The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. 57 



x 



men, in His goodness and mercy bring 

 about this consummation ! 



Since I have undertaken to publish 

 a set treatise on the subject of Antimony, 

 it is fitting that I should begin with an 

 explanation of its name. The Arabs, to 

 whom this metal has long been known, 

 called it As IN AT ; the Chaldeans desig- 

 nated it STIBIUM ; its usual name among 

 the Latins is ANTIMONY. The German 

 name (Spies^las) reflects one of the 

 peculiarities of the metal, viz., the streaks 

 by which it is distinguished, and the ease 

 with which it is changed into a kind of 

 coloured glass.* 



This variety of names teaches us 

 two things : first, that Antimony was 

 known to the Arabs, Chaldeans, Latins, 



* Poets sometimes commence their tale in the middle, and 

 then work back to the beginning, in order to sustain the in- 

 terest of their readers. Alchemists sometimes adopt the 

 same device in order that their meaning may be hidden from 

 all except the worthy. Here Basilius, in the middle of the 

 treatise, begins to discuss the name of his substance, with 

 which an ordinary writer would have commenced, but soon 

 he abandons this plan, and proceeds to answer the question, 

 already mooted, whether Antimony can be deprived of all 

 its poison, a question which is explained by means of useful 

 and highly significant illustrations. 



