Alchemy:The Science Of Transmutation Essay, Research Paper

Alchemy:The Science of transmutation

Date: 10/01

ALCHEMY: The science by aid of which the chemical philosophers of

medieval times attempted to transmute the base metals into gold or

silver. There are many opinions as to the source

of the word, but it would seem to be derived from the Arabic al=the, and

kimya=chemistry, which in turn derives from the late Greek

chemica=chemistry, from chumeia=a mingling, or cheein, `to pour out` or

`mix’, Aryan root ghu, to pour, whence the word `gush’. Mr. A. Wallis

Budge in his “Egyptian Magic”, however, states that it is possible that

it may be derived from the Egyptian word khemeia, that is to say ‘the

preparation of the black ore’, or `powder’, which was regarded as the

active principle in the transmutation of metals. To this name the Arabs

affixed the article `al’, thus giving al-khemeia, or alchemy.

HISTORY OF ALCHEMY: From an early period the Egyptians possessed the

reputation of being skillful workers in metals and, according to Greek

writers, they were conversant with their transmutation, employing

quicksilver in the process of separating gold and silver from the native

matrix. The resulting oxide was supposed to possess marvelous powers,

and it was thought that there resided within in the individualities of

the various metals, that in it their various substances were

incorporated. This black powder was mystically identified with the

underworld form of the god Osiris, and consequently was credited with

magical properties. Thus there grew up in Egypt the belief that

magical powers existed in fluxes and alloys. Probably such a belief

existed throughout Europe in connection with the bronze-working castes

of its several races. Its was probably in the Byzantium of the fourth

century, however, that alchemical science received embryonic form.

There is little doubt that Egyptian tradition, filtering through

Alexandrian Hellenic sources was the foundation upon which the infant

science was built, and this is borne out by the circumstance that the

art was attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and supposed to be contained

in its entirety in his works.

The Arabs, after their conquest of Egypt in the seventh century,

carried on the researches of the Alexandrian school, and through their

instrumentality the art was brought to Morocco and thus in the eighth

century to Spain, where it flourished exceedingly. Indeed, Spain from

the ninth to the eleventh century became the repository of alchemic

science, and the colleges of Seville, Cordova and Granada were the

centers from which this science radiated throughout Europe.

The first practical alchemist may be said to have been the Arbian

Geber, who flourished 720-750. From his “Summa Perfectionis”, we may be

justified in assuming that alchemical science was already matured in his

day, and that he drew his inspirations from a still older unbroken line

of adepts. He was followed by Avicenna, Mesna and Rhasis, and in France

by Alain of Lisle, Arnold de Villanova and Jean de Meung the troubadour;

in England by Roger Bacon and in Spain itself by Raymond Lully. Later,

in French alchemy the most illustrious names are those of Flamel (b. ca.

1330), and Bernard Trevisan (b. ca. 1460) after which the center of of

interest changes to Germany and in some measure to England, in which

countries Paracelsus, Khunrath (ca. 1550), Maier (ca. 1568), Norton,

Dalton, Charnock, and Fludd kept the alchemical flame burning brightly.

It is surprising how little alteration we find throughout the period

between the seventh and the seventeenth centuries, the heyday of

alchemy, in the theory and practice of the art. The same sentiments and

processes are found expressed in the later alchemical authorities as in

the earliest, and a wonderful unanimity as regards the basic canons of

the great art is evinced by the hermetic students of the time. On the

introduction of chemistry as a practical art, alchemical science fell

into desuetude and disrepute, owing chiefly to the number of charlatans

practicing it, and by the beginning of the eighteenth century, as a

school, it may be said to have become defunct. Here and there, however,

a solitary student of the art lingered, and in the department of this

article “Modern Alchemy” will demonstrate that the science has to a

grate extent revived during modern times, although it has never been

quite extinct.

THE QUESTS OF ALCHEMY: The grand objects of alchemy were (1) the

discovery of a process by which the baser metals might be transmuted

into gold or silver; (2) the discovery of an elixir by which life might

be prolonged indefinitely; and there may be added (3), the manufacture

of and artificial process of human life. (for the latter see Homunculus)

