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Reading the Book of Nature

Frontmatter Wednesday, April 15, 2009 3:01 PM

Habent sua fata libelli

Volume 41of

Sixteenth Century Essays & Studies

Raymond A. Mentzer, General Editor

Composed by Thomas Jefferson University Press at Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri 63501

Cover Art and Title Page by Teresa Wheeler, TSU DesignerManufactured by Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Body text is set in Galliard Old Style by Carter & Cone, 10/13


Copyright © 1998 Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.All rights reservedPrinted in the United States of America

This book has been brought to publicationwith the generous support of

Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Reading the book of nature : the other side of the Scientific Revolution /Debus, Allen G., and Michael T. Walton, eds.

p. cm. — (Sixteenth century essays and studies : v. 41)“The present volume is composed of papers read at a series of sessions

centered on the history of renaissance and early modern science and med-icine held in St. Louis at the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference 24–27October 1996”–Pref.

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 0-940474-47-6 (alk. paper; casebound)ISBN 0-940474-48-4 (alk. paper; paperback)1. Medicine–History–16th century–Congresses. 2. Alchemy–History–

16th century–Congresses. 3. Science–History–16th century–Congresses.I. Debus, Allen G. II. Walton, Michael Thomson, 1945– . III. SixteenthCentury Studies Conference (1996, St. Louis, Mo.) IV. Series.R146.R43 1997509'.031–DC21 97–33101

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CONTENTS

Preface vii

Michael T. Walton

Genesis and Chemistry in the Sixteenth Century

1

Jole Shackelford

Seeds with a Mechanical Purpose: Severinus’ Semina and Seventeenth-Century Matter Theory

15

Charles D. Gunnoe, Jr.

Erastus and Patracelsianism: Theological Motifs in Thomas Erastus’ Rejection of Paracelsian Natural Philosophy

45

Bruce T. Moran

Libavius the Paracelsian? Monstrous Novelties, Institutions, and the Norms of Social Virtue

67

William R. Newman

Alchemical and Baconian Views on the Art-Nature Division

81

Stephen A. McKnight

The Wisdom of the Ancients and Francis Bacon’s

New Atlantis

91

Nicholas H. Clulee

John Dee and the Paracelsians

111

Ana Maria Alfonso-Goldfarb

An “Older” View about Matter in John Wilkins’ “Modern”Mathematical Magick

133

Allen G. Debus

Paracelsus and the Delayed Scientific Revolution in Spain: A Legacy of Philip II

147

ScientificbkTOC Wednesday, April 15, 2009 3:01 PM


6

Martha Baldwin

Danish Medicines for the Danes and the Defense of IndigenousMedicines

163

Lawrence M. Principe

Diversity in Alchemy: The Case of Gaston “Claveus” DuClo, a Scholastic Mercurialist Chrysopoeian

181

Thomas Willard

The Many Worlds of Jean D’Espagnet

201

Kathleen Wellman

Talismans, Incubi, Divination, and the

Book of M*

: The Bureaud’adresse Confronts the Occult

215

Ursula Klein

Nature and Art in Seventeenth-Century French Chemical Textbooks

239

Vera Cecília Machline

The Contribution of Laurent Joubert’s

Traité du Ris

to Sixteenth-Century Physiology of Laughter

251

Contributors

265

Index

268

ScientificbkTOC Wednesday, April 15, 2009 3:01 PM

7

P|eFACE

T

HE

PRESENT

VOLUME

IS

COMPOSED

OF

PAPERS

read at a series of sessionscentered on the history of Renaissance and early modern science and medicineheld in Saint Louis at the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, October 24–27, 1996. These sessions were organized at the request of Robert V. Schnuckerby Allen G. Debus and Michael T. Walton in part to bring together a group ofscholars with similar interests from several disciplines and in part to presentthis work to the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, which traditionallyhas had relatively few papers on science and medicine at its meetings.

The history of science has changed considerably over the course of thepast few decades. Forty years ago the emphasis was on the Scientific Revolu-tion of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but interpreted largely on thedevelopment of the physics of motion and astronomy from the publication ofthe

De revolutionibus orbium

of Copernicus (1543) to the

Principia mathematica

of Isaac Newton (1687). To a large extent the historian’s task was thought tobe a positivistic enterprise in which earlier science was evaluated in relation tomodern science. The work of Kepler, Galileo, and other predecessors to New-ton was examined carefully to seek out the “modern” elements of theirthought. There was far less interest in the biological sciences, with the excep-tion of William Harvey because of his description of the circulation of theblood in the

De motu cordis

(1628). The background to his anatomical workwas recognized in a series of great Paduan anatomists beginning with AndreasVesalius (whose monumental

De fabrica

was also published in 1543) and lead-ing to Hieronymus Fabricius, who taught Harvey as a student. Thus, as thedevelopment of classical mechanics was presented as a series of positive stepsleading from Copernicus to Newton, the discovery of the circulation of theblood was presented as a “ladder of success” stretching from Vesalius to Har-vey. In short, the Scientific Revolution was presented largely in terms of themathematicized physical sciences, but with a nod to one development in thebiological sciences. As for the history of medicine, there was relatively littleinterest expressed by historians of science. The founder of the discipline in thiscentury, George Sarton, believed that the biological sciences stood far below

Preface Wednesday, April 15, 2009 3:02 PM


8

the mathematical sciences, and he believed that medicine was lower still.Because he was convinced that medicine was a practical art, he was distressedby those medical historians who claimed that medicine is the real foundationof the other sciences. Indeed, he wrote that “the main misunderstandings con-cerning the history of science are due to historians of medicine who have thenotion that medicine is the center of science.”

1

But what of other areas of interest to scholars interested in the Renais-sance and early modern periods? The research of Lynn Thorndike, Paul OskarKristeller, Frances Yates, and Walter Pagel had pointed to the Neoplatonicrevival and the prevalence of interest in natural magic, Hermeticism, andalchemy. Sarton felt that these subjects could largely be neglected. He wrote:

The historian of science cannot devote much attention to the study of super-stition and magic, that is, of unreason, because this does not help him verymuch to understand human progress. Magic is essentially unprogressive andconservative; science is essentially progressive; the former goes backward; thelatter, forward. We cannot possibly deal with both movements at once exceptto indicate their constant strife, and even that is not very instructive, becausethat strife has hardly varied throughout the ages.

