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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
50
"Wherever
there
is
seed,
Nature
will
work
through
it,
whether
it
be
good
or
bad."
"The
four
Elements,
by
their
continued
action,
project
a
constant
supply
of
seed
to
the
centre
of
the
earth,
where
it
is
digested,
and
whence
it
proceeds
again
in
generative
motions.
Now
the
centre
of
the
earth
is
a
certain
void
place
where
nothing
is
at
rest,
and
upon
the
margin
or
circumference
of
this
centre
the
four
Elements
project
their
qualities....
The
magnetic
force
of
our
earth-centre
attracts
to
itself
as
much
as
is
needed
of
the
cognate
seminal
substance,
while
that
which
cannot
be
used
for
vital
generation
is
thrust
forth
in
the
shape
of
stones
and
other
rubbish.
This
is
the
fountain-head
of
all
things
terrestrial.
Let
us
illustrate
the
matter
by
supposing
a
glass
of
water
to
be
set
in
the
middle
of
a
table,
round
the
margin
of
which
are
placed
little
heaps
of
salt,
and
of
powders
of
different
colours.
If
the
water
be
poured
out,
it
will
run
all
over
the
table
in
divergent
rivulets,
and
will
become
salt
where
it
touches
the
salt,
red
where
it
touches
the
red
powder,
and
so
on.
The
water
does
not
change
the
'places,'
but
the
several
'places'
differentiate
the
water.[4]
In
the
same
way,
the
seed
which
is
the
product
of
the
four
Elements
is
projected
in
all
directions
from
the
earth-centre,
and
produces
different
things,
according
to
the
quality
of
the
different
places.
Thus,
while
the
seed
of
all
things
is
one,
it
is
made
to
generate
a
great
variety
of
things....
So
long
as
Nature's
seed
remains
in
the
centre
it
can
indifferently
produce
a
tree
or
a
metal,
a
herb
or
a
stone,
and
in
like
manner,
according
to
the
purity
of
the
place,
it
will
produce
what
is
less
or
more
pure."
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