Paracelsus and the Revolt Against Galen

. LECTURE

. Paracelsus and the Revolt Against Galen

I. Paracelsus. A. Early Life and Travels. B. Paracelsus and Philosophic Medicine. II. Paracelsus, Alchemy, and Iatrochemistry

. [Boas Hall 1975; Debus 1966; Debus 1974; Dobbs 1975; Jacobi 1951; Jung 1953; Pagel 1982; Pagel 1986; Rattansi 1963; Rattansi 1972; Temkin 1973; Webster 1981]

. I. PARACELSUS. I WANT TO CONSIDER THE FIRST GREAT ASSAULT ON GALENIC MEDICINE. AND THAT MEANS TAKING A BRIEF LOOK AT THE STRANGE LIFE AND STRANGER THOUGHT OF PARACELSUS

A. EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. SOMEHOW IT SEEMS ESPECIALLY FITTING THAT EVEN HIS NAME IS SOMETHING OF A MYSTERY. HIS GIVEN NAME AGAIN WAS THEOPHRASTUS PHILIPPUS AUREOLUS BOMBASTUS VON HOHENHEIM. THE NAME WE KNOW HIM BY, PARACELSUS, SEEMS NEVER TO HAVE BEEN USED BY HIM. IT IS EVIDENTLY A NICKNAME AND PERHAPS A PUN. CELSUS WAS A LATIN AUTHOR OF MEDICAL TREATISE WHO LIVED IN THE1ST CENTURY A.D.. THUS 'PARA-CELSUS' IS ONE WHO SURPASSES OR IS ABOVE CELSUS. IT COULD ALSO BE A LATIN PUN ON HIS FAMILY NAME 'HOHENHEIM' SINCE THE LATIN WORD 'CELSUS' MEANS HIGH OR LOFTY AND 'HOHEN-HEIM IN GERMAN MEANS SOMETHING LIKE 'HIGH HOME'. THEOPHRASTUS IS NOT TO BE FOUND ON THE STONE MARKING HIS GRAVE. AND BOMBASTUS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH 'BOMBAST', EVEN THOUGHTHIS WOULD SURELY HAVE BEEN THE MOST FITTING EPITHET FOR PARACELSUS. PARACELSUS WAS BORN IN 1493 (OR 94) THE SON OF THE RESPECTED PHYSICIAN, WILHELMUS VON HOHENHEIM AND A BONDSWOMAN (OR CERF) ATTACHED TO THE BENEDICTINE ABBEY IN EINSIEDELN, SWABIA. HE RECEIVED HIS EARLY AND SOMEWHAT UNUSUAL EDUCATION FROM HIS FATHER; HIS TOPICS OF INSTRUCTION INCLUDING MINING, MINEROLOGY, BOTANY AND NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. HE ALSO PROBABLY RECEIVED A MORE TRADITIONAL EDUCATION IN MEDICINE AT ONE OF THE NORTHERN ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES; THOUGH IT IS NOT CLEAR IF HE EVER RECEIVED A DEGREE. ALTHOUGH IN ITALY AND SWITZERLAND DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE RENAISSANCE, PRACELSUS, ACCORDING TO HIS CHIEF BIOGRAPHY, CANNOT BE CATAGORIZED AS A HUMANIST. HE PREFERRED TO WRITE IN HIS VERNACULAR (GERMAN) AND SOUGHT UTILITY AND DIRECTNESS IN HIS PROSE RATHER THAN ELOQUENCE. BETWEEN 1517 AND 1524, PARACELSUS SEEMS TO HAVE TRAVELLED EXTENSIVE, MOST LIKELY AS A SURGEON ATTACHED TO VARIOUS ARMIES,AND HE VISITED LANDS AS WIDELY SCATTERED AS SPAIN, ENGLAND, SCANDINAVIA, RUSSIA, ITALY, AND PERHAPS THE NEAR EAST. AFTER 1524 HE SOUGHT A MORE SETTLED LIFE BUT DID NOT SUCCEED INFINDING IT. HIS DIFFICULT TEMPERAMENT AND ANTAGONIZING WAYS CAUSED HIS TO OFFEND AND ALIENATE HIS HOSTS NO MATTER WHERE HE WENT ANDHE WAS REPEATEDLY OBLIGED TO PACK HIS BAGS AND MOVE ON. IN FACT, FROM 1524 UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1541, THERE IS A TRAGIC PATTERN TO PARACELSUS' WANDERINGS. HE ARRIVES IN A NEW TOWN; HIS FAME AS A PHYSICIAN QUICKLY PROCURES FOR HIM LARGE CLIENTELE; HE AFFECTS CURES WHERE OTHERS HAVE FAILED; HE IMPRESSES OR PERHAPS EVEN TREATS AND CURES A WELL-PLACED CITIZEN WHO BECOMES FRIEND AND PATRON; HISPRESTIGE IS SO GREAT THAT HE MAY LECTURES AT THE LOCAL UNIVERSITY OR EVEN BE EMPLOYED BY THE CITY; THEN HE ANTAGONIZESTHE ESTABLISHED MEDICAL COMMUNITY, FALLS AFOUL OF FORMER FRIENDS, AND IS DRIVEN FROM TOWN -- OFTEN IN GREAT HASTE AND LEAVING BEHIND MOST OF HIS WORLDLY POSSESSIONS. IN SALZBURG IN 1524, PARACELSUS, WHO WAS