Sydenham’s remarks upon liquid laudanum are worth recording:—
Of all the remedies which a kind Providence has bestowed upon mankind for the purpose of lightening its miseries there is not one which equals opium in its power to moderate the violence of so many maladies and even to cure some of them.... Medicine would be a one-arm man if it did not possess this remedy.... Laudanum is the best of all the cordials; indeed, it is the only genuine cordial that we possess to-day. [This was written in the middle of the seventeenth century.]
The laudanum employed by Sydenham was made according to the following formula: Spanish wine, 400 grammes; Opium, 62 grammes; Saffron, 31 grammes; Powder of Canella and Powder of Clove, of each 4 grammes.
After much suffering and extreme weakness, Sydenham died on December 31, 1689.
Andrew Browne, the Scotch physician of whom mention has already been made on an earlier page, makes the following comments on the closing days of Sydenham’s career: “It is a difficult matter to believe, and yet it is the truth: This great physician, who throughout his life gave the clearest proof of nobility of soul, generosity and clear-sightedness, died with the accusation hanging over his head that he was ‘an impostor and an assassin of humanity.’” Laboulbène adds: “After years of self-sacrifice in behalf of his fellow men Sydenham received as his final earthly reward calumny and ignominy, and the jealousy of many professional brethren.”
CHAPTER XXXIII
THE THREE LEADING PHYSICIANS OF GERMANY DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY: FRANZ DE LE BOË SYLVIUS, FRIEDRICH HOFFMANN AND GEORG ERNST STAHL
The seventeenth century, says Berendes, was one of the saddest periods in the history of Germany; but, during the greater part of this time, the neighboring countries—Holland, France, England and Italy—still continued to enjoy many of the blessings of the Renaissance,—such, for example, as an uninterrupted activity of artistic efforts, of scientific work, and of commerce;—but in Germany everything seemed to be in a state of confusion. A bloody religious war was at this period devastating the land, and the best powers of the people were being wasted. Instead of increasing cultivation of manners and sentiments, there was a steady growth of savagery. The Protestants, although they probably were numerically superior, were split up into factions. The Catholics, on the other hand, were united, and their power steadily increased. In 1618 the disturbances, which previously had been scattered in character, took on the form of what in time came to be known as “The Thirty Years’ War,” a struggle which proved to be most sanguinary, costing Germany a great deal in every respect. Finally, the war was brought to an end by the signing of the Westphalian Treaty of Peace at Lützen, in 1648. Some idea of the terribly destructive nature of this long war may be gathered from the fact that the population of Germany, which previously had been estimated at twenty millions, was found to have been reduced to about six millions. Whole towns and villages were laid in ashes, and as a consequence those who had survived the disaster lost confidence in themselves and were not able, at least for several years, to undertake anything in art, literature or science; and this depressing atmosphere affected in some degree the people of the Netherlands. Toward the end of the century, however, there came a marked awakening among the younger generation of physicians, and in the course of twenty or thirty years four men, only three of whom, however, were of German birth, succeeded in attaining a decided leadership in this department of science. The names of the Germans are Franz de le Boë (commonly spoken of as Sylvius), Friedrich Hoffmann and Georg Ernst Stahl. I shall now attempt to furnish, as nearly as possible in proper chronological order, very brief sketches of the lives of these distinguished physicians, together with an account of the contributions which they made to the science of medicine.
Franz de le Boë (Sylvius).—Franz de le Boë (Sylvius) was born at Hanau, Prussia, in 1614, of parents who belonged to the nobility and were wealthy, and who consequently were able to give their son every opportunity for acquiring an excellent education. Thus Franz first received a thorough training in philosophy and the classics and afterward visited in turn all the leading universities of Holland, France and Germany before he finally took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at Basel, Switzerland, in 1637. From this time forward, for a period of twenty-three years, he devoted himself to the practice of his profession, first in his native city and then in Leyden and Amsterdam. In 1660 he accepted an invitation to occupy the Chair of Medicine in the University of Leyden, and this position he held during the remainder of his life. He died in 1672.
As a teacher Sylvius was very popular, Boerhaave alone, at a later period, finding greater favor among the crowds of medical students and physicians who frequented this university. Haeser and Haller both attribute some portion of this popularity to the fact that Sylvius combined genuine eloquence with a wonderful charm of manner and a profound knowledge of chemistry, pharmacy and pathological anatomy. In the practice of medicine he followed Van Helmont very closely, but he was not willing to accept his teachings about an “archaeus insitus” and an “archaeus influus.” The system which he advocated was of a very simple character, and this fact undoubtedly contributed much to his popularity among the students. His therapeutic methods were also of a thoroughly practical nature.
Of the works which Sylvius published the following deserve to receive special mention: “Disputationes medicae,” a book in which are set forth his views regarding the fundamental principles of the science of medicine—physiology in particular; “De methodo medendi,” a treatise on therapeutics; and “Praxeos medicae idea nova,” a new idea concerning the practice of medicine.