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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
63
In
trying
to
attach
definite
meanings
to
the
alchemical
accounts
of
Principles,
Elements,
and
the
One
Thing,
and
the
directions
which
the
alchemists
give
for
changing
one
substance
into
others,
we
are
very
apt
to
be
misled
by
the
use
of
such
an
expression
as
the
transmutation
of
the
elements.
To
a
chemist
that
phrase
means
the
change
of
an
element
into
another
element,
an
element
being
a
definite
substance,
which
no
one
has
been
able
to
produce
by
the
combination
of
two
or
more
substances
unlike
itself,
or
to
separate
into
two
or
more
substances
unlike
itself.
But
whatever
may
have
been
the
alchemical
meaning
of
the
word
element,
it
was
certainly
not
that
given
to
the
same
word
to-day.
Nor
did
the
word
transmutation
mean
to
the
alchemist
what
it
means
to
the
chemist.
The
facts
which
are
known
at
present
concerning
the
elements
make
unthinkable
such
a
change
as
that
of
lead
into
silver;
but
new
facts
may
be
discovered
which
will
make
possible
the
separation
of
lead
into
things
unlike
itself,
and
the
production
of
silver
by
the
combination
of
some
of
these
constituents
of
lead.
The
alchemist
supposed
he
knew
such
facts
as
enabled
him
not
only
to
form
a
mental
picture
of
the
change
of
lead
into
silver,
or
tin
into
gold,
but
also
to
assert
that
such
changes
must
necessarily
happen,
and
to
accomplish
them.
Although
we
are
quite
sure
that
the
alchemist's
facts
were
only
imaginings,
we
ought
not
to
blame
him
for
his
reasoning
on
what
he
took
to
be
facts.
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