Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
110
The
phlogistic
theory
savoured
of
alchemy;
it
postulated
an
undefined,
undefinable,
intangible
Principle;
it
said
that
all
combustible
substances
are
formed
by
the
union
of
this
Principle
with
another,
which
is
sometimes
of
an
earthy
character,
sometimes
of
a
fatty
nature,
sometimes
highly
volatile
in
habit.
Nevertheless,
the
theory
of
Stahl
was
a
step
away
from
purely
alchemical
conceptions
towards
the
accurate
description
of
a
very
important
class
of
changes.
The
principle
of
phlogiston
could
be
recognised
by
the
senses
as
it
was
in
the
act
of
escaping
from
a
substance;
and
the
other
principle
of
combustible
things
was
scarcely
a
Principle
in
the
alchemical
sense,
for,
in
the
case
of
metals
at
any
rate,
it
remained
when
the
things
which
had
contained
it
were
burnt,
and
could
be
seen,
handled,
and
weighed.
To
say
that
metals
are
composed
of
phlogiston
and
an
earthy
substance,
was
to
express
facts
in
such
a
language
that
the
expression
might
be
made
the
basis
of
experimental
inquiry;
it
was
very
different
from
the
assertion
that
metals
are
produced
by
the
spiritual
actions
of
the
three
Principles,
salt,
mercury
and
sulphur,
the
first
of
which
is
not
salt,
the
second
is
not
mercury,
and
the
third
is
not
sulphur.
The
followers
of
Stahl
often
spoke
of
metals
as
composed
of
phlogiston
and
an
element
of
an
earthy
character;
this
expression
also
was
an
advance,
from
the
hazy
notion
of
Element
in
purely
alchemical
writings,
towards
accuracy
and
fulness
of
description.
An
element
was
now
something
which
could
he
seen
and
experimented
with;
it
was
no
longer
a
semi-spiritual
existence
which
could
not
be
grasped
by
the
senses.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
