DR. ROBERT E. DUDGEON(1820-1904) - Homeopath


DR ROBERT E DUDGEON -- AN APPRECIATION
by Peter Morrell

I have always very much liked Dudgeon's Lectures On The Theory &
Practice of Homoeopathy, and so I feel justified in compiling this
profile of him. In the early days of English homeopathy he was
extremely important both as a teacher and as a translator of
Hahnemann's works into English. He was based in London. He was
arguably the most important of the early homeopaths in England, second
only after Dr Quin.

I have always found the Lectures vastly superior to Kent's Lectures
because they actually contain exactly what it says on the cover, and
not some obscure 'Biblical commentary' to the Organon, mixed up with a
lot of confusion from Swedenborg. And it is so modern and so
historically contextualised. I keep promising myself one day to write
an index for it so it might take its deserved position within the
movement. Its chief shortcoming is that it is perhaps too scholarly
and densely written. It is a sorely neglected book. 565 pages which
cover every aspect of the history and development of homeopathy in the
broadest,driest and wittiest style up to the year 1853 and thus up to
the 5th edition.

It is packed with information I have never seen elsewhere, and gives
detailed and sound accounts of the views of nearly all homeopathic
doctors throughout the world on Hahnemann's system. However, he is
dismissive of the excesses of some of the more exotic figures and
writes off Jenichen, Hering ('our Transatlantic friend'), Stapf and
Gross as unreliable high potency fanatics - for which there is only
some justification. If you can bear the high, dry and terse Victorian
style of pompous court-room English at its most elongated then it is
very funny but also pithy, detached and sceptical. A darned good read.

The only word of warning one must give is that he was close to Richard
Hughes as a low- potency materialist, but the beauty of his work is
that he was an excellent scholar, and every opinion and judgement he
offers --and he offers many --is backed up with historical detail and
based upon his own clinical experience.



Biography


Robert Ellis DUDGEON (1820-1904)

Dudgeon was born on March 17, 1820, and died Sept. 8, 1904 (also
listed as September 9th). He resided at 53 Montague Square, London W1.
He qualified as LRCS Edinburgh in 1839, MD Edinburgh in 1841, and
became Fellow of the British Homeopathic Society, and consultant
surgeon (mainly ophthalmic) to the London Homeopathic Hospital. He
also invented an early form of Sphygmograph (see Concise Dictionary of
National Biography, Oxford; and in Infopedia 95 CD Rom). He was the
first editor of BJH from 1845-1884.

Accordingly, he became a homoeopath c1843 under the influence of a
semester spent in the Medical School in Vienna and then under Dr John
Drysdale in Liverpool. He set up practice in London in 1845. Drysdale
and Dr John Rutherford Russell were fellow students of Dudgeon in
Vienna (Dict Nat Biog, p531). The three also edited the BJH from
1846-84 after which it ceased. "In 1850 he helped to found the
Hahnemann Hospital and the The London School of Homoeopathy in
Bloomsbury Square, with which was connected the Hahnemann Medical
Society" (ibid).

He became Secretary of the BHS in 1848 & President in 1878 and 1890.

He was a low-potency prescriber like Hughes, with whom he was always
associated. Like Hughes, he was opposed to the higher potencies 'on
principle', which at that time was practically everything above 6x,
and to the indiscriminate use of nosodes and unproven remedies. He
sought justification for these views from Hahnemann, who never
promoted the use of high potencies, even though he made use of them
occasionally. Dudgeon died before any of the information about
Hahnemann's later work was published in 1922. Yet Dudgeon, as a
translator of German works, must have been aware of Hahnemann's use of
liquid doses, centesimals, LM's and serial dilution in water,
techniques which were all brought in with the 5th Edition of the
Organon in the 1830's. Perhaps Dudgeon conveniently chose to ignore
these developments as a 'temporary deviational experiment' on
Hahnemann's part. We simply do not know what Dudgeon made of that. But
as an ardent '3xer' he would never have used such techniques and would
certainly have regarded them with a derisive scepticism.

