ItisevidentlyimpossiblethatIshouldattempt，withinthecompassofasinglelecture，anydetailedexaminationoftheverynumerouscasesreportedintheHomoeopathicTreatisesandJournals。HavingbeeninthehabitofreceivingtheFrench“ArchivesofHomoeopathicMedicine“untiltheprematuredeceaseofthatJournal，Ihavehadtheopportunityofbecomingacquaintedsomewhatwiththestyleofthesedocuments，andexperiencingwhateverdegreeofconvictiontheywerecalculatedtoproduce。AlthoughofcourseIdonotwishanyvaluetobeassumedformyopinion，suchasitis，Iconsiderthatyouareentitledtohearit。Sofar，then，asIamacquaintedwiththegeneralcharacterofthecasesreportedbytheHomoeopathicphysicians，theywouldforthemostpartbeconsideredaswhollyundeservingaplaceinanyEnglish，French，orAmericanperiodicalofhighstanding，if，insteadoffavoringthedoctrinetheywereintendedtosupport，theywerebroughtforwardtoprovetheefficacyofanycommonremedyadministeredbyanycommonpractitioner。Thereareoccasionalexceptionstothisremark；butthegeneraltruthofitisrenderedprobablebythefactthatthesecasesarealways，oralmostalways，writtenwiththesingleobjectofshowingtheefficacyofthemedicineused，ortheskillofthepractitioner，anditisrecognizedasageneralrulethatsuchcasesdeserveverylittleconfidence。Yettheymaysoundwellenough，oneatatime，tothosewhoarenotfullyawareofthefallaciesofmedicalevidence。Letmestateacaseinillustration。Nobodydoubtsthatsomepatientsrecoverundereveryformofpractice。Probablyallarewillingtoallowthatalargemajority，forinstance，ninetyinahundred，ofsuchcasesasaphysicianiscalledtoindailypractice，wouldrecover，soonerorlater，withmoreorlessdifficulty，providednothingweredonetointerfereseriouslywiththeeffortsofnature。
Suppose，then，aphysicianwhohasahundredpatientsprescribestoeachofthempillsmadeofsomeentirelyinertsubstance，asstarch，forinstance。Ninetyofthemgetwell，orifhechoosestousesuchlanguage，hecuresninetyofthem。Itisevident，accordingtothedoctrineofchances，thattheremustbeaconsiderablenumberofcoincidencesbetweenthereliefofthepatientandtheadministrationoftheremedy。Itisaltogetherprobablethattherewillhappentwoorthreeverystrikingcoincidencesoutofthewholeninetycases，inwhichitwouldseemevidentthatthemedicineproducedtherelief，thoughithad，asweassumed，nothingtodowithit。Nowsupposethatthephysicianpublishesthesecases，willtheynothaveaplausibleappearanceofprovingthatwhich，aswegrantedattheoutset，wasentirelyfalse？Supposethatinsteadofpillsofstarchheemploysmicroscopicsugarplums，withthefive’millionbilliontrillionthpartofasuspicionofaconiteorpulsatilla，andthenpublisheshissuccessfulcases，throughtheleadenlipsofthepress，orthelivingonesofhisfemaleacquaintances，——doesthatmaketheimpressionalesserroneousone？ButsoitisthatinHomoeopathicworksandjournalsandgossiponecannever，ornexttonever，findanythingbutsuccessfulcases，whichmightdoverywellasaproofofsuperiorskill，diditnotproveasmuchfortheswindlingadvertiserswhosecertificatesdisgracesomanyofournewspapers。
Howlongwillittakemankindtolearnthatwhiletheylistento“thespeakinghundredsandunits，whomaketheworldring“withthepretendedtriumphstheyhavewitnessed，the“dumbmillions“ofdeludedandinjuredvictimsarepayingthedailyforfeitoftheirmisplacedconfidence！
Iamsorrytosee，also，thatadegreeofignoranceastothenaturalcourseofdiseasesisoftenshowninthesepublishedcases，which，althoughitmaynotbedetectedbytheunprofessionalreader，conveysanunpleasantimpressiontothosewhoareacquaintedwiththesubject。ThusayoungwomanaffectedwithjaundiceismentionedintheGerman“AnnalsofClinicalHomoeopathy“ashavingbeencuredintwenty-ninedaysbypulsatillaandnuxvomica。Rummel，awell-knownwriterofthesameschool，speaksofcuringacaseofjaundiceinthirty-fourdaysbyHomoeopathicdosesofpulsatilla，aconite，andcinchona。Ihappenedtohaveacaseinmyownhousehold，afewweekssince，whichlastedabouttendays，andthiswaslongerthanIhaverepeatedlyseenitinhospitalpractice，sothatitwasnothingtoboastof。
Dr。MunnecheofLichtenburginSaxonyiscalledtoapatientwithsprainedanklewhohadbeenafortnightunderthecommontreatment。