GENUINELY MOVED BY THE PLIGHT OF THE POOR, OPENLY DECLARED HIS SUPPORT FOR THE PEASANT WAR THEN SPREADING ACROSS GERMANY. HE WAS ARRESTED AND MANAGED TO AVOID BRUTAL PUNISHMENT ONLY BY ESCAPING FROM THE CITY WITH THE HELP OF FRIENDS. IN BASEL IN 1527 PARACLESUS MET ONE OF THE CITY'S LEADING CITIZENWHO HAD BEEN PERSUADED BY FRUSTRATED DOCTORS TO HAVE HIS LEG AMPUTATED; HE ACHIEVED A MIRACULOUS CURE AND IS BEFRIENDED BY A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT CITIZENS. THROUGH THE INFLUENCE OF SUCH FIGURES AS ERASMUS, THE GREAT HUMANIST SCHOLAR, AND OECOLAMPADIUS, THE WELL- RESPECTED RELIGIOUS REFORMER, PARACELSUS RECEIVED A MUNICIPAL APPOINTMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY. THE MEDICAL FACULTY, RESENTFUL OF THE FACT THAT PARACELSUS CANNOT PRODUCE A DEGREE, DOES NOT WELCOME HIM WITH OPEN ARMS. HE REFUSED TO TEACH FROM THE TEXTS OF GALEN AND HIPPOCRATES --THEN THE UNIVERSAL CUSTOM -- AND INSTEAD INSISTED ON TEACHING FROM HIS OWN EXPERIENCES. IF THAT WEREN'T ENOUGH, HE FURTHER INSISTED ON LECTURING IN GERMAN -- AN ABSOLUTE NOVELTY IN ACADEMIC LIFE IN THE 16TH CENTURY AND NOT AGAIN REPEATED UNTIL THE 18TH CENTURY. THE ICING ON THE CAKE WAS HIS DICISION TO SOLEMNLY CONDEMN AND PUBLICALLY BURN A COPY OF AVICENNA'S "CANON" -- THE UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED STANDARD TEXT ON GALENIC MEDICINE -- TO MAKE CLEAR TO ALL WHO MAY NOT HAVE GOTTEN THE MESSAGE THAT HE, PARACELSUS, WAS INTERESTED IN THE REFORM OF MEDICAL THEORY. HE DID THIS ON JUNE 24TH, A RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY, AND IN THE MIDST OFA LOUD AND UNSEEMLY STUDENT PARTY. THIS ALL HAPPENED BEFORE PARACELSUS HAD GOTTEN HALF-WAY THROUGH HIS FIRST SEMESTER. WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF THIS LAST EPISODE, THE PATRON WHOSE LEGPARACELSUS HAD SAVED DIED -- OF OTHER CAUSES -- AND ALMOST AT THE SAME TIME ONE OF HIS STUDENTS CIRCULATED A TRACT LAMPOONING PARACELSUS AND EXTOLLING THE WISDOM OF GALEN. MATTERS WORSEN -- IF THAT IS IMAGINABLE -- AND PARACELSUS BECAME INVOVLED IN A LITIGATION AND PUBLICALLY INSULTED THE MAGISTRATE HEARING THE CASE. FINALLY, BASEL HAD ENOUGH OF PARACELSUS AND PARACELSUS OF BASEL; IN EARLY 1528 HE WAS AGAIN ON THE ROAD. HIS WANDERINGS TAKE HIM THROUGH COLMAR, ESSLINGEN, NUREMBERG, ST. GALL, APPENZELL, INNSBRUCK, AND THE LIST GOES ON. HE NEVER STAYS MORE THAN A YEAR IN ANY ONE PLACE, AND IN APPENZELL IN 1533, HE WAS REDUCED TO LIVING AS A BEGGAR AND PREACHING TO PEASANTS, HAVING LOST ALL OF HIS POSSESSIONS IN A PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER WITH CIVIL AUTHORITIES. AND YET 4 YEARS LATER, IN 1537, HE IS THE GUEST OF HONOR AT A BANQUET IN PRESSBURG AND SOON THEREAFTER IS SUMMONED TO AN AUDIENCE WITH KING FERDINAND, BROTHER OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR CHARLES V. WITHIN A YEAR THE KING DECLARES THAT PARACELSUS IS THE BIGGEST SWINDLER HE EVER MET AND HE IS AGAIN SET ADRIFT. HIS WANDERINGS EVENTUALLY TAKE HIM BACK TO SALZBURG, WHERE HE HAD NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH IN 1524. HE DIED THERE IN 1541 AND, IN COMPLIANCE WITH HIS WISHES, HIS FEWBELONGINGS WERE DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE POOR AND HE WAS BURIED IN A CEMETERY FOR PAUPERS. HIS GRAVE BECAME A PLACE OF PILGRAMAGE FOR THE POOR AND SICK FOR SOME TIME AFTER. THE MOST RELIABLE SOURCE WE HAVE CONCERNING PARACELSUS' CHARACTER COMES FROM HIS STUDENT AND AMANUENSIS, JOHANNES OPORINUS. OPORINUS, AFTER