1419. Compare this with the Man of Lawes Tale, B. 552.
1422. _rape and renne_, seize and clutch. The phrase, as it stands, is
meaningless; _rapen_ is to hurry, and _rennen_ is to run, both verbs being
intransitive. But it took the place of the older phrase _repen and rinen_
(Ancren Riwle, p. 128), from A. S. _hrepian and hr[=i]nan_, to handle and
touch. The Ancren Riwle gives the form _arepen and arechen_, with the
various readings _repen and rinen_, _ropen and rimen_. Ihre quotes the
[432] English '_rap and ran_, per fas et nefas ad se pertrahere.' Mr.
Wedgwood notices _rap and ran_, to get by hook or crook, to seize whatever
one can lay hands on, but misses the etymology. Palsgrave has--'_I rap or
rende_, je rapine.' Coles (Eng. Dict. ed. 1684) has '_rap an[d] ren_,
snatch and catch.' 'All they could rap and rend and pilfer'; Butler,
Hudibras, pt. ii. c. 2. 789. (First ed., _rap and run_.) The phrase is
still in use in the (corrupted) form to _rape and rend_, or (in Cleveland)
_to rap and ree_.
Briefly, _rape_, properly to hurry (Icel. _hrapa_), is a false substitute
for A. S. _hrepian_, allied to G. _raffen_; whilst _renne_, to run, is a
false substitute for A. S. _hr[=i]nan_, to touch, lay hold of.
1428. Arnoldus de Villa Nova was a French physician, theologian,
astrologer, and alchemist; born about A. D. 1235, died A. D. 1314. Tyrwhitt
refers us to Fabricius, Bibl. Med. Æt., in v. Arnaldus Villanovanus. In a
tract printed in Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 285, we have a reference to the
same saying--'Et hoc est illud quod magni philosophi scripserunt, quod
lapis noster fit ex Mercurio et sulphure praeparatis et separatis, et de
hoc opere et substantia dicit Magister Arnoldus in tractatu suo parabolice,
nisi granum frumenti in terra cadens mortuum fuerit, &c. Intelligens pro
grano mortuo in terra, Mercurium mortuum cum sale petrae et vitriolo
Romano, et cum sulphure; et ibi mortificatur, et ibi sublimatur cum igne,
et sic multum fructus adfert, et hic est lapis major omnibus, quem
philosophi quaesiverunt, et inventum absconderunt.' The whole process is
described, but it is quite unintelligible to me. It is clear that two
circumstances stand very much in the way of our being able to follow out
such processes; these are (1) that the same substance was frequently
denoted by six or seven different names; and (2) that one name (such as
sulphur) denoted five or six different things (such as sulphuric acid,
orpiment, sulphuret of arsenic, &c.).
1429. _Rosarie_, i. e. Rosarium Philosophorum, the name of a treatise on
alchemy by Arnoldus de Villa Nova; Theat. Chem. iv. 514.
1431. The word _mortification_ seems to have been loosely used to denote
any change due to chemical action. Phillips explained _Mortify_ by--'Among
chymists, to change the outward form or shape of a mixt body; as when
quicksilver, or any other metal, is dissolved in an acid menstruum.'
1432. 'Unless it be with the knowledge (i. e. aid) of his brother.' The
'brother' of Mercury was sulphur or brimstone (see l. 1439). The dictum
itself is, I suppose, as worthless as it is obscure.
1434. _Hermes_, i. e. Hermes Trismegistus, fabled to have been the inventor
of alchemy. Several books written by the New Platonists in the fourth
century were ascribed to him. Tyrwhitt notes that a treatise _under his
name_ may be found in the Theatrum Chemicum, vol. iv. See Fabricius,
Bibliotheca Graeca, lib. i. c. 10; and Smith's Classical Dictionary. The
name is preserved in the phrase 'to seal _hermetically_.' [433]
Mr. Furnivall printed, for the Early Eng. Text Society, a tract called The
Book of Quinte Essence, 'a tretice in Englisch breuely drawe out of the
book of quintis essenciis in latyn, that _Hermys_ the prophete and kyng of
Egipt, after the flood of Noe, fadir of philosophris, hadde by reuelacioun
of an aungil of god to him sende.'
