Author: Digby, Sr. Kenelme.
Title: A LATE DISCOURSE made in a solemne assembly of nobles and learned men at Montpellier in France, by ... knight, &c. Touching the cure of wounds by the powder of sympathy; with instructions how to make the said powder; whereby many other secrets of nature are unfolded. Rendered faithfully out of French into English by R. White, gent.
Description: Printed for R. Lowndes at the White Lion, and T. Davies at the Bible in S. Pauls Church-yard, over against the little North Door,, 1658. 2nd Ed. corrected and augmented with the addition of an Index. 12mo. [10], 152, [5]p. Title page within decorative border, decorative devices and initial letters. Lacking portion along tail of title page, light browning, paper detached from pastedowns, contemporary sheep, blind ruling to edges of boards, very sm. portion lacking to upper board, minor marking and wear, spine with old repairs and sl. loss to tail. ¶ Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), D1436; ESTC R2454 ‘Translation of Discours fait en une célèbre assemblée, touchant la guérison des playes par la poudre de sympathie. Includes index. With final table of contents.’ Sir Kenelm Digby (1603–1665), natural philosopher and courtier, was born on 11 July 1603 at Gayhurst, Buckinghamshire, the elder son of Sir Everard Digby (c. 1578–1606), later executed for involvement in the Gunpowder Plot. ‘... Digby's experiments often involved faulty observation and conclusions that went further than the facts allowed. A prime example was the celebrated 'sympathetic powder'. Made from dried green vitriol, this was a variant of the well-known Paracelsian 'weapon salve' which cured wounds by being applied, not to the patient, but to the offending weapon. He offered a complex mechanical explanation in a lecture to a congress of French virtuosi [the above work]. Digby had cured his friend James Howell, then the duke of Buckingham's secretary, of a sword-cut in the hand by dissolving some powdered vitriol crystals in water and plunging into the mixture a cloth stained with blood from the wound. The pain in Howell's hand, some yards away, immediately ceased. Many were convinced by Digby's evidence, including Joseph Glanvill, later a Royal Society fellow, and Nathaniel Highmore, a distinguished anatomist and friend of William Harvey. In fact the cure lay in washing and bandaging the wound. There were four editions in English of Digby's oration, three in German, and at least seven in French ...’

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