THE REVIVAL OF SCIENCE 275 



Perhaps the most characteristic feature of 

 Lord Herbert's acquirements was his knowledge 

 of medicine and subjects allied thereto. He 

 conceived it a " fine study, and worthy a gentle- 

 man to be a good botanic, that so he may know 

 the nature of all herbs and plants/' Further, 

 " it will become a gentleman to have some know- 

 ledge in medecine, especially the diagnostic part " ; 

 and he urged that a gentleman should know how 

 to make medicines himself. He gives us a list 

 of the " pharmacopeias and anechodalies " which 

 he has in his own library, and certainly he had a 

 knowledge of anatomy and of the healing art 

 he refers to a wound which penetrated to his 

 father's " pia mater," a membrane for a mention 

 of which we should look in vain among the records 

 of modern ambassadors and gentlemen of the 

 court. His knowledge, however, was entirely 

 empirical and founded on the writings of Para- 

 celsus and his followers ; nevertheless, he prides 

 himself on the cures he effected, and, if one can 

 trust the veracity of so self-satisfied an amateur 

 physician, they certainly fall but little short of 

 the miraculous. 



John Evelyn, another example of a well-to-do 

 and widely cultivated man of the world, was 



