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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
100
CHAPTER
X.
SUMMARY
OF
THE
ALCHEMICAL
DOCTRINE.--THE
REPLACEMENT
OF
THE
THREE
PRINCIPLES
OF
THE
ALCHEMISTS
BY
THE
SINGLE
PRINCIPLE
OF
PHLOGISTON.
The
Sacred
Art,
which
had
its
origin
and
home
in
Egypt,
was
very
definitely
associated
with
the
religious
rites,
and
the
theological
teaching,
recognised
by
the
state.
The
Egyptian
priests
were
initiated
into
the
mysteries
of
the
divine
art:
and
as
the
initiated
claimed
to
imitate
the
work
of
the
deity,
the
priest
was
regarded
by
the
ordinary
people
as
something
more
than
a
representative,
as
a
mirror,
of
the
divinity.
The
sacred
art
of
Egypt
was
transmuted
into
alchemy
by
contact
with
European
thought
and
handicrafts,
and
the
tenets
and
mysticism
of
the
Catholic
Church;
and
the
conception
of
nature,
which
was
the
result
of
this
blending,
prevailed
from
about
the
9th
until
towards
the
end
of
the
18th
century.
Like
its
predecessor,
alchemy
postulated
an
orderly
universe;
but
alchemy
was
richer
in
fantastic
details,
more
picturesquely
embroidered,
more
prodigal
of
strange
fancies,
than
the
sacred
art
of
Egypt.
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