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From these considerations one might deduce tha t tin would be a useful remedy in any condition of excessive hardening or its opposite, and this is in fact borne out in practice.

I t can be used, for example, in the t reatment of the liver itself. Where there is softening of the liver as in hepatitis or toxic states on the one hand or at the other extreme as it were, cases of cirrhosis with or without ascites.

In the lung it is an excellent remedy for pneumonia which one could well regard as a dissolving process. I t can also be of use in the t reatment of fibrotic forms of tuberculosis or in emphysema.

In the nervous system it has been successfully used in the t reatment of cases of hydrocephaly and microcephaly, again demonstrating its power to consolidate or to dissolve.

Most important of all perhaps is its use in the diseases of the articular cartilage. I t can be employed in the t rea tment of both osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis, especially when there are effusions into the joints.

In depression it exerts its dissolving action at the level of the psyche, enabling the patient to dissolve his fixed thoughts and to think constructively, and at the same time revitalizes the liver function.

Tin is most often given as the metal. In cases where the dissolving activities are too dominant one would tend to use low potencies and where the hardening activity dominates the higher potencies. I f the organism is too weak to respond to the medicine given by mouth it can often be more successful by injection in potency. Where one wishes to focus its action on the liver the plant-potentized form Stannum per Taraxacum can be used.

To summarize---I have tried to show through this s tudy of depression tha t the liver function, being a specialized focus of metabolic activity which is common to all cells and tissues can affect the psyche by its malfunction and tha t by understanding these interrelationships we can use homceopathic medicines in a truly psychosomatic manner.

Research abstract Inquiry into the Limits of Biological Effects of Chemical Compounds in Tissue Culture, I : Low Dose Effects of Mercuric Chloride. Van Mansvelt, J . D., and Amons, F.: Zeitschrifl Naturforschung 30c, 1975, 643- 649.

The authors of this paper from the Depar tment of Anatomy and Embryology at the University of Amsterdam have made a detailed investigation of the effects of mercuric chloride, at dilutions as low as 0 .9 • 10-25M, on the prolifera- tion of a mouse lymphoblastic cell strain. Growth inhibition was detected down to a level of 0-9 • 10-17M.

The mercuric chloride solution was prepared by first making a l0 per cent.

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(weight/volume) solution of the substance; 100 ml of this solution was hand- shaken in a 200 ml flask for 4 min. Five ml were then removed and added to 45 ml of water in a second 200-ml flask, to give a 10-2M dilution. Successive 1:10 dilutions were made in exactly the same way; each pipette was used only once and each flask was chosen at random. After each dilution the flask was shaken in the same way as on the first occasion. Glassware was cleaned and sterilized as for tissue culture, and the water used was double-distilled and filtered through millipore filters.

To the dilutions so produced was added a tissue culture medium, and the resultant mixture was used in the incubation experiments. One ml of cell suspension, containing 2000 cells per ml, was placed in each test tube and to this was added 1 ml of mercuric chloride dilution. The tubes were then incubated for 90 hours at 36.5 ~ after which the cells were counted with a Model F Coulter Counter. Three statistical tests were used in evaluating the results, and a probabili ty level of 0-05 was taken as the limit for accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis. [For further details of the techniques and statistical methods used the original should be consulted.]

Detailed statistical analysis of the results showed tha t mercuric chloride in concentrations of 0-9 • 10 -5 and 0-9 • 10-~ was definitely toxic, as expected. However, toxicity was also found at 0-9 • 10 -16 and 10-17M.

Discussing these results, the authors point out tha t prolonged dilution of any substance would be expected ult imately to yield a fiat dose-effect curve. The present study, however, shows tha t this is not necessarily the case. External factors such as variations in barometric pressure, solar radiation, electro- magnetic wave patterns, and seasonal influences, as well as endogenous fluctua- tions in cell growth and mean cell volume can all, in the authors ' opinion, be excluded.

The authors do not advance any hypothesis to explaLu their findings, although they refer in passing to the suggestion of G. Unger tha t modifications in the structure of water might allow information to be passed from one dilution to the next. They conclude tha t their results are a "substantial indication towards some as yet unconceived phenomena [which] needs further study".

The paper includes a useful brief review of the literature on the effects of high dilutions of various substances on cell cultures. The authors point out that preconceived ideas about the physiological effects of such very high dilutions may lead to such effects, when observed, being dismissed as experimental errors of no consequence, or to unwarranted extrapolations from too few determined poiDts.

[This is an important paper, whose relevance to Homceopathy hardly needs emphasis. I t should be particularly noted tha t the authors ' technique of making the serial dilutions in effect involved potentization.]

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