Public Library
Kansas City, Mo.
TENSION ENVELOPE CORP
APR 7 IS7S
BY
OLIVER C. de C. ELLIS
MCMXXXII
THE POETRY LOVERS' FELLOWSHIP
WITH THE
INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF LITERATURE
5
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY J. W. NORTHEND LTD., ,
The
audacity of supposing that you yourself will find the
time to read my book remains. Yet I hope that you wil]
read it.
I have tried to trace the development of a few ideas, and
I think it is by the resulting map of this voyage of exploration
MANCHESTER,
THE UNIVERSITY UNION.
PREFACE.
Page
Dedication ix
Preface xi
CHAPTER I.
pyrophoroi 24
14. Arcane knowledge of the alchemists ; gold and high
temperature 27
15- Fire, blood, wood and gold in the story of Bahram
the Magus 29
16. Fire as the "general medium
of exchange" 31
17. The various significances of the word Fire.
The rebuke of the Unicorn 32
18. The storage of Energy 34
CHAPTER II.
THE GOOD COMPANION,
19. The first necessities of life, Fire, Water and Salt ... 36
20. Preservation of Fire; A
note on early Russians ... 37
21. The secret of preserving a wood fire; ash and salt 39
Page
22. The Ash; The Oak 41
23. Medicines from bark and sap 43
24. Gums, resins and gum-resins. Religious Significances.
The Phoenix 43
25. Fossil resins; Amber; Lacs 45
26. Hard resins; Balsams 48
27. Non-resinous woods apple, ; cedar, hawthorn, ash,
hornbeam, beech, alder 49
28. Resinous woods; birch, fir, juniper, chestnut, pine ... 50
29. Larch, silver fir, rowan, witch-hazel, honey-suckle 52
30. Poplar, elder, elm, yew 52
31. Banked-up fires; Augury from flame; Transference
of fire 54
32. Fire artificially produced by travellers and soldiers;
Reply of Religion 57
33. Methods of concussion and friction; the Fire-Saw;
the Fire-Plough; the Fire-Drill; the Pump-Drill 58
34. Tinder 59
35. Uses of Sulphur in fire-making 60
36. Pyrites and Flint 61
37. Flint and Steel 61
38. Lenses and Mirrors 63
39. Use and mirrors for high temperatures ...
of lenses 64
40. Alchemists' prior knowledge; the alchemists' furnaces 65
41. The Fire-Syringe 67
42. Pyrophoroi 68
43. Dobereiner Lamp 69
44. Electrical methods
Matches not employing phosphorus
; 69
45. Matches involving yellow phosphorus 71
46. Matches employing red phosphorus and phosphorus
sesqui-sulphide 73
47. Fire as the Medium of Exchange 74
CHAPTER III,
THE PRIMAL MATTER,
48. Four regions and four physical states; Theory of the
four elements mis-stated by its detractors 75
49. The one pure element 76
Page
50. Like to like 78
51. Like to like illustrated by hygroscopic salts ... 80
52. Like to like illustrated in sympathetic magic 81
53. Like to like illustrated in the changing structure of
the Universe. Constituents of the Elements.
Plato's atoms. Broken atoms. Hyle 82
54. The World as an Animal composed of concentric
spheres differing in density 85
55. Light as the one pure element, i.e., Light as pure Fire 87
56. Light as the Primal Matter (lux) self-organising.
Lumen the source of Lux, Quanta 89
57. Like to like illustrated in theories of Light, Sight and
Colours 89
58. Fire and Redness 90
59. Colour and Temperature 91
60. The Soul of the World; the Nous of Anaxagoras, and
his atom 92
61. The emanations Empedocles the atoms and vacuum
of ;
CHAPTER IV.
THE BAND OF UNION.
66. Fire not only the principle of disintegration but also
the principle of cohesion, circulation and synthesis 100
67. The Universe seen in miniature in more familiar
structures; th,e Man microcosm; the ccelom micro-
cosm; the head microcosm; the family microcosm;
the state microcosm; anything containing a Nous
constituted a microcosm; the central hearth and
the water-cycle in every microcosm 102
68. The central fire and sacred water in the temple ... 104
69. The central fire and sacred water in the state 108
70. The central fire and sacred water in the home ... 109
71. Suppliants and Sanctuary 112
72. Fire by token of wood, food, blood or salt 113
Page
73. The and sacred water in the living body;
central fire
Blood; Contest between heart and liver for the
role of central hearth 115
74. Theold language of health; "Spirits" and "Vapours" 117
75. Blood and Rain; The human soul and God; The
philosophy of Jesus 120
76. The central fire and sacred water of the Earth;
Sterilisation by Fire and Spontaneous Generation
by Fire and Water
J
122
77. The central fires of the Earth and of the World
identified 124
78. The World-Egg 125
79-80. Some Extravagances of the Microcosmic Analogy;
The "spirits" as humanesque beings; mineral de-
and "outcrops"
posits as trees 128-130
81. The and the water-cycle in the Alembic 131
central fire
82. A firmament for the sick man -microcosm 132
83. Stones, &c,, as microcosms. The fire-ghost 133
84. The crumbling of a heated stone the loss of its life
or soul 134
85. Everything an egg containing Yolk (Water) and
Embryo (Fire) 135
86. Air the Water in the Inane; Flame the Fire in the
Inane; Calx the dead body of the disrupted
material 136
87. Fire remaining in the dead body (Quicklime) and the
expelled soul a "permanent Air"! Yet Cohesion
gone 137,
88. The dead body also a mystical compound of Fire and
Water. The principle of cohesion connected with
the principle of inflammability 138
CHAPTER V,
THE SPIRIT IN PRISON.
89. The Egg-shell; Argument of the Chapter 139
90 Each element might lose some of its impurities under
to the attraction of the elements to which
they
93. severally belonged. Green and gold. Medieval
re-statement of Aristotle 142-146
94. Water as a mother of plants and
trees, giving them
Fire 146
Page
95. Air as a vehicle of Water, of Fire, and of Earth;
Nourishment by odours 147
96. The central fire nourished by the reception of external
radiation 148
97. The Virgin Birth and the philosophy of Jesus; The
outer fire according to the degree of its applica-
tion might fecundate, nourish, ripen, by cherishing;
or might putrefy (moist) or incinerate (dry) by its
overpowering attraction 149
98. Evocation of the Soul by Fire; the soul of a fuel was
the matter of its flame 152
99. The riddle of flint 153
100. Fire, water and the "incombustible sulphur" ... 153
101. Vitriol as the ash, or glass, or salt, or "incombustible
sulphur", or "caput mortuum" of Rock-sulphur.
Elixir of Vitriol 154
102. Black soil contained nourishing "sulphur" of vegetable
and animal life; Red soil contained an "incom-
bustible sulphur" 155
103. A confusion of vegetable nourishment and mineral
oils. Plutarch and Philostratus on oil-fields ... 156
104. The tree of metals (mineral veins) grew from water
and was nourished, as in an atmosphere, by the
fire in the earth; Rusting analogous to drowning
a breathing animal or bringing a fish out of water.
"Stainless Steel" 158
105. Another image of the production of metals; a water-
cycle within the Earth 159
106. Astral Influences on the growth of Metals 161
107. Characteristic Behaviour of Individual Metals in the
furnace 161
108. The Spark from Flint and Steel 162
109. Iron contains a "combustible sulphureous body", that
is, a matter of flame, having an influence towards
cohesion 163
110. Boyle makes hydrogen. The
external application of
the fire of that "incombustible sulphur" Vitriol
apparently drove out of iron its matter of flame,
"the volatile sulphur of the Mars" "Phlogiston" 164
111. Priestley and Cavendish on hydrogen in iron, zinc and
tin 166
112. The Modern View 166
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE BLOOD OF THE SALAMANDER AND
THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE.
151. The Argument 238
152. Necessity of Air to Life and Fire in Ancient Times ... 241
153. And in Medieval Times 245
154. Dung and the Balsam of the Heavenly Stars 246
155. Early uses of nitre 247
156. Medieval use of nitre; The Pure Substance of Air ... 249
157. Respiration and the Royal Society 250
158. Evelyn and the Celestial Nitre 252
159. Boyle and the Celestial Nitre 254
160. Maier, Seton and Norton 257
161. The triumph of Hooke 257
162. Willis and Mayow 259
163. Hales sneers at the "supposed vivifying spirit of air",
and unwittingly collects it 261
Page
164. Priestley jests about the "supposed Pabulum Vitas3'
and makes it 261
165. Ideas about Spent Air 262
166. Priestley makes oxygen from nitre "before 1772" ... 263
167. Scheele makes oxygen from nitre "before 1773" ... 264
168. Oxygen the Philosopher's Stone 264
169. The Blood of the Salamander 265
170. Oxygen also prepared from oxides of lead by the
alchemists 266
171. Boyle's "igneous particles" that turned mercury into
its calx 267
172. Air as a sulphur or limestone having oxygen as its
vitriol or quicklime 268
173. Artificial synthesis of water from Calces 271
174. Artificial synthesis of nitre from the Air 271
CHAPTER IX.
MR. PICKWICK AND NEIGHBOUR SEA-COLE.
175. Light and Joy; Darkness and Grief 273
176. Growth of Street Lighting 276
177. Torch and Candle 278
178. Links 280
179. Domestic Heating and Cooking 281
180. Sea-coal 283
181. The curse of smoke 284
182. Blue, Cold and Evil 285
183. Blue, cool interior of the wick-fed flame explained by
Shakespeare 288
184. The wick as a still 289
185. A
"blower" of inflammable gas 290
186. Clayton distils a spirit that would not condense ... 291
187. A
short history of bladders 292
188. Refractory behaviour of enclosed gas.
Rudimentary
classification of vapours 294
189. Collection of Gases 296
190. DistilledFlame 297
191. Permanent Gases Inflammable 298
192. "Natural Gas" in China and America 300
Page
193. Burning Smoke 301
194. Commercial production of coal-gas 302
195. Early prejudices 302
196. Wood-gas and Oil-gas 304
197. The light of gas due to its potential smokiness ... 305
198. The Bunsen Burner 307
199. Incandescent Mantles 309
200. Analysis of the Flame; Gas on a heat basis ... 310
201. Incandescence by Electric Current 311
CHAPTER X.
THE QUIVERING MANE.
202. Davy's measurements of inflammability;
Hot surface method 312
203. Davy's measurements of inflammability;
Vacuum extinction method 313
204. Davy's measurements of inflammability;
Dilution extinction method 314
205. Davy's measurements of inflammability;
Minimum Flame method 315
206. Davy's measurements of inflammability;
Hot wire method 315
207. Frankland and Dixon on Inflammability Controls ;
221.
222.
223.
224.
225.
226.
227.
228.
229.
230.
231.
232.
232 61
233.
234.
235.
Page
236. Vitruvius; Hero 356
237. Slave-power; Boethius; Gerbert; Agricola ... 356
238. Leonardo da Vinci; Porta; Branca 357
239. Power from Heat by expansion of Gas the Piston
; 358
240. "The Egyptian Wheel" in English mines; Savery;
de Caus; Worcester's "Fire-Water Work"; Boyle
and Papin; Huyghens; Newcomen and Galley;
Humphrey Potter 359
241. Watt. "Ecosse en avant!" 361
242. Murdoch; Trevithick; Cugnot 362
243. Stephenson '. 363
244. Steam-substitutes; Lebon; Brayton 364
245. Free piston engines; Cecil; Brown; Barsanti and
Matteucci; Otto and Langen 365
246. The real gas-engine; Street; Wright; Barnett; Cecil;
Newton; Lenoir; Hugon Schmidt; Beau de
;
Acknowledgement 379
Index 388
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Soul of Nitre: Hales collects the Band of Union ... 297
FLAME PHOTOGRAPHS,
L Growth in Orbem 330
II. Growth in Orbem 330
CHAPTER I.
1.
2.
3.
the fountain, the river and the wind. All about him,
the energy-reservoirs of the Universe ran to waste : he
and water. Loss -of blood was loss of the inward fire,
the source of -breath. So also the blood was the life, bufi
it did not survive life as the breath seemed to do. On
a day, the tenuous tail of some high isobar, dragging
still
6.
As
the spiral wind left the red ember, or the glowing
flame swept the green leaf, it left a charred black or a
white ash. The man found these colours of red, white
and black in soils, in the furs and skins of beasts, in the
hair and complexion of men and in the feathers of birds.
Found immediately related to fire, for their
in birds, they
especial and
peculiarcreation of Ormuzd. Now, as we have already
noted, the more penurious the vocabulary, the less possible
7.
was not like his own fire that flitted in the fens and
of the polar pairs Sun and Moon, Fire and Water, Male
and Female, led inevitably to the association of Woman
with Water as well as with the Moon.
o o
9.
in glass-making carefully
Assyrian furnacemen employed
cleansed themselves, not after their duties,
but before.
to the running stream
Invading generals would sacrifice
before they crossed it, and that in exactly the same
manner
as would placate the gods of a territory whose
they
The feeling was
treaty rights they were
about to violate.
exhibited in its most intense degree when hymns, prayers
and libations to the Sea immediately preceded the setting-
out of a naval expedition. This superstition has been
10.
,
the Atharva Veda referring to gold
11.
I
(2
C/J
w
C/3
o
ffi
ffi
H
I. 11 19
random, in The Girl and the Beetle, Barry Pain has this :
to obtain a draught
:>f that red fluid which would give them a brief travesty
intil she had drunk the blood. This scene is not repeated
n Virgil or in Dante, but that cannot be because they
vished to repudiate the special character of what is still
egarded as at least the special vehicle of Life. Three
mndred years after Dante, Shakespeare builds a pun on
he ancient identity, putting it into the mouth of Lady
Macbeth, who would "gild" the faces of
said that she
he grooms with blood that might seem their "guilt".
it
12.
ignition of the
sacred communal fire at Rome when in
some national vicissitude that had been neglected, and it
Brahmin sacrifices. Fire from
is still necessary in the
the holiest of
heaven-born sunlight was usually, however,
all. One to this feeling was the
factor contributory
tell the truth and the whole truth. If not, as this candle
13.
"Take urine and thoroughly distil it. Water, air and earth
will ascend together, but the fire remains at the bottom.
Afterwards mix all together and distil again four times
after this manner; and at the fourth distillation the water
will ascend first, then the air and the fire, but the
earth remains at the bottom. Then receive the air and
the fire in a separate vessel, which put in a cold place,
and there will be congealed certain icicles, which are the
element of fire. This congelation will take place during
distillation, but the solidification is much more ready when
cold".
I. 13 25
Hardly had she left the house when the bin containing the
napkin burst into flames, and the whole house caught fire
26 I- 13
14.