2

In his very influential

The Origins of Modern Science 1300–1800

(1949) Her-bert Butterfield wrote that historians who specialize in alchemy “seem to beunder the wrath of God themselves; for like those who write on the Bacon-Shakespeare controversy or on Spanish politics, they seem to become tinc-tured with the kind of lunacy they set out to describe.”

3

Even Marie Boas titledthe chapter on the mystical natural philosophies of the Renaissance in her

TheScientific Renaissance 1450–1630

(1962) “Ravished by Magic.”

4

Only in the past thirty years has more attention been given to these sub-jects due mainly to the work of Dame Frances Yates and Walter Pagel. In par-ticular Pagel’s

Paracelsus: An Introduction to Philosophical Medicine in the Era ofthe Renaissance

(1958) proved to be an influential work for those interested inan alternative approach to the period of the Scientific Revolution. Many ofthe natural magicians and Paracelsians opposed ancient tradition and sought anew observational base for the understanding of nature. While it is true thattheirs was not “modern” science, they certainly did contribute to modern

1

George Sarton,

History of Science: Ancient Science through the Golden Age of Greece

(Cam-bridge: Harvard University Press, 1952), xi.

2

George Sarton,

Introduction to the History of Science,

3 vols. (Baltimore: Williams andWilkins, 1927–1947), 1:19.

3

Herbert Butterfield,

The Origins of Modern Science 1300–1800

(New York: Macmillan, 1952), 98.

4

Marie Boas,

The Scientific Renaissance 1450–1630

(New York: Harper, 1962), 166–196.


Preface

9

science because of specific discoveries and concepts, and because of theirdebates both with the proponents of ancient tradition and with seventeenth-century mechanists. Indeed, they played a significant role in the methodolog-ical debates crucial to the rise of a new science. Here Paracelsus (1493–1541)may be seen as a major figure. A younger contemporary of Copernicus (1473–1543) and an older contemporary of Vesalius (1514–1564), Paracelsus producedan extensive corpus of writings touching on many topics, among them of spe-cial importance, the joining of chemistry and medicine. He rejected theancient authors and relied on observational evidence, but he distrusted math-ematics and sought truth in the macrocosm-microcosm analogy. The influ-ence of Paracelsus extended to disciples over a period of more than a century.They developed a Chemical Philosophy that was fully as well known to theircontemporaries as the Mechanical Philosophy, which is much better known tohistorians of science today. This Chemical Philosophy resulted in heateddebates not only between the Paracelsian chemical physicians and the Galen-ists, but also between various sects of chemists and mechanists who sought todevelop a mathematically based rather than a chemically based interpretationof nature. The complex nature of these various strands of chemical thoughtare evident in current research detailing the alchemical interests of Isaac New-ton and Robert Boyle, who previously were thought to be exemplars only ofthe new mechanical science of the seventeenth century.

As we probe deeper into these texts we find also that their ramificationsextend beyond the sciences into related cultural, political, and intellectualspheres. A large proportion of the Paracelsian authors were Protestant ratherthan Roman Catholic. As a result we find opposition based upon religiousviews—as well as opposition from the educational establishment thatremained largely wedded to the ancients. Both in England and France politi-cal factions sought to support either the chemists or the ancients in a bid forcontrol of medical organizations. Here and in other cases we can see a result-ing debate on many levels.

The papers from this conference reflect current research in this area. Someof these papers center on specific technical aspects of Renaissance alchemy,chemistry, and Paracelsian thought, but others deal with the impact of thisthought on other areas ranging from religious and political considerations tothe role of alchemy in the methodology of the history of science. The volumebegins appropriately with the beginning itself, a paper on the profound influ-ence of the creation account in Genesis on sixteenth- and seventeenth-centuryscientists. Michael T. Walton’s account opens with a Renaissance Jewishscholar, Ovadiah Sforno, whose commentary on the Pentateuch dealt with the



10

creation of the earth and the elements while referring to chemical terminol-ogy. Although Sforno accepted many aspects of Aristotelian thought, the nextauthor discussed, Paracelsus, challenged the Greek authors at every turn. Forhim the very basis of understanding should be a belief in God and the biblicalaccount of creation which in practice could be evidenced in a proper union ofmedicine and chemistry. His was a “Mosaical” philosophy, and Walton fol-lows this concept through the work of the Dane, Peter Severinus, the English-man, R. Bostocke, and the German, Oswald Croll, all of whom sought a trueChristian philosophy that in practice emphasized chemistry and medicine.Robert Fludd and Jean Baptiste van Helmont, two very different chemicalphilosophers, continued to base their philosophy on the creation account, andeven Robert Boyle founded his concept of corpuscularian matter on thedivine creation.

Like Walton, Jole Shackelford views the influence of the chemical philos-ophy over a long period, pointing to the sixteenth-century iatrochemist andParacelsian, Peter Severinus, whose work was read widely and may be seen tohave influenced Robert Boyle a century later. Shackelford centers his discus-sion on the

semina

or seeds of Severinus which were developed by him into acomplete biological philosophy, one in which they were pictured as the prin-ciples from which bodies arise and to which they return. Again, there was achemical basis for this since their nature was determined by stripping off theirouter husk to reveal their inner virtue. This was to be accomplished by chem-ical means. Shackelford also points to the use of the term “mechanical” by Sev-erinus when referring to chemical activity on a seminal level, thus noting thedanger of using this term only in reference to an atomistic philosophy. Theinfluence of Severinus’ work was considerable and Shackelford notes the useof the

semina

by many authors, but pays special attention to the English sceneconcluding with Robert Boyle, whose corpuscular views and use of a“mechanical philosophy” are shown to have been influenced by Severinus.

