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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
71
Conclusion.--The
metal
which
had
been
destroyed
is
revivified
by
the
grains
of
wheat
and
the
action
of
fire.
Is
this
not
to
perform
the
miracle
of
the
resurrection?
No
objection
can
he
raised
to
this
interpretation,
as
long
as
we
are
ignorant
of
the
phenomena
of
oxidation,
and
the
reduction
of
oxides
by
means
of
carbon,
or
organic
substances
rich
in
carbon,
such
as
sugar,
flour,
seeds,
etc.
Grains
of
wheat
were
the
symbol
of
life,
and,
by
extension,
of
the
resurrection
and
eternal
life.
Experiment.--Ordinary
lead
is
calcined
in
a
cupel
made
of
cinders
or
powdered
bones;
the
lead
is
changed
to
a
cinder
which
disappears
into
the
cupel,
and
a
button
of
silver
remains.
Conclusion.--The
lead
has
vanished;
what
more
natural
than
the
conclusion
that
it
has
been
transformed
into
silver?
It
was
not
known
then
that
all
specimens
of
lead
contain
more
or
less
silver.
Experiment.-The
vapour
of
arsenic
bleaches
copper.
This
fact
gave
rise
to
many
allegories
and
enigmas
concerning
the
means
of
transforming
copper
into
silver.
Sulphur,
which
acts
on
metals
and
changes
many
of
them
into
black
substances,
was
looked
on
as
a
very
mysterious
thing.
It
was
with
sulphur
that
the
coagulation
(solidification)
of
mercury
was
effected.
Experiment.--Mercury
is
allowed
to
fall,
in
a
fine
rain,
on
to
melted
sulphur;
a
black
substance
is
produced;
this
black
substance
is
heated
in
a
closed
vessel,
it
is
volatilised
and
transformed
into
a
beautiful
red
solid.
One
could
scarcely
suppose
that
the
black
and
the
red
substances
are
identical,
if
one
did
not
know
that
they
are
composed
of
the
same
quantities
of
the
same
elements,
sulphur
and
mercury.
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