one point, yet I do not admit that this action can antidote the cause of most diseases which are generally complicated. On the other hand, I can affirm that the complex remedies which constitute the electro-homoeopathic Materia Medica, combat and destroy disease in its primary origin, so that, treated according to this specific method, no relapse need be feared, no return in altered form is possible.

I do not conceal from myself the fact that this assertion may appear hazardous to some of my readers. Nevertheless, contrary to all that has hitherto been realized in the field of medicine, I have allowed my theory to await the test of experience, and as this experience has been crowned by undoubted success, and by cures which have been continuously effected in all classes of society, during the space of twenty-live years, I can unhesitatingly affirm that my complex remedies, that is to say, my electro-homoeopathic system of medicine, is the only true and efficient healing force, since it destroys the very germs of disease in the organism, by purifying the vital fluids in which they circulate and grow.

It is therefore evident that Hahnemann’s system is far from having spoken its last word, and that if the honour of having laid the unalterable basis of a new Materia Medica must be given to him, he has not completely reduced it to practice.

In fact, every work of nature is constituted by the fusion of different simple elements ; and it is on this principle, which has its own application in every separate case, that I have founded my system. It is, in my opinion, indispensable to bring several medicines into combined action and co-operation, which, harmoniously united, constitute a potent leverage capable of overcoming every obstacle which resists the restoration of the organism to health and soundness.

For me this unity of therapeutic action is a composite made up of many parts, which, blending in united action, constitute a veritable unity ; it is a harmonious co-operation towards one result, the aim of which is complete cure. Consequently the unity of remedies which is now practised by the homoeopaths is a radical mistake, which has much retarded the real progress of homoeopathic science. Experience has convinced me that, in order to cure a disease which consists of a great number of symptoms, the combined action of several remedies is required by which the various manifestations of the morbid principle in the different parts of the organism which are attacked, may be successfully combated. Whilst the homoeopathic method, as practised by Hahnemann, only admits a single remedy at a time in the treatment of disease, and accordingly aims in the action of its remedies at one description of tissue at a time, or one definite point which may or may not be the tissue or the part which is most seriously affected, still the other tissues, which are also attacked, are only indirectly acted on by a kind of reflected force, or else they remain entirely unaffected.

If this is the case, such a cure must be regarded as incomplete; for even if the actual disease has been overcome by the single remedy, yet the morbid principle itself has not been removed or destroyed; it still remains and manifests itself by secondary symptoms whenever the general health is affected. It is undoubtedly true that in every special case the remedies are changed, according to the law which guides practice, whenever new symptoms present themselves; but it is no less true, that if during the short period during which an acute disease lasts the medicine is changed at every new phase, there is danger lest the effectual potency of each may be lost while one follows another in such rapid succession that the only result may be an aggravation in the state of the patient. If, however, the origin itself is attacked by the complex remedies of electro-homoeopathy, which fasten upon it in each one of its symptoms, the disease can no longer develop, its cause being removed. It is not even necessary that all the possible symptoms should have appeared, since while combating those which are most conspicuous, those which are secondary and subordinate are anticipated and their development arrested.

My electro-homoeopathic remedies therefore constitute a great advance in the homoeopathic field. I know well the determined opposition with which they are confronted by the medical schools; but in spite of all obstacles, I persevere for the sake of suffering humanity.

By my electro-homoeopathic system I have endeavoured to put within reach of the disordered blood and lymph the substance most fitted to cure them, and to rescue each special organ from the hostile forces which prevent the free exercise of its functions, without doing violence to it by the use of remedies which have no power of effecting a radical cure. Here, in few words, is my theory, and my complex or electro-homoeopathic remedies have no other import. For each affection of the organism, whether general or local, affecting one organ or a group of organs, there are remedies, which by their complexity cover not simply the majority of the symptoms, but the totality of them, so that the simultaneous action of these different medicines removes at once the cause and the effects.

Moreover, it is easily seen that my electro homoeopathy, which introduces such a great reform in the homoeopathic therapeutics of Hahnemann, rests also on that physiological law which controls the sympathy and attraction under which all the functions of animal and vegetable life are carried on—a law of selection, of assimilation, of relation, by which useful substances are appropriated and absorbed, while substances which are useless or which are alien are rejected.

