Secret of Secrets

...no one will doubt. But, bereft of the help of an ancient exemplar, beyond the principles of orthography, which we have added in many places, we were able to provide no assistance. There remain, however, two other works: the treatise of Hippocrates, which is inscribed Secret of Secrets, and the little book of Averroes on poisons. We wished to bring these—which were nearly extinguished—forth to the public, recalling them from Orcus, corrected by us according to orthography, and divided, the first into prenotions and the second into chapters (so that such rare little books might no longer lie hidden). Although we judge the book of Averroes to be incomplete—for when he had distinguished poisons into two genera, namely those that kill by specific form and those that kill by complexionated form, and had divided those of the second genus into three species, namely those that operate by heat, or by cold, or by humidity; and when he had declared the signs and remedies of those operating by specific form, as well as by complexionated form, such as by heat and cold—it was consequent, in order for the subject matter to be absolute, to reveal the signs and remedies of those operating by humidity; which, alas, is lacking in this treatise.

Explicit Preface.