title: "Summus atque felicissimus salium": the medical relevance of the liquor alkahest.
abstract: This paper analyzes the development of the concept of alkahest from its origins in the Paracelsian corpus to its mature form in the works of Joan Baptista van Helmont (1579-1644) and his successors. Historians of science have usually focused on the chemical aspects of the alkahest, taking into account especially the claims that it was a substance capable of dissolving all kinds of matter. This paper shows the medical implications of the alkahest: it was not only a "solvent," but an important means of revealing nature's secrets and of producing medicines. The properties ascribed to the alkahest fit perfectly within Helmontian theories about matter, disease, and cure.
authors.forename: Paulo A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Porto
mesh_terms: D000422:Alchemy; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049691:History, Medieval; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000266:history*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000266:history*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D012997:Solvents