“Then a Gentleman that oughte me great mallice
Caused me to be prest to goe serve at Callys:
When I saw there was no other boote,
But that I must goe spight of my heart roote;
In my fury I tooke a Hatchet in my hand,
And brake all my Worke whereas it did stand.”[65]
[65] Thomas Charnock: The Breviary of Naturall Philosophy (see Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, edited by Ashmole, 1652, p. 295.)
Thomas Charnock married in 1562 a Miss Agnes Norden. He died in 1581. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that his name does not appear in the history of Chemistry.
Andreas Libavius (1540-1616.)
§ 51. Andreas Libavius was born at Halle in Germany in 1540, where he studied medicine and practiced for a short time as a physician. He accepted the fundamental iatro-chemical doctrines, at the same time, however, criticising certain of the more extravagant views expressed by Paracelsus. He was a firm believer in the transmutation of the metals, but his own activities were chiefly directed to the preparation of new and better medicines. He enriched the science of Chemistry by many valuable discoveries, and tin tetra-chloride, which he was the first to prepare, is still known by the name of spiritus fumans Libavii. Libavius was a man possessed of keen powers of observation; and his work on Chemistry, which contains a full account of the knowledge of the science of his time, may be regarded as the first text-book of Chemistry. It was held in high esteem for a considerable time, being reprinted on several occasions.
PLATE 9.
