first, superficial descriptions of special instances of those
occurrences which are the subject of the chemist's study; he will
learn that only certain parts of such events are dealt with in
chemistry; more accurate descriptions will then be given of changes
which occur in nature, or can be produced by altering the ordinary
conditions, and the reader will be taught to see certain points of
likeness between these changes; he will be shown how to disentangle
chemical occurrences, to find their similarities and differences; and,
gradually, he will feel his way to general statements, which are more
or less rigorous and accurate expressions of what holds good in a
large number of chemical processes; finally, he will discover that
some generalisations have been made which are exact and completely
accurate descriptions applicable to every case of chemical change.

But if we turn to the writings of the alchemists, we are in a
different world. There is nothing even remotely resembling what one
finds in a modern book on chemistry.

Here are a few quotations from alchemical writings [1]:

[1] Most of the quotations from alchemical writings, in this
book, are taken from a series of translations, published in
1893-94, under the supervision of Mr A.E. Waite.


"It is necessary to deprive matter of its qualities in order to
draw out its soul.... Copper is like a man; it has a soul and a
body ... the soul is the most subtile part ... that is to say, the
tinctorial spirit. The body is the ponderable, material,
terrestrial thing, endowed with a shadow.... After a series of