15.
and the light and the shade and the heat" which he
worshipped. The blood motive enters "he used every
:
16.
I. 17
32
17.
w
C/]
O
ffl
ft
H
W
a
w
I. 17 33
Chapter Ten.
11. In the Final Chapter, Fire is seen harnessed.
18.
transport him
A
to the palace of the King. less trite
CHAPTER II.
Pile up the dry wood while you may. Horace (Odes III, 17).
19.
20.
live thing that abode with them the fire was preserved.
:
21.
22.
only the god, but also the victim. Once it covered the
whole of England. As a fuel, it is still popular, especially
if it is dry and old, and it is often available as dead scrub
23.
ance than the religious origin. The resin was the life-
blood of something already regarded as holy, and the
fact that on combustion it left almost no ash supported
the conclusion that here was the holiest of all holies.
about it; Fire burneth inside it". For the gods of Egypt
alsowere originally tree-gods. And when the life of the
treewas gone? Then came the bee to its hollow, and
homage was paid to a new marvel of the god.
24.
25.
26.
It is the
27.
28.
pots over a
1
29.
30.
31.
and water upon Cicero, the populace ignored it. Yet this
upon the altar, set the wood on fire, and completed the
immolation of the sacrifice". A similar experience that
befell Elijah is said to have been the direct result of a
challenge and of a prayer. The shape and motion of the
flame was anxiously regarded in the absence of any other
32.
33.
34.
birds, touchwood.
Amadou was prepared from large
of the genus Fomes or Polyporus which are often
fungi'
found growing on the trunks of decaying trees. These
slices and
1
35.
36.
37.
and Civil wars, when even the altars were broken down
"it is esteemed an
"In re-kindling thisfire", says Plutarch,
or flame, or from
impiety to light it at common sparks
of the Sun.
anything but the pure and unpolluted rays
This they usually effect by concave mirrors of a shape
formed by the revolution of an isosceles rectangular tri-
angle. All the lines from the circumference of a mirror
such as this meet in the centre. When it is held in the
light from the Sun, all the rays collect
and concentrate at
this one point of convergence: here the air will now be-
come rarefied to fire, and will kindle any light, dry fuel
that may be applied to it".
39.
40.
41.
When a gas is compressed, its temperature rises.
The caloricists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
said caloric was squeezed out of it. This is the basis of
a method -which has been for many centuries employed
by inhabitants of Indonesia, where they make fire with a
42.
43.
Acentury later, Dobereiner similarly prepared his
"Pyrophorus", and the continuance of his researches on
finely divided metals led him in 1823 to the beautiful
achievement of the Dobereiner Lamp. This employed
the fact that gases may be absorbed into the outer
surface of metals, the intimacy of their mutual contact
leading to their chemical union, with a consequent
emission of heat and the phenomenon of ignition. A
small glass jar, in which a plate of zinc was suspended
from the lid, was provided with a reservoir of acid.
When a tap in the lid was opened, the acid streamed into
the jar and attacked the zinc. A
certain amount of zinc
generator,
44.
The progress
of electricity gave rise to certain rather
obvious and very cumbersome devices by which a spark
was made These never became
to ignite inflammable gas.
sulphuric acid
andsome minute matches, the heads of
chlorate, sugar and
which were compounded of potassium
to prevent stray
gum There were usually arrangements
from on the spare matches and
drops of vitriol falling
igniting
the lot. When one of these matches was
the head immediately
momentarily dipped into the acid,
invention was widely used for some
"took fire". This
the being to the nature
twenty-five years, only objection
of sulphuric acid, since this liquid
was liable to spirt,
reaction took place. The
when the essentially explosive
introduction of its use into the manufacture of fireworks
to the insidious
46-
quoted 1
47.
CHAPTER III.
48.
Primitive Man
recognised four large regions, each
suitably ruled and inhabited by creatures appropriately
equipped. Later, he became dimly aware of the four
different physical states. Early philosophers noted the
continual interflowings of these four states, and sought
a common denominator in a primal matter which might
also in some systems be an ultimate matter and into
which the sage -might remelt its derivative forms; thus
eliciting some benefit very tremendous but extremely
vague, vague as this original Chaos itself. It had a name
however. As perfumer expressed the fragrance of
the
blossoms into an attar, so the
Magi hoped to attain the
Perpetual and Divine Quintessence of the World. The
theory of the four elements was accepted by the European
philosophers as a hypothesis of purely physical signifi-
cance. That hypothesis has never been overthrown. It is
true that like a bad debater and his claque Renaissance
philosophy claimed to have confuted it; but what was
confuted was something which the earlier thinkers had
III. 49
76
Wave-length Title
of ethereal radiance by common association
50.
It to
Anaxagoras
is we owe not only this
that
51.
kept in a warm and dry place and guarded well from the
Air in wooden chests. They must not be placed on glass,
stone, or metal. these they are dissolved and turn
By
into Water". This, said Boyle, "is nothing but a solution
made by the watery steams wandering in the Air". Else-
where he says, "Indeed, it does but arrest such of those
as chance in their passage to accost it. . . We may allow
that they may be the more firmly arrested by a kind of
precipitating faculty that the magnet" (i.e., the attracting
body) "may have in reference to such effluviums" and
having acknowledged a "faculty", he feels that he may
just as well resign his thesis, so that he adds, "Nay, I
III. 52 81
53.
this to
the energising principle opposed to tendency
settlement is and Strife is
called Strife. Love is Osiris,
Set or Typhon, whom Julius Firmicus Maternus well
identified with Heat, since "Iron came forth from Set",
and it had magical powers. we find this
In Plato Strife
54.
its own decay ... its soul at the centre but interwoven
to the very extremities of
throughout from the midmost
as Fire, "the chief
Space". Circling round the earth
orbits raced first
idea, indeed, of Deity", in successive
the Moon, then the Sun, then the planets. How vividly
and materially these concentric spheres were envisaged
by these classical thinkers may be realised
when we read
that Aristotle conceived the flickering light of the Aurora
to be due to their friction.
A would give
catholic conspectus of classical views
55.
56.
57.
one story, that Ra, the eye of the Creator, had achieved
a separate existence; for during one of his long absences,
the Creator became accustomed to other arrangements.
Greek philosophy found in sight an illustration of the
principle of Like to Like,
and with Plato, for example,
was held to be due to the union of sight-rays, "the
sight
the eyes", with the
pure fire within us, flowing through
from the object seen. "All such
image- rays, coming
he "necessarily result from the affinity
phenomena", said,
of the external and the internal fires", Ptolemy was to
III. 58
90
between
puzzled by a difference which manifestly exists
colours of this category, which are parts of sunlight, and
the colours of flowers, which are pigment.
58.
59.
60.
63.
64.
Fifteen
description of the atom with the fullest approval.
years later still, however, the new science of electricity
65.
in Ether.
cognate works of Energy, reaching out
What, then, is Ether? Or is this beyond our
Thought? What is Thought? And what are we, who, in
the midst of all these vortices of motion, detach ourselves
as alien "immateriate virtues" to examine them? If we
have found the primal matter, what is. the primal cause,
and what the ultimate effect ? Has any positive alternative
yet been offered to that primitive faith and fumbling
expressed by that great artist who wrote "The Book of
Job"?:
"Igo forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I
cannot perceive Him; on the left hand where He doth
work, but I cannot behold Him He hideth Himself on the
;
CHAPTER IV.
66.
However much advance of his time a writer may
in
67.
104
68.
to revive the
69.
"sea" in the Acropolis he
Neptune had a similar
had made it for himself, for it was salty. As far as
however, we find that the ancient city tended to
possible,
be built so that its citadel the last refuge of the be-
a So also, in Rome, we find the
siegedenclosed spring.
a siege of six months before it was
Capitol standing
Here also was the Salt store. In general,
betrayed.
however, all the civil and political interests grouped them-
selves round' the Regia, the sacred centre and abode of
a tribunal, a town-
Vesta, at once a prytaneum, a temple,
hall and a public lounge. In the Greek cities the pry-
reverently be restored.
All these conceptions may be found in the history of
our own era. There a very impressive similarity in
is
70.
The sense of
snow-houses which they make
at play.
the cold ash that his wife, he assumed, would weep and
taper.
It is significant, too, that in the shrine the mid
position was occupied by Vesta.
The mother of Romulus
was a Vestal Virgin, but Vesta stood for domestic
chastity. It was in order not to offend Vesta that the
new-made bride was lifted over the threshold. Right
and left, supporting Vesta, were two Lares, which in
earlier times had been boundary or property gods, or two
71.
72.
but because that kept the fire alight The little gods were
remained!. Though
dead; yet some of their influence
swarms of little Caesars joined! them, and all alike became
mere dolls, it was still felt for example that divine
vengeance fell on the householder on
whose hearth an
enemy committed suicide. Cicero had often considered
thismethod of annoying the first Caesar; it is an idea
that had a direct counterpart in the ancient Chinese
revenge of suicide on an enemy's threshold.
Ideas derivative from the hospitality of the hearth
destruction of their
largely survived then the origin.
The "token" conception was world-wide, and we recognise
it harmless example of sympathetic magic.
at once as a
A suppliant might carry a branch of olive, but in his
hand not bound about his brow, a sign of triumph
or he might embrace his patron about the knees. These
tokens originated in the facts that olive was an unctuous
wood and that the knee was a favourite haunt of its
possessor's spirit or central fire which would easily
issue, at that time normally with fatal results, if the knee
were wounded. Even this conception became degraded
until at last it illustrated all the most contemptible
1
73.
74.
(i.e., arteries)
and veins and small ways, it spreadeth itself
into all the limbs of the body and increaseth the virtues
spiritual and ruieth and keepeth
the works thereof. For
out of a den (i.e., cell) on the left side of the heart coraeth
a vein and in his moving is departed into two branches;
the one thereof goeth downwards and spreadeth into many
boughs and sprays, by means of which the
vital spirit is
body. . . . And
so the vital spirit is spread into all the
body and worketh in the veins the pulses of life. The . . .
behold".
75.
the warmth went, the life was gone. So Plato for his
the phrase "hot
part combined Water and Energy
in
76.
it as milk is made.
it was thought that water came out of
An
empirical sterilisation
was old as a precautionary
measure of health, for the venom of stagnant water might
be removed by the application of fire. Here we recall the
horn of the Unicorn, the cleansing of the Lernean marsh
that a modern
by Hercules, and the lump of rock-sulphur
Odysseus will put in his Argus's drinking-water. Cyrus
carried huge supplies of boiled water on his military
gravitation.
78.
Plato's system of concentric spheres, however, seems
to have become generally subject to a certain gentle and
discreet modification. This happened later than Dante,
though it was anticipated in the earlier cosmology of
Hildegarde who retained a spherical form for the earth,
but adopted oval forms for the outer skins of the World.
For since the World was animal a Platonic teaching
126 -
79.
"Then there are the gentle kind which the Germans as well
as the Greeks call cobalos, because they mimic men. They
appear to laugh with glee and pretend to do much, but
really do nothing. They are called little miners, because
of their dwarfish stature, which is about two feet. They
are venerable-looking and are clothed like miners in a
filleted garment with a leather apron about their loins.
This kind does not often trouble the miners, but they idle
about in the shafts and tunnels and really do nothing,
although they pretend to be busy in all kinds of labour,
sometimes digging ore, and sometimes putting into buckets
that which has been dug. Sometimes they throw pebbles
at the workmen, but they rarely injure them unless the
workmen first ridicule or curse them. They are not very
dissimilar from Goblins, which occasionally appear to men
when they go to or from their day's work, or when they
attend their cattle. Because they generally appear benign
to men, the Germans call them guteli. Those called trulli,
which take the form of women as well as men, actually
enter the service of some people, especially the Suions.
The mining gnomes are especially active in the workings
where metal has already been found, or where there are
hopes of discovering it, and because of this they do not
discourage the miners, but on the contrary urge them and
cause them to labour more vigorously'*.
IV. 79 129
quite so sure, but Boyle was freeing himself from the old
trammels and was therefore free equally from what were
regarded as their logical corollaries.
He made a note to
enquire into the matter. What prejudiced
the credibility
of the conclusion was the belief that the earth contained
in any event the unpurified souls of the dead, undergoing
nature.
dead, but had returned to carry out a debt of good
Sedimentary deposits were veins of minerals that had
81.
82.
or mustard baths, all applied to the feet "to draw out the
fever", pointed towards the use of a complete alembic
or firmament surrounding the patient. This led to a
rediscovery of one of the luxuries of the older era. In
his Furni Nov% Philosophic^ Glauber designs a bath-
which he calls "a wooden ark to be
cabinet, a heated box,
used as a dry bath for the purpose of provoking sweat
and encouraging the lightness of the spirits". The idea
IV. 83 133
83.
84.
only in the fact that it was the vehicle of the fire it was ;
85.
86.
the calx was the residue (or salt) of a metal that had
87.
88.
Fire was not only the agent of cohesion; like the balsam
of the Mind of Man, it was the very matter of its Flame.
V. 89 139
CHAPTER V.
89.
90.
91.
92.
all its four elements, that the Air preyed on the soda,
as a vehicle
taking away only its Water, and that the Air,
of Water, nourished the salt by increasing its Water.
93.
94.
95.
96.
98.
99.
philosophic background
which made it credible.
100.
102.
103.
very light that surrounds it, and often inflame the inter-
mediate air also. The barbarians, to show the power and
nature of it, sprinkled the street that led to the king's
lodgings with little drops of it, and when it was almost
night, stood at the further end with torches, which being
applied to the moistened places, 'the first at once taking
fire, instantly, as quick as man could think of it, it caught
from one end to another, in such a manner that the whole
street was one continued flame. Among those who used to
wait on the king and find occasion to amuse him when he
annointed and washed himself, there was one Athenophanes,,
an Athenian, who desired him to make an experiment
of the naphtha upon Stephanus, who stood by in the
bathing-place, a youth with a ridiculously ugly face, whose
talent was singing well. 'For', said he, 'if it take hold of
him and is not put out, it must undeniably be allowed to
be of the most invincible strength'. The youth, as it
happened, readily consented to undergo the trial, and as
soon as he was annointed and rubbed with it, his whole
body broke out into such a flame, and was so seized by the
fire, that Alexander was in the greatest perplexity and
alarm for him, and not without reason; for nothing could
V. 103 157
"Or whether this liquid substance that feeds the flame does
not rather proceed from a soil that is unctuous and pro-
ductive of fire as that of the province of Babylon is, where
the ground is so very hot that oftentimes the grains of
barley leap up and are thrown out, as if the violent in-
flammation had made the earth throb and in the extreme
;
104.
