FOOTNOTES:
[1] The word χημεια is said to occur in several Greek manuscripts of a much earlier date. But of this, as I have never had an opportunity of seeing them, I cannot pretend to judge. So much fiction has been introduced into the history of Alchymy, and so many ancient names have been treacherously dragged into the service, that we may be allowed to hesitate when no evidence is presented sufficient to satisfy a reasonable man.
[2] Χημεια, ἡ του αργυρου και χρυσου κατασκευη· ἡς τα βιβλια διερευνησαμενος ὁ Διοκλητιανος εκαυσε, δια τα νεωτερισθεντα αιγυπτιοις Διοκλητιανω· τουτοις ανημερως και φονικως εχρησατο ὁτεδη και τα περι χημειας χρυσου και αργυρου τοις παλαιοις γεγραμμενα βιβλια διερευνησαμενος εκαυσε, προς το μηκετι πλουτον αιγυπτιοις εκ της τοιαυτης προσγινεσθαι τεχνης, μηδε χρηματων αυτοις θαρῥονιτας περιουσια του λοιπου ῥωμαιοις ανταιρειν.
[3] Δερας, το χρυσομαλλον δερας, ὁπερ ὁ Ιασων δια της ποντικης θαλασσης συν τοις αργοναυταις εις την κολχιδα παραγενομενοι ελαβον, και την Μηδειαν την Αιητου του βασιλεως θυγατερα. Τουτο δε ουκ ὡς ποιητικως φερεται· αλλα βιβλιον ην εν δερμασι γεγραμενον περισχον ὁπως δειγινεσθαι δια χημειας χρυσον· εικοτως ουν ὁι τοτε χρουσουν ωνομαζον αυτο δερας δια την ενεργειαν την εξ αυτου.
[4] De Ortu et Progressu Chemiæ, p. 12.
[5] Σωσιμου του παναπολιτου γνησια γραφη, περι της ἱερας, και θειας τεχνης του χρυσου και αργυριου ποιησιος. Παναπολις was a city in Egypt.
[6] Shaw’s Translation of Boerhaave’s Chemistry, i. 20.
[7] Genesis iv. 22.
[8] De Iside and Osiride, c. 5.
[9] There are two Latin translations of these tables (unless we are rather to consider them as originals, for no Phœnician nor Greek original exists). I shall insert them both here.
I.—Verba secretorum Hermetis Trismegisti.
1. Verum sine mendacio certum et verissimum.
2. Quod est inferius, est sicut quod est superius, et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius ad perpetranda miracula rei unius.
3. Et sicut omnes res fuerant ab uno meditatione unius: sic omnes res natæ fuerunt ab hac una re adaptatione.
4. Pater ejus est Sol, mater ejus Luna, portavit illud ventus in ventre suo, nutrix ejus terra est.
5. Pater omnis thelesmi totius mundi est hic.
6. Vis ejus integra est, si versa fuerit in terram.
7. Separabis terram ab igne, subtile a spisso suaviter cum magno ingenio.
8. Ascendit a terra in cœlum, iterumque descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorum et inferiorum, sic habebis gloriam totius mundi. Ideo fugiat a te omnis obscuritas.
9. Hic est totius fortitudinis fortitudo fortis; quia vincit omnem rem subtilem, omnemque solidam penetrabit.
10. Sic mundus creatus est.
11. Hinc adaptationes erunt mirabiles, quarum modus est hic.
12. Itaque vocatus sum Hermes Trismegistus, habens tres partes philosophiæ totius mundi.
13. Completum est quod dixi de operatione solis.
II.—Descriptio Arcanorum Hermetis Trismegisti.
1. Vere non ficte, certo verissime aio.
2. Inferiora hæc cum superioribus illis, istaque cum iis vicissim vires sociant, ut producant rem unam omnium mirificissimam.
3. Ac quemadmodum cuncta educta ex uno fuere verbo Dei unius: sic omnes quoque res perpetuo ex hac una re generantur dispositione Naturæ.
4. Patrem ea habet Solem, matrem Lunam: ab aëre in utero quasi gestatur, nutritur a terra.
5. Causa omnis perfectionis rerum ea est per univerum hoc.
6. Ad summam ipsa perfectionem virium pervenit si redierit in humum.
7. In partes tribuite humum ignem passam, attenuans densitatem ejus re omnium suavissima.
8. Summa ascende ingenii sagacitate a terra in cœlum, indeque rursum in terram descende, ac vires superiorum inferiorumque coge in unum: sic potiere gloria totius mundi atque ita abjectæ sortis homo amplius non habere.
