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CHAPTER X
THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE
Noble Auctors, men of glorious fame, Called our stone Microcosmus by name.
THOMAS NORTON.
Not many centuries ago the search for The Philosopher's Stone engaged the attention of the keenest intellects, and attracted those who in their day were accounted the foremost among philosophers, physicians and divines. Of scientists, as the term is now understood, there were few, but mention may be made of Roger Bacon, the “father of science”, as one who was a firm supporter of Alchemy and a believer in The Philosopher's Stone. “The one process necessary for the preparation of the Stone,” he wrote in The Mirror of Alchemy, “is continual concoction in the fire, which is the method that God hath given to Nature.”
What is The Philosopher's Stone-the goal of achievement of the quest of the Alchemist? It is, we read, “a skilful perfect equation of all the elements, a right commingling of natural
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