shift　And　change　in　the　spirit；nay；　in　every　pore　Of　the　body；　even）what　God　is；　what　we　are；　What　life　is。　。　。＇6＇
  ＇6＇　Robert　Browning：　　Paracelsus；　closing　speech。
  Much　has　been　done　of　late　to　clear　up　his　story　and　his　character。　Professor　Sudhoff；　of　Leipzig；　has　made　an　exhaustive　bibliographical　study　of　his　writings；＇7＇　there　have　been　recent　monographs　by　Julius　Hartmann；　and　Professors　Franz　and　Karl　Strunz；＇8＇　and　a　sympathetic　summary　of　his　life　and　writings　has　been　published　by　the　late　Miss　Stoddart。＇9＇　Indeed　there　is　at　present　a　cult　of　Paracelsus。　The　hermetic　and　alchemical　writings　are　available　in　English　in　the　edition　of　A。　E。　Waite；　London；　1894。　The　main　facts　of　his　life　you　can　find　in　all　the　biographies。　Suffice　it　here　to　say　that　he　was　born　at　Einsiedeln；　near　Zurich；　in　1493；　the　son　of　a　physician；　from　whom　he　appears　to　have　had　his　early　training　both　in　medicine　and　in　chemistry。　Under　the　famous　abbot　and　alchemist；　Trithemiusof　Wurzburg；　he　studied　chemistry　and　occultism。　　After　working　in　the　mines　at　Schwatz　he　began　his　wanderings；　during　which　he　professes　to　have　visited　nearly　all　the　countries　in　Europe　and　to　have　reached　India　and　China。　　Returning　to　Germany　he　began　a　triumphal　tour　of　practice　through　the　German　cities；　always　in　opposition　to　the　medical　faculty；　and　constantly　in　trouble。　　He　undoubtedly　performed　many　important　cures；　and　was　thought　to　have　found　the　supreme　secret　of　alchemistry。　In　the　pommel　of　his　sword　he　was　believed　to　carry　a　familiar　spirit。　So　dominant　was　his　reputation　that　in　1527　he　was　called　to　the　chair　of　physic　in　the　University　of　Basel。　　Embroiled　in　quarrels　after　his　first　year　he　was　forced　to　leave　secretly；　and　again　began　his　wanderings　through　German　cities；　working；　quarrelling；　curing；　and　dying　prematurely　at　Saltzburg　in　1541　one　of　the　most　tragic　figures　in　the　history　of　medicine。
  ＇7＇　Professor　Sudhoff：　　Bibliographia　Paracelsica；　Berlin；　1894；　1899。
  ＇8＇　R。　Julius　Hartmann：　　Theophrast　von　Hohenheim；　Berlin；　1904；　ditto；　Franz　Strunz；Leipzig；　1903。
  ＇9＇　Anna　M。　Stoddart：　　The　Life　of　Paracelsus；　London；　John　Murray；　1911。
  Paracelsus　is　the　Luther　of　medicine；　the　very　incarnation　of　the　spirit　of　revolt。　At　a　period　when　authority　was　paramount；　and　men　blindly　followed　old　leaders；　when　to　stray　from　the　beaten　track　in　any　field　of　knowledge　was　a　damnable　heresy；　he　stood　out　boldly　for　independent　study　and　the　right　of　private　judgment。　After　election　to　the　chair　at　Basel　he　at　once　introduced　a　startling　novelty　by　lecturing　in　German。　　He　had　caught　the　new　spirit　and　was　ready　to　burst　all　bonds　both　in　medicine　and　in　theology。　He　must　have　startled　the　old　teachers　and　practitioners　by　his　novel　methods。〃On　June　5；　1527；　he　attached　a　programme　of　his　lectures　to　the　black…board　of　the　University　inviting　all　to　come　to　them。　It　began　by　greeting　all　students　of　the　art　of　healing。　He　proclaimed　its　lofty　and　serious　nature；　a　gift　of　God　to　man；　and　the　need　of　developing　it　to　new　importance　and　to　new　renown。　