9. Isthæc jam res ipsa fortitudine fortior existet; corpora quippe tam tenuia quam solida penetrando subige.
10. Atque sic quidem quæcunque mundus continet creata fuere.
11. Hinc admiranda evadunt opera, quæ ad eundum modum instituantur.
12. Mihi vero ideo nomen Hermetis Trismegisti impositum fuit, quod trium mundi sapientiæ partium doctor deprehensus sum.
13. Hæc sunt quæ de chemicæ artis prestantissimo opere consignanda esse duxi.
[10] “Accipe de humore unciam unam et mediam, et de rubore meridionali, id est anima solis, quartam partem, id est, unciam mediam, et de Seyre citrino, similiter unciam mediam, et de auripigmenti dimidium, quæ sunt octo, id est unciæ tres. Scitote quod vitis sapientum in tribus extrahitur, ejusque vinum in fine triginta peragitur.”
[11] Preface to Mangetus’s Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Bergmann, Opusc. iv. 121.
[14] I allude to his Manuale sive de Lapide Philosophico Medicinali. Opera Paracelsi, ii. 133. Folio edition. Geneva, 1658.
[15] Wilson’s Chemistry, p. 375.
[16] Ibid., p. 379.
[17] Probably corrosive sublimate.
[18] Probably calomel.
[19] Mangeti Bibliothecæ Chemicæ Præfatio.
[20] Whoever wishes to enter more particularly into the processes for making the philosopher’s stone contrived by the alchymists, will find a good deal of information on the subject in Stahl’s Fundamenta Chemiæ, vol. i. p. 219, in his chapter De lapide philosophorum: and Junker’s Conspectus Chemiæ, vol. i. p. 604, in his tabula 28, De transmutatione metallorum universali: and tabula 29, De transmutatione metallorum particulari.
[21] Kircher, in his Mundus Subterraneus, has an article on the philosopher’s stone, in which he examines the processes of the alchymists, points out their absurdity, and proves by irrefragable arguments that no such substance had ever been obtained. Those who are curious about alchymistical processes may consult that work.
[22] Mem. Paris, 1722, p. 61.
[23] The original author, whom all who have given any account of the alchymists have followed, is Olaus Borrichius, in his Conspectus Scriptorum Chemicorum Celebriorum. He does not inform us from what sources his information was derived.
[24] Sprengel’s History of Medicine, iv. 368.
[25] It is curious that Olaus Borrichius omits Albertus Magnus in the list of alchymistical writers that he has given.
[26] This tract and the next, which is of considerable length, will be found in Mangetus’s Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa, i. 613.
[27] Gmelin’s Geschitte der Chemie, i. 74.
[28] Exodus xi. 2—xxv. 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26—xxviii. 8—xxxii. 2, &c.
[29] Genesis xlvii. 14.
[30] For example, Exodus xi. 2—xxvi. 19, 21—xxvii. 10, 11, 17, &c.
[31] Genesis iv. 22.
[32] For example, Exodus xxvii. 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 17, 18, 19—xxx. 18, &c. Numbers xxi. 9.
[33] Deut. viii. 9.
[34] Beitrage, vi. 81.
[35] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 1.
[36] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 2.
[37] Pliny’s phrase is plumbum argentorium. But that the addition was tin, and consequently that plumbum argentorium meant tin, we have the evidence of Klaproth, who analyzed several of these bronze statues, and found them composed of copper, lead, and tin.
[38] Beitrage, vi. 89.
[39] Beitrage, vi. 118. The statue in question was known by the name of “The Statue of Püstrichs,” at Sondershausen.
[40] Ibid., p. 127.
[41] Ibid., p. 132.
[42] Ibid., p. 134.
[43] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 11.
[44] Lib. v. c. 117.
[45] See Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 13.
[46] Genesis iv. 22.
[47] Deut. iv. 20.
[48] Deut. viii. 9.
[49] Numbers xxxv. 16.
[50] Levit. i. 17.
[51] Deut. xviii. 5.
[52] Deut. xxvii. 5.
[53] Iliad, lib. xxiii. l. 826.
[54] Xenophon’s Anabasis, v. 5.
[55] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxiv. 14.
[56] Numbers xxxi. 22.
[57] Iliad xi. 25.
[58] Lib. xxxiv. c. 17.
[59] Numbers xxxi. 22.
[60] Dioscorides, lib. v. c. 110.
[61] Lib. v. c. 110.
[62] The ancients were in the habit of extracting mercury from cinnabar, by a kind of imperfect distillation. The native mercury they called argentum vivum, that from cinnabar hydrargyrus. See Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxiii. 8.
