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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
45
The
account
of
the
Elements
given
by
Philalethes
differs
from
that
of
Basil
Valentine.
Philalethes
enumerates
three
Elements
only:
Air,
Water,
and
Earth.
Things
are
not
formed
by
the
mixture
of
these
Elements,
for
"dissimilar
things
can
never
really
unite."
By
analysing
the
properties
of
the
three
Elements,
Philalethes
reduced
them
finally
to
one,
namely,
Water.
"Water,"
he
says,
"is
the
first
principle
of
all
things."
"Earth
is
the
fundamental
Element
in
which
all
bodies
grow
and
are
preserved.
Air
is
the
medium
into
which
they
grow,
and
by
means
of
which
the
celestial
virtues
are
communicated
to
them."
According
to
Philalethes,
Mercury
is
the
most
important
of
the
three
Principles.
Although
gold
is
formed
by
the
aid
of
Mercury,
it
is
only
when
Mercury
has
been
matured,
developed,
and
perfected,
that
it
is
able
to
transmute
inferior
metals
into
gold.
The
essential
thing
to
do
is,
therefore,
to
find
an
agent
which
will
bring
about
the
maturing
and
perfecting
of
Mercury.
This
agent,
Philalethes
calls
"Our
divine
Arcanum."
Although
it
appears
to
me
impossible
to
translate
the
sayings
of
the
alchemists
concerning
Elements
and
Principles
into
expressions
which
shall
have
definite
and
exact
meanings
for
us
to-day,
still
we
may,
perhaps,
get
an
inkling
of
the
meaning
of
such
sentences
as
those
I
have
quoted
from
Basil
Valentine
and
Philalethes.
Take
the
terms
Fire
and
Water.
In
former
times
all
liquid
substances
were
supposed
to
be
liquid
because
they
possessed
something
in
common;
this
hypothetical
something
was
called
the
Element,
Water.
Similarly,
the
view
prevailed
until
comparatively
recent
times,
that
burning
substances
burn
because
of
the
presence
in
them
of
a
hypothetical
imponderable
fluid,
called
"Caloric";
the
alchemists
preferred
to
call
this
indefinable
something
an
Element,
and
to
name
it
Fire.
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