From the persistent Paracelsian concepts that link the sixteenth- andseventeenth-century scientific and medical literature, Charles D. Gunnoe, Jr.,turns to arguments used to counter this new medical and philosophicalschool. Here he rightly compares the religious reformation initiated by Mar-tin Luther with the reformation in natural philosophy begun by Paracelsus.The rapid spread of Paracelsian thought after 1550 brought charges of heresywhich culminated in the

Disputations on the New Medicine of Paracelsus

(1571–1573) of Thomas Erastus. Gunnoe takes up two points, Paracelsus’ views onthe creation, and his views on Adam’s flesh and the resurrection. Erastusattacked Paracelsus first for teaching that matter was uncreated, a heretical


Preface

11

viewpoint. No better was the Swiss reformer’s belief in a threefold division ofman (elemental, sidereal, and divine) which, for him, helped to explain theinterrelation of the macrocosm and the microcosm. But for Erastus this meantthat the resurrection would only be of the divine part of the body rather thanthe body in its entirety. Even worse was the fact that to save Mary from theoriginal sin, Paracelsus taught that Mary was not descended from Adam, butfrom Abraham. From these examples it is clear that the religious implicationsof the Paracelsian corpus were fully as inflammatory to sixteenth-centuryscholars as were his views on natural magic, chemistry, and medicine.

Bruce Moran’s paper deals with the debate between Andreas Libavius andPierre Le Paulmier. The latter, a member of the Parisian Faculty of Medicine,had attacked Libavius as an alchemist and Paracelsian—this at a time when themedical school at Paris had rejected Paracelsian medicine and chemistry, insist-ing on reliance on Hippocratic and Galenic texts. Accordingly the Parisianphysicians rejected the work of their colleague Le Paulmier, who had advo-cated use for chemistry in medicine that seemed to reflect alchemy. This hehad called

Galenochymia

. As for Libavius, he had attacked Paracelsus himself,but at the same time he had called for practical chemical preparations. At timeshe had accepted alchemical procedures and he seems to have accepted someaccounts of the philosophers’ stone. Although Libavius may have been uniquein his own definition of the proper use of chemistry and pharmacy in medicalpractice, his insistence on the proper use of words and clear language indeedsets him apart from many other chemical authors in this period. In short, thedebate between Libavius and Le Paulmier warns us that we cannot read thetexts of this period with preconceived notions of what key words mean.Rather, it is essential that we try to understand what those words meant totheir authors.

With William R. Newman we turn to a group of papers related to Englishauthors. Newman emphasizes the work of Francis Bacon, who had beenneglected by historians of science for many years, but has recently been namedas a major figure in ending the Aristotelian belief that art and nature “were dis-tinct and inviolable realms which could not interact.” In this way Bacon is pre-sented in the work of Daston, Dear, and Pérez-Ramon as key players in theestablishment of the new science. Newman demolishes this view through thecitation of medieval alchemical texts that reject the belief that art and naturewere distinct. These alchemists were both Aristotelian in their views on natu-ral philosophy and proponents of observational and experimental studies. Inshort, it was not necessary to attack Aristotle to erase the division of art andnature since these alchemists saw no such dividing line. There seems little


269

INDEX

academies, Bureau d’addresse, 215-38Aelianus, Claudius, 141Agrippa von Nettesheim, Heinrich Cor-

nelius (1486-1535), 2n2air

Helmont’s theories of, 11-12pollution of, and disease, 152-53and Wilkin’s perpetual lamps, 141

Albert the Great, 188, 194alchemy

and art-nature dichotomy, 81-91and astronomy, 125attacked by Avicenna, 85-86in Bacon’s writing, 93-94and Dee’s

Monas Hieroglyphica,

124diversity in, 181-200of DuClo, 181-200Fire of Nature elixir, 72Jungian approach to, 212Lullian, 208and Paracelsianism, 67-79pharmaceutical, 73-79scholastic, 195-96and theosophy, 119varieties of, 195-96vessels of, 128in Wilkin’s

Mathematical Magick,

136and World Soul, 205

Alfonso-Goldfarb, Ana Maria, 133-46, 264

Alfred of Sareshel, 86alphabet of nature, (Dee’s monas), 121Alvarez del Corral, Antonio,

Hippocrates Vindicato

(1713), 158American Indians, and Paracelsianism,

63American Philosophical Society, 199

anatomy, as taught by Bartholin, 174Anaxagoras of Clazomenae (ca. 500-428

BC), 54Ancient Wisdom, in Bacon’s writings,

91, 94-97Angel Angeleres, Buenaventura, 154Anglicus, Richardus,

Correctio fatuorum,

90

anthropology, 57-59Antonioli, Roland, 253apocalypticism, and millenarianism, 92-

94

archeus,

as mechanical agent, 25, 43, 210Archimedes, 135Aristotelianism

and alchemy, 86and art-nature dichotomy, 82, 240and emotions, 260-61of Erastus, 55and modern science, 83opinions about, 56and optics, 84, 84n16and Paracelsianism, 5, 44, 60and Sforno’s commentary on the Pen-

tateuch, 3and transmutation of metals, 188-89

Aristotleand perpetual lamps, 140

Physics

II, 82ff.Arnald of Villanova, 89artisans/craftsmen, and Boyle’s philoso-

phy, 42, 42n89art-nature dichotomy

and artificial mixtures, 247-49and Francis Bacon, 81-91in French chemical textbooks, 239-50and the occult, 229-30, 234-36

DebusWaltonIdx Page 269 Wednesday, April 15, 2009 3:15 PM


270

Ashmole, Elias, 37, 146gloss on Norton’s

Ordinall of Alchemy,

37astringents, terminology for, 77astronomy, and alchemy, 125atomism/atomists

D’Espagnet, 205in England, 15Gassendi, 12, 17, 34, 222Lucretius, 19Mosaification of, 12-13Spigelius, 174

Augustine (saint), 2n2and perpetual lamps, 137, 138, 139and seminal theory, 19

Avicenna (980-1037), 85-86

Bacon, Francis (1561-1626), 137, 152and art-nature debate, 81-91the Great Instauration, 103-5influenced by mechanical arts, 81and Platonism, 98-101and Servinus’ philosophy, 31n45, 31-32vision of human restoration, 105, 109writings of, 91-110

