The Salt of the Earth: Natural Philosophy, Medicine, and Chymistry in England, 1650-1750

313 Pages·2007·3.91 MB·English

by  Anna Marie Roos

The Salt of the Earth
roos_f1_prelims.indd i 6/27/2007 1:02:38 PM
History of Science and
Medicine Library
VOLUME 3
roos_f1_prelims.indd ii 6/27/2007 1:02:39 PM
The Salt of the Earth
Natural Philosophy, Medicine,
and Chymistry in England, 1650–1750
By
Anna Marie Roos
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2007
roos_f1_prelims.indd iii 6/27/2007 1:02:39 PM
Cover illustration: crystalline shapes of salts from Martin Lister, De Fontibus medicates Anglicae.
London: Walter Kettilby, 1684, between pages 32 and 33. Osler Library of the History
of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all right holders to any copyrighted
material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the
publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the appropriate
acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other permission
matters.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
ISSN: 1872-0684
ISBN: 978 90 04 16176 4
Copyright 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission
from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by
Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to
The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910,
Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
roos_f1_prelims.indd iv 6/27/2007 1:02:39 PM
To my father Gordon and my brother David for being my champions
To my colleague Mark Harrison for his friendship and scholarly excellence
To my husband Ian for showing me in his stubbornly Lincolnshire way that there
is love in this world
roos_f1_prelims.indd v 6/27/2007 1:02:39 PM
roos_f1_prelims.indd vi 6/27/2007 1:02:39 PM
The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.
Isak Dinesen
roos_f1_prelims.indd vii 6/27/2007 1:02:40 PM
roos_f1_prelims.indd viii 6/27/2007 1:02:40 PM
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ...................................................................... xi
Acknowledgements ..................................................................... xv
Chapter One The Context of Salts ........................................ 1
Chapter Two Paracelsian Concepts of Salts ........................... 10
Chapter Three Van Helmont, Salts, and Natural History
in Early Modern England ...................................................... 47
Chapter Four From Salts to Saline Spirits—the Rise of
Acids ........................................................................................ 108
Chapter Five Salts and Saline Spirits in the Medical
Marketplace and Literature: Patent Medicines and
Chymical Satire ...................................................................... 155
Conclusion From Saline Acids to Acidifying Oxygen ............ 194
Appendix Translation from Latin of Martin Lister’s Exercises
on the Healing Springs of England (1684) .................................... 207
Bibliography ................................................................................ 269
Index ........................................................................................... 287
roos_f1_prelims.indd ix 6/27/2007 1:02:40 PM