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
53
The
alchemists
went
a
step
further
in
their
classification
of
things.
They
asserted
that
there
is
One
Thing
present
in
all
things;
that
everything
is
a
vehicle
for
the
more
or
less
perfect
exhibition
of
the
properties
of
the
One
Thing;
that
there
is
a
Primal
Element
common
to
all
substances.
The
final
aim
of
alchemy
was
to
obtain
the
One
Thing,
the
Primal
Element,
the
Soul
of
all
Things,
so
purified,
not
only
from
all
specific
substances,
but
also
from
all
admixture
of
the
four
Elements
and
the
three
Principles,
as
to
make
possible
the
accomplishment
of
any
transmutation
by
the
use
of
it.
If
a
person
ignorant
of
its
powers
were
to
obtain
the
Essence,
he
might
work
vast
havoc
and
cause
enormous
confusion;
it
was
necessary,
therefore,
to
know
the
conditions
under
which
the
potencies
of
the
Essence
became
active.
Hence
there
was
need
of
prolonged
study
of
the
mutual
actions
of
the
most
seemingly
diverse
substances,
and
of
minute
and
patient
examination
of
the
conditions
under
which
nature
performs
her
marvellous
transmutations.
The
quest
of
the
One
Thing
was
fraught
with
peril,
and
was
to
be
attempted
only
by
those
who
had
served
a
long
and
laborious
apprenticeship.
In
The
Chemical
Treatise
of
Thomas
Norton,
the
Englishman,
called
Believe-me,
or
the
Ordinal
of
Alchemy
(15th
century),
the
adept
is
warned
not
to
disclose
his
secrets
to
ordinary
people.
"You
should
carefully
test
and
examine
the
life,
character,
and
mental
aptitudes
of
any
person
who
would
be
initiated
in
this
Art,
and
then
you
should
bind
him,
by
a
sacred
oath,
not
to
let
our
Magistery
be
commonly
or
vulgarly
known.
Only
when
he
begins
to
grow
old
and
feeble,
he
may
reveal
it
to
one
person,
but
not
to
more,
and
that
one
man
must
be
virtuous....
If
any
wicked
man
should
learn
to
practise
the
Art,
the
event
would
be
fraught
with
great
danger
to
Christendom.
For
such
a
man
would
overstep
all
bounds
of
moderation,
and
would
remove
from
their
hereditary
thrones
those
legitimate
princes
who
rule
over
the
peoples
of
Christendom."
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
