Preface.

—and let them be used skillfully, Johannes Pharamundus Rumelius, from Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate, who was also a physician as if by birth, being the son of a famous physician and physicistoriginal: Physico; in this context, a natural philosopher or licensed doctor of medicine there.

This man has now, through his manifold effort, travels, applied diligence, and labor, made considerable progress in these matters; for which reason he was finally appointed as a Princely Physician of Anhalt. However, so that this author of ours might serve not only his contemporariesoriginal: coætaneis but also those to come with his gifts and the knowledge obtained thereby, he resolved to publish original: divulgiren the same in writing in various small worksoriginal: Opusculis here and there. According to his intent, he would have further cultivatedoriginal: excolirt the Hermetic medicinea tradition of medicine based on alchemy and the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus—which is primarily concerned with the separation of the impure covering from the pure original Latin: "separatione impuri illius tegumenti à puro"; this refers to the alchemical process of refining a substance to reach its celestial or healing essence by removing its "husk" or "shell"—and left behind more of the same; as he then at various