History of Alchemy- From the Ancient Times to the Medieval Period (Audio...

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History of Alchemy- From the Ancient Times to the Medieval Period (Audiobook)

Transcript section 1 of the history of chemistry this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Lawrence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio interface audio calm volume 1 chapter 1 of alchemy part 1 chapter 1 of alchemy the word chemistry Kamiya first occurs in sweetest a Greek writer who is supposed to have lived in the 11th century and to have written his lexicon during the reign of Alexius calmness under the word Kamiya in his dictionary we find the following passage chemistry the preparation of silver and gold the books on it were sought out by Diocletian and burnt on account of the new attempts made by the Egyptians against him he treated them with cruelty and harshness as he sought out the books written by the ancients on the chemistry of gold and silver and burnt them his object was to prevent the Egyptians from becoming rich by the knowledge of this art lest emboldened by abundance of wealth they might be induced afterwards to resist the Romans under the word de Ross asked in in the lexicon occurs the following passage Duras the golden fleece which jason and the argonauts after a voyage through the Black Sea to Colchis took together with Medea daughter of a tease the king but this was not what the poets represent but a treatise written on skins teaching how gold might be prepared by chemistry probably therefore it is called by those who lived at that time golden on account of its great importance from these two passages there can be no doubt that the word chemistry was known to the Greeks in the 11th century and that it signified at that time the art of making gold and silver it appears further that in sweet opinion this art was known to the Egyptians in the time of Diocletian that Diocletian was convinced of its reality and that to put an end to it he collected and burnt all the chemical writings to be found in Egypt nay sweetest affirms that a book describing the art of making gold existed at the time of the Argonauts and that the object of Jason and his followers was to get possession of that invaluable treatise which the poet's disguised under the term golden fleece the first meaning then of chemistry was the art of making gold and this art in the opinion of Swedish was understood at least as early as 1225 years before the Christian era for that is the period at which the argonautica expedition is commonly fixed by chronologist though the lexicon of Swedish be the first printed book in which the word chemistry occurs yet it is said to be found in much earlier tracts which still continue in manuscript thus scaliger informs us that he perused a Greek manuscript of zu Simas the pan of light written in the 5th century and deposited in the King of France's library Olas Mauritius mentions this manuscript but in such terms that it is difficult to know whether he had himself read it though he seems to insinuate as much the title of this manuscript is said to be a faithful description of the sacred and divine art of making gold and silver by Zosima s' the pan of light in this treatise is awesomest distinguishes the art by the name Kamiya from a passage in this manuscript quoted by scaliger and given also by Olas mauritius it appears that Zosima s' carries the antiquity of the art of making gold and silver much higher than sweetest as ventured to do the following is a literal translation of this curious passage the sacred scriptures inform us that there exists a tribe of Jedi who make use of women hermès mentions this circumstance in his physics and almost every writing whether sacred or apocryphal states the same thing the ancient and divine scriptures inform us that the Angels captivated by women taught them all the operations of nature offense being taken at this they remained out of heaven because they had taught mankind all manner of evil and things which could not be advantageous to their souls the Scriptures inform us that the giant sprang from these embraces crema is the first of their traditions respecting these arts the book itself they called keema hence the art is called Tamiya za samus is not the only Greek writer on chemistry Louis Mauritius has given us a list of 38 treatises which he says exist in the libraries of Rome Venice and Paris and dr. Shah has increased this list to 89 but among these we find the names of hermas Isis Horus Democritus Cleopatra poorer fre Plato etc names which undoubtedly have been affixed to the writings of comparatively modern and obscure authors the style of these authors as voracious and forms us is barbarous they are chiefly the production of Khaleesi a stiix who lived between the 5th and 12th centuries in these tracks the art of which they treat is sometimes called chemistry sometimes the chemical art sometimes the holy art and the Philosopher's Stone it is evident from this that between the 5th century and the taking of Constantinople in the 15th century the Greeks believed in the possibility of making gold and silver artificially and that the art which professed to teach these processes was called by them chemistry these opinions passed from the Greeks to the Arabians when under the caliphs of the family of a besides they began to turn their attention to science about the beginning of the ninth century and when the enlightened zeal of the fad mites in Africa and the ami IDs in Spain encouraged the cultivation of the sciences from Spain they gradually made their way into the different Christian kingdoms of Europe from the 11th to the 16th century the art of making gold and silver was cultivated in Germany Italy France and England with considerable acidity the cultivators of it were called alchemists a name obviously derived from the Greek word Kamiya but somewhat altered by the Arabians many alchemists achill tracks were written during that period a considerable number of them were collected by Lazarus zetz nur and published at Strasbourg in 1602 under the title of theatre mhmm acum precipice selector amok Terim Tractatus de kemiya at Lepidus philosophy sigh antiquity Verity drew a pristine Jie at operation Airbus continents in gradian vert came--a at medicine a chemical studious arum ooh Cree erbium owned optimum remedy or EMS emphasize a torrent congestion Eden Couture part a zoo volume digest 'm this book contains 105 different alchemists achill tracks in the year 1610 another collection of Alchemist occult rats was published at Basel in three volumes under the title artists are fi come come iam vocal volume aa tree up it contains 47 different tracts in the year 70 No - man Gita's published at Geneva to very large folio volumes under the name bibliothek ax chemica curiosa surya mad alchemy impart in IAM thesaurus instruct usamos Coonan tantum artists RFA axcrypt Oram and in new bluer history at reddit or Lapidus Veritas argument is at experimenters in numerous emo at jurisconsults am Judy sheis events each viewer termina obscure is expert Cantor cautions contre imposters at difficulties in Tunisia in tincture a universal ax confidentiel accidentes de cleanser veeram antium Tractatus omnis veeram Celebi or IAM key in magnitude errant elixir key K AB if so hamete at D sitter trees Modesto at nastya extra tempura dick recipe a scripture and Goom precipice suis commentaries Casino orden a dispositive exhibitor this biblioteca contains 122 alchemists achill treatises many of them of considerable length two additional volumes of the theorem chemical were afterwards published but these I have never had an opportunity of seeing from these collections which exhibit a pretty complete view of the writings of the alchemists a tolerably accurate notion may be formed of their opinions but before attempting to lay open the theories and notions by which the alchemists were guided it will be proper to state the opinions which were gradually adopted respecting the origin of alchemy and the contrivances by which these opinions were supported a awesomest the pen applied in a passage quoted above informs us that the art of making gold and silver was not a human invention but was communicated to mankind by angels or demons these angels he says fell in love with women and were induced by their charms to abandon heaven altogether and to take up their abode upon earth among other pieces of information which these spiritual beings communicated for their paramours was the sublime art of chemistry or the fabrication of gold and silver it is quite unnecessary to refute this extravagant opinion obviously founded on a misunderstanding of a passage in the 6th chapter of Genesis and it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they choose there were giants in the earth in those days and also after that when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men and they bare children to them the same became mighty men which were of old men of renown there is no mention whatever of angels or of any information on science communicated by them to mankind nor is it necessary to say much about the opinion advanced by some and rather countenanced by Olaus Murie sheis that the art of making gold was the invention of tubal-cain whom they represent as the same as Vulcan all the information which we have respecting tubal-cain is simply that he was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron no illusion whatever is made to gold and that in these early