Advancement of Learning

(1605), 94, 95, 96

De...augmentis scientiarum

(1623), 95

De sapientia verterum

(1609), 94, 95, 96, 98, 99

“Discourse Touching the Happy Unions...” (1603), 95

Instauratio Magna

(1620), 91n1, 107 (fig. 1)

New Atlantis,

97-101, 108-9

Sylva Sylvarum

(1627), 108 (fig. 2)Baglivi (mechanist), 157Bakhtin, Mikhail M., 252Baldwin, Martha, 163-80balneology (science of therapeutic

baths), 33Bartholin, Caspar (1585-1629), 173-74Bartholin, Thomas (1616-1680)

Acta medica & philosophia Hafniensa,

175-76

Bartholin, Thomas (

continued)Cista medica hafniensis,

175

De medicina danorum domestica

(1666), 163-80

Batsdorff, Heinrich von (aka Reibe-hand), 186

Bayle, Pierre, 207Becher, Johann Joachim, 197Beguin, Jean (ca. 1550-ca. 1620), 239Bennett, J. A., 41Bensalem, in

New Atlantis,

97, 101, 104Bernard Becker Medical Library, 47, 53,

57Bertrand, Alexis, 254

Beryllisticus

(one who has visions in crys-tals), 115

Bibleand chemistry, 1-14, 19, 19n8commentaries of Sforno, 3-14Genesis, 1-14, 4n5, 19, 55Psalms, 4and

semina

theory, 21-22Vulgate, and apocalypticism, 93

biology, in Severinus’ philosophy, 27

Blas

(wind), 10-11blood circulation, 153, 157, 159bloodletting, 155-56Bodenstein, Adam von, 113bodily stones, and

semina

theory, 36-37Boerhaave, Herman, 144Boix y Moliner, Miguel Marcelino

Hippocrates defendido

(1711), 156

Hippocrates aclarado

(1716), 157, 158

Book of M*,

and the occult, 233-36Borch, Olaf, 179, 210Bostock, Robert (d. 1656), 7, 56-57

Difference between the Anncient Phi-sicke...

(1585), 7, 30, 116Bostocke, Richard.

See

Bostock, Robertbotanicals, 164-80Boë Sylvius, Franciscus de la, 157Boyle, Robert (1627-1691), 158, 197, 239

corpuscular chemistry of, 12-13, 15

Excellency of Theology

(1674), 64-65and Francis Bacon, 88-89natural philosophy of, 12-14


Index

271

Boyle, Robert (

continued

)

Sceptical Chymist,

12-13, 39, 183, 190-91seminal forms and mechanical philos-

ophy, 38-44

Usefulness of Experimental Philosophy,

88-89

Bravo de Sobremonte, Gaspar (1610-1683),

Resolutiones Medicae,

151Bruno, Giordano, 201, 206-8Bult, Conrad, 65Bureau d’addresse, and the occult, 215-38

Cabala/cabalistic philosophyin Bacon’s writing, 94cabala of the real, 121, 129and creation, 2n2of Dee, 121, 124-25of Fludd, 8-9of Helmont, 10-12and magic, 231-32and Neoplatonism, 4of Paracelsus, 6

Cabriada, Juan de,

Carta filosofica, med-ico-chymica

(1687), 153-55Calder, Ruth, 253Camden, William, 137carbuncles, 141Cardano, Girolamo, 140Castiglione, Baldassare (1478-1529), 255Catholic Church

and Paracelsianism, 149and Spanish science, 160-61

Charles II (Spain), 151Charleton, Walter, 17, 27, 32, 38

Physiologia Epicuro-Gassendo-Charleto-niana

(1654), 39

Spiritus Gorgonicus,

36

Ternary of Paradoxes

(1650), 36chemiatria.

See

iatrochemistrychemical medicine.

See

iatrochemistrychemical philosophy

and Boyle, 38-44of Coçar, 150ff.and creation, 153of Dorn, 126-27, 128 (fig. 10)of Le Febvre, 241-45

chemical philosophy (

continued

)in France, 33-35, 67-79, 239-50and Genesis, 1-14of Juanini, 152legitimization of, 77-78of Libavius, 70-79and natural philosophy, 1-2of Palacios, 158-59of Palmarius, 67-79and Paracelsian worldview, 148-49professional boundaries and institu-

tional virtues, 74-76and Severinus, 16-44source of, 7in Spain, 147-61

chemistry, ancient, 136Child, Robert, 37chocolate, and longevity, 152Christianity

Apostles’ Creed and Paracelsianism, 63

baptism, and resurrection, 59and medical chemistry, 7and natural philosophy, 22-23, 56-57in

New Atlantis,

97, 103and pagan philosophy, 2n2and Paracelsianism, 6, 149and Protestant natural philosophy,

45-65and

semina

theory, 19-22christology, of Paracelsus, 61, 62, 63Christopher of Paris, 210

chrysopoeia

(gold-making), 181-82Chymeriastes (French editor), 205civil philosophy, 94-95Clave, Estienne de, 239Claves, Gaston le Deux.

See

DuClo, Gas-ton

Clavius, Christopher, 83Clericuzio, Antonio, 16, 28, 31, 37, 88Coçar, Llorenç,

Duaikgys veris neducubae fontes indicans,

150coffee, condemned in Denmark, 160,

1778Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento

Científico e Tecnológico, 264



272

CoordenaçTILao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), 264

copyright, of John Dee, 119corpuscular chemistry, of Boyle, 12-14,

15, 38-44cosmology

and emotions, 259

plures mundi

of D’Espagnet, 202-14Council of Castile, 148Crato von Krafftheim, Johannes, 48, 50-

51creation theories

and Cabalistic philosophy, 2n2, 10-13and chemical philosophy, 153Dee’s monad symbol for, 5), 7), 121,

122 (figs. 4, 123 (figs. 6and elemental philosophy, 2n2, 10-13Erastus

vs.