105.
leisurely through places which are hot and pure, where the
fatness of sulphur adheres to it, this vapour (which the
philosophers call their Mercury) is joined to that fatness
and becomes an unctuous matter, which coming afterwards
to other places, cleansed by the afore-named vapours,
where the earth is subtle, pure and moist, fills the pores
of it, and so Sol or gold is made. But if the unctuous
matter comes into places cold and impure, lead, or Saturn,
is produced: if the earth be cold and pure, mixed with
106.
107.
108.
109.
"And this is obvious in the filings of Steel or Iron
cast through the flame of a Candle; for even by that
sudden transitus of the small chips of Iron, they are heat
red hot, and that combustible sulphureous Body is presently
prey'd upon and devoured by the aereal incompassing
Menstruum, whose office in this particular I have shewn in
the Explication of Charcole. ... So that, it seems, Iron
does contain a very combustible sulphureous Body, which is,
in all likelihood, one of the causes of this Phaenotnenon,
and which may perhaps be very much concerned in the
business of its hardening and tempering. ... So that,
these things considered, we need not trouble ourselves to
find out what kind of pores they are, both in the Flint and
Steel, that contain the Atoms of fire, nor how those Atoms
come be hindered from running all out, when a dore or
to
110.
111.
112.
Air 2Fe
: + 2O = 2FeO + a certain quantity of heat
Acid: 2Fe + 2O(H 2 + 2SO S = 2(FeO.SO s + 2H 2 +a
) )
CHAPTER VI.
113.
To the Peripatetics, the antonym of heat was gravity,
the cold associated with dense objects "stone-cold", as
we sa y being corollary to this. When Aristotle's cosmo-
to lose credit, the instinctive belief in a
gony began
positive coldbecame a respectable scientific theory. This
positive coldwas by no means connected with indigence
and inertness, and it had some of the properties of
radiance : thus it came to earth with the nitrous ex-
halations from the Cloud Level, and its effect on water
was to expand it into ice as heat expanded it into steam.
Thus Virgil notes that bronze water- jugs are burst by
the cold, which also bridles the river and splits the rock.
Bacon couldcorrectly enunciate, and he first, a mechanical
theory of heat and at the same time believe in this
positive cold.
In Boyle's time, this idea of a positive cold was
warmly contested by the Cartesians, who regarded cold
as merely a relative defect of heat the present position
but could not explain the production of freezing mixtures,
the extreme cold produced for example when salt is
dissolved in snow-water. When heat entered the chemist's
equations, however, this new, measurable quantity solved
them all. The idea of quantity in heat is still very useful
in calculations. It has been of great assistance in the
VI. ? 114 169
115.
116.
117.
heat and cold are nature's two hands, whereby she chiefly
worketh; and heat we have in readiness, in respect of the
fire; but for cold we must stay till it cometh, or seek it
in deep caves, or high mountains: and when all is done,
we cannot obtain it in any great degree : for furnaces of
VI. 117 173
118.
expanding it, that they more and more condense it" (The
critical point is actually at 4C.) "And even that degree
of cold which destroys fluidity, though it expands water,
does not do it merely by the multitudes of the frigorific
corpuscles, that invade the pores of the lately fluid body,
since pure spirit of wine, and almost all chemical oiles,
though exposed to the same degree of cold, that turns
water into ice, or, as I have tried, unto a far greater than
is necessary to do so, will be but the more condensed by
119.
To exothermic and endothermic reactions, the evolu-
ion and absorption of heat on mixing certain substances,
Are shall return. But first it must be said of the
expansion
VI. 119 177
120.
temperature.
121.
Bacon's idea that heavy bodies may "subact the air into
a more dense medium", and four years after Bacon's
death there appeared a treatise by Jean Rey which broke
altogether with the hypothesis that the addition
of fire to
a body lessened its weight. All the four elements had
124.
Evelyn :
125.
"Apart from the fact that this expression fulfils our object
in the system we have adopted, it has still another advan-
tage this is its power of being adapted to all kinds of
;
does not combine with the air". They said that radiant
caloric was "absorbed with greater facility" than was
light, since it possessed "less of the qualities of eminent
188 VI. 128
elasticity , or,
129.
CHAPTER VII.
130.
131.
things whatsoever".
was a Region, bounded on the outer side by the
It
been the reason, for the voices being numerous and the
acclamation violent, the Air breaks with it and can no
longer support the birds, but lets them tumble as one that
should attempt to walk upon Void".
132.
133.
vine twined itself about this exile from the sunny orchard ;
communal decision.
136.
The
idea that "spirits of health" brought with them
"airs from heaven", together with the principle of Like
to Like, led to the belief that good spirits were attracted
doctor lived. The reason for this was that since one hand
was necessary for the proper deportment of the
already
professional wand and the other must needs be free, the
We read in the
autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini how he watched a
wizard call up "legions of devils" by incantations and
sweet smells; they completely threw off his control,
VII. 136 203
begun.
This joke of Cellini is repeated because it is an
important contribution to our reconstruction of the
thought of the age. It was a common practice in Western
Europe to begin the day by a deep inhalation of the
odours from the fermenting faecal matter in the closets,
just as in Eastern Europe filthy male goats were kept
close in the side-room. Many kindred remedies have
been attributed to the teaching of Paracelsusi parabolic
as it may have been that in excrement was the greatest
secret of Medicine. For a reason which will appear, we
shall take his words at their face-value. He certainly
taught that the fat extracted by distillation from the
human corpse was a balsam and specific against gout,
itch and leprosy. He said that it cured wounds. We
have quoted him on the basilisk, but he applies the name
basilisk also to the life generated by the putrefaction of
eggs and of thehuman sexual issues. Inoculation by
serums would have made him very happy. He made
styptics from the intestines and! plasters from the bones.
The knowledge that phosphorus and oxygen might be
obtained from derivatives of urine must have impressed
the alchemists to an extent that we can well understand.
Many years later Benjamin Franklin writes of it as a
cure for chapped hands. Many centuries earlier Strabo,
Diodorus and Catullus make it clear that it was employed
in Spain as a dentifrice and cosmetic.
204 VII. 136
and the urine of a young virginal boy was the very best
preservative for gold. But we find Boyle also differenti-
ating gravely between the produce of a servant and the
produce of a gentleman, though at that time in one house
they almost certainly consumed portions of the same
food.
When we attribute the origin of these ideas to
was the spittle of the Sun-god himself that Isis made into
a serpent for his undoing. The spittle of Horus was the
generative Rain, and the water from his eyes filled the
olive-tree with the essence of its fruits. Similarly a
from a god might engender,
glance, or a breath, or a tear
might preserve, or might slay. As to the foul and filthy
possibilities inherent in the researches of the ambitious
physician along these lines, imagination cannot run beyond
the facts. The laboratory became a charnel-house and
the medical grave-rifler a disseminator of the
plague.
VII. 136 205
137.
For there had long been a dim sense that the plague did
not merely "infect" by diffusion, for it multiplied. All
things had central souls or seeds, "The weather is
208 VII. 138
"
blamed Nicoio Machiavelli had written in 1527, "and
1
138.
stand.
We have noted already that some secrets of the Magi
and of the alchemists a knowledge dangerous in itself
during the eighteen dark centuries of Roman night
percolated into the hands of charlatans and criminals.
It was neat and simple to identify this criminality with
witchcraft.
Itwas Gregory IX who, in 1231, started the burning
of "heretics", and Alexander IV who authorised sorcerers
to be punished if they were heretical ! So in 1316, the
139.
One unpardonable offence of the witch was her
knowledge of the harmlessness of those instruments of
the Devil, the lizard, the grass-snake and the newt. She
also somewhat affected the sacred beast of Bast, one of
the goddesses fused later into the idea of Isis, and the
possession of a domestic cat was dangerous. She was
supposed to drown cats in wickerwork baskets when she
desired to raise a storm, and innumerable aged women
were burned* to death in one year on this charge by the
seasick King of Scots who became the first King of
Great Britain. That desirable motion in the Air, of which
we have written so much, was also, strangely enough, a
possibility of witchcraft. Sailors, always the most super-
stitious ofmen, would buy wind, mainly in the Baltic and
from Scandian or Finn sorcerers. The method is identical
in Bartholomew, who wrote about 1250, and in the
140.
men are well aware that they are, what else has death
"
taken from him except the sense of his misery
Virgil says :
141.
142.
143.
144.
superfluous breath".
"The powder in shot", says Bacon, "being dilated into such
a flame as endureth not compression, moveth likewise in
round (i.e., equally in all directions) the flame being in the
nature of a liquid body, sometimes recoiling, sometimes
breaking the piece, but generally discharging the bullet,
because there it findeth easiest deliverance".
146.
pressure must there be, and the better could elastic bodies
"display" themselves. This was confirmed by Pascal's
reascent of this hill in the company of a limp football,
which gradually became taut, and by Townley's reascent
of his hill with a Torricellian tube into which a little air
had purposely been admitted, the air expanding in the
tube just as it did in the football.
VII. 147 233
147.
He continues :
He concludes :
149.
but also makes them hit against and knock away each
other, and consequently require more room than that
which, if they were compressed, they would take up".
150.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE
BLOOD OF THE SALAMANDER AND
THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE.
The Begetter of Things is not the Earth, but the Re-
volving Year. qtd. Evelyn.
Heaven is open! Earth is open! Heaven is pregnant
with wine.
Beautiful is that which belongeth to the Yean Beautiful
things belong to the Year. Pyramid Text of Pepi.
Paracelsus.
151.
152.
could not, with the help of a wind, burn the town for it
was not a large one; indeed they thought of every
expedient by which the place might be reduced without
the expense of a blockade. They accordingly brought
faggots of brushwood and threw them from the mound,
first into the space between it and the wall; and this soon
outer end of the beam and blew with them. Now the blast
was closely confined in its passage to the cauldron; and
the cauldron, being full of lighted coals, sulphur and pitch,
made a great blaze and set fire to the wall. The defenders
could not hold it. They left it and fled. The fort was
taken".
Such ruses were familiar on both sides in the
Crusades, and Villehardouin's Chronicle relates the
Greeks employment of fire-ships. The progress of arts
7
153.
154.
Old as was the recognised connection of air with fire
and life, it can have been but little older than the
recognition of the pleasant properties of saltpetre or
nitre. This was known to be the end-product of Nature's
own sewage system, whether in the vat of the alchemist
13
or following the pious practice of Deuteronomy 23 .
was within it. This was above all the region of active
radiance received such names as "astral
purity, and
its
156.
These preparations were known to the earliest
European alchemists. Roger Bacon was an authority on
them. The Liber Ignium of Marcus Graecus is to a large
extent transcribed in the De Mirabilibus Mundi of Albert
de Groot. That Richard the King used Greek Fire on
his galley at the siege of Acre in 1191 suggests that it
was the Crusaders who learned this among many other
things in the East which they introduced) into Western
Europe. De Joinville describes it as he saw it in 1248 :
By Tudor
times, the use of gunpowder for projecting
missiles from cannon had become quite common, and the
art of pyrotechnics received considerable encouragement
from the numerous hosts and entertainers of Queen
Elizabeth. Above all, nitre was a familar weapon of the
medieval chemist, in whose mind it was associated with
naturally as air was. It was in a brazier containing
fire as
petre itself was once air". For "Air may be Its fixed.
157.
A conception like this could not quickly find favour
with complacent and humourless celebrities at
the
Gresham College. After Pepys' accounts of the first four
of this sequence of meetings, the fifth has something of
the effect of an anticlimax :
person was to turn him upside down and let the water run
158.
In Terra, Evelyn spea'ks of the value of "impreg-
nating rains and dews, cold and dry winters, with store
of snow, which I reckon equal to the richest manures,
159.
160.
A amount of progress in the right direction
certain
had been made by Seton, by Maier and by Norton, Seton,
who has already been quoted, used also the expression
"the vital element of congealed air", by congealed air
meaning nitre. The expressions in Paracelsus are "an
included air", "a spirit of Salt" (Salt being commonly
used to mean nitre) and "a mobile air that penetrates
all stones, all metals, and everything without exception".
Like Seton, Maier, who notes that "without air, the fire
soon goes out", calls the celestial nitre "the hidden food
of life". Norton writes that "the miraculous increase of
the spark depends on its -being fedi with plenty of com-
bustible matter" but does not think that air is the favourite
food of fire, though "the transparent splendour and
beautiful colour" of the flame are due to air; the
favourite food of Earth, that is, nitre. Finally, an
fire is
anonymous writer,
Vaughan and has never previously been even tentatively
identified as Boyle, writes :
"The truth is, there are only three elements. Fire I do not
acknowledge as an element. The heat there
is in things
161.
This however, was not taken, or rather was
last step,
not published, until, in 1665, Hooke published his Micro-
graphia, containing the historic "Observation 16", in
which air and nitre are bracketed as solvents, differently
258 VIII. 161
162.
',
"nitre-aerial spirit" and "nitro-
aerial particles", all the properties then associated with
heat and fire. The food of fire and of life, they were
also the cause of lightning, of the motion of animals,
of the freezing of water, of the fusion of the sparks
struck by flint from steel. Their operations were mani-
fold they were acid and corroded iron ; they existed in
:
Air ;
was their presence in flame which purged the Air
it
163.
164.
that
before made parts of the solid".
165.
The two theories were not regarded
in all quarters
as necessarily antagonistic. Mead
dealing with Plague
1
166.
petre a candle not only burned, but the flame was in-
creased, and something was heard like a hissing, similar to
the decrepitation of nitre in an open fire. This experiment
was made when the air was fresh made, and while it
probably contained some particles of nitre which would
have been deposited afterwards. The air was extracted
from these substances by heating them in a gun-barrel,
264 VIII. 167
167.
168.
Cold was the parent of all winds, and the stars were its
vials and cucurbits.
169.
170.
changed into Earth, and thus into our red, fixed powder,
which, after fermentation, becomes our Stone", he may
be translated' as saying that mercury may be dissolved in
aqua fortis, the resulting nitrate broken down to the
171.
At any experimentation on the calces of metals
rate,
was incontestably one road to the isolation of oxygen.
In his book On the Ills of Metals, Paracelsus writes "The
Sublimation of quicksilver has this operation, that even
the Air in its vicinity has a recreative effect". The calx
268 VIII. 172
and again :
172.
sulphur mild as
is as< air, though nothing can be more
destructive than one of its constituent parts, oil of vitriol.
VIII. 172 269
173.
174.
sphere? Volta could not say Yes he did not know what
:
CHAPTER IX.