ages of the world there was no occasion for making gold artificially we have the same authority for believing for in the second chapter of Genesis where the Garden of Eden is described it is said and a river went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence it was parted and came in two foreheads the name of the first is pricin that is it which encompasses the whole land of havilah where there is gold and the gold of that land is good there is bdellium and onyx stone but the most generally received opinion is that alchemy originated in Egypt and the honor of the invention has been unanimously conferred upon her maesters megistus he is by some supposed to be the same person with Chanin the son of ham whose son Mizraim first occupied and peopled Egypt flutes are conforms us that Egypt was sometimes called Kamiya this name is supposed to be derived from turn on thence it was believed that Shannon was the true inventor of alchemy to which he affixed his own name whether the her made of the Greeks was the same person with Chanin or his son Miz Ram it is impossible at this distance of time to decide but to her maize is assigned the invention of alchemy or the art of making gold by almost the unanimous consent of the adepts Albertus Magnus informs us that Alexander the Great discovered the Sepulcher of Hermes in one of his journeys full of all treasures not metallic but golden written on a table of za'tari which others called emerald this passage occurs an attractive Albertus the secret is chemical which is considered as supposititious nothing is said of the source whence the information contained in this passage was drawn but from the quotations produced by Craig's men it would appear that the existence of this emerald table was eluded by Avicenna and other Arabian writers according to them a woman called Sarah took it from the hands of the dead body of her mace some ages after the flood in a cave near Hebron the inscription on it was in the Phoenician language the following is a literal translation of this famous inscription from the latin version of Krieg's men i speak not fictitious things but what is true and most certain what is below is like that which is above and what is above is similar to that which is below to accomplish the miracles of one thing and as all things were produced by the meditation of one being so all things were produced from this one thing by adaptation its father is saw its mother Luna the wind carried it in its belly the earth is its nurse it is the cause of all perfection throughout the whole world its power is perfect if it be changed into earth separate the earth from the fire the subtle from the gross acting prudently and with judgment ascend with the greatest sagacity from the earth to heaven and then again descend to the earth and unite together the powers of things superior and things inferior thus you will possess the glory of the whole world and all obscurity will fly far away from you this thing has more fortitude than fortitude itself because it will overcome every subtile thing and penetrate every solid thing by it this world was formed hence proceed wonderful things which in this wise were established for this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus because I possessed three parts of the philosophy of the whole world what I had to say about the operation of soul is completed such is a literal translation of the celebrated inscription of Hermes Trismegistus upon the Emerald Tablet it is sufficiently obscure to put it in the power of commentators to afix almost any explanation to it that they choose the two individuals who have devoted most time to illustrate this tablet Ark Riggs Minh and Girard darkness whose commentaries may be seen in the first volume of manga toises biblioteca chemica they both agree that it refers to the universal medicine which began to acquire celebrity about the time of Paracelsus or a little earlier this exposition which appears as probable as any other betrays the time when the celebrated inscription seems to have been really written had it been taken out of the hands of the dead body of Hermits by Sara obviously intended for the wife of Abraham as is affirmed by Avicenna it is not possible that Herodotus and all the writers of antiquity both pagan and Christian should have entirely overlooked it or how could Alva Senna have learned what was unknown to all those who live nearest the time when the discovery was supposed to have been made had it been discovered in Egypt by Alexander the Great would it have been unknown to Aristotle and to all the numerous tribe of writers whom Alexandrian school produced not one of whom however make the least allusion to it in short it bears all the mark of a forgery of the 15th century and even the track ascribed to Albertus Magnus in which the tablet of her maize is mentioned and the discovery related is probably also a forgery and doubtless a forgery of the same individual who fabricated the tablet itself in order to throw a greater error probability upon a story which he wished to Palm upon the world as true his object was in some measure accomplished for the authenticity of the tablet was supported with much zeal by creaseman and afterward Biola's Mauritius there is another tract of her mace Trismegistus entitled Tractatus arias de Lepidus facetious secreto on which no less elaborate commentaries have been written it professes to teach the process of making the philosopher's stone and from the allusions in it to the use of this stone as a universal medicine was probably a forgery of the same date as the Emerald Tablet it would be in vain to attempt to extract anything intelligible out of this Tractatus aureus it may be worthwhile to give a single specimen that the reader may be able to form some idea of the nature of the style take of moisture an ounce and a half of meridian already nests that is the soul of the Sun a fourth part that is half an ounce of yellow Sayer likewise half an ounce and of or a pigment 'm a half ounce making in all three ounces know that the vine of wise men is extracted in threes and its wine at last is completed in 30 end of section 1 recording by Lawrence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio interface audio.com section 2 of the history of chemistry this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Lawrence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio interface audio.com Volume one chapter one of alchemy part 2 at the opinion that gold and silver could be artificially formed originated with her maestra smeg estes or had it prevailed among the ancient Egyptians it would certainly have been alluded to by Herodotus who spent so many years in Egypt and was instructed by the priests in all the science of the Egyptians had chemistry been the name of a science real or fictitious which existed as early as the expedition of the Argonauts and had so many treatises on it as Swedish alleges existed in Egypt before the reign of Diocletian it could hardly have escaped the notice of plenty who was so curious in so indefatigable in his researches and who has collected in his natural history a kind of digest of all the knowledge of the Ancients in every department of practical science the fact that the term chemistry never occurs in any Greek or Roman writer prior to sweetest who wrote so late as the 11th century seems to overturn all idea of the existence of that pretended science among the ancients notwithstanding the elaborate attempts of Olas mauritius to prove the contrary i am disposed to believe that chemistry or alchemy understanding by the term the art of making gold and silver originated with the Arabians when they began to turn their attention to medicine after the establishment of the caliphs or if it had previously been cultivated by the Greeks as the writing of Zosima the pan of light if genuine would lead us to suppose that it was taken up by the Arabians and reduced by them into regular form and order if the works of Guilbert could be genuine they leave little doubt on this white Gabbar is supposed to have been a physician and to have written in the 7th century he admits as a first principle that metals are compounds of mercury and sulfur he talks of the Philosopher's Stone professes to give the mode of preparing it and teaches the way of converting the different metals known in his time into medicines on whose efficacy he bestows the most ample panegyrics thus the principles which lie at the bottom of alchemy were implicitly adopted by him yet I can nowhere find in him any attempt to make gold artificially his chemistry was entirely devoted to the improvement of Medicine the subsequent pretensions of the alchemists to convert the baser metals into gold are nowhere avowed by him I am disposed from this time to suspect that the theory of gold making was started after gab airs time or at least that it was after the 7th century before any alchemists ventured to affirm that he himself was in possession of the secret and could fabricate gold artificially at pleasure for there is a wide distance between the opinion that gold may be made artificially and the affirmation that we are in possession of a method by which to this transmutation of the baser metals into gold can be accomplished the first may be adopted and defended with much plausibility and perfect honesty but the second would require a degree of skill far exceeding that of most scientific votary of chemistry at present existing the opinion of the alchemists was that all the