THE THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF ALCHEMY: The first objects were to be

achieved as follows: The transmutation of metals was to be accomplished

by a powder, stone or exilir often called the Philosopher`s Stone, the

application of which would effect the transmutation of the baser metals

into gold or silver, depending upon the length of time of its

application. Basing their conclusions on a profound examination of

natural processes and research into the secrets of nature, the

alchemists arrived at the axiom that nature was divided philosophically

into four principal regions, the dry, the moist, the warm, the cold,

whence all that exists must be derived. Nature is also divisible into

the male and the female. She is the divine breath, the central fire,

invisible yet ever active, and is typified by sulphur, which is the

mercury of the sages, which slowly fructifies under the genial warmth of

nature. The alchemist must be ingenuous, of a truthful disposition, and

gifted with patience and prudence, following nature in every alchemical

performance. He must recollect that like draws to like, and must know

how to obtain the seed of metals, which is produced by the four elements

through the will of the Supreme Being and the Imagination of Nature. We

are told the the original matter of metals is double in its essence,

being a dry heat combined with a warm moisture, and that air is water

coagulated by fir, capable of producing a universal dissolvent. These

terms the neophyte must be cautious of interpreting in their literal

sense. Great confusion exists in alchemical nomenclature, and the

gibberish employed by the scores of charlatans who in later times

pretended to a knowledge of alchemical matters did not tend to make

things any more clear. The beginner must also acquire a thorough

knowledge of the manner in which metals grow in the bowels of the earth.

These are engendered by sulphur, which is male, and mercury, which is

female, and the crux of alchemy is to obtain their seed – a process

which the alchemist philosophers have not described with any degree of

clarity.

The physical theory of transmutation is based on the composite

character of metals, and on the existence of a substance which, applied

to matter, exalts and perfects it. This, Eugenius Philalethes and

others call ‘The Light’. The elements of all metals is similar,

differing only in purity and proportion. The entire trend of the

metallic kingdom is towards the natural manufacture of gold, and the

production of the baser metals is only accidental as the result of an

unfavorable environment. The Philosopher’s Stone is the combination of

the male and female seeds which beget gold. The composition of these is

so veiled by symbolism as to make their identification a matter of

impossibility. Waite, summarizing the alchemical process once the

secret of the stone is unveiled, says: “Given the matter of the stone

and also the necessary vessel, the process which must be then undertaken

to accomplish the `magnum opus’ are described with moderate perpicuity.

There is the calcination or purgation of the stone, in which kind is

worked with kind for the space of a philosophical year. There is

dissolution which prepares the way for congelation, and which is

performed during the black state of the mysterious matter. It is

accomplished by water which does not wet the hand. There is the

separation of the subtle and the gross, which is to be performed by

means of heat. In the conjunction which follows, the elements are duly

and scrupulously combined. Putrefaction afterwards takes place.

`Without which pole no seed may multiply.’

“Then, in the subsequent congelation the white colour appears, which

is one of the signs of success. It becomes more pronounced in cibation.

In sublimation the body is spiritualised, the spirit made corporeal,

and again a more glittering whiteness is apparent. Fermentation

afterwards fixes together the alchemical earth and water, and causes the

mystic medicines to flow like wax. The matter is then augmented with

the alchemical spirit of life, and the exaltation of the philosophic

earth is accomplished by the natural rectification of its elements.

When these processes have been successfully completed, the mystic stone

will have passed through the chief stages characterized by different

colours, black, white and red, after which it is capable of infinite

multication, and when projected on mercury, it will absolutely transmute

it, the resulting gold bearing every test. The base metals made use of

must be purified to insure the success of the operation. The process

for the manufacture of silver is essentially similar, but the resources

of the matter are not carried to so high a degree.

“According to the “Commentary on the Ancient War of the Knights” the

transmutations performed by the perfect stone are so absolute that no

trace remains of the original metal. It cannot, however, destroy gold,

nor exalt it into a more perfect metallic substance; it, therefore,

transmutes it into a medicine a thousand times superior to any virtues

which can be extracted from its vulgar state. This medicine becomes a

most potent agent in the exaltation of base metals.”

There are not wanting authorities who deny that the transmutations of

metals was the grand object of alchemy, and who infer from the

alchemistical writings that the end of the art was the spiritual

regeneration of man. Mrs. Atwood, author of “A Suggestive Inquiry into

the Hermetic Mystery”, and an American writer named Hitchcock are

purhaps the chief protagonists of the belief the by spiritual processes

akin to those of the chemical process of alchemy, the soul of man may be

purified and exalted. But both commit the radical error of stating the

the alchemical writers did not aver that the transmutation of base metal

into gold was their grand end. None of the passages they quote, is

inconsistent with the physical object of alchemy, and in a work, “The

Marrow of Alchemy”, stated to be by Eugenius Philaletes, it is laid down

that the real quest is for gold. It is constantly impressed upon the

reader, however, in the perusal of esteemed alchemical works, that only

those who are instructed by God can achieve the grand secret. Others,

again, state that a tyro may possibly stumble upon it, but that unless

he is guided by an adept he has small chance of achieving the grand

arcanum. It will be obvious to the tyro, however, that nothing can ever

be achieved by trusting to the allegories of the adepts or the many

charlatans who crowded the ranks of the art. Gold may be made, or it

may not, but the truth or fallacy of the alchemical method lies with

modern chemistry. The transcendental view of alchemy, however, is

rapidly gaining ground, and probably originated in the comprehensive

nature of Hermetic theory and the consciousness in the alchemical mind

that what might with success be applied to nature could also be applied

to man with similar results. Says Mr. Waite, “The gold of the

philosopher is not a metal, on the other hand, man is a being who

possesses within himself the seeds of a perfection which he has never

realized, and that he therefore corresponds to those metals which the

Hermetic theory supposes to be capable of developing the latent

possibilities in the subject man.” At the same time, it must be

admitted that the cryptic character of alchemical language was probably

occasioned by a fear on the part of the alchemical mystic that he might

lay himself open through his magical opinions to the rigors of the law.

