Paracelsus the real Dr Faust?

Science in the middle east under Islam was very advanced compared to Europe. This applied to astronomy, geography, and mathematics, and medicine. The writings of the Roman physician Galen,  the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, and the Greek pharmacist Dioscredis were translated into Arabic and were used as a major source of medical knowledge by Persian scholars such as al Razi and Ibn Sina (Avincenna) who both lived in 11th century Persia. These men’s writings were very influential until the 16^th and 17 centuries in Europe.

Based on these early writings passed down through the centuries, physicians in medieval England for instance were taught about the 4 humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) described by Galen. A diagnosis consisted for the most part of determining which of the humors was out of balance and trying to reestablish the normal balance by either bloodletting (by applying leeches or by venesection) or purging (using enemas), or inducing vomiting. These kinds of treatments often caused more harm than good.

One man living at this time, who opposed theses mindless practices of physicians, was Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (1493- 1541) more commonly known as Paracelsus. He is considered one of the fathers of the modern practice of medicine.

Paracelsus publicly broke with the past by burning the books of Galen and Avicenna and proclaiming that direct experience of patient’s symptoms was superior to following the writings of ancient authorities.

He was the first to consider looking closely at the symptoms of a patient to determine the cause of their disease instead of merely referring to the old texts of Galen and Avicenna. Paracelsus believed that the causes of diseases originated outside of the body. He thought that the causes of diseases came mainly from minerals and poisons originating in the stars.

His ideas were based on believing that god provided a remedy for every disease and that the stars influenced human behavior and destinies (astrology and alchemy were considered scientific pursuits in those days).  This insight of Paracelsus (although not correct) led future generations of doctors to search for causes of disease outside of the body leading eventually to the discovery of pathogens (e.g. bacteria and viruses) as causes of disease. He believed in the search for new treatments for diseases rather than relying on the old texts of Galen.

Paracelsus was an alchemist who studied the ancient texts of the Arabs (who learned from the Chinese). He called for the search by alchemists for metals and minerals to be used in the treatment of diseases in additional to the commonly used herbal medicines of the time. He observed the ailments of miners in Villach,  Switzerland and wrote a book (“On the Miners’ Sickness and Other Miner’s Diseases”), which was published 25 year after his death but was very influential for centuries afterward. The "miner's sickness" affected the lungs and induced ulcers due to miners breathing in the dust of the minerals in the mines and due to their having contact with poisons via  the skin.  He was able to distinguish between chronic and acute poisoning and noticed the differences between diseases caused by exposure to arsenic, antimony, or to alkalis (e.g. oxides of magnesium, potassium, or calcium). He accurately predicted the symptoms of mercury poisoning (shivering, gastrointestinal disorders, blackening of the teeth, putrefaction of the mouth) and developed a treatment for it. This consisted of creating openings in the body for the mercury to escape by applying corrosive plasters to the skin or by prescribing baths. This type of therapy is still used today. Paracelsus thought more of the folk medicine of the peasants than he did of the remedies prescribed by the established doctors of his time.

Alchemist in Paracelus’s day, believed boiling liquid substances released spirits and the technique of distillation was devised to capture the spirits as they arose from the boiling liquids.  They were convinced that these spirits were powerful especially after drinking them. Actually, alcoholic beverages are sometimes still referred to as spirits.

Paracelsus made progress in the field of chemistry but for the wrong reasons. He believed in the existence of vital spirits who inhabited the different organs of the body (he called them archaei). The vital spirits were spread by the arteries through the body, for example to the ventricles of the brain becoming the animal spirit, and passing through the nerves giving motion to the body. These archaei were little creatures who took human form and controlled the functioning of the stomach, liver and heart. For whatever reason, it was the intuitive and mythical approach of Parcelsus that advanced the study chemistry until its revolutionary development in the 18^th century. This made Paracelus the undisputed founder of modern chemistry.

He was the first to write about there being a miniature man in all sperm cells (the homunculus). This was before it was understood that chromosomes and genes in sperm combine and fertilize the egg cell eventually lead to the development of an embryo and a human being.

Parcelsus realized that the dose of a medicine made the difference between being able to treat a person’s disease successfully and poisoning him. He also believed that sometimes it was better to not do anything rather than to  resort to the invasive practices commonly used  by physicians.

He divided “drugs” into different categories according the disease that they were meant to treat rather than according to the tables of Galen who divided drugs according to the humors that they were meant to treat.

Paracelcus was immortalized by the playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593 a contemporary of Shakespeare) in his play the “Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.” It tells the story of an alchemist who was willing to forgo salvation and live in hell in order to gain power over the mysteries of nature. Two centuries later, Goethe also wrote a poem about Doctor Faustus which makes reference to the life and opinions of Paracelsus as well as his opinions, alchemical symbolism, and the cabbala.

References

Paracelsus Magic into Science by Henry Pachter; Henry Schuman, New York. 1951 pp 14, 56

The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin. Random House Inc, New York, Toronto. 1983. pp 338-344

Science in History by JD Bernal. C.A. Watts and Co. Ltd., London. 1965. pp 272-273

Religion and the Decline of Magic by Keith Thomas.   Penguin Books Ltd. London 1991. pp 271