Letter, no date (1619), Hieronymus Reusner to Raymund Minderer

[p. 221] S[alutem] P[lurimam].

Accepi, Vir præclarissime & amice honorande, Pilularum tuarum Marocostinarum descriptionem. Agnoui ex vngue leonem. Fuliginosi Hermeticarum Musarum mystæ sui lapidis philosophici mysteria, circa metallorum ἀλλόιωσιν, ac hominum παλιγγενεσίαν ex orco tartareo vsque ad cœlum extollunt: & hæc esse sacra Græcorum ἀβέβηλα & Eleusinia dictitant, à quibus procul procul quisque profanus, teste Callimacho in hymnis. Sed quantopere chrysurgi hactenùs magnatibus imposuerint λιθοσοφία, sole meridiano clarius est. De vitæ prorogatione in longißimum tempus quid sentiendum sit, docet Aurelius Philippus Theophrastus Paracelsus, ipsorum coriphæus, qui dira illa [p. 222] vulnera, lepram, podagram, hydropisin, aliaq́ue insanabilia corporis contagia arte sustulit mirificâ, & annos (vah) natus 47. vitam cum morte commutauit. Ego herclè Paracelsistarum nugis, & similibus Panacæis longè præfero Pilulas tuas, tum ob inuentionis sagacitatem, tum ob certam & securam ἐπίρασιν, tum ob spagriciæ præparationis dexteritatem. Sartam quippe tectam seruant vniuersi corporis liturgiam à putredine & corruptione humorum, à qua omnes inualetudines scaturiunt: saburram succorum exorbitantium blandè citra vehementem ταραχὴν, non vti cathartica scammoneata, Turpethum minerale, gemma Antimonij, & alia eius farinæ, educunt, vt simul vnà humores, qui non ad extremam de Venere pestilitatem in pristinum vindicant vigorem: omnibus partibus prosunt, obsunt nulli: sunt vera margarita & alexiterium contra venena, pestem, cerebri debilitatem, catarrhos, morbum Herculeum, Apoplexiam, hepatis, ventriculi ac pulmonum vitia, febres, calculum, aquam intercutem, colicam, lumbaginem, arthritidem, vlcera, ab- [p. 223] scessus, &c. An non hoc est vitam prorogare, & mortales è libitinariorum sandapilis eripere, dum insalubria auerruncantur salubria in statu suo incolumia conseruantur, ne morbi sontici sanitatis œconomiam demoliantur? Quin per hanc ἐπίκρασιν haud spernendum corporis omnibus membris robur suppeditatur, vt probè suo munere fungi poßint. Perge ergò, Clarißime Domine Doctor, hisce & similibus de Repub[lica] Machaoniâ bene mereri. Nec te absterreat balatronum maledicentia,

Ride: nam cumulat veterator laudis acerbum:
Per nequam atque bonos laus venit æqua bonis.

Quod si ne Iupiter quidem omnibus ὄύ’ ὕων, ὄτ’ ἀνέχων, placere potest, ecquis à te, vt omnibus placeas, exiget? A bonis præmia reportabis sostra, soteria, iatrea, didactra ac charisteria. Vale, & hanc meæ obseruantiæ arrham habe.

Hieronymus Reusnerus.
M[edicinae] D[octor] in Nördlingen.

translation

Greetings and best wishes.

I have received, most excellent and honored friend, your description of the Marocostine Pills. From the claw, I recognize the lion. The sooty initiates of the Hermetic Muses boast about the mysteries of their philosopher’s stone, regarding the transmutation of metals and the rebirth of humans from the infernal abyss to heaven. And they claim these to be the sacred and ineffable mysteries of the Greeks and the Eleusinian rites, from which every profane person should keep far away, as Callimachus testifies in his hymns. But how greatly the alchemists have deceived the great men with their pseudo-science is clearer than the noonday sun.

As for the prolongation of life to an extraordinary length, Aurelius Philippus Theophrastus Paracelsus, the chief among them, teaches us what to think. He is the one who removed those dreadful wounds—leprosy, gout, dropsy, and other incurable bodily contagions—with miraculous skill, and yet, alas, he exchanged life for death at the age of 47. For my part, I much prefer your Pills to the absurdities of the Paracelsians and similar Panaceas, both because of the sharpness of your invention, the certain and safe effectiveness, and the dexterity in their preparation according to spagyric principles.

Indeed, they preserve the entire body's functions from putrefaction and the corruption of humors, from which all illnesses spring. They gently remove the excess of morbid humors, without causing violent agitation, unlike cathartics like scammony, Turpeth mineral, the Antimony gem, and other such compounds, which sometimes restore the humors but also harm the body. Your pills benefit all parts of the body, harm none; they are a true pearl and an antidote against poisons, the plague, brain weakness, catarrh, the Herculean disease, apoplexy, diseases of the liver, stomach, and lungs, fevers, stones, dropsy, colic, lumbago, arthritis, ulcers, abscesses, etc.

Is this not what it means to prolong life and to rescue mortals from the coffins of undertakers, when unhealthy conditions are removed, and healthy ones are preserved in their proper state, so that serious diseases do not undermine the economy of health? Furthermore, through this harmonious mixture, no small strength is provided to all the body’s members, so they can properly perform their functions. Therefore, continue, most illustrious Doctor, to serve the Republic of Medicine with these and similar contributions. Let not the slander of babblers deter you.

Laugh: for the wise man gathers bitter praise: Praise comes equally to the good from both wicked and good men.

If even Jupiter cannot please everyone, whether it rains or shines, who will demand that you please everyone? You will receive rewards from the good: salvation, healing, knowledge, and gratitude. Farewell, and accept this token of my respect.

Hieronymus Reusner,
Doctor of Medicine in Nördlingen.