compilation from the works of the ancients, but with the doubtful
exception of pseudo-Hermes, we are acquainted with no alchemical
authors previous to the supposed period of Geber. A knowledge of
natural principles is declared to be necessary to success in the art.
The natural principles in the work of nature are a potent spirit, and
a living or dry water. The disposition of the philosophical furnace
and of the _vas philosophorum_ is clearly described; the latter is a
round glass vessel with a flat round bottom, and has several elaborate
arrangements. A marginal note, however, declares that the account of it
is hard to be understood. Among all the obscurities of the treatise,
it is absolutely plain that it is concerned with metals and minerals.
The properties of sulphur, mercury, arsenick, gold, silver, lead, tin,
copper, iron, magnesia, lut, marchasite, are discussed in such a manner
that it is impossible to establish an allegory, or to interpret the
words of the writer in other than a physical sense.
FOOTNOTES:
[F] J. J. Mangeti, “Bib. Chem. Curiosa,” 2 v. fol. 1702.
RHASIS.
Rhazes, or Rasi, whose true name was Mohammed-Ebn-Secharjah Aboubekr
Arrasi, was a celebrated Arabian physician and chemist, who was born
about the year 850 at Ray in Irâk, upon the frontiers of Khorassan.
In his youth he was passionately devoted to music and to frivolous
amusements; he did not begin the study of medicine till he was thirty
years of age, but he soon surpassed, both in skill and in knowledge,
all the physicians of his time. He devoted himself with equal zeal
to philosophy, is said to have journeyed into Syria, Egypt, and
even into Spain, and successively took charge of the famous hospital
at Bagdad, and of another in his native town. He was naturally good
and generous, and he devoted himself to the service of the poor. His
oriental panegyrists call him the Imam among the scholars of his time,
and western writers describe him as the Galen of the Arabians. By
his assiduous attention to the multitudinous varieties of disease he
obtained the appellation of the experimenter, or the experienced. No
less than two hundred and twenty-six treatises are said to have been
composed by him. To some of these Avicenna was largely indebted, and
even in Europe he exercised considerable influence, for his writings on
medicine were the basis of university teaching up to the seventeenth
century.
Of the twelve books of chemistry which have been attributed to Rhasis
several are probably spurious, and few have been printed. He was an
avowed believer in the transmutation of metals, and, having composed a
treatise on the subject, he presented it in person to Emir Almansour,
Prince of Khorassan, who was highly delighted, and ordered one thousand
pieces of gold to be paid to the author as a recompense. However,
he desired to witness the marvellous experiments and the prolific
auriferous results with which the work abounded. Rhasis replied that he
might certainly be gratified in his sublime curiosity if he provided
the necessary instruments and materials for the accomplishment of the
_magnum opus_. The Emir consented; neither pains nor expenses were
spared over the preliminary preparations, but when the time came the
adept failed miserably in his performance, and was severely belaboured
about the head by the enraged potentate with the unprofitable
alchemical treatise. Rhasis was old at the time, and this violence is
by some declared to have been the cause of his subsequent blindness.
He died in poverty and obscurity, a point which is not supposed to
disprove his possession of the powerful metallic medicine. The date of
his death is uncertain, but it was probably in the year 932.
* * * * *
The writings of Rhasis, like those of Geber, enlarge on the planetary
correspondences, or on the influence exerted by the stars in the
formation of metallic substances beneath the surface of the earth. The
explicit nature of the recipes which he gives may be judged by such
directions as _Recipe aliquid ignotum, quantum volueris_. It is to
him, nevertheless, that we owe the preparation of brandy and several
pharmaceutic applications of alcohol. He was the first to mention
orpiment, realgar, borax, certain combinations of sulphur, iron,
and copper, certain salts of mercury indirectly obtained, and some
compounds of arsenic.[G] He was also a zealous promoter of experimental
methods.
FOOTNOTES:
[G] Figuier, _L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes_, pp. 95, 96.
ALFARABI.
The middle of the tenth century was made illustrious by one of those
celebrated men who do honour to the sciences in which they engage.
