NOTES

BOOK III

: For the destruction of the germs by cold, see pp. 33, 193.

: Fracastorius was regarded as an authority on the 'essential
qualities' (heat, cold, dryness, moisture) of the four elements, fire,
earth, air and water. Hence he was appointed arbiter in the con—
troversy of two of his medical friends, described in Introduction,
P. XvIII.

s For this use of species (simulacrum) in the sense of efflux, film,
image, see pp. 19, 23. Here he follows the atomists, and especially
the doctrine expounded by Lucretius IV. 230 foll. See Sympath/;/,
Ch. 13. 'This invisible emission of infinitesimal bodies is either
pleasing or the reverse to the soul (anima), which accordingly makes
the organs contraet to reject, or dilate to receive, a species. In
Sympathy, Ch. 21, he says that the seat of the anima is the heart.
See Introduction, p. xxxv.

4 Tormentilla is perhaps Potentilla sylvestris (Rosacea). — The root
is used as powder or in decoction as an astringent.

5 Armenian bole (lit. clod), from Persia and Armenia, is a fine
clay, red, due to oxide of iron, and resembles Lemnian earth, which
was even more in use, and is called also Terra SigiWata, 'sealed
earth', or sphragis (Greek, seal), so labelled because it had the
Government stamp and was a State monopoly. 'The Turks drove
a& flourishing trade in the Lemnian variety (also called æmintum e. g.
by Fracastorius in his poem Syphilis), but the supply on Lemnos
is said to be exhausted. A good kind was called Sinopis from the
town Sinope. For Samian Earth see Index. 'These earths were
absorbent powders taken in a liquid or sometimes used for plasters.
For their action see p. 201; used in Italy for exanthematic typhus,
p. 225; and for certain risks in their use, p. 233. In his Letter 3,
'"To Fracastorius, Mundella says that Galen did not advise Armenian
bole for putrid fever or the plague; and in Letter 16, that, *for the
kind of plague that Thucydides describes", it should be used. For
a description of the various sorts of earths used medicinally, see
Pliny XXXV. 30 foll. Fracastorius in 1550, 'just mounting to
ride to Cafh", thanks Rannusio, through his son, for a present of
terra sigillata from Constantinople; ät is most precious; take care
of what you have left?.

6 Scordium (Greek ««xöp6ior»), of which the leaves and root were
used, was the favorite herbal remedy of Fracastorius, is highly

319