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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
109
*Transcriber's
Note:
Original
"phlogstion".
The
phlogistic
theory
said
that
what
remains
when
a
substance
has
been
burnt
is
the
original
substance
deprived
of
phlogiston;
and,
therefore,
to
restore
the
phlogiston
to
the
product
of
burning
is
to
re-form
the
combustible
substance.
But
how
is
such
a
restoration
of
phlogiston
to
be
accomplished?
Evidently
by
heating
the
burnt
thing
with
something
which
is
very
ready
to
burn.
Because,
according
to
the
theory,
everything
which
can
be
burnt
contains
phlogiston,
the
more
ready
a
substance
is
to
burn
the
richer
it
is
in
phlogiston;
burning
is
the
outrush
of
phlogiston,
phlogiston
prefers
to
be
combined
with
something;
therefore,
if
you
mix
what
remains
after
burning,
with
something
which
is
very
combustible,
and
heat
the
mixture,
you
are
bringing
the
burnt
matter
under
conditions
which
are
very
favourable
for
the
reception
of
phlogiston
by
it,
for
you
are
bringing
it
into
intimate
contact
with
something
from
which
freedom-hating
phlogiston
is
being
forced
to
escape.
Charcoal,
sulphur,
phosphorus,
oils
and
fats
are
easily
burnt;
these
substances
were,
therefore,
chosen
for
the
purpose
of
changing
things
which
had
been
burnt
into
things
which
could
again
be
burnt;
these,
and
a
few
other
substances
like
these,
were
classed
together,
and
called
phlogisticating
agents.
Very
many
of
the
substances
which
were
dealt
with
by
the
experimenters
of
the
last
quarter
of
the
17th,
and
the
first
half
of
the
18th,
century,
were
either
substances
which
could
be
burned,
or
those
which
had
been
produced
by
burning;
hence
the
phlogistic
theory
brought
into
one
point
of
view,
compared,
and
emphasised
the
similarities
between,
a
great
many
things
which
had
not
been
thought
of
as
connected
before
that
theory
was
promulgated.
Moreover,
the
theory
asserted
that
all
combustible,
or
incinerable,
things
are
composed
of
phlogiston,
and
another
principle,
or,
as
was
often
said,
another
element,
which
is
different
in
different
kinds
of
combustible
substances.
The
metals,
for
instance,
were
said
to
be
composed
of
phlogiston
and
an
earthy
principle
or
element,
which
was
somewhat
different
in
different
metals.
The
phlogisteans
taught
that
the
earthy
principle
of
a
metal
remains
in
the
form
of
ash,
cinders,
or
calx,
when
the
metal
is
calcined,
or,
as
they
expressed
it,
when
the
metal
is
deprived
of
its
phlogiston.
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