Nothing very distinct has been ascertained respecting a sect, calling
itself Rosicrucians. It is said to have originated in the East from
one of the crusaders in the fourteenth century; but it attracted at
least no public notice till the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Its adherents appear to have imbibed their notions from the Arabians,
and claimed the possession of the philosopher's stone, the art of
transmuting metals, and the _elixir vitae_.