THE ELEMENTS, 41& 
by eating the herb called Hu ma; how much more by taking the elixir, which is 
the essence of gold, the most imperishable of all things ! The influence of the 
elixir, when partaken of, will extend to the four limbs ; the countenance will be- 
come joyful ; white hair will be turned black ; new teeth will grow in the place of 
old ones, and age at once become youth. * * * Lead ore and 
mercury are the bases of the process by which the elixir is prepared; they are 
the hinge upon which the principles of light and darkness revolve." 
This description suggests the idea that the elixir of the Taouists was the red 
sulphide of mercury — vermilion — for the preparation of which the Chinese are 
still famous. That Weipahyang believed in his own philosophy is testified by a 
writer named Ko-hung, who, about a century afterwards, wrote the lives of cele- 
brated Taouists. He tells how the philosopher, after preparing the elixir, took 
it, with his disciples, into a wood, and gave it first to his dog, then took it him- 
self, and was followed by one of his pupils. They all three died, but, it appears, 
rose to life again, and to immortality. This brilliant example did not remain 
without imitators ; indeed, two emperors of the Tang family are said to have died 
from partaking of the elixir. This circumstance diminished its popularity, and 
alchemy ceased to be practiced in the Celestial Empire. 
At the beginning of the seventh century the doctrine of Lao-tse was in great 
favor at the Chinese court; learning was encouraged, and there was much enter- 
prise. At the same time the disciples of Mohammed carried their arms and his 
doctrines over a large portion of Asia, and even to the Flowery Land. Through- 
out the eighth century there were frequent embassies between eastern and western 
Asia, wars with the Caliphs, and even a matrimonial alliance. We need not 
wonder, therefore, that the teachings of the Taouist alchemists penetrated west- 
ward to the Arabian philosophers. It was at this period that Yeber-Abou-Mous- 
sah-Djafer-al-Sofe, commonly called Geber, a Sabsean of great knowledge, started 
what to the West was a new philosophy about the Transmutation of metals, the 
Philosopher's Stone, and the Elixir of Life ; and this teaching was couched in 
highly poetic language, mixed with astrology and accompanied by religious direc- 
tions and rites. He held that all metals were composed of mercury, sulphur, and 
arsenic, in various proportions, and that the noblest metal could be procured 
only by a very lengthy purification. It was in the salts of gold and silver that he 
looked for the Universal Medicine. Geber himself was an experimental philoso- 
pher, and the belief in transmutation, led to the acquirement of a considerable 
amount of chemical knowledge amongst the alchemists of Arabia and Europe, 
This gradually brought about a conviction that the three reputed elementary 
bodies, mercury, sulphur, and salt or acid, were not really the originators of all 
things. There was a transition period, during which the notion was itself suffer- 
ing transmutation. The idea became gradually clearer that all material bodies 
were made up of certain constituents, which could not be decomposed any furth- 
er, and which, therefore, should be considered as elementary. The introduc- 
tion of quantitative methods compelled the overflow of mediaeval chemistry, and 
led to the placing of the conception of simple and compound bodies upon the 
