''Homœopathy and Its Kindred Delusions'' is a work by

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (; August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was an American physician, poet, and polymath based in Boston. Grouped among the fireside poets, he was acclaimed by his peers as one of the best writers of the day. His most fa ...

, based upon two lectures he gave in 1842, ''Medical Delusions'' and ''Homœopathy''. The work criticizes homeopathy, which he considered to be akin to "astrology, palmistry and other methods of getting a living out of the weakness and credulity of mankind and womankind". It is considered to be a classic text, one of Holmes' most important works, as well as one of the earliest criticisms of homeopathy.

Synopsis

''Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions'' is composed of two parts. In the first, Holmes explains how the

placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general, placebos can af ...

effect can produce false positives, and describes numerous forms of popular but ineffective

quackery Quackery, often synonymous with health fraud, is the promotion of fraudulent or ignorant medical practices. A quack is a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, ...

(including the

royal touch The royal touch (also known as the king's touch) was a form of laying on of hands, whereby French and English monarchs touched their subjects, regardless of social classes, with the intent to cure them of various diseases and conditions. The ...

, the tractors of Elisha Perkins, and the

powder of sympathy Powder of sympathy was a form of sympathetic medicine, current in the 17th century in Europe, whereby a remedy was applied to the weapon that had caused a wound with the aim of healing the injury it had made. Weapon salve was a preparation, aga ...

), to demonstrate that positive anecdotal evidence is not necessarily indicative of an effective medical therapy. He also describes how Perkins claimed the healing powers of the tractors were due to their being made of a special alloy, but how they declined in popularity after it was discovered that the tractors had the same effect no matter what they were made of. In the second, he criticizes the basis of homeopathy itself, such as its theory of dilutions. Another issue is that of homeopathic provings (the practice of taking a substance to see what symptoms it causes). Holmes claims that during provings, subjects consider even the slightest discomfort (such as itching) to be the result of the substance, and that this method does not demonstrate symptom causality. In the work Holmes also expressed a belief that "real advances were made only after years of work by highly trained men who cared little for fame and money".

Reception

''Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions'' received both praise and criticism after its release. In a series of letters titled ''Some Remarks on Dr. O. W. Holmes's Lectures on Homeopathy and Its Kindred Delusions; Communicated to a Friend'', Robert Wesselhoeft negatively compared Holmes' work to writers that "made sport of their fellow man" and considered the work to be representative of "Old School medicine's continued scorn for reform". In contrast, Eric W. Boyle wrote in his 2013 book ''Quack Medicine'' that Holmes' work was "the most thoroughly explicated attack on homeopathy as a dangerous and deadly error".

References

{{Authority control 1842 non-fiction books Literature about homeopathy Medical books Works by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.