Paracelsus, 51-58and Genesis, 51-58and Gnosticism, 51“Great Mystery”

(Mysterium mag-num)

of Paracelsus, 5-6, 54-55

plures mundi

of D’Espagnet, 202-14Croll, Oswald,

Admonitory preface

(1609), 8crystals, 115

Daedalus, in Wilkins’


136dairy products, as medicines, 166Daston, Lorraine, 82Davidson, William, 33-35, 43Davis, Natalie Zemon, 251Davisson, William (1593-1669), 239Dear, Peter, 82-83Debus, Allen G., 16, 116, 147-61, 181Dee, John

angel conversations, 116, 129critics of, 117“Horizon aeternitatis,” 117, 118 (fig. 2)and Paracelsianism, 111-31

Propaedeumata Aphoristica

(1558), 115, 119

Della Porta, Giacomo (1532-1602), 138Denmark, domestic medicines, 163-80

Descartes, René, 15, 25, 42-43, 152, 157, 206

D’Espagnet, Jean, 201-14Deucalion, in Bacon’s philosophy, 94, 95disease

botanical medicines for, 166-68and effluvia, 40epidemics, and air pollution, 152hippocratic debate about cures, 156-57

semina

theories of, 19-44and Severinus’ pathological process,

26-29, 31-32and talismans, 220

divine kiss

(Binsicam),

10divinity

role in mechanical philosophy, 38and three-substance anthropology,

57-59doctrine of the mean, and emotions, 259,

261-62Dorn, Gerhard, 56-57, 113, 210

Chymisticum Artificium Naturae,

119, 120 (fig. 3), 126-27, 129

Doux, Gaston le.

See

DuClo, Gastondrugs.

See

medicinesdualism.

See under

ParacelsusDuchesne, Joseph (Quercetanus; 1544-

1609), 113, 130chemical philosophy of, 34, 34n55friend of Libavius, 68, 79spagiric art of, 69

DuClo, Gaston “Claveus” (b. ca. 1530), 181-200

Echeneis,

as term for astringents, 77Eco, Umberto, 201effluvia, of Boyle, 40-41elemental philosophy

of Agrippa von Nettesheim, 2n2and creation, in Paracelsus, 5-6of D’Espagnet, 211-12of Fludd, 10of Helmont, 11-12of Juanini, 152and medical therapy, 57and principles, 241-45


Index

273

elemental philosophy (

continued

)of spagyric sect, 151in Spain, 149water, as mother mineral, 5

Elias, Norbert, 255Elizabeth I (Eng.), defends John Dee, 117emotions, and medical theory, 257-58England

atomism in, 15Dee’s Paracelsianism, 116-31mechanical philosophy tradition,

18nn5-6, 133-46Paracelsianism in, 7, 9, 111-31and Severinus’

semina

principles, 16-44

Wilkins’


133-46Epicureanism.

See

atomismepistemology

of Libavius, 78-79and the occult, 225-26

Erastus, Thomas (1524-1583)anti-Paracelsian, 4, 6n15, 6-7, 45-65,

117anti-Severinian, 21Aristotelian, 55, 60

Astronomia Magna odr die gantze Philosophia...

(1571), 45, 58 (fig. 3), 60, 61-62

career of, 49-52

Disputationum de medicina nova de...Paracelsi

(1571), 45-65, 47(fig. 1)

on transmutation of metals, 184essences, enhancement and extraction of,

245-47d’Espagnet, Jean, 201-14d’Etaples, Jacques Lefèevre, 210experiment, and art-nature division, 83

fables, in Bacon’s philosophy, 94-97Faivre, Antoine, 207Festugière, A. J., 205-6Ficino, Marsilio (1433-1499), 218

Platonic-Mosaical philosophy of, 2n2Fincke, Thomas (1561-1656), 174Fludd, Robert (1574-1637), 8-9

folk medicines, 163-80Fracastoro, Girolamo (1478-1553)

on laughter, 261

semina

theory of disease, 19France

Bureau d’adresse and the occult, 215-38

chemical philosophy in, 33-35chemical textbooks, 239-50Jardin des Plantes, Paris, 33, 239, 241Paracelsianism in, 33-35, 240Paris faculty of medicine, 68-79

Fuiren, George, 165

Gabella, Philipp à, 131Galenism

of Bartholin, 164and emotions, 257and iatrochemistry, 153-55opinions about, 56of Palmarius, 71-73rejected by Paracelsus, 44in Spain, 148and transmutation of metals, 191

Gammaaea

(talisman), 115Gassendi, Pierre (1592-1655), 12, 17, 34,

222

Gas

(water vapor/spirit), 11Gazola, José,

Enthusiasmos medicos, políti-cos y astronomicos,

155Geber (pseudo-Geber), 189-90, 193-94Gelbart, Nina Rattner, 16, 32Gemma, Cornelius, 119Germany

Coburg, chemical philosophy of Pal-marius, 67

and Protestant natural philosophy, 45Gesner, Konrad (1516-1565), 48, 113Giles of Rome, 89Gilly, Carlos, 48Giovanni, Conte.

See

Pico della Miran-dola

Giovanni, Giambattista.

See

Juanini, Juan Bautista

Glaser, Christopher (1621-1679), 239glassmaking, 89



274

Glauber, Johan, 222Glauber, Rudolf (1604-1670), 239Gnosticism, in Paracelsian creation the-

ory, 51-52, 54n24Goldammer, Kurt, 61gold-making (chrysopoeia), 181-82grafting, of trees, 89Great Britain.

