Alchemy Its Science and Romance 1000000148

2013-02-10 17:39:39 UTC
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ALCHEMY
ITS SCIENCE AND ROMANCE
BY
THE
RIGHT
REV.
SOMETIME
J.
BISHOP
E.
OF
MERCER,
TASMANIA
D.D
WITH
FOUR
ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
SOCIETY
CHRISTIAN
NORTHUMBERLAND
FOR
PROMOTING
KNOWLEDGE
AVENUE, W.C.
NEW
YORK:
THE
MACMILLAN
CO.
1921
\^.'
"V
\'
BY
THE
SAME
AUTHOR
THE
PROBLEM
to define the
OF
CREATION.
and
An
attempt of
Gharactet
328 pp.
Trend
the
Cosmic
Process.
75. 6d,
192 pp.
SOME
WONDERS
OP
MATTER.
6s.
S.P.C.K.
''PHlNTei-
GREAT
fc"^-^^^.
...r.*
^^^^^^BHi^Bsn^Êis
PREFACE
4
perhaps claim to be an apology for It attempts to set forth, with more of is usual,its history, system and of sympathy than it the doctrinesit professed, and the results achieved. It must not, however, be thought that the apologetic intention of the study implies any failurein recognising the weaknesses and follies which abounded in the development of the art, nor the chimerical nature of the means adopted for solving its Grand Secret. The defence is based on a critical estimate
of the conditions under which the genuine adepts had to think and work. I have consulted the works of representative of alchemists, especially the earlierperiods. But I
This may Alchemy.
claim to detailed research throughout the whole vast range of the literatureof the subject. Even Berthelot had to specialise.I have availed less or myself freely of materials which are more in on treatises the Hermeitic easilyaccessible modem art. I gratefullyacknowledge my indebtednessto the above-mentioned author, and, though in less degree, to such studies as those of Figuier,Muir, and Thorpe, as also to a carefully written article in Hastings' EncyclopcediaofReligionand Ethics. Fortunately the stand out clearly; a juain features of the
lay
no
subject
" *"
t"
20185
iv
study
PREFACE
of tedious and generally unintelligible detail is I venture What to question is not the unnecessary. so of the condemnations evidence, but the justice
often
make
founded
upon
it.
contend
that
when
we
fair allowance
the
genuine
for the conditions under did their work, we alchemists
which
shall
their right to rank as true scientists and To judge them from the standpoint of the present is hopelessly irrational. acknowledge discoverers.
J. EDWARD
February
8, 1920.
MERCER.
CONTENTS
PAOI
x^RGFACEi
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INTRODUCTION
THE AKT
AND
ITS
APPEAL
V^
What
Alchemy
astrology
SuDj6Cu
"
at" Alchemy aimed Psychological aspects

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compared Romance
t**
"
and with magic Division of the

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PART
GENERAL
I
HISTORY
CHAPTER
MYTH
I
HISTORY
AND
EARLY
Mythical
idea of transmutation Trismegistus ^Hermes The accounts Early The Papyri of Leyden The references" factor---Spread of the art mystical
"
" "
"
...
...
...
11
CHAPTER
ARABIAN ALCHEMY
II
The
testimony Alchemy
of words"
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Gteher
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Spread
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of Arabian
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^3
vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTEE
III
ALCHEMY
PAOK
y
Gerbert" LuUy
Albertus
"
MEDIiBVAL
Magnus Aquinas Roger Bacon Universal diffusion Medieval criticism

"
"
"
"
"
Baymond Persecution
31
OHAPTEB
DECADENCE
IV
Medical
Alchemy
"
Rosicrucians^
Successors ^Paracelsus Chief cause of decadence

"
of
...
Paracelsus
...
"
The
...
43
CHAPTEE
TRANSITION
TO
V
SCIENCE
Robert
The
Boyle
end
"
Alchemy of Alchemy
at Oxford
"".
"
Critics
"
Dr. Price
...
"
Semler
...
"
"..
...
57
PAET
THE IDEA
II
TRANSMUTATION
OF
CHAPTER
V
I
PROCESSES
SUGGESTIONS
PROM
NATURAL
A world of change"The Dyeing the metals Împerfect

"
"
"
Precipitates
"
The quality of colour alchemist's aim Fixed eleOther qualities of metals ments for making gold analysis" Two receipts Appeal to history
"
"
"
...
...
...
71
CHAPTEE
PHILOSOPHY OP
II
TRANSMUTATION
Platonic theories of matter A passage from Psellus The mercury of the philosophers and Alchemy Sulphur Theory and practice of the.metals
" "
"
"
"
Platonism tion Composi-
"
"
Qualities
... ...
as
separate
entities
...
...
...
8G
CONTENTS
vii
III
ANIMISM
FAOB
OHAPTEB
ALCHEMY
AND
Metals
grow
"
"
metals
icieas
Metals and animal birth Metals have body and soul

"
"
Dying and reviving of Introduction of moral

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CHAPTER
MAQIC AND
IV
ABTBOLOGY
Early
"
Attitude of the Church Alchemist metallurgy and magic Astrology and alchemy The metals magic and philosophy Signs and symbols Magic formulas ing Varyand the planets An of magical elements statue strength animated Palliation
"
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"
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"
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...
...
...
...
...
...
113
PART
THE
III
OF THE
OBJECTS
QUEST
CHAPTER
THE
I
STONE
philosopher's
Wanted
"
Early descriptions of the agent a transmuting agent Descriptions Measure The stone of the stone of potency Mental and moral properties Healing powers
"
"
"
"
"
...
...
131
CHAPTER
THE
II
MYSTICISM
STONE
AND
^
"
Beligion
and
grand
Alchemy Death and resurrection of metals The Summary secret of chief characteristics of the stone
"
"
143
CHAPTER
CREDULITY
AND
III
IMPOSTURE
The
secret elixir ^The alkahest Dyer and Eelley

"
"
Bejuvenation
"
False
transmutations
...
"
"
Alchemy
and spiritualism
152
vHi
CONTENTS
CHAPTEE
LIFE
IV
PAQK
OP
BEBMABD
OP
TREVES
"""
"""
161
PART
ALCHEMY AND
IV
SCIENCE
CHAPTER
DIFFICULTIES
"
OP
INTERPRETATION
Examples of obscurity Vaguenessof terminology Obscurities 1G9 receipts ^Straightforward

"
.*.
...
.."
...
CHAPTEE
THE
"
II
MATERIALS
"
Gold Silver Eleotrum Copper Bronze, Map p8B clavicula" Brass, Aurichalcum" Mercury Mercury and sulphur" Tin Iron and magnesia---Other Lead 178 materials
"
"
"
"
"
...
...
CHAPTER
THE
"
III
LABORATORIES
"
l Intrusion feeling Apparatus-"Processes~Ben Jonson*s ist of Processesin detail .."

...
...
...
"""
193
CHAPTER
ADVANCES
AND
IV
DISCOVERIES
Combining of theory spirit^ and practice"Dawn of the scientific

Baconr" Aristotle Arabian The experimentalmethod ^Boger discoveriesClassification discoyeries" Mediaeval
"
"
"
...
...
203
CONTENTS
ix
CHAPTER
TBANSITION
TO
MODEBN
V
CHEMISTB7
PAOI
Difficulty in discovering Discoyery elements" of the elements Boyle Joseph Priestley Lavoisier ^Discovery of gases Unclumging Alchemist transmutation elements abandoned
"
"
"
"
"
"
220
CHAPTER
THE
VI
OUTLOOK
The
"
are not ultimates elements Natural families of elements life Conclusion

"
"
"
Isomerism and allotropism The elixir of Badioactivity"

...
...
,,,
...
...
...
233
ILLUSTKATIONS
The
Alchemist
From
a
...
...
...
...
...
Frontispiece
painting
by Joseph
Wrijht
of Derby.
Philip
Front
Theophbastus
an
Pabacelsus
by Ridley.
...
...
facingpage
48
engraving
An
Alchemist's
From
an
Labobatoby
...
...
"
193
old print.
The
Hon,
From
an
Robebt
engraving
Boyle
by
...
...
...
"
222
W. Uoll.
CALIFJOPNIA
ALCHEMY"
ITS
ROMANCE
INTRODUCTION
SCIENCE
AND
The
Art
and
its
Appeal
^that baffling art, with a record so ancient and The yet so tarnished. it, science has swept over strong stream of modem leaving it shattered and forlorn. It has fallen on evil
OUR
is subject
alchemy
"
days, And
and
has
almost
passed
out
the historian, the philosopher, and for the scientisthimself. It numbered its adepts some of the most picturesque and among
the most
yet, when sympathetically in varied interests, for the poet,
of remembrance. studied, it abounds
famous
personages
in the annals of European
civilisation. It welded philosophic speculation and operative toil ; mysticism, magic and technical skill. It lost itselfin the wildest aberrations, and yet issued in modern It thus presents a unique chemistry. medley of attractions which gain in their power of
appeal in proportion as the rigidity of modern is softened and humanised.
rialism Mate-
What
Alchemy
the
to
aimed
at.
If
we
ask what sought
were objects
which
answers
the art
are
so
as
strenuously
attain, the
1
not
"
"
-
"
"
2- :
AND -ALCHfiikXrljbjS.SCIE
as
ROMANCE
simple
out
many
prominently to transmute the of the Philosopher's Stone which was baser metals into gold. BiiFaTcTiemists aimed at far
would imagine. m the popular
of them stands mind-r-the discovery
One
more
than
this.
In constant
with rivalry
the hope~6f
making
remedy
objects
by
was was a
that of discovering a gold and silver was The two for disease, a universal medicine. tended to run together, because of the frequent
of the
identitication
btone and lhe"EIixir. "The latter, natural extension of the idea of a master-power, to renew the vigour and graces of youth, nay, it
to effect
an
indefinite lengthening
adepts claimed remedy would give intellectual and moral excellence, happiness, influence with the spirit world, communion Thus were the aims of the art with the Creator.
transmutations, not until they embraced beings, and the control of metals only, but of human into the universe at out pf_powers^which^reached
life^ Further,
of the term of that Their woiSdfous
expanded
large.
"
But
the
art,
it objects,
was
it will be said, never attained its delusive ; and is therefore unworthy
of serious study. to be hasty and bulks form
Such
inference is easily shown superficial. Delusion undeniably

an
largely in the history, and raises in an the curious problem of its function in
acute
man's
intellectual and spiritual evolution. But delusion is not the whole tale. In searching for the Stone and the Elixir, real substances had to be handled, real
experiments otherwise
had
than
It could not, then, be a body that there should accumulate
to be made.
of empirical
and
facts concerning the nature stances of the subtheir mutual reactions. Moreover, even
INTRODUCTION
the charlatans had their part to play, in that they helped to keep alive the interest in alchemical
pursuits.
Alchemy
Bacon
compared
with
Magic
and
Astrology.
suggestive passage in which he groups "As for the together three kindred pseudo-arts. facility of credit which is yielded to arts and opinions,
has
too much belief is either when attributed to the arts themselves, or to certain authors The sciences themselves which have had in any art. tion better intelligence and confederacy with the imagina-
it is of two
kinds
of man Astrology,
than with his reason, Natural Magic, and

or
three in number Alchemy; of which

are
sciences nevertheless the ends
For
astrology
or
pretendeth
to
pretences are discover that
noble.
correspondence
superior
is between the concatenation which the inferior ; natural magic globe and
to call and reduce natural philosophy pretendeth from a variety of speculations to the magnitude of
works
separation pretendeth to make of all the unlike parts of bodies which in mixtures of * nature are incorporate."
; and
alchemy
few
comments
on
the points
here
a
raised will pseudo-art it is of why
help much to an imderstanding of how could flourish for so long a period, and
of continued place that it gained

worthy
groimds
men
mentioned
We note in the first attention. facility of credit " on both the It was by Bacon. cultivated by
"
selves, of repute who imagined that either they themor others, had genuinely solved the great secret
"
Advancement
of Learning,
Bk.
I.
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
Stone,
AND
ROMANCE
"
of the
amount
Philosopher's
and
it thus
gained
an
of soUd prestige which failures and disappointments. It

case as
survived constant was also in the same
'
astrology and magic through the strength of its appeal to the emotions. Spurred on by the dazzling of wealth and all that wealth can give, and by the desire to conquer disease and natural decay, even to sway their allowed their imagination clever men of success slenderest chances sufficed to keep the fire of enthusiasm aglow. Astrology sought to bring star-lore into relation with hiunan life; magic sought to bend the powers
reason.
hope
The
of
nature
to
human
manipulate In needs.
substances spite, then,
laboured tp wills ; alchemy for the satisfaction of human

of the
and too often marred, which Their fortunes, their ends, as Bacon says, were noble. intimately linked together ; and as we shall see, were
they
and vanities debased, these arts,
errors
all three alike gave birth to sciences which are Astrology times. the chief glories of our own among in astronomy, natural magic in physics, and merged The differences in the rates of alchemy in chemistry.
merging do not affect the nature and the significance Accretions of the principles and processes involved. gradually stripped of ignorance and superstition were
store of facts formed the and the accumulating solid triumphs. nucleus for greater and more Mathematics the first to free and physics were
away,
themselves
from their
the entangling
early
For
thank
tion. creations of imaginato they have emancipation
subject
the comparative clarity and precision of their for a longer time Astrology was matter.
on
cultivated
its
emotional
side
ets
means
tq
INTRODUCTION
foretelling, and
was
even
case
changing,
the future.
Alchemy
in the worst
men
times,
,
had
no
of all. For, until quite recent guides in the unravelling of the
of chemical reactions other and subtle mazes complex than a medley of loose analogies and vague hypotheses. in this sphere of research was Advance necessarily Liebig is justified slow and painful. Nevertheless
when
he asserts that
"
alchemy
from
firstto last
was
chemistry."
Psychological
Aspects.
Our
interest. during
a
subject is
The
also
story
replete with psychological of the art brings before us,
long series of changing centiu'ies, amid varying the influence of emotion stages and types of civilisation, Is there not in the piu'suit of an aim. absorbing of the material for putting to the test many to mystic tendencies and occult speculations and so manifest themselves persistently practices which
here in all ages, not excluding there is a place for these.
oiu* own
Undoubtedly
temple
of mysteries,
and
world is in reality a there is perennial truth in

The
more
the much-quoted in heaven and
that there are aphorism dreamt earth than are
things
in
omr
of
Notwithstanding, philosophy. to put of the alchemists serve allowing the critical faculty dominant
set of keen
the
us on
errors oiu*
and
follies
against by a
or
guard
to
be
swamped
desires, of deep
our
own
cravings,
of
soaring aspirations. If it be urged that
age has outgrown

a
such
weaknesses,
can
moreover
psychology
appeal
utters
to
and sufficiently disturbing
warning
note,
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
array
the of facts. It bids us distinguish between hereditary structure of the individual mind and the environment which provides that mind with stimulus
(or its
the
same
development.
;
True,
oiur
our
oiur
vastly improved
as
but
those of
minds forefathers.
has environment fundamentally are

A realisation of former
of this fact wfll mitigate our condemnation credulities,and will likewise make us less confident of the immunity of our own generation.
Romance. It is possible, then, to

even justify,
from
tarian utili-
standpoint,
alchemy
was
constitutes a the marvellous. wild" the fantastic, the. uncanny, From the outset it has had a fascination for artists, and novelists. In early mediaeval poets^laywrights days
medium
a
serious consideration of what But its romance and what it achieved. For it abounds further claim. in the
certain Aurelius
of
verse
Augurella
in which to expoimd and practices of the art, and with no inconsiderable Jean de Meung the famous success. (1275), author
the employed the mysteries
of the Roman and Ben
fh'm believer in alchemy, of makes it the subject two of his shorter poems. in his play, The is at his "rarest" Jonson
de la Rose^
was
Alchemist^
Goethe
consider his finest work. many which in his Faust brings it to the fore. Writers of
fiction innumerable
to exploited its resources in his Antiquary being not enhance their plots Scott Browning has chosen for the least notable example.
have
"
the hero of
most
an
ambitious
poem,
Paracelsus,
one
of its
astonishing
professors.
Artists have
exploited
INTRODUCTION
"
its picturesque accessories its presiding sages and Lovers of allegory and its mysterious apparatus. can revel in its mystic serpents, interwoven symbolism
triangles, salamanders,
creations of imfettered inexhaustible.
dragons,
and the like weird imagination. The store is
It would be inexcusable to contend that modem The story science has not its elements of romance. interest and deepens 6f its conquests teems with human
our
But when of the universe. of the mystery be said, we have to that can all is said on this score the loss of a peculiar charm ; the cold acknowledge depersonalised of the present-day methods menter experisense
impose
on
us
burden
of hard
facts which
limits the free rovings of phantasy and chillsromantic There is no easier or surer fervour. way to get back into the olden world than to share for a while the hopes
and labours of the alchemists.
Division
"
of
the
Subject.
It would
separately
enumerated. the
to treat and cumbersome artificial of interest above each of the sources It will be profitable, however, to distinguis
be
history
its science, and and divisions of our subject. We shall thus be preserved Let us therefore proceed from desultory wanderings.
as
of the art from its philosophy to devote to these the larger
follows.
We
story
cannot
hope
have
to understand
secured a We will begin, then, with a sketch course. general of the history of the art from its origin to its decadence
until
we
the details of the bird's-eye view of its
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
and thus obtain a framework happenings, discoveries, may

come
a
into which persons, be fitted. Then may
closer consideration of the ruling ideas which of the art ; and guided the development of the technical skill, methods, ditioned and materials which conway will thus be clear for admiring sopher's the virtues of those illusive substances, the PhiloStone and the Elixir of Life. Next will it.
The
come
an
attempt
to estimate
of the contributions made lastly we will ask whether whether, rather, it is not
and the value And to positive science. the art be really dead ; or
a
the amount
taking
new
lease of life,
surpass by the
and
promising
anything
sages of
a
attain results which may that could be suspected or imagined
to
bygone
day.
PART
GENERAL
I
HISTOBY
CHAPTER
MYTH AND EAELY
I
HISTORY
WHEN
did alchemy
begin
its long
career
The
question cannot be answered with any certainty. deed, inIt is known, Trustworthy evidence is lacking. But not until ancient ancestry. does it emerge into the Empire the fall of the Roman light of valid history. be This much, however, can " " inferred, that the art properly called alchemy
that
it has
an
arose era,
art
in the second or third century of the Christian and that it resulted from a union of the practical of the Egyptians with the philosophy of the
conjimction
Greeks, and with the mysticism which found its home Let us take careful note of this triple in Alexandria. importance. ; it is of fundamental
Mythical The back

our
were
Accounts.
no
era.
origin of alchemy is ancient even when traced further than the second or third century of But the adepts and historians of the art
no means
by
invest it with Some Adam

it as
thus easily satisfied,and sought to the imposing dignity of a hoary antiquity.
were very bold and claimed of them desire of making as its founder, with the naive The loss of the secret came old as the race. with
11
12
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Olaeus Borriehius is on somethe loss of Paradise. what finner ground when he fixes on Tubal-eain, the
famous
of the Bible, for it is certain that the metallurgy of primitive times provided the practical Noah basis of alchemy. was these enlisted among
smith
It was argued that he must have patriarchal adepts. otherwise he could not have possessed the Elixir of life, five hundred years old. begotten children when he was
The
contention,
however,
supposition of a kind is advanced the when derived from the name Shem,
is not quite convincing. very different and far sounder

" "
word alchemy Chem, or the son Chem this

proved
score
is
Noah.
But
even we
were
the
not
name
on
of to be
in evidence,
should
with a seventeejith-century Philosophy^* that Shem was
History
an
of
conclude, the Hermetic
alchemist 1 Once started on this track, historians could not fail to enrol Moses. Was he not learned in all the lore of the Egyptians, be not and would alchemy included ?
was
Moreover,
at the angered took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire,and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the the children of Israel drink of it." water, and made
it is recorded that when Moses idolatry of the Israelites, " he
Here,
he
they
had
infer, is proof positive that For how, save the Philosopher's Stone. by
triumphantly
its agency, the gold powder could he have made float on the water ? And if it be that there objected is no trace of knowledge of the Stone in the subsequen t
is ready. narratives, the answer knowledge to himself, and would secret to his people.
"
Moses
never
kept
entrust
the the
Longlet
du Fresney,
bom
1674.
MYTH
Solomon
an
AND
was
EARLY
more
HISTORY
18
as
even
was
adept.
For he
certain to be claimed widely held to be a master

was
of
occult and magical of gold. transmutation.

stores
arts, and
gold ;
much
of Yes, said early higher critics,he had but if he could make it, why did he go to so
expense
to send
to Orphir
Clearly
he
possessed of enormous knew the mysteries
trouble and
This
parried by the supposition obvious objectionwas that, determining to keep the secret, he had the metal
carried
there
and
brought
as
mislead
the people
again, in order to its real source I back
to
Hermes Of
the
art
Trismegistus. significance is the claim Trismegistus by Hermes

He
was
much
was
greater founded
that
"
the
Thrice-greatest Hermes.
an
Egyptian
priest,
to have lived about 2000 B.C., widely revered supposed as the inventor of all the useful arts, and, on that in course account, of time elevated to the rank of So closely was his name the gods. connected with
alchemy
synonym
that for
"
the
Hermetic
Art
"
came
to
was
be
it. His
recited and
statement
"
quoted
mystical by the adepts,
hymn
as an
often
authoritative
of one of their earliest and most characteristic doctrines ^that of the unity of all that exists. Universe, be attentive to my voice ; earth, open ; let
"
; trees, tremble open to me of waters not. I would praise the Supreme Lord, the All and the One. Let the heavens open and the winds be still; let all
the
mass
faculties praise my bearing of this on our

we
the
All
and
the
One."
The
when
will subject
be considered
treat
of the philosophy
of alchemy.
14
ALCHEMY"
The
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Hennes
place given to significance of the prominent lies here. It was the metalundoubtedly lurgical and skill possessed and chemical knowledge that started the idea of the practical From transmutation. the earliest
by the Egyptians possibility times that of
pioneer civilisation worked with metals of glass and enamel, and and alloys, with the making And Berthelot of medicines. with the concoction has shown that it is the material thus accumulated
in the oldest treatises Hermes Trismegistus
a
on
which is embodied If, then, we take representative
alchemy. to be the
succession of Egyptian whole priest-metallurgists, instead of a single individual discoverer, the claim on his behalf may be accorded
of
large
measure
We
claim
must
of validity* be careful, however,
too
far.
For
overlaid by enormous legend. Nor can
press the this core of historical fact was accretions of myth and fantastic
not
to
that this should have wonder happened. For during the whole of our Christian era there has been a widely spread conviction (not
we
yet
extinct
1) that
the
ancient
arts,
Egyptians
had
covered dis-
secret many magical formulae which The veil that hung over
had
doctrines, and occult been lost to the world.
the ruined retreats at Thebes known the ignorance of what was and Memphis, and practised there, allowed free play for imagination and
cast
glamour Mediaeval sages
over
the
not
little that
a
had
(and
few
modems)
emblems
survived. firmly of that
believed that the bizarre signs and

almost
tions obliterated past concealed secrets and revelaHence of the deepest import. exaggerations
and
absurdities.
The
fact nevertheless remains
that
MYTH
this
AND
EARLY
gave
a
HISTORY
15
ancient
metallurgy
so
starting-point for
alchemy properly At last, then,
called.*
approach the confines of history. We have discovered the existence in Egypt of a large accumulation of the kind of materials with which
we
alchemy
concerned
itself. Jewellers, painters, potters,

"
glass-makers, and pre-eminently each metal-workers on store of technical secrets handed craft had its own generation after generation by personal instruction as between
were
been
Doubtless there apprentices. also manuals and treatises ; but these have not preserved, and in any case played a quite subsidiary
masters
and
Berthelot lays great emphasis on the part. importance of such professional tradition. He contends lore was in this way transthat the Egyptian mitted preserved during the Dark Ages in the workshops of Italy and France, and gradually absorbed into the general body of alchemical doctrine and practice.
to the artisans of Rome,
The
Although facts, we
derived
we
Idea
are
of
Transmutation. in touch
now
with
historical
have not yet reached the time when testimony is available. documents from contemporary
to trust to inferences
We
have
from
statements
found
less probable in later records. it is And

more
or
in this period of semi-obscurity that we have to find Can we the rise of the idea of transmutation. series of succeed ? Certainly not by tracing any
"
For
pwHm,
detailed proofs, see especially pp. 31 fP.
Berthelot,
Les
Origines de VAkhimie,
16
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
specifichappenings, as is so often possible in the case times. Still,it is of scientificdiscoveries in modem

to think that the came possible to surmise how men precious could be made from the baser metals. How about those goldsmiths and metal-workers in Egypt ? They would soon observe that certain alloys of metals could be compounded which closely
resembled gold and silver. Now would in putting to use their knowledge, some
they be slow legitimately,
others illegitimately. The dishonest artificerswould get great gain from debasing the precious metals and
from uttering false coinages, being thus the precursors of the fraudulent alchemists who flourished to the end of the long history.
But alchemy,
as
we
have
seen,
aimed
at more
producing alloys that resembled gold or laboured for genuine transmutation. it How came honest belief in the possi* an about that there arose bility of this process ? A full answer to the question would Greek
than silver; it
/ conjoining
anticipate too much factors knowledge

"
philosophy, and
study of the three of technical processes, Alexandrian mysticism. But

our
speaking quite generally, may we not safely imagine that something of this kind happened ? Certain workers in the making of these alloys were really puzzled by the results of some of their With the imperfect means experiments. of analysis
they would at times be deceived into thinking that they had perceptibly increased the
at their command,
amount
of the precious metal they
were
treating.
By
way of reinforcement of a growing suspicion of success, to the minds of the more there would come learned of
them
the Greek doctrines concerning the
one
substance
MYTH
out
AND
EARLY
HISTORY
17
to be compounded. of which all others were supposed And further, there would be a keen edge their research by the hope of a sure put upon and Under their wealth. the easy way of multiplying sway of these converging influences, it is not difficult
to
see
how
craftsman
once when to take definite shape, it would speedily establish itself with peculiar strength. The magnitude of the stake would fire the imagination, and would lead to
For
an might become the idea of transmutation
alchemist. had begun
of effort. Alchemy specialised concentration thus be launched on its extraordinary career.
would
Early
References.
surmise to be somewhere the mark, we ask whether there is any evidence, near indirect, which direct or lend it support. would
the above
Fortunately
Supposing
such
all too
scanty.
does exis^, and is valuable, though This much is clearly proved, that in
into the earliest centuries of our era there had come being a definite class of operative chemists who made it their business to effect genuine transmutation. They
were were
but
The
alchemists in the full sense of the term, well on the way. this statement are authorities for justifying
not
at firstauthors
who
make
an
mere
of-fact allusions to of transmutation.
accepted
incidental and matterbelief in the possibility I shall adduce is from very early, date (first
poem his best to
a
The
an
first bit of testimony author of uncertain, but

"
century)
^Manilius.
in which
He he
wrote
entitled
Astronomicay
did
emboUish
18
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
the
dull details of his astrological and astronomical In the fourth book he discourses on themes. the fire makes tells how action of fire. He possible *' the search for hidden metals and for buried riches, the calcining of veins of minerals, and the special art
of doubling
the material
silver."
*
in the In
"
case
of
gold
and
this
of articles made have we passage

"
mention
doubling of the process of in with no idea of metals, brought yet it of course explanation ; and
The
the precious necessity for

transmutation.
implies
second
in Pliny
the
allusion to be quoted is to be found He records that the Emperor Elder. of gold, ordered
"
Caligula, greedy
a a
was
large amount
yellow
some so
of
(arsenic sesquisulphide orpiment to be calcined; that the result
powder)
of it was gold ; but that the amount did not repay the cost involved. f in taking this to mean warranted
but
at any rate
excellent small that it
We
not be may transmutation ;
it does
mean
Berthelot thus comments on in itself,such as Pliny reports it, is nothing else than that we have here an operation probable ; for it seems for end h to cupellation (refming),aving analogous
and result the
extraction
artificialmanufacture. " The fact the passage :
of the
gold
certain
"
compounds
"
of sulphur
with
in contained metals, distin-
Quidqiiid in iisns Scrutari caeca metalla Ignis agit. Depositas et opes, terrseque exurere venas, Materiamquo manu certa duplicarier arte Quidquid ot argento fabricetur quidquid et
.
.
auro."
Invitaverit spes Caium avidissimum principem auri, quamofecit brem jussit et plane magnum excoqui auripigmenti pondus, " ita parvi ponderis, ut detrimentum aurum sentiret czcellens, sed (Bk. xxiii, ch. iv).
**
MYTH
AND
EARLY
HISTORY
19
guished by their colour as possibly containing gold. The extraction of pre-existing gold, or the making of it out and out, these are two ideas quite distinct for us ; but they were confused in the minds of ancient " (LesOrigines de VAlchimie^ p. 69). operators
The
though
no
passages nearly, free from

cast upon
a
two
just quoted
doubt
suspicion. testimony which
quite, There is,however,
are
not
of Diocletian lexicographer (c. tells us that this Emperor 975-1025),

time ordered
points to the (284-805). Suidas, a Greek
all Egyptian books We silver to be burnt. time practically the same

a
on
are
as
the making of gold and back thus taken to

and
by Manilius
and
on
Pliny
"
time
which
was
and had
writings.
not
noted Alchemy
for secret
was
attained
plainly to the dignity of
magical arts its way, but

art
an
mutation. of trans-
The
The
Papyri
of
Leyden.
documents in existence oldest authentic dealing with this early phase of the art are certain stored in the librariesof Leyden, groups of manuscripts Venice, and Paris. They are not treatises on alchemy,
but
rather
guides
to
the
chemistry of their period. in the Leyden collection, and are
technical practices of the The most ancient of them

on
the
score
Kistorical value and characteristic
contents
of their call for a
brief description and criticalnotice. According to Berthelot, the greater this collection
century,
are
Egyptian,
dating
number of from the third
and
by
order
of the same order as those destroyed were of Diocletian. They probably found
so
20
ALCHEMY"
in the
ITS
tomb
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
of Thebes. magician of some They contain, in intimate association, magic, astrology, the study of metallic alloys, dyeing, and the virtues Here is a heading which displays a singular of plants.
"
together
combination make
a
of
magic
and
gold-craft.
How
to
ring that shall act as a talisman, by graving on a jasper, set in the ring, the form of a serpent which bites its tail, the moon with two stars, and the
Sim
specially alchemic point of view, we a remark metal number of receipts for working and alloys, and descriptions of methods of imitating and falsifying gold and silver. There is, for example, be given an explanation of how a white colour may
of arsenic ; and how, by the addition of cadmia, copper acquires the colour of All this is leading up to a belief in the possibility gold.
to certain metals
above." From the
more
by the
use
actually fmd treating of the multiplication of gold by paragraphs " forming doubling " alluded recall the alloys. We The to in the classical authors previously quoted.
of real transmutation.
And,
indeed,
we
idea
was
evidently
taking
possession
of the nascent
alchemists.
The These
into
Mystical
manuscripts
Factor. also give

magic
us
ancient
manner
glimpse
the
in
which
and
"
philosophy practice and in alchemy factor contained properly so called. So ingredient that it points strong is the thaumaturgical as the to Alexandria, that great home of mysticism,
with
blended
mysticism ^the third
actual centre in which
the Hermetic
art had
its origin.
MYTH
AND
in
that
EARLY
seething
HISTORY
centre,
a
21
There
was,
philosophy, magic, and religion which was influence all whose directly thinking was,
medley bound
or
of
to
directl in-
into contact with it. And in these incantations how treatises we see were spells and brought to the aid of technical formulas. It is obvious
supposed co-operation of unseen powers would tend to develop the idea of real transmutation ; for the barriers set by ordinary experience of the natural
was
brought
that
the
order would
be evaded
or
expectation
of supernatural
when intervention.
ignored
there
Spread
of
the
Art. Alexandria, of the

new
We
may
to
be
sure
a
that
from
as
the
originating spread Empire.
centre, most
knowledge
great
art would
of the
arts,
cities in the
Roman
superstitions, religions, and speculations of the East invaded the Western world travel with More the rest. and alchemy would in Constantinople, especially did it find a congenial home
"
The
the city in which so much art and learning were fostered and granted a refuge in the troubled days of decay and fall. And Rome's it is from Alexandria
that there issued most and Constantinople of those Greek treatises which ensured the preservation of the Many lost ; others were Hermetic art. of them were buried in forgotten of the Arabs,
so
libraries ;
were
hands
tongue,
others fell into translated into their
the
own
environment. It is in one of these Greek treatises, written about by a certain the end of the fifth century iEneas
and transmutation
were
the
new
means
of setting the idea of
in
22
ALCHEMY"
ITS
is found
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Garseus, that
mention
of alchemic broader historical interest may, the work is of much as a we of its class. It is what specimen should Boerhaave, anticipate from a period of decadence.
in his History
"
what is said to be the earliest Be this as it transmutation.
of Chemistry
this great led into vain enthusiastical speculations to they were the great disservice and adulteration of the art." Since it thus appears that the rise of alchemy was,
roughly speaking, contemporaneous Christianity, it is natural to ask what
were
from
says of these writers that, laziness and solitary way of life,

^
with
that
of
sort of relations
maintained question
between
come
The
will
say
sufficient to
from
that,
ecclesiastics and adepts. Here it will be up again. from conviction or whether
to managed motives, alchemists religious order, and so adjustthemselves to the new In after days they official condemnation. escaped
prudential
succeed so completely banned.

At
did not
well, though
their art
was
never
the close of this preparatory period, then, we find that alchemy had become extinct in the Roman
Empire.
out.
Wars,
now
We
revolutions, turn to see how

an
invasions, it was
crushed
it
resuscitated
by
being adopted
into
alien civilisation.
CHAPTER
ARABIAN ALCHEMY
II
invaded by the the seventh century Egypt was Arabs, and for a time its affairs were thrown into dire But had the confusion. conquerors when
IN
settled down,
they began
to interest themselves
in the
speculations, arts, and The Alexandrian form
sciences they had of the Hermetic
suppressed.
art,
among
others, was itself many
given a devoted
new
lease of life,and
who
were
attracted to
very
students
genuine
chemists.
The
We
some
owe
cases
Testimony
era
of
Words.
preceded
certain words which in are pure Arabic ; in others, Greek words by the Arabic article, aL Such are alcohol,
to this Arabian
elixir^ alembic, aludel. is al'kohl ^kohl being

"
The word alcohol, for instance, a fine black powder, used still by Oriental ladies for darkening eyebrows and lashes. of the word liquids, and was
use was
The
and
group
of liquids now example of a Greek
extended to various powders at last attached to the particular As an known as the alcohols.
take we may adopted word the Arabic article ; the ixir elixir. El is of course is said to be the Greek xerion, meaning dry powder.
23
0
24
ALCHEMY"
it may
"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
a
ROMANCE
root kasara^
But
be pure Arabic, iksir^from
to grind." meaning The chief of this group of words is alchemy It would seem to be in line with those above
itself.
;
but
its origin is much disputed ; and a glance at the rival derivations will be not only interesting etymologically,
but
some will give us history of the art. As derivation chapter, one
valuable
was
the side-lights on pointed out in the last
Chem,
son
another son, desperate ; for there is littledoubt
link it to Shem, or would If we substitute of the patriarch Noah. Ham, Cham, or the case is by no means
that this word is how have seen we
the Egyptian
name
of Egypt,
was
and
closely this country
We alchemy. need Hebrew as meaning, Hebrew chamariy a mystery.
in the founding of ";oncemed then, seek for a purely not, those do who refer it to the
It is safer to follow the lead of Plutarch, who tells us, in his treatise Isis and OsiriSy that in the sacred dialect of Egypt, the coimtry
was
called Chemla,
the
same
word
as
the
of the descriptive of the
black
The name eye. blackness of the
that used thus would
for
be
are
think still some authorities who And strongly in his favour on the right track.
fact that
soil. There that Plutarch
was
is the
the arts
of alchemy were Other authorities, however, argue that alchemy is one of the terms resulting from prefixing the Arabic There is a Greek word, article to a Greek word.
provided the practical part peculiarly Egyptian.

which
chemia, which appears in the decree of Diocletian, " before mentioned, the makers against of gold and Aristotle, writing in on silver." And a commentator
the fourth century
of
our
era,
callsattention to various
ARABIAN
vessels and instruments
ALCHEMY
25
named which were It is to this set of terms for melting and pouring. that many refer the substantive part of the would
"
used for fusion and calcination chuika organa ^that is, apparatus
"
word
is best settled by declaring that both contentions are sound I ând this, not by harmonising, but on groimds of convenient of way historical probability. The thrown out suggestion
"
alchemy." Perhaps the dispute
by
art.
Plutarch
The
alchemy would make Greek derivation would
mean
the Egyptian its chief there not have
describe
May processes, melting and pouring. been an early confusion of the Egyptian chemia with be reflected in the It would the Greek chumeiaf
difference of spellings alchemtfy and the Renaissance in our contained chemistry and chymistry. alchymy Both forms would thus be defensible, though the
"
"
former should
has the greater weight of authority. And we a reference to each of the two also have
to the foimding countries which contributed Êgypt supplying the practical part, and art on the nature the speculations of matter
"
of the Greece
which offered a rational basis for the idea of transmutation. Then, the prefixing of the Arabic article testifies to the importance of the Arabian phase of itsdevelopment. In any case, the art of transmutation, so far as we know, is firstcalled alchemy in the sixth and seventh In its earlier stages it had no special centuries.
name,
but
was
known
"
as
"
the
"
sacred
art,"
the
Hermetic
art,"
the
divine
science,"
and
other
"
were of which of a like kind, many " alchemy retained right through the history, though to the front. "ame
designations
20
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Documents. So much for derivations. Let us turn to consider in the hands of the Arabs* what form the art assumed
The
mass
very impudent
of documents which. claim to be Arabian is in later times, many But inasmuch as, great.
forgeries
were
issued
in
the
names
of
of great difficulty to sift adepts, it is matter the true from the false. I shall keep to the evidence is most as trustworthy, generally accepted which
relying specially on the researches and conclusions Berthelot in his splendid treatises on this of
famous
subject.
The
Halid
master
oldest of the documents
are
(704 a.d.), who

a
was
reputed
to
three ascribed to to have had for

he
Syrian
monk
seems
treatise.
There
to
whom be no
dedicated
doubting
the tradition.
on
of Arabian alchemy The Arabs, however,
any the Greek
At
for good ground rate, the dependence

is clear
take
as
daylight.
over
did not
simply
their
Many of the fantastic material without modification. features which Boerhaave so severely in condemned were the Greek alchemy and the art was abandoned, to healing. This change mainly practised as a means
came
adepts were mostly devoted to themselves chemical who physicians It is curious to note that the final phase medicines. likewise of the art, with Paracelsus as its prophet, was The wheel came full chiefly concerned with healing.
about
because
the Arabian
circle.
Geber. The
most
famous
to
name
life is assigned
the
is that of Geber, whose end of the eighth century.
ARABIAN
ALCHEMY
27
Little is known
But he was illustriousin about him. right, and became his own so in the Middle stillmore Ages when he was honoured by being made the subject legends. No less than 200 works are of numerous
that, in ascribed to him 1 It can be easily imagined his case, the distinguishing of genuine and spurious hazardous. Even is extremely bear those which
of authenticity, though free from many of the in obscure terms absurdities of later periods, abound It is amusing to find modes of exposition. and deriving " gibberish " from his name. Dr. Johnson marks
Needless
to say, he
was
wrong.*
was
The
mere
fact, however,
that
impression
such had
an
error
hardy
Recent
enough
on made to explore those
been
what the minds of those tangled disquisitions.
possible shows
critics, with fuller and better opportimities for to say, put a high understanding what Geber wanted
estimate
The
the value of his work. titles given to these treatises

on
symbolic, such as The Book ofRoyalty ^ Pity 9 The Book Balances^ The Book
usually The LittleBook
are
of
Mercury. They contain trationy The Book matter which is strangely mixed, and include formulas
of of Oriental
of Concert-
receipts which embody chemistry at that period. Let
and
what
us
was
known
of
of
one
of these
"
The Book
of
as
glance at the contents Royalty.
The formula
"
author sets out, "In the name

"
"
merciful his family.

work
"
ând asks He then in which

"
usual, with the Muslim of God compassionate and for blessings on Mahomet and
" The present little proceeds : I have specially indicated two
is
one
classes of operations.
"
The
akin to
first is that
" "
"
Gibberish
is reaUy
gabble
and
which jabber."
in
28
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
is rapid and easy ; for princes do not feel drawn themselves towards complicated operations, The second, or them. not being able to undertake inner work, is that for execute sages only which
execution
princes.
That
name
is the
reason
treatise the
Book
of
why I have given to this Royalty. Seize firmly, my
brother, what I am going to expound in this work, and the thing will appear easy to you, if you are a clear it by my I swear But for thinker. master.
.
.
.
dear brother, do not let this sake, my facility lead you to divulge this proceeding, or to show it to any of those around you, to your wife, or your cherished child, and still less to any other person.
heaven's
dear brother, if you do not heed this advice, you will repent of it when repentance is too late."
the saying of the quotes with approbation " divulge this work, the world will If we ancients : be corrupted ; for gold would then be made as easily And yet, he could for the bazaars." as glass is made
not
My
He
I it I A needless warning make The main body of the treatise is occupied with " descriptions of operations for concocting the Elixir of
at
are
Elixirs, the ferment the elements itself." They
of ferments, which will transform time that it transforms the same seemingly simple, but, in reality,
author does,
unintelligible. The while he has spoken

water"
indeed,
"
in plain about
of what terms, he
"
he calls has wrapped
allow that the balance of
the
balance
"
" of fire
structi up his inin terms
"
enigmatic and a is his concluding
little complicated."
Iljuminating
brother, elements
In all this, dear paragraph. fimdamental the the principle is that (them transmuting Essence) of the lam
ARABIAN
should
ALCHEMY
29
be well purified and freed from the oils which its corrupt it, and which hinder it from producing effect." That is to say, there was unvarying failure ; due to impurities in the ingredients, not but this was
It is character of the alchemist's quest. fair to Geber, however, to point out that he himself to have was not free from graver doubts ; he seems
to the vain
been
naive,
but
a
Moreover,
most
he
was
certainly he was In one reformer.
an
honest
man.
assuredly attributed to to defend his art, discarding and denying arguments certain opinions regarding the influence of the stars
* of the treatises him, he uses logical
production Arabians, he had no

on
the
of
metals.
Like
most
of
the
Another
small share of the scientificspirit. enthusiastic student of this school, who
lived in the tenth century, was the medical philosopher There are several important treatises which Rhazes.
bear his He
name.
One
a
^
had written Alchemy ment
of these brought him misfortune. plea for art entitled The Establish-
of
royal patron
and
and presented it to his prince. His asked him to verify some of his experiments, finding him to comply, unable struck
across
him
violently blinded him.

