Theatrum Sympatheticum in quo Sympathiae Actiones variae singulares & admirandaetam Macro-quam Microcosmicae exhibentur & Mechanice Physice Mathematice Chimice & Medice occasione Pulveris Sympathetici ita quidem elucidantur ut illarum agendi vis & modus sine qualitatum occultarum animaeve Mundi aut spiritus astralis Magnive Magnalis vel aliorum Commentariorum subsidio ad oculum pateat. Opusculum lectu jucundum & utilissimum; Digbaei Painii Helmontii aliorumque recentiorum scriptorum prolata exhibens & trutinans atque ipsius Pulveris Sympathetici germanam & optimam descriptionem simul exponens. with Sympathetici Pulveris Examen: Quo Superstitiosa ac fraudibus Cacodaemonis implicita Vulnerum et Ulcerum Curatio in distans Per Rationis trutinam ad ipsas Naturae Leges expenditur; Subversis Curae Sympatheticae Fundamentis ab Illustriss. Comite Digbaeo nec non D.D. Papinio & Mohyo positis
16612305901Amstelaedami / Groningae: Thomae Fontani / Johannis Collen 1661. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. Ink name and minor pencil notes on endpapers ink note on base of title page ink Harvard Minot Fund and duplicate stamps on copyright page. 1661 Hard Cover. xii 259; xii 660 pp. 12mo. Latin text. Vellum binding with title in black ink on spine. Two works of medical quackery touting the benefits of 'powder of sympathy': Theatrum Sympatheticum in quo Sympathiae Actiones variae singulares & admirandaetam Macro-quam Microcosmicae exhibentur & Mechanice Physice Mathematice Chimice & Medice occasione Pulveris Sympathetici ita quidem elucidantur ut illarum agendi vis & modus sine qualitatum occultarum animaeve Mundi aut spiritus astralis Magnive Magnalis vel aliorum Commentariorum subsidio ad oculum pateat. Opusculum lectu jucundum & utilissimum; Digbaei Painii Helmontii aliorumque recentiorum scriptorum prolata exhibens & trutinans atque ipsius Pulveris Sympathetici germanam & optimam descriptionem simul exponens. with Sympathetici Pulveris Examen: Quo Supsertitiosa acfraudibus Cacodaemonis implicita Vulnerum et Ulcerum Curatio in distans Per Rationis trutinam ad ipsas Naturae Leges expenditur; Subversis Curae Sympatheticae Fundamentis ab Illustriss. Comite Digbaeo nec non D.D. Papinio & Mohyo positis. The first work includes contributions by several authors among them Kenelm Digby. "Digby set himself the task of examining on mechanical principles the concepts of current Paracelsian chemistry especially alchemy and the 'universal spirit' giving life to all things. In Paris he studied chemistry under the Scottish royal physician William Davidson. John Evelyn visited Digby at his laboratory on 7 November 1651 and was given his 'powder with which he affirmed that he had fixed mercury before the late King' and 'a dissolvent of calx of gold' Evelyn Diary 3.20 48. Digby's experiments often involved faulty observation and conclusions that went further than the facts allowed. A prime example was the celebrated 'sympathetic powder'. Made from dried green vitriol this was a variant of the well-known Paracelsian 'weapon salve' which cured wounds by being applied not to the patient but to the offending weapon. He offered a complex mechanical explanation in a lecture to a congress of French virtuosi A Late Discourse Made Thomae Fontani / Johannis Collen hardcover books