The organism itself makes this selection in a group of attenuated and potentized remedies; it chooses that which is required for its cure. Thus, given a compound remedy, certain of its elements will only be utilised by the diseased organism when it finds in it a morbid state, or in the disease itself something to which it is naturally antagonistic. The other elements of the same remedy must necessarily be completely useless— that is to say, they have no medical action either good or bad. Only on this principle can we explain how it is that a simple or composite remedy, although it may be homoeopathically related to some forms of disease, is entirely ignored by an entirely healthy organism ; and evidently such a law is not applicable when the closes are no longer such as homoeopathy employs, but take the massive proportions of allopathic medication,— doses, that is to say, which are measurable and ponderable.

Each specific is formed, as I have already said, of several medicines, which in their combination completely cover and control the group of organs which they are intended to act upon. Now in the complexity of these remedies there are some which pass directly into the mass of the blood, and here all the medicines which each specific includes being brought into relation with suffering organs, unite their action, the primary disease being in exact correspondence with the specific which is administered.

In fact, the organ which is affected absorbs the medicines which are appropriate to it : the other medicines, being attenuated, are in their turn absorbed by other tissues and other organs. Now, if before an organ is completely restored, or while it is disordered, another organ is attacked, in spite of the complexity of the remedies we must have recourse to those which are specifically adapted to combat the morbid condition of the organ last attacked, alternating the two specifics according to this reason of the case.

In fine, I affirm that homeopathy, using simple agents, whose action is symptomatic and limited, will remain a system of palliative treatment, not curative, by isolated remedies; while my process of treatment has two entirely distinct forms of action : one of these, primely organic, only felt by the organs which are primarily or secondarily attacked, but very comprehensive owing to the complex nature of the remedy; the other, a constitutional action, confronting the essential cause of the malady which it antidotes. This action may be utilized even during a condition of health, in the case of the scrofoloso medicines, since the cause of every disease may exist in a latent form before any purely external manifestation of its presence has taken place.

The importance of such a medical system is still more obvious if we consider that just as a healthy organism requires a variety of nutritive principles to maintain the balance of health, so also a diseased organism must appropriate to itself not one only, but many therapeutic agents. Electro homoeopathy, therefore, is nothing else than a sort of restorative nutrition, given under the form of medicine.

I can affirm that, thanks to continuous and repeated cures during more than twenty-live years, I have succeeded in discovering a combination of these remedies which may be considered perfect; a discovery which entitles me to repeat that the new application of my theory of homoeopathy is definitely and beneficially assured. In fact, one of my specifics possesses not only a direct action on the mass of the blood or the lymph, but a special action on one or many organs or tissues, and of all the parts which are dependent upon them. For such is the multiplicity of symptoms in any disease of a special organ, that a disturbing influence is communicated to all the organs or tissues that depend upon it. If then, with a single remedy, we can often bring about a very rapid cure of acute diseases, one can readily imagine the success which can be secured by my specifics, which are complex remedies, and which I have called, on account of the rapidity of their action, electro homoeopathic. I assert, also, that in the same individual one single remedy may succeed in curing several organs; for the potentized remedies have a real action on the organism which is exerted as often as the condition of the organism demands it.

A remedy which can cure separately an acute affection of the lungs, or of the heart, or of the intestines, will be similarly effectual in a chronic case where all these organs are simultaneously affected.

Accordingly, when a disease has to be treated, whether acute or chronic, instead of attacking it by a single remedy—that is, at one point—we can, with my electro-homoeopathic or complex specifics, cover all the various symptoms of the disease. Those organs which are less seriously affected will receive a proportionate degree of relief; thus the disease will be compassed by one single specific, although it may be necessary in the course of treatment to alternate this with other specifics, in order to meet symptoms as they arise, until the totality of them has disappeared.

It is easy to see how impossible it is to select with invariable precision the single remedy which a chronic state requires; it is indeed impossible, unless the selection is favoured by chance. With my specifics, on the contrary, we have, even before making use of them, a certainty that they will be effectual; provided there is still any vital force left we may be sure of relief; and if the organs are not profoundly affected, we may rely with certainty on a cure.

And even in such acute cases as do not involve very great constitutional disturbance, and where a single remedy might be sufficient to effect a cure, my electro-homoeopathic remedies show themselves still superior to this single remedy ; and, above all, the application of my specifics is so simple that, provided the diagnosis has given a thoroughly accurate idea of the cause of the disease (it does not much matter how this is ascertained), they always act in a complete and decisive way.

