206 MODERN SCIENCE READER 



acetic acid by distillation and to prepare a few metallic 

 acetates, and were familiar with certain reactions, such as 

 the transformation of ordinary alcohol under the influence 

 of sulphuric acid, the formation of certain esters, etc. A 

 number of substances derived from the organic world were 

 also used for medical purposes ; but it was not until the 

 beginning of the ' ' iatrochemical' ' period (iatros, physi- 

 cian) that the art of preparing substances began to be looked 

 upon as the handmaiden of medicine. Alchemy proper 

 had only two great objects in view to ennoble the base 

 metals and to prolong life indefinitely and these remained 

 the aim of some of the best men even to the close of the 

 era of iatrochemistry, and even the scientific achievements 

 of more recent times have not sufficed to banish the fancy 

 completely. 



The first great iatrochemist was Paracelsus (1493-1541), 

 who taught that the aim of chemistry was the preparation, 

 not of gold, but of therapeutic agents. Adopting a view 

 current among alchemists prior to his time, he held that, 

 every thing being composed of sulphur, mercury and salt, 

 if the amounts of these happen to rise above or fall below 

 the normal quantities that are in the animal body, the 

 result is a condition of disease. Hence, disease must be 

 combated by chemical means. Paracelsus therefore devoted 

 himself to pharmacy and medical chemistry, and soon be- 

 came famous through the many happy cures that he 

 actually succeeded in effecting. Unfortunately the adven- 

 turous life he led, and his gross lack of modesty, aroused 

 suspicion in many, and the bitterest opposition among the 

 more conservative members of the medical profession, and 

 obscured his fame and greatly diminished the sphere of 

 his influence. Nevertheless, his great work was accom- 

 plished; pure alchemy had received at his hands the first 

 powerful blow, pharmacy had been firmly linked to chem- 

 ical science, and medicine had been aroused from the torpor 

 of many centuries. 



Following in the steps of Paracelsus came Turquet de 



