35 
The Dyflfryn locality is therefore a connecting link be- 
tween the extreme stations of western Europe, from the 
Orkneys in the north to Arcachon in the south. This 
variety, in general appearance, is much more like Ophio- 
glossum Luisitanicum, L., but the var. amhiguum produces 
its fertile frond at the end of J uly, while 0. Luisitanicum 
fruits, in Guernsey, five or six months earlier. M. Durieu 
de Maisonneuve finds a separating character in the spores, 
which are finely tuberculated in 0. vulgatum, and smooth 
in 0. Luisitanicum. 
On the Origin of the word Chemistry,” by Carl 
SCHORLEMMER, F.KS. 
Chemistiy as a science is first mentioned^' by Julius 
Maternus Firmicus, a native of Sicily, and procurator under 
Constantine the Great. He wrote at about 336 a work on 
Astrology, which has been preserved only in a defective 
state, and is commonly known by the name of Mathesis. 
In this work he states that by observing the position of 
the moon, in respect to certain heavenly bodies or constella- 
tions, at the hour when a child is born, its future inclina- 
tions can be predicted. He continues : Et si fuerit haec 
domus Mercurii, Astronomiam. Si Veneris, cantilenas 
et laetitiam. Si Martis, opus armorum et instrumentorum. 
Si Jovis, divinum cultum et scientiam in lege. Si Saturni, 
scientiam alchimiae. Si Solis, providentiam in quadri- 
pedihus. Si in Gancero, domus sua, scientiam dahit 
omnium quae exeunt de aqua.'^ 
Other editions of this work have also scientia alckimiae,X 
but Vossius informs us that in the manuscripts it is 
chimice.^ He says : Alchimice scientiam nominal Firmi- 
cus, lib. HI., cap. XV. Ita quidem editum ah Aldo, sed 
in chirograpMs est chimice. 
Kopp, Beitrag’e zur GescMclite der Chemie, 43. 
t Julius Firmicus de nativitatibus ; Ed. Simon Bivilaqua. Venice, 1497, 
j Ed. Aldus ManutiuSj Venice, 1499 j Ed. Nicolaus Bruclmerus; Bale, 1533. 
§ Etymologicon linguae latinaej Amsterdam, 1695. 
