De Chymicorum cum Aristotelicis et Galenicis consensu ac dissensu liber

The De Chymicorum cum Aristotelicis et Galenicis consensu ac dissensu liber, translated in english as “Chymiſtry Made Eaſie and Uſeful. Or, the Agreement and Disagreement of Chymiſts and Galeniſts”, is one of the most important works by Daniel Sennert, German doctor and cheimst of the first half of the 17th century, who was Professor of medicine at the University of Wittenberg.

The book, written in Latin, is a treatise of “Chymiatria”, a discipline halfway between alchemy and modern medical chemistry. 

This is made esplicit by the subtitle of the first edition of the work, Controverſias plurimas tam philoſophis quàm medicis cognitu utiles continens, that means “Contains various dissertations on topics which are useful to philosophers and doctors“. 

All’ of Sonnert’s interests converge in this work, he edited three editions of it (Wittenberg, 1619; Wittenberg, 1629; Paris, 1633), and an other edition was published after his death  (Frankfurt and Wittenberg, 1655). 

^{Although it’s still firmly anchored in the alchemical superstitions of its time, the work represents a fundamental step towards the birth of the modern scientific discipline, because Sennert, making his name become between the most important pioneers’ names of the scientific method in a period during which the “Ipse dixit” autority made it impossible to question the masters of the past’s studies, considered personal experience an important element to support or not the several theories on medicine and alchemy which circulated at the time.}

^{As a matter of fact he conducted many experiments on the influence of noble metals on biological processes, from the Philosophical Hen to the attempt to produce the mythical “Golden Fleece”; both superstitions were born from tales from a classical past considered to be infalliable, and which were actually praised in the same years by influential intellectuals as effective remedies for the body’s deseases.}

^{Sennert reports his experiments’ results not only in his works, but also in a dense correspondence with his brother-in-law Michael Döring.}

The book is divided in chapters in which Sennert gives the first definition of “Chymia” and discusses the nature of the discipline, its dignity and necessity (Chapters I, II), then talks about the history of the discipline and its most influent exponents; there is a chapter about Hermes Trismegistus and his Emerald Tablet, a chapter about the Argonauts’ expedition from which the myth of the Golden Fleece comes, a chapter about Democritus and a chapter about Paracelsus (Chapters III, IV).

After these chapters, which are characterized by an ideological and historiographical nature, Senner gives a more practical exploration of alchemical concepts and theories such as analogies between macrocosm and microcosm (Chapter VI); Aristotelian theories on the nature of elements (Chapters VII, VIII); the influence of metals on living tissues (Chapter IX); the concept of “Innate Calido” (Chapter X); Democritus’ atomic theory, on which Senner elaborates an important thesis supported by experiments on the “reduction to the previous state” which will be taken up again by Robert Boyle and will lead to the birth of the modern atomic theory (Chapter XII). 

Subsequently these alchemical concepts are applied to the field of medicine, starting from a chapter about Fundamentals of medicine (Chapter XIII); a chapter about several illnesses and medical practices to them (Fundamentals) associated, for example illnesses caused by “the imbalance of moods“ (Chapters XV, XVI); then there are chapters about the production of remedies (Chapter XVII), a comparison between methods of treating illnesses adopted by the “Galens” and the “Chymics” (Chapter XVIII).

The work classe with a new chapter about the nature of Chymia with sections on its instruments and works.