THE DAWN OF MODERN CHEMISTRY n 



Again the seven metals were associated with the seven planets of 

 the ancients — gold with the sun, silver with the moon, copper with 

 Venus, lead with Saturn, iron with Mars, mercury with Mercury, tin 

 with Jupiter, and these planets were supposed to exert influences upon 

 the generation and development or perfection of the metals in the earth. 

 The base metals were often supposed to be undergoing a gradual de- 

 velopment toward perfection. This development toward perfection, 

 that is, toward silver and gold, might be influenced by many factors, 

 such as the relative quantities of their sulphurs or their mercuries, the 

 relative purity or degree of perfection of these mercuries or sulphurs, 

 the time and local conditions of their position in the earth and the 

 influences of their planets. It was not considered improbable that 

 chemists might by experiment devise means to hasten this natural 

 growth. 



These notions I believe fairly summarize the quite generally enter- 

 tained theories which make up the representative chemical theory at 

 the beginning of the sixteenth century. But this beginning of the 

 sixteenth century is the period of the full flower of the Eenaissance. 

 The first impulse to this period of remarkable activity in all domains 

 of human thought originated in Italy, and at least as early as the 

 thirteenth century. It began with a renewed interest in ancient Greek 

 and Roman literature and art, naturally also a fresh interest in phi- 

 losophy. It was fostered by the Florentine Academy under the pro- 

 tection of the Medici, though its influence soon spread to other parts 

 of Europe. A new spirit of criticism was awakened, and even the 

 church was invaded by a long-forgotten stimulus to freedom of thought 

 and discussion. As the movement spread, the aroused interest of men 

 in all domains of human activity gave rise to many great movements. 

 In the thirteenth century were founded the universities of Padua, 

 Bologna, Salerno, Salamanca, Paris, Montpelier, Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge. Some of these trace their foundation to clerical schools of even 

 earlier date — but grew to importance and influence under the new 

 impulse. 



In the fourteenth century the German universities of Vienna, 

 Prague and Heidelberg were founded, and the fifteenth century was 

 marked by a rapid increase in the number of German and French uni- 

 versities and in their influence. An influence of similar importance to 

 that of the universities of the time — and perhaps even surpassing that 

 influence — arose from the invention of printing from movable metal 

 types which occurred about the middle of the fifteenth century. The 

 revival of interest in ancient literature as well as the promulgation of 

 new ideas was vastly stimulated by the possibility of making written 

 works accessible to a vastly increased constituency, and the interchange 

 of information and ideas thus made possible contributed enormously to 

 the great intellectual development which we call the renaissance. The 



