FROM PARACELSUS TO HARVEY 



miners in the Tyrol, in order that he might study 

 nature and men at first hand. Ordinary methods 

 of study were thrown aside, and he devoted his time 

 to personal observation the only true means of 

 gaining useful knowledge, as he preached and practised 

 ever after. Here he became familiar with the art of 

 mining, learned the physical properties of minerals, 

 ores, and metals, and acquired some knowledge of 

 mineral waters.. More important still, he came in 

 contact with such diseases, wounds, and injuries as 

 miners are subject to, and he tried his hand at the 

 practical treatment of these conditions, untrammelled 

 by the traditions of a profession in which his training 

 had been so scant. 



Having acquired some empirical skill in treating 

 diseases, Paracelsus set out wandering from place to 

 place all over Europe, gathering practical information 

 as he went, and learning more and more of the me- 

 dicinal virtues of plants and minerals. His wanderings 

 covered a period of about ten years, at the end of 

 which time he returned to Basel, where he was soon 

 invited to give a course of lectures in the university. 



These lectures were revolutionary in two respects 

 they were given in German instead of time-honored 

 Latin, and they were based upon personal experience 

 rather than upon the works of such writers as Galen 

 and Avicenna. Indeed, the iconoclastic teacher spoke 

 with open disparagement of these revered masters, and 

 openly upbraided his fellow-practitioners for following 

 their tenets. Naturally such teaching raised a storm 

 of opposition among the older physicians, but for a 

 time the unparalleled success of Paracelsus in curing 



