The History of Chemistry, Volume 1 (of 2)Thomson, Thomas
History
The History of Chemistry, Volume 1 (of 2)
Thomson, Thomas
Chemistry -- History
Perhaps the most curious of all these works is the _Rosarium_, which
is intended as a complete compend of all the alchymy of his time.
The first part of it on the theory of the art is plain enough; but
the second part on the practice, which is subdivided into thirty-two
chapters, and which professes to teach the art of making the
philosopher’s stone, is in many places quite unintelligible to me.
He considered, like his predecessors, mercury as a constituent of
metals, and he professed a knowledge of the philosopher’s stone,
which he could increase at pleasure. Gold and gold-water was, in his
opinion, one of the most precious of medicines. He employed mercury in
medicine. He seems to designate bismuth under the name _marcasite_. He
was in the habit of preparing oil of turpentine, oil of rosemary, and
spirit of rosemary, which afterwards became famous under the name of
Hungary-water. These distillations were made in a glazed earthen vessel
with a glass top and helm.
His works were published at Venice in a single folio volume, in the
year 1505. There were seven subsequent editions, the last of which
appeared at Strasburg in 1613.
6. John Isaac Hollandus and his countryman of the same name, were
either two brothers or a father and son; it is uncertain which. For
very few circumstances respecting these two laborious and meritorious
men have been handed down to posterity. They were born in the
village of Stolk in Holland, it is supposed in the 13th century.
They certainly were after Arnoldus de Villa Nova, because they refer
to him in their writings. They wrote many treatises on chemistry,
remarkable, considering the time when they wrote, for clearness and
precision, describing their processes with accuracy, and even giving
figures of the instruments which they employed. This makes their books
intelligible, and they deserve attention because they show that various
processes, generally supposed of a more modern date were known to them.
Their treatises are written partly in Latin and partly in German. The
following list contains the names of most of them:
1. Opera Vegetabilia ad ejus alia Opera Intelligenda
Necessaria.
2. Opera Mineralia seu de Lapide Philosophico
Libri duo.
3. Tractat vom stein der Weisen.
4. Fragmenta Quædam Chemica.
5. De Triplice Ordine Elixiris et Lapidis Theorea.
6. Tractatus de Salibus et Oleis Metallorum.
7. Fragmentum de Opere Philosophorum.
8. Rariores Chemiæ Operationes.
9. Opus Saturni.
10. De Spiritu Urinæ.
11. Hand der Philosopher.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account