ABSTRACT
Spectroscopy has been shown to bea useful method to study the physicochemical properties of homeopathic preparations. Aim: In this pilot study, we comparedtwo methods (photon scattering and visible-light spectroscopy) in the physicalevaluation of Silicea terra200cH. Methodology: Italian test: Two sampleshave been examinedand compared: Silicea terra200cH and Sac lac200cH, both preparedin water solution, diluted and succussed according to German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia(Cemon Lab, Italy).Lactose was includedbecause the first 3 potencies of Silicea terraaremadeby trituration in lactosepowder.Measurements were made using an innovative Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) camera developedby Daniele Gullà, called MIRA/CORA(proprietary name). Slight variations in chrominance and luminance due to micro-vibrational 3D phenomenawere analyzed.Allmeasurements have been performed in a dark room at a constant temperature of 22°C +/-0,2°C usingafilter with very narrow spectral bands (10 nm).The measurements have been repeated three times on both Silicea terra200cH and Sac lac200cHwithin a few minutes aftereach other.Brazilian test: In the second test, performed in Brazil, variations in absorbance were used to identify Silicea terra200cH compared with Sac lac200cH andcompared withanother control solution of non-succussed 30% alcohol, using six solvatochromic dyes, following the method developed by Cartwright [1,2]. Both homeopathic samples were imported from Italy(the same sample bottles used in the Italian test),in Brazil they have beendiluted 1:100 in 30% hydro-alcoholic solution, and submitted to 100 succussions using an automatic mechanical arm (Denise, AUTIC, Brazil) prior to being tested. Samples were inserted into dyes solutions and evaluated by visible spectroscopy (FEMTO Spectrophotometer, Brazil). Dyes were prepared in ethanol P.A., according to previous established methods [3]. Three series in triplicate were performed and the results were analyzed by ANOVA / Tukey, comparing both samples and the unsuccussed 30% hydroalcoholic control solution.Results: Italian test: Measurements of the mean entropy of the signals, statistically elaborated with T Student test,yielded a two tailed p value < 0.05, where the entropy of the signal recorded from the Silicea terra200cHsample was statistically lower than the 200cH Sac lacsample.Brazilian test: Among all tested dyes, only BDN(4-(Bis-(4-(dimethylamino)-phenyl)methylene)-1(4H)-naphthalenone) showed aninteraction with Silicea terra200cH, reproducing the conclusions obtained in [3].Conclusions: Two different spectroscopic methods were able to show signal differences betweenSilicea terra200cH andSac lac200cH, suggesting that changes in solvent organization could be involved in the homeopathic signaling process, along withchanges in dipole moments of solvent and dyes. The results are potentially in line witha recent publishedpaper [4], that supportsthe propositionthatthe lower entropy of the verum signal compared with controls could beexplained by increased coherent vibrations of the verum sample, as theoretically explained in previous literature [5].