ALCHEMY 



brought was real, embracing all that time and 

 experience had given it in the past centuries. Many 

 of the Arts among the Orientals had reached an 

 advanced state. Their physicians were learned had 

 much surgical knowledge and an extensive materia 

 medica: The armorer's metal work, enamels, and 

 jewelry showed skilful and practiced artisans. Han- 

 dling thus metals, their alloys and other minerals, 

 their labors soon led them to the adoption of the 

 Scholastic or Aristotelian theories of Matter and 

 Form ; that is, that the Matter of all the metals and 

 of all things being one and the same, it followed that 

 one metal could be changed into another one if the 

 suitable means of varying the Form was discovered. 

 The resemblance that many of the sulphides of the 

 metals bore to the metals themselves led to the belief 

 that all the metals proper were compounds of sul- 

 phur and mercury ; the latter, being the most vola- 

 tile, silverlike, and the only metal liquid at ordinary 

 temperature, appeared naturally to be the proper 

 vehicle for the formation of gold and silver the 

 noblest of metals if only perfect sulphur and per- 

 fect mercury could be found. If the conversion of 

 one metal might thus be accomplished, the conversion 

 of other things would doubtless soon follow. 



The pursuit of the object thus sought for, was 

 called the search for the Philosopher's Stone. The 



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