THE PHILOSOPHER, OR THE PHYSICIAN

CONSULTED BY NATURE

Nature uses the physician almost like its guardian gods. He must not neglect this. Yet, failing to excel in Chymia Chemistry—which is of the greatest importance—is a crime of lesæ majestatis injured majesty against Nature herself. I wish those who hate this necessary art would think about it. If they were crushed by disease, would they prefer to drink large cups of thick, foul potions? These drinks often tear apart the delicate balance of the human body. They are terrifying to the doctor who prescribes them and disgusting to the seplasiario pharmacist or ointment-seller who mixes them. Or would they prefer a tiny dose of medicine? This medicine would be free of all impurities and the foul dregs of the superficial elements.

Perhaps they prefer to let the stomach be damaged by repeated doses of filth. This leads to hiccups and severe fainting. It is better to be free from such a Lerna a swarm of problems, referring to the many-headed Hydra of symptoms by taking pleasant medicines that cannot cause harm. Such people make it so that it is better to be "bad" physicians, while they strive too much to be called "good" and "kind." In this way, they fail to see what is right in front of them. They suffer a great disgrace from their own innate Archæus the vital internal force or "inner chemist" of the stomach. While the body is healthy, this internal chemist reserves the best parts of any food and distributes them to the limbs. It casts out the dregs and waste using its natural power.

Therefore, physicians should have worked harder to extract the powers of medicines. They would then be more secure in helping themselves and others. No one can do this better or more successfully than the Medico-Chymico Physician-Chemist. He knows how to separate the dead from the living, the poisonous from the useful, and the celestial from the terrestrial. It is in his power to restore wavering Nature, which can barely draw breath. He revives it with the pleasant and effective power of essences, with the help of divine grace. Such is the work and power found in the

rightly understood and practiced art of separations. From this art alone, the Physician-Philosopher obtains the proper tools to assist nature. In ancient times, whatever was desired grew abundantly from the Amalthea cornu the horn of plenty or cornucopia. In the same way, the Spagyrica the spagyric art of separation and recombination offers infinite benefits to those who seek them daily.

However, I sense many listeners will bring a bitter charge against me. They will say I insult medical majesty. They think I am demoting my "Philosopher" to the fordes Vulcanias the foul soot and fires of the forge. Do you enjoy defiling medical elegance, they ask? Do you wish to overthrow it? They claim a physician has too many necessary duties to focus on chemistry. They say he is distracted by the study of nature and the need to fight hundreds of diseases at any moment, both at home and abroad.

Furthermore, for many centuries, it has been the custom—almost a law—among leading physicians that manual labor is beneath a guardian of human life. They think soot on the fingers is a disgrace for a master of health. My good men, I cannot excuse you from the crime of neglecting nature just because you pridefully reject the height of the noble chemical art. Aristomachus of Soli original: "Aristomacho Solensi," an ancient scholar who spent decades studying bees gained little protection from his learning, even though he spent sixty years measuring the glades and leaves. You all seem similar to him. You bind your physician to pure contemplation, like an oyster to its shell, and never let him work with his hands. This is a calamity that always threatens our medical field. There is no greater shame than the fact that this part of medicine has been unjustly snatched away by pharmacists and ointment-sellers. It must be returned to its original home.