Extraordinary Popular Delusions Vol 3 | Page 5

it all to himself, and would
not instruct the children of Israel in its mysteries. All the writers upon
alchymy triumphantly cite the story of the golden calf, in the 32nd
chapter of Exodus, to prove that this great lawgiver was an adept, and
could make or unmake gold at his pleasure. It is recorded, that Moses
was so wroth with the Israelites for their idolatry, "that he took the calf
which they had made, and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder,
and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of
it." This, say the alchymists, he never could have done, had he not been
in possession of the philosopher's stone; by no other means could he
have made the powder of gold float upon the water. But we must leave
this knotty point for the consideration of the adepts in the art, if any
such there be, and come to more modern periods of its history. The
Jesuit, Father Martini, in his "Historia Sinica," says, it was practised by
the Chinese two thousand five hundred years before the birth of Christ;
but his assertion, being unsupported, is worth nothing. It would appear,
however, that pretenders to the art of making gold and silver existed in
Rome in the first centuries after the Christian era, and that, when

discovered, they were liable to punishment as knaves and impostors. At
Constantinople, in the fourth century, the transmutation of metals was
very generally believed in, and many of the Greek ecclesiastics wrote
treatises upon the subject. Their names are preserved, and some notice
of their works given, in the third volume of Lenglet du Fresnoy's
"History of the Hermetic Philosophy." Their notion appears to have
been, that all metals were composed of two substances; the one,
metallic earth; and the other, a red inflammable matter, which they
called sulphur. The pure union of these substances formed gold; but
other metals were mixed with and contaminated by various foreign
ingredients. The object of the philosopher's stone was to dissolve or
neutralize all these ingredients, by which iron, lead, copper, and all
metals would be transmuted into the original gold. Many learned and
clever men wasted their time, their health, and their energies, in this
vain pursuit; but for several centuries it took no great hold upon the
imagination of the people. The history of the delusion appears, in a
manner, lost from this time till the eighth century, when it appeared
amongst the Arabians. From this period it becomes easier to trace its
progress. A master then appeared, who was long looked upon as the
father of the science, and whose name is indissolubly connected with it.
GEBER.
Of this philosopher, who devoted his life to the study of alchymy, but
few particulars are known. He is thought to have lived in the year 730.
His true name was Abou Moussah Djafar, to which was added Al Soft,
or "The Wise," and he was born at Hauran, in Mesopotamia.
["Biographie Universelle."] Some have thought he was a Greek, others
a Spaniard, and others, a prince of Hindostan: but, of all the mistakes
which have been made respecting him, the most ludicrous was that
made by the French translator of Sprenger's "History of Medicine,"
who thought, from the sound of his name, that he was a German, and
rendered it as the "Donnateur," or Giver. No details of his life are
known; but it is asserted, that he wrote more than five hundred works
upon the philosopher's stone and the water of life. He was a great
enthusiast in his art, and compared the incredulous to little children
shut up in a narrow room, without windows or aperture, who, because
they saw nothing beyond, denied the existence of the great globe itself.
He thought that a preparation of gold would cure all maladies, not only

in man, but in the inferior animals and plants. He also imagined that all
the metals laboured under disease, with the exception of gold, which
was the only one in perfect health. He affirmed, that the secret of the
philosopher's stone had been more than once discovered; but that the
ancient and wise men who had hit upon it, would never, by word or
writing, communicate it to men, because of their unworthiness and
incredulity. [His "sum of perfection," or instructions to students to aid
them in the laborious search for the stone and elixir, has been translated
into most of the languages of Europe. An English translation, by a great
enthusiast in alchymy, one Richard Russell, was published in London
in 1686. The preface is dated eight years previously, from the house of
the alchymist, "at the Star, in Newmarket, in Wapping, near the Dock."
His design in undertaking the translation