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ALCHEMY: ANCIENT AND MODERN
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ALCHEMY :
ANCIENT AND MODERN
BEING A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ALCHEMISTIC DOC-
TRINES, AND THEIR RELATIONS, TO MYSTICISM ON
THE ONE HAND, AND TO RECENT DISCOVERIES IN
PHYSICAL SCIENCE ON THE OTHER HAND; TOGETHER
WITH SOME PARTICULARS REGARDING THE LIVES
AND TEACHINGS OF THE MOST NOTED ALCHEMISTS
BY
H. STANLEY REDGROVE, B.Sc. (Lond.), F.C.S.
AUTHOR OF "ON THE CALCULATION OF THERMO-CHEMICAL CONSTANTS,"
" MATTER, SPIRIT AND THE COSMOS," ETC.
WITH 16 FULL.PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
PHILADELPHIA
DAVID McKAY, Publisher,
604-8 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE.
lAiMLARY
VmVERSixY OF C/iLLFOSNM:
Printed in Engl
PREFACE
The number of books in the English language dealing
with the interesting subject of Alchemy is not suffi-
ciently great to render an apology necessary for
adding thereto. Indeed, at the present time there
is an actual need for a further contribution on this
subject. The time is gone when it was regarded
as perfectly legitimate to point to Alchemy as an
instance of the aberrations of the human mind
Recent experimental research has brought about pro-
found modifications in the scientific notions regarding
the chemical elements, and, indeed, in the scientific
concept of the physical universe itself ; and a certain
resemblance can be traced between these later
views and the theories of bygone Alchemy. The
spontaneous change of one ** element" into another
has been witnessed, and the recent work of Sir
William Ramsay suggests the possibility of realising
the old alchemistic dream — the transmutation of the
** base " metals into gold.
The basic idea permeating all the alchemistic
theories appears to have been this : All the metals
(and, indeed, all forms of matter) are one in origin,
and are produced by an evolutionary process. The
Soul of them all is one and the same ; it is only the
vi PREFACE
Soul that is permanent ; the body or outward form,
i.e., the mode of manifestation of the Soul, is transi-
tory, and one form may be transmuted into another.
The similarity, indeed it might be said, the identity,
between this view and the modern etheric theory of
matter is at once apparent.
The old alchemists reached the above conclusion
by a theoretical method, and attempted to demon-
strate the validity of their theory by means of experi-
ment ; in which, it appears, they failed. Modern
science, adopting the reverse process, for a time
lost hold of the idea of the unity of the physical
universe, to gain it once again by the experimental
method. It was in the elaboration of this grand
fundamental idea that Alchemy failed. If we were
asked to contrast Alchemy with the chemical and
physical science of the nineteenth century we would
say that, whereas the latter abounded in a wealth of
much accurate detail and much relative truth, it lacked
philosophical depth and insight ; whilst Alchemy,
deficient in such accurate detail, was characterised
by a greater degree of philosophical depth and in-
sight ; for the alchemists did grasp the fundamental
truth of the Cosmos, although they distorted it and
made it appear grotesque. The alchemists cast their
theories in a mould entirely fantastic, even ridiculous
— they drew unwarrantable analogies — and hence
their views cannot be accepted in these days of
modern science. But if we cannot approve of their
theories in toto, we can nevertheless appreciate the
fundamental ideas at the root of them. And it is
primarily with the object of pointing out this similarity
between these ancient ideas regarding the physical
PREFACE vii
universe and the latest products of scientific thought,
that this book has been written.
It is a regrettable fact that the majority of works
dealing with the subject of Alchemy take a one-sided
point of view. The chemists generally take a purely
physical view of the subject, and instead of trying to
understand its mystical language, often (we do not
say always) prefer to label it nonsense and the
alchemist a fool. On the other hand, the mystics, in
many cases, take a purely transcendental view of the
subject, forgetting the fact that the alchemists were,
for the most part, concerned with operations of a
physical nature. For a proper understanding of
Alchemy, as we hope to make plain in the first
chapter of this work, a synthesis of both points of
view is essential ; and, since these two aspects are
so intimately and essentially connected with one
another, this is necessary even when, as in the follow-
ing work, one is concerned primarily with the
physical, rather than the purely mystical, aspect of
the subject.
Now, the author of this book may lay claim to
being a humble student of both Chemistry and what
may be generalised under the terms Mysticism and
Transcendentalism ; and he hopes that this perhaps
rather unusual combination of studies has enabled
him to take a broad-minded view of the theories of
the alchemists, and to adopt a sympathetic attitude
towards them.
With regard to the illustrations, the author must
express his thanks to the authorities of the British
Museum for permission to photograph portrait-
engravings and illustrations from old works in the
viii PREFACE
British Museum Collections, and to G. H. Gabb,
Esq., F.C.S., for permission to photograph portrait-
engravings in his possession.
The author's heartiest thanks are also due to
Frank E. Weston, Esq., B.Sc, F.C.S., and W. G.
Llewellyn, Esq., for their kind help in reading the
P^'"^^' ^" H. S. R.
The Polytechnic, London, W.
October^ 1910.
CONTENTS
Chapter I. The Meaning of Alchemy
§1. The Aim of Alchemy
§ 2, The Transcendental Theory of Alchemy
§ 3. Failure of the Transcendental Theory
§ 4. The Qualifications of the Adept
§ 5. Alchemistic Language
§ 6. Alchemists of a Mystical Type
§ 7. The Meaning of Alchemy
§ 8. Opinions of other Writers
§ 9. The Basic Idea of Alchemy .
§ ID. The Law of Analogy
§ II. The Dual Nature of Alchemy
§ 12. ♦* Body, Soul and Spirit " .
§ 13. Alchemy, Mysticism and Modern Science
PAGE
I
I
Z
3
4
5
7
7
8
10
12
13
14
IS
Chapter II. The Theory of Physical Alchemy
§ 14. Supposed Proofs of Transmutation .
§ 15. The Alchemistic Elements .
§ 16. Aristotle's Views regarding the Elements
§ 17. The Sulphur-Mercury Theory
§ 18. The Sulphur- Mercury-Salt Theory .
§ 19. Alchemistic Elements and Principles
§ 20. - The Growth of the Metals .
§ 21. Alchemy and Astrology
§ 22. Alchemistic View of the Nature of Gold
§ 23. The Philosopher's Stone
§ 24. The Nature of the Philosopher's Stone
§ 25. The Theory of Development
§ 26. The Powers of the Philosopher's Stone
§ 27. The Elixir of Life .
§ 28. The Practical Methods of the Alchemists
17
17
18
19
20
22
23
25
26
27
29
30
32
34
35
36
CONTENTS
Chapter III. The Alchemists (A. Before Paracelsus)
§ 29. Hermes Trismegistos
§ 30. The Smaragdine Table
§31. Zosimus of Panopolis
§ 32. Geber
§ 33. Other Arabian Alchemists
§ 34. Albertus Magnus
§ 35. Thomas Aquinas
§ 36. Roger Bacon .
§ 37. Arnold de Villanova .
§ 38. Raymond Lully
§ 39. Peter Bonus .
§ 40. Nicolas Flamel
§ 41. ** Basil Valentine " and the Triumphal Chariot of Antimony
§42. Isaac of Holland
§ 43. Bernard Trevisan
§ 44. Sir George Ripley
§ 45. Thomas Norton
Chapter IV. The Alchemists (B. Paracelsus and after)
§ 46. Paracelsus ....
§ 47. Views of Paracelsus .
§ 48. latro-chemistry
§ 49. The Rosicrucian Society
§ 50. Thomas Charnock
§ 51. Andreas Libavius
§ 52. Edward Kelley and John Dee
§ 53. Henry Khunrath
§ 54. Alexander Sethon and Michael Sendivogius
§ 55. Michael Maier
§ 56. Jacob Boehme
§ 57. J. B. van Helmont and F. M. van Helmont
§ 58. Johann Rudolf Glauber
§ 59. Thomas Vaughan ('* Eugenius Philalethes ")
§ 60. *' Eirengeus Philalethes " and George Stark ey
Chapter V. The Outcome of Alchemy
§ 61. Did the Alchemists achieve the Magnum Opus ?
§ 62. The Testimony of van Helmont
§ 63. The Testimony of Helvetius
§ 64. Helvetius obtains the Philosopher's Stone
§ 65. Helvetius performs a Transmutation .
CONTENTS
XI
§ 66. Helvetius's Gold Assayed
§ 67. Helvetius's Gold Further Tested
§ 68. The Genesis of Chemistry .
§ 69. The Degeneracy of Alchemy
§ 70. " Count Cagliostro "
Chapter VI. The Age of Modern Chemistry
§ 71. The Birth of Modern Chemistry
§ 72. The Phlogiston Theory
§ 73. Boyle and the Definition of an Element
§ 74. The Stoichiometric Laws
§ 75. Dalton's Atomic Theory
§ 76. The Determination of the Atomic Weights of the Elements
§ 77. Prout's Hypothesis .
§ 78. The •' Periodic Law "
§ 79. The Corpuscular Theory of Matter .
§ 80, Proof that the Electrons are not Matter
§ 81. The Electronic Theory of Matter .
§ 82. The Etheric Theory of Matter
§ 83. Further Evidence of the Complexity of the Atoms
§ 84. Views of Wald and Ostwald .
Chapter VI L Modern Alchemy
§85. "Modem Alchemy'*
§ 86. X-Rays and Becquerel Rays .
§ 87. The Discovery of Radium
§ 88. Chemical Properties of Radium
§ 89. The Radioactivity of Radium
§ 90. The Disintegration of the Radium Atom
§91. *• Induced Radioactivity " .
§ 92. Properties of Uranium and Thorium
§ 93. The Radium Emanation
§ 94. The Production of Helium from Emanation
§ 95. Nature of this Change
§ 96. Is this Change a true Transmutation ?
§ 97. The Production of Neon from Emanation
§ 98. Ramsay's Experiments on Copper .
§ 99. Further Experiments on Radium and Copper
§ loa Ramsay's Experiments on Thorium and allied Metals
§ lOi. The Possibility of Making Gold
§ 102. The Significance of " Allotropy " .
§ 103. Conclusion ....
88
86
89
90
91
94
94
94
96
96
99
102
102
109
no
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114
IIS
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117
117
118
119
120
122
123
123
124
125
127
128
130
132
134
134
136
136
140
LIST OF PLATES
Plate i. Portrait of Paracelsus ..... Frontispiece
TO FACE PAGE
Plate 2. Symbolical Illustration representing the Trinity of Body,
Soul and Spirit ...... 15
Plate 3. Symbolical Illustrations representing —
(a) The Fertility of the Earth . |
(b) The Amalgamation of Mercury and Gold )
Plate 4. S5niibolical Illustrations representing —
(a) The Coction of Gold- Amalgam in a Closed Vessel
(b) The Transmutation of the Metals
Plate 9. Portraits of—
(a) Edward Kelley I
(b) John Dee >
26
33
Plate 5. Alchemistic Apparatus —
(a) (b) Two forms of apparatus for sublimation . . 37
Plate 6. Alchemistic Apparatus —
(a) Athanors ) ^
(b) a Pelican^ ^
Plate 7. Portrait of Albertus Magnus ..... 44
Plate 8. Portraits of—
(a) Thomas Aquinas)
(B) Nicolas Flamel > ^^
68
Plate 10. Portrait of Michael Maier ..... 72
Plate II. Portrait of Jacob Boehme ..... 74
Plate 12. Portraits of J. B. and F. M. van Helmont ... 76
xiv LIST OF PLATES
TO FACE PAGE
Plate 13. Portrait of J. F. Helvetius ..... 84
Plate 14. Portrait of "Cagliostro" ..... 92
Plate 15. Portrait of Robert Boyle ..... 94
Plate 16. Portrait of John Dalton ..... loo
Table showing the Periodic Classification of the Chemical
Elements ...... Pages 106, 107
ALCHEMY :
ANCIENT AND MODERN
CHAPTER I
THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY
§ 1. Alchemy is generally understood to have been
that art whose end was the transmutation of the
so-called base metals into gold by means
. ® , "^ of an ill-defined something called the
Philosopher's Stone ; but even from a
purely physical standpoint, this is a somewhat super-
ficial view. Alchemy was both a philosophy and an
experimental science, and the transmutation of the
metals was its end only in that this would give the
final proof of the alchemistic hypotheses ; in other
words, Alchemy, considered from the physical stand-
point, was the attempt to demonstrate experimentally
on the material plane the validity of a certain philo-
sophical view of the Cosmos. We see the genuine
scientific spirit in the saying of one of the alchemists :
" Would to God ... all men might become adepts in
our Art — for then gold, the great idol of mankind,
would lose its value, and we should prize it only
2
2 ALCHEMY [§ 2
for its scientific teaching." ^ Unfortunately, however,
not many alchemists came up to this ideal ; and for
the majority of them, Alchemy did mean merely the
possibility of making gold cheaply and gaining untold
wealth.
§ 2. By some mystics, however, the opinion has
been expressed that Alchemy was not a physical art
The Tran- ^^ science at all, that in no sense was its
scendental object the manufacture of material gold.
Theory ^nd that its processes were not carried
c emy. ^^^ ^^ ^j^^ physical plane. According to
this transcendental theory. Alchemy was concerned
with man's soul, its object was the perfection, not
of material substances, but of man in a spiritual sense.
Those who hold this view identify Alchemy with, or
at least regard it as a branch of. Mysticism, from
which it is supposed to differ merely by the employ-
ment of a special language ; and they hold that the
writings of the alchemists must not be understood
literally as dealing with chemical operations, with fur-
naces, retorts, alembics, pelicans and the like, with salt,
sulphur, mercury, gold and other material substances,
but must be understood as grand allegories dealing
with spiritual truths. According to this view, the
figure of the transmutation of the "base" metals
into gold symbolised the salvation of man — the
transmutation of his soul into spiritual gold — which
was to be obtained by the elimination of evil and the
development of good by the grace of God ; and
the realisation of which salvation or spiritual trans-
* " EiRENiEUS Philalethes " : An Open Entrance to the Closed
Palace of the King (see The Hermetic Museum^ Restored and
Enlarged^ edited by A. E. Waite, 1893, vol. ii. p. 178).
§ 3] THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY 3
mutation may be described as the New Birth, or that
condition of being known as union with the Divine.
It would follow, of course, if this theory were true,
that the genuine alchemists were pure mystics, and
hence, that the development of chemical science was
not due to their labours, but to pseudo-alchemists who
so far misunderstood their writings as to have in-
terpreted them in a literal sense.
§ 3. This theory, however, has been effectively
disposed of by Mr. Arthur Edward Waite, who
Failure of po^J^^s to the lives of the alchemists them-
the Tran- selves in refutation of it. For their lives
scendental indisputably prove that the alchemists
were occupied with chemical operations
on the physical plane, and that for whatever motive,
they toiled to discover a method for transmuting the
commoner metals into actual, material gold. As
Paracelsus himself says of the true " spagyric physi-
cians," who were the alchemists of his period : "These
do not give themselves up to ease and idleness . . .
But they devote themselves diligently to their labours,
sweating whole nights over fiery furnaces. These
do not kill the time with empty talk, but find their
delight in their laboratory. "2 The writings of the
alchemists contain (mixed, however, with much that
from the physical standpoint appears merely fantastic)
accurate accounts of many chemical processes and
discoveries, which cannot be explained away by any
method of transcendental interpretation. There is
not the slightest doubt that chemistry owes its origin
"" Paracelsus : " Concerning the Nature of Things " (see The
Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus^ edited by A. E.
Waite, 1894, vol. i. p. 167).
4 ALCHEMY [§ 4
i
to the direct labours of the alchemists themselves, and
not to any who misread their writings.
§ 4. At the same time, it is quite evident that
there is a considerable element of Mysticism in the
alchemistic doctrines ; this has always
^^® been recog^nised ; but, as a general rule,
Qualifications , , , 111 1 •
of the Adept, those who have approached the subject
from the scientific point of view have con-
sidered this mystical element as of little or no import-
ance. However, there are certain curious facts which
are not satisfactorily explained by a purely physical
theory of Alchemy, and, in our opinion, the recognition
of the importance of this mystical element and of the
true relation which existed between Alchemy and
Mysticism is essential for the right understanding
of the subject. We may notice, in the first place,
that the alchemists always speak of their Art as a
Divine Gift, the highest secrets of which are not
to be learnt from any books on the subject ; and they
invariably teach that the right mental attitude with
regard to God is the first step necessary for the
achievement of the magnum opus. As says one
alchemist : " In the first place, let every devout and
God-fearing chemist and student of this Art consider
that this arcanum should be regarded, not only as
a truly great, but as a most holy Art (seeing that it
typifies and shadows out the highest heavenly good).
Therefore, if any man desire to reach this great and
unspeakable Mystery, he must remember that it is
obtained not by the might of man, but by the grace of
God, and that not our will or desire, but only the
mercy of the Most High, can bestow it upon us.
For this reason you must first of all cleanse your
§ 5] THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY 5
heart, lift it up to Him alone, and ask of Him this
gift in true, earnest, and undoubting prayer. He
alone can give and bestow it." 3 And " Basil Valen-
tine " : '' First, there should be the invocation of God,
flowing from the depth of a pure and sincere heart,
and a conscience which should be free from all am-
bition, hypocrisy, and vice, as also from all cognate
faults, such as arrogance, boldness, pride, luxury,
worldly vanity, oppression of the poor, and similar
iniquities, which should all be rooted up out of the
heart — that when a man appears before the Throne
of Grace, to regain the health of his body, he
may come v/ith a conscience weeded of all tares, and
be changed into a pure temple of God cleansed of all
that defiles."4
§ 5. In the second place, we must notice the nature
of alchemistic language. As we have hinted above,
and as is at once apparent on opening
Langwe^ any alchemistic book, the language of
Alchemy is very highly mystical, and
there is much that is perfectly unintelligible in a
physical sevii>e^ Indeed, the alchemists habitually
apologise,^f6r their vagueness on the plea that such
mighty s^i^v:s may not be made more fully manifest.
It is true, oi' course, that in the days of Alchemy s
degeneracy a good deal of pseudo-mystical nonsense
was written by the many impostors then abound-
ing, but the mystical style of language is by no means
confined to the later alchemistic writings. It is also
3 T/ie Sophie Hydrolith ; or. Water Stone of the Wise (see The
Hermetic Museuin^ so\. i. p. 74).
4 The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony (Mr. A. E. Waite's transla-
tion, p. 13). See § 41.
6 ALCHEMY [§ 5
true that the alchemists, no doubt, desired to shield
their secrets from vulgar and profane eyes, and hence
would necessarily adopt a symbolic language. But it
is past belief that the language of the alchemist was
due to some arbitrary plan ; whatever it is to us, it
was very real to him. Moreover, this argument cuts
both ways, for those, also, who take a transcendental
view of Alchemy regard its language as symbolical,
although after a different manner. It is also, to say
the least, curious, as Mr. A. E. Waite points out, that
this mystical element should be found in the writings
of the earlier alchemists, whose manuscripts were not
written for publication, and therefore ran no risk
of informing the vulgar of the precious secrets of
Alchemy. On the other hand, the transcendental
method of translation does often succeed in making
sense out of what is otherwise unintelligible in the
writings of the alchemists. The above-mentioned
writer remarks on this point : " Without in any way
pretending to assert that this hypothesis reduces the
literary chaos of the philosophers into a regular order,
it may be affirmed that it materially elucidates their
writings, and that it is wonderful how coihtradictions,
absurdities, and difficulties seem to dissofeVe wherever
it is applied." 5
The alchemists' love of symbolism is also con-
spicuously displayed in the curious designs with which
certain of their books are embellished. We are not
here referring to the illustrations of actual apparatus
employed in carrying out the various operations of
physical Alchemy, which are not infrequently found
in the works of those alchemists who at the same time
5 Arthur Edward Waite : TJie Occult Sciences (1891), p. 91.
§ 7] THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY 7
were practical chemists (Glauber, for example), but to
pictures whose meaning plainly lies not upon the
surface and whose import is clearly symbolical,
whether their symbolism has reference to physical or
to spiritual processes. Examples of such symbolic
illustrations, many of which are highly fantastic, will
be found in plates 2, 3, and 4. We shall refer to them
again in the course of the present and following
chapters.
§ 6. We must also notice that, although there
cannot be the slightest doubt that the great majority
of alchemists were engaged in problems
Alchemists of ^j^j experiments of a physical nature, yet
a Mystical , ^ . . , 1 1 • 1 • 1
Type. there were a few men mcluded witnm the
alchemistic ranks who were entirely, or
almost entirely, concerned with problems of a spiritual
nature ; Thomas Vaughan, for example, and Jacob
Boehme, who boldly employed the language of
Alchemy in the elaboration of his system of mystical
philosophy. And particularly must we notice, as Mr.
A. E. Waite has also indicated, the significant fact
that the Western alchemists make unanimous appeal
to Hermes Trismegistos as the greatest authority on
the art of Alchemy, whose alleged writings are of an
undoubtedly mystical character (see § 29). It is clear,
that in spite of its apparently physical nature. Alchemy
must have been in some way closely connected with
Mysticism.
§ 7, If we are ever to understand the meaning of
Alchemy aright we must look at the subject from the
alchemistic point of view. In modern times there
has come about a divorce between Religion and
Science in men's minds (though more recently a uni-
8 ALCHEMY [§ 8
fying tendency has set in) ; but it was otherwise with
the alchemists, their religion and their science were
closely united. We have said that
of\lchemy^ ** Alchemy was the attempt to demon-
strate experimentally on the material
plane the validity of a certain philosophical view of
the Cosmos " ; now, this " philosophical view of the
Cosmos" was Mysticism. Alchemy had its origin
in the attempt to apply, in a certain manner, the
principles of Mysticism to the things of the physical
plane, and was, therefore, of a dual nature, on the one
hand spiritual and religious, on the other, physical
and material. As the anonymous author of Lives of
Alchemystical Philosophers (1815) remarks, "The
universal chemistry, by which the science of alchemy
opens the knowledge of all nature, being founded on
first principles forms analogy with whatever know-
ledge is founded on the same first principles, . . .
Saint John describes the redemption, or the new
creation of the fallen soul, on the same first principles,
until the consummation of the work, in which the
Divine tincture transmutes the base metal of the soul
into a perfection, that will pass the fire of eternity ; '* ^
that is to say. Alchemy and the mystical regeneration
of man (in this writer's opinion) are analogous pro-
cesses on different planes of being, because they are
founded on the same first principles.
§ 8. We shall here quote the opinions of two
modern writers, as to the significance of Alchemy ;
one a mystic, the other a man of science. Says Mr.
A. E. Waite, *' If the authors of the * Suggestive
Inquiry ' and of * Remarks on Alchemy and the
^ F. B. : Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers (1815), Preface, p. 3.
§ 8] THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY 9
Alchemists ' [two books putting forward the transcen-
dental theory] had considered the lives of the sym-
bolists, as well as the nature of the
otiiw^ Wri Jrs. symbols, their views would have been very
much modified ; they would have found
that the true method of Hermetic interpretation lies
in a middle course ; but the errors which originated
with merely typographical investigations were inten-
sified by a consideration of the great alchemical
theorem, which, par excellence, is one of universal
development, which acknowledges that every sub-
stance contains undeveloped resources and poten-
tialities, and can be brought outward and forward
into perfection. They [the generality of alchemists]
applied their theory only to the development of
metallic substances from a lower to a higher order,
but we see by their writings that the grand
hierophants of Oriental and Western alchemy alike
were continually haunted by brief and imperfect
glimpses of glorious possibilities for man, if the evolu-
tion of his nature were accomplished along the lines of
their theory."? Mr. M. M. Pattison Muir, M.A.,
7 Arthur Edward Waite ; Lives of Alchemy stical Philosophers
(i888), pp. 30, 31. As says another writer of the mystical school of
thought : " If we look upon the subject [of Alchymy] from the point
which affords the widest view, it may be said that Alchymy has two
aspects : the simply material, and the religious. The dogma that
Alchymy was only a form of chemistry is untenable by any one who
has read the works of its chief professors. The doctrine that
Alchymy was religion only, and that its chemical references were all
blinds, is equally untenable in the face of history, which shows that
many of its most noted professors were men who had made important
discoveries in the domain of common chemistry, and were in no way
notable as teachers either of ethics or religion " (" Sapere Aude," The
Science of Alchymy^ Spiritual and Material (1893), pp. 3 and 4).
10 ALCHEMY [§ 9
says :**... alchemy aimed at giving experimental
proof of a certain theory of the whole system of
nature, including humanity. The practical culmina-
tion of the alchemical quest presented a threefold
aspect; the alchemists sought the stone of wisdom,
for by gaining that they gained the control of wealth ;
they sought the universal panacea, for that would
give them the power of enjoying wealth and life ; they
sought the soul of the world, for thereby they could
hold communion with spiritual existences, and enjoy
the fruition of spiritual life. The object of their
search was to satisfy their material needs, their intel-
lectual capacities, and their spiritual yearnings. The
alchemists of the nobler sort always made the first of
these objects subsidiary to the other two. . . ." ^
§ 9. The famous axiom beloved by every alchemist
— " What is above is as that which is below, and what
is below is as that which is above " — although of ques-
able origin, tersely expresses the basic
^of -^hemy^* ^^^^ ^^ Alchemy. The alchemists postu-
lated and believed in a very real sense in
the essential unity of the Cosmos. Hence, they held
that there is a correspondence or analogy existing
between things spiritual and things physical, the same
laws operating in each realm. As writes Sendivogius
"... the Sages have been taught of God that this
natural world is only an image and material copy of a
heavenly and spiritual pattern ; that the very existence
of this world is based upon the reality of its celestial
archetype ; and that God has created it in imitation of
the spiritual and invisible universe, in order that men
2 M. M. Pattison Muir, M.A. : The Story oj Alchemy and the
Beginnings of Chemistry (1902), pp. 105 and 106.
§ 9] THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY 11
might be the better enabled to comprehend His
heavenly teaching, and the wonders of His absolute
and ineffable power and wisdom. Thus the Sage
sees heaven reflected in Nature as in a mirror ; and
he pursues this Art, not for the sake of gold or silver,
but for the love of the knowledge which it reveals ;
he jealously conceals it from the sinner and the scorn-
ful, lest the mysteries of heaven should be laid bare to
the vulgar gaze." 9
The alchemists held that the metals are one in
essence, and spring from the same seed in the womb
of nature, but are not all equally matured and perfect,
gold being the highest product of Nature's powers.
In gold, the alchemist saw a picture of the regenerate
man, resplendent with spiritual beauty, overcoming all
temptations and proof against evil ; whilst he regarded
lead — the basest of the metals — as typical of the sinful
and unregenerate man, stamped with the hideousness
of sin and easily overcome by temptation and evil ;
for whilst gold withstood the action of fire and all
known corrosive liquids (save aqua regia alone), lead
was most easily acted upon. We are told that the
Philosopher's Stone, which would bring about the
desired grand transmutation, is of a species with gold
itself and purer than the purest ; understood in the
mystical sense this means that the regeneration of
man can be effected only by Goodness itself — in terms
of Christian theology, by the Power of the Spirit of
Christ. The Philosopher's Stone was regarded as sym-
bolical of Christ Jesus, and in this sense we can under-
stand the otherwise incredible powers attributed to it.
