Hahnemann claimed that undiluted doses caused reactions, sometimes dangerous ones, and thus that preparations be given at the lowest possible dose.A solution that is more dilute is described as having a higher "potency", and thus are claimed to be stronger and deeper-acting. The general method of dilution is where solvent is added to part of the previous mixture, but the "Korsakovian" method may also be used. In the Korsakovian method, the vessel in which the preparations are manufactured is emptied, refilled with solvent, with the volume of fluid adhering to the walls of the vessel deemed sufficient for the new batch.The Korsakovian method is sometimes referred to as K on the label of a homeopathic preparation.Another method is Fluxion, which dilutes the substance by continuously passing water through the vial.Insoluble solids, such as granite, diamond, and platinum, are diluted by grinding them with lactose ("trituration")
Three main logarithmic dilution scales are in regular use in homeopathy. Hahnemann created the "centesimal" or "C scale", diluting a substance by a factor of 100 at each stage. There is also a decimal dilution scale (notated as "X" or "D") in which the preparation is diluted by a factor of 10 at each stage.The centesimal scale was favoured by Hahnemann for most of his life, although in his last ten years Hahnemann developed a quintamillesimal (Q) scale which diluted the drug 1 part in 50,000.A 2C dilution works out to one part of the original substance in 10,000 parts of the solution. In standard chemistry, this produces a substance with a concentration of 0.01% (volume-volume percentage). A 6C dilution ends up with the original substance diluted by a factor of 100−6 (one part in one trillion). The end product is usually so diluted as to be indistinguishable from the diluent (pure water, sugar or alcohol). The greatest dilution reasonably likely to contain at least one molecule of the original substance is approximately 12C.
Hahnemann advocated dilutions of 1 part to 1060 or 30C.Hahnemann regularly used dilutions of up to 30C but opined that "there must be a limit to the matter". To counter the reduced potency at high dilutions he formed the view that vigorous shaking by striking on an elastic surface – a process termed succussion – was necessary.j.Homeopaths are unable to agree on the number and force of strikes needed, and there is no way that the claimed results of succussion can be tested.
Critics of homeopathy commonly emphasize the dilutions involved in homeopathy, using analogies. One mathematically correct example is that a 12C solution is equivalent to "a pinch of salt in both the North and South Atlantic Oceans"One-third of a drop of some original substance diluted into all the water on Earth would produce a preparation with a concentration of about 13C.Robert L. Park points out that a 200C dilution of duck liver, marketed under the name Oscillococcinum, would require 10320 universes worth of molecules to contain jusone original molecule in the final substance.The high dilutions characteristically used are often considered to be the most controversial and implausible aspect of homeopathy.
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