Hermippus Redivivus

In Three Volumes. Wherein A Method Is Laid Down For Prolonging The Life And Vigor Of Man. Including A Commentary Upon An Ancient Inscription, In Which This Great Secret Is Revealed; Supported By Numerous Authorities. The Whole Interspersed With A Great Variety Of Remarkable And Well Attested Relations. Cohausen's Method For Retaining Youth Was To Inhale The Breath Of Young People. Sir William Osler Reports That A Certain Physician, After Reading The Book, Took Lodging In A Boarding School To Be Near The Youthful Source. Cohausen Cites Numerous Authorities At Length, Among Them Roger Bacon, Father Masseus (Historiarum Indicarum), And The Bible. These And Other Sources Tell Of Long-Lived Persons And How They Attained Longevity, Some Restoring Their Youthfulness Periodically, Growing New Teeth, Turning Gray Hair Into Black, Etc. His Explanation Of The Ancient Texts Reveals A Certain Freedom Of Interpretation, But His Formula For Restoring Youth Seems No Less Convincing Than Some Of The Modern Means Now Being Touted Commercially. One Argument His Critics Found Hard To Dispel Was That Since Diseases Pass From Person To Person, Why Can't Good Health Do The Same? The Translator, Dr. Campbell, A Scottish Historian, Was A Prolific Author And A Friend Of Contemporary Writers, Among Whom Was Samuel Johnson, Who Said That This Book Was "Very Entertaining As An Account Of The Hermetic Philosophy And As Furnishing A Curious History Of The Extravagances Of The Human Mind." He Added, "If It Were Merely Imaginary It Would Be Nothing At All."