Semi-Centennial Volume. 51 



in weight. He therefore concluded that one hundred and sixty-four 

 pounds of root, leaves, etc., had been produced from water alone, and that 

 it was the only nutriment of plants. Fish, he asserted, live on water, and 

 nevertheless, they contain all the peculiar animal substances; the latter 

 are therefore produced from water. Basing his belief on such imaginary 

 proofs as these, von Helmont was convinced of the transformation of 

 water into earthy matter. With respect to his views concerning the four 

 Aristotelian elements, he denied altogether that fire could be of material 

 nature, but it is uncertain whether he regarded air as an element or not. 

 His conception of the elements also differed from those of Basil Valen- 

 tine and Paracelsus, for mercury, sulphur and salt were not to be de- 

 tected in the human body. 



The iatro-chemical doctrines contributed much to the general advance- 

 ment of the science of chemistry, but two mistakes were made by the 

 iatro-chemists; they endeavored to explain, on chemical principles, all 

 the changes and processes occurring in the body, an attempt which was 

 futile for the chemistry of that day; and, secondly, they set too narrow 

 a limit for chemistry, which was not destined to remain in a subordinate 

 position. Consequently, their medico-chemical ideas were upset after the 

 middle of the seventeenth century. 



Medicine developed very gradually until the time of Galen, who de- 

 veloped the use of vegetable drugs and herbs in pharmacies where at 

 that time medicine was practiced with the administration of such vege- 

 table potions and herbs as were then used. 



One of the ancient pharmacists of the fourth century describes a 

 "water of the gods" as Panacee (from Pan and aqua) as a cure-all, and 

 from this is derived our word panacea. 



Then in the sixteenth century we pass to the school of medical al- 

 chemists, the most famous of whom was Paracelsus. This school was 

 called the iatro-chemical school and its theory announced by Paracelsus 

 was that the healthy body, being made up of certain chemical sub- 

 stances in solution, could, when diseased, be cured only by the same 

 chemical substances; hence he preached that Galen's theory of herbs 

 and vegetable drugs curing the diseased body was erroneous. He 

 hence dosed heavily with mercury salts, blue vitriol, sugar of lead, 

 antimony salts, sulphuric acid, iron salts. While he, and especially 

 many of his pupils, killed many people and were driven out of town after 

 town, his theory gave the next great impetus to pharmacy and, inci- 

 dentally as well, founded chemistry, for the great problem now became 

 to invent and discover new chemical compounds for the relief of disease, 

 and this was done in the shops of the alchemist-pharmacist. His suc- 

 cessors, Sylvius, Tachenius, Von Helmont, Agricola, Glauber, Libavius 

 and Pallissy, in consequence developed a great number of such metallic 

 compounds as well as some organic compounds. Here we hence see 

 that in the early history of all three sciences — medicine, pharmacy and 

 chemistry — all three were practically united in one, and frequently prac- 

 ticed by one person, who, however, almost invariably received his train- 

 ing in a medical school and bore the title doctor. The alchemist's shop 

 was the pharmacy and the owner of it practiced the healing art as well 

 as the preparation and compounding of his medicines. From these 