Many
greater
out
or
so
the face with
whip
that he
other Arabian alchemists there less fame, though these two names
among
as
were,
of
stand
from
it
them.
Speaking
accept had a
proved
that under
generally, we may the Caliphs alchemy
comparatively distinct contribution

an
career, wholesome to the movement
and
made
which
raised
industrial to the rank of

"
an
experimental
in
sua
art.
Stimma
Magisterii Perfectionis
Nalura.
80
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
The
Spread
of
Arabian
Alchemy.
Once firmly established in the East, alchemy was carried into all the countries affected by the triumph It was thus that, in the eighth century, of Arab arms. it was it reached Spain, where enthusiastically in those centres of learning which are cultivated
By the time of the Crusades, that is to say, towards the twelfth century, it was beginning to travel into other European countries, deservedly
so
famous.
with the general stream of Western civilisation. The idea of transmutation thus acquired a new environment, and took on the complexion of tion mediaeval thought. Before passing to the consideraof this next phase of the art, it is interestingto
and
to
merge
note
that Islamic alchemy, though moribund, is not even yet extinct. In Morocco, in Mecca, and other places, there are individuals who cherish old treatises, The hope that stirredtheir guard them. and jealously
in their breasts. ancestors still bums renowned They believe that the Philosopher's Stone was really
discovered, and that the secret of its production is recorded. Ah I What if the hard formulas could be interpreted ! Their Geber's boast would be vindicated " be as made easily as glass is ^gold would " for their unchanging bazaars. made
"
"4
CHAPTER
MEDIiEVAL
III
ALCUEMY
process of expansion so was steady that, by the time the Arab rule was the future of the art was overthrown, safe. By fifteenth century it was cultivated throughout the whole of Christendom, and in the seventeenth The prominence attained the apogee of its success. it attained in the Middle Ages is manifest when we
the
run
FROMWestern
the
Spain,
then,
alchemy The nations.
spread
out
through
through
list of the famous
men
who such Albertus

"
believed in
names
it, practised it, and wrote about Raymond LuUy, Roger Bacon,
it
as
Magnus,
Thomas
Aquinas.
As
in the
case
period, the multitude of spurious difficult to distinguish exceedingly
preceding treatises renders it fact from But

fiction
of the
and to form reliable historical estimates. is this advantage over the earlier sources,
there
the
that
the pseudo-literature nearly within all appeared limits of the period it concerns, and can thus be used as at least reflecting the ideas, doctrines, and practices which characterised it. A fair number of authorities By putting true and spurious above suspicion. together, it is possible to gain a full and living picture The simplest way of mediaeval alchemy. of going to work is to study the teaching and activities of a
are
31
82
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
"
AND
ROMANCE
representative adepts ^not biographically, but merely in so far as they throw light on our particular few
subject.
Gerbert
and
Michael
Scott.
The complete dependence of mediaeval alchemy on the Arabian is manifested by the fact that the first in the Western students gained their knowledge Spanish universities. An illustrious example is foimd in Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester II (999-1003). As a young man, he attracted the attention of Borel, Count
of Barcelona, and went with him to Spain, he studied science and philosophy, more where so great especially chemistry. His attainments were
that, after the manner of the times, he was reputed to be in league with the devil. It would seem that such a charge should have put an end to his chances
He was, however, made of ecclesiastical promotion. Abbot of Bobbio by Otto II, became Archbishop of Ravenna, and then climbed into the Papal chair itself. His career thus not only proves dependence
Spain, but shows that an the highest ojBSce. He was
on
series of
of note who accurate to call adepts. Perhaps it might be more him a chemist than an alchemist ; but the distinction is hardly worth drawing, as the two classes were in those days inseparable. descend 200 years to come to Michael Scott. The Muslim influence was stillgreat ; for we find that he studied Arabic in Sicily,and spent ten years
men
alchemist could attain to the precursor of a long honoured the art by being
We
in Spain.
Frederick II became
his patron, and
it
MEDIAEVAL
this monarch treatise, De Secretis.
was
ALCHEMY
88
to
that in 1209
He
he
dedicated
into
notice,, but Fergusson writes thus which the city
did much to bring the art in doubtful guise. For apparently

"
At Toledo
famous
"
he learnt magic
or magic as physics or jugglery, experimental well as black involving the invocation magic, of the infernal There, too, he experimented in alchemy." powers.
for
was
natural
Evidently
the magic
was
much
in evidence !
Albertus
Contemporary
very in the
Magnus.
was
"
with Michael Scott different type, Albertus Magnus best

men
sense,
man
of
an
After three years, and became he resigned his see to devote himself to his studies. branches of learning, he never While cultivating many
relaxed in his efforts to discover the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir. He published a treatise, his
and also one He was of his time. Bishop of Ratisbon.
of the a Dominican
alchemist distinguished most monk,
LibelltLSde Alchimia^
for
apparatus
in which
he
of
gave
the
practice
and
the
structi copious indescribed art, of the
and
main him.
operations,
gave
accoimts
origin and to known

under
properties of the chemical substances In short, he proved himself to be,
the limitations of his day, a man of genuine from his Libellus scientific spirit. A brief quotation " I found many rich scholars, abbots, reveals much.
superiors, canons, who, in prosecuting physicians, and this art, expended
imleamed
folk,
labour, and who had to desist from " I did not despair, but expended Of himself he says,
time and much lack of means."
84
ALCHEMY"
ITS
and
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
hold of
infinite labour
money."
Clearly, the
on alchemy very all sections of society was immense* and the enthusiasm evoked was
strongs
Aquinas.
a pupil of renowned scholastic, Aquinas, was Albertus, and shared in the alchemic labours of his livmg An a master. amusing story concerning
The
statue
pair were popularly fashioned will be told when we fully of the magic mingled with Hermetic the
art.
the
supposed
come
to
treat
have
more
to
closeness Summay when

that gold and
It is mentioned of the collaboration.
the practice of the here only as proof of
In
the
famous
discussing adulteration, he determines by alchemists, if it be true silver made
metal, may be sold ; but if it have not the nature of That the true metal, the transaction is fraudulent.
is to
say,
he
knows
there
is fraud,
but
he
also
be successful transmutation. recognises that there may He also decides that the art is not unlawful if it be confined to the investigation of natural causes
it demoniacal some think effects, though (Pt.ii, 2, qu. Ixxvii, art. ii).He here has in mind the distinction between white and black magic ^the in Ferguson's estimate of distinction that appeared
and
"
Michael
Scott,
Roger
Bacon
(1214-1294).
^
was
men
Practically contemporary with the last named Roger Bacon, undoubtedly one of the greatest His range of scientific our nation has produced.
MEDIEVAL
inquiries
was
ALCHEMY
85
was not the least wide ; but alchemy favoured of his subjects.He devoted the third book Philosophice to the art, and it is of his Compendium
(some maintain, of the earliest authentic European treat that of it. works earliest)
one
the He
firmly
believed in the Philosopher's Stone, and was in his efforts to discover it. He defines unwearied
Alchemy
as
the science of the generation

That
is to say"
he
of things
Trdm
elements.
held
that various
kinds
ones.
of substances can This would seem
be built up out of simpler to be much as our the same
If differs,however, in the use of the notion. "generation," term brings in the animistic which so element characteristic of alchemical doctrine from
modem
first to last. the
By
on
chapter the year

secret
was
a
consideration of it is postponed to dealing with the alchemist philosophy.
The
1267
books
true
man
he had spent more than 2000 and in various experiments.
librae
That
of science is plain from the variety discoveries.* Had and number of his remarkable by his spirit,and more of the adepts been animated possessed his power off the shackles of of throwing
tradition, modem speedily to the Gerbert and Albertus, and How a;nd imprisonment. science birth. He
he
would
was
have
come
more
less fortunate
than
suffered much persecution far his alchemy a was
provoking
cause
is hard to say.
Raymond
Lully
(1285-1815).
Less prominent on the science roll of honour, but higher on that of alchemy, comes the name of Ra}anond
"
See p. 208.
86
ALCHEMY"
His lifewas
adventure,
ITS
one
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
full of
romance
LuUy.
and
exceptionally
combination knowledge.
turned
a most remarkable and presented for of fervour in religion and enthusiasm It was not until after middle age that he
to the Hermetic
art ;
taken
as an adept, acquired and, as a writer on the occult sciences, earned the title himself He lUuminatus. applied with of Doctor ardour to the study of Arabian philosophy, chemistry,
it up, he
soon
but when great fame
once
he had
and
only
medicine.
make in response
certain that he not belief in his power to a popular countenanced gold, but actually claimed it. It is said that,
It appears
to be
to
an
came
invitation
to
from
Edward
or
Edward
where apartments The story goes were allotted to him in the Tower. that he replenished the royal coffers by transmuting iron, lead, pewter however, maintain Some, quicksilver into gold. that the replenishing came through
and
II, he
London,
episode is disputable. But there is a specific statement in his last will which definitely proves that, at the time when ment the docuup, he claimed to have put to use He therein asserts that he had the grand secret. less than 50,000 pounds no converted weight of base This is very puzzling, especially metals into gold.*
was
his advising a tax on wool ! The evidence for the English
drawn
himself to be free from consistently shown It has been suggested most of the delusions of his day. that in his old age his mental were powers waning, himself into the idea. Willingly and that he dreamt
as
he had
we
"
accord him
*"
the benefit of the doubt,

una
Converti
vice in
aurum
ad L millia pondo
ai^nti
vivi,
plumbi,
et stanni."
MEDIEVAL
ALCHEMY
87
Arnold
A
of
Villanova
(1245-1810).
Arnold was of LuUy noted contemporary of He Spaniard; Villanova. a was at any probably He is the Arabs of Spain. rate, he studied amongst
said to have A paragraph transmuted
from
operation," notion
addressed fantastic elements of the more

son,
iron bars into gold at Rome. "the treatise of his on grand to a pupil of his, will give a fair
in mediaeval
alchemy. " Know,

to
my
you
teach
the
that in this chapter I am going preparation of the Philosopher's
Stone.
must
As
it be
the
by
lost by the woman, was so world her re-established. For this reason,
on the mother, place her with her eight sons the bed ; watch her ; see that she makes a strict penitence from all her sins. Then she will until she is washed bring into the world a son who will sin. Signs have
take
; seize this son and and the moon not destroy chastise him in order that his pride may That done, replace him in his bed, and when him.
appeared
in the
sun
you
see
him
come
to
his
senses
again,
seize
him
into cold water. Then afresh to plunge him naked put him a second time on his bed ; and when he has seize him afresh to deliver him recovered his senses, The Sun being thus to be crucified by the Jews.
the veil of the crucified you will not see the moon, temple will be rent, and there will be a great earth-' Then is the time to employ a hot fire, and quake.
you
will
see
everybody
raise itself a spirit concerning " has been in error."

*
which
Quoted by Figuier, VAlchimiei
p. 42.
88
ALCHEMY"
Anything
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
modem conceive !
to have
no
in
less like the description of an experiment manual of chemistry it would be hard to Figuier remarks that Arnold himself seem high estimate of the value of this exposition. I do the pupil exclaims, "Master, when
the
master
to be more promises interpretation would indeed
For
not
imderstand,"
The clear another time. be hard to find. Certain terms when

we come sun
will gain
meaning
such as the forth. But
consider for gold, the general
to
the
alchemist phraseology, for silver, and so moon tenour and spirit of the
world
exposition belong to another
than
ours.
Universal
Diffusion.
It will now be apparent how firm was the hold that The conthe art had got in Christendom at large. viction had seized on society that the Philosopher's substance, and that its secret The contagion of might be discovered by any one. Reason example fanned these high hopes to a flame*
was
a
Stone
known
to play a subsidiary r61e; emotion compelled blmded and led it captive. to Its spell was on all ranks, from the monarch A Pope himself, John XXII an was the peasant.
was
ardent
alchemist.
censures
on
careful, indeed, black magic ; but he had He

was
to
nounce proown
his
ments expericonducted He was in person. said to have left behind him 25 million florins a thing quite possible, though the source of the wealth has to be sought elsewhere
at
laboratory
Avignon,
where
he
"
than
in transmutation
Nor
was
the highest
royal
MEDIEVAL
patronage
ALCHEMY The
Emperor
89
lacking.
Rudolph
II, for
of Germany," example, earned the titleof "the Hermes from the fame of his laboratory at Prague, where for all adepts who cared to there was open welcome
use
it. Almost
to whom
every
were
court
in Europe
as
had
its alchemist,
privileges of And at the other
accorded, the court fool
or
has been said, " the the poet laureate."
a end of the social scale, many furnace and its peasant's cottage had its smoking and crucibles. In the sixteenth modest store of stills
almost a religion so earnest century the art became was the study devoted to it, so intense the feeling it Indeed, the knowledge of the secret, stimulated.
"
"
declared, could only many ^by a special inspiration.
come
One
by the grace of God adept thus addresses
the
you
operator:
so
"Now
favours
thank
as
God,
Who
many
to
Pray you, and point of perfection. bringing about the to keep your precipitation from to a state so perfect." loss of a labour which has come Another
a a
lead your to Him to guide
has granted work to this
adept, after an experiment, breaks forth into doxology, long and fervent, such as might conclude It is quite common, devotional manual. in technical
treatises, to meet
with
that injimctions
should
be undertaken
without
operation prayer for its success.
no
Medieval
Criticism.
another side to all this. We how Geber had confessed to grave doubts remember the accomplishing So, in of transmutation. about
was,
There
however,
the
Mediaeval
period,
there
were
some
who
D
were
40
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
to become critics of the art. sufficiently detached to, as One line of criticism was theological âlluded in his Sumtna. The attempt to by Aquinas saw, we
"
transmute,
it
was
the prerogatives
are
urged, is impious ; it presumes on ParaUel arguments of the Creator.
in the present day, as in the case of unknown They into spiritualistic phenomena. inquiry are As Aquinas based on a perverted sense of reverence.
not
decided,
so
we,
too, may
regard all avenues
to knowledge
course,
of nature
no
to be open,
,and
moral principles are line of criticism was Another suggested by the enormous amount of knavery accompanied which We find it tainted the development of the art.
provided, transgressed.
of
that
quaintly, YeowmCs
but
strongly, stated in Chaucer's Canon's find it in Dante. Tale. We From the
he sees alchemists he had arch of the tenth chasm Falsifiers of every sort. He known suffering among in regards them as falsifiers things, in distinction from falsifiersin deeds
tells him
that
"
Griffolino of Arezzo and words. I practised in the for the alchemy

condemned
"
not err, may world, Minos, who Capocchio, a Florentine, laments,
me."
so
that I
am
the shadow
recoUect, if I metals by alchemy. rightly recognise thee, how nature." well I aped " If I spoke Adam of Brescia is accused by Sinon
"
of Capocchio And thou must
shalt thou see who falsifiedthe
The poet in false, thou too didst falsify the coin." " he had these passages speaks of def rauders of whom
He the art. and who misused actual knowledge, that the art itself was does not imply, however, It is even that the phrase, argued by some spurious. * Dante, Onrto xzix, 118-139 ; xzz, 115. Inferno^
MEDIEVAL
"
ALCHEMY
implies its impiety whole
context
41
How
than
weU I aped its misuse;
nature,"
rather
but
the
negatives
such an interpretation. A third line of criticism was fundamental the first, and more
more
legitimate than
It the second. may be called scientific. It questioned the possibility Not many to advance of transmutation. ventured than it in the times when tradition held a sway here and its appearance still it made Peter the Good of Lombardy, example, in 1830
wrote
a
so
imperious ;
there.
For
a
"
treatise
for the
on
Chemistry
physician, Margarita
preciosa
(a
name
Stone),in
to arguments Here is one assumption. substance can be transformed
scholastic
which he used disprove the alchemist "No of his syllogisms.*
it be firstreduced thus. not proceed
into another kind imless Now alchemy does to its elements.
Therefore
it is and
an
imaginary
silver are not as artificial gold and silver. Therefore," etc. This criticism is deprived of much of its weight (such as it is) when we find its author asserting that he can
science/* the same
Again,
"Natural
gold
with equal ease prove that alchemy Still,it raised the issue.
is a sound
science !
Persecution.
There
produced
was
also
and rulers who patronised alchemists looked for tangible results. disappointed fared it, then, with adepts who How by plausible exSome themselves them? planatio saved Not few flight. by a ^some suffered
"
by
constant
practical side to failures. Kings
the
effects
"
Quoted by Figuier, VAkhimie,
p. 87.
42
severe
ALCHEMY"
ITS
or
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
fates.
punishments,
"
perished by untoward
Honest
professors who failed came off no better than deceivers and rogues it was the fact of failure that It was thus that a female adept, really mattered. Marie Ziglerin, Was burnt by Duke
David wick in 1575. the anger of the Elector Augustus of Saxony. in 1590 by the hanged at Munich Bragadino was William de Krohnemann Elector of Bavaria. was
Julius of BrunsBenther killedhimself to avoid
'
'
hanged by the Margrave of Beyreuth, who, with grim his gibbet : irony, had this inscription posted on * knew how to fix mercury, and now I am I once invited to courts, and were myself fixed.*' Some
then
imprisoned imtil they fulfilled their promises. The device became so common that wise alchemists learnt to avoid even the most flatteringinvitations. Thus strangely were intermingled tragedy and comedy Mediaeval ^naive fanaticism and gross fraud. alchemy was in harmony with the spiritof itstime.
"
CHAPTER
DECADENCE
IV
'
"
the passage of years, alchemy multiplied its aims, its doctrines,and its operations. Had itbeen a genuine science, increasingcomplexity would have been all to the good. It would have provided materials for further advance. But it was were essentiallychimerical; its avowed objects Hence came a parting of the ways. /Ufiattainable. On the ~one"ândr men of~ careful, sober tliought rom the false, out the tru^f sifted made itthe startingpoint forfurtherexperiments, and laidthe foundation of a reaTsciehce chemistry. On the other hand, of less balanced minds, visionariesnd quacks abandoned a to ever- wilder" themselves' and wandered absurdities, further and~further away from the world of facts. As a consequence, the art was overwhelmed with a burden of monstrosities too heavy for even the foolishly credulous to bear. And thus the acme ol the popularity of the art was followed by a period of decadence which ended in a total discrediting of itsclaims. This period of decadence lasteduntilwell into the porary eighteenthcentury,and in itslaterstageswas contemin knowledge of with that general advance nature which ushered in the triumphs of modem
WITH
*y
43
44
ALCHEMY" Steady
ITS lights
SCIENCE
were
AND
ROMANCE
science. guided fantasy
into view which earnest out of students of the quagmires from the irresponsible them and rescued
coming of will-o'-the-wisps.
pranks
Medical
Alchemy. feature of the
Perhaps
decadent
the
"
most
was
period
characteristic the extension
to Philosopher's the attributed the main, though not the only, objecthad
of the powers Hitherto Stone. been

now
the
transmutation
of
the
metals.
Attention
moral,
is
fixed spiritual became

or
rather virtues
on
the
medical,
of
professed disease. The
wonder-worker. healers of bodily and

new
even and Alchemists
mental
was
sickness
on
development
were
based
the
idea that vital processes If anything went wrong, there hope

more
was
need of a of transmutation
chemical in their nature. then, with a living organism, Not that the chemical remedy.
was
sober-minded
aim
;
With abandoned. it remained the alchemists

with
the
one
great
and
was
even
merely of health, prolonged life,and happiness, by alchemical Concurrent means. tendency with growth of the new there
was a
it
the visionaries and reactionaries to the gaining subordinated
startling increase
of nebulous
mysticism, had taken
superstition, and trickery. When once the idea of chemical

root,
remedies
it naturally led to the making ments. experiof many It is fearful to contemplate what poor mortals had to suffer at the hands of practitioner adepts ! We had a very faint reflection of it in fairly recent days, when drugs were fashionable, and patients were
DECADENCE
45
dosed without regard for other and sounder methods of healing. Nevertheless, in so far as the experiments
/ were
reasonably
alchemy were or If medicine*
results of medical often profitable both for chemistry and conducted,
the
Paracelsus
(1498-1541).
was
development The active originator of the new ^^ Naud6 the man the zenith and sum caUs whom Paracelsus. How all alchemists," the renowned
he
was
of far
adapter of existing tendencies, and how far an innovator in his own But right, is imcertain. his influence was in any case enormous, widely knowledge extended, and persistent. Some of his
an
of his teaching is essential to the imderstanding of what is to foUow. He was himself the son of a physician, and was
career
and
for his father's profession, though it would While or seem care thoroughness. much without under the spell of alchemy, stilla student, he came and was deeply smitten by the lure of the Philosopher's educated
that view to acquiring knowledge might aid him in the quest, he set out on an extended series of travels. He gained his living by very varied means powers, ^telling fortunes, professing magic
Stone.
With
"
selling quack
medicines,
acting
as
other activitiesreputable or many at length he settled down, the diversity of his pursuits biographer puts it, less remarkable. As one no was " he was at once adept and wizard, sceptic and critic."
army surgeon, and When the reverse.
The
an
most
noteworthy
acquisition he had
gained
was
acquaintance
with metallic chemistry, l)y which
he
46
was
ALCHEMY
-ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
had
said to have cured thirteen princes whose cases been declared hopeless. fame His rapidly
increased, and in 1526 Medicine and Natural
appointed professor of Philosophy At the at Basic*
he
was
on end of two years he was ery. ejected a charge of quackHe led a life of unbridled intemperance, became
hopeless sot, took again to travelling, and died at the age of forty-eight in a condition of abject
a
poverty. His glaring faults and weaknesses, his vanity and effrontery, his intemperance and quackery, have led
to many Perchance
him condemn he was not so

the
as
a
as
bad
to
worthless charlatan. he was painted ; for
he
attack with unsparing the medical traditions of the time ; and vehemence be sure that his reputation would not gain we may be ! Still,there can by venturing on such a course little doubt
blaspheme.
"
had
hardihood
that he gave the enemy ample cause And declared him to yet Lavater
to
be
prodigious genius." " the pioneer calls him prophet chooses of him
The Encyclopcedia Britannica
of modem chemists and the in science." Browning a revolution to be the subjectof one of his most
not extenuating nising poems, aught, but recogambitious in him elements of a noble strain and of true It is assuredly necessary that a man greatness. who
can
give grounds
for such encomiums
should be cleared
of the have so
merits.' Take
and prejudiced
long obscured
superficial judgments which his exceptional gifts and solid
as
recorded
or misof misunderstanding, represen It is by Paracelsus. a practice adopted of him that he had a jewelin which he kept
an
example
DECADENCE
imprisoned
some
a
47
spirit who
was
at
his command.
In
of the old portraits he is represented with this jewel in his hand, and on it inscribed the word
"
he gave to it. in the notes at the end remarks laudanum suum Azoth was siriiply Azoth," the
name
Now,
as
Browning
"
this of his poem, one of his most
It is possible, nay, probable, discoveries. notable that he fostered the popular delusions concerning the ^but the fact nature of his potent drug and powers
"
remains
estimate
as
that
he
knew
it and
used
it.
a
Who
remedy
shall
and
an
it has accomplished as suffering ? alleviator of human what
As to his personal character, there are at least two have been traits which stand to his credit. He must loved and respected by his pupils. For they call
him their
"
Hermes,"
of and King his epitaph records of him that he was And Arts." From find we generous to the poor. another source that he often dispensed medicines and gave personal attendance free of charge to those who to pay him. The could not afford
noble and beloved monarch," '* dear Preceptor our and
"
the German
works that can be criticallyattributed to him full of turgid, incoherent writing. The obscurities are necessarily incident to describing non-existent stances sub-
one
in his case and imaginary powers were exaggerated by the inflamed condition of his brain. But is in rebellion against thing is certain. He
the
is He medical system of the school of Galen. his language is unrestrained unsparing in his diatribes be repelled And in its vigour. we may although
"
by
that
his
coarseness
a
and
he initiated
self-assertion, He great reform.
we
must
burst
allow through
48
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
the fetters with

strangled
alchemy, that it should aim, not so much of at the making gold, as at the furthering of healing and the arts ; ever ready to make direct appeal to nature and he was in place of searching for authorities those who had written about nature
which the centuries of tradition had His progress in chemistry and medicine. He maintained even, was type* of a new
in the works of with but small
knowledge
of her ways. his rebellion against the received Violent as was systems, he could not, of course, rid himself completely
of
their
influence.
Indeed,
in
many
respects
he
strengthened fresh ones.
prevailing deeply How
superstitions, and started he erred in such matters is
evidenced by the fact that the Rosicrucians claimed his him Even as one of their greatest founders. is adulterated with old and new medical chemistry For instance, he connects absurdities. potable gold with the Elixir of Life. He held that ossification of the heart and all manner of diseases could thus be cured, provided that the gold had been obtained by He is here leaning on certain astrotransmutation. logical
analogies derived from the past, and from the he borrowed his idea that medicines should source administered
at
same
be
particular
of conjunctions
the
planets. One of his doctrines will be judged by most to be bizarre. He taught that in the stomach of every hmnan is a sort of being there dwells a spirit who
alchemist, foods that
in mixing brought are

so
due
the various proportions atory. together in that living labor-
Is this really
of many modem
far removed from the teaching authorities ? Driesch, for example,
DECADENCE
has his
***
49
unifying agent in an organism which guides and controls the physical sustain its and chemical processes that build and in this case life. Perhaps a also Paracelsus was entelechy,'* the unknown
prophet I At any
"
the nobler side of It was difficult. also the more medicine. alchemy has a judiciouscomment Bacon on this subject.
rate
Paracelsus
chose
**
Man's
body
is (hewrites) of
susceptible of remedy
all things in nature most is most ; but then that remedy
For the same subtlety and variety susceptible of error. as means of healing, of the subject, it supplies abundant it involves great facility of failing. And therefore so
as
this art
as
as (especially one
we
now
have
it)must
be
reckoned of it must
of the most
so conjectural, the
inquiry
one exact of the most and accounted in this exactness that Paracelsus difficult." It was
be
rash, headstrong, prone to fancies and it is that Bacon repudiates mystical follies. Hence " Not that I share (he him. the proceeds) idle notion failed.
He
was
of Paracelsus and the alchemists, that there are to be body in man's found certain correspondences and have respect to all the species (as parallels which
in the are extant planets, minerals)which the stupidly misapplying universe 2 foolishly and
stars,
man was a microcosm or epitome (that ancient emblem * of the world)to the support of this fancy of theirs." is right. Nevertheless Bacon even errors such as
these had
because
their share in bringing in they served to break down
better system, the prestige of

an
tradition.
Another
*
aspect of Paracelsian healing has

De
oddly
AugmerUie
Scieniiarum,
ohap.
ii.
50
ALCHEMY"
look.
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
modem
It anticipates
Christian Science, by
"
tion Fascinathe power of mind on body. (says Bacon) is the power and act of imagination the body upon of another; wherein the school of Paracelsus natural and the disciples of pretended
emphasising
magic
have
been
so
intemperate,
that
they
have
one
exalted the power of the imagination with the power of miracle-working

wrote
a
to be much
special tract upon it in many imaginativa ; and mentions other Here also he was a prophet I of his writings.
* celsus |aith." ParaDe Vi this subject,
parts
Once
Bacon
again, mentions,
he
to
anticipated
condemn,
organic chemistry. his notion that "in
lie eye, nose, brain, liver;" and that the internal artist, educes out of food by separation and the rejection several members body." f Here Paracelsus is after and parts of our to the truth than his critic. For it is now all nearer
bread
"
and meat Archseus,
of components established that the nitrogenised bodies are derived from the corresponding animal
elements of their food. transformation of the
at
is separation and also It is remarkable materials. There

this
how
many
on
points
irresponsible He
were was
speculator
a
touches
genius.
discoveries. modem How tragically his powers
verily wasted I
Successors So much
and
successors
*
of
Paracelsus.
of his disciples
was
for the great master. What ? Healthy development
slow and
ScierUiarum, De Augmentia Novum Organon, 2nd Book
chap. iii. of Aphorism,
xlviii.
DECADENCE
laborious.
was
51
The
store of physical and
chemical
knowledge
stilltoo scanty to enable even strong and The errors. thinkers to avoid entangling steady seized on all the worst minds unbalanced elements in the
new
doctrine, exaggerated
in absurdities.
we now just
saw, a
For
example, that digestive processes

"
and gloried Paracelsus taught, as

were were
them,
accomplished
subtle alchemy ^that they Certain of his followers transmutations.

on
by
vital improved
everything ^metals and kinds, as well as animals material substances of all and drinks, assimilates, digests, eats, men Or rejects. had taught that a spirit presides again, the master
" "
this.
They
held
that
over
on
these digestive processes. His followers improved this idea also. They multiplied the spirits until
in nmnber with allthe manifold Sylphs inhabit the air, nymphs
they had corresponded

of nature. workings the water, pigmies
the
earth, salamanders
the fire.
In medicine, rashly responding to a rashly given lead, by employing, they wrought untold harm without And, strong metallic poisons. skill or knowledge,
like their master, they
provoked by
their irrational
zeal reactions that seriously retarded much-needed breaking Nevertheless they were reforms. up the
cake
of
custom
even
world, mixed is sometimes

measure
tradition. and fanatics have

to
strangely their function. It
In
this
wise
suffer
fools
gladly
"
^within
!
contrast
was
work of intellects who inquiries carried on and acute calm into the scientific value of the new teaching. It was these wiser disciples who those striking encomiums
In cheering
the progressive
have
secured
for Paracelsus and
; for they
seized upon
62
ALCHEMY"
what
ITS
was
SCIENCE
best in him.
AND
It
ROMANCE
was
developed
there
came
thus
that
very
the fateful parting of the ways. length to which the visionaries went had
effect
on
The
a
those who and
were
not
steadying by their carried away
mysticism
occult speculations.
The
A famous, development
known
as
Rosicrucians.
romantic, and altogether extraordinary that was of the irresponsible alchemy brotherhood
of the Rosicrucians. This society contrived to surround itselfwith so much had free scope in that popidar imagination mystery and what it was guessing at what it was, able to do. the secret stories got afloat ; and consequence extravagant the excitement they caused was artfully fostered and by the issue of books purporting to come maintained from of the fraternity, as also authorised members by dramatic advertising of their powers and As
a
their
inte^tions" It is not even certain that such a society existed meeting-place, nor at all ; for it had not any known though there a recognised roll of membership, was
various
individuals
professed
more
or
less definite
to its professed principles. At any rate, adhesion those who represented it by their publications repudiated name than that which any other derivation of its.
referred it back to the reputed founder, Rosenkreutz. This man certainly had a career which fitted him to Bom in 1878, educated play the r61e assigned to him.
in
a
monastery,
he Jell into
the
hands
of certain
he was but sixteen years old, was magicians when initiated for five years into their secrets, travelled in
DECADENCE
Turkey,
58
Palestine, and Syria, conferred with Arabian sages, visited Spain, and at last, fully illuminated, He shut himself up returned to his own country.
and lived in solitude to the age of a hundred in full health, and and six years, always exempt from infirmities. There, in 1484, God took his spirit from him ; his body remained in the cave, which thus in
a
cave,
became
it
was
his tomb. marvellously
After
"
six times
twenty
"
years
rediscovered, and all manner of found things were there. It mystic and magical in the year of this reputed miracle, 1604, that the was Rosicrucian confraternity took its rise. This legend is abbreviated took it from
1615.
It
Figuier's account ; and Figuier Rosicrucian in a published manifesto illustrates the spirit which admirably
from
animated It was the
the society. claimed, then, that Rosenkreutz

in
1459,
founded
that its
society
existence should Thus were years.

name
with be kept a
refuted
the
ordinance
secret
profound those who

"
for 200
of a with the sign or emblem " dew " (held and those also who derived it from ros^ " " to be a powerful dissolvent of cross and cruXj gold), " light **)" (which, in chemical symbolism signifies
the connected Rosie Cross '* ;
latter of these repudiated origins, at any rate, is in harmony by many that with the view supported vention to be sought by the interthe Philosopher's Stone was
The
of dew In
an
and light.
issued in 1614, the anonymous pamphlet, declared to be possessed of fabulous are members scientific knowledge, and to be absolutely free from
illness, disease, and suffering. In put out the following manifesto :
1622
"
the
Society
We,
deputed
by
54
our
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
make our abode, visible and invisible, college books or notes, and in this city each without are, we speak the language of the country wherever like ourselves, from the error to draw men, of death/*
. . .
.
The
"
word
invisible the
mentioned,
nor
that
refers to Society had
"
the
no
fact
already
settled centre,
its members were and visible government; to have the gift of being unseen and unknown supposed increasing the ^thereby in no small measure
"
excitement
when
they
proclaimed
that
they
were
of the Hermetic art sought to give prestige to its fantastic doctrines by assigning as authorities spurious treatises attributed to Hermes,
about to visit any city. This late development
Aristotle, and
other of the ancients, as well as those Magnus, Paracelsus, and other attributed to Albertus Rosicrucian Gradually the name to came modems. be used generally for any kind of occult pretension. The Stone continued to be the great centre of mystery.
over give command elemental to defy limitations of space, time, spirits,enable men of the arcana and matter, afford intimate knowledge This farrago of nonsense exwas pressed of the universe.
was
It
supposed
to
metaphors dragons and red bridegrooms ruby lions, royal baths and waters of life. At last such overshot the mark, and sealed the fate, extravagances but of the art. All that not only of the Brotherhood,
"
through
welter of symbols and and lily brides, green
pigmies, gnomes, salamanders, and the rest, ousted the cruel demonology incubi, succubi, demons, and of the Middle Ages
one
"
can
say
is that
the
sylphs,
had terrified Christendom other horrors that the world a happier place to live in. so far made
"
and
DECADENCE
55
" Essay ment.** Contenton charming " He once opens it by telling us he was in discourse with a Rosicrucian about the engaged " As this kind of men those of (Imean great secret.
Addison
has
them
who
are
not
professed
are cheats)
over-run
with
to very amusing and philosophy, it was enthusiasm hear this religious adept descanting upon his pretended discovery.'* Then follows an account which is much
present purpose, because leading ideas of the Society. " He

to
our as
it summarises the talked of the Secret

an
of
Spirit which
everything * It gives a lustre,' capable of. perfection that it was * to the sun, to the diamond. says he, and water It irradiates every metal, and enriches lead with all converted the
lived within near that was
emerald, and it to the highest
It heightens into smoke properties of gold. light into glory.' He flame, and further added, * that a single ray of it dissipates pain and care and melancholy
short,'
says
from
the
*
naturally changes After he had every place into a kind of heaven.' for some on time in this unintelligible cant, I gone found that he jumblednatural and moral ideas together
he,
person on its presence
whom
it falls. In
into the
nothing
discourse, and else but content."

same
that his great secret
was
The Addison
c"
Chief
hits
on
Cause
the
of
Decadence.
fault of alchemy, ideas " or in more
"
gravest
of natural and moral the confusion of general statement,

*
the jumble
facts and objective

E
No. 674, July 30th, 1714.
66
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE fault
AND
was
ROMANCE
the
nntiaps. subjective
This
from
first a
to a head marked characteristic of alchemy ; but came in this closing period of its long career. Adepts instead of their experiments, mto read themselves
patiently observing what nature had to teach them. No true science could develop so long as research was fatuous a method. And on so conducted when true science did at length lift up its head,
alchemy did not,
was
subjective
the
art
doomed.
The
hope
of transmutation
however,
disappear.
which
men
as
had
fostered it, and Ashmole and Newton
It survived engaged the minds

"
of such
Indeed, experiment. those which reckoned among

sober
^but only by way of it is even yet to be may engage the highest
activities of the science of the future.
CHAPTER
TRANSITION
TO
V
SCIENCE
THE
belong
old alcheiny and the new them great the gap between
to
^how chemistry I They seem to

