Tag: Paracelsus
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The wayward Paracelsus
JMS PearceEast Yorks, England Alterius non sit qui suus esse potestLet no man be another’s who can be himself Paracelsus 1552 Paracelsus was the most original, controversial character of the Renaissance,1 who brazenly questioned and condemned the dictates of Galen and other ancient physicians. In an age of mysticism and alchemy, this solitary figure laid…
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The men who defeated syphilis
German zoologist Fritz Schaudinn. Source Fritz Schaudinns, Verlag Leopold Voss, Hamburg und Leipzig 1911. Via Wikimedia. Beginnings The origins of syphilis have been subject to much debate. The disease has been claimed to be thousands of years old and originally to have evolved from yaws. Generally mistaken for leprosy and not recognized as a separate entity,…
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Blood is the life
Saameer Pani Sydney, Australia Vampire—the very word itself conjures up images of supernatural creatures who look not unlike you and me, prowl about at night, prey on unsuspecting souls, and sink their fangs into innumerable, hapless victims to quench their thirst for blood. Monstrous but beautiful, repulsive yet magnetic, vampires have fascinated us for centuries…
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Fluorescence
Leah KaminskyMelbourne, Australia The art of medicine cannot be inherited, nor can it be copied from books. – Paracelsus My youngest daughter has a lizard called Limmy living on her bedside table. Each time I kiss my girl goodnight, stroke her long, blonde curls and turn off the light, Limmy’s reptilian outline glows with a…
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Intercepted letters: the Wandervogel syndrome
Reprinted from The Lancet, Anonymous, “The Wandervogel syndrome,” 1411–1412, December 24, 1966, with permission from Elsevier. My dear Dean, You seemed surprised in Faculty when I raised objections against extended leave of absence for Johnson to act as visiting professor in Chile. I have been brooding about this business for some time, and here is…
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Ramazzini and the birth of occupational medicine
Luciano DalientoLucia Dal BiancoGabriella RomeoItaly Bernardino Ramazzini, considered to be the founder of occupational and industrial medicine, was born in 1633 in Capri, a little town in the north of Italy, known nowadays because of its ceramics. Following the important innovations of the Paduan school of anatomy (Vesalius, Fabricius d’Acquapendente, and Harvey), he spearheaded the…
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Paracelsus: physician and alchemist
Alexandru Gh. SonocSibiu, Romania This painting shows the famous alchemist and physician Paracelsus holding a retort in his hands and standing in front of a furnace on which is placed a glass balloon. In front of the furnace a pair of bellows lie on the floor, which are covered with plates displayed in a chessboard…
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Andreas Vesalius: Wesel to Basel
Wyn BeasleyWellington, New Zealand The Witing family—or Witjing or Witincx; spelling was capricious in those days—originated in Wesel, at the junction of the Rhine and Lippe rivers, and its members were court physicians. Peter is supposed to have attended the Emperor Frederik III, who reigned 1440-1493, and he translated a treatise of Avicenna, which became…