ods of treating diseases, and his unparalleled success
in curing them. A man who was to be remembered in after-time by some as
the father of modern chemistry and the founder of modern medicine;
by others as madman, charlatan, impostor; and by still others as a
combination of all these. This soft-cheeked, effeminate, woman-hating
man, whose very sex has been questioned, was Theophrastus von Hohenheim,
better known as Paracelsus (1493-1541).

To appreciate his work, something must be known of the life of the man.
He was born near Maria-Einsiedeln, in Switzerland, the son of a poor
physician of the place. He began the study of medicine under the
instruction of his father, and later on came under the instruction
of several learned churchmen. At the age of sixteen he entered the
University of Basel, but, soon becoming disgusted with the philosophical
teachings of the time, he quitted the scholarly world of dogmas and
theories and went to live among the 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
medicinal 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. Naturall