metals are compounds that the baser metals contain the same constituents as gold contaminated indeed with various impurities but capable when their impurities are removed or remedy of assuming all the properties and characters of gold the substance possessing this wonderful power they distinguished by the name of lapis philosophorum or philosopher's stone and they usually describe it as a red powder having a peculiar smell few of the alchemists who have left writings behind them most of being possessed of the philosopher's stone Paracelsus indeed affirms that he was acquainted with the method of making it and gives several processes which however are not intelligible but many affirm that they had seen the Philosopher's Stone that they had portions of it in their possession and that they had seen several of the inferior metals especially lead and Quicksilver converted by means of it into gold many stories of this kind are upon record and so well authenticated that we need not be surprised that their having been generally credited it will be sufficient if we state one or two of those which depend on the most unexceptionable evidence the following relation is given by man goddess on the authority of M gross a clergyman of Geneva of the most unexceptionable character and at the same time a skillful physician an expert chemist about the year 1650 an unknown Italian came to Geneva and took lodgings at the sign of the Green Cross after remaining there a day or two he requested de Luke the landlord to procure him a man acquainted with Italian to accompany him through the town and point out those things which deserve to be examined de Luke was acquainted with M gross at that time about twenty years of age and a student in Geneva and knowing his proficiency in the Italian language requested him to accompany the stranger to this proposition he willingly acceded and attended the Italian everywhere for the space of a fortnight the stranger now began to complain of want of money which alarmed him gross not a little for at that time he was very poor and he became apprehensive from the 10:00 hour of the stranger's conversation that he intended to ask the loan of money from him but instead of this the Italian asked him if he was acquainted with any goldsmith whose bellows and other utensils they might be permitted to use and who would not refuse to supply them with the different articles requisite for a particular process which he wanted to perform M gross named a M Bureau to whom the Italian immediately repaired here Italy furnished crucibles pure tin Quicksilver and the other things required by the Italian the Goldsmith left his workshop that the Italian might be under less restraint leaving em gross with one of his own workmen as an attendant the Italian put a quantity of tin into one crucible and a quantity of Quicksilver into another the tin was melted in the fire and the mercury heated it was then poured into the melted tin and at the same time a red powder enclosed in wax was projected into the amalgam an agitation took place and a great deal of smoke was exhale drum the crucible but this speedily subsided and the hole being poured out formed six heavy ingots having the color of gold the Goldsmith was called in by the Italian and requested to make a rigid examination of the smallest of these ingots the Goldsmith not content with the touchstone and the application of aqua Fortis exposed the middle on the cue Pole with lead and fused it with antimony but it sustained no loss he found it possessed of the ductility and specific gravity of gold and full of admiration he exclaimed that he had never worked before upon gold so perfectly pure the Italian made him a present of the smallest ingot as a recompense and then accompanied by M Grose he repaired to the mint where he received from M back yet the mint master a quantity of Spanish gold coin equal in weight to the ingots which he had brought to em gross he made a presence of twenty pieces on account of the attention that he had paid to him and after paying his bill at the inn he added fifteen pieces more to serve to entertain em grossen and Bureau for some days and in the meantime he ordered a supper that he might on his return have the pleasure of something with these two gentlemen he went out but never returned leaving behind him the greatest regret and admiration it is needless to add that M gross and M Bureau continued to enjoy themselves at the end until the 15 pieces which the stranger had left were exhausted man Kiedis gives also the following relation which he states upon the authority of an English bishop who communicated it to him in the year 1685 and at the same time gave him about a half an ounce of the gold which the alchemist had made a stranger meanly dressed went to mr. Boyle and after conversing for some time about chemical processes requested him to furnish him with antimony and some other common metallic substances which then fortunately happened to be in mr. Boyles laboratory these were put into a crucible which was then placed in a melting furnace as soon as these metals were fused the stranger showed a powder to the attendants which he projected into the crucible and instantly went out directing the servants to allow the crucible to remain in the furnace till the fire went out of its own accord and promising at the same time to return in a few hours but as he never fulfilled this promise Boyle ordered the cover to be taken off the crucible and found that it contained a yellow colored metal possessing all the properties of pure gold and only a little lighter than the weight of the materials originally put into the crucible the following strange story is related by Helvetia s-- physician to the prince of iran in his vitalist aureus Helvetia s-- was a disbeliever of the Philosopher's Stone and the universal medicine and even turned certain Elm Digby's sympathetic powder into ridicule on the 27th of December 1666 a stranger called upon him and after conversing for some time about a universal medicine showed a yellow powder which he affirmed to be the Philosopher's Stone and at the same time five large plates of gold which had been made by means of it Helvetia is earnestly entreated that he would give him a little of this powder or at least that he would make a trial of its power but the stranger refused promising however to return in six weeks he returned accordingly after much intreaty he gave to Helvetia us a piece of the stone not larger than the size of a rapeseed when he'll vicious expressed his doubt whether so small a portion would be sufficient to convert four grains of lead into gold the Adept broke off one half of it and assured him that what remained was more than sufficient for the purpose he'll vicious during the first conference had concealed a little of the stone below his nail this he threw into the melted lead but it was almost all driven off in smoke leaving only a vitreous earth when he mentioned the circumstance the stranger informed him that the powder must be enclosed in wax before it be thrown into the melted LED lest it should be injured by the smoke of the LED the stranger promised to return the next day and show him the method of making the projection but having failed to make his appearance he'll vicious in the presence of his wife and son put six drums of lead into a crucible and as soon as it was melted he threw into it the fragment of the Philosopher's Stone in his possession previously covered over with wax the crucible was now covered with its lid and left for a quarter of an hour in the fire at the end of which time he found the whole lead converted into gold the color was at first a deep green being poured into a conical vessel it assumed a blood-red color but when cold it acquired the true tint of gold being examined by a goldsmith he considered it as pure gold he requested poor Elias who had the charge of the Dutchman to try it's value - drums of it being subjected to court ation and solution in aqua Fortis were found to have increased in weight by two scruples this increase was doubtless owing to the silver which still remained enveloped in the gold after the action of the aqua Fortis to endeavor to separate the silver more completely the gold was again fused with seven times its weight of antimony and treated in the usual manner but no alteration took place in the weight it would be easy to relate many others similar narratives but the three which I have given are the best authenticated that I am acquainted with the reader will observe that they are all stated on the authority not of the persons who were the actors but of others to whom they related them and some of these as the English Bishop perhaps not very familiar with chemical processes and therefore liable to leave out or miss state some essential particulars the evidence therefore though the best that can be God is not sufficient to authenticate these wonderful stories of the latent vanity might easily induce the narrators to suppress or alter some particulars which if known would have stripped the statements of everything marvellous which they contain and let us into the secret of the origin of the gold which these alchemists boasted they had fabricated whoever will read the statements of Paracelsus respecting his knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone which he applied not to the formation of gold but to medicine or whoever will examine his formulas for making the stone will easily satisfy himself that Paracelsus possessed no real knowledge of the