HIS DISCIPLESHIP WITH PARACELSUS, BECAME A WELL-KNOWN PROFESSOR OF GREEK AT BASEL AND WAS THE PUBLISHEROF VESALIUS' MAJOR WORK OF 1543. OPORINUS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A HONEST AND GENTLE SOUL WHO, "[WAS] SHOCKED FOR LIFE BY THE ROUGH AND IRREGULAR HABITS AND JOKES OF A NOT ALTOGETHER SANE GENIUS". HE WAS CRITICAL OF PARACELSUS' LACK OF PIETY AND SCHOLARSHIP; HE SPOKE ILL OF LUTHER, THE POPE, AND ALL THEOLOGIANS SINCE NONE OF WHOM REALLY UNDERSTOOD SCRIPTURE. YET OPORINUS PRAISED PARACELSUS' CHASTITY; NOTING THAT HE WAS NOT INTERESTED IN WOMEN. OPORINUS WAS, HOWEVER, DEEPLY APPALLED BY PARACELSUS' REMARKABLE CAPACITY TO DRINK. ALTHOUGH APPARENTLY A TEA-TOTALER UNTIL HIS 25TH YEAR, IN HIS LATER LIFE PARACELSUS WOULD OFTEN CHALLENGE PEASANTS TO DRINKING BOUTS AND WOULD INVARIABLY EMERGE VICTORIOUS. ON ONE OCCASION, PARACELSUS HAD BEATEN ALL COMERS -- THOUGH AT THE PRICE OF HAVING BECOME VISIBLE INEBRIATED. YET UPON ARRIVING AT HIS LODGINGS, HE IMMEDIATELY DEMANDED THAT OPORINUS TAKE DICATATION FOR A BOOK PARACELSUS WAS THEN WORKING ON. THE TEXT -- A FIRST DRAFT, COMPOSED ORALLY LATE AT NIGHT AFTER A COMPETITIVE BINGE, MADE COMPLETE SENSE AND, IN OPORINUS' OPINIONCOULD NOT BE IMPROVED UPON BY A PERFECTLY SOBER EDITOR. PARACELSUS APPARENTLY SLEPT VERY LITTLE AND NEVER UNDRESSED TO SLEEP, WEARING HIS LONG SWORD -- A PRESENT FROM A HANGMAN -- ALL THE WHILE. ON ONE PARTICULAR OCCASION, PARACELSUS CAME HOME, THREW HIMSELF ON HIS BED, STILL DRESSED AND ARMED, AND SLEPT. SUDDENLY HE LEPT UP, BRANDISHED HIS SWORD, AND RAVED LIKE ONEPOSSESSED, THUS FRIGHTENING HIS POOR PUPIL TO DISTRACTION. PARACELSUS WAS, OF COURSE, AN ADEPT AND DEVOTED MUCH OF HIS TIME TO WORK AT THE ALCHEMICAL FURNACE. ONE DAY, APPARENTLY AS A JOKE, HE PREPARED A PARTICULARLY POTENT RECIPÉ AND ASKED HIS LONG-SUFFERING ASSISTANT TO SNIFF IT; HE DID AND WAS SO OVERPOWERED BY THE FUMES THAT HE NEARLY FELL UNCONSCIOUS. IN HIS WEALTHY DAYS, PARACELSUS LIVED LUXURIOUSLY AND LIKED TOWEAR FINE CLOTHING; YET WHEN HE WISHED TO GIVE THE OLD ONES AWAY NO ONE WOULD TAKE THEM BECAUSE THEY WERE SO DIRTY. THIS LAST OBSERVATION MIGHT ALSO SUGGEST THAT PARACELSUS' LACK OF INTEREST IN WOMEN WAS MUTUAL. TO CONCLUDE THIS PORTRAIT OF THE CURIOUS DOCTOR FROM HOHENHEIM, LET ME DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO SOMETHING NOT USUALLY MENTIONED IN DISCUSSIONS OF PARACELSUS. THOUGH LESS CONCRETELY DOCUMENTED THAN OPORINUS' BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES, IT REVEALS SOMETHING ABOUT THE MAN THROUGH HIS REPUTATION. PARACELSUS IT SEEMS WAS THE HISTORICAL FIGURE UPON WHOM THE FAUSTUS LEGEND WAS BASED. OF COURSE THERE WAS A HISTORICAL JOHANN FAUSTUS, A 16TH- CENTURY ASTROLOGY AND MAGICIAN. BUT SEVERAL OF THE LEGENDARY EXPLOITS OF FAUSTUS WERE MOST LIKELY DERIVED FROM THE REAL-LIFE ADVENTURES OF PARACELSUS HIMSELF. AND SINCE THE FAUST LEGEND SURVIVED EXCLUSIVELY AS A PIECE OF POPULAR FOLKLORE -- AT LEAST UNTIL THE TIME OF GOETHE -- THIS MAY GIVE US SOME SLIGHT INSIGHT INTO THE PERCEPTION AMONG COMMON PEOPLE OF THEIR LEARNED DRINKING PARTNER AND SOMETIME FELLOW-TRAVELER