This was Abou-Nasr-Mohammed-Ibn-Tarkan, commonly called Farabi and
Alfarabi--a man of universal genius, who penetrated all subjects with
equal facility, fathoming the most useful and interesting sciences, and
passing for the greatest philosopher of his time.
He was born at Farab, now known as Othrar, in Asia Minor. He was of
Turkish origin, but repaired to Bagdad to acquire a more perfect
knowledge of Arabic; there he devoted himself with zeal and enthusiasm
to the study of the Greek philosophers under Abou Bachar Maltey, an
expounder of Aristotle. From Bagdad he proceeded to Harran, where John,
a Christian physician, was teaching logic. In a short time Alfarabi
surpassed all his other scholars, but he left Harran and visited Damas,
thence penetrating into Egypt. Early attracted towards the secrets of
nature, he spent a great portion of his life in incessant wanderings,
collecting the opinions of all the philosophers he could meet with
on these and on kindred subjects. He despised the world, and took no
pains to acquire wealth, though he wrote upon alchemy, that is, if the
Hermetic works which are attributed to him be genuine. His erudition
and indefatigable activity are attested by his other writings,
which variously treat of philosophy, logic, physics, astronomy, and
mathematics. His chief reputation is based on a sort of encyclopædia,
where he gives a description, with an exact definition, of all the
arts and sciences; and on a celebrated musical treatise, wherein he
ridicules the pythagorean speculations upon the music of the spheres,
and proves the connection of sound with atmospheric vibrations.
According to several authorities, he was protected and supported in
his later years by the cultured and enlightened Seïf Eddoula, who is
represented as Prince of Damas, but who seems to have been Sultan
of Syria, and to have made the acquaintance of the scholar in the
following curious manner.
Alfarabi was returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, when, passing
through Syria, he stopped at the Court of the Sultan, and entered his
presence while he was surrounded by numerous sage persons, who were
discoursing with the monarch on the sciences.
Alfarabi, ignorant of, or else wholly ignoring, the usages of society,
presented himself in his travelling attire; and when the Sultan desired
that he should be seated, with astonishing philosophical freedom, he
planted himself at the end of the royal sofa. The prince, aghast at his
boldness, called one of his officers, and in a tongue generally unknown
commanded him to eject the intruder. The philosopher, however, promptly
made answer in the same tongue: “Oh, Lord, he who acts hastily is
liable to hasty repentance!” The prince was equally astounded to find
himself understood by the stranger as by the manner in which the reply
was given. Anxious to know more of his guest, he began to question him,
and soon discovered that he was acquainted with seventy languages.
Problems for discussion were then propounded to the philosophers who
had witnessed the discourteous intrusion with considerable indignation
and disgust, but Alfarabi disputed with so much eloquence and vivacity
that he reduced all the doctors to silence, and they began writing
down his discourse. The Sultan then ordered his musicians to perform
for the diversion of the company. When they struck up, the philosopher
accompanied them on a lute with such infinite grace and tenderness,
that he elicited the unmeasured admiration of the whole distinguished
assembly. At the request of the Sultan he produced a piece of his own
composing, sung it, and accompanied it with great force and spirit to
the delight of all his hearers. The air was so sprightly that even the
gravest philosopher could not resist dancing, but by another tune he as
easily melted them to tears, and then by a soft unobtrusive melody he
lulled the whole company to sleep.
Great was the anxiety of the Sultan to retain so accomplished a person
about him, and some say that he succeeded, others that the philosopher
declined the most brilliant offers, declaring that he should never
rest till he had discovered the whole secret of the philosopher’s
stone of which he had been in search for years, and to which, from
his discourse, he appeared to be on the point of attaining. According
to these biographers, he set out, but it was to perish miserably. He
was attacked by robbers in the woods of Syria, and, in spite of his
courage, was overpowered by numbers and killed. This occurred in the
year 954. Others say that he died at Damas, enjoying the munificence of
the Sultan to the last.
AVICENNA.