subject but to convey as precise ideas on the subject as possible it may be worthwhile to state a few of the methods but which the alchemists persuaded themselves that they could convert the baser metals into gold in the year 1694 an old gentleman called upon mr. Wilson at that time a chemist in London and informed him that at last after 40 years search he had met with an ample recompense for all his trouble and expenses this he confirmed with some oaths and imprecations but considering his great weakness and age he looked upon himself as incapable to undergo the fatigues of the process I have here says he a piece of saule gold then I made from silver about four years ago and I cannot trust any man but you with so rare a secret we will share equally the charges and profit which will render us wealthy enough to command the world the nature of the process being stated mr. Wilson thought it not unreasonable especially as he aimed at no peculiar advantage for himself he accordingly put it to the trial in the following manner 12 ounces of Japan copper were beat into thin plates and laid stratum superstratum with three ounces of flowers of sulfur in a crucible it was exposed in a melting furnace to a gentle heat till the sulphureus flames expired when cold the a system sulphate of copper was pounded and stratified again and this process was repeated five times mr. Wilson does not inform us whether the powder was mixed with the flowers of sulfur every time it was heated but this must have been the case otherwise the sulfur @ would have been again converted into metallic copper which would have melted into a mass but this first process then by suffering of copper was formed composed of equal weights of sulfur and copper to six pounds of iron wire were put into a large glass body and twelve pounds of muriatic acid poured upon it six days elapsed during which it stood in a gentle heat before the acid was saturated with the iron the solution was then decanted off and filtered and six pounds of new muriatic acid poured on the undissolved iron this acid after standing a sufficient time was too can't it off and filtered both liquids were put into a large retort and distilled by a sand heat towards the end when the drops from the retort became yellow the receiver was changed and the fire increased to the highest degree in which the retort was kept between four and six hours when all was cold the receiver was taken off and a quantity of flowers was found in the neck of the retort variously colored like the rainbow the yellow liquor and the receiver weighed ten ounces and a half the flowers chloride of iron two ounces and three drams the liquid and flowers were put into a clean bottle three half a pound of Saul and Nixon sulfate of potash and a pound and a half of nitric acid were put into a retort when the salt had dissolved in the acid ten ounces of mercury previously distilled through quick lime and salt of tartar were added the whole being distilled to dryness a fine yellow mass per net rate of mercury remained in the bottom of the retort the liquor was returned with half a pound of fresh nitric acid and the distillation repeated the distillation was repeated a third time urging this last coha Batian with the highest degree of fire when all was cold various colored mass was found in the bottom of the retort this mass was doubtless a mixture of sulfate of potash and / nitrate of mercury with some oxide of mercury for 4 ounces of fine silver were dissolved in a pound of aqua Fortis - the solution was added the by sulfur of copper 4 ounces of the mixture of sulfate of potash for a nitrate of mercury and oxide of mercury one ounce and a half and of the solution of pur chloride of iron 2 ounces and a half when these had stood in a retort 24 hours the liquor was - can't it off and 4 ounces of nitric acid were poured upon the little matter that was not dissolved next morning a total dissolution was obtained the whole of this dissolution was put into a retort and distilled almost to dryness the liquid was poured back and the distillation repeated three times the last time the retort being urged by a very strong fire till no fumes appeared and not a drop though the matter left in the bottom of the retort was now put into a crucible all the corrosive fumes were gently evaporated and the residue melted down with a flexing powder this process was expected to yield 5 ounces of pure gold but on examination the silver was the same except the loss of half a penny weight as when dissolved in the aqua Fortis they were indeed some grains among the scoria which appeared like gold and would not dissolve in aqua Fortis no doubt they consisted of peroxide of iron or perhaps for sulfur ative iron mr. wilson's alchemists eco friend not satisfied with his first failure insisted upon a repetition of the process with some alteration in the method and addition of a certain quantity of gold the whole was accordingly gone through again but it is unnecessary to say that no gold was obtained or at least the two drams of gold employed had increased in weight by only two scruples and 13 grains this addition was doubtless owing to a little silver from which it had not been freed end of section 2 recording by Laurence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio interface audio comm section 3 of the history of chemistry this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Lawrence Trask interface audio comm Mount Vernon Ohio the history of chemistry by Thomas Thompson Volume one chapter one of alchemy part three I shall now give a process for making the Philosopher's Stone which was considered by man Geddes as of great value and on that account was given by him in the preface to his bibliothek a' chemica 1 prepare a quantity of a spirit of wine so free from water that it is wholly combustible and so volatile that when a drop of it is let fall it evaporates before it reaches the ground this can situates the first menstrual to take pure mercury revived in the usual manner from cinnabar put it into a glass vessel with common salt and distilled vinegar agitate violently and when the vin acquires a black color pour it off and add new vinegar annotate again and continue these repeated agitations and additions till the vinegar ceases to acquire a black color from the mercury the mercury is now quite pure and very brilliant three take of this mercury for parts of sublimed mercury mercury meteora soot I prepared with your own hands eight parts tritscher 8 them together in a wooden mortar with a wooden pestle till all the grains of running mercury disappear this process is tedious end rather difficult for the mixture thus prepared is to be put into an allude Allah or sand bath and exposed to a subliming heat which is to be gradually raised till the whole Sublime's collect the sublimed matter put it again into the allude 'l and sublime a second time this process must be repeated five times thus a very sweet and crystallized sublimate is obtained it constitutes the salt of wise men saw sepia intim and possesses wonderful properties five grinded in a wooden mortar and reduce it to powder put it into a glass retort and pour upon at the spirit of wine number one till it stands about three finger breaths above the powder seal the retort hermetically and expose it to a very gentle heat for 74 hours shaking it several times a day then distill with a gentle heat and the spirit of wine will pass over together with spirit of mercury keep this liquid in a well stopped bottle lest it should evaporate more spirit of wine is to be poured upon the residual salt and after digestion it must be distilled off as before and this process must be repeated till the whole salt is dissolved and distilled over with the spirit of wine you have now performed a great work the mercury is now rendered in some measure volatile and it will gradually become fit to receive the tincture of gold and silver now return thanks to God who either to crowned your wonderful work with success nor is this great work involved in Cimmerian darkness but clearer than the Sun though preceding writers have imposed upon us with parables hieroglyphics fables and enigmas 6 take this mercurial spirit which contains our magical steel in its belly put it into a glass retort to which a receiver must be well and carefully looted draw off the spirit by a very gentle heat there will remain in the bottom of the retort the quintessence or soul of mercury this is to be sublimed by applying a stronger heat to the retort that it may become volatile as all the philosophers express themselves sigh fixham solvus fasci ask Valera salute 'm at volume vigorous Basia to vivre suitum this is our Luna our fountain in which the king and queen may bathe prepare this precious quintessence of mercury which is very volatile in a well shut vessel for further use 8 let us now proceed to the operation of common gold which we shall communicate clearly and distinctly without digression or obscurity that from vulgar gold we may obtain our philosophical gold just as from common mercury we obtained by the preceding processes philosophical mercury in the name of God then take common gold purified in the usual way by antimony converted into small grains which must be washed with salt and vinegar till it be quite pure take one part of this gold and pour on it three parts of the quintessence of mercury as philosophers reckon from seven to ten so we also reckon our number as philosophical and we begin with three and one let them be married together