Paracelsus contributions

In one particular, however, Paracelsus contributed a theoretical concept which exerted a dominating influence on the theory of following centuries. This was the doctrine known as the tria prima, the idea that all matter from... 

Stillman, John Maxson. The contributions of Paracelsus to medical science and practice. Monist 27, no. 3 (Jul 1917) 390-402. 

For over 2,000 years, alchemy was the only chemistry studied. Alchemy was the predecessor of modern chemistry and contributed to the slow growth of what we know about the Earth s chemical elements. For example, the alchemists interest in a common treatment for all diseases led to the scientific basis for the art of modern medicine. In particular, the alchemist/ physician Paracelsus (1493-1541) introduced a new era of medicine known as iatrochemistry, which is chemistry applied to medicine. In addition, alchemists elementary understanding of how different substances react with each other led to the concepts of atoms and their interactions to form compounds. 

Several other individuals made important contributions at about the same time as Paracelsus, ftuther establishing chymia as a science apart from alchemy. Vannoccio... 

In terms of the theory of elements, Paracelsus s contribution was not his work, although he did write about how the three principles made up most of terrestrial matter, but his role in the redirection of alchemy. He de-emphasized the concept of transmutation (although it is likely he believed it possible) and focused on practical aspects of the study of matter, particularly iatrochemistry. He also encouraged the investigation of materials through experiments. While this should not be confused with modern experimentalism, since Paracelsus included spiritualism and occult theory in his system of investigation, it was far more systematic than most alchemy tended to be. He also based his work on a conception of pure compounds, and that concept, in turn, led to work on purification and qualitative control of chemical research and production. 

Alchemical theory was essentially static throughout the medieval period. Tlie long line of verbose writers on alchemy had little new to bring forward, beyond variants of cryptic and pictorial expression, until the time of Paracelsus (M93 540- Predominantly, Paracelsus was the herald of a new era, an era of iatrochemistry, or chemistry applied to medicine (p. 98). His contribution to alchemical theory lay in the addition to sulphur and mercury of a third principle, which he called salt. Materially this w as recognised as the principle of uninflammability and fixidity. 

For a medicament to be brought to its highest grade of action, the preparation is of inestimable importance, but so long as the physician is content with the preparation of the chemist, I fail to see how any vital improvement in the quality and efficacy of our healing mediums can be expected. The physician is no chemist, the chemist has no clinical experience, and so the medicinal art must fail repeatedly not because its students themselves are incompetent, but because the system under which they work is so inadequate. We contribute enormous sums of money to the maintenance of our hospitals and at the same time drive into them the victims of our foolish system of drugging and feeding. I repeat, it is not the body of men that I condemn, but merely our absurd system of contradictions. Paracelsus has said ... 

Chiaradia M, Gulson BL, James M et al (1997) Identification of secondary lead sources in the air of an urban environment Atmos Environ 31 3511-3521 Chow TJ, Patterson CC (1961) The occurrence and significance of lead isotopes in pelagic sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 26 263-308 Conrad CF, Chisholm-Brause CJ (2004) Spatial survey of trace metal contaminants in the sediments of the Elizabeth River, Virginia. Mar Pollut Bull 49 319-324 Crone H (2004) Paracelsus the man who defied medicine his real contribution to medicine. The Albarello Press, Melbourne... 

Paracelsus may have heard of the treatment in his travels (Bhava Mista at this same time prescribed mercury for the syphilis brought into India by the Portuguese), or the discovery may have been serendipitous, based on Paracelsus adoption of the extension of the mercury-sulfur theory of the Islamic alchemists to a tria prima consisting of mercury (soul), sulfur (spirit), and salt (body). But while Paracelsus was on this one occasion very successful, there is no record of the number of people he adversely affected while experimenting with potions that were not effective, and it may have been considerable. He did however have a talent for observation for instance he described the relationship between cretinism in children and the existence of goiters in their parents. His greatest contribution to medicine may have been the idea that doctors should act on what they observe rather than blindly following accepted authority. 

In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the distillation and extraction of plant and animal materials were the characteristic chemical operations of pharmacy. The focus of chemical-pharmaceutical practice was on the extraction of oils and juices and on the distillation of aqueous and oily substances from plants or vegetable materials such as herbs, blossoms, fruits, seeds, woods, resins, and balsams. However, in the sixteenth century Paracelsus and his followers began to use more frequently minerals as a source of medicines in addition to vegetable and animal substances. What was at first only a sporadic production of new chemical prepara-tions eventually induced a fundamental change in pharmacy. During the seventeenth century, preparations of mineral acids and salts surfaced as an important sector of chemical-pharmaceutical practice. This new commercial chemical practice spurred a process of reflection that contributed to the formation of the modem concept of the chemical compound. 

Paracelsus made an important contribution to chemical theory. He extended the sulphur-mercury theory of the Islamic alchemists by adding a third principle, namely salt. Thus, when wood burned, the combustible component was identified with sulphur, the volatile component with mercury and the ashes that remained with salt. The composition of all substances could be expressed in terms of these three principles, or tria prima. As in the previous theories, sulphur, mercury and... 

The alchemists of this period who made useful contributions to the development of chemistry were not totally distracted by the attempt to make gold artificially. Most of these workers were iatrochemists, and Paracelsus has already been mentioned (Chapter 2). He too was influenced by the renewed interest in neoplatonism, and he applied the neo-Platonic doctrine of the microcosm and macrocosm to medicine. He saw the human body as a microcosm of all that existed in the universe (the macrocosm), and thus the organs of the body were the equivalents of the stars. Such mystical ideas resulted in Paracelsus concentrating... 

The present volume deals with topics detailed in the table of Contents. The chapters on earlier French chemistry point out the influence of Paracelsus and a little later that of Boyle. The phlogiston theory was not first introduced by Macquer, and normal, acid, and basic salts were recognised before Rouelle an attempt is made to separate the contributions of the two Rouelles. The chapters on chemistry in Scandinavia include material not easily accessible elsewhere it is pointed out that Bergman gave a little-known summary of Scheele s work in 1775, when Priestley s discovery of oxygen and Lavoisier s claim to such discovery were published. 

Prior to the nineteenth century the key historic figrrres who contributed to the development of occupational health were Georgius Agricola (1494-1555) and Theophrastus Bombastus van Hohenheim Paracelsus (1493-1541). 

Paracelsus was the founder of iatrochemistry, the chemistry of vital processes. Its leading idea was that the vital processes are of chemical nature. They cannot be understood without general knowledge of chemistry, and this knowledge is created in the laboratory. Health presupposed balance between the different chemical principles. Balance and health were obtained by the intake of medicines, often containing lead, mercury, antimony and even arsenic. Phosphorus was added to the medical list after its discovery. Perhaps iatrochemistry did not contribute so very much to public health but it did create chemical knowledge about many substances. Robert Boyle s criticism of the so-called chemical principles - sulfur, mercury, salt - in The Sceptical Chymist in 1661 took the sting out of iatrochemistry. The old ideas were superseded by new ones in the chemistry of the 18 century. 

The chemical views propounded by Paracelsus, van Helmont, and others were strongly opposed by the latromathematical School, which maintained that all physiologic happenings should be treated as fixed consequences of the laws of physics. This group included such individuals as Descartes, Borelli, Sanctorius, Pitcairn, and Boerhaave, all noteworthy for their intellectual and philosophical contributions to medicine and science. 

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