De Usu Ratiocinii Mechanici in Medicina

An argument for applying mechanical and geometrical reasoning to medical inquiry, asserting that strict sensory observation combined with mathematical demonstration best reveals bodily structure and function. The speaker champions anatomy, microscopical study, and investigation of fluids to determine the particular properties of tissues, and warns against speculative or purely a priori doctrines detached from experiment. Framing the human body as a complex machine governed by mass, shape, and motion, the oration urges methods that extract singular experimental facts and then unify them through geometric analysis to improve diagnosis and therapeutic practice.