9 Michael Sendivogius : The New Chemical Lights Ft. II. ^ Con-
cerning Sulphm {The Hermetic Museum^ vol. ii. p. 138).
12 ALCHEMY [§ 10
§ 10. With the theories of physical Alchemy we
shall deal at length in the following chapter, but
enough has been said to indicate the
The Law of i • • t i
Analogy. analogy existing, according to the
alchemistic view, between the problem
of the perfection of the metals, i.e.y the transmu-
tation of the *' base " metals into gold, and the
perfection or transfiguration of spiritual man ; and it
might also be added, between these problems and that
of the perfection of man considered physiologically.
To the alchemistic philosopher these three problems
were one : the same problem on different planes of
being ; and the solution was likewise one. He who
held the key to one problem held the key to all
three, provided he understood the analogy between
matter and spirit. The point is not, be it noted,
whether these problems are in reality one and the
same ; the main doctrine of analogy, which is, indeed,
an essential element in all true mystical philosophy,
will, we suppose, meet with general consent ; but it will
be contended (and rightly, we think) that the analogies
drawn by the alchemists are fantastic and by no
means always correct, though possibly there may be
more truth in them than appears at first sight. The
point is not that these analogies are correct, but that
they were regarded as such by all true alchemists.
Says the author of The Sophie Hydrolith: ''. . . the
practice of this Art enables us to understand, not
merely the marvels of Nature, but the nature of
God Himself, in all its unspeakable glory. It shadows
forth, in a wonderful manner ... all the articles of
the Christian faith, and the reason why man must
pass through much tribulation and anguish, and fall
§ 11] THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY 13
a prey to death, before he can rise again to a
new life." ^° A considerable portion of this curious
alchemistic work is taken up in expounding the
analogy believed to exist between the Philosopher's
Stone and "the Stone which the builders rejected,"
Christ Jesus ; and the writer concludes : " Thus . . .
I have briefly and simply set forth to you the perfect
analogy which exists between our earthly and chemi-
cal and the true and heavenly Stone, Jesus Christ,
whereby we may attain unto certain beatitude and
perfection, not only in earthly but also in eternal
life." " And likewise says Peter Bonus : ** I am
firmly persuaded that any unbeliever who got truly
to know this Art, would straightway confess the
truth of our Blessed Religion, and believe in the
Trinity and in our Lord Jesus Christ.'* ^2
§ 11. For the most part, the alchemists were chiefly
engaged with the carrying out of the alchemistic
theory on the physical plane, i.e., with
The Dual ^^ attempt to transmute the ** base "
Nature of 1 • i ., 1 1 „
Alchemy. nietals mto the " noble ones ; some for
the love of knowledge, but alas! the
vast majority for the love of mere wealth. But all
who were worthy of the title of ** alchemist " realised
at times, more or less dimly, the possibility of the
application of the same methods to man and the
glorious result of the transmutation of man's soul
into spiritual gold. There were a few who had a
^° The Sophie Hydrolith ; or, Water Stone of the Wise (see The
Hermetic Museum, vol. i. p. 88).
" Ibid, p. 114.
" Peter Bonus: The New Pearl of Great Price (Mr. A. E.
Waite's translation, p. 275).
14 ALCHEMY [§ 12
clearer vision of this ideal, those who devoted their
activities entirely, or almost so, to the attainment of
this highest goal of alchemistic philosophy, and con-
cerned themselves little if at all with the analogous
problem on the physical plane. The theory that
Alchemy originated in the attempt to demonstrate the
applicability of the principles of Mysticism to the things
of the physical realm brings into harmony the physical
and transcendental theories of Alchemy and the
various conflicting facts advanced in favour of each.
It explains the existence of the above-mentioned,
two very different types of alchemists. It explains
the appeal to the works attributed to Hermes, and
the presence in the writings of the alchemists of
much that is clearly mystical. And finally, it is in
agreement with such statements as we have quoted
above from The Sophie Hydrolith and elsewhere,
and the general religious tone of the alchemistic
writings.
§ 12. In accordance with our primary object as
stated in the preface, we shall confine our attention
mainly to the physical aspect of Alchemy ;
andSpiriV' ^^^ ^^ order to understand its theories,
it appears to us to be essential to realise
the fact that Alchemy was an attempted application
of the principles of Mysticism to the things of the
physical world. The supposed analogy between
man and the metals sheds light on what otherwise
would be very difficult to understand. It helps to
make plain why the alchemists attributed moral
qualities to the metals — some are called ** imperfect,"
"base"; others are said to be ** perfect,'* ** noble."
And especially does it help to explain the alchemistic
:.ATE 2.
SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION
Representing the
Trinity of Body, Soul and Spirit.
[To face page 15
§13] THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY 15
notions regarding the nature of the metals. The
alchemists believed that the metals were constructed
after the manner of man, into whose constitution
three factors were regarded as entering : body, soul,
and spirit. As regards man, mystical philosophers
generally use these terms as follows : ** body " is the
outward manifestation and form; '*soul" is the in-
ward individual spirit '3 ; and " spirit " is the universal
Soul in all men. And likewise, according to the
alchemists, in the metals, there is the '* body '* or out-
ward form and properties, " metalline soul " or spirit, ^4
and finally, the all-pervading essence of all metals. As
writes Nicholas Barnaud, in his exceedingly curious
tract entitled The Book of Lamb spring : " Be warned
and understand truly that two fishes are swimming in
our sea," illustrating his remark by the symbolical
picture reproduced in plate 2, and adding in elu-
cidation thereof, '* The Sea is the Body, the two
Fishes are Soul and Spirit." ^5 The alchemists,
however, were not always consistent in their use of
the term ** spirit." Sometimes (indeed frequently)
they employed it to denote merely the more volatile
portions of a chemical substance ; at other times it
had a more interior significance.
§ 13. We notice the great difference between the
^3 Which, in virtue of man's self-consciousness, is, by the grace of
God, immortal.
*4 See the work Oj Natural and Supernatural Things^ attributed
to " Basil Valentine," for a description of the "spirits " of the metals
in particular.
'5 Nicholas Barnaud Dselphinas : The Book of Lambspring
(see the Hermetic Museum^ vol. i. p. 277). This work contains
many other fantastic alchemistic symbolical pictures, probably the
most curious series in all alchemistic literature
16 ALCHEMY [§ 13
alchemistic theory and the views regarding the con-
stitution of matter which have dominated Chemistry
j^ , since the time of Dalton. But at the
Mysticism present time Dalton's theory of the
and Modern chemical elements is undergoing a pro-
cience. found modification. We do not imply
that Modern Science is going back to any such fan-
tastic ideas as were held by the alchemists, but we
are struck with the remarkable similarity between
this alchemistic theory of a soul of all metals, a
one primal element, and modern views regarding
the ether of space. In its attempt to demonstrate
the applicability of the fundamental principles of Mys-
ticism to the things of the physical realm Alchemy
apparently failed and ended its days in fraud. It
appears, however, that this true aim of alchemistic
art — particularly the demonstration of the validity of
the theory that all the various forms of matter are
produced by an evolutionary process from some one
primal element or quintessence — is being realised by
recent researches in the domain of physical and
chemical science.
CHAPTER II
THE THEORY OF PHYSICAL ALCHEMY
§ 14. It must be borne in mind when reviewing the
theories of the alchemists, that there were a number
SuDDosedi ^^ phenomena known at the time, the
Proofs of superficial examination of vfhxph would
Trans- naturally engender 9 belief that the
transmutation of the metals was a com-
mon occurrence. For example, the deposition of
copper on iron when immersed in a solution of a
copper salt (e.g-., blue vitriol) was naturally concluded
to be a transmutation of iron into copper, ^ although,
had the alchemists examined the residual liquid, they
would have found that the two metals had merely
exchanged places ; and the fact that white and yellow
alloys of copper with arsenic and other substances
could be produced, pointed to the possibility of trans-
muting copper into silver and gold. It was also
known that if water (and this is true of distilled water
which does not contain solid matter in solution) was
boiled for some time in a glass flask, some solid,
earthy matter was produced ; and if water could be
transmuted into earth, surely one metal could be
^ Cf. TAe Golden Tract concerning the Stone of the Philosophers
(The Hermetic Museum^ vol. i. p. 25).
3 "
18 ALCHEMY [§ 15
converted into another. 2 On account of these and
like phenomena the alcher.ists regarded the trans-
mutation of the metals as an experimentally proved
fact. Even if they are to be blamed for their super-
ficial observation of such phenomena, yet, never-
theless, their labours marked a distinct advance upon
the purely speculative and theoretical methods of the
philosophers preceding them. Whatever their faults,
the alchemists were the forerunners of modern experi-
mental science.
§ 15. The alchemists regarded the metals as com-
posite, and granting this, then the possibility of trans-
mutation is only a logical conclusion. In
The order to understand the theory of the
Aicnemistic 1 1 1 i 1 .1
Elements. eieinents held by them we must rid our-
selves of any idea that it bears any
close resemblance to Dalton's theory of the chemical
elements ; this is clear from what has been said in
the preceding chapter. Now, it is a fact of simple
observation that many otherwise different bodies
manifest some property in common, as, for instance,
combustibility. Properties such as these were
regarded as being due to some principle or element
common to all bodies exhibiting such properties ;
thus, combustibility was thought to be due to some
elementary principle of combustion — the '* sulphur "
of the alchemists and the *' phlogiston " of a later
period. This is a view which a priori appears to be
not unlikely ; but it is now known that, although there
are relations existing between the properties of bodies
* Lavoisier (eighteenth century) proved this apparent transmu-
tation to be due to the action of the water on the glass vessel
containing it.
§ 16] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 19
and their constituent chemical elements (and also, it
should be noted, the relative arrangement of the
particles of these elements), it is the less obvious
properties which enable chemists to determine the
constitution of bodies, and the connection is very far
from being of the simple nature imagined by the
alchemists.
§ 16. For the origin of the alchemistic theory of the
elements it is necessary to go back to the philosophers
. . . , preceding the alchemists, and it is not
Views improbable that they derived it from
regarding the some still older source. It was taught
emen s. ^^ Empedocles of Agrigent (440 B.C.
circa), who considered that there were four elements —
earth, water, air, and fire. Aristotle added a fifth,
*' the ether." These elements were regarded, not as
different kinds of matter, but rather as different forms
of the one original matter, whereby it manifested
different properties. It was thought that to these
elements were due the four primary properties of
dryness, moistness, warmth, and coldness, each
element being supposed to give rise to two of these
properties, dryness and warmth being thought to be
due to fire, moistness and warmth to air, moistness
and coldness to water, and dryness and coldness to
earth. Thus, moist and cold bodies (liquids in
general) were said to possess these properties in
consequence of the aqueous element, and were termed
" waters," &c. Also, since these elements were not
regarded as different kinds of matter, transmutation
was thought to be possible, one being convertible
into another, as in the example given above
(§ 14).
20 ALCHEMY [§ 17
§ 17. Coming to the alchemists, we find the view
that the metals are all composed of two elementary-
principles — sulphur and mercury — in
The Sulphur- different proportions and dee^rees of
Mercury . n • i • n ,
Theory. purity, well-nigh universally accepted
in the earlier days of Alchemy. By
these terms *' sulphur" and ** mercury,*' however,
must not be understood the common bodies ordinarily-
designated by these names ; like the elements of
Aristotle, the alchemistic principles were regarded as
properties rather than as substances, though it must
be confessed that the alchemists were by no means
always clear on this point themselves. Indeed, it is
not altogether easy to say exactly what the alchemists
did mean by these terms, and the question is com-
plicated by the fact that very frequently they make
mention of different sorts of *'sulphur"and ''mercury."
Probably, however, we shall not be far wrong in
saying that " sulphur " was generally regarded as the
principle of combustion and also of colour, and was
said to be present on account of the fact that most
metals are changed into earthy substances by the aid
of fire ; and to the '' mercury," the metallic principle
par excellence, was attributed such properties as
fusibility, malleability and lustre, which were regarded
as characteristic of the metals in general. The
pseudo-Geber (see § 32) says that '' Sulphur is a
fatness of the Earth, by temperate Decoction in the
Mine of the Earth thickened, until it be hardned and
made dry." 3 He considered an excess of sulphur to
be a cause of imperfection in the metals, and he writes
3 Of the Sum of Perfection (see The Works of Geber^ translated
by Richard Russel, 1678, pp. 69 and 70).
§ 17] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 21
that one of the causes of the corruption of the metals
by fire ** is the Inclusion of a burning Sulphuriety in
the profundity of their Substance, diminishing them by
Inflamation, and exterminating also into Fume, with
extream Consumption, whatsoever Argentvive in
them is of good Fixation.'* 4 He assumed, further,
that the metals contained an incombustible as well
as a combustible sulphur, the latter sulphur being
apparently regarded as an impurity. 5 A later
alchemist says that sulphur is ** most easily recog-
nised by the vital spirit in animals, the colour in
metals, the odour in plants." ^ Mercury, on the
other hand, according to the pseudo-Geber, is the
cause of perfection in the metals, and endows gold
with its lustre. Another alchemist, quoting Arnold
de Villanova, writes : " Quicksilver is the elementary
form of all things fusible ; for all things fusible, when
melted, are changed into it, and it mingles with them
because it is of the same substance with them. Such
bodies differ from quicksilver in their composition
only so far as itself is or is not free from the foreign
matter of impure sulphur." 7 The obtaining of
" philosophical mercury," the imaginary virtues of
which the alchemists never tired of relating, was
generally held to be essential for the attainment of
the magnum opus. It was commonly thought that it
could be prepared from ordinary quicksilver by
4 Of the Sum of Perfection (see The Works of Geber, p. 156).
5 See The Works of Geber ^ p. 160. This view was also held by
other alchemists.
^ The New Chemical Lights Part II., Concerning Sulphur (see The
Hermetic Museum^ vol. ii. p. 151).
7 See Th£ Golden Tract concerning the Stone of the Philosophers
{The Hermetic Museum^ vol. i. p. 17).
22 ALCHEMY [§ 18
purificatory processes, whereby the impure sulphur
supposed to be present in this sort of mercury might
be purged away.
The sulphur-mercury theory of the metals was held
by such famous alchemists as Roger Bacon, Arnold
de Villanova and Raymond Lully. Until recently it
was thought to have originated to a great extent with
the Arabian alchemist, Geber ; but the late Professor
Berthelot showed that the works ascribed to Geber, in
which the theory is put forward, are forgeries of a
date by which it was already centuries old (see § 32).
Occasionally, arsenic was regarded as an elementary
principle (this view is to be found, for example, in the
work Of the Sum of Perfection, by the pseudo-Geber),
but the idea was not general.
§ 18. Later in the history of Alchemy, the mercury-
sulphur theory was extended by the addition of a
third elementary principle, salt. As in
The Sulphur- ^^ ^^se of philosophical sulphur and
Mercury-Salt 1 1 •
Theory mercury, by this term was not meant
common salt (sodium chloride) or any of
those substances commonly known as salts. "Salt"
was the name given to a supposed basic principle
in the metals, a principle of fixity and solidification,
conferring the property of resistance to fire. In
this extended form, the theory is found in the works
of Isaac of Holland and in those attributed to *' Basil
Valentine," who (see the work Of Natural and Super-
natural Things) attempts to explain the differences
in the properties of the metals as the result of the
differences in the proportion of sulphur, salt, and
mercury they contain. Thus, copper, which is highly
coloured, is said to contain much sulphur, whilst iron
§ 19] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 23
is supposed to contain an excess of salt, &c. The
sulphur-mercury-salt theory was vigorously cham-
pioned by Paracelsus, and the doctrine gained very
general acceptance amongst the alchemists. Salt,
however, seems generally to have been considered
a less important principle than either mercury or
sulphur.
The same germ-idea underlying these doctrines
is to be found much later in Stahl's phlogistic
theory (eighteenth century), which attempted to
account for the combustibility of bodies by the
assumption that such bodies all contain ** phlogiston"
— the hypothetical principleof combustion (see § 72) —
though the concept of " phlogiston " approaches more
nearly to the modern idea of an element than do the
alchemistic elements or principles. It was not until
still later in the history of Chemistry that it became
quite evident that the more obvious properties of
chemical substances are not specially conferred on
them in virtue of certain elements entering into their
constitution.
§ 19. The alchemists combined the above theories
with Aristotle's theory of the elements. The latter,
namely, earth, air, fire and water, were
Alchemistic resfarded as more interior, more primary.
Elements and ^^ . . . 1 ,
Principles. ^^^^ the prmciples, whose source was
said to be these same elements. As
writes Sendivogius in Part II. of T^e New Chemical
Light; ''The three Principles of things are produced
out of the four elements in the following manner :
Nature, whose power is in her obedience to the Will
of God, ordained from the very beginning, that the
four elements should incessantly act on one another,
24 ALCHEMY [§ 19
so, in obedience to her behest, fire began to act on
air, and produced Sulphur ; air acted on water, and
produced Mercury ; water, by its action on the earth,
produced Salt. Earth, alone, having nothing to act
upon, did not produce anything, but became the nurse,
or womb, of these three Principles. We designedly
speak of three Principles ; for though the Ancients
mention only two, it is clear that they omitted the
third (Salt) not from ignorance, but from a desire
to lead the uninitiated astray." ^
Beneath and within all these coverings of outward
properties, taught the alchemists, is hidden the secret
essence of all material things. '' . . . the elements
and compounds," writes one alchemist, *' in addition to
crass matter, are composed of a subtle substance, or
intrinsic radical humidity, diffused through the ele-
mental parts, simple and wholly incorruptible, long
preserving the things themselves in vigour, and called
the Spirit of the World, proceeding from the Soul of
the World, the one certain life, filling and fathoming
all things, gathering together and connecting all
things, so that from the three genera of creatures,
Intellectual, Celestial, and Corruptible, there is
formed the One Machine of the whole world." 9 It
is hardly necessary to point out how nearly this
approaches modern views regarding the Ether of
Space.
2 The New Chemical Light, Part II., Concerning Sulphur (see The
Hermetic Museum, vol. ii. pp. 142-143).
9 Alexander von Suchten : Man, the best and most perfect of
God's creatures. A more complete Exposition of this Medical Founda-
tion for the less Experienced Student. (See Benedictus Figulus :
A Golden and Blessed Casket of Nature's Marvels, translated by
A. E. Waite, 1893, PP- 7^ ^"^ 72*)
§20] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 25
§ 20. The alchemists regarded the metals as
growing in the womb of the earth, and a know-
ledge of this growth as being of very
^^'^e^Meufs °^ ^""^^^ importance. Thomas Norton (who,
however, contrary to the generality of
alchemists, denied that metals have seed and that
they grow in the sense of multiply) says : —
^^ Mettalls of kinde grow lowe under ground,
For above erth rust in them is found ;
Soe above erth appeareth corruption.
Of mettalls, and in long tyme destruction,
Whereof noe Cause is found in this Case,
Buth that above Erth thei be not in their place
Contrarie places to nature causeth strife
As Fishes out of water losen their Lyfe :
And Man, with Beasts, and Birds live in ayer.
But Stones and Mineralls under Erth repaier." ^°
Norton here expresses the opinion, current among the
alchemists, that each and every thing has its own
peculiar environment natural to it ; a view controverted
by Robert Boyle (§71). So firm was the belief in
the growth of metals, that mines were frequently
closed for a while in order that the supply of metal
might be renewed. The fertility of Mother Earth
forms the subject of one of the illustrations in Tke
Twelve Keys of *' Basil Valentine" (see § 41). We
reproduce it in plate 3, fig. A. Regarding this
subject, the author writes : *' The quickening power of
the earth produces all things that grow forth from it,
and he who says that the earth has no life makes
'° Thomas Norton : Ordinall of Alchemy (see Theatrum Chemi-
cum Britannicuniy edited by Elias Ashmole, 1652, p. 18).
26 ALCHEMY [§21
a statement which is flatly contradicted by the most
ordinary facts. For what is dead cannot produce life
and growth, seeing that it is devoid of the quickeniixg
spirit. This spirit is the life and soul that dwell in the
earth, and are nourished by heavenly and sidereal
influences. For all herbs, trees, and roots, and all
metals and minerals, receive their growth and nutri-
ment from the spirit of the earth, which is the spirit
of life. This spirit is itself fed by the stars, and
is thereby rendered capable of imparting nutriment
to all things that grow, and of nursing them as
a mother does her child while it is yet in the womb.
The minerals are hidden in the womb of the earth,
and nourished by her with the spirit which she
receives from above.
" Thus the power of growth that I speak of is
imparted not by the earth, but by the life-giving spirit
that is in it. If the earth were deserted by this spirit, it
would be dead, and no longer able to afford nourish-
ment to anything. For its sulphur or richness would
lack the quickening spirit without which there can be
neither life nor growth." ^^
§ 21. The idea that the growth of each metal was
under the influence of one of the heavenly bodies
(a theory in harmony with the alchemistic
Astrolo^^ view of the unity of the Cosmos), was
very generally held by the alchemists ;
and in consequence thereof, the metals were often
referred to by the names or astrological symbols
of their peculiar planets. These particulars are shown
in the following table : —
" " Basil Valentine " : The Twelve Keys (see The Hermetic
Museum, vol i. pp. 333-334)-
PLATE 3
SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION
Representing the
Fertility of tlie Earth.
SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION
Representintj the
Amaigarnation of Gold with Mercury.
(See page 33-)
Til }tu^ fagjt 36]
22]
PHYSICAL ALCHEMY
27
Metals.
Planets, &c."
Symbols.
Gold
Sun
0
Silver
Moon
D
Mercury
Mercury
^
Copper
Venus
?
Iron
Mars
^
Tin
Jupiter
U
Lead
Saturn
^
Moreover, it was thought by some alchemists that a
due observance of astrological conditions was neces-
sary for successfully carrying out important alchemistic
experiments.
§ 22. The alchemists regarded gold as the most
perfect metal, silver being considered more perfect
Al h * f ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^' ^^^ reason of this view
View of the is not difficult to understand : gold is the
Nature of most beautiful of all the metals, and it
retains its beauty without tarnishing ; it
resists the action of fire and most corrosive liquids,
and is unaffected by sulphur ; it was regarded, as we
have pointed out above (see § 9), as symbolical of
the regenerate man. Silver, on the other hand, is,
indeed, a beautiful metal which wears well in a pure
atmosphere and resists the action of fire ; but it is
attacked by certain corrosives {e,£:, aqua fortis or
nitric acid) and also by sulphur. Through all the
metals, from the one seed, Nature, according to the
" This supposed connection between the metals and planets also
played an important part in Talismanic Magic.
28 ALCHEMY [§ 22
alchemists, works continuously up to gold ; so that, in
a sense, all other metals are gold in the making ; their
existence marks the staying of Nature's powers ; as
** Eirenaeus Philalethes " says: "All metallic seed is
the seed of gold ; for gold is the intention of Nature in
regard to all metals. If the base metals are not gold,
it is only through some accidental hindrance ; they
are all potentially gold." '3 Or, as another alchemist
puts it : ''Since . . . the substance of the metals is
one, and common to all, and since this substance is
(either at once, or after laying aside in course of time
the foreign and evil sulphur of the baser metals by a
process of gradual digestion) changed by the virtue of
its own indwelling sulphur into gold, which is the
goal of all the metals, and the true intention of
Nature — we are obliged to admit, and freely confess
that in the mineral kingdom, as well as in the
vegetable and animal kingdoms, Nature seeks and
demands a gradual attainment of perfection, and a
gradual approximation to the highest standard of
purity and excellence." H Such was the alchemistic
view of the generation of the metals ; a theory which
is admittedly crude, but which, nevertheless, contains
the germ of a great principle of the utmost importance,
namely, the idea that all the varying forms of matter
are evolved from some one primordial stuff — a
principle of which chemical science lost sight for
awhile ; for its validity was unrecognised by Dalton's
Atomic Theory (at least, as enunciated by him),
^3 " EiRENiEUS Philalethes " : The Metamorphosis of Metals
(see The Hermetic Museum, vol. ii. p. 239).
"* The Golden Tract Concerning the Stone of the Philosophers
(see The Hermetic Museum, vol. i. p. 19).
§ 23] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 29
but which is being demonstrated, as we hope to
show hereinafter, by recent scientific research. The
alchemist was certainly a fantastic evolutionist, but
he was an evolutionist, and, moreover, he did not
make the curious and paradoxical mistake of regarding
the fact of evolution as explaining away the existence
of God — the alchemist recognised the hand of the
Divine in nature — and, although, in these days of
modern science, we cannot accept his theory of the
growth of metals, we can, nevertheless, appreciate
and accept the fundamental germ-idea underly-
ing it.
§ 23. The alchemist strove to assist Nature in her
gold-making, or, at least, to carry out her methods.
The pseudo-Geber taught that the im-
The perfect metals were to be perfected or
Philosophers * , , , i. . r , . i- • »»
Stone. cured by the application of medicines.
Three forms of medicines were dis-
tinguished ; the first bring about merely a temporary
change, and the changes wrought by the second class,
although permanent, are not complete. '* A Medicine
of the third Order," he writes, " I call every Prepara-
tion, which, when it comes to Bodies, with its pro-
jection, takes away all Corruption, and perfects them
with the Difference of all Compleatment. But this is
one only." ^5 This, the true medicine that would
produce a real and permanent transmutation,
is the Philosopher's Stone, the Masterpiece of
alchemistic art. Similar views were held by all the
alchemists, though some of them taught that it was
necessary first of all to reduce the metals to their first
'5 Of the Sum of Perfection (see The Works of Geber, translated
by Richard Russel, 1678, p. 192).
30 ALCHEMY [§ 24
substance. Often, two forms of the Philosopher's
Stone were distinguished, or perhaps we should say,
two degrees of perfection in the one Stone ; that for
transmuting the "imperfect" metals into silver being
said to be white, the stone or " powder of projection "
for gold being said to be of a red colour. In other
accounts (see Chapter V.) the medicine is described
as of a pale brimstone hue.
Most of the alchemists who claimed knowledge of
the Philosopher's Stone or the materia prima necessary
for its preparation, generally kept its nature most
secret, and spoke only in the most enigmatical and
allegorical language, the majority of their recipes con-
taining words of unknown meaning. In some cases
gold or silver, as the case may be, was employed in
preparing the " medicine " ; and, after projection had
been made, this was, of course, obtained again in
the metallic form, the alchemist imagining that a
transmutation had been effected. In the case of the
few other recipes that are intelligible, the most that
could be obtained by following out their instructions
is a white or yellow metallic alloy superficially
resembling silver or gold.