like husband and wife to produce children of their own kind and you will see the common gold sink and plainly dissolve now the marriage is consummated now two things are converted into one thus the philosophical sulfur is hand as the philosophers say the sulfur being dissolved the stone is at hand take then in the name of God our philosophical vessel in which the king and queen embrace each other as in a bedchamber and leave it till the water is converted into Earth then peace is concluded between the water and fire then the elements have no longer anything contrary to each other because when the elements are converted into Earth they no longer oppose each other for an earth all elements are at rest for the philosophers say when you shall have seen the water coagulate itself think that your knowledge is true and that your operations are truly philosophical the gold is now no longer common but ours is philosophical on account of our processes at first exceedingly fixed then exceedingly volatile and finally exceedingly fixed then the whole science depends upon the change of the elements the gold at first was a metal now it is a sulphur capable of converting all metals into its own sulfur now how our tincture is wholly converted into sulfur which possesses the energy of curing all diseases this is our universal medicine against all the most deplorable diseases of the human body therefore return infinite thanks to Almighty God for all the good things which he has bestowed upon us 9 in this great work of ours two modes of fermenting and protecting are wanting without which the uninitiated will not easily follow our process the mode of fermenting is as follows take of our sulfur above described one part and project upon three parts of very pure gold fused in a furnace in a moment you will see the gold by the force of the sulfur converted into a red sulfur of an inferior quality to the first sulfur take one part of this and project upon it three parts of fused gold the whole will be again converted into a sulfur or a friable mass mixing one part of this with three parts of gold you will have a malleable and extensible metal if you find it so well if not add other sulfur and it will again pass into sulfur now the sulfur will be sufficiently fermented or our medicine will be brought into a metallic nature 10 the mode of projecting is this take of the fermented sulfur one part and project upon a 10 parts of mercury heated in a crucible and you will have a perfect metal if it's color is not sufficiently deep fuse it again and add more fermented sulfur and thus it will acquire color if it becomes frangible and a sufficient quantity of mercury and it will be perfect thus friend you have a description of the universal medicine not only for curing diseases and prolonging life but also for transmuting all metals into gold give therefore thanks to Almighty God who taking pity on human calamities as it last revealed this inestimable treasure and made it known for the common benefit of all such as the formula slightly a bridge of careless mutinous by which the Philosopher's Stone according to him may be formed compared with the formulas of most of the alchemists it is sufficiently plain what the sublimed mercury is does not appear from the process described we should be apt to consider it as corrosive sublimate on that supposition the South sapiens informed in number five would be column al the only objection to this supposition is the process described in number five for column l is not soluble in alcohol the Philosopher's Stone prepared by this elaborate process could hardly have been anything else than an amalgam of gold it could not have contained chloride of gold because such a preparation instead of acting medicinally would have proved a most virulent poison there is no doubt that an amalgam of gold if projected into melted lead or tin and afterwards copulated would leave a portion of gold all the gold of course that existed in the amalgam it might therefore have been employed by Impostors to persuade the ignorant that it was really the Philosopher's Stone but the alchemist who prepared the amalgam could not be ignorant that it contained gold there is another process given in the same preface of a very different nature but too long to be transcribed here and the nature of the process is not sufficiently intelligible to render an account of it of much consequence the preceding observations will give the reader some notion of the nature of the pursuits which occupied the alchemists their sole object was the preparation of a substance to which they gave the name of the Philosopher's Stone which presents the double property of converting the baser metals into gold and of curing all diseases and of preserving human life to an indefinite extent the experiments of Wilson and the formula of mutinous which have just been inserted will give the reader some notion of the way in which they attempted to manufacture this most precious substance being quite ignorant of the properties of bodies and of their action upon each other their processes were guided by no scientific analogies and one part of the labour not unfrequently counteracted another it would be a waste of time therefore to attempt to analyze their numerous processes even though such an attempt could be attended with success but in most cases from the unintelligible terms in which their books are written it is impossible to divine the nature of the processes by which they endeavor to manufacture the philosopher's stone or the nature of the substances which they obtained in consequence of the universality of the opinion that gold could be made by art there was a set of Impostors who went about pretending that they were in possession of the philosopher's stone and offering to communicate the secret of making it for a suitable reward nothing is more astonishing than that persons could be found credulous enough to be the dupes of such imposters the very circumstance of their claiming a reward was a sufficient proof that they were ignorant of the secret which they pretended to you for what motive could a man have for asking a reward who was in possession of a method of creating gold pleasure did such a person money could be no object as he could procure it in any quantity yet strange as it may appear they met with abundance of dupes credulous enough to believe there as separations and to supply them with money to enable them to perform the wished-for processes the object of these Impostors was either to pocket the money thus furnished or they made use of it to purchase various substances from which they extracted oils acids or similar products which they were enabled to sell at a profit to keep the dupes who thus supply them with the means of carrying on these processes in good spirits it was necessary to show them occasionally small quantities of the baser metals converted into gold thus they performed in various ways Monsieur Schiff wa senior who had an opportunity of witnessing many of their performances has given us an account to the number of their tricks it may be worthwhile to state a few by way of specimen sometimes they made use of crucibles with a false bottom at the real bottom they put a quantity of oxide of gold or silver this was covered with a portion of powdered crucible glued together by a little gummed water or a little wax the materials being put into this crucible and heat applied the false bottom disappears the oxide of gold or silver is reduced and at the end of the process is found at the bottom of the crucible and considered as the product of the operation sometimes they make a hole in a piece of charcoal and fill it with oxide of gold or silver and stop up the mouth with a little wax or they soak the charcoal and solutions of these metals or they stir the mixtures in the crucible with hollow rods containing oxide of gold or silver within and the bottom shut with wax by these means the gold or silver wanted is introduced during the process and considered as a product of the operation sometimes they have a solution of silver in nitric acid of gold in aqua regia or an amalgam of gold or silver which being adroitly introduced furnishes the requisite quantity of metal a common exhibition was to dip nails into a liquid and take them out half converted into gold the nails consisted of one half gold neatly soldered to the iron and covered with something to conceal the color which the liquid removed sometimes they had metals one-half gold and the other half silver soldered together and the gold side whitened with mercury the gold half was dipped into a transmuting liquid and then the metal heated the mercury was dissipated and the gold half of the metal appeared end of Section three recorded by Lauren's trash Mount Vernon Ohio interface audio comm section number four of the history of chemistry this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Lawrence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio the history of chemistry by Thomas Thompson vol 1 chapter 1 of alchemy part 4 as the alchemists were assiduous workmen as they mixed all the metals salts etc with which they were acquainted in various ways with each other and subjected such mixtures to the action of heat and closed vessels their Labour's were occasionally repaid by the discovery of new substances possessed of much greater activity than any with which they were previously acquainted in this way they were led to the discovery of sulfuric nitric and muriatic acid these when known were made to act