Otto Tachenius born Tacke (c. 1610 – 8 December 1680) was an alchemist and physician from

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

who is known for the book ''Hippocrates Chymicus'' (1677) which was among the early texts that was among the early texts that suggested that salts and acid-base reactions could be involved in human health and body functioning. He claimed in his book that the basis existed already in the works of

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; ; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician and philosopher of the Classical Greece, classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referr ...

. Tachenius was born in Westphalia to mill owner Heinrich Tacke. After apprenticing in apothecaries in

Herford Herford (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is situated in the cultural region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL) and the Detmold (administrat ...

followed by Lemgo (c. 1633) and Bremen, he left, possibly dismissed by his employer for theft. He then travelled under the name of "Tachenius", through Kiel, Danzig (1641), Königsberg, Warsaw and Vienna and then studied at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

. He received a doctorate in 1647 and became a physician in Venice while also making studies on chemicals such as silica, and the effect of soap on oils. He supported the idea of his teacher

Franciscus Sylvius Franciscus Sylvius (, ; born Franz de le Boë; 15 March 1614 – 19 November 1672) was a Dutch physician and scientist (chemist, physiologist and anatomist) who was an early champion of Descartes', Van Helmont's and William Harvey's work ...

that all reactions involved acids and bases. He claimed that oils had a hidden acid which is released while forming soap when reacting with alkali, noting that soap could dissolve minute amounts of silver. He questioned Van Helmont on the existence of a universal solvent and then went on to sell a proprietary or miracle cure "viperine salt" (sal viperinum). This was criticized by others and Tachenius believed that his critic was Helwig Dieterich, resulting in polemics between the two (and others) which went on until 1656.

References

External links

* Ottonis Tachenij Hippocrates chimicus, per ignem & aquam methodo inaudita nouissimi salis viperini antiquissima fundamenta ostendens (1697)
Biography
{{Authority control German apothecaries 17th-century German physicians 1680 deaths Alchemists from the Holy Roman Empire