. DESPITE THE UNUSUALLY RICH ASSORTMENT OF COLORFUL AND EVEN ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS THAT HAVE POPULATED OUR ACCOUNT OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION, NONE STANDS COMPARISON WITH PARACELSUS -- HE WAS THE STRANGEST OF THEM ALL. MOREOVER, PARACELSUS IS PERHAPS THE MOST DIFFICULT AND INACCESSIBLE OF ALL THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS OF THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD. HIS WORKS HAVE A QUALITY ABOUT THEM THAT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT TO CONVEY THEIR MEANING IN A REDUCED OR SCHEMATIC FORM. I THINK THE READINGS I ASKED YOU TO LOOK AT FOR TODAY INDICATEDAS MUCH. ALTHOUGH TRAINED AS A PHYSICAN, PARACELSUS WROTE NOT ONLY ONMEDICINE AND SURGERY BUT ALSO ON MINEROLOGY, ASTROLOGY, ALCHEMY, AND NATURAL HISTORY. YET HIS WORKS CANNOT BE PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD WITHOUT RECOURSE TO HIS THEOLOGY AND METAPHYSICS. HE TRAVELLED EXTENSIVELY DURING HIS LIFE AND NEVER STAYED IN ANY ONE PLACE FOR VERY LONG. AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS LIFE WERE FRIGHTENINGLY VOLATILE:CONTEMPORARIES COULD ENCOUNTER HIM ONE DAY DRESSED IN THE FINE CLOTHING OF AN ARISTOCRAT, WELL- RESPECTED AS A PHYSICIAN AND ESTEEMED AS A PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AT AN IMPORTANT UNIVERSITY. A FEW MONTHS LATER HE COULD BE MET PENNILESS, IN RAGS, WITH NOOTHER EMPLOYMENT THAN THAT OF PREACHING AS A BEGGAR AMONG PEASANTS. AND HE SEEMS TO HAVE MADE AND LOST INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS AS QUICKLY AS HE DID HIS MONEY. THE ONLY CONSTANT THING IN HIS LIFE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A TALENT FOR CONTROVERSY AND VEHMENT OPPOSITION TO THE ESTABLISHED MEDICAL COMMUNITY. IT IS PERHAPS PARACELSUS AS PHYSICIAN THAT PROVIDES THE EASIEST ACCESS TO HIS LIFE AND WORKS. FOR HIS UNCOMPROMISING OPPOSITION TO GALENIC MEDICINE WAS CERTAINLY ONE OF THE MOST CONSISTENT ELEMENTS IN HIS CHANGEABLE LIFE. AND THIS OPPOSITION WAS OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF EARLY MEDICINE. INDEED, IT HAS BEEN ARGUED THAT THE FIRST MAJOR CONFRONTATIONOF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION WAS NOT BETWEEN COPERNICUS AND PTOLEMY, BUT BETWEEN PARACELSUS AND GALEN. THUS, BY APPROACHING PARACELSUS AS A REFORMER OF THE MEDICAL TRADITION, WE CAN INTRODUCE ANOTHER OF THE GREAT SCIENTIFIC TRADITIONS BEQUEATHED BY GREEK ANTIQUITY TO THE LATIN WEST ANDTRANSFORMED DURING THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES; NAMELY, THE TRADITION OF GALENIC MEDICINE

. PARACELSUS AND PHILOSOPHIC MEDICINE. HAVING COMPLETED A SKETCH OF PARACELSUS' LIFE AND PERSONALITYLAST TIME, TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE AN ALL- TOO-BRIEF LOOK AT THE PHILOSOPHIC AND ALCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF HIS WORK. AS I WARNED YOU ON TUESDAY, THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHY OF PARACELSUS IS DIFFICULT, REMOTE FROM OUR WAY OF THINKING ABOUTSCIENCE, AND NOT EASILY ANATOMIZED. THUS THE GLIMPSE OF HIS THINKING THAT I AM ABOUT TO PRESENT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AS FRAGMENTARY AND INCOMPLETE. BY VIRTUE OF HIS TEMPERAMENT, PARACELSUS WAS ONE OF THE FEW FIGURES WE HAVE LOOKED AT FROM THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD WHO REALLY DESERVES TO BE CALLED AN REVOLUTIONARY. HIS CALL FOR THE REJECTION OF GALENIC MEDICINE AND THE CREATION OF A NEW MEDICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE BASED ON EXPERIENCE WAS OPEN, PROVACATIVE, AND MET WITH OVERT RESISTANCEFROM THE ESTABLISHED MEDICAL COMMUNITY. AND, AS YOU MAY RECALL FROM OUR DISCUSSIONS OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER, RESISTANCE TO SCIENTIFIC INNOVATION IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DISTINGUISHES