A Short History of Chemistry

"Free use has been made of all the chief authorities; the historical works of Kopp, Berthelot, Hoefer, Thomson, Ernst [von] Meyer, Ladenburg, [George Farrer] Rodwell, Muir, Wurtz, Hartmann, [Johann Friedrich] Gmelin, [Karl] Karmarsch, and Siebert, besides the original works of nearly all the chemists mentioned for the past century and a half, have been consulted."

"The ovum from which chemistry has... slowly evolved seems to have been sorcery and magic."

"The word χημεία occurs first in the writings of Suidas, a Greek lexicographer of the eleventh century. It is there defined as the "preparing of gold and silver." This is manifestly a Greek rendering of the name Chema or Chemi, which is of Egyptian origin, and all attempts at deriving it from χεω, to fuse, or χνμα a liquid, are without import."

"Plutarch tells us that Chemia was a name given Egypt on account of the black soil, and that this term further meant the black of the eye, symbolizing that which was obscure and hidden."

"The Coptic word khems or chems is closely related to this, and also signifies obscure, occult, and with this is connected the Arabic word chema, to hide."

"It [chemistry] is therefore the occult or hidden science, the black art."

"Two difficulties meet one in studying the early history of the science. One is... mysticism... and the other is the custom among the early writers of ascribing their discoveries, books, etc., to fabulous names or ancient heroes and gods. This latter had two objects, the first being to shield the true author in time of persecution, and the second to gain a certain amount of credit and reputation... by the use of the names of such celebrities as Moses, Solomon, Alexander, or Cleopatra. This tendency is especially noticeable among the writers of the Middle Ages, and also the early Greek authors, and is not peculiar to authors of alchemical treatises."

"No original manuscript of the earliest writers on chemistry or alchemy has been discovered. Our knowledge must be gleaned from the pages of those writing upon other subjects, or must come from fragments handed down to us through several copyists."

"The reason generally assigned for this absence of early records is that burned all writings of the Egyptians bearing upon alchemy, because, as he said, these taught the art of making gold and silver; and, by destroying them, he took away... the power of enriching themselves and rebelling against the Romans."

"[T]he Chinese... had... knowledge of metals, alloys, colors, and salts for a long time, and that they manufactured gun powder and before they were known in Europe."

"In... India... knowledge of the extraction of metals, the making of steel, the preparation of colors, and similar technical operations, dates back to the most remote antiquity. They also theorized as to the elements and their number. Their synonym for death was, "man returns to the five elements.""

"The almost universal tradition among alchemists is that their art was first cultivated among the Egyptians, and that , the Egyptian god of arts and sciences, was its founder. The finding of papyri of a chemical nature in the tombs... lead us to give credence to this tradition... Clement of Alexandria tells us that the knowledge... was restricted to the priests, who were forbidden to communicate it... Plutarch also mentions the strict secrecy observed, and the cloaking... under the guise of fables."

"[T]here is a similarity easily detected between the hieroglyphics and the alchemical signs."

"The phraseology in the early treatises is similar to that in the priestly writings."

"[N]ote the important part played by the number four with the alchemists as well as with the Egyptian priests. There are the four bases or elements, the tetrasomy of ; the four zones, four funeral deities, four cardinal points, four winds, four colors, etc."

"The ns, as masters of occult sciences, played an important part at Rome. In much earlier times, the Bible mentions them as the depositaries of all wisdom and science... They were rivals of the Egyptians in knowledge, and were especially famous as astrologers. Many industrial arts were brought to as high perfection in as in Egypt; for instance, the processes of glass-making, of dyeing, and of working in metals. Those Chaldeans who settled in Rome in later years came from Syria and . Tacitus makes mention of them. They were much sought after by the fashionable as the representatives of Eastern religions and mystic doctrines."

"Ostanes, the Mede, was one of the celebrated early alchemists. Several writers have recorded for us the existence of a book called The Book of the Divine Prescriptions, which seems to have been the most famous writing of these Persian sages."

"The belief in some wonderful connection between planets and metals is due to these ns. The signs of the heavenly bodies became the symbols for the metals. These planets influenced a supposed growth of the metals, and were esteemed all-powerful in regulating human life and fate. Many of these notions are to be attributed to the Alexandrian epoch."

