Discovery of Homoeopathy and Vaccination
    The germ of Homoeopathy had been planted in Hahnemann's mind by an experiment he carried out in 1790 while translating the Materia Medica of the Scottish physician Cullen. But many years were to elapse before the germ of Homoeopathy grew into a full therapeutic system. Hahnemann coined the full therapeutic system only in 1796. The incidence of discovery of vaccination also occurred in 1796 by Edward Jenner. He discovered that inoculation with cowpox gave immunity to smallpox.

17th Century
Discovery of Homoeopathy
    It was while undertaking the translation of a particular medical text, A Treatise on the Materia Medica by the Scottish physician William Cullen, that he was first prompted to examine the medicinal effects of substances 'under a different light.' In this medical text he read the claim that the drug, cinchona, was effective in treating the symptoms of malaria because it was a bitter astringent and had a tonic effect on the stomach.
Hahnemann rejected this claim outright as it suggests that other drugs, which had these characteristics, should have a beneficial effect on malarial states, which they don't. In order to establish exactly what effects cinchona did have on the human organism he decided to take the drug himself. He began to administer doses of cinchona to himself over a short period of time and discovered that this bark actually created malaria-like symptoms in a healthy individual.

    Hahnemann reasoned that it was the similarity of symptoms that somehow produced the healing effect. This prompted the postulation of the first principle of Homoeopathy “like cures like” or stated more completely, that which can produce a set of symptoms in a healthy individual, can treat a sick individual who is manifesting a similar set of symptoms. He coined the name “Homoeopathy” to describe this approach to healing, deriving it from the Greek: homos (same) + pathos (suffering). He went on to test other substances, accurately documenting for each its particular “symptom picture.”

Hahnemann

Edward Jenner

Discovery of Vaccination
    Edward Jenner (1749-1823) was an English doctor, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination and the Father of Immunology. Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire.

    Jenner worked in a rural community and most of his patients were farmers or worked on farms with cattle. In 1788 an epidemic of smallpox hit Gloucestershire and during this outbreak Jenner observed that those of his patients who worked with cattle and had come in contact with the much milder disease called cowpox never came down with smallpox. Jenner needed a way of showing that his theory actually worked. Jenner was given the opportunity when a young milkmaid called Sarah Nelmes came to see him with sores on her hands like blisters. Jenner identified that she had caught cowpox from the cows she handled each day.

    Jenner had the opportunity to obtain the material to try out his theories. He carefully extracted some liquid from her sores and then took some liquid from the sores of a patient with mild smallpox. Jenner believed that if he could inject someone with cowpox, the germs from the cowpox would make the body able to defend itself against the dangerous smallpox germs, which he would inject later.

    Jenner approached a local farmer called Phipps and asked him if he could inoculate his son James against smallpox. He explained to the farmer that if his theory were correct, James would never contract smallpox. Surprisingly, the farmer agreed.

    Jenner made two small cuts on James's left arm. He then poured the liquid from Sarah's cowpox sores into the open wounds, which he bandaged. James went down with cowpox but was not very ill. Six weeks later when James had recovered, Jenner vaccinated him again, this time with the smallpox virus.
This was an extremely dangerous experiment. If James lived Jenner would have found a way of preventing smallpox. If James developed smallpox and died he would be a murderer. To Jenner's relief James did not catch smallpox. His experiment had worked. Jenner called his idea "vaccination" from the word vaccinia, which is Latin for cowpox.

This photograph is Hahnemann's birth place Meissen, Germany, renovated recently and open to tourists now. The wrapper photograph is special feature of this issue.