Dan Medicinhist Arbog. 2002 ; (): 75-86.

[Some knowledge to the art of medicine: a short view over two alternative methods in Iceland]

Homeopathy was taken up by a vicar in Northern Iceland around 1850 and was very well received right from the beginning. Soon other lay-men and folk-healers took up homeopathy, either partly or entirely, and their practice expanded quickly. Hydropathy was brought to the country at about the same time as homeopathy, but it was brought by a physician, JÃ³n HjatalÃn, who became Director General of Public Health in Iceland in 1855. He introduced the method to other physicians by his teachings and to the public in his writings. By his untiring preachings about the benefits of water he most likely got the public to think and act about hygiene sooner than they would have done otherwise. Regarding homeopathy, Dr. HjaltalÃn, tried repeatedly to point out that those who wanted to practice it, had to have some qualifications but both the population and the authorities saw that as unnecessary and the Icelandic parliament (Altinget) sided strongly with the homeopaths, even to the point of taking a stand against the physicians. The parliament tried to legalise homeopathy and in 1911 it passed a law that made it legal for anybody to practice homeopathy. No licence or proof of qualification was demanded. The result was that almost every folk-healer took up homeopathy, to a lesser or greater degree, with or without much knowledge of the method. A comparison of the number of patients who visited a homeopath and a local doctor in the same area show that as soon as a doctor became easily accessible, and medicine became better and safer, patients preferred the doctor to the homeopath. The numbers also show that the homeopath always kept a number of patients, indicating that there may always be a market for some alternative to doctors.