s of our era had no special name before that time, but was known as the

the name of that art which deals with calcinations, fusions, meltings, and the like. The writer of a treatise on astrology, in the 5th century, speaking of the influences of the stars on the dispositions of man, says: "If a man is born under Mercury he will give himself to astronomy;

ransformation into chemistry, of thi

es, alembics, and other vessels wherein things are fused, distilled, calcined, and dissolved. The old drawings of alchemical operation

ings on their fingers, or wearing swords with silver hilts by their sides, or fine and gay gloves on their hands; but diligently follow their labours, sweating whole days and nights by their furnaces. They do not spend their time abroad for

n a crowd by the smell of the laboratory which hangs about him; you can pick him out by the stains on his hands and clothes. He also "takes d

ves"; the alchemist toiled that he might liken the facts which he observed to his imaginings. The difference may be put in another way by saying: the chemist's object is to discover "how changes happen in combinations of t

ried in the earth, but, in reality, it is growing, changing, and becoming more perfect." The perfection of the seed is the plant. What is the perfection of the common metals? "Evidently," the alchemist replied, "the perfect metal is gold; the common metals are trying to become gold." "Gold is the intention of Nature in regard to all metals," said an alchemical writer. Plants are preserved by the preservation of their seed. "In like manner," the alchemist's argument proceeded, "there must be a seed in metals which is their essence; if I

aturally to man; that he may gain the higher life, he must be helped by grace. Therefore, the task of exalting the purer metals into the perfect gold, of developing the lower order into the high

s the foregoing. A careful examination of the alchemical argument shows that it rests on a (supposed) intimat

licity of nature, and their own knowledge of the way

created of God, and informed with a certain universal spirit." The same author, Michael Sendivogius, remarks: "It may be asked how I come to have this knowledge about heavenly things which are far removed beyond human ken. My answer is that the sages have been taught by God that this natural world is only an image and

of pretended philosophers, and to follow nature, which is simple; the complicated processes d

hilosopher follow?" He answers, "That exactly which was followed by

covering exactly "the road followed by the Great Architect of the Universe in the creation of the world." But the alchemical method found it easier to begin

th like those which occur on the earth; minerals and metals live, as animals and plants live; all pass through corruption towards perfection." In anothe

ter the image of man, projects his own ideas of progress, development, virtue, matter and spirit, on to nature outside himself; and, as a matter of course, this kind of naturalist

to be so conjoined that the nobler and fuller life may be produced"; "our arcanum is gold exalted

mena, was characteristic of the alchemical method of regarding nature. The necessary results were; grea

ilarly, the author of The Sodic Hydrolith clenches his argument in favour of the existence of the Philosopher's Stone, by the quotation: "Therefore, thus saith the Lord; behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tried Stone, a precious corner Stone, a sure foundation. He

of human nature, is shown by the persistence of some of their methods of stating the properties of substances: we still speak of "pe

firstly, of proving by observations and experiments that their view of natural occurrences was correct; and, secondly, of discovering and gaining possession of the instrument whereby nature effects her transmutations and perf

definable something wherein was supposed to be contained all the

ne thing, the essence, the philosopher's stone, the stone of wisdom, the heavenly balm, the divine water, the virgin wat

cter of the object of their search by naming it the soul of all things. "A

erial form, an ethereal or middle natu

"It is the attribute of God alone to make one out of one; you must produce one thing out of two by natu

ur Art ... only arrogates to itself the power of developing, through the removal of all defects and superfluities, the golden nature which the baser metals possess." Bonus, in his tract on The New Pearl of Great Price (16th century), says: "The Art of Alchemy ... does no

f metals, and bringing that seed under the conditions which alone are suitable for its growth. Metals must have seed, the alchemists said, for it would be absurd to suppose they have none.

t becomes life-producing. "The processes of our art must begin with dissolution of gold; they must terminate in a restoration of the essential quality of gold." "Gold does not easily give up its natu

o place stress on the supposed connexion between the planets and the metals, and to further their metallic transformations by performing them at times when certain planets were in conjunction. The seven principal planets and the seven principal metals were called by the same names: Sol (gold), Luna (silver), Saturn (lead), Jupiter (tin), Mars (iron), Venus (copper), and Mercury (mercury). The author of The N

e action on metals of things of animal or vegetable origin. Each class of substances, they said, has a life, or spirit (an essential character, we might say) of its own. "The life of sulphur," Paracelsus said, "is a combustible, ill-smelling, fatness.... The life of gems and corals is mere colour.... The life of

all things, inasmuch as the power of the essence, or the one thing, is so great that under its influence different things are produced from the same origin, and different thing

o paper for the express purpose of concealing their meaning. The sense of a whole passage is often hopelessly obscured by the addition or omission of one little word, for instance the addition of the word not in the wrong place." Another writer says: "The Sages are in the habit of using words which may convey either a true or a false impression; the former to their own disciples and children, the latter to the ignorant, the foolish, and the unworthy." Sometimes, after descriptions of processes couched in strange and mystical lan

urrences is to be obtained by thinking; and it used analogy as the guide in applying this knowledge of nature's design t