Text.BP190.A1r
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Source: Paracelsus, Centum quindecim curationes experimentaque, ed. Bernard Gilles Penot, Lyon: Jean Lertout, 1582, sig. A1r–B4v = pag. 1–24 [BP190]
Summary: The document passionately advocates for the recognition and integration of Paracelsian or spagyric medicine, contrasting it with the traditional Galenic approach that dominates the medical establishment. The author, a fervent supporter of Paracelsus, embarks on a detailed defense of the innovative chemical methods introduced by Paracelsus, arguing that these approaches are more effective in treating diseases than the classical methods rooted in the works of Galen. The text criticizes the medical community's resistance to these new methods, attributing this resistance to a combination of ignorance, conservatism, and professional jealousy.
Highlighting personal endeavors, the author recounts extensive travels across Europe and the Middle East in search of deeper knowledge about the philosopher's stone and the practical applications of chemical substances in medicine. Despite encountering numerous impostors and facing disillusionment with the prevailing state of natural sciences in these regions, the author's commitment to advancing spagyric medicine is reinforced rather than diminished. These journeys lead to encounters with learned individuals who provide valuable insights into both the philosophical underpinnings and the practical aspects of alchemy and medicine, further enriching the author's understanding and resolve.
The text underscores the critical importance of hands-on experience and personal experimentation in the medical field, criticizing those who rely solely on ancient texts and theoretical knowledge without engaging in practical work. The author announces plans to publish works aimed at demystifying the secrets of spagyric medicine, including treatises on the philosopher's stone, the virtues of oils, and the properties of salts derived from both vegetables and minerals. These forthcoming publications promise to elucidate the complex symbols and languages employed by both ancient and contemporary alchemists, making the art more accessible and practical for students of the discipline.
The author also addresses the rampant fraud and deception within the field of alchemy, where many falsely claim expertise, leading to the exploitation of both the nobility and the general public. The text advocates for the regulation and punishment of such charlatans to safeguard the integrity of the art and its genuine practitioners.
In conclusion, the document is a vehement call to the medical community to embrace innovation and practical experimentation, to acknowledge the contributions of Paracelsus and his disciples, and to work towards a more effective and enlightened medical practice. The author expresses a steadfast commitment to continue advocating for Paracelsian medicine, despite facing opposition from traditionalists, and calls on like-minded individuals to defend the truth and advance the field. (generated by ChatGPT)
Text
In librum experimentorum Paracelsicorum, Præfatio Apologetica: in qua probatur, ægrorum corpora, seminibus morborum referta, sine metallicis medicamentis vix sanari posse, contra quorundam virorum scripta, negantium metalla quoquo modo parentur, humanæ naturæ prodesse.
In divinis literis (humane lector) hanc inter cæteras legem plenam amoris Christiani inuenimus. Errantem asinum aut bouem proximi tui, domino suo restitues. Quo æternus Deus mutuam dilectionem inter nos stabilire, & luculentissimo confirmare argumento voluit. Sic enim aduersariorum nostrorum errantes pecudes curare diuinæ leges mandant. Quantò magis amicorum nostrorum miserabiles casus & pericula corporis & sanitatis arcere & auertere volunt, quapropter cùm ego plurimorum medicorum nostri [p. 2] temporis errores cum Theophrasto Paracelso aliísque præstantibus viris intelligerem, cogitare cœpi qua ratione ego veræ medicinæ, quæ ex lumine naturæ deducitur, & non ex tenebris ethnicorum scriptis, possim fieri particeps. Duxi igitur peregrinandum esse, locáque remota accedenda, & inquirendas artes vndique: non domi per otium sperandas & expectandas. Accinxi igitur me itineri, & peregrinationibus, laboribúsque, inuestigaui, & didici ea quæ ex amore Christiano diuitius subticere nequeo: quo errantes filios doctrinæ in viam reuocem, explicato meo itinere & laboribus, excusatis & defensis illis, qui hodie omnium odio obiiciuntur ab Ethnicæ medicinæ admiratoribus, quorum etiam fraudes aliqua ex parte detegere conabor, vbi indicabo quid in posterum à me genuinæ medicinæ studiosi expectare debeant. Quosque libros verè medicos vndiquáque à me collectos, ex misericordia erga errantes publicæ communicaturus sim vtilitati. Interea res requirit vt odium vulgi, à me aliísque spagyricæ scientiæ amatoribus declinem, aduersariísque debitè respondeam. Quorum ea est peruersitas & malitia, vt aliorum inuenta quibus cum aliquo suc- [p. 3] cessu atque emolumento vti se posse animaduertunt, tumidis verbis annichilent, reiiciant & damnent. Ipsi vero interim, debitas autorum laudes sibi ipsis vendicent, mendacíque furto, inuentores artium, suis spolient honoribusm gastuta hæc est cautio ex antiqui serpentis profluens fraudibus. Quando enim audiuntur passim testimonia (lippis & tonsoribus nota) de quibusdam insuetis grauissimorum morborum curis, quæ beneficio tincturarum & spirituum vegetabilium, & mineralium perficiuntur arte & industria illorum, quos vulgus hodie Chimistas vel Alchmistias appellitat, mox illi ex aduerso se opponunt, clamantes nihil posse præstare carbonarios medicos. Sed suis venenatis remediis omnes interficere qui se ipsorum curis committunt: arcendos esse ex rebuspub[licis] deceptores esse: extractiones illorum, præparationes, spiritus denique nimis attenuatos, & subtiles, nihil prodesse: spiritum vitrioli venenum esse, nihil essentiam antimonij & mercurii, nihil sulphuris extractionem, nihil auri liquorem, & in summa omnia esse humanæ naturæ contraria, & plusquam basilisci oculos fugienda, interim clanculum tanquam insidiosi & ingeniosi fures amisceris chymi- [p. 4] stis, qui nocte diéque ignis vim ingenti labore sustinent, arcana medica expiscantur, & pollicitationibus eliciunt, clam captantes ea quæ vulgò tanquam venena prohibent, vt deinde pro suis venditent. Et tam impia iniuria gratiam & fauorem, laudem, præmia & remunerationes hominum in se deriuant: quæ omnia, aliàs, legitimo & optimo iure illis debentur, qui labores sudore, vigiliis, solerti indagatione, arte vulcani in rebus naturalibus talia inquirunt, & publico vsui communia faciunt. Neque hoc solùm verùm ingentia volumina, nugis, mendaciis, & sophismatibus referta in publicum edunt. Conantes lucem tenebris & veritatem mendaciis & luculentissimam operatricem practicam, ipsa veritate stabilitam, inani ementita, atque ex subtili cerebro deducta theorica opprimere, euertere, delere. Dico tibi, splendide Rhetor, qui Paracelsum laceras, quomodo vnquam poteris verbis nugatoriis ipsum opus delere, & practicam theorica refellere? Esne tam magnus doctor, & nescis te tantùm profecisse quantùm ipso opere efficis? Docet Paracelsus epilepsiam curandam esse spiritu vitriolo, & præstitit, & opus ipsum indicat quotidie: proba tu contrarium, ean- [p. 5] démque curato pillulis, sirupis, & electuariis, ita vinces. Non satis est, adductis illis rationibus, probare medicinam metallicam non conuenire humanæ naturæ. Nec posse metalla, ita præparari vt sanent. Negas id, quod re ipsa præstatur, & oculis cernitur? Turpe est ignorare, quod omnibus scire contingit. Absque dubio audiuistis morbos periculosos curatos fuisse tincturis metallicis, illegitimè etiam præparatis, ab adulterinis Theophrasteis, vt vitro antimonij, quod radicitus ipsas impuritates febriles subito euellit, quanquam cum maxima virium prostratione, sanat tamen: etiam si nos periculosas illas curas non approbemus, & sic de aliis multis. Iam si id mineralia faciunt non rectè præparata, quid censes si legitimè præparentur, & à veneno repurgentur? Et quomodo potes bona conscientia ea reiicere, quorum tu nullam habes notitiam? Nequaquam sufficit aliquid affirmare, nisi probabilibus fundatísque rationibus confirmetur. Quilibet censorem Paracelsi vult agere: quem facilius est reprehendere, quàm imitari, dum quisque altero doctior videri & existimari cupit, ab aliis tamen nemo discere. Dico, quemlibet Theophrasticorum qui tantùm carbones operi apportat, posse vobis tria [p. 6] Theophrasticæ medicinæ principia ad oculum ostendere. Gustastíne acerrimum sal? suauissimum oleum, & balsamum, iucundissimum liquorem? quæ omnia vos hactenus in rebus quibuscunque creatis latentia non olfecistis spiritus metallici, in quibus est medicina, nullo modo possunt inuestigari, & quid habeant virium & communionis cum humana natura intelligi, nisi per ignem. Quemadmodum fumum mercurij venenum esse naturæ humanæ, ignis primus indicauit, nulla speculatione subtilissima. At tu numquam tractasti carbones, nec minimum balsamum ex vegetabilibus elicere potes. Ergo tu medicinam metallicam cùm nescians quid ea sit, non potes coniicere. Itaque iudicas de rebus ignotis, tanquam cæcus de coloribus. Nónne stultum est scribere contra rem & eandem primum bene non intelligere? Imò cùm iam intelligunt Paracelsicæ disciplinæ dediti, vos fortiora arma non habere, quàm ea quæ hactenus collegistis, concludant vos potius confirmare & stabilire medicinam Paracelsicam quàm refutare. Non enim satis est, rem falsam dicere, nisi meliora probabilioráque in medium adferantur. Hinc patet vos nimirum alere occultam inscitiam [p. 7] rerum naturalium. Quid? estis tam magni Physici magníque philosophi? quomodo vobis occultæ sunt pharmacorum potestetes? ánnon hac in re propè acceditis ad Empiricos, quos ingenti superbiæ & scientiæ fastu reiicitis? quando dicitis, Nec enim medicus est Chymicus, etiam si summus fuerit: sed qui iudicio rationéque singula morbis remedia facere & vsurpare didicerit. Nam in his summa laus & gloria medico, ac mera salus ægro consistit. Quàm friget hic homo & rationalis medicus, qui ratione non manu præparat medicamenta. Is est medicus qui medicamina propria sua manu à veneno repurgat, & præparata acri iudicio propriis morbis applicat, vt semen morbi radicitus euellatur. Hinc theoricam & practicam & rationem & opus oportet concurrere. Iudicium sine practica est sterile. Dic mihi, quomodo accidit vt mercurius resistat morbo venereo & scabiei malæ? cur iubetis miseros æggrotos argento viuo inungere, tanquam opiliones suas oues inungunt? quomodo sit, inquam, vt mercurius contra hosce morbos sit specificum optimum? negatis metalla aliquid & maximam quidem eorum partem ad morbos sanandos afferre? cur iubetis lepro- [p. 8] sos aurum deglutire? cùm in iusculis caponum decoquitis, cur aurum foliatum pilulis & electuariis immiscetis? Retusum esse sæpius impetum lepræ, ne in superficiem cutis erumperet, crudo auro in stomachum demisso non ignoratis. Ergo si hoc facit aurum non facerent spiritus auri laxati à crassitudine sua? Si non vultis Theophrasto credere periculosissimorum morborum curationem in metallis latere, credite saltem illis qui ante Paracelsum vixerunt, inter quos præcipuus est Arnaldus Villenouanus, qui libro De conseru[atione] iuuent[utis] inquit, Perlæ vel Margaritæ in liquorem resolutæ confortant calorem naturalem, conferunt cardiacis, & timorosis, & propriè clarificant cordis sanguinem: sicut ægritudines multæ hisce sint curatæ. Est enim sal de minera quod sapientes nominauerunt lapidem animalem, alij Chifir minerale, & totum ingenium præparatinis est, vt in aquam purissimam & potabilem resoluatur, cum rebus quæ proprietatem eius non destruunt. Hæc Arnoldus, qui de contusione minimè, sed solutione loquitur: sed quare ea huc affero? Nimirum vt videatis, quod proprio vos iuguletis gladio: vtimini margaritis non