[63] Lib. v. c. 99.
[64] Lib. xxxiii. c. 6.
[65] 2 Kings ix. 30.
[66] Chap. 23. v. 40, the Vulgate has it εστιβιζω τους οφθαλμους σουo.
[67] Hartmanni Praxis Chemiatrica, p. 598.
[68] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxiii. 6.
[69] Περι των λιθων, c. 71.
[70] Bucol. iv. 1. 45.
[71] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxv. 6.
[72] Phil. Trans. 1814, p. 97.
[73] Job xxviii. 17.
[74] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 26.
[75] Beitrage, vi. 140.
[76] Ibid., p. 142.
[77] Beitrage, p. 144.
[78] Phil. Trans. 1815, p. 108.
[79] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 2.
[80] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 2.
[81] This opinion was first formed by Baron Born, and stated in his Catalogue of Minerals in M. E. Raab’s collection, i. 356. But the evidences in favour of it have been brought forward with great clearness and force by M. Roziere. See Jour. de Min. xxxvi. 193.
[82] Plinii Hist. Nat. ix. 38.
[83] Ibid., ix. 36.
[84] Plinii Hist. Nat. ix. c. 38.
[85] Exodus xxv. 4.
[86] See Bancroft on Permanent Colours, i. 79.
[87] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxv. 11.
[88] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxviii. 12. The passage of Pliny is as follows: “Prodest et sapo; Gallorum hoc inventum rutilandis capillis ex sevo et cinere. Optimus fagino et caprino, duobus modis, spissus et liquidus: uterque apud Germanos majore in usu viris quam feminis.”
[89] Hist. of Inventions, iii. 239.
[90] Genesis ix. 20.
[91] “Oinô d’ ek kritheôn pepoiêmenô diachreontai; ou gar sphi eisi en tê chôrê ampeloi.” Euterpe chap. 77.
[92] De Moribus Germanorum, c. 23. “Potui humor ex hordeo aut frumento in quandam similitudinem vini corruptus.”
[93] Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxv. 12.
[94] The word topazo is said by Pliny to signify, in the language of the Troglodytes, to seek.
[95] Plinii Hist. Nat. ii. 63.
[96] Beitrage, iii. 104.
[97] “Quoniam inficiendis claro colore lanis candidum liquidumque utilissimum est, contraque fuscis et obscuris nigrum.”—Plinii, xxxv. 15.
[98] See Dioscorides, lib. v. c. 123. Plinii Hist. Nat. xxxv. 18.
[99] Matthew v. 13.—“Ὑμεις εστε το ἁλας της γης· εαν δε το ἁλας μωρανθη, εν τινι ἁλισθησεται· εις ουδεν ισχωει ετι ει μη βληθηναι εξω, και καταπατεισθαι ὑπο των ανθρωπων.”
[100] Proverbs xxv. 20.
[101] “Cujus asperitas visque in tabem margeritas resolvit.”
[102] Plinii Hist. Nat. ix. 35.
[103] For a fuller account of the progress of science among the Arabians than would be consistent with this work, the reader is referred to Mortucla’s Hist. des Mathématiques, i. 351; Sprengel’s Hist. de la Médecine, ii. 246.
[104] Boerhaave’s Chemistry (Shaw’s translation), i. 26. Note.
[105] Golius was not, however, the first translator of Geber. A translation of the longest and most important of his tracts into Latin appeared in Strasburg, in 1529. There was another translation published in Italy, from a manuscript in the Vatican. There probably might be other translations. I have compared four different copies of Geber’s works, and found some differences, though not very material. I have followed Russel’s English translation most commonly, as upon the whole the most accurate that I have seen.
[106] Of course I exclude the writings of the Greek ecclesiastics mentioned in a previous part of this work, which still continue in manuscript; because, I am ignorant of what they contain.
[107] Sum of Perfection, book ii. part i. chap. 5.
[108] Ibid.
[109] Ibid., chap. 6.
[110] Sum of Perfection, book ii. part i. chap. 7.
[111] Ibid.
[112] Ibid., chap. 8.
[113] Ibid.
[114] Ibid., chap. 9.
[115] Sum of Perfection, book ii. part i. chap. 9.
[116] Ibid.
[117] Ibid., chap. 10.
[118] Investigation and Search of Perfection, chap. 3.
[119] Invention of Verity, chap. 4.
[120] Search of Perfection, chap. 3.
[121] De Investigatione Perfect. chap. 4.
[122] Invention of Verity, chap. 23.
