f which the antiquity is
enormous, recognizes as the greatest conception of the universe--

1st, God.
2nd, Mind.
3rd, Consciousness.
4th, Matras.
5th, Elements.

(matras being the invisible types of the visible atoms which compose the
five elements previously named--viz., Water, Fire, Ether, Earth, and
Air).

Now, these elements, with the sun and moon, composed the attributes of
the dual deity Iswara and Isi, representing the male and female natural
powers, and, applying this to the famous Pythagorean triangle, we find
that the upright symbol or male, which was the number or power 3, when
combined with the female prostrate symbol, which was the number or power
4, gives a product in the Hypotenuse of 5, which is the number of the
typical elements of the oldest known Hindoo philosophy. It is also the
product of the first male and female numbers, and was anciently called
the number of the world--repeated anyhow by an odd multiple it always
reappears.

If now we consider chemistry as that science which has to deal with the
changes and combinations of the five elements, and if we call it--

_The science of the five parts or elements_, should we not, when we find
that the Arabic word for five is _khams_, rather refer the name of our
science to this word khams, and read it as

_Al-Khams_,
The five-part science?

I am inclined, however, to go yet a step further, and remembering that
the _fifth_ element or Ether of the most ancient Hindoo philosophy, was
in reality an expression for active force, or, that emanating from the
central sun caused the natural phenomena of attraction and repulsion,
the emission and refraction of light, and other sensible changes of
condition, would read the compound word

_Al-Khamis_
(The fifth),

as the grand and simple title of our ancient science, meaning

_The force_--

that which causes the changes in the elementary types and their
combinations--than which no more descriptive title could be assigned to
it, even in the present enlightened age.

* * * * *
* * * *
* * * * *

Errors and Anomalies

Apollonius Tyanaeus [_text reads "Appolonius"_]

Hercules and Bacchus (Dionysius) [_text reads "Dionsyius"_]

Ommiades ... Abassides [_standard spellings for this text_]

Ibn Osaibe's testimony [_text reads "Ibu"_]

body-physicians at the Court of Harun-al-Raschid