. Social England; a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners, from the earliest times to the present day . .Jliis is bidught out in the fable of tlie king and his leprousbrothers, told by I )astyn, the alchemist (r. ]-200),where the drug that restores tliem tii perfect health is theblood of the king. The common demand from medicalpractice was a ])anacea. Accordingly, alchemists sought fora panacea which shouhl expel the corruption from the sulphurand mercur\ of the imperfect metals, leaving them jiures
. Social England; a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners, from the earliest times to the present day . .Jliis is bidught out in the fable of tlie king and his leprousbrothers, told by I )astyn, the alchemist (r. ]-200),where the drug that restores tliem tii perfect health is theblood of the king. The common demand from medicalpractice was a ])anacea. Accordingly, alchemists sought fora panacea which shouhl expel the corruption from the sulphurand mercur\ of the imperfect metals, leaving them jiuresilver or piuc .i^old. Undoubtedly, the writings of liogerBacon—especially his ()pus ilinus —gave a great impetusto the stud) of Alchemy. He was, like the other friars,rather a theoretical chemist than a practical one. AVhenAlchemy became practical it was at once recognised that thealchemists could not make natural gold, and they accordingly. Tin: i;i;ia\i; ikikst, Tin: sokckukr, .ii thh fiend (ms. mi: 13481 SCIENCE AXD P^EFDO-SCIEXCE. 115 insisted that theirs was better. We can jiulge of the pubhcfeelini; nn the matter by reading the numerous proclamationsagainst bad money. An old tradition connects our first andmost beautiful gold coin with Alchemy. Raymund Lully wasan ardent apostle of (hristianity among the Moors, but findingihcv turned a deaf ear to him, he set himself to preach acrusade. Coming to England he found Edward III, who hadjust come to his power, was willing to aid, but funds wereurgently needed—in what good cause are they not ? Contrar}-to use, the preacher was willing to supply them. He askedfor a room in St. Katherines by the Tower, and a sup]ilyof lead, mrn-iiry, and tin, and in a few days turned outenough gold for an extended campaign. When the king gothold of the money, however, he broke faith with the simplebrother, and used the money to tight the Erench with, im-prisoning Jiully till
Size: 2933px × 852px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidsocialenglan, bookyear1902