Tributes from the Journal of the British Homoeopathic Society Vol 13,
1904 -1905

"...in 1869 he joined the staff of the Hospital as assistant
physician ..at the bedside (he) did not perhaps shine as a consultant;
he was no courtier; he was much too honest, in fact, to be a
fashionable consultant; but from my experience of him in consultation
I can say that one rarely failed to get substantial help in diagnosis
and many valuable hints as to the choice of remedies.

"One cannot help but look at the imposing list of works which Dudgeon
translated from the German, and which now form in fact, our valuable
armamentarium: Hahnemann's 'Organon', his 'Lesser Writings', his
'Materia Medica Pura', his 'Therapeutic Hints' and last, but not
least, almost the whole of the German work in the 'Cyclopaedia of Drug
Pathogenesy' We know full well that without Dudgeon and Hughes the
Cyclopaedia would never have existed." (from Tributes, BJH 1904)

Dudgeon's Publications:

Pathogenetic Cyclopaedia 1839,
Cure of Pannus by Innoculation, London and Edinburgh Jnl of Medical
Science 1844,
Hahnemann's Organon, 1849, [and revised 1873-7]
Lectures on the Theory & Practice of Homeopathy, 1853 [ibid with
NK.Banerjee and re- issued in 1882]
Homeopathic Treatment and Prevention of Asiatic Cholera (1847, Bowron,
London),
Hahnemann's Therapeutic Hints, 1847 [and again in 1894]
On Subaqueous Vision, Philosophical Magazine, 1871 (see Homeopathic
Medical Directory, 1895),
The Influence of Homeopathy on General Medical Practice Since the
Death of Hahnemann (1874) Turner & Co London,
Repertory of the Homeopathic Materia Medica, 2 vols (1878-81)
The Human Eye Its Optical Construction, 1878,
Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura, 1880 1, in 2 vols, London, also publ,
Dresden, 1882 (2nd edition),
The Sphygmograph, 1882,
Materia Medica: Physiological and Applied (1884), Hahnemann the
Founder of Scientific Therapeutics 1882,
Hahnemann's Organon (1893) 5th Edition, later updated with 6th edition
additions [=Dudgeon's 2nd edition]
Prolongation of Life (1900),
Obituary, BJH 13, 1904, pp67, p153
Hahnemann's Lesser Writings,


BHS & London School of Homoeopathy

The British Homeopathic Society (BHS) was established by Dr Quin in
1843. This ran parallel to a somewhat hazy organisation called the
London School of Homeopathy which taught doctors homeopathy. It was
mainly run by Dr William Bayes, by Dr Robert Ellis Dudgeon and by Quin
himself. This organisation merged in 1885 with the London Homeopathic
Hospital, when formal teaching arrangements were established for
postgraduate tuition in homeopathy. They have remained one
organisation since that time.

As is also apparent from his entry in the Dictionary of National
Biography (p530-31), Dr Dudgeon was intimately associated with the
London School of Homoeopathy, delivering his lectures there, which
were finally published in 1853 as Lectures On the Theory and Practice
of Homoeopathy.

Extracts from the Lectures:



Similars

Dudgeon quotes (1853) a long list of authors before Hahnemann, who
indicated the clinical usefulness of the law of similars or who
conducted crude provings of medicines on the healthy. There is thus a
clear acknowledgement of the medical simile prior to Hahnemann.
Dudgeon also gives a long exposition of the views of Paracelsus on
similars and contraries in medicine, and then quotes Hahnemann himself
on those who often employed similars, such as Albrecht von Haller
(1708-1777).

Yet a surprising number of herbal 'guesses' were apparently confirmed
by the provings. Examples include Chelidonium (Yellow Poppy) for liver
complaints, Euphrasia (Eyebright) for eye complaints and Pulmonaria
(Lungwort) for bronchitis. Presumably these properties were originally
discovered from their clinical use rather than from 'signatures'.
Other examples can be found in Dudgeon, 1853, pp 20-23.



Hahnemann's coffee theory

Hahnemann is right to assert regarding the 'abuse of a medicinal
substance' coffee as such. but it is worth quoting Hahnemann himself
and Dr Dudgeon to show the basis of this viewpoint.

