par Moreau, Elisabeth 
Référence Ninth SHAC Annual Postgraduate Workshop – Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (29 June 2018: The Royal Institution, London)
Publication Non publié, 2018-06-28
Référence Ninth SHAC Annual Postgraduate Workshop – Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (29 June 2018: The Royal Institution, London)
Publication Non publié, 2018-06-28
Communication à un colloque
| Résumé : | Initially defined as a gum with medicinal effects in ancient natural history and pharmacology, “balsam” (balsamum) and its derivatives received various acceptations in early modern medicine and alchemy, from both theoretical and practical viewpoints. The present paper examines its description, properties and therapeutical use in the medical tradition. Then, it considers its redefinition from an alchemical perspective by comparing several recipes in Renaissance pharmacological treatises. Finally, it explores Paracelsus’ interpretation of balsam as both an alchemical material and a vital principle, as well as its widespread reception in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. |