1438. _dragoun_, dragon. Here, of course, it means mercury, or some
compound containing it. In certain processes, the solid residuum was also
called _draco_ or _draco qui comedit caudam suam_. This _draco_ and the
_cauda draconis_ are frequently mentioned in the old treatises; see
Theatrum Chemicum, iii. 29, 36, &c. The terms may have been derived from
astrology, since 'dragon's head' and 'dragon's tail' were common terms in
that science. Chaucer mentions the latter in his Astrolabe, ii. 4. 23. And
see 'Draco' in Theat. Chem. ii. 456.
1440. _sol_ and _luna_, gold and silver. The alchemists called _sol_ (gold)
the father, and _luna_ (silver) the mother of the elixir or philosopher's
stone. See Theat. Chem. iii. 9, 24, 25; iv. 528. Similarly, sulphur was
said to be the father of minerals, and mercury the mother. Id. iii. 7.
1447. _secree_, secret of secrets. Tyrwhitt notes--'Chaucer refers to a
treatise entitled Secreta Secretorum, which was supposed to contain the sum
of Aristotle's instructions to Alexander. See Fabricius, Bibliotheca
Graeca, vol. ii. p. 167. It was very popular in the middle ages. Ægidius de
Columnâ, a famous divine and bishop, about the latter end of the 13th
century, built upon it his book De Regimine Principum, of which our Occleve
made a free translation in English verse, and addressed it to Henry V.
while Prince of Wales. A part of Lydgate's translation of the Secreta
Secretorum is printed in Ashmole's Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, p. 397.
He did not translate more than about half of it, being prevented by death.
See MS. Harl. 2251, and Tanner, Bibl. Brit. s. v. Lydgate. The greatest
part of the viith Book of Gower's Confessio Amantis [see note to l. 820] is
taken from this supposed work of Aristotle.' In the Theatrum Chemicum, iii.
14, I find an allusion to the philosopher's stone ending with these
words--'Et Aristoteles ad Alexandrum Regem dicit in libro de secretis
secretorum, capitulo penultimo: O Alexander, accipe lapidem mineralem,
vegetabilem, et animalem, et separa elementa.' See Warton, Hist. Eng.
Poetry, sect. 19; iii. 19 (ed. 1871), or ii. 230 (ed. 1840).
1450. Tyrwhitt says--'The book alluded to is printed in the Theatrum
Chemicum, vol. v. p. 219 [p. 191, ed. 1660], under this title, Senioris
Zadith fil. Hamuelis Tabula Chemica. The story which follows of Plato and
his disciples is there told, p. 249 [p. 224, ed. 1660], with some
variations, of Solomon. "Dixit Salomon rex, Recipe lapidem qui dicitur
Thitarios (_sic_).... Dixit sapiens, Assigna mihi illum.... Dixit, Est
corpus magnesiae.... Dixit, Quid est magnesia?... Respondit, Magnesia est
aqua, composita," &c.' The name of Plato [434] occurs thrice _only a few
lines below_, which explains Chaucer's mistake. We find 'Titan Magnesia' in
Ashmole's Theat. Chem. p. 275; cf. pp. 42, 447. The Gk. [Greek: titanos]
means lime, gypsum, white earth, chalk, &c.
1457. _ignotum per ignotius_, lit. an unknown thing through a thing more
unknown; i. e. an explanation of a hard matter by means of a term that is
harder still.
1460. The theory that all things were made of the four elements, earth,
air, fire, and water, was the foundation on which all alchemy was built;
and it was the obstinacy with which this idea was held that rendered
progress in science almost impossible. The words were used in the widest
sense; thus air meant any vapour or gas; water, any liquid; earth, any
solid sediment; and fire, any amount of heat. Hence also the theory of the
four complexions of men; for even man was likewise composed of the four
elements, under the influence of the planets and stars. See Gower, Conf.
Amant. bk. vii; Theat. Chem. iii. 82; iv. 533, 537; and the note to A. 420,
at p. 40 above.
1461. _rote_ represents the Lat. _radix_. In the Theat. Chem., ii. 463, we
read that the philosopher's stone 'est _radix_, de quo omnes sapientes
tractauerunt.'
1469. 'Except where it pleases His Deity to inspire mankind, and again, to
forbid whomsoever it pleases Him.'
1479. _terme of his lyve_, during the whole term of his life.
1481. _bote of his bale_, a remedy for his evil, help out of his trouble.
* * * * *
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