175.
festal :
"Rejoice with me, for I have found that which
was lost" and so when Perdita is found again,
:
entire family into one chamber for the evening, see that
they all retired before him, turn off the gas at the
mains and then march responsibly to bed himself,
Malvolio, majestic with his candle. Had he but known
it, he had many classical sanctions. Demosthenes himself
was rebuked for working by candle light, but he retorted
that darkness suited thieves, an aphorism echoed in the
New Testament. Told that his arguments smelt of the
lamp, he replied "Your lamp and mine, Pytheas, are
73
conscious of different things -a metaphor more explicitly
,
great price".
Similarly, darkness and gloom were appropriate to
grief, a kindred association which persists. Hence, even
in England in the twentieth century, windows are blinded
for death in the house of a neighbour, a gesture whose
pitch, resin,
and other combustibles, which were placed
at least at the corner of every street. These "falots",
as they were called, had already been employed for
177.
night-light an evolution
is readily understood. Neither
is mentioned in Homer, where illumination is increased
for in his tomb were found' not only the rods of pitch-
beginning of our era, there were not only the lampas and
the fax, which were definitely torches, but the candela,
which was a taper or cord preserved in wax, and the
funale, a name suggesting something much stouter.
Apuleius mentions the sebaceus, or tallow-candle, which
really was a candle, since the most important thing about
it was the sebum or grease. These were long an article
oi domestic manufacture, so that many centuries- later
Ethelred the Unrede was flogged with them, an indignity
which Odysseus came near suffering with torches. Knight
mentions, as an example of the prosperity of the English
farmer in the sixteenth century that "he sawed out his
own timber. He made his own candles and his. own
charcoal". These candles were enormous things.
Shakespeare's swaggerer Petruchio is made to use two
of their casings as a pair of boots. Even the wax "tapers"
carried by penitents weighed normally two pounds apiece.
The author of the early English prose romance
Virgilius records a curious class distinction which apper-
tained to the torch and the candle : on an occasion when
"Virgilius" had magically extinguished all fire in Rome,
his wrath being after a time assuaged, the city came
all
men with candels and strawe, and the ryche men lyghted
they theyr torches". was very little later, however,
It
schoolboys.
178.
One factor exercising a great influence on the later
history of the candle was that as street lighting improved
it became unnecessary to walk at night with a torch or
"link". Before this happened, torches were at least
advisable. You might carry your own tow link, or hire
a link-boy, or, in Paris, hire the link itself at one of the
street booths or kiosks erected under the monopoly of
the Abbe Laudati. They went out of use very slowly.
Thackeray speaks in Vanity Fair of "the laced lackeys
and link-boys who used to put out their torches in the
IX. 179 281
179.
century.
Perhaps owing to the fumes of carbon monoxide, a
gas which was probably the "fire" that Portia
"swallowed", the device now called Central Heating was
introduced about the time of Seneca. It was a plausible
1
IX. 180 283
fire, an allusion to
181.
183.
Hooke generally credited with the proof of the
is
(It will be remarked that Bacon has lost the old idea of
a salamander as a fire-spirit, and is thinking of the lizard
a mistake found also in the autobiography of Benvenuto
Cellini.) Clearly Bacon
is not done justice in the
preface
to this Sylva Sylvarum, which concludes "it hath nothing
of imagination". This work did not appear until after
1626. Twenty-four years earlier, Shakespeare's version
of Hamlet was entered in the Stationers' Register; this
was printed in quarto in 1603, and in folio in 1623. In
this play, one of the characters states this scientific fact,
which contains the explanation that Bacon sought and
Hooke independently found 1
184.
185.
186.
"I then got some coal from one of the pits nearest
187.
By the
e
time of the childhood of Augustus, blown
bladders contained in casings were used in boys' organised
189.
190.
The flame, said Hoo'ke, was "nothing but the parts (of the
oil) rarified and raised by heat into the form of a Vapour
or Smoak".
"They are not turned to shining Flame they rise toward
till
191.
But this flame was only a vapour, or smo'ke, because
it was hot and the next advance was a retreat to that
:
IX. 191 299
air left in the bladder to supply the flame. The air, when
comes out at the top of the tube" (the vent which had
it
difficult cases".
192.
193.
195.
The public was not friendly. Lamps without wicks !
196.
though it
gas gave a brighter light than the oil from coal, and was
used to enrich it. Under the name of "portable gas",
that is, compressed in cylinders, it was later to be used
on the railways.
197.
198.
199.
solution
a light of remarkable brilliance. It was an easy stage
from this to the idea of a mantle of cotton fabric
immersed in a solution of the rare earths and then
310 IX. 200
200.
region, (c) the blue region at the base, (d) the faintly
luminous region lying between (a) and (&). To these
may be added the faint super-aerated sheath surrounding
the whole, which it is reasonable to regard alternatively
as an extension of (c).
The aerated flame is immediately differentiated by
the faintness of its illumination, "the feeble light of
burning", as Davy called it. If air is in excess, it has one
region only, and is called a
"blowpipe flame". The
mixture of gas and air must then be supplied from
a narrow tube and at a high rate, or the flame will pass
back down the tube. If the gas is in excess, the products
of the combustion in the first zone are still inflammable
and burn in the atmosphere making a second. Thus we
have the typical inner and outer cones of the Bunsen
flame. It is not sought at the present time to supply gas
IX. 201 311
201.
CHAPTER X.
202.
The comparative inflammability of fuels may be
shown to depend on considerations so numerous that most
investigators have abandoned the attempt to discover a
basis of comparison. For example, there can be no
standard test that would successfully compare the in-
flammability of a gas with the inflammability of a solid.
Among solids themselves, we are immediately confronted
by specific heat, specific porosity, specific temperature of
vaporisation, specific heat of combustion. These con-
clusions are due primarily to Davy. He attempted to
compose a list of inflammable substances in the order of
their readiness to ignite. He had
Phosphorus
Sulphur
Hydrogen
Hydrogen sulphide
'
203.
Then he tried what may be called an extinction
method, finding rather the order in which flames might
be put out than the order in which they might be induced
to appear. Thefuel was ignited and placed within a
vessel. Usually a platinum wire was suspended in the
flame, experiments where this was done being indicated
in our copy of the list by an asterisk. Then the vessel
was gradually evacuated by a suction-pump until the
flame expired.
COMBUSTIBLE. STILL IN FLAME AT
Phosphorus Hydrides
-
The best vacuum obtainable
-
Phosphorus 1/60 atmosphere (a result
due to van Manirn)
-
Sulphur 1/15 to 1/20 atmosphere
- - - -
*Hydrogen 1/13 atmosphere
- - - - to
*Ethylene 1/10 1/11 atmosphere
*Alcohol and a Wax Taper 1/7 to
1/8 atmosphere
- -
^Hydrogen Sulphide 1/7 atmosphere
*Carbon monoxide - -
1/6 atmosphere
Alcohol - - - -
1/5 to 1/6 atmosphere
Wax Taper - - - -
1/5 to 1/6 atmosphere
*Methane - - -
1/4 atmosphere
Without neglecting to notice the effect of the platinum
wire on the flames of Alcohol and the Wax Taper, let
314 X. 204
205.
He tried some further extinction methods which, like
these others, were also a rough measure of the heat
emitted by the combustion, for he found, in one series of
experiments, that the smallest flame able to persist after
the removal of the igniting agent was smaller with
206.
His invention of the gauze safety-lamp owed much
to these experiments, for though it was due logically to
laterwork in which he studied the passage of flame along
tubes containing explosive mixtures, eventually the wire
was the thing. Now we have already seen how a hot
wire will prolong the life of a flame under adverse
conditions the wire gauze of a safety-lamp may do more
: ;
316 X. 207
207.
208.
209.
In any attempt to estimate the comparative igniti-
bilities of combustibles, one must consider the temperature
burns for example, the flame does not consist of air mixed
with the vapour of the chemical constituents of wood;
they are broken down by heat into simpler bodies. This
is not to say that one fuel is not more inflammable than
210.
When spontaneous ignition occurs in turf, haystacks,
manure-heaps or oil-saturated cotton-waste, the initiation
is microbic. The gradually rising temperature puts a stop
to this activity, but the medium is now liable to increased
to the wall ;
for since was
originally at the temperature
it
211.
have a lamp made, not of tin, but of glass, that you may
see how the vapour or air gathereth by degrees in the
214.
just ignitible would indeed move along above him, but the
flame of a strongly explosive mixture would be far more
likely to kill him. The whole adventure is reminiscent
of that which was repeated to please Alexander in
Ecbatana, as described in 103.
215.
216.
[From a publication of the Safety in Mines Research Board, H.M. Stationery Office.]
GROWTH IN ORBEM.
"The simplest example of all occurs when we have central ignition of
II.
Flame started between two hemispherical glass shells (shown by dotted lines) each
of 1200 cubic centimetres capacity, their rims being parted by a uniform distance of
1-25 centimetres. The upper shell has a flask-neck which served for the intro-
duction of a glass-covered sparking-plug. -The photograph was taken 72-22
milliseconds after the spark had passed. The explosive mixture contained 76%
of air and 24% of carbon monoxide, and was fully saturated with moisture at
C
17 C. At the equator, the flame is passing as a thin circular sheet into the
atmosphere.
217.
218.
p
CQ
vJ
T
O
PH
cn
,The history of a feebly burning flame, asymmetrically ignited, determined
V.
Flame started in a mixture of carbon monoxide and air (13-15% CO), saturated
with moisture at 15C. contained in a sphere of 20 cm. diameter.
,
Photographed
50 milliseconds after ignition and thenceforward at intervals of 20 milliseconds.
2
VI
[From Fuel in Science and- Practice, vol. 7, 1928.]
"THEN THE FLAME DOES RISE CLEAR." (219)
VI
219.
The behaviour of the flame is primarily determined
by the wind that blows from its surface in every direc-
tion through the unburned gas-mixture. Clearly, the
flame must tend to centre itself in the enclosure, so that
what matters is the lie of the wall of the enclosure
considered as if from within the flame, the harbour- walls
regarded from the boat. The flame-surface is still an
isobar, and as all the isobars in the vessel move towards
a position of symmetry and (if we arbitrarily limit their
number) uniform spacing, they adapt their shape to the
gas-space available. So also the flame-surface, merging
into each layer, is shaped by the lie of the wall about it.
A new factor enters as soon as the flame touches the
wall, no matter where; for it must touch the wall sooner
or later since it eats into the very gas with which it
fends itself off. As soon as it touches, it is held. Just
as a vapour-bubble is held to the wall below a liquid
surface by the pressure exerted from every point of its
common boundary with the liquid, and, in addition, by
the condensation at the wall, so the flame is made to
adhere to the wall of the gas-space.* This contact with
the wall leads to a drain of heat, and much less energy
is now available for the propulsion of the flame-surface
in other directions. As a flame, touching the wall,
adheres to it, so a flame started at the wall never, with
one exception, is wrenched free of it. The exception
involves ignition at the base of a vessel containing a
mixture which is very weakly explosive. Then the flame
does rise clear, and, as it moves upwards through the
mixture, it develops a recess in its base which tends to
be so shaped as to make any vertical chord of the flame
* See Plate IX, facing page 335.
334 X. 220
220.
The conclusion that there existed! a wind-movement
in the unburned gas has been tested by two somewhat
picturesque series of experiments. In the first, a number
of flames were started in the wind by the simultaneous
VII
This flame is burning feebly and has a much longer life than those on
Plate VI. The shape of its vortex is characteristic of a more sluggish
spin.
en
en rt a;
en
6
^
-
. .
W rt
jo
ed
-u I
"3
^ C
.
en 3 <D ^ s-i -
C -u !H (D
^ g ^ 32
c/j en j
oj o3 .S <M
H ?A d -^
8^
J2
d 2PS 5 *- ^
^ gOS'S
rt o
O
H
W
Q
s
en
^ 03
' rj
O
en
X. 222 335
222.
ground.
223.
When flame a partial enclosure, it is
starts in
CQ
CO
M
W
s
ffi
^!s!
x ^.HSgi;
1
s
p
0) 13 ^
d 3 4J
a 8-^2
U &
TJ O\
155
-M
H!*
H _
... CO CO G
H ai
^ C
P *
^^J
S fe-
>
5 r
V in
jq^!
W
C/5
8 H
J '
C W
p ^S-SS-SSiH
tj rQ '55 i^H . ?
Pu
M
H .5
P
^ > &
mx
c d "? ~
5)
'< i-i c
.- t/5 fO d CD co
C/)
s >
<
C/3
w
J a .2
O ^J DC
PQ
PQ Is
C/3
01
<J
C/)
CQ
w
H
(Vj T3
b/D^
H o -ci T;
c/}
M
Q
W
X. 224 337
P
o
H)
w
C/3
C/3
w
ffi
H
X. 225 339
226.
227.
228.
229.
There is no lag on ignition when ignition is due to
a single electric spark. ignitionThe
Yes or No. Also, is
231.
Flame Turning and Twisting in its climb towards the roof of a tube,
5 cm.
in diameter, open at the base, containing a mixture of carbon
monoxide and air (44% CO) saturated with moisture at 17C. The
intervals between the photographs are each 143 milliseconds.
[From Transactions of the Institution of Mining Engineers, vol. Ixxx, 1930.]
X. 232 347
232.
there are two reactions, the water first reacting with the
chlorine. Similarly, carbon will burn more easily in moist
air than in dry, and a flaming jet of carbon monoxide
is extinguished when introduced into a
dry atmosphere,
whether of oxygen. There are two reactions,
air or of
some part of the carbon monoxide first uniting with
the water-vapour, but there is a portion of the carbon
monoxide for the combustion of which an alternative
explanation must be found, and this explanation must
deal with things smaller than atoms. The explanation,
then, is electrical. The water molecule is not a sym-
metrical arrangement of two twin hydrogen atoms in
leading strings to an atom of oxygen. The oxygen shows
a vacillating preference, so that we have at any moment
= hydrogen
water hydroxide, a "salt" !
ILO = H.OH.
When hydrogen and oxygen combine and form water
there isa re-distribution of electrons round the nuclei of
the atoms, and the effect of this re-distribution is that the
Cfl
O IslU
W
tn
H
Q
W
S
<
X. 232 bis 349
From their nature the positive ions are more massy than
the electrons so that when the flame moves through a
region of electrical strain between two oppositely charged
poles it behaves as a positively charged body and is
attracted at the negative pole. This has been recently
demonstrated by Guenault and Wheeler. similar A
production of complexes may occur if polar molecules
are introduced to the mixture of the two gases. This is
most easily done by adding moisture. It is the old
alliance of Fire with its dearest enemy,
232 bis.
SPARK PHOTOGRAPHY.
Two methods of spark photography are available, the
shadow method of Dvorak, and the Schlieren method of Topler.
Both depend upon the fact that a ray of light on passing
through the atmosphere is deflected by pressure differences.
