1892. ] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 121 
alleviate disease, stimulated the application of chemistry to metal- 
lurgy and medicine. Among the sources of information concerning 
the very earliest period is the Holy Bible, which contains a sur- 
prising number of facts and allusions to chemical arts. 
The ancients were acquainted with seven metals, of which six are 
mentioned by Moses in a single verse (Numbers xxxi, 22): ‘Only 
the gold and the silver, the brass [7. e., copper], the iron, the tin, 
and the lead,’’ are to be purified by fire when captured as spoil 
from heathen nations. 
Tubaleain, the seventh from Adam, seems to have excelled in 
metallurgy, and apparently aided his brother’s musical taste by his 
skill. The remarkable passage in Job xxviii, 1, describing the 
occurrences of ores and their metallurgic treatment, is well known. 
With this can be compared Ezekiel xxii, 18. Jeremiah, in chap. vi, 
28, seems to describe the process of cupellation of gold and silver. 
Of the seven metals, gold is the most attractive, and, occurring 
native, was early known to men. It is named among the attractions 
of the Garden of Eden (Gen. ii, 12), and was manufactured into 
ornaments for personal decoration at a very early period. Of its 
abundance in King Solomon’s reign, testimony is striking. (1 . 
Kings x, 21, and II Chron. i, 15.) 
Silver was early used in currency (Isaiah xlvi, 6), and, as the 
pieces were not stamped, “‘ wicked balances”’ and “ deceitful weights”’ 
were unhappily too common. (Micah vi, 11.) 
Copper, commonly called brass, is named by Moses as oceurring 
- in the Promised Land (Deut. viii. 9), and is compared in value to 
gold by Ezra (Ezra viii, 27). Its alloys were in common use. 
Tin and lead were frequently confounded in early times, the 
latter being called “‘soft tin.”” The use of leaden tablets for in- 
scriptions is graphically described by Job. (Job xix, 23.) Solder 
was known to the Israelites (Isaiah xli, 7) for repairing metallic 
trinkets. 
Iron was much used in Bible times. Among the many articles 
manufactured of iron are ‘‘chariots’”’ (Judges iv, 8), ‘‘spear-heads”’ 
(I Sam. xvii, 7), ‘‘axes’ (II Sam. xii, 31), ‘“ yokes’ (Jer. xxviii, 
14), “idols” (Dan. v, 4), ‘‘thrashing instruments” (Amos i, 3), 
and “nails” (I Chron. xxii, 3). The ‘‘ bedstead of iron’’ belonging 
to Og, King of Bashan, was probably a sarcophagus of stone. 
(Deut. iii, 10.) The liquid metal mercury is not mentioned in the 
Bible nor by Herodotus, though known to Dioscorides and to Pliny. 
Besides their metallurgical knowledge, the ancients possessed 
much skill in general chemical technology ; they knew well how to 
prepare fermented drinks, wine (Gen. ix, 20), and vinegar (Ruth ii, 
14). 
Beer was known to the Egyptians, and is mentioned by Xenophon 
as a drink of the Germans about 100 A.D. 
The apothecaries’ art reached a high stage of culture in Egypt, 
of which the famous Papyrus Ebers gives ample testimony. 
Cosmetics were used by Hebrew women for frescoing their faces 
Vou. XI.—9 
