]
taught that every metal consisted of mercury and sulphur. Naturally they
do not refer to the ordinary quicksilver and ordinary sulphur.

From the Arabs alchemy came to the occident and spread extraordinarily.
Among prominent authors the following may be selected: Roger Bacon,
Albertus Magnus, Vincent of Beauvais, Arnold of Villanova, Thomas Aquinas,
Raymond Lully, etc.

The amount of material that could be adduced is enormous. It is not
necessary, however, to consider it. What I have stated about the
beginnings of alchemy is sufficient in amount to enable the reader to
understand the following exposition of the alchemic content of the
parable. And what I must supply in addition to the alchemic theories of
the time of their prevalence in the west, the reader will learn
incidentally from the following analysis.

In concluding this preliminary view I must still mention one novelty that
Paracelsus (1493-1541) introduced into the theory. Ibn Sina had taught
that two principles entered into the constitution of metals. Mercury is
the bearer of the metallic property and sulphur has the nature of the
combustible and is the cause of the transmutation of metals in fire. The
doctrine of the two principles leads to the theory that for the production
of gold it was necessary to get from metals the purest possible sulphur
and mercury, in order to produce gold by the union of both. Paracelsus now
adds to the two principles a third, salt, as the element of fixedness or
palpability, as he terms it. According to my notion, Paracelsus has not
introduced an essential innovation, but only used in a new systematic
terminology what others said before him, even if they did not follow it
out so consistently. The principles mercury, sulphur and salt--their
symbols are [Symbol: Mercury], [Symbol: Sulphur] and [Symbol: Salt]--were
among the followers of the alchemists very widely used in their technical
language. They were frequently also called spirit, soul and body. They
were taken in threes but also as before in twos, according to the
exigencies of the symbolism.

The alchemists' usual coupling of the planets with metals is probably due
to the Babylonians. I reproduce these correspondences here in the form
they generally had in alchemy. I must beg the reader to impress them upon
his memory, as alchemy generally speaks of the metals by their planetary
names. According to the ancient view (even if not the most ancient) there
are seven planet