§ 24. The mystical as distinguished from the
pseudo-practical descriptions of the Stone and its
preparation are by far the more in-
of the teresting of the two. Paracelsus, in his
Philosopher's work on The Tincture of the PhilosopherSy
Stone. ^^jjg ^g ^j^^^ ^Ij ^^^ jg necessary for us to
do is to mix and coagulate the ** rose-coloured blood
from the Lion" and **the gluten from the Eagle," by
which he probably meant that we must combine
" philosophical sulphur " with ** philosophical mercury.'*
§ 25] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 31
This opinion, that the Philosopher's Stone consists of
** philosophical sulphur and mercury " combined so as
to constitute a perfect unity, was commonly held by
the alchemists, and they frequently likened this union
to the conjunction of the sexes in marriage. '* Eirenseus
Philalethes" tells us that for the preparation of the
Stone it is necessary to extract the seed of gold,
though this cannot be accomplished by subjecting
gold to corrosive liquids, but only by a homogeneous
water (or liquid) — the Mercury of the Sages. In the
Book of the Revelation of Hermes^ interpreted by
Theophrastus Paracelsus, concerning the Supreme
Secret of the World, the Medicine, which is here, as
not infrequently, identified with the alchemistic
essence of all things or Soul of the World, is described
in the following suggestive language : " This is the
Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot comprehend
without the interposition of the Holy Ghost, or
without the instruction of those who know it. The
same is of a mysterious nature, wondrous strength,
boundless power. ... By Avicenna this Spirit is
named the Soul of the World. For, as the Soul
moves all the limbs of the Body, so also does this
Spirit move all bodies. And as the Soul is in all the
limbs of the Body, so also is this Spirit in all
elementary created things. It is sought by many and
found by few. It is beheld from afar and found
near ; for it exists in every thing, in every place,
and at all times. It has the powers of all creatures ;
its action is found in all elements, and the qualities
of all things are therein, even in the highest per-
fection ... it heals all dead and living bodies
without other medicine, . . . converts all metallic
32 ALCHEMY [§25
bodies into gold, and there is nothing like unto it
under Heaven." '^
§ 25. From the ascetic standpoint (and unfor-
tunately, most mystics have been somewhat overfond
of ascetic ideas), the development of
^]^® ^^®°^ the soul is only fully possible with the
of Develop- -r - r i i i 1 11
ment. mortihcation of the body ; and all true
Mysticism teaches that if we would reach
the highest goal possible for man — union with the
Divine — there must be a giving up of our own in-
dividual wills, an abasement of the soul before the
Spirit. And so the alchemists taught that for the
achievement of the magnum opus on the physical
plane, we must strip the metals of their outward pro-
perties in order to develop the essence within. As says
Helvetius : " . . the essences of metals are hidden in
their outward bodies, as the kernel is hidden in the
nut. Every earthly body, whether animal, vegetable,
or mineral, is the habitation and terrestrial abode of
that celestial spirit, or influence, which is its principle
of life or growth. The secret of Alchemy is the
destruction of the body, which enables the Artist
to get at, and utilise for his own purposes, the
living soul." ^7 This killing of the outward nature
of material things was to be brought about by the
processes of putrefaction and decay ; hence the reason
why such processes figure so largely in alchemistic
recipes for the preparation of the ** Divine Magistery."
'^ See Benedictus Figulus : A Golden and Blessed Casket of
Nature^ s Marvels (translated by A. E. Waite, 1893, pp. 36, 37,
and 41).
^^ J. F. Helvetius : The Golden Calf^ ch. iv. (see The Hermetic
Museum, vol. ii. p. 298).
PLATE 4-
SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION
Representing the
Coction of Gold Amalgam in a Closed Vessel.
SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION
Representing the
Transmutation of the Metals.
[To face page
§25] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 33
It must be borne in mind, however, that the alchemists
used the terms " putrefaction " and ** decay " rather
indiscriminately, applying them to chemical processes
which are no longer regarded as such. Pictorial
symbols of death and decay representative of such pro-
cesses are to be found in several alchemistic books.
There is a curious series of pictures in A Form
and Method of Perfecting Base Metals, by Janus
Lacinus, the Calabrian (a short tract prefixed to
The New Pearl of Great Price by Peter Bonus-
see § 39), of which we show three examples in
plates 3 and 4. In the first picture of the series
(not shown here) we enter the palace of the king
(gold) and observe him sitting crowned upon his
throne, surrounded by his son (mercury) and five
servants (silver, copper, tin, iron and lead). In
the next picture (plate 3, fig. B), the son, incited by
the servants, kills his father ; and, in the third, he
catches the blood of his murdered parent in his robes ; v*
whereby we understand that an amalgam of gold and { ^
mercury is to be prepared, the gold apparently ^
disappearing or dying, whilst the mercury is coloured <4
thereby. The next picture shows us a grave being ^
dug, i.e., a furnace is to be made ready. In the fifth
picture in the series, the son "thought to throw his
father into the grave, and to leave him there ; ^^^
but . . . both fell in together " ; and in the sixth Ni
picture (plate 4, fig. A), we see the son being pre- V
vented from escaping, both son and father being left "*<
in the grave to decay. Here we have instructions in '^
symbolical form to place the amalgam in a sealed ^
vessel in the furnace and to allow it to remain there
until some change is observed. So the allegory
4
34 ALCHEMY [§ 26
proceeds. Ultimately the father is restored to life,
the symbol of resurrection being (as might be ex-
pected) of frequent occurrence in alchemistic literature.
By this resurrection we understand that the gold will
finally be obtained in a pure form. Indeed, it is now
the ''great medicine" and, in the last picture of
the series (plate 4, fig. B), the king's son and his
five servants are all made kings in virtue of its
powers.
§ 26. The alchemists believed that a most minute
proportion of the Stone projected upon considerable
The Powers ^^^.ntities of heated mercury, molten
of the lead, or other '' base " metal, would
Philosopher's transmute practically the whole into
silver or gold. This claim of the
alchemists, that a most minute quantity of the Stone
was sufficient to transmute considerable quantities of
''base" metal, has been the object of much ridicule.
Certainly, some of the claims of the alchemists (under-
stood literally) are out of all reason ; but on the
other hand, the disproportion between the quantities
of Stone and transmuted metal cannot be advanced
as an d priori objection to the alchemists' claims,
inasmuch that a class of chemical reactions (called
" catalytic ") is known, in which the presence of a
small quantity of some appropriate form of matter —
the catalyst — brings about a chemical change in an
indefinite quantity of some other form or forms ; thus,
for example, cane-sugar in aqueous solution is con-
verted into two other sugars by the action of small
quantities of acid ; and sulphur-dioxide and oxygen,
which will not combine under ordinary conditions,
do so readily in the presence of a small quantity
§ 27] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 35
of platinized asbestos, which is obtained unaltered
after the reaction is completed and may be used over
and over again (this process is actually employed in
the manufacture of sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol).
However, whether any such catalytic transmutation
of the chemical " elements " is possible is merely
conjecture.
§ 27. The Elixir of Life, which was generally
described as a solution of the Stone in spirits of
wine, or identified with the Stone itself,
of Life could be applied, so it was thought,
under certain conditions to the
alchemist himself, with an entirely analogous result,
i,e.y it would restore him to the flower of youth. The
idea, not infrequently attributed to the alchemists, that
the Elixir would endow one with a life of endless
duration on the material plane is not in strict accord
with alchemistic analogy. From this point of view,
the effect of the Elixir is physiological perfection,
which, although ensuring long life, is not equivalent
to endless life on the material plane. ** The Philo-
sophers' Stone," says Paracelsus, "purges the whole
body of man, and cleanses it from all impurities by
the introduction of new and more youthful forces
wh ch it joins to the nature of man." ^^ And in
an )ther work expressive of the opinions of the
sarrie alchemist, we read :**... there is nothing
which might deliver the mortal body from death ;
but there is One Thing which may postpone
decay, renew youth, and prolong short human
^^ Theophrastus Paracelsus : The Fifth Book of the Archi-
doxies (see The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus^
translated by A. E. Waite, 1894, vol. ii. p. 39).
36 ALCHEMY [§ 28
life . . . " ^9 In the theory that a solution of the
Philosopher's Stone (which, it must be remembered,
was thought to be of a species with gold) constituted
the Elixir VitcB, can be traced, perhaps, the idea that
gold in a potable form was a veritable cure-all : in
the latter days of Alchemy any yellow-coloured liquid
was foisted upon a credulous public as a medicinal
preparation of gold.
§ 28. We will conclude this chapter with some
few remarks regarding the practical methods of
The Practical ^^ alchemists. In their experiments,
Methods of the alchemists worked with very large
*^® quantities of material compared with what
Alchemists. . i i • i • i i i
IS employed m chemical researches at the
present day. They had great belief in the efficacy
of time to effect a desired change in their substances,
and they were wont to repeat the same operation
(such as distillation, for example) on the same mate-
rial over and over again ; which demonstrated their
unwearied patience, even if it effected little towards
the attainment of their end. They paid much atten-
tion to any changes of colour they observed in their
experiments, and many descriptions of supposed
methods to achieve the magnum opus contain :ie-
tailed directions as to the various changes of co^)ur
which must be obtained in the material operated u -^on
if a successful issue to the experiment is desirea.^o
^9 The Book of the Revelation of Hermes, interpreted by Theo-
phrastus Paracelsus, concerning the Supreme Secret of the World.
(See Benedictus Figulus : A Golden Casket of Nature's Marvels,
translated by A. E. Waite, 1893, pp. 33 and 34.)
2° As writes Espagnet in his Hermetic Arcanum, canons 64 and 65 :
" The Means or demonstrative signs are Colours, successively and
orderly aifecting the matter and its affections and demonstrative
ITo face pafie 37
§ 28] PHYSICAL ALCHEMY 37
In plates 5 and 6 we give illustrations of some
characteristic pieces of apparatus employed by the
alchemists. Plate 5, fig. A, and plate 6, fig. A, are
from a work known as Alchemiae Gebri (1545) ;
plate 5, fig. B, is from Glauber's work on Furnaces
(1651) ; and plate 6, fig. B, is from a work by Dr. John
French entitled The Art of Distillation (1651).
passions, whereof there are also three special ones (as critical) to
be noted ; to these some add a Fourth. The first is black, which is
ealled the Crow's head, because of its extreme blackness, whose
crepusculum sheweth the beginning of the action of the fire of
nature and solution, and the blackest midnight sheweth the perfec-
tion of liquefaction, and confusion of the elements. Then the grain
putrefies and is corrupted, that it may be the more apt for genera-
tion . The white colour succeedeth the black, wherein is given the
perfection of the first degree, and of the White Sulphur. This is
called the blessed stone ; this Earth is white and foliated, wherein
Philosophers do sow their gold. The third is Orange colour,
which is produced in the passage of the white to the red, as the
middle, and being mixed of both is as the dawn with his saffron
kair, a forerunner of the Sun. The fourth colour is Ruddy and
Sanguine, which is extracted from the white fire only. Now because
whiteness is easily altered by any other colour before day it quickly
laileth of its candour. But the deep redness of the Sun perfecteth
the work of Sulphur, which is called the Sperm of the male, the fire
of the Stone, the King's Crown, and the Son of Sol, wherein the
first labour of the workman resteth.
" Besides these decretory signs which firmly inhere in the matter,
and shew its essential mutations, almost infinite colours appear,
and shew themselves in vapours, as the Rainbow in the clouds,
which quickly pass away and are expelled by those that succeed,
more affecting the air than the earth : the operator must have a
gentle care of them, because they are not permanent, and proceed
not from the intrinsic disposition of the matter, but from the fire
painting and fashioning everything after its pleasure, or casually
by heat in slight moisture " (see Collectanea Hermetica^ edited by
W. Wynn Westcott, vol. i., 1893, pp. 28 and 29). Very probably
this is not without a mystical meaning as well as a supposed
application in the preparation of the physical Stone.
38 ALCHEMY [§ 28
The first figure shows us a furnace and alembics.
The alembic proper is a sort of still- head which can
be luted on to a flask or other vessel, and was much
used for distillations. In the present case, however,
the alembics are employed in conjunction with appa-
ratus for subliming difficultly volatile substances.
Plate 5, fig. B, shows another apparatus for sublima-
tion, consisting of a sort of oven, and four detachable
upper -chambers, generally called aludels. In both
forms of apparatus the vapours are cooled in the
upper part of the vessel, and the substance is
deposited in the solid form, being thereby purified
from less volatile impurities. Plate 6, fig. A, shows
an athanor (or digesting furnace) and a couple of
digesting vessels. A vessel of this sort was em-
ployed for heating bodies in a closed space, the top
being sealed up when the substances to be operated
upon had been put inside, and the vessel heated in
an athanor in ashes, a uniform temperature being
maintained. The pelican, illustrated in plate 6, fig.
B, was used for a similar purpose, the two arms
being added in the idea that the vapours would be
circulated thereby.
IT.
u
T.i fr,r,> h,l((/> iXl
CHAPTER III
THE ALCHEMISTS^
(a. before Paracelsus)
§ 29. Having now considered the chief points in
the theory of Physical Alchemy, we must turn our
attention to the lives and individual
ermes teaching's of the alchemists themselves.
Tnsmegistos. ^ , . i . r i • i
The first name which is found m the
history of Alchemy is that of Hermes Trismegistos.
We have already mentioned the high esteem
in which the works ascribed to this personage
' It is perhaps advisable to mention here that the lives of the
alchemists, for the most part, are enveloped in considerable
obscurity, and many points in connection therewith are in dispute.
The authorities we have followed will be found, as a rule, specific-
ally mentioned in what follows ; but we may here acknowledge our
general indebtedness to the following works, though, as the reader
will observe, many others have been consulted as well : Thomas
Thomson's The History of Chemistry, Meyer's A History of
Chemistry, the anonymous Lives of Alchemy stical Philosophers (1815),
the works of Mr. A. E. Waite, the Dictionary of National Biography,
and certain articles in the Encyclopdceia Britannica. This must not
be taken to mean, however, that we have always followed the con-
clusions reached in these works, for so far as the older of them are
concerned, recent researches by various authorities — to whom refer-
ence will be found in the following pages, and to whom, also, we are
indebted — have shown, in certain cases, that such are not tenable.
40 ALCHEMY [§ 30
I were held by the alchemists (§ 6). He has been
I regarded as the father of Alchemy ; his name has
I supplied a synonym for the Art — the Hermetic Art
j — and even to-day we speak of hermetically sealing
flasks and the like. But who Hermes actually was,
or even if there were such a personage, is a matter
of conjecture. The alchemists themselves supposed
him to have been an Egyptian living about the time
of Moses. He is now generally regarded as purely
mythical — a personification of Thoth, the Egyptian
God of learning ; but, of course, some person or
persons must have written the works attributed to
him, and the first of such writers (if, as seems not
unlikely, there were more than one) may be considered
to have a right to the name. Of these works, the
Divine Pymander,'^ a mystical-religious treatise, is
the most important. The Golden Tractate, also attri-
buted to Hermes, which is an exceedingly obscure
alchemistic work, is now regarded as having been
written at a comparatively late date.
§ 30. In a work attributed to Albertus Magnus,
but which is probably spurious, we are told that
Alexander the Great found the tomb of
^^® Hermes in a cave near Hebron. This
Smaragdine , . , i i i i
Table tomb contamed an emerald table —
" The Smaragdine Table " — on which
were inscribed the following thirteen sentences in
Phoenician characters : —
I. I speak not fictitious things, but what is true
and most certain.
2 Dr. Everard's translation of this work forms vol. ii. of the
Collectanea Hermetica, edited by W. Wynn Westcott, M.B., D.P.H.
It is now, however, out of print.
§30] THE ALCHEMISTS 41
2. What is below is like that which is above,
and what is above is like that which is below, to
accomplish the miracles of one thing.
3. And as all things were produced by the medi-
ation of one Being, so all things were produced
from this one thing by adaptation.
4. Its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon ; the
wind carries it in its belly, its nurse is the earth.
5. It is the cause of all perfection throughout the
whole world.
6. Its power is perfect if it be changed into earth.
7. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from
the gross, acting prudently and with judgment.
8. 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 obtain the glory of the
whole world, and all obscurity will fly far away
from you.
9. This thing is the fortitude of all fortitude,
because it overcomes all subtle things, and penetrates
every solid thing.
10. Thus were all things created.
1 1 . Thence proceed wonderful adaptations which
are produced in this way.
12. Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistus,
possessing the three parts of the philosophy of the
whole world.
13. That which I had to say concerning the
operation of the Sun is completed.
These sentences clearly teach the doctrine of the
alchemistic essence or ''One Thing," which is every-
where present, penetrating even solids (this we should
42 ALCHEMY [§ 31
note is true of the ether of space), and out of which
all things of the physical world are made by adapta-
tion or modification. The terms Sun and Moon in
the above passage probably stand for Spirit and
Matter respectively, not gold and silver.
§ 31. One of the earliest of the alchemists of whom
record remains was Zosimus of Panopolis, who
flourished in the fifth century, and was
PanoDolis regarded by the later alchemists as a
master of the Art. He is said to have
written many treatises dealing with Alchemy, but only
fragments remain. Of these fragments. Professor
Venable says : " ... they give us a good idea of
the learning of the man and of his times. They
contain descriptions of apparatus, of furnaces, studies
of minerals, of alloys, of glass making, of mineral
waters, and much that is mystical, besides a good deal
referring to the transmutation of metals." 3 Zosimus
is said to have been the author of the saying, '' like
begets like," but whether all the fragments ascribed to
him were really his work is doubtful.
Among other early alchemists we may mention also
Africanus, the Syrian; Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais,
and the historian, Olympiodorus of Thebes.
§ 32. In the seventh century the Arabians conquered
Egypt ; and strangely enough, Alchemy flourished
under them to a remarkable deg^ree. Of
all the Arabian alchemists, Geber has
been regarded as the greatest; as Professor Meyer
says : '* There can be no dispute that with the name
Geber was propagated the memory of a personality
3 F. P. Venable, Ph.D. : A Short History of Chemistry (1896),
P- 13-
§32] THE ALCHEMISTS 43
with which the chemical knowledge of the time was
bound up." 4 Geber is supposed to have lived about
the ninth century, but of his life nothing definite is
known. A large number of works have been ascribed
to him, of which the majority are unknown, but the
four Latin MSS. which have been printed under
the titles Summa Perfectionis Mettalorum, De In-
vestigatione Perfectionis Metallorum, De Inventione
Veritatis and De Fornacibus Construendisy were,
until a few years ago, regarded as genuine. On the
strength of these works, Geber has ranked high as a
chemist. In them are described the preparation of
many important chemical compounds ; the most
essential chemical operations, such as sublimation,
distillation, filtration, crystallisation (or coagulation, as
the alchemists called it), &c. ; and also important
chemical apparatus, for example, the water-bath,
improved furnaces, &c. However, it was shown by
the late Professor Berthelot that Summa Perfectionis
Mettalorum is a forgery of the fourteenth century, and
the other works forgeries of an even later date.
Moreover, the original Arabic MSS. of Geber have
been brought to light. These true writings of Geber
are very obscure ; they give no warrant for believing
that the famous sulphur-mercury theory was due to
this alchemist, and they prove him not to be the
expert chemist that he was supposed to have been.
The spurious writings mentioned above show that the
pseudo-Geber was a man of wide chemical knowledge
and experience, and play a not inconsiderable part in
the history of Alchemy.
♦ Ernst von Meyer: A History of Chemistry (translated by
Dr. McGowan, 1906), p. 31.
44 ALCHEMY [§ 33
§ 33. Among other Arabian alchemists the most
celebrated were Avicenna and Rhasis, who are sup-
posed to have lived some time after
^Akh^te*" Geber; and to whom, perhaps, the
sulphur-mercury theory may have been
to some extent due.
The teachings of the Arabian alchemists gradually
penetrated into the Western world, in which, during
the thirteenth century, flourished some of the most
eminent of the alchemists, whose lives and teachings
we must now briefly consider.
§ 34. Albertus Magnus, Albert Groot or Albert
von Bollstadt (see plate 7), was born at Lauingen,
probably in 1193. ^^ ^^^ educated at
(iiQoicJ^\ Padua, and in his later years he showed
himself apt at acquiring the knowledge
of his time. He studied theology, philosophy and
natural science, and is chiefly celebrated as an
Aristotelean philosopher. He entered the Dominican
order, taught publicly at Cologne, Paris and elsewhere,
and was made provincial of this order. Later he had
the bishopric of Regensburg conferred on him, but he
retired after a few years to a Dominican cloister, where
he devoted himself to philosophy and science. He
was one of the most learned men of his time and, more-
over, a man of noble character. The authenticity of the
alchemistic works attributed to him has been questioned.
§ 35. The celebrated Dominican, Thomas Aquinas
(see plate 8), was probably a pupil of
Thomas Albertus Magnus, from whom it is thought
(122&-1274). ^^ imbibed alchemistic learning. It is
very probable, however, that the alchem-
istic works attributed to him are spurious. The
PLATE 7.
[by de Bry]
PORTRAIT OF
ALBERTUS MAGNUS.
face -taHe 44]
§ 36] THE ALCHEMISTS 45
author of these works manifests a deeply religious
tone, and, according to Thomson's History of
Chemistry, he was the first to employ the term
** amalgam" to designate an alloy of mercury with
some other metal. 5
§ 36. Roger Bacon, the most illustrious of the medi-
aeval alchemists, was born near Ilchester in Somer-
set, probably in 12 14. His erudition,
^1214-12941^^ considering the general state of ignorance
prevailing at this time, was most remark-
able. Professor Meyer says : " He is to be regarded
as the intellectual originator of experimental research,
if the departure in this direction is to be coupled with
any one name — a direction which, followed more and
more as time went on, gave to the science [of
Chemistry] its own peculiar stamp, and ensured its
steady development."^ Roger Bacon studied theology
and science at Oxford and at Paris ; and he joined the
Franciscan order, at what date, however, is uncertain.
He was particularly interested in optics, and certain
discoveries in this branch of physics have been
attributed to him, though probably erroneously. It
appears, also, that he was acquainted with gunpowder,
which was, however, not employed in Europe until
many years later. 7 Unfortunately, he earned the
undesirable reputation of being in communication with
the powers of darkness, and as he did not hesitate to
oppose many of the opinions current at the time, he
5 Thomas Thomson : The History of Chemistry, vol. i. (1830),
P- 33.
^ Ernst von Meyer : A History of Chemistry (translated by
Dr. McGowan, 1906), p. 35.
7 See Roger Bacon's Discovery of Miracles, chaps, vi. and xi.
46 ALCHEMY [§ 36
suffered much persecution. He was a firm believer in
the powers of the Philosopher's Stone to transmute
large quantities of '' base " metal into gold, and also to
extend the life of the individual. '' Alchimyy' he says,
" is a Science, teaching how to transforme any kind of
mettall into another : and that by a proper medicine, as
it appeareth by many Philosophers Bookes. Alchimy
therefore is a science teaching how to make and com-
pound a certaine medicine, which is called Elixir, the
which when it is cast upon mettals or imperfect bodies,
doth fully perfect them in the verie projection." ^ He
also believed in Astrology ; but, nevertheless, he was
entirely opposed to many of the magical and super-
stitious notions held at the time, and his tract, De
Secretis Operibus Artis et NaturcE, et de Nullitate
MagicB, was an endeavour to prove that many so-called
** miracles " could be brought about simply by the aid
of natural science. Roger Bacon was a firm supporter
of the Sulphur- Mercury theory: he says :**... the
natural principles in the mynes, are Argent-Vive^ and
Sulphur, All mettals and minerals, whereof there be
sundrie and divers kinds, are begotten of these two :
but I must tel you, that nature alwaies intendeth and
striveth to the perfection of Gold : but many accidents
coming between, change the metalls. . . . For accord-
ing to the puritie and impuritie of the two aforesaide
principles, Argent-vive and Sulphur, pure, and impure
mettals are ingendred." 9 He expresses surprise that
any should employ animal and vegetable substances
in their attempts to prepare the Stone, a practice
common to some alchemists but warmly criticised by
^ Roger Bacon : The Mirror of Alchimy (1597), p. i-
9 Ibid. p. 2.
§ 38] THE ALCHEMISTS 47
others. He says : '* Nothing may be mingled with
mettalls which hath not beene made or sprung from
them, it remaineth cleane inough, that no strange
thing which hath not his originall from these two [viz.,
sulphur and mercury], is able to perfect them, or to
make a chaunge and new transmutation of them : so
that it is to be wondered at, that any wise man should
set his mind upon living creatures, or vegetables which
are far off, when there be minerals to bee found nigh
enough : neither may we in any wise thinke, that any
of the Philosophers placed the Art in the said remote
things, except it were by way of comparison." i° The
one process necessary for the preparation of the
Stone, he tells us, is "continuall concoction" in the
fire, which is the method that "God hath given to
nature." ^^ He died about 1294.
§ 37. The date and birthplace of Arnold de
Villanova, or Villeneuve, are both uncertain. He
studied medicine at Paris, and in the latter
V*ll P^^^ ^^ ^^^ thirteenth century practised
(12 — ?-i3io?). pi'ofessionally in Barcelona. To avoid
persecution at the hands of the Inquisi-
tion, he was obliged to leave Spain, and ultimately
found safety with Frederick H. in Sicily. He was
famous not only as an alchemist, but also as a skilful
physician. He died (it is thought in a shipwreck)
about 1 3 10-13 1 3.
§ 38. Raymond LuUy, the son of a noble Spanish
family, was born at Palma (in Majorca) about 1235.
He was a man of somewhat eccentric character —
in his youth a ma n of pleasure ; in his maturity,
^° Roger Bacon : T^e Mirror of Alchimy (1597), p. 4.
" Ibid. p. 9.
48 ALCHEMY [§ 38
a mystic and ascetic. His career was of a roving
and adventurous character. We are told that, in his
younger days, although married, he be-
^ifT^^ came violently infatuated with a lady of
(1235 7-1315). the name of Ambrosia de Castello, who
vainly tried to dissuade him from his
profane passion. Her efforts proving futile, she re-
quested Lully to call upon her, and in the presence of
her husband, bared to his sight her breast, which was
almost eaten away by a cancer. This sight — so the
story goes — brought about Lully 's conversion. He
became actuated by the idea of converting to
Christianity the heathen in Africa, and engaged the
services of an Arabian whereby he might learn the
language. The man, however, discovering his
master's object, attempted to assassinate him, and
Lully narrowly escaped with his life. But his
enthusiasm for missionary work never abated — his
central idea was the reasonableness and demon-
strability of Christian doctrine — and unhappily he
was, at last, stoned to death by the inhabitants of
Bugiah (in Algeria) in 1315.^2
A very large number of alchemistic, theological and
other treatises are attributed to Lully, many of which
are undoubtedly spurious ; and it is a difficult question
to decide exactly which are genuine. He is supposed
to have derived a knowledge of Alchemy from Roger
Bacon and Arnold de Villanova. It appears more
probable, however, either that Lully the alchemist
was a personage distinct from the Lully whose life we
have sketched above, or that the alchemistic writings
attributed to him are forgeries of a similar nature to
" See Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers (1815), pp. 17 et seq.
§39] THE ALCHEMISTS 49
the works of pseudo - Geber (§ 32). Of these
alchemical writings we may here mention the Clavi-
cula. This he says is the key to all his other books
on Alchemy, in which books the whole Art is fully
declared, though so obscurely as not to be under-
standable without its aid. In this work an alleged
method for what may be called the multiplication of the
*' noble " metals rather than transmutation is described
in clear language ; but it should be noticed that the
stone employed is itself a compound either of silver or
gold. According to Lully, the secret of the Philoso-
pher's Stone is the extraction of the mercury of silver
or gold. He writes : " Metals cannot be trans-
muted. ... in the Minerals, unless they be reduced
into their first Matter. . . . Therefore I counsel you,
O my Friends, that you do not work but about Sol and
Luna, reducing them into the first Matter, our
Sulphur and Argent vive : therefore, Son, you are to
use this venerable Matter ; and I swear unto you and
promise, that unless you take the Argent vive of these
two, you go to the Practick as blind men without eyes
or sense. . . . " ^3
§ 39. In 1546, a work was published entitled
Magarita Pretiosa, which claimed to be a '* faith-
ful abridgement," by "Janus Lacinus
^?.*fi^^°''''' Therapus, the Calabrian," of a MS.
