THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE.
The dominating ambition of the early alchemists was to discover the
unknown. In the same spirit the modern worker in science gropes
onward, and dreams of discovering some contribution towards solving
the elixir of life, in the form, it may be, of conquering at least one
fell disease. The ancient workers in alchemy confined their researches
almost exclusively to metals; they believed that all natural things
were composed of four elements, which they termed Fire, Air, Earth, and
Water. “When these four elements are conjoined,” says Roger Bacon, in
his _Radix Mundi_, “they become another thing, whereas it is evident
that all things in Nature are composed of the said elements being
altered and changed.”
But the patient researches of the alchemists were not so much due to a
love for scientific investigation as to the overwhelming desire to gain
wealth.
[Illustration: A STILL FOR DYSTILLING THE WATER OF LYFE.
1576.]
The majority had two fixed objects in view as the goals of their
ambition, one being the discovery of some body that would be capable of
transmuting the baser metals into gold and silver; and the other, the
discovery of an elixir which would prolong the span of human life to
an indefinite period. Both these objects seem to have been sought for
by man from prehistoric times, and their origin is lost in antiquity.
Berthelot remarks that the term “Philosopher’s Stone” does not occur in
writings earlier than the seventh century, although the central idea is
much more ancient.
The philosopher’s stone was sought for by the Chinese philosophers at a
very remote period, afterwards by the Greeks, Arabs, and others down to
the seventeenth century.
Men of undoubted ability and genius wasted both their lives and
their fortunes over the search for this illusive chimera, and others
condescended to fraud and trickery of the meanest description in
its pursuit. Apparently no alchemist of any repute thought it right
to die until he had at least claimed to have solved one of these
great problems. Thus claimants to the discovery were numerous. The
descriptions given of the various processes in ancient manuscripts
and works for producing the philosopher’s stone are usually of a very
elaborate description, and couched in the most fantastic language.
Failure to produce the desired result was invariably accounted for by
the omission to carry out some minute detail. Some who professed to
have discovered the secret demanded large sums of money to reveal it,
and several visited the various courts of Europe to demonstrate it by
means of trickery and conjuring.
The notorious Dr. Dee, who flourished in the time of Queen Elizabeth,
was one of the last claimants to the discovery, and is said to have
received immense sums of money from dupes for imparting the coveted
secret, which he demonstrated by means of an ingenious trick.
Realgar, mercury, sulphur, and many other substances were credited with
the magical property of transmutation.
In the illustration (p. 65), which is taken from an authentic
engraving of the sixteenth century, we have a figure of the apparatus
used for distilling the “Water of Life,” the process for which is
described by Gesnerus in the _Newe Jewell of Health_, printed in 1576.
The alchemist, arrayed in his imposing robes, is depicted giving
instructions to his assistant as to certain precautions to be taken in
conducting the process.
Bacon states that sulphur and mercury are the mineral roots and natural
principles upon which Nature herself acts and works in the mines and
caverns of the earth; the latter metal he believed to be the true
elixir of the philosopher’s stone; others, including Rhazes and Merlin,
believed it to be an amalgam of gold and mercury, fantastically called
the Red man and his White wife.
Concerning the vessels for producing this “Citrine body,” as Bacon
calls it, the most exact precautions were taken. Special apparatus was
used, and a special heat, which was not to exceed the heat of the body.
For this purpose horse-dung was employed. Senier, the philosopher,
says: “Dig a sepulchre and bury the woman (mercury) with her man (gold)
in horse-dung, the fire of the philosopher, until such time as they be
conjoined”.
Bacon’s definition of alchemy was: “Alchymie is the art or science
teaching how to make or generate a certain kind of medicine which is
called the elixir. It teaches how to transmute all kinds of metals, one
with another; and this by a proper medicine.” George Ripley, a monk,
in 1476, thought that he had discovered the much-coveted stone in pure
sulphur. He says: “Let the two sulphurs, _viz._, the white and the red,
be mingled with the oil of the white elixir that they may work the more
strongly, and you shall have the highest medicine in the world to heal
and cure human bodies, and to transmute the bodies of metals into the
most pure fine gold and silver”. Berthelot, who has made an exhaustive
study of the subject, comes to the conclusion that the doctrines of
alchemy concerning the transmutation of metals, did not originate in
the philosophical views of the constitution of matter as generally
supposed, but in the practical experiments of goldsmiths occupied in
making fraudulent substitutes for the precious metals. One cannot but
think with pity of the immense labour expended and lost in the attempt
made by many of these pioneers of science in their pursuit after this
chemical chimera.
Paracelsus, as well as his predecessors, laboured studiously to
discover some method for prolonging life. Like Bacon and Verulam, he
maintained that the human body could be rejuvenated to a certain extent
by a fresh supply of vitality, and it was his aim to find means by
which such a supply could be obtained. In one of his works he gives the
following reasons for this belief: “Metals may be preserved from rust
and wood may be protected against rot. Blood may be preserved a long
time if the air is excluded. Egyptian mummies have kept their form for
centuries without undergoing putrefaction. Animals awaken from their
winter sleep, and flies having become torpid from cold become nimble
again when they are warmed. Therefore, if inanimate objects can be kept
from destruction, why should there be no possibility to preserve the
life-essence of animate forms?” For this purpose he prepared a remedy
he called _Primum Ens Melissæ_, which was made by dissolving pure
carbonate of potass, and macerating in the liquid the fresh leaves of
the _melissa_ plant. On this absolute alcohol was poured several times
in successive portions to absorb the colouring matter, after which it
was collected, distilled, and evaporated to the thickness of a syrup.
The second great secret elixir of Paracelsus was his _Primum Ens
Sanguinis_. This was prepared by mixing blood from the medium vein of a
healthy young person, and digesting it in a warm place with twice its
quantity of _alcahest_, after which the red fluid was to be separated
from the sediment, filtered, and preserved.
The alcahest was his celebrated universal medicine, and was considered
the greatest mystery of all. It was made with freshly prepared caustic
lime and absolute alcohol. These were distilled together ten times. The
residue left in the retort was mixed with pure carbonate of potass and
dried. This was again distilled with alcohol. It was then placed in a
dish and set on fire, and the residue that remained was the alcahest.
The following lines were found inscribed on the fly-leaf of an old work
on alchemy, printed in 1550, and signed “PHILO VERITAS”:—
ELIXIR VITÆ.
When fire and water, earth and air
In love’s true bond united are,
For all diseases then be sure
You have a safe and certain cure.
I will affirm it’s here alone
Exists the Philosophic Stone.
This is fair nature’s virgin root,
Thrice blest are they who reap the fruit:
But oh! where one true adept’s found,
Ten thousand thousand cheats abound.
In an ancient work in the library of York Minster, the writer came
across the following in manuscript, signed “RAYMUND LULLI”:—
Remember man that is the most noble creature in composition that
ever God wrought;
In whom be four elements proportioned by nature,
A neutral mercuriallyte which costeth right naught,
Out of his monie by manie it is bought;
And our monie be not all but our oxtalle towe,
Of the sun and the moon; which Raymund Said So.