CHAPTER V.

On the miraculous properties of wheat in Medicine, and how it may lead to the curing of diverse kinds of diseases.

Just as we have explained—by the consensus and authority of the most learned philosophers as well as by the reasons cited therein—that an excess of water in this vegetable has given rise to many diseases and infirmities in the human body, so too must the perfect method for bringing about human health be found within it. For from the monuments of the most ancient and skillful physicians, it is right to gather how much excellence and eminence this vegetable possesses and carries within itself regarding certain diseases attacking the human body. For what, I ask, is more effective for driving out diseases, resisting the enemies of health, and restoring human life, than the fullness of that very thing by which life is chiefly preserved? Or what is the reason why vicious humors are so irregular and violent in the human body that they produce diseases and thus hasten premature death (unless it be countered), except for a defect in the universal bond or "knot of Nature," by whose presence and preternatural help the four elements are peacefully bound together in the external mass?

For just as we see a fierce horse in a stable, which, once its bonds are broken, does not cease to kick and attack the others until it remains the sole victor of the place; so also a specific element, feeling the lack of its bridle or ligament (which participates in the nature of the quintessence The "fifth essence" or ether, thought by alchemists to be the purest, most potent element beyond earth, air, fire, and water.), wanders outside its orbit and prisons. It leaves the order destined for it by nature and does not cease to inflict violence upon the elements contrary to it in the same composition, until the entire economy of the human palace is destroyed and the spirit of life is set free. And all these things proceed from the defect and poverty of this celestial and sympathetic ligament, by the virtue of whose harmony and concord the essential form ought to be preserved and retained in its state throughout the entire fabric of the body.

Therefore, human industry or science knows no better work to undertake than to recover that by which the weak and feeble ligaments in this body can be repaired and strengthened. And indeed, it is a most evident sign of death when the universal ligaments of nature are perceived to be violated. But where this knot of the quintessence is loosened only in some part, it signifies the mortification or at least the temporary depravation of the life of that very part; but if by chance imbecility or weakness occupies only one or more portions of the body, the evil grows into a disease or infirmity that is more dangerous the more their symphonic bonds are thinned and violated.

This being the case, it appears (in my opinion) most evidently that through the nourishment and recreation of these weak and weakened bonds of nature by something similar to themselves, the vigors of the human body can easily be repaired and restored—provided that the excellent industry of man can skillfully procure and prepare this balsam A healing, life-preserving substance sought by Paracelsian physicians. of nature aptly, as befits a good philosopher and skilled physician.

And certainly, I am forced to confess in truth that I was once affected by great trouble due to pain and weakness arising in the outer part of my hand, at that very time when I was engaged in this same experiment of which I now treat. Whereupon I took a little of this raw balsam of the quintessence of wheat and anointed the back of my hand with it; and from that very hour (though three years have now elapsed) until this present time, I have never felt the pain by which I used to be affected before that time. And yet I confess (not without a blush) that either my negligence or other occupations were the cause that neither before nor since that time have I ever made any other trial or test of that virtue or property. For I have longed to be instructed by those experienced philosophers (who are better practiced and versed in the secret virtues and nature of this fifth element) and to be led fully and faithfully by the way of exaltation to the highest effect of its purity.

But what this balsam of the quintessence may be, I have proposed (God willing) to express and relate more fully in the second book, where I shall demonstrate that it is the true spirit of the starry heaven, filled with bright solar rays.

Ancient and Modern Physicians, who were ignorant of the method of extracting this quintessence and perceived very little of the splendor of its beauty, have nonetheless perceived through experience and practice its hidden and singular effects, both in the preservation of weakened and consumed natures and in the extinguishing of raw humors, resistance against poisons, and the cure of many diseases of the human body.

And to this purpose, Almanzor Likely referring to Al-Mansur, the Persian physician Rhazes. professes that wheat well-cooked or boiled in milk better nourishes and strengthens human nature, and hence it is that he seems to commend it in consumptions and Hectic fevers. Trallianus Alexander of Tralles, a 6th-century Greek physician. published in a public writing that warm bread dipped in wine is beneficial to those oppressed by syncope, fainting, or vertigo. And all the princes of physicians generally assert that it procreates good blood, multiplies the sperm or seed, and nourishes abundantly. Isaac Isaac Judaeus, a prominent 10th-century physician. affirms that it wonderfully confirms and strengthens the limbs. Avicenna The famous Persian polymath Ibn Sina. teaches us that this grain contains within itself the cure for the bite of a mad dog, whence he also makes this a special antidote against poison; with whom Dioscorides The 1st-century author of 'De Materia Medica'. agrees, testifying that it cures the bites of serpents when used with Rue. And therefore also, in respect of its nutritive faculty, Actuarius Joannes Actuarius, a 13th-century Byzantine physician. commends it for the composition of beer and prefers it by far to barley or oats. It also cures abscesses by ripening them, removes pustules and tumors, and destroys spreading ringworm and skin eruptions. Which healthful faculties it receives partly from its airy part, but especially...