"The idea of the macrocosm, or outer world, and the microcosm, or little inner world of a man's own nature, which is so often referred to and utilized in alchemical writings, originated also at ."

"In many of the treatises on alchemy we meet with Jewish names, and some of these writings have been ascribed to Jewish authors. ...[T]he Jews ...were often superstitious, and believers in magic and demons. They were very learned; and at Alexandria, where Greek culture came in contact with the culture of Egypt and of the Chaldeans, the Jews... at the time of the birth of Christianity, were at the head of science and philosophy, and played a very important part in the fusion of Greek doctrines, scientific and religious, with those of the Orient."

"[A]part from mysticism and magic... the practical and useful came first before all theory."

"[A]t Babylon and in Egypt, the industrial arts were practised with a high degree of skill; but... all was empirical, and... slow of development. There is little evidence of any attempt at finding out the causes of the changes observed or brought about."

"... is by some supposed to be identical with Canaan, the son of Ham. The name is synonymous with Toth, the god of intellect, the patron of arts and sciences in ancient Egypt. The adepts in alchemy were unanimous in writing of him as the founder of their art. [P]robably... as the god of letters, all books were dedicated to him and he was in one sense their author. Clement of Alexandria describes the solemn procession in which these books were borne in the great ceremonies. Tin and mercury were set apart as metals sacred to him. During the Middle Ages the science was often known under the name of the Hermetic Art."

"Albertus Magnus, in a treatise attributed to him, tells us that Alexander the Great found in the sepulchre of Hermes (or in the tomb of ) certain tables inscribed with the secrets of his wisdom. This famous inscription is constantly quoted in books on alchemy. It consisted of thirteen parts or sayings. They are sufficiently obscure to receive almost any interpretation. ...[T]hey refer to the universal medicine or the . Two quotations will suffice... No. 7. Separate the whole earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, acting prudently and with judgment. No. 8. Ascend with the greatest sagacity from the earth to heaven, and then again descend to the earth, and unite together the powers of things superior and things inferior. Thus you will possess the glory of the whole world, and all obscurity will fly far from you."

"To most this seems a meaningless forgery of the early alchemists. Still, this mystical personage [] had great influence... through many centuries. We find various axioms ascribed to Hermes, also a mystic hymn, and a so-called instrument or table of figures for predicting the outcome of disease, a life's fate, etc. Such tables were used in very ancient times in Egypt."

"The alchemists called themselves the Hermetic Philosophers, and followed the Hermetic Art or Hermetics. To close anything very securely, as, for instance, to seal it in a glass tube, is called to this day sealing it hermetically."

"In old times the symbol of Hermes was affixed to the article, and it was thus sealed with "Hermes, his seal.""

"The earliest historical personage connected with alchemy is Demokritos of Abdera... the founder of the atomistic school, extending and developing the theory of Leukippos. His definition of the atom is almost as absolute and precise as that found in modern treatises. His chief work was entitled "Physica et Mystica.""

"Aristotle frequently cites from the writings of Demokritos. Many works have been ascribed to him which were undoubtedly the productions of later centuries. As was customary for men of learning in early times, Demokritos visited Egypt, , and various parts of the East, in the search of knowledge, and doubtless owes much to the wise men of those regions."

"The works of Demokritos and his school formed a sort of encyclopaedia of philosophy and science. These books are unfortunately lost, with the exception of a few fragments."

"Pliny tells us that Demokritos was instructed in magic by Ostanes the Mede."

"[T]he Sphere of Demokritos, for foretelling death or recovery from a malady ...was similar to the table of Hermes..."

"It is impossible to tell how much of the magical and alchemical should justly be accredited to Demokritos]."

"The observation and experiments necessary for the pursuit of alchemy did not comport with the Greek idea of philosophy. This is shown by the saying of Socrates, that the nature of external objects could be discovered by thought without observation, and by the renunciation of all natural sciences by the Cynics. This came largely from the fact that they saw in the nature around them the mutable only. Plato separated logic, as the knowledge of the immutable, from physics, the knowledge of the mutable. That which was subject to indefinite change would not repay observing nor recording, therefore they could not conceive of astronomy and physics as serious objects of mental occupation. There was nothing to be learned from fields and trees and stones."

