The Library copy of van Helmont’s Ortus Medicinæ

1 Van Helmont JB. Ortus medicinæ: id est initia physicæ inaudita. Amsterdam: Apud Ludovicum Elzevirium; 1648.

2For a brief account of the complex and confusing views of Van Helmont see Debus AG. The French Paracelsians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1991.

3http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk. Estimating the modern equivalent of the cost of a book in the seventeenth century is a very uncertain business. The figure given is based on estimates of the Retail Price Index. Based on average earnings in the two periods the figure would be much higher – more than £1,000.

4See the James Lind Library (http://www.jameslindlibrary.org) for transcriptions of the relevant Latin text, English translations of these and other material.

5Humorists were those who supported the humoral theory of the origins of disease, that is, the Galenists whose views Van Helmont violently opposed and against whom he wrote vituperatively.

6Historical sketch and laws of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh from its institution to 1925. Edinburgh: Royal College of Physicians; 1925.

7 Cunningham A. Sydenham versus Newton: the Edinburgh fever dispute of the 1690s between Andrew Brown and Archibald Pitcairne. Med Hist Suppl. 1981; 1:71–98.

8 Hepburn G. Tarrugo unmasked, or an answer to a late pamphlet intituled, Apollo mathematicus. Edinburgh; 1695.

9 Eizat E. Apollo Mathematicus or the art of curing diseases by the mathematicks, according to the principles of Dr. Pitcairn. London; 1695.

10 Ritchie RP. The early days of the Royall Colledge of Phisitians, Edinburgh. Edinburgh: George P Johnston; 1899.

11 Innes-Smith RW. English-speaking students of medicine at the University of Leyden. Edinburgh: Oliver &Boyd; 1932.

12 Monteith R. An theater of mortality; or, a further collection of funeralinscriptions over Scotland[...] Edinburgh: Heirs and Successors of Andrew Anderson; 1713.