In fact, if one organ only is attacked, the electro homoeopathic specific will cure it better than any other remedy, since it will infallibly supply to all the tissues of the affected organs the substances which are essential to their cure, whatever the particular symptoms may be. I can even affirm that in this case the outcome will be radical, because the curative agent will pervade the whole organism, working at one and the same time on the morbid state itself, and on all that is derived from it.

The practice of homoeopaths is to indicate the method of using their remedies by such directions as the following: Dropsy, such a remedy; Convulsions, such a remedy. It is not thus that we must proceed. For convulsions may arise from many different causes. If, for example, they are produced by worms, they cannot be met by a remedy which cures the impurity of the blood, and vice versa. One single remedy is not sufficient for dropsy; the remedy which cures ascites is by no means suitable for hydro-pericarditis, or ovarian disease. But in each of these cases we must make use of the remedies which have a special affinity for the organ which is the source of the effusion.

In the composition of my specifics I have found it necessary to take into consideration the sympathetic relations that must exist, not only between those different medicines which enter into the formation of a single specific, and which are adapted to act in harmony with one another; but I have also been forced to consider the relations between these medicines and those which enter into the formation of other specifics—thus securing the efficiency of all combinations. For as all, or several of these specifics, may be required to act together, it was necessary to provide that no one substance entering into the composition of one of them should be liable to counteract the action of any of the others.

Thus the various specifics must be united together by a harmonious relation identical with that which binds together the different substances which enter into the composition of any one. No antagonism must be suffered to exist among them, no liability for one to be absorbed into another ; for if one and the same specific should contain two medicines possessing the same qualities, and having the same action, the remedies would lose their complex character, and their separate action would be destroyed.

It is therefore necessary to know how to group in a precise and rational way those remedies which are best adapted to combat the diseases which their specific powers are required to meet, so that we may be perfectly sure that the specific power is fully attained it now remains only that I should explain how it is not necessary, in using my specific medicines, to suspend their curative action in order that the reaction between disease and medicine may be operative. This persistent curative action I affirm, without intending entirely to deny the theory formulated by Hahnemann as to the reaction which arises when the organ is salinated by one medicinal agent, so as to completely lose the power, often for considerable space of time, of being influenced by other remedies—without, I repeat, wishing to deny such a reaction, the reality of which is, indeed, demonstrated by extraordinary cases arising in persons of exceptionally sensitive temperament, I will only remark that those who administer homoeopathic medicines are often wrong in giving one single remedy whose action is very prolonged. Practice • of this order is scarcely possible except for such a genius as Hahnemann, who, with vast and cultivated intelligence, and profound acquaintance with the primary action of drugs, united a subtlety of intuition which enabled him to select his remedies with almost unerring precision.

But how can a conscientious physician who does not possess this illumination, this power of instantaneous discernment which was Hahnemann’s almost unique gift—how can a practitioner less magnificently endowed select a remedy, and wait in a state of masterly inactivity twenty, thirty, and even forty days’ till the reaction comes? Can he thus wait without hesitation, with no tremor of misgiving while the disease is advancing from day to day? And where shall we find the patient who possesses such confidence in the efficiency of the selected medicine as to be able thus to wait patiently and confidently the result of such a protracted experiment?

If, then, this theory of reaction has in it an element of truth, it is practically an illusion, since, I once more affirm, this power of undergoing a favourable reaction after so long intervals is a peculiarity of exceptional organisms ; and even if we can calculate on such a marvellous result, it is only when we can be sure that the remedy has been chosen with perfect accuracy. For if it does not cover all the characteristic symptoms its action becomes almost null, and in the majority of cases it is futile to make another twenty days’ experiment after the first has proved abortive.

On the other hand, with my electro-homoeopathic system it is not necessary to wait for this far-off reaction : the medicines have, all of them, a definite aim, an immediate action; they can never produce any serious aggravation; no reaction or crisis is necessary, consequently there is no need to suspend the action of the remedy.

Indeed, every organ which is sufficiently saturated with its specific will cease to absorb it; but the beneficial action will then be passed on to other organs, more recently attacked, which will continue to assimilate the substances which they require, and the cure of one will facilitate that of another, or even a partial amendment in one organ may prepare the way for the perfect cure of another.

