Read Ebook: Alchemy: Ancient and Modern Being a Brief Account of the Alchemistic Doctrines and Their Relations to Mysticism on the One Hand and to Recent Discoveries in Physical Science on the Other Hand; Together with Some Particulars Regarding the Lives and Teachin by Redgrove H Stanley Herbert Stanley

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? 1. The Aim of Alchemy 1 ? 2. The Transcendental Theory of Alchemy 2 ? 3. Failure of the Transcendental Theory 3 ? 4. The Qualifications of the Adept 4 ? 5. Alchemistic Language 5 ? 6. Alchemists of a Mystical Type 7 ? 7. The Meaning of Alchemy 7 ? 8. Opinions of other Writers 8 ? 9. The Basic Idea of Alchemy 10 ? 10. The Law of Analogy 12 ? 11. The Dual Nature of Alchemy 13 ? 12. "Body, Soul and Spirit" 14 ? 13. Alchemy, Mysticism and Modern Science 15

? 14. Supposed Proofs of Transmutation 17 ? 15. The Alchemistic Elements 18 ? 16. Aristotle's Views regarding the Elements 19 ? 17. The Sulphur-Mercury Theory 20 ? 18. The Sulphur-Mercury-Salt Theory 22 ? 19. Alchemistic Elements and Principles 23 ? 20. The Growth of the Metals 25 ? 21. Alchemy and Astrology 26 ? 22. Alchemistic View of the Nature of Gold 27 ? 23. The Philosopher's Stone 29 ? 24. The Nature of the Philosopher's Stone 30 ? 25. The Theory of Development 32 ? 26. The Powers of the Philosopher's Stone 34 ? 27. The Elixir of Life 35 ? 28. The Practical Methods of the Alchemists 36

? 46. Paracelsus 58 ? 47. Views of Paracelsus 60 ? 48. Iatro-chemistry 61 ? 49. The Rosicrucian Society 62 ? 50. Thomas Charnock 65 ? 51. Andreas Libavius 66 ? 52. Edward Kelley and John Dee 67 ? 53. Henry Khunrath 70 ? 54. Alexander Sethon and Michael Sendivogius 70 ? 55. Michael Maier 72 ? 56. Jacob Boehme 74 ? 57. J. B. van Helmont and F. M. van Helmont 75 ? 58. Johann Rudolf Glauber 77 ? 59. Thomas Vaughan 77 ? 60. "Eirenaeus Philalethes" and George Starkey 79

? 71. The Birth of Modern Chemistry 94 ? 72. The Phlogiston Theory 94 ? 73. Boyle and the Definition of an Element 96 ? 74. The Stoichiometric Laws 96 ? 75. Dalton's Atomic Theory 99 ? 76. The Determination of the Atomic Weights of the Elements 102 ? 77. Prout's Hypothesis 102 ? 78. The "Periodic Law" 105 ? 79. The Corpuscular Theory of Matter 109 ? 80. Proof that the Electrons are not Matter 110 ? 81. The Electronic Theory of Matter 112 ? 82. The Etheric Theory of Matter 113 ? 83. Further Evidence of the Complexity of the Atoms 114 ? 84. Views of Wald and Ostwald 115

? 85. "Modern Alchemy" 117 ? 86. X-Rays and Becquerel Rays 117 ? 87. The Discovery of Radium 118 ? 88. Chemical Properties of Radium 119 ? 89. The Radioactivity of Radium 120 ? 90. The Disintegration of the Radium Atom 122 ? 91. "Induced Radioactivity" 123 ? 92. Properties of Uranium and Thorium 123 ? 93. The Radium Emanation 124 ? 94. The Production of Helium from Emanation 125 ? 95. Nature of this Change 127 ? 96. Is this Change a true Transmutation? 128 ? 97. The Production of Neon from Emanation 130 ? 98. Ramsay's Experiments on Copper 132 ? 99. Further Experiments on Radium and Copper 134 ? 100. Ramsay's Experiments on Thorium and allied Metals 134 ? 101. The Possibility of Making Gold 136 ? 102. The Significance of "Allotropy" 136 ? 103. Conclusion 142

LIST OF PLATES

TO FACE PAGE

PLATE 2. Symbolical Illustration representing the Trinity of Body, Soul and Spirit 15

