WORD " CHEMIA " OR " CHEMISTRY." 123 



Palestine; and we have in the Bible itself (Judges, chap. ix. 

 verse 1 3) : — " The vine said, Should I leave my wine, which 

 cheereth God and man ?" evidently a quotation not unfa- 

 miliar to the people of the time. 



Whilst, then, it is certain that an intoxicating liquid was 

 an elijnr vitee of the East, and hama was a word used for 

 the heat of intoxication among a Semitic people, we 

 move onwards to Zosimus teaching chemistry and distil- 

 lation, and uniting the operations of metallic chemistry 

 and vegetable. The Arabs, naturally more eastern, with 

 other Asiatics, gave more study to the elixir, as if holding 

 the tradition of the Soma. However, there is an old drink 

 mentioned among the Egyptians which partook of the 

 qualities of the elixir, and in the preparation of which they 

 used honey, a ready former of alcohol. 



And after all, some may say. Was the Elixir of Life, 

 after which so many earnest men have striven, nothing but 

 alcohol, mere brandy and whiskey ? I fear it really was, 

 and that the memory of the past was a delusion. This idea 

 has been held by others. We have the same idea still ; and 

 the name is retained in the words aqua vitce, which mean 

 simply the elixir or water of life. The elixir is, according 

 to some, a " pure water." We have the delusion ready 

 formed, and greedily preserve it among our population. 

 Men still believe brandy to be life-giving, whereas many 

 others know that for every benefit it confers it gives seven 

 curses. Still it is made by heat, it produces heat, it is kemi. 

 There have been many such delusions : respecting opium 

 there is a common one ; tea itself has been said to cure all 

 diseases ; and that concerning alcohol is one of our oldest 

 and most persistent. 



The idea that gold was made by a liquid seems to have 

 arisen from the properties of mercury. Throw it among 

 the sand, stir it about, then heat it strongly, and you wiU 



