Method.
Aaa 5

ON THE TRUE USE

OF MEDICINE.

Any thing can provide nothing more than what is within itself and what it contains.
original Latin: "Quælibet res nihil amplius præ-stare potest, præter id quod in se est, & continet." This is a foundational alchemical and philosophical principle: a substance cannot yield a property or essence (such as the color purple or a medicinal virtue) that is not already inherent in its nature.

The curiosity of reason has invented wonders,

and what is otherwise secret is here not called

secret.

And where this curiosity has joined with science,

the two of them produce the purest honey of

labor:

Therefore we do not wonder at so many learned

pages,

Nor that a lofty spirit shows much lofty

knowledge;

Only this we posit: that men shall become

gods,

Unless this round world soon falls into

ruins.

This was added in haste by

H. L. B.

The initials H. L. B. likely refer to a friend or colleague of the author who contributed this short "Encomium" or poem of praise to validate the work's importance.