upon the metals solutions of the metals were obtained and this gradually led to the knowledge of various medellin salts and preparations which were introduced with considerable advantage into medicine thus the alchemist by their absurd pursuits gradually formed a collection of facts which led ultimately to the establishment of scientific chemistry on this account it will be proper to notice in this place such of them as appeared in Europe during the darker ages and acquire the highest reputation either on account of their skill as physicians or their celebrity as chemists one the first alchemist who deserves notice is Albertus Magnus or Albert groot a German who was born it is supposed in the year eleven ninety three at Bull State and died in the year twelve eighty two when very young he is said to have been so remarkable for his dullness that he became the jest of his acquaintances he studied the sciences at Padua and afterwards taught at Cologne and finally in Paris he travelled through all Germany as provincial of the order of Dominican monks visited Rome and was made Bishop of Redis Vaughn but his passion for science induced him to give up his bishop ray and return to a cloister at Cologne where he continued till his death Albertus was acquainted with all the sciences cultivated in his time he was at once a theologian a physician and a man of the world he was an astronomer and an alchemist and even dipped into magic in necromancy his works are very voluminous they were collected by petra jami and published at lightin in 21 folio volumes in 1651 his principal alchemists achill tracks are the following one de rebus metallus at mineral Ibis - de alchimia three secret orem Tractatus for Riv a compendium d or two metal or 'm five concordance iya philosophic delle peed six composite him d composite Asst seven libera octal capital de philosopher amla peed most of these tracks have been inserted in the theatre M chemical they are in general plain and intelligible in his treatise de alchimia for example he gives distinct account of all the chemical substances known in his time and of the manner of obtaining them he mentions also the apparatus then employed by chemists and the various processes by which they had occasion to perform I may notice the most remarkable facts and opinions which I have observed and turning over these treatises he was of the opinion that all metals are composed of sulfur and Mercury and endeavored to account for the diversity of metals partly by the difference in the purity and partly by the difference in the proportions of the sulfur and Mercury of which they are composed he thought that water existed also as a constituent of all metals he was acquainted with the water bath employed alembics for a distillation and a ludus for sublimation and he was in the habit of employing various lutes the composition of which he describes he mentions and caustic alkali and seems to have known the alkaline basis of cream of tartar he knew the method of purifying the precious metals by means of lead and of gold by cementation and likewise a method of trying the purity of gold and of distinguishing pure from impure gold he mentions red LED metallic arsenic and liver of sulfur he was acquainted with green vitriol and iron pyrites he knew that arsenic renders copper white and that sulfur attacks all the metals except gold it is said by some that he was acquainted with gunpowder but nothing indicating such knowledge occurs in any of his writings that I have had an opportunity of perusing to Albertus is said to have had for a pupil while he taught in Paris the celebrated Thomas Aquinas a Dominican who studied at Bologna Rome and Naples and distinguished himself still more in divinity and scholastic philosophy than an alchemy he wrote one thus armed alchemy syncretism to secret of alchemy ax McNally ax 3 DSA at essentia mineral iam and perhaps some other works which I have not seen these works so far as I have perused them are exceedingly obscure and in various places unintelligible some of the terms still employed by modern chemists occur for the first time in the writings of Thomas Aquinas thus the term amalgam still employed to denote a compound of mercury with another metal occurs in them and I have not observed it in any earlier author 3 soon after Albertus Magnus flourished Roger Bacon by far the most illustrious the best informed and the most philosophical of all the alchemists he was born in 1214 in the county of Somerset after studying in Oxford and afterward in Paris he became at Cordelia friar and devoting himself to philosophical investigations his discoveries withstanding the pains which he took to conceal them made such a noise that he was accused of magic and his brethren in consequence threw him into prison he died it is said in the year 1280 for though springle fixes the year of his death to be 1285 his writings display a degree of knowledge and extent of thought scarcely credible if we consider the time when he wrote the darkest period of the dark ages in his small treatise deep Mira Valley prata stay artists at Nets array he begins by pointing out the absurdity of believing in magic necromancy charms or any of those similar opinions which were at that time universally prevalent he points out the various ways in which mankind are deceived by jugglers ventriloquist's and etc mentions the advantages which physicians may derive from acting on the imaginations of their patients by means of charms amulets and infallible remedies he affirms that many of those things which are considered as supernatural aren't merely so because mankind in general are unacquainted with natural philosophy to illustrate this he mentions a great number of natural phenomena which had been reckoned miraculous and concludes with several secrets of his own which he affirms to be still more extraordinary imitations of some of the most singular processes of nature these he delivers in the enigmatic 'el style of the times induced as he tells us partly by the conduct of other philosophers partly by the propriety of the thing and partly by the danger of speaking too plainly from an attentive perusal of his works many of which have been printed it will be seen that bacon was a great linguist being familiar with Latin Greek Hebrew and Arabic and that he had perused the most important books at the time existing in all these languages he was also a grammarian he was well versed in the theory and practice of perspective he understood the use of convex and concave glasses and the art of making them the camera obscura burning-glasses the powers of the telescope were known to him he was well versed in geography and astronomy he knew the great error in the Julian calendar assigned the cause and proposed the remedy he understood chronology well he was a skillful physician and enabled mathematician logician met a physician and theologist but it is as a chemist that he claims our attention here the following is a list of his chemical writings as given by Gamelin the whole of which I have never had an opportunity of seeing one speculum alchemy to a pistola the secret Asst opera bus artist denature I at denote Eliot Maji I three damira Bali Protestant artists at Nets ri4 medulla alchemy 5:2 are take Mei six before iam alchemy I seven document a alchemy I 8 D alchemists cerium ARCHIBUS nine de secret Asst 10 de ribas metallus 11 de sculptor asclepion 12 de philosophorum l'épée day 13 opus mages or alchimia major 14 Rev areum did Ono di 15 verbum abbreviate 'm de Lyonne Avery d 16 secret him secret Arum 17 Tractatus trium verb orem 18 speculum secret Orem a number of these were collected together and published at Frankfurt in 1603 under the title of Roger I baked honest angly de Arte chemi i scripta in a small duodecimo volume the Opus mages was published in London 17:33 but dr. gem in a folio volume several of his tracks still continue in manuscript in the Harlan and boat layin libraries at Oxford he considered the metals as compound of mercury and sulfur Gamelin affirms that he was aware of the peculiar nature manganese and that he was acquainted with bismuth but after perusing the whole of the speculum alchemy I the third chapter of which he quotes as containing the facts on which he founds his opinion I cannot find any certain allusion either to manganese or bismuth the term magnesia indeed occurs but nothing is said respecting its nature and long after the time of Pericles bismuth biz made him was considered as an impure kind of lead that he was acquainted with the composition and properties of gunpowder admits of no doubt in the sixth chapter of his epistle the secret is Opera Bazaar 'test and naturai at denilla Tate Magi the following passage occurs for sounds like thunder and chorus ations like lightning may be made in the air and they may be rendered even more horrible than those of nature herself a small quantity of matter properly manufactured not larger than the human thumb may be made to produce a horrible noise and chorus ation and this may be done many ways by which a city or an army may be destroyed as was the case when Gideon and his men broke their pitchers and exhibited their lamps fire issuing out of them within estable noise destroyed an infinite number of the army of the Midianites and in the eleventh chapter of the same epistle occurs the following passage mixed together saltpeter Lehrer vopo verkan otriad and sulfur and you will make thunder and lightning if you know the method of mixing them here all the ingredients of gunpowder