'constipation, impotence, dental caries, abscesses in children,
pulmonary mucus, "blue rings around the eyes, leucorrhea, ulcers,
general megrim, nervous affections, chronic diseases, insomnia,
stammering of speech, lack of appetite for food, ophthalmias, rattling
in the chest, etc.' (On Coffee, 1803, Lesser Writing)

This list very closely resembles many of the entries in his list of
conditions for Psora (given both in Chronic Diseases and in other
essays from the 1820's and 30's) and it is perfectly clear to me - as
Dudgeon states - that Hahnemann was tempted in 1803 to ascribe to
Coffee a grand theory of chronic disease remarkably similar to that
which he later, in 1827, ascribed to the Itch animal of Scabies.

In the 'Chronic Diseases' Hahnemann says:

'That the drinking of warm coffee and Chinese tea... has further
augmented the tendency of this period to a multitude of chronic
diseases and thus aided psora, I least of all can doubt, as I have
made prominent, perhaps too prominent, the part which coffee takes
with respect to the bodily and mental sufferings of humanity, in my
little work on 'The Effects of Coffee' (leipzig, 1803). This perhaps
undue prominence given was owing to the fact that I had not then as
yet discovered the chief source of chronic disease in Psora.' (Chronic
Diseases, Jain Edn, 1978, (Tafel trans of 1896), Vol 1 pp13-14)



Nosodes

'It was our transatlantic friend Dr Constantine Hering who gave the
first impulse to isopathy, for we find him in 1830 proposeing as a
remedy for Hydrophobia the saliva of a rabid doig, as Xenocrates had
done before him; for smallpox, the matter from variolous pustules; for
psora the matter of Itch.' (Dudgeon, 1853, p143)

Hahnemann formulated the theory of Miasms in 1816-17 as a result of
this work, and told Drs Gross and Stapf in the autumn of 1826
(Dudgeon, 1853, p??)


(courtesy Dr R. Séror)
Dr Gustav W. GROSS (1794-1847)

'Paracelsus's system... was a rude form of homeopathy... but it was
not equal in value to Hahnemann's system...' (Dudgeon, 1853, p14)

It will be recalled that Hahnemann in the 1780's 'was becoming
disenchanted with his chosen profession' (Cook, 1981, p52) and gave up
the practice of medicine at an early stage in his career, both out of
severe disappoinment with its results and to make sufficient cash from
translating to support his large and growing family. In the 1780's in
Dresden...

"...he published many chemical works... [then]... retired disgusted
with the uncertainty of medical practice and devoted himself to
chemistry and literature." [in Dudgeon, 1853 , page xxi.]

Bear in mind also, that throughout all of this we observe a doctor
trained in a system of medicine he had come to despise for its
irrationality and total ineffectiveness. In Desau in 1781 he...

"...takes rather a desponding view of medical practice in general, and
of his own in particular, as he candidly admits that most of his cases
would have done better had he let them alone." [in Dudgeon, p.xx]

In 1790, while translating Cullen's Materia Medica there came the
great breakthrough he needed.

"...which was to him what the falling apple was to Newton, and the
swinging lamp in the Baptistery at Pisa was to Galileo." [in Dudgeon,
pxxi ]

The fact that a larger dose of Cinchona would increase the fever of
malaria, strongly implied that a curative medicine can cause what it
will cure. It established a clear link between the toxic action of a
drug and its therapeutic effects. He disagreed with Cullen's theory of
the action of Cinchona upon the stomach and so resolved to test it on
himself. "From this single experiment his mind appears to have been
impressed with the - conviction that the pathogenetic effects of
medicines would give the key to their therapeutic powers." [in
Dudgeon, p.xxi] General Korsakoff, the Russian, 1829, in Archiv of Hom
Med addressed a letter to Hahnemann recommending tubes or phials for
remedies, suggesting globules of lactose and moistened with 2-3 drops
of liquid potency (Bradford, p191); Dudgeon says Korsakoff was the
real originator of the high potencies (in his Letters on Hom, p351,
publ in the Archiv fur die Hom Heilkunst, viii pt 2, p161), Bradford
p191).

