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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
72
How
greatly
must
this
phenomenon
have
affected
the
imagination
of
the
chemists
of
ancient
times,
always
so
ready
to
be
affected
by
everything
that
seemed
supernatural!
Black
and
red
were
the
symbols
of
darkness
and
light,
of
the
evil
and
the
good
principle;
and
the
union
of
these
two
principles
represented
the
moral
order.
At
a
later
time
the
idea
helped
to
establish
the
alchemical
doctrine
that
sulphur
and
mercury
are
the
Principles
of
all
things.
Experiment.--Various
organic
substances
are
analysed
by
heating
in
a
distillation-apparatus;
the
products
are,
in
each
case,
a
solid
residue,
liquids
which
distil
off,
and
certain
spirits
which
are
disengaged.
The
results
supported
the
ancient
theory
which
asserted
that
earth,
water,
air,
and
fire
are
the
four
Elements
of
the
world.
The
solid
residue
represented
earth;
the
liquid
products
of
the
distillation,
water;
and
the
spirituous
substances,
air.
Fire
was
regarded
sometimes
as
the
means
of
purification,
sometimes
as
the
soul,
or
invisible
part,
of
all
substances.
Experiment.-A
strong
acid
is
poured
on
to
copper.
The
metal
is
attacked,
and
at
last
disappears,
giving
place
to
a
green
liquid,
as
transparent
as
water.
A
thin
sheet
of
iron
is
plunged
into
the
liquid;
the
copper
re-appears,
and
the
iron
vanishes.
What
more
simple
than
to
conclude
that
the
iron
has
been
transformed
into
copper?
Had
lead,
silver,
or
gold
been
used
in
place
of
copper,
one
would
have
said
that
the
iron
was
transformed
into
lead,
silver,
or
gold.
In
their
search
for
"the
pure
and
penetrating
matter
which
applied
to
any
substance
exalts
and
perfects
it
after
its
own
kind,"
the
alchemists
necessarily
made
many
inventions,
laid
the
foundation
of
many
arts
and
manufactures,
and
discovered
many
facts
of
importance
in
the
science
of
chemistry.
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