Christopher Packe (born in or before 1657, died in or after 1708), was an English chemist. Packe set up his laboratory in 1670 at the sign of the "Globe and Chemical Furnaces" in

Little Moorfields Coleman Street is one of the 25 ancient wards of the City of London and lies on the City's northern boundary with the London Borough of Islington. The ward, which includes land lying on either side of the former city wall, takes its name from ...

, London, and styled himself a professor of chemical medicine. He practised as a quack under powerful patronage, including that of the Hon.

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...

and

Edmund Dickinson Edmund Dickinson or Dickenson (1624–1707) was an English royal physician and alchemist, author of a syncretic philosophical system. Life He was son of the Rev. William Dickinson, rector of Appleton, Oxfordshire, Appleton in Berkshire (now Oxfor ...

, physician to the king, and in 1684 he circulated a list of his specifics.

Bibliography

In 1689 Packe brought out in goodly folio a translation of the "''Works of the highly experienced and famous chymist, John Rudolph Glauber''", accompanied by the original copper plates, which he had purchased at Amsterdam. This undertaking occupied him three years, and he secured a large number of subscribers. Packe other publications were chiefly designed to promote the sale of his specifics, and are as follows: *'' De Succo Pancreatico; or a Physical and Anatomical Treatise of the Nature and Office of the Pancreatick Juice,''

12mo Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

, London, 1674; a translation from the Latin of R. de Graaf. *Robert Couch's ''Praxis Catholica; or the Countryman's Universal Remedy,'' with additions by himself,

duodecimo Paper size standards govern the size of sheets of paper used as writing paper, stationery, cards, and for some printed documents. The ISO 216 standard, which includes the commonly used A4 size, is the international standard for paper size. I ...

, London, 1680. *''One hundred and fifty three Chymical Aphorisms,'' 12mo, London, 1688, from the Latin of Eremita Suburbanus, with additions from that of Bernardus G. Penotus. *'' Mineralogia; or an Account of the Preparation, manifold Vertues, and Uses of a Mineral Salt, both in Physick and Chyrurgery ... to which is added a short Discourse of the Nature and Uses of the Sulphurs of Minerals and Metals in curing Diseases,''

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

, London, 1693. *''Medela Chymica; or an Account of the Vertues and Uses of a Select Number of Chymical Medicines ... as also an Essay upon the Acetum Acerrimum Philosophorum, or Vinegar of Antimony'', 8vo, London, 1708; at the end of which is a catalogue of his medicines, with their prices. A son, Edmund Packe ('' fl.'' 1735), calling himself "M.D. and chemist", carried on the business at the Golden Head in Southampton Street, Covent Garden. He published an edition of his father's ''Mineralogia'' (undated) and '' An Answer to Dr. Turner's Letter to Dr. Jurin on the subject of Mr. Ward's Drop and Pill, wherein his Ignorance of Chymical Pharmacy is fairly exposed'', octavo, London, 1735.

Notes

References

* His son is mentioned in the same article as his father: * The entry cites Packe's works. {{DEFAULTSORT:Packe, Christopher English pharmacists 17th-century English people Year of death missing Year of birth uncertain