THE REVIVAL OF ALCHEMY. 215 



ize tliem. Herein lies the secret of transmutation, and it becomes the 

 privilege of the hermetist to acquire the power of controlling this 

 agent. 



The adepts in this phase of hermetism still appeal to the Tabula 

 Smaragdina of Hermes Trismegistus as the embodiment of alchemic 

 lore. The "Father of Alchemy," who has been identified with Canaan, 

 ]N"oah's grandson, invented arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, 

 taught writing to the Egyptians, and gave laws and religious rites to 

 the people. He was perfectly acquainted with the "philosophers' 

 stone," and, desirous that posterity should inherit the wonderful secret, 

 he had the whole art of creating gold engraved on an emerald tablet, 

 which was placed in his sepulcher. Many years later this was removed 

 by Sarah, Abraham's wife, and she concealed it in a cave near Hebron. 

 There it remained until again discovered by Alexander the Great. The 

 inscription reads in part as follows : 



"I speak not of fictitious things, but of that which is most true and 

 certain. Whatsoever is below is like that which is above, and that which 

 is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one 

 thing. Also, since all things were made from one by the help of one, so 

 all things are made from one thing by conjunction. The Father thereof 

 is the Sun and the Mother thereof is the Moon; the wind carries it in 

 his belly, and the nurse thereof is the earth. * * * This thing has 

 more fortitude than fortitude itself, because it will overcome every sub- 

 tile thing and penetrate every solid thing. By it this world was formed. 

 Hence proceed wonderful things which in this wise were established. 

 For this reason I am called Hermes Trismegistus, because I possess 

 three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. What I had to say 

 about the work of the sun is completed." 



Writers on modern alchemy discuss the marvels of palingenesis, of 

 homunculi, and of gamahes; they write of the materialization of a 

 metal through the medium (mediumnite) of a metal; they cite the 

 "Eules of Philalethes," the works of George Eipley and of the Cos- 

 mopolite, and refer in the same essay to Berzelius, Berthelot, and 

 Moissan. We are told that "le diable est le singe de Dieu,"and that 

 the "Cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant symbolizes the male and 

 female of the Universe, the Alchemical Father and Mother," by the 

 very authors who show acquaintance with the most recent advances 

 in pure chemistry. In liquid fluorin they perceive a realization of the 

 Alkahest, or universal solvent, long sought by mediaeval alchemists. 



Accustomed to juggle with numbers, the kabalist finds abundant 

 opportunity in the atomic weights of the elements, and he makes the 

 most of his opportunity. When the arithmetical sum of the atomic 

 weights of elements entering into a given compound chances to equal 

 the atomic weight of gold, this accidental correspondence is seized 

 upon as a pretext for claiming hermetic relationship between the two 

 substances. 