Khorassan produced another celebrated adept at the end of the tenth,
or, according to an alternative opinion, about the middle of the
eleventh century. This was the illustrious Ebn Sina, commonly called
Avicenna, who was born at Bacara, the principal city of that province
of Persia. The exact date of his birth has been fixed, but in the
absence of sufficient authority, at the year 980. He is equally
celebrated for the multiplicity of his literary works and for his
adventurous life. At an early age he had made unusual progress in
mathematics, and his gifted mind soon penetrated the mysteries of
transcendental philosophy. He was only sixteen when he passed from
the preparatory sciences to that of medicine, in which he succeeded
with the same celerity; and great is the sagacity attributed to
him in the knowledge of diseases. He is praised in particular for
having discovered that the illness of the King of Gordia’s nephew was
occasioned by an amorous passion which he had carefully concealed, and
for the stratagem by which he discovered the object of the young man’s
affections.
His credit as a physician and philosopher became so great that the
Sultan Magdal Doulet determined to place him at the head of his
affairs, and appointed him to the distinguished position of Grand
Vizier; but, notwithstanding the religion of Mohammed, which Avicenna
professed, he drank so freely, and his intemperance led to so much
immorality and disorder, that he was deprived of his dignities in the
State, and died in comparative obscurity at the age of fifty-six. He
was buried at Hamadan, a city of Persia, which was the ancient Ecbatana.
Though his history gave rise to the saying that he was a philosopher
devoid of wisdom, and a physician without health, the Arabs long
believed that he commanded spirits, and was served by the Jinn. As he
sought the philosophic stone, several oriental peoples affirm him to
be still alive, dwelling in splendid state, invested with spiritual
powers, and enjoying in an unknown retreat the sublime nectar of
perpetual life and the rejuvenating qualities of the _aurum potabile_.
Six or seven treatises on Hermetic philosophy are ascribed to Avicenna;
some of them are undoubtedly spurious. There is a treatise on the
“Congelation of the Stone” and a _Tractatulus de Alchimia_, which may
be found in the first volumes of the _Ars Aurifera_, Basle, 1610.
In 1572 the _Ars Chimica_ was printed at Berne. Two Hermetic tracts
are also attributed to Avicenna by the compilers of the _Theatrum
Chimicum_, and an octavo volume _Porta Elementorum_, appeared under his
name at Basle during the third quarter of the sixteenth century.
The grimoires and magical rituals frequently appeal to Avicenna as the
authority for their supernatural secrets.
The _Tractatulus Alchimiæ_ treats of the nature of the sophic mercury,
which contains the sophic sulphur, and wherefrom every mineral
substance was originally created by God. This mercury is the universal
vivific spirit; there is nothing in the world to compare with it; it
penetrates, exalts, and develops everything; it is a ferment to every
body with which it is united chemically; it is the grand metallic
elixir, both to the white, or silver, and red, or gold producing,
degrees. Its potencies develop under the action of fire. Though found
in all minerals, it is a thing of the earth. It possesses lucidity,
fluidity, and a silverine colour. The perfection and the praise of gold
are elaborately celebrated in succeeding pages. The _prima materia_
is declared to be of a duplex nature, and the duplex elixir, which
is the result of successful operation, has powers that are beyond
nature, because it is eminently spiritual. The strength of the perfect
magisterium is one upon a thousand.
The chemical knowledge of Avicenna is derived from Geber, as his
medical erudition was borrowed from Galen, Aristotle, and other
anterior writers. He describes several varieties of saltpetre, and
treats of the properties of common salt, vitriol, sulphur, orpiment,
sal ammoniac, &c.
MORIEN,
or Morienus, was a recluse born at Rome in the twelfth century, and who
took up his habitation in Egypt, where he became profoundly versed in
the chemistry and physics of the period. While his education was still
progressing in his native city, and under the eyes of a father and
mother who tenderly cherished him, he heard of the reputation of Adfar,
the Arabian philosopher of Alexandria, and contrived to get a sight of
his writings, when he was immediately seized with a desperate desire to
understand their meaning. The first impressions of youth carried him
away; he abandoned his home, and set out for Alexandria, where, after
some difficulty, he discovered the abode of the philosopher. He made
known to him his name, his country, and his religion, and both appeared
well contented with each other--Adfar at having found a young man
whose docility he could depend on, and Morien that he was under the
discipline of a master who promised to unveil to him the source of all
treasures.
