OF THE ORIGIN OF CHEMISTRY. 53 



the active Caufe, the pafllve, and dead terrcftriai 

 matter*. 



By divine energy they undcrftand fire and 

 rhe fpirit of the world; by the pailive aether, 

 they mean fomething eternal, immaterial, and 

 homogcncousf; and by mortuum malum, the 

 inert matter of the earth. By the intervention 

 of this fpirit, they apprehend an uninterrupted 

 communication is maintained between fupcrior 

 and inferior beings J. This fyftem is affigned to 

 Hermes, as lie produced every thing by the 

 means of two elements, Fire as acting, and Earth 

 as acted upon . They taught, that, by fome 

 internal reparation, fermentation, or putrefac- 

 tion, all bodies fprung from their feeds, were 

 changed, incrcafcd, rendered perfect, and de- 

 ftroyed ||. In thefe. opinions fomc traces of a 

 more intimate acquaintance with nature may be 

 discovered : From which, it may be inferred, 

 much light would be thrown upon natural phi- 

 lofophy from their doctrine, if we poilciled it 

 entire, and unclouded with fictions. The un- 

 connected fragments only of it have reached us, 

 and thefc collected by foreign writers; who, ig- 

 norant of the relation of the different parts of 

 the fyftcm, have fupplicd many things from 

 D 3 conjecture, 



* Plutarch us c!c Ifidc ct Ofiride. 



f Plato. Pythagoras. 



J Porphyrius in vita Plotin. 



Burgravc in Bibl. 



I! Diodorus, 1. i. c. 1 3. 