(14th Cen- . / « „ • 1 r
tury). written by Peter Bonus m the four-
teenth century. An abridged English
translation of this book by Mr. A. E. Waite was
published in 1894. Of the life of Bonus, who is
said to have been an inhabitant of Pola, a seaport
^3 Raymond Lully : Clavicula^ or, A Little Key (see Aurifontina
Chymica, 1680, p. 167).
6
50 ALCHEMY [§ 39
of I stria, nothing is known ; but the Magarita
Pretiosa is an alchemistic work of considerable
interest. The author commences, like pseudo-Geber
in his Sum of Perfection, by bringing forward a
number of very ingenious arguments against the
validity of the Art ; he then proceeds with argu-
ments in favour of Alchemy and puts forward
answers in full to the former objections ; further diffi-
culties, &c., are then dealt with. In all this, compared
with many other alchemists. Bonus, though somewhat
prolix, is remarkably lucid. All metals, he argues, fol-
lowing the views of pseudo-Geber, consist of mercury
and sulphur ; but whilst the mercury is always one
and the same, different metals contain different
sulphurs. There are also two different kinds of
sulphurs — inward and outward. Sulphur is necessary
for the development of the mercury, but for the final
product, gold, to come forth, it is necessary that the
outward and impure sulphur be purged off. " Each
metal," says Bonus, ''differs from all the rest, and has
a certain perfection and completeness of its own ; but
none, except gold, has reached that highest degree of
perfection of which it is capable. For all common
metals there is a transient and a perfect state of
inward completeness, and this perfect state they attain
either through the slow operation of Nature, or
through the sudden transformatory power of our Stone.
We must, however, add that the imperfect metals
form part of the great plan and design of Nature,
though they are in course of transformation into gold.
For a large number of very useful and indispensable
tools and utensils could not be provided at all if there
were no copper, iron, tin, or lead, and if all metals
§ 40] THE ALCHEMISTS 61
were either silver or gold. For this beneficent reason
Nature has furnished us with the metallic substance in
all its different stages of development, from iron, or
the lowest, to gold, or the highest state of metallic
perfection. Nature is ever studying variety, and, for
that reason, instead of covering the whole face of the
earth with water, has evolved out of that elementary
substance a great diversity of forms, embracing the
whole animal, vegetable and mineral world. It is, in
like manner, for the use of men that Nature has differ-
entiated the metallic substance into a great variety of
species and forms." H According to this interesting
alchemistic work, the Art of Alchemy consists, not in
reducing the imperfect metals to their first substance,
but in carrying forward Nature's work, developing the
imperfect metals to perfection and removing their
impure sulphur.
§ 40. Nicolas Flamel (see plate 8) was born about
1330, probably in Paris. His parents were poor, and
Nicolas took up the trade of a scrivener.
Nicolas ii^ tj^g course of time, Flamel became a
Flamel , , , ,
(1330-1418). ^^^y wealthy man and, at the same time,
it appears, one who exhibited consider-
able munificence. This increase in Flamel's wealth
has been attributed to supposed success in the Her-
metic Art. We are told that a remarkable book came
into the young scrivener s possession, which, at first,
he was unable to understand, until, at last, he had the
good fortune to meet an adept who translated its mys-
teries for him. This book revealed the occult secrets
of Alchemy, and by its means Nicolas was enabled
'^ Peter Bonus : T/ie New Pearl of Great Price (Mr. A. E.
Waite's translation, pp. 176-177).
52 ALCHEMY [§ 41
to obtain immense quantities of gold. This story,
however, appears to be of a legendary nature, and it
seems more likely that Flamel's riches resulted from his
business as a scrivener and from moneylending. At
any rate, all of the alchemistic works attributed to
Flamel are of more or less questionable origin. One
of these, entitled A Short Tract, or Philosophical
Summary, will be found in The Hermetic Museum.
It is a very brief work, supporting the sulphur-
mercury theory.
§ 41. Probably the most celebrated of all alchemistic
books is the work known as Triumph- Wagen des
Antimonii. A Latin translation with a
" Basil Valen- ^ l t-i_ j ^r i • •
tine "and commentary by 1 heodore Kerckrmgius
*'TheTrium- was published in 1685, and an English
phal Chariot^ translation of this version by Mr.
A. E. Waite appeared in 1893. The
author describes himself as '' Basil Valentine, a
Benedictine monk." In his '' Practica,'' another alche-
mistic work, he says : '* When I had emptied to the
dregs the cup of human suffering, I was led to con-
sider the wretchedness of this world, and the fearful
consequences of our first parents' disobedience . . .
I made haste to withdraw myself from the evil world,
to bid farewell to it, and to devote myself to the
Service of God."i5 He proceeds to relate that he
entered a monastery, but finding that he had some time
on his hands after performing his daily work and
devotions, and not wishing to pass this time in idle-
ness, he took up the study of Alchemy, ''the investiga-
tion of those natural secrets by which God has
'5 "Basil Valentine": The '' PracHca" (see The Hermetic
Museum, vol. i. p. 313).
PLATE 8.
'o face pa^e 52]
§ 42] THE ALCHEMISTS 53
shadowed out eternal things," and at last his labours
were rewarded by the discovery of a Stone most potent
in the curing of diseases. In The Triumphal Chariot
of Antimony are accurately described a large number
of antimonial preparations, and as Basil was supposed
to have written this work some time in the fifteenth
century, these preparations were accordingly concluded
to have been, for the most part, his own discoveries.
He defends with the utmost vigour the medicinal
values of antimony, and criticises in terms far from
mild the physicians of his day. On account of this
work Basil Valentine has ranked very high as an
experimental chemist ; but from quite early times its
date and authorship have been regarded alike as
doubtful ; and it appears from the researches of the
late Professor Schorlemmer "to be an undoubted
forgery dating from about 1600, the information
being culled from the works of other writers. . . ."^^
Probably the other works ascribed to Basil Valentine
are of a like nature. The Triumphal Chariot of
Antimony does, however, give an accurate account of
the knowledge of antimony of this time, and the
pseudo-Valentine shows himself to have been a man
of considerable experience with regard to this subject.
§ 42. Isaac of Holland and a countryman of the same
name, probably his son, are said to have been the first
J . Dutch alchemists. They are supposed
Holland to have lived during the fifteenth century,
(15tli Cen- but of their lives nothing is known.
^"^ Isaac, although not free from supersti-
tious opinions, appears to have been a practical
'' Sir H. E. RoscoE, F.R.S., and C Schorlemmer, F.R.S. :
A Treatise on Chemistry y vol. i. (1905), p. 9.
54 ALCHEMY [§ 43
chemist, and his works, which abound in recipes, were
held in great esteem by Paracelsus and other alche-
mists. He held that all things in this world are of a
dual nature, partly good and partly bad. '' . . . All
that God hath created good in the upper part of the
world," he writes, " are perfect and uncorruptible, as
the heaven : but whatsoever in these lower parts,
whether it be in beasts, fishes, and all manner of
sensible creatures, hearbs or plants, it is indued with a
double nature, that is to say, perfect, and unperfect ;
the perfect nature is called the Quintessence, the un-
perfect the Feces or dreggs, or the venemous or com-
bustible oile. . . . God hath put a secret nature or
influence in every creature, and ... to every nature
of one sort or kind he hath given one common in-
fluence and vertue, whether it bee on Physick or other
secret works, which partly are found out by naturall
workmanship. And yet more things are unknown
than are apparent to our senses." ^7 He gives direc-
tions for extracting the Quintessence, for which mar-
vellous powers are claimed, out of sugar and other
organic substances ; and he appears to be the earliest
known writer who makes mention of the famous
sulphur-mercury-salt theory.
§ 43. Bernard Trevisan, a French count of the
fifteenth century, squandered enormous sums of money
in the search for the Stone, in which the whole oi
his life and energies were engaged. He seems to
have become the dupe of one charlatan after another,
•' One hundred and Fourteen Experiments and Cures of the Famous
Physitian Theophrastus Paracelsus^ whereunto is added . . . certain
Secrets of Isaac Hollandus, concerning the Vegetall and Animall
Work (1652), p. 35.
§ M] THE ALCHEMISTS 55
but at last, at a ripe old age, he says that his labours
were rewarded, and that he successfully performed the
magnum opus. In a short, but rather
Bernard obscure work, he speaks of the Philoso-
Trevisan
(1406-1490). pher s Stone in the following words :
"This Stone then is compounded of a
Body and Spirit, or of a volatile and fixed Substance,
and that is therefore done, because nothing in the World
can be generated and brought to light without these
two Substances, to wit, a Male and Female : From
whence it appeareth, that although these two Substances
are not of one and the same species, yet one Stone
doth thence arise, and although they appear and are
said to be two Substances, yet in truth it is but one, to
wit, Argent-vivey ^^ He appears, however, to have
added nothing to our knowledge of chemical science.
§ 44. Sir George Ripley, an eminent alchemistic
philosopher of the fifteenth century, entered upon
a monastic life when a youth, becom-
Sir George jj^g ^^^ ^f ^^ canons regular of
yi4 7-1490?). Bridlington. After some travels he
returned to England and obtaining leave
from the Pope to live in solitude, he devoted himself
to the study of the Hermetic Art. His chief work
is The Compound of Alchymie , . . conteining twelve
GateSy which was written in 1471. In this curious
work, we learn that there are twelve processes neces-
sary for the achievement of the magnum opuSy namely,
Calcination, Solution, Separation, Conjunction, Putre-
faction, Congelation, Cibation, Sublimation, Fermen-
'^ Bernard, Earl of Trevisan : A Treatise of the Philosophers
StonCy 1683 (see Collectanea Chymica : A Collection of Ten
Several Treatises in Chemistry ^ 1684, p. 91).
66 ALCHEMY [§ 4S
tation, Exaltation, Multiplication, and Projection.
These are likened to the twelve gates of a castle
which the philosopher must enter. At the conclusion
of the twelfth gate, Ripley says : —
** Now thou hast conqueryd the twelve Gates ^
And all the Castell thou holdyst at wyll,
Keep thy Secretts in store unto thy selve ;
And the commaundements of God looke thou fulfuU:
In fyer conteinue thy glas styll,
And Multeply thy Medcyns ay more and more,
For wyse men done say store ys no sore.^^ '^
At the conclusion of the work he tells us that in all
that he wrote before he was mistaken ; he says : —
" I made Solucyo7is full many a one,
Of Spyrytts, Ferments, Salts, Yerne and Steele;
Wenyng so to make the Phylosophers Stone :
But fynally I lost eche dele.
After my Boks yet wrought I well ;
Whych evermore untrue I provyd.
That made me oft full sore agrevyd."^°
Ripley did much to popularise the works of Ray-
mond Lully in England, but does not appear to have
added to the knowledge of practical chemistry. His
Bosom Book, which contains an alleged method for
preparing the Stone, will be found in the Collectanea
Chemica (1893).
§ 45. Thomas Norton, the author of the celebrated
Or dinall of Alchemy, was probably born shortly before
'^ Sir George Ripley : The Compound of Alchemy (see
Tlieatrum Chemicum Britannicum, edited by Elias Ashmole, 1652,
p. 186).
^ Ibid. p. 189.
§45] THE ALCHEMISTS 57
the commencement of the fifteenth century. The
Ordinall, which is written in verse (and which will
be found in Ashmole's Theatrum Chemi-
Thomas ^^^^^ Britannicum), ^i was published
Norton 15th , , ^\ i > -j .-.
Century). anonymously, but the authors identity
is revealed by a curious device. The
initial syllables of the proem and of the first six
chapters, together with the first line of the seventh
chapter, give the following couplet : —
"Tomais Norton of Briseto,
A parfet Master ye male him call trowe."
Samuel Norton, the grandson of Thomas, who was
also an alchemist, says that Thomas Norton was a
member of the privy chamber of Edward IV.
Norton's distinctive views regarding the generation
of the metals we have already mentioned (see § 20).
He taught that true knowledge of the Art of Alchemy
could only be obtained by word of mouth from an
adept, and in his Ordinall he gives an account of his
own initiation. He tells us that he was instructed by
his master (probably Sir George Ripley) and learnt
the secrets of the Art in forty days, at the age of
twenty-eight. He does not, however, appear to have
reaped the fruits of this knowledge. Twice, he tells
us, did he prepare the Elixir, and twice was it stolen
from him ; and he is said to have died in 1477, after
ruining himself and his friends by his unsuccessful
experiments.
^' A prose version will be found in The Hermetic Museum^
translated back into English from a Latin translation by Maier.
CHAPTER IV
THE ALCHEMISTS {continued)
(b. PARACELSUS AND AFTEr)
§ 46. That erratic genius, Paracelsus — or, to give
him his correct name, PhiHp (?) Aureole (?) Theo-
phrast Bombast von Hohenheim —
a493^1^n ^^^^^ portrait forms the frontispiece to
the present work — was born at Einsiedeln
in Switzerland in 1493. He studied the alchemistic
and medical arts under his father, who was a physi-
cian, and continued his studies later at the University
of Basle. He also gave some time to the study of
magic and the occult sciences under the famous
Trithemius of Spanheim. Paracelsus, however, found
the merely theoretical ** book learning " of the
university curriculum unsatisfactory and betook him-
self to the mines, where he might study the nature of
metals at first hand. He then spent several years in
travelling, visiting some of the chief countries of
Europe. At last he returned to Basle, the chair of
Medical Science of his old university being bestowed
upon him. The works of Isaac of Holland had inspired
him with the desire to improve upon the medical
science of his day, and in his lectures (which were,
58
§ 46] THE ALCHEMISTS 59
contrary to the usual custom, delivered not in Latin,
but in the German language) he denounced in violent
terms the teachings of Galen and Avicenna, who
were until then the accredited authorities on medical
matters. His use of the German tongue, his coarse-
ness in criticism and his intense self-esteem, combined
with the fact that he did lay bare many of the medical
follies and frauds of his day, brought him into very
general dislike with the rest of the physicians, and
the municipal authorities siding with the aggrieved
apothecaries and physicians, whose methods Paracelsus
had exposed, he fled from Basle and resumed his
former roving life. He was, so we are told, a man of
very intemperate habits, being seldom sober (a state-
ment seriously open to doubt) ; but on the other
hand, he certainly accomplished a very large number
of most remarkable cures, and, judging from his
writings, he was inspired by lofty and noble ideals
and a fervent belief in the Christian religion. He
died in 1541.
Paracelsus combined in himself such opposite
characteristics that it is a matter of difficulty to
criticise him aright. As says Professor Ferguson : '' It
is most difficult ... to ascertain what his true
character really was, to appreciate aright this man of
fervid imagination, of powerful and persistent convic-
tion, of unbated honesty and love of truth, of keen
insight into the errors (as he thought them) of his
time, of a merciless will to lay bare these errors and
to reform the abuses to which they gave rise, who in
an instant offends by his boasting, his grossness, his
want of self-respect. It is a problem how to reconcile
his ignorance, his weakness, his superstition, his crude
60 ALCHEMY [§ 47
notions, his erroneous observations, his ridiculous
inferences and theories, with his grasp of method, his
lofty views of the true scope of medicine, his lucid
statements, his incisive and epigrammatic criticisms of
men and motives." ' It is also a problem of con-
siderable difficulty to determine which of the many
books attributed to him are really his genuine works,
and consequently what his views on certain points
exactly were.
§ 47. Paracelsus was the first to recognise the
desirability of investigating the physical universe
with a motive other than alchemistic.
Paracelsus ^^ taught that '* the object of chemistry
is not to make gold, but to prepare
medicines," and founded the school of latro-chemistry
or Medical Chemistry. This synthesis of chemistry
with medicine was of very great benefit to each
science ; new possibilities of chemical investigation
were opened up now that the aim was not purely
alchemistic. Paracelsus's central theory was that of
the analogy between man, the microcosm, and the
world or macrocosm. He regarded all the actions
that go on in the human body as of a chemical nature,
and he thought that illness was the result of a dispro-
portion in the body between the quantities of the
three great principles — sulphur, mercury, and salt —
which he regarded as constituting all things ; for
example, he considered an excess of sulphur as the
cause of fever, since sulphur was the fiery principle, &c.
The basis of the iatro-chemical doctrines, namely, that
the healthy human body is a particular combination of
^ John Ferguson, M.A. : Article "Paracelsus," Encyclopcedia
Britannica, 9th edition (1885), vol. xviii. p. 236.
§ 48] THE ALCHEMISTS 61
chemical substances : illness the result of some change
in this combination, and hence curable only by chemical
medicines, expresses a certain truth, and is un-
doubtedly a great improvement upon the ideas of
the ancients. But in the elaboration of his medical
doctrines Paracelsus fell a prey to exaggeration and
the fantastic, and many of his theories appear to be
highly ridiculous. This extravagance is also very
pronounced in the alchemistic works attributed to
him ; for example, the belief in the artificial creation
of minute living creatures resembling men (called
*' homunculi ") — a belief of the utmost absurdity, if we
are to understand it literally. On the other hand, his
writings do contain much true teaching of a mystical
nature ; his doctrine of the correspondence of man
with the universe considered as a whole, for
example, certainly being radically true, though
fantastically stated and developed by Paracelsus
himself.
§ 48. Between the pupils of Paracelsus and the
older school of medicine, as might well be supposed, a
battle royal was waged for a considerable
latro- ^jj^^ which ultimately concluded, if not
Chemistry.
with a full vindication of Paracelsus s
teaching, yet with the acceptance of the fundamental
iatro-chemical doctrines. Henceforward it is necessary
to distinguish between the chemists and the alchemists
— to distinguish those who pursued chemical studies
with the object of discovering and preparing useful
medicines, and later those who pursued such studies
for their own sake, from those whose object was the
transmutation of the ''base" metals into gold, whether
from purely selfish motives, or with the desire to
62 ALCHEMY [§ 49
demonstrate on the physical plane the validity of the
doctrines of Mysticism. However, during the follow-
ing century or two we find, very often, the chemist
and the alchemist united in one and the same person.
Men such as Glauber and Boyle, whose names will
ever be remembered by chemists, did not doubt the
possibility of performing the magnum opus. In the
present chapter, however, we shall confine our atten-
tion for the most part to those men who may be
regarded, for one reason or another, particularly as
alchemists. And the alchemists of the period we are
now considering present a very great diversity. On
the one hand, we have men of much chemical know-
ledge and skill such as Libavius and van Helmont, on
the other hand we have those who stand equally as
high as exponents of mystic wisdom — men such as
Jacob Boehme and, to a less extent, Thomas Vaughan.
We have those, who, although they did not enrich the
science of Chemistry with any new discoveries, were,
nevertheless, regarded as masters of the Hermetic
Art ; and, finally, we have alchemists of the Edward
Kelley and George Starkey type, whose main object
was their own enrichment at their neighbours' expense.
Before, however, proceeding to an account of the lives
and teachings of these men, there is one curious matter
— perhaps the most remarkable of all historical curi-
osities— that calls for some brief consideration. We
refer to the ** far-famed " Rosicrucian Society.
§ 49. The exoteric history of the Rosicrucian
Society commences with the year 1614. In that
year there was published at Cassel in Germany
a pamphlet entitled The Discovery of the Fraternity
of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross y addressed to
§ 49] THE ALCHEMISTS 63
the Learned in General and the Governors of Europe,
After a discussion of the momentous question of the
general reformation of the world, which
^^® was to be accomplished throuerh the
Rosicmcian ,. ^ - , r i
Society. medium oi a secret confederacy of the
wisest and most philanthropic men, the
pamphlet proceeds to inform its readers that such
an association is in existence, founded over one
hundred years ago by the famous C.R.C., grand
initiate in the mysteries of Alchemy, whose history
(which is clearly of a fabulous or symbolical nature) is
given. The book concludes by inviting the wise men
of the time to join the Fraternity, directing those who
wished to do so to indicate their desire by the publica-
tion of printed letters, which should come into the
hands of the Brotherhood. As might well be expected,
the pamphlet was the cause of considerable interest and
excitement, but although many letters were printed,
apparently none of them were vouchsafed a reply.
The following year a further pamphlet appeared, The
Confession of the Rosicrucian Fraternity, addressed to
the Learned in Eur ope y and in 1616, The Chymical
Nuptials of Christian Rosencreutz, This latter book
is a remarkable allegorical romance, describing how an
old man, a lifelong student of the alchemistic Art, was
present at the accomplishment of the magnum opus in
the year 1459. An enormous amount of contro-
versy took place ; it was plain to some that the
Society had deluded them, whilst others hotly main-
tained its claims ; but after about four years had passed,
the excitement had subsided, and the subject ceased,
for the time being, to arouse any particular interest.
Some writers, even in recent times, more gifted for
64 ALCHEMY [§ 49
romance than for historical research, have seen in the
Rosicrucian Society a secret confederacy of immense
antiquity and of stupendous powers, consisting of the
great initiates of all ages, supposed to be in posses-
sion of the arch secrets of alchemistic art. It is
abundantly evident, however, that it was nothing of
the sort. It is clear from an examination of the
pamphlets already mentioned that they are animated
by Lutheran ideals ; and it is of interest to note that
Luther's seal contained both the cross and the rose
— whence the term '' Rosicrucian." The generally
accepted theory regards the pamphlets as a sort of
elaborate hoax perpetrated by Valentine Andrea, a
young and benevolent Lutheran divine; but more, how-
ever, than a mere hoax. As the late Mr. R. A. Vaughan
wrote : " . . . this Andrea writes the Discovery of the
Rosicrucian Brotherhood, a jeu-cC esprit with a serious
purpose, just as an experiment to see whether some-
thing cannot be done by combined effort to remedy the
defect and abuses — social, educational, and religious,
so lamented by all good men. He thought there were
many Andreas scattered throughout Europe — how
powerful would be their united systematic action ! . . .
He hoped that the few nobler minds whom he desired
to organize would see through the veil of fiction in
which he had invested his proposal ; that he might
communicate personally with some such, if they should
appear ; or that his book might lead them to form
among themselves a practical philanthropic con-
federacy, answering to the serious purpose he had
embodied in his fiction." ^ His scheme was a
* Robert Alfred Vaughan, B.A. : Hours with the Mystics
(yth edition, 1895), vol. ii. bk. 8, chap. ix. p. 134.
§ 50] THE ALCHEMISTS 65
failure, and on seeing its result, Andrea, not daring
to reveal himself as the author of the pamphlets, did
his best to put a stop to the folly by writing several
works in criticism of the Society and its claims. Mr.
A. E. Waite, however, whose work on the subject
should be consulted for further information, rejects
this theory, and suggests that the Rosicrucian Society
was probably identical with the Militia Crucifera
Evangelica, a secret society founded in Nuremburg by
the Lutheran alchemist and mystic, Simon Studion.3
§ 50. We must now turn our attention to the lives
and teachings of the alchemists of the period under
consideration, treating them, as far as
Thomas possible, in chronoloe^ical order ; whence
Charnock i ^ i i • i
ri524r-1581). ^"^ ^''^^ alchemist to come under our
notice is Thomas Charnock.
Thomas Charnock was born at Faversham (Kent),
either in the year 1524 or in 1526. After some
travels over England he settled at Oxford, carrying
on experiments in Alchemy. In 1557 he wrote his
Breviary of Philosophy. This work is almost entirely
autobiographical, describing Charnock's alchemistic
experiences. He tells us that he was initiated into
the mysteries of the Hermetic Art by a certain James
S. of Salisbury ; he also had another master, an old
blind man, who instructed Charnock on his death-bed.
Unfortunately, however, Thomas was doomed to
failure in his experiments. On the first attempt his
apparatus caught fire and his work was destroyed.
His next experiments were ruined by the negligence
of a servant. His final misfortune shall be described
3 Arthur Edward Waite : The RealHistory of the Rosicrucians^
(1887).
6
66 ALCHEMY [§ 51
in his own words. He had started the work for a
third time, and had spent much money on his fire,
hoping to be shortly rewarded. . . .
"Then a Gentlemen that oughte me great mallice
Caused me to be prest to goe serve at Calfys :
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." *
Thomas Charnock married in 1562 a Miss Agnes
Norden. He died in 158 1. It is, perhaps, unneces-
sary to say that his name does not appear in the
history of Chemistry.
§ 51. Andreas Libavius was born at Halle in
Germany in 1540, where he studied medicine and
practiced for a short time as a physician.
Andreas ^^ accepted the fundamental iatro-
Libavms 1 • 1 1 • 1
(1540-1616.) chemical doctrmes, 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
^ Thomas Charnock : The Breviary of Naturall Philosophy (see
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicumy edited by Ashmole, 1652, p. 295.)
§ 52] THE ALCHEMISTS 67
regarded as the first text-book of Chemistry. It
was held in high esteem for a considerable time,
being reprinted on several occasions.
§ 52. Edward Kelley or Kelly (see plate 9) was
born at Worcester on August i, 1555. His life
_ is so obscured by various traditions
Edward , . . .../ . . .
Kelley ^^^^ ^^ ^^ very dimcult to arrive at the
(1555-1595) truth concerning it. The latest, and
^as^^^sT F^b^^^y *^ best, account will be found
in Miss Charlotte Fell Smith's JoAn
Dee (1909). Edward Kelley, according to some
accounts, was brought up as an apothecary. 5 He is
also said to have entered Oxford University under
the pseudonym of Talbot.^ Later, he practised as a
notary in London. He is said to have committed a
forgery, for which he had his ears cropped ; but
another account, which supposes him to have avoided
this penalty by making his escape to Wales, is not
improbable. Other crimes of which he is accused are
coining and necromancy. He was probably not guilty
of all these crimes, but that he was undoubtedly a
charlatan and profligate the sequel will make plain.
We are told that about the time of his alleged
escape to Wales, whilst in the neighbourhood of
Glastonbury Abbey, he became possessed, by a lucky
chance, of a manuscript by St. Dunstan setting forth
the grand secrets of Alchemy, together with some of
the two transmuting tinctures, both white and red, 7
5 See, for example, William Lilly : History of His Life and
Times (1715, reprinted in 1822, p. 227).
^ See Anthony A Wood's account of Kelle/s life in Athence
Oxonienses (3rd edition, edited by Philip Bliss, vol. i. col. 639.)
^ William Lilly, the astrologer, in his History of His Life and
68 ALCHEMY [§ 52
which had been discovered in a tomb near by. His
friendship with John Dee, or Dr. Dee as he is
generally called, commenced in 1582. Now, John
Dee (see plate 9) was undoubtedly a mathematician
of considerable erudition. He was also an astrologer,
and was much interested in experiments in ** crystal-
gazing," for which purpose he employed a speculum of
polished cannel-coal, and by means of which he believed
that he had communication with the inhabitants of
spiritual spheres. It appears that Kelley, who pro-
bably did possess some mediumistic powers, the results
of which he augmented by means of fraud, interested
himself in these experiments, and not only became the
doctor's " scryer," but also gulled him into the belief
that he was in the possession of the arch-secrets of
Alchemy. In 1583, Kelley and his learned dupe left
England together with their wives and a Polish
nobleman, staying firstly at Cracovia and afterwards
at Prague, where it is not unlikely that the Emperor
Rudolph II. knighted Kelley. As instances of the
belief which the doctor had in Kelley 's powers as
an alchemist, we may note that in his Private Diary
under the date December 19, 1586, Dee records that
Kelley performed a transmutation for the benefit of
one Edward Garland and his brother Francis ; ^ and
Times (1822 reprint, pp. 225-226), relates a different story regarding
the manner in which Kelley is supposed to have obtained the Great
Medicine, but as it is told at third hand, it is of little importance.
