E P I S T L E

The header "EPISTOLA" indicates this is a formal dedicatory or personal letter, common in 16th and 17th-century medical texts.

one must wait for prudence. Therefore, when I sought your advice, you affirmed to me that the overseers of the infirmary original: "valitudinarij"; referring to a hospital or military medical quarters would be kind toward me, and that I would never have cause to regret [knowing] those men; you also dutifully and kindly advised me regarding what you even now, to this day, judge concerning the administration of medicine in that place. Truly, because I granted so much weight to your sole testimony and judgment, and because I judged it to be right and most consistent with my own affairs, I immediately began to wish to exchange my leisure for business—a light task indeed for those who possess both talent and experience, but nevertheless a great and difficult one for a man entirely inexperienced original Greek: "ἀπειροτάτῳ" (apeirotatō). Therefore, for a little while, the works of the art, my duty, and my devotion toward the sick delighted me there.

But afterward, when a sea of the most grievous diseases overflowed (as I had suspected before) during the most pestilential autumn season, I almost despaired that it would be possible for me to fulfill my pledge to this city with total integrity. And so, throughout the entire summer and the greatest part of autumn, I cared for nothing else except that they might be restored to health itself, either by the aid of medicines or by the observation of a [regulated] diet. These people, because they had entrusted themselves entirely to me, seemed to be valued as much as I value my own life and safety. As for the rest, the magistrates took care of it, as did the pharmacists original: "pharmacopœi"; the apothecaries responsible for preparing the doctor's prescriptions, who themselves spared no expense in anything that was necessary for the health of my patients; in the care of which, I certainly performed my duty...