Geber, whose real name was Abou-Moussah-Dschafar-Al-Soli, was a Sabean of Harran, in Mesopotamia, and lived during the eighth century. Very little is known respecting the history of this writer, who must be considered as the patriarch of chemistry. Golius, professor of the oriental languages in the University of Leyden, made a present of Geber’s work in manuscript to the public library. He translated it into Latin, and published it in the same city in folio, and afterwards in quarto, under the title of “Lapis Philosophorum.”[104] It was translated into English by Richard Russel in 1678, under the title of, “The Works of Geber, the most famous Arabian Prince and Philosopher.”[105] The works of Geber, so far as they appeared in Latin or English, consist of four tracts. The first is entitled, “Of the Investigation or Search of Perfection.” The second is entitled, “Of the Sum of Perfection, or of the perfect Magistery.” The third, “Of the Invention of Verity or Perfection.” And the last, “Of Furnaces, &c.; with a Recapitulation of the Author’s Experiments.” [104] Boerhaave’s Chemistry (Shaw’s translation), i. 26. _Note._ [105] Golius was not, however, the first translator of Geber. A translation of the longest and most important of his tracts into Latin appeared in Strasburg, in 1529. There was another translation published in Italy, from a manuscript in the Vatican. There probably might be other translations. I have compared four different copies of Geber’s works, and found some differences, though not very material. I have followed Russel’s English translation most commonly, as upon the whole the most accurate that I have seen. The object of Geber’s work is to teach the method of making the philosopher’s stone, which he distinguishes usually by the name of _medicine of the third class_. The whole is in general written with so much plainness, that we can understand the nature of the substances which he employed, the processes which he followed, and the greater number of the products which he obtained. It is, therefore, a book of some importance, because it is the oldest chemical treatise in existence,[106] and because it makes us acquainted with the processes followed by the Arabians, and the progress which they had made in chemical investigations. I shall therefore lay before the reader the most important facts contained in Geber’s work. [106] Of course I exclude the writings of the Greek ecclesiastics mentioned in a previous part of this work, which still continue in manuscript; because, I am ignorant of what they contain. 1. He considered all the metals as compounds of mercury and sulphur: this opinion did not originate with him. It is evident from what he says, that the same notion had been adopted by his predecessors--men whom he speaks of under the title of the _ancients_.