"
different worlds. True. And yet the incidents treated of in the last chapter will have prepared us to recognise that, wide as is the difference, This continuity there was nevertheless continuity.
was
that which characterises the growth of an in individual plant, as Thorpe observes, unbroken every detail ; but rather that which links parent and
not
child If we
"
â
living bond,
but
an
independent
the steps by which the change science did not cut about we shall find that the new itselfoff at a stroke, any more than a child is straightway
trace
existence. has come
self-sufficient.The central idea of transmutation long retained its hold, and only yielded to the growing by pressure of facts slowly but surely accumulated
careful experiment. be artificialto assign a It would It beginning of the transition period.
date
ran
for the
course
its
concurrently with the decadence of alchemy, and was in the middle of the seventeenth its way well on Its close may be put at the beginning of the century.
nineteenth
century,
when
67
alchemy
set
on
was
a
fhially disfirm footing.
predited and modem
chemistry
58
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
the old and the new essential difference between be conveniently that between paralleled by may ment, Paracelsus, the representative of the mystical developThe
and
Robert
Boyle,
splendid example
of the
alchemist merged
in the scientist.
RoBEET
Boyle
(1626-1691).
was
Paracelsus
bom
in 1626.
Robert Boyle about 1640. And Hardly a century intervenes.

died
yet
in the environments, the characters, and the aims of the two pioneers is most striking. The had been neglected. of Paracelsus early education
the contrast
Boyle
to
was
Eton.
his father, the first Earl of Cork, Paracelsus on set out almost vagabond
sent
by
travels.
nent, spent six fruitful years on the Contiby a tutor. Paracelsus from first accompanied
Boyle violent, first to last was
was
to
last
ungovemed,
chaotic.
Boyle
from On
returning from from one turbident
studious, gentle, restrained. his travels, Paracelsus hurried on
at experience to another, never Boyle settled quietly down at his home rest. and at Both the sciences, more men Oxford. cultivated
But whereas Paracelsus buried especially chemistry. good in his reforms under a load of incowhat was herency and charlatanry, Boyle manifested the cautious that gave sustained purpose to his critical temper the cause labours and advanced of systematic research. Just as diverse in aim, method, the and spirit were
old yet,
alchemy
as
was
the newly-bom and before stated, they were
And chemistry. in the relation of
parent and child.
TRANSITION
Equally
TO
SCIENCE
69
the difference in the outcome striking was The Paracelsian tradition found its of their labours. hood. most congenial expression in the Rosicrucian brotherfirst members of an association of scientists which, after holding private incorporated in 1668 as the Royal was meetings, Society. but his He was offered the presidency,
was
one
Boyle
of the
modesty and the honour. these two We

so
him decline retiring disposition made It is strange to think that the rise of dissimilar societies was temporane practically con-
t
rent naturally ask how far Boyle accepted the curdoctrines of the Hermetic He art. certainly did not deny the possibility of transmutation. He was
work to collect facts and observations, and to clear away false notions ; thus led to doubt the explanations on which and was
went
to
to commit cautious the evidence crucial when He scanty and imperfect.
far too
himself for and
on
point
was
so
against
so
the alchemists
relied. He was specially anxious that account should be taken of the part played by the air in their calcining experiments, and thus brought It was into prominence the problem of combustion.
the solution of this problem that ultimately subverted the old doctrine of the elements, and prepared the way
" fixed " elements, in of the really He has been called the true now the sense accepted. Paracelsus was an chemist. precursor of the modem force. Boyle a was eruptive patient investigator. heralded but Boyle's Each career was advances,
for the discovery
more
evenly
in
line with
the
onward
march
of
truth.
60
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Alchemy An
at
Oxford.
interesting episode in the history of the art during this period was the establishing of an alchemical Boyle there organised a famous at Oxford. centre
class. chemistry brought over was
A
from
famous
Rosicrucian
;
Strasburg
Lock
chemist topher and Chris-
Elias Ashmole the pupils. in joined the venture and provided for its continuance. He agreed that he would hand over to the University
were
Wren
among
his many
on
treasures,
was condition atory. to be a well-fitted laborthe lowest room of which was Ashmole was perhaps the last of these Oxford
artistic, antiquarian, that a fitting museum
and
scientific, built,
alchemists.
His treatise, Theatrum
Chemicum
Britan-
extracts from nicum^ published in 1662, contains many time it philosophers, while at the same old Hermetic footing. on a sound places the study of chemistry
No
less
with him
person than Sir Isaac Newton collaborated for a time in the investigation of the transmutation doctrine, including the question of the
existence of some Stone or other.

as
transmuting
We
may
material. Philosopher's ton and Newregard Ashmole
gave
of the class of scientists who examples a fair trial, and who reluctantly abandoned alchemy the hopes it had stimulated. eminent
gradual
on
The
undermining
of belief in the principles

was
of alchemy,
their scientific side,
But result of research and experiment. lent of fraudusmall degree accelerated by the unmasking Even the most credulous could pretenders. not avoid being influenced by the atmosphere of
mainly the it was in no
TRANSITION
suspicion The art.
rate
TO
SCIENCE
gathered
round
at
61
which
had
inevitably
the
came collapse, however, in England as and Germany,

"
suddenly,
any
the result of two
fiascoes
one
tragic, and
one
comic.
Critics.
The
gradual
went
undermining
on
of alchemy it doughty
blows ;
of belief in the principles A series of critics dealt apace. and the whole trend of careful
to
son
was adverse experiment Kunkel the (1680-1702),
the
old
claims.
John
of an alchemist, con^ demned the lack of precision in the terminology of teaching about the art, and repudiated Van Helmont's " the alcahest as all a lie." He himself adopted the experimental discoveries. method, and Nicolas Lemery
made ihany valuable
one
(1645-1716) wrote
of the best text-books of his time, Cours de Chimie. " The fine imaginations Defining his aims, he writes thus : of other philosophers concerning their physical principles may elevate the spirit by their grand ideas, demonstratively. And but they prove as nothing is a science of observation, it can only be chemistry
based
" what is palpable and demonstrative." Boerhaave Hermann one (1668-1788), of the most learned men the author of a valuable of his day, was
on
treatise
ment chemistry, in which he traced the developits principles. of the art, as well as expounded On the one As regards alchemyi he was an agnostic.
on
hand, he woidd not venture to set bounds to the possible in nature ; on the other hand, he could not yield
assent.
"
So, like Boyle
and Newton,
he
was
content
to
Quoted by Thorpe, History of Chemiatry, vol. i, p. 64.
62
ALCHEMY"
his
ITS
SCIENCE
until
AND
further
ROMANCE
suspend
judgment
In the light of our available. But if we think this hesitation may appear excessive. ourselves back into those days, we shall acknowledge that his expectant attitude was And we shall be all the more realise that the whole problem
matter
was evidence knowledge, present
thoroughly
scientific.
we
sympathetic when of the constitution
of
is again an open one, though some beaten paths have been closed. Scientifically, the reign of alchemy
end
of the old
to
came
an
As our theories of combustion. with the new subjectis alchemy, we need not enter into detail the development of experimental physics concerning of works which Let it suflSce to say that the cover this ground. " " art were replaced by the of the Hermetic elements " " The old art elements of the modem chemist. and chemistry.
There
are
multitude
was
doomed.
Dr.
"
Price.
came
Scientifically,'' alchemy
of
new
to
an
end with the

experiment of it. It was
emergence
views
of
matter;
gradually otherwise
supplied with
explicit refutations distinguish what we may
spell of the art, and the popular it was Here by adepts. rather the claims made dramatic unmasking of illusions or frauds that ruptured In England the coup the uncritical hopes of success.
the emotional belief in the

as
de grdce was given by the tragic case of Dr. Price, of Guildford, which shall be briefly related. He was a and learned man, and wrote wealthy interesting works In 1781 he on some chemistry.
TRANSITION
imagined
powder
TO
SCIENCE
in compounding
or a
68
a
that
he had
succeeded
gold. and
which would change mercury At firsthe confided his secret to

no
silver into few friends, the

rumour
had
thought
of publicity.
But
of his discovery got abroad, and emboldened far as He went come so out into the open.
him
to
to give
public exhibitions of his transmutations, and even invited a distinguished company to his laboratory
to
see
a
series of experiments
conviction.
accoimt
Waxing
yet
more
persons
of these proceedings, to give their signatures
calculated to produce bold, he printed an eminent and induced

as
witnesses
to
the
truth of his statements. It is startling to realise that such pretensions were seriously advanced within twenty years of the coming nineteenth century I The fact affords a striking proof both of the persistence of the idea of transmutation, the and of the slowness with which We views of matter matured. however, that Price's statements
new
in of the
must
were
not
think,
accepted,
or
that
they
were
universally The unchallenged.
had gone too far for that I Unfortunately undermining fortimately for the belated alchemist, though for the cause that the Royal of truth, it happened
Society
The Price was a member. concerned. its honour Society conceived to be at stake, and him to appear before a duly qualified sunmioned
was
conmiittee, in order that the claim might be submitted for an authoritative judgment. Price refused to be thus tested. He excused himself on the plea that the
was stock of his transmuting powder exhausted, and be a long and arduous that its replenishment would he sought further Under pressure, undertaking.
64
to
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Rosicrucian, a escape by professing that he was to divulge the secret. and therefore not permitted These pretexts were of no avail the Society was insistent, granted him time, but demanded test. a
"
.
In
1788
he
returned
to
Guildford
to
prepare
was
the heard
powder. of him.
Six months The Society
passed and then fixed
nothing a date on
He should fulfilhis engagement. to Guildford. Only three members received them, and then committed
presence. Thus tragically ended
which he invited the Society He responded. suicide in their
the
career
did he enter on a course and why be of systematic deception ? These questions cannot Nor can even the prior puzzle be solved, answered. originally really convinced that he had gained the secret, he had arrived At any rate, the Royal Society at such a conclusion. in to investigate. was amply justified its determination And so the dramatic features of the failure, brought supposing
into notice, completed in this country the overthrow of an already discredited art.
public alchemist. deluded ? When
Up
to what
of England's last Price really point was
how,
him
to
have
been
prominently
Semleb. Singularly enough, at about the same time a similar failure led to the final of rejection the art in Germany,
though
the
There was at region, not Halle a certain professor of theology, Semler by name, who had been strongly attracted by the literature and
practice of the Hermetic
art.
circumstances attendant of tragedy, but of comedy.
were
in
the
His
own
labours
were
TRANSITION
without
made
success.
TO
SCIENCE
a
"
65
But
by
Baron
he took up wannly de Hirschen Leopold
discovery
^to wit,
a
marvellous
was
not
Salt of Life. He only a transmuting
asserted that this salt substance but also a
No elaborate process was necessary universal medicine. for the production of gold ; it sufficed to dissolve days in a glass it in water and to leave it for some
Semler obtained temperature. uniform some of this, and was surprised to find gold in the analysed the chemist, Klaproth, crucible. Another vessel at
a
"
it to consist of Glauber's There was also, sulphate salt and of magnesia. however, some gold I It was evident to Klaproth that particles of gold had been from the first in the Salt of Life," and found liquid to be proved, that the addition of the salt Semler was perturbed, a work was of supererogation. and sent a second supply of the liquid and the salt, to work again and the analyser went ^this time in
and
"
the presence
Semler's position of a large company. as a professor demanded though sceptirespect, even cism bordered on ironic denial. He solemnly assured that he himself those taking part in the experiment
failed to obtain a successful result. lo ! instead of gold, So the testing proceeded. And Klaproth found a kind of brass called tombac I The
never once
had
joke spread
The
appeared
from
the
room
throughout
explanation
of the fiasco put an that Semler had a servant
the country. edge on it. It

was
To this man was attached to him. of feeding the fire and attending
He
saw
much entrusted the task to the apparatus.

who
to find gold in the was eager his master crucible, and being anxious to please him, purchased Being some gold-leaf and put it into the mixture.
how
66
ALCHEMY"
on
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
military service, he entrusted the task The saved the situation good woman by purchasing brass instead of gold, and poor Semler better, however, became This was a laughing stock. called away to his wife,
of a falsity which might have delusion. given a longer lease of life to a mischievous Of course the professor's every one acknowledged than being
a
disseminator
He resumed perfect honesty. duties at the University. But

have
fostered
was
discredited
"
safer part of his the art he would fain ^laughed out of court. the
as
general public in Germany, that the Philosopher's concluded The

were,
in England, and
at last
Stone
the Elixir
even
if possible, beyond
human
reach.
The
As
a
End
of
Alchemy.
came
recognised
pursuit alchemy
to an
end at
What the close of the eighteenth century. remained fire. In were merely flickerings of an extinguished Germany, a society for alchemical research existed
as
late
as
1819.
In France,
century,
were
Chevreul,
records
"
into the
nineteenth
lived well who that he knew
of several persons who the art, among them
convinced
being
of the truth of generals, doctors, and

even
dreamers there may ecclesiastics." Benighted dabble in the forgotten lore. But yet be who transmutation past, and
the
and a new its traditional doctrines have
idea, in its old form, is a thing of the A new be resuscitated. can never physics chemistry have made clear the futility of and
methods,
though
they
also, under conditions, wondrously changed But let rekindled the hope they had extinguished. us not forget that the old provided a basis for the new.
TRANSITION
As
error
TO
SCIENCE
**
67
(reorge Eliot has put

vigorously
it :
Doubtless
vigorous
has kept the embryos of pursued truth a-breathing : the quest of gold being at the same time a questioning of substances, the body of Chemistry is pi:epared for its soid, and Lavoisier is
bom."
"
Such, in outline, is the history of the Hermetic art. from the It covered a long period, travelling down scientist. We can mystic to the modem on a now the study in fuller detail without enter We to chronological order. can rigorous adherence
Alexandrine
treat
practices, notions, orientating ourselves from time to time by referring to the chequered story of origin, development, and decay.
separately
of
doctrines,
"
Middkmarchf
chap,
xlviii.
PART
THE
n
TBANSMUTATION
IDEA
OF
CHAPTER
SUGGESTIONS
FROM
I
PROCESSES
NATURAL
LET
US
begin
that
our
we
more
detailed
the
study
sure
understand
by making alchemist's idea
and the external phenomena which of transmutation, he occupied our it. To assume own that suggested is to miss to criticise accordingly, and standpoint, Between entirely the whole significance of the story. him and the modem scientist intervenes a tremendous in physical chemical and conceptions revolution of the nature
a
century
is hardly yet The advance of matter. tance. old, but is of fundamental and deep imporwhole
we are,
It alters our Brought up, as
outlook on the universe. in an atmosphere pulsing
physics with the conceptions characteristic of the new it requires an effort if we are and the new chemistry, The very to think ourselves back into the old order.
But the of the alchemists is strange to us. For we shall the better effort is well worth the while. know if we our something appreciate conquests of how they were thoroughly won ; we shall enter more
into their purport if
we
language
study
the
errors
which
were
overthrown. Can the

and the Perhaps
new
fundamental
difference between
a
be briefly stated in
way
71
the simplest
preliminary of doing this is to
the old fashion ?

defme
72
ALCHEMY"
was
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
roughly what
of matter.
common
He,
the alchemist's idea of the behaviour thus far on and many of us, are
that
we
agree in assuming a primarj' kind of matter out of which all the different substances in the world are formed. The gap between us yawns
ground,
when
comes
we
proceed
to ask
how
so
to manifest
forms
the primary substance diversified. The modem
scientist holds that the cosmic process has brought into being certain forms of atoms are, relatively which to our changea power of dealing with them, fixed and unAt present more than eighty different
kinds
are
further
numbeh
to.
It is not, of course, denied that recognised. increase this discoveries may diminish or But the principle involved is firmly adhered
Quite
He
**
other
was
the
alchemist's
assumption*
held that all the aiger5it"km3s"of

so
substances
from
one
are
fluid,"
to say, and
pass
naturally
form
to
another.
Each
kind
striving to develop, or his art aimed at hastening, by special means, what is The points thus raised essentiallya natural process.
he conceived to be actively And grow, into a nobler state.
But with the sharply will be discussed in due course. drawn distinction in our minds, let us ask how the to embrace the doctrine that governed alchemist came
for
so
long
time his speculation and his practice.
A
On
the grand
World
scale and
of
on
Change.
the small, the universe And unceasing change.
are
manifests
all-pervading
and
the
more
closely nature's
ways
examined,
the
more
SUGGESTIONS
FROM
NATURAL
PROCESSES
78
faet. Moreover, clearly emerges this fundamental many of these changes have the appearance of bemg Take a few simple examples gertransmutations. mane Water to our evaporates.; vapour
subject.
The fuel on the firedisappears condenses into water. in gases and smoke, leaving but a dead ash ; the dead ash, in turn, may go to the building up of living plants Foods are taken, and form flesh and and animals. blood ; the body decays and returns to the dust from So compelling is the evidence that which it sprang. it suggested the first philosophical systems of the Greeks, and is thus fundamental to allthe subsequent philosophy of the Western nations. One of these early thinkers, Heracleitus, concluded that existence is an eternal " flux." He likens it to the flow of the on ever ; so that water in a river ; the current moves
really step twiiê into the same Add to this conception the idea of change in stream. form and appearance, and we have the world viewed as a series of transmutations.
a
man
can
never
The
Alchemists
Alchemist*s
Aim.
themselves with metallurgy They therefore applied this and practical chemistry. reasoning with special reference to their art. Their largely of a kind to illustrateand experiences were
enforce it, gathered as they were from strikingchanges by chemical reactions, and by fire. Fire wrought not only melts substances, but often metamorphoses
busied
\ bright red powder
them.
Mercury
can
"
be heated
so
that it becomes
colour, mobility, gleam, allvanish,
/^74
to
ALCHEMY"
ITS
a
SCIENCE
AND
with
to
ROMANCE
give place to qualities. What
substance were they
knew
nothing of the part played the air : the discovery of that was and laborious experiment in quite recent times. Fire tion. alone seemed to have effected the startling transmutaif so, could not the same agent, or other far simpler operations, bring about the seemingly change of tin into silver,or of brass into gold ? Such a And line of argument was matter of fact it was
opposite conclude ? They by the oxygen of the result of long
almost
We know that as a natural. followed, and that it led to
were reasoned. conclusions which, though erroneous, We therefore allow that, under the condimust tions inference from observations then prevailing, the tion of external happenings to the possibilityof transmutaIndeed, the supposition may be was warranted.
" scientific." That in the long granted the rank of it proved to be a mistake does not deprive it of run Otherwise there will be littleof our upthe claim. to-date science which on like grounds may not ultimately be degraded 1
The
Quality
were
of
Colour.
in possession of a large alloys that imitated the
was,
The early alchemists

number
of receipts for making Their problem precious metals. to make but to transmute; not
**
not
~
to imitate,
metals
the
baser
simply
change
course,
look like
"
gold
or
actuallynEo silver^nSuf
them that
into the
the
real thing. This meant, of in which the difference's qualities
consisted must
be modified.
SUGGESTIONS
The
FROM
NATURAL
PROCESSES
75
first of the qualities to receive attention was The Alexandrian that of colour. adepts conceived But we it to depe'nSTon'ar^process^ dyeing. must
be careful to understand " by dyeing." meant
what the genuine alchemist We think ourselves of a dye as a colouring matter which imparts a particular hue to a material, but does not become a part of it by chemical alchemist's combination with it. The
idea, however,
and
complete
that his dye should be so intimate that'll^liould changeTKe nature' of tlfe

was
metal,
was
and
made
were
there
it that to which make jt really become lUce. According to this school of operators, fundamental dyes, answering two to the
two
"
colours dyeing
was
^Xanthosis, or precious metals It yellow, and Leucosis, or dyeing white. differing further held that the two dyes, though
of the and the that there
same
was
in appearance, one were to be thought And it came
substance. dye master
which, if it could be discovered, would be veritably a The idea developed transmuting agent. and gradually in that of the Philosopher's Stone. For merged instance Salmon, in the seventeenth century, describes
" The universal medicine the master substance thus : for all imperfect metals, which fixes those that are volatile, purifies those that are impure, and gives a
colour and brilliance greater than that of nature." The dye and the Stone coalesce. It may be said that, although the idea of transmutation " here scientific," we might merit the rank of
pass into the The full excuse
Not so. of imcritical fantasy. to discuss the must wait until we come and the doctrine of philosophical basis of alchemy, ** qualities." But even on the ground of observations region
76
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
from external happenings^ we can see how the mistake Experiences gained in the dyeing of cloth, arose. enamels, glass, and the rest, deceived and misled. Moreover, the colour of metals could actually be changed by alloys, and by chemical actions. Under the circumstances, natural misinterpretations were and
inevitable.
Dyeing
^
^
the
Metals.
Let
) These
(
look into the matter a Httle more closely. that there are agents early alchemists knew
us can
which copper; metal
make a metal that there are

"
white
"
as
mercury
can
whitens make
can
a
agents
which
as sulphur yellow and a golden tint to silver. Nowadays changes result from the formation
arsenic know we
give that the
of
new
compoimds.
We
the
must
keep this knowledge
out
in regarding the processes of varying degrees of perfection. The less of transmutaperfect the dye, the smaller the amoxmt alchemists tion effected.
of sight, and join changes as dyeing
not examples just given were " " dyes, for they could not resist fixed regarded as mutations the action of chemical agents or of fire ^the transin the case of were only partial. Whereas the colour could resistsuch agents, and was gold itself,
The
two
"
We may perfect metal. perhaps put ourselves most easily at their point of view if we suppose that the colour of gold, wherever it occurs, Then argues the presence of gold-nature.
one
of the
marks
of the
it follows that the

nearer
the colour is, the to being gold is the substance that possesses
more
"
fixed
"
the coIourT
SUGGESTIONS
FROM
an
NATURAL
PROCESSES
"
77
alchemist problem ^legitimate to tint the base metals so deeply on their premisses" to that of gold or silver. to change as their nature According to the degree of success attained, so would
the
product be gold or silver of greater or less fineness. That is to say, the genuine alchemist did Brass, not seek to deceive the eye, but to transmute.
new
It thus became
for instance, he would regard as a metal on the way by arsenic as a to becoming gold ; copper whitened to becoming silver; and so on. metal on the way
Let he
remember in thought
over
us
that he had
terms
of
idea of fixed elements ; transition processes" one

no
by stages into another thmg. And the evidence of his senses seemed to be all in favour of Genuine his presuppositions. was not the alchemy
thing passing
mad,
irresponsible art that
so
many
have held it to be.
Otheb
Qualities
of
Metals.
^viously colour is not the only quality of a metal. has its "particular weight, hardness, malleaEach bility,^nd so foirtF. Copper treated with oxide of zinc"puts
on
a
yellow
jjntand seems
to be turning
into
be distinguished can gold. Yes" but the product Coiners are keenly alive from the metal it imitates. to this fact, nor the alchemists forgetful of it. were
If the scope of their colour-theory. to acquire the colour of a base metal could be made should it not be possible to devise means gold, why
They
extended
for similarly changing other qualities ? Each in the right direction ^weight, hardness,
"
change
or
any
to
other
"
^would
mark
fresh stage
on
the
road
78
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
change
must
AND
be
a
ROMANCE
tation. real transmua legitimate
perfeetiDtty"^Butâch
"SKallwe
argument Come
as
from
recognise tEat this was analogy ?
down
the centuries
to
one
the herald of modem science. discussing the possibility of transmutation. the following properties gold, for example,
It is yellow
who is regarded We find him thus

"
In
meet.
in colour, heavy up to a certain weight ; malleable or ductile to a certain degree of extension ; it is not volatile, and loses none of its substance by the
action of fire ; it turns into a liquid with a certain degree of fluidity; it is separated and dissolved by for the other natures ; and so on particular means
in gold. He who knows the forms of yellow, weight, ductility, fixity, fluidity, solution, for superinducing them, and so on, and the methods
which
meet
and their gradations and modes, will make it his care body whence may together in some to have them joined * follow the transformation of that body into gold."
need a critical knowledge of the to understand Baconian terminology the general drift The governing idea is that men may of this passage. for so uniting the qualities to have the means come
It
not
does
found
up a metal. succeed fittingly discussed at the This speculation will be more close, than at the beginning of our inquiry.
in gold Chemists may
as
to produce
yet
the metal. in building
This
is true.
Fixed
But
note
Elements.
to to
It is important alchemist means. Let us return for a moment the reservation.

not
by
Novum
Organon,
Secoad
Book
of Aphorisms,
v.
SUGGESTIONS
the
treatment
FROM
NATURAL
PROCESSES
79
of copper with arsenic. St. Thomas it: **Add Aquinas to copper some mentions white arsenic ; you will see the copper turn "sublimated If you then add some form pure silver, you transwhite. all the copper into veritable silver." It is plain
that the great doctor misconceives the conditions of his problem. The modem chemist will explain that tion there is no change of copper into silver,but the formaalloy of the three ingredients" each being present in exactly the same quantity throughout, and in exactly the each recoverable, by suitable means, of
an
That original quantity. is not an imperfect form thought, The alchemy but
a
is to say, the alloyed silver of that metal, as the alchemists compound of fixed elements.
to flourish, of the future, should it come mental will go to work with a wholly different set of fundaHow far the atoms of the eleconceptions. ments
themselves
later.
The
"
compounds principle involved
are
will be considered the same remains
throughout
of ^fixity conditions, not growth. Nevertheless the alchemists from the first had
noT
suspicion llial alloys were Ilcnce a disliuclion they

**^
true"transmutations.
drew
betweeiF**
"
natural
latter attained to a of the qualities of the metal to be ceffaiiTriumber imitated ; but did not attain to perfect likeness. And and artificial
metals.
The
in proportion and testing was become

so were
as
accuracy
so
gained, complex.
more
in measuring, weighing, did the problem of alchemy Superficial results did not
delicate processes easily pass muster, and more in this tried. The parallel has been drawn,
with the increasing
delicacy
regard,
mixing
of alloys and
tempering
of present-day of steel. We may
80
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
the
AND
cases
ROMANCE
are
gladly
the application is closer than might at first sight appear ; for the alchemists believed that
were silver themselves alloys, and therefore be reproduced by proper compounding.
accept similar. And
it, because
genuinely
gold
and
.could
Imperfect
Another
source
Analysis.
in alchemist conclusions of error the imperfection was of their methods of analysis. instituted Consider Pliny's account of the gold-making consider* to be calcined to get the of orpiment able amount gold out of it,and quite succeeded in making excellent in no at fraud" all was attempt gold/' There was good faith.
by the Emperor
Caligula.*
"
He
caused
But
the
gold
was
there to start with,

would have explained ; his tests are speedy
A modem undetected. the situation in a few

and
accurate.
chemist
minutes
We
cannot
careful observers were that they had succeeded gold, when they were of their materials. Even
a
"
that hcmest and wonder frequently misled into thinking
in producing
or
so
poorly equipped
augmenting for analysis
Boyle
chemical
sorely perplexed dissolved He action.

"
was
by the result of some gold in a
containing chloride of antimony. royal water ^^ To his suiprise there appeared a noticeable amount that the chloride contained of silver." He did not know
certain quantity of this metal ; and he was to believe that some mutation therefore tempted sort of transa
had taken
"
place.
Given
in full,p. IS.
SUGGESTIONS
FROM
NATURAL
PROCESSES
81
Two
Receipts
for
hakino
Gold.
It will be interesting,
this context
the other more Clavicula script â manuancient treatise entitled Mappce belonging of the twelfth century, with matter
"
several counts, to give in two receipts for making brief, one gold They are taken from an complicated.
on
"
date back to Alexandrian the tenth ; the sources times, and behind these again to the previous Egyptian The brief receipt is as follows : " To make period.
to
^take silver, 1 lb. ; copper, J lb. ; gold, 1 lb., This would to be a case seem of plain melt, etc." falsification. The title of the receipt proves that the We must, resulting alloy was to be passed off as gold. gold
"
however,
distinguish
a
between
merely
falsifier and merely on the

stage
speculative
scoring
an
aims
at
as
alchemist. The wealth.
empirical former The
latter looks
alloy on the there
path
were
to what approach of transmutation.
he wants a Many mists alche"
who
would
such trying
we
make
are
bad
not
use
of
the
receipt ;
but
with
are
at
present
concerned. genuine The
We
to
understand
what
alchemy stood for. " longer receipt runs Take thus : mercury, 8 parts ; filingsof gold, 4 parts ; filings of good silver, 5 parts ; filings of brass, and flower of copper called
the
by
Greeks
yellow
chalcantum
orpiment
parts ;
(sulphate copper),12 of (sulphuret mercury), 6 of
12 parts ; electrum (an alloy of gold and silver), parts. Mix all the filings with the mercury to the consistence Add of wax. and orpiment ; then electrum
add
vitriol and
alum.
Place
the whole
in
dish
on
82
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
burning
saf ran
charcoal ;
boil it gently,
orange
a
(probablyan
in
some
sprinkling into it fused insulphide of

little natron
vinegar, and
arsenic) (carbonate
Sprinkle of soda); 4 parts of the safran are to be used. little by little until it is dissolved and drunk up. is solid, take it and you have gold When the mass
with increase.
a
You
will add
little moonstone,
a (selenite,name
the preceding stances subwhich is called in Greek

applied
to sulphate
we
to
Afroselinum
lime, mica, and

a
transparent
Here felspar)."
of have
mixture
chemists Once again we must would be grievously disguised. fraudulent operator who distinguish between the mere of the spurious would consciously take advantage
metal,
reason
which ! The
well defy the analysis of early comparative simplicity of the result
might
the speculative and who alchemist himself into believing that the alloy was
an
might
really
and
truly
imperfect sort of gold.
Peecipitates.
Evidence
of
like kind
was
of the precipitates of metali^. of copper be dipped into a solution of a silver salt, is immediately the copper covered with a coat of silver ; or if an iron filingbe dipped in a salt of copper,
furnished by the study For example, if a filing
it is immediately
adays Nowwith a coat of copper. But we are not misled by such phenomena. that until comparatively we recent must remember that the salts often include times it was not known
covered
their elements ; nor was metals among that metals could exist in solution in
it suspected liquid. For
SUGGESTIONS
us,
FROM
NATURAL
PROCESSES
88
is blue vitriol (sulphatef copper) a salt containing o atoms with atoms of sulphur of copper in combination
it is dissolved, the metal is and oxygen ; and when in the solution. The had no alchemists^ however, this. The salt and the metal were" means of knowing
simply different states of certain substances. deposited And iron on was an thus, when copper filing plimged in a solution of the salt, itâppearedjto a transmutation. as them that_the atoms in the salt are _W^"s?!y displaced by atoms of copper of iron ; they said that something into was changed
for them,
copper. An
example eaffy
in ^neas
is found form
of the sort of reasoning " (fifth of Gaza

the
assume
century).
employed " The
subsists, while because it is made to it be

a
matter
undergoes changes all these qualities. Let
of iron ; suppose it is of Achilles made destroyed and its fragments to tiny morsels. reduced If now a workman collects this iron, purifies it,and by
statue
it into gold, and gives it peculiar science changes be a golden statue the figure of Achilles, this will now instead of an irpn one ; but it will stillbe Achilles.
a
It is in this way that the matter corruptible behaves, and by art imperishable."
in bodies
that
pure
are
becomes
"
and
by
saying, into matter

in it.
matter
change of has nothing incredible a higher condition It is thus that those learned in working up
makes little further on,
^neas
his meaning
clearer
that
the
take
gold
disappear, excellent
*
colour
gold."
and the
tin, make
matter,
them
and
"
apparently it into change
He
evidently
regards
the
the
vening inter-
actions, which chemical Quoted by Berthelot, Lea Origines
make
metals
de VAlchimie, p. 75.
84
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
so
AND
ROMANCE
a
apparently
muting
disappear/' as
Note
'^
many
stages in
trans-
process.
the
special mention
of the
colouring," and also the plain statement operation of can pass ^înto a higher of the idea that matter
condition." This extract
presents
explain chemical actions. have reduced them to laws, and than did ^neas ; we But by equations. do we can yet calculate them in such a What them ? really happens understand
familiar
case
very early We know more
to attempt about them
uniting with to form Are a one molecule of water? of oxygen the forms of the constituent atoms modified ? Is the really something other than a mere water-molecule conjimction
as
two
atoms
of hydrogen
of two
different substances
We
are
stillgroping.
Appeal
We
may
to
History.
class under the head of external evidence the persuasive force of the testifor transmutation mony borne by generation after generation of adepts to the
must
success
of their efforts.
a
So great
was
this that it
to
have required resist it. As
mind of exceptional independence late as 1882, Schmieder, in his actually

concludes
Geschichte der Alchimie^

weight
that
the
of evidence in the seventeenth and eighteenth that it impels belief in centuries is so remarkable
transmutation.
We
who, in preceding be a true art, even
well forgive, then, those to epochs, honestly held alchemy though they themselves had not
may
*
The great secret might illude them ; but succeeded. the appeal to history satisfied them that others, more fortunate, had penetrated it. learned or more
SUGGESTIONS
When
we
PROM
NATURAL
PROCESSES
85
thus take account of natural inferences from imperfectly analysed chemical experiments and observations, reinforced by a no of small amount
testimony, we cannot wonder that belief unquestioned in the possibility of transmutation fostered and was had there been no other causes Even maintained.
at work,
these would
have
the never-diminishing a short cut But other to the possession of unbounded wealth. And causes to the consideration were at work. of another, and not the least potent, of them, we will
now
sufficed to keep desire to discover
an
edge
on
turn
our
attention.
CHAPTER
PHILOSOPHY
OF
II
TRANSMUTATION
in the historicalsketch, that the alchemists derived the technical side of their They were practicalchemists art from the Egyptians. and metallurgists. But they were also philosophers. They were students of Byzantine and Alexandrian
WE
have
seen,
systems which had fused certain doctrines of the Greeks with mystical and magical elements. And in quest of a discovery which thus, though they were involved manipulation of laboratory materials and
apparatus,
they brought
to bear
on
their task the
It was this combination results of abstract thought. of the theoretical and the practical that constituted the peculiar character of the Hermetic art. We have mutation. considered the external aspects of the beliefin transWe now turn to examine its philosophical bases.
A Passage An
from
Psellus.
excellent introduction to this phase of the is subject provided by an extract from a letterwritten in the eleventh century by a Byzantine alchemist Psellus. The Patriarch Xiphelin had asked named him to explain his art. Here is a passage in his reply.
86
PHILOSOPHY
"
OF
TRANSMUTATION
87
desire that I should make known to you this art which resides in fires and furnaces, and which mutations expresses the destruction of substances and transSome believe that it is a knowledge of natures. for the initiate,held secret, which they have not
You
attempted to reduce to a rational form â thing which I regard as an enormity. For myself, I have sought from the first to know the causes, and to draw from
"
rational explanation of the facts. I have from sought it in the nature of the four elements by combination, which all comes and into which all I have seen in my youth returns by dissolution.
them
a
...
the root of an its fibres and the two

After
oak turned into stone while conserving all its structures, participating thus in
"
natures
(thatis
to say, wood
and
stone).
quoting Strabo's account of the properties of an the forms of encrusting fountain which produced " inunersed he In this way objects, proceeds thus : the changes of nature can take place naturally, not in virtue of an incantation, or a miracle, or a secret formula. I have There is an art of transmutations.
wished to set forth its precepts and its operations. You wish to know by what substances and by the aid You would fain of what science gold can be made.
" " .
its secret, not to have great treasures, but to penetrate into the secrets of nature as did the ancient I will reveal to you all the wisdom philosophers.
...
know
of Democritus of Abdera; the sanctuary." We

points
note
I shall leave nothing
in
in this remarkable
great
"
statement
several
of
significance.
Its
shines out clearly
and
on
îts reliance on is the There observation.
scientific spirit knowledge of nature
determination,
o
88
ALCHEMY"
to
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
"
its to the causes get down of things And there is the reference philosophical temper. him to the whole field of to Democritus, and through The core of the whole Greek thought about nature.
moreover,
matter
is the making
of gold"transmutation.
Platonic
Theoeies
of
Matter.
we
our
Psellus sends us to the Greeks, and to the Greeks Fortimately we can limit ourselves, for will go. special purpose, to the lines of speculation which
in Plato and his followers. For the Alexandrian largely Platonic in spirit and in substance. philosophy was
centre
Plato's theory of matter is obscure, and has given discussion. We are concerned, however, rise to much with its teaching as interpreted by the alchemists ;
and
we can
therefore steer clear of entangling controversie fullest exposition is foimd The in the
as
dialogue known We of
an
**
the Timseus.
seems
"
there find that he
to teach the existence
something eternal It is formless matter.
which can hardly be called beyond and indeterminate,
the
Though so and the senses. reach of thought dimly apprehended and so hard to be explained, yet it underlies all things ; it originates and constitutes
the material universe ^the principle out of which all Plato calls it sometimes "the formed. things are " " " He or conof all becoming. mother ceived womb
"
and
that the Creator imposed upon it certain forms, into being the four kinds of that there thus came
so
substance
water,
widely
declared
to
be
"
"
elements
"
earth, air, and fire. Of these, he said, water
is
PHILOSOPHY
OF
TRANSMUTATION
89
related to earth, and fire to air. And the important point for us is that the series is not thought of as a kinds of substance, but as succession of separate showing
progress from the least to the highest degree That is to say, there is an upward of movement. And in value and dignity. there is thus a curve
a
strong suggestion
of continuous another. Plato
of the possibility of transmutation change from one kind of substance

