90 THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



Deus qui cuncta ex nihilo condidit,' and in at least 

 one passage, a well-known text of Scripture is re- 

 produced (' et haec est res quae erigit de stercore 

 pauperem et ipsum regibus equiparat '). This style 

 is a noticeable characteristic of all the works of 

 Michael Scot. 



On the other hand, the De Alchimia shows 

 several doubtful features which, on the supposition 

 that it came from Scot's pen, can only have been 

 due to some interference with the text at a subse- 

 quent time. Such is the dedication to Theophilus, 

 King of the Saracens, which we have already 

 noticed, and the latter part of the preface shows a 

 turgid passage (' hie est puteus Salomonis et 

 firm acervus, et hie est fons in quo latet anguis 

 cuius venenum omnia corpora interficit,' etc.) that 

 strongly recalls the fancies of the later alchemy. 



The body of the work, however, is no doubt 

 genuine, and offers matters of considerable interest. 

 The first of these is perhaps the distinction drawn 

 here between the greater and the lesser mystery 

 (magisterium) of alchemy. The former, it seems, 

 was the transmutation of Venus into the Sun ; 

 that is, of copper into gold. The latter compre- 

 hended the fixation of mercury and its transmuta- 

 tion into the Moon, or silver. 



We soon notice too that the author addresses 

 himself not, as one would at first expect, to ' Theo- 

 philus,' but to a certain Brother Elias (' tibi Fratri 

 Helya ') another proof, if any were needed, that 

 the dedication to the apocryphal King of the 

 Saracens was due to some other and later hand. 

 ' Brother Elias,' however, was far from being a 

 merely imaginary personage. He was an Italian, 



