Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 566

ROBERT BOYLE (1627-1691) Of the reconcileableness of specifick medicines to the corpuscular philosophy. To which is annexed a discourse about the advantages of the use of simple medicines. Printed for Sam. Smith 1685 [14] 225 pp. 16.9 cm.

For more information on this author or work, see number: 564

Among Boyle's scientific works, these two treatises have been the least studied, probably because they were highly theoretical and offered little in the way of medical advice. Medical practice, at the time, was almost totally an art, and Boyle designed this book to put some science into that art. In the first treatise, he presents his arguments in a series of six propositions illustrated by means of numerous experiments, showing what Boyle believed would happen in the body when specifics were administered. The other section of the book was intended to discourage the use of complicated prescriptions, which in those days often contained twenty or more ingredients. Boyle presents a number of arguments and propositions to support his contention and concludes with an enthusiastic endorsement of the efficacy of gems and stones from the heads of snakes--a medieval belief which persisted for centuries.

Cited references: Cushing B589; Osler 949; Waller 1391; Wellcome II, p. 224