xiv. The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. 



assumed name by a consideration of the 

 philosophical significance attaching to 

 the two words in Greek and Latin res- 

 pectively.* According to this interpre- 

 tation, Basil in Greek is equivalent to 

 royal, while Valentine is the Latin 

 valendo. The union of the two terms 

 formulates the symbol of power " which 

 gives the regulus for the penetration of 

 bodies." In another aspect, Basil 

 Valentine signifies " the mighty king," 

 who rules by initiation and adeptship 

 "the three analogical worlds of occult 

 philosophy." This interpretation of 

 itself has little but a show of ingenuity 

 to recommend it, yet as early as the 

 year 1515 the identity of Basil Valentine 

 was involved in so much uncertainty 

 that the Emperor Maximilian the First, 

 in his passion for the sciences, searched 

 the Benedictine archives at Rome, and 

 also made many inquiries in different 

 monasteries about him, but without 



* Jacobus Tollius : Fortuita. In quibus prater critica 

 nonulla,) iota fabularis historia Graca Phoenicia ^.gyptiaca 

 chemiam pertinere asseritur. Amsterdam, 1687, 8vo. 



