394 
tion of the elements according to the dogmas of Aristotle.* 
After this we find the whole course of transmutation set for 
pictorially and allegorically, as under. A king (see Fig. 14) 
crowned with a diadem, sits on high, holding a sceptre in his 
hand. His son, together with his five servants, beseech him on 
bended knees, to divide his kingdom between them. To this 
the king answers nothing. Whereupon the son at the instigation 
of the servants, kills the king and collects his blood. He then 
digs a pit into which he places the dead body, but at the same 
time falls in himself, and is prevented from getting out by some 
external agency. Then the bodies of both father and son putrefy 
in the pit. Afterwards their bones are removed, and divided 
into nine parts, and an angel is sent to collect them, The 
servants now pray that the king may be restored to them, and 
an angel vivifies the bones. Then the king rises from his tomb, 
having become all spirit, altogether heavenly and powerful to 
make his servants kings. Finally he gives them each a golden 
crown, and makes them kings (Fig. 15). 
It is difficult to follow this from beginning to end, but there 
can be no doubt that the king signifies gold, his son, mercury, 
and his five servants the five remaining metals then known, viz. 
iron, copper, lead, tin, and silver. They pray to have the 
kingdom divided amongst them, that is to be converted into 
gold ; the son kills the father, viz. the mercury forms an amal- 
gam with gold. The other operations allude to various solu- 
tions, ignitions, and other chemical processes. The pit is a 
furnace ; putrefaction means reaction or mutual alteration of 
parts, At last the philosopher’s stone is found, the gold, after 
these varied changes becomes able to transmute the other metals 
into its own substance. At the end some rugged hexameters 
and pentameters warn the fraudulent, the avaricious, and the 
sacrilegious man that he is not to put his hands to the work, but 
to leave it for the wise and the righteous, and the man who is 
able rightly to know the causes of things. 
After this allegory we have some remarks concerning the 
treasure and the Philosopher’s Stone, and the secret of all 
secrets, and the gilt of God. This is followed by a number of 
arguments against alchemy, and of course overwhelming argu- 
ments in favour of it. Among those who are quoted as alche- 
mists are Plato, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Democritus, Aristotle, 
Morienus, Empedocles, and then, with a delighiful disregard of 
age Or country, we read, “ Abohaby, Abinceni, Homerus, 
Ptolemzus, Virgilius, Ovidius.” Then digressions on the diff- 
culties of the art, the unity of the art, the art natural and divine ; 
a slight history of the art, in which it is traced back to Adam, 
although Enoch and Hermes Trismegistus are mentioned as pos- 
sible founders. A treatise to prove that this art is more certain 
than other sciences ; on the errors of operation ; on the principles 
of the metals ; on sulphur ; on the nature of gold and silver ; and 
many general remarks on all alchemical subjects. These are the 
teachings which the Pretiosa Margarita Novella pours at the feet 
of the wise among mankind, by the aid of Paulus Manutius, 
bearing his father’s name of Aldus, and by the grace of the 
Venetian Senate. 
Many attempts were made by the alchemists to explain the 
origin of the metals ; some regarded them as natural compounds 
of sulphur and mercury, others affirmed that the action of the 
sun acting upon and within the earth produced them, and that 
gold was in truth condensed sunbeams ; many believed that 
metals grew like vegetables, indeed it was customary to close 
mines from time to time to allow them to grow again. Basil 
Valentine, as we have Seen, regarded them as condensations of a 
‘«mere vapour into a certain water,” by which latter we suspect 
he meant mercury. Perhaps the most absurd account of the | 
origin of certain things is given by Paracelsus in his treatise, 
“De Natura Rerum,” in the following words, which will show 
also how utterly nonsensical and unintelligible alchemical lan- 
guage could be, and for that matter very generally was. “* The 
life of metals,” he writes, ‘‘ is a secret fatness; ... of salts, 
the spirit of aquafortis; . . . of pearls, their splendour;.. . 
of marcasites and antimony, a tinging metalline spirit; ... 
of arsenics, a mineral and coagulated poison . . . The life of all 
men is nothing else but an astral balsam, a balsamic impression, 
and a celestial invisible fire, an included air and a tinging spirit 
of salt. I cannot name it more plainly, although it is set out by 
many names.” 
The peculiarly secret and mystical language which the alche- 
mists adopted was intended to prevent the vulgar from acquiring 
the results of their long-continued labours. Their language pur- 
* See the first of these Articles, 
ported to be intelligible to the true adept ; but as a rule the al 
chemists of one age gave various interpretations to one and the 
same secret communicated by their predecessors, Long 
recipes for the preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone exist, — 
which the authors have generously (as they tell us) given 
bro. 9.4, y. ce 
A. 2. ye W. FL 
Fic. 16,—Symbols of Lead from Italian MS. of the seventeenth cent = 
to the world, after much labour, for the benefit of their fellow 
men. The obscurity of the science was increased by the 
multiplication of symbols; the presence of which in ae a 
clearly points to its connection with astrology and the sister 
sciences. In time alchemical symbols multiplied almost as much 
as astrological symbols. In an Italian MS. of the eatly part of 
the seventeenth century which we have before us, mercury is 
represented by 22 distinct symbols, and 33 names, many of ich 
are of distinctly Arabic origin :—such as Chaibach, Azach, 
Jhumech, Caiban, Lead is represented by the symbols in 
Fig. 16, and in addition to its ordinary alchemical fr 
called Okamar, Syrates, Malochim, and others. The designat mn 
of substances as ‘‘the green lion,” ‘‘the flying eagle,” ‘the 
serpent,” ‘* the black crow,” and so on, also led to considerable 
confusion. Both names and symbols were used in a somewhat 
arbitrary fashion. , 
It is somewhat strange to think that alchemy should have once © 
received the serious attention of the legislature in this country. 
In 1404 the making of gold and silver was forbidden by Act of — 
Parliament. It was imagined that an alchemist might succeed 
in his pursuit, and would then become too powerful for the State. 
Fifty years later Henry VI. granted several patents to People 
who thought they had discovered the philosopher’s stone 5 and 
HERMESTRISME,|ADEAR ALEXANDRE 
oifins, Agiptius. w \nus.PreceptorMorient. 
eFORMIL 
Alchyniftice. 
ultimately a commission of ten learned men was appointed by 
the King to determine if the transmutation of metals into fold 
Were a possibility. We must now leave the subject of Ly. 
Those who desire to study it More deeply will find a great 
thass Of matter in the Bid/iotheca Chemica Curiosa of Mangetus ; 
