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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
46
We
are
accustomed
to-day
to
use
the
words
fire
and
water
with
different
meanings,
according
to
the
ideas
we
wish
to
express.
When
we
say
"do
not
touch
the
fire,"
or
"put
your
hand
into
the
water,"
we
are
regarding
fire
and
water
as
material
things;
when
we
say
"the
house
is
on
fire,"
or
speak
of
"a
diamond
of
the
first
water,"
we
are
thinking
of
the
condition
or
state
of
a
burning
body,
or
of
a
substance
as
transparent
as
water.
When
we
say
"put
out
the
fire,"
or
"his
heart
became
as
water,"
we
are
referring
to
the
act
of
burning,
or
are
using
an
image
which
likens
the
thing
spoken
of
to
a
substance
in
the
act
of
liquefying.
As
we
do
to-day,
so
the
alchemists
did
before
us;
they
used
the
words
fire
and
water
to
express
different
ideas.
Such
terms
as
hardness,
softness,
coldness,
toughness,
and
the
like,
are
employed
for
the
purpose
of
bringing
together
into
one
point
of
view
different
things
which
are
alike
in,
at
least,
one
respect.
Hard
things
may
differ
in
size,
weight,
shape,
colour,
texture,
&c.
A
soft
thing
may
weigh
the
same
as
a
hard
thing;
both
may
have
the
same
colour
or
the
same
size,
or
be
at
the
same
temperature,
and
so
on.
By
classing
together
various
things
as
hard
or
soft,
or
smooth
or
rough,
we
eliminate
(for
the
time)
all
the
properties
wherein
the
things
differ,
and
regard
them
only
as
having
one
property
in
common.
The
words
hardness,
softness,
&c.,
are
useful
class-marks.
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