Zosimus of Panopolis.
§ 31. One of the earliest of the alchemists of whom record remains was Zosimus of Panopolis, who flourished in the fifth century, and was regarded by the later alchemists as a master of the Art. He is said to have written many treatises dealing with Alchemy, but only fragments remain. Of these fragments, Professor Venable says: “. . . they give us a good idea of the learning of the man and of his times. They contain descriptions of apparatus, of furnaces, studies of minerals, of alloys, of glass making, of mineral waters, and much that is mystical, besides a good deal referring to the transmutation of metals.”[43] Zosimus is said to have been the author of the saying, “like begets like,” but whether all the fragments ascribed to him were really his work is doubtful.
[43] F. P. Venable, Ph.D.: A Short History of Chemistry (1896), p. 13.
Among other early alchemists we may mention also Africanus, the Syrian; Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais, and the historian, Olympiodorus of Thebes.
Geber.
§ 32. In the seventh century the Arabians conquered Egypt; and strangely enough, Alchemy flourished under them to a remarkable degree. Of all the Arabian alchemists, Geber has been regarded as the greatest; as Professor Meyer says: “There can be no dispute that with the name Geber was propagated the memory of a personality with which the chemical knowledge of the time was bound up.”[44] Geber is supposed to have lived about the ninth century, but of his life nothing definite is known. A large number of works have been ascribed to him, of which the majority are unknown, but the four Latin MSS. which have been printed under the titles Summa Perfectionis Mettalorum, De Investigatione Perfectionis Metallorum, De Inventione Veritatis and De Fornacibus Construendis, were, until a few years ago, regarded as genuine. On the strength of these works, Geber has ranked high as a chemist. In them are described the preparation of many important chemical compounds; the most essential chemical operations, such as sublimation, distillation, filtration, crystallisation (or coagulation, as the alchemists called it), &c.; and also important chemical apparatus, for example, the water-bath, improved furnaces, &c. However, it was shown by the late Professor Berthelot that Summa Perfectionis Mettalorum is a forgery of the fourteenth century, and the other works forgeries of an even later date. Moreover, the original Arabic MSS. of Geber have been brought to light. These true writings of Geber are very obscure; they give no warrant for believing that the famous sulphur-mercury theory was due to this alchemist, and they prove him not to be the expert chemist that he was supposed to have been. The spurious writings mentioned above show that the pseudo-Geber was a man of wide chemical knowledge and experience, and play a not inconsiderable part in the history of Alchemy.
[44] Ernst von Meyer: A History of Chemistry (translated by Dr. McGowan, 1906), p. 31.