Chemical Letters to Excellent Philosophers and Physicians in Germany (1595) - Page 3

A woodcut headpiece shows symmetrical scrolling foliage with two hybrid figures resembling satyrs with fish-like tails nestled among the vines.

TO THE MEN DISTINGUISHED BY

NOBILITY, GRAVITY, AND PRU-

DENCE, The Lords, the Consuls, and Senators

of the illustrious Republic and Imperial city of

Ratisbon Regensburg, my Lords,

to be dutifully honored,

ANDREAS LIBAVIUS, M. D.

AND POET, wishes

great happiness.

Medicine is a truly distinguished and excellent art, yet it is considered by far the vilest and most abject of all arts because of the ignorance of those who practice it, the rudeness of the common people, and their misguided judgment. For when the public considers such people to be physicians, and adorns anyone who appears with a small herb and an empty noise of words regarding its virtues with the honor of medical science, the Consu-