are mentioned except charcoal which is doubtless concealed under the barbarous terms luru vopo vir con 'try --it but though Bacon was acquainted with gunpowder we have no evidence that he was the inventor how far the celebrated Greek fire concerning which so much has been written was connected with gunpowder it is impossible to say but there is good evidence to prove that gunpowder was known and used in China before the commencement of the Christian era and Lord bacon is of opinion that the thunder and lightning and magic stated by the Macedonians to have been exhibited in aqsa drinks when it was besieged by Alexander the Great was nothing else than gunpowder now as there is pretty good evidence that the use of gunpowder had been introduced into Spain by the Moors at least as early as the year 1343 and as Roger Bacon was acquainted with Arabic it is by no means unlikely that he might have become acquainted with the mode of making the composition and with its most remarkable properties by perusing some Arabian writer with whom we are at present unacquainted barber in his life of Bruce informs us that guns were first employed by the English at the Battle of where water which was fought in 1327 about 40 years after the death of bacon two novel E's that day they saw that 4th and Scotland had been the name Timbers for Helms was the aim that they thought then of great beauty and also wonder for to see the other crackas were of war that they before heard never air in another part of the same book we have the phrase guineas for crack ease showing that the term crack ease was used to denote a gun or a musket of some form or other it is curious that the english would seem to have been the first european nation that employed gunpowder in war they used it in the Battle of Crecy fought in 1346 when it was unknown to the French and it is supposed to have contributed materially to the brilliant victory which was obtained for Raymond Loewy Lee is sent to have been a scholar and a friend of Roger Bacon he was a most voluminous writer and acquired as high reputation as any of the alchemists according to Moody's he was born in Majorca in the year 12:35 his father was seneschal to King James the first of Aragon in his younger days he went into the army but afterwards held a situation in the court his sovereign devoting himself to science he soon acquired a competent knowledge of Latin and Arabic after studying in Paris he got the degree of doctor conferred upon him he entered into the order of the mini rites and induced King James to establish a cloister of that order in Menorca he afterwards traveled through Italy Germany England Portugal Cyprus Armenia and Palestine he is said by moodiest to have died in the year 1315 and to have been buried in Majorca the following epitaph is given by olace Boris as in graven on his tomb remonda slowly uija's Piedad mata newly Santo Dios Avira Cosette he came more more Mero hick M @ CC compy course pit sign sensible sa MCC in these lines to note 1300 and P which is the fifteenth letter of the alphabet denotes 15 so that if this epithet be genuine it follows that his death took place in the year 1315 it seems scarcely necessary to notice the story that Raymond Lully made a present to Edward King of England of six millions of pieces of gold to enable him to make war on the Saracens which some that monarch employed contrary to the intentions of the donor in his French Wars this story cannot apply to Edward the third because in 1315 at the time of Raymond's death that monarch was only three years of age it can scarcely apply to Edward the second who ascended the throne in 1305 but who had no opportunity of making war either on the Saracens or French being totally occupied in opposing the intrigues of his Queen and rebellious subjects to whom he ultimately fell a sacrifice Edward the first made war both upon the Saracens and the French and lived during the time of Raymond but his wars with the Saracens were finished before he ascended the throne and during the whole of his reign he was too much occupied with this projected conquest of Scotland to pay much serious attention to any French war whatever the story therefore cannot apply to any of the three Edwards and cannot be true Raymond Loewy Lee is said to have been stoned to death in Africa for preaching Christianity in the year 1315 others will have it that he was alive in England in the year 1332 at which time his age would have been 97 end of section 4 recording by Lawrence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio interface audio calm section number five of the history of chemistry this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Lawrence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio the history of chemistry by Thomas Thompson Volume one chapter one of alchemy part 5 the following table exhibits a list of his numerous writings most immature to be found in the Theatron chemical the artist RFA or the bibliothek chemica one praxis Universalis magneto pourous two clavicular three theory arya at practica for compendium anime transmute Ionis artists metal arm five ultima m-- Testament IAM of this work which professes to give the whole doctrine of alchemy there is an english translation 6 a lucid audio Testament a 7 protest Asst die vitória m-- Combe expository on testament a her meatus 8 compendium artist mantis i-cord composite IAM Lapidus 9 to lap a day at olio philosoph forum 10 motifs a sappy end a or imported aisle 11 compendium alchemy I did Natalia's philosophy 12 lapidary 'm 13 lux mercury aureum 14 experiment a 15 urns compendious a valve Adam myths iam 16 did a cure turret own Lapidus several other tracks besides these are named by Gamelin but I have never seen any of them I have attempted several times to read over the works of Raymond lonely particularly his last will and testament which is considered the most important of them all but they are also obscure and filled with such unintelligible jar that I have found it impossible to understand them in this respect they form a wonderful contrast with the works of Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon which are comparatively plain and intelligible for an account therefore of the chemical substances with which she was acquainted I'm obliged to depend on de melon though I put no great confidence in his accuracy like his predecessors he was of the opinion that all the metals are compounds of sulfur and Mercury but he seems first to have introduced those hieroglyphics in Buhl's which appear in such profusion in the english translation of his last will and testament and which he doubtless intended to illustrate his positions though what are the purpose they could serve than to induce the reader to consider his statements as allegorical it is not easy to conjecture perhaps they may have been designed to impose upon his contemporaries by an air of something very profound and inexplicable for that he possessed a good deal of charlatan nuri is pretty evident from the slightest glance at his performances he was acquainted with cream of tarter which he distilled the residue he burnt and observed that the alkali extracted de Leeuw quest when exposed to the air he was acquainted with nitric acid which he obtained by distilling a mixture of saltpeter and green vitriol he mentioned its powers of dissolving not merely mercury but likewise other metals he could form aqua regia by adding Sal ammoniac or common salt to nitric acid and he was aware of the property which it had of dissolving gold spirit of wine was well known to him and distinguished by him by the names of aqua vitae Arden's and Argentum Viva vegetable he knew the method of rendering it stronger by an admixture of dry carbonate of potash and of preparing vegetable tinctures by means of it he mentions alum from Rocca marcasite white and red mercurial precipitate he knew the volatile alkali and its coagulation by means of alcohol he was acquainted with couple Aidid silver and first obtained rosemary oil by distilling the plant with water he employed a mixture of flour and white of egg spread upon a linen cloth to cement cracked glass vessels and used other lutes for similar purposes five our novice de Villa Nova is sent to have been born at Villeneuve a village of Provence about the Year 1240 all us mauritius assures us that in his time his posterity lived in the neighborhood of Avignon that he was acquainted with them and that they were by no means destitute of chemical knowledge he is said to have been educated at Barcelona under john casa milà a celebrated professor of medicine this place he was obliged to leave and consequence of foretelling the death of Peter of Aragon he went to Paris and likewise travelled through Italy he afterwards taught publicly in the University of Montpellier his reputation as a physician became so great that his attendance was solicited in dangerous cases by it several kings and even the Pope himself he was skilled in all the sciences of his time and was besides a proficient in Greek Hebrew and Arabic when at Paris he studied astrology and calculating the age of the world he found that it was to terminate than the year 1335 the theologians of paris claimed against this and several other of his opinions and condemned our astrologer as a heretic this obliged him to leave France but the Pope protected him he died in the year 1313 on his way to visit Pope Clement v who lay sick at Avignon the following table is this a pretty full list of his works one and editorial two Divini