"
"
to
himself writes thus itself and becoming
We
see
water
condensing
stone
and
earth;
by
splitting and dividing it becomes wind and air ; an fire ; fire condensed air inflamed becomes and extinguished takes again the form of air; air thickened into mist, and then runs as water; water changes It follows that if the eleforms earth and stone." ments
are
thus pass into one another, their properties And an old commentator not fixed and determined. Plato is therefore sound when he explains on
can
"
that
since
hone
things
can
cannot
ever
conserve
proper
one
nature,
venture
to a"firm that
any
of
them
is such and
such
thing, rather than
something
else." Hence
from
man
problem. form to form, how

intervene
to
If substances can thus pass far, and by what methods, can

or
retard
hasten
the transitions ? of the
Bacon
second
states this problem
in the firstAphorism
book.
a
"
On
given
or
superinduce
new
nature
Power." and aim of Human he gives as a secondary work to be undertaken ** the transformation of concrete bodies, so far as this is possible."
generate and new natures, is the work And in the same Aphorism
body
to
ftO ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Platonism The
and
Alchemy.
"
alchemists assimilated this teaching so completely that Gebcr, the great master of the Arabian not school,goes to the length of assertingthat metals can-
be transmuted until they have been reduced to In other words, he not only their "first matter." out of this maintained that metals are compounded " mother stuff,"but also that, ifthey are to be brought to higher states of perfection,they by artificial means
be decomposed into their primnecessarily first ordial condition. This teaching affords a striking example of the influence of philosophy on laboratory
must
operations, and with various modifications, retained itshold down to the days when alchemy was decadent and discredited. A typical instance is found in the writings of Basil Valentine, an adept of the thirteenth century. The " following passage is clear and to the point : Think this, bear it often in mind, most that all minerals and observe and comprehend, time metals are produced and generated in the same diligently about
^
'
fashion, and of one and the same This issimple and straightforward. principal matter." We must not, however, imagine that allwho developed the central idea were equally sober-minded, or that their teachings were always in harmony with each
and
in the
same
incoherent, mystical and fantastic. But we should not on that account deny the rational element which underlay them all, and which from time to time reasserted itselfin the
other.
were
Many
vague
and
j
'
speculations of the nobler sort of adepts*
PHILOSOPHY
Take
rational
system
as
a
OF
TRANSMUTATION
91
favourable
development
example of an of the Platonic
at a attempt doctrine the
of the Valentinus works sets out from the idea that beneath above there is an all the sensible qualities of a substance incorporeal Essence. He therefore distinguishes the
expounded He quoted.
in the
specific bodily, or material, part from the Spirit.* In the bodily part he holds there are the four generally earth, water, air, fire. So far recognised elements
"
is nothing really new. But he then makes an He holds that from the relations between advance. pairs of these elements result what he calls the three there
Sulphur; air produces ; water produces Mercury air acting on water acting on earth produces Salt. The Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt thus produced are as being of not to be thought
Principles. Fire acting
on
the
ordinary
or
sort
in
common
use.
They
have
an
exalted
sublimated
nature
powers and for alchemy, Can

man
virtues, and distinct from as
which implies special become a recognised Triad

the Four
of philosophy. Principles out of the
;
Elements that;
man
the three make No, says Valentine
God
man simply to accept can go to work with the three Principles and mingle in various ways He is thus them and proportions. of the substances with able to effect transmutations which he is actually dealing.
has
alone can But them.
do
blind us strangeness of this speculation may It is an original attempt to its merits. at analysis. And we may parallel its conclusions under our modem May we not fairly say that the place conditions.
of Valentine's Principles
*
"
The
'*
are
our
chemical
the next
elements
chapter, p. 107.
For
further consideration
of this, see
92
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
? nor neither make unmake which the scientist can But he can combine them in endless ways and proportions. Eliminate the idea of a passing of one substance
into another, substituting that of a building up of fixed kinds of atoms, and the kinship of the old and is apparent. the new
As regards the underlying Essence, Valentine says by the wrappings it is hidden of Elements and Principles. But though impalpable, it acts as a mystic
anticipation of the modem of the ether of space ? Read concept illusive, allof this mysterious, any recent account entity postulated by our physical philosophers, pervading and you with Valentine's will sympathise
uniting
bond.
Have
we
not
here
an
speculation.
The
What
Mercury
has preceded
of
the
Philosophers.
us
will enable
to
"
the alchemist notion of what was called It was reached in this way. of the Philosophers." ** first Bya specialised application of the doctrine of a be to think that there must matter," adepts came
some
apprehend the Mercury
particular kind of substance which Is Ihe basis of ialtthe metals, rendering them all esseritianyôT The differences between them uniform composition.
due
to
are
various
reasons
For
various had mercury

was
colouring to be
matters
given
attracted
was the common agreed Theory and practice, inmost substance of the metals. here at loggerheads. For it was however, were
generally
exceptional that this
and impurities. later, the metal attention, and it
PHILOSOPHY
/
OF
TRANSMUTATION
93
painfully evident that the ordinary mercury could not fulfil the exciting demands made upon it. The adepts They maintained that the saved the situation thus. is not the real thing, but that its metal ordinary
essential virtues are negatived and disguised by various qualities and impurities which impair its perfection* its liquidity argues the presence of the fluid Thus its volatility, that of the light element, air ; its grossness, that of the heavy element, These must be stripped away, and then the earth.
element,
water;
refined substance
"
metal
"
not
" first remaining would be the true " fixed," that is volatile or Uquid, but
to say, ideally stable and solid.
they gave Mercury."
the honourable
name
To this " firstmetal ** " the Philosopher's of

happy
possessor metal he
By
means
of
it, the
be able to produce would artificiallyany liked, gold among it was that the the rest. Hence alchemist's aim is so oftai defined by reference to this wonder-working mercury."
"
substance.
He
laboured
to
"fix
The Although
as
Composition
of
the
Metals.
was
the Philosopher's the base
Mercury
common
the
was
"
first metal,"
regarded to them all,
it
not
the only constituent generally held that it was be The Arabians said that sulphur must
owing to the varying with it, and that it was that the combined proportions in which the two were united
metals differed from by their developed

"
one
another.
A
this, see
The
doctrine
was
successors.
typical mediaeval
p. 42.
For
grim
jeston
94
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
Gold
ROMANCE is engendered
fonn
by
a
of it goes into detail thus.
clear mercury associated with a clear red sulphur ; and a white, or slightly red, silver by a clear mercury and a sulphur sulphur ; iron by an impure mercury white and clear ; lead by a thick mercury and a white sulphur,
thick
and
question does not seem what the impurities
little red; The and so on. to have been dealt with as to it is covered by Perhaps are.
the idea of a passing through stages to perfection. A further cause found in of the differences was the amoimt gone of baking which the mixtures had underdown
"
below
comes
in the earth.
"
grow
example,
was
under baked a long time
(The notion that head.) Gold, another

at
a
they
for
said, required a hundred silver, some baking ; tin, if iron was metal spoilt by too much further baked, would become silver ; lead is detestable
gentle heat ; years to bake ;
idea of passing through fimdamental. various stages is still sulphur
badly
baked.
The
Sulphur.
ask why sulphur should be chosen as a ingredient in the composition necessary of metals, the answer stillkeeps us in touch with Greek philosophy. The element of mercury provided the metallic
we
If
lustre, malleability, ductility. as properties, such But the fact that firehad the power of altering metals had to be accounted for. Now Plato had taught that fire is
bat
a
substance
nevertheless There are earth.
excessively attenuated, indeed, to be ranged with air, water, and several kinds of it, he says ; flame
"
PHIL#S"PHY
OF
TRANSMUTATION
95
which gives Kght to the eyes without burning them ; and fire which remains in substances that have been enflamed, after the flame is extinct. The alchemists to associate their elemental firewith the sulphur came
To this constituent of the Philosophers. ** " the of metals, combustibility intended their alterability under term was
was
buted attri-
by
which
the action
of fire. The notion of fire as a real substance compounded very pcrwith, or shut up in, other" substances," was sistent.
It made its last appearance by theory, promulgated FMogiston
in the
famous
at
Stahl
the
beginhiiig~of the eighteenUr century". Briefly stated bums,_it a the theory was this. When substance is losing phlogiston ; the flame, heat, and light are
evidence
of the
violence
of the
process.
All
com-
"bustible substances contain phlogiston as a common principle. ~Tt is so intimately combined with them
that it cannot
remains
That wTiich until it is escaping. is the original substance after combustion be

seen
phlogiston. "^.^sJ!^. Apply

zinc,
can
earthly substances Others, like lead and mercury, do not burn ; remain. but if exposed to heat lose their metallic appearance. It was therefore argued that the metals were compounds
and
left of phlogiston and the materials that were Moreover, the colour of the after the combustion. of the phlogiston metal was connected with the amount
this to the metals. be made to bum,
Some
of them,
such
as
For example, if lead is heated, it yields contained. litharge â yellow substance ; if heated further, it yields êd lead. Evidently, said the champions of different quantities of the this theory, there are
"
96
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
fire-substance be present* Could the phlogiston put back againZ.. Yes, in not a few cases. Thus, ifthe dephlogisticated earthysubstance zinc ^the remaining burning ^be heated with wood or cTiarcoalTtlie" after ! a metal reappears It has acquired freshstockfrom the burning of the wood or charcoal. Here we have the alchemist in doctrine a scientific dress. Substitute and the sulphur for phlogiston, features the two are the same. in The later essential did not laysuch stress upon the " first experimenters " metal substance, and they worked out theirtheory more thoroughlyand logically but the root ; much isthe same. principle Now Stahl'stheory led up to the discovery of on oxygen. It focussedattention the phenomena of facts the scattered combustion,and brought together by means of an explanation which,though erroneous, to enormously helped scientists get on to the right track. Why should we be so unfairas to deny to the the merit of preparingthe way for Stahl? alchemists Follies and falsities ought not to obscure the share they had in achieving success. the ultimate
"
"
Theory
/
and
Practice.
'
We have now seen how Greek philosophylargely moulded the development of the Hermetic art. Let ideaof the way inwhich the alchemists us get a general task. set about their SQm"4)ai"iciilar usuallya metal,would substance, into be chosen as likelyto allow of transmutation it to ITien'was strip or silver ôld. The êat object
PHILOSOPHY
OF
TRANSMUTATION
97
of those qualities,or properties, jn which it differed from the metal required. Lead, for instance, must
be stripped of its easy fusibility, tin of its peculiar " cry," and so forth. The proper tint must be produced; right degree of hardness, malleability and ductility; the right weight; the characteristic in any case lustre. Transmutations were always
the
in process. Art must aid them and speed them up. A short cut, so to speak, would be possible if the Mercury of the Philosophers, or, what was practically thing, the Philosopher's Stone, could be the same 'discovered, for then this Magisterium, or Master Substance, would by its own powers and virtues effect the changes. held that a substance could Since it was commonly unless it were reduced to the firstmatter," and since this firstmatter would, in sophers, the case of the metals, be the Mercury of the Philothe two methods tended to coalesce. If
not
"
be
transmuted
transmutation have been won.
accomplished, the Mercury must If the Mercury were won, the power be gained. Hence would of transmuting much in aim and statement. At one time the confusion in precious metal would be the direct object view, at another the Philosopher's Stone. But in both cases
were
"
conceptions of the nature of matter ^thosederived from Greek philosophy. The triad, Mercury., Sulphur, Salt, were simply the old quartet, earth, water, air,fire. The concentration on ence chemical operations explains naturally the preferfor the specificsubstances.
the underlying the same were
98
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Qualities
There
arises out
as
Separate
Entities,
just made a of the statements if further point which it is important to understand into the minds we enter of the alchemists. would
"a Several times the expression was substance used, be stripped of certain of its qualities." Vincent must
de Beauvais
substances
prepared
to say,
we
definitely claims that adepts we of their qualities.*' Now
"
can
must
rob be is
to interpret this language

must
literally. That
realise that the alchemist imagined to be separate things the qualities of substances right. We need not go deeply existing in their own
It will be enough into the metaphysics, implied. to grasp the profound difference between their point of " When fix " the operator who would view and ours.
determined to get rid of its volatility and mercury liquidity, he had much idea in his mind as the same
a
man
who
were us
that
fish out of a liquid any scattered through it.

would
contrast
our
substances
a
Let
process.
way
of viewing
some
If_a
man
condenses
steam
parallel into water,
and then he is robbing the original substance of any "of"its" qualities^ but merely that he is causing it to change *' He is causing the mole^ states." what we call its
cules of water
The closer and closer together. conceive^hat alchemist, on the other hand, would he had condensed the steam, he had robbed it when
to
come
fr^ziTttiiwt^^^^^
it an " air " ; that when he of a quality that made froze the water, he had robbed it of a quality that made it a liquid. Two really existent things hadlieeii
PHILOSOPHY
OP
TRANSMUTATION
that by
99
abstracted from it. It was_thus off the disguising qualities from

he hoped
to get
a
stripping
orilinary mercur^
residue that would be the Philosois clear that this profound differ^ TiherVMeBcmyj^Ît be kept well in view if we would interpret ence must aright the theories and receipts in alchemical treatises. The before us in another context. subjectwill come Meanwhile let us that the Hermetic acknowledge
art, taken
reason.
at its best,
was
founded
on
observation and
CHAPTER
ALCHEMY
III
ANIMISM
AND
range of ideas, akin to, but less strictly philosophical than, those considered in the last and enriched the belief in the chapter, strengthened
ANOTHER
from The alchemists were possibility of transmutation. the firstdeeply impressed by the processes of growth in And they conceived the world of plants and animals.
that
inorganic
were
substances,
more
metals,
endowed
that
of organisms. adopted the fundamental
with a kind In fact, broadly
particularly the of life similar to
speaking, they principles of what is known
as
Animism.
It is sufficiently well known that primitive man him on interpreted the events and changes around the analogy of human activities ; he looked upon
of living wills. The noisy brook, the roaring waves, the cracklings in the woods, tree or the beast of prey, less than the growing no for him argued the presence of life. Indeed it was
them
as
manifestations
only by such a view that he could at all understand bring himself into practical relations with or them the things around him ; for he knew of no mode of This original tendency activity other than his own. into times when persisted on such as that of the earliest Greek
100
reflective
thought,
philosophers, strove
ALCHEMY
to
enter
more
AND
ANBIISW^f'i
#"""""*
'lOJ
of
deeply
into the nature
and
causes
Mythology of the external world. yielded place to ideaUsms, gnosticisms, pantheisms; the behef in distinct beings behind natural phenomena
the phenomena disappeared ; but the belief in or weakened And alchemy, form of universal life lasted on. some from largely influenced and moulded, in its turn, was
first to
last, by
animistic
conceptions
and
speculations.
Metals
We
have
seen
HrTiT/
that the view the alchemists took of the nature of metals was very different from ours. They imagined that by a series of slow changes imder
f^p
They
were
pflrt.h tlipy wp^f^

were
the
more
p^^gfi^^^^g towards* perfection. imperfect the more easily they
changed
so
by
instance, lead and
fire and iron were
chemical agents. imperfect because
For they
yielded
of all. It
which The
strongly held to be the perfect metal was therefore striving to become. all others were
"
Gold, on easily to such agents. strongly resisted them îndeed, most
the contrary,
this.
alchemists, however, went For them, the changes were
much
not,
further than
as
we
suppose, of a purely physical kind, but were to take place by a living process. They likeptarits. We modems
might imagined
held that
can
me"als"~groW,
some
"follow
thern to
understand
change was found in are

and
in the notion of change, and can how the ancients came to think that the For we know that metals progressive.
extent
ores
that
some
of all degrees of purity or impurity, discovered in at times are of them
10$ : ALCHEMYÎTS
*
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
see
we
mm*
k"*
4-
*^
'' " t their native state. It is not difficulto in the ignorance of the true nature of what
"
how,
call the elements," this varying degree of purity might give riseto the beliefin an upward progression. But " " is so far removed from our the notion of growth
are tempted to present modes of thought that we regard it as a flight of unbridled imagination. And yet, in the popular mind at any rate, it persistseven in this enlightened age. A poet is warranted in
describing stones as hewn from **the living rock." doubt that many still And there can be little harbour a vague theory that under the earth minerals and into being and increase. come rocks do somehow there for would be a certain amount of justificationit !) But that metals actually grow ^that is a different
coal
was
"
(In the days when
being
formed,
matter.
on
The alchemists, however, put a yet greater strain Having entertained our capacity for sympathy.
the notion of growth, they developed it with a startling Metals, they held, grow like plants. thoroughness. How do pl^ts start their life? From seed. Since
plan throughout, there proceeds on the same must be something corresponding to seed in theâse of metals. They could not define exactly what this metal-seed was, but they felt quite safe in assunung
nature
its existence, and determined to discover it in order " that they might metals as they grew plants. grow]" The processes, of course, would be different,but the
The seed, once obtained and put under proper conditions, would set out on a course of development which would ultimately give them the perfect metal. Under the earth the growth
principle would be the
same.
ALCHEMY
was
AND
ANIMISM
108
hindered in many indefinitely slow, and was devices come to the ways ; they would by artificial aid of nature and speed up her operations.
the train of reasoning which led to these strange conclusions, kindled such chimerical hopes, And and prompted yet even such endless labours.
was
Such
here Does
we
must
**
not
"
be
too
hasty
aim
in condemnation.
at
speeding up divers Does it not build up natural molecules, and increasingly aim at invading the sphere fabricating organic compounds ? of life itself by
not
modem
chemistry processes ?
And
term
do
we
not
which analogy ? Given
growth speak of the of crystals some think to be more than a figure

"
**
'*
â
or
premisses, the alchemist's reasoning logical. He had to meet, however, an obvious was into the difficulty. If the seed of metals develop
the
perfect jnetal, gold, whence The explanation advanced
come
was
tHeHSasei metals ?
singular. due to
were
The
a
formation
br
of
these
nature^s
regarded as purpose. ^ Resistances

not
was
thwarting
which could the rest were

Again
be
overcome.
encountered Iron, tin, lead, and
comparedto
science can modern when it describes to us the clash of forces which cause in crystallisation, or which altogether malformations
abortions or monstrosities. help us to seize their idea
few of the really fundamental the concepts of alchemists that are quite beyond pale of such suggestive parallels ; and although they
preclude
it.
There
are
largely the outcome of imaginative guessing advances in science may prove them to possess unsuspected
were
so
kernels of truth.
H
104
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Metals
and
Animal
Bibth.
not content of the alchemists were with referring to the plant world when they speculated on the development of the metals, but brought in notions
Certain
derived
Applying
unity
from
the
stillmore
generation and birth of animals. thoroughly their doctrine of the
action in nature, they likened the genesis of metals to that of the foetus. The comparison is at least as old as the time of Geber. This in one father of the juit, Arabian of the works with
of plan and
most
confidence ascribed to him, works it out in detail, ê' concepts an J mcTudes of mamage; conception, rearing, and education, claiming that the conditions
aie as
these imply
necessary
in the
case
of metals
ay
bebig?. The lead he gave was isedulously of human followed upTHiitil it lost itselfin the mystical absurdities Some did not of the latest phases of the art. male and female shrink from distinguishing between
elements
a
conjoining
in the process, afikming that there must of sex-elements before metal-growth
be
can
be initiated.
At this stage, the protests of the enlightened critic become ; and it requires no small amount vehement Nevertheless it may be of courage to resist them.
urged that, stripped of foolish accretions, the notion Moreover, is a logical result of the original animism. we ask ourselves whether we have yet fathomed may
the
nature
and
function
curve great upward dividing line between

so
distinctions in the If there be no of evolution. the organic and inorganic (as

of
sex
many
now
assume),how
far down
does
the se^
ALCHEMY principle descend to dogmatise. ? He
AND is
a
ANIMISM
bold
man
105
who
ventures
Dying
and
Reviving
of
Metals.
of the generation of metals to comparison that of plants involved another notion less defensible. The ancients, as we saw, thought that a seed actually life. The to new died before it could germinate discoveries
imperfect, tells
us
The
botany of modem and, indeed, false,
have
was
shown such
a
us
how
of cotyledons, stored albumen, We must go behind all this if we would alchemists, and look at the process with
as
view ; it and so forth. be fair to the
involving
conclusion
complete ^most was
death
and forced upon
their eyes The resurrection. them
tjiat,if
metals grow from seed, there must be in their case also Some a dying of them even and reviving. speak of ^^ " killing of a metal as a means to transmutation. the
notion .was prevailing belief in

generation
"
This
by the greatly strengthened the possibility of spontaneous such

fierce
which, in a controversy far subtler form, is again asserting itself. The connection in the following passage from Basil is well seen '* Neither human Valentine : nor animal bodies can
cast into the all vegetable seed, when decay before it can must spring up again. ground, Moreover, worms putrefaction imparts life to many
roused ^the belief which in quite recent times, and
be multiplied the grain and
or
propagated
without
decomposition
If bread be placed in other animalculae. and honey and suffered to decay, ants are generated. by the decay Maggots are also generated of nuts.
...
...
106
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
The same thing may apples, and pears. in regard to vegetable life. Nettles and spring up where no such seed has ever This
occurs
be observed
other weeds been sown.
only by putrefaction." It is needless to say that Valentine's
instances
are
but he of quite other explanation; capable he makes and plain the company, erred in good to proceeds principle he wishes to establish. He *' Know that in give it the alchemical application.
metallic seed can develop or multiply unless the said seed by itself alone, and without the introduction of any foreign substance, can be reduced His practical inference to a state of putrefaction."
like
manner
no
is that
gold must there is to be a
be brought
new
putrefy and die if life for it with increase of its

to
substance. Consider
how
as take a metal, say would experiment it lose lead, and calcine it in the air. They watched its well-known appearance and change into a powdery kind of cinder. Assuming, as they did, that the metal
puzzling this. They
must
have
been
such
an
had
life of its
own,
what
more
natural than
to say
that it had died ?
in the condition which they imagined a seed would be that had died in the ground. They then reheated this cinder in a crucible along They watched the metal grains of wheat. with some
It
was
taking
again its wonted characteristics and resmnWhat ing its original state. more natural than to
on
suppose
"
that the lifein the grain had " of the metal ? We, resurrection
was
brought of
course,
about know
the carbon in the wheat which took from it had combined the lead the oxygen with in the first But to they had nothing to guide them calcining.
that it
ALCHEMY
such
an
AND
ANIMISM
107
explanation, and should not, therefore, be charged with folly for arguing as they did. The blame in when some comes of them, starting from this misunderstoo chemical action, gave loose rein to their
imagination,
and
launched
occult and mystical from and further away
into all manner of theories which led them further

out
the
aberrations,
however,
should
world of facts. These to ignore us not tempt considerations

of
the rational character of the broad the perversions. which they were
Metals
have
Body
and
Soul.
It has been shown how that the alchemists, setting simple idea of a metalout from the comparatively seed analogous to the seed of plants, introduced the
more
complicated
ideas
in the animal world. is Man this advanced stage of speculation. at even the crown of the animal world, and consists of body a similar whether and soul. They asked themselves
with generation connected They were to stop not content
distinction does not exist in the case of metals, and having And in the affirmative. decided ventured
on
this further analogy,

seriousness and
utmost
it with the exploited it in their practical they
developed
work. The
philosophical basis for their notion was largely ing derived from the teachings of the Platonists. Accordto
these mystical a incumbrance clog

"
idealists
on
man's
body
was
an
the
activities of his true
It had therefore to be subdued and mortified before that true nature could show itself. If, then, the to be free for higher richest virtues of the metals were
nature.
108
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
transmutations, Thus
their material form must
be destroyed.
in the seventh century an alchemist, Stephanus " it is necessary to deprive of Alexandria, declared that matter of its qualities in order to draw out its soul." Paracelsus And thus, too, in the sixteenth century
declared
the body
that
"
nothing
of a substance, less there is of the body, the
of true value is located in The but in the virtue.

. . .
the
more
virtue."
Between
these two
in proportion is writers there is a Yet

the continuity
years I gap of nearly a thousand of the doctrine is manifest.
But
by
some was
"
refinement distinction
of the Hermetic philosophers a further They threefold a elaborated. made

spirit.
^body, soul, and

a
Spirit
was
conceived
to be
substance
say
"
that
primal element, not peculiar to any one to all. We but fundamental may perhaps " " into a it was first matter sublimated
"
" The essence the spirit of nature. universal held to be the particular soul, on the other hand, was life that characterised any or group of substance substances ; that is to say, it was specific,not universal.
substance
was
held to be
essence.
more
contained
of
this
it perfect the more Gold, being the most
But richest of all in this regard. perfect of all,was in complete even gold did not exhibit the essence purity ; it obscured it by possessing certain specific properties which had to be stripped off before the
could be really free. And the stripping of it was the practical the supreme problem which It was these imperfections alchemist had in view.
spirit
"
"
that led the alchemists to distinguish between ordinary " " the gold of the sages ^the latter being gold and the pure essence.
"
ALCHEMY This doctrine, of

for allcontained
and
some
AND
course,
ANIMISM
109
applied to all substances ; Mercury portion of the essence.
specially singled out because of their supposed alchemic gold stood out virtues, though And in every case the problem was how pre-eminent.
sulphur
were
to strip away
to
free the
the specific qualities. The firststep Let Stephanus soul from the body.
was
of
is like, a "Copper again instruct us. it has a soul and a body. The body is man; the ponderable, material, terrestrial thing, endowed Alexandria
.
with than
shadow.
copper
After
becomes
ments, series of suitable treatand better without shadow

a
gold."
metal must will lay bare that subtler part of it which to transmutation.
But
is to say, the material form of the Success in this attempt be destroyed.
That
lends itself
of the threefold division of the nature of a substance, this first operation does Xiot suffice. It would only render active the power of into a substance ment like that under treattransmuting
from
the standpoint
transmute other would ^the soul of copper substances into copper, that of lead into lead, and so A into gold. to transmute the aim was on ; whereas
"
further
must
stripping
is therefore
necessary.
The
soul
be removed,
essence,
and
remain. quest was declared to be not merely long and laborious, but even the highest qualities perilous, demanding Nay, prayer was often of intellect and character.
nothing but the spirit,or Hoe opus, hie labor est !
versal uniThe
judged to
be
necessary
"
condition of
"
success.
spirit contained in substances did not wholly rest, however, on analogies borrowed from doctrines concerning the nature of animals and This notion
of
a
110
man.
ALCHEMY"
The
ITS
SCIENCE
were
AND
ROMANCE
by
certain
alchemists
impressed transcended of
a
empirical phenomena The of explanation. is mysterious

to
even
which
power
magnet,
was
their powers for example, it mysterious
to us'; much
more
its power of especially striking was attracting iron in spite of the presence of intervening This " virtue " seemed to them to argue substances.
them.
More
the
" force, intangible, spiritual to the inmost nature of the They attracting body, and also of that attracted. the placed in the same category of subtle essences that the action of poisons on organisms, supposing "
action of some invisible, pertaining
force which, could due to some permeating power was be regarded as ** spiritual " in its nature.
Introduction
It
was
of
Moral
Ideas, step
on*
not,
therefore, any
considerable
with moral
to wards endow substances For if they possess that which they nature, part of human
"
qualities* constitutes the highest also possess its would
the rest. characteristic activities ^the moral among Modern It thought entirely rejects such a notion. that the strives to be perfectly assuming
objective,
under laws.
physical universe determinate,

raises
mena,
are no
is wholly
natural
the sway of unvarying, Accordingly science
moral
even
not
put, much
in studjdng physical pheno* to which substances as regards the uses less any supposed inherent good or questions
The juice of a manifest. qualities they may sake, plant, for instance, is studied purely for its own its composition, its effects, quite irrespective of the
use
bad
any
individual
may
put
it to
"
say, to heal
or
to
ALCHEMY
Or in the case poison. finds a place for it in
AND
of such
a
ANIMISM
a
111
chemical
compounds, properties ; notes its powers as living tissues, and so forth. on

moralist
alcohol, it certain interesting series of its various describes and drug

as
a
solvent, its effects But it leaves to the
and practical questions social reformer beings ; and by human regarding its consumption scorn the idea that the drug is intrinsically would
evil. The
alchemists
way
of studjdng into what
attained to this objective They selves their materials. read themnot
had
and
thus unduly practice. It is curious to observe how traces of the most of our of thought survive in some old modes *' base '* We of scientific terminology. still speak " " " " " bad " conductors and and metals, of noble good " " '* imperfect " of electricity,of perfect and
^terms of distinctly moral connotation, though, gases in such connections, their real force is now severely forgotten. They ignored or may still completely
"
observed in their experiments, confused both their theory and their they
serve,
when
historically considered,
as
aids in putting
ourselves at the alchemist's point of view. We saw that in supposing a " spirit " in substances,
there
were
certain material phenomena the leadings of philosophical
which strengthened So speculation.
it was
the effect on the alchemist as this. Some mercury mind of such an experiment is allowed to fall in a fine rain on to melted sulphur. When is produced. A black substance this black
substance
here also.
Consider
is heated in
into a and condenses know that the black product
closed vessel, it is volatilised beautiful red solid. We how is the

same as
the red,
112
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
being composed
and sulphur.
of the same quantities of mercury But the alchemists did not know this,
to the influence of Hre"as"a
and
attributed the change
purifying" agency qualities

_of
whic^~courd
modify the
comes
And here substances. transitioxU". moral ideas. Black was

the symbol
actual in the
of darkness ; red light. By an almost inevitable association of ideas is interpreted as a change from the experiment bad Thus~ once to good.* find that, if we are again we
for the alchemists the symbol of
hastily attribute to the play of irresponsible imagination notions which, being so from far removed our own, strange and appear
to
be fair, we
must
not
fantastic.
Reviewing
the
whole
development
may speculations, we arrive The exaggerations and conclusion.
of these animistic at this general
round them are they contain a solid inferences which, in not a few cases,
accumulated Nevertheless
or
follies which rightly to be condenmed.

core
of reasonable have their sequels of the present
analogies in scientific speculations day.

*
This
are
chapter
and examples several other and taken from Muir's Story oj Alchemy,
quotations
in
this
CHAPTER
MAGIC AND
IV
ASTROLOGY
THE
down
popular idea of of the development

our
to
own
alchemist in all the stages art, and of the Hermetic lays times, is that of a man who
an
powers, who is skilled in the occult invokes the aid of unseen beings, sciences, and who There can be little chiefly of the undesirable sort. doubt that the grounds for this idea are by no means claim
to. magical
inconsiderable.
role played
a
Nevertheless,
is very
as
Figuier
argues,
the
by magic
wholesale condemnation unjust. Let us try to arrive at an estimate founded, not on popular opinion, but on the historical facts.
greatly exaggerated, and is grievously on this score
Early
Metallurgy
and
Magic.
We
start.
must
For
themselves
metals
"
had a bad that alchemy acknowledge from remote antiquity those who busied the extraction with working of and
regarded
something
as
were
enchanters
supernatural
and
as
having Greeks
magicians them. about

as a
The
"
thought
^Hephaestus, the
as
of their master-smith Roman Vulcan. Legend
god
him
toiling in
various
wonders
were
workshop, marvellous fashioned. The Cretans

113
pictured in which
had
114
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
their Telchines, reputed the firstworkers in metals, and of ill-fameas spitefulenchanters. So it was with the Due^'gars of Teutonic myth, malicious beings who in northern mines. So, too, with the supernatiuralDaktuloi of Mount Ida in Phrygia, to whom the discovery of iron was attributed, and the art of treating it by fire. In Teutonic Saga, we have our Wayland the Smith, a kind of demi-god, the hero of wrought many exciting adventures. Nor can we be surprised that magic should thus widely be associated with metallurgy. The discovery of metals, and the art
of working them, meant much in those early days in civilisation.And the power in war, advance littleunderstood that were so processes employed
"
"
i
they seemed to surpass the limitsof human and skill. Yes, alchemy
knowledge
bad start. And the position by the fact that alchemy was was made the worse engaged, not with ordinarymetallurgy, but with the transmuting of base metals into gold, and that it opened up prospects of boundless wealth. Add the decoction of an elixir prolong which would indefinitely the term of human life, not and we see ample reasons, only for the popular view, but for the belief not seldom held by adepts themselves that supernatural to be attained. were powers must be enlistedif success
had
a
|
i
'
Attitude
of
the
Church.
The reputation for magical arts frequently roused the suspicion and hostilityof Christian theologians. indeed, were Some, inclined to regard the very
attempt
at transmutation
as
an
|
i
encroachment
on
the
MAGIC
divine prerogatives.
AND
ASTROLOGY and Tertnllian,
115
Zosimiis
for
to the instance, attributed the origin of alchemy teaching notion is as old as angels. The of bad its demoniac Genesis, with its tree of knowledge,
temptation,
of cities,and passage from
and
its condemnation of the founding of their attendant arts and crafts. The this book which asserts that the sons of
is the children of men wives from among often quoted by TertuUian and others who shared his The story had been adopted and expanded views. in the book that bears the name of Enoch ^the
God
took
"
passed in those fateful times. patriarch whose lifewas " dwelt with find that these sinfid angels There we
them sorceries, enchantments, mortals and taught the properties of roots and trees, magical signs, and betrayed They the the art of observing stars." how to obtain pleasures, showed gold and silver and things made of them, and taught the art of dyeing fleeces. We note the combination
secret
of worldly
of gold, the observing of stars, and the The application of practice of magical incantations. was this to alchemy obvious.
of the making
In the Middle rather than
Ages
removed.
the suspicion For in those
was
intensified
of dark
times
superstitions, every
fact that
to
transcended supernatural
ordinary
agents,
was attributed experience And any man good or bad.
unfamiliar powers or made of with the dangerous name

to such
exhibited unusual branded was experiments

who
sorcerer.
The
tendency
judgments was increased by the unfavourable selves. of the adepts themattitude and behaviour of many Some who knew that they were guiltlessof the
charge
against them
could
not
resist the temptation
116
ALCHEMY"ITS
SCIENCE
if they
AND
ROMANCE
actually
of leaving uncontradicted, foster, the rumours which
air of mystery and enhanced How consciously traded on the popular ignorance. dearly they sometimes we paid for the advantage
saw
with an their reputations. Others
did not them shrouded
historical sketch; the Church also how drew a distinction between white and black magic, Popes and how, by virtue of this distinction, even Speaking freely and practised ardently alchemy.
in the
take it that in this mediaeval period in talked of, but were much magic and sorcery were Here and there an adept reality little practised.
generally,
we
may
might dabble in the dark lore. The great majority, to arduous labours in however, confined themselves their laboratories.
Alchemist
Magic
and
Philosophy.
are varied forms of magic mainly cate products of imagination, alchemists sought to vindiby referring to the their acceptance of them
Though
the
teachings
of philosophers.
Plato, Pythagoras,
Demo-
held to have critus, and other great authorities, were True, they had not left any evidence been magicians.
of this role in their authentic writings ; but tradition supplied the deficiency, and enthusiastic generously treatises which they published under adepts composed the shelter of their venerated names. The most celebrated of these philosopher-magicians
was
lamblicus,
the
Alexandrine,
was was
who
a
lived in the Neo-Platonist,
fourth
He century. although his teaching

of quite
a
accounted in many
More
different trend
points especially he held
important
MAGIC
that
not
man
AND
ASTROLOGY
117
only through the medium of magic rites. He studied the Egyptians, Chaldeans, "mysteries" of the and he wrote Assyrians, conceniing one which of his
longest treatises. His
directly with the Deity could communicate his spiritual intuitions, but also through
strengthen
the
bond
great reputation between alchemy
did much
to
and his influence lasted down of decadence. between Another alchemical connection magic and philosophy is found where we might littleexpect
it.
and superstition, to the period
sort
and One law
Stoic
of alliance was It thinkers.
struck up
came
between
about
"
in
adepts this way.
of the Stoic doctrines emphasised in nature. change of constant
the reign of a Watch (says
Marcus
how Aurelius)
and accustom delight is in changing things that are and making things in their likeness. All that is, is as it were new the seed teaching
of that
all things change continually, yourself to realise that Nature's prime
shall issue from it." Such was eminently congenial to Hermetic philo* tion sophers, whose belief in the possibility of transmutabased, as we have seen, was on this very conception
which
of substance passing they gladly took advantage it was supported. which
from
form
to
form
of the reasoned doctrine Another
and proofs by
Stoics
all the changes Substance, of which all things in the universe partake degrees. The in varying sun, moon, stars, and to God, may be looked planets, being specially near
was,
that behind
of the is the divine
upon
to
as
divinities. The
prove lean upon
Stoics, in their endeavour in their turn glad to this doctrine, were

sages
whose
practices
dealt
with
the
118
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
they therefore became and ardent supernatural; The defenders of magicy alchemy. astrology, and interdependence thus established was far-reaching and lasting in its results.
Astrology Most
power
And
Alchemy.
alchemists believed that the planets had the metals, and so could influence the of maturing
their transmutation. at aimed which the pseudo-science, or art, of astrology, need to enter into detail. For the astrologer,
operations Concerning
there is
as
no
the
such, confined himself generally to bodies upon influence of the heavenly

to
judging
human
affairs, and
and with
common
foretelling events
by
their position
was
aspects ;
whereas
substances to both
and
was
alchemist their changes. that the
the
concerned The
were
ground
planets
active
agents.
natural that the Arabians, under the sway sophy, philoof Eastern star-lore as well as of Alexandrian should believe in astral influences. Geber,
was
It
for example, held that the planets, arrived at a certain point of the sky, aided the forming and perfecting of the metals, whether under the earth, or when manipulated
in the
man
laboratory.
He
denied,
however,
that
had power to direct or use this influence, and so saved himself from the cruder superstitions of his far as to say that the action Kalid went so time. ties of the planets constituted one of the greatest difficulin regulating chemical The ruling operations. ideas on the subjectwere mainly derived from that
strange
store-house
of heterogeneous
materials,
the
MAGIC
Hebrew
the
AND
and
were
ASTROLOGY
119
Kabala,
adopted
and
developed
in
strangest Some adepts.

can
mediaeval and Rosierucian more of the ideas are ancient, and be traced back to the Babylonians. Geber asserts
ways
by
the revolution of the seven the spheres of the signs (ofthe zodiac) planets across direct the mutations them of the four elements, make
and conjunction
that
"
the
The vary, and allow of their being predicted." Sabsean origin of the idea is plain, though it is presented from Pythagoras as coming and Aristotle. A passage from Basil Valentine (fifteenth century) will show how such notions took root and developed. "Matter is no other than a mere vapour, which is extracted
stars,
or
from
by
the elementary earth by the superior ; siderial distillation of the macrocosm
which
siderial hot infusion, with an airy sulphurous descending inferiors, so acts property, and upon that there is implanted operates spiritually and
invisibly
and
certain power and The statement minerals."
virtue in those metals is vague, the terminology
intentionally
technical
and
obscure.
Still the
to give
main purport is plain" a ponderous attempt fuller detail to the Arabian doctrine.
The
Metals
and
the
Pi4ANETS,
astrology is the sun and
A
the
prominent
assigning
feature
of
alchemist
of the chief metals to the planets. The individual assignments are not but Chaucer's quaint list in his always the same;
Chanoun's accepted
:
Yemannes
Tale gives those
most
usually
120
ALCHEMY"
**
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
/^
The bodies seven eke, lo ! hem heer anoon ; Sol gold is,and Luna silverwe thripe, Mara yien, Merouiy quik-silverwe clipe" Satonras leed, and Jupiter is tin. And Venus oopper, by my "ader khi."
This mystical connection is probably due to the but knowledge Babylonians; of it was widely Pindar, for example, mentions disseminated. the
The scholium relation between gold and the sun.* " To each of on the passage is also full of interest. the planets some substance is attached. To the Sun gold, to the Moon silver, Ceres iron, to Kronos to Hermes tin, to Aphrodite bronze." A condensed account, from a treatiseentitled The Open Entrance^ will furnish an example of how
to electrum,t
lead, to Zeus
in later alchemy
these astrological ideas were combined with chemistry. The author is describing the various stages in the perfecting of the Philosopher's
Stone.
I quote from
Muir.J
"
heating of gold with mercury stripping off his golden garments
The beginning of the is likened to the King

and descending
into the fountain ; this is the regimen of (the planet) As the heating is continued, all becomes Mercury. black ; this is the regimen of Saturn. Then is noticed a colours; this is the regimen of plan of many Jupiter ; if the heat is not regulated properly, * the ones of the crow will go back to the nest.' young About the end of the fourth month you will see ' the
sign of the waxing this is the regimen
"
and all becomes white ; The white colour of the Moon.

