was
pursued, as will be shewn more fully in the life of Seton the Cosmopolite.

The following is a catalogue of the chief authors upon alchymy, who
flourished during this epoch, and whose lives and adventures are either
unknown or are unworthy of more detailed notice. John Dowston, an
Englishman, lived in 1315, and wrote two treatises on the philosopher's
stone. Richard, or, as some call him, Robert, also an Englishman, lived in
1330, and wrote a work entitled _Correctorium Alchymiae_, which was much
esteemed till the time of Paracelsus. In the same year lived Peter of
Lombardy, who wrote what he called a _Complete Treatise upon the Hermetic
Science_, an abridgment of which was afterwards published by Lacini, a
monk of Calabria. In 1330 the most famous alchymist of Paris was one
Odomare, whose work, _De Practica Magistri_, was for a long time a
hand-book among the brethren of the science. John de Rupecissa, a French
monk of the order of St. Francis, flourished in 1357, and pretended to be
a prophet as well as an alchymist. Some of his prophecies were so
disagreeable to Pope Innocent VI., that the pontiff determined to put a
stop to them, by locking up the prophet in the dungeons of the Vatican. It
is generally believed that he died there, though there is no evidence of
the fact. His chief works are, the _Book of Light_, the _Five Essences_,
the _Heaven of Philosophers_, and his grand work, _De Confectione
Lapidis_. He was not thought a shining light among the adepts. Ortholani
was another pretender, of whom nothing is known, but that he exercised the
arts of alchymy and astrology at Paris, shortly before the time of
Nicholas Flamel. His work on the practice of alchymy was written in that
city in 1358. Isaac of Holland wrote, it is supposed, about this time; and
his son also devoted himself to the science. Nothing worth repeating is
known of their lives. Boerhaave speaks with commendation of many passages
in their works, and Paracelsus esteemed them highly: the chief are, _De
Triplici Ordine Elixiris et Lapidis Theoria_, printed at Berne in 1608;
and _Mineralia Opera, seu de Lapide Philosophico_, printed at Middleburg
in 1600. They also wrote eight other works upon the same subject.
Koffstky, a Pole, wrote an alchymical treatise, entitled _The Tincture of
Minerals_, about the year 1488. In this list of authors a royal name must
not be forgotten. Charles VI. of France, one of the most credulous princes
of the day, whose c