Chemical Library

so that I might be of assistance even to things unknown; I have prepared many things yet to come, indeed, which to the judgment of some—certainly learned, but perhaps too friendly—seem to exceed my age. Let all boasting be absent from my words. Many eyewitnesses to this matter exist for me in this city, the capital of the world, as well as those of my labor regarding the history of animals, plants, and minerals, and other curious matters concerning almost everything knowable, which it would be tedious to enumerate, not to mention my completed work on the life and opinions of Democritus Ancient Greek philosopher. In these, sparing no labor, I have applied myself to the reading of innumerable authors, so that I might be useful to men in penetrating the most obscure layers of truth and in drawing it forth from this most profound well in which it lies hidden. For, in truth, men still know nothing; the minds of the learned stumble, and they study until death, leaving greater things yet unknown. Meanwhile, alas, countless falsehoods are taught in the schools, by which