OF THE ORIGIN OF CHEMISTRY. 



fleece, and funihir (lories, contain any 

 ullufions to the fciencc of chemiflry. 



In thofc works which arc attributed to Pytha- 

 ;;oras and Plato, many fubjccls of chcmillry are 

 fo be found ; but they relate more to theory 

 Than experiment. Of the Greeks fcarcc any 

 one had imbibed fo much knowledge from the 

 Egyptians as Democritus, \vlio was born about 

 458 years before Chrifl at Abdcra in Thrace. 



Seneca reckons him the mod ingenious and 

 acute of all the unticnts; as he difcovered the 

 method of dillblving iloncs; of making artificial 

 emeralds and tinging them with any colour; of 

 foftcning ivory; and was the author of many o- 

 ihcr ufeful inventions*. And Pctronius allb 

 fpcaks of him, that he exprcffed the juice of all 

 plants, and that he patted his whole life in mak- 

 ing experiments on the different properties of 

 fulfils and vegetables f. 



Often laughing at the follies of mankind, he- 

 \vas confidered by the vulgar to be difordered in 

 his underftanding; and Hippocrates being called 

 in to cure him, foon found him to be the \vifeft 

 man of the age. In his prcfence he determined 

 the colour of an animal by looking at its milk 

 only; and did many other things equally won- 

 derful, if we admit the veracity of Diogenes 

 Lacrtias. With fo much carncftncfs did he ap- 



* L. xiv. cp. 41. 

 * In Salyrico. 



