What sense would it make or what would it benfit a physician if he discovered the origin of the diseases but could not cure or alleviate them?

Medicine rests upon four pillars—philosophy, astronomy, alchemy, and ethics. The first pillar is the philosophical knowledge of earth and water; the second, astronomy, supplies its full understanding of that which is of fiery and airy nature; the third is an adequate explanation of the properties of all the four elements—that is to say, of the whole cosmos—and an introduction into the art of their transformations; and finally, the fourth shows the physician those virtues which must stay with him up until his death, and it should support and complete the three other pillars.

Death is the cure for all diseases.

The physician must give heed to the region in which the patient lives, that is to say, to its type and peculiarities.

The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind.

This is alchemy, and this is the office of Vulcan; he is the apothecary and chemist of the medicine.