We do not suppose that there can be much doubt that the truth
was that Dee and others were deceived by some skilful conjuring
tricks, for whatever else Kelley may have been, he certainly was a
very ingenious fellow.
® The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee (The Camden Society,
1842), p. 22.
PLATE
r" """''""iiJMi
■■
191
[|||i|i|iiiwiinW||ffiH|M w.^^S
Wf<
■<§
^^,,_gg^
ml -^'^
Pii'i:! !;{ iiPII
Jo face i>a&e 68]
§52] THE ALCHEMISTS 69
under the date May lo, 1588, we find the following
recorded: "E.K. did open 'the great secret to me,
God be thanked ! " 9 That he was not always without
doubts as to Kelley's honesty, however, is evident
from other entries in his Diary. In 1587 occurred an
event which must be recorded to the partners' lasting
shame. To cap his former impositions, Kelley in-
formed the doctor that by the orders of a spirit which
had appeared to him in the crystal, they were to share
" their two wives in common " ; to which arrange-
ment, after some further persuasion. Dee consented.
Kelley's profligacy and violent temper, however, had
already been the cause of some disagreement between
him and the doctor, and this incident leading to a
further quarrel, the erstwhile friends parted. In 1589,
the Emperor Rudolph imprisoned Kelley, the price
of his freedom being the transmutative secret, or a
substantial quantity of gold, at least, prepared by its
aid. He was, however, released in 1593 ; but died in
1595) according to one account, as the result of an
accident incurred while attempting to escape from a
second imprisonment. Dee merely records that he
received news to the effect that Kelley '' was
slayne."
It was during his incarceration that he wrote an
alchemistic work entitled TAe Stone of the Philo-
sophers, which consists largely of quotations from
older alchemistic writings. His other works on
Alchemy were probably written at an earlier period. '°
9 The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee (The Camden Society,
1842), p. 27.
'° An English translation of Kelley's alchemistic works were pub-
lished under the editorship of Mr. A. E. Waite, in 1893.
70 ALCHEMY [§ 54
§ 53. Henry Khunrath was born in Saxony in the
second half of the sixteenth century. He was a
follower of Paracelsus, and travelled
Henry about Germany, practising as a physician.
(1560-1605). " This German alchemist," says Mr.
A. E. Waite, "... is claimed as a hiero-
phant of the psychic side of the magnum opus, and
. . . was undoubtedly aware of the larger issues of
Hermetic theorems " ; he describes Khunrath's chief
work, Amphitheatrum> Sapientice ^terncBy &c., as
"purely mystical and magical." "
§ 54. The date and birthplace of Alexander
Sethon, a Scottish alchemist, do not appear to have
been recorded, but Michael Sendivogius
s^th^ was probably born in Moravia about
(7-1604) and i S^^- Sethon, we are told, was in posses-
Michael sion of the arch-secrets of Alchemy. He
(l^^'^-^l^) visited Holland in 1602, proceeded after
a time to Italy, and passed through Basle
to Germany ; meanwhile he is said to have performed
many transmutations. Ultimately arriving at Dresden,
however, he fell into the clutches of the young Elector,
Christian II., who, in order to extort his secret, cast
him into prison, and put him to the torture, but
without avail. Now, it so happened that Sendivogius,
who was in quest of the Philosopher's Stone, was
staying at Dresden, and hearing of Sethon's imprison-
ment obtained permission to visit him. Sendivogius
offered to effect Sethon's escape in return for assist-
ance in his alchemistic pursuits, to which arrange-
ment the Scottish alchemist willingly agreed. After
some considerable outlay of money in bribery, Sen-
" A. E. Waite ; Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers {\%ZZ), p. 159.
§ 54] THE ALCHEMISTS 71
divogius's plan of escape was successfully carried out,
and Sethon found himself a free man ; but he refused
to betray the high secrets of Hermetic philosophy to
his rescuer. However, before his death, which oc-
curred shortly afterwards, he presented him with an
ounce of the transmutative powder. Sendivogius soon
used up this powder, we are told, in effecting trans-
mutations and cures, and, being fond of expensive
living, he married Sethon's widow, in the hope that
she was in the possession of the transmutative secret.
In this, however, he was disappointed ; she knew
nothing of the matter, but she had the manuscript of
an alchemistic work written by her late husband.
Shortly afterwards Sendivogius printed at Prague a
book entitled The New Chemical Light under the name
of ** Cosmopolita," which is said to be this work of
Sethon's but which Sendivogius claimed for his own
by the insertion of his name on the title-page, in the
form of an anagram. The tract On Sulphur which was
printed at the end of this book, however, is said
to have been the genuine work of the Moravian.
Whilst his powder lasted, Sendivogius travelled about,
performing, we are told, many transmutations. He
was twice imprisoned in order to extort the secrets of
Alchemy from him, on one occasion escaping, and on
the other occasion obtaining his release from the
Emperor Rudolph. Afterwards, he appears to have
degenerated into an impostor, but this is said to
have been a finesse to hide his true character as an
alchemistic adept. He died in 1646.12
The New Chemical Light was held in great
esteem by the alchemists. The first part treats at
" SeeF. B. : Lives of Alchemy stical Philosophers (1815), pp.66-69.
72 ALCHEMY [§ 55
length of the generation of the metals and also of
the Philosopher's Stone, and claims to be based on
practical experience. The seed of Nature, we are
told, is one, but various products result on account of
the different conditions of development. An imagi-
nary conversation between Mercury, an Alchemist and
Nature which is appended, is not without a touch of
humour. Says the Alchemist, in despair, " Now I
see that I know nothing ; only I must not say so.
For I should lose the good opinion of my neighbours,
and they would no longer entrust me with money for
my experiments, I must therefore go on saying that
I know everything ; for there are many that expect
me to do great things for them. . . . There are many
countries, and many greedy persons who will suffer
themselves to be gulled by my promises of mountains
of gold. Thus day will follow day, and in the mean-
time the King or the donkey will die, or I myself." '3
The second part treats of the Elements and Principles
(see §§ 17 and 19).
§ 55. Michael Maier (see plate 10) was born at
Rendsberg (in Holstein) about 1568. He studied
medicine assiduously, becoming a most
Michael successful physician, and he was en-
(1568-1622). nobled by Rudolf II. Later on, how-
ever, he took up the subject of Alchemy,
and is said to have ruined his health and wasted his
fortune in the pursuit of the alchemistic i^-ms fatuus
— the Stone of the Philosophers — travelling about
Germany and elsewhere in order to have converse
with those who were regarded as adepts in the
'3 The New Chemical Light, Part I. (see The Hermetic Museum^
vol. ii. p. 125).
PLATE 10.
m
m
m
TrX5 5CHOLA.TRE5 COESAPv TITVL05 DE>
dit;hi^c mihi restant.
Posse bene in chri^to vivere, posse mori
Michael iMAi£RV5 come5 imperialis coNv
5I5TORII ctcPHILOSOPH. £T MEDICINARVM
DOCTOR. R C C NOBIL. EXEMPTVS FOROLIM
MEDICV5 CJ^S:ck:
*^3^
[by J. BriuinJ
PORTRAIT OF
MICHAEL MAIER.
§55J THE ALCHEMISTS 73
Art. He took a prominent part in the famous Rosi-
crucian controversy (see § 49), defending the claims
of the alleged society in several tracts. He is said,
on the one hand, to have been admitted as a member
of the fraternity ; and on the other hand, to have
himself founded a similar institution. A full account
of his views will be found in the Rev. J. B. Craven's
Count Michael Maier : Life and Writings (1910).
He was a very learned man, but his works are some-
what obscure and abound in fanciful allegories. He
read an alchemistic meaning into the ancient fables
concerning the Egyptian and Greek gods and heroes.
Like most alchemists, he held the supposed virtues of
mercury in high esteem. In his Lusus Serins: or.
Serious Passe-time, for example, he supposes a Parlia-
ment of the various creatures of the world to meet, in
order that Man might choose the noblest of them
as king over all the rest. The calf, the sheep, the
goose, the oyster, the bee, the silkworm, flax and
mercury are the chosen representatives, each of
which discourses in turn. It will be unnecessary to
state that Mercury wins the day. Thus does Maier
eulogise it : " Thou art the miracle, splendour and
light of the world. Thou art the glory, ornament,
and supporter of the Earth. Thou art the Asyle,
Anchor, and tye of the Universe. Next to the minde
of Man, God Created nothing more Noble, more
Glorious, or more Profitable.'* '4 His Sudt/e Allegory
concerning the Secrets of Alchemy, very useful to
possess and pleasant to read, will be found in the
Hermetic Museum, together with his Golden Tripod,
^4 Michael Maier : Lusus Serius : or Serious Passe-time (1654),
p. 138.
74 ALCHEMY [§ 56
consisting of translations of '* Valentine's " '' Practica "
and Twelve Keys, Norton's Ordinal and Cremer's
spurious Testament.
§ 56. Jacob Boehme, or Behmen (see plate ii),
was born at Alt Seidenberg, a village near Gorlitz,
in 1575. His parents being poor, the
ri575-1624.') education he received was of a very
rudimentary nature, and when his school-
ing days were over, Jacob was apprenticed to a
shoemaker. His religious nature caused him often to
admonish his fellow-apprentices, which behaviour ulti-
mately caused him to be dismissed. He travelled
about as a journeyman shoemaker, returning, however,
to Gorlitz in 1594, where he married and settled in
business. He claims to have experienced a wonderful
vision in 1598, and to have had a similar vision two
years later. In these visions, the first of which lasted
for several days he believed that he saw into the
inmost secrets of nature ; but what at first appeared
dim and vague became clear and coherent in a third
vision, which he tells us was vouchsafed to him in
1 6 10. It was then that he wrote his first book, the
Auroray which he composed for himself only, in order
that he should not forget the mysteries disclosed to
him. At a later period he produced a large number
of treatises of a mystical-religious nature, having spent
the intervening years in improving his early education.
These books aroused the ire of the narrow-minded
ecclesiastical authorities of the town, and Jacob suffered
considerable persecution in consequence. He visited
Dresden in 1624, and in the same year was there
taken ill with a fever, returning to Gorlitz, where he
expired in a condition of ecstasy.
PLATE ti.
PORTRAIT OF
JACOB BOEHME.
§ 57] THE ALCHEMISTS 76
Jacob Boehme was an alchemist of a purely tran-
scendental order. He had, it appears, acquired
some knowledge of Chemistry during his apprentice
days, and he employed the language of Alchemy in
the elaboration of his system of mystical philosophy.
With this lofty mystical-religious system we cannot
here deal ; Boehme is, indeed, often accounted the
greatest of true Christian mystics ; but although con-
scious of his superiority over many minor lights, we
think this title is due to Emanuel Swedenborg. The
question of the validity of his visions is also one
which lies beyond the scope of the present work ; '^
we must confine our attention to Boehme as an
alchemist. The Philosopher's Stone, in Boehme's
terminology, is the Spirit of Christ which must
** tincture " the individual soul. In one place he
says, *' The Phylosophers Stone is a very dark dis-
esteemed Stone, of a Gray colour, but therein lyeth
the highest Tincture."'^ In the transcendental sense,
this is reminiscent of the words of Isaiah : ** He hath
no form nor comeliness ; and when we see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. ... He was
despised and we esteemed him not," &c.'^
§ 57. John Baptist van Helmont (see plate 12)
was born in Brussels in 1577. He devoted himself
to the study of medicine, at first following Galen, but
*5 For a general discussion of spiritual visions see the present
writer's Matter ^ Spirit and the Cosmos (Rider, 1910), Chapter IV.,
" On Matter and Spirit." Undoubtedly Boehme's visions involved
a valuable element of truth, but at the same time much that was
purely relative and subjective.
'^' Jacob Boehme : Epistles (translated by J. E., 1649), Ep. iv.
§ III, p. 65.
'' The Book of the Prophet Isaiah^ chap, liii., vv. 2 and 3, R.V.
76 ALCHEMY [§ 57
afterwards accepting in part the teachings of Para-
celsus ; and he helped to a large extent in the over-
throw of the old medical doctrines. His purely
chemical researches were also of great
J. B. van value to the science. He was a man
ixelmont
(1577-1644) of profound knowledge, of a religious
and F. M. van temperament, and he possessed a marked
(m&^699 ) li^^"§^ for the mystical. He was inspired
by the writings of Thomas a Kempis to
imitate Christ in all things, and he practised medicine,
therefore, as a work of benevolence, asking no fee for
his services. At the same time, moreover, he was a
firm believer in the powers of the Philosopher's Stone,
claiming to have himself successfully performed the
transmutation of the metals on more than one occa-
sion, though unacquainted with the composition of the
medicine employed (see § 62). Many of his theoretical
views are highly fantastical. He lived a life devoted
to scientific research, and died in 1644.
Van Helmont regarded water as the primary
element out of which all things are produced. He
denied that fire was an element or anything material
at all, and he did not accept the sulphur-mercury-
salt theory. To him is due the word ''gas" — before
his time various gases were looked upon as mere
varieties of air — and he also made a distinction
between gases (which could not be condensed) '^ and
vapours (which give liquids on cooling). In particular
he investigated the gas that is now known as carbon-
dioxide (carbonic anhydride), which he termed gas
sylvestre ; but he lacked suitable apparatus for the
'* It has since been discovered that all gases can be condensed,
given a sufficient degree of cold and pressure.
PLATE 12.
^ucru^'Sl^
PORTRAITS OF
J. B. AND F. M. VAN HELMONT.
(From the Frontispiece to J. B. van Helmonfs Oriatrikcy
§ 59] THE ALCHEMISTS 77
collection of gases, and hence was led in many cases
to erroneous conclusions.
Francis Mercurius van Helmont (see plate 12),
the son of John Baptist, born in 16 18, gained the repu-
tation of having also achieved the magnum opus, since
he appeared to live very luxuriously upon a limited
income. He was a skilled chemist and physician, but
held many queer theories, metempsychosis included.
§ 58. Johann Rudolf Glauber was born at Karl-
stadt in 1604. Of his life little is known. He appears
to have travelled about Germany a good
^^^^^T^ deal, afterwards visiting Amsterdam,
(1604-1668). where he died in 1668. He was of a
very patriotic nature, and a most ardent
investigator in the realm of Chemistry. He accepted
the main iatro-chemical doctrines, but gave most of
his attention to applied Chemistry. He enriched the
science with many important discoveries ; and crystal-
lised sodium sulphate is still called '* Glauber's Salt."
Glauber, himself, attributed remarkable medicinal
powers to this compound. He was a firm believer in
the claims of Alchemy, and held many fantastic ideas.
§ 59. Thomas Vaughan, who wrote under the
name of "Eugenius Philalethes," was born at
Newton in Brecknockshire in 1622. He was edu-
cated at Jesus College, Oxford, gradu-
Vaughan ating as a Bachelor of Arts, and being
("Eugenius made a fellow of his college. He
^162^-l^^S''^ appears also to have taken holy orders
and to have had the living of St.
Bridget's (Brecknockshire) conferred on him.^^
'^ See Anthony a Wood : Athene^ Oxonienses^ edited by Philip
Bliss, vol. iii. (1817), cols. 722-726.
78 ALCHEMY [§ 59
During the civil wars he bore arms for the king,
but his allegiance to the Royalist cause led to his
being accused of '* drunkenness, swearing, inconti-
nency and bearing arms for the King " ; and he
appears to have been deprived of his living. He
retired to Oxford and gave himself up to study and
chemical research. He is to be reofarded as an
alchemist of the transcendental order. His views as
to the nature of the true Philosopher's Stone may be
gathered from the following quotation : " This,
reader," he says, speaking of the mystical illumina-
tion, "is the Christian Philosophers Stone, a Stone
so often inculcated in Scripture. This is the Rock in
the wildernesse, because in great obscurity, and few
there are that know the right way unto it. This is
the Stone of Fire in Ezekiel ; this is the Stone with
Seven Eyes upon it in Zacharie, and this is the White
Stone with the New Name in the Revelation. But
in the Gospel, where Christ himself speakes, who was
born to discover mysteries and communicate Heaven
to Earth, it is more clearly described. "20 At the same
time he appears to have carried out experiments in
physical Alchemy, and is said to have met with his
death in 1666 through accidentally inhaling the fumes
of some mercury with which he was experimenting.
Thomas Vaughan was an ardent disciple of
Cornelius Agrippa, the sixteenth-century theosophist.
He held the peripatetic philosophy in very slight
esteem. He was a man devoted to God, though
probably guilty of some youthful follies, full of love
'" Thomas Vaughan ("Eugenius Philalethes ") : Anima Magica
Abscondita (see The Magical Writings of Thomas Vaughan^ edited
by A. E. Waite, 1888, p. 71).
§ 60] THE ALCHEMISTS 79
towards his wife, and with an intense desire for the
solution of the great problems of Nature. Amongst
his chief works, which are by no means wanting in
flashes of mystic wisdom, we may mention Anthropo-
sophia Tkeomagicay Anima Magica Abscondita (which
were published together), and Magia Adamica ; or^
the Antiquitie of Magic, With regard to his views
as expressed in the first two of these books, a
controversy ensued between Vaughan and Henry
Moore, which was marked by considerable acrimony.
§ 60. The use of the pseudonym " Philalethes " has
not been confined to one alchemist. The cosmo-
politan adept who wrote under the name
"Eiren^us ^f « Eiren«us Philalethes," has been
Philalethes" r j ^i. i. j -^u t-i.
(1623?-?) confused, on the one hand, with ihomas
and George Vaughan, on the other hand with George
Starkey Starkey (?-i665). His real identity re-
^ '' mains shrouded in impenetrable mys-
tery. George Starkey, who graduated M.A. at
Harvard in 1646, probably made the acquaintance
of the mysterious adept whilst practising medicine in
the United States of America, and was to some extent
initiated by him into the secrets of Alchemy. In re-
turn for this he appears to have stolen his Hermetic
master's MS., The Marrow of Alchemy, which he
published in 1654-5. Returning to England, Starkey
seems to have degenerated into a quack. 21 The works
of " Eiraenius Philalethes," which are among the most
lucid of alchemistic writings, became immensely popu-
lar. His Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the
King (the most famous of his works) and his Three
" See Mr. A. E. Waite's Lives of Alchemy stical Philosophers^
article, "Eirenseus Philalethes."
80 ALCHEMY [§ 60
Treatises will be found in The Hermetic Museum.
Some of his views we have already noted (see
§§ I and 22). On certain points he differed from
the majority of the alchemists. He denied that fire
was an element, and, also, that bodies are formed by
mixture of the elements. According to him there is
one principle in the metals, namely, mercury, which
arises from the aqueous element, and is termed
" metalically differentiated water, i.e., it is water
passed into that stage of development, in which it can
no longer produce anything but mineral substances. "22
Philalethes's views as to ** metallic seed" are also of
considerable interest. Of the seed of gold, which he
regarded as the seed, also, of all other metals, he says :
•* The seed of animals and vegetables is something
separate, and may be cut out, or otherwise separately
exhibited ; but metallic seed is diffused throughout
the metal, and contained in all its smallest parts ;
neither can it be discerned from its body : its ex-
traction is therefore a task which may well tax the
ingenuity of the most experienced philosopher. . . ."23
There appears to be somewhat of a similarity between
this view of the seed of metals and modern ideas
regarding the electron (see §§80 and 81), which must
not be passed over without notice.
" " EiRENvEUS Philalethes " : The Metamorphosis of Metals
(see The Hermetic Museum, vol. ii. p. 236). Compare with van
Helmont's views, § 57.
^3 " EiRENyEUS Philalethes " : The Metamorphosis of Metals
(see The Hermetic Museum, vol. ii. p. 240).
CHAPTER V X
THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY
§ 61. The alchemists were untiring in their search X
for the Stone of the Philosophers, and we may well
ask whether they ever succeeded in
Alchemists effecting a real transmutation. That
achieve the many apparent transmutations occurred,
"Magnum ^^ observers beinsf either self-deceived
Opus"? , r . 1 . .
by a superficial exammation — certam
alloys resemble the " noble metals " — or de-
liberately cheated by impostors, is of course un-
doubted. But at the same time we must not
assume that, because we know not the method now,
real transmutations have never taken place. Modern
research indicates that it may be possible to transmute
other metals (more especially silver) into gold, and
consequently we must admit the possibility that
amongst the many experiments carried out, a real
transmutation was effected. On the other hand, the
method which is suggested by the recent researches
in question could not possibly have been known to
the alchemists or accidentally employed by them ; and,
moreover, the quantity of gold which is hoped for,
should such a method prove successful, is far below
the smallest amount that would have been detected in
7 81
82 ALCHEMY [§ 62
the days of Alchemy. But if there be one method
whereby the metals may be fctnsmuted, there may be
other methods. And it is not altogether an easy task
to explain away the testimony of eminent men such
as were van Helmont and Helvetius.
§ 62. John Baptist van Helmont (see § 57), who
was celebrated alike for his skill as a physician and
chemist and for his nobility of character,
Thr Testi- testified in more than one place that he
luony of van 1,1. , r • i ^
Helmont. ^^^ nimselt carried out the transmutation
of mercury into gold. But, as we have
mentioned above, the composition of the Stone em-
ployed on these occasions was unknown to him. He
says : " ... For truly, I have divers times seen it
[the Stone of the Philosophers], and handled it with
my hands : but it was of colour, such as is in Saffron
in its Powder, yet weighty, and shining like unto
powdered Glass : There was once given unto me
one fourth part of one Grain : But I call a Grain the
six hundredth part of one Ounce : This quarter of
one Grain therefore, being rouled up in Paper, I pro-
jected upon eight Ounces of Quick-silver made hot in
a Crucible ; and straightway all the Quick-silver, with
a certain degree of Noise, stood still from flowing, and
being congealed, setled like unto a yellow Lump : but
after pouring it out, the Bellows blowing, there were
found eight Ounces, and a little less than eleven Grains
[eight Ounces less eleven Grains] of the purest Gold :
Therefore one only Grain of that Powder, had trans-
changed 19186 [19 1 56] Parts of Quick-silver, equal
to itself, into the best Gold.''^
' J. B. VAN Helmont : Zt/a Eternal (see Oriatrike, translated by
J. C, 1662; or Van Hdmonfs WorkeSy translated by J. C, 1664,
§ 63] THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY 83
And again : *' I am constrained to believe that there
is the Stone which makes Gold, and which makes
Silver ; because I have at distinct turns, made pro-
jection with my hand, of one grain of the Powder,
upon some thousand grains of hot Quick-silver ; and
the buisiness succeeded in the Fire, even as Books
do promise ; a Circle of many People standing by,
together with a tickling Admiration of us all. . . .
He who first gave me the Gold-making Powder, had
likewise also, at least as much of it, as might be
sufficient for changing two hundred thousand Pounds
of Gold : , . . For he gave me perhaps half a grain
of that Powder, and nine ounces and three quarters of
Quick-silver were thereby transchanged : But that
Gold, a strange man [a stranger], being a Friend
of one evenings acquaintance, gave me."^
§ 63. John Frederick Helvetius (see plate 13), an
eminent doctor of medicine, and physician to the
Prince of Orange, published at the Hague
The Testi- jj^ j^^^ ^^^^ following remarkable account
Helvetius. ^^ ^ transmutation he claimed to have
effected. Certain points of resemblance
between this account and that of van Helmont
{e.^., in each case the Stone is described as a
glassy substance of a pale yellow colour) are
worth noticing: ** On the 27 December, 1666, in
the forenoon, there came to my house a certain
man, who was a complete stranger to me, but of
an honest, grave countenance, and an authoritative
which is merely the former work with a new title-page and pre-
liminary matter, pp. 751 and 752).
= J. B. VAN Helmont : I/ie Tree of Life (see Oriatrike or
Van Helmonfs Workes^ p. 807).
84 ALCHEMY [§ 63
mien, clothed In a simple garb like that of a Mem-
nonlte . . .
''After we had exchanged salutations, he asked me
whether he might have some conversation with me.
He wished to say something to me about the Pyro-
technic Art, as he had read one of my tracts (directed
against the sympathetic Powder of Dr. DIgby), in
which I hinted a suspicion whether the Grand Arcanum
of the Sages was not after all a gigantic hoax. He^
therefore, took that opportunity of asking me whether
I could not believe that such a grand mystery might
exist in the nature of things, by means of which a
physician could restore any patient whose vitals were
not Irreparably destroyed. I answered : ' Such a
Medicine would be a most desirable acquisition for
any physician ; nor can any man tell how many secrets
there may be hidden in Nature ; yet, though I have
read much about the truth of this Art, It has never
been my good fortune to meet with a real Master of
the Alchemical Science.' I also enquired whether he
was a medical man. ... In reply, he . . . described
himself as a brassfounder. . . . After some further
conversation, the Artist Ellas (for it was he) thus
addressed me : ' Since you have read so much in the
works of the Alchemists about this Stone, Its sub-
stance. Its colour, and Its wonderful effects, may I be
allowed the question, whether you have not yourself
prepared it ? ' Gn my answering his question in the
negative, he took out of his bag a cunningly-worked
ivory box, in which there were three large pieces of
a substance resembling glass, or pale sulphur, and
informed me that here was enough of the Tincture
for the production of 20 tons of gold. When I
PLATE 13.
lOHANNES FRIDERICTJ5 HeEVETIUS.
Anhaltinv^ Cothonensk Doctor^'
Pra^cticus M^edLUn^ Haqa, Comttis . &i lo.A'.fSd.
§ 64] THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY 85
had held the precious treasure in my hand for a
quarter of an hour (during which time I Hstened to
a recital of its wonderful curative properties), I was
compelled to restore it to its owner, which I could not
help doing with a certain degree of reluctance. After
thanking him for his kindness in shewing it to me,
I then asked how it was that his Stone did not display
that ruby colour, which I had been taught to regard
as characteristic of the Philosopher's Stone. He
replied that the colour made no difference, and that
the substance was sufficiently mature for all practical
purposes. My request that he would give me a piece
of his Stone (though it were no larger than a coriander
seed), he somewhat brusquely refused, adding, in a
milder tone, that he could not give it me for all
the wealth I possessed, and that not on account of
its great preciousness, but for some other reason which
it was not lawful for him to divulge ; . . .
§ 65. '* When my strange visitor had concluded his
narrative, I besought him to give me a proof of his
_ , ^. assertion, by performing^ the transmuta-
Helvetms . ^ ^ , .
obtains the tory operation on some metals m my
Philosopher's presence. He answered evasively, that
Stone. j^^ could not do so then, but that he
would return in three weeks, and that, if he was
then at liberty to do so, he would shew me some-
thing that would make me open my eyes. He
appeared punctually to the promised day, and invited
me to take a walk with him, in the course of which we
discoursed profoundly on the secrets of Nature in fire,
though I noticed that my companion was very chary
in imparting information about the Grand Arcanum.
