Genre:

Novel, Serial, Abstract

Publications abstracted:

Hawthorne 1850

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Alchemy

People mentioned:

Paracelsus

    This is an abridged serialization of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, which was first published in the United States of America. Hester Prynne and her child are treated by her husband a physician, Roger Chillingworth, who is introduced as 'a man of skill in all Christian modes of physical science' and in herbal remedies of the 'savage people'. Chillingworth claims that his 'old studies in alchemy' and in 'the kindly properties of simples' have made him a better physician than those with medical degrees. Despite Hester's scepticism, he successfully treats her child with his medicine. He presents Hester with a draught made from 'a recipe that an Indian taught me' but which Hester believes may be fatal. (49) He convinces her that he seeks to give her 'medicines against all harm and peril of life' and she takes the draught. (50)