Stuart M. Close

(1860 - 1929)

 

 

"Homoeopathy is both an Art and a Science. The successful homoeopathician must be both an artist and a scientist."

"His work must be both artistic and scientific. Theory and practice must go hand in hand. Technique must be governed by definite principles. Performance must be consistent with profession."
-Stuart Close, MD

Dr. Close was born November 24, 1860 and came to study homeopathy after the death of his father in 1879. His mother remarried a homoeopathic physician who turned Close's interests from law to medicine.

His stepfather helped him study the Organon and he attended medical school in California for two years. Finishing his studies at New York Homeopathic College he graduated in 1885. Completing his homeopathic education. Close preceptored with B. Fincke and P. P. Wells.

Setting up practice in Brooklyn, Dr. Close went on to found the Brooklyn Homoeopathic Union in 1897. This group devoted itself to the study of pure Hahnemannian homeopathy.

In 1905 Dr. Close was elected president of the International Hahnemannian Association. He was also the editor of the Department of Homeopathic Philosophy for the Homeopathic Recorder. Dr. Close taught homeopathic philosophy at New York Homeopathic Medical College from 1909-1913.

Dr. Close's lectures at New York Homeopathic were first published in the Homeopathic Recorder and later formed the basis for his masterpiece on homeopathic philosophy, The Genius of Homeopathy.

The homeopathic library of Dr. Close was reputed to be the one of the best in the country. He was an accomplished musician as well as an avid genealogist.

Another excerpt from The Genius of Homeopathy:

"Under homoeopathic principles any potency may be required in any case. It is as unreasonable to expect to cure all cases with any two or three potencies, as it is to expect to cure all cases with any two or three remedies. In either case, those who follow such a course are governed more by the love of ease and their prejudices than they are by their desire for efficiency."

"The selection of the dose is as much an integral part of the process of making a homoeopathic prescription as the selection of the remedy, and often quite as important. A well-selected remedy may fail utterly, or even do injury, because of wrong dosage. Dose as well as remedy must be adjusted to the patient's need."

In this next passage from The Genius of Homeopathy, Dr. Close eloquently describes Hahnemann's concept of totality:

"Hahnemann calls the totality, 'this image' (or picture). The word used is significant and suggestive. A picture is a work of art, which appeals to our aesthetic sense as well as to our intellect. Its elements are form, color, light, shade, tone, harmony, and perspective."

"As a composition it expresses an idea, it may be of sentiment or fact; but it does this by the harmonious combination of its elements into a whole-a totality. In a well-balanced picture each element is given its full value and its right relation to all the other elements. The elements, which go to make up the totality, must be definitely and logically related."

"The Totality means the sum of the aggregate of the symptoms: Not merely the numerical aggregate-the entire number of the symptoms -but their sum total, their organic whole as an individuality. The totality must express an idea. It is the numerical aggregate plus the idea or plan which unites them in a special manner to give them its characteristic form."

Dr. Close passed away on June 26, 1929 after a full and productive career in homeopathy.