76 MR. C. SCHORLEMMER ON THE 



is " chimise " * .• He says : — "Alcliimise scientiam nominat 

 Firmicus, lib. iii. cap. xv. Ita quidem editum ab Aldo, sed 

 in chirograpbis est cbimiae.^^ 



Atbanasius Kircber also states that tbe manuscript in 

 tbe library of tbe Vatican bas " cbymise/^ and not " al- 

 cbyraise '^f* 



Firmicus does not give any explanation of tbis term. 

 However^ anotber writer^ wbo probably lived at tbe same 

 time^ if not earlier^ explains it. Zosimus^ tbe Panopolite, 

 according to Georgios Synkellos, a writer of tbe ninth 

 century, states that '^^ij/xeia (or ')(Vfielaj as some manu- 

 scripts have) meant tbe art of making gold or silver J. 



Tbe curious passage in which tbe word occurs is tbe 

 following : — 



"Tbe sacred Scriptures inform us that there exists a 

 tribe of genii wbo make use of women. Hermes mentions 

 tbis circumstance in bis Physics ; and almost every writing 

 (X6709), wbetber sacred {^avepo^) or apocryphal, states 

 tbe same thing. Tbe ancient and divine Scriptures inform 

 us that tbe angels, captivated by women, taugbt them all 

 tbe operations of nature. Offence being taken at tbis, 

 they remained out of heaven, because they bad taugbt 

 mankind all manner of evil, and things which could not 

 be advantageous to their souls. Tbe Scriptures inform 

 us that tbe giants sprang from their embraces. Chema is 

 tbe first of their traditions respecting these arts. Tbe 

 book itself they called Chema; hence tbe art is called 

 Chemia/' 



It is not difficult to trace tbe origin of tbis myth. We 

 find it first in Genesis, chap. vi. : ^^And it came to pass, 

 when men began to multiply on tbe face of tbe earth, and 



* Etymologicon linguae latinse : Amsterdam, 1695. 



t Kopp, op. cit. p. 9. 



I Thomson's History of Chemistry, p. 5. 