A 'REVOLUTION' FROM MERE 'CHANGE' OR 'TRANSFORMATION'. YET, DESPITE PARACELSUS' RADICAL CALL TO ARMS, THE FOUNDATION OF HIS NATURAL PHILOSOPHY DERIVED FROM HIS BELIEF IN THE ANCIENTPRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDENCES BETWEEN MICROCOSM AND MACROCOSM. SUCH IDEAS HAD BEEN AROUND SINCE THE TIME OF THE PRE- SOCRATICS,AND IT OCCURRED IN A SOPHISTICATED FORM IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO AND RECEIVED ITS GREATEST DEVELOPMENT IN NEO-PLATONISM. YET IT WAS PARACELSUS WHO FIRST APPLIED SUCH IDEAS SYSTEMATICALLY IN HIS EXPLANATION OF NATURE. IN HIS VIEW OF THINGS, MAN IS SEEN AS THE PINNACLE OF CREATION, AND IN HIM IS UNITED ALL THE CONSTITUENTS OF THE NATURAL WORLD. IN PARACELSUS' OWN WORDS: "MAN IS THE FIFTH ESSENCE AND MICROCOSM AND THE SON OF THE WHOLE WORLD" (PAGEL 1982, P. 65). BECAUSE ALL IS CONTAINED WITHIN HIM, BECAUSE HE IS A MICROCOSMOF THE GREAT WORLD IN WHOM ALL PROPERTIES AND ELEMENTS ARE REFLECTED, HE CAN GAIN KNOWLEDGE OF THE ESSENCES OF NATURE THROUGH AN INTERNAL PATH. THE EXTERNAL, OR RATIONAL PATH TO KNOWLEDGE OF NATURE IS FULLOF LABOR AND LIMITED IN ITS GRASP; WHEREAS THE INNER PATH -- LOOKING WITHIN IN ORDER TO COMPREHEND WHAT IS WITHOUT -- IS DIRECT AND TOTAL SINCE ALL THINGS IN THE MACROCSOM HAVE THEIR CORRESPONDENT IN THE MICRCOSM. IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND ANTURE, WHAT IS REQUIRED IS NOT RATIOCINATION, OR LOGICAL ANALYSIS, OR REASONED ARGUMENT. RATHER, UNDERSTANDING COMES FROM "AN ACT OF SYMPATHETIC ATTRACTION BETWEEN THE INNER REPRESENTATION OF SOME PARTICULAR PART OF MAN'S OWN BEING AND ITS EXTERNAL COUNTERPART" (PAGEL 1982, P. 50). THUS KNOWLEDGE IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF A SORT INNER UNION BETWEEN THE COMPREHENDING MICROCOSM -- MAN -- AND THE COMPREHENSIVE MACROCOSM. THE COMMUNICATION OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE GREAT WORLD OF CREATION TO THE LITTLE WORLD OF MAN IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH CONSCIOUS RATIONAL THINKING, BUT THROUGH DREAMS AND TRANCES DRIVEN BY A STRONG DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE AND SYMPATHETIC IMAGINATION. IN THE VOCABULARY OF PARACELSUS, IT IS NOT THE RATIONAL MIND THAT UNDERSTANDS BUT THE 'ASTRAL BODY', THAT DEEPER STRATA BELONGING TO THE PERSON AS A WHOLE. THE 'ASTRAL BODY' WITHIN NOT ONLY TEACHES US THE ESSENCES OF NATURE, IT ALLOWS US TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE SUPER- ELEMENTARYWORLD OF THE 'ASTRA'. PARACELSUS CALLS THE 'ASTRAL BODY' THE "WISDOM OF THE FIRMAMENT" SINCE MAN HAS 'RECEIVED WISDOM, REASON AND THE ORGANIC COMPOSITION OF HIS BODY FROM THE 'ASTRA' AND THE ELEMENTS. 'ASTRA' ARE NOT ONLY THE STARS AND PLANETS BUT ALSO THE 'VIRTUES' OR -- TO USE A TERM WE HAVE ALREADY ENCOUNTERED IN A DIFFERNT CONTEXT -- THE 'ACTIVE PRINCIPLES' FOUND WITHIN ALL OBJECTS. HOW DOES THIS METAPHYSICS OF KNOWLEDGE WORK IN PRACTICE?. SUPPOSE A PARTICULAR TYPE OF PLANT IS AN EFFECTIVE AGENT FOR PURGING; THIS MEANS THAT THE 'VIRTUE' OF THE HERB IS ITS 'KNOWLEDGE' OF HOW TO BRING ABOUT THE PURGE. IN THE VOCABULARY PECULIAR TO PARACELSUS, THE NATURALIST MUST'OVERHEAR' THE INNER VIRTUE OF THE PLANT IN ORDER TO HAVE A FULLUNDERSTANDING OF ITS POWERS. BECAUSE THE NATURALIST IS A MICROCOSM, THERE IS SOMETHING WITHIN HIM THAT CORRESPONDS TO THIS PARTICULAR PLANT AND IT IS THROUGH A SYMPATHETIC ATTRACTION BETWEEN THE MICROCOSMIC REPRESENTATION AND THE MACROCOSMIC