We allude here to the famous scheme of
_transfusion_, or of introducing the blood of one animal into that of
another. This curious discovery is attributed to Andreas Libavius,
professor of medicine and chemistry in the university of Halle, who, in
the year 1615, publicly recommended experimental essays to ascertain the
fact.
Libavius was an honest and spirited opposer of the Theosophic system,
founded by the bombastic Paracelsus, and supported by a numerous tribe
of credulous and frantic followers. Although he was not totally exempt
from the follies of that age, since he believed in the transmutation of
metals, and suggested to his pupils the wonderful power of potable gold,
yet he distinguished rational alchemy from the fanatical systems then in
repute, and zealously defended the former against the disciples of
Galen, as well as those of Paracelsus. He made a number of important
discoveries in chemistry, and was unquestionably the first professor in
Germany who gave chemical lectures, upon pure principles of affinity,
unconnected with the extravagant notions of the theosophists.
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