moon,'
Isthmian Odes, IV, 1-3. was Electnim originally an 182. p. X The Story of Alchemy, p. 72.
alloy of gold and
silver. See
MAGIC
AND
ASTROLOGY
121
in the gives place to purple and green ; you are now After that, appear all the colours regimen of Venus. of the rainbow, or of a peacock's tail ; this is the
regimen
and
Finally the colour becomes golden ; this is the regimen of the Sim."
of Mars.
orange
Signs
and
Symbols.
only natural that the mystical signs for the ^seven planets, planets should be used for the metals tions. transformaseven colours, and seven metals, seven
was
"
It
Mathematical the
service of the
figures, also,
art,
were
pressed into
mystical with
water
a
a
significance.
point;
and used with specialised The sign for fire was a circle
air
a
centre
thaFfor
that
for
a
triang:le that for ;

two
square; triangles interlaced
earth
equilateral
to form
use
regular polyjgonal star.
Tt Is evident how the

them
of such signs, carrying with
the rich and
mediaeval
varied associations of ancient and star-lore, lent themselves to the invention
not of endless fantasies and superstitions. We must few of the better sort among forget, however, that
heed to these accessories, save adepts paid serious
for
of shorthand statement. convenience in the history A symbol of great importance of ** Egg." An egg Phflosopher's the art is the famous
life,"and" was therefore widely used naturally Suggests to designate the principle of fecundity on the source the egg was primitive adopted among Chaldeans, the Persians, the Hindus, and the Chinese. had its egg of Osiris in which the god had Egypt
enclosed two good things white
of Ttr
The
"
"
with
pyramidal figures, symbols of the he would dower which mankind.
122
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
introduced twelve black pyramids, to aflSict and symbols of the illswhich wê destroy. Another Egyptian legend tells how Khoum, desiring to create, put forth from his mouth the egg of the universe. He is often represented as fashioning a potter's wheel the mysterious oval from which on
and the whole of nature. The alchemist's egg symbolised this range of notions ; but in addition it was taken to signify the art. In an of the Hermetic special work early " it is thus described : The ancients call manuscript
were come race
His brother, Typhon,
to
the human
the Egg the Stone of copper, the Stone of Armenia, Others call it the Image of the the Stone of Egypt. world. Its shellis of copper, the alloy of copper and
lead,the alloy of iron and copper. The calcined shell signifieschalk, arsenic, sandarac, Chian earth, etc. The liquid parts of the Egg are the rust of copper, the The white of the Egg is water of green copper. of of called gum, juice the fig,juice the euphorbia.
.
.
.
The yellow of it is called mineral of solid copper. Thus did imagination, Attic ochre, Ciliciansafran." * when given free rein, elaborate fancies intended
.
.
to invest the art with high mysteries.
of the symbol mention later. Yet
The application in laboratory operations will find
another symbol of prime importance is the tail. mystic serpent, or dragon, which bites its own This too was widely known in the ancient world, and was connected with the doctrine that in nature there
I
I
round of reciurent changes. The alchemists, while retaining its original significance, work, applied it with special reference to their own
is
a
constant
"
Quoted by Berthelot, Lea Origenea de VAlchimie, p. 24.
\
\
MAGIC
AND
ASTROLOGY
128
[
\
/
N
'
which
they conceived, in its larger aspect, to have as neither beginning nor end tained, îmitating, they maina universal natural process. They also used it as a symbol for the "moist" principle,without
"
which nothing can exist : of the soul of the world which gives birth to, and envelops all that has being ^the starry sky which surrounds the planets, the beauty and harmony of the universe. The symbolism thus practically coincides with that of the Philo* Sometimes it is pictured with three sopher's Egg.
"
which represent the three vapours ; and four feet which represent the four fundamental
ears
with stances subor metals, lead, copper, tin, and iron. These last details recall the mysterious salamander which live in the fire. can
Magic
Formulas.
the formulas and and interesting, are One of the symbols found in the ancient manuscripts. oldest is the Mappce Clavicular*containing very varied preserved material. By the use of a certain figure(not in the manuscript, but probably that distinctive of
the metal,
Many
wonders. You can make a well run or stop running ; a cup will hold or lose its liquid; a cask will empty itself and so on. ; lantern and itsoil, phantom By itsvirtue applied to a a
lead) you
can
work
will come
out of the house and enter it again ; soldiers
will Then
of their camp without their lances. a description of the concentric circlesof comes Cardan in which a suspended vase will never upset.
come
out
"
See p. 178.
124
ALCHEMY"
In
a
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
we
which is very ancient manuscript find the formula of the Scorpion, the Labyrinth Solomon
teachings
an (a Kabalistic design),
Greek
of
on the of Nicephorus dreams, the prognostics of the four seasons, magical In another ancient alphabets, the Philosopher's Egg. treatise, mixed up with chemical receipts, are tables
astrological sphere, art of interpreting
to calculate the life or
death
of
sick
man,
man
formula
for bringing
about
man until he wife, another to dies of it, a philtre to excite friendship, composed of letters. Thus plants, minerals, and magic closely
the separation of a insomnia to a cause
and
his
astrology, magic, intermingled in the same
were
and chemistry treatises, and
uncritically
regarded
as
being really connected.
Varying
In the
Strength
of
the
Magical Greek
Element.
magical But they
treatises of
are
the
adepts
formulas decrease Psellus

*
mingled
number
as
with the
in
practical. art develops.
Michal
and
definitely affirms that the destructions have natural causes transformations of matter
are
We
and not influenced by incantations and secret formulas. must make allowance, however, for the fact that
in the Middle prevailing
Ages
many
were
things which purged
sentiment
offended out of the
the
The may element manuscripts. magical have been greater than it appears. Broadly
the Arabians
were
old therefore
speaking,
dominated
which
kept
magic
in the
"
scientific spirit background. Quotations
by
See p. 86.
MAGIC
AND
ASTROLOGY
125
given in the historical section will afford evidence this subordination.*
of
Though
older and developed
means,
the Middle
Ages
less acceptable
a new
purged out many formulas, they

own,
of the
magic
or
of their
and
coerce
eagerly sought for
hallowed
unhallowed,
to
demons
became Alchemy and angels. hovered between the black magic of the sorcerer and Even as the white magic of the Church. such men Arnold Basil Valentine f took and of Villeneuve
the wills of an art that
astrology and magic seriously, and prepared the way for the extravagances Arnold, in his of Paracelsus. Sigillisy gives a number treatise De of formulas
against demons,
remained the art with absurdities. In the De Tindura Physicorum Paracelsus commits himself to this drastic
"
astically and Valentine threw himself enthusiIt into the cult of Hermetic mysticism. for Paracelsus and the Rosicrucians to overwhelm
statement
Unless
thou
understandest
of the Cabalists and of the ancient has not created thee for the spagyric % art, and Nature has not chosen thee for the Work of Vulcan."
usages astrologers, God
the
An
Animated
Statue.
An
told
"
but characteristic story is extraordinary, his pupil, Thomas and of Albertus Magnus
for the Chemistry of synonym the principal constituents of substances. and combining separating by this school to the compounding It was of specially applied The art included, of course, the ancdysis of metals and medicines. the securch for the Philosopher's Stone.
a
t X
See p. 29. See p. 119. is Spagyrism
Paracelsian
126
ALCHEMY"
It
was
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
Aquinas.
sion of some he succeeded
said that the master had got posses** portion of the Elixir of Life. With this in animating
of conjunctions toil.
a
brazen
statue
which,
under proper with immense
He
the planets, he had made it and Aquinas completed
it with the faculty of speech, and together, endowed it to undertake condemned various duties, domestic and other. It acquitted itselfexcellently and proved
itselfa most of useful servant.
But owing
to
some
defect
construction
(wrong
power of speech unduly became a nuisance. but sorts of remedies,
influence !) its planetary ing asserted itself, and its chatter-
The
in
two
vain.
adepts tried all day One while
Aquinas he
was
was
so
seized repented
to
problem, struggling with a mathematical irritated by its untimely garrulity that he it to pieces. It hammer pounded and
work
reproved
no
sorely that he had allowed his temper such dire mischief, and Albertus severely It appears they made him for the outburst.
him
to repair the statue ; at any rate it was attempt heard of. more no lend imagine We that such men cannot would to the idle tale. Nevertheless the their countenance
mere
fact that it
was
invented
to
and
found popular
credence
is
evidence
of the lengths
which
go, and reveals the atmosphere himself was then flourished. But Aquinas alchemy not able to throw all belief in magic, as overboard is shown by his distinction between the white and
could
credulity in which
the black.*
"
See p. 34.
MAGIC
AND
ASTROLOGY
127
Palliation.
That
the
quest
always accompanied belief in magic be denied, though, as was cannot before urged, the place it filled was not nearly so large as is generally thought. What shall be said
on
of the Philosopher's Stone was in greater or less degree by a
this
coimt
in
defence
we
of
the
alchemists
In
the question, answering to the case of those who Rogues thinkers. and
apologies, in whatever The outstanding
must
were
confine ourselves honest inquirers and
charlatans age they may
do
not
merit
that palliation was during the whole development of the art (save for the reaction in the last the pseudo-sciences of stage) astrology and without because
must
appear. the fact
magic
were
almost
criticism. it did not
If alchemy
universally accepted is to be condemned
share itself. This
rise superior to their prestige, it the blame with the Christian Church to meet seems the case consideration
further pleading. without have been so great and so
Why
the prestige should lasting is another matter The

fact
which
would
call for special treatment. let

is ourselves what It is true that the
remains. Further,
us
ask
our
enormous
own
position in this regard. expansion of our knowledge
has altered
our
sway of many fears and vain imaginings. thing used by ^the means
"
outlook, and foolish or harmful
of nature and her ways has liberated us from the
Magic
creations of men's is now a harmless

amuse
to conjurers
our
mystify.
And
yet,
even
in
enlightened
and Western
128
ALCHEMY-ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
I
how strong is the hold which the fascination civilisation, of the uncanny and the occult retains ând that, not only on the minds of untrained thinkers, but of ! the educated and the scientific No, the twentieth the right to cast the first century has not yet won stone at those who, in ages of dim knowledge, yielded to the pressure of the conceptions ruling in their
"
world of thought. Rather must we keep undulled the edge of our gratitude to the adventurous pioneers and who had to throw off the load of superstitions, fuller who blazed a track for others destined to
"
enjoy
truth and wider liberty.
PART
THE
III
OF
THE
OBJECTS
QUEST
CHAPTER
THE
I
STONE
philosopher's
HAVING
are now
general idea of the history of alchemy, and of the main conceptions, philosophical based, we and other, on which the art was in a position to come to closer quarters with
gained
definite aims and practices of the adepts. We^ Philosopher's Stone, the shall first consider _the Elixir of Life, the Universal Solvent, their supposed to have properties and powers, and the claims made the
discovered
them.
The
materials
and
the
methods
employed
willTiave separate consideration.
Wanted
The
"
Transmuting
Agent.
idea of, and belief in, the possibility of transmutation have been explained and expounded in the preceding part. They render the alchemist's original
and
Given the sufficiently plain. how can it be effected ? possibility of transmutation, More particularly, how can the baser metals be transmuted into gold ? The earliest alchemists, as we
master
problem
philosophical '^^^"_-A?!i-?^-?P*?^-*'?^^
"first matter" out in existence
of which
were
doctrine
of
all the
from this that there' must
constructed. fundamental be some

131
various substances They argued

form
182
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
of substance which is possessed of perfect qualities, and therefore of special virtues. They gave to it or less vague of more connotation ^^the many names Grand Magisterium, the Elixir,the Tincture (the Dyer),
"
the Quintessence,nd~ others yet more strange and a fan^fuE This, they held, when combined with other bodies~"WOuld act powerfully upon them ; in the case of the imperfect metals, it would purify and
vivify them, and change them into the perfect metal, gold. To this idea of a transmuting substance was Its generally added that of its generating power. regarded as being akin to that of a seed action was which sets going a process of development, and as
being
a
metai. " the philosophicalegg," used of the fmnace in which the fecundation was supposed to be effected, the symbolism of which has been adequately described
necessary means We here have
to the genesis of the perfect an explanation of the term
'
above.
Early
Descbiptigns
of
the
Agent.
The early alchemists had no clear or settled idea what this substance might be. They used various methods to find it,and looked for it in various places. They
exclusively mineral, but even made use of organic bodies in its preparation blood, hair, egg, and so forth. The majority the of Greek and Arabian authors contented themselves
did not
regard it
as
"
tion with establishingtheoreticallythe fact of transmutawithout venturing to specify any particular an agent for effecting it. Geber was exception, an4
THE
set
PHILOSOPHER'S
to
STONE
188
it. Here work to discover and make is a description of it from the Third Book of an Arab O treatise called the Book of Ostanes. "Know,
Seekers, that it is a white water which in the soil of India ; a black water
one
himself
finds buried is found
which
a
buried
water
in the
in the countries of Persia ; stones which it is a tree which grows on the peaks of the mountains bom in Egypt ; it is a prince man ; it is a young
from Andalusia who seeks for the torment coming The last of these descriptions would of the seekers." to be the truest, if these mystical phrases are to seem
which is fired by
coimtry is found
of Chadjer; in Andalusia.
red brilliant It is a liquid
be used
as
would ensure Another

the
same
"
guides to discovery ; for certainly they " the torment of the seekers." yet more curious set of descriptions from
substance is running ^burning fire firewhich ^water of eternity water ^the thickens ^the hard stone ^the soft ^the dead earth stone ^the ^the fugitive-*-the fixed ^the generous
treatise.
The
master
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
^that which puts to flight ^that which fights against fire ^that which kills by fire ^that which has been killed ^that which has been taken by
rapid
"
"
"
"
unjustly
"
^the precious object ^the object without made glory ^the infamy vile. value ^the dominant It would seem that the imagination of the author
violence
" " " "
ran
we once
riot in piling up oppositions and antitheses. May take his meaning^ to be that the Quintessenceis at
devoid of all specific qualities,and yet potentially this point of at from all ? Looked possesses them Hegelian in the rhapsody* view, there is something
again, called the Or
we
may
interpret
from
standpoint. subjective
be may what For instance, the
184
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
it
Quintessenceis dear and glorious to him who knows

and
uses
it, vile to him
and specificfor the one, it is plain that the author the other. In any case himself had not discovered it. He is merely writing to exalt its virtues and about it, keenly determined
create
an
who is ignorant of it ; finite infiniteand indeterminate for
atmosphere
a
of mystery.
more
or
Other
tell us
to add
*
adepts, of it is mercury"
we
positivist turn of mind, gold ; but they are careful

as we
that
must
not think of these metals

"
ordinarily have them.

common
Supplement
(saysone)your
with the inward fire which it needs, get rid of its superfluous dross." and you will soon " The agent is gold (says but gold that is
mercury
another),
as
can
highly matured it,and make

common
the
natural and artificialdigestion a thousand times more perfect than As a sort of metal of that name."
as
told that if the are corollary to this distinction, we transmuting agent has not been brought to the highest degree of purity, it will only change the common Others advanced metals into silver, not into gold.
the opinion that there were really two different kinds Magistry ^the Grand and the Little of the agent Magistry ; the former being needed for the production of gold, the latter only capable of ennobling a metal
"
as are
far
as
the
stage
of silver. All such
statements
necessarily vague and illusive,especially when we them with the doctrine that metals try to harmonise
grow
^that is to say, develop continuously from stage Nevertheless we to stage. the recognise throughout
"
influence of philosophical presuppositions which supply the most a rational basis for even rhapsodical and mystical of these speculations.
THE
PHILOSOPHER'S
STONE
135
The
Stone,
The
most
famous
"
substance heard of in the twelfthcentury.

must
not
muting of the names giv^n to the transis first ^the Philosopher's Stone
"
The
sense,
''
be taken
in its strict
more
word but
"
Stone/^
as
"
rather
equivalent to the
"
abstract term
substratum
It which underlies and supports. ^the something was applied to any substance powder, liquid, solid supposed to have the magisterial power of ^that was
"
"
transmuting.
The
emergence
implies
that
purely
more
of this definite theoretical descriptions
name were
giving place to
nature
practical attempts to define the and properties of the much-sought-for wonderworker. Zosimus, on the author oldest extant
alchemy, keeps to the early style in his description of it. " In speaking of the Philosopher's Stone, receive this stone which is not a stone, a precious thing which has no value, a thing of many shapes which has no
of all." And which is known shapes, this unknown " its species multiple. Its kind is one, All again, from the One, and all returns to it. Here comes
.
is
the
Mithriatic
But
mystery,
the
incommunicable
in strong contrast with this antithetical have express assurances that rigmarole, we the Stone has been seen and handled. mystery."
Descriptions
6t
as
the
a
Stone.
red
It is usually described
mentions
it under the presents it as a
name
powder. "of Carbunculus.

-
LuUy
celsus Paraa
solid body
of the colour of
j^
186
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
ruby, transparent, flexible, and nevertheless breaking " like glass. Van Helmont I have seen writes : and handled the Stone. It had the colour of saffron in heavy, and brilliant powder ; it was into bits." Berigard de Pisa, who transmutation
as
glass broken it in the saw
which
an
unknown
him,
poppy
is very
and gives it the colour of sulphur. diverse as they as tions are

author,
precise, telling us smelling like burnt
adept effected for it is the colour of a sea-salt.* Helvetius
In short, the descripOne nimierous. are

to
comprehensive, He to reconcile the contradictions. says the and It would seem stone unites in itself all the colours, f
as these, the such specific experiences Stone should have been a real with known and object And proved such yet, after all, no properties. has been, or ever will be, known I substance ever
Kalid,
is determined
be
that,
after
take of longer descriptions we may specimen this from Philalethes in his BriefGuide to the Celestial
As
a
Ruby
Philosopher's Stone is a certain heavenly, fixed substance, which and spiritual, penetrative, brings all metals to the perfection of gold or silver to (according the quality of the medicine), and that
:
"
The
by natural methods, Nature. Know

.
because
it is like
which yet in their effects transcend then that it is called a stone, not stone, but only because, by virtue
it resists the action of fire as In species it is gold, more stone.
of its fixed nature,
successfully as any piu*e than the purest ; it is

*
**
fixe4and incombustible
al^similis flore papaveris sylvestris, odore vero sal adustum referentis." tnarinum f */Lapis iste habet in se omnes colores. Est enim albus, rubens, Quoted citrinus, citrissimus, celestinus, viridis." rubicundissimus, by Figuier, from whom derived. are most of the above references
Colore
non
THE
like
a
PHILOSOPHER'S
but
STONE
a
137
stone,
fine powder, taste, fragrant
its appearance is that of impalpable to the touch, sweet

to the smell, in potency
a
very
to
the
most
trative pene-
spirit, apparently
dry, and
yet unctuous,
" "
easily capable of tinging a plate of metal. say that its nature is spiritual, it would be no more than the truth ; if we described it as corporeal, the
.
and If we
expression
passage
a
would
be equally correct." of the curious blending
We old
find in this antithetical the author

to
statements mystical with details which had somehow himself belonged or other persuaded
the
facts. Yet the substance world of material described is as unreal as the mysticism is impalpable. It is difficultto guess what was actually in the minds of adepts
who
could be thus circumstantial.
Measure Assuming,
as
of
Potency.
these alchemists did, that the Stone actually existed, and that it possessed the transmuting as power attributed to it, a question naturally arose How common much of its potency. into gold by any given quantity metal could be changed how the last of ? We saw of the wonder-worker
to
the
extent
adepts. Dr. Price, sheltered himself from being put to the test by declaring that his stock of that it the transmuting out, and material had run
our
English
Clearly, would require a long time to prepare more. then, in the latest stages of the art the claims made in from the this regard were not too remote modest
"
sphere of scientificexperience. Figuier provides us with so.
But
a
it was
not always
beautiful crescendo.
188
He
were
ALCHEMY"
tells us
far
ITS SCIENCE
AND
Ages
ROMANCE
that in the Middle

more
declared
times its
that
own
Amauld ambitious. the Stone could convert

Bacon
a
the pretensions de Villeneuve

a
hundred
weight ; Roger times ; Isaac the Dutchman, Lully was not content
said a thousand mond million times. Ray-
with this last estimate, He held that not only could t!ie generous as it was. into gold, but it could also Stone change mercury the virtue of playing give to the gold thus formed the rdle of that which had converted it. This view to Figuier seems as is not quite so beside the mark For if, as was think. often supposed, the action of the Stone would could
of a ferment, its effects be unending provided the necessary conditions be fulfilled as in the case of the continued
was
of the nature
"
" theories, by the (" Ferment of yeast. way, are coming into fashion again in solving problems biology and physics !) The really fatal of advanced is that the Stone could not be a of course,
production
objection,
ferment
because
it did
not
exist.
Lully, however,
claimed arrived at this conclusion, and boldly exit were that he would transmute the ocean, Another Salmon, the took mercury.* alchemist, had
not
final step, and asserted that the transmuting infinite. the Stone was
power
of
Healing It
mystic much
gold.
was
Powers.
an
only to be expected that
agent of sucli
potency
more
should be thought capable of doing common than transmuting metals into
simple
"
extension
tingerem
of this most
esset."
prominent
"Mare
si mercurius
THE
virtue
was
PHILOSOPHER'S
that
the Stone
as
STONE
make,
139
precious stones,
more
such
could diamonds, that

us
artificially, pearls, rubies. A
singular
naturally to a new and wider range of notions which flourished exceedingly in the Middle Ages, and in the later stages of the art. Wealth was an ^but so of anxious longing
trees.
And
claim was this brings
it could
revive
dead
object
And
"
also
was
health.
it
came
to
be be
an
almost
universal
used as a for bodily ills,and could extend the term panacea of life. We here touch upon one of the philosophical We recall how that the '* First elements in alchemy. *' held to be, in its essence, Matter was the soul of
the world
belief that
the
Stone
could
^the spirit constituting the ultimate reality of all substances and existences in nature, including Small wonder, then, that the Philosopher's man.
"
the spirit itself, to be credited with life-giving virtues. should come has suggested further explanation Boerhaave a Stone,
so
akin
to this spirit, if not
Geber, the Arabian, in one of of this development. " Bring me his works, speaks thus : six lepers that I
may
heal them."
He
"
means,
Bring
me
six
common
transmute Now them into gold." metals that I may historian of chemistry suspects that the the judicious idea of a universal medicine had its origin in a misundersta
interpreted They were of these words. literally.However this may be, the healing power thus for the Stone. It attributed opened out a wider career In the firstreceives notice in the thirteenth century. fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it was gravely prescribed as of sovereign efficacy ^taken interiorly, the
"
most
precious of all medicines. forth the mamier of its uê ;
Let Denis Zachary

"
set
To
use
our
grand
king
140
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
for (theStone)
to take
a
the recovery of health, it is necessary grain-weight and to dissolve it in a silver
vessel with good white wine, which it will turn to the colour of citron. Then let the patient drink a little after midnight, and he will be healed in a day if
his malady is a month old ; if the malady is a year old, he will be healed in twelve days ; if the malady
is of longer standing, he will be healed in a month by using it each night as above prescribed. And to keep always in good faith, it is necessary to take it
and the beginning of of a syrup. And by this spring after the manner means the man will live always in perfect health to
at the beginning of the autumn
the end of the days that God shall have granted him, as the philosophers have written." Note the last clause "to the end of the days This is modest. that God shall have granted him."
"
would go far to Isaac of Holland and Basil t justifyhe statement. Valentine say pretty much the same things as Zachary, not so with subsidiary variations. But others were And
no
doubt
faith in the remedy
cautious. Artephius, for instance, put the limit of human life, thus fortified, a thousand years. Other at adepts brought in as evidence the prolonged lives of the Patriarchs, assigning as a cause the use of the Stone. As mentioned in an early chapter, Noah was especially a favourite in this regard because he begat
children in his old age.
Mental But
and
Moral
Properties.
more
the keener spirits demanded medical properties. If the Stone was
than the
\
essentiallyakin
THE
PHILOSOPHER'S
STONE
141
to the soul of the world,
virtues.
as
have It must his body. well as on
it must possess stillhigher influence on man's an mind

The
fortunate
user
could
of understanding, wisdom, enlightenment heightening of all his faculties, strengthening of his As it moral nature, acquisition of positive virtues.
secure
ennobled higher a happy

however
are so
to on the metals, so it lifted the whole man '' Salmon Those are who plane. writes : enough to have possession of this rare treasure,
have been, wicked and vicious they may changed in their manners and become good people ; on that no longer deeming earth worthy anything
to desire in this
of their affection, and having nothing world, they sigh for nothing but God
happiness."
Norton
"
writes
and for eternal Philosopher's The
in his needs ; it rids man Stone brings to each succour of vain glory, of hope and of fear ; it takes away of desires ; it sweetens ambition, violence, and excess the hardest
adversities.
God
will place
among
His
saints the adepts of our art." in these two The concluding sentences
quotations
introduce
to
us
further
set of speculations
which
So far as we shall be treated of in the next chapter. fairly conclude that, in spite of have gone, we may to us that appears eccentric or absurd, the much
search for the
Philosopher's
Stone
presents
aspects
approval, if not our of our well worthy admiration. in most Granted that the desire for wealth was cases by no means the only the dominating motive, it was
motive
"
^there were
motive.
man's
cases
not
few where
it
was
the
subsidiary
at
satisfying
aspirations.
One
noble sort of adepts aimed intellectual, moral, and religious of this nobler sort exclaims, in the
The
142
ALCHEMY"
ITS
of
a
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
"
"
or spirit of Moses to God all men for then gold, the

...
Christian Apostle
become
adepts
Would
art ;
might
common
in
our
lose its value, and teaching." scientific
we
idol of mankind, should prize it only
would for its
CHAPTER
THE
II
MYSTICISM
STONE
AND
HAVING
aimed Stone,
During The
taken
at
general
in the
and considered properties and powers, let us go into further detail concerning what " " be broadly may mystical called its aspects. the Arabian
search its supposed
of the objects view for the Philosopher's
Semitic mind speculations, but

In
**
not prominent. period, these were does not easily lend itselfto abstract
modem positivist." Nevertheless find
prefers to keep terminology,
close to
we
the
concrete.
should call it in the Arabian treatises,
far that contain matters many passages from the world of fact ^fancifulallegories removed decided a statements obscure vein of purposely
we
" "
"
In the Book mystery. of OstaneSy for example, poor Aristotle is credited with this description of the Stone : " has desired It is a lion reared in a forest. A man
to
and has put on it a saddle and bridle. Vainly he tries and cannot He is succeed. then reduced to trying a more clever stratagem which
use a
it for
mount
allows him the saddle
to
keep
and
it in solid bonds and bridle. Then he conquers
to put
on
whip, with which he looses it from

an
he deals it grievous its bonds and makes

"
it with a blows. Later
ordinary
creature
^so
completely
143
it march like that one would
144
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
been savage a single day.'* The affirm it has never is this : " The stone is Arabian author's comment the lion ; the bonds are the preparations ; the whip is the fire. What say you, O seeker (he triimiphantly The readers of close ? asks), these treatises are not always favoured with a key to these allegories ! Even with the key, things are a But we gain a good idea of the anthrolittlevague.
to
a
description
"
so
and mystical spirit in which Nature, for the alchemist prosecuted his researches. him, was alive; and the properties of substances
pomorphising,
emotional,
were
regarded
The
as
beings
with
wills which the
had
to
be
subjugated.
following
yet
more
passage
from
same
treatise
manifests The
"
clearly this characteristic attitude. object of the search apostrophises the seekers. Then, me, troop of seekers, take slay me.
having
shall have slain and burnt me. near me comes with fire, then I am alive. If I if he sublimes me shall endure it all the night, even in an absolute fashion, and enchains me completely
and If he
slain me, enrich him
burn
who
me
; for I will after all revive,
(I am
I
stillalive).O marvel bear ill-treatment ? By
How,
heaven
being alive, can ! I will bear it

will kill me, the fire has
until I am and then

done
watered
I shall no body." to my
with a poison longer know
which
what
these allegories with a collection brought together by the author of A BriefGuide to the Celestial
Compare
Ruby
on
the art treatise written when " its decadence. (The Essence) is our
"
was
entering door-keeper, mother, dragon.
our
balm,
our
honey,
our
oil
true
may-dew,
egg, secret furnace,
oven,
fire,venomous
THE Theriac,
STONE
AND
MYSTICISM
145
ardent wine, Green Cion, Bird of Hermes, Goose of Hermogenes, two-edged sword in the hand It that guards the Tree of Life. of the Cherub is our true secret vessel, and the Garden of the Sages
...
in which Mineral,
Royal It is our rises and sets. our triumphant and the vegetable Satumia, by means magic of which he assiunes rod of Hermes how he likes." We that the old note any shape into a wayward, simple intensity has degenerated
our
sun
The almost author artificial,play of imagination. for flogs himself into mystical contortions ; and, save lamentably minds similarly constituted to his own, fails in producing The Rosithe effect he aims at. to such a height of crucians earned this development by its own toppled over absurdity that the system
weight.
Religion
Between the
and
Alchemy.
period and the decadence came the Middle Ages ^the times in which mysticism took a highly peculiar form, as a consequence of its being moulded to fitin with a special set of theological
"
Arabian
standards. and adepts, that the Stone Himself

;
ideas
It
was
was
taught,
by
by
many
that
the
secret
given to Adam known of it was
God
the
'*
to
Patriarchs,
personages promised
;
Solomon,
and in the Book
Testament Old and other " the white that it is stone of Revelation
"to
him
that
is to That overcometh." incorporate their doctrines
promulgated very bold :
say, alchemists tried to into the body of beliefs by the Church. Arnold of Villeneuve is Know, then,
my
"
dear
son,
that
this
146
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
science is nothing God,"
less than
the perfect inspiration of has
The
been
with religion alliance of alchemy shown in earlier chapters, in itselfno

"
was,
as
new
thing.
Geber,
Courage, then, sons for example, exclaims : of science. Seek, and you shall infallibly find this most excellent gift of God which is reserved for you is comparatively The connection, however, alone."
simple;
and,
indeed,
superficial, in the
sense
that
as not religion was mingled with science, except in the Middle inspiring and guiding it. Whereas Ages, littleby littlethe prevailing religious ideas were
into the very texture of alchemical doctrine and practice. To illustrate the extent to which such alliance could develop, take the following passage worked from
and
"
Basil
Valentine's
Allegory
:
"
of the
Holy
Trinity
the Philosopher's Stone

Dear
Christian amateur of the blessed art, oh I how the Holy Trinity has created the Philosopher's in a brilliant and marvellous For Stone manner! God
under
the Father
is a Spirit, and He appeared, however, is told in Genesis ; in as the form of a man,

way
as
a
the
same
we
Mercury
ought to regard the Philosopher's body is the Father spirit. Of God

is at the He had
same
bom
man
Jesus Christ, the Son, Who
time
no need to and God, and without sin. die ; but He died voluntarily, and rose again to make His brethren without live eternally with Him as us sin. Thus gold is without stain, fixed, glorious, and
able to undergo all tests ; but it dies for its imperfect soon, and rising glorious, it sick brethren; and for life eternal ; it delivers them, and colours them renders them
perfect in the state of pure gold."
THE
In
careful
STONE
a
'AND
statement
MYSTICISM
as
147
we
judgingsuch
to
this,
must
be
put ourselves at the standpoint of its In the first place, we that, must author. remember for him, "the in its essence, was, perfect metal"
the soul of the world, the Spirit that underlies all Again, the more of existence. modes earnest of the to adepts, especially in religious houses, were wont on their operations with prayer, thus giving enter them
a
definitely religious atmosphere

realise, therefore, that the
and significance.
We
can
objectof
so
many
hopes
and
come
vows,
should Attempts
to to
of so much be regarded
into
mystical
as
fundamentals
natural
read of Christian belief

of
a
sacred alchemical doctrines

are
exaltation, and divine.

certain to be
thus
seen
products
and
we
peculiar combination judgethem accordingly.
of conditions,
Death We
saw,
and
Resuriiection
of
Metals.
alchemy,
the
in dealing with the philosophical basis of that distinctions between the body and
of their death This line of speculation easily lent and resurrection. itself to analogies with religious doctrines. We find in the Arabian treatises. Thus, the connection even
soul of metals
on
led
to
notions
The Book section of that named of Pity 9 " The souls and bodies (of we read as follows : metals), to become a are transformed they unite and when be divided, have which cannot God will raise on to the dead which been compared the day of the last judgment. Souls are joinedto die, and that more subtilised bodies which will never
in the 71st
homogeneous
whole
148
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
light spirits are joined to bodies equally light. Moreover, their place will be fixed, either in an eternal happiness will endlessly renew which grievous chastisement which will increase Alter this, the spirits will be no without ceasing. in this more separated from the bodies, as they were them,
or a
because
in
world, where spirits are simply in contact with bodies, It being intimately combined without with them.
is this contact
of neighbourhood
that, in the current
" ' speech, is called mixture.' This assimilation of the transmutation of metals to the death and resurrection of men became quite It is curious and in the Middle Ages. common
highly pleasing to to be told that it was unexpected Luther. for the art, which It gained his support he praised in strong and enthusiastic on this score terms. to a yet higher The notion was advanced
stage when
it was
of
men's
that the resurrection assumed by some itself be, literally, an bodies would of the
a
a transmutation alchemical change, did Thus order. whole-heartedly
superior
alchemists
cosmical
strive to bearing.
"^
give
their
art
universal
and
The The
Grand
Secret.
in no art maintained pursuit of the Hermetic small degree its mystical character by the jealous sopher's the secret of the Philocare with which it guarded
Stone.
Egyptian alloys and down from
This
secrecy
had
where workshops, falsifying the precious metals
its origin in the for making receipts

were
handed
generation
to generation
so
of the operators,
'*
who
were
generally priests and
members
of
close
THE
corporations."
STONE
A
AND
MYSTICISM
149
a
"
the convery early manuscript, tents of which date back to the tenth century, gives "excellent receipt for making gold," and adds,
this
to
Hide
sacred any
one,
secret
nor
seem
which
given to be
ought
to
a
not
to
be
*
disclosed
The
warning
would
prophet." mixture of trade

Berthelot shows
any
caution and that it had times

was
mysticism. alchemic Egyptian an origin.

even
We
have
several
seen
that
commonly It
art par
was
the ordinary working of metals to savour thought of the supernatural. therefore to be expected that the
metal
excellence would gradually be invested A remarkable tine with a mystic halo. passage of Byzanduces origin, dating back to the eighth century, introa
Gnostic
gathered her : ' Happy

has been
element. together in the

art
philosophers, being presence of Mary, said to Mary,

"
"
The
thou,
f revealed to thee.' from developments be thought many which might " " The term is frequently the Secret Stone anticipated.
met
for the divine secret We here have a germ
with
even
and
The
in these ancient by itself contains
alchemical
a
ments, docu-
world
of significance.
occult turn
is expressly in a manuscripts
"
given to alchemical operations of the Leyden recognised in one thus

treatise
attributed
to
Aristotle.
To succeed speaks of occult philosophy. in it there must be a knowledge of interior and hidden This
art natures."
%
which
In
the
works
*
were
century there were seventeenth Book definitely entitled The

14.
au
of
t t
MappcB Clavicula, Section See Berthelot, La Chimie Op.cit.,^. 312.
Moyen
6ge, vol. i, p. 243.
150
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
developed
ROMANCE
Secrets. How
the Rosicrucians
elements need not been said in the historical sketch.
the occult be further described after what has
in the early alchemists were guarding these secrets is shown in this quotation from " He (Ostanes) : another of the Leyden manuscripts that no one shall dare to alter his books ; commands much
in earnest
"
How
"
he commands every one and prescribes that his words known He to the vulgar. shall in no wise be made be puts out terrible oaths in order that they may
unless it be to a worthy person, or one seeks the truth and loves God," etc. who This is why philosophers have changed the language
revealed to
none,
in their words,
and
have
substituted
one
one
sense
for
for another, another, one vision for another.* misrepresentation of the teaching another,
one
passage
That
species for this is no

*
Ostanes is proved by this passage " have defended the secret of the Stone These men at the point of the sword, and have abstained from
giving it a
name, or
of the Book of from the book itself:
at any
rate have
may under which the crowd disguised it under the veil of enigmas,
given it a know.it. They

so so
name
have
that it has that the
even spirits, and penetrating escaped lively intelligences have not been most
hearts and souls have its description. There are only those whose knowing God has opened who have understood understanding How it and have been able to make it known.** well it, and
in their endeavours succeeded proved in a later chapter when we will be abundantly to consider the interpretation of their formulas come these
able to comprehend despaired of
obscurantists
Berthelot, JLa Chimie
au
Moyen
dge, vol. iii" pp. 326-7.
THE
STONE
AND
MYSTICISM
151
so was not and receipts ! Their task, however, difficultas it might appear. in reality, There was, no secret to hide at any rate no secret for making the Philosopher's Stone. What they had really to
"
conceal
supreme
was
object.
the fact of their failure to attain their how Nevertheless we see they
revelled in the sphere of the mystical and the occult.
Summary Putting
of
the
Chief
Characters
of
the
Stone.
"
together what
the preceding chapter, we \ points. The whole series of notions concerning the \ Philosopher's Stone are founded on a basis provided 1 by ancient doctrines concerning " the First Matter "
has been said in this and may emphasise the following
/ and
the life that pervades allthe substances composing They can thus claim to be so far the known world. primary objectof the art was the acquisition of wealth by transmuting common metals into gold. The occult virtues attributed to the instrument for effecting transmutation ^the Stone led to an extension of its area of action. It came to
"
rational. The
"
be looked
on
as
It
universal panacea for human could give health, heighten
imperfecti
faculties, ennoble the character, prolong into touch with the soul of the world, could bring men and thereby enable them to hold communion with spiritual beings and live on a higher plane of being. Its modes of working could be compared to, or connected with, the mysteries of the Christian religion. it indeed adequate grounds for naming These were the Grand Magisterium, and for holding the means of procuring it to be the Grand Secret.
L
the life. It
CHAPTER
CREDULITY AND
III
IMPOSTURE
HITHERTO
on
honest,
though
has chiefly been concentrated attention the beliefs, aims, and practices of often deluded, searchers for that
undignified
which hopes.
and undefinable substance, or essence, should fulfil their large and comprehensive There has
to however, attempt, disguise the fact that the art has been continuously turned into folly by credulity, debased by superstition, Let a chapter be devoted and degraded by impostors.
been
no
side of our subject. We can then further mention enter, without of aberrations and follies, on the study of its scientificaspects.
this shady
to
The
Ben
Secret
Elixir.
:
Jonson
"
makes
his alchemist speak thus
He that has once the Flower of the Sun, The perfect ruby whioh we call Elixir, Can confer honour, love, respect, long life, Give safety, valour, yea, and victory, To whoim he wilL bi eight-and-twenty days I'llmake an old man of fourscore a child."
" .
.
Here
is the language that
help knowing
could not of a charlatan, who his claims were vain and foolish.
162
CREDULITY
AND
IMPOSTURE
168
Donsterswivel's rhodomontades with know We Scott's Aniiquary. are. we where

too,
So,
in
But
what do we make In the Book for concocting is strange,

. .
of such
case
as
this ?
the writer gives directions " Take away the Elixir. that which take away its corporeal and material
of Geber,
be able to mingle itselfwith the Combine subtle portions unless it is subtle itself. the cold and humid elements at first with the warm form
; for it will not
.
" .
and dry, and you will and humid, then with the warm Keep it in a vase have the Imam (theElixir).
" " "
be of rock-crystal, in gold or in silver, as glass may Thus far we may broken." suppose the writer may be speaking in that mixed frame of mind which confuses
But he proceeds thus: "I fact with fancy. have hidden nothing from you, I have made plain i that no ancient or modem all difficulties,n a way
tribute Disyour with prayers. name a part of the Elixir in my gratuitously God will repay you to the poor and the miserable. on sufficesme, and is my my behalf. It is He Who
has
done.
Reward
me
This is very puzzling. The of protectors." in which the directions are given are so vague terms could make anything of and symbolical that no one Yet the claim to have succeeded is clear, and them.
best
sentences seemingly piety of the concluding it?" or was he a sincere. Did the writer mean of that strange charlatan ? Perhaps he is a member
the
class of people who,

willing and their fancies
are
in consequence reflecting, at last come

facts.
If
we
might of the doubt, his case art. period of the alchemic
of long and hard to believe that grant him the benefit be paralleled in every
Before
indulging
in
154
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
ANt" ROMANCE
we must generous condemnations, allowance make for the influences of environment and the vagaries of temperament.
The
Alkahest.
the
Van
Universal
Helmont's
belief in
discovery
Solvent, called by Paracelsus striking instance of over-credulity. affords another He enthusiastically took up the idea that this solvent
could give to bodies of every kind a liquid form, and in his works he gravely retails all the absurdities that its powers. had promulgated concerning charlatans
to him by committed he was Unfortunately an not able unknown adept. in the most to keep it long ; but he assures us categorical fashion, that he had actually proved its efficacy.
of the the Alkahest,
This
treasure,
he tells us,
was
"'Having
put some oak charcoal and alkahest, in equal parts, into a glass vessel sealed hermetically, I to digest for a period of three caused this mixture
days
at the heat
of
bath.
the solution was completed," this ? Certainly not the Alkahest

