the philosopher's stone; by no
other means could he have made the powder of gold float upon the water.
But we must leave this knotty point for the consideration of the adepts in
the art, if any such there be, and come to more modern periods of its
history. The Jesuit, Father Martini, in his _Historia Sinica_, says, it
was practised by the Chinese two thousand five hundred years before the
birth of Christ; but his assertion, being unsupported, is worth nothing.
It would appear, however, that pretenders to the art of making gold and
silver existed in Rome in the first centuries after the Christian era, and
that, when discovered, they were liable to punishment as knaves and
impostors. At Constantinople, in the fourth century, the transmutation of
metals was very generally believed in, and many of the Greek ecclesiastics
wrote treatises upon the subject. Their names are preserved, and some
notice of their works given, in the third volume of Langlet du Fresnoy's
_History of the Hermetic Philosophy_. Their notion appears to have been,
that all metals were composed of two substances; the one, metallic earth;
and the other, a red inflammable matter, which they called sulphur. The
pure union of these substances formed gold; but other metals were mixed
with and contaminated by various foreign ingredients. The object of the
philosopher's stone was to dissolve or neutralise all these ingredients,
by which iron, lead, copper, and all metals would be transmuted into the
original gold. Many learned and clever men wasted their time, their
health, and their energies, in this vain pursuit; but for several
centuries it took no great hold upon the imagination of the people. The
history of the delusion appears, in a manner, lost from this time till the
eighth century, when it appeared amongst the Arabians. From this period it
becomes easier to trace its progress. A master then appeared, who was long
looked upon as the father of the science, and whose name is indissolubly
connected with it.

GEBER.

Of this philosopher, who devoted his life to the study of alchymy, but few
particulars are known. He is thought to have lived in the year 730. His
true name was Abou Moussah Djafar, to which was added Al Sofi, or "The
Wise," and he was born at Houran, in Mesopotamia.[28] Some have thought
he was a Greek, others a Spaniard, and others a prince of Hindostan; but
of all the mistakes which have been made respecting him, the most
ludicrous was tha