One other alchemical work attributed to the pen of Michael Scot remains to be noticed; the _De Alchimia_, contained in a manuscript of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.[137] Tanner in his _Bibliotheca_ has noticed this work in the following terms: ‘Chymica quaedam ex interpretatione Michaelis Scoti dedicata Theophilo regi Scotorum. Corpus Christi MS. 125. In eodem codice MS. fol. est haec nota “Explicit tractatus magistri Michaelis Scoti de aelchali,” huius vero tractatus, a priore diversi, hoc tantum fol. extat.’ This account is erroneous in several particulars. ‘Scotorum’ should be ‘Saracenorum,’ and ‘de aelchali’ is a misreading of ‘de alkimia,’ as a glance at the manuscript informs us. Nor is it the case that we have here to deal with two distinct works. The last leaf, to which Tanner more particularly refers (fol. 119, old numeration), shows a hand of the fourteenth century, and forms the only remainder of the original. The rest of the manuscript (fol. 116-118) has been supplied by a scribe of the fifteenth century, but the whole is perfectly continuous, as appears plainly when we notice that the first words of the original (fol. 119 _recto_), ‘et cum siccatus,’ have also been written by the later scribe at the bottom of page 118 _verso_. In spite of the highly suspicious dedication, ‘Theophilo Regi Saracenorum,’ several reasons incline us to regard the _De Alchimia_ as, in substance at least, a genuine work of Michael Scot. To begin with, it clearly belongs to a very early period; for, in the opening words of his preface, the author describes alchemy as a science, noble indeed, but as yet neglected and contemned by the Latins (‘apud Latinos penitus denegatam’). In the same sentence we find him referring to the _secreta naturae_, just as Scot does in the _Liber Luminis_, and declaring his purpose to furnish the world with a commentary on it in the work he now attempts (‘secreta naturae intelligentibus revelare’). In the opening paragraph of the book itself he seems to refer plainly to the _Liber Luminis_ as a work written by him (‘notitia de salibus vel salium prout in aliquo libro a me translato dixi’). Nor should we overlook the distinctly ecclesiastical tone which is to be observed in the _De Alchimia_. Part of the preface is conceived almost in the form of a prayer, commencing thus: ‘Creator omnium rerum Deus qui cuncta ex nihilo condidit,’ and in at least one passage, a well-known text of Scripture is reproduced (‘et haec est res quae erigit de stercore pauperem et ipsum regibus equiparat’). This style is a noticeable characteristic of all the works of Michael Scot.