This　he　undertook　to　do；　not　retrogressing　to　the　teaching　of　the　ancients；　but　progressing　whither　nature　pointed；　through　research　into　nature；　where　he　himself　had　discovered　and　had　verified　by　prolonged　experiment　and　experience。He　was　ready　to　oppose　obedience　to　old　lights　as　if　they　were　oracles　from　which　one　did　not　dare　to　differ。　　Illustrious　doctor　smight　be　graduated　from　books；　but　books　made　not　a　single　physician。＇10＇　Neither　graduation；　nor　fluency；　nor　the　knowledge　of　old　languages；　nor　the　reading　of　many　books　made　a　physician；　but　the　knowledge　of　things　themselves　and　their　properties。　The　business　of　a　doctor　was　to　know　the　different　kinds　of　sicknesses；　their　causes；their　symptoms　and　their　right　remedies。　This　he　would　teach；　for　he　had　won　this　knowledge　through　experience；　the　greatest　teacher；　and　with　much　toil。　　He　would　teach　it　as　he　had　learned　it；　and　his　lectures　would　be　founded　on　works　which　he　had　composed　concerning　inward　and　external　treatment；　physic　and　surgery。〃＇11＇　Shortly　afterwards；　at　the　Feast　of　St。　John；　the　students　had　a　bonfire　in　front　of　the　university。　Paracelsus　came　out　holding　in　his　hands　the　〃Bible　of　medicine；〃　Avicenna's　〃Canon；〃　which　he　flung　into　the　flames　saying：　〃Into　St。　John's　fire　so　that　all　misfortune　may　go　into　the　air　with　the　smoke。〃　It　was；　as　he　explained　afterwards；　a　symbolic　act：　　〃What　has　perished　must　go　to　the　fire；　it　is　no　longer　fit　for　use：　　what　is　true　and　living；　that　the　fire　cannot　burn。〃　　With　abundant　confidence　in　his　own　capacity　he　proclaimed　himself　the　legitimate　monarch；　the　very　Christ　of　medicine。　　〃You　shall　follow　me；〃　cried　he；　〃you；　Avicenna；　Galen；　Rhasis；　Montagnana；　Mesues；　you；　Gentlemen　of　Paris；　Montpellier；　Germany；　Cologne；　Vienna；　and　whomsoever　the　Rhine　and　Danube　nourish；　you　who　inhabit　the　isles　of　the　sea；　you；　likewise；　Dalmatians；　Athenians；　thou；　Arab；　thou；　Greek；　thou；　Jew；　all　shall　follow　me；　and　the　monarchy　shall　be　mine。〃＇12＇
  ＇10＇　And　men　have　oft　grown　old　among　their　books　　　　　To　die　case　hardened　in　their　ignorance。
  Paracelsus；　Browning。
  ＇11＇　Anna　M。　Stoddart：　　Life　of　Paracelsus；　London；　1911；　pp。　95…96。
  ＇12＇　Browning's　Paracelsus；　London；　1835；　p。　206　（note）。
  This　first　great　revolt　against　the　slavish　authority　of　the　schools　had　little　immediate　effect；　largely　on　account　of　the　personal　vagaries　of　the　reformerbut　it　made　men　think。　Paracelsus　stirred　the　pool　as　had　not　been　done　for　fifteen　centuries。
  Much　more　important　is　the　relation　of　Paracelsus　to　the　new　chemical　studies；　and　their　relation　to　practical　medicine。　Alchemy；　he　held；　〃is　to　make　neither　gold　nor　silver：　　its　use　is　to　make　the　supreme　sciences　and　to　direct　them　against　disease。〃　He　recognized　three　basic　substances；　sulphur；　mercury　and　salt；　which　were　the　necessary　ingredients　of　all　bodies　organic　or　inorganic。　　They　were　the　basis　of　the　three　principles　out　of　which　the　Archaeus；　the　spirit　of　nature；　formed　all　bodies。　He　made　important　discoveries　in　chemistry；　zinc；　the　various　compounds　of　mercury；　calomel；　flowers　of　sulphur；　among　others；　and　he　was　a　strong　advocate　of　the　use　of　preparations　of　iron　and　antimony。　　In　practical　pharmacy　he　has　perhaps　had　a　greater　reputation　for　the　introduction　of　a　tincture　of　opiumlabdanum　or　laudanumwith　which　he　effected　miraculous　cures；　and　the　use　of　which　he　had　probably　learned　in　the　East。