Helmont
was
At the end of this time is behind all What etc.
I
may
And
yet
Van
his
honest.
Perhaps
we
compare
savants experience to that of certain modem who borne testimony to occult phenomena which afterwards shown to be due to trickery.
have
were
However
this may
have
a
been.
Alkahest,
in the
seventeenth
century, and for
eighteenth, had a considerable that a library could be formed
considerable part of the Boerhaave vogue. says of the treatises written

they had discovered
long it
telling how
about
it, or
it.
Many
boasted
it.
that
obtained
And
there is no
CREDULITY
might
not
AND
IMPOSTURE
156
its reputation, had not a maintamed critic pointed out the simple reflection that if the solvent really existed, it could not be stored or used ; for it would dissolve the vessels in which it was have
contained !
Rejuvenation.
In
Ben
Johnson's
Masque,
Mercury loquitur :
"
Vindicated They
will
from
the Alchemists^ Mercury
be the mother as it might calcine you a grave matron, virgin out of of the maids, and spring up a young lay you an her ashes, as fresh as a phoenix; old courtier on the coals, like a sausage or bloat-herring, and, after they have boiled him enough, blow a soul into him with a pair of bellows." This is hardly a travesty of what had been popularly believed of the were certain of powers of the greater adepts ; nor
these
slack in stimulating such adepts themselves lived early delusions. Artephius, for example, who in the twelfth century, and who made for himself a
name,
he wrote his when life,he was treatise on the art of prolonging human in the thousand and twenty-fifth year of his age. his statement, Many and were accepted confirmed by the skill with which he answered questions concerning
famous
affirmed
that,
what
had
happened
to
him
at various
times
in this prolonged span. have a glimpse We
of the
manner
be suggested, and take ideas may a man of Alain de Lisle. He was
in which such root, in the story of great learning,

a
with Albertus Magnus, and became contemporary He died in 1298 friar of the abbey of Citeaux.
at
156
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
it Now and ten years. about the age of a hundred he was in his fiftiethyear, he happened that when illness, from which he recovered. He had a severe was reputed to have discovered the Elixir ; and the recovery
was
medicine.
or
straightway attributed to this marvellous far the sage acquiesced in this conHow clusion, it, we how far he encouraged do not
at least
we can
know.
But
trace,
in this instance,
that of palingenesis plants spring afresh from ^the art of making Figuier suggests t that this probably their ashes.
the origin and ground Akin to the

"
rejuvenation
of the fallacy.* idea was
When the phenomenon. dissolved in water, the ashes of certain plants are deposits crystals of which some solution, left to itself, We take the form of an may arborescence. may But it does not excuse readily accept the suggestion.
had
its origin in
natural
the bare-faced impostures
that in the seventeenth and into the eighteenth centuries, were based upon the on It is not inapposite to compare the Indian experience. if the plant produced by the trick of the mango-tree,
were alchemist conjurors If the development were
in its growth. slow, by sprouting from seed,

at all speedy
the trick becomes
absurdly easy.
False We metal
*
Transmutations.
have work
that alchemy of the Egyptians,

seen
had
its origin in the
andhave
55ti3r^fhat
I have taken the two Delueions, in which Popular racily told. t UAlchimie, p. 66.
Mackay's Extraordinary stories from the lives of the chief alchemists are
CREDULITY
the
uttering
AND
IMPOSTURE
157
of and the debasing common gold were ancient practices dating from times. The rise and development of a distinct art of transmutation gave peculiarly favourable openings
of false coinage
in any case have flourished which would lustily. The story of alchemy full of is, of course, impostures of this kind. Moreover, there was a new
spur
to deception.
for frauds
For
when
an
alchemist
was
had
to be able to make test by

some
gold, and
put
professed to the
tempted
to
he was authority, political or scientific, in his it. Chaucer, to make pretend

Tale, shows
us
CanorCs
date,
YeomarCs
art
how,
even
in his
the
had
gained
bad
tale is well worth
careful reading
The reputation. for the picture it
gives of mediaeval alchemists and their methods, true and false. The false is to the fore. The impostor
canon
**
Out of his bosom took a beechen cole. In whioh ful subtilly was maad an hole. And therein pot was of silverlymale An ance" and stopped was withonte fayle This hole with wez, to kepe the lymail in."
This
is slipped into the croslet in which is heated. The poor priest knows
the quicksilver
the trick being played upon him, and the silver is the result of the action of the powder the quicksilver. Chaucer's indignation is hot : on
Ever when I speke of his falshede, For shame of him my cheekes wezen
nothing of concludes that
reede.'
Methods
Canon
careful
similar in principle to this of the though were requiring very conmion, The gold might be found preparation.
false
more
in
1.58
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
crucible in which large iron nails had been fused ; but the nails had been partly made of gold, and the combination Or chemicals might be skilfully disguised.
employed which contained forms. Double-bottomed

of iron
or
the metal in unrecognisable crucibles, the under surface
gold lead, gold inserted, and the opening filled up again with the original metal ; and endless like devices. The resources of knaves are inexhaustible, as is also
copper, the upper of coloured wax, with in between ; holes drilled in lumps of packed
the
they impose peculiarly so credulity on which when the lure of gain puts an edge on the cunning of the one, and blunts what little of calmer judgment be possessed by the other. So it ever has been, may in no and so it is still. Alchemy monopoly
"
enjoys
this regard.
Dyer
amusing New Apothegms An
and
Kelley.
dialogue is recounted by Bacon and Old (262), which gives a
in his
lively
credulity and criticism. picture of the conflict between " Dyer, a grave and wise gentleman, Sir Edward believe in Kelley the alchymist ; that he did much did indeed the work, and made gold : insomuch as he himself into Germany, went where Kelley then was,
After his return he Lord of Canterbury, dined with my where at that time was the physician. They at the table Dr. Browne, Sir Edward fell in talk of Kelley. Dyer, turning to
the Archbishop,
to inform
himself fully thereof.
I shall tell you and ifI had not
said : / do is truth. I
seen
assure am an
your grace^ that that
eye-witness
thereof^
it, I should not have believed it.
CREDULITY
I
saw
AND
IMPOSTURE
159
Master
crucible^ and
a
after
Kelley pvi of the base metal into the it was set a little a upon the fire^nd
very small qiumtity

a
with
perfect
medicine pvi in and stirred forthin great proportion stick of woody it came to the test. goldj to the touchy to the hammer^
ofthe
Said the Bishop : You had need take heed what you Dyery forhere is an infidel the board. at sayy Sir Edward
Sir Edward
said again pleasantly : / would have in any place than at your looked for an infidel sooner Grace* s table. What say yoUy Dr. Browne ? saith the Dyer
Bishop.
huddling
for me.
Marry
answered, after his blunt and The Gentleman hath spoken enough manner, Why the Bishop), (saith what hath he said ?
Dr. Browne
Dr. Browne),he said (saith

seen
he would
no more
not have
believed it except he had
it; and
will I."
Alchemy The
common
and
Spiritualism.
fraudulent
so was exploitation of alchemy at all stages of its history that it has preponderan coloured the popular estimate of its
value. between
We
may
perhaps
draw
the old art and modem of the possibility of commimication with faced with the discamate they are spirits, when frauds of many protest that mediums, acknowledged
profitable parallel holders spiritualism. Up-
our minds should not prejudice against such cases or the larger claims made, render us unwilling to investigation of untainted a dispassionate undertake ever They have right on their side. Whatexperiences.
our
on an
conclusions may be, they should be founded impartial weighing of the available evidence.
160
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
The
Society of Psychical Research devotes itselfto a Now phenomena. study of such little understood suppose this Society to have declared itself on the
of allowing that side of spiritualism to the extent there is a residuum which calls for serious study^ the be neglected. deceits would To frauds and concentrate
be unreasonable would is much for alchemy case unscientific. The and stronger than this. The art has to its credit a long to a considerable list of discoveries ; it has advanced attention
on
them
extent
our
knowledge
a
have
it,
we
of nature ; many If future before them. laughing

the
successes
of its speculations fair to are we
shall, while
at
or
charletans, acclaim
won
the condemning by the genuine
adepts.
CHAPTER
LIFE OF
BERNARD
IV
OF
TREVES
art runs old Latin estimate of the Hennetic ^' It is an art without art, which has its thus : beginning in falsehood, its middle in toil, and its end in poverty." We rather substitute some may such
AN
it at its best, alchemy was devoted a an of which was art to the prosecution for the knowledge of nature ; it spirit of enthusiasm
estimate
as
this.
Taking
had itsbeginning in reflection on the causes of chemical in toilsome groping after facts, actions, its middle chemistry. and its end in the birth of modem
We
as
have
so
far
it directly bore
abjuredbiography save in Let on our subject-matter.
so
us
far for
this self-denying ordinance. Li justificationthe higher and more of sympathetic
brief space break through
estimate, the life of a remarkable alchemist shall be of Treves. related in fuller detail ^that of Bernard
"
materials used Extraordinary Popular
The
are
to
be
found
in Mackay's
Delusions J^
Mackay
them
and chiefly from an autobiography, in the Ught most favourable to his own purpose, that of illustrating the evil results of over-credulity and standpoint is different ^but the superstition. Our
"
extracted sets them
facts
are
common
property.
"
Vol. i, pp. 119 ff.

101
162
ALCHEMY"
Bernard
was
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
"
fact, man of a wealthy â bom He was as we shall see, of central importance. the search at Treves, or Padua, in 1406, a time when in full swing ; and at for the Philosopher's Stone was
the
son
the early age of fourteen he came under the spell. He had read, in the original, certain Arabian treatises the art, and they had fired his youthful imagination. on From
among his secured
these authors,
Rhazes
*
more
confidence. and adherence certain that he had gained from him the grand secret, and that guided by his directions he would be able He at once to augment gold a hundredfold. proceeded
the
especially He was
intense ardour to put his conclusions to laboratory, and conducting a test, setting up
with
hard for four He worked experiments. years, and, during that time, spent no less than 800 All in vain his researches. on crowns ^the secret eluded him.
endless
"
He
was
not
at all discouraged.
He
that
incomplete
or
the
directions given by imperfect, and he turned
merely Rhazes
concluded
were
to the master
With this new guide, of Arabian alchemists, Geber. he toiled for two years more, and called in the aid of only too delighted various brother alchemists who were
to
joina
man
so
wealthy.
no
Among
them
2000
crowns, was
with
not
however,
own
result. His disturbed. He concluded
they spent faith in Geber,

that his
preting was not equal to the task of interequipment his authority, and he therefore launched out
a
a
on
wider range of study. About this time he chanced monk enthusiastic as himself
"
upon
â
Order
"
ând struck
up
with
him
of the a friendship of the
student as Franciscan
LIFE
closest kind.
OP
The
BERNARD
OP
TREVES
168
pair explored
together the teachings
that of certain obscure authors, who maintained highly rectified spirits of wine constituted the Alkahest, Solvent or Universal a substance which would This, greatly facilitate the making of the Stone.
"
therefore, They
now
became
the
objectof
spent
were
their labours.
containing the fruitless
rectified alcohol vessels. Three years

enterprise
was
"
till it burst
were
the
in
800
more
crowns
Had they wrong. try others, not required ? They shrinking would from the filthiest. For twelve long years the experiments ^larger and larger sums were continued of
"
thing Someexpended. the material mistaken
So earnest was Bernard that, were money expended. he tells us, he prayed to God night and morning as in vain. that success might be his. And yet all was
The
never quest was His friend, the
won.
monk,
had of the firmly
died.
city,
His
a
place
no
was
taken
by
magistrate
man
less
was that the enthusiastic, who persuaded Stone could be found in sea-salt. Bernard transmuting resolved to put the notion to the test, transported
his laboratory
than
"
to the shores of the Baltic, and for
more
year sublimated, crystallised, calcined sea-salt drank it for the sake of other experiments. and even Still no encouragement.
He
was
now
nearly
fifty. Life
was
hasting
on,
What to was and the goal seemed as far off as ever. be done ? Might it not be that adepts in other lands mined possessed the secret and would impart it ? He deterto try his fortune, and set out
on
his travels,
and
journeyingin
everywhere
Italy, Germany,
France,
Spain
"
searching out alchemists
and making
trial
164
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
His goodness of of the suggestions he obtained. heart is proved by his constant readiness to relieve he settled his poorer In France fellow-students. down
that
for five years. While in that country, he heard the confessor to Frederick III., Master Henry,
had
discovered the Stone.
taking along with him At last his perseverance

so.
So off to Vienna he went, five dependent alchemists.
Master
Henry
Not be rewarded. would honestly confessed that, though
toiling all his life,the secret had eluded him ; but at the same time stoutly declared that he would keep up the search, if necessary till he died. It was heart. Here was a man after Bernard's own he had
been
natural that the two should swear Then came a curious episode. Bernard gave a grand banquet
eternal friendship.
to his newly
found
alchemists of the district. Those present, stimulated by the promise of Master Henry increase fivefold the gold subscribed, that he would partner
and
the
The together and collected forty-two marks. metal was put into the crucible together with other was chemicals and rubbish, and the grand experiment
clubbed
made.
Three
days the furnace

could be had been too
but
no
transmuting
the mixture, Ah, well, discovered.
decocted
the temperature
high
or
too
low,
some
missing, some necessary process had be been omitted. in due course Further trials must The curious part, however, made. of this particular that when the amount result was, of gold in the
ingredient
was
crucible marks 1 The
was
examined,
it had
decreased
to
sixteen
fiasco proved long-suffering spirit.
too
much
even
for Bernard's
efforts to
He
abjured further
LIFE
discover
OF
BERNARD
OP
TREVES
165
the Stone; the case was really hopeless. kept his vow He I The or valiantly ^f two months fascination of the quest was too strong ; the chance insistently alluring. of retrieving his fortunes too
"
So off again he started on his journeys exploration, of taking this time quite a different route, visiting his Cyprus, Greece, Constantinople, and extending
tour
into Egypt, and
range,
Palestine, and Persia a wide enough if success had been of success worthy
"
attainable ! France, and
Returning
from
over
the
East,
he
crossed
to
England.
revisited Four more
years gone, and He was now nigh
stillunvaryii\g failure. well over sixty ; his fortune
He wandered back melted away. at Treves, only to find that his family scorned him him a madman. Disconsolate, poor, and and deemed friendless, he sought refuge in the island of Rhodes,
wellto his home
had
living there in retirement, and prosecuting his studies far as his circumstances It was as not long allowed. before he gained another opening for more strenuous
operations. keen as was

The
new
Another
monk the first,and
came
on
joinedhim
as the scene, in his studies.
Bernard
8000
had hardly lasted a year when partnership in the island to lend him induced a merchant
for three
more
florins; and
in
enjoyment of
ending
the wealth has a dramatic undoubtedly

save
years he struggled he thus secured. Such
on an
fitness, but
was
to clearly invented Human life does not
the
thus
that
ought not to moralise himself relates pessimistically. For Bernard that at the close he attained one great secret
we
"
Perhaps,
always however,
prestige of the craft. fulfil the dramatic proprieties
of contentment.
We
recall the
charming
essay
of
166
ALCHEMY"
quoted
ITS
when
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
under that Addison
Mackay,
were
Addison,
our
the Rosierucians
it from
Was consideration. borrowed his climax ?

It is easy and
on a
Bernard
tempting
to indulge, with
life. Deeper reflection wasted Compare the story of another should restrain them. Palissy, the French and a later Bernard ^Bernard The chance sight of an cup led potter. enamelled him to resolve that he would discover how to make
"
in reflections
He up all other pursuits, devoted enamels. gave himself for sixteen years to tireless experimenting, had not money to buy fuel, his resources, exhausted
burnt
and the flooring of his house. him. His His neighbours, his wife, mocked even Still he grimly for food. children cried to him Moralists, like Smiles, hold him up as a persevered.
the
furniture
shining Bernard
example Yet what
accommay of what perseverance plish. him and is the difference between
of Treves ? Only this, that the one succeeded and the other failed. If it be urged that the quest of one was within the range of the practical, the other
merely
as
visionary, the convinced of the

as
answer
is simple.
Bernard
was
possibility
Stone
Palissy
was
of making
of discovering the Let us be enamel.
fair to the alchemists.
^.
PART
ALCHEMY
IV
AND
SCIENCE
""".
CHAPTER
DIFFICULTIES OF
I
INTEBPBETATION
accorded due recognition to the follies and impostures which loom so large in the development art, let us turn to of the Hermetic
HAVING
should
now
congenial task of recording what elements of solid science it embodies, and what have contributed to the discoveries it made which
what
more
be the
Before chemistry. modem entering, however, on this concluding division of our subject, it will be well to recognise the difficulties which arise from the obscurity of many alchemist authors, and of
from
founding
the
intentional
or
the
inevitable
looseness
of
much
of their terminology,
Obscubities.
Many of the quotations will have rendered given in the it abundantly
preceding
manifest to be a
was not of statement Adepts too art. virtue in expositions of the Hermetic frequently revelled in the use of allegories, symbols,
chapters that clearness
held
magical formulas, and meaningless frequently their definite intention
vapourings. to be was
Too
Terms
natural
meanings;
were
violently wrenched
terms
were
unintelligible from their

to
strange
169
invented
170
ALCHEMY"
those who
ITS
SCIENCE
to
AND
extract
ROMANCE directions for
entangle
strove
undertaking
The experiments. real cause of these The writers themselves perversities is not to be mistaken. seldom had any clear ideas, and disguised the
fact by
in an shrouding their vagueness of the pose and the language of a pseudo-mysticism. Moreover, regards the great and chiefly, as and
aSumptio
central objectof their quest, the Philosopher's Stone, they had nothing to tell ^they never possessed it; it did not exist. Their position was truly a difficult
"
one
How
did
they
meet
it ?
It
was
not
to
be
their ignorance and expected that they. would avow so they invented all manner their failure. And of for their reticence. Sometimes high-sounding excuses they dwelt
known the great of making common secret, alleging that if it became property gold society would go to pieces, for all would make the sacredthey emphasised ad libitum. Sometimes
on
the danger
of the secret, and refused to profane it by revealing it to the ignorant and vulgar. Or taking stillhigher gence, ground, they declared that it passed himian intelliand that Gk"d alone could unveil it, and then
ness
only to the elect. We must not unreservedly attribute For to sheer deception these singular subterfuges. the honest alchemists were really convinced that, even
though
they themselves They
had
failed, others
had
succeeded.
believed
in transmutation
was
and
in the
Their thinking existence of the Stone. In their motives were and mixed.
circumstances
were
confused short, their
themselves
were
strangely human.
puzzling,
and
they
DIFFICULTIES
OF
INTERPRETATION
171
Examples Intentional
which begins
are
a
of
Obscurity.
was
obscurity
carried
to
extremes
Rhazes thus amazing and amusing. " Take description of how to make alcohol.
both
the quantity that you wish.** of something unknown Figuier tellsus it is not rare to find simply " Take.'* in In the days when set down such directions were
grave treatises, it would
at any rate have
been is an
easy to example " Cause
in chemistry ! Here pass examination from Basil Valentine (fourteenth
: century)
that which is above to be below ; that which is visible pable. is palpable to be impalto be invisible ; that which Again let that which isbelow become that which let the invisible become is above; visible, and the impalpable become
palpable.
Here
tion.** diminuart, without any perfection of our This might be taken as a roundabout way of in a glass flask until it telling us to heat some water was all turned into steam, and then cooling it until the steam
was
you defect or
see
the
condensed
into water
evidently had something Who shall say mind.
much
what
more
the sage recondite in his
but
And
in several places reproaches author for having too plainly in his writings, spoken I trembles lest he has revealed too much
yet the same himself bitterly
and
later period there is the same but an infusion of definite statement,
At
avoidance of fantastic more

from Ripley's
new
following The passage symbolism. Twelve Gates Alchemy gives a good
of
idea of the
"
at sunset, undertaken Red, and the wife. White, are the when united in the spirit of lifeto live in love and tranquillity.
style
The
work husband,
must
be
172
ALCHEMY"
ITS proportion
across
SCIENCE of water
the
AND and
ROMANCE
earth. towards
in the exact
the
west
From
the
advance
south ; alter and between winter and black a earth, and

colours towards itself. After the
shadows dissolve the husband spring ;
change
and the wife into the water
raise thyself across the full the East when
the
moon
varied
shows
appears, white after winter, day after and radiant; The into are transformed night. earth and water is dispersed, light is made; the air, the darkness
purgation, it is summer
the
sun
of practical work, and the east tion the beginning of the theory ; the principle of destrucis comprised between the east and the west."
west
is the beginning
If
and
we
are
to enter
as
descriptions
into the spirit of such directions these we that must remember
sense was not a science in the modem alchemy of the word, but a mixture of science, philosophy, theosophy, It was only gradually that the more and mysticism.
trained begin
and fancies. Not

to
facts from separated until the sixteenth century did alchemists drop the veil from their speculations and
balanced
thinkers
in straightforward try to set down practices, and language And and discovered. what they really saw in this direction was then the advance even slow and of affected precision is example To fix quicksilver. Of several given by things take 2, 8, and 8, 1 ; 1 to 8 is 4 ; 8, 2 and 1. 4 and 8 there is 1 ; 8 from 4 is 1 ; then Between
partial. A highly
curious Thorpe.*
"
Between 2 and 8 1 and 1, 8 and 4 ; 1 from 8 is 2. 8 and 2 there is 1. 1, 1, 1, and 1, there is 1, between Then 1 is 1. I have told 2, 2, and 1, 1 and 1 to 2.
"
History
of CTiemistrp,
vol. i, p. 39.
DIFFICULTIES
you
all."
OF
INTERPRETATION
178
This enigmatical enunciation reminds us of legs was Two to youth. a riddle once well known four legs ; four legs ran off eating one leg ; in came
three legs at four But while there is a fair chance of the riddle, the alchemist formula passes the
two
leg, and with one legs ; and so on.

guessing
legs threw
wit of
man
to interpret.
Vagueness
of
Tebbonolggy. and
Even
genuine
when
the formulas
Much in the extreme. of it is symbolic. For instance, the names of animals are frequently used to denote mineral substances, and The animal allegories to represent chemical actions.
Yellow
experiences and used is often vague
receipts are based on logy observed facts, the termino-
Lion
was
the
sulphides; Green Lion

or
the
Red
alchemical Lion that
for yellow symbol for cinnabar; the
the
crow
example
of
for salts of iron and copper; the eagle for black sulphides. Muir gives this description of a process. If black sulphide
is is strongly heated, a red sublimate of mercury formed which has the same as the black composition If the temperature is not kept very high, compound.
there
red sulphide produced. The operator, therefore, is directed to urge the fire, " else the black crows will go back to the nest." is picturesque, in Roscoe. in the
cases
is only
little of the
expression would be found
The
but
is not
one
that
Further,
terms
are
even
"
where
seemingly
plain
"
used
is seldom by them what
ît ^such as sulphur, mercury, arsenic that the alchemists mean safe to assume
we
should
naturally understand.
For
174
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
they intentionally twist and sometimes substitute times, Someterms, in their determination to be abstruse.
with the best will in the world, they fail in imperfect because precision of their necessarily Sometimes are they analysis of their materials.
rendered careless of finer distinctions by their theory For have that all substances a common essence. interpretation is these and other reasons, accurate
always difficultand not seldom impossible. Moreover, it must be confessed that the cases where the effort to interpret is worth the while are few and far between.
We
use
ourselves
have
not
reached
clearness
we
in the
use
of all our terms.* " fire *' in three word the fire,*' we
example, If we senses.
even
For
may
"
the
touch
imply,
if we
Do not say, have not in our
minds, the idea that the fire is a things a substance. Not so long ago we should have called it " phlogiston.*' " If we it is in The house is on fire," we mean say,
a
"
If we say, " Put out condition, of burning. " " Stop the process of combustion the fire,*'e mean, w a practical standare we thinking of action. From point, little danger of real conthere is in this case fusion
state,
or
of thought.
to
Nevertheless the
it should
sympathise failures to be
When
"
alchemists when, precise, they land themselves " " hard," they spoke of soft," with
enable us in similar
in confusion.
"
cold,"
hot," they did not simply mean the states of softness, hardness, coldness, hotness, in which things are found, but imagined that these qualities can exist apart from the things ; that is to say, that there are such things
And although we softness, hardness, and the rest. may not even yet have cleared ourselves of this error,
as
"
Both
Muir
and
Thorpe
use
this illustration.
DIFFICULTIES
at any
or
OF
we
are
INTERPRETATION speddng know we
175
rate
when
with philcNSophical
"
scientific accuracy, we terms. frequently Hence we
using abstract" find it hard to seize For instance, what the alchemists had in their minds. famous a thus : axiom, attributed to Hermes, runs
"
are
If you do not take away from bodies their corporeal them into things state, and if you do not transform
not
The
corporeal, idea is, as
the metals must
want." you will not get what explained in a previous chapter^ that be stripped, or robbed, of the qualities
you
which which ideas
make have
them
not
"
"
metals
by
means
of substances
those
of this kind by in their qualities when changed physical

"
now qualities. We express are saying that substances
think of a " as something metal-quality separate from a metal, and capable of being taken away from it like colour
or
chemical
processes.
submitted We never
to various
out
of
cloth.
Straightfoeward
Receipts.
It is only fair to note
subject, obscurity could not be avoided ; for the substance sought or described did not exist. But when actions, ordinary chemical or the making of alloys, are dealt with, the directions
are
alchemists are not of a Philosopher's Stone is the
that all the receipts of the When the crjrptic character.
frequently
difficultiesare
terms.
straightforward enough, and the chief to the to be attached the meanings
chapters, various examples tions. will be given of quite intelligible receipts and direcA good average specimen of the earlier period
In the following
is this,taken from the Book
of Democritus
: (Arabian)
"
176
ALCHEMY"
"An
ITS
SCIENCE
transforms
AND
ROMANCE
"
Elixir which
One
pound Break up
of mercury ; two pound the copperas well, and
silver into gold. of Persian copperas.

throw
it
on
the
mercury ; add of dulcified salt thirteen pints ; stir Put them in a basin until all is well incorporated. into a new boiler and the retort ; heat it below
adjust
until you hear the noise of the crackling salt. Take the fire. When the vessel is cooled, take it away from and open it. The product which has mounted the boiler into the receiving vessel gather and knead with juiceof the round aristolochus, coloquint (lit.
serpent
vine) and
Plaster the
white
hellebore.
Put
in
glass
phial.
with
mud mixed then bring a lump of cow-dung; place quite dry; the phial in the middle, light the fire, and let it The substance will harden remain there for a night. like stone. it into a boiler, and Throw and become
pour
over
opening of this and the bottom with horsehair, and leave until
it acid
vinegar;
whitened
product Elixir a
appear a This has been
sulphur, of each a becomes Project of this soft like mastic. dram on a pound of gold, and you will see brilliant gold which will not lose its lustre.
add dram.
flaky
alum and Boil it until the
Sufficiently comtried, and is true." plicated fanciful I and yet free from mysticism or
on
allegory. A little further

receipt for making
more
complicated. different operations before the final product is obtained of of them taking days to complete, and one ^some " in the shade, not in sunlight." them to be carried out
"
there is a work Elixir of Eggs which is still an It prescribes no less than twelve
in the
same
But
even
in
this lengthy
experiment
there
is
no
DIFFICULTIES
OP
INTERPRETATION
Other examples
177
attempt to be obscure. from time to time. It will be noticed that when they have
will be given
how
easily the authors
assume
obtained a product which has the appearance they want (goldor silver), of what Increasing skill in testing they have the real thing.
and analyses overthrew this naive confidence. Indeed, Geber himself and his followers more than suspected We can sympathise the truth. with the errors when laid on we that the stress was remember qualities
rather than
on
substances.
CHAPTER
THE MATERIALS
II
THE
a
most
vital aim
of gold.
making
the of the Hermetic art was It therefore busied itselfwith
particular kind of metallurgy, calling to its aid all What resources the known were the of chemistry. by the alchemist ? What were materials employed
his notions
questions
account amount
of their nature
present
and properties ? These on themselves, both their own
and also and
as
value
preliminary to an estimate of the of the discoveries which added t6
the existing stock.
Mappje
Clavicula, Clavicula^
as
The treatise Mappce
said, belongs to the twef th century form, but to the tenth in regard to its matter.
has already been in regard to its

The
to
tenth-century
and
contents
matter,
even
again, carries Egyptian days.

us a
us
back
zantine By-
will thus give
kind
of chemistry practised find directions for making We art. various drugs, for the preparation of colours, soap, starch, sugar; ; for cutting and moulding white, dark blue, and azure
glass.
glance at its good general idea of the in the early days of the A
There
are
various
178
receipts
with
military
THE
a lead arrow reference hits ; poison to poison
"
MATERIALS
to set
on
179
the
arrows
fire that which ; the mddng

"
it
of
resins, oils, and the most famous
is the
runs
naphthas, for incendiary purposes being the Greek Fire, of which saltpetre fundamental One constituent. receipt By
mixing
a
pure and very strong wine it in suitable with three parts of salt, and by warming is obtained which consumes water vessels, an inflammable itself without burning the matter on which it
thus
"
is spread." This is alcohol. While the discovery of fermentic liquors is of extremely ancient date, we here have a determinate, scientific way of dealing
with body
it. The
without of these observers, A few of the receipts for making and for augmenting The chief subgold are given in other contexts.* stances in them will be dealt with directly. mentioned
There
are
of burning on the surface of a setting it on fire has arrested the attention

property
also
large number
of receipts for writing
stone, or silver, on papyrus, for making powdered gold. ^' Minium, sand, gold filings, Beat together and alum. heat with vinegar in a copper vessel." This, and brief, proves a very considerable skill in the though
in letters of gold, or is one Here metal.
How materials named. many continued through how many experiments years had gone to the rendering of it possible I In the third manipulation
of the
part of the work are articles treating of the working of copper, iron, lead, and tin; of the colouring of of pearls. In the fourth part come glass, the making
a
miscellaneous
at
set
mentioned
the
including those of formulas, beginning Of of this section.

"
See p. 81.
180
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
balance
ROMANCE
for analysing which Hiero
special note
is the hydrostatic
"
alloys of gold and There are solved.
methods has a place 1

character
covery
silver ^the problem directions for soldering metals by divided into four classes. Even architecture the excessively mixed to assign dates to the dis"
to
It is impossible,
owing
of the contents,
in this singular named compounds ; we manual may be sure that not a few of them were due to the labours of adepts. Taking a broad view, of the
it is safe to say that the great bulk of the materials used and the technical processes adopted, from transmitted were the laboratories of Egypt. however,
Their
very
period
variety proves learned the when
that
they
not
belong
to
had
concentrated
so
metallurgical and chemical on the one great quest.
activities
exclusively
Gold.
vidually, of the chief materials indiconsider some keeping to the alchemist's point of view. it that this particular Why first of gold. And was to occupy the place it did in the Hermetic metal came art, and to be chosen as the perfect form which all Let
us
the rest were Well, was
striving to attain ? a time there ever
when
have
distinctive
honour
beginning
being
of the described,
Bodk
we
and of Genesis, when

a
gold repute ?
did not At the

is
"
Paradise
read of
gold of that land is good." It was fascinate. the probably It has discovered. remarkable
the certain country, Its brilliance and beauty
first metal qualities;
to
be
is
it
THE
MATERIALS
181
malleable to an exceptional degree, ductile, resistant It could be to the agents. effects of tarnishing fashioned easily into ornaments, for and employed Above from an all, it was, gilding and ioiaying. unknown
antiquity, concentrated or coined, into money.
wealth
"
could be ît
moulded, The alchemists, then, simply took its pre-eminence for granted. They had a keen desire to increase their they found that there were store of it. And when
certain processes which seemed to promise a gratification to learn and of their desire, they set to work On the theoretical side, however, practise them.
they
"
developed
"
the
characteristic
doctrine
of
its
fixity "
and
was
power of defying physical pre-eminent îts by this standard, it chemical actions. Judged And the perfect metal. as they since nature,
striving towards a goal, it must be this perfect metal into which all else was being transmuted. They would hasten the process.
held, is always
Silver. Silver occupied the second place in general esteem ; very similar to those which exalted and for reasons of lessened force. It has a beautiful gold, though takes a high polish; colour; malleable, lending itself to the making white Moreover, it
was
a
is ductile and
of ornaments. wealth
status,
could be coined is explained
of concentrated into money. Its lower by such

a
form
and ever, how-
in the phrase as occurs " chronicles of the great reign in the Bible, silver was It of in the. days of Solomon." nothing accounted Still, lyas more plentiful^ and therefore of less value.
182
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
wealth, especially in countries which did not enjoythe opulence of Solomon's glory ; and it thus became a subsidiary of alchemical labours. it
was
and divine when you see the sun shine on its surface." That is to say, silver attains its highest perfection in refining Yes, but when the molten metal shines like the sun. " '* it is only the moon, after all ^not the glorious sun that, as Shakespeare has it.
moon
"
"
The
object is (said Zosimus) pure
Plays the alohymist. with splendour of his precious eye The meager cloddy earth to glittering gold."
C(
Taming
of the imperfections of silver,estimated by lack of alchemist philosophy, is its comparative " fixity." It does, indeed, resist the action of the chemical agents ; but it and of many atmosphere readily tarnishes in the presence of sulphuretted
One
hydrogen, and even a solution of common verts salt conits surface into a chloride ; it is also dissolved by nitric and sulphuric acids. In these respects it is
to /Uearly inferior gold, which only yields to "the royal In alchemic language, it has progressed water." far in its development from the metal-seed ; but it
has not attained to perfection.
Electrum. A specially important alloy which for long ranked that known as electrum. It as a separate metal, was from its similarity to amber (Lat. derived its name " " ; whence our amber electrum^ the usual term for
"
"). Some electricity
of the oldest coins in existence
THE
are
MATERIALS
188
of this alloy of gold and silver. It is probable that it was not always ; for in artificiallyproduced the extraction of silver from the minerals there would
This a out smelted percentage of gold. natural origin is of great significance for alchemy, and likeness of the alloy to gold The explains much. to obscure the fact that these and to silver tended
often definite substances, and tempted to the by suitable conclusion that they could be produced Electrum mixtures and operations. would be regarded intermediate stage in a continuous development. as an metals
are
be
We
can
thus
see
how
honest
one
theory another.
and
intentional
a
fraud
amount
could
glide into
For
certain
to gold without of silver could be added detriment to the fundamental nature of the nobler " be That is to say, gold could multiplied." metal.
Especially
to processes apply consideration silver which, alchemically of colouring impure the state of complete viewed, was already approaching transmutation.
would
this
As their skill in analysing and separating gold and be gradually led silver increased, alchemists would to understand the real nature of electrum, and they
its spite of this, however, in the list of alchemic name signs. still appeared * Jupiter being the planet associated with it âffording difficulties of interpreting a good example of the formulas. Later, the name was applied to various
came
to
neglect
it.
In
"
brilliant alloys, particularly ground for the transfer was

colour.
*
bronzes
The and brass. evidently the analogy of
See p. 120.
N
184
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
Copper.
AND
ROMANCE
We by
come
to the metals known
the alchemists, not as The one to their end. means It possesses a fine rich colour, takes
base," regarded of direct value, but as likestto gold is copper.

as
"
and is highly malleable and these advantages, its comparative plentifulness precluded " " its ranking as a theless Nevermetal. precious ance its use in alchemy was of the highest import-
brilliant polish, ductile. In spite of

a
there is no substance frequently in transmutation

;
reason
which appears formulas. And
more
the
only its similarity to in the manufacture gold, but its frequent employment
"
is not hard to find
not
of alloys. Pure copper

weapons
and implements
is too soft a laetal to be made cutting instruments, though some

are
into
prehistoric
found
which
are
unalloyed.
copper ores often contain associated metals which give it the necessary hardness ; and primitive metfd-workers discovered that the nature
But
in nature,
Later, of the copper differsmuch in different mines. learnt how to modify the metal by artificial men It was thus that bronze was manufactured mixtures.
by
admixture alloying it made
an
of tin. rapid
Once
started, the art of
strides and
attained to
notable degree of efficiency. See how readily all this played into the hands of Given all the variety of copper the alchemists. it was alloys, natural and artificial, evident that
there were stages of increasing likeness to gold. Moreover, these stages could be made to pass into one thus a another by insensible gradations. There was
THE
MATERIALS
185
of a continuity of development. strong suggestion The qualities of the mettd, particularly its colour, it out as a hopeful substance for experiment. marked It seemed little were as so though needed to effect It is therefore not surprising that the great change. copper was a favourite material in the transmuting art.
Bronze, Among
Brass,
Aurichalcum.
the alloys of copper, certain were given Bronze is an alloy with tin, brass an special names. alloy with zinc. (This is the distinction commonly
made, these, golden
though
not
in olden
strictly times, was

term
maintained.) Along
ranged
aurichalcum,
with
or
innave to appears which the Greeks, all the yellow alloys which cluded, among resemble gold by their brilliance. In Pliny's day, it by heating together copper, cadmia was mine), (calamade
copper
"
â
and
As
use
can
charcoal. be well imagined,

names
the
confusion
in the
of these
was
extreme,
and
they
that alchemists thought ment. dealing with simple differences of developwere We, in these days, have to know the definite
or
of formulas, when The impossible.
exactness
pretation renders interis sought, precarious
quantities of fixed substances
employed.
Mercury.
After what has been said about the Mercury of the Philosophers,* insistence on the alchemical importance
pf this metal is unnecessary.

