A STUDY IN PRIMITIVE CHEMISTRY. 3 1 ? 



lepras hominum per serpentes appropriates. 1 . . . Aurum autem purissimum est, et 

 nobilissimum, et aequalissimum, sicut sol inter sidera, et sicut sanguis purissimus in 

 corpore humano temperatse complexionis, carens omni extranea qualitate, et habens 

 sanitatem summam. Et ideo ars sequens naturam, vult omnia cum hoc lapide sanare, [et 

 est Theriaca et venenum], et in solum aurum transmutare, sicut facit natura. . . . Et 

 Hali in suis Secretis : Hoc est sulphur rubeum, luminosum in tenebris : et est hyacinthus 

 rubeus, et toxicum igneum, et interficiens et Leo victor, et malefactor, et ensis scindens, 

 et Theriaca sanans omnem infirmitatem, etc. . . . Et Haly: Hie lapis est vita mor- 

 tuorum et eorum refectio : est etiam medicina, conservans corpus et purgans, etc. . . . Et 

 Morienus : Est autem elixir medicina ex pluribus confecta, quae quidem medicina infirmi- 

 tates metallorum sanat, quemadmodum Theriaca infirmitates hominum. Unde a qui- 

 busdam venenum appelari solet: quia sicut venenum in corpore humano, ita elixir in 

 corpore metallino, etc." 2 



If we recall for a moment the belief of the early Muhammadans in the medicinal 

 potency of hair, we cannot but acknowledge that such views on the constitution of matter 

 made it inevitable that hair should be regarded by Arabic alchemists as one of the most 

 valuable of drugs. This we have already seen to be the case, and all that we further 

 need to emphasise, is the fact that when hair passed from medicine to alchemy, its virtues 

 were still ascribed to magical association with the human body. On this point, the 13th 

 century alchemical treatise De Anima supplies us with ample evidence. 



" Dixit Abuali : Et loquar in hoc capitulo de capillis. Natura illorum frigida et sicca* 

 et intrant in hoc magisterio. Si quis dividat eos per 4. partes, 3 aqua illorum indurat mer- 

 curium. Capilli sunt in multis modis, de homine grandi, de homine parvo, de mediocri, 

 de bestiis, sed de bestiis non intrant in hoc magisterio, et sunt ibi de pilis hominum, et 

 sunt de colera nigra, de colera citrina, et de flegmate, et de sanguine : et capilli qui 

 intrant in magisterio ad habendum lapidem, sunt de juvenibus de XIII annis, 4 qui sunt de 



1 The snake was always associated with ^sculapius in classical times, while the same idea is seen in the belief of the 

 ancient Arabs that medicinal waters were inhabited by Jinn of serpent form (Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 168). 

 The following extract from Ambrose Pary shows that the virtue of theriac in curing the bites of poisonous animals was ascribed 

 to the viper's flesh that it contained, like being supposed at that time to cure like. "At Galeni authoritas (Lib. de the.) earn 

 opinionem convincit, scribit enim theriacam si huic vulnerum generi ante imponatur, quam venena ad partes nobiles pervenerint, 

 magno prjesidio esse. Convincit et ratio: theriacae enim compositionem viperina caro, subit,; quse substantias similitudine 

 allicit, et ut magnes ferrum, aut ambra paleas evocat." (Opera Chirurgica, Frankfort-on-Main ed., 1594, p. 580). 



* Manget's Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa, Geneva ed., 1702, II, p. 49. Manget prints ' Tyriaca' for' Theriaca ' throughout 

 the passage quoted. 



To this may also be added the statement of the nth cent. Syrio-Arabic MS. (Duval's trans., Berthelot, La Chimie au Moyen 

 Age, II, pp. 182 and 183. 



,: L'elixir ressemble au poison, a cause de sa violence et de sa subtilite ; car il altere et denature des corps nombreux et 

 agglomeres, lorsqu'on fait agir sur eux une petite quantite de cet elixir. 



"II ressemble a la theriaque a cause de sa force et de son utilite, car il fait revivre les corps attenues et reduits h, I'etat devise." 



The comparison of the elixir with a poison was a Greek idea, '16s being a synonym amongst the Alexandrian alchemists 

 both for the Elixir and also for the product of the combustion (' killing' ) of metals (cf. Berthelot, Collection des Anciens 

 Alchimistes Grecs, I, Introd., p. 254). 



3 Viz., Earth, Air, Fire and Water. 



* The idea is the same as that of the Greek olive-farmers alluded to by Palladius. "With ancient Greek husbandmen it 

 was a maxim that olives should always be planted and gathered by pure boys and virgins ; the uncommon fruitfulness of the 