See

EnglandGreat Mystery, 5-6, 54-55Gunnoe, Charles D., Jr., 45-65Gutherius, J., 139

Hannaway, Owen, 70Hartmann, Johannes (1568-1631), 35, 75Harvey, William (1578-1657), 151, 153Hekman Library, 65Helmont, Jean Baptiste van (1577-1644)

cabalistic chemist, 9-13censured in Spain, 151, 157influenced by Severinus, 16-17, 28influence on Boyle, 12-14, 15, 38-44inventor of

Gas

and

Blas

terminology, 10-11

Magnetic Cure of Wounds,

37

Ortus medicine, vel Opera et Opuscula Omnia

(psth.1648), 29, 38Supplementum de spadanis fontibus

(1624), 31tree experiment, 12

Henry, John, 16, 17, 38Herbert, Mary, 30heresy, of Paracelsus, 4-5, 45-65Hermann, Johann, 50Hermes Trismegistus (Thoth), 7, 222

Book of Hermes,

and alchemy, 86-87

Emerald Tablet,

124, 127James I as, 95

hermeticism, 94, 204, 212Heshuss, Tilemann, 49Hester, John, 29Hippocrates (ca. 460-ca. 377 BC)

cited by Severinus, 22vindicated, by Spaniards, 155-58

history/historiographyof alchemy, 181ff.of art-nature distinctions, 85-86

history/historiography (

continued

)in Bacon’s writings, 98-101Jesuit sources, for Baconian views,

83-84Marxist, and mechanical philosophy,

41of Scientific Revolution, 15, 43-44, 81-

110sociopolitical, in Denmark, 168-69

Hohenheim, Theophrastus Bombastus von.

See

ParacelsusHooke, Robert (1635-1703), 42, 133horizon of etermity, 117-19Horst, Gregor, and

semina

theory, 35Hunter, Michael, 88hydroponics, 13-14

iatrochemistry, 127, 151-55incubi and succubi, 223

Index

of prohibited books, 148-49instauration

(instauro/instauratio),

92-94Institute of the History of Medicine, 264intellectual property rights, 119“I.W.”,

The Copie of a Letter

(1586), 31

James, William, 201James I (Eng.), and Bacon’s philosophy,

94-95Jerome (saint), 2n2Jewish tradition, and Platonic-Aristote-

lian worldview, 3, 3n3Johns Hopkins University, 264Jorden, Edward

Discovrse of Natvrall Bathes, and Min-erall Waters

(1631), 33-34and

semina

theory, 33Joubert, Laurent (1529-1582),

Traité du Ris,

251-64Juanini, Juan Bautista (1636-1691)

Discurso politico, y phisico

(1679), 152

Nueva Idea Physica Natural,

153Juan José (Spain), interest in new sci-

ence, 151-52Judaeo-Christian themes, in Bacon’s

writings, 91, 98, 103, 104Jung, C. G., 212


Index

275

Jungius, Joachim, 239

Kabbala[h].

See

CabalaKahn, Didier, 127, 129Kelly, Edward, 130Khunrath, Henirich,

Amphitheatrum Sapientiae,

114, 130, 131Koyré, Alexandre, 206Krafftheim, Johannes Crato von, 48, 50-

51

La Brosse, Guy de, 33López-Piñnero, José María, 147language

and the

Book of M*,

234-36of D’Espagnet, 213of nature (Dee’s monas), 121, 124and term definition, 220-22, 248n20

laughter, and Joubert’s

Traité du Ris,

251-64

Le Doux, Gaston.

See

DuClo, GastonLe Febvre, Nicaise (1610-1669),

Traicté de la Chymie,

239, 240Lemery, Nicolas (1645-1715), 239Le Paulmier, Pierre.

See

Palmarius, Petrus

Libavius, Andreas (1540?-1616), 34n55, 35

Alchymia

(1597), 68, 118

Alchymia Triumphans,

68debate with Palmarius, 67-79

De Igne Naturae

in

Syntagmatis Arcanorum Chymicorum

(1613), 69

denounces DuClo, 185

Neoparacelsica

(1594), 71

Tractatus duo physici

(1594), 117-18libraries

Bernard Becker Medical Library, 47 (fig. 1), 53 (fig.2), 57 (fig. 3)

Hekman Library, 65of John Dee, 113-14Milton S. Eisenhower Library, 264National Library of Medicine, 161New York Society Library, 119Royal Library of Copenhagen, 130

Licetus, Fortunius, 138-39, 145

Lingo, Alison K., 259linguistic terms.

See

terminologyLinnaeus, Carl, 179literary criticism, Bacon’s

Instauratio Magna

and

Advancement of Learn-ing,

91-110literature, alchemical, 111-31, 181-200

lit[h]urgia,

in Severinus’ philosophy, 23-24

Lucretius (ca.96-ca.55 BC), 19Lull, Raymond, 222

(pseudo-Lull), 193, 207, 208table from

De Significatione Liter-arum,

209-10Lullianism, and Paracelsianism, 210

McArthur, Michael, 79Machline, Vera Cecíilia, 251-64McKnight, Stephen A., 91-110Maggi, Vincenzo (c. 1500-1564), 261magic, 94, 95

and the

Book of M*,

235defended in Spain, 160and Libavius, 68Trithemius’ explanation, 125

Magliotti, Lorenzo, 148magnetism, 218n9Magnus, Olaus, 169Maier, Michael, 210Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon, a/k/a

Rambam; 1135-1204), 3mandrakes, 223-24, 228-29Mariana (Sp. queen), 151Mary (Virgin), and Paracelsian christol-

ogy, 61-63mathematics

and art-nature dichotomy, 83-84and natural philosophy, 44n94

matter theoryand Gnosticism, 52-53and Serverinus’

semina,

16-44mechanical philosophy

archeus

of, 25Bacon’s art-nature views, 81-91and Boyle, 38-44Cartesian mechanism, 15, 25, 42-43



276

mechanical philosophy (

continued

)and emotions, 257in England, 18nn5-6, 133-46and occult philosophy, 15role of divinity, 37and

semina,

in England, 16-44of Wilkins, 133-46

mechanical processes, of organic devel-opment, 23-25

medical chemistry.

See

chemical philoso-phy

medical therapylaughter as, 251-64and Paracelsianism, 57in Spain, 153-55

medicineschemical, 126, 127, 158-59folk, 163-80Hippocratic, 156-57, 157indigenous domestic, 163-80mandrakes, 223-24, 228-29mechanical, 157and sociopolitical concerns, 168-69

Melanchthon, Philip (1497-1560), and Protestant natural philosophy, 45

Mersenne, Marin, 222metals

chrysopoeia (gold-making), 181-82mercury/mercuries, 184, 192-93, 196-

97properties of gold, silver, mercury,

187-88transmutation of, 89, 183-93, 208, 211

metempsychosis, and sorcery, 231-33millinarianism, 92-94Milton S. Eisenhower Library, 264miracles, and perpetual lamps, 139ff.Moffet, Thomas, 30

De iure et praestantia chemicorum medicamentorum

(1584), 30monad hieroglyph, 5), 111, 112 (fig. 1), 118,

119, 121, 122 (figs. 4

Monas Hieroglyphica

(1564), of John Dee, 111-31

moral philosophy, 94-95Moran, Bruce T., 65, 67-79

Mosaical philosophy, as Christian phi-losophy, 8n24

“Mosaic” physics, 22Moses Atticus.

