Hahnemanns Selbstversuch mit der Chinarinde im Jahre 1790- Die Konzipierung der Homöopathie -

Abstract: On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Hahnemann's self-experiment with cinchona bark, which finally inititated the development of the homoeopathic therapy by Hahnemann, this experiment which is remarkable from the point of view of the history of medicine is described and evaluated from a modern point of view.The attacks of fever reported by Hahnemann were most probably real fever reactions due to an acquired hypersensitivity to quinine. Hahnemann thought that the similitude between the symptome of his china fever and those of the intermittent fever were due to the therapeutic effect of quinine in case of intermittent fever, However, this was an error and is not valid any longer, because quinine heals the malaria by interrupting the life cycle of plasmodia. Nevertheless, it was a fruitful error because by generalizing the therapeutic law of similitude Hahnemann created the basic principles for a succesful therapy method.But HahnenannÂ’s idea that a disease may be healed by means of a similarly effective drug was probably not only based upon his experiment with cinchona bark, for he had already noticed much earlier the similitude of symptoms between arsenic effect and intermittent fever as well as between mercury effect and syphilis. These irnpressions could have been of importance when he had this intuitive inspiration in 1790 which was favoured by the fever.

Keyword(s): Hahnemanns Malaria

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