An\ul°uS'  53fm-'}    Romance  of  Chemical  Elements.  565 
A  specimen  discovered  in  the  Martindale  herbarium  and  labeled 
as  "  var.  angustifolia "  had  thick,  broadly  ovate  to  ovate-lanceolate 
leaves  and  these  had  the  same  wrinkled  surface  as  the  fragments  and 
moreover  in  structure  of  cross  section  agreed  with  these  also.  This 
demonstrated  not  only  the  variation  that  occurs  in  the  leaves  of 
Coriaria  myrtifolia  but  also  permitted  a  positive  conclusion  that  the 
leaf  fragments  separated  from  the  marjoram  were  portions  of  the 
leaves  of  Coriaria  myrtifolia  so  broken  up  as  to  destroy  any  re- 
semblance to  their  original  form. 
THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  ELEMENTS. 
Their  History  and  Etymology. 
By  Ingo  W.  D.  Hackh,  A.B., 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
(Continued  from  page  492.) 
Alchemistic  Period. 
In  the  alchemistic  period  there  were  seven  known  metals,  which 
were  ascribed  to  celestial  bodies.  They  were  always  enumerated 
in  a  fixed  order  and  designated  by  the  astrological  symbols.  Thus 
we  have: 
O  3)  5 
(1)  Sun,  (2)  Moon,  (3)  Mercurius, 
gold.  silver.  mercury. 
9  *  %  h 
(4)  Venus,  (5)  Mars,  (6)  Jupiter,  (7)  Saturn, 
copper.  iron.  tin.  lead. 
To  those  came  at  a  later  date  antimony  with  the  symbol  of  the 
earth,  6. 
The  era  of  alchemistry  is  a  very  interesting  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  human  knowledge.    It  was  a  time  when  man  tried  to  im- 
press upon  nature  his  petty  theories  and  naturally  failed.    One  can  * 
follow  step  by  step  the  growth  of  chemical  knowledge  which  finally 
led  to  the  establishment  of  physical  and  chemical  laws  and  taught 