OBJECT THAT UNION -- OR KNOWLEDGE -- CAN BE ACHIEVED. WHAT IS MORE, SINCE THIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE PLANT'S VIRTUE IS GAINED INTUITIVELY -- THROUGH A SYMPATHETIC 'LISTENING' TO ITS INNER ESSENCE -- THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED IS IDENTICAL TO THE 'KNOWLEDGE' CONTAINED WITHIN THE PLANT. NOW AS I HAVE SAID, THE BASIC IDEA OF THE MICROCOMS- MACROCOSMHAD BEEN AROUND LONG BEFORE PARACELSUS CAME ON THE SCENCE. IN FACT, IT FORMED THE BASIS OF MUCH THE ANIMISTIC, MAGICAL WORLDVIEW WE HAVE SEEN IN CONNECTION WITH THE 'CORPUS HERMETICUM'. THE DIFFERENCE LIES IN THE CONSISTENT AND SYSTEMATIC WAY IN WHICH PARACELSUS APPLIED THESE IDEAS TO NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND MEDICINE. ALTHOUGH THERE ARE MANY ASPECTS OF PARACELSUS' PHILOSOPHY WE COULD PURSUE -- HIS RE-INTERPRETATION OF TRADITIONAL ASTROLOGY, HIS INVOLVEMENT IN BOTANY AND MINEROLOGY, OR HIS EPISTEMOLOGY BASED ON A SYMPATHETIC 'OVERHERING' OF INNER VIRTUES -- I WOULD LIKE TO TURN BRIEFLY TO HIS MEDICAL AND CHEMCIAL PHILOSOPHY. PARACELSUS UTTERLY REJECTED THE HUMORAL THEORY OF HEALTH AND DISEASE, AND HE RARELY LOST AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONDEMN ALMOST ANY ASPECT OF GALENIC MEDICINE. HE INSISTED REPEATEDLY THAT KNOWLEDGE OF DISEASE AND CURES MUST BE OBTAINED FROM EXPERIENCE AND FROM PRACTICE, NOT FROM THE ERROR-FILLED BOOKS OF THE UNIVERSITIES. PARACELSUS WAS HIMSELF WIDELY-TRAVELLED AND HAD GAINED CONSIDERABLE EXPERIENCE THROUGH HIS SERVICE AS ARMY SURGEON AND PHYSICAN TO A HOST OF PATIENTS. AND WHETHER IT WAS THROUGH HIS KEEN OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OR THROUGH HIS 'ASTRAL BODY,' PARACELSUS DID ACHIEVEA NUMBER OF IMPORTANT DIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC INSIGHTS. HIS LONG-TIME ASSOCIATION WITH MINING LED HIM TO STUDY MINERS'DISEASES AND WAS THE FIRST TO DESCRIBE THESE AS OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES. HE WAS ALSO THE FIRST TO RECOGNIZE THE CONGENITAL FORM OF SYPHILIS AND TO DISTINGUISH THIS FROM SYPHILIS CONTRACTED THROUGH SEXUAL CONTACT. AT THIS TIME SYPHILIS, ALSO CALLED THE 'FRENCH DISEASE' -- AT LEASTBY EVERYBODY EXCEPT THE FRENCH, WHO CALLED IT THE ITALIAN DISEASE -- WAS TYPICALLY TREATED WITH DOSES OF MERCURY. UNFORTUNATELY, THE CUSTOMARY DOSAGES WERE SUFFICENTLY LARGE TO CAUSE MERCURY POISONING, THUS ONLY COMPOUNDING THE POOR VICTIM'S MISERY. AND SINCE SYPHILIS IS AN EXCEPTIONALLY PROTEAN DISEASE, ABLE TOASSUME A NUMBER OF MANIFESTATIONS DEPENDING ON WHICH TYPE OF TISSUE THE GERM EVENTUALLY INFECTS, THE SYMPTONS CAUSED BYMERCURY POISONING ONLY ADDED TO THE DIFFICULTY OF DIAGNOSIS. YET PARACELSUS WAS ABLE TO ISOLATE THE VARIOUS SYMPTOMS OF SYPHILIS FROM THOSE OF MERCURY POISONING. AND HE REALIZED THAT MERCURY COULD BE EFFECTIVE AGAINST SYPHILIS IF THE DOSAGE WERE REDUCED AND USED UNDER STRICT CONTROLS. PARACELSUS WAS ALSO THE FIRST TO GIVE A SERIOUS MEDICAL ACCOUNT OF CHOREA, A NERVOUS DISORDER RESULTING IN UNCONTROLABLE TWITCHING OF THE ARMS AND LEGS -- HENCE THE COLLOQUIAL NAMES OF ST. VITUS' DANCE AND THE 'DANCING MANIA'. IN ADDITION, HE SAW A LINK BETWEEN GOITER, THE SWELLING OF THE THYROID GLANDS CAUSED BY IODINE DEFICIENCY, AND CRETINISM, THE ARRESTED MENTAL AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT CAUSED BY A DISEASEOF THE THYROID. AND HE SPECULATED THAT THESE PROBLEMS WERE IN TURN LINKED TO THE MINERAL CONTENT OF THE DRINKING WATER OF THE PLACES WHERE THESE