THE LIFE OF PARACELSUS 3 



of St. John of these times, whose name was George 

 Bombast of Hohenheim. He established himself, in his 

 capacity of a physician, Dear Maria- Einsiedeln ; and in 

 the year 1492 he married the matron of the hospital 

 belonging to the abbey of that place, and the result of 

 their marriage was Theophrastus, their only child. It 

 may be mentioned that Paracelsus, in consideration of 

 the place of his birth, has also been called Helvetius 

 Eremita, and furthermore we sometimes find him called 

 Germanus, Suevus, and Arpinus. His portrait, in life- 

 size, can still be seen at Salzburg, painted on the wall 

 of his residence (Linzer Street, No. 365, opposite the 

 church of St. Andrew). Other portraits of Paracelsus 

 are to be found in Huser's edition of his works, and in 

 the first volume of Hauber's " Bibliotheca Magica." The 

 head of Paracelsus, painted by Kaulbach in his celebrated 

 picture, at the Museum at Berlin, called " The Age of 

 Reformation," is idealised, and bears little resemblance to 

 the original. 



In his early youth Paracelsus obtained instructions in 

 science from his father, who taught to him the rudiments 

 of alchemy, surgery, and medicine. He always honoured 

 the memory of his father, and always spoke in the kindest 

 terms of him, who was not only his father, but also his 

 friend and instructor. He afterwards continued his 

 studies under the tuition of the monks of the convent of 

 St. Andrew — situated in the valley of Savon — under the 

 guidance of the learned bishops, Eberhardt Baumgartner, 

 Mathias Scheydt of Rottgach, and Mathias Schacht of 

 Freisingen. Having attained his sixteenth year, he was 

 sent to study at the University of Basel. He was after- 

 wards instructed by the celebrated Johann Trithemius of 

 Spanheim, abbot of St. Jacob at Wtirzburg (1461-I 5 16), 

 one of the greatest adepts of magic, alchemy, and astro- 

 logy* and it was under this teacher that his talents for 

 the study of occultism were especially cultivated and 

 brought into practical use. His love for the occult 



