The alchemistic theory of the compound nature and mutual relations of the metals is usually ascribed to Geber; but, although he adopted it, he distinctly states that it did not originate with him, but that he found it in the writings of his predecessors.
The idea of the stone, the philosophical powder, the grand magisterium, the elixir, the tincture, the quintessence—by all of which terms the transmuting medium is known in the literature of alchemy—is probably connected with another conception respecting the origin of metals which can be traced to very early times and was prevalent throughout the Middle Ages. It was supposed of old that metals were generated within the earth, as animals and plants were generated on its surface, and that something akin to a seed, or semen, was needed to initiate their formation. The great problem of alchemy was to discover this fecundating substance, as upon it depended the genesis of the perfect metal. This idea of the conception of metals runs through the literature of alchemy. It explains many allusions and much of the terminology of its writers. For example, the furnace in which the alchemist makes his projection is constantly spoken of as the philosophical egg.
It is impossible to say with certainty when and where the art of alchemy originated. There is no evidence that it has the antiquity which certain of its adepts claimed for it. Oleus Borrichius referred it to the time of Tubal-cain. The earliest writers on alchemy were probably Byzantine ecclesiastics, some of whom professed to ascribe the art to Egypt, and eventually to the mythological deity Hermes, whose association with chemistry in such terms as “the hermetic art,” “hermetically sealed,” etc., is thus explained.
This much is established—that at some period prior to the tenth century there arose a special class of operative chemists, for the most part more learned in the knowledge of chemical phenomena in general, and more skilled in chemical manipulation, than the craftsmen and artisans engaged in the manufacture of technical products. They devoted themselves to searching for methods whereby the common and baser metals might be converted into silver and gold. The first known definition of chemistry relates to the aim and operations of this special class. It occurs in the lexicon of Suidas, a Greek writer of the eleventh century, who defines chemistry, χημíα as the preparation of silver and gold. Attempts at the artificial preparation of the noble metals probably originated with the Arabians, who followed the Egyptians and the Greeks in the cultivation of chemical pursuits.
Neither Hesiod nor Homer makes mention of the art of producing gold from any other metal, or speaks of the universal medicine. Nor are they referred to by Aristotle or by his pupil Theophrastus. Pliny nowhere speaks of the philosopher’s stone, although he tells the story of Caligula, who, tempted by his avarice, sought to make gold from orpiment (auripigmentum) by distillation. “The result was that he did indeed obtain both, and of the finest kind; but in so small quantity, and with so much labour and apparatus, that, the profit not countervailing the expense, he desisted.”
According to Boerhaave, the first author who mentions al-chemia is Julius Firmicus Maternus, who lived under Constantine the Great, and who, in his Mathesis, c. 15, speaking of the influences of the heavenly bodies, affirms “that, if the moon be in the house of Saturn when a child is born, he shall be skilled in alchemy.”
The first writer who mentions the possibility of transmuting metals would appear to be a Greek divine called Æneas Garæus, who lived towards the close of the fifth century, and who wrote a commentary on Theophrastus. He was followed by Anastatius the Sinaite, Syncellus, Stephanus, Olimpiodorus; and, says Boerhaave, “a crowd of no less than fifty more, all Greeks, and most or all of them monks.” “The art seemed now confined to the Greeks, and among them few wrote but the religious, who from their great laziness and solitary way of life were led into vain, enthusiastical speculations, to the great disservice and adulteration of the art.... They all wrote in the natural style of the Schoolmen, full of jargon, grimace, and obscurity.”
Experimental alchemy, as distinguished from industrial chemistry, may, as already stated, be said to have originated with the Arabians. At first, alchemy was regarded as a branch of the art of healing, and its professors were invariably physicians who occupied themselves with the preparation of chemical medicines. In fact, in the beginning its true aim was regarded as that which Paracelsus and the school of iatro-chemists subsequently defined it to be. Under the rule of the Caliphs the study of chemistry made considerable progress, and its literature was greatly augmented. The most notable name in the history of chemistry during the eighth century was Abu-Moussah-Dschabir-Al-Sufi—otherwise Geber—(born 702, died 765), who is stated to have been either a native of Mesopotamia, or a Greek and a Christian, who afterwards embraced Mahometanism, went to Asia, and acquired a knowledge of Arabic. According to Leo Africanus, a Greek who wrote of the antiquity of the Arabs, Geber’s book was originally written in Greek and translated thence into Arabic, and he was not known by the name Geber, which signifies a great man or a prince, till after this version. Latin translations of what purported to be his works were first published in the early part of the sixteenth century, and an English rendering appeared in 1678. According to this it would seem that Geber regarded all the metals as compounds of “sulphur” and “mercury,” the differences between them depending upon the relative proportion and degree of purity of these constituents. He is said to have distinguished them by the astrological names of the planets: thus gold became Sol, silver Luna, copper Venus, iron Mars, tin Jupiter, and lead Saturn. That an occult connection of the metals with the stars existed was part of the creed of alchemy, and the influence of that belief is still traceable in chemical, and especially in pharmaceutical, literature; as, for example, in such terms as Lunar caustic, Martian preparations, Saturnine solutions, etc.
It has been held that the idea of a universal medicine had its origin with Geber. But this may be due to a misreading of his words, which in reality may have reference to the transmutation of metals. He tells of a medicine which cures all lepers. But this may be nothing but allegory. By man is probably meant gold, and by lepers the other metals; and the medicine is the universal solvent or agent which transmutes. Alchemistic literature is full of allegories of this character. Berthelot has shown that in reality there were two Gebers—one who is generally considered to be of Arab origin, and another whose identity is not established, but who was probably a Western European who appears to have lived about the year 1300.[1]
[1] There is very little doubt that the work of “Phileletha,” which professed to be taken from an “Uhralten MS.” preserved in the Vatican Library, entitled Geberi des Königes der Araber, and published by Hieron. Philipp. Nitschel, Frankfurth and Leipzig, in 1710, is spurious.