"Nothing remains but upon our bended knees to return most humble thanks to the Father of Lights, in vouchsafing us this art by the writings of his servants, and the high priests of Nature; without which, it would be beyond the power of man to arrive at so great a degree of knowledge." Some notion of the extravagance of the language employed may be obtained from his description of a Philosophical Wine, literally, rectified spirits of wine, or alcohol. He assures us that, on opening a vessel of it, "a wonderful scent" should arise: "so as that no fragrancy of the world can be compared to it; inasmuch as putting the vessel to a corner of the house, it can by an invisible miracle draw all that pass in to it; or, the vessel being put upon a tower, draws all birds within the reach of its scent, so as to cause them to stand about it. Then will you have, my son, our quintessence, which is otherwise called Vegetable Mercury, at your will, to apply in Magistery of the transmutation of metals." How ardent an adept this Alchemist was may be gathered from his exclamation:--"May the God of Heaven put prudence in the heart of evangelical men, for whom I compose this book, not to communicate this venerable secret of God to the reprobates." Among the remarkable discoveries made by Alchemists, due to the carefully noted and carefully examined failures and accidents, as well as successes, of their endless combinations of matter, under the treatment of fire and water, the most distinguished is that of gunpowder, noted in a recipe left on record by Roger Bacon, who died in the year 1284. He clearly names the mixture of Saltpetre with Sulphur, but the third ingredient, Carbon, is concealed in the form of an anagram. Lord Bacon, Luther, Spinoza, Leibnitz, and many eminent moderns, were impressed with a belief in the possibility of transmuting lead, tin, copper, or other metals, into gold; in short, as it was supposed there were only four elements, fire, water, earth, and air, it was probably assumed that a fifth might be found in the Philosopher's stone.