Dissolution of Societies
Whether true system or grand delusion, homeopathy had grown in influence in Boston through the course of the 19th century, particularly in the years after the Civil War, and its history is in many ways the very medical history of the city. Homeopathic practitioners troubled the orthodox medical establishment, causing it to change or reevaluate its accepted practices. Nevertheless, with the rise of scientific medicine in the 20th century, homeopathy began to be left behind. By 1922, the country had just two homeopathic medical schools and would soon have none at all. Although an American Foundation for Homeopathy was then organized to promote postgraduate study in the subject, this could not take the place of formal and recognized medical education, and the movement could not continue to replenish itself with new practitioners. The Massachusetts Homeopathic Medical Society continued to meet until 1964; its surviving members then voted to disband, transferring the society's assets to Boston University and its books to the Massachusetts Medical Society. The International Hahnemannian Association persisted until 1957, when the surviving members reunited with the American Institute of Homeopathy.