They studied together; the amiability of the pupil encouraged his
instructor to make known to him all his secrets, after which, according
to one account, Morien went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and then
turned hermit. It seems more probable that he tarried with Adfar till
his death, which in spite of his immense treasures, his illumination,
and his acquirements in arcane philosophy, eventually occurred,
and that then Morien, having paid the last duties to his deceased
initiator, quitted Alexandria, and proceeded on his pilgrimage. He
purchased a retreat near the city of Jerusalem, where he settled in the
company of a pupil, whom he doubtless intended to form for science.
In the meantime, the papers of the adept Adfar appear to have fallen
into the hands of Kalid, the Soldan of Egypt, a wise and curious
prince. On the title-page of these manuscripts it was stated that
they contained the priceless secret of the philosophical stone. The
Soldan studied them with avidity, but made no progress towards their
comprehension, and not being able to accomplish the _magnum opus_ in
his own person, he instituted a careful search for some one who was
qualified to interpret the unintelligible mysteries of the manuscripts.
He convened all the philosophers to Cairo, promised to maintain them,
and to provide them with all the materials and machinery required for
the success of alchemical processes, and guaranteed a magnificent
reward to any person who succeeded. As it might happen even at this
day, many persons presented themselves who had their minds fixed upon
the profits to be derived from such transactions.
Morien, hearing with pain how much Kalid was deceived by worthless
pretenders, quitted his retreat and repaired in all haste to Egypt,
with the ultimate conversion of the Soldan quite as much at heart
as the communication of the mysteries of Adfar. The labours of the
pretended alchemists had produced nothing, as the initiated hermit
had expected, but something in the manner of Morien impressed the
prince, who appointed him a house in which he might remain until he
had finished the process. The work in due course was brought to its
absolute perfection; the philosopher inscribed these words on the vase
in which he placed the elixir:--“He who possesses all has no need of
others,” and, immediately quitting Alexandria, he returned to his
hermitage.
Possessed though he now was of the great and supreme elixir, Kalid
had no notion how to make use of it for the transmutations he desired
to accomplish. He was equally penetrated with regret at the loss of a
veritable artist, and filled with indignation at the false alchemists
who had promised him all things, but had accomplished nothing, he
ordained by an edict the capital punishment of every exposed pretender.
Some years passed away, during which the Soldan vainly sought the
possessor of the potent secret. At length one day, being at the chase,
and accompanied by a favourite slave, an incident occurred which led
to the eventual fulfilment of his ambition. The slave, whose name was
Galip, riding a little apart, discovered an aged man at prayer in
a solitary place. He questioned him, and learned that he came from
Jerusalem, where he had been abiding in the hermitage of a holy man. He
had heard of the anxiety of Kalid to accomplish the mystery of Hermes,
and knowing that the hermit in question was a man of unparalleled skill
in the sacred, supernal science, he had quitted Palestine to inform the
prince thereof.
“Oh! my brother, what do you say?” exclaimed Galip. “No more! I do not
wish you to die like those impostors who have vaunted themselves to my
master.”
“I fear nothing,” returned the hermit. “If you be able to present me to
the prince, I will at once go before him with confidence.”
Galip accordingly presented him, and the old man informed Kalid that
he could enable him to accomplish the Hermetic work, that he was
acquainted with an adept hermit of the solitudes of Jerusalem, who, by
illumination from the Deity, had received supernatural wisdom, and by
his own admission was in possession of the precious gift. The quantity
of gold and silver which he brought each year to Jerusalem was a
conclusive proof of the fact.
