It is rare for a publication to be backed by so much enthusiasm and excitement from its very inception. What is it that makes Homeopathy Online different? The obvious answer is the medium through which it appears. The WWW gives us unique powers and capabilities:

1. Homeopathy Online is free, does not rely on advertising to sustain itself, and has required no startup funds. This is only possible in the twilight reality of "cyberspace."

2. An important part of our mission is to explore and expand the opportunities of the WWW and, moreover, to employ those opportunities in the exchange of homeopathic information. Buzz words here are "links," "interaction," and "globality." With the aid of "links," we have at our disposal the vast information network called Internet, accessible to millions of people worldwide. Information can be retrieved with the click of the mouse, be it sound, graphics, text, or video. And all of this is available to everybody on the Internet, regardless of geographic location. Homeopathy Online endeavors to use these new tools for the benefit of the homeopathic community.

3. A major objective of Homeopathy Online is to facilitate the growth of a global homeopathic community. To this end, we will be publishing a series of articles focusing on efforts in various countries to support the unencumbered practice and spread of homeopathy. We hope that this exchange of ideas and techniques will help us to overcome whatever obstacles may exist to the practice of homeopathy in our home countries.

Homeopathy Online strives to achieve these goals by publishing a broad range of high quality articles. Forthcoming issues will each have a guest editor who will propose the topical focus and direct the content. A quick glance at the Table of Contents should provide an idea of the diversity of the information that will be presented within these pages.

The March/April 1996 issue features the remedy Carcinosin. The Cover Story for this first issue is unique in several ways. It is a two-part article, authored by the patient, K.J., and David Kramer, his homeopath. Patient K.J. shares with us his firsthand account of constitutional treatment. Many among our readers have suffered through all sorts of conventional medical therapies and may draw some hope from K.J.'s story. Another side of the Carcinosin picture is then offered in practitioner David Kramer's analysis of K.J.'s case.

Under Materia Medica you can find Don Webley's wonderfully rich account of Carcinosin. He shares his experience and impressions of this remedy as he has encountered it in his practice dating from the 1970s.

This triad of articles on the remedy Carcinosin should prepare you well to try yourself on the Homeopathy Online Quiz.

Also in this issue, Columnist Michael Tomlinson contributes from "down under" an elaboration on " . . . the rather vexed question of what we all as homeopaths have in common." You will find it in The Crocodile's Opinion. Tam Llewellyn-Edwards speaks up on the Community Voice page about the controversial topic of combination remedies. Bob Fordham, Homeopathy Online's Education columnist, presents an exciting idea and seeks your participation in its realization. Fordham's proposal provides for the selective publication of students' work within these pages and the concurrent examination of standards employed in homeopathic education. On the Repertory page, we have published a nice piece of differential materia medica which illustrates how the repertory may be a tool in remedy study.

The best way to learn is, of course, a live case in a study group environment. You can participate in the cyberspace equivalent to that in our Interactive Case Analysis department, moderated by Ian Townsend. Future cases for study may also include photographs and even video.

In Projects & Ideas we keep a running list of interesting projects and ideas in the hope that you may wish to develop them or to participate in those already ongoing. You are, of course, invited to send us your additions to this list. Just write to the editor.

On the Exchange we invite classified advertisements and announcements from the homeopathic community. Read those of others or write your own. Homeopathy Online also accepts commercial advertisements - please contact the editor for details.

This issue is a "first" in many ways. Please give us your feedback by filling out the Readership Survey & Feedback form. Alternatively, your open letters to the editor and/or the homeopathic community are welcomed on the Letters From Our Readers page. Your encouragement, critique, and suggestions are the only way for us to gauge our progress in making Homeopathy Online a valuable resource for the worldwide homeopathic community.

Let me therefore, on behalf of our staff and contributors, invite you into the pages of Homeopathy Online.