See PlatoMysterium magnum, 5-6, 54-55mythology. See fables

National Institutes of Health, 161National Library of Medicine, 161natural philosophy. See also Aristotelian-

ismand Bacon, 81-91, 94of Boyle, 12-14, 38-44and chemical philosophy, 1-2and Christianity, 22-23, 45-65and the occult, 226-27and Paracelsianism, 6, 45-65and predestination, 22

nature-art dichotomy. See art-nature dichotomy

neologisims. See also terminologyand Paracelsianism, 77

Neoplatonismand cabalistic philosophy, 4and migration of the soul, 61and semina concept, 19-22

New Atlantis, 97-101, 108-9Newman, William R., 36, 81-91, 129, 189New York Society Library, 119Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), and sem-

ina theory, 22Numenius, 2n2numerology, of Dorn, 127

occult philosophyin Bacon’s writing, 93-94and Bureau d’adresse, 215-38and Dee’s language of nature, 125and mechanical philosophy, 15, 16-17of Thomas Tymme, 130

Offusius, Joannes, 119Olson, Glending, 258Oporinus, Johann, 4, 44optics

and alchemy, 114-15, 130-31and Aristotelianism, 84, 84n16


Index

277

Orpheus, in Bacon’s philosophy, 94Oster, Malcolm, 41

pagan philosophy, and Christianity, 2n2Pagel, Walter, 10, 16, 52-55, 54n24Palacios, Felix, 158-59Palmarius, Petrus (1568-1610)

censured by Paris faculty of medicine, 69

Lapis Philosophicus Dogmaticorum (1609), 67-79

and Paracelsianism, 71Paracelsianism

and “Adam’s Flesh,” 45-65and alchemy, 67-79and American Indians, 63anthropology of, 57-59and Aristotelianism, 5, 44, 60and Christianity, 6, 63, 149creation theory, 51-58and Dee, 111-31as defined by Palmarius, 71development of, 2n2in England, 7, 9, 111-31in France, 33-35and French chemical textbooks, 240and Libavius, 68and Lullianism, 210and mechanical philosophy, 17, 17n4and medical therapy, 57and neologisms, 77-78and Palmarius, 71rejected by Erastus, 45-65resurrection theory, 57-64of Suarez, 159and Trithemius’ magic, 129

Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus (1493-1541)

accused of Arianism, 56censured in Spain, 149, 151creation views of, attacked by Eras-

tus, 51-58dualism of, 60-61, 61n52, 63-64as inventor of chemical medicine, 126philosophy of, 4-6rejection of, by Erastus, 45-65

Paracelsus (continued)rejects Galen and Aristotle, 44religiosity of, 46n4and Scientific Revolution in Spain,

147-61semina concept, 19-20student of Trithemius, 2n2works of

Astronomia Magna, 45, 64Baderbüchlein, 113Book of M*, 233-36De Meteoris, 52Meterology, 5Paramirum, 60

spurious works ofDas Buch de Mineralibus, 52Philosophia ad Athenienses (1564),

52-54n23, 53 (fig. 2), 55, 64Philosophy to the Athenians, 20Secretum magicum, 52

pathological process, in Severinus’ phi-losophy, 26-29

pathology. See diseasePaulli, Simon, 165, 169, 173-74

Commentarius de abusu tabaci et herbae theae, 170

Quadripartitum botanicum (1667), 174Le Paulmier, Pierre. See Palmarius,

PetrusPenotus, 29Pereira, Gomez, 157Pérez-Ramos, Antonio, 41, 82perpetual lamps, 136-46perpetual motion, 136, 137pharmacy

and Andreas Libavius, 68, 73-79of Thomas Bartholin, 171-72

Philalethes, Eirenaeus, 183, 197Philip II, and Spain’s Scientific Revolu-

tion, 147-61philosophers’ stone

and Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica, 124in D’Espagnet’s cosmology, 204and Galenochemistry of Palmarius, 72and transmutation of metals, 186, 191



278

philosophy. See, e.g., chemical philoso-phy, pagan philosophy, etc.

physics, “mosaical,” and semina theory, 22

Pico della Mirandola (Conte Giovanni; 1463-1494), 2n2, 119

Pineda, Juan de, 157Plato. See also Neoplatonism

as Moses Atticus, 2n2and New Atlantis, 97-98

Platonic-Mosaical philosophy, 2n2, 5-6Pliny, 137predestination, and semina theory, 22Principe, Lawrence M., 36, 88, 181-200principles, and elements, 241-45prisca theologia, 91, 94-97Prometheus, in Bacon’s philosophy, 94,

95Protestant Reformation, and Spanish

science, 148psychology, and the occult, 230-31Pumfrey, Stephen, 42Puritanism, and Bacon’s instauration

concept, 93-94

quantum mechanics, 212Quercetanus. See Duchesne, JosephQuevedo y Villégas, Francisco Gómez de

(1580-1645), España defendida (1609), 150

Rabelais, François (ca. 1494-1553), 252-55Rattner Gelbart, Nina. see Gelbart, Nina

RattnerReformation. See Protestant Reforma-

tionRegia Sociedad de Medicina y otras

Ciencias, 156, 158Reibehand, Christoph (aka Batsdorff),

186religion, and Bureau d’adresse confer-

ences, 219n11, 220religious orthodoxy, and Libavius, 68Renaudot, Eusèbe, 217Renaudot, Theophraste, 215-16resurrection, bodily, 57-64

Reußner, BartholomÑus (1532-1572)biography, 48n10A Short Explanation and Christian

