Two Treatises on the Nature of the Elements and the Fifth Essence

What remains of the argument concerns the nature of the Elements, their transmutations, rains, thunders, lightnings, and winds. For it would be an easy task for anyone who does not find the writings of those Heroes too distasteful or obscure to derive all these things—even word for word—from Aristotle and his Greek, Latin, and Barbarian original: "Barbaris." In this period, "Barbarian" typically refers to medieval Scholastic or Arabic commentators who were not part of the "pure" classical tradition. interpreters.

< Yet this fact brings Drebbel not so much disgrace as glory: not only because the things he proposes align with ancient, solid, and genuine Philosophy, but much more because, through the excellence of his own genius, he has achieved through meditation and experimentation what many others—relying on the support of numerous teachers and books—reach only rarely and with great difficulty.

Whatever part of this work is mine, most excellent Schumacher, I desire to offer it to you, as is your due and my duty. Even since that time when we both, managing public affairs, were present at a solemn ceremony of the Academy at Rostock, that excellent nobility of your heart made a deep impression original: "aculeum," literally a sting or point, here meaning a sharp, lasting impression. upon my mind, leaving behind a grateful memory of friendship and esteem. This I shall preserve unharmed and unbroken as long as—

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