The sensitive material does not receive focussed light from
the flame of the explosion, but is acted upon by a beam of
light acrosswhich the flame passes, giving a kind of shadow.
It has been applied to the photography of flames and sound
and shock waves by Payman and Robinson.
CHAPTER XI.
RETURNING DAWN.
Canst thou bind the Unicorn in the furrows ?
The Book of Job.
233.
234.
among the Chinese, and among the Norse, the myth that
the sky was turned by the nine giant daughters of the
clouds (for it was the women who ground) who paced
the outermost causeway of the World. The North Star
was the nail or spike about which the great wheel turned.
We need look no further for the rolling disc. Then
therewas its first cousin, the cylinder. ancient The most
methods of transporting over land the huge masses
employed in early monuments was to roll them, trussed
on a sledge, upon the trunks of palm-trees, repeatedly
placed in front, while levers helped behind. Two of the
potter.
The recent excavations at "Ur of the Chaldees"
show that in that neighbourhood the pre-deluge potters
used! no wheel. In Egypt it was also unknown in the
earliest dynasties, but it is found in later representations
of the creative acts Tatenn and Khnemu;
of Ptah,
Mycenaean pottery was made on the wheel, and the
instrument was familiar to Homer. Between the fourth
and the twelfth dynasties, the pyramids arose. Petrie
tells us that among the tools employed was the bronze
235.
mata, the
theory of the lever, and an experimental
determination of the density of the air. All sorts of
mechanical toys are described, with diagrams, besides a
censer worked by steam, the water-wheel, a water-engine,
and an automatic slot-machine for providing lustral water
at the entrances of temples. Philo was conversant with
the syphon, and used atmospheric pressure for most of
his devices.
236.
After "the cold breath of Rome" had brought
desolation both to the inventor and to the speculative
237.
It will be observed, however, that progress was
almost all along the line of applying the power, which
was assumed available. When the political identity of
Greece was broken, manpower was translated into the
languages of Rome and of the East as slave-labour. Thus
XL 238 357
intrusion of the
steam-engine.
239.
pitch, under cold water, with his burning glass, and with
the same object heating litharge or minium, through the
surface of a closed glass vessel, which burst. Boyle, of
course, was unwittingly preparing oxygen, a fact which
may be correlated with Hales' remark, a century still
later, that the explosive force of gunpowder came from
the nitre. But here we are dealing with a still earlier
outlook, and with an epoch which Bacon was explaining
in
240.
escape had ceased, the pipe was closed ; and the continued
cooling of the remaining gases formed a partial vacuum
which sucked the piston back again into the cylinder.
This in-stroke pulled a cord which ran over an arrange-
ment of pulleys.In 1690, Papin tried steam, chiefly
because of the dangers encountered with gunpowder,
which were supposed not also to reside in steam. Water
was placed on the base of the cylinder and heated; the
"block, or piston" was pushed up by the steam, the fire
removed, and the piston allowed to fall back into place
slowly, doing work as it fell. Papin was never satisfied
XL 241 361
241.
245.
the cavity; the valves were now shut, the cover lowered,
and a jet of water entered, cooling the hot gases. For
good continuity of power, at least three engines seem to
have been required; such an arrangement in 1825 drove
a carriage up an incline of 10 in 107, and in 1827 a test
satisfied the Admiralty that it would drive a paddle-
246.
248.
Theheavy-oil engine was introduced by Priestman
between 1885 and 1890. He employed a spray vaporiser
and electric ignition. The machine of Stuart Ackroyd
applied successfully for the first time the idea of
vaporising and igniting oil at the hot walls of the com-
bustion chamber. In the Diesel engine, air alone is
249.
partly accounted for by the fact that the gases are losing
heat to the wall during the time that pressure is being
applied to the piston, and this loss is greatly intensified
by the fact, discovered by Clerk, that the charge is
turbulent, the spray entering the cylinder at the rate of
some 70 to 80 miles per hour. The flame is formless and
252.
Hardy wrote shortly before his death of the modern
barbarising of taste, the unabashed cultivation of selfish-
ness in all classes, the plethoric growth of knowledge
simultaneously with the stunting of wisdom, a "degrading
thirst after outrageous stimulation"
and saw the threat of a new Dark Age. But Juvenal
wrote all this. Have we seen no progress since Juvenal ?
In truth it was little perceptible until the last two hundred
years. In truth, nothing in the Holy Office of the
Inquisition differed greatly from the killing of Achseus
by Antigonus : both took place under the Sign of the
Weeping Crocodile. But the curve of growth is a strange
curve. The leaven propagates, but, except under the
microscope, no one can tell that it is also actually multi-
END-
I have at length cast in my Mite into the vast Treasury of
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
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Arnold of Villaxiova :
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381
York, 1819.
(The Oxford University Press in 1855 published a translation
by G. W. Kdtchin of the Novum Organum.)
Bacon, Roger :
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Perspectiva (Ed. Combach). Frankfort,
Richter, 1614
Bartholomew Anglicus Selected Works. (Trans. Robert Steele). :
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Boethius : Consolations of Philosophy (Trans. Ridpath).
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Bonus of Ferrara The Neiv Pearl of Great Price. :
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Boyle : Works
London, Millar, 1744.
Brock : London, O'Connor, 1922.
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Bryant and May's Catalogue of Firemaking Appliances. London,
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Budge The Book of the Dead (The Papyrus of
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Maberly, 1857.
382
Bachelier, 1824.
Cellini, Benvenuto :
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Qiaptal Elements of Chemistry.
: (Trans. Nicholson). London,
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Collectanea Chemica, a collection of alchemical tracts (including
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:
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recent
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Cavendish Society, 1851.
Winsor Notice Historique sur l} Utilisation du gaz Hydrogene
:
INDEX
TO THE NUMBER OF THE SECTION.
[Chapter headings are scheduled in the sections immediately
following them.}
Aaron (13th Cy. B.C.) ... 132 Agnes (d. A.D. 303) 132
Ab 14,68 Agricola (1494-1555) 79, 153, 182, 237
Abate 183 Ahriman ... ... ... 187
Abhorrent to Nature ... 145 Ainu 28, 30
Absorption 123, 127, 151 Air (a state) 16, 49, 85-7, 147, 159,
Absorption of Heat 42 190, 213
Abydos ... ... 6 (a region) 16, 17, 19, 21, 32, 39,
Abyss 140 51-54, 58, 76, 85-7, 92, 96,
Accession (chem.) ... ... 171 98, 104, 109, 115, 130 to 174,
Accura 184, 195, 197 182, 185, 221, 251
Accumulator 18 (an element) 6, 13, 16, 32, 38,
Acetylene 207 48, 49, 51-58, 76, 85-7, 92,
Achxus (d. 214 B.C.) 252 95, 96, 108, 112, 114, 130 to
Achates 32 174, 182, 189
Acid ... 43, 44, 89, 101, 104, 112, (a substance) 19, 21, 37, 38, 41,
121, 123, 162, 163, 165, 169, 171-4 44, 48, 49, 51.5, 74, 75, 35.7,
Acid-ash 101 89, 92, 95, 96, 100, 104, 105,
Acid-forming ... ... 172, 174 108, 110, 112, 117, 118, 123,
Acidifying principle ... ... 174 124, 127, 132 to 174, 182 to
Ackroyd 248 200, 204, 210 to 216* 221,
Acorns ... ... ... 22 224, 228 to 231, 235, 244 to
Acoustics ... ... ... 224 248, 252
Acre 156 analysis of 173
Acropolis 69 bad 132, 134
Actiunn 155 burned ... 214
Adam 67 bridges of 131
Adjuration ... 142 change of 143
Adlington (16th Cy.) ... 201 clean 132,135
Admetus (5th Cy. B.C.) ... 71 close 157,172
Admiralty 245 common 172,186
Adoption ... ... ... 72 compressed 144, 235,248
Adoration ... ... ... 133 condensed 123, 156, 172-4
Adsorption ... ... ... 43 confined ... 164, 187, 188
Aedes 70 congealed 160
Aeniilius Paulus (d. 216 B.C.) 31 cooking 168
Aeneas 32, 133 corrupt 172
Aeneid 30, 140, 202 corrupted 191
Aeolipiles 184 crude 105
Aeolus 139, 187 current of 172
Aer Vitriolicus ... 151, 172 damp 191
Aeration 34, 54, 74, 109, 197, 210 dephlogisticated 151,172
Aerial Noctiluca 151 disruption of . 131
Aeschylus (525-456) 68 dissolved 152
Aesculapius 4 elastic 144, 147, iso, 165
JEtnean 54,104,180 enclosure ... 164, 187, 188
, from nitre 159, 163, 166-7 Alchemy 13-16, 21, 40, 55-9, 67, 76,
from oil ... ... ... 213 81, 85, 88 to 90, 94, 97, 99, 100,
, frosty 191 104, 111, 115, 120, 122, 136, 138,
, god of the 151 151, 154, 156, 168, 170, 188, 191,
-gun 41, 229 213, 251
, healthy 143 Alchemy, Ordinal of 170
, hot 115, 179 Alcinous ... ... ... 71
in calces 151, 170 Alcohol ... 120, 182, 203, 213
in carbonates ... ... 151 Aldehyde 207
, included 160 Alder 27, 179
, inelastic ... ... 196 Alembic ... 67, 81, 82, 84, 100
, infected 74, 135, 137, 165 Aleutian Isles 35
, inflammable 111, 173, 174, Alexander (355-323) 103, 155, 214
.
188, 191, 193 Alexander (Pope) IV (13th Cy.) 138
, inflammable, from metals 173 Alexandria ... 76, 144, 235, 236
, inflamed 103 Algonquin ... ... ... 11
, influences of ... 153, 158 Alhazen (965-1038)
in motion 132, 136, 139, 144 A ck n owlcdgemcn t
into Fire 38 Alive, Burning ... 22, 31, 138
, liquid 117 Alkali 40, 55, 100, 101, 161, 196
, Lower 4, 15, 54, 131, 147 Alloy 6, 50
, mephitic 172 Allumette androgyne ... 46
, Middle 54, 81, 96, 115, 125, Alluvial 25, 101
130-1, and see Cloud Level Almanack ... ... ... 151
, mobile 132, 160 Altars 7, 22, 27, 31, 38, 68, 70,
9,
, mountain 143 71, 135, 136, 191, 252
, night 139 Alterative Processes 160 .
fire 139, 182 Boil, boiler 6, 16, 74, 76, 87, 120,
flames 83, 110, 139, 159, 182, 159, 167, 184, 190, 217, 240
191, 200, 208 Boiling point 202
ghost of the magnet ... S3 Boils 132
god of Terror 182 Bois de Vache 154
god of Water 182 Bomb 240
heat 59 Bombes ... 46
in the Rainbow ... 58 Bone 80, 85, 136, 159, 163
in the candent spectrum 59 Bone-ash 45, 159, 163
latent in lapis lazuli ... 182 Bones 36,41,45, 70
marsh-slime ... ... 132 Bones, Valley of Dry ... 142
men f
... 182 Bonfire 135, 175
plague-virgin ... ... 182 Book of Enoch ... 140, 234
plague- water ... ... 182 Book of the Dead ... 90, 152, 187
region of flame... ... 200 Boomerang ... ... ... 11
smoke 182 Boots 177
snakes 182 "Boots" 138
Blunderbuss 136 Boring 9, 155
Boar 7 Boscovitch (1711-1787) ... 64
Boat 4 Bosom, See Breast
Bobbin 33 Boswell (1740-1795) ... 101,233
Body as the Shell of the Soul Botany 152
89, 130-1, 140 Bottger 46
as the pole of Soul ... 89 Bottle ... 55, 65, 87, 97, 154, 179,
in a triad with Soul and 187, 204
Spirits ... ... 66 Bottled wind 168
394
INDEX continued.
Candency 59 Carbide 42
Candidate 182 Carbon 231-2
Candles: Candela 177 dioxide ... 87, 151, 170, 172,
-cases 177 188, 210
, Corpse- ... 139, 140 disulphide ... 196,207,210
as criteria of poverty 177 monosulphide ... 27
, Evolution of ... 177 Carbon monoxide:
: Fax 177 "Distilled Flame" 190
396
INDEX continued.
Chariot 10, 17, 74, 136, 139, 175, Chloe ... 136
234 Chlorate 44,46
Charlatan 14, IS, 138 Chlorine 232
Charlemagne (742-8141 132,140 Choler, choleric ... 54, 58, 102-3
Charles (1746-1822) ... . . 249 "Christian" 12,18,73,107
Charnel-house 136 And see Church but see Jesus
Charon 136 54, 133,
Chromium ... ... ... 104
Chronicle of the Crusades ... 152
Charter 180
70
Chuckmuck 37
Chastity Church 28, 32, 72, 77, 136, 142, 182
Chaucer (c. 1340-1400) ... 74, 91
Church, Roman 21, 24, 35, 77, 136,
Cheese, The atmosphere as a 143
139, 140, 182, 242, and see Priest
Chemical aspect of change of Church, Roman, menace of... 138
state ... ..125 ..
Churchyard ... ... ... 30
Chemical effects, of Light ... 127 Churn, churn-staff . . ...29, 139
Chymists, A fid see Chemists
_
141, 155, 175, 182, 192, 216, 234 Clouds, Daughters of the ., 234
Chine 68 Club ., 182
Chips 10, 179, 181 Cluster Pine 28
398
INDEX continued.