^
And
even
were
evidence
See p. 92.
186
ALCHEMY"
we
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
should be sure that a substance with characteristics so marked could not fail to have of its stimulated research and speculation. One "quicksilver." "living silver" our was earliest names
"
lacking,
imtil the Middle it had become AgeSywhen the Hermetic substance par excellence. Its liquidity, and the extreme mobility
It
was
not called mercury
alive, always produced a prowhich makes it seem foimd impression upon those who reflectedon natural ; hardly lessso, itscorrosive and poisonous phenomena
rerum properties which led Pliny to call it vevunum The same author knew of its amalgamating omnium. powers, and of the readiness with which it dissolves
ield.
/
It
dissolves gold !
to
Could
anything
be
more
/
f
calculated
most
expectation ?
earnest
and excite an alchemist's wonder He concentrated on this meted his
study. It is hardly ever absent from Ben Jonson, in KTs thoughts or his experiments. his Masque, Mercury Vindicated from the Alchymists, it makes presents it as a tortured victim. He expostulate their crude and their sublimate ; their precipitate and their unctions ; aphrodite their hermtheir male and their female, sometimes
thus
"I
am
See, ^what they list they style me. they begin to muster again, and draw their forces " The genius of the place defend me I out against me. If we go back to the early days of the art, we find
"
giving vent to his emotions in the following " Concerning the divine water (thatis. rhapsody : Mercury). Here is the grand mystery, the thing It is everything. Two natures, most chiefly sought.
Zosimus
one
single
essence
for
one
of them
draws
on
and
THE
MATERIALS
187
It is liquid silver ; it is of both controls the other. It is the divine in movement. sexes ; and is always
water
to
nor
of which
;
a
none
knows.
Its nature
is difficult
understand
for it is neither a mettd, nor water, It cannot be tamed, for (metallic) substance.
it is all in all. It has life and it breathes. He who this mystery understands possesses both gold and it resides in the Its power is hidden; silver.
...
Eroytle."
Zosimus
fittingly appends
tion to his descripThere

are
magic
three
figures
and
formulas.
also
the mystic concentric axioms : circles with *' The All is one ; by it is all, and in it is all. The Serpent is one ; it has the two emblems and the Below the alchemic this again are signs poison."
for the
metals, lead, mercury, silver and gold, by that of the world and the cosmic egg. surmounted in view than the We that more was must remember four metal ordinary the inner essence
"
it
was
the
Philosopher's
Mercury,
Some of all things. said it could be out of obtained by distillations ; others said it was It was human said to be liquid, yet not reach. wetting of things ; volatile, yet negativing It was at once other substances.
the volatility
a
and not a substance, but an bodily spirit and a spiritual body. do these contradictions, it may modem description of the luminif Mercury
substance intangible Essence ; a If

us
erous
we
stumble
to
at
a
good
read
ether !
and
Sulphur.
With
which
*
mercury also had a

stone,
associated another substance peculiar fascination for alchemists

of which
was
fabulous
Democritus
exalted
the use for divining.
(as said the alchemists)
188
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
"
to We have seen * how it was supposed ^sulphur. be a constituent of the metals, supplying the fieryThey watched as they element in them. wonderingly dissolving gold. They saw also wondered mercury
stick of sulphur, when placed on red-hot iron, penetrate the metal like a spirit, and drops. They dissolve it in a stream of molten
when
they
saw
observed,
too,
a
how
new
that
one
by
was
the
contact
of the two
mysterious
substances change had

sulphur
formed.
A they
the
taken
a
place.
Evidentlyr
power
over
concluded, metal by
and the
has
peculiar
controls its form and Some unknown
qualities.
alchemist,
impressed
and sulphur, coupled peculiar properties of mercury The them together as components of all the metals. to supply was the lustre, mallemercury supposed ability, ductility, fusibility
"
in
short,
the
metallic
colour ?). qualities; sulphur supplied combustibility (and by Geber, and This remarkable theory is mentioned It was he himself attributes it to the ancients.
accepted up to the middle of the sixteenth century, and forms a characteristic part of alchemist doctrine. it, hails it as the far from condemning Thorpe, so
firstmanifestation of research.
of scientificthought
in this department
Tin.
had its appeal for which in reference to gold as to alchemists, not so much its were silver. The qualities that attracted them silvery white colour, and the brilliant lustre it has Tin
is another
metal
"
See p. 94.
THE
MATERIALS
It resists the
189
when
action of air do not attack water; and acids (save nitric) and it vigorously unless It thus with the aid of heat. the alchemical possessed virtue of "fixity.'* Its
new
or
cleaned.
in some intermediate between properties are ways those of lead and silver. This fact suggested its use as a to produce starting-point in attempts silver. It
was
called " black
regarded "white"
"
as
or
lead.
"
It
of lead ; and, indeed, was "silver" lead, as opposed to has a peculiar cry curious
sort
"
â
crackling sound ^when a slender bar of the metal is bent. This is due to the crushing together of its
crystalline quality
particles.
"
This
**cry'?
*
was
the
first
that adepts
stripped off."
Lead.
The
colour
bluish-white
colour
cut
or
when
newly
of lead, and its bright melted, led to its being
closely connected with silver. And the notion would be confirmed by the fact that silver is often extracted
refining processes known A common metallurgists. alloy among a was of lead and tin which mixture
from
lead
by
ancient the Romans
to
they
called
argentarium. According
to
the Greek
generator of other metals. that it served to produce the three kindred metals, of its copper, tin, and iron, by the mediation of one It is curious to derivatives, the protean magnesia.
the alchemists, lead was More especially they held
bring
together
this idea and

*
the
modem
discovery
See p. 98.
160
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
that lead is one
down
of the products formed Of this, more anon. of radium.
by the breaking
Iron
These
two
and
Magnesia.
came
do not to be almost
ance, of prime importsubstances, though The latter call for special description.
a
synonym
for the Stone.
Other
The
Materials.
they
in quest of a metal. Naturally alchemists were mute. began with the metals in their efforts to trans" If you to The Cosmopolite want says :
a a a
metal, take but by engendered make
metal ; for dog." But
dog
the
is
never
failure of their experiments In the later stages substances. selected are disgusting. Arsenic
was
led them
of
continued to try other

art,
the
as
those
are
sometimes
as
startling
they
of the first less usual metals to be tried, and for long inspired great confidence. Its transmutation copper suggested power of bleaching
one
into silver. Mercury came and tin failed. Antimony into fashion only to be discarded in its turn. Then Bacon Roger ruled out all the metals on the score
that they
were
too
poor
to generate next
gold.
salts
were
If not
a
metals,
what
The
especially sea-salt. We chance, remember his laboratory to the Baltic Bernard of Treves moved Saltpetre also to test the possibilities of sea-salt.*
was
given how
in great
requisition
"
"
^then vitriol.
Still the great
See p. 163.
THE
secret
was
MATERIALS
191
was
unsolved.
wanting.
The
whole
realm
of minerals
was
found
If not
vegetable
minerals, what next ? And had not world.
Well, there
some
the
alchemists suggested Accordingly Let their formulas be extended. juices tried, in of the celandine and of the primrose were
reliance
on
of the Greek that here there might be hope ?
their
success. other plants. many Ah I But is not the animal world higher than the vegetable ; and its materials, are they not richer ? So to work they Let those be tried, said the adepts.
colour Stillno
"
^rhubarb,
honesty,
and
derived from organic matters animals bones, flesh, blood, saliva, hair, and other materials The ruling idea was not always fit to be mentioned. that in such substances there resided the principle of
went
on
"
life, which
can
transmute
food
into tissues.
Very
one of the arguments used for holding singular was There that this principle could even produce metals. they said, that children had grown testimony, was gold teeth I And with all this, unceasing failure.
last venture. Was the Philosopher's not Stone in reality the soul of the world spirittis mundi ? in nature was What most akin to this ? The air. If
One
"
so,
substances which are most exposed to the of action of the air would be likely to absorb most freshly fallen rain, as, the spiritual essence ^such It is hard to believe that in 1665 snow, and dew. to the Royal Society " observaan adept submitted tions
those
"
Others took of the month of May." " falling a yet wider flight. Meteoric that of matter, stars," would absorb the spirit in traversing the atmosphere.
on
the dew
Others
tried
to
side-track
the
problem.
192
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
reflected that crabs, lizards, and serpents, if deprived of food, could live for a long time on air. this not involve a considerable condensation of the spirit ? So these wretched were creatures made to fast, and then distilled! To what were strange lengths
a
They
Must
even
wrong the mystic
can clever men track, if there be
go when they set out on touch of the occult and
1 tdbulfB risu.
exclaim
Solvuntur
Well
Jonson's
Alchymisiy
"
Surley, in Ben may disdainfully

"
broths, your menstraes, and materials^ blood. Of lye and egg-shells, women's terms, man's Hair o' the head, burnt clout, chalky merds, and clay. Powder of bones, soalings of iron, glass. And moulds of other strange ingredients. Would burst a man to name."
Your
And
yet, after all,
as
we
these eccentricities and up a solid basis on which could be reared.
shall see, follies,there

the
all underneath being built was
science of the future
CHAPTER
THE LABOBATOBIES
III
ATYPICAL work.
more
mediaeval laboratory is certain. But That

It
was
a
was
place for
it
than
was
this.
had
an
air of
mystery
much its ;
that
furniture
appealed seldom
with to the imagination

was
decked
signs
it
prominent incense was
object
Not and also a place for religious exercises. A be an might altar from which
before
success
was
and symbols the emotions.
rising ;
prayers
to
for the
say, the labour
offer would That is of his experiments. in the hard not imdertaken
it the
sage
clear light of science, but in an We fervour. devotional and
atmosphere of mystery have in this fact a

the strength
at once of what was manifestation the weakness of the Hermetic art.
and
Intrusion
of
Feeling.
This atmosphere was of emotion present from the in the Mappce Clavicula there occurs first. Even a
direction like this
are
"
to recite during
of Gold. ^Prayer you the operation, or the fusion that

"
The Making
The follows, in order that the gold may be formed." prayer here alluded to is of the incantation class, and is in conformity with the ancient practice of the
193
194
ALCHEMY"
and
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
At
Egjrptians
the Greek
alchemists.
the start,
it is a matter of the magic which was always associated In mediaeval with industrial and medical operations. God. on times, the magic jdelded place to a dependence Among passage discussing
a
some
fragments
is
which
certain
of Arabian treatises highly characteristic.
occurs
After author
curious
a proper suggests a prayer which Father which art in heaven, frame of mind : "Our that he give intelligence to the eyes of Thy servant, dwells in pure light which may participate in Thy heaven. (Thus far the petitions are plainly Christian.)
the questions, will keep the adept in
art the of the world ; Thou dwellest in the midst beginning and the end ; Thou alone canst inflame water of the fire on earth. Thou
Thou
holdest
the
keys
and the sea, make fish to dwell on land, recall the dead Thy person from the dark abyss and open Tartarus. is fire, Thine eyes stars. The air is the brightening
.
of Thy
common
flame.
(These are
invocations
of the
form
magic.)
wisdom O God,
in ancient Egypt and are Abandon me not, O God,
connected with but give me

.
of Thy right hand and the aid of Thy people. deign to enter quickly my heart. Penetrate my spirit and fillme with the flame of true science ; Chase from my soul evil and let it dwell in my being. envy.
"
It is Thou
Who
what
is good
of mingling mysteries." extraordinary invocations from borrowed Christian prayers and thegnostics. among ancient Egypt, of the kind common It is followed by a bizarre account of how the author
fought against personified envy, hatchet.
the and is the Such
givest the heart to produce hidden to divulge tongue
which
he
overcame
with
THE
But
LABORATORIES
195
did not render this play of emotion idle dreamers. Their laboratories alchemists
scenes
the
were
of genuine
a
hard
point,
given
or
passage from to idleness, nor go in
Muir work. Paracelsus :

a
"
quotes, They
on
are
this
not
velvet garments, fingers, or wearing
proud habit, or plush, often showing their rings on their swords at their sides with silver
hilts,
fine and gay gloves on their hands ; but diligently follow their labours, sweating whole days They do not spend their and nights at their furnaces.
or
time
abroad for recreation, but take delight in their laboratories. They coals, put their fingers among into clay and filth,not into gold and rings. They arc sooty and black, like smiths and miners, and do not pride themselves
upon
clean and
beautiful dress."
Appakatus.
The
of
course
was primarily devised apparatus of alchemy for practical uses ; but, like all else connected
with
the
Hermetic
art,
was
invested
of the mystic and occult. Jonson's Alchymist^ declares that the fable of Medea's had reference to charms
"
with Mammon,
an
atmosphere in Ben
*'
The manner of our work ; the bulls, our furnace, Stillbreathing fire; our argent-vive, the dragon : The dragon's teeth, mercury sublimate, That keeps the whiteness, hardness and the biting ; And they are gathered into Jason's helm. The alembic, and then sow'd in Mars his field. they're fix'd." And thence sublimed so often, till
some
In
of the Arabian
treatises, and
in others of
outline
the
thirteenth
century,
there
are
simple
196
ALCHEMY"
of many
or
ITS
kinds
SCIENCE
AND
We
ROMANCE
there find
pictures
of vessels.*
pear-shaped pots open at both ends, and to fit into each other ; alembics for distilling, made for heating and sublimating ; flasks, retorts and stills, for burying in beds of hot sand or cinders ; furnaces
aludels,
great
and
or
small ;
to
athanors,
a
or
furnaces degree
constructed
cucurbits,
with
arms
maintain
certain
specially of heat ; vessels beside. A
gourd-like alembics
; pellicans, or
a and many quaint device Balneum Marioe. that named special kind of bath was In the midst of a series of processes denoted by letters of the alphabet Subtle reports to Mammon
"
P is oome over the helm too, I thank my Maker, in S. Mary's bath, " And shows lac virginis. Blessed be heaven !
"
in the older treatises, and connected It is mentioned with Mary the Jewess who is supposed to have invented it. Nothing definite is known of her. A writer of the
initiated into the affirms that she was Another legend sacred art in the temple of Memphis. This particular instance makes her the sisterof Moses. is typical of the way in which alchemists mingled fact,
seventh
century
legend, and
fancy
even of mystery, It also incidentally illustrates the constant look to Egypt.

.
in their effort to preserve the sense in regard to their familiar utensils.
backward
Further
But
detail under this head is liot necessary. it is well to note that many of the vessels still
as
retain their places, even laboratories. our modem

*
regards specific forms, in
Berthelot, in his La Ohimie au Moyen dge, vol. i. oh. vi., reproduces the use tq of these, and is generally able to determine many which they were put.
THE
LABORATORIES
197
Processes
"Ben
Jonson's
List.
Geber
vogue
gives a in his time.
list of the principal processes in He mentions sublimation, volatilisation, distillation by by or evaporation simple
filtration, calcination, solution, coagulation, which fixation, coupellation, includes crystallisation and Most of these, softening of hard bodies, and so forth.
save
for technical modifications, date back to Greeks, They are, and, behind them again, to the Egyptians. indeed, simply adaptations of quite familiar processes ; but they were settings and given new specialised
by the alchemist philosophy, for as means purpose hastening the advance of various substances towards out by Ben perfection. This point is well brought
Jonson.
Subtle addresses
his servant
Sub. Sirrah, my yarlet, stand you forth and speak to him Like a philosopher : answer in the language. Name the vexations, and the martyrisations Of metals in the work. Face, Sir, putrefaction. Solution, ablution, sublimation, Cohobation, calcination, ceration, and Fixation. 8ub. (to Ananias). This is heathen Greek to you, now {toFace). And when comes vivification 7 Face, After mortification* Sub, What's cohobation 7 Face, 'Tis the pouring on Your aqua regis, and then drawing him off, To the trine circle of the seven spheres. Sub, What's the proper passion of metals 7 Face, Malleation. Sub. What's your uUimum suppHctum auri ? Face, Antimonium. Sv^, (toAnanus). This is heathen Greek to you. {foFace). And what's your mercury 7 Face, A very fugitive, he will be gone, sir.
!
"
198
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
ANB
ROMANCE
know you him 7 Sub, How Face, By his viscosity. His oleosity, and his suscitability. Sub. How do you sublime him 7 Face, With the oaloe of egg-shells. White marble, talc. Sub. Your magisterium, now.
What's that 7 Face, Shifting, sir, your elements, Dry into cold, cold into moist, moist into hot. Hot into dry. Sub. {to Ananias). This is heathen Greek to you still! (toFaob). Your lapis phUosophicus f Face, 'Tisastone And not a stone ; a spirit,a soul, and a body Which if you do dissolve, it is dissolved ; If you coagulate, it is coagulated ; If you make it to fly,it flieth.
".
This passage brings out many points of interest, especially the idea that qualities are separate things. drift seems to be founded But its main George on Ripley's
Twelve Gates^
on
or
twelve
which open out Indeed, Stone.

earlier in the processes from
the Paradise
successive processes of the Philosopher's
Jonson
Let
mentions
us
Ripley
a
little
scene.
examine
few
of these
the alchemist's standpoint.
Processes
in
Detail.
by Geber for rendering employed fixed ; that is to_say, for robbing them metals more of the qualities which made them unlike gold or silver. " thus robbed of its was Tin, for exaiii|)le, cry," lead
Calcination
was
of its fusibility. The reality, generfiJly some far Sublimation, so

meant
result of the process form of oxidation.

as
was,
in
much
the
same
as
is concerned, with ourselves. A substance
the process
THE
LABOftATORIES
it is distilled or
199
volatilised and in solid form" then allowed to crystallise or condense It is therefore a purifying process, and it is on this result that the alchemist lays the stress in relation to
when his_jioctrine
grosser of qualities separable things. _as When of these had to be stripped away.
"
is sublimated
The the
substance, on cooling, takes again it was become to have supposed

and
so
"
corporeal
"
form,
more
spiritual,"
a stage on the way to perfection. advanced It was by a series of such spiritualisings that the quintessence (the fifth,or last and highest, power) in Here, also, comes of a substance was obtained. The alchemist supposes that by the idea of Fixation.
a
to have
succession
becomes
for
an
of volatilisings and reformings, a metal know he was We now in error ; morefixed.

no
many theory
remains element unchanged But times it is thus treated.

of
a
matter
how of his
in view
we
stand and Putrefaction ideas

"
continuous him. excuse
development,
can
xmderrange
brings
a
on
the
scene
another
of
of organic growth. cation Correlative with it are the processes known as Mortifihave As Resurrection. we seen, this and the basis animistic aspect of chemical actions was
^those of
"metal-seed
and
for
fantastic allegories, several examples many of have been given in other contexts which ^the killing and the death of the metal-seed if there is to be new
"
growth.
new
The
reference
not
compoimds
of
is really to the formation of Another recognised as such.
in a process animistic doctrine is found by Ripley, Cibation mentioned ^the process of feeding We the crucible with fresh material. still speak of
trace
"
(C
feeding
"
fire, as
though
it
were
living thing.
200
ALCHEMY"
us
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
down to be this strong expression has worn figure of speech ; but it was a mere not always so. îeher!aL'-softening!' 4)rocess .-rr_B"ai_jQnspn's *^dulcifying."-TrWasone which causes a substance to become soft and flow like wax. It would often involve
With
special mixtures or infusions^ as well as the application tion* Ripley calls it Fermentaof the right degree of heat. fundamental But this term had usually a more
silver, being alleysr^îuld be reproduced and multiplied by develop^ tion ing in their mixtures a change analogous to fermentameaning.
It
implied
that
gold
and
in the modem Tiiis is a farsense of the term". Feaching IdeA Of which we have not yet heard the last. is a^ repeated distilling in which the Cohobation
liquor is poured back upon theltnatter remammg being to increase the amoimt the vessel, the object
the ^rinciplesjor^ virtues desired in the is probably The of Arabic~origm ; word operation itself is still at times employed.
in
of finaTproduct.
arid the Ceration
; but the substance in wax it any preparation under of a substance, especially a metal, for fusionor liquefaction. Solution and Ablution do not need explanation, save
implies the wrapping included alchemists
of
in
so
far
as
to note
the mystical
character
these
and
other
art.
similarly
simple
assigned to in the operations
Hermetic
Another explained.* is Projection. term with an equally specialised meaning Originally this signified the throwing of any kind of
Fixation
already
material however^
of the
'^
has
been
into the
to
crucible.
It
came
to
l)e appUed,
on''
"
the
one
supreme"^
tFrowihg
^that
powder
or ofjrojection/' theT?Kilosophe?"
"
Seep
181,
THE Stone.
result multiplication that
LABORATORIES
was
was
201
or
The
to
be the transmutation
reward
the
to
adept
for all
îs toil.
thus
the
"
The idea of a powder of transmutation seems to date back to the days of ancient Egyptian lurgy. metalFor in an early document it finds mention
:
We
must
know
mysterious powder a list of the Egyptian cities and districts in which it be sought, evidencing the existence of some might pre-alchemist tradition. The adepts of the sixteenth century were^reatly concerned with the bringing together of the male female seeds by which gold was to be generated. tEs purpose the seed-materials accomplishing enclosed in an sealed. Thus and For
were
in what places of the Thebaid is prepared." There follows
was called the what Philosopher's Egg,* or the house of the pullet of the Salmon tellsus how this operation wise," or Athanor. is the way in which is to be carried out. "Here
"
oval of paste formed was
or
mud,
and
hermetically
philosophers make sure that the thing is accomplished. The Philosopher's Mercury being joined and amalgamated gold of great purity, and in leaves or is filings (goldbeing the male, mercury the female),
with This Egg is placed put into the Philosopher's Egg. in a dish full of charcoal which is put on the fire,and then the mercury, by the heat of its internal sulphur operator from without, and fed continually in the degree and proportion necessary ^thismercury, I say, dissolves the At gold without violence, and reduces it to atoms."
excited
by
the
fire kindled
by
the
"
end of six months, a black powder " head," which Salmon calls the crow's
the
"
or
is obtained Saturn, or
sae
The
m3rstical doctrine of the Egg
was
discussed before,
p. 121
202
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
If the
AND
ROMANCE
Cimmerian
prolonged,
the
white Stone, and
action of the heat is becomes This is the substance white. sopher's colouring substance, or the Little Philo-
darkness.
is able to convert
into silver and to produce pearls. is increased, the substance melts and changes into It is the veritable Philosopher's Stone red powder.
on Projected
a common
ordinary metals Lastly, if the fire

a
metal, it immediately
changes
a
it into gold. We find, then, that the alchemists
devised
very
considerable set of experiments and operations, which, devoted to an unattainable a long though end, went bringing into existence the apparatus towards way
of the modem
laboratory.
CHAPTER
ADVANCES AND
IV
DISCOVERIES
ALCHEMY
L
was
good
reasons
its grand its quest secret have already seen But we never solved. for the superficial judgment failed
in
"
rejecting
Bacon was the art as worthless. not which condemns to be mild in his criticisms, and fully realised wont the failings of the alchemists' aims and methods ; but
he
was
judicial, and
of
severity
his
prosecutions
(he writes)
in the
substantially mitigated the " The derivations sentence. and in the to these ends, both
practices,
are
full of error and have vanity ; which the great professors themselves by to sought conceal veil over enigmatical and to auricular traditions, writings, and referring themselves theories and
and impostures.
yet surely to alchemy due, that it may be compared to the husbandman he died ^sop the fable, that when makes whereof
such And
other devices
to
save
the credit of this right is
told his
sons
that he had
left unto
them
in his vineyard ; and underground over the ground, and gold they foimd
reason
gold buried they digged all

none,
but
by
of their stirring and digging the mould about the roots of their vines, they had a great vintage the year following : so assuredly the search and stir to make gold hath
brought
to m
light
great number
of
204
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
as well good and fruitful inventions and experiments for the disclosing of nature for the use of man's as life."* Let us now important review the more of
these
"
good and fruitfulinventions and experiments."
The
Combining
of
Theory
and
Pbactice. that itbrought
The firstgreat merit of alchemy
was
together philosophical speculation and the practical The Egyptian arts. metallurgists and chemists, even those of them who were priests, were neither scientists
there would be among them a certain spirit of inquiry concerning the nature but they never of the materials they employed;
nor
philosophers.
No
doubt
evolved deserves
any the
system
name
of speculative
a
thought
this ^should have the solution of which would SuflSce it to note the fact. from
the
of been
philosophy of nature. is an interesting problem, so

tempt
us
which Why
from
our
track.
The
alchemists
an
inherited of
Egyptians
little but
accumulation
technical receipts and directions. On the contrary, the Greek thinkers who supplied were the speculative ideas of alchemy not skilled in they, in any strict sense, the practical arts, nor were
scientists. They scientific spirit; for they natural
did
not
even
foster
despised
all handh'ng
of
or experiment, materials for purposes of manufacture leaving such tasks to slaves and ignorant wc^kmen. And they were thus debarred from gaining any factual
basis for then- reasonmgs. Now by a happy concurrence

"
of circumstances,
Bk. i.
the
Advancement
of Learning,
ADVANCES
AND
DISCOVERIES
205
alchemist, while interested in philosophy, had himself to become an the operative, and actually handled The gain was great. Theories materials he employed. had perforce to be submitted to the test of facts. And it was gradually realised that facts are decisive when is the in knowledge nature of, or power over, object
A new start was view. definitely recognised, but
"
^principles rendered Organon. The rate of advance, however, was slow. Theory, though no longer in a
throne,
was
on principles not made none the less revolutionary Novum explicit in Bacon's
ably lamentsolitary
menters unduly despotic, and blinded the experito the real significance of nearly all they saw. forlorn when they They lost themselves in many a maze have been expatiating on Nature's highways. might Hence it was were that their scientificachievements
scanty as compared with the lengthy period during prosecuted. which the art was
so
Dawn Alchemy,
of
the
Scientific
Spirit^
r
then, heralded the dawn
spirit in the sphere of chemistry The rigidity of the a subjectivettitude was relaxed. A passage from the Arabian treatise. The Little Book
of the scientific and the kindred arts.
Wise men will illustrate this point. do not pride themselves on the quantity of materials, but on the perfection of their operations. I urge you
of
Clemency^
"
"to act with
precaution, to go to work slowly, and to follow the example of Nature in all that you desire to do^ when dealing with natural things." There is here manifested
an
incipient tendency
to look without
206
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
lay too We must not, however, within. the phrase "follow the example stress on much of Nature," for ancient philosophy gave to it a turn which
rather than
was
far from
"
of the term. is full of promise. A passage from The insight

"
in our modem natural scientificsense Nevertheless, the effort towards detachment Booh
"
of
Ostanes
shows
an
possibiUties of natural processes. brings it about that things the most precious Science See, for example, are made out of the most common.
in the world are of silk ; and the loveliest garments from a worm. The finest of the things silk comes from a fly. Musk we eat is honey ; and honey comes
into
the
is the product
of
an
animal,
and the pearl that of an from stone ; it comes ignorant
ambergris that of a fish, So with this marveloyster. lous

matter
is of the commonest." aimed at is chimerical, the reasoning is in the spirit modem of science, and could be supported by many parallels. Yet more
which ** There
that in eyes of the Though the object
striking is this from describes an observation

was a
The
Book
of Pity
on
founded
fact.
iron weighing time, and we
stone magnetic 100 drachmes.
which lifted a piece of kept it for a long We
another piece of iron which it was thought that the weight not able to lift. We of this piece of iron must exceed 100 drachmes, the before lifted. But stone weight which the magnetic
tried it
on
we when less than
came
to weigh
it, we
found
100
drachmes.
The
then,
had
diminished,
as
the same remained manner, the modem
This is quite in particularly the weighing of the
although at the first."
that it weighed of the stone, power its own weight had
ADVANCES
AND
DISCOVERIES
207
stone itselfto see if the diminution in power magnetic had decreased its substance. This spirit of detachment far enough, even went
period, to allow of doubts of the possibility of transmutation ; and these doubts were on the fact of failure or the not always groimded, frequent but occurrence on of fraud, scientific
argument.
in the
Arabian
Avicenna,
of transmutation
by
for instance, opposed urging that the metals
the idea
differ in
their
forming a specific properties, each of them definite species with real characteristics of its own. He concludes that there cannot be a shorter way of bringing the metals to their perfect state than that followed by Nature. It is plain, then, from evidence beginning such as this, that the scientific spirit was to declare itselfin the early days of the art. quently, Subseit was from time to time obscured, or crushed, but it never died ; and in the minds of a series of independent thinkers it steadily gained in strength
and had
clearness, until it at last overthrew the art which to came the development given it birth. How if we pass will be rendered apparent consider the method which is its most characteristic ally.
The
Experimental
Method.
Speaking
and The
strove true
alchemists framed to bring facts into harmony broadly,
hypotheses with
them.
scientist also frames hypotheses ; but he brings them to the touchstone of the facts, and holds to them raised are not only so long as the difficulties
too
numerous was or
formidable.
an
experiment
attempt
For the alchemist, an to realise the truth of a
208
ALCHEMY"
conclusion.
or
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
foregone is
a
question
two
his theory
For the scientist, an experiment put to Nature to see if she will support his problem. throw further light upon
are
The
methods
two
postulate until the
widely latter had
opposed, different outlooks. It was
thus
sharply
and
not
been
consciously
sure
adopted
that
science could advance
with
and rapid strides.
RooEB Roger Bacon
Bacon.
one
of the first to of the distinction justdrawn. realise the importance His remarkable gifts enabled him to break away from
was (1214r-1294)
had enslaved so many traditions which great territory, and open out new routes* minds, explore new For a long time he was looked upon as an alchemist
the
of the orthodox kind, and But of late years he has
even
branded
to
as own,
sorcerer.
come
his
and
we
appreciate
success was
him
to
Nature.
The secret of his value. this ^he had learnt how to put questions In the Arabian, Rhazes, find this we
"
at his true
"
noble statement possible than revealed by
The
secret
of chemistry
is rather only But
impossible.
Its
work is able to raise a comer of what a triumph when man " Rhazes covers the veil which nature ! and Friar Bacon joinhands. Both are hungry for facts ; but
the later sage had
dint
of hard
are mysteries and tenacity.
of power interests !
the
invented
the larger outlook and the deeper Bacon's How varied were penetration.
He
corrected
the Julian
Kalendar
; analysed
glasses ; properties of lenses and convex spectacles for the short-sighted ; propounded
ADVANCES
the
AND
DISCOVERIES
209
them ; of telescopes, if he did not make and prepared the way for the discovery of gmipowder significant of aU, drew of the air-pump ; and, most
theory
attention
to the chemical
rdle of the air in the process
Truly a splendid record when we of combustion. think of the times in which he lived â record which, though exceeding the bounds of alchemy, may fairly
"
in its main tendency redound to the credit of that art* it attained ? By the definite adoption And how was it is true, The success, of the experimental method.
was
by achieved in spite of the shackles imposed to the success alchemist traditions ; still,the means largely been provided by the art they were had
to
destined
successor
destroy.
And
Boyle
was
legitimate
of the alchemist Friar.
Aristotle.
It
was
his way the way
of traditions which blocked to progress. The bulk of these were supposed to depend on the authority of that pre-eminent thinker,
a
stated through
justabove
mass
that Bacon
had
to force
know." How of those who grievously that gloriously free and original genius has suffered in the house of those who imagined themselves to be his friends ! It is certain that his authority Aristotle
"
"
the Master
in Europe for nearly twenty supreme centuries, in the history of chemistry, and that his influence, even be traced down into the eighteenth century. But can
was
the appeal to the real Aristotle ? from being the case that it was more
was
So far
was
this
to
teachings
promulgated.
to quite opposed Dialecticians had robbed
often than not those which he had
his arguments
210
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
of their living force, or twisted them to alien issues. had tortured his doctrine or buried it Commentators
under mountains of uninspired disquisitions. Spurious had misrepretreatises, published under his name, sented it out of all recognition. and supplemented
Wh^t
wonder,
when
the liberation
came,
that he
was
blamed
As
a
and
abjured!
of fact, Aristotle himself had strongly his conviction that natural science can emphasised by increase of the knowledge only be advanced of
matter
Nature.
comes
He
nearest
was,
method.
And
of all the ancients, the one who in aim, spirit, and to the modems it was irony of fate that indeed an
to be a seem the repudiation made of dogmatism instead of a continuance over, triumph of, his work. The interest in practical chemistry which, despite all
its defects and art had aberrations, the Hermetic sustained, the flickerings of the scientificspirit which
fostered, the experiments it had suggested in Aristotelian elements these were the true otherwise fruitless quest.
it had
"
an
Arabian
Discoveries.
in detail the discoveries attempt to enumerate centuries, the of so many upon which, in the course less or seekers for the Philosopher's Stone had more
An
But be an happed tedious. would accidentally be deprived of its chief would apology for alchemy it not to record some of the more vindication were ledge. knownotable additions made to the store of human
It is
neither few
nor
an
easy
task
to
show
that
they
were
unimportant.
ADVANCES
The Alexandrian
AND
DISCOVERIES
211
period is too nebulous and confused to allow of any trustworthy statements under head, especially as it is also almost impossible to this of their debt to the Egyptians. estimate the amount Berthelot has laboured hard in this field of inquiry ; but his conclusions are too technical to allow of a
be sure, We however, that may general summary. barren of was this earliest stage not altogether
valuable Even lay hold
results.
when
on
we come
to the Arabs,
it is not easy to
any specific facts in regard to particular discoveries. For though mediaeval alchemists had high admiration for their Muslim predecessors, it is by
no
means
testimony
may clear how far we have We they bear.
safely lean
to
on
the
tendency wisdom, and

over
the Westerns
had
reckon with the to look to the East for
especially that which savoured of the mystic occult ; and also with the uncertainty that hangs the authenticity of treatises ascribed to Eastern
Berthelot, after an exhaustive examination sages. of the available evidence, reaches the cautious conclusion that we may credit the Arabians with making considerable progress in medicine, dyeing, enamelling,
the making
of coloured
metallurgy
which
glass, as well as in the constituted the peculiar province of

is said
to
alchemy, as such. Geber famous The
have
discovered
"
sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and nitrate of silver ^three chemicals which retain a foremost place in modem laboratories. the liquid aqua Specially associated
with
his
name
is
chloric regia, a mixture of nitric and hydro^so called because acids which dissolves gold " " The resulting the royal metal. of its power over
"
212
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
he regarded as the Elixir of Life. solution, aqua regalisy '* It was potable gold.'* In this view administered as he was Bacon, followed by Roger told His who Holiness
Pope
Nicholas
IV.
marvellous virtues. An old man, yellow liquor (thesolution is while ploughing be dew, he drank
into
a
its story concerning he said, found some
in yellow)
one
day
in Sicily.
was
golden phi"l Supposing it to
it. He
thereupon
transformed
hale, robust, and highly accomplished youth. do not know We the Pope tried the Elixir ; whether or, if he did, what was the effect upon his constitution. have these things may is given in certain Latin manuscripts the discoveries must century, and However been, the record of the thirteenth
therefore
have
Of Geber himself we may safely preceded this period. the first to give precise descriptions aver that he was of the metals mercury, silver, lead, copper and gold ; and that he firstnoted the uses flowers red precipitate, and
Rhazes
solvent
of corrosive sublimate,
and
milk
of
sulphur.
as
a
alcohol and employed prepared brandy in several pharmaceutical preparations.
He
the properties of orpiment, realgar (" powder examined of of the mine "), borax, and various compounds The school as a whole sulphur with iron and copper.
valuable advances in medicine, and manifested made fine spirit of scientific research in many a other directions. There can be no doubt that our debt to it,
though
not
capable
of detailed determination,
is very
considerable.
Medieval
Discoveries.
that the
It is not until the time of Roger Bacon work of individual adepts stands out with
sufficient
ADVANCES
prominence
to
AND
DISCOVERIES
218
render possible the dating of specific discoveries, and the honouring As of the discoverers. in the chapter on " Materials," substance after saw we
substance
makes its appearance
in the early mediaeval

mention
period of alchemy, The store simply

was
but without
accumulates.
"
None
of particulars. the less there
fairly may steady, if slow, advance ^"imilar,we historical evidence is to that of the days when assume,
more
abundant. Roger Bacon the way
his suggestions the process of
his preconsidered above paring for the discovery of gunpowder, and about the part played by the air in
we
"
have
combination. Albertus Magnus, was
Another
even more
famous
alchemist
Not of chemical discoveries. acquainted with the purification of metals by means of alum, and with of lead, with various chemical uses the composition caustic alkali, but he determined of in respect
it wholly of mercury) by forming cinnabar (an ore from the metal and sulphur, described accurately the preparation of acetates of lead and copper, noted the effects of heat on sulphur, and utilised the action of fortis in separating aqua alloys of gold and silver. No mean take account this, when we of achievement
successful he only was
he was the opportunities ! Moreover, " " the firstto speak of the affinities of substances ân in modem idea of fundamental importance chemistry. the times
and
"
" the term amalgam," employed connected probably with the Greek malagma^ softness. he treated were The amalgams those of of which
His
pupil, Aquinas,
mercury of metals. with another metal or combination Medallists came to use the word of any kind of soft " " fellfiway, leaving alloy ; then the idea of softness
214
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
t"mino4
This development that of intimate mixture. in which illustrates the way admirably alchemist be quietly absorbed pn""ca m.y -d
merely of the source. with but littlerecogmtion Raymond LuUy was another genius who took In field of knowledge for his province. whole the
the
sphere of chemistry, he prepared carbonate of potash discovered by means and of tartar and wood-ash, several essential oils. He was especially interested in "spirit
seem
of wine," the art to have then been

on
of distilling which would but recently learnt. He
bestowed
it the
honourable
ardenSy and in his enthusiasm Elixir of Life* To
of aqiui vUce declared it to be the very
name
triumphs. assigned many by a But it has been shown that his name was assumed Tholde, an author of the seventeenth certain Johann
were
Basil Valentine
century, and it is therefore no easy matter really belongs to him or to a later date.
case
to say what
But
in any
by alchemists ; and, made bearing in mind the need for critical caution, let us his name. He them group under prepared metals " " For example, by what are called wet methods.
the discoveries
were
pyrites into sulphate of copper through a plate of the action of humid air, and then plunged iron into a solution of the sulphate, thus obtaining he transformed He prepared sulphide copper. fulminating gold, and sulphuric ether.
pure
of potash, He wrote a
ment treat"
complete
of
treatise
"
"
on
salts,*' with
"
particular
He
spirits of salt
(hydrochloric acid)
ân
achievement
acid (as devoted much
of great significance. obtained now) from sea-salt or oil of vitriol. attention

to
the
He
antimony,
and
examined
ADVANCES
many
AND
some
DISCOVERIES
215
of its compounds,
rediscovered recently and He experimented with the air of mines, and determined its fitness for respiration. Most striking
of
have been of which thought to be new tions. acquisi-
he called conclusions about what " This, he said, is nothing else spirit of mercury." than an air flying here and there without wings, which, all
were
his
from its home, after it has been chased by Vulcan (fire) to pass into the returns to the chaos, and then expands
air from which it had been derived. What is this but the gas liberated by heating mercury oxide ? Hof er, in his
History
early discovery Priestley and Lavoisier. of oxygen ân anticipation of The instances above given are but a selection from
ofChemi^ry^holds
"
that this isan
larger number. Granting that most of them by-products were stumbled on by accident, and were (so to speak) of the art, they nevertheless serve to much
"
prove that alchemy Ages." Let the
was
object
the chemistry of the Middle of the quest have been as
chimerical as you will, the guiding theories mistaken fantastic, the or still the unsystematic, methods discoveries were made and provided a basis for the rise of the modem science.
Medicine.
the of the alchemist's quest was main object Philosopher's Stone for the winning of gold. But we have seen that from the first there was united with
this the idea of
was
a
The
always
Elixir of Life. That is to say, there muting the art of transclose alliance between
an
and
the
art
of
healing.
Adepts
were
frequently,
latest
especially in the
earliest and
in the
p
216
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
twoThe result was fold. periods, professional physicians. Chemistry sophers, which had been despised by philobecame a of of serious study by men
subject
learning
and
distinction.
Medicine
was
brought
It is to the within the range of physical experiment. Hermetic art that we must credit these two enormous gains, since, but for the hope of transmuting, the hand of tradition would
nascent
have lain yet
more
heavily
on
these
has
more
The
sciences. alliance between
the teachings of connection with Paracelsus and the Rosicrucians, and does not here further Those the need reahse emphasis. who tyranny of blind authority in any branch of human
been adequately in particularly
alchemy and medicine dealt with in previous chapters,
inquiry, and
most
who
ready burst its bonds
least in the healing art, will be the to acknowledge indebtedness to those our
not
and
helped to give
us
science of
medicine.
Classification.
that classification is essential to the development of science. The manifold of our experience must be grouped into ordered
It is generally acknowledged
objects
classes, each characterised by certain definite marks, selected, as far as may be, according to the real nature the Linnsean of the things classified. Think what system deeper
*'
in effected for Botany, what advance and knowledge in the of plant-life is secured What can say for itself natural system." alchemy that the Hermetic
in this regard ? It has been freely granted
art
ADVANCES
was
AND
Even
a as
DISCOVERIES
late
as
217
tmsystematic. century, Kunkel,

