§ =13.= We notice the great difference between the alchemistic theory and the views regarding the constitution of matter which have dominated Chemistry since the time of Dalton. But at the present time Dalton’s theory of the chemical elements is undergoing a profound modification. We do not imply that Modern Science is going back to any such fantastic ideas as were held by the alchemists, but we are struck with the remarkable similarity between this alchemistic theory of a soul of all metals, a one primal element, and modern views regarding the ether of space. In its attempt to demonstrate the applicability of the fundamental principles of Mysticism to the things of the physical realm Alchemy apparently failed and ended its days in fraud. It appears, however, that this true aim of alchemistic art--particularly the demonstration of the validity of the theory that all the various forms of matter are produced by an evolutionary process from some one primal element or _quintessence_--is being realised by recent researches in the domain of physical and chemical science. CHAPTER II THE THEORY OF PHYSICAL ALCHEMY Supposed Proofs of Transmutation. § =14.= It must be borne in mind when reviewing the theories of the alchemists, that there were a number of phenomena known at the time, the superficial examination of which would naturally engender a belief that the transmutation of the metals was a common occurrence. For example, the deposition of copper on iron when immersed in a solution of a copper salt (_e.g._, blue vitriol) was naturally concluded to be a transmutation of iron into copper,[21] although, had the alchemists examined the residual liquid, they would have found that the two metals had merely exchanged places; and the fact that white and yellow alloys of copper with arsenic and other substances could be produced, pointed to the possibility of transmuting copper into silver and gold. It was also known that if water (and this is true of distilled water which does not contain solid matter in solution) was boiled for some time in a glass flask, some solid, earthy matter was produced; and if water could be transmuted into earth, surely one metal could be converted into another.[22] On account of these and like phenomena the alchemists regarded the transmutation of the metals as an experimentally proved fact. Even if they are to be blamed for their superficial observation of such phenomena, yet, nevertheless, their labours marked a distinct advance upon the purely speculative and theoretical methods of the philosophers preceding them. Whatever their faults, the alchemists _were_ the forerunners of modern experimental science. [21] Cf. _The Golden Tract concerning the Stone of the Philosophers_ (_The Hermetic Museum_, vol. i. p. 25). [22] Lavoisier (eighteenth century) proved this apparent transmutation to be due to the action of the water on the glass vessel containing it. The Alchemistic Elements.