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قراءة كتاب Alchemy: Ancient and Modern Being a Brief Account of the Alchemistic Doctrines, and Their Relations, to Mysticism on the One Hand, and ...
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Alchemy: Ancient and Modern Being a Brief Account of the Alchemistic Doctrines, and Their Relations, to Mysticism on the One Hand, and ...
whereas the latter abounded in a wealth of much accurate detail and much relative truth, it lacked philosophical depth and insight; whilst Alchemy, deficient in such accurate detail, was characterised by a greater degree of philosophical depth and insight; for the alchemists did grasp the fundamental truth of the Cosmos, although they distorted it and made it appear grotesque. The alchemists cast their theories in a mould entirely fantastic, even ridiculous—they drew unwarrantable analogies—and hence their views cannot be accepted in these days of modern science. But if we cannot approve of their theories in toto, we can nevertheless appreciate the fundamental ideas at the root of them. And it is primarily with the object of pointing out this similarity between these ancient ideas regarding the physical universe and the latest products of scientific thought, that this book has been written.
It is a regrettable fact that the majority of works dealing with the subject of Alchemy take a one-sided point of view. The chemists generally take a purely physical view of the subject, and instead of trying to understand its mystical language, often (I do not say always) prefer to label it nonsense and the alchemist a fool. On the other hand, the mystics, in many cases, take a purely transcendental view of the subject, forgetting the fact that the alchemists were, for the most part, concerned with operations of a physical nature. For a proper understanding of Alchemy, as I hope to make plain in the first chapter of this work, a synthesis of both points of view is essential; and, since these two aspects are so intimately and essentially connected with one another, this is necessary even when, as in the following work, one is concerned primarily with the physical, rather than the purely mystical, aspect of the subject.
Now, the author of this book may lay claim to being a humble student of both Chemistry and what may be generalised under the terms Mysticism and Transcendentalism; and he hopes that this perhaps rather unusual combination of studies has enabled him to take a broad-minded view of the theories of the alchemists, and to adopt a sympathetic attitude towards them.
With regard to the illustrations, the author must express his thanks to the authorities of the British Museum for permission to photograph engraved portraits and illustrations from old works in the British Museum Collections, and to G. H. Gabb, Esq., F.C.S., for permission to photograph engraved portraits in his possession.
The author’s heartiest thanks are also due to Frank E. Weston, Esq., B.Sc., F.C.S., and W. G. Llewellyn, Esq., for their kind help in reading the proofs, &c.
H. S. R.
The Polytechnic, London, W.
October, 1910.
CONTENTS
PAGE | ||
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Chapter I. | The Meaning of Alchemy | 1 |
§ 1. | The Aim of Alchemy | 1 |
§ 2. | The Transcendental Theory of Alchemy | 2 |
§ 3. | Failure of the Transcendental Theory | 3 |
§ 4. | The Qualifications of the Adept | 4 |
§ 5. | Alchemistic Language | 5 |
§ 6. | Alchemists of a Mystical Type | 7 |
§ 7. | The Meaning of Alchemy | 7 |
§ 8. | Opinions of other Writers | 8 |
§ 9. | The Basic Idea of Alchemy | 10 |
§ 10. | The Law of Analogy | public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@43240@[email protected]#Page_12" class="pginternal" |