Löhner G, on behalf of a Society of truth-loving men (1835)

Die Homoöopathischen Kochsalzversuche zu Nürnberg [The homeopathic salt trials in Nurnberg]. Nürnberg in März.
In 1835, a Society of Truth-Loving Men in Nuremberg conducted a randomized, blinded trial to assess whether homeopathic provings could be distinguished from snow water.

Title page(s)

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Key passage(s)

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Translation

“Each person entering is requested to register with name and profession in the protocol on the table and in so doing to note whether he wishes to attend the experiment merely as a witness or wishes to conduct it on himself.

As soon as 50 individuals have assembled, preparatory work for the trials will commence.

The vials will be washed with distilled snow-water before the eyes of those present.

In order to make the potentiation, 30 vials will be placed on the middle table, one after the other.

100 drops of distilled snow water are placed in a vial; the contents weighed precisely and following this the remaining vials are filled with the same weights of distilled snow water.

One grain of purified salt is weighed, the remaining contents of the vial in which the salt is contained are sealed and handed over to the committee.

Potentiation is done entirely in the manner that Dr. Reuter indicates on p. 11 of his writing against Dr. Wahrhold.”

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Translation

“100 vials, 50 for filling with the potentiation, 50 for filling with pure distilled snow water, are labelled consecutively by Dr. Løhner with the numbers 1 – 100, then mixed well among each other and placed, 50 per table, on two tables.

Those on the table at the right are filled with the potentiation, those on the table at the left are filled with pure distilled snow water.

Dr. Løhner enters the number of each bottle, indicating its contents, in a list, seals the latter and hands it over to the committee, the members of which also affix their seals thereto.

The filled bottles are then brought to the large table in the middle, are once more mixed among each other and thereupon submitted to the committee for the purpose of distribution.

A committee member enters the name of each recipient, including the number assigned to the vial that has been given to the recipient, in a second list.

This list is also submitted to the committee under a seal and is provided with the seals of the members of said committee.”

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Translation

“All those present are thereupon invited to either reappear personally on Thursday, 12th March of this year in the rooms of the Red Rooster Inn and state their observations in evidence or to deposit such observations in writing and sealed with the editor’s office of the “Allgemeine Zeitung v. u. f. Bayern” by the stipulated date.

As soon as all depositions are recorded, the committee will proceed to open the lists which have been handed over to it, in order to compare the effect with the cause.”

Translation by Ulrich Tröhler