Paracelsus, his Archidoxis comprised in ten books : disclosing the genuine way of making quintessences, arcanums, magisteries, elixirs, &c : together with his books of renovation & restauration, of the tincture of the philsophers, of the manual of the philosophical medicinal stone, of the virtues of the members, of the three principles, and finally his seven books of the degrees and compositions, of receipts and natural things / faithfully and plainly Englished, and published by J.H., Oxon.

CHAP. III.

WHeresoever therefore, the Spirit of life cannot pene∣trate, there a Disease is stirred up; for if it be stop∣ped, there ariseth a Putrefaction, degenerating into an Ex∣ulceration, for there it dyes in that place; But now, that which is dead, doth putrifie, and make an Vlcer, accor∣ding to the Nature of the Member, which the Disposi∣tion (or effect) it in; for if the Vlcer be made in the principal parts, it causeth death. From the Oppilations of the spirit of life, do proceed Feavers, Aposthumes, Pleurisies, the Iaundice, Vlcers, and whatsoever seizeth on the body with a Feaverish Fit, as the Plague, and the like; the cause hereof is this: The spirit foreknowing its suffocation and death, doth first shake the whole bo∣dy with horror, whiles it is as 'twere congealed; then af∣terwards if it be resolved, heat and inflamation prevail: I do here except those Feavers that produce more Pa∣voxisms or Fits then once, as the Quotidian, the Tertian, and Quartain; and therefore (as I may so speak) if it causeth Fits in the Brain, it stirs up the Phrensie, Madness, and the like: If in the heart, it induceth the Chorea viti, or the Laughing-Disease, for it toucheth the Veins of re∣joicing; and it often happens, that it procures Fits, ac∣cording to a time, and hour, and year: But this the Regular Practice of Feavers and the Plague doth disco∣ver, viz. From what causes such things come to pass, the Spirit of Life is subject to influence, even as the body it self to the Earth; for even as the Body eateth the Earth, and is it self that which it eateth, and sustaineth its Life from the Earth, even so likewise the Spirit of Life eateth of the superior Influence, and is nourished by the Element of the Fire, in which the four Elements do shine bright; For even as the Earth doth according to its fruits shine in the four Elements, so here do the in∣fluences

also shine. There are therefore two Practicks to be set before us; the first is, That the Influence may be so much conserved, a•• is grateful and suitable to the spirit. The second is, That the Body may be kept profitable to, and fit for the spirit; this done, there follows the health of the body one way, as to the Spirit.