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The PREFACE.
xxvii

in Rome, and that upon this he should receive the Approbation and Encomiums of both, and lastly, that he should be so hardy to dedicate a Dream, and an absurd unphilosophical Account of Remedies, to such a Pope as Alexander the seventh, who was so far from being weak and credulous, that if Matchiavel, who knew him, may be trusted for his Character, he was a very sensible and subtle Man? Now, I say, is it not very difficult after this to conclude, that the Chymist communicated his Vision to the Jesuit, concerning the Medicine which Hippocrates used in the Cure of the Plague, and that he relied upon his Story; especially when no Evidence is produced on the contrary Side of the Question? It is much more reasonable to believe, it being no more than himself affirms, that he extracted his supposed Discovery from the Works of Hippocrates himself. If it be said that he was greatly mistaken, and that what he affirms is not to be found in Hippocrates; be it so, may not Kircher notwithstanding believe that he had discovered the Secret in the Works of Hippocrates, though he was misled and relied upon obscure Passages that would not

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