DISEASES WERE ENDEMIC. PARACELSUS NOT ONLY IDENTIFIED AND DESCRIBED DISEASES, HE PUT FORTH A NEW THEORETICAL EXPLANATION OF DISEASE; AND THIS OF COURSE WAS PART OF HIS REVOLT AGAINST THE GALENIC MEDICINE OF THE SCHOOLS. AS I MENTIONED LAST TIME, THE ANCIENT HUMORAL THEORY OF DISEASE RESTED ON THE NOTION OF FOUR HUMORS; BLOOD, PHLEGM, BLACK AND YELLOW BILE. DISEASE WAS NOTHING MORE THAN AN IMBALANCE OF HUMORS: EITHERAN EXCESS OR A DEFICIENCY OF A PARTICULAR HUMOR BROUGHT. THERAPY CONSISTED CHIEFLY IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESTORE THE BALANCE, TO BRING THE PARTICULAR CONSTITUTION OF THE PATIENT BACK INTO ITS PREVIOUS HARMONIOUS STATE. THUS, IN ONE SENSE, THERE COULD BE ONLY ONE TYPE OF DISEASE; NAMELY THE DISTEMPER CAUSED BY A DISEQUILIBRIUM OF HUMORS. YET THERE COULD BE AS MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF HUMORAL IMBALANCES AS THERE ARE INDIVIDUAL PATIENTS. AND THIS MADE MEDICINE THE ART OF TREATING THE INDIVIDUAL PATIENT AND NOT THE DISEASE PER SE. INDEED, IN HUMORAL THEORY, DISEASE WAS NOT CONCEIVED AS AN ENTITY INDEPENDENT OF THE PATIENT. THOUGH ITS SYMPTOMS COULD MANIFEST THEMSELVES IN A PARTICULAR PART OF THE PATIENT'S BODY, THE DISEASE ITSELF, ACCORDING TO GALENIC THEORY, WAS NOT LOCALIZED OR EVEN LOCALIZABLE, SINCE IT WAS A MANIFESTATION OF THE ENTIRE BODY'S HUMORAL IMBALANCE. THUS DISEASE WAS NOT CONCEIVED AS HAVING ITS OWN DISTINCTIVE ANATOMICAL AFFECTS. NOR WAS IT CONCEIVED OF AS HAVING A SPECIFIC CAUSAL AGENT THATCOULD BE SEPARATED FROM THE PATIENT AND CLASSIFIED IN AND OF ITSELF. PARACELSUS REJECTED THESE NOTIONS AND INSTEAD INSISTED THAT DISEASE HAD AN EXTERNAL CAUSE AND WAS LOCALIZED. THE EXTERNAL CAUSES HE WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY WERE TYPICALLY IN THE MINERAL OR CHEMICAL WORLD, OR IN THE ATMOSPHERE. THUS THE AGENTS OF DISEASE WERE SUBSTANCES IN THEIR OWN RIGHT AND NOT MERELY MANIFESTATIONS OF THE IMBALANCE OF HUMORS. THESE AGENTS WORK THEIR HARM AS FOREIGN BODIES PRESENT IN SPECIFIC LOCATIONS IN THE HUMAN BODY WHERE THEY "TAKE POSSESSION" OF THAT PART OF THE BODY AND INTERFER WITH ITS NORMAL FUNCTIONING. THUS PARACELSUS' CONCEPTION OF DISEASE IS ESSENTIALLY THE MODERN ONE; NAMELY, THAT DISEASE IS CAUSED BY A MATERIAL AGENTAND IS SOMEHOW PARASITIC ON THE BODY. HOWEVER, IT SEEMS PARACELSUS NEVER CONCEIVED OF DISEASE AS SOMETHING CAUSED BY ORGANIC AGENTS; FOR HIM THEY WERE 'INORAGANIC' TOXINS -- INSOFAR AS WE CAN USE SUCH ANACHRONISTIC TERMS TO DESCRIBE THE HIGHLY ANIMISTIC WORLD OF PARACELSUS. THIS NEW CONCEPTION OF DISEASE NECESSARILY LED PARACELSUS TO NEW MODES OF THERAPY. SINCE THE CULPRIT IS NOT IMBALANCE OF THE HUMORS OF THE HUMANBODY, THERE WAS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR SUBJECTING THE ALREADY-SICK BODY TO FURTHER INJURY. YET THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT GALENIC PHYSICANS DID WHEN THEY ATTEMPTED TO RESTORE HUMORAL HARMONY THROUGH THEIR REGIMENOF SWEATING, PURGING, BLOOD-LETTING, AND INDUCED VOMTING