The first pioneers of UK homeopathy were 3xers like Quin, Dudgeon and
Hughes. Their zenith of influence and power collapsed from around 1880
with the rise of the higher potency and nosode school led first by
Skinner and Burnett and later refined in more detail by Clarke.


Thomas Skinner

Some homoepaths figured inventively as allopaths before their
conversion --a fact rarely mentioned today and not widely known. This
fact applies to Burnett, who was a 'Gold Medal anatomist, and also to
Dudgeon, but especially to Skinner. Skinner, and his teacher at
Edinburgh, Prof James Young Simpson, had pioneered the use of
chloroform in surgery and in gynecology and obstetrics. Such figures
compare very well with the allopathic importance of Dudgeon's
Sphygmograph --which was the first of its kind.



Potency

Bradford has this to say about Hahnemann's use of potencies at the
close of his life:

'In 1853, Dr J Chapman writing to the London Homoeopathic Times says
'My reason for addressing you is to prove what was the actual practice
of Hahnemann during his residence in Paris, and to the close of his
life. I have before me, while I write, the box of medicines he carried
about with him...' (Bradford, p471) `Since my last letter I have seen
two boxes of homoeopathic medicines which Hahnemann selected for a
patient in the years 1841-42... among them is Arnica and Euphrasia 6
and other low dilutions. None is higher than thirty... the dilutions
are 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 and 30. I have what I consider the best possible
authority for stating that Hahnemann used no medicine beyond thirtieth
dilution.' (Chapman in Bradford, p473; see also Dudgeon p407).

On balance this is probably a rather rash and misleading claim for
Chapman to have made. As Dudgeon candidly states, Hahnemann 'in the
last [ie. 5th] edition of the Organons s even he speaks approvingly of
the 60th, 150th and 300th dilutions.' And '... in the last years of
his life he allowed himself... the 60th, 150th and even 300th
dilutions (Dudgeon, 1853, p407-8).

It is possible to give a brief summary of the main points about
Hahnemann's use of potency, based upon an analysis of data drawn from
a wide range of major sources about Hahnemann's prescribing habits at
differ-ent periods in his life, such as Bradford, Haehl, Chronic
Diseases, The Lesser Writings, Dudgeon, Cook and Rima Handley. A
definite progression emerges. Firstly, we can see that although he
started to use similar medicines around 1790, Hahnemann did not
conduct the first experiments with dose reductionuntil the year 1798.

In 1830 he first mentions Olfaction as a means of drug administration
and this remained a very popular method with him until the end of his
life. Again, he was motivated entirely by gentleness combined with
effectiveness. The method involved (a la last para Organon; see also
Dudgeon, 1853, p505 & pp507-9) using small phials of granules,
containing 2.5 mls and a cork. Few people knew about olfaction -
inhaling deeply the remedy bottle.

The above sources provide us with more than ample data. But I would
also add Rima Handley's Homeopathic Love Story to see another side
both of the man and his later practice. Further detail about his
character and practice and the development of homeopathy is given in
Dudgeon (1853), which remains an altogether excellent, though badly
neglected source of information, much of it apparently unavailable
elsewhere. Unlike most other writers, Dudgeon adopts a surprisingly
modern approach and tries to place Hahnemann and homeopathy within a
wider historical context.

Although he started to use similar medicines around 1790, Hahnemann
did not conduct the first experiments with dose reduction until the
year 1798.

`We cannot fail to be struck by the sudden transition from the massive
doses he prescribed in 1798 to the unheard-of minuteness of his doses
only one year later, and we can but guess the causes for this abrupt
transition.' (Dudgeon, 1853, pp395-6)

A good example is the argument Hahnemann had with Schreter, Jenichen,
Korsakoff and Bonninghausen over their use of the higher centesimal
potencies (ref Morrell, see also Haehl, vol 1, p32; Bradford, 1895,
pp466-7; Dudgeon, 1853, p407-8). Hahnemann was opposed in principle to
the higher potencies even though he felt at liberty to make actual use
of them himself on several occasions, whenever the mood took him (ref
Handley). It appears from incidents of this kind that he rather
selfishly wanted to keep as his own every aspect of homeopathy as a
system, admitting no external influence from anyone, and jealously
dismissing any interesting contributions made by others. He was
violently opposed therefore in others to the very kind of freethinking
and experimentation which he freely indulged in himself --which is at
the very least unfair and bizarre.

