WORD "CHEMIA^^ OR "CHEMISTRY,'^ 111 



and partly from the Hebrew^ and are in Egypt. However, 

 it did not seem to me well to stop there. We cannot tell 

 the true connexion of Egypt with Assyria and with the 

 old Accadians ; and we know that magic was highly culti- 

 vated in the East by the latter people. It was necessary, 

 therefore, to seek in that direction; and I wrote to Dr. 

 Birch, as it seemed to me impossible to obtain this infor- 

 mation direct without some knowledge of the language ; 

 but perhaps the late dictionaries and other aids might have 

 served me so far. 



Dr. BircVs letter is veiy explicit so far as Assyrian and 

 Egyptian are concerned. He says: — ''The word for 'heat' 

 in Assyrian is Hhamamu or Khamamu. In Egyptian we 

 have Khemt, ' fire/ ' to warm.-* " Then he gives " Qam, 

 ' Egypt/ or ' the black land/ qam meaning in Egyptian 

 ' black.' " 



I then went to Prof. Sayce's ' Vocabulary of Assyrian 

 and Accadian/ under the guidance of Mr. Harry G. Rylands, 

 of the Biblical Archaeological Society ; but we got nothing 

 out of the Accadian : the words out of the Assyrian, how- 

 ever, are interesting : — 



Samsu, the sun. 

 Samu, the heavens. 

 Samas, the sun-god. 

 Khamamu, heat. 

 Khammu. 

 Khamsa, fire. 

 KhamdUy light. 



Here, then, seems the true origin of the word. The 

 meaning is intelligible, worthy of the people and worthy 

 of the science. The question, however, again occurs. Was 

 it Egyptian or Assyrian ? The reasons for beheving the 

 primitive not to have originated in Egypt may stand ; but 