[123] Ibid., chap. 21.
[124] Ibid., chap. 23.
[125] Invention of Verity, chap. 8.
[126] Sum of Perfection, book i. part iii. chap. 4.
[127] Ibid., chap. 6.
[128] Ibid.
[129] Sum of Perfection, book i. part iv. chap. 16.
[130] Invention of Verity, chap. 10.
[131] Sum of Perfection, book i. part iii. chap. 4.
[132] Ibid.
[133] Invention of Verity, chap. 6.
[134] Invention of Verity, chap. 7.
[135] Sum of Perfection, book ii. part. ii. chap. 11.
[136] Invention of Verity, chap. 14.
[137] Ibid., chap. 4 and 12.
[138] Sum of Perfection, book ii. part iii. chap. 10.
[139] Invention of Verity, chap. 4.
[140] Sum of Perfection, book i. part iii. chap. 8.
[141] Ibid., book i. part iii. chap. 8.
[142] Investigation of Perfections, chap. 11.
[143] See Testamentum Paracelsi, passim.
[144] “Hispania, Portugallia, Anglia, Borussia, Lithuania, Polonia, Pannonia, Valachia, Transylvania, Croatia, Illyrico, immo omnibus totius Europæ nationibus peragratis, undeque non solum apud medicos, sed et chirurgos, tonsores, aniculas, magos, chymistas, nobiles ac ignobiles, optima, selectiora ac secretiora, quæ uspiam extarent remedia, inquisivi acriter.”—Præfatio Chirurgiæ Magnæ. Opera Paracelsi, tom. iii.
[145] See the dedication to his treatise De Gradibus et Compositionibus Receptorum et Naturalium. Opera Paracelsi, vol. ii. p. 144. I always refer to the folio edition of Paracelsus’s works, in three volumes, published at Geneva in 1658, by M. de Tournes, which is the edition in my possession.
[146] Opera Paracelsi, i. 485.
[147] There were two laudanums of Paracelsus; one was red oxide of mercury, the other consisted of the following substances: Chloride of antimony, 1 ounce; hepatic aloes, 1 ounce; rose-water, ½ ounce; saffron, 3 ounces; ambergris, 2 drams. All these well mixed.
[148] Opera Paracelsi, iii, 101.
[149] Opera Paracelsi, i. 243.
[150] Ibid., ii. 84.
[151] Opera Paracelsi, i. 328.
[152] “Qui elegantiorem optat, ille eum condat.”—Ibid.
[153] Archidoxorum, lib. i. Opera Paracelsi, ii. 4.
[154] De longa Vita. Opera Paracelsi, ii. 46.
[155] Archidoxorum, lib. viii. Opera Paracelsi, ii. 29. In this book he gives the method of preparing the elixir of life. It seems to have been nothing else than a solution of common salt in water; for the quintessence of gold, with which this solution was to be mixed, was doubtless an imaginary substance.
[156] Modus Pharmacandi. Opera Paracelsi, i. 811.
[157] Liber de Nymphis, Sylphis, Pygmæis, et Salamandris, et de ceteris Spiritibus. Opera Paracelsi, ii. 388. If the reader can understand this singular book, his sagacity will be greater than mine.
[158] Paragrani Alterius, tract. ii. Opera Paracelsi, i. 235. The reader who has the curiosity to consult this tract, will find abundance of similar stuff, which I did not think worth translating.
[159] Philosophiæ, tract. iv. De Mineralibus. Opera Paracelsi, ii. 282. “Quando ergo hoc modo metalla fiunt et producuntur, dum scilicet verus metallicus fluxus et ductilitas aufertur et in septem metalla distribuitur; residentia quædam manet in Ares, instar fœtûm trium primorum. Ex hac nescitur zinetum, quod et metallum est et non est. Sic et bisemutum et huic similia alia partim fluida, partim ductilia sunt—Zinetum maxima ex parte spuria soboles est ex cupro et bisemutum de stanno. Ex hisce duobus omnium plurimæ fæces et remanentiæ in Ares fiunt.”
