CHE&ISTRY AND ALCHEMy. 



95 



and the art from the mere trade made out of it. This was the art 

 " concerning which he could say a good deal more, had he not taken an oath of 

 secrecy when he was initiated into its mysteries," which means, no doubt, that 

 he could disclose a good deal of roguery and imposture. He says, " I could 

 show the alchemist fabricating azure, cinnabar, ore, vermilion, musical gold, 

 and other admixtures of colours ; I could show the same man committing a 

 regular fraud, forging a Bonnet philosopher's stone, by contact with which all 



Figs. 144 to 147. Furnaces and various Apparatus, as used by the Chemists and Alchemist* of 

 tbo Middle Ages. Alter an Engraving by Vriete. 



other stones are converted into gold or silver, according to the desire of 

 Alidus. I would drive such a man out of the country, and confiscate his 

 goods ; I would inflict upon him bodily chastisement, for he offends God, the 

 Christian religion, and society." Agrippa, after having promised to keep 

 silence, continues, carried away by his indignation, " It would take too much 

 time to recount all the follies, the idle secrets, and the enigmas of this trade : 

 of the green lion, the fugitive stag, the flying eagle, the inflated toad, of the 