'*
the eighteenth
I, old
man
chemistry to discover
agreed
critic of the art, could write : that I am, who have been occupied with for sixty years, have never yet been able
. .
of The sulphur of one is not the sulphur of the sulphur. To that one may reply that each is at liberty other. You to baptise his child as he likes. I agree. may
even,
They their fixed sulphur. themselves among respecting the

.
are
not
kind
if you
never
are
will
ass."
make
disposed, call an ass a cow ; but you is an believe that your cow any one
And
yet
there
must
be reservations.
From
the
efforts made to classify. We earliest times there were based on how the philosophy of the art was remember by Greek thinkers the fourfold divisions proposed
"
Metals earth, water, air, fire dry, moist, cold, hot. from distinguished though the were non-metals, imperfectly selected. Here marks of separation were
"
curious example detail. It is taken distinction between

as
is
to classify in fuller of attempts " from The Book Pity. The
of
animal
and
earthy
substances
is
follows
Animal
are substances silver, lead, copper, Among divided into two categories, living and dead. the living are sulphur, arsenic, sal-ammoniac, and everything
are substances iron. Earthy
mercury,
gold,
melts, and of which fire can cause The second category, that of the spirit to depart. dead things, comprehends all that does not melt, or bum, or give off vapours ; for example, chalk and like
which
bums
or
absence of combustibility, or response is to the action of heat ^fire taken to be the principle
or
"
substances." the presence
The
ground
of distinction is evidently
218
ALCHEMY"
ITS SCIENCE
AKD
ROMANCE
The result is crude, but full of promise. Principles, triad, Elements, characteristic alchemist
of life. The
Essence,
though
more
in so natural, save between elements and compounds. is full of interest, not only A Byzantine example on the score of its astrological flavour, but also, and
chiefly, because With misses. of the
one
less subtle, is really much far as it led up to the distinction
singular
exception,
medley of hits and the are substances
grouped
appear Under
stones
Under lead (Saturn) \mder the metals. litharge, agate, like materials. other and tin (Jupiter) appear coal, sulphur and white Under iron (Mars) appear similar to enamel.
(A good hit.) Under gold and pyrites. (Sol) carbon, and the most appear hyacinth, diamond, brilliant of the precious stones. (The conjunction of is striking I) Under diamond carbon copper and
the magnet
(Venus)
appear
honey, myrrh,
is the
bitumen, pearls, amethyst, sugar, incense. Under emerald sal-ammoniac,

quicksilver,
(Mercury)appear
case
honour; that
in which but emerald

a
amber, the metal is not

was
(This mastic. in the place of

as
a
regarded
it is merely
matter
metal, so of precedence.) Lastly,
glass and white eartlius. silver (Luna) appear under for most The reasons of these groupings are obscure, but the intention is plain ^to group under comprehensive heads a had variety of substances which
"
attracted attention by special qualities or activities. Paracelsus a three-fold set propounded of
harmonies
which Soul
Mercury
secured wide acceptance Spirit Body

Sulphur Salt Earth
"
Water
Air
ADVANCES
This
was
a
AND
to
DISCOVERIES
obscurantist
219
reversion
more
mysticism.
were quietly and adepts gradually making sounder distinctions, and learning to speak of alkalies, salts, acids, metals, and the rest, to respect for the data of actual with some approach
Fortimately
sober
experience.
to
Basil
on
Valentine, salts.
as
we
saw,
wrote
special treatise
The
fact is, that in regard method, and A basis was
classification, as with experiment there was a real, though slow, advance.

being build. building modem found Let
came
on
us
which the science of the future could how this in the next chapter see now into developed how about alchemy
"
chemistry.
V
CHAPTER
TRANSITION TO
V
CHEMISTRY
MODERN
passage from Zosimus, the oldest of " I saw a the known writers on alchemy. prieststanding before an altar in form of a cup, having
HERE
is
severalsteps by which it was approached. The priest ^ I am the priest of the sanctuary, and I answered : am under the weight of the power which crushes me. At the break of day there came a workman who seized me, slew me with a sword, divided me into morsels ; after havmg liftedthe skin from my head, he mixed bones with the flesh and calcined me in the fire, to teach me that the spiritis bom with the body. That is the power that oppresses me ? ' While the priestspoke thus, his eyes became like blood, and he him mutilate himself, vomited all his flesh. I saw tear himself with his teeth and fall to the ground. Seized with terror, I awoke, reflected,nd asked myself a
my if this is really the composition of water. And congratulated myself on having divined rightly."
Compare this symbolical jargon with the directions manual of chemistry. Can there given in a modem be a passage from one to the other ? Had we not
undertaken a sympathetic study of the alchemists' aims, doctrines, and methods, we should assuredly in the negative. But we are be tempted to answer
220
TRANSITION
now
TO
MODERN
CHEMISTRY
221
position to iinderstand that in the strange from Zosimus there are passage allusions to real dissolutions^ operations calcinations, fermentations,
a
"
in
It was the rest. these underlying and experiences that were seized upon, cleared of their gradually obscurities, and given a place in an ordered scheme.
The
process was Nature presses
long drawn
on men's
out, but inevitable.
For
and
so
suggests The
nesses likeattention fundamental her phenomena, differences among and larger inductions and wider generalisations. presuppositions
and
wayward
strivings
gradually corrected and of inquirers are Facts carry the day, and modem chemistry the birth.
curbed.
comes
to
Difficulty
in
discovebino
Elements.
of
not
When
alchemy,
modem
it may
scientist is contemptuous be surmised that he has
adequately
the realised the difficultiesunder which Right down to the days of old chemists laboured. by the greatest of the brilliant discoveries made fixed not any known chemists, Lavoisier, there were
elements
starting-points for synthesis or It was thought that all matter as goals for analysis. is endlessly transformable, backwards and forwards. The serpent biting its own tail was a legitimate symbol
to
serve
as
of the doctrine imiversally accepted. Hence were that are to us quite straightforward
problems for the
alchemists hopelessly baffling and complex. by Berthelot. Take a simple case mentioned statement of it. "I have a mineral quote his own
iron, say
one
I
of in
of the oxides
so
widely
distributed
222
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
I treat it with carbon and chalk, and I obtain metallic iron. But this in its turn, by the quick action of fire and in contact with air, or by the slow action
nature.
of atmospheric agents, oxide, identical with, generator. Where
passes back
or
to
the state of
an
analogous
to, the primitive
is the ?
judge by
so
appearances
if we primordial element, Is it the iron which appears dis-
start with
easily ? Or is it the o and is found at the en body

in would
so seem as a
elementary
pr
ma
last product resistance to

tyro nowadays
great
far
it
agents
can
of every give the

con-
chemist Berthelot realises h those who had not the means of d

an
element,
and
who
was
did not
kr in
an
of the atmosphere the changes. Or take the sound

an
case
concerned
explanation
even
of
which
as
investigator
puzzled and Van Helmont,

of
a
misled when
so
he tried
a
to account
for the growth

5 lbs. into 200
plant.
He
put
weighing
in
an oven,
lbs. of earth previously
willow dried
and watered it regularly. At the end of five years he found the plant weighed 169 lbs.,whereas the earth, after redrying, had lost only 2 ozs. in weight. What
was
he to conclude
He
had not the

His the
means
of
the real nature of water, nor dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere. therefore, seemed
of
to
knowing
of the carbon
answer,
be
irrefutable that
roots,
164
lbs.
were
woody
matter,
leaves,
and
so
forth,
by the water. That is to say, the water to had been changed into a variety of all appearance produced
*
Lea OrigiTtea de I'Alchimir, p. 283.
TRANSITION
solid substances
TO
1
A
MODERN
CHEMISTRY
228
thus forced clever scientist was to a conclusion was quite in harmony which with doctrine, out grievously yet of and alchemical
harmony
with the facts.
modest
amount,
then, of
proud
or
historical cynical
was
imagination
to
modem
should enable the realise that to be an

a
alchemist
not
necessarily to be
fool.
Discovery
It will now between the
of
the
Elements
"
^Boyle.
be apparent that the crucial difference the was old and the new chemistry For the old, matter doctrine of the nature of matter. for the new, indefinitely transmutable the was ;
elements
us
see,
to the advance brought about. As in almost every sounder view was ease not of scientific discovery, the final result was gained at a boimd, but by successive steps, and by the
fixed and imchangeable in broad the outline, how

were
ultimates.
Let
accumulation Boyle *
of guiding
was
one
saw
"
doctrine.
were
We
experiences. of the first to question the old how the Greeks had decided there
four elements earth, water, air, fire, and how Paracelsus and his school had substituted for these Boyle, on the the three mercury. ^salt, sulphur,
"
basis
was original experiments, of his many and dissatisfied with both these classifications, and introduced
"
"
conception of from that far removed
an now
element
accepted.
;
not which was The alchemists
regarded the metals belief that they were
as
compoimds He simple.
See p. 58.
he inclined to the
the theory
adopted
224
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
of atoms, which he regarded as small particles of different shapes and sizes,imited into small ^^ parcels "
not
easily separated, and contended that the alchemist elements are not simple bodies, but are built up of
In this way particles more simple than themselves. he came to distinguish between an element and a in a manner to the older compound quite opposed
conception,
and in line with the chemical doctrine He also realised that a true comof the present day. pound must not be confused with a mixture, since it
involves
"
peculiar and intimate kind of action due to " Had the fine lead substances. affinities between
a
he gave been followed up, the transition period might have been much curtailed. The phlogiston theory, however, intervened, and, though by no means wholly
mischievous, direction.
retarded
progress
in
this
particular
Discovery
One
that
of
Gases.
was
of the greatest bars to progress
the belief
were all gaseous substances essentially alike, differing only in degrees of purity. That is to say, the ancient doctrine of air as an element blocked the
way
quently, of gases generally, and, conseof the part played by oxygen in the process of first solved The men, therefore, who combustion. the difficult problems presented by the constituents
a
to
knowledge
of the atmosphere occupy places of special honour on the scientists' roll of fame, and have the fullest right to be called the founders of modem chemistrv.
Needless
once.
to
say, the truth
was
not
much-neglected
pioneer, John
gained Mayow,
all at bom
TRANSITION
in 1645,
TO
MODERN
CHEMISTRY
225
far on the road. He is not even advanced in Encyclopcedias or ordinary Biographical mentioned Dictionaries, and yet he was evidently a genius who
some accomplished striking results. He firmly grasped the fact that the atmosphere contained some substance in combustion, or in principle which was concerned in the conversion the calcining of metals, and of into arterial blood. He called it spiritus ignO' venous aereus^
did
virtue of having found it in saltpetre, It is singular that his discoveries nitro-aereus. Perhaps his early more rouse not attention.
and
also, by
death, at the age of thirty-four, not only put an end to further observations, but precluded the chance of his work becoming known.
later scientist, Stephen Hales for years held the cure of Teddington,
(1677-1761), who
was more
nate fortu-
in gaining attention, for he was able to conmiuniHis papers make cate his results to the Royal Society. it evident that he must have prepared a considerable ^hydrogen, carbonic number substances of gaseous
"
acid, carbonic oxide, sulphur dioxide, marsh gas, and but he did not break through the charmed others He thought that circle of the traditional teaching.
"
the differences between

"
these gases
were
caused
by the
more of air with substances which were less accidental. or The first clear recognition of the fact that there are various kinds of gases did not come
tincturing
"
until towards the close of the eighteenth century, when Joseph Black, a professor of chemistry in Glasgow and Edinburgh, definitely studied carbonic acid, and
separated it from the protean this advance, discoveries came
"
element,
more
air."
After
Cavendish, quickly. that eccentric genius, distinguished himself by
226
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
his accurate observations on this same gas, and also hydrogen. His most ever, howbrilliant achievement, on his discovery that water is composed was of
" " was gases ! Another of the ancient elements dethroned another blow was levelled at the alchemist
two
"
ideas of matter.
Joseph
A
Priestley
(1733-1804).
success
revolutionary still more Joseph Priestley. the famous

work Kinds
The
scored by title of his chief

was on
is Experiments
and
Observations
Different
devoted detected devised.
His chief attention at firstwas to carbonic adid ; but many other gases were by him, and new them of examining methods
ofAir.
that he merits the generally acknowledged name the father of pneumatic of chemistry." Thorpe the first to establish that the air asserts that he was is not a simple substance, as the alchemists believed
now
"
It is
all, he He discovery of oxygen.

it to
be.
Above
is
was
now
credited
with
the
old friend, oxidised mercury. " On the 1st of August, 1774, I fateful experiment : to extract air from mercuritis caldnattis endeavoured
per se ; and lens, air was
experimenting with our He thus describes the
I presently foimd that, by means of this expelled from it very readily. Having as the bulk of got about three or four times as much my materials, I admitted water to it, and foimd that by it. But what it was not imbibed surprised me than I
can
more
well express
in this air with

was
utterly at
candle burned I a remarkably vigorous flame. loss how to account for it."
was,
that
...
TRANSITION
TO
MODERN
CHEMISTRY
227
Priestley himself, in spite of his marked originality of mind, did not quite escape from and independence ideas. He thought the influence of alchemistic of
matter
as
built up,
so
to
speak,
be stripped off or added. sorely hindered in arriving at sound deductions by his theory. of the phlogiston acceptance unquestioning his work Nevertheless, gave a notable impulse to a
could
to soon chemistry which was and expanded reformed Let us again observe, banish the old ideas for ever. largely the overthrow in passing, how of alchemy turned on the investigation of gases, more especially
of properties which He was, moreover,
of oxygen, and the recognition of the part it plays in the invoked to explain, phenomena which phlogiston was in chemical history era the termination of one mark
of
oxygen.
As
Thorpe
puts
it,
"
the
discovery
This seems to be a of another." sounder way of putting the case than Muir's when he " destined to was says that Priestley's discovery
and
the beginning
change
Alchemy
into
Chemistry."
For
there
were
"
contributing influences, as we have seen above many the greatest being, perhaps, the new spirit infused by Boyle which led to the study of chemical affinity, to more careful analysis, the use of the balance, and of quantitative Muir's enthusiasm methods is more
Nevertheless, generally. than pardonable.
Lavoisier
(1748-1794).
the
recognise the existence of oxygen as a separate gas ; but he did not his great discovery. The grasp the full significance of
Priestley, then,
was
first to
228
true
ALCHEMY"
theory
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
is due to the great French of combustion by the French chemist^ Lavoisier, who was murdered in the reign of terror of the first French communists
Revolution.
he adopted,
not
enter;
Into the technical details of the methods or we need of the process of combustion they belong rather to the history of
chemistry, and we are only concerned with them so far The central as they led to the overthrow of alchemy. fact is this. AU ordinary cases of burning are the results of the union of the burning substance with the
Calcination is thus a kind of the atmosphere. in that the metal combines of combustion with this gas, and thereby increases its weight by the amount oxygen
it takes up. The main
point
time
onwards
be seized became chemistry

to
is this.
a
From
his
quantUative measurements. the originator of the use
True,
science of exact Lavoisier was not
An example method. from his own both to illustrate its use of it will serve of value, and also to show how it led to the rejection idea that had prevailed from the earliest times of an Greek be that air can " to water, as in the case falling dew," of condensed and that water can be changed into a solid, as in Van from the growing Helmont's argument willow, or in the residue obtained even carefully distilled when
we
investigations ; but it was indispensable place in soimd
of the balance in chemical his teaching that gave it an
philosophy down believed, as It was
to the nineteenth
century.
have
seen,
water
is evaporated
did not assent to determined to So he put it to the test of a decisive experiment. distilled water in hermetically sealed glass vessels
in glass vessels. He this doctrine.
Now
Lavoisier
TRANSITION
TO
MODERN
CHEMISTRY
229
before and after the operation. were which weighed The steps of his argument so are typical of the new be given seriatim. that they may methods does not come from 1. The solid residue (the earth) outside the vessel ; for the total weight of the vessel its contents is unchanged. 2. The earth does not come the weight of the water is the and
the experiment. 8. The earth
from
same
the water ; for before and after
comes
from
the vessel, because
the
wholly from the vessel, because the loss in weight of the vessel is practically equal to the weight of the earth formed. Hence, Lavoisier concludes, " it follows from these
that the greater part, possibly the whole experiments of the earth separated from rain-water by evaporation, is due to the solution of the vessels in which the water has been collected and evaporated."
vessel loses in weight. 4. The earth comes
Unchanging The
core
Elements.
brings
us
experiment of the matter.

can
justgiven
The
to
elements
be anything True, liquid water can become oxygen and hydrogen. be turned into steam a solid into ice. a gas or can or But this is only a change of states not of substance ; there is an alteration in the properties of the substance, constituted
never
" "
of which but themselves
the very is water
but
names
"
there
are
is
mere
That different substance. given to the three states water, steam îce, in accident, due to their-^commonness
a
is not
new
"
280
ALCHEMY"
Thus
ITS
SCffiNCE
AND
we
ROMANCE
nature.
if iron be
"molten"
gaseous
some
"
iron;
melted if it be heated
speak of it as untU it is in the
form^
we
similar name. iron " throughout.
should We
" " iron, or call it vaporised know that the substance is
The
new
doctrine cannot
"
Lavoisier's
own
words,
be better stated than in If we the term apply
elements or principles to bodies to express our idea of the last point which analysis is capable of reaching, we into which must admit, as elements, all substances
we are we we
able to reduce
are
bodies by decomposition.
these
Not
that
entitled to affirm that

as
which
more
consider
simple
or even
may
not
a
substances themselves be
compounded
of two,
of
greater
number
of
simple principles ; but since these principles be separated, or rather, since we have not cannot hitherto discovered the means of separating them, they
are,
with regard to
to suppose
us,
simple substances, and
we
ought
never
but it remains substantially true. Mellor, in his Modem Inorganic Chemistry^ quotes the
passage thus : know,
and observation this in 1789, wrote
compounded until experiment have proved them to be so." Lavoisier
them
approval, and summarises with complete " An element is a substance which, so far as contains only one kind of matter." it
was
it
we
Thus
chemical
was
that
for the
vague,
fluid
ideas
composition
held by
the old chemists
of there
tion substituted a clear notion of what such composia peculiarly intimate union really involves of kinds certain quantities of different and unchanging
"
of matter.
The
can
combinations definite, is
fact that the proportions in which take place are not haphazard,
the
but
discovery
of fundamental
importance
TRANSITION
TO
MODERN
CHEMISTRY
281
which renders it possible to represent chemical actions But by mathematically we exact equations. need development. It is not here inquire into this further
refinement on a general principle. And the general for the new won science itscomplete principle, by itself, and lasting victory.
a
Alchemist
Atoms practical composed far as our
are
Transmutation
now
abandoned.
ultimates, so far as is concerned. And are atoms chemistry kinds of matter, so of definite unchangeable
us
for
the
of them can be effective. It manipulation is insistence on this truth that constitutes the radical
difference between
the transmutation
the fabrication of compound early days of the Hermetic
of metals From substances.

onwards,
and the had
art
there
been
had cast individuals who Such of transmutation. had

little influence
on
doubts
on
the possibility
however,
intuitive sceptisicm, the theory or the
It was the gradual accumulation practice of alchemists. in the work of Lavoisier, of facts, culminating that at last bore all before it. No longer do adepts to labour their supposed strip from substances
desired. separable qualities, or superinduce those more longer do they search for hidden No virtues and by the commingling essences of which they may speed towards perfection and procure up a natural growth The modem the perfect metal. adept goes to work He starts with the knowin very different fashion. ledge that certain of his materials are unalterable.
Jle examines
the properties of these with unwearying

Q
282
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
to analyse
AND
ROMANCE
exactness
; learns how
of them^
glamour his tin transmuted see gold. to be
and how to build up new longer lures him on. no
existing compounds The ancient ones.

He
never
But
he knows
into silver, or that there are far greater marvels

even
expects to his copper into
discovered could
than
ever
the
most
daring
of the
alchemists
imagine.
CHAPTER
THE
VI
OUTLOOK
any grounds for anticipating that the hope of transmuting it may be revived in some defensible form ? An more to this question has been several affirmative answer
THE
old idea of perfecting matter is dead. natural development
by
Are
course
of
there
suggested in what has preceded ; and it is fitting that a fuller consideration of the point raised should
times
conclude Bacon,
case
who
study. from the standpoint of his time, puts the clearly. "It is a thing more probable, that he knoweth of Weight, of Colour, well the nature
our
of Pliant and Fragile in respect of the hammer, of Volatile and Fixed in regard of the fire,and the rest,
some upon superinduce metal the nature and to the as belongeth of gold by such mechanique of the natures afore rehearsed, than that production
may form
some
grains of the medicine projected should moments of time turn a sea of quicksilver
*
in
or
few
other
Bacon, therefore, is among material into gold." has a future, and those who conceive that alchemy that the chances of solving its problem will be increased
through
the growth
of apparatus.
*
of knowledge and With the triumph
ment the improveof the atomic
AdvancemerU
of Learning,
233
p. 75.
284
ALCHEMY"
ITS
came a
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
theory
of matter
enthusiastically in the question reflection proved find no less an we follows

"
period of eclipse. Scientists had decided they the concluded Further discoveiy negative. and them to have been too hasty ; and authority than Faraday writing as
was
a
There
time
when
this fundamental
doctrine of the alchemists (that transmutation) was of longer so It is now no opposed to known analogies. opposed present modem
only * development."
to
them,
some
stages
most
beyond
their
This
discoverers deliberately ranges Has since side of the transmutationists. anything to light that would come the belief ? again weaken Rather
is the contrary to be emphatically asserted. The trend of discovery is distinctly in itsfavour.
brilliant of himself on the
The
is theory of the atomic rigidity of the older form rapidly disappearing, if it has not quite disappeared ;
and the
scientists
are
feeling their way
out
was not very existence of which those who had comfortably settled down
into worlds by suspected

to
a
system
of physics
which
was
number
of atoms
going to coimt in the universe.
the unalterable
The
Elements
are
not
Ultimates.
At the present time there are some eighty elements which chemists hold to be different kinds of matter,
so
existing There determine. who elements
far
as
can of distinguishing them however, few, if any, authoriare, ties that the recognition of maintain would now is the last word of science on the tdtimatc
means
"
Lectures
on
Non-Metallic
Elements,
p. lOG.
THE
nature
OUTLOOK
Tilden,
"
235
of
matter.
for
example^
molecular
warns
us
against such a conclusion. in theory has been adopted

not
The
a
(atomic)
own
somewhat
rigid form,
by
reason
of any
special conviction
its permanence but a as regarding because I am satisfied by long experience that, whatever form it may it is even now a ultimately assume,
most
of my scientific truth,
important
and
*
teaching strongly
chemistry."
almost More
indispensable
recently
aid
to
Soddy,
who
the persistence of the elements, emphasises " have the atoms Ireason not without affirming that been termed the foundation stones of the universe," nevertheless looks forward, as we shall see directly,
a
to
time
when
science may
them. pieces and construct in the the dazzling temperatures

"
be able to pull them to He points out that, at

sun
and the hot dissociation of the elements into simpler stars, forms has been imagined be taking to be and may " f and contents himself with recording the place ; fact that " so far, even at the highest temperature rendered available by the use of the electric furnace, indications of a transmutation no of the elements is " Some Whetham yet forthcoming." writes : years
of the chemical elements ago the constancy a law then state of knowledge, of Nature.
was,
in the
Latterly,
us
the
phenomena of radioactivity have true believe transmutations that

.
forced
to
occur."
Recent
science,
then,
of matter is far from being
inimical to the hope

to
some
simpler
*
that the elements may be reduced kind, or kinds, of substance. And

Philosophy
p. 143. Physical
t J
Introd. to Chemical and Energy, Recent Development

Matter
(1876), vii p.
Science
of
(1904), 36. p.
286
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
is this but to allow the possibility of transmutation ? Lord Kelvin, indeed, in 1907, challenged the inferences then being drawn from radioactivity ; but what
his
were objections
of the proceedings
effectively countered in the his pronouncement at which discoveries have
course was
made ; and them.
subsequent
overthrown
Isomerism
The
and
Allotbopism.
are that quaUties of the alchemists separable things, to be taken from or added to substances, But it has its measure erroneous. was of When two truth. are atoms chemically of hydrogen
idea
united, there
a
comes so
into being
substance
different from
times
it
was
molecule of water its constituents that

"
until quite
recent
held to be
of
mental funda-
element.
The
discovery
character Now what

takes
was
of the triumphs happens the chemical when

one
its compound science. of the new
combination
atoms place ? Do the hydrogen and oxygen gain or lose certain qualities which are separable from Not at all. They them? certain manifest merely
qualities which
not
all along possessed, but could into this parbrought exercise until they were ticular relation. So a man may have all the qualities
they
as of a good general ; but they cannot, such, be put into action unless he is in relation to an army. This fact leads us to realise that, even were atoms themselves their apparent absolutely unchangeable,
qualities may
relations
"
be altered by
bringing
them
into
new
:new
say, there is a
is to That substances may appear. kind of transmutation possible by giving
THE
new
OUTLOOK
287
forms to the groupings of atoms. And who shall ? Who be thus accomplished set bomids to what may now called of the substances shall say how many not be, in reality, exceptionally stable elements may
groups of simpler constituents ? These are not questions do actually know Chemists of
merely
cases
academic.
clearly
which
demonstrate
even
that
form
of grouping
alters properties,
atoms contain the same in the same relative qualities. They have concluded that the atoms of a molecule are so definitely arranged
when
the
substances
that
places without two When altering the properties of the substance. identical in their percentage or more are compounds but differ in their properties, they are composition
said
to
no
two
of
them
can
change
be
gives
isomeric
the
(" composed
Mellor
nitrate
following
of equal parts " Ammonium : example

nitrite
are
").
and
hydroxylamine with
the
same
two
different
substances
same
molecular
oxide
almost
are
and
water
the ultimate composition, both furnish nitrous and weight, heated. There the similarity when
so
The general properties of the two salts ends. for doubt very different that there is littleroom
of the molecules
must
that
the constitution different."
be quite
this principle does not refer to. compounds selves. alone ; it is foimd to be true of the elements themCertain of them or more may exist in two
forms
But
with
are
distinctly
different
forms
notable is obtained as
two
said to be aUotropic. There is the amorphous example. from
Such properties. furnishes a Carbon

form such
burning
wood;
or
crystalline forms,
graphite
and there are black lead, and
238
ALCHEMY"
diamond.
than
ITS
Could
the
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE
startlingly transparent
the
different diamond
be more anything liquid, glancing,
and the opaque blackness of the other two ? And yet their ultimate atoms are absolutely the same. " And the diamond heated in the electric arc, out of contact with air, blackens and swells up into a cokelike
mass."
Other
and
that
ozone,
sulphur. the
and In the
instances are oxygen well-known the differing forms of phosphorus and

case
seem of sulphur, it would even in the molecules of atoms of the is plastic, crystalline amorphous,
"
number allotropic forms ! the same
"
Now
it not
these facts suggest
wider
be possible to modify
May applications. simple bodies which are
physically alien (soto speak)in such fashion that one may pass into the other ? Oxygen and sulphur might
a are weights (within fraction), two of their properties, and produce alike in most So, also, gold, platinum parallel series of compounds. remarkably and iridium are alike, and suggest that
fall into such have the same
mutual
atomic
relations.
Cobalt
and
nickel
they with
are
constituted by the different arrangements
same
fimdamental
matter
to be not would seem be granted, however,
The of atoms. altogether hopeless.

that
outlook It must
would
quite
such reciprocal genesis have to be accomplished by some operation of in our to power another order than any now
execute.
Natural
Families
of
Elements.
The
question
considerations
on
grander
last adduced raise a larger scale. All the known elements
THE
have
which
now
are
OUTLOOK
a
289
been
symmetrical
with
anomalies
series of family groups themselves almost miited by close and ance relations. The classification is in accordThe is called the Periodic Law. what
are
fitted into
evidence
is
and exceptions, which interference of some the not yet discovered ; but and
not
serious,
secondary the general

It
perturbatio plan
even
clear,
profoundly
suggestive.
is
definite enough
unknown
to allow of predicting the existence
of
elements,
and
describing
their chief properties.
Now
gradated
groups
the
outstanding
relationship. of compound
fact in all this is that of into find atoms We united
properties, and we building up of these
substances with closely related know that the result is due to the
atoms
And
when
we
see
that
in definite proportions. fall into the atoms themselves
likewise closely related groups, possessing if not compulsory, reasonable, properties, it is eminently built up of subto assume that they are is to say, they are That decompo not atoms. ultimate, insimilar
things, but
now they always what being by a constructive In the great obvious. can
composite but are, process. laboratory

;
they
were
not
have
come
into is
The
inference
be
made the
can
and
unmade
discover they
too
conditions
make
and
and the
they of Nature if scientists can

means
necessary,
The the elements. and tmmake Soddy difficulty may, as says, be prodigious ; but light is And the possibility is there. thus a new " Vulcan thrown upon the old alchemist dictum that
is
a
second
nature,
and
imitateth
nature
that
dexterously worketh by
and
compendiously
which
240
ALCHEMY"
and
ITS
length
SCIENCE
of time."
*
AND
There
ROMANCE
is
a
ambages for a new
goal
alchemy.
Radioactivity.
Even
were
we
to limit ourselves to what

we
was
known
at the close of last century,
should
be
in justified
tion, claiming that a belief in the possibility of transmutain a modernised sense could be of that term, But the case was rationally defended. enormously
in the opening strengthened years of the present century in consequence of the astoimding phenomena manifested by what are called the radioactive bodies. The story of how M. and Madame Curie discovered
radium
is familiar to most
retold.
Nor
need
we
radical modifications doctrines of matter by the conclusions which the fact Let us simply try to grasp the of radioactivity compels. main facts in so far as they bear on our special
and need not here be detail the consider in any into introduced scientific
of
us,
subject.
In the firstplace, let it be clear that chemists have not given up their eighty elements ; they stillrightly hold to them But they as their working ultimates. longer point to their science as being fundamental. can no
For
from
atoms
cannot
now
the practical standpoint, Certain of them can be actually seen, eyes, in the process of slow spontaneous
The
"
be considered, even to be unchangeable. under our very disintegration.
most
familiar instance
(asSoddy
element
says)if it is no
"
of radium, which true element, then the word
is that
has
no
breaking
They
pour
"
Its atoms conare tinuously meaning. into simpler down substances.

never-ceasing
stream
p. 69.
forth
Bacon,
of energy
Advancement
of Learning,
THE
OUTLOOK
nor
241
which
which
employ.
neither quickens is unaffected by And
relaxes agents
we
its pace,
are
and
to
any
able
changing,
is since the composition of these atoms Between is in process. the transmutation
original radium and the last of the products there are some thirty transitional forms, each with its own
dejftnitecharacteristics I But this is not all. Radium last for

to
us
atoms,
on
the average, relatively
more
than 2000
time,
years.
a
mere
This, though
long
is
with the there are

must
are
age
any
a
of the earth. of these atoms
nothing in comparison is it, then, that How

in existence ? There is it ? Scientists What
be
supply-source.
practically agreed that this is found in another itself is a body, Radium radioactive uranium.
! Other of transmutation of the products inert gas, and helium, an serial disintegration are lead. Without further explication, (almost
product
certainly)
we
therefore,
uranium,
have
here
helium,
"
four
radium,
recognised elements lead" which are not only

"
of groups related to each periodically by a known other, but are connected process of All this is strangely in agreement transmutation.
members
"
Who shall venture the alchemists aimed at. to prophesy of structural chemistry or what triumphs by those who are to come not be won physics may
with what after us ? This question
is not
to
rhetorical
one,
occurring
the mind of one simply reflects on what others who have accomplished, and gives rein to his imagination. Professor Soddy he is a man is puts it. And who distinguished for first-hand practical study of radioactivity
and for solid discovery. He
writes
thus:
242
"
ALCHEMY"
us
ITS
SCIENCE
AND
ROMANCE knowledge
Let
consider
the of what To build up an attempt of the alchemist involved. like gold from a lighter oimce of a heavy element element like silver would require in all probability the problem expenditure of coal, bought.
so
the
light of persent transmutation, see and in the
of the energy that the oimce the
of
some
hundreds
element with a than gold and produce gold from it, so great an atom amoimt of energy would probably be evolved that the be of little account. The gold in comparison would
an
other artificially to disintegrate
On
of gold would hand, if it were
of tons be dearly possible heavier
energy
we are
would be far ignorant as

it cannot
more
as
valuable than gold. Although ever mutation, of how to set about transbe denied that the knowledge
very great help towards its of the problem and We see clearly the magnitude
a
recently gained
a
constitutes
proper
understanding
ultimate
accomplishment. of the task and the unsufficiency of even disposal in at our powerful of the means
the most
a
way
not
before appreciated, of the tremendous
a clear perception and we have npw issues at stake. wards backLooking at the great things science has already accomplished, and at the steady growth in power and fruitful-
it can of scientific method, scarcely be doubted day we shall come to break down that one and build break down up elements in the laboratory as we now
ness
build up compounds, will then throb with a immeasurably removed and

control as they in turn of the human savage."
"
and
new
the pulses of the world

source
of strength
we
as
from from
any
at
present
resources
are
the natural
The
Interpretation of Radium,
pp. 237, 238.
THE
OUTLOOK
243
The But
Elixir
of
Life.
.an
of the alchemist's hope of discoverincr what Elixir which should give health and longevity, if an ? That surely must be dismissed as not immortality be acknowledged Well, it must idle dream. that
the outlook in the case
in this regard is not for transmutation.
art
are
nearly so hopeful as The advances made
in the healing
us
a
of famed
longer average discovering some
wonderful, and have secured for life. But there is littleexpectation
among inevitable fate, but that it is due

are
like the new panacea wholly Elixir. There are, indeed, not a few authorities contend that death is not an physicians who
to disease.
If they
trace the causes right, and if they can of that disease" atrophy, sclerosis of the arteries, and so forth be forthcoming. The general may ^then the remedy is that old age and death are the opinion, however,
"
results of processes therefore inevitable.
inherent
in
the
organism,
and
be taken. The point of view may another linked together the ideas of the Philosopher's alchemists
But
Stone
one
and
be to would to transmute, and so would put men give the power in possession of virtues and influences exceeding those Translate this into modem experience. of normal terminology.
of the Elixir, and held that to find The Stone would find the other.
find a key to unlock If scientists can the structure of the atom, they will be in possession of forms Who boimdless of energy. supplies of new but that in some be knows of these forms there may
found
"
the
life-force "
which
the whole
upward
impulse
possible of organic evolution ? The
has
rendered
244
ALCHEMY"
ITS
SCIENCE
one.
AND
ROMANCE
speculation more than
is a daring
a
speculation.
It must not claim to be And yet there is nothing

"
in it that is contrary to reason that ^nothing, even, is out of harmony thus with positive science. And once we that Hermetic may again acknowledge
philosophers had glimpses of possibilities which may lifeyet be realised. For if the primal mysterious force can be brought under control, it cannot failto be exploited for the healing of disease and off of decay.
Conclusion.
the warding
The
the
long story has been unfolded. future has been ventured. What
A glance into shall be our
A superficial judge will final verdict on alchemy? its folliesand its seize on its superstitions and errors, If he be a man inclined will condenm. his sentence by an expression to mercy, he will temper of regret that so fanatical a devotion should have he on Would been wasted a false and useless art. frauds. He
If not, why The lore of the astrologer issued in the science not ? The lore of the alchemist issued in the of astronomy.
decide
thus
in the
case
of astrology ?
The advantage of comparative science of chemistry. matter rested with the men who simplicity in subject Let of the spangled heavens. studied the phenomena
this fact be kept in mind, The errors pronoimced.

actions, and
and
were
juster verdict
mostly
the
will be
consequences
of the extraordinary of chemical

a
complexity
of adherence
and subtlety to the tenets of
misleading philosophy. A generous and large-minded judge will disregard the follies, will thrust aside the. charlatans, to fix his
THE
OUTLOOK
245
attention on those nobler inquirers who in dark and dijBScult times experimented and observed, and who to the stock of human thus handed on and added
knowledge.
their work They are speculative furnished science; ingenious which
It is by the true alchemists. be assessed. that the value of the art must to be credited with that of
These
were
conjoining
thought
a
basis
and for the
laboratory
practice which development of genuine
discoveries and with a host of valuable devices ; with that insight into Nature of possibilities only to be catches glimpses
who have
realised by workers
gained fuller knowledge
adequate equipment. A modest dower of human sympathy and of constructive historical imagination will enable us to set the work of the alchemists in large perspective, and so to estimate aright the amount debt to them. of our We
the
ourselves, indeed, have passed through
narrow
and
more
valleys of preconceived on the more slopes. But let open mountain emerged us not fail in our of gratitude to those who meed blazed
and beyond opinions, and have
the trail through
the low-lyii^
jungle. Let
us
apply to the Hermetic art itself, with broader reference, the words that Browning of one puts into the mouth of its most gifted, but also most erring, professors
"
stoop Into ft dark tiemendous sea of oloud. It is but for a time ; I press God's lamp dose to my breast ; its splendour, soon
"HI
or
late.
Will pierce the gloom."
THE
END
PBINTBD
BY
WILLIAM
CLOWXS
AND
SOUS*
LIMfnCD,
BONDOH
AND
BSCCLBS*
V
.

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This may Alchemy.

for the conditions under did their work, we alchemists

at" Alchemy aimed Psychological aspects

and with magic Division of the

Magnus Aquinas Roger Bacon Universal diffusion Medieval criticism

Successors ^Paracelsus Chief cause of decadence

A world of change"The Dyeing the metals ^Imperfect

Platonism tion Composi-

Metals and animal birth Metals have body and soul

Dying and reviving of Introduction of moral

secret elixir ^The alkahest Dyer and Eelley

Examples of obscurity Vaguenessof terminology Obscurities 1G9 receipts ^Straightforward

l Intrusion feeling Apparatus-"Processes~Ben Jonson*s ist of Processesin detail .."

Combining of theory spirit^ and practice"Dawn of the scientific

are not ultimates elements Natural families of elements life Conclusion

Isomerism and allotropism The elixir of Badioactivity"

yet, when sympathetically in varied interests, for the poet,

of remembrance. studied, it abounds

in the annals of European

ask what sought

would imagine. m the popular

of them stands mind-r-the discovery

of the term of that Their woiSdfous

it will be said, never attained its delusive ; and is therefore unworthy

of serious study. to be hasty and bulks form

inference is easily shown superficial. Delusion undeniably

It could not, then, be a body that there should accumulate

than with his reason, Natural Magic, and

three in number Alchemy; of which

sciences nevertheless the ends

pretences are discover that

raised will pseudo-art it is of why

of continued place that it gained

of soUd prestige which failures and disappointments. It

survived constant was also in the same

substances spite, then,

laboured tp wills ; alchemy for the satisfaction of human

and vanities debased, these arts,

tion. creations of imaginato they have emancipation

of all. For, until quite recent guides in the unravelling of the

replete with psychological of the art brings before us,

world is in reality a there is perennial truth in

the much-quoted in heaven and

that there are aphorism dreamt earth than are

soaring aspirations. If it be urged that

age has outgrown

and sufficiently disturbing

has environment fundamentally are

Romance. It is possible, then, to

the employed the mysteries

of the Roman and Ben

and the like weird imagination. The store is

and labours of the alchemists.

of the art from its philosophy to devote to these the larger

the details of the bird's-eye view of its

and thus obtain a framework happenings, discoveries, may

into which persons, be fitted. Then may

attain results which may that could be suspected or imagined

Mythical The back

invest it with Some Adam

thus easily satisfied,and sought to the imposing dignity of a hoary antiquity.

is not quite convincing. very different and far sounder