The action of a dose, moreover, dose not diminish in the direct ratio of the quantity of material medicine contained in the dilutions used in homoeopathic practice. Eight drops of the tincture of a medicine to the dose do not produce four times as much effect on the human body as two drops, but only about twice the effect that is produced by two drops to the dose. In like manner, one drop of a mixture of a drop of the tincture with ten drops of some unmedicinal fluid, when taken, will not produce ten times more effect than one drop of mixture ten times more attenuated, but only about (scarcely) twice as strong an effect, and so on, in the same ratio - so that a drop of the lowest dilution must, and really does, display still a very considerable action.(1)
FN
(1) Supposing one drop of a mixture that contains 1/10 of a grain of medicine produces an effect = a; one drop of a more diluted mixture containing 1/100th of a grain of the medicine will only produce an effect = a/2; if it contain 1/10000th of a grain of medicine, about = a/4; if it contain 1/100000000th of a grain of medicine it will produce and effect = a/8; and thus it goes on, the volume of the doses being equal, with every (perhaps more than) quadratic diminution of the quantity of medicine, the action on the human body will be diminished each time to only about one-half. I have very often seen a drop of the decillion-fold dilution of tincture of nux vomica produce pretty nearly just half as much effect as a drop of the quintillion-fold dilution, under the same circumstances and in the same individual.
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SUMMARY
Effect of Homoeopathic Doses and Dilutions
1. Non-linear Action of Doses:- The effect of a dose in homoeopathic practice does not decrease in direct proportion to the amount of medicinal substance.
- For example, eight drops of a tincture does not produce four times the effect of two drops but rather only about twice the effect.
- The strength of the dose does not increase significantly with more concentrated mixtures.
- A more diluted mixture of a drop of tincture mixed with ten drops of unmedicinal fluid produces only twice the effect of a further diluted mixture, not ten times the effect.
- As the dilution increases, the effect diminishes in a quadratic ratio:
- 1/10 grain produces effect = a.
- 1/100 grain produces effect = a/2.
- 1/10,000 grain produces effect = a/4.
- 1/100,000,000 grain produces effect = a/8.
- Even a highly diluted tincture (e.g., decillion-fold dilution) can still produce about half the effect of a lower dilution (e.g., quintillion-fold).