Coagulation
40 "Common Experiment" ... 172
Coal 16, 21, 26, 108, 152-3, 159, 175, Community 11, 132, 135
180-1, 186, 190, 192, 194-5, 200, Compass 8,77,134,238
210-4, 231 Compendium Maleficarum ... 138
Coal-beds JJf Compleat Angler igQ
-dust 2iJ1
Complexes, atomic ... ... 232
-gas 185, 191, 194-8, 207, 212, Complexion ... ... ... 91
228, 242
-mines 185, 186, 1904, 210, 240
Compluvium ... ... ... 70
Coalition (chemical) 191 Components, The Three ... 88,90
Composts iss
Coatl. \\
11 > * Compounding ... ... ... 88
Coathcue 75,
Cobalos, kobolds 79 Compressibility ... ... 143
Cobb - 2
Jf
Compression 41, 123, 144, 147, 149,
Coccus Lacca *> 186, 196, 216-7, 229-30, 235, 244,
Cockatrice ... 141-2 246, 248
Cocks as counter-enchanters."
t
loo Concave Mirror 68
197 Concentric 54, 77-8, 216
Cockspur burner
Coction Concentric Tube 228
^I'^fn
25, 30 Concussion ... 9, 33-4, 36, 108
Coffins
Coherence *> 4 Condensation 81, 88, 115, 118, 121,
Cohesion 66, 68, 75, 86-8, 97, 184 158, 172, 186, 188, 191-3, 207,219
Coke 186,200,232 Condenser 241
Cold 1, 2, 4, 12, 17, 18, 21 to 26, 30,
Conduction 117
35, 53-5, 58, 70, 75-6, 89, 91, 99,
Cone 208,215
Inner 200, 224
105, 113-7, 120-1, 133, 136, 139, ,
, Outer 200
152, 158-9, 161, 168 to 170, 175,
182-3, 190, and see Fire (vliij and
Confinement 89, 207, 210
of Spirits . . 187
(xxvii)
Atoms of 118 Confession ... ... . . 138
Cold,
, Causes of H' Congelation 169
of Solution ... 115,118, 121 Congreve (1670-1729) . . 190
Positive 113-8 Conifers ... ... .. 25,30
,
Cosmetic ... ... ... 136 Criterion o poverty 177, 179, 180
Cosmic Egg 78 Criterion of substance ... 130
Power ... - 18,233 Crocodile 37,41,252
Rays 8, 151, 154 Crocus of Mars 59
and sec Influences Crops characteristic of their
Soul 65,78 soil 102
and see Nous, etc. Cross 8, 77, 133-4
Unicorn ... 7, 65, 250 Crossing a stream 5, 9
Cosmogony 15, 54, 67, 77-8, 112-5 Cross-roads 52
8,
Cosmos 81,84,252 Crowd psychology ... ... 138
And see World Crowing 136
Cotton 199 Crown ... 11, 70, 103, 182
-mill 194 Crows 131-2
-waste 210 Crucible IS, 124, 167
Cough 225 Crucifixion 138
Coulange 10 Cruelty 252
Coulomb (1736-1806) 129 Crusades 152, 156
Counter-incense ... ... 24 Crust of charity 182
Counter- witchcraft 134 to 136, 139 Crutch , 72
Coven ... ... ... ... 138 Crystallisation ... 159, 165
Cow 80 Crystal Palace 199
Crystals ... 14, 40, 51, 53, 89, 92
Coward 229, 2325w
Ctesias (5th Cy. B.C.) ... 6
Cracking of Oils 196
Ctesibius (3rd Cy. B.C.)
Crane 4,237 240
144, 235-6,
Crank 241,246 Cubes 53
Creation by Dissolution ... 62 Cucurbits 168
from Spittle ... 136
Cugnot 242
of Night 141 Culross Abbey 194
Creator :
Culvert explosions ... ... 212
a green Thought 90 Cuneiform ... ... ... 14
as a Father 97 Cuningham (d. 1591) 138
as a Potter 234 Cup 25,38,71
Breath of the 6 Cupel 15, 124
400
INDEX continued.
Dutch 186 Egg 8, 10, 22, 25, 67, 78, 80, 81, 89,
elm disease ...... 30 90, 101, 136, 137, 141, 145, 188
Dvorak ......... 232bis Egg, Chinese ... 216
Dwarves ......... 79, 141 , glass 81
, philosophical ... ... 153
, World 145
Dynamo 16,18,250 Egypt, Egyptian 4, 6, 842, 16, 20
to 24, 33, 42, 50, 53, 57, 68, 73,
Eagle ...... 12, 15, 22, 24, 90, 109 77, 78, 89, 90, 97, 136, 139 to 141,
And see Golden 152, 159, 175, 182, 187, 189, 234
Ear ... ......... 8 Egyptian Wheel ... ... 240
Eildon Tree
_
Forest- 33
4, 12, 17, 30, 33, 54,
,
xii. (Soul)
Funeral ... ... 52
57, 59, 64-7, 72-5, 81, 96-100,
,
invisible 40
11-2, 25, 72-3, 78, 80, 89, 92-7, ,
irritated 183
100, 104-5, 123-4, 133-6, 141,
70
154, 158, 168, 172, 197 [As a -keeper 31,
ripening principle, , Latent 11,99
see Maturation] -lessness ... 72
4,6,74,133 magic 13,42
xvii. (Motion) ... ,
xviii. (Energy) 4, 8, 10-1, 16-8, 47, -making 9, 10, 12, 17, 19, 31-47,
49, 54, 56, 65-7, 75, 96, 112-3, 68,, 99,, 107, 121, 155, 211
-making material 140
121, 124, 128-131, 218-9, 229,
.man 214
233, 250-2
mineral 76
xix. (Principle of Mutability) 7, 8, ,
Firmament 7-12, 16-7, 22, 52-5, 63- Flegme (See Phlegma) ... 151
70, 75-97, 113-4, 125, 130-6, 139- Flesh 73, 85, 100, 136-7
144, 151-9, 175, 234, 240, 251-2 Fletcher (1579-1625) 30, 115
Firmament, Higher 85 Flies 21,25,76
, Lower 85 Flight 131, 133, 134, 137, 140, 182,
Fish 19, 57, 76, 136, 152 189, 238, 244, 247, 251
Fission ... ... ... ... 68 Flint ... 12, 32, 36, 37, 99, 107, 108,
Five 17 162, 191, 228
Fixation 40, 174 Flint- Knappers ... ... 37
Fixed Airs ... 86, 87, 159, 161 Float 236
Powder 170 Flogging 177
Salts 158 Flooding 240
Fixity 107,110 Floor 179,218,219
Flame 7-12, 17, 22-3, 27, 30-4, 38, 44, Florence 146
47, 52-3, 65, 83-9, 97-100, 103, Florio (1553-1625) 141
107-12, 121, 124, 135, 137, 144, Flour 172 35,
152, 159 to 162, 166, 169, 177, Flour-tub 13
179, 182-6, 190-200, 203-227, 231- Flowers 8, 25, 27, 48, 57, 58, 94, 158
232, 244-6, 249 Flue 211
Flame, Aeration of ... 197, 200 Fluid, fluidity 64, 251
, Augury from ... 31 , elastic 126, 150
and Vacuum ... ... 150 , igneous 124
, Blast 197 Fluke 162
, Blue 182 Fluxion ... ... ... 170
, Cool 207,209 Fly-wheel 246
, Development of 207, 209 Focus 68, 71, 73, 232&u
, Distilled 190 of sound 142
, Force of ... 211, 239 Fog 181, 194
-god 9, 135 And see Airs out of the Earth
in electric fields ... 232 Folliculus g9
, inner region of ... 182-4 Fomes ... ... ... ... 34
, Lady of 135 Food 3, 22-5, 66, 70-4, 89, 95, 104,
, Lord of 9 120, 124, 136, 233
, matter of 112 of Fire 172
, minimum ... 205, 208 of Life 172
, momentary ... ... 229 Football 146
of alcohol 182 Footlighting 201
of charcoal 182 Foot-pound 129
of iron 202 Force 65,98,126,252
of magnesium... ... 211 And see Energy
of sulphur 182 of explosion ... 239,246
of wax 182 of flame ... 211,239
of wood 182 of steam 241
of zinc 211 -pump 240, 244, 246
, propagation of ... 230 Ford, Mistress 39
, sacred 191 Forehead 6, 182
, shape of ... 221, 224 Forest 25, 137, 152, 180
, shining ... ... 190 Form 49, 53, 67, 84-6, 92, 143, 157,
, speed of 215, 218, 220, 224, 175
227, 230 Forwicarius ... ... ... 138
-surface ... 222-230 Forty 83
-temperature 198, 232&wr, 249 Fossil 25
, triple 208 Foster 228
, unburnmg ... ... 55 Foundry 15
, wick-fed 205, 211, 213, 221 Fountain 3, 6, 19, 73, 75, 133, 175
Flamininus (d. about 175 B.C.) 131 , Central 73
Flannel 58 Four 8, 16, 50, 90, 141
Flask 81, 189 Elements 48-54, 89-92, 114, 123,
Flares 195 140
Flax 35 Fields 91
Fleas 27 Humours 76
Fleece 147, 149 Points 134
And see Cross
407
INDEX- continued.
Storehouses 91 Fusion 127, 162
Winds 134, 142 Mixture 40
Fourth Knight 197
Fowls 179 Galbanum ... ... ... 136
And see Birds and Augury Galen (129-c. 200) 73,156
Foxes 31, 102 Galenicals 190
Foyer 68 Galileo (15644642) 77, 120, 177
Fracture 53 Gall-stone 25
France ... 27, 68, 132, 136, 147, 181, Gallipot resin 25
242, 246 Gallows 30
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) 1, 12, 16, Gamboge ... 24
50-3, 57-9, 64-6, 74-6, 83-5, 91, Games 187
9S-7, 113-8, 121-3, 131, 141-4, 151, Garden 240
172-5, ISO, 183, 188-9, 191, 211-3, -god 141
221, 223, 239, 240 Gardeners ... ,.. ... 28
Frankincense 19, 20, 24, 26, 31, 72,
'
Fire 191
136 Garland 70,72,103
Frankland (1825-1899) And see Crown
197, 207, 221, 228 Gas 16, 31, 41, 43-5, 49, 64, 68, 121,
Franklin (1707-1790)... 136,164 125, 127, 147, 157, 172, 180, 188,
Frazer 12 191, 193-4, 201-2, 206, 210-2, 215-
Free-Piston Engine ... 240,245 219, 222, 229, 231, 232&w, 244-6
Freezing ... 117-9, 159, 162, 169, 182 Gas, burned 214,215,217
-mixtures 113, 117-8, 155 burners 197-9,224
-point 128 , coal- 175, 196-200
Fresnel (1788-1827) 65 , collection of ... 163-170
Friction 9, 25, 33, 46, 54, 83, 98, 108, , compressed 196
113, 116, 128, 135, 211 -cylinders ... ... ... 196
-machines 213 , electrolytic ... 174,210,224
-match ... ... 44 -engines ... 200, 222, 245-9
Frictional sparks 32, 37, 99, 107-9, , fatty 188
228 -fire 198
Friends 138 , fuel- 188
Frost 117, 119, 154 -generator ... ... 43
-patterns 53 , inert 204
Fruits 8, 22, 25-8, 134, 136 , inflammable ... 190, 207, 231
Frying 74 -lamps 196-7
Fuegians ... ... ... 36 -lighting 193-7
Fuel 3, 14-44, 53, 65, 68, 72, 88-9, -mains ... ... ... 212
98, 124, 136, 139, 154, 159-164, , manufacture of ... 184
175-186, 192, 197, 200-4, 208-11, -mixture 37, 159, 161, 193, 199,
228, 231, 247, And see Fire (x, 205-7, 210-217, 221, 231-2,246
xi), Firewood and Sulphur -mixture, dry 232 f
Fuel in Science and Practice 232bis most readily ignitible
Fulda 137 229
Fulhatae, Mrs. ... 213,232 , moving ... ... 221
Fume 82, 98, 110, 124, 136-7, 142, , still 221
145, 188, 193, 213 , Modern 200
Fume "stinking" 193 , natural 192
Fwnifitffiitm 181, 194 .oil- 196-7
Fumigation 28, 136 , Perfect 249
Fumus Candens 193 , Permanent 188
Funale 177 Pingue 188
Funeral 21 -pistol 213
Fungus 34 , portable 196
Fur 6 , Prepared 213
Furies 28, 140, 182 , Producer- 200
Furnaces 9, 14, 39, 40, 76, 818, 117, ,
sources of 196
124, 126, 152-3, 179, 192, 243 -storage 194
Furni Novi Philosophies ... 82 -supply 198,208
Furrows ... ... ... 233 sylvestres ... 188, 239
Fused, See Fixed , Water- 200
408
INDEX continued.
,"combustible Body in 107-10 Jupiter 8, 10, 17, 53, 76, 83, 100,
,
flame of 168, 211 105, 136, 141, 151, 154, 199, See
-furnaces ... ... 180 also Zeus, Jehovah, etc. See also
, Magic of 11, 139 Tin
Iroquois 69 Jupiter Lapis ... ... ... 83
Irradiation, See Influences Just, See Good
Isaac of Holland (15th Cy. A.D.) 88 "Justified" 9
Isaiah (8th Cy. B.C.) 11, 75 Justin (ob. c. A.D. 165) ... 10
Ishtar 140 Juvenal (c. A.D. 42-c. 125)
Isidorus (560-636) 193 8, 25, 72, 252
Isis 7, 28, 53, 67, 78, 85, 136, 139,
182 Ka 139
Isobar 4,216-226 Kauri Gum ... ... 25 ...
Mansions 22,240
Mantle, Incandescent 199, 200 Maui 187
Manure . . . . 155, 158 Maya 8, 10, 68, 75, 187, 252
Maori 12, 58 Mayow (c. 1645-1679) 97, 151, 162-3,
Marah 6 172, 182, 190
Marble 26, 70, 87, 105 Mead (1673-1754) 101, 134, 136, 151,
Marcasites 35 165
Marcellus of Bordeaux Meal 11, 72
(4th Cy. A.D.) ... 52 Meat 124, 155, 165, 179
Marco Polo (1254-1323) 180, 192 Mechanics 235
Marcus Grsecus (8th Cy. A.D.?) 156 Mede 38,138,234
Mare 6, 141 Medea 13,103
Marey (1830-1903) 232&W- Medicated 54
Mariotte (16204684) ... 147 Medicine 6, 14, 22-6, 66, 136, 138,
Mark, Devil's 138 156, 188, 190
Mark Twain (1835-1910) ... 52 Mediterranean ... 6, 21, 68, 179
Marketplace 177 Medium 105
Marlowe (1563-1593) ... 130 Medusa ... .. ... 141
Marne 251 Megabazus ... 19
Marquis of Worcester Megacosm ... ... ... 78
(17th Cy. A.D.) ... 240 Melancholy 20,74,91
Marriage 8, 10, 27, 52, 70, 72-3, 158, Melting 49, 108, 121, 124, 139, 140,
175 184, 239
, Civil 138 -point 120
Marrow 76, 138-9 Memories 67
Mars 59, 63, 73, 105, 110, 154, 173 , Life of 131
Marsh ... 7, 76, 132, 137, 143, 182 Menelaus 10
-damp or -gas 132, 206, 228 Menstruum 109, 110, 161, 171, 190,
And see Methane 213
, Lernean 76 Mercury
, Serbonian ... ... 136 i. (Messenger) 22, 67
Martyrs 138 ii. (The God Hermes) .. 75
Marum (18th Cy. A.D.) 203,213 iii (Moisture) 66, 75, 81, 85-
13,
"Marvell (1620-1678) 90 86, 89, 100, 104-7, 115, 184
Mary 40 iv. (Quicksilver) 13, 39, 64, 86,
Mary Celeste 212 88, 117, 121, 124, 131, 146,
Mask 139, 141, 217,223 151, 170-1
Mason (1896-1925) ... 224, 232bis Mercury-column ... . . 146-8
Masque 132, 139 Meroe 139
"Mass" 9,65 Mesh 183,205
Massacre 136 Mesmerism 141
Mastic 26 Metals 6, 14, 40-3, 50-1, 80, 83, 86-9,
Masts 139,236 104-7, 111, 115, 117, 121-4, 158,
Mat 72 160, 162, 169 to 173, 179, 188,
Match ... 30,32,35,37,44-6,223 193, 199, 207
Ethereal 45 Metals, Dephlogisticated ... 173
Friction 44-6 , Flames of .. 107, 168, 211
Hermaphrodite ... 46 , Inflammable Air from 173
Lucifer 44 , Matter of 105
Oxymuriate 44 , On the Ills of .. 171
Promethean ... ... 44 , Seven 106
Materia Medica ... 6,22-26,190 Metamorphosis ... 1, 16, 83
417
INDEX. continued.