The Soldan represented the danger of false promises to the venerable
man, and warned him how many deceptive and boasting adventurers
had already met their death. The hermit, however, persisted in his
confident assertions, and Kalid, hearing the description of Morien,
commanded Galip, his slave, to accompany the old man with a sufficient
escort to Jerusalem, where they eventually arrived after many
labours, and were rejoiced by the discovery of Morien, who beneath
his hair-cloth shirt is declared to have preserved a perpetually
youthful frame. Galip recognised him at once, saluted him on the
part of his master, and persuaded him to return to the prince, who
received him with unbounded satisfaction, and would have engaged him
in a worldly situation at his court. Morien, however, was intent
only on the conversion of Kalid; he made known to him the mysteries
of Christianity, but in spite of his wisdom was unable to effect the
desired end. He appears, notwithstanding, to have discovered to him the
secret of the transcendent science, and the conversation of Morien and
Kalid has been written in Arabic, and translated into Latin and French.
The subsequent history of Morien is not recorded. In the collections of
Hermetic philosophy there are some small tracts attributed to Kalid,
and also to Galip, who appears to have participated in the secret.
Morien himself is cited as the author of three works, said to have
been translated from the Arabic, but their authenticity is, of course,
very doubtful. The first is entitled _Liber de Distinctione Mecurii
Aquarum_, of which a manuscript copy existed in the library of Robert
Boyle. The second is the _Liber de Compositione Alchemiæ_, printed
in the first volume of the _Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa_. Finally,
several editions have appeared of a treatise entitled _De Re Metallica,
metallorum Transmutatione, et occulta summaque antiquorum medicina
libellus_. It was first printed at Paris in the year 1559.
Bacon and Arnold, who appeared one at the beginning, and the other at
the end of the thirteenth century, have cited Morien as an authority
among the Hermetic philosophers, and Robertus Castrensis assures us
that he translated Morien’s book from the Arabic language in the year
1182.
The _Liber de Compositione Alchemiæ_ contains a Hermetic conversation
between Morien, Kalid, and Galip. It appeals to the authority of
Hermes, whom it states to have been the first who discovered the grand
magisterium, the secret of which he transmitted to his disciples. It
declares the _prima materia_ to be one, quoting the testimony of the
wise king and philosopher Hercules and the adept Arsicanus, with other
pseudo authorities, which discredit the date of the dialogue far more
than they support the alchemical theory in question.
ALBERTUS MAGNUS.
The universal genius of Albert, joined to a laudable curiosity in
so great a philosopher, say the original “Lives of Alchemysticall
Philosophers,” did not allow him to pass by the Hermetic science
without giving it due attention.
Counter authorities, while admitting that in things scientific he
must be counted the most curious and investigating of the children
of men, emphatically assert that he has been erroneously included
by demonographers among the number of magicians, and that in the
twenty-one goodly folio volumes which comprise his _opera omnia_,
there is no trace of sorcery. In one place he declares formally that
“all those stories of demons prowling in the regions of the air, and
from whom the secrets of futurity may be ascertained, are absurdities
which can never be admitted by sober reason.” The works on incredible
secrets, so numerously attributed to him, are, therefore, condemned
as spurious, Albertus Magnus having no more hand in their production
than in the invention of the cannon and the pistol, which has been
attributed to him by Matthias de Luna.
So early, however, as the year 1480 the Great Chronicle of Belgium
records him _magnus in magia, major in philosophia, maximus in
theologia_. It is futile for the historians of his order to argue that
Albert never applied himself to the Hermetic art, says an anonymous
writer. His books alone--those which are his incontestably--bear
witness to his alchemical erudition, and as a physician he carefully
examined what regards Natural History, and above all the minerals
and metals. His singular experiments are recorded in the _Secretum
Secretorum_, which first appeared at Venice in 1508.
Michael Maier declares that he received from the disciples of St
Dominic the secret of the philosophical stone, and that he communicated
it in turn to St Thomas Aquinas; that he was in possession of a stone
naturally marked with a serpent, and endowed with so admirable a virtue
that on being set down in a place infested with such reptiles, it would
attract them from their hiding places; that for the space of thirty
years he employed all his knowledge as a magician and astrologer to
construct, out of metals carefully chosen under appropriate planetary
influences, an automaton endowed with the power of speech, and
which served him as an infallible oracle, replying plainly to every
kind of question which could possibly be proposed to it. This was
the celebrated Androïd, which was destroyed by St Thomas under the
impression that it was a diabolical contrivance.