Noah Biggs was an English medical reformer and

alchemical Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...

writer of the middle of the seventeenth century. In his ''Chymiatrophilos, mataeotechnia medicinae praxes: The Vanity of the Craft of Physick'', from 1651, he attacked pretentious and

quack Quack, The Quack or Quacks may refer to: People * Quack Davis, American baseball player * Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack (1834–1917), Dutch economist and historian * Joachim Friedrich Quack (born 1966), German Egyptologist * Johannes Quack (b ...

medical theories of his time. He also implied that

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...

ists in the

College of Physicians A college of physicians is a national or provincial organisation concerned with the practice of medicine. {{Expand list, date=February 2011 Such institutions include: * American College of Physicians * Ceylon College of Physicians * College of Phy ...

opposed the Parliamentarian regime. He is credited with introducing the words 'febrile' and 'obesity'. His book borrowed from

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

's ''

Areopagitica ''Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc'd Printing, to the Parlament of England'' is a 1644 prose polemic by the English poet, scholar, and polemical author John Milton opposing licensing and censorship. ''Areop ...

'', and the ''Advancement of Learning'' of

John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...

. He called for better diet, and criticised bleeding and other remedies of the period.; and warned against

lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, inferti ...

. It was addressed to Parliament, and asked for reform of the universities. evidences this attitude in his sharp attack on the universities of his day. It argued that medical practice should be open to all, a point also taken up by

William Walwyn William Walwyn (''bap.'' 1600–1681) was an English pamphleteer, a Leveller and a medical practitioner. Life Walwyn was a silkman in London who took the parliamentary side in the English Civil War. He advocated religious toleration and emerged a ...

. He is associated with the

Paracelsians Paracelsianism (also Paracelsism; German: ') was an early modern medical movement based on the theories and therapies of Paracelsus. It developed in the second half of the 16th century, during the decades following Paracelsus' death in 1541, a ...

, and the followers of Joan Baptista van Helmont.''The late 1640s and early 1650s saw an increasing interest in van Helmont in England, Sir Cheney Culpeper,

Walter Charleton Walter Charleton (2 February 1619 – 24 April 1707) was a natural philosopher and English writer. According to Jon Parkin, he was "the main conduit for the transmission of Epicurean ideas to England".Jon Parkin, ''Science, Religion and Politics ...

, and Noah Biggs were all enthusiastic about van Helmont, before Starkey's arrival in England''. William R. Newman and Lawrence M. Principe, ''Alchemy Tried in the Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry'' (2002), p. 222.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggs, Noah English alchemists 17th-century alchemists