Meters 195, 200 Mist 54-5, 134, 136, 139, 154, 182,
Meteor 78, 131 252, And see Mud and Airs out
Meteorisation 158 of the Earth
Methane 190-1, 202-7, 212, 214, 228- Mistletoe 4, 10
229, 232&u, And see Marsh , Yellow-berried ... 133
Mexico 4, 8, 11, 28, 75, 77, 136, 139 Mithradatic War f
38
to 141, 182 Mixture, See Gas-mixture
Miasma 162 Mobiles 69
And see Pestilence and Plague. Mobility 17, 139
Mice 76 Model 28, 67, 75, 77, 138, 231, 241-3
Michaelmas . . ... ... 176 Moissan (1852-1907) 14
Microbe 210 Moisture 12, 18, 42, 54, 66, 73, 75,
And see Bacillus 85, 89, 91, 96-100, 103-5, 115, 117,
Microcosm 54, 66-7, 75-98, 103, 169, 121, 139, 184-5, 213, 229, 231-2.
179, 252 See also Water, Mercury, Flegme
Micrograph 161-2, 183-4 and Phlegma
Microscope 76, 99, 184, 210, 252 Moisture, Radical 75,82
Midden 138 Molecules 50, 60, 116, 126, 149, 204,
Middle Age 53, 131-150 210, 231-2, And see Atom and
Middle Region 54, 81, 96, 115, 125, Particle
130, 131, And see Cloud Level Molecules, Polar 232
Midnight 52, 176 Mohere (1622-1673) 63, 175
Mild 87, 97, 172 Mollet's Pump 41
Miles per gallon 89, 112 Moloch 10
Milk 3, 7, 11, 26, 29, 76, 139, 152 Molossians ... ... ... 71
Miller 155 Momentum, Angular ... 246
Milhkan 151, 154 Mongolia ... ... ... 37
Million 246 Monolith 3, 70
Mills 233, 240 See Backbone, Ephod, Stone
, Flour- 234 Monster 76, 234
, Steel-, for lighting mines 228 Montaigne (1533-1592) ... 141
, Sulphur 231 Montezuma (d. 1520) ... 11
Milo 12 Monuments ... ... ... 234
Milton (1608-1674) 132 Moon 49, 52, 54, 63, 70, 78, 95,
7, 8,
Minckelers 194 105, 117, 136, 139, 140, 154, 168,
Mind 12, 33, 88, 97, 252 182, 251, And see Silver
, Dropsy of the ... 252 Moon-beams ... ... ... 117
Mine 54, 79, 139, 210-4, 222, 231, 240 -eater 136
-lighting 191, 228 -element 127
-lamp 197,205-6 -goddess ... 78, 139
Mineral 36, 51, 80, 85, 87, 101, 104, -metal 127
106-7, 214 , New 7,70
fuel 208 , Spring 78
growth 80 -worship 8
Miners' Friend 240 Moravian 194
Minerva 8, 152, 175 Morgan 232&i?
Mines, European 214 Morien (12th Cy. A.D.) 14, 88, 167
Miniature 54,60,67,216 Morning 20, 139, 154
See also Model and Microcosm Morrice-dance ... ... 11
Minimum flame ... 205, 208 Mortality, See Death, Dissolution,
igniting current ... 229 etc.
pressure ... ... 229 Mortar 155
volume ... ... 229 Mortimer 115
Minium 239 Moses (13th Cy. B.C.) 6, 67, 132, 138
See Litharge and Red Lead Moslem 15, 140
Minstrelsy ... ... ... 175 Moss 34
Miracle 79, 119, 160 Mother 8, 10-1, 15, 53, 73, 78, 91-2
And see Magic Hulda 10
Miraculorum .. ... ... 139 Motion 3-8, 12, 16-7, 50, 56, 60-1,
Mirror 40, 68, 141-2 64-7, 76, 116-8, 133, 136, 139,
, Concave 38-9 144, 149, 158, 160, 162, 182, 214-
Miss-fire ... ... ... 227 215, 219 to 222
418
INDEX continued.
,
continuous ... 241, 245-6 Nature of flame 183
, linear 241 Natures ... 90, 96, 99, 113, 115, 117,
of liberty 144 119, 120, 122, 126, 130-1, 136,
, Periodic ... 240,245 139, 145, 150, 154, 158, 169, 184,
upon pressure ... 144 187, 214, 233, 239
upon tensure ... 144 And see Qualities, Virtues, etc.
Motor 244 Naval 8, 9, 19, 22, 50, 155
-bicycle 247 Navel 3
-car 247 Necessities 19,21,66
-casualties 247 Neck 4, 141, 202, 204
Mould ... 30, 78, 124, 158 Necromancy 143
Mountain ... 3, 76, 117, 139, 234 Nectar 10
Mourning 21, 30, 74, 175 Need-fire 12, 135
Mouth 21, 137, 140 Needles 29, 13$, 187
-piece ... ... ... 25 Negro 152
-wash 101 Neighbour 21
Mucilage of Metals 105 Neighbour Sea-cole ... ... 175
Mucms Scsevola (6th Cy. B.C.?) 31 Neilson, J. B 197
Muckrake 17 Nephthys 139
Mud 25, 73, 133-4, 185 Neptune 69, 139
And see Mist Nernst 229
Muddleheadedness 15 Nerves 64, 74
See Myopia Nest 78, 89, 158, 216
Muktasab 97 Net 104
Mummies ... ... ... 25 Neter 8
Municipal Government 68, 175-6 New Testament 175
Murdoch 194, 197, 242 New Zealand 25
Murk ... 252 Newcastle 180
See Mist and Mud and Smoke Newcomen 240, 241
and Airs out of the Earth Newspaper 181
Muscles 74, 233 And Acknowledgement
Music 136 Newt 139
, wind- 187 Newton, A. V. 246
Musk 26 Newton, Isaac (1642-1727)
Musket 50, 136 63, 64, 65, 120, 163, 193
-wise 21 Neyreneuf 215
Mustard 82, 89 Niagara 251
-seed 190 Nicander, Nucius 214
Mutability 16, IS Nicholas of Cues (1401-64) ... 94
Muzzle 126 Nickles 45
Mycenaean ... ... ...25, 234 Nicolette 139
Mynsicht's elixir ... ... 101 Nider (15th Cy. A.D.) ... 138
Myopia ... ... ... ... 251 Night 8, 20, 57, 59, 133, 134, 139,
Myrrh 24, 78, 136 177, 178
Myrtle 70 -clock 55
Mysteries 28, 78 -fall 175
Mystery 119, 133, 143 -light 177
Mysticism 182 -mare 139
Mythology 4, 6-8, 10, 16, 20, 24-5, -sky 151
56, 71, 78, 83, 136, 140-1, 152, Nile 76, 78
182, 187, 234, 240 Nine 234
Nineveh 38
Naiads 139 Niobe 83
Nails ... 138, 187, 234 Nitrate 170
Name 67, 97, 135, 175 ammonium ... ... 155
Naphtha 13, 103 calcium 155
Natchez 6,8,69 potassium 155
Natural History 183 sodium ... ... 155
Natural Magick 238 Nitre 14, 34, 51, 55, 59, 78, 87, 115,
Nature 151, 154 117, 121, 150 to 174, 188, 190,
"Nature, etc" . . 214 231, 239
419
INDEX continued.
Central 156 Odours ... 24-28, 30, 48, 89, 95, 100,
Celestial ... 157, 158, 160 110, 136, 141-2, 175, 197, See also
Effluvia, Vapours and Stink
_ _
of Lead
86, 152, 169, 170, 239 too-aerial
Nit:
,, 162, 182
Oxygen 14, 17, 39, 86, 113, 130, 136, , Smoaky ... 184, 197
151, 159, 164, 166, 168 to 173, , Sulphureous 163, 182
188 to 190, 198, 203-4, 208, 229, Pascal (1623-1662) 145
231-2, 239 Passarola 139
Oxy-acetylene flame 14 Passivity 16, 67, 90
Oxymtiriate Match 44 Passover 53
Oyster shell 190 Paste-egg 73
Pasture $0
Pabulum nitrosum ... 151, 162 Patent 241
Pabulum vitse ... 17, 151, 164 Paterfamilias 70
Pacific 33 See House-band
Packets 56, 65 Patmos 72
Pactolus 251 Patroclos 140
Paddle-boat 245 Paul (d. A.D. 67) ... 104, 138
Padua 138 Pawl 245
Pain 138 Payman 224, 232 bis
Pain, Barry (d. 1928) ... 11 Peacock 4
Painter 53 Pearls, imitation 40
Palace 176,189 Peasants 134, 140
of the King 18 Pease 190
Palissy (c. 1510-c. 1590) ... 14 Peat 7, 186
Palm 6,234 Pedigree 21
Sunday 30 Peele (1558-1598), See Old Wives'
Palpable 130, 142 Tale
Pamphiles 12 Pegasus 6, 18
Panchatantra 10 Pellicle 119
Pandora 10 Peloponnesian War 134, 152, 155
Panthea 115 Penates 70
Pantheon 182 Pendencies ... ... ... 54
Paper 31,44-5, 124 Pendulum 177
, Brown 210 Penetration, See Diffusion
, Photographic 232 Us Penitents 177
Papin (1647-1714) ... 240,245 Pepi (33rd Cy. B.C.) 23, 94, 151, 233
Papyrus of Ani 9, 33, 151
... Pepys (1632-1703) 139, 148, 157, 175,
Paracelsus (c. 1493-1541) 6-8,
12-15,
21, 40, 50-1, 53, 59, 64, 66, 73, Percolation, See Diffusion
76, 78, 80, 83-5, 87 to 92, 97, Percussion 144
104-7, 112, 115, 136, 139, 142-3, Percy J15
151, 153-6, 160, 163, 167-171, 180, Perdita 175
188, 191, 213-4, 233 Perfect Gases 249
Paradox 87 Perfection 17, 55, 67, 80, 104, 107
Paraffin 44, 211 Perforated Plate 244
Paraffins 207 Perfume 24-8
Parent 68, 151 See Odours
altar 68 Perfumer 48
tree 22 Pericles (499-429) 132
421
INDEX continued,.
Porringer 221
Port 246
Porta (1541-1615) ... 83,159,238
Portable Fire-box 45
gSr...S5,34,67;'85 89,9 f
189
102-3, 151 Portugal
-remains
>
Possession 21, 139
Plasters
pj ate
^ 2?
40, 43
Potash
Pots, broken
14,172
28, 35
Photographic Potter, Humphrey 240
,
232^ Potter's Wheel 234
"39, 43" 199/203. 229
Platinum':.. Poultices 82, 136
49, 53-4 57 73 -8,
Plato (429-347) Poverty 133
85-6, 96-8,104, 114, 141, 143, 152 criteria of ... 177, 179, 180
,
l
Pleiades Powder 13, 15, 37, 42, 82, 89, 132,
Plemmyrium *f 142-3, 154-7, 170, '231,
Plenipotentiaries
/| 239, See Dust
Red 171
Hiny'TdrA.o. 79) 6, 13, 22 25-6 29,
,
Low 198
Poetry 97 ,
Water- 198
Poison 6, 50, 96, 133-4, 137, 169,
,
Qualities 18, 52-3, 58, 81, 97, 124, Ray(s), Cosmic ...
151, 154
127, And
see Natures, Virtues, And see Influences
Properties. Principles, etc. Deflection of ... 141, 2326u
Quanta 56,65,141 Generative ... ... 141
Quantitative Treatment 75, 87, 104, Healing 141
111-3, 120-3, 127, 129, 190, 197 Image 57, 141
Quenching ... 34, 47, 87, 96, 221 Sight ... 57, 74, 141
Quern 155 Reaction 161, 163,220
Quetzalcoatl 11 Chemical ... 121,229-232
Quick 187 , Pure- ... 210
Quicksilver, See Mercury , Thermo- 209, 210
Quill er-Couch 175 , Heat of ... 121,210
Quills 57 Rate of
, 209
And see Feathers Reason in Air 152
Quintessence 48 Receiver 157
Receptacle 53, 130-1
Ra 8, 10, 57, 67, 135, 140 Reconciliation of Four and Three 90
Rabies 22 Recrystallisation ... ... 159
Rachel 70 Red 2, 4, 6, 8, 20, 30, 57, 58-9, 73,
Rack 138,234,245 102, 108-9, 127, 133, 141, 169,
Radiance, Radiation 12, 21, 28, 47, 171, 182, 210
55, 59, 65, 66, 73, 92, 167, 179, Red Bird God 73
199, 211, 213, 216, 251, And see , Cherry 206
Emanation and Influences Heat 59,
108-9, 127, 159, 196,
Radiant Heat ... 49, 59, 65 200, 202, 210, 213, 246
Radiation of Power 250 Lead 86, 169, 170
Radiators 179, 198,215 Riding Hood 8
Radium 55 Sea 26,139
Radius ... ... ... ... 68 Redruth 194,242
Raft 11, 152, 187 Reeds, clay-tipped 152
Rags 34 Reflector 197
Ragusa 64 Reflux 153, 188
Rail 196,243 Reformation ... ... ... 134
Rain 4, 7, 10-12, 49, 70, 75, 81, 115, Refraction 57, 123
136, 141, 151, 158 Refractory columns 198
,bad 141 Refugee 240
-bow ... 17, 57-9, 114, 234 Regeneration ... ... ... 159
, female 141 Regia 69
-god 68 Registration, Photographic 232bis
, golden
... ... ... 10 Reindeer's Horn 211
,good ... ... ... 141 Re-kindling 12, 21, 31-2, 38, 110, 153
,male 10,141 Religion 9, 11, 21, 23, 38, 49, 50, 53,
, sulphur 29,30,76 71, 73, 79, 97, 130, 132, 136, 138,
Rainy Stars 151 140, 240, 252
Raising by Heat 145, 190, 234, 240 Remedies 187
And
_
Smoke 4, 12-14, 19, 28, 30-4, 54, 74, of the World M, 61, 75, 78,
107, 110, 133, 136, 140, 84, 92, 135
153, 181-4, 190-1, 195,211 of Things (Ores, Seeds, etc,),
, Burning 193 66, 83-5, 87, 89, 98, 100
-hazes 181 110, 112, 169, 191
-hole 179 , Ulcer of the 252
, stinking 193 Sound 142, 144, 230, 2Z2bis
Smokeless 136 , Analogies with Light 142
Smokers 31, 136, 153 -waves, Stationary ... 225
Smoky 136,177 Sour ... 169
And see Particles South 6,22,76
Smoothness 78 African War 247
Smother 74 America .. ... 10
Smouldering 21, 32, 35, 37, 45, 136, Arabia ... ... ... 26
153-4, 188, 210 -east Asia ... ... 33
Smut 18, 28, 152, 159, 161, 211 Seas 41
Snail 8 Wind 76
Snake. See Serpent Sow ... 104
-bite 22 Space 53-4, 61-2, 112, 129, 154, 157
of Time 252 Spain 136
See also Revolving Year Spark, concussive 32-8, 99, 107-9,
Snapshot Photography of Flame 160, 162
216 to 232bis , divine 97, 100
Snow 70,117,151,158,169 , electric 44, 173-4, 203, 220,
-houses 70 229 to 231, 245-6
Snuff 183-4, 197 -energy 229,230
Soap 223 , frictional 228
-bubble 217 from fire ...7, 28, 107, 167
Socrates (468-c. 399) 12, 55, 73 -gap, Optimum ... 229
Soda ... 92 Photography 232&w
Soft resins ... ... ... 26 Sparking Mills 228
Soil 28, 114, 151, 155 Sparta 132, 175
Solar, See Sun Spawn 76
Solarisation ... ... ... 55 Spear 66, 139
Solder 195, 197 Species 116, 131
Solenoid ... ... ... 16 Specific 22,26,58,136
Solid 16, 50, 53, 59, 64, 80, 95, 125, flame-speed ... ... 224
139, 159, 164, 201-2, 207, 210, 231 gravity 24, 118
And see Earth heat 113, 122, 202, 229, 249
Solidification 121 heats of combustion, etc.
