Bad Ragaz, Switzerland/badragaz408
Previous | Home | NextThis is a posthumous publication (1562) by Paracelsus on syphilis. Paracelsus' use of chemical agents to cure disease was a watershed in the understanding of control of disease. In contrast to ancient pharmaceutical concoctions of cow dung, snake fat, and feathers, he used purified inorganic compounds, each of which was targeted for a specific disease. Paracelsus' clinical diagnosis of the disease was classic, detailing the stages of the sickness. His treatment, utilizing mercuric salts in prescribed doses, showed that he understood the proper balance of toxic vs. effectual doses of poisonous substances, and he cured (or at least alleviated the symptoms of) several patients. The use of mercurial salts proved to be the most effective cure of syphilis for centuries, until the modern drugs of the 20th century.
