Against demoniacal disorders they had no remedies, and
though some at first did promulgate the opinion that the malady
had its origin in natural circumstances, such as a hot
temperament, and other causes named in the phraseology of the
schools, yet these opinions were the less examined as it did not
appear worth while to divide with a jealous priesthood the care of
a host of fanatical vagabonds and beggars.
SECT. 5--PHYSICIANS
It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that the
St. Vitus's dance was made the subject of medical research, and
stripped of its unhallowed character as a work of demons. This
was effected by Paracelsus, that mighty but, as yet, scarcely
comprehended reformer of medicine, whose aim it was to withdraw
diseases from the pale of miraculous interpositions and saintly
influences, and explain their causes upon principles deduced from
his knowledge of the human frame. "We will not, however, admit
that the saints have power to inflict diseases, and that these
ought to be named after them, although many there are who, in
their theology, lay great stress on this supposition, ascribing
them rather to God than to nature, which is but idle talk.
Pages:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143