May i8, 191 i] 



NATURE 



175 



. ALCHEMY, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 

 Alchemy: Ancient and Modern: Being a Brief 

 Account of the Alchemistic Doctrines, 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. Pp. xiv + 

 141. (London: W. Rider and Son, Ltd., 1911.) 

 Price 45. 6d. net. 

 '"P'' HE author of this book thinks he perceives in 

 -*- the trend of modern chemical doctrine an ap- 

 proximation to the fundamental dogmas of philo- 

 sophical alchemy, as these were understood and 

 taught by its greatest" exponents. The application of 

 the principles of evolution to the genesis of the 

 chemical elements has, in his opinion, brought us 

 back to the "basic idea" permeating all alchemistic 

 theory, and that, in his judgment, the time is gone 

 when it may be regarded as legitimate to point to 

 alchemy as an instance of the aberrations of the 

 human mind. How far the general proposition is, 

 or can be, substantiated by the facts of experiment 

 at present known to us, may be seriously questioned. 

 It is practically certain that no proof of transmutation 

 has ever been given. Allegations of such an occur- 

 rence have been made, of course, times without 

 number. But whenever any instance of the kind has 

 been properly scrutinised, the allegation has been 

 wholly disproved, and the evidence that it has been 

 made in bad faith and as the result of conscious fraud, 

 and not merely of honest self-deception, is, in a large 

 number of instances, complete and irrefutable. 



Does the evidence to be obtained from modern ex- 

 l^erimental inquiry place the "basic idea" on any 

 surer foundation? Mr. Redgrove evidently thinks it 

 does. Otherwise the raison d'etre of his book is 

 gone. He is, he tells us, not only a student of 

 chemistry, but also of "what may be generalised 

 under the terms Mysticism and Transcendentalism"; 

 md he hopes that this unusual combination of studies 

 has enabled him to take what he calls a broad-minded 

 \ iew of the theories of the alchemists, and to adopt 

 I sympathetic attitude towards them. No one can 

 possibly object to Mr. Redgrove taking a broad- 

 minded view of anything— certainly not of chemical 

 ilieory, whether ancient or modern. But theories in 

 I hemistry stand or fall by facts. The ancient 

 alchemists certainly never proved their theories. Have 

 I he modern alchemists done any better? 



'I'hat then; is such a thing as the philosoph> of 

 alchemy is undoubted. Some of the earlier followers 

 of the art were men whose names are not merely 

 hallowed by a hoary antiquity, but who are known 

 from their writings and by the testimony of their 

 a)ntemporaries to be earnest, thoughtful philosophers, 

 actuated by the true spirit of science. It is difficult 

 to believe that such men were not influenced by some 

 guiding principle, and that they followed their calling 

 sim()ly as empirics. That many of them were church- 

 men, and some of them mystics, has lent colour to 

 the supposition that they regarded alchemy as a form 

 of transcendentalism, and the general character of 

 NO. 2168, VOL. 86] 



certain of their writings may be pointed to in proof 

 of such a view. But although at various periods in 

 the history of alchemy there were men — John Dee 

 was such a man — whose conduct and mode of studv 

 were largely influenced by their predilection towards 

 occultism, it is quite certain that by far the greater 

 number of adepts were swayed by the most mundane 

 and even the most sordid of considerations. How- 

 ever desirous we may be to share Mr. Redgrove 's 

 sympathy and broad-mindedness, we fail to perceive 

 that he has done anj'^thing towards the elucidation of 

 the philosophy of alchemy. He has advanced no view 

 that has not already been presented and examined, 

 and he has given no facts that are not to be found 

 in other works, such as those of Kopp, Hoefer, 

 Figuier, Gerding, or the more recent publications of 

 Mr. Waite. Daw once said that analogy was the 

 fruitful parent of error. The author has been actuated 

 by an analogy which is fundamentally unsound and 

 treacherous. 



There is really no evidence that modern science is 

 permeated by the spirit of alchemy, and, therefore, 

 strictly speaking", there is no meaning in the phrase 

 "modern alchemy." The fact is, Mr. Redgrove has 

 been led away by an inconstant and wandering affec- 

 tion. He will learn in time, if he does not already 

 know it, that he cannot serve two mistresses, and 

 that he had better be off with the old love before he 

 is on with the new. At the moment his true love for 

 chemistry has been somewhat obscured by an illicit, 

 but we trust transient, affection for that Delilah 

 named Mysticism, and the present book is apparently 

 the product of his mixed emotions. He had better 

 return to chemistrj', and give her his undivided alle- 

 giance. As he knows her more thoroughly he will 

 learn to appreciate her whole-heartedly. There is not 

 much romantic fascination about her; she» has nothing 

 of the glamour of mysticism ; indeed, she tends to 

 be rather matter-of-fact, bur then that is one of her 

 strongest points. 



There is a certain t\ ui. ol mind from which the 

 facts slip off like the proverbial water from the duck's 

 back, but which nevertheless prides itself on its re- 

 ceptivity for "broad views." The views are fre- 

 quentlv made so very broad that they have actually 

 no depth. It is only to this type of mind that Mr. 

 Redgrove's book can appeal. 



THEORIES OF THE AETHER. 

 .1 History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity 

 from the Age of Descartes to the Close of the 

 Nineteenth Century. Bv Dr. E. T. Whittaker, 

 F. R..S. Pp. xiv4-475. (London : Longmans, Green 

 and Co. ; Dublin : Hodges, Fii^j^is and Co., Ltd., 

 w)io.) Price 12s. 6J. net. 



WHE\ we turn to an historical survey of elec- 

 trical theory we are usually entertained by 

 reprints showing^ scenes like the .\hh6 Nollet demon- 

 strating the properties of an electrified boy, but the 

 present work contains more satisfactory evidences of 

 first-hand knowledpfe of the authorities. It traces 

 carefully the j^'rowth, during three centuries, of 

 optical and electrical science, more especiallv in rela- 



