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Albert H. Buck.

Cornwall, Orange County, N. Y.

October 3, 1919.

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THÉOPHRASTE RENAUDOT, PHYSICIAN, PHILANTHROPIST, AND FOUNDER OF THE FIRST FRENCH NEWSPAPER (1586–1653)

Prefatory Remarks.—As the present volume purports to deal with events that occurred chiefly during the eighteenth century, the reader may think it strange that I should introduce here a sketch which relates to a physician whose life covers a period nearly one century earlier. My reason for departing, in this instance, from the proper chronological order, in the arrangement of my text, is of a twofold nature. In the first place, I did not discover Gilles de la Tourette’s interesting memoir—almost the only satisfactory source of information available concerning Renaudot—until about February 1, 1918—that is, nearly one year after “The Growth of Medicine” had been published; and, second, on looking over the principal treatises on the history of medicine, I failed to find any adequate account of the remarkable work accomplished by Renaudot. Puschmann, so far as I have been able to learn, is the only authority who gives this great philanthropist due credit for the important part which he played in reflecting honor upon our profession.