Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, Vol. 27

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Excerpt from Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, Vol. 27: 1895-96To some extent apologetic in tone, these later histories and bistori cal sketches looked rather askance on certain epochs in the growth of the science. They did not dare sa y that there might not be some reason in the theory of a common origin of the metals, and that, though many of those persons who tried to demonstrate the truth of the theory were undoubtedly adventurers and swindlers, it did not follow that all who laboured at the realisation of the hypothesis were equally untrustworthy. Still, the apparently fruitless labours of the alchemists, coupled with their high-sounding claims, made cool-headed persons doubtful of a study which could engender such vagaries. In the face of all that, the devotees of the real science had to maintain its value and importance, both in itself and in its applications. Hence, during the early half of the present century, the chemists passed over the alchemical period with as light a touch as they could well apply. They could not deny the existence of alchemical theories, and they could net but admit that they formed an integral part of the thoughts of man kind about the changes of matter, but they were glad to get rid of them as soon as they could, and pass on to something positive in what was considered the path of discovery and progress. They were still too near the time when these beliefs had prevailed and had been scorned, for them to investigate them scientifically and minutely, ascertain what they signified, and trace their history back to its origin. That was beyond the data which they possessed, and they did well, therefore, to leave such questions alone altogether, and go on with the work which lay to their hand. The time was hardly ripe for such investigation, although the material for it existed in abundance. What was wanting was the requisite preparation in historical and archaeological investigation.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.