Consider the fact that plants are always exposed to the action of air, of earth and of heat, and yet leaves and flowers only appear and grow at one season—the springing time of their life. Even so we all have the blood which circulates in the veins and gives life, and yet after a certain age on growth is arrested, and at certain seasons of the year our bodies undergo modifications peculiar to themselves, and yet corresponding to those which are to be seen in all organized nature. So, also, when the organism is cured the medicine will be no longer absorbed, and that without any injurious consequences so far as general health is concerned.

To resume the conclusions which I have reached, I claim to have established the following facts:

Electro-homoeopathy is perfected homoeopathy, by the discovery of new therapeutic agents (which I call electroids) acting on the blood and giving to the organism the power necessary to cast of the morbid elements which injure it. This materia medica, like homoeopathy of which it is the consummation, has been evolved by experiment, and it rests entirely on facts ascertained by experiment. It it therefore true, and it is simple as truth itself. Its effects are explained on equally simple principles. The human body contains principles which are sometimes called herpetic, sometimes scrofulous, or psoric, to use Hahnemann’s term. Accordingly there are remedies which are Anti-scrofoloso.

These morbid principles often inflict profound injury in the lymph and white corpuscles of the blood. To these we oppose remedies which are Anti-cancerous. Sometimes this destructive change affects the blood-vessels, the arteries and veins, and the general circulatory system. To this we oppose Anti-angioitic remedies. The majority of diseases arise from these three causes, and with these three kinds of remedies we can confront and master them; since, besides their general action on the organism, they have a special and very extended action on different organs, as we shall more fully show subsequently. There are besides, the remedies which belong to their systems. They are—

  • The Pectoral remedies, which act on the bronchial tubes, in the pulmonary system, and catarrhal affections.
  • The Febrifuges, which cure fevers and all types of intermittent diseases, as well as disorders of the liver and the spleen.
  • The Antivenereal remedies cure all forms of syphilis, and even prevent it.
  • The Vermifuge remedies destroy all worms, not only ascarides, but even toenia and tricocephalis.
  • Besides these there are liquids having electric properties, which aid the internal cures.
  • All these remedies are harmless, as may be proved both by analysis and by experience.


Usually the patient takes one globule daily. But if, for the sake of experiment, we administer to any animal whatsoever a hundred, a thousand, any number of globules, no evil results will be observed. Similarly a man may take, without injury, any amount of globules, provided he does not take those which are indicated by some disorder from which he is suffering. Any one who treats himself with these remedies should observe that he can administer several remedies at the same time, not mixing them, but alternating one with another; one remedy for the first half of the day, another for the second.

If there is haemoptysis—expectoration of blood—a third remedy must be added; that is to say, one of the Angioitics ; allotting to each remedy one third part of the day. The rule for the administration of these medicines is, we see, as simple as truth itself. The physician ascertains the cause of a disease, whatever form it may assume ; and this is almost always either scrofulous, cancerous, or angioitic. If he has fastened upon the cause, he meets it with the appropriate remedy. For a paralytic case, for instance, the Angioitics are indicated if it proceeds from some obstruction in the circulation ; while, if it is caused by psora or scrofula, the anti-scrofolosi must be used.

We facilitate the internal cure by liquids which have electric properties, and which are themselves also designed to .combat the cause of the disease. We use the electricity of Angioitic type if the cause exists in the circulatory system. Red Electricity or positive, or else Yellow or negative, or else White or neutral, if the cause is scrofulous. Certain of these electricities, besides their general action, possess also a special specific action, as we shall see when we come to them, and describe the method of using them.

It is well to observe also that the effect which is produced by the internal exhibition of remedies, exists also when they are used externally. A case of hepatitis, for example—inflammation of the liver—will be more quickly subdued if the internal treatment is supplemented by the external use of compresses, or functions, in the region of the liver and spleen. These external applications are made by using globules of the same remedy which is being used internally; and in doses which will be subsequently indicated.

If a blood-vessel is disordered or altered—as in the case of an aneurism, for example—it will be more quickly cured if the internal treatment is assisted by compresses or functions applied to the part affected. When grave scrofulous and syphilitic disorders resist treatment by their special remedies, we must have recourse to the Anti-canceroso remedies.

In fine, when the effect of treatment does not appear, this must proceed from one of the three following causes : Either the initiatory diagnosis is wrong and mistaken remedies are selected, or the dose is wrong; or else the disorganization is so profound that it is impossible by any human means to overcome it. The effect of these remedies is always certain, when they are^ accurately selected, and rightly applied.