The reader will observe on a cursory examination of the Latin text that most of the recipes contain foreign, _i.e._ non-Latin words; and this fact suggests the question, Is the _Liber Ignium_ an original work or a translation? The number of foreign words and allusions is so considerable as to leave little doubt that a large part of the tract was translated from some foreign language, and no one, I believe, seriously maintains that the work, as a whole, is original. From what language, then, has it been translated? We meet with the Greek proper names Hermes, Ptolemy, Alexander and Aristotle, and with a number of Greek words which look like survivals of a Greek original. Among the most prominent are alba ceraunia (?), asphaltum,[142] bombax, cynoglossum (?), orichalcum and sarcocolla, all of which are latinised Greek words. But on looking closely into this evidence we find that it has very little weight. The Greek proper names prove nothing. Hermes and Ptolemy became common property to alchemists of all nationalities in the infancy of alchemy. Alexander the Great’s extraordinary career excited universal wonder, and the many and marvellous legends which grew round his name in the West were only surpassed by those of the East. He and his Wazir, Aristu (Aristotle), were common property long before the _Liber Ignium_ saw the light. The Greek words give no support to the hypothesis of a Greek original unless it can be shown either that they had not previously been adopted by the Latins, or that the tract was written before they were borrowed. A particular instance will make the matter clearer. We took the word _harquebus_ from the French at some period, say _p_. If harquebus occurs in an English book written after _p_, its presence raises no presumption that the book was in any way connected with France, or even that its author understood French. If the book was written before _p_, its author must have had recourse, directly or indirectly, to French sources. Now all the Greek words given above had been latinised long before the _Liber Ignium_ was written, and might have been used by a Latin when translating from any language. Alba ceraunia, asphaltum, bombax, cynoglossum and sarcocolla are found in Pliny’s “Natural History,” first century A.D., and orichalcum occurs in the “Bragging Soldier” of Plautus about the end of the third century B.C. But it is unnecessary to continue the examination of the Greek words contained in the tract for the following reason. A hypothesis must cover all the facts of a case, and some facts in the present case are inexplicable on the theory of a Greek original.