208 MODERN SCIENCE READER 



The age of iatrochemistry marks a great period 4n 

 chemical history. During this period, for the first time 

 we find many thoughtful men making an endeavor to free 

 themselves from the preconceived ideas of the past, and to 

 approach nature in a critical spirit and with a curiosity 

 purely scientific. With iatrochemistry was thus born the 

 possibility of chemical progress. But this is not the only 

 thing for which mankind is indebted to that period. For, 

 while the iatrochemists were preparing the first material 

 for the very foundation of future chemistry, others were 

 busy developing industries which have since become 

 affiliated with our science. Foremost among these men 

 were Agricola, Palissy and Glauber. Georg Agricola (1490- 

 1555) rendered great service to mining and metallurgy, 

 introducing rational methods into the former and perfect- 

 ing many of the processes of the latter. His splendid 

 treatise on metallurgy, in which these processes were 

 described for the first time, long remained the standard 

 work on its subject. Besides, he introduced a practical 

 system for the classification of minerals, based on their 

 physical properties, such as color, hardness, etc. Bernhard 

 Palissy (c. 1510-89), considering worthless and ridiculous 

 the efforts of alchemy, devoted himself to experimental 

 research in ceramic art, and invented a number of valu- 

 able methods of coloring and enameling articles of pottery. 

 Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604-1668) improved many 

 processes of dyeing and prepared a number of useful salts, 

 including sodium sulphate ("Glauber's salt"), the chlo- 

 rides of zinc, tin, arsenic, copper, lead and iron, the nitrate 

 of ammonium, tartar emetic, etc. He even succeeded in 

 gaining an insight in the rationale of certain processes ; but 

 this did not prevent him from adhering to the most fan- 

 tastic of the absurdities of alchemy to the very end of his 

 life. In connection with the iatrochemical period, refer- 

 ence must be made to the wonderful development of the 

 art of making articles of glass, and to the rapid progress 

 of the liquor industry, which had only been founded 



