Silicea terra 200cH evaluated by two different spectroscopy methods: a pilot study

Abstract

Abstract
 Spectroscopy has been shown to be a useful method to study the physicochemical properties of homeopathic preparations. In this pilot study, the aim was to compare two methods (photon scattering and visible-light spectroscopy) in the physical evaluation of Silicea terra 200cH. Two samples have been examined and compared: Silicea terra 200cH and Sac lac 200cH, both prepared in aqueous solution (Cemon Lab, Italy). Lactose was included because the first 3 potencies of Silicea terra are made by trituration in lactose. In the first test, performed in Italy, slight variations in chrominance and luminance due to micro-vibrational 3D phenomena were analyzed. The principle of the experimental procedure is to modify and analyse the incidence and refraction angles of the light hitting the bottles of liquid under examination. Measurements were made using an innovative camera device developed by Daniele Gullà, called MIRA/CORA (proprietary name). The image sensor is a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD)/ Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) with interferential matrix filter. A red laser beam, at wavelength 652 nm, hits the bottle and the variations of scattered light are recorded and measured by the device. All measurements have been performed in a dark room at a constant temperature of 22°C +/- 0,2°C using a filter with very narrow spectral bands (10 nm). Proprietary software analyses the incoming frames showing the spectral variations in amplitude and frequency and then interpolates variation in the measured data within a vibrational range between 0.01 Hz and 10 Hz. The measurements have been repeated three times on both Silicea terra 200cH and Sac lac 200cH within a few minutes of each other. 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 terra 200cH sample was statistically lower than the 200cH Sac lac sample. In the second test, performed in Brazil, variations in absorbance were used to identify Silicea terra 200cH compared with Sac lac 200cH and a 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, diluted 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 in a 1:60 ratio, and evaluated by visible spectroscopy (FEMTO Spectrophotometer, Brazil). Dyes were prepared in ethanol P.A., according to previous established methods [3]. Samples and dyes were protected from light during the manipulation and environmental conditions of the laboratory (temperature, humidity, and magnetic flux) were monitored during the tests. Three series in triplicate were performed and the results were analyzed by ANOVA / Tukey, comparing both samples and the unsuccussed 30% hydroalcoholic control solution. Among all tested dyes, only BDN showed an interaction with Silicea terra 200cH, reproducing the conclusions obtained in [3]. We conclude that two different spectroscopic methods were able to differentiate Silicea terra 200cH from Sac lac 200cH, suggesting that changes in solvent organization could be involved in the homeopathic signaling process, along with changes in dipole moments of solvent and dyes. The results are potentially in line with a recent published paper [4], that supports the proposition that the lower entropy of the verum signal compared with controls could be explained by increased coherent vibrations of the verum sample, modulated by Nambu-Goldstone bosons. According to Del Giudice and colleagues [5], coherent behaviors are correlated with massless quasi-particles, coding ordering information.