  Through　Paracelsus　a　great　stimulus　was　given　to　the　study　of　chemistry　and　pharmacy；　and　he　is　the　first　of　the　modern　iatro…chemists。　In　contradistinction　to　Galenic　medicines；　which　were　largely　derived　from　the　vegetable　kingdom；　from　this　time　on　we　find　in　the　literature　references　to　spagyric　medicines　and　a　〃spagyrist〃　was　a　Paracelsian　who　regarded　chemistry　as　the　basis　of　all　medical　knowledge。
  One　cannot　speak　very　warmly　of　the　practical　medical　writings　of　Paracelsus。　　Gout；　which　may　be　taken　as　the　disease　upon　which　he　had　the　greatest　reputation；　is　very　badly　described；　and　yet　he　has　one　or　two　fruitful　ideas　singularly　mixed　with　mediaeval　astrology；　but　he　has　here　and　there　very　happy　insights；　as　where　he　remarks　〃nec　praeter　synoviam　locqum　alium　ullum　podagra　occupat。〃＇13＇　In　the　tract　on　phlebotomy　I　see　nothing　modern；　and　here　again　he　is　everywhere　dominated　by　astrological　ideas〃Sapiens　dominatur　astris。〃
  ＇13　Geneva　ed。；　1658；　Vol。　I；　p。　613。
  As　a　protagonist　of　occult　philosophy；　Paracelsus　has　had　a　more　enduring　reputation　than　as　a　physician。　　In　estimating　his　position　there　is　the　great　difficulty　referred　to　by　Sudhoff　in　determining　which　of　the　extant　treatises　are　genuine。　In　the　two　volumes　issued　in　English　by　Waite　in　1894；　there　is　much　that　is　difficult　to　read　and　to　appreciate　from　our　modern　standpoint。　In　the　book　〃Concerning　Long　Life〃　he　confesses　that　his　method　and　practice　will　not　be　intelligible　to　common　persons　and　that　he　writes　only　for　those　whose　intelligence　is　above　the　average。　To　those　fond　of　transcendental　studies　they　appeal　and　are　perhaps　intelligible。　　Everywhere　one　comes　across　shrewd　remarks　which　prove　that　Paracelsus　had　a　keen　belief　in　the　all…controlling　powers　of　nature　and　of　man's　capacity　to　make　those　powers　operate　for　his　own　good：　　〃the　wise　man　rules　Nature；　not　Nature　the　wise　man。〃　　〃The　difference　between　the　Saint　and　the　Magus　is　that　the　one　operates　by　means　of　God；　and　the　other　by　means　of　Nature。〃　　He　had　great　faith　in　nature　and　the　light　of　nature；　holding　that　man　obtains　from　nature　according　as　he　believes。　His　theory　of　the　three　principles　appears　to　have　controlled　his　conception　of　everything　relating　to　man；　spiritually；　mentally　and　bodily；　and　his　threefold　genera　of　disease　corresponded　in　some　mysterious　way　with　the　three　primary　substances；　salt；　sulphur　and　mercury。
  How　far　he　was　a　believer　in　astrology；　charms　and　divination　it　is　not　easy　to　say。　　From　many　of　the　writings　in　his　collected　works　one　would　gather；　as　I　have　already　quoted；　that　he　was　a　strong　believer。　On　the　other　hand；　in　the　〃Paramirum；〃　he　says：　〃Stars　control　nothing　in　us；　suggest　nothing；　incline