. - . At last I asked him point-blank to show me
86 ALCHEMY [§ 64
the transmutation of metals. I besought him to come
and dine with me, and to spend the night at my house ;
I entreated ; I expostulated ; but in vain. He remained
firm. I reminded him of his promise. He retorted
that his promise had been conditional upon his being
permitted to reveal the secret to me. At last, how-
ever, I prevailed upon him to give me a piece of his
precious Stone — a piece no larger than a grain of
rape seed. He delivered it to me as if it were the
most princely donation in the world. Upon my utter-
ing a doubt whether it would be sufficient to tinge
more than four grains of lead, he eagerly demanded
it back. I complied, in the hope that he would ex-
change it for a larger piece ; instead of which he
divided it in two with his thumb, threw away one-half
and gave me back the other, saying : ' Even now it
is sufficient for you.' Then I was still more heavily
disappointed, as I could not believe that anything
could be done with so small a particle of the Medicine.
He, however, bade me take two drachms, or half an
ounce of lead, or even a little more, and to melt it
in the crucible ; for the Medicine would certainly not
tinge more of the base metal than it was sufficient for.
I answered that I could not believe that so small a
quantity of Tincture could transform so large a mass
of lead. But I had to be satisfied with what he had
given me, and my chief difficulty was about the appli-
cation of the Tincture. I confessed that when I held
his ivory box in my hand, I had managed to extract
a few crumbs of his Stone, but that they had changed
my lead, not into gold, but only into glass. He
laughed, and said that I was more expert at theft
than at the application of the Tincture. * You should
§ 65] THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY 87
have protected your spoil with " yellow wax," then it
would have been able to penetrate the lead and to
transmute it into ^old.' . . .
§ 65. "... With ... a promise to return at nine
o'clock the next morning, he left me. But at the
„ , ^. stated hour on the followingf day he did
Helvetms , i . . i .
performs a ^^^ make his appearance ; m his stead,
Transmuta- however, there came, a few hours later,
*^°°* a stranger, who told me that his friend
the Artist was unavoidably detained, but that he
would call at three o'clock in the afternoon. The
afternoon came ; I waited for him till half-past seven
o'clock. He did not appear. Thereupon my wife
came and tempted me to try the transmutation myself.
I determined, however, to wait till the morrow, and
in the meantime, ordered my son to light the fire, as I
was now almost sure that he was an impostor. On
the morrow, however, I thought that I might at least
make an experiment with the piece of ' Tincture '
which I had received ; if it turned out a failure, in
spite of my following his directions closely, I might
then be quite certain that my visitor had been a mere
pretender to a knowledge of this Art. So I asked my
wife to put the Tincture in wax, and I myself, in the
meantime, prepared six drachms of lead ; I then cast
the Tincture, enveloped as it was in wax, on the lead ;
as soon as it was melted, there was a hissing sound
and a slight effervescence, and after a quarter of an
hour I found that the whole mass of lead had been
turned into the finest gold. Before this transmutation
took place, the compound became intensely green, but
as soon as I had poured it into the melting pot it
assumed a hue like blood. When it cooled, it glittered
88 ALCHEMY [§ 67
and shone like gold. We immediately took it to the
goldsmith, who at once declared it to be the finest
gold he had ever seen, and offered to pay fifty florins
an ounce for it.
§ 66. *' The rumour, of course, spread at once like
wildfire through the whole city ; and in the afternoon,
I had visits from many illustrious students
Gold Assayed. ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ' ^ ^^^^ received a call from
the Master of the Mint and some other
gentlemen, who requested me to place at their disposal
a small piece of the gold, in order that they might
subject it to the usual tests. I consented, and we
betook ourselves to the house of a certain silversmith,
named Brechtil, who submitted a small piece of my
gold to the test called ' the fourth ' : three or four parts
of silver are melted in the crucible with one part of
gold, and then beaten out into thin plates, upon which
some strong aqua fortis [nitric acid] is poured. The
usual result of this experiment is that the silver is
dissolved, while the gold sinks to the bottom in the
shape of a black powder, and after the aqua fortis has
been poured off, [the gold,] melted once again in the
crucible, resumes its former shape. . . . When we
now performed this experiment, we thought at first
that one-half of the gold had evaporated ; but after-
wards we found that this was not the case, but that,
on the contrary, two scruples of the silver had under-
gone a change into gold.
§ 67. " Then we tried another test, viz., that which
is performed by means of a septuple of Antimony ; at
first it seemed as if eight grains of the gold had been
lost, but afterwards, not only had two scruples of the
gjlyer been converted into gold, but the silver itself
§ 68] THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY 89
was greatly improved both in quality and malleability.
Thrice I performed this infallible test, discovering
that every drachm of gold produced
■^fi^®*^^^'^ an increase of a scruple of sfold, but the
Gold Further . . r & »
Tested. silver is excellent and extremely flex-
ible. Thus I have unfolded to you the
whole story from beginning to end. The gold I still
retain in my possession, but I cannot tell you what
has become of the Artist Elias. Before he left me,
on the last day of our friendly intercourse, he told me
that he was on the point of undertaking a journey to
the Holy Land. May the Holy Angels of God watch
over him wherever he is, and long preserve him as a
source of blessing to Christendom ! This is my earnest
prayer on his and our behalf." 3
Testimony such as this warns us not to be too sure
that a real transmutation has never taken place. On
the whole, with regard to this question, an agnostic
position appears to be the more philosophical.
§ 68. But even if the alchemists did not discover
the Grand Arcanum of Nature, they did discover very
many scientifically important facts. Even
of Chemistry ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ prepare the Philosopher's
Stone, they did prepare a very large
number of new and important chemical compounds.
Their labours were the seeds out of which modern
Chemistry developed, and this highly important science
is rightfully included under the expression ''The Out-
come of Alchemy." As we have already pointed out
{§ 48), it was the iatro-chemists who first investigated
chemical matters with an object other than alchemistic,
3 J. F. Helvetius : The Golden Calf^ ch. iii. (see The Hermetic
Museum^ vol. ii. pp. 283 et. seq,).
90 ALCHEMY [§ 69
their especial end in view being the preparation of
useful medicines, though the medical-chemist and the
alchemist were very often united in the one person, as
in the case of Paracelsus himself and the not less
famous van Helmont. It was not until still later that
Chemistry was recognised as a distinct science separate
from medicine.
§ 69. In another direction the Outcome of Alchemy
was of a very distressing nature. Alchemy was in
many respects eminently suitable as a
^® cloak for fraud, and those who became
of Alchemy. ** alchemists " with the sole object of
accumulating much wealth in a short
space of time, finding that the legitimate pursuit of
the Art did not enable them to realise their expecta-
tions in this direction, availed themselves of this fact.
There is, indeed, some evidence that the degeneracy
of Alchemy had commenced as early as the fourteenth
century, but the attainment of the magnum opus was
regarded as possible for some three or more centuries.
The alchemistic promises of health, wealth and
happiness and a pseudo-mystical style of language
were effectively employed by these impostors. Some
more or less ingenious tricks — such as the use of hollow
stirring-rods, in which the gold was concealed, &c. —
convinced a credulous public of the validity of their
claims. Of these pseudo-alchemists we have already
mentioned Edward Kelley and George Starkey, but
chief of them all is generally accounted the notorious
"Count Cagliostro." That Cagliostro is rightfully
placed in the category of pseudo-alchemfsts is certain,
but it also appears equally certain that, charlatan
though he was, posterity has not always done him
§ 70] THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY 91
that justice which is due to all men, however bad
they may be.
§ 70. Of the birth and early life of the personage
calling himself " Count Cagliostro " nothing is known
with any degree of certainty, even his
"Count ^j.^g name being: enveloped in mystery.
Cagliostro" ^ i. - j j u i . -j .-r
/ ^ jyggv It has, mdeed, been usual to identity
him with the notorious Italian swindler,
Giuseppe Balsamo, who, born at Palermo in 1743 (or
1748), apparently disappeared from mortal ken after
some thirty years, of which the majority were spent
in committing various crimes. ** Cagliostro's " latest
biographer,4 who appears to have gone into the matter
very thoroughly, however, throws very grave doubts
on the truth of this theory.
If the earlier part of ** Cagliostro's " life is unknown,
the latter part is so overlaid with legends and lies, that
it is almost impossible to get at the truth concerning
it. In 1776 Cagliostro and his wife were in London,
where *' Cagliostro" became a Freemason, joining a
lodge connected with ** The Order of Strict Obser-
vance," a secret society incorporated with Freemasonry,
^ W. R. H. Trowbridge : Cagliostro : The Splendour and Misery
of a Master of Magic ( 1 9 1 o). We must acknowledge our indebtedness
for many of the particulars which follow to this work . It is, however,
unfortunately marred by a ridiculous attempt to show a likeness
between " Cagliostro " and Swedenborg, for which, by the way, Mr.
Trowbridge has already been criticised by the Spectator, It may
justly be said of Swedenborg that he was scrupulously honest and
sincere in his beliefs as well as in his actions ; and, as a philosopher,
it is only now being discovered how really great he was. He did, in-
deed, claim to have converse with spiritual beings ; but the results of
modern psychical research have robbed such claims of any inherent
impossibility, and in Swedenborg's case there is very considerable
evidence in the validity of his claims.
92 ALCHEMY [§ 70
and which (on the Continent, at least) was concerned
largely with occult subjects. " Cagliostro," however,
was unsatisfied with its rituals and devised a new
system which he called Egyptian Masonry. Egyptian
Masonry, he taught, was to reform the whole world,
and he set out, leaving England for the Continent, to
convert Masons and others to his views. We must
look for the motive power of his extraordinary career in
vanity and a love of mystery-mongering, without any
true knowledge of the occult ; it is probable, indeed,
that ultimately his unbounded vanity triumphed over
his reason and that he actually believed in his own
pretensions. That he did possess hypnotic and clair-
voyant powers is, we think, at least probable ; but
it is none the less certain that, when such failed
him, he had no scruples against employing other
means of convincing the credulous of the validity
of his claims. This was the case on his visit to
Russia, which occurred not long afterwards. At St.
Petersburg a youthful medium he was employing, to
put the matter briefly, **gave the show away," and at
Warsaw, where he found it necessary to turn alchemist,
he was detected in the process of introducing a piece
of gold in the crucible containing the base metal he
was about to *' transmute." At Strasburg, which he
reached in 1780, however, he was more successful.
Here he appeared as a miraculous healer of all diseases,
though whether his cures are to be ascribed to some
simple but efficacious medicine which he had dis-
covered, to hypnotism, to the power of the imagina-
tion on the part of his patients, or to the power of
imagination on the part of those who have recorded
the alleged cures, is a question into which we do not
PLATE 14.
COMTE defCAGlTlOSTRO.
'^ace page 92J
§ 70] THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY 93
propose to enter. At S trasburg " Cagllostro " came into
contact with the Cardinal de Rohan, and a fast friend-
ship sprang up between the two, which, in the end,
proved * ' CagHostro 's " ruin. The * ' Count " next visited
Bordeaux and Lyons, successfully founding lodges of
Egyptian Masonry. From the latter town he pro-
ceeded to Paris, where he reached the height of his
fame. He became extraordinarily rich, although he
is said to have asked, and to have accepted, no fee for
his services as a healer. On the other hand, there was
a substantial entrance-fee to the mysteries of Egyptian
Masonry, which, with its alchemistic promises of health
and wealth, prospered exceedingly. At the summit
of his career, however, fortune forsook him. As a
friend of de Rohan, he was arrested in connection with
the Diamond Necklace affair, on the word of the in-
famous Countess de Lamotte ; although, of whatever
else he may have been guilty, he was perfectly innocent
of this charge. After lying imprisoned in the Bastille
for several months, he was tried by the French Par-
liament, pronounced innocent, and released. Imme-
diately, however, the king banished him, and he left
Paris for London, where he seems to have been per-
sistently persecuted by agents of the French king.
He returned to the Continent, ultimately reaching
Italy, where he was arrested by the Inquisition and
condemned to death on the charge of being a Free-
mason (a dire offence in the eyes of the Roman Catholic
Church). The sentence, however, was modified to one
of perpetual imprisonment, and he was confined in the
Castle of San Leo, where he died in 1795, after four
years of imprisonment, in what manner is not known.
CHAPTER VI
THE AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY
§ 71. Chemistry as distinct from Alchemy and
latro-chemistry commenced with Robert Boyle (see
plate 15), who first clearly recognised
The Birth of ^\^g^^ j^-g ^jj^ jg neither the transmutation of
Modem , , , . - ,.
Chemistry. ^^^ metals nor the preparation 01 medi-
cines, but the observation and generalisa-
tion of a certain class of phenomena ; who denied the
validity of the alchemistic view of the constitution of
matter, and enunciated the definition of an element
which has since reigned supreme in Chemistry ; and
who enriched the science with observations of the
utmost importance. Boyle, however, was a man
whose ideas were in advance of his times, and inter-
vening between the iatro-chemical period and the Age
of Modern Chemistry proper came the period of the
Phlogistic Theory — a theory which had a certain
affinity with the ideas of the alchemists.
§ 72. The phlogiston theory was mainly due to
Georg Ernst Stahl (i 660-1 734). Becher (1635-
1682) had attempted to revive the once universally
accepted sulphur- mercury-salt theory of the alchem-
ists in a somewhat modified form, by the assump-
tion that all substances consist of three earths — the
PLATK 15.
•^y ^f.A'ij^ArnZeruH'nl .
PORTRAIT OF ROBEKT BOYLE.
pa^c 94]
§ 72] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 95
combustible, mercurial, and vitreous ; and herein is to
be found the germ of Stahl's phlogistic theory.
According to Stahl, all combustible bodies
T^® (including those metals that change on
Theory!^ heating) contain phlogiston, the principle
of combustion, which escapes in the form of
flame when such substances are burned. According to
this theory, therefore, the metals are compounds, since
they consist of a metallic calx (what we now call the
** oxide" of the metal) combined with phlogiston;
and, further, to obtain the metal from the calx it is
only necessary to act upon it with some substance
rich in phlogiston. Now, coal and charcoal are both
almost completely combustible, leaving very little
residue ; hence, according to this theory, they must
consist very largely of phlogiston ; and, as a matter of
fact, metals can be obtained by heating their calces
with either of these substances. Many other facts of
a like nature were explicable in terms of the phlogiston
theory, and it became exceedingly popular. Chemists
at this time did not pay much attention to the balance ;
it was observed, however, that metals increased in
weight on calcination, but this was *' explained " on the
assumption that phlogiston possessed negative weight.
Antoine Lavoisier (i 743-1 794), utilising Priestley's
discovery of oxygen (called ** dephlogisticated air " by
its discoverer) and studying the weight relations
accompanying combustion, demonstrated the non-
validity of the phlogistic theory^ and proved com-
bustion to be the combination of the substance burnt
* It should be noted, however, that if by the term " phlogiston "
we were to understand energy and not some form of matter, most of
the statements of the phlogistics would be true so far as they go.
96 ALCHEMY [§ 73
with a certain constituent of the air, the oxygen. By
this time Alchemy was to all intents and purposes
defunct, Boerhave (i 668-1 738) was the last eminent
chemist to give any support to its doctrines, and the
new chemistry of Lavoisier gave it a final death-blow.
We now enter upon the Age of Modern Chemistry,
but we shall deal in this chapter with the history
of chemical theory only so far as is necessary in
pursuance of our primary object, and hence our
account will be very far from complete.
§ 73. Robert Boyle (i 626-1 691) had defined an
element as a substance which could not be decom-
posed, but which could enter into combi-
Boyle and the nation with other elements 2:ivinpf com-
Definition , , , ^ , ^ . . .
of an Element, po^^^ds capable 01 decomposition into
these original elements. Hence, the
metals were classed among the elements, since they
had defied all attempts to decompose them. Now, it
must be noted that this definition is of a negative
character, and, although it is convenient to term
** elements" all substances which have so far defied
decomposition, it is a matter of impossibility to decide
what substances are true elements with absolute
certainty ; and the possibility, however faint, that
gold and other metals are of a compound nature, and
hence the possibility of preparing gold from the
*' base " metals or other substances, must always
remain. This uncertainty regarding the elements
appears to have generally been recognised by the
new school of chemists, but this having been so, it is
the more surprising that their criticism of alchemistic
art was not less severe.
74. With the study of the relative weights in
§ 75] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 97
which substances combine, certain generalisations or
** natural laws" of supreme importance were dis-
covered. These stoichiometric laws, as
^^® . they are called, are as follows : —
Stoicmometnc .. 1-1 t r r^ -n
La^s^ I. ** ihe Law of Constant Propor-
tion " — ne same chemical compound
always contains the same elements, and there is a
constant ratio between the weights of the constituent
elements present.
2. *'The Law of Multiple Proportions" — If two
substances combine chemically in more than one pro-
portion^ the weights of the one which combine with
a given weight of the other, stand in a simple rational
ratio to one another.
3. " The Law of Combining Weights" — Substances
combine either in the ratio of their combining numbers,
or in simple rational multiples or submultiples of these
numbers. (The weights of different substances which
combine with a given weight of some particular
substance, which is taken as the unit, are called the
combining numbers of such substances with reference
to this unit. The usual unit now chosen is 8 grammes
of Oxygen.)^
As examples of these laws we may take the few
following simple facts : —
* In order that these laws may hold good, it is, of course, neces-
sary that the substances are weighed under precisely similar con-
ditions. To state these laws in a more absolute form, we can
replace the term "weight" by "mass," or in preference, "inertia**;
for the inertias of bodies are proportional to their weights, providing
that they are weighed under precisely similar conditions. For a
discussion of the exact significance of these terms "mass" and
"inertia," the reader is referred to the present writer's Matter,
Spirit and the Cosmos (Rider, 1910), Chapter I., "On the Doctrine
of the Indestructibility of Matter."
98 ALCHEMY [§ U
1. Pure water is found always to consist of oxygen
and hydrogen combined in the ratio of i 'ooS parts by
weight of the latter to 8 parts by weight of the
former ; and pure sulphur-dioxide, to take another
example, is found always to consist of sulphur and
oxygen combined in the ratio of 8*02 parts by weight
of sulphur to 8 parts by weight of oxygen. (The Law
of Constant Proportion.)
2. Another compound is known consisting only of
oxygen and hydrogen, which, however, differs entirely
in its properties from water. It is found always to
consist of oxygen and hydrogen combined in the ratio
of I '008 parts by weight of the latter to 16 parts by
weight of the former, z.e,, in it a definite weight of
hydrogen is combined with an amount of oxygen
exactly twice that which is combined with the same
weight of hydrogen in water. No definite compound
has been discovered with a constitution intermediate
between these two. Other compounds consisting
only of sulphur and oxygen are also known. One of
these (viz., sulphur-trioxide, or sulphuric anhydride)
is found always to consist of sulphur and oxygen
combined in the ratio of 5*35 parts by weight of
sulphur to 8 parts by weight of oxygen. We see,
therefore, that the weights of sulphur combined with a
definite weight of oxygen in the two compounds called
respectively *' sulphur-dioxide " and " sulphur-tri-
oxide," are in the proportion of 8*02 to 5*35, i.e.,
3 : 2. Similar simple ratios are obtained in the case
of all the other compounds. (The Law of Multiple
Proportions.)
3. From the data given in (i) above we can fix the
combining number of hydrogen as i'oo8, that of
§ 75] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 99
sulphur as 8*02. Now, compounds are known con-
taining sulphur and hydrogen, and, in each case, the
weight of sulphur combined with i*oo8 grammes of
hydrogen is found always to be either 8*02 grammes
or some multiple or submultiple of this quantity.
Thus, in the simplest compound of this sort, con-
taining only hydrogen and sulphur (viz., sulphuretted-
hydrogen or hydrogen sulphide), i*oo8 grammes of
hydrogen is found always to be combined with 16-04
grammes of sulphur, i.e., exactly twice the above
quantity. (The Law of Combining Weights.)
Berthollet (1748-1822) denied the truth of the law
of constant proportion, and hence, of course, the other
stoichiometric laws, and a controversy ensued between
this chemist and Proust (i 755-1 826), who undertook
a research to settle the question and in whose favour
the controversy was ultimately decided.
§ 75. At the beginning of the nineteenth century,
John Dalton (see plate 15) put forward his Atomic
Theory in explanation of these facts.
Dalton's This theory assumes (i) that all matter
Theory. ^^ made up of small indivisible and in-
destructible particles, called "atoms";
(2) that all atoms are not alike, there being as many
different sorts of atoms as there are elements; (3) that
the atoms constituting any one element are exactly
alike and are of definite weight ; and (4) that com-
pounds are produced by the combination of different
atoms. Now, it is at once evident that if matter be
so constituted, the stoichiometric laws must necessarily
follow. For the smallest particle of any definite com-
pound (now called a "molecule") must consist of
a definite assemblage of different atoms, and these
100 ALCHEMY [§ 75
atoms are of definite weight : whence the law of
constant proportion. One atom of one substance may
combine with i, 2, 3 . . . atoms of some other sub-
stance, but it cannot combine with some fractional part
of an atom, since the atoms are indivisible : whence
the law of multiple proportions. And these laws
holding good, and the atoms being of definite weight,
the law of combining weights necessarily follows.
Dalton's Atomic Theory gave a simple and intelligible
explanation of these remarkable facts regarding the
weights of substances entering into chemical combina-
tion, and, therefore, gained universal acceptance. But
throughout the history of Chemistry can be discerned
a spirit of revolt against it as an explanation of the
absolute constitution of matter. The tendency of
scientific philosophy has always been towards Monism
as opposed to Dualism, and here were not merely two
eternals, but several dozen ; Dalton's theory denied
the unity of the Cosmos, it lacked the unifying
principle of the alchemists. It is only in recent times
that it has been recognised that a scientific hypothesis
may be very useful without being altogether true.
As to the usefulness of Dalton's theory there can be
na question ; it has accomplished that which no other
hypothesis could have done ; it rendered the concepts
of a chemical element, a chemical compound and a
chemical reaction definite ; and has, in a sense, led to
the majority of the discoveries in the domain of
Chemistry that have been made since its enunciq,tion.
But as an expression of absolute truth, Dalton's
theory, as is very generally recognised nowadays, fails
to be satisfactory. In the past, however, it has been
the philosophers of the materialistic school of thought,
PLATE i6.
Can'kfSc
PORTRAIT OF JOHN DALTON.
To face page icoj
§ 75] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 101
rather than the chemists qua chemists, who have
insisted on the absolute truth of the Atomic Theory ;
Kekul^, who by developing Franklin's theory of
atomicity or valency 3 made still more definite the
atomic view of matter, himself expressed grave doubts
as to the absolute truth of Dalton's theory ; but he
regarded it as chemically true, and thus voices what
appears to be the opinion of the majority of chemists
nowadays, namely, there are such things as chemical
atoms and chemical elements, incapable of being
decomposed by purely chemical means, but that such
are not absolute atoms or absolute elements, and
3 The term " valency " is not altogether an easy one to define ;
we will, however, here do our best to make plain its significance.
In a definite chemical compound we must assume that the atoms
constituting each molecule are in some way bound together (though
not, of course, rigidly), and we may speak of " bonds " or " links of
affinity," taking care, however, not to interpret such terms too
literally. Now, the number of " affinity links " which one atom can
exert is not unlimited \ indeed, according to the valency theory as
first formulated, it is fixed and constant. It is this number which is
called the " valency " of the element ; but it is now known that the
" valency " in most cases can vary between certain limits. Hydro-
gen, however, appears to be invariably univalent, and is therefore
taken as the unit of valency. Thus, Carbon is quadrivalent in the
methane- molecule, which consists of one atom of carbon combined
with four atoms of hydrogen ; and Oxygen is divalent in the water-
molecule, which consists of one atom of oxygen combined with two
atoms of hydrogen. Hence, we should expect to find one atom of
carbon combining with two of oxygen, which is the case in the
carbon-dioxide — (carbonic anhydride) — molecule. The under-
lying reason of this regularity remains unknown (see § 8i), and
there are very many curious exceptions to it. For a development of
the thesis, so far as the compounds of carbon are concerned, that
each specific " affinity link " corresponds in general to a definite and
constant amount of energy, which is evolved as heat on disruption
of the bond, the reader is referred to the present writer's monograph
On the Calculation of Thermo- Chemical Constants (Arnold, 1909).
102 ALCHEMY [§ 77
consequently not impervious to all forms of action.
But of this more will be said later.
§ 76. With the acceptance of Dalton's Atomic
Theory, it became necessary to determine the atomic
weights of the various elements, i.e., not
Determination ^^^ absolute atomic weights, but the
of the Atomic relative weights of the various atoms
Weights of ^j|.]-^ reference to one of them as unit.4
the Elements. ___ . . . ,
We cannot m this place enter upon a
discussion of the various difficulties, both of an experi-
mental and theoretical nature, which were involved in
this problem, save to remark that the correct atomic
weights could be arrived at only with the acceptance
of Avogadro's Hypothesis. This hypothesis, which is
to the effect that equal volumes of different gases
measured at the same temperature and pressure
contain an equal number of gaseous molecules, was
put forward in explanation of a number of facts
connected with the physical behaviour of gases ; but
its importance was for some time unrecognised, owing
to the fact that the distinction between atoms and
molecules was not yet clearly drawn. A list of those
chemical substances at present recognised as " ele-
ments," together with their atomic weights, will be
found on pp. io6, 107.
§ 77. It was observed by a chemist of the name of
Prout, that, the atomic weight of hydrogen being taken
♦ Since hydrogen is the lightest of all known substances, the unit,
Hydrogen = i, was atone time usually employed. However, it was
seen to be more convenient to express the atomic weights in terms
of the weight of the oxygen-atom, and the unit. Oxygen = i6 is now
always employed. This value for the oxygen-atom was chosen so
that the approximate atomic weights would in most cases remain
unaltered by the change.
§ 77] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 103
as the unit, the atomic weights of nearly all the ele-
ments approximated to whole numbers ; and in 1 8 1 5
he suggested as the reason for this regu-
^°?* ^. larity, that all the elements consist solely
of hydrogen. Prout's Hypothesis received
on the whole a very favourable reception ; it harmonised
Dalton's Theory with the grand concept of the unity
of matter — all matter was hydrogen in essence ; and
Thomas Thomson undertook a research to demon-
strate its truth. On the other hand, however, the
eminent Swedish chemist, Berzelius, who had carried
out many atomic weight determinations, criticised
both Prout's Hypothesis and Thomson's research
(which latter, it iis true, was worthless) in most
severe terms ; for the hypothesis amounted to this —
that the decimals in the atomic weights obtained
experimentally by Berzelius, after so much labour,
were to be regarded as so many errors. In 1844,
Marignac suggested half the hydrogen atom as the
unit, for the element chlorine, with an atomic weight
^^ 35*5» would not fit in with Prout's Hypothesis as
originally formulated ; and later, Dumas suggested
one-quarter. With this theoretical division of the
hydrogen-atom, the hypothesis lost its simplicity and
charm, and was doomed to downfall. Recent and
most accurate atomic weight determinations show
clearly that the atomic weights are not exactly whole
numbers, but that, nevertheless, the majority of them (if
expressed in terms of 0= 16 as the unit) do approxi-
mate very closely to such. The Hon. R. J. Strutthas
recently calculated that the probability of this occur-
ring, in the case of certain of the commoner elements,
by mere chance is exceedingly small (about i in
104 ALCHEMY [§ 77
i,ooo.)5 Several hypotheses attempting to explain
this very remarkable fact have been put forward,
but its real significance still remains unknown.^
5 Hon. R. J. Strutt : ** On the Tendency of the Atomic Weights
to approximate to Whole Numbers," Philosophical Magazine [6],
vol. i. (1901), pp. 311 et seq,
^ Two examples of these attempts must here suffice. Mr. A. C. G.
