but hans is talking, i believe, about the
ratio of original substance to end-volume of diluent (water, alcohol). sooo, the amount of water
used to prepare a 6C may only be 594ml, but the
ratio of MT to water is still - as hans correctly stated - on the order of 1 drop in 4 Olympic class swimming-pools, or, a ratio of 1:1000000000000.
Exactly
but hans also states that "Perhaps this explains why skeptics are saying that there is no active substance in remedies." i am confused by this statement, hans, because
everybody (i.e., including homeopaths, that is, not
just skeptics) agrees that there is no active (molecular) substance in homeopathic remedies, at least past 12C.
Ideally you are right. However, we have just been in touch with a contingent of Pakistani homeopaths, apparantly led by a Dr. MAS, who seemed to put a lot of emphasis in molecular content (just read "Forget about Avogadro's law" here).
And, of course, seen from the skeptical POV, these dilution ratios remain absurd as long as no mechanism for transferring an effect can be even suggested.
Finally, it opens the question of why homeopaths keep diluting past some 12C, since logically it should do to just give the stuff the appropriate number of succussions?
hans, aren't we in agreement on this point?
Yes, WE are in agreement that any effect of high potency remedies does NOT rest on molecular content.
the method of preparation, further, does not alter the final ratios: preparing a 13C through 13 stages of serial dilution results in a final ratio of 1:100000000000000000000000000, but one gets the same ratio by taking one drop of MT and dropping it in a vat the size of 4 olympic class swimming-pools. but there are a number of interesting differences between the "final solutions" (hmmm, what an ironic turn of phrase
):
1. in the 13C, one has used only 1287 ml of water, compared to ... well, however many ml of water there are in 4 olympic class swimming pools.
100000000000000000000000000, obviously 
.
2. in the swimming pool, many molecules of the MT most definitely still exist.
In fact, all of them exist. However, if you take a vial out of them, the probability that you get one of them in the vial is less that 1.
*snip* my point in this frothy little paragraph, is that one can not compare the final product only on the basis of ratio ....
That is true, provided you can show that something beside mere mixing happens.
*snip*the well known fact that homeopathic remedies are diluted to a point exceeding avogadro's limit. if someone doesn't know what that means, they need to look it up, but waxing eloquent about swimming pools and galaxies really adds nothing to the discussion.
Actually, I had hoped we were past this point, too, but it seems some missed out 
.
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Hans