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History of Medicine

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Page 77 of Basilica Chymica featuring a page on corollarium followed by the chemical names and their corresponding chemical symbols of the metals.
Renaissance chemical symbols. From Oswald Crolii, Basilica Chymica (Frankfurt, 1609).
Page 80 of Basilica Chymica featuring a page of chemical names and their corresponding chemical symbols.
Renaissance chemical symbols. From Oswald Crolii, Basilica Chymica (Frankfurt, 1609).
Interior view of an alchemical workshop showing the alchemist and many symbols important to alchemy, such as the rising sun, the moon, a lion and a serpent, a scale, a square, plants, a cross/caduceus, and most importantly, fire.
Back cover illustration: Paracelsian-era discussions often took place within a complex framework of symbols such as those shown here. Woodcut in Johann Daniel Mylius, Opus medico-chymicum ..., Vol. 1 (Francofurti, 1618-1620).

Last Reviewed: July 21, 2011