The Natural Repertory of Prof. William Nelson

compound that is not a poison will follow Wilder’s Law of Initial Values.
This tells us that as a nonpoisonous compound is made more dilute we
might see an increase in its pharmacological activity of what the raw
dose of the formula does, we might see an inverse, or we might see no
effect whatsoever. An example of this would include most of the sarcodal
tissues including thyroid and adrenal. Here we will see that the effect of
these sarcodal tissues is stimulation or a hormonal effect. If we use raw
adrenaline, we will see that it has a stimulating effect on the body. If we
use a more and more dilute form of the adrenaline - 6x, 12x, etc., we will
often see a similar increase in the same type of stimulation capacity. We
rarely see reverses in the sarcodal formulas.
Many herbs also follow this potentiation cycle, such as Eyebright,
which if taken in raw doses makes the eyes bright; hence its name. It
was named Eyebright because herbalists found that it helped conditions
of the eye. As we make it more and more dilute we see that the
homeopathic use of Eyebright, even in dilute quantities of 16x, 30x, and
above, will help improve eyes and vision. If it were all reversal, we would
only use Eybright when a patient came in whose vision was too good. If a
patient said, “I see too well,” then homeopathic Eyebright would be used.
But this is not the case; homeopathic Eyebright is used to improve
vision. Many herbs have increased or equal health value in homeopathic
form. It is wrong to merely value compounds by their dosages, as in
synthetic pharmacology. Many Chinese herbs can have excellent effects
in low-potency homeopathic form.
As stated in the Law of Initial Values, some things will be reversal if
they tend towards poisons, and some things will be potentiating of their
original effects. Also, some items will have no effect at all as they are
made more and more dilute.
In the study of Chinese herbalism, we see a very profound description
of an excellent natural pharmacology. We can see that the Chinese have
studied the medicinal effects of herbs for thousands of years, and that
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