RECORDS OF ACTUAL TRANSMUTATIONS: Several records of alleged

transmutations of base metal into gold are in existence. These were

achieved by Nicholas Flamel, Van Helmont, Martini, Richthausen, and

Sethon. For a detailed account of the methods employed the reader is

referred to several articles on these hermetists. In nearly every case

the transmuting element was a mysterious powder or the “Philosopher’s

Stone”.

MODERN ALCHEMY That alchemy has been studied in modern times there

can be no doubt. M. figuier in his “L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes”,

dealing with the subject of modern alchemy, as expressed by the

initiates of the first half of the nineteenth century, states that many

French alchemists of his time regarded the discoveries of modern science

as merely so many evidences of the truth of the doctrines they embraced.

Throughout Europe, he says, the positive alchemical doctrine had many

adherents at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the

nineteenth. Thus a “vast association of alchemists”, founded in

Westphalia in 1790, continued to flourish in the year 1819, under the

name of the “Hermetic Society”. In 1837, an alchemist of Thuringia

presented to the Societe Industrielle of Weimar a tincture which he

averred would effect metallic transmutation. About the same time

several French journals announced a public course of lectures on

hermetic philosophy by a professor of the University of Munich. He

further states that many Honoverian and Bavarian families pursued in

common the search for the grand arcanum. Paris, however, was regarded

as the alchemical Mecca. There dwelt many theoretical alchemists and

“empirical adepts”. The first pursued and arcanum through the medium of

books, the other engaged in practical efforts to effect transmutation.

M. Figuier states that in the forties of the last century he

frequented the laboratory of a certain Monsieur L., which was the

rendezvous of the alchemists in Paris. When Monsieur L`s pupils left

the laboratory for the day, the modern adepts dropped in one by one, and

Figuier relates how deeply impressed he was by the appearance and

costumes of these strange men. In the daytime, he frequently

encountered them in the public libraries, buried in gigantic folios, and

in the evening they might be seen pacing the solitary bridges with eyes

fixed in vague contemplation upon the first pale stars of night. A long

cloak usually covered the meager limbs, and their untrimmed beards and

matted locks lent them a wild appearance. They walked with a solemn and

measured gait, and used the figures of speech employed by the medieval

illumines. Their expression was generally a mixture of the most ardent

hope and fixed despair. Among the adepts who sought the laboratory of

Monsieur L., Figuier remarked especially a young man, in whose habits

and language he could nothing in common with those of his strange

companions. He confounded the wisdom of the alchemical adept with the

tenets of the modern scientist in the most singular fashion, and meeting

him one day at the gate of the Observatory, M. Figuier renewed the

subject of their last discussion, deploring that ” a man of his gifts

could pursue the semblance of a chimera.” Without replying, the young

adept led him into the Observatory garden, and proceeded to reveal to

him the mysteries of modern alchemical science.

The young man proceeded to fix a limit to the researches of the modern

alchemists. Gold, he said, according to the ancient authors, as three

distinct properties: (1) that of resolving the baser metals into itself,

and interchanging and metamorphosing all metals into one another; (2)

the curing of afflictions and the prolongation of life; (3), as a

’spiritus mundi’ to bring mankind into rapport with the supermundane

spheres. Modern alchemists, he continued, reject the greater part of

these ideas, especially those connected with spiritual contact. The

object of modern alchemy might be reduced to the search for a substance

having the power to transform and transmute all other substances into

one another – in short, to discover that medium so well known to the

alchemists of old and lost to us. This was a perfectly feasible

proposition. In the four principal substances of oxygen, hydrogen,

carbon, and azote, we have the tetractus of Pythagoras and the tetragram

of the Chaldeans and Egyptians. All the sixty elements are referable to

these original four. The ancient alchemical theory established the fact

that all the metals are the same in their composition, that all are

formed from sulphur and mercury, and that the difference between them is

according to the proportion of these substances in their composition.

Further, all the products of minerals present in their composition

complete identity with those substances most opposed to them. Thus

fulminating acid contains precisely the same quantity of carbon, oxygen,

and azote as cyanic acid, and “cyanhydric” acid does not differ from

formate ammoniac. This new property of matter is known as “isomerism”.

