Sir Isaac Newton considered curing the plague with a lozenges, a manuscript revealed

The writing also refers to using stones such as sapphire and amber as “zenexton,” or amulets, against disease, among more worldly observations such as “places infected with Plague must be avoided.”

Newton noted this when studying the work of Jan Baptiste Van Helmont, a famous chemist in the 17th century and a leading medical scientist who practiced at the time. Van Helmont died in 1644. Among his most important contributions was that he first identified the presence of gases such as carbon dioxide, and he coined the term “gas.”

Although Newton was largely interested in learning about chemistry from Van Helmont, he also focused his attention on a book written by Van Helmont about the plague, “Tumulus Pestis” (“Tomb of the Plague”), based on his experience healing patients in Antwerp in 1605, according to Bonhams research.

It is no coincidence that in 1667, Newton developed an interest in learning about the plague.

“There must have been some kind of spark of interest at the time, just for his intelligence. While medicine was never the focus, I think there was a personal interest in this particular subject at the time,” Sutherland said.

Using vomit frogs or gemstones to cure plague does sound kooky today, but Newton “is not an outcast in the context of the 17th century,” Sutherland said.

The mention of frog charms and gemstones by Newton as a possible remedy for the outbreak did not surprise Elisabeth Brander, a rare book librarian at the Becker Medical Library, he told CNN.

“We usually associate it with what we consider to be very modern and forward-looking science, but when it was still alive, the lines between what we now consider science and superstition are far, far more blurrier.”

According to Brander, Van Helmont’s frog healing came from the teachings of Paracelsus, a Swiss doctor who lived in the 16th century.

Paracelsus “believes that the outbreak was caused by celestial disorders in the body and that wearing certain amulets can help disrupt the damaging relationship between the body and the stars,” Brander told CNN.

“We have since moved away from the idea of ​​the sympathetic forces that created certain disturbances in the physical body, but that made sense in the early modern period. Newton was in the middle of this transition period where the body of scientific knowledge was still in flux, which was very interesting, “he added.

Distinguishing between Newton’s scientific achievements and his reflections on frogs and gemstones is only possible for us as contemporary observers, with the benefit of looking back.

The 17th century was a time when many scientific discoveries that we now understand as the mainstream were first conceptualized and defined. Even ideas such as gravity, which are fully established today, take years to flow into general knowledge after Newton first formulated them, according to Sutherland.

“Important moments in our history are not important at this time,” Sutherland added.