BACCIO VALORIO

PATRICIAN

OF FLORENCE

Secret Councilor to the Most Serene Ferdinand, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ferdinand I de' Medici (1549–1609), a major patron of the sciences and arts.

Andreas Caesalpinus sends fondest greetings. original: "S. P. D." or Salutem Plurimam Dicit. Caesalpinus was a renowned physician, philosopher, and botanist.

It will perhaps seem, most illustrious Baccio, that a curiosity for investigating foreign things brought from the most distant regions of the East and West Indies At this time, "Indies" referred generally to the Americas (West) and South/Southeast Asia (East). should be considered a fault, since divine providence provides what is necessary for human nature in infinite lands almost everywhere. Yet an inexhaustible greed for knowing and possessing does not rest content with frugality; it keeps men forever occupied in seeking out foreign things and the most exquisite examples of every matter. However, this is seen as permissible for Physicians, so that they may abound in remedies for the sake of health, which is dearer than all else.

Furthermore, those who are most highly skilled in the Medical art do not lack for foreign and more curiously sought-after "noble" medicines; rather, those things which are found among us—however common they may be—can dispel every sickness (if it be not incurable) when applied at the right time, as Cornelius Celsus A Roman encyclopedist known for his medical address 'De Medicina'. bears witness. Truly, the incurable are not helped even by those things which are most noble, whether they excel by the sweetness of their scent, such as Balsam and Cinnamon, or by their entire substance, such as Bezoar term: Bezaar (Bezoar). A mass trapped in the gastrointestinal system, then highly prized as a universal antidote to poison. or Theriac term: Theriaca (Theriac). A famous medical concoction, often containing opium and viper flesh, used as a panacea against all diseases and poisons....