PLATE 5. Alchemistic Apparatus-- Two forms of apparatus for sublimation 37

PLATE 6. Alchemistic Apparatus-- An Athanor } 38 A Pelican }

PLATE 7. Portrait of Albertus Magnus 44

PLATE 8. Portraits of-- Thomas Aquinas } 52 Nicolas Flamel }

PLATE 9. Portraits of-- Edward Kelley } 68 John Dee }

PLATE 10. Portrait of Michael Maier 72

PLATE 11. Portrait of Jacob Boehme 74

PLATE 12. Portraits of J. B. and F. M. van Helmont 76

PLATE 13. Portrait of J. F. Helvetius 84

PLATE 14. Portrait of "Cagliostro" 92

PLATE 15. Portrait of Robert Boyle 94

PLATE 16. Portrait of John Dalton 100

TABLE SHOWING THE PERIODIC CLASSIFICATION OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS Pages 106, 107

ALCHEMY:

ANCIENT AND MODERN

THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY

The Aim of Alchemy.

The Transcendental Theory of Alchemy.

Failure of the Transcendental Theory.

PARACELSUS: "Concerning the Nature of Things" .

The Qualifications of the Adept.

Alchemistic Language.

Alchemists of a Mystical Type.

The Meaning of Alchemy.

Opinions of other Writers.

The Basic Idea of Alchemy.

The alchemists held that the metals are one in essence, and spring from the same seed in the womb of nature, but are not all equally matured and perfect, gold being the highest product of Nature's powers. In gold, the alchemist saw a picture of the regenerate man, resplendent with spiritual beauty, overcoming all temptations and proof against evil; whilst he regarded lead--the basest of the metals--as typical of the sinful and unregenerate man, stamped with the hideousness of sin and easily overcome by temptation and evil; for whilst gold withstood the action of fire and all known corrosive liquids , lead was most easily acted upon. We are told that the Philosopher's Stone, which would bring about the desired grand transmutation, is of a species with gold itself and purer than the purest; understood in the mystical sense this means that the regeneration of man can be effected only by Goodness itself--in terms of Christian theology, by the Power of the Spirit of Christ. The Philosopher's Stone was regarded as symbolical of Christ Jesus, and in this sense we can understand the otherwise incredible powers attributed to it.

The Law of Analogy.

The Dual Nature of Alchemy.

"Body, Soul and Spirit."

Which, in virtue of man's self-consciousness, is, by the grace of God, immortal.

Alchemy, Mysticism and Modern Science.

THE THEORY OF PHYSICAL ALCHEMY

Supposed Proofs of Transmutation.

Lavoisier proved this apparent transmutation to be due to the action of the water on the glass vessel containing it.

The Alchemistic Elements.

Aristotle's Views regarding the Elements.

The Sulphur-Mercury Theory.

The sulphur-mercury theory of the metals was held by such famous alchemists as Roger Bacon, Arnold de Villanova and Raymond Lully. Until recently it was thought to have originated to a great extent with the Arabian alchemist, Geber; but the late Professor Berthelot showed that the works ascribed to Geber, in which the theory is put forward, are forgeries of a date by which it was already centuries old . Occasionally, arsenic was regarded as an elementary principle , but the idea was not general.

The Sulphur-Mercury-Salt Theory.

The same germ-idea underlying these doctrines is to be found much later in Stahl's phlogistic theory , which attempted to account for the combustibility of bodies by the assumption that such bodies all contain "phlogiston"--the hypothetical principle of combustion --though the concept of "phlogiston" approaches more nearly to the modern idea of an element than do the alchemistic elements or principles. It was not until still later in the history of Chemistry that it became quite evident that the more obvious properties of chemical substances are not specially conferred on them in virtue of certain elements entering into their constitution.

Alchemistic Elements and Principles.

Beneath and within all these coverings of outward properties, taught the alchemists, is hidden the secret essence of all material things. ". . . the elements and compounds," writes one alchemist, "in addition to crass matter, are composed of a subtle substance, or intrinsic radical humidity, diffused through the elemental parts, simple and wholly incorruptible, long preserving the things themselves in vigour, and called the Spirit of the World, proceeding from the Soul of the World, the one certain life, filling and fathoming all things, gathering together and connecting all things, so that from the three genera of creatures, Intellectual, Celestial, and Corruptible, there is formed the One Machine of the whole world." It is hardly necessary to point out how nearly this approaches modern views regarding the Ether of Space.

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