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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
6
No
branch
of
science
has
had
so
long
a
period
of
incubation
as
chemistry.
There
must
be
some
extraordinary
difficulty
in
the
way
of
disentangling
the
steps
of
those
changes
wherein
substances
of
one
kind
are
produced
from
substances
totally
unlike
them.
To
inquire
how
those
of
acute
intellects
and
much
learning
regarded
such
occurrences
in
the
times
when
man's
outlook
on
the
world
was
very
different
from
what
it
is
now,
ought
to
be
interesting,
and
the
results
of
that
inquiry
must
surely
be
instructive.
If
the
reader
turns
to
a
modern
book
on
chemistry
(for
instance,
The
Story
of
the
Chemical
Elements,
in
this
series),
he
will
find,
at
first,
superficial
descriptions
of
special
instances
of
those
occurrences
which
are
the
subject
of
the
chemist's
study;
he
will
learn
that
only
certain
parts
of
such
events
are
dealt
with
in
chemistry;
more
accurate
descriptions
will
then
be
given
of
changes
which
occur
in
nature,
or
can
be
produced
by
altering
the
ordinary
conditions,
and
the
reader
will
be
taught
to
see
certain
points
of
likeness
between
these
changes;
he
will
be
shown
how
to
disentangle
chemical
occurrences,
to
find
their
similarities
and
differences;
and,
gradually,
he
will
feel
his
way
to
general
statements,
which
are
more
or
less
rigorous
and
accurate
expressions
of
what
holds
good
in
a
large
number
of
chemical
processes;
finally,
he
will
discover
that
some
generalisations
have
been
made
which
are
exact
and
completely
accurate
descriptions
applicable
to
every
case
of
chemical
change.
But
if
we
turn
to
the
writings
of
the
alchemists,
we
are
in
a
different
world.
There
is
nothing
even
remotely
resembling
what
one
finds
in
a
modern
book
on
chemistry.
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