Refutation of...Paracelsus (1570), 48

Riccoboni, Antonio (1541-1599), 260-61Riolan, Jean (1539-1606), 70Roberts, Julian, 113, 114Rocher, Gregory D. de, 251, 254Roman Catholic Church, 149, 160-61Rosicrucianism

and the Book of M*, 235and Dee’s monas, 131and perpetual lamps, 138

Rossi, Paolo, 81, 82, 94Royal Library of Copenhagen, 130Royal Society

and Bacon’s New Atlantis, 102and matter theory, 43and mechanical philosophy, 82of Spain (See Regia Sociedad)and Wilkins’ Mathematical Magick,

133Ruach Elohim, in Fludd’s philosophy, 9Ruland, Martin (1509-1611), 68

Salamander wool, 141Santiago, Diego de, Arte separatoria

(1598), 149Sarcilly, C. de, 34Sargent, Rose-Mary, 88Scaliger, Julius Caesar (1484-1558), 189Schaffer, Simon, 25, 41n85Scheiner, Christopher, 84scholasticism

of DuClo, 194ff.and Spanish Scientific Revolution,

148, 153and transmutation of metals, 187, 190

Scientific Revolutionhistoriography of, 15, 42-43, 44n94,

81-110and matter theory, 16-44

Screech, Michael A., 253seminal principles (semina)

and bodily stones, 36


Index

279

seminal principles (continued)and corpuscular theories, 15, 22-23, 38-

44and disease, 26-29and mechanical philosophy, 16-44varieties of, 195-96

semina morborum, 26-29Sendivoius, Michael, 202, 207, 210Sennert, Daniel, 12, 35, 239Severinus, Peter, 113

Idea medicinae philosophicae (1571), 6, 19, 27, 28, 31, 33, 36, 40

influence on Helmont, 16-17, 33and mechanical philosophy, 17-18Paracelsianism, 6-7

Sforno, Ovadiah (1470-1550), 3-4Shackelford, Jole, 15-44Shakespeare, William, 24Shapin, Steven, 25, 41n85sidereal substance, of humans, 57-59,

61n52Sidney, Philip, 116Simpson, William

Hydrologia Chymica (1669), 33mechanical principles, 33Zymologia Physica (1675), 33

sociopolitical renewal, Bacon’s concept of, 93, 97-98

Socrates, Timaeus, Bacon’s view of, 99-100

Solomon’s House, in New Atlantis, 93, 98, 101-4

sorcery, and metempsychosis, 231-33Sorel, Charles, 207soteriology, of Paracelsus, 61, 63spagiric art

of Palmarius, 77of Quercetanus, 69in Spain, 151

Spagyrus, vs. Spagirus, 78Spain

Paracelsianism in, 147-61Regia Sociedad de Medicina y otras

Ciencias, 156Spigelius (atomist), 174spontaneous generation, 87

Stahl, Georg Ernst (1660-1734), 183, 197Struck, Kathleen, 65Suarez de Rivera, Francisco (c. 1680-

1754), 159Suchten, Alexander von, 113, 183, 197Sudhoff, Karl, 52, 52n23, 113sugar, and disease, 169Sugars, J. Mark, 79surgery, 159-60Szulakowska, Urszula, 111, 114, 115

talismans, 115, 217-20tea, condemned, in Denmark, 170Temkin, Owsei, 257terminology

of alchemy and Paracelcianism, 70-74for astringents, 77Blas, of Helmont, 10-11and definitions, 220-22, 248n20Gas, of Helmont, 11of mechanical philosophy, 43, 43n94medical, of Libavius, 70-74neologisms, 77principle and element, 241-45

Theophrastus, and perpetual lamps, 144theosophy, and alchemy, 118Thoth. See Hermes TrismegistusThurneysser zun Thurn, Leonhardt, 113,

117tinctures

and Boyle’s effluvia, 41in Severinus’ philosophy, 26-29,

27n27, 32-33Tishbourn, John, 130Tixedas, Christoval, Verdad Defendida, y

Respuestra, 155tobacco, condemned, in Denmark, 170,

177Toxites, Michael, 113

editor of Astronomia Magna, 57, 58 (fig. 3)

transmutation. See under metalstree experiment, of Helmont, 11-12Trismegistus. See Hermes TrismegistusTrithemius, Johannes (1462-1516), 2n2,

111, 125, 129



280

Tymme, Thomas, 130tzimtzum, and creation, 9n27

unicorns, 224Universities

at Basel, 44, 49of Chicago, 161at Heidelberg, 49at Marburg, 75of Wisconsin-Madison, 161

Urim and Thummin, in Wilkin’s Mathe-matical Magick, 144

vacuums, and perpetual lamps, 143Valeriole, François (1504-1580), 261Valles, Francisco, 151Van Helmont, Jean Baptiste. See Hel-

mont, Jean Baptiste vanVaughn, Thomas, 36-37

Anthroposophia Theomagica (1650), 36-37

Virgin Mary, 61-63vital agency. See seminal principlesVives, Juan Luis, 137

Walton, Michael T., 1-14water

Boyle’s theories about, 12-14Fludd’s theories about, 10Helmont’s theories about, 11-12

water (continued)in Solomon’s Natural History, 102

Watson, Andrew G., 113, 114Webster, Charles, 16, 48, 93, 104, 116Webster, John, 33, 36-37

Metallographia (1671), 33Wecker, Joannes, 138Wellcome Institute, 161Wellman, Kathleen, 215-38Whitney, Charles, 93, 104Wickersheimer, Ernest, 252, 254Wilkins, John, Mathematical Magick, 133-

46Willard, Thomas, 201-14Willis, Thomas (1621-1675), 152, 157, 158Willughby, Francis, 148Winthrop, John, Jr., 37, 119Woodall, John, The Surgions Mate (1617),

116World Soul, 205Worm, Olaus (1588-1654), 176

Zanchi, Girolamo, and perpetual lamps, 137, 139

Zapata, Diego Mateo, Verdadera apologia en Defensa de la Medicina Racional Philosophica (1690), 155

Zilsel, Edgar, 41zodiac, in Dee’s monas, 121, 124Zwinger, Theodor, 44


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