Wrecha – Pioneers of homeopathy by T. L. Bradford

Pioneers
of homeopathy

by Dr Thomas
Lindsey Bradford

Presented by Dr Robert Séror

Wrecha

Photo not available

Dr. WRECHA.

Was practicing Homoeopathy in

Vienna
in 1824. He was a pupil of Prof. Hildenbrand, under whom he for a long time studied syphilis,
uniting the course in medicine with the specialty of surgery, which gave
him a well merited reputation.

A lecture on the ” Organon,” which by chance fell into his
hands in 1824, changed the direction of his
labors. The first edition of the ” Materia Medica Pura ” had been exhausted and the second had not yet
appeared, and he copied the same from a copy that he borrowed.

His first attempt to test practically the practice of Homoeopathy was
in a case of strangulated hernia to which all the principal surgeons in Vienna were called in consultation. It was an inguinal
hernia that had existed for twelve years in a man of sixty years.

Some days before, after an exertion, this hernia had become
strangulated. There was vomiting of faecal matters and inflammatory
distension of the abdomen. The great feebleness of the patient and the
diagnosis foretold adherence of the intestinal sac to its envelopes, and
forbade an operation.

The case was declared desperate. It was lawful for Wrecha to employ the method which he was studying at
the time, and his conferees made little opposition. Following the
indications of the “Materia Medica,” he gave a drop of a high
dilution of Nux
vomica. Following the remedy the abdominal
pains became more sharp but less in duration ; soon the tumor partly
disappeared leaving a nucleus of fibrinous consistency.

Before he practiced Homoeopathy Wrecha
had acted as surgeon to the poorer classes of the inner city. For this,
which was both medical and surgical, he adopted in the public service the
new method, to the detriment of the druggists, who took their complaints
to the authorities of the dispensary.

Happily our colleague had control of the officers of the laity to whom
the question of cost was of great importance. It was seen that while the
allopathic pharmacy treatment amounted in the year to many thousands of
florins of silver, the expense under homoeopathic treatment was very
slight, while the record of cures was satisfactory.

The directors were satisfied of the advantage of guarding Dr. Wrecha and his methods. Wrecha for a long time was
chief physician to the Dispensary General in Vienna. He was especially
interested in surgery and sought to extend the sphere of action of
Homoeopathy to a number of organic alterations thought to be incurable by
internal medicine and given over to the operator. He was often able to
succeed, but where he could not he operated.

Wrecha

made for his
medical convictions great sacrifices for, which he is to be honored. He
adopted with zeal a method which was at that time in Vienna without partisans and an object of scorn. He
lost two thirds of his good clientage and the friendship of the
Proto-medicus Stifft, who had many honors in his gift.

His practice proved the importance of the physician dispensing his own
remedies. To conform to the established law he prescribed as of old, and
sent to a pharmacist of his acquaintance, who was a very conscientious man
and who prepared his prescription in a place set apart.

This pharmacist was called into the army, and with his successor’s
preparation the homoeopathic remedies lost their effect.

Wrecha lost a great army of his new clients and was
obliged to himself attend to the preparation of his remedies
notwithstanding the danger of prosecution.

Wrecha

was an exact Hahnemannian and a declared partisan of the high
dilutions. His name appears in the Zeitung
list of 1832.

(World’s Conv., vol. 2, p. 204.

Rapou, vol. 1, p. 242, etc.

Kleinert, 165.)

Numérisation,
vérification, mise en page,