IV. PARACELSUS, ALCHEMY, AND IATROCHEMISTRY. SINCE IN PRACELSUS' THEORY, DISEASE HAD A CHEMICAL OR MINERAL CAUSE, THE CURE MUST ALSO BE CHEMICAL. THUS HE BAGAN A SEARCH FOR SPECIFIC CHEMICALS WHOSE 'INNER ESSENCE' CORRESPONDED TO, OR COULD COUNTERACT, THE AGENTS OF DISEASE. HIS METHOD WAS ESSENTIALLY THAT OF CHEMICAL ANLYSIS; THAT IS, REDUCING NATURAL SUBSTANCES TO THEIR COMPONENT PARTS. THUS, WHEN WE CALL PARACELSUS AN ALCHEMIST, WE MUST QUALIFY THIS LABEL BY POINTING OUT THAT FOR HIM ALCHEMY WAS THE SEARCH FOR NEW NON-TOXIC METALS TO BE USED IN MEDICAL THERAPY. HE WAS NOT SEARCHING FOR THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE OR ATTEMPTING THE TRANSMUTATION OF BASE METALS INTO GOLD. PARACELSUS WAS THE FIRST TO DEVISE A CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FORCHEMICALS. AND IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING OUT HIS OWN MATTER THEORY, HE REJECTED THE FOUR-ELEMENT THEORY OF ARISTOTLE. AS AN ALTERNATE SCHEME HE PROPOSED A SYSTEM BASED ON THREE PRINCIPLES: SALT, SULFUR, AND MERCURY. THESE ARE PRINCIPLES AND NOT ELEMENTS -- HENCE THEY DO NOT REPLACE THE ANCIENT ELEMENTS OF EARTH, AIR, WATER, AND FIRE -- ANDTHUS ARE NOT TO BE THOUGHT OF AS MATTER. THEY ARE PRINCIPLES THAT DETERMINE THE STATE OF MATTER: SALT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SOLID STATE OF MATTER, SULFUR FOR ITS COMBUSTIBLE STATE, AND MERCURY FOR ITS VAPOROUS OR FLUID STATE. MERCURY ALSO CORRESPONDS TO THE HIGHEST SPIRITUAL STATE; SALT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES; AND SULFUR IS INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN THE THE SPIRIT (OR MERCURY) AND THE SOLID (OR SALT). MERCURY, AS SPIRIT, IS WHAT ANIMATES MATTER AND GIVES IT IS SPECIFIC FORM AND ESSENTIAL FUNCTION; IT IS, IN PARACELSUS' WORDS, "A SPIRITUAL, INVISIBLE, INCOMPREHENSIBLE THING" THAT MAKES DEAD THINGS ALIVE AND RESPONSIVE. IN PARACELSIAN MEDICINE, SALT WAS MORE THAN THE PRINCIPLE OF SOLIDITY. IT WAS ALSO THE AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MORDID ANATOMICAL CHANGE; FOR EXAMPLE, PARACELSUS OFTEN REFERRED TO AN ULCER AS A 'SALT MINE'. GIVEN THIS AMDITTEDLY PARTIAL VIEW OF THE MEDICAL AND CHEMICAL PHILOSOPHY OF PARACELSUS, WHAT CAN WE SAY ABOUT HIS SIGNIFICANCE FOR HIS CONTEMPORARIES AND FOR THE HISTORY OF EARLY MOERN SCIENCE?. LET ME QUOTE AT LENGTH WALTER PAGEL, THE FOREMOST EXPOSITER AND BIOGRAPHER OF PARACELSUS. PAGEL WRITES: "PARACELSUS WAS A GREAT DOCTOR AND AN ABLE CHEMIST. THAT HE ACHEIVED LITTLE IN HIS LIFETIME (APART FROM HIS SUCCESS IN HIS PRACTICE AND IN THE LABORATORY) MAY BE ATTRIBUTEDIN PART TO HIS UNCOMPROMISINGLY DESTRUCTIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD TRADITION. HIS VIEWS ENCOMPASSED BOTH ASTROLOGICAL SUPERSTITIONS AND QUITE . . . MODERN DESCRIPTIONS OF DISEASES, TOGETHER WITH SHREWD APPRAISALS OF THEIR NATURE AND CAUSES. [YET] HE REMAINED IGNORANT OF A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT SURGICAL METHODS THAT WERE PRACTICED WIDELY BY HIS CONTEMPORARIES. . . . HE WAS INTENT ON TESTING ALL REPORTED OBSERVATIONS, NO MATTERHOW UNLIKELY THEY MIGHT BE. . . . WHAT IS IN THE END MOST REMARKABLE IN PARACELSUS' WORK IS THAT HE ACHIEVED REAL ADVANCES IN CHEMISTRY AND MEDICINE THROUGH THE REVIVAL AND ORIGINAL DEVELOPMENT OF LORE THAT HAD BEEN KEPT ALIVE ONLY ATA VERY LOW LEVEL. THIS LORE, ALCHEMY, ASTROLOGY, AND THE 'PROHIBITED ARTS' . . . [BECAME] IN PARACELSUS' HANDS, IF NOT SCIENTIFIC, AT LEAST PROTO-SCIENTIFIC.". THERE OCCURRED ABOUT 30 YEARS AFTER PARACELSUS' DEATH, A POWERFUL REVIVAL OF HIS MEDICAL AND CHEMICAL IDEAS. MOTIVATED LARGELY BY THE NEED TO EXPLORE ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, THIS MOVEMENT PROVIDED ONE OF THE RICHEST MINES FOR THE SCIENCE OF CHEMISTRY THAT WAS TO EMERGE IN THE LATER HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY. AND, AS WE HAVE SEEN, THERE ARE MORE THAN MERE TRACES OF THE PARACELIAN PROGRAM HIDDEN IN THE WORKS OF ISAAC NEWTON