Photograph, homeopathic pill bottles- These three tiny bottles contain examples of homeopathic “pills.” Each pill consists largely of lactose, coated with a dilute homeopathic substance derived from animal, plant, mineral, or other sources. According to homeopathic lore, the “power” of homeopathic remedies supposedly increase with each successive dilution, even though scientific scrutiny repeatedly shows the effects of homeopathy to be indistinguishable from those of placebo.