P r e f a c e .

...tures, the preparation of several types of
,, oil, bricks, some salts,
,, beer, vinegar, along with some pro-
,, cessing of gold ores, and the
,, materials for dyeing. ,,
,, Of the Hebrews: Solomon
knew of—silver dross. Original: Silberschaum. Historically, this refers to litharge or lead oxide produced during the refining of silver.
,, Of the Greeks: Plato knew of
—filtration, Hippocrates of
—calcination. Calcination: the process of heating a substance to high temperatures in air, usually to change its state or remove impurities; an early step toward understanding oxidation.
,, And now of the Arabs, and of
,, Geber Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–813 AD), a foundational figure in early chemistry and alchemy. in particular: He seems to have
,, known the effect of aqua regia Original: Goldscheidewasser, literally "gold-separating water." This is a highly corrosive mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids, famous for being the only acid that dissolves gold. on
,, gold; knew already that
,, metals can be calcined;
,, that salt of tartar Original: Weinsteinsalz (potassium carbonate). by
,, mixing with burnt lime
,, becomes caustic. Borax, artificial
,, cinnabar, and soda were not
,, unknown to him, and his
,, conceptions of reduction,
,, calcination, and distillations
,, were quite correct, etc.

Must one not, for the honor of the man
who was otherwise able to compile a very
useful textbook of Chemistry, wish that
he had sent it into the world in isolation,
and not let it step forward by the hand
of such an adventurous companion? The "adventurous companion" likely refers to the dismissive historical narrative or philosophical framework the textbook author attached to his chemical facts. I re-
frain from all