CH. ix. PARACELSUS AND VAN HELMONT. 71 



gases, though he did not describe them clearly, and he 

 particularly mentions the gas which rises from beer and 

 other liquids which ferment. He called this Gas sylvestre. 

 The chief thing to remember about Van Helmont is that he 

 was the first writer to use the word ' gas/ which he took 

 from the German word * geist,' meaning ' spirit.' 



Chief Works consulted. Rees's ' Encyclopaedia,' art. * Copernicus ; 

 'Encyclopaedia Metropolitana,' art. 'Astronomy;' ' Biographie Uni- 

 versellc,' art. ' Copernicus ;' Gassendi's Life of Copernicus ;' ' Encyclo- 

 pedia,' art. 'Anatomy;' Cuvier, 'Histoire des Sciences Naturelles,' 

 1845; D'Orbigny, 'Diet, des Sciences Naturelles' Introduction; 

 ' Encyclopaedia,' art. 'Botany;' Hoefer, 'Histoire de la Physique et 

 de la Chimie,' 1850. 



