81 



19. Topsyturvy. Topside-horway. Spencer writes topside- 

 turvy, but the Anglo-Saxon horvec, horwet, &c., sufficiently 

 accounts for the last two syllables, as meaning dirty road 

 (dirt^way, which is the middle of the road) ; the entire being 

 conceived with the idea of a person on horseback tumbling 

 headlong into the mud. See Garlick, Ghastly, and Hoary. 



20. Yellowhammer . Omit the h, and take ammer as the 

 German, related to our ember, and descriptive of the colour 

 of that bird, the more specific Goldammer. 



Mr. Donovan read the first part of a paper on the early al- 

 chemical and chemical physicians. 



The principal subjects treated of in Mr. Donovan's paper 

 were as follow : — Professions of the alchemists ; origin of al- 

 chemy ; its effects on chemistry ; alchemical books burned by 

 Diocletian ; alchemy amongst the Romans ; first works on al- 

 chemy ; treatises of Jamblicus, Heliodorus, and Synesius ; 

 Geber the first alchemistic physician ; effect of alchemy on 

 his opinions ; the universal medicine of Geber anticipated by 

 Empedocles ; Albertus Magnus the most celebrated of the al- 

 chemistic physicians, and a bishop ; his learning ; his brazen 

 figure which spoke ; Pope John XXII. first practised and 

 then proscribed alchemy ; Raymond Lully ; his character and 

 acquirements ; made gold in England for Edward I., which 

 was coined at the mint ; Arnold Villanova ; his learning ; made 

 gold at Rome which stood the test ; his knowledge of medi- 

 cine ; proclamation of Edward III, for the services of alche- 

 mists ; Pietro d' Apono ; his high character as a physician and 

 enormous fees ; alchemy and chemistry of King Charles II. ; 

 his extreme poverty ; Act of Parliament of Henry IV. against, 

 yet patents granted for its practice by Henry VL, in order to 

 pay off crown debts, contrarily to the Act ; fifteenth century 

 teemed with alchemists ; 4000 writers on the art ; state alche- 

 mist and state physician in every court of Europe ; Basil 



vol. v. G 



