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
149
How
different
is
this
conception
of
a
change
wherein
substances
are
formed,
entirely
unlike
those
things
which
react
to
form
them,
from
the
alchemical
presentment
of
such
a
process!
The
alchemist
spoke
of
stripping
off
the
outer
properties
of
the
thing
to
be
changed,
and,
by
operating
spiritually
on
the
soul
which
was
thus
laid
bare,
inducing
the
essential
virtue
of
the
substance
to
exhibit
its
powers
of
transmutation.
But
he
was
unable
to
give
definite
meanings
to
the
expressions
which
he
used,
he
was
unable
to
think
clearly
about
the
transformations
which
he
tried
to
accomplish.
The
chemist
discards
the
machinery
of
virtues,
souls,
and
powers.
It
is
true
that
he
substitutes
a
machinery
of
minute
particles;
but
this
machinery
is
merely
a
means
of
thinking
clearly
and
consistently
about
the
changes
which
he
studies.
The
alchemist
thought,
vaguely,
of
substance
as
something
underlying,
and
independent
of,
properties;
the
chemist
uses
the
expression,
this
or
that
substance,
as
a
convenient
way
of
presenting
and
reasoning
about
certain
groups
of
properties.
It
seems
to
me
that
if
we
think
of
matter
as
something
more
than
properties
recognised
by
the
senses,
we
are
going
back
on
the
road
which
leads
to
the
confusion
of
the
alchemical
times.
The
alchemists
expressed
their
conceptions
in
what
seems
to
us
a
crude,
inconsistent,
and
very
undescriptive
language.
Chemists
use
a
language
which
is
certainly
symbolical,
but
also
intelligible,
and
on
the
whole
fairly
descriptive
of
the
facts.
A
name
is
given
to
each
elementary
substance,
that
is,
each
substance
which
has
not
been
decomposed;
the
name
generally
expresses
some
characteristic
property
of
the
substance,
or
tells
something
about
its
origin
or
the
place
of
its
discovery.
The
names
of
compounds
are
formed
by
putting
together
the
names
of
the
elements
which
combine
to
produce
them;
and
the
relative
quantities
of
these
elements
are
indicated
either
by
the
use
of
Latin
or
Greek
prefixes,
or
by
variations
in
the
terminal
syllables
of
the
names
of
the
elements.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
