Appendix to the Books on Plants and Peripatetic Questions

without any contradiction. There are, moreover, common maxims, many of which seem to be derived from Hippocrates The famous Greek "Father of Medicine.", or as they themselves presume, that Hippocrates received them from them—demonstrating the most ancient records and that men were always wiser in the past than they are now. Among other things, I saw a treatise concerning that definition of Medicine, Addition and Subtraction original: "Adiectio & Ablatio," a fundamental medical concept of adding what is lacking and removing what is in excess, which shows with a marvelous method how this applies to the cure of all diseases, beginning from cleansing enemas and passing through every treatment one by one. Their sciences are written in a language which they call Sansiruta Sanskrit, which signifies "well-articulated." They have no memory of when this language began, though otherwise they possess very ancient records. They learn it just as we learn Greek and Latin. They claim that the sciences originated from them; and they are amazed if any of our people treat these subjects with a systematic method, since they know that such a thing has never happened before. Thus far Philip writes in his letter.

From this it is manifest that the Indian Lycium A medicinal extract, often identified with Catechu is the Indians' Catu Catechu, a most powerful medicine on account of its astringency combined with a moderate bitterness.

And our own tree, which was substituted in its place by Dioscorides A 1st-century Greek physician and botanist, agrees closely with it on account of its reddish fruits, which are so numerous they occupy almost the entire branches, not just the leaves. These leaves are larger than the leaves of a fir tree, approaching the appearance of Boxwood, and it possesses thorns, an inner bark that is somewhat yellowish, and other identifying marks; yet it is far inferior in its potency. Furthermore, it seems noteworthy from this account that the method of extracting juice from denser woods is extremely useful. For the virtue hidden within a dense material can hardly be extracted unless it is thoroughly ground down, as the Indians instruct—smoothing it upon marble and boiling it for a long time—for otherwise the internal juice is not released so that it can be gathered in water. If the same were performed with Guaiacum wood A hard wood from the Americas used to treat various ailments and other very hard woods, so that we might have their substance separated from the thickness of the wood, we would not only find a greater efficacy, but we could also dissolve the medicine, prepared for any occasion, in any liquid whatsoever. In place of Indian Lycium, we have other woods from which, by that same craftsmanship, a juice that is moderately bitter and effectively...