[160] It was as follows: “Collegium medicorum in Academia Parisiensi legitime congregatum, audita renunciatione sensorum, quibus demandata erat provincia examinandi apologiam sub nomine Mayerni Turqueti editam, ipsam unanimi consensu damnat, tanquam famosum libellum, mendacibus conviciis et impudentibus calumniis refertum, quæ nonnisi ab homine imperito, impudenti, temulento et furioso profiteri potuerunt. Ipsum Turquetum indignum judicat, qui usquam medicinam faciat, propter temeritatem, impudentiam et veræ medicinæ ignorantiam. Omnes vero medicos, qui ubique gentium et locorum medicinam exercent, hortatur ut ipsum Turquetum similiaque hominum et opinionum portenta, a se suisque finibus arceant et in Hippocratis ac Galeni doctrina constantes permaneant: et prohibuit ne quis ex hoc medicorum Parisiensium ordine cum Turqueto eique similibus medica consilia ineat. Qui secus fecerit, scholæ ornamentis et academiæ privilegiis privabitur, et de regentium numero expungetur.—Datum Lutetiæ in scholis superioribus, die 5 Decembris, anno salutis, 1603.”
[161] J. B. Van Helmont, Opera Omnia, p. 100. The edition which I quote from was printed at Frankfort, in 1682, at the expense of John Justus Erythropilus, in a very thick quarto volume.
[162] Van Helmont, Opera Omnia, p. 104.
[163] Ibid., p. 105.
[164] De Flatibus, sect. 49. Opera Van Helmont, p. 405.
[165] Ibid., p. 408.
[166] Ibid., p. 409.
[167] In his Magnum Oportet, sect. 39, p. 151, he gives an account of the origin of metals in the earth, and in that section there is a description of bur, which those who are anxious to understand the ideas of the author on this subject may consult.
[168] As an example of the prescriptions of Sylvius, we give the following for malignant fever: R. Theriac. veter. ᴣij Antim. diaphor. ᴣj Syrup. Card. Benedic. ℥ij Aq. prophylact. ℥j — Cinnam. ℥ss — Scabios. ℥ij M. D.
[169] Shaw’s Boyle, iii, 424.
[170] De Ortu et Progressu Chemiæ. Hafniæ, 1674.
[171] While travelling in a tract-boat, one of his fellow-travellers more orthodox than well informed, attacked the system of Spinoza with so little spirit, that Boerhaave was tempted to ask him if he had ever read Spinoza. The polemic was obliged to confess that he had not; but he was so much provoked at this public exposure of his ignorance, that he propagated the report of Boerhaave’s attachment to Spinozism, and thus blasted his intention of becoming a clergyman.
[172] Mem. Paris, 1734, p. 539.
[173] Phil. Trans. 1733. No. 430, p. 145.
[174] It is entitled, “El Arte de los Metales, en que se ensena el verdadero beneficio de los de oro y plata por azoque,” &c.
[175] Born’s New Process of Amalgamation, translated by Raspe, p. 11.
[176] I have never seen a copy of this last work; it must have been valuable, as it was the book from which Scheele derived the first rudiments of his knowledge.
[177] For 1711, p. 238.
[178] Mem. Paris, 1718, p. 202; and 1720, p. 20.
[179] In the sixth chemical thesis, in the second supplement to the Physica Subterranea (page 791, Stahl’s Edition. Lipsiæ, 1703), he says, “ubi etiam, continuato igne, ipsum sal volatile acquires, quod eadem methodo cum vitriolo seu spiritu aut oleo vitrioli, et oleo tartari, vel borace succedit.”
[180] “Primus in his facem prætulit Beccherus; eumque magno cum artis progressu sequentem videmus in ostendenda corporum analysi et synthesi chymica versatissimum et acutissimum—Stahlium.”
[181] There is a French translation of this work, entitled “Litheognosie, ou Examen Chymique des Pierres et des Terres en général, et du Talc de la Topaz, et de la Steatite en particulier; avec une Dissertation sur le Feu et sur la Lumière.” Paris, 1753. With a continuation, constituting a second volume, in which all the experiments in the first volume are exhibited in the form of tables.
[182] 1763, p. 235.
[183] I do not know what the true name was of which Macquer is a corruption. Ker is a Scottish name belonging to two noble families, the Duke of Roxburgh and the Marquis of Lothian; but I am not aware of M’Ker being a Scottish name: besides, neither of these families was attached to the house of Stuart.
[184] Hist. de l’Acad. R. des Sciences, 1784, p. 24.
[185] The preceding character of Dr. Black is from Professor Robison, who knew him intimately; and from Dr. Adam Ferguson, who was his next relation. See the preface to Dr. Black’s lectures. The portrait of Dr. Black prefixed to these lectures is an excellent likeness.
[186] This I apprehend to be a little above the truth, the true specific gravity of carbonic acid gas being 1·5277, that of air being unity.
[187] The salts held in solution are in the state of bicarbonates of lime and magnesia. Boiling drives off half the carbonic acid, and the simple carbonates being insoluble are precipitated.