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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
44
Basil
Valentine
then
tells
his
readers
that
Adam
was
compounded
of
the
four
pure
Elements,
but
after
his
expulsion
from
Paradise
he
became
subject
to
the
various
impurities
of
the
animal
creation.
"The
pure
Elements
of
his
creation
were
gradually
mingled
and
infected
with
the
corruptible
elements
of
the
outer
world,
and
thus
his
body
became
more
and
more
gross,
and
liable,
through
its
grossness,
to
natural
decay
and
death."
The
process
of
degeneration
was
slow
at
first,
but
"as
time
went
on,
the
seed
out
of
which
men
were
generated
became
more
and
more
infected
with
perishable
elements.
The
continued
use
of
corruptible
food
rendered
their
bodies
more
and
more
gross;
and
human
life
was
soon
reduced
to
a
very
brief
span."
Basil
Valentine
then
deals
with
the
formation
of
the
three
Principles
of
things,
by
the
mutual
action
of
the
four
Elements.
Fire
acting
on
Air
produced
Sulphur;
Air
acting
on
Water
produced
Mercury;
Water
acting
on
Earth
produced
Salt.
Earth
having
nothing
to
act
on
produced
nothing,
but
became
the
nurse
of
the
three
Principles.
"The
three
Principles,"
he
says,
"are
necessary
because
they
are
the
immediate
substance
of
metals.
The
remoter
substance
of
metals
is
the
four
elements,
but
no
one
can
produce
anything
out
of
them
but
God;
and
even
God
makes
nothing
of
them
but
these
three
Principles."
To
endeavour
to
obtain
the
four
pure
Elements
is
a
hopeless
task.
But
the
Sage
has
the
three
Principles
at
hand.
"The
artist
should
determine
which
of
the
three
Principles
he
is
seeking,
and
should
assist
it
so
that
it
may
overcome
its
contrary."
"The
art
consists
in
an
even
mingling
of
the
virtues
of
the
Elements;
in
the
natural
equilibrium
of
the
hot,
the
dry,
the
cold,
and
the
moist."
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