The Curious Case of Charles Darwin and Homeopathy

Peer-reviewed article fetched directly (PMC2816387) on 2026-08-02. Dating note, verified against the PubMed record for PMID 19875430 on 2026-08-03: the print issue (volume 7, issue 1) is dated March 2010, while 29 October 2009 is the online-publication date. This record's `year`, its slug, and the in-text (Ullman, 2009) citations all use the online-publication year; the citation string above states both so the two are never conflated. Describes Charles Darwin seeking treatment in 1849 from Dr James Manby Gully, a medical doctor who used water cure and homeopathic medicines, after 2-12 years of debilitating stomach symptoms; Darwin reported rapid improvement (no vomiting within a month, feeling substantially restored after 16 weeks) but remained personally skeptical of the homeopathic component while crediting the water cure. States that in 1849, the same year the Darwin family stayed three months at Gully's establishment, daughter Annie (then 8) contracted scarlet fever; there is no record Gully treated her at that time. When Annie became gravely ill again at age 10 in April 1851, Gully predicted his treatment would lead to her recovery, but she died under his care; the article states there is no record of what treatment she did or did not receive, and that the family was devastated.