See Freezing, Congelation, etc. 121, 202
Solomon (10th Cy. B.C.) 187, 189 porosity ... ... 202
Solon (640-558) 175 temp, of vaporisation 202
Solstices 32 Spectacle ... 156,175,194,201
Solute 21, 161 Spectroscopy ... ... 154, 199
Solution ... 40, 43, 51, 127, 133 Spectrum ... 17,57-9,114,234
, Mixed 159 Speed of Flame 198, 218, 220, 227,
Solvent 161 230, 232&w
See Menstruum of Gas-supply .. 198
Son of God 130 of Light 141
Son, Youngest 70 of Lightning 12
Song 136 of Sound 230
Soot 18, 28, 152, 159, 161, 211 of the departing soul... 12
, The Fire in ... ... 190 of the Epicurean atom 62
Sores 137 , proverb and symbol of 6
Soudan 134 Speeds, Law of 224
Soul, Central 89 Spells 42,132,136,142
, Communal 68, 252 Spelt 100
, Human 9-12, 55, 67, 72-6, 78, Sperm ...
_
... 60, 76, 105, 136, 151
80, 89, 100, 136, 140, 252 Spermaceti ... ... ... 25
of amber 83, 98 Sphere 54, 56, 61, 76, 96, 108, 149,
of the lodestone ... 83 215-6, 218, 221, 236
429
INDEX continued.
Steamerso
OtCetiliCJ. . 246 97, 99, 100, 123, 202-3,
Steel 11-2, 32, 37, 39-41, S3, 99, 104, 209
107-10, 115, 162, 168, 191, , Subterranean
... 159
228 Substantial 130
-mill 228 And see Gross, Dense, Heavy,
, "Stainless" 104 Earth, etc.
-white 217 Subtle 14, 80-1, 90, 95, 97, 105, 139,
Stephanus 103 142, 151, 158,
Stephenson (1781-1848) 214-5, 240, And see Pneumatical
243 Sucker 144
Sterilisation 76, 89, 97 Sucking 76
Sterility 21, 134 Suction-pump 147
Stick, See Rod Suffocation 152, 171, 183
Still-head 195 Suffolk 37
Sting ... ... 165 - Sugar 42,44,50,190
Stink 110, 133, 136-7, 165, 180, 197 -factories 231
See also Effluvia Suicide 72-3
Stirring 53,139 Suions 79
Stockholm 38 Suitors 136
Stockton-on-Tees 44 Sulphide 36,44,46, 55
Stoics 12, 16, 35, 139, 141 See also Blende, Glance, Pyrites
Stomach 74, 101 Sulphur
Stone 3, 4, 11-2, 14, 28, 33-6, 48-55,
i. The mineral body 13-4, 35, 44-
70, 79, 80, 83, 99, 105, 113, 117, 46, 59, 76, 80, 86, 88, 101,
131, 155, 160, 179, 180, 190-1, 104, 110, 121, 131, 136, 152,
214, 228 155-6, 158, 171-2, 180, 182,
Stone Age 36 184, 190, 202-5, 231
190 ii. Fire 13, 29, 59, 66-7, 75, 80-1,
, Bezoar
85-7, 94, 96, 104-7, 110-2,
Dust 231
115, 123, 158, 163, 172
, Philosopher's 14, 105, 167-170 iii. Inflammable Matter 13, 29, 66-
, White 182
67, 80-1, 85-7, 94-6, 107,
Storage of Energy 18, 246, 250 110-2, 136, 163
Storax, See Styrax Sulphur, adust 105
Stork 20 dioxide 207
431
INDEX continued.
, fixed 87, 89, 97, 100-2, 110, Synthesis of Humanity ... 252
136, 169 Syphon ... 235
, incombustible Syracuse 19, 38, 235
[ adust or fixed] Syringe 41
, metalline 110
-mills 231 Table 21,40
, Oil of 101 Taboo 31, 73, 252
Rain, See Rain Tachenius (c. 1620-1690) ... 123
, volatile 87, 89, 97, 99 to Tacitus (c. 55-120) 25, 133
104, 107, 110, 122, 151, Taint 182
173 Talbot, Fox 199
Sulphureous, sulphurous Talisman 133-4
107-9, 161, 163, 182, 185 And see Amulet
Sulphuretted hydrogen ... 196 Tallow 28, 177, 190
Sulphuric Acid 44, 204 Tamarisk 22
Sulzbach (15th Cy. A.D.) ... 122 Tanning 27-8
Summer 73,117,133-4 Taper 70,177,182,203-4
Sumpitan 239 Tar 28, 177, 186
Sun 6-8, 10,12-13, 38, 40, 49, 54-5, -oil 197
57, 63, 66, 68, 73, 77-8, 87, 96-8, -works 194
105, 117, 139, 140-1, 149, 151, Tarqum (d. 578 B.C.) ...31, 152
154, 156, 158, 168, 179, 182, 232, Tartar 121
234, 251 Tatenn 234
Sun-beams 97, 141, 234 Tattoo 28
-rise 8, 9, 176, 251 Tavern 157, 176
-set 139, 176 Tax 37
Sunlight, trapped 169 Taxin 30
Supernatural 79 Taylor, J. & F 196
Superstition 9, 30, 52, 69, 70, 73, Tears 21, 25, 50, 57, 73, 136
79, 138-9, 195, 242 Teeth 10, 33, 37, 41, 45, 101, 121, 136
Suppliant 71-2 Telepathy 142
Surface 43, 46, 53-4, 61, 63, 66, 92, Telesms (16th Cy A.0.) ... "
177
119, 138, 141, 144, 146, 159, 185, Television ... 127
207, 210-1, 215-9, 222, 228, 231, Tern 8
233, 240, 249 Temperature 12, 14, 17, 22, 40-1, 59,
Surface, Flame- 218-9, 222-230 81, 100, 120-4, 127,
Surgery ... ... ... 156 229, 230, 248-9
Survey, aerial ... ... 181 , Discontinuity of 216
Surveyors 235 , Flame- ... 198, 249
Suspension 131, 207 -gradient ... 2Z2bis
, nitrous 157 , Ignition 209, 229, 231
Sutton 165 , Neutral ... 133
Sward 175 , Rise of 207, 209-10, 217
Sweat ... 6, 21, 73, 81, 82, 137 Tempering 66, 96, 103-4, 109, 115,
Sweden 38, 135 158
f
See also Scandinavia Temple 8, 9, 11, 24, 68 to 75, 85,
Sweeping ... ... ... 27 97, 136, 152, 175, 191, 234
Sweet(en) 52, 55 Tenderness 252
Swift (1667-1745) ... 32, 63, 171 Tenture 144
Swiss 242 Teraphim 70
Sword 11 Terminology 50,66,86
Sycamore . . ... ... 23 Terra 114, 158
"Sydereal" 159 Terrestrial 21, 96
Sylva Flonfera ... ... 27 See Earth
Sylva Sylvatum 1, 12, 113, 117, 183 Terror 74
Sylvester II, Pope (d. A.D. 1003) 237 Tertullian (160-240) 10, 136,139
Symbols 136, 182 Teta (34th Cy. B.C.) 89
Symmetry 114, 142 Thackeray (1811-1863) 29, 178, 195
Sympathy 52 Thales (640-548) 16
Syncecism ... ... ... 68 Thank-offering 11
Synonym, See Identity Thatch 13
Synthesis ... 68, 69, 72, 74, 103, 173 The Old Wives' Tale ... 80
432
INDEX co ntinued.
433
INDEX continued.
214, 219, 220, 222, 230, Wool ... ... ... ... 147
233-4 Worcester, Marquis of ... 240
-books 41 Word 8, 65, 75, 78, 81, 104, 135, 142
, bottled 168 Work 113,240,246
, divergent 216 World 9, 16-8, 48, 50, 53-4, 61, 64
-giant 152 67, 76-8, 85, 90, 92-3, 154,
-gun ... ... ... 144 168, 234, 252
, inward 215 -destruction ... ... 9
-mill 18 , Little 67
-music ... ... ... 187 And see Microcosm
, outward ... ... 215 Worlds 131
Window ... 41, 136, 176, 232bis Worm 67, 137, 139, 143
Wine 2, 9, 11, 21, 25, 28, 53, 72, 95, And see Serpent
110, 117-8, 151, 169, 175 Worship 3, 4, 7, 8, 10-1, 15, 20, 22-3
-cask 25 27, 31, 49, 70, 73, 78, 97, 10o!
-cup 142 136, 138, 182, 191
-god 28 Wosen 74
-skin 187 Wound ... 72, 76, 136, 140
Wings 18, 25, 75, 136-7, 139 Wright, W. L. 246
Winky 155 Wurzburg 137
Winsor, F. A. (1763-1830) 194, 196 Wylam Colliery 243
Winter 73, 115, 117, 133, 158, 177
Wire 199, 203-6, 210, 213
244 Xiuhtecutli 77
-gauze ... ... ...
, heated 221
"Wireless" 49 Year 27, 151
Wise man ... ... ... 9 Year (as sky-almanack) ... 158
Witch 5, 12, 17, 21, 24, 30, 32, 67, Yellow ... 15, SO, 59, 200, 204
73, 130, 134, 136, 138-141, reddish
, 217
187, 242 Yew 30, 179
-broth 139
Yggdrasil 22, 140
-butter 139 Yolk 85, 105
-hazel 29
Young 65
-hunters 13, 138 Yucatan 6
-panics 138, 140 Yurucares ... ... ... 22
Witchcraft, Counter- 134-140, 187
Wolf 8, 139
Woman 7, 11, 40, 90-1, 138-9, 175, Zanzibar 25
182, 234 Zenith ... 77
, Scarlet 182 Zero 120
Womb 17, 78, 168, 239 Zeus 8, 10, 187
Wood ... 2, 7, 11, 14-6, 19, 21-2, 25, Zeus Xenios 71
27-8, 30-1, 33-5, 41, 44, 48, Zinc 43, 111, 204
51-2, 66, 70, 72, 89, 98, Flame of
, ... 211
135, 240 Zoroaster ... 6,7,9
-dust 211 Zulu ... 140
-fire 14,21 Zum 33
437
(2nd Edition)
Press Reviews :
A True Dreamer
(Times Literary Supplement}.
This is the first publication of The Poetry Lovers' Fellowship, whose
ambition, in Mr. Elhs's words, is "to reach, at one end, the poetry-lover and,
at the other, the poet." In the poems of Miss Kahla it has certainly realized
half its aim. Many of them speak explicitly of dreams; but the dreams of
which she writes are not day-dreams, unless by day-dreams is implied that
shedding of worldly wisdom and recovery of true innocence which she celebrates
in "The Return." Still less are her dreams nostalgic. They are true evocations
of the unconscious, of that inward reality of which, she writes:
And gathering the darkness to my heart,
I sought in the stillness, silent and apart.
It is not, however, a region of repose. And, characteristically, she speaks in
one place of "the first lull that follows the first dream." She finds death in it
as well as life, as she finds pain at the heart of beauty. And this dream mood,
with its ecstasy and its menace, is implicit also in her wakefulness. It presses
upon the conscious mind:
There is a sigh out there
Where silence was before,
Someone climbs the stair
With soft feet on the stone,
Pauses, and watches there
Stealthily, at the door.
And stirs, and sighs in pain,
And pleads again and again
Let me come, let me come in!
And with a furtive hand
Opens the door.
The place grows chill with shadow
Where sunlight was before,
It would be wrong, however, to suggest that Miss Kahla is obsessed by the
unconscious. Her virtue as a poet lies in the fact that her love of daylight
beauty and the radiance of many lands and places which she has visited has its
roots in a reality of which the apparent is a transient expression. And it is
because beauty vibrates to her from such depths that at times she finds it
almost unbearable. As she writes of chiming bells in "Burden of Beauty":
Make not the night unbearable
With music and its moaning tide
Of beauty, not to be denied
Make not the night unbearable!
Ever throughout your song 'twould seem
The passion of the swelling wind
Returns again, returns again
Fast as our hearts deny their dream,
Unbearable Beauty comes again.
Nature, too, knows her "wild tenacity," her sense of estrangement from, and
her desire for identity with, the life that stirs in the interlacing leaves. But
for her the greatest of all dreams is "the unforgotten dream" of Calvary. In
her own words:
Strange new journeys lead us back again
To one dark hill.
And here again, because her dream is both profound and personal, she invests,
"
in "Crucifixion," or "Poet's Calvary," this "symbol of lov
new reality.
439
President- -
LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE.