Take common gray antimony, which may be reduced to the metallic state by means of iron, but which is closely allied to the nature of lead, melt it with gold, which it will purify; upon the continuation of a strong fire, the antimony will be dissipated, or form scoria with the base metals, and leave the gold in a pure state.

One more example of their curious writing, calculated to mystify the uninitiated, is—“ Visitabis, Interiora Terræ Rectificando, Invenies Occultum Lapidem Veram Medicinam*." Now this would lead a stranger to suppose that it related to the philosophers' stone, or to some valuable medicine, whereas it relates to no such matter; the initial letters of the words are all that are to be attended to, and they form the word VITRIOLVM. So that this sentence simply relates to a single well

known substance,-VITRIOL.

The books on alchymy are very difficult to understand unless much time is devoted to their study. They abound in obscure directions for performing transmutation, long arguments in favour of its possibility, and testimonials of those who had either been performers or witnesses of the golden work. It deserves mention here, that there were two classes, who passed under the title of alchymists, the genuine alchymist, who firmly believed in the truth and possibility of his art, and unhesitatingly devoted his entire life and substance to its pursuit; and the pseudo-alchymist, who believed in no such matter as the philosophers' stone or metallic transmutation, but used them as a means of existence, by practising upon the credulity of the ignorant wealthy: these designing personages were denounced with every epithet of contempt and scorn by the real alchymist. Though at the present day we may smile at the exalted notions of the latter, we should reflect that frequently the manifold wonders of their experiments took them by such sudden surprise, that calm and dispassionate reasoning was next to impossible. Everything was new to them; they were the first adventurers in an unexplored mine, and though without data to guide their progress, they struggled on, and opened galleries into the interior, which have been highly useful to their successors. We, in the pride of our knowledge, and facility of operating and reasoning, are but too apt to forget how much we are indebted to the long and painful labours of this very remarkable and despised class of men.

The alchymists frequently imposed upon themselves, by putting small grains of gold amongst their materials, "that like seeds they might increase and multiply," and when this metal suddenly and unexpectedly re-appeared in an advanced state of the process, singular as it may seem, it was looked upon as resulting from transmutation.

When taunted by the sceptic to exhibit their skill, they sometimes adopted ingenious but dishonourable methods of imposing upon their challengers. They would conceal gold in false-bottomed crucibles, or resort to some processes of metallic precipitation, which served to convince the uninitiated that transmutation had actually been effected.

There was a remarkable circumstance almost invariably attendant upon the alchymist, which, to those who were not blinded by their ignorance or avarice, went far towards proving the fallacy of his art of Visit the interior of the earth, rectifying, thou shalt find the hid stone and true

*

medicine.

transmutation, namely, extreme poverty; for although he strenuously asserted himself to be the possessor of the philosophers' stone, capable of turning lead into gold, yet he as constantly importuned the wealthy for the advancement of money to enable him to carry on his researches; and, strange as it may appear, numbers embarked and wrecked splendid fortunes in the work of transmutation.

To such an extent had the rage for alchymy possessed the minds of all classes of society, and, as an old author quaintly observes, "the estates of heirs and heiresses wasted so fast," in the reign of Henry the Fourth, that an act of parliament was passed, prohibiting the practice of alchymy: but this act was seized upon with avidity by the genuine alchymist, and held triumphantly forward as a convincing proof of the truth of transmutation.

In the reign of Henry the Sixth, things were so much changed, that this monarch issued four letters-patent for encouraging alchymy, and dispensing with all statutes and prohibitions to the contrary. Allured by the hope of some sort of gain, either of place, purse, or power, false alchymists now sprang up in crowds. Wider than ever now spread the notion of making gold by art. Royalty encouraged it; and removed all pains and penalties that had been attached to its practice: the consequence was, that these numberless impostors went about, pretending that they were in the possession of the philosophers' stone, and offering to communicate the secret of making it for a suitable reward. The amount of persons who were found credulous enough to be duped by such palpable impostures was really astonishing.

The very circumstance of claiming a reward for the disclosure ought to have been a convincing proof that there was no golden fleece to dispose of; for it is absurd to suppose that a man would stipulate for a pecuniary reward to divulge that, by the agency of which he could create tons of gold at pleasure. These adventurers persuaded their dupes to purchase enormous quantities of lead, in order, as they said, to "have stuff enough to project upon;" the surreptitious sale of which enabled the needy artist to obtain gold, which at a convenient season he melted in his crucibles, and exhibited it to the delighted eyes of his patron as the result of projection. Disdaining to mingle with this crew of impostors, the true alchymist still pursued his labours, amidst the obloquy with which the pretenders had covered his art. In défiance, however, of his painful watchings over the flaming furnace, and the glowing crucible, gold did not become more abundant with him: pale, wan, and care-worn, he was brought to the verge of the grave by incessant privation and toil, and frequently sank in the most abject poverty, in pursuit of the golden phantom.

Conjointly with transmutation, two other objects were sought after, namely, the universal medicine, and the universal solvent; the circumstances which produced the notion of the first of these, appear to have been as follows. Gold was deemed an indestructible metal; and it was therefore imagined that preparations of it being taken as medicine, might confer the same property of indestructibility upon the human body, and give immortality to the alchymist. The search after this Elixir of Life was, therefore, undertaken amidst the deadly exhalations of the

laboratory, and carried on with much ardour and impetuosity: but though medicine was much benefited by the discovery and introduction of many valuable remedies during the search, yet diseases and death made no distinction between the profound adept and the meanest of mankind.

We are at a loss to divine the intended use of the universal solvent, or alkahest; nor do the alchymists condescend to inform us much about its properties, save that it was to reduce to the liquid state all substances with which it came in contact. This appears, at first sight, a preposterous inquiry, for it may be asked, in what kind of vessel could a substance capable of dissolving all things be contained? Modern chemistry, however, has succeeded in eliciting an intensely active substance, capable of dissolving all things excepting platinum. Now, it is not unlikely that during some of their curious and long-protracted processes they accidentally hit upon this intense solvent agent; and finding it incapable of being confined by ordinary vessels, platinum not being known to them, they at once styled it the universal solvent, and imagined it to possess extraordinary powers.

Such, then, is a brief and very general account of the progress of the art of alchymy, and its three grand objects,-Transmutation, the Elixir of Life, and the Alkahest. Ages were devoted to their pursuit, and innumerable volumes written concerning them. In these, may be found many most curious facts and observations, which prove that the alchymists were a class of men of far greater talent and abilities than we have been generally willing to admit. “The profoundest views of genius are everywhere to be found in their writings, allied with the most extravagant ideas."

Alchymy rapidly declined towards the close of the sixteenth century, and during the seventeenth its destruction was nearly complete. A few only of the most enthusiastic adepts then haunted its romantic ruins, and indulged in its golden dreams. These were at length dispelled by the gradual emergence of the science of chemistry. Like the fabled phoenix of old, it sprang from the ashes of its parent; and rapidly soaring amidst the most elevated sciences, proudly asserted its excellence and importance.

Chemistry cannot be said to have existed as a science before the seventeenth century; for although we find in the writings of the later alchymists, many curious discoveries, these remained useless and unapplied so long as the minds of men were occupied with the three grand desiderata. During this century, many philosophers of sound judgment were induced to examine the ruins of alchymy, and endeavour to place some of its materials to useful account. Divested of sordid notions, and anxious only to enlarge the boundaries of natural knowledge, they examined with much labour and skill such processes as appeared likely to offer useful results; classing operations and facts systematically together, and explaining them all in plainer language. Some of the more important compounds were introduced into medical practice by eminent physicians, with great success; others were applied in the arts and manufactures with a similar result. A host of philosophers entered upon this interesting field of inquiry, and the results of their united investigations soon conferred on chemistry the form of a science.

At the present day, experimental chemistry has attained vast extent

and magnificence. The pages of its annals are adorned with names which demand our reverence and gratitude: "it has become a necessary branch of every liberal education," and has certainly "contributed as great a share towards increasing the resources, or adding to the welfare of mankind, as all the other sciences united." Chemistry now imprisons not its votary in the close laboratory to toil after the golden phantom of transmutation, the enviable elixir of immortality, or the mysterious universal solvent, commands him not to calcine and mix his medicines under certain planetary signs or influences, far less to distil the human skull, under the idea that as it is the reservoir of the most subtile spirits of the body, it must of a verity yield many good remedies for its diseases; nor does it insult his understanding by inculcating the fanciful notion that bodies preserve their figure, in virtue of a complex series of hooks and crotchets, of points and interstices.

The scene is gloriously changed! Emancipated from the spells of alchymy, astrology, witchcraft, and superstition, Science seeks now the society of Truth; and, leading her votary from the dark and secret cell into the bright sunlight of philosophy, she unfolds the wondrous book of nature to his gaze, and bids him become her "servant and interpreter." In fulfilment of this command he resorts to Experiment as the only true index of contents to the mighty volume. However laborious such a proceeding may be, however uncongenial to the aspiring mind that would fain soar amidst the seductive regions of theory, yet true sterling knowledge can never be gained without experiment. Chemistry may with correctness be called the universal art, for no production of nature escapes its operation. By its aid the structure of the globe is examined, and substances are extracted of paramount utility in the arts of life. From the alpine granite, the mountain marble, the crumbling sandstone, nay, from the very dust beneath our feet.

Chemistry directs attention to the beautiful phenomena of animated nature, traces the curious and intricate changes which a seed undergoes during its germination, and its growth into a perfect plant. In its fallen leaves, which, to the careless and ignorant observer, appear dead and lost for ever, it discovers living germs, which may again become active in producing living and luxuriant foliage. It also teaches us the curious fact, that although the varieties presented by the vegetable world are so widely different in external structure and character, yet they are all, with very few exceptions, constituted of the same elements, which are but few in number, and whose proportions are but very slightly varied. It matters not whether we subject to examination the oak, the pine, the willow, the lily, the lichen, or any other product of the vegetable world, each will yield up only three, or at the utmost four constituents, the further developement of which baffles the utmost skill and ingenuity of the experimenter. The continuous support of vegetable and animal life, chemistry proves to be dependent upon the atmosphere which surrounds the earth; and that the withdrawal of this aliment to any extent, impairs the powers of vitality.

The wonderful skeleton by which the animal body is supported, is ascertained to owe its strength and firmness to the presence of one of the gaseous elements of this atmosphere, in union with a highly inflammable

metal, and a non-metallic substance barely inferior in inflammability. These three distinct and opposite bodies are, by some recondite and inexplicable operation of nature, absorbed singly into the animal system, and accreted into hard and compact bone; chemistry teaches yet further, that the same constituents which are found in all the varieties of the vegetable kingdom, compose all the softer solids of the animal frame, though combined in other proportions.

In the recesses of the gloomy mine, when threatened with instant and complete destruction, chemistry teaches man to protect his flaming taper with a thin metallic shield; and thus armed, fearlessly to continue his researches. By this secure and warning light he obtains his mineral fuel, whose combustion enables him to warm his dwelling, and to disengage a useful metal from a stone, which the artisan fashions for the purposes of the philosopher, the agriculturist, and the warrior.

Chemistry teaches that this valuable mineral fuel contains an aëriform principle, admitting of extraction in an insulated form, and eminently combustible and luminous. It teaches to operate upon it in suitable apparatus, to store it up in vessels of vast magnitude, and ultimately to transmit it through tubes hundreds of miles in extent, in order to furnish a means of brilliant illumination, during those hours in which the sun is sunk far below the horizon.

Chemistry examines the cause of dew, rain, hail, and snow, expounds the active parts which they enact in the vast laboratory of nature, instructs man how to reason calmly upon the awful and astounding phenomena of the volcano, the tempest, and the thunder-storm; and like a mighty enchantress, places in his hands a talismanic rod, whose metallic point, elevated towards the thunder-cloud, quickly disarms it of its destructive fire, and conducts it, innocuous, to the humid recesses of the earth.

The mere contact of two metals gives birth to one of the most astonishing agents of chemistry. Gifted with intense and almost incredible energies, it resolves the most refractory compounds into their elementary constituents, and entirely suspends the usual course of attractions. From the ashes of a plant it emancipates a metal, which floats and burns upon water, and inflames on the contact of ice. The same powerful agent, when modified in its intensity and properly conducted through an animal body, newly deprived of life, excites its powerless fibres into activity, and enables the experimenter to make a fearful approach towards the mysterious and incomprehensible principle of vitality. The dark and ponderous loadstone, which for ages has been exclusively employed for guiding vessels safely from clime to clime, chemistry has compelled to serve another purpose, and to elicit sparks of brilliant light at the will of the experimenter. The limpid spring, the babbling brook, the gushing fountain, the mountain-torrent, all yield up their secrets to chemical research. Their peculiarities are all examined, and found to depend on some impregnation, metallic or sulphureous, earthy or gaseous.

The wide waste of waters also offers "ample room and verge enough" for extending the dominion of chemistry; the saline taste of the ocean's waves is too remarkable to pass unheeded, and the cause of this peculiarity is found to depend upon the presence of several curious com