A portrait medal of Paracelsus on his death in 1541 / by F.P. Weber.

  • Frederick Parkes Weber
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A portrait medal of Paracelsus on his death in 1541 / by F.P. Weber. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    medal and the plate already referred to (Fig. 3). (See Melchior Adami in Vitcv Germanorum Medicorum, Heidel- berg, 1620, p. 35 : Alii illud, quod in capulo habuit, ab ipso Azoth appellatum, medicinam fuisse praestantissimam aut lapidem pbilosophicum putant.) The signification in the mystic symbolism of the time might then be, that just as the executioner's sword could destroy malefactors, so the wonderful azoth could over- come disease; and, indeed, this explanation is in keeping with the known doctrines of Paracelsus, who almost per- sonified disease, regarding it as something essentially foreign to the organism which entered in to fight with it, and in this he dimly foreshadowed the modern microbe doctrine of many diseases. The medals and portraits of Paracelsus seem to lend some countenance to the assertions of his enemies, who very likely made use of them to support their accusations ; and a similar portrait of Paracelsus appears in the book containing the most violent attacks against his doctrines (Fig.2).^ How far these accusations are true is difficult to say, but the chief witness, Oporinus, was sorry for his conduct after the death of Paracelsus. It is unreasonable to suppose that Paracelsus was quite free from the prevailing supersti- tions of his time.27 Arrogant he certainly was, possibly from the conviction of his own superiority over his con- temporaries, but it remains certain that he made great 21 Th. Erastus, op. cit. 27 Thus alchemy and astrology constitute the chief part of two out of his four column® of medical science. See Para- granum—a book, however, whose authenticity is not altogether free from doubt.
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