M. Figuier’s friend then proceeds to quote support of his thesis and

operations and experiments of M. Dumas, a celebrated French savant, as

is well known to thous of Prout, and other English chemists of standing.

Passing to consider the possibility of isomerism in elementary as well

as in compound substances, the points out to M. Figuier that id the

theory of isomerism can apply to such bodies, the transmutation of

metals ceases to be a wild, unpractical dream, and becomes a scientific

possibility, the transformation being brought about by a molecular

rearrangement. Isomerism can be established in the case of compound

substances by chemical analysis. showing the identity of their

constituent parts. In the case of metals it can be proved by the

comparison of the properties of isometric bodies with the properties of

metals, in order to discover whether they have any common

characteristics. Such experiments, he continued, had been conducted by

M. Dumas, with the result the isometric substances were to be found to

have equal equivalents, or equivalents which were exact multiples of one

another. This characteristic is also a feature of metals. Gold and

osmium have identical equivalents, as have platinum and iridium. The

equivalent of cobalt is almost the same as that of nickel, and the

semi-equivalent of tin is equal to the equivalent of the two preceding

metals.

M. Dumas. speaking before the British Association, had shown that when

three simple bodies displayed great analogies in their properties, such

as chlorine, bromide, and iodine, barium, strontium, and calcium, the

chemical equivalent of the intermediate body is represented by the

arithmetical mean between the equivalents of the other two. Such a

statement well showed the isomerism of elementary substances, and proved

that metals, however dissimilar in outward appearance, were composed of

the same matter differently arranged and proportioned. This theory

successfully demolishes the difficulties in the way of transmutation.

Again, Dr. Prout says that the chemical equivalents of nearly all

elemental substances are the multiples of one among them. Thus, if the

equivalent of hydrogen be taken for the unit, the equivalent of every

other substance will be an exact multiple of it – carbon will be

represented by six, axote by fourteen, oxygen by sixteen, zink by

thirty-two. But, pointed out M. Figuier’s friend, if the molecular

masses in compound substances have so simple a connection, does it not

go to prove the all natural bodies are formed of one principle,

differently arranged and condensed to produce all known compounds?

If transmutation is thus theoretically possible, it only remains to

show by practical experiment that it is strictly in accordance with

chemical laws, and by no means inclines to the supernatural. At this

juncture the young alchemist proceeded to liken the action of the

Philosopher`s Stone on metals to that of a ferment on organic matter.

When metals are melted and brought to red heat, a molecular change may

be produced analogous to fermentation. Just as sugar, under the

influence of a ferment, may be changed into lactic acid without altering

its constituents, so metals can alter their character under the

influence of the Philosopher`s Stone. The explanation of the latter

case is no more difficult than that of the former. The ferment does not

take any part in the chemical changes it brings about, and no

satisfactory explanation of its effects can be found either in the laws

of affinity or in the forces of electricity, light, or heat. As with

the ferment, the required quantity of the Philosopher`s Stone is

infinitesimal. Medicine, philosophy, every modern science was at one

time a source of such errors and extravagances as are associated with

medieval alchemy, but they are not therefore neglected and despised.

Wherefore, then, should we be blind tot he scientific nature of

transmutation?

One of the foundations of alchemical theories was that minerals grew

and developed in the earth, like organic things. It was always the aim

of nature to produce gold, the most precious metal, but when

circumstances were not favorable the baser metals resulted. The desire

of the old alchemists was to surprise nature`s secrets, and thus attain

the ability to do in a short period what nature takes years to

accomplish. Nevertheless, the medieval alchemists appreciated the value

of time in their experiments as modern alchemists never do. M.

Figuier`s friend urged him not to condemn these exponents of the

hermetic philosophy for their metaphysical tendencies, for, he said,

there are facts in our sciences that can only be explained in that

light. If, for instance, copper be placed in air or water, there will

be no result, but if a touch of some acid be added, it will oxidize.

The explanation is that “the acid provokes oxidation of the metal

because it has an affinity for the oxide which tends to form.” – a

material fact most metaphysical in its production, and only explicable

thereby.

He concluded his argument with an appeal for tolerance towards the

medieval alchemists, whose work is underrated because it is not properly

understood.

LITERATURE:

Atwood, A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mastery, 1850

Hitchcock, Remarks on Alchemy and the Alchemists, Boston, 1857

Waite, Lives of the Alchemystical Philosophers, London, 1888

” The Occult Sciences, London, 1891

Bacon, Mirror of Alchemy, 1597

S. le Doux, Dictionnaire Hermetique, 1695

Langlet de fresnoy, Histoire de la Philosophie Hermetique, 1792

” ” Theatrum Chemicum, 1662

Valentine, Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, 1656

Redgrove, Alchemy Ancient and Modern

Figuier, L’Alchimie et les Alchimistes, Paris, 1857