Egerton ("The Divergence of the Atomic Weights of the Lighter
Elements from Whole Numbers," Journal of the Chemical Societyy
vol. xcv. pp. 238 et seq.y 1909) finds that the atomic weights (H=i)
of the lighter elements (up to Phosphorus) can be calculated with
considerable accuracy by means of the formulae —
(i) M = 2N ± 0*0078 X 2N and (ii) M = 2N 4- i ± 0*0078 X 2N,
where M is the atomic weight, and N the number of the element,
reckoning Helium as 2, Lithium as 3, and so on, the elements being
numbered in the order of their atomic weights. The first formula
applies in the case of " even " elements, the second in the case of
"odd" elements. For elements of higher atomic weight, similar
but niore complicated formulae were found for those with atoms
not heavier than Cobalt. Beyond Cobalt the method does not
appear to be applicable. The author suggests that, since the figure
0*0078 represents approximately the weight of a group of eight
electrons (see below, §§79 and 80), the elements may be built up
of conglomerates of hydrogen atoms with groups of eight or sixteen
electrons added or subtracted. But, as he remarks at the close of
his paper (p. 242), " The physical interpretation of the relation given
is evidently not the only one that can be devised. Since the ele-
ments are built up by the conglomeration of the fundamental stuff,
although not necessarily evolved in order of atomic weight, and
since the atoms probably differ in internal structure, there are certain
to be changes in the internal energy of the atoms causing slight
differences in mass. One would expect such changes to be pro-
portional to the increase of the amount of the original stuff which
conglomerates ; the formula M = A ± A (0.0078) [A = 2NI agrees
with this idea; and, further, it is conceivable that an increase in
the size of an atom, due to addition of more matter, and the
formation of a new atom, might either cause an increase or decrease
of energy according to the configuration of the new atom ; the
positive and negative sign in the formula might thus be explained."
§78] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 105
§ 78. A remarkable property of the atomic weights
was discovered, in the sixties, independently by
Lothar Meyer and Mendeleeff. They
The found that the elements could be
La^ » arranged in rows in the order of their
atomic weights so that similar elements
would be found in the same columns. A modernised
form of the Periodic Table will be found on pp. io6, 107.
It will be noticed, for example, that the "alkali'*
metals. Lithium, Sodium, Rubidium and Caesium, which
Dr. James Moir ("A Method of Harmonising the Atomic Weights,'*
Journal of the Chemical Society^ vol. xcv. pp. 1752 et seq.^ 1909)
criticises the above-mentioned paper. He assumes (p. 1752) "the
cause of valency, at all events the fundamental valency of each
element, to be the presence, in varying numbers, of a sub-element
of atomic weight y^Tj- [= -0089] .... If this be denoted by /i, then
the univalent elements contain i^, the bivalent 2/i, the tervalent 3/i,
and so on. In addition, the author conceives the main bulk of
the mass of the elements to be due to polymerisation of an entity
consisting of the hydrogen atom less the aggregation /z. Denoting
this by H, we have, for example: H = H-f-/ii; Li=7H-H/i;
C = 12H + 4/ii ; O = 16H -f 2/i ; Ne = 20H ; Na = 23H -f /x ;
Ag = 108H + fi ; Cs = 133H -I- /i." The atomic weights calcu-
lated on these assumptions are in excellent agreement with the
experimental. Thus —
H -h /* = H = 1-0078,
therefore
H = 1*0078 - '0089 — '9989.
Li = 7H + /i = 7'ooi (Experimental value = 6'94)
O = 16H 4" 2/i = 1 6'ooo (Experimental value = i6*oo)
Ne = 20H = 19-978 (Experimental value = 20*2), &c.
However, there are some elements which do not fit into this scheme,
and whose atomic weights can be calculated by this method only by
employing multiples of H involving one decimal figure (for example,
Chlorine and Sulphur), which elements the author regards as not
being direct polymerides of H.
106
ALCHEMY
[§78
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Iron Fe =» 5585 <=
Cobalt Co = 58-97
Nickel Ni = 58 68
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108 ALCHEMY [§ 78
resemble one another very closely, fall in Column i ;
the "alkaline earth" metals occur together in Column 2 ;
though in each case these are accompanied by certain
elements with somewhat different properties. Much
the same holds good in the case of the other columns of
this Table ; there is manifested a remarkable regularity,
with certain still more remarkable divergences (see
notes appended to Table on pp. 106, 107). This regu-
larity exhibited by the ** elements " is of considerable
importance, since it shows that, in general, the pro-
perties of the " elements " are periodic functions of
their atomic weights ; and, together with certain other
remarkable properties of the ** elements," distinguishes
them sharply from the ** compounds." It may be
concluded with tolerable certainty, therefore, that
if the '* elements " are in reality of a compound
nature, they are all, in general, compounds of a like
nature distinct from that of other compounds.
It is now some years since Sir William Crookes first
attempted to explain the periodicity of the properties
of the elements on the theory that they have all been
evolved by a conglomerating process from some primal
stuff — the protyle — consisting of very small particles.
He represents the action of this generative cause
by means of a ** figure of eight " spiral, along which
the elements are placed at regular intervals, so that
similar elements come underneath one another, as in
Mendeleeff s table, though the grouping difTers in
some respects. The slope of the curve is supposed
to represent the decline of some factor {e.g., tempera-
ture) conditioning the process, which process is
assumed to be of a recurrent nature, like the swing
of a pendulum. After the completion of one swing
§ 79] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 109
(to keep to the Illustration of a pendulum) whereby
one series of elements is produced, owing to the
decline of the above-mentioned factor, the same series
of elements is not again the result as would otherwise
be the case, but a somewhat different series is pro-
duced, each member of which resembles the corre-
sponding member of the former series. Thus, if the
first series contains, for example, helium, lithium,
carbon, &c., the second series will contain instead,
argon, potassium, titanium, &c. The whole theory,
though highly interesting, is, however, by no means
free from defects.
§ 79. We must now turn our attention to those
recent views of the constitution of matter which
^ originated to a great extent in the in-
Corpuscular vestigations of the passage of electricity
Theory of through gases at very low pressures. It
^ ®^' will be possible, however, on the present
occasion, to give only the very briefest account of
the subject; but a fuller treatment is rendered
unnecessary by the fact that these and allied in-
vestigations and the theories to which they have
given rise have been fully treated in several well-
known works, by various authorities on the subject,
which have appeared during the last few years.7
When an electrical discharge is passed through a
high-vacuum tube, invisible rays are emitted from the
kathode, generally with the production of a greenish-
7 We have found Prof. Harry Jones' The Electrical Nature oj
Matter and Radioactivity (1906), Mr. Soddy's Radioactivity (1904),
and Mr. Whetham's The Recent Development of Physical Science
(1909) particularly interesting. Mention, of course, should also
be made of the standard works of Prof. Sir J. J. Thomson and
Prof. Rutherford.
110 ALCHEMY [§ 80
yellow fluorescence where they strike the glass walls
of the tube. These rays are called " kathode rays."
At one time they were regarded as waves in the ether,
but it was shown by Sir William Crookes that they
consist of small electrically charged particles, moving
with a very high velocity. Sir J. J. Thomson was
able to determine the ratio of the charge carried by
these particles to their mass or inertia ; he found that
this ratio was constant whatever gas was contained in
the vacuum tube, and much greater than the corre-
sponding ratio for the hydrogen ion (electrically
charged hydrogen atom) in electrolysis. By a skilful
method, based on the fact discovered by Mr. C. T. R.
Wilson, that charged particles can serve as nuclei for
the condensation of water-vapour, he was further able
to determine the value of the electrical charge carried
by these particles, which was found to be constant
also, and equal to the charge carried by univalent ions,
e.g., hydrogen, in electrolysis. Hence, it follows that
the mass of these kathode particles must be much
smaller than the hydrogen ion, the actual ratio being
about I : 1 700. The first theory put forward by Sir
J. J. Thomson in explanation of these facts, was that
these kathode particles (** corpuscles " as he termed
them) were electrically charged portions of matter,
much smaller than the smallest atom ; and since the
same sort of corpuscle is obtained whatever gas is
contained in the vacuum tube, it is reasonable to
conclude that the corpuscle is the common unit of all
matter.
§ 80. This eminent physicist, however, had shown
mathematically that a charged particle moving with
a very high velocity (approaching that of light)
§ 80] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 111
would exhibit an appreciable increase in mass or
inertia due to the charge, the magnitude of such inertia
depending on the velocity of the particle. This was
•n- r xr. X experimentallv verified by Kaufmann,
Proof that ^ .,i ,.. 11
the Electrons who determmed the velocities, and the
are not ratios between the electrical char2:e and
* ®^* the inertia, of various kathode particles
and similar particles which are emitted by com-
pounds of radium (see §§ 89 and 90). Sir J. J.
Thomson calculated these values on the assumption
that the inertia of such particles is entirely of electrical
origin, and thereby obtained values in remarkable
agreement with the experimental. There is, there-
fore, no reason for supposing the corpuscle to be
matter at all ; indeed, if it were, the above agreement
would not be obtained. As Professor Jones says :
** Since we know things only by their properties, and
since all the properties of the corpuscle are accounted
for by the electrical charge associated with it, why
assume that the corpuscle contains anything but the
electrical charge? It is obvious that there is no
reason for doing so.
** T/ie corpuscle isy then, nothing but a disembodied
electrical charge, containing nothing material, as we
have been accustomed to use that term. It is elec-
tricity, and nothing but electricity. With this new
conception a new term was introduced, and, now,
instead of speaking of the corpuscle we speak of the
electron''^ Applying this modification to the above
view of the constitution of matter, we have what is
called "the electronic theory," namely, that the
2 H. C. Jones : The Electrical Nature of Matter and Radioactivity
(1906), p. 21.
112 ALCHEMY [§ 81
material atoms consist of electrons, or units of elec-
tricity in rapid motion ; which amounts to this — that
matter is simply an electrical phenomenon.
§ 81. Sir J. J. Thomson has elaborated this theory
of the nature and constitution of matter ; he has shown
what systems of electrons would be stable,
Electronic and has attempted to find therein the
Theory of significance of Mendeldeff's generalisa-
^ ®^* tion and the explanation of valency.
There can be no doubt that there is a consider-
able element of truth in the electronic theory of
matter ; the one characteristic property of matter,
i.e., inertia, can be accounted-for electrically; but
further than this it is not yet possible to say. The
fundamental difficulty is that the electrons are units
of negative electricity, whereas matter is electrically
neutral. Is there a positive electron? Professor Sir
J. J. Thomson assumes a sphere or shell of positive
electrification wherein the (negative) electrons re-
volve ; and to this positive electricity, it seems, must
be ascribed the major portion of the inertia or mass
of the atom, for recent work has proved that the
number of electrons in an atom is approximately
equal to the atomic weight of that atom as expressed
in terms of H = i or O = i6 as unit. This fact has
rather discountenanced the corpuscular and electronic
theories of matter, which as originally formulated
assumed the whole mass of the atom to be due alone
to corpuscles or electrons, and, therefore, required the
atoms to contain thousands of such units ; but, as Pro-
fessor Sir J. J. Thomson has pointed out, it is not really
incompatible therewith, if, as does not seem unlikely,
all mass Is really mass of the ether of space (see next
§ 82] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 113
section).9 The whole question, however, cannot be
regarded as finally settled ; but it is hoped that further
research will throw light on the disputed points.
§ 82. The analysis of matter has been carried a
step further. A philosophical view of the Cosmos
, involves the assumption of an absolutely
Etheric continuous and homogeneous medium
Theory of filling all space, for an absolute
* ®^' vacuum is unthinkable, and if it were
supposed that the stuff filling all space is of an
atomic structure, the question arises. What occupies
the interstices between its atoms? This ubiquitous
medium is termed by the scientists of to-day **the
Ether of Space." Moreover, such a medium as the
Ether is demanded by the phenomena of light. It
appears, however, that the ether of space has another
and a still more important function than the trans-
mission of light : the idea that matter has its explana-
tion therein is being developed by Sir Oliver Lodge.
The evidence certainly points to the conclusion that
matter is some sort of singularity in the ether, prob-
ably a stress centre. We have been too much
accustomed to think of the ether as something
excessively light and quite the reverse of massive
or dense, in which it appears we have been wrong.
Sir Oliver Lodge calculates that the density of the
ether is far greater than that of the most dense forms
of matter ; not that matter is to be thought of as a
rarefaction of the ether, for the ether within matter
is as dense as that without. What we call matter,
however, is not a continuous substance ; it consists,
9 See Professor Sir J. J. Thomson : The Corpuscular Theory of
Matter (1907), especially pp. 142 et seq.
9
114 ALCHEMY [§ 83
rather, of a number of widely separated particles,
whence its comparatively small density compared
with the perfectly continuous ether. Further, if there
is a difficulty in conceiving how a perfect fluid like the
ether can give rise to a solid body possessed of such
properties as rigidity, impenetrability and elasticity,
we must remember that all these properties can be
produced by means of motion. A jet of water moving
with a sufficient velocity behaves like a rigid and im-
penetrable solid, whilst a revolving disc of paper
exhibits elasticity and can act as a circular saw.^^ It
appears, therefore, that the ancient doctrine of the
alchemistic essence is fundamentally true after all,
that out of the ** One Thing " all material things have
been produced by adaptation or modification ; and, as
we have already noticed {§ 60), there also appears to
be some resemblance between the concept of the
electron and that of the seed of gold, which seed, it
should be borne in mind, was regarded by the
alchemists as the common seed of all metals.
§ 83. There are also certain other facts which
appear to demand such a modification of Dalton's
Atomic Theory as is found in the
Evidence Electronic Theory. One of the charac-
of the teristics of the chemical elements is that
Complexity each one gives a spectrum peculiar to
of the Atoms. . ,r ^^ ^ ^ 1 ^
Itself. The spectrum of an element
must, therefore, be due to its atoms, which in some
way are able, at a sufficiently high temperature,
to act upon the ether so as to produce vibrations of
definite and characteristic wave-length. Now, in
many cases the number of lines of definite wave-
^° See Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. : T/ie Ether of Space (1909).
§85] AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY 115
length observed in such a spectrum is considerable,
for example, hundreds of different lines have been
observed in the arc-spectrum of iron. But it is in-
credible that an atom, if it were a simple unit, would
give rise to such a number of different and definite
vibrations, and the only reasonable conclusion is that
the atoms must be complex in structure. We may
here mention that spectroscopic examination of various
heavenly bodies leads to the conclusion that there is
some process of evolution at work building up com-
plex elements from simpler ones, since the hottest
nebulae appear to consist of but a few simple elements,
whilst cooler bodies exhibit a greater complexity.
§ 85. Such modifications of the atomic theory
as those we have briefly discussed above, although
profoundly modifying, and, indeed, con-
Views of trovertinp^ the philosophical sis^nificance
Ostwald. ^^ Dalton's theory as originally formu-
lated, leave its chemical significance
practically unchanged. The atoms can be regarded
no longer as the eternal, indissoluble gods of Nature
that they were once supposed to be ; thus, Materialism
is deprived of what was thought to be its scientific
basis. ^ I But the science of Chemistry is unaffected
thereby ; the atoms are not the ultimate units out of
which material things are built, but the atoms cannot
be decomposed by purely chemical means ; the
'* elements " are not truly elemental, but ^Aey are
chemical elements. However, the atomic theory has
been subjected to a far more searching criticism.
Wald argues that substances obey the law of definite
" For a critical examination of Materialism, the reader is referred
to the present writer's Matter^ Spirit and the Cosmos (Rider, 1910),
especially Chapters I. and IV.
116 ALCHEMY [§ M
proportions because of the way in which they are
prepared ; chemists refuse, he says, to admit any
substance as a definite chemical compound unless it
does obey this law. Wald's opinions have been
supported by Professor Ostwald, who has attempted
to deduce the other stoichiometric laws on these
grounds without assuming any atomic hypothesis ^^ ;
but these new ideas do not appear to have gained
the approval of chemists in general. It is not to be
supposed that chemists will give up without a struggle
a mental tool of such great utility as Dalton's theory,
in spite of its defects, has proved itself to be. There
does seem, however, to be logic in the arguments of
Wald and Ostwald, but it is too early in the history
of the controversy to say what the ultimate result will
be. So far as can be seen, however, it appears that,
on the one hand, the atomic theory is not necessitated
by the so-called "stoichiometric laws"; whilst, on
the other hand, a molecular constitution of matter
seems to be demanded by the phenomenon known
as the " Brownian Movement," i.e., the spontaneous,
irregular and apparently perpetual movement of
microscopic portions of solid matter when immersed
in a liquid medium ; such movement appearing to be
explicable only as the result of the motion of the
molecules of which the liquid in question is built up. ^3
" W. Ostwald : " Faraday Lecture," Journal of the Chemical
Society, vol. Ixxxv. (1904), pp. 506 et seq. See also W. Ostwald:
The Fundamental Principles of Chemistry (translated by H. W.
Morse, 1909), especially Chapters VI., VII. and VIII.
^3 For an account of this singular phenomenon, see Prof. Jean
Perrin : Brownian Movement and Molecular Reality (translated
from the Annates de Chimie et de Physique, 8me Series, September,
1909, by F. Soddy, M.A., F.R.S., 1910).
CHAPTER VII
MODERN ALCHEMY
§ 85. Correctly speaking, there is no such thing as
"Modern Alchemy"; not that Mysticism is dead, or
that men no longer seek to apply the
Alchemy " principles of Mysticism to phenomena on
the physical plane, but they do so after
another manner from that of the alchemists. A new
science, however, is born amongst us, closely related
on the one hand to Chemistry, on the other to
Physics, but dealing with changes more profound
and reactions more deeply seated than are dealt with
by either of these ; a science as yet without a name,
unless it be the not altogether satisfactory one of
*' Radioactivity." It is this science, or, perhaps we
should say, a certain aspect of it, to which we refer
(it may be fantastically) by the expression " Modern
Alchemy": the aptness of the title we hope to make
plain in the course of the present chapter.
§ 86. As is commonly known, what are called
X-rays are produced when an electric discharge is
passed through a high- vacuum tube. It has been
shown that these rays are a series of irregular
pulses in the ether, which are set up when the
kathode particles strike the walls of the glass vacuum
U7
118 ALCHEMY [§ 87
tube,' and It was found that more powerful effects
can be produced by inserting a disc of platinum in
the path of the kathode particles. It was
X-rays and ]y[ Becquerel who first discovered that
jg^yg^ there are substances which naturally
emit radiations similar to X-rays. He
found that uranium compounds affected a photo-
graphic plate from which they were carefully screened,
and he also showed that these uranium radiations,
or '' Becquerel rays," resemble X-rays in other par-
ticulars. It was already known that certain substances
fluoresce (emit light) in the dark after having been
exposed to sunlight, and it was thought at first that
the above phenomenon exhibited by uranium salts
was of a like nature, since certain uranium salts are
fluorescent ; but M. Becquerel found that uranium
salts which had never been exposed to sunlight were
still capable of affecting a photographic plate, and
that this remarkable property was possessed by all
uranium salts, whether fluorescent or not. This
phenomenon is known as ** radioactivity," and bodies
which exhibit it are said to be ''radioactive." Schmidt
found that thorium compounds possess a similar pro-
perty, and Professor Rutherford showed that thorium
compounds evolved also something resembling a gas.
He called this an ''emanation."
§ 87. Mme. Curie ^ determined the radioactivity of
many uranium and thorium compounds, and found
that there was a proportion between the radioactivity
' They must not be confused with the greenish-yellow phosphor-
escence which is also produced : the X-rays are invisible.
"" See Madame Sklodowska Curie's Radio-active Substances (2nd
ed., 1904).
§ 88] MODERN ALCHEMY 119
of such compounds and the quantity of uranium or
thorium in them, with the remarkable exception of
certain natural ores, which had a radio-
of Radlum^^ activity much in excess of the normal, and,
indeed, in certain cases, much greater
than pure uranium. In order to throw some light
on this matter^ Mme. Curie prepared one of these
ores by a chemical process and found that it possessed
a normal radioactivity. The only logical conclusion
to be drawn from these facts was that the ores in
question must contain some unknown, highly radio-
active substance, and the Curies were able, after very
considerable labour, to extract from pitchblende (the
ore with the greatest radioactivity) minute quanti-
ties of the salts of two new elements — which they
named *' Polonium " and '' Radium " respectively —
both of which were extremely radioactive.
M. Debierne has obtained a third radioactive
substance from pitchblende, which he has called
** Actinium."
§ 88. Radium is an element resembling calcium,
strontium, and barium in chemical properties ; its
atomic weight was determined by Mme.
Chemical Pro- Curie, and found to be about 22 s, accord-
perties of . , ^ . ^ ,
Radium. ^^§ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ experiments ; a redeter-
mination gave a slightly higher value,
which has been confirmed by a further investigation
carried out by Sir T. E. Thorpe. 3 Radium gives a
3 See Sir T. E. Thorpe : '* On the Atomic Weight of Radium "
(Bakerian Lecture for 1907. Delivered before the Royal Society,
June 20, 1907), Proceedings of the Royal Society of London^ vol. Ixxx.
pp. 298 et seq. ; reprinted in The Chemical News ^ vol. xcvii. pp. 229
et seq. (May 15, 1908).
120 ALCHEMY [§ 89
characteristic spectrum, and is intensely radioactive.
It should be noted that up to the middle of the
year 1910 the element radium itself had not been
prepared ; in all the experiments carried out radium
salts were employed {i.e., certain compounds of radium
with other elements), generally radium chloride and
radium bromide. More recently Mme. Curie, in
conjunction with M. Debierne, has obtained the free
metal. It is described as a white, shining metal
resembling the other alkaline earth metals. It reacts
very violently with water, chars paper with which
it is allowed to come in contact, and blackens in
the air, probably owing to the formation of a
nitride. It fuses at 700° C, and is more volatile than
barium.4
§ 89. Radium salts give off three distinct sorts of
rays, referred to by the Greek letters «, ^, 7. The
a-rays have been shown to consist of
The Radio- electrically charged (positive) particles,
activity of ., ^ • ^ 1 w .u !
Radium. ^^^" ^ mass approximately equal to that
of four hydrogen atoms ; they are slightly
deviated by a magnetic field, and do not possess great
penetrative power. The j3-rays are similar to the
kathode rays, and consist of (negative) electrons ; they
are strongly deviated by a magnetic field, in a direc-
tion opposite to that in which the a-particles are
deviated, and possess medium penetrative power,
passing for the most part through a thin sheet of
metal. The 7-rays resemble X-rays; they possess
4 Madame P. Curie and M. A. Debierne : ** Sur le radium
metallique," Comptes Rendus hebdomadaires des Seances PAcademie
des Sciences, vol. cli. (1910), pp. 523-525. (For an English trans-
lation of this paper see The Chemical News, vol. cii. p. 175.)
§ 89] MODERN ALCHEMY 121
great penetrative power, and are not deviated by a
magnetic field. The difference in the effect of the
magnetic field on these rays, and the difference in
their penetrative power, led to their detection and
allows of their separate examination. Radium salts
emit also an emanation, which tends to become
occluded in the solid salt, but can be conveniently
liberated by dissolving the salt in water, or by heating
it. The emanation exhibits the characteristic properties
of a gas, it obeys Boyle's Law (i.e., its volume varies
inversely with its pressure), and it can be condensed to
a liquid at low temperatures ; its density as determined
by the diffusion method is about loo. Attempts to
prepare chemical compounds of the emanation have
failed, and in this respect it resembles the rare gases
of the atmosphere — helium, neon, argon, krypton, and
xenon — whence it is probable that its molecules are
monatom.ic, so that a density of lOO would give its
atomic weight as 200. 5 As can be seen from the
table on pp. 106, 107, an atomic weight of about 220
corresponds to a position in the column containing
the rare gases in the periodic system. That the
emanation actually has an atomic weight of these
dimensions has been confirmed by further experiments
recently carried out by Sir William Ramsay and Dr.
R. W. Gray.6 These chemists have determined the
density of the emanation by actually weighing minute
quantities of known volume of the substance, sealed
up in small capillary tubes, a specially sensitive
5 This follows from Avogadro's Hypothesis, see § 76.
^ Sir William Ramsay and Dr. R. W. Gray : " La densite de
I'emanation du radium," Comptes Rendus hebdomadaires des Seances
de VAcadimie des Sciences^ vol. cvi. (1910), pp. 126 et seq.
122 ALCHEMY [§90
balance being employed. Values for the density-
varying from 1 08 to 113J, corresponding to values
for the atomic weight varying from 216 to 227, were
thereby obtained. Sir William Ramsay, therefore,
considers that there can no longer be any doubt
that the emanation is one of the elements of the
group of chemically inert gases. He proposes to
call it Niton, and, for reasons which we shall note
later, considers that in all probability it has an atomic
weight of 22 2 J.
§ 90. Radium salts possess another very remarkable
property, namely, that of continuously emitting light
and heat. It seemed, at first, that here
The Disinte- ^^g ^ startling^ contradiction to the law of
gration of the . . r i 1 i 1
Radium Atom, the conservation of energy, but the whole
mystery becomes comparatively clear in
terms of the corpuscular or the electronic theory of
matter. The radium-atom is a system of a large num-
ber (see § 8 1 ) of corpuscles or electrons, and contains in
virtue of their motion an enormous amount of energy.
But it is known from Chemistry that atomic systems
(i.e., molecules) which contain very much energy are
unstable and liable to explode. The same law holds
good on the more interior plane — the radium-atom is
liable to, and actually does, explode. And the result ?
Energy is set free, and manifests itself partly as heat
and light. Some free electrons are shot off (the /3-rays),
which, striking the undecomposed particles of salt,
give rise to pulses in the ether (the 7-rays),7 just as
the kathode particles give rise to X-rays when they
7 This view regarding the y-rays is not, however, universally
accepted, some scientists regarding them as consisting of a stream
of particles moving with very high velocities.
§92] MODERN ALCHEMY 123
strike the walls of the vacuum tube or a platinum disc
placed in their path. The jS and y-rays do not, how-
ever, result immediately from the exploding radium-
atoms, the initial products being the emanation and
one a-particle from each radium-atom destroyed.
§ 91. Radium salts have the property of causing
surrounding objects to become temporally radioactive.
This '* induced radioactivity," as it may
emanation, which is itself radioactive
(it emits a-rays only), and is decomposed into minute
traces of solid radioactive deposits. By examining
the rate of decay of the activity of the deposit, it has
been found that it is undergoing a series of sub-atomic
changes, the products being termed Radium A, B, C,
&c. It has been proved that all the /3 and y-rays
emitted by radium salts are really due to certain of
these secondary products. Radium F is thought to be
identical with Polonium (§ 87). Another product is
also obtained by these decompositions, with which
we shall deal later (§ 94).