three to Aquos laxative 'as for rose arias philosophical 5 lumen ovum 6 deciduous 7 philosophy florrum a apostille eyes super alchimia at rhegium neapolitan IAM 9 libra perfectionist magister i-10 Saku Saku mina 11 questions d'arte transmute Ionis metal Orem 12 testamento 13 lumen lumen 'm 14 practica 15 speculum LP mei 16 Carmon 17 questions at Boniface iam 18 samhitas san mateo 19 de l'épée de phyllis a forum 20 the sanguine humano 21 de spiritus vini vino artemon i at Jamar am Vera bus perhaps the most curious of all these works is the rosarium which is intended as a complete command of all the alchemy of his time the first part of it on the theory of the art is plain enough but the second part on the practice which is subdivided into 32 chapters and which professes to teach the art of making the Philosopher's Stone is in many places quite unintelligible to me he considered like many of his predecessors mercury as a constituent of metals and he professed a knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone which he could increase at pleasure gold and gold water was in his opinion one of the most precious of medicines he employed mercury in medicine he seems to designate bismuth under the name marcasite he was in the habit of preparing oil of turpentine oil of rosemary and spirit of rosemary which afterwards became famous under the name Hungary water these distillation x' were made in a glazed earthen vessel with a glass top and helm his works were published at venice in a single folio volume in the year 1505 there were seven subsequent editions the last of which appeared at Strasbourg in 1613 six John Isaac Holland s and his countrymen of the same name were either two brothers or a father and son it is uncertain which for very few circumstances respecting these two laborious and meritorious men have been handed down to posterity they were born in the village of Stoke in Holland it is supposed in the 13th century they were certainly after our nullus de ville anova because they refer to him in their writings they wrote many treatises on chemistry remarkable considering the time when they wrote for clearness and precision describing their processes with accuracy and even giving figures of the instruments which they employed this makes their books intelligible and they deserve attention because they show that various processes generally supposed of a more modern date were known to them their treatises are written partly in Latin and partly in German the following list contains the names of most of them one opera vegetable eeeh add a juice alia opera intelligent and necessary ax - opera mineral eeeh Sudha lipid philosophical libro duo three tract at von Stein der risin four fragmented quite mhmm iike 5d triplets or Dean elixir is a Lapidus theoria six Tractatus two Salamis ed elias metal Oram seven fragmented the opera philosophorum eight reales cami i operations nine opus saturn i-10 DiSpirito urine AI eleven hander philosopher Olas mauritius complains that their Opera Mini Allah abound with processes but that they are ambiguous in such that nothing certain can be deduced from them even after much labor ants they draw on the unwary tiro from labor to labor I am disposed myself to draw a different conclusion from what I have read of that elaborate work it is true that the processes which profess to make the philosopher's stone are fallacious and do not lead to the manufacture of go as the author intended and expected but it is a great deal when alchemists achill processes are delivered in such intelligible language that you know the substances employed this enables us easily to see the results in almost every case and to know the new compounds which were formed during a vain search for the Philosopher's Stone had the other alchemists written as plainly the absurdity of their researches would have been sooner discovered and thus a useless or pernicious investigation would have sooner terminated seven basel valentine is said to have been born about the year 1394 and is perhaps the most celebrated of all the alchemists if we accept Paracelsus he was a Benedictine monk at Efford in Saxony if we believe Ola spurious his writings were enclosed in the wall of a church at a furred and were discovered long after his death in consequence of the wall having been driven down by a thunderbolt but this story is not well authenticated and is utterly improbable much of his time seems to have been taken up in the preparation of chemical medicines it was he that first introduced antimony into medicine and it is said that on no good authority that he first tried the effects of antimony or medicines upon the monks of his convent upon whom had acted with such violence that he was induced to distinguish the mineral from which these medicines had been distracted by the name of anton whan hostile to monks what shows the improbability of this story is that the works of Basel Valentine and in particular his curious triumphalist antimony were written in the German language now the German name for antimony is not Anton wonna but spiced glass the Curris triumphalist antimony was translated into Latin by King Gaius who published it with an excellent commentary and Amsterdam in 1671 Basel Valentine's rites with almost as much virulence against the physicians of his time as Paracelsus himself did afterwards as no particulars of his life have been handed down to posterity I shall satisfy myself with giving a catalogue of his writings and then pointing out the most striking chemical substances with which he was acquainted the books which have appeared under the name of Basel Valentine are very numerous but how many of them were really written by him and how many our suppositions is extremely doubtful the following are the principal one Phyllis ophea occulta - tract at Van naturally Caen and uber naturally contingent upon durn ersten tincture Roselle and Geist Dermot Allen three von der grosse and stein der herr latin very trickling von stein d ricin five cursor unhung and claire repetition or the reader line vom gross and stein dear Elton six the Prima Materia Lapidus Philippa c7 as a Phyllis ORMs say I rely occult aid the material Lapidus philosophorum eight apocalypsis chemica nine clovis twelve philosophy ten practica eleven opus proclaim add a Trumka quad protest amante the deep feeling of sewer of the Pivo twelve least his Testament 13 D micro Cosmo 14 von der grosse and I'm a leader vault and error ours nee 15 vanderley's in Shafter simon planet n' 16 often behind irva bergen a griefer 17 conclusions or shoosh linden 18 dialogues free itis Alberta calm spiritual 19 des veto of Vermont Oh Phyllis Ephraim 20 Halle agraphia 21 triumph wagon antimony 22 a Nagar reservoir laved 23 leaked dual nature the only one of these works that I have read with care is Kirk nging giasses translation and commentary on the Curris triumphantly santa malai it is an excellent book written with clearness and precision and contains everything respecting antimony that was known before the commencement of the 19th century how much of this is owing to Corinne Gaius I cannot say as I have never had an opportunity of seeing a copy of the original German work of Basel Valentine Basel Valentine like Isaac hollandaise was of opinion that the metals are compounds of salt sulfur and Mercury the Philosopher's Stone was composed of the same ingredients he affirmed that there exists a great similarity between the mode of purifying gold and curing the diseases of men and that antimony answers best for both he was acquainted with arsenic knew many of its properties and mentions the rent compound which forms with sulfur zinc seems to have been known to him and he mentions bismuth both under its own name and under that of marcasite he was aware that manganese was employed to render glass colorless he mentions nitrate of mercury alludes to corrosive sublimate and seems to have known the red oxide of mercury it would be needless to specify the preparations of antimony with which he was acquainted scarcely one was unknown to him which even at present exists in the European pharmacopoeia many of the preparations of lead were also familiar to him he was aware that lead gives a sweet taste to vinegar he knew sugar of lead lafarge yellow oxide of lead white carbonate of lead and mentions that this last preparation was often adulterated in his time he knew the method of making green vitriol and the double chloride of iron and ammonia he was aware that iron could be presip ated from its solution but potash and that iron has the property of throwing down copper he was aware the tin sometimes contains iron and ascribed the brittleness of Hungarian iron copper he knew that oxides of copper gave a green color to glass that Hungarian silver contained gold that gold is precipitated from aqua regia by mercury in the state of an amalgam he mentions fulminating gold but the important facts contained in his works are so numerous while we are so uncertain about the genuineness of the writings themselves that it will scarcely be worthwhile to proceed further with the catalog thus I have brought the history of alchemy to the time of Paracelsus when it was doomed to undergo a new and important change it will be three of true chemistry and in the first place to endeavor to determine what chemical facts were known to the ancients and how far the science had proceeded to develop itself before the time of Paracelsus end of section 5 recording by Lawrence Trask Mount Vernon Ohio interface audio calm you