"One of the [Ancient Greek] philosophers is said to have gone to the length of putting out his eyes, in order that his mind might not be influenced by external objects, but might wholly give itself to pure contemplation. The intellectual power and grasp of these philosophers were wonderful, but faulty and misleading, since the real and practical was left out."

"The Egyptians and other ancient peoples held the same idea of the mutability of all external objects, and the absence of law in their changes. ...The investigation of nature was ...considered impious. The phenomena of nature were brought about by the gods, and their actions should not be inquired into too closely by men. This manner of thinking is not yet extinct."

"The theories of the early Greek philosophers, then, were not based upon close observation and a multitude of facts experimentally learned... [George Farrer] Rodwell gives a most interesting resume of the theories of these philosophers with regard to the formation of the world and the primal elements. These elements were not the chemical elements of the present day, but rather principles. They meant more the characteristic and essential properties of matter than matter itself."

"Thales of Miletus... the "first of the natural philosophers," affirmed that water was the first principle of all things. This theory had its supporters even during the Middle Ages, philosophers who got water from air and solids by evaporating water, and carefully proved that plants would grow when fed with water only. The theory was not completely disproved until a little more than a century ago."

"Anaximenes regarded air as the primal element... According to Anaximenes, clouds are caused by the condensation of air, and rain by the condensation of clouds."

"Archelaus said that air, when rarefied, became fire; when condensed, water; and water, when boiled, became air."

"Empedokles introduced the idea of four distinct elements, — earth, air, fire, and water, — which were not interchangeable, but formed all things by mixing."

"Anaxagoras of Klazomene (500 b.c) seems to have been the first of the Greeks to formulate a theory approaching the atomic. This was more clearly expressed by Leukippos and extended by Demokritos. Long before the time of any of these, however, the idea seems to have been conceived in India."

"The views of Aristotle ...held undisputed sway for nearly twenty centuries. He introduced... a fifth element, the quintaessentia, which he called ether, more subtle and divine than the other elements. From this comes the word quintessence, so much used by the alchemists... We have to assume the existence of a rarefied ether in the theories of the present day."

"Aristotle added much to the theory of the four elements, assigning properties to each, and elaborating the changes caused by their mingling, and also dwelling on their inter-convertibility. This was often cited as justifying the idea of the transmutation of the metals. The four elements — earth, air, fire, and water — became known as the Aristotelian elements, and from them various names were derived in the early chemical books. Thus there were earths, alkaline earths, rare earths, etc.; [airs,] fixed airs, inflammable airs, dephlogisticated air, and others; and a number of different waters, — aqua fortis, , aqua ammonia, etc."

"The motive principle causing combination and change was, in the philosophy of Anaxagoras. the νους; in that of Demokritos, ἀνἁγκη; of Herakleitos, fire; of Aristotle, the moving ether. In our day we call it affinity, but we are still a long way off from solving the mystery of its nature."

"Zosimus, the Panopolite... is the most ancient of the alchemists whose works we possess. ...Suidas, the Greek lexicographer, tells us that he wrote twenty-eight books on alchemy entitled "Manipulations." ...they give us a good idea of the learning... of his times. They contain descriptions of apparatus, of furnaces, studies of minerals, of alloys, of glass-making, of mineral waters, and much that is mystical, besides a good deal referring to the transmutation of metals. He is cited as the author of the saying that like begets like, and is often quoted by the alchemists... spoken of... as a great and learned master of the science."

"Africanus, another of these alchemists, was a Syrian of the time of Heliogabalus. He is said to have written on medical, agricultural, and chemical subjects. Certain geographical and military works are also attributed to him."

"... was named Bishop of Ptolemais, and was an astronomer, physician, agriculturist, and embassador. His works... are mostly philosophical and commentaries on Zosimus."

"Olympiodorus... wrote a history of his times. He was not so obscure in his language as Zosimus. ...He seems to have been the first to divide matter into the fixed and the volatile, a distinction depending upon the combustibility."

"This History has been written because of a conviction, from my own experience and experience with my students, that one of the best aids to an intelligent comprehension of the science of chemistry is the study of the long struggle, the failures, and the triumphs of the men who have made this science for us."