§ 92. Uranium and thorium differ in one important
respect from radium, inasmuch as the first product of
the decomposition of the uranium and
Properties of thorium atoms is in both cases solid.
Thorium. ^^^ William Crookes ^ was able to sepa-
rate from uranium salts by chemical
means a small quantity of an intensely radioactive
substance, which he called Uranium X, the residual
uranium having lost most of its activity ; and M.
2 Sir William Crookes, F.R.S. : " Radio-activity of Uranium,"
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London^ vol. Ixvi. (1900), pp. 409
et seq.
124 ALCHEMY [§ 93
Becquerel, on repeating the experiment, found that
the activity of the residual uranium was slowly re-
gained, whilst that of the uranium X decayed. This
is most simply explained by the theory that uranium
first changes into uranium X. It has been suggested
that radium may be the final product of the breaking
up of the uranium-atom ; at any rate, it is quite certain
that radium must be evolved in some way, as other-
wise there would be none in existence — it would all
have decomposed. This suggestion has been experi-
mentally confirmed, the growth of radium in large
quantities of a solution of purified uranyl nitrate
having been observed. Uranium gives no emanation.
Thorium probably gives at least three solid products
— Meso-thorium, Radio-thorium, and Thorium X, the
last of which yields an emanation resembling that
obtained from radium, but not identical with it.
§ 93. We must now more fully consider the radium
emanation — a substance with more astounding pro-
perties than even the radium compounds
EmanatioiT themselves. By distilling off the emana-
tion from some radium bromide, and
measuring the quantities of heat given off by the
emanation and the radium salt respectively. Professors
Rutherford and Barnes 9 proved that nearly three-
fourths of the total amount of heat given out by a
radium salt comes from the minute quantity of emana-
tion that it contains. The amount of energy liberated
as heat during the decay of the emanation is enor-
mous; one cubic centimetre liberates about four
9 E. Rutherford, F.R.S., and H. T. Barnes, D.Sc. : " Heating
Effect of the Radium Emanation," Philosophical Magazine [6],
vol. vii. (1904), pp. 202 et seq.
§ M] MODERN ALCHEMY 125
million times as much heat as is obtained by the
combustion of an equal volume of hydrogen. Un-
doubtedly this must indicate some profound change,
and one may well ask, What is the ultimate product
of the decomposition of the emanation ?
§ 94. It had been observed already that the radio-
active minerals on heating give off Helium — a
The Produc- ^^^^^^^ element, characterised by a
tion of particular yellow line in its spectrum —
Helium from and it seemed not unlikely that helium
a lum. inighi- be ^\^q ultimate decomposition
product of the emanation. A research to settle
this point was undertaken by Sir William Ram-
say and Mr. Soddy,^^ and a preliminary experi-
ment having confirmed the above speculation, they
carried out further very careful experiments. **The
maximum amount of the emanation obtained from
50 milligrams of radium bromide was conveyed by
means of oxygen into a U-tube cooled in liquid air,
and the latter was then extracted by the pump."
The spectrum was observed ; it ** was apparently a new
one, probably that of the emanation itself. . . . After
standing from July 17 to 21 the helium spectrum
appeared, and the characteristic lines were observed."
Sir William Ramsay performed a further experi-
ment with a similar result, in which the radium salt
had been first of all heated in a vacuum for some
time, proving that the helium obtained could not
have been occluded in it ; though the fact that the
helium spectrum did not immediately appear, in itself
" Sir William Ramsay and Frederick Soddy: "Experiments
in Radioactivity and the Production of Helium from Radium,"
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London^ vol. Ixxii. (1903),
pp. 204 et seq.
126 ALCHEMY [§ 94
proves this point. Sir William Ramsay's results were
confirmed by further careful experiments by Sir
James Dewar and other chemists. It was suggested,
therefore, that the a-particle consists of an electrically
charged helium-atom, and not only is this view in
agreement with the value of the mass of this particle
as determined experimentally, but it has been com-
pletely demonstrated by Professor Rutherford and Mr.
Royds. These chemists performed an experiment in
which the emanation from about one-seventh of a
gramme of radium was enclosed in a thin-walled tube,
through the walls of which the a-particles could pass,
but which were impervious to gases. This tube was
surrounded by an outer jacket, which was evacuated.
After a time the presence of helium in the space
between the inner tube and the outer jacket was
observed spectroscopically." Now, the emanation-
atom results from the radium-atom by the expulsion
of one a-particle ; and since this latter consists of an
electrically charged helium-atom, it follows that the
emanation must have an atomic weight of 226J-4, i.e.,
22 2 J. This value is in agreement with Sir William
Ramsay's determination of the density of the emana-
tion. We may represent the degradation of the
radium-atom, therefore, by the following scheme : —
^^ a-particle (Helium-atom)
Radium-atom"''^^'^ 4
226^ ^^ ^^^a-particle (Helium-atom)
^^ Emanation (Niton-atom)-'^^ 4
222^
^-t^
Radium-A, &c.
" E. Rutherford, F.R.S., and T. Royds, M.Sc. : "The Nature
of the a-Particle from Radio-active Substances," Philosophica
Magazine [6], vol. xvii. (1909), pp. 281 et seq.
§ 95] MODERN ALCHEMY 127
§ 95. Here, then, for the first time in the history of
Chemistry, we have the undoubted formation of one
chemical element from another, for,
this Change ^^^.ving out of the question the nature
of the emanation, there can be no doubt
that radium is a chemical element. This is a point
which must be insisted upon, for it has been sug-
gested that radium may be a compound of helium
with some unknown element ; or, perhaps, a com-
pound of helium with lead, since it has been thought
that lead may be one of the end products of the
decomposition of radium. The following considera-
tions, however, show this view to be altogether
untenable : (i.) All attempts to prepare compounds of
helium with other elements have failed, (ii.) Radium
possesses all the properties of a chemical element ; it
has a characteristic spectrum, and falls in that column
in the Periodic Table with those elements which it
resembles as to its chemical properties. (iii.) The
quantity of heat liberated on the decomposition of the
emanation is, as we have already indicated, out of all
proportion to that obtained even in the most violent
chemical reactions ; and (iv.) one very important fact
has been observed by some investigators, though it has
been denied by others, namely, that the rate of decay
of the emanation is unaffected by even extreme changes
of temperature, whereas chemical actions are always
affected in rate by changes of temperature. It will
also be advisable, perhaps, to indicate some of the
differences between helium and the emanation. The
latter is a heavy gas, condensable to a liquid by liquid
air (recently it has been solidified ^^) ; whereas helium
" By Ramsay. See Froc. Ckem, Soc, vol. xxv. (1909), pp. 82 and 83.
128 ALCHEMY [§ 96
is the lightest of all known gases with the exception
of hydrogen and has been liquefied only by the most
persistent effort.'^ The emanation, moreover, is radio-
active, giving off a-particles, whereas helium does not
possess this property.
§ 96. It has been pointed out, however, that (in a
sense) this change (viz., of emanation into helium) is
Is this ^^^ quite what has been meant by the
Change a expression " transmutation of the ele-
true Trans- ments " ; for the reason that it is a
mutation? . , , cc 4. c
spontaneous change ; no effort of ours
can bring it about or cause it to cease.''* But the
fact of the change does go to prove that the chemical
elements are not the discrete units of matter that
they were supposed to be. And since it appears
that all matter is radioactive, although (save in these
exceptional cases) in a very slight degree, ^5 we here
have evidence of a process of evolution at work
among the chemical elements. The chemical elements
are not permanent ; they are all undergoing change ;
and the common elements merely mark those points
where the rate of the evolutionary process is at its
slowest. (See also §§78 and 83.) Thus, the essen-
tial truth in the old alchemistic doctrine of the growth
of metals is vindicated, for the metals do grow in the
womb of Nature, although the process may be far
^3 By Professor Onnes. See Chemical News, vol. xcviii. p. 37
(July 24, 1908).
H See Professor H. C. Jones : The Electrical Nature of Matter
and Radioactivity (1906), pp. 125-126.
'5 It has been definitely proved, for example, that the common
element potassium is radioactive, though very feebly so (it emits
/3-rays). It is also interesting to note that many common substances
emit corpuscles at high temperatures.
§96] MODERN ALCHEMY 129
slower than appears to have been imagined by certain
of the alchemists, '6 and although gold may not be the
end product. As writes Professor Sir W. Tilden :
** . . . It appears that modern ideas as to the genesis
of the elements, and hence of all matter, stand in
strong contrast with those which chiefly prevailed
among experimental philosophers from the time of
Newton, and seem to reflect in an altered form the
speculative views of the ancients." " . . . It seems
probable," he adds, " that the chemical elements, and
hence all material substances of which the earth, the
sea, the air, and the host of heavenly bodies are all
composed, resulted from a change, corresponding to
condensation, in something of which we have no
direct and intimate knowledge. Some have imagined
this primal essence of all things to be identical with
the ether of space. As yet we know nothing with
certainty, but it is thought that by means of the spec-
troscope some stages of the operation may be seen in
progress in the nebulae and stars. . . ." ^^ We have
**' Says Peter Bonus, however, "... we know that the genera-
tion of metals occupies thousands of years ... in Nature's
workshop ..." (see The New Pearl of Great Price^ Mr. A. E.
Waite's translation, p. 55), and certain others of the alchemists
expressed a similar view.
'^ Sir William A. Tilden : The Elements : Speculations as to their
Nature and Origin (1910), pp. 108, 109, 133 and 134. With
regard to Sir William Tilden's remarks, it is very interesting to note
that Swedenborg (who was born when Newton was between forty
and fifty years old) not only differed from that great philosopher on
those very points on which modern scientific philosophy is at
variance with Newton, but, as is now recognised by scientific men,
anticipated many modern discoveries and scientific theories. It
would be a most interesting task to set forth the agreement existing
between Swedenborg's theories and the latest products of scientific
10
130 ALCHEMY [§ 97
next to consider whether there is any experimental
evidence showing it to be possible (using the phrase-
ology of the alchemists) for man to assist in Nature's
work.
§ 97. As we have already indicated above (§ 93),
the radium emanation contains a vast store of poten-
, _ tial energy, and it was with the idea of
duction of utilising this energy for bringing about
Neon from chemical changes that Sir William
mana ion. R^jYigay ^^ undertook a research on
the chemical action of this substance — a research
with the most surprising and the most important
results, for the energy contained within the radium
emanation appeared to behave like a veritable
Philosopher's Stone. The first experiments were
carried out on distilled water. It had already been
observed that the emanation decomposes water into
its gaseous elements, oxygen and hydrogen, and
that the latter is always produced in excess. These
results were confirmed and the presence of hydrogen
peroxide was detected, explaining the formation of an
excess of hydrogen ; it was also shown that the
emanation brings about the reverse change to some
extent, causing oxygen and hydrogen to unite with the
production of water, until a position of equilibrium is
thought concerning the nature of the physical universe. Such,
however, would lie without the confines of the present work.
'^ Sir William Ramsay : " The Chemical Action of the Radium
Emanation. Pt. I., Action on Distilled Water," Journal of the
Chemical Society^ vol. xci. (1907), pp. 931 et seq. Alexander T.
Cameron and Sir William Ramsay, ibid. " Pt. IL, On Solutions
containing Copper, and Lead, and on Water," ibid. pp. 1593 et seq.
"Pt. III., On Water and Certain Gases," ibid. vol. xciii. (1908),
pp. 966 et seq. " Pt. IV., On Water," ibid. pp. 992 et seq.
§ 97] MODERN ALCHEMY 131
attained. On examining spectroscopically the gas
obtained by the action of the emanation on water,
after the removal of the ordinary gases, a most sur-
prising resuh was observed — the gas showed a brilliant
spectrum of neon, accompanied with some faint helium
lines. A more careful experiment was carried out
later by Sir William Ramsay and Mr. Cameron, in
which a silica bulb was employed instead of glass.
The spectrum of the residual gas after removing
ordinary gases was successfully photographed, and a
large number of the neon lines identified ; helium was
also present. The presence of neon could not be
explained, in Ramsay's opinion, by leakage of air into
the apparatus, as the percentage of neon in the air is
not sufficiently high, whereas this suggestion might be
put forward in the case of argon. Moreover, the neon
could not have come from the aluminium of the elec-
trodes (in which it might be thought to have been
occluded), as the sparking tube had been used and
tested before the experiment was carried out. The
authors conclude : " We must regard the transforma-
tion of emanation into neon, in presence of water, as
indisputably proved, and, if a transmutation be defined
as a transformation brought about at will, by change
of conditions, then this is the first case of transmuta-
tion of which conclusive evidence is put forward!' ^9
However, Professor Rutherford and Mr. Royds have
been unable to confirm this result. They describe ^o
attempts to obtain neon by the action of emanation
^"^ Journal of the Chemical Society^ vol. xciii. (1908), p. 997.
=^° E. Rutherford, F.R.S., and T. Royds, M.Sc. : "The Action
of Radium Emanation on Water," Philosophical Magazine [6],
vol. xvi. (1908), pp. Z\2 et seq.
132 ALCHEMY [§ 98
on water. Out of five experiments no neon was
obtained, save in one case in which a small air leak
was discovered ; and, since the authors find that very
minute quantities of this gas are sufficient to give a
clearly visible spectrum, they conclude that Ramsay's
positive results are due, after all, to leakage of air into
the apparatus. But if this explanation be accepted it
is difficult to understand why the presence of neon
should be observed in the experiments with water,
and argon in the experiments with copper solutions
(see below, § 98). We are inclined, therefore, to
accept Sir William Ramsay's results, but it is quite
evident that further experiments are necessary to
settle the question indisputably.
§ 98. The fact that an excess of hydrogen was pro-
duced when water was decomposed by the emanation
suggested to Sir William Ramsay and
Ramsay's jyjj. Cameron that if a solution of a
Experiments n- 1 1 1 • 1 r
on Copper, nietallic salt was employed m place ot
pure water, the free metal might be
obtained. These " modern alchemists," therefore,
proceeded to investigate the action of radium emana-
tion on solutions of copper and lead salts, and again
apparently effected transmutations. They found on
removing the copper from a solution of a copper-salt
which had been subjected to the action of the emana-
tion, and spectroscopically examining the residue, that
a considerable quantity of sodium was present, together
with traces of lithium ; and the gas evolved in the
case of a solution of copper nitrate contained, along
with much nitric oxide and a little nitrogen, argon
(which was detected spectroscopically), but no helium.
It certainly seemed like a dual transformation of
§98] MODERN ALCHEMY 133
copper into lithium and sodium, and emanation into
argon. They also observed that apparently carbon-
dioxide is continually evolved from an acid solution of
thorium nitrate (see below, § loo). It is worth while
noticing that helium, neon and argon occur in the
same column in the Periodic Table with emanation ;
lithium and sodium with copper, and carbon with
thorium ; in each case the elements produced being of
lighter atomic weight than those decomposed.^i The
authors make the following suggestions: "(i) That
helium and the a-particle are not identical ; (2) that
helium results from the ' degradation ' of the large
molecule of emanation by its bombardment with
a-partlcles ; (3) that this * degradation,' when the
emanation is alone or mixed with oxygen and
hydrogen, results in the lowest member of the inactive
series, namely, helium ; (4) that if particles of greater
mass than hydrogen or oxygen are associated with the
emanation, namely, liquid water, then the * degrada-
tion' of the emanation is less complete, and neon is
produced ; (5) that when molecules of still greater
weight and complexity are present, as is the case
when the emanation is dissolved in a solution of
copper sulphate, the product of ' degradation ' of the
emanation is argon. We are inclined to believe too
[they say] that (6) the copper also is involved in this
process of degradation, and is reduced to the lowest
term of its series, namely, lithium ; and at the same
time, inasmuch as the weight of the residue of alkali,
produced when copper nitrate is present, is double
that obtained from the blank experiment, or from
water alone, the supposition is not excluded that the
" See pp. 106, 107.
134 ALCHEMY [§ 100
chief product of the * degradation * of copper is
sodium." "
§ 99. More recently Madame Curie and Made-
moiselle Gleditsch^^ have repeated Cameron and
Further Ramsay's experiments on copper salts,
Experiments using, however, platinum apparatus,
on Radium They failed to detect lithium after the
opper. ^^^[q^ of ^Y^Q emanation, and think
that Cameron and Ramsay's results may be due
to the glass vessels employed. Dr. Perman """^ recently
investigated the direct action of the emanation on
copper and gold, and failed to detect any trace of
lithium. The transmutation of copper into lithium,
therefore, must be regarded as unproved, but further
research is necessary before any conclusive statements
can be made on the subject.
§ 100. In his presidential address to the Chemical
Bamsay'sEx- Society, March 25, 1909, after having
periments on brought forward some exceedingly in-
Thorium and teresting arguments for the possibility of
transmutation, Sir William Ramsay de-
scribed some experiments which he had carried out on
" Journal of the Chemical Society^ vol. xci. (1907), pp. 1605-1606.
More recent experiments, however, have proved that the a-particle does
consist of an electrically charged helium-atom, and this view is now
accepted by Sir William Ramsay, so that the above suggestions
must be modified in accordance therewith. (See §§89 and 94.)
^3 Madame Curie and Mademoiselle Gleditsch: "Action de
I'emanation du radium sur les solutions des sels de cuivre,"
Comptes Rend^is hebdomadaires des Siances de PAcademie des Sciences,
vol. cxlvii. (1908), pp. 345 ef seq. (For an English translation of
this paper, see The Chemical News, vol. xcviii. pp. 157 and 158.)
""^ Edgar Philip Perman : " The Direct Action of Radium on
Copper and Gold," Proceedings of the Chemical Society, vol. xxiv.
(1908), p. 214.
§ 100] MODERN ALCHEMY 135
thorium and allied elements.^^ It was found, as we
have already stated (§ 98), that, apparently, carbon-
dioxide was continually evolved from an acid solution
of thorium nitrate, precautions being taken that the
gas was not produced from the grease on the stop-
cock employed, and it also appeared that carbon-
dioxide was produced by the action of radium
emanation on thorium nitrate. The action of
radium emanation on compounds (not containing
carbon) of other members of the carbon group,
namely, silicon, zirconium and lead, was then inves-
tigated ; in the cases of zirconium nitrate and hydro-
fluosilicic acid, carbon-dioxide was obtained ; but in
the case of lead chlorate the amount of carbon dioxide
was quite insignificant. Curiously enough, the per-
chlorate of bismuth, a metal which belongs to the
nitrogen group of elements, also yielded carbon-
dioxide when acted on by emanation. Sir William
Ramsay concludes his discussion of these experiments
as follows : *' Such are the facts. No one is better
aware than I how insufficient the proof is. Many
other experiments must be made before it can con-
fidently be asserted that certain elements, when
exposed to 'concentrated energy,' undergo degrada-
tion into carbon." Some such confirmatory experi-
ments have already been carried out by Sir William
Ramsay and Mr. Francis L. Usher, who also
describe an experiment with a compound of titanium.
Their results confirm Sir William Ramsay's former
experiments. Carbon-dioxide was obtained in appre-
ciable quantities by the action of emanation on com-
'^ Sir William Ramsay: "Elements and 'ElQcirons" Journal of
the Chemical Society^ vol. xcv. (1909), pp. 624 ^^ seq.
\
136 ALCHEMY [§ 102
pounds of silicon, titanium, zirconium and thorium.
In the case of lead, the amount of carbon dioxide
obtained was inappreciable.^^
§ 101. It does not seem unlikely that if it is pos-
sible to " degrade " elements, it may be possible to
build them up. It has been suggested
The Pos- ^Y^^^ j|. n^igrht be possible to obtain, in
sibilityof , . u r -i • u
Making Gold. ^"^^ ^^Jy gold from silver, smce these
two elements occur in the same column
in the Periodic Table ; but the suggestion still awaits
experimental confirmation. The question arises.
What would be the result if gold could be cheaply
produced ? That gold is a metal admirably adapted
for many purposes, for which its scarcity prevents its
use, must be admitted. But the financial chaos which
would follow if it were to be cheaply obtained sur-
passes the ordinary imagination. It is a theme that
ought to appeal to a novelist of exceptional imagina-
tive power. However, we need not fear these results,
for not only is radium extremely rare, far dearer than
gold, and on account of its instability will never be
obtained in large quantities, but, judging from the
above-described experiments, if, indeed, the radium
emanation is the true Philosopher's Stone, the quan-
tity of gold that may be hoped for by its aid is
extremely small.
§ 102. A very suggestive argument for the trans-
mutation of the metals was put forward by Professor
Henry M. Howe, LL.D., in a paper entitled " Allo-
tropy or Transmutation?" read before the British
Association (Section B), Sheffield Meeting, 1910.
^^ For a brief account in English of these later experiments see
T/ie Chemical News^ vol. c. p. 209 (October 29, 1909).
§ 102] MODERN ALCHEMY 137
Certain substances are known which, although differ-
ing in their physical properties very markedly, behave
chemically as if they were one and the
The Big- same element, fifivinsf rise to the same
nificance of . - ,011
*' AUotropy." series of compounds, buch substances,
of which we may mention diamond,
graphite and charcoal (^.^., lampblack) — all of
which are known chemically as ** carbon" — or, to
take another example, yellow phosphorus (a yellow,
waxy, highly inflammable solid) and red phosphorus
(a difficultly-inflammable, dark red substance, probably
possessing a minutely crystalline structure), are, more-
over, convertible one into the other.^^ It has been
customary to refer to such substances as different
forms or allotropic modifications of the same element,
and not to regard them as being different elements.
As Professor Howe says, "If after defining ' ele-
ments' as substances hitherto indivisible, and dif-
ferent elements as those which differ in at least some
one property, and after asserting that the elements
cannot be transmuted into each other, we are con-
fronted with the change from diamond into lamp-
black, and with the facts, first, that each is clearly
^7 Diamond is transformed into graphite when heated by a
powerful electric current between carbon poles, and both diamond
and graphite can be indirectly converted into charcoal. The arti-
ficial production of the diamond, however, is a more difficult
process; but the late Professor Moissan succeeded in effecting
it, so far as very small diamonds are concerned, by dissolving
charcoal in molten iron or silver and allowing it to crystallise from
the solution under high pressure. Graphite was also obtained.
Red phosphorus is produced from yellow phosphorus by heating
the latter in absence of air. The temperature 240-250° C. is the
most suitable; at higher temperatures the reverse change sets in,
red phosphorus being converted into yellow phosphorus.
138 ALCHEMY [§ 102
indivisible hitherto and hence an element, and, second,
that they differ in every property, we try to escape
in a circle by saying that they are not different
elements because they do change into each other.
In short, we limit the name 'element' to indivisible
substances which cannot be transmuted into each
other, and we define those which do transmute as
ipso facto one element, and then we say that the
elements cannot be transmuted. Is not this very
like saying that, if you call a calf's tail a leg, then
a calf has five legs ? And if it is just to reply that
calling a tail a leg does not make it a leg, is it not
equally just to reply that calling two transmutable
elements one element does not make them so ?
** Is it philosophical to point to the fact that two
such transmutable elements yield but a single line
of derivatives as proof that they are one element.**
Is not this rather proof of the readiness, indeed
irresistibleness, of their transmutation ? Does not
this simply mean that the derivativeless element,
whenever it enters into combination, inevitably
transmutes into its mate which has derivatives ? " ^8
According to the atomic theory the differences
between what are termed " allotropic modifications *'
are generally ascribed to differences in the number
and arrangement of the atoms constituting the mole-
cules of such "modifications," and not to any dif-
ferences in the atoms themselves. But we cannot
argue that two such "allotropic modifications" or
elements which are transmutable into one another
*^ Professor Henry M. Howe, LL.D. : "Allotropy or Trans-
mutation." (See The Chemical News^ vol. cii. pp. 153 and 154,
September 23, 19 10.)
§ 102] MODERN ALCHEMY 139
are one and the same element, because they possess
the same atomic weight, and different elements are
distinguished by different atomic weights ; for the
reason that, in the determination of atomic weights,
derivatives of such bodies are employed ; hence, the
value obtained is the atomic weight of the element
which forms derivatives, from which that of its
derivativeless mate may differ considerably for all
we know to the contrary, if we do, indeed, regard
the atomic weights of the elements as having any
meaning beyond expressing the inertia-ratios in
which they combine one with another.
If we wish to distinguish between two such "allo-
tropic modifications " apart from any theoretical views
concerning the nature and constitution of matter,
we can say that such *' modifications " are different
because equal weights of them contain, or are equiva-
lent to, different quantities of energy,"*^ since the
change of one " form " to another takes place only
with the evolution or absorption (as the case may be)
of heat. 30 But, according to modern views regard-
ing the nature of matter, this is the sole fundamental
^' For a defence of the view that chemical substances may be
regarded as energy-complexes, and that this view is equally as valid
as the older notion of a chemical substance as an inertia-complex,
i.e.^ as something made up entirely of different units or atoms each
characterised by the possession of a definite and constant weight
at a fixed point on the earth's surface, see an article by the present
writer, entitled "The Claims of Thermochemistry," Knowledge and
Scientific News, vol. vii. (New Series), pp. 227 et seq. (July, 19 10).
3° In some cases the heat change accompanying the transforma-
tion of an element into an " allotropic modication " can be measured
directly. More frequently, however, it is calculated as the difference
between the quantities of heat obtained when the two "forms"
are converted into one and the same compound.
140 ALCHEMY [§ 103
difference between two different elements — such are
different because equal weights of them contain or
are equivalent to different quantities of energy. The
so-called "allotropic modifications of an element,'*
therefore, are just as much different elements as
any other different elements, and the change from
one ** modification " to another is a true transmuta-
tion of the elements ; the only distinction being that
what are called ''allotropic modifications of the same
element " differ only slightly in respect of the energy
they contain, and hence are comparatively easy to
convert one into the other, whereas different elements
(so called) differ very greatly from one another in this
respect, whence it is to be concluded that the trans-
mutation of one such element into another will only
be attained by the utilisation of energy in a very
highly concentrated form, such as is evolved simul-
taneously with the spontaneous decomposition of the
radium emanation. That this highly concentrated
form of energy does result in effecting the same
appears to be indicated by Sir William Ramsay's
experiments.
§ 103. We have shown that modern science indi-
cates the essential truth of alchemistic doctrine, and
our task is ended. We can conclude
Conclusion. . , i i ^•
m no better way than by quotmg
these words of the greatest "modern alchemist":
"If these hypotheses [concerning the possibility
of causing the atoms of ordinary elements to
absorb energy] are just," said Sir William Ramsay
in 1904, "then the transmutations of the ele-
ments no longer appears an idle dream. The
philosopher's stone will have been discovered, and
§ 103] MODERN ALCHEMY 141
it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that it may
lead to that other goal of the philosophers of the
dark ages — the elixir vitcs. For the action of living
cells is also dependent on the nature and direction
of the energy which they contain ; and who can say
that it will be impossible to control their action, when
the means of imparting and controlling energy shall
have been investigated ? " 3i This was said before
his remarkable experiments which appear to indicate
that he has discovered the Philosopher's Stone ; and
it is worth noticing how many of the alchemists'
obscure descriptions of their Magistery well apply
to that marvellous something which we call Energy,
the true ** First Matter" of the Universe. And of
the other problem, the Elixir Vitce, Who knows?
3' Sir William Ramsay : " Radium and its Products," Harper's
Magazine (December, 1904), vol. xlix. (European Edition), p. 57.
THE END.
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