Dudgeon's IndependenceDr Dudgeon should be especially commended
because he stands out as one never afraid to criticise Hahnemann
wherever he disagrees with what he sees as the excesses or
deficiencies of his system. For example, the ludicrous Coffee Theory
of chronic disease (On the Effects of Coffee from Original
Observations (Leipzig, 1803) and listed in his Lesser Writings,
pp391-410.), the Miasm theory and the higher potencies (ref) --all of
which he gives short shrift.

The point here is not whether Dudgeon was necessarily right or wrong
in these judgements, but that he shows such refreshing (and unique?)
independence of mind in attempting to present to his audience a
balanced and non-partisan e of mind in attempting to present to his
audience a balanced and non-partisan view of homeopathy. No other
writer within homeopathy, before or since, seems to have shown such
remarkable independence of thought. Instead, they all prefer to drool
and slaver unquestioningly over Hahnemann, all of his ideas and the
Greats, and to queue up slavishly, caps in hands, to heap their
praises and devotions upon their revered Master.

This is the very tendency which Hahnemann himself so detested and
fought against, just as Paracelsus had before him --burning the books
of Galen and Avicenna in an attempt to wake his students up to new
ideas. This drooling and sycophantic mentality is the cause of much
mythologising and nonsense within homeopathy down the years, and
clearly stands in the way of our making any clear and objective
assessment of the system as a whole. It is unnecessary in any case and
prevents the subject gaining the social and medical acceptance it
deserves.

People should remember that all the Greats of homeopathy were first
and foremost human beings like the rest of us, and we must strive to
see them in a broader sweep, warts and all, and resist this ludicrous
tendency to overelogize and mythologize big figures from the past or
the present. Debates and divisions are not resolved through clinging
to one position, but through open dialogue and experiment within an
atmosphere of mutual respect from both sides.

It is through considering the lives of such great homeopaths and
independent thinkers like Skinner, Burnett, Clarke and Dudgeon, that
we can see these truths more clearly.



Sources:
Barker, J Ellis, 1936, Miracles of Healing & How They Are Done, London
BHA, 1992, Book Accessions List (unpublished) compiled by P Morrell
Boenninghaussen, Lesser Writings, ed by Dudgeon
Bradford, 1895, Life & Letters of Hahnemann
Cook, Trevor, 1981, Samuel Hahnemann: the Founder of Homeopathy,
Thorsons
Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford
Dudgeon, 1853, Lectures On the Thoery & Practice of Homeopathy, London
Glasgow Homeopathic Library, 1992, Book Accessions Register, courtesy
M Gooch
Haehl, 1922, Samuel Hahnemann His Life & Work, 2 vols, Jain
Hahnemann, 1803, On Coffee in his Lesser Writings
Hahnemann, The Lesser Writings, Ed by Dudgeon
Hahnemann, 1826, Chronic Diseases
Hahnemann, 1810, OrganonLHahnemann,Materia Medica Pura
Handley, Rima, 1992, A Homeopathic Love Story, Materia Medica Pura
Handley, Rima, 1992, A Homeopathic Love Story,
Atlantic BooksLKent, 1900, Lectures on Homeopathic Philosophy
Infopedia 95, CDRom
Lambrughi, Serena, 1995, A Question of LM Prescribing, SH, London
Morrell, Peter, 1995, Schreter & Hahnemann on High Potencies, Student
Homeopath London
Morrell, Peter, 1995, On Potency, 1 2 3, Student Homeopath, London
Morrell, Peter, 1997, The Character of Hahnemann & The Nature of
Homeopathy

Homeopathe International
.

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