418 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
from our own. It was always associated with the idea of the genesis of matter 
rather than with its ultimate analysis, and the idea of simple as contrasted with 
compound bodies probably never entered into the thoughts of the contending phil- 
osophers. 
The modern idea appears to have had a totally different origin, and we must 
again travel back to China. There, also in the sixth century B. C, the great 
philosopher Lao-tse was meditating on the mysteries of the world and the soul, 
and his disciples founded the religion of Taou. They were materialists ; never- 
theless they believed in a "finer essence," or spirit, that rises from matter, and 
may become a star; thus they held that the souls of the five elements, water, 
metal, fire, wood, and earth, arose and became the five planets. These specula- 
tions naturally led to a search after the sublimated essences of things, and the 
means by which this immortality might be secured. It seems that at the time of 
Tsin-she-hwang, the builder of the Great Wall, about two centuries before Christ, 
many romantic stories were current of immortal men inhabiting islands in the 
Pacific Ocean. It was supposed that in these magical islands was found the 
" herb of immortality" growing, and that it gave them exemption from the lot of 
common mortals. The emperor determined to go in search of these islands, but 
some untoward event always prevented him.^ 
Some two or three centuries after this a Taouist, named Weipahyang, wrote 
a remarkable book called " The Uniting Bond." It contains a great deal about 
the changes of the heavenly bodies, and the mutual relation of heaven and men ; 
and then the author proceeds to explain some transformations of silver and water. 
About elixir he tells us, " What is white when first obtained becomes red after 
manipulation on being formed into the elixir tan," (meaning red or elixir). ''That 
substance, an inch in diameter, consists of the black and the white, that is, water 
and metal combined. It is older than heaven and earth. It is most honorable 
and excellent. Around it, like a wall, are the sides of the cauldron. It is closed 
up and sealed on every side, and carefully watched. The thoughts must be 
undisturbed, and the temper calm, and the hour of its perfection anxiously waited 
for. The false chemist passes through various operations in vain. He who is 
enlightened expels his evil passions, is delighted morning and night, forgets fame 
and wealth, comprehends the true objects of life, and gains supernatural powers. 
He cannot then be scorched by fire, nor drowned in water, etc., etc. * * 
* The cauldron is round like the full moon, and the stove beneath is shaped 
like the half moon. The lead ore is symbolised by the White Tiger ; and it, like 
metal amongst the elements, belongs to the West. Mercury resembles the Sun, 
and forms itself into sparkling globes ; it is symbolised by the Blue Dragon be- 
longing to the East, and it is assigned to the element wood. Gold is imperisha- 
ble. Fire does not injure its lustre. Like the Sun and Moon it is unaffected by 
time. Therefore the elixir is called 'the Golden Elixir.' Life can be lengthened 
3. Nearly all the above statements relating to this Taouist alchemy are derived from the 
writings of the Rev. Joseph Edkins, of Pekin, and the matter is treated in greater detail in an 
article on the " Birth of Alchemy," in the Argonaxht. Vol. iii., p. 1. 
