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Alchemy - Term Papers

Alchemy


The science by aid of which the chemical philosophers of medieval times attempted to transmute the baser metals into gold or silver. There is considerable divergence of opinion as to the etymology of the word, but it would seem to be derived from the Arabic al=the, and kimya=chemistry, which in turn derives from the late Greek chemica=chemistry, from chumeia=a mingling, or cheein, 'to pour out' or 'mix', Aryan root ghu, to pour, whence the word 'gush'. Mr. A. Wallis Budge in his "Egyptian Magic", however, states that it is possible that it may be derived from the Egyptian word khemeia, that is to say 'the preparation of the black ore', or 'powder', which was regarded as the active ...

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the individualities of the various metals, that in it their various substances were incorporated. This black powder was mystically identified with the underworld form of the god Osiris, and consequently was credited with magical properties. Thus there grew up in Egypt the belief that magical powers existed in fluxes and alloys. Probably such a belief existed throughout Europe in connection with the bronze-working castes of its several races. Its was probably in the Byzantium of the fourth century, however, that alchemical science received embryonic form. There is little doubt that Egyptian tradition, filtering through Alexandrian Hellenic sources was the foundation upon which the infant science was built, and this is borne out by the circumstance that the art was attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and supposed to be contained in its entirety in his works.
The Arabs, after their conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, carried on the researches of the Alexandrian school, and through ...

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the heyday of , in the theory and practice of the art. The same sentiments and processes are found expressed in the later alchemical authorities as in the earliest, and a wonderful unanimity as regards the basic canons of the great art is evinced by the hermetic students of the time. On the introduction of chemistry as a practical art, alchemical science fell into desuetude and disrepute, owing chiefly to the number of charlatans practicing it, and by the beginning of the eighteenth century, as a school, it may be said to have become defunct. Here and there, however, a solitary student of the art lingered, and in the department of this article "Modern " will demonstrate that the ...

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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 11/22/2008 02:28:16 PM
Category: World History
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 3678
Pages: 14

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