proforatis corallis, [p. 9] gemmis in vestris electuariis, & in iusculis easdémque contunditis in puluerem. Olfacitis quidem virtutem medicatricem in gemmis, at vt mali coqui restucanæque mulieres agunt, quum in ipsorum manus vel perdices, vel lepores incidunt, ipsa oleribus inserunt, & in aqua coquunt. Ita & vos margaritas contunditis quæ potius resolui debent. Etiamsi puluerem faceres æreum, nihil promouebis: sed vt in stomachum immisisti, ita iterum exire videtis. Hinc necessariò præparationum Chymicarum leges introducuntur in medicinam quas vos cum suis cultoribus angue & cane peius odistis. Quid multa? Si nondum concedere vultis in mineralibus summas morborum curas vigere, audite Andream Matheolum lib[ro] 4. Epistolarum dicentem, Ægrorum corpora seminibus morborum referta, sine metallicis medicamentis vix sanari posse. Et in tractatu de antimonio ait, Non minus antimonium corporum ægritudines expurgat, quàm metalla, à suis superfluitatib[us]. Hæc doctissimus ille vir intellexit, cum tamen nunquamveram nouerit antimonij præparationem. Similiter aurum potabile maximi facit, cuius præparationem, vt ipse vsus est Matheolus, tibi (ne sis inscius) placuit recensere. [p. 10] Aurum ait per stibium bis vel ter repurgatum, & in tenuissimas laminas redactum, ac vasculo idoneo liberè, ne sese laminæ vsquam contingant appensum, exuratur & calcinetur in fornace debitè parata, per medium annum: quod sustinere feruentissimum ignem oportet, quousque tandem laminæ aureæ illinc exemptæ libero & frigidiori exponantur aeri, & oleosus quidam humor inde defluat, resoluatúrq[ue] rubei coloris sapore subdulci. Eliciebat ille extra uari vncias duas oleo: ex eo verò quod non adeò bene erat vstum liquor minus promptè defluebat: spiritum vini rectificatum aliquoties infundere solebat, ídque tam diu, adeóque donec totus ille color rubeus extraheretur. Quàm subtilissimè verò hosce spiritus vel vini essentiam rectificabis si eam in cucurbitam vitream sub alambico præposito recipiente in gelidissimam vel niue refrigeratam fontis aquam imponas, ipsum capellum panno lineo in aqua calida imbuto vndique teges, partes enim illæ subtiliores sursum feruntur, aqueis in fundo relictis. Aurum calcinatum, & sæpius vini spiritu infusam multis cohobationibus, & per alambicum denuò destillatum, in fundo post se reliquit subrubeum liquorem. Me- [p. 11] dicus ille solebat prius expurgato corpore raso, & calefacto verticis capitis dragmam vnam eius affundere & tantumdem in maluatico bibendum exhibere. Itidem de argento purissimo pro morbis capitalibus, & sic de cæteris metallis. Nam debitè præparata resoluuntur, quia sunt salia: plura habet hic vir medicamina mineralium, quæ nec Galeno nec Hippocrati vnquam fuerunt perspecta, sed à Theophrasto Paracelso nostro in lucem eruta, de quo tu titulo tenus medice, magnéque philosophe, imprudenter scriptitas, putásne omnia impossibilia prorsus esse aliis, quæ præstare nescis nec potes? vel quæ tu diuina tua sagacitate superare nequis? quid dices ad hæc, scio hominem qui intra triduum vel ad summum sex dies luem illam veneream sanare potest turpeto suo minerali non illo, quod sit mediante oleo vitrioli: sed alio longe excellentiori, quod ad vos non perueniet, nis illam pertinaciam deposueritis: nisíque cessaueritis vulgo & magnatibus inuisos & suspectos reddere paracelsicos, illósque fructu laborum iustorum priuare. Dicitis, quid præstitits? quid inuenistis? vnde laudem, vnde fructum spectetis? hoc ipsum nos à vobis quærimus? quid vos in- [p. 12] uenistis quo medicina excultior euasit. Nos essentias, olea, balsama, salia, in medicinam introduximus, quæ omnia scholæ alchymistarum pepererunt. Et quanta lux medicinæ accesserit ex sola distillatione legitima omnibus notum est: quanta vtilitas inde in ægros redundarit, quotidiana docet experientia. Vos interim si adeò exhorrescitis laborem, parcite saltem nostræ famæ: sed quid mirum? Nónne semper ita accidit, vt optimus quisque labor pessimè excipiatur, & compensetur? Testis est quisque optimus ad virtutem, ad ingenuitatem, ad fidelitatem erectus, qualem sæpius mercedem pro sua fidelitate, pro eruta veritate recipiat, sic quidam, quando nihil amplius possunt, mendicitatem indagatoribus naturæ obiiciunt, vulgíque aures mendaciis speciosissimis complent, decantantes semper ea, quæ ex abusu & adulterinorum Paracelsicorum periculosis curis: sequuntur omnia (ex illorum contemptu) paupertate, indignitate, vilitate iudicantes. Atque satis citò illam despectam, quam sponte subeunt, paupertatem effugient, quò natura rerum magis magísque in dies innotescat hominibus, quò insuetæ & grauissimorum [p. 13] morborum curationes tandem inueniantur, quibus qui sunt oppressi, per verstram ignauiam omnes morerentur, nisi Deus ipsorum misertus, ad finem tandem mundi, salutaria remedia, per homines etiam contemptissimos illis sufficeret, insurgent contra vos leprosi, podagrici, phthisici epileptici, lue venerea infecti, cancro deuorati, fistulis & lupo exesi, gutta mala paralytici, morbis epidemias & peste, ad inferos detrusi: illi, inquam, & multo plures quos ex ignorantia & pessimis corruptibilibúsque potionibus & purgationibus instar carnificum viuos sepeliistis. Hi, inquam, in ius vos vocabunt & accusabunt, pauperes quos ære emunxistis, quorum sanguinem pro amisso corpore, pro exhaustis bonis exposcent. Porrò quæ hæc insania & crudelis est stultitia? Cùm tempore pestis primos homines infestos, domibus includitis signis notaris, carcere detinetis, curis & solitudine strangulatis, fame enecatis, sícne debet curari pestis? Annon arbitramini omnes inde posse infici vnde primus infectus est? cur non sanos antidotis præ munitis, cùm tam egregij scilicet estis medici, quando ferè omnia vestra medicamina irrita in hoc morbo experti estis? Sic nec [p. 14] diligis proximum sicut teipsum, vitam ne sic pro socio profundis? cùm nullo vnquam tempore (si res vrget auxilium) societate, conuersatione, consolatione, opitulatione, magis opus sit, quàm tempore pestis: ô quantam pœnam attraxistis! desertósque ab amicis & cognatis separatos, & quasi in exilium detrusos derelictis quibus ipsa solitudo, ipso morbo fuit violentior, necauitque animi dolor, quos morbus non interemit. Quid est, quæso amicitia vera & Christiana? nónne te admisericordiam commouet hæc ægrorum quærela? Cùm sanus eram, amicus eras, visitabas me, iuuabas me: quum langueo, horres & fugis me, ridente mecum fortuna, ridebas. Iam flenti & anxiè petenti, consolationem denegas. Quid est visitare? opitulari? Vos non tantùm non opitulamini, verùm etiam principibus persuadetis vt loca & itinera peregrinatntibus occludant. Cùm alacriter deberetis illos malo leuare, & sponte eò proficisci, & probate vestram artem. At peste oriente primi estis, qui trepidatis, qui horretis, qui desperatis. Vobis commissi sunt ægroti adeò tanquam filii & infantes: sedula curatione egentes curare debebatis (infirmos[c1] tanquam patres filios curant) non emungere auro. Tunc tibi ar- [p. 15] rideret æger: si nimirum ipsius languidam vitam miti balsamo & recreatione foueres. Tunc conspectu tuo gauderet, te patrem appellitaret. Quilibet medicus genuinus, necessariò debet ipsa medicamenta, sua manu rectè parare: non committere imperito coquo, non ingentia volumina receptarum formulis complere, quibus iam video studiosos medicinæ obrutos, & ita intricatos, vt ipsi ferè sub tam graui receptarum pondere corruant & moriantur. Non sic discitur medicina, sed laboribus manuum & operatrice practica, vbi vulcanus in dies noua ostendit, & suauissima remedia, quæ in dies natura melius meliúsque purgare à superfluitatibus, operatori suo œconomo tradit. Expecta tu diuitem messem, & non primùm ara & sere: expecta cognitionem occultarum potestatum naturalium, & non primùm igne inuestiga & labore, quum maior pars omnium vestrûm, delicati & pigri sint: & qui deses in operationibus extiterit, tanquam cæcus ad practicam tendit. Si artem Chymicam non adeò execraremini, purum ab impuro, quod causam corruptionis rerum præbet, separare disceretis, longis digestionibus, distillationibus, chohobationibus, quibus syncerum & purum medi- [p. 16] camentum redderetis, antequam illud ægroto exhiberetis, sic subitò tangens ægri natura reficeretur, cùm imbecillus stomachus nequeat crassas concoquere, digerere, separare materias. At magni D[omini] Doctores nolunt esse discipuli, & tyrones, quemadmodum difficile est veterem canem loris & venationi assuescere, qui sicut vincula corrodit ducentíque mordaces ostentat dentes potius quàm se regi patiatur: ita & vos vultis potius veritati apertè contradicere, eámque canina voce allatrare & mordere, quàm errores vestros fateri. quid? debétne hoc propro esse chymistis, quod propter legitimas medicamentorum præparationes, quas vos ignoratis, & quia durum laborem ducem habent, quem fugitis, habeantur mendici, annosi, ac pannosi. Annon cogitatis tandemvulgus fraudes animaduersurum? moniti estis satis à pluribus medicinæ doctoribus, quibus certè pueriles curationes non satisfecerunt, inter quos est Conradus ille Gesnerus, & alii permulti, qui si superstites fuissent, vestram ementitam artem, tandem certò certius, prorsus abnegassent. Acriter quoque reprehendit medicos sui temporis Iohannes VVoz[n1] Coloniensis, qui claruit anno 1510, qui suis in monumentis [p. 17] & peste, & labyrintho medicorum luculentissime, & pulcherrime de medicinis metallicis, quintísque essentiis disserit, eorúmque vsum ostendit. Quid ad illa respondebis quæ D[ominus] ille Gorræus in v. cap[ite] De extractione quintæ essentiæ ex herbis, vt in suis scholiis tam egregiè medicamina metallica exaltauit iísque vsus est, paruifaciens vestra, Aquarum (inquit) distillationes ex herbis, & reliquis rebus huiusmodi, quibus officinæ gloriantur, nullarum prope esse virium, quum nihil aliud sit nisi phlegma rei, cuius liquor præcipuus constat in oleo & sale. Sed vt vobis admirabiles noscendarum proprietatum desiderii igniculos accendam, recensebo Fernelij Ambiani lib[rum] 2. de Abd[itis] rerum causis cap[itulum] XVIII. Sententiam etenim (inquit) fusilis & metallicæ illius philosophiæ τῆς χημείας (vt certè multorum) cum longa peregrinatione, cùm primis studiis existerem exercitatissimo admodum præceptore vsus ex vnoquoque tum stirpium, tum viuentium genere sustantias, elicui planè varias. Primum quidem aquam eámque vberiorem si stirps virebat: parciorem si arescebat. Deinde oleum non id quidem pingue ac sordidum, quale pressum à nostris trahitur. Sed artis præstantioris opus, qui tempore [p. 18] nec rancescat, nec facilè corrumpatur. Id autem duplex, vnum tenue & albicans, alterum siccius atque rubens, &c. Inde sequitur. Dicam vestro hortatu, non hunc totum thesaurum deprompturus, sed edocturus quàm verè subsistat. Ne vos autem insolens nominísque obscuritas offendat, quæ patres vmbra & ænigmate obuelarunt, in apertum & in clarissimam lucem proferam suo loco. Verùm, bene monentem ferre nequitis, quemadmodum nec iam doctissimos præstantissimósque viros, neq[ue] pati D[ominum] Physicum Gerardum Dorn vultis, quem Devs haud dubiè nobis excitauit. Æterna memoria dignus est hic vir excellentiss[imus] quod nulla iniuria, nullis periculis quò Paracelsum, qui nescio qua antiqua, & grauitate & autoritate pollet, suis vltimis scriptis fecit vir ille doctissimus illustriorem, vt saltem filiis doctrinæ bene consulatur, pro quorum deffensione tanquam verus miles vsque ad aram, & opere & ore certat socius, & parastates doctiss[imus] illius Physici est, Iosephi Quercetani de re medica per optime meriti, qui in libellis suis, multa præclara & philosophica arcana posteritati patefecit, & medicinas spagyricas abstrusas illustrauit, maioráque in lucem ædidisset, nisi ingratitudo multorum ipsius benignos fontes [p. 19] occlusisset, præsertim cuiusdam seplasiarii, qui multa reprehendere, in ipsius scriptis conatur pauca, probans, & meliora nesciens. Inde fit vt omnes, vnius ingratitudine damnum experiantur.
Macte ergo virtute —
Ignauum fucos pecus à præsepibus arce:
Sic tua perpetua redimentur tempora lauro.
Nos interim quæ comperta habemus multísque peregrinationibus & laboribus inuestiganimus, & didicimus, adiiciemus, quibus rogatos velimus aduersarios, ne, si ipsi non indigent, contemnant, aut conuiciis lacerent, nec alios qui grato animo nostros excipienti labores, deterreant, aut ipsi meliora doceant, cogitantes interim concedendum, & dandum esse aliquid illi qui artium medicinalium gratia se tot fluctibus obiecit. Cùm enim post stragem illam, nostrorúmque Gallorum furorem vnà cum D[omino] Carolo de Chambray D[omino] de Ponsay me in Italiam conferrem, inde Istriam, Ragusium, Sclauoniam, Macedoniam & Byzantium perlustrarem, indefesso studio operam nauaui, vt certum quid de lapide philosophorum, aut rebus chymicis agnoscerem. Nullos verò prorsus veros philosophos, sed pseudophysicos & chymicos vbique inueni, qui veram artium naturalium & [p. 20] præparationum, vel prorsus nullam, vel omnino frigidam habebant notitiam. Incidi tandem (Deo ita volente) in doctissimum quendam virum nomine Danielem episcopum Dalmatiensem: ad hunc inquam Baraletam misi litteras, (quas vnà cum ipsius responso paulò pòst ad me misso aliquando in lucem emittam,) vbi multa philosophica, non iniucunda lectu cernentur. Tandem cùm orientales regiones satis perlustrassem, nihílque adeò certam in scientiis naturalibus collegissem, iter Germaniam versus, cum clementissimo principe Cabaneo, Vidameo Carnutensi, institui seriò incumbens studio medicinæ spagyricæ. Intellexíque reges & principes decipi & illudi, ab agyrtis istis, qui ementitas & sophisticas chymiæ artes ex omnibus angustiis corrosas & emendicatas, pomposa specie vendunt, argento principes emungentes, vnde fit, vt magna copia tum sophistarum, tum sophisticarum fraudum quotidie oriatur: ob quas non solùm ars chymiæ laudatissima detrimentum patitur, opprimitur, adulteratur, ipsíque chymistæ inuisi omnibus redduntur vitam, tempus, sumptúsque in vanas operationes impendentes, verùm etiam grauissimum damnum in respub[lica] re- [p. 21] dundat. Sunt enim plerique tam astuti deceptores, vt simulata experientia in arte chymica ficta amicitia, & magnis pollicitationibus fraudulenter ab aliis artes expiscantur, pro suo vendicent, magnáque pecunia æstiment, & venales circunferant. Quemadmodum aliquando à me quoque nebulones elicuere fraudibus libros manu scriptos, illósque ingenti pecuniæ summa vendiderunt: consultum esset rebuspub[licis] & arti chymiæ, vt eiusmodi nebulones à magistratu coerceantur & puniantur: ita minus hallucinarentur artis discipuli, & breui ars vera & sincera ex laruis illis sophismatum emergeret. Quapropter vt habeant à me quoque artis studiosi symbolum aliquod quo clariorem hanc scientiam præstent, breui (Deo propitio) libros tres de lapide philosphorum ab autoribus diuersis conscriptos inlucem edam: quorum primus à nobili quodam Britanno certis ex caracterib[us] erutus est, quo omnia philosophorum enigmata dilucidè exponuntur, cui adiungam ducentas regulas certas & inuictas, veréque philosophicas, quibus errantes & dubitantes de lapidis materia, confirmabuntur. Secundus est Iohannes de Rouillachz Pedemontanus, qui de mercurio philosophorum tractat, & [p. 22] quomodo extrahatur vnà cum epistola Iohannis Pontani eiusdem generis. Certior est egregius tractatus incerti authoris, qui multa dubia de medicina illa benedicta explicat. Porro, quoniam omnes nationes plerumque suo idiomate (præsertim Germani) libros texunt, conscribam ego quoque libros duos Gallico idiomate in gratiam philosophiæ studiosorum, in quibus multa philosophabor de multis præparationibus, multis specificis medicinalibus per me & alios probatis, de variis item philosophorum elixiribus, mercuriorum extractionibus, a quis mercurialibus, multisvariísque dissolutionibus: addámque interpretationes diuersorum characterum, quibus antiquorum & recentium libri conscripti sunt ad artem celandam. Item cuiusdam alphabeti expositionem sine qua vix opus intelligi potest, duos item tractatus: vnum de virtutibus oleorum: tum vegetabilium, tum metallicorum, alterum de multorum vegetabilium & mineralium salibus & proprietatibus, quibus duos tractatus de mineris philosophicis annectam, & de faciendis acetis, quòd si videro studium hoc meum & laborem artis studiosis probari, breui maiora da- [p. 23] bo quæ multi totis exoptant votis. Interim hoc opusculum æqui boníque facite. Quæ verò adhuc egimus, illis tantum dicta sint, qui capituli odio medicinam spagyricam prosequuntur, qui nihil rectè & vtiliter doceri in medicina putant, nisi quod vetus lyra crepitat, quasi quidem Galeno plus natura ipsa foret, si omnis medicæ artis doctrina ex ethnicis haurienda est, & si ij soli artem integrè expoliuerunt, & solidis argumentis stabiliuerunt, cur ex iisdem non refutatis præstantissimos viros Theophrasto Paracelso deditos, inter quos est præcipuus magnus ille Petrus, Seuerinus Danus, qui in sua idea inuictum Paracelsicæ medicinæ fundamentum satis patefecit. Cur non Monarchiæ Triadis Doctiss[imi] Doctoris Physici Gerardi Dorni respondetis? Cur Turneseri clarissimi Medici volumina, ipsa practica veritate stabilita, non refellitis? Vobis verò qui Galeni doctrinam quotidie ad incudem reuocatis, exacto iudicio perpenditis, Paracelso locum datis, ipsius præparationes & practicam agnoscentibus, & exercentibus congratulor: breui plura contra aduersarios, quæ illos melius mordebunt in publicum exibunt. Interea & opere [p. 24] & ore, & scriptis veritatem ab iniuria vindicate. Valete.
Modern English Raw Translation
Apologetic Preface on the book of Paracelsian experiments, in which it's argued that the bodies of the sick, filled with the seeds of diseases, can hardly be healed without metallic medicines. This is in opposition to the writings of some men who deny that metals can in any way be beneficial to human nature.
In the Holy Scriptures, dear reader, among other laws, we find this one full of Christian love: If you see your neighbor's donkey or ox wandering, you must return it to its owner. By this, the eternal God wanted to establish mutual love among us and confirm it with the clearest evidence. Thus, the divine laws command us to take care of our adversaries' straying livestock. How much more, then, do they want us to ward off and turn away the miserable accidents and dangers to the bodies and health of our friends? Therefore, when I understood the errors of many of our time's doctors along with Theophrastus Paracelsus and other distinguished men, I began to think about how I could become a participant in true medicine, which is derived from the light of nature and not from the darkness of pagan writings. I concluded that I needed to travel, to approach remote places, and to seek out arts from everywhere: not to hope and wait for them idly at home. So, I prepared myself for the journey and through travels and labors, I investigated and learned things that I cannot keep silent about out of Christian love: to bring back the wandering sons of doctrine to the path, explaining my journey and labors, excusing and defending those who are today subjected to hatred by the admirers of Pagan medicine, whose deceptions I will also try to expose in part, where I will indicate what genuine medicine enthusiasts can expect from me in the future. And which truly medical books collected from everywhere by me, out of mercy for those who are lost, I am going to share for the public benefit. In the meantime, it's necessary to avoid the hatred of the masses, from me and other lovers of spagyric science, and to properly respond to adversaries. Their perversity and malice are such that they annihilate, reject, and condemn the discoveries of others with pompous words, which they notice they could use with some success and profit. Meanwhile, they claim the due praises of the authors for themselves, and with lying theft, they strip the inventors of the arts of their honors, a cunning caution stemming from the ancient serpent's deceptions. For when testimonies are heard everywhere (known to barbers and quacks) about some unusual cures of the most serious diseases, which are accomplished through the benefit of tinctures and spirits of vegetables and minerals, by the art and industry of those whom the common people today call Chemists or Alchemists, they immediately oppose them, shouting that charcoal burners (a derogatory term for alchemists) can achieve nothing. But with their poisonous remedies, they kill all who entrust themselves to their care: such deceivers should be banned from the republics; their extractions, preparations, and spirits are too diluted and subtle to be of any use; the spirit of vitriol is poison, the essence of antimony and mercury is nothing, the extraction of sulfur is nothing, the liquor of gold is nothing, and in short, everything is contrary to human nature and more to be avoided than the gaze of a basilisk. Meanwhile, like sneaky and cunning thieves, they secretly snatch from the chemists, who endure the force of fire night and day with great labor, fish out medical secrets, and coax out promises, secretly capturing what is commonly prohibited as poisons, to then sell as their own. And with such impious injustice, they divert grace and favor, praise, rewards, and remunerations from people to themselves: all of which, otherwise, by legitimate and utmost right, are owed to those who seek such things in natural matters with sweat, vigilance, and clever investigation, by the art of Vulcan, and make them common for public use. Not only this, but they also publish huge volumes filled with nonsense, lies, and sophistries. Trying to suppress light with darkness and truth with lies, and the most clear and practical worker, established by truth itself, they try to oppress, overturn, and erase with a vain, fabricated, and from the subtle brain derived theory.
I tell you, splendid Orator, who tear apart Paracelsus, how can you ever hope to destroy his work with frivolous words and refute practical experience with theory? Are you such a great doctor that you do not realize you only progress as much as you achieve through actual work? Paracelsus teaches that epilepsy should be treated with the spirit of vitriol, and he has proven it, showing the work itself every day: prove the opposite if you can, and cure the same with pills, syrups, and electuaries, then you will have won. It is not enough to prove with those reasons that metallic medicine does not suit human nature, nor that metals can be prepared in such a way as to heal. Do you deny what is actually achieved and can be seen with your own eyes? It is shameful to be ignorant of what everyone can know. Undoubtedly, you have heard of dangerous diseases being cured with metallic tinctures, even those prepared illegitimately by counterfeit Theophrastians, like antimony glass, which eradicates feverish impurities from the root, albeit with great depletion of strength, yet it heals. Even if we do not approve of those dangerous treatments, and so on for many others. Now, if improperly prepared minerals can do this, what do you think if they are properly prepared and purified from poison? And how can you in good conscience reject what you have no knowledge of? It is not enough to assert something unless it is supported by probable and well-founded reasons. Everyone wants to critique Paracelsus: it is easier to criticize than to emulate him, as everyone wants to appear and be considered wiser than others, yet no one wants to learn from others. I say, any of the Theophrastians who only brings coals to the work can show you the three principles of Theophrastic medicine right before your eyes. Have you tasted the sharpest salt, the sweetest oil, and the balm, the most pleasant liquor? All of which you have not yet sensed in any created things, the spirits of metals, in which lies the medicine, cannot be investigated in any way, nor can what strength and affinity they have with human nature be understood, except through fire. Just as the smoke of mercury was first shown by fire to be poisonous to human nature, no subtle speculation needed. But you have never handled coals, nor can you extract the slightest balm from plants. Therefore, not knowing what metallic medicine is, you cannot conjecture about it. Thus, you judge unknown things as a blind man judges colors. Is it not foolish to write against something and not first understand it well? Indeed, when those devoted to Paracelsian discipline realize you have no stronger weapons than what you have so far gathered, they conclude you are more likely to confirm and establish Paracelsian medicine than to refute it. It is not enough to call something false unless better and more probable alternatives are presented. Hence, it is clear that you indeed nurture a hidden ignorance of natural things. What? Are you such great Physicians and Philosophers? How are the powers of drugs hidden from you? Do you not come close to Empirics, whom you reject with immense pride and pretense of knowledge? When you say, "For a doctor is not a Chemist, even if he were the greatest; but one who has learned to make and use remedies for diseases with judgment and reason. For in these lies the greatest praise and glory for the doctor, and pure health for the patient." How cold and rational this man is, a doctor who prepares remedies with reason, not with his own hands. A doctor is one who purifies his own medicines from poison with his own hands and applies them with keen judgment to specific diseases, so that the root of the disease is eradicated. Therefore, theory and practice, reason and work must come together. Judgment without practice is barren. Tell me, how does it happen that mercury resists venereal disease and the evil of scabies? Why do you instruct the miserable sick to be anointed with mercury, as shepherds anoint their sheep? How is it, I ask, that mercury is the best specific against these diseases? Do you deny that metals contribute significantly to curing diseases? Why do you instruct lepers to swallow gold? When you cook it in chicken broths, why do you mix leaf gold into pills and electuaries? You are well aware that the onslaught of leprosy has often been checked, preventing it from breaking out on the skin's surface, by swallowing raw gold. Therefore, if gold can do this, wouldn't the spirits of gold, freed from their grossness, do the same? If you do not want to believe Theophrastus that the cure for the most dangerous diseases lies in metals, at least believe those who lived before Paracelsus, among whom Arnaldus of Villanova is foremost. He says in his book "On the Preservation of Youth" that pearls or dissolved pearls strengthen the natural heat, are good for the heart and for those who are fearful, and they especially clarify the blood of the heart: as many diseases have been cured by these. For there is a salt from the mineral which the wise have named the animal stone, others call it mineral chifir, and the whole art of preparation is that it be dissolved into the purest and most drinkable water, with substances that do not destroy its property. This is what Arnaldus says, who speaks not of crushing but of dissolving: but why do I bring this up? Clearly, to show that you are being defeated by your own sword: you use non-perforated pearls, corals, gems in your electuaries, and in broths you crush them into powder. You indeed sense the healing power in gems, but like bad cooks and clumsy women, when partridges or hares fall into their hands, they stuff them with herbs and cook them in water. So you crush pearls which should rather be dissolved. Even if you made copper powder, you would achieve nothing: but as you ingest it, so you see it exit again. Hence, the laws of chemical preparations are necessarily introduced into medicine, which you and its practitioners hate worse than snakes and dogs. What more? If you still refuse to concede that the greatest cures for diseases lie in minerals, listen to Andrea Mattioli in the fourth book of his letters, saying, "The bodies of the sick, filled with the seeds of diseases, can hardly be healed without metallic medicines." And in his treatise on antimony, he says, "Antimony purges the diseases of the body no less than metals do from their superfluities." This most learned man understood this, even though he never knew the true preparation of antimony. Similarly, he highly values drinkable gold, whose preparation, as Mattioli himself used, I will recount for you, so you are not ignorant. He says gold, purified two or three times through antimony and reduced to the thinnest sheets, and hung in a suitable vessel so that the sheets do not touch each other, should be burned and calcined in a properly prepared furnace for half a year: it must withstand the most intense fire until finally the gold sheets, taken out and exposed to the open and cooler air, let a certain oily moisture flow from them, dissolving into a sweet-tasting red color. From this, he extracted two ounces of oil: from that which was not so well burned, the liquid flowed less readily: he used to pour in rectified spirit of wine several times, and so long and until all that red color was extracted. You will refine these spirits or the essence of wine very subtly if you place it in a glass cucurbit under an alembic set up to receive it in the coldest water or snow-cooled spring water, and you will cover the cap with a linen cloth soaked in warm water all around, for those finer parts are carried upwards, leaving the watery parts at the bottom. The calcined gold, infused several times with the spirit of wine and distilled again through an alembic, leaves behind a reddish liquid. That doctor used to first cleanse the body, shave, and warm the crown of the head, then pour one dram of it and give the same amount to drink in a potion for serious illnesses, and so with pure silver for deadly diseases, and likewise with other metals. For when properly prepared, they dissolve because they are salts. This man has many mineral medicines that were never known to Galen or Hippocrates but were brought to light by our Theophrastus Paracelsus, about whom you, as a doctor and great philosopher, write imprudently in title only. Do you think everything is impossible for others that you cannot achieve or surpass with your divine wisdom? What will you say to this? I know a man who can cure venereal disease within three days or at most six days with his mineral remedy, not the one involving oil of vitriol but another far superior, which will not reach you unless you abandon your stubbornness and stop making Paracelsians hated and suspected by the public and nobility, and depriving them of the fruits of their just labors. You ask, what have you achieved? What have you discovered? Where do you expect praise and benefit? We ask the same of you: what have you discovered that has refined medicine? We introduced essences, oils, balsams, and salts into medicine, all products of the alchemical school. And it is well known how much light has been added to medicine through proper distillation alone, and how much benefit it has brought to the sick, as daily experience teaches. Meanwhile, if you are so averse to labor, at least spare our reputation. But what's surprising? Hasn't it always been the case that the best efforts are often received poorly and rewarded inadequately? Every good person aimed at virtue, nobility, and loyalty knows the reward they often receive for their fidelity and for uncovering the truth. Thus, some, when they can do no more, accuse nature's investigators of mendicancy and fill the ears of the common people with the most beautiful lies, always harping on the dangers and abuses from the counterfeit and dangerous treatments of Paracelsians, judging everything (out of contempt for them) as poverty, indignity, and worthlessness. But they will soon escape the poverty they willingly undertake, as the nature of things becomes more and more known to people day by day, and as cures for unusual and severe diseases are finally discovered, which, due to your laziness, would cause all those afflicted to die if God, in His mercy, did not provide healing remedies through even the most despised of men towards the end of the world. Lepers, gout sufferers, consumptives, epileptics, those infected with venereal disease, devoured by cancer, eaten away by fistulas and lupus, paralyzed by stroke, afflicted by epidemic diseases and plague, cast down to the underworld—these, I say, and many more whom you have buried alive like executioners through your ignorance and the worst corruptible potions and purgations, will summon and accuse you in court, the poor whom you have bled dry, whose blood they will demand in exchange for their lost health and depleted wealth. Furthermore, what madness and cruel folly is this? During a plague, you confine the first afflicted people to their homes, mark their doors, detain them in prison, strangle them with care and solitude, and kill them with hunger. Is this how the plague should be treated? Do you not think that everyone can be infected from the same source as the first infected person? Why not protect the healthy with antidotes, especially since you claim to be such excellent doctors, when almost all your remedies have proven ineffective against this disease? Thus, you do not love your neighbor as yourself; do you not value life enough to risk it for a fellow being? For there is never a time when companionship, conversation, consolation, and assistance are more needed than during a plague. Oh, what punishment you have brought upon yourselves! You abandon friends and relatives, isolate and cast them out as if into exile, leaving them where solitude itself was more violent than the disease and killed with grief those whom the disease did not kill. What, I ask, is true and Christian friendship? Does not the complaint of the sick move you to compassion? When I was healthy, you were my friend, you visited me, you helped me; when I am sick, you shudder and flee from me, you laughed with me when fortune smiled. Now, when I weep and seek comfort anxiously, you deny it. What does it mean to visit and to help? You not only do not help, but you even persuade rulers to close places and paths to travelers. You should eagerly relieve their suffering, willingly go to them, and prove your skill. But at the onset of plague, you are the first to panic, to shudder, to despair. The sick are entrusted to you as if they were children and infants; you should care for them with diligent treatment (as parents care for their sick children), not bleed them of gold. Then the patient would smile at you if you indeed nurtured his feeble life with gentle balm and refreshment. Then he would rejoice at your sight, calling you father. Every genuine doctor must necessarily prepare the medicines with his own hand correctly; not leave it to an inexperienced cook, not fill huge volumes with formulas of recipes, with which I see students of medicine overwhelmed and so entangled that they almost collapse and die under the heavy weight of these recipes. Medicine is not learned this way, but through the labors of the hands and practical work, where Vulcan reveals new things every day, and nature hands over to its steward the sweetest remedies, better and better purified from superfluities each day. You expect a rich harvest without first plowing and sowing; you expect knowledge of the hidden powers of nature without first investigating and laboring with fire, when the majority of you are delicate and lazy; and he who has been idle in operations approaches practice as if blind. If you did not so abhor the art of Alchemy, you would learn to separate the pure from the impure, which causes the corruption of things, through long digestions, distillations, cohobations, rendering the medicine pure and sincere before administering it to the patient. Then, touching the patient's nature, it would be quickly restored, as the weak stomach cannot concoct, digest, and separate thick substances. But great Lords and Doctors do not want to be disciples and novices, just as it is difficult for an old dog to get used to leashes and hunting, who, like one who gnaws at chains and shows biting teeth rather than allow himself to be controlled, so too you would rather openly contradict the truth, bark and bite at it with a dog's voice, than admit your errors. What? Should it be proper for chemists, because of the legitimate preparations of medicines, which you are ignorant of, and because they follow hard labor, which you flee from, to be considered beggars, old, and ragged? Do you not finally consider that the common people will notice the frauds? You have been sufficiently warned by many doctors of medicine, for whom childish treatments were not satisfactory, among whom is Conrad Gesner and many others, who, if they had survived, would have certainly and definitively renounced your feigned art. Johannes Woz of Cologne, who was prominent in 1510, also sharply criticized the doctors of his time. In his works, he discusses metallic medicines and quintessences very clearly and beautifully, showing their use in plagues and in the labyrinth of medical practices. What will you respond to those things that Lord Gorræus praised so highly in the fifth chapter of "On the Extraction of the Quintessence from Herbs," in his commentaries, where he greatly extolled metallic medicines and used them, making light of yours? He said, "The distillations of waters from herbs and other such things, which apothecaries boast of, are almost of no strength, since they are nothing but the phlegm of the substance, whose principal liquid consists of oil and salt." But to kindle in you a spark of desire for the marvelous knowledge of properties, I will mention Jean Fernel of Amiens, in the second book of "On the Hidden Causes of Things," chapter XVIII. He says, "Indeed, the opinion of that fusible and metallic philosophy, alchemy (as indeed of many), with a long journey, when I was engaged in my early studies, I used a very experienced teacher and extracted from each type of plants and living beings truly various substances. First indeed water, and more abundant if the plant was thriving, scantier if it was withering. Then oil, not indeed the thick and dirty kind that is pressed out by our methods, but the work of a superior art, which does not become rancid or easily corrupt over time. This oil is of two kinds, one thin and whitish, the other drier and reddish, etc." He continues, "At your encouragement, I will speak, not to reveal this entire treasure, but to teach how truly it exists. And let not the unusual name and obscurity, which the fathers have covered with shadow and enigma, offend you; I will bring it forth into the open and into the clearest light in its place." But you cannot bear good advice, just as you cannot now bear the most learned and excellent men, nor do you wish to tolerate Lord Physician Gerard Dorn, whom God has undoubtedly raised up for us. This most excellent man is worthy of eternal memory because, through no injury or danger, he made Paracelsus, who possesses some ancient gravity and authority, more illustrious in his latest writings, so that at least the sons of doctrine are well cared for. In defense of them, like a true soldier, he fights to the altar with both deed and word, and is a learned companion and assistant to that Physician, Joseph Quercetanus, who has merited extremely well in the field of medicine. In his writings, he revealed many splendid philosophical secrets to posterity and illuminated obscure spagyric medicines. He would have brought forth greater works into the light if not for the ingratitude of many, which closed off his generous sources, especially that of a certain apothecary who tries to criticize much in his writings, approving little, and knowing nothing better. Hence, it happens that all suffer loss due to the ingratitude of one.
Therefore, persevere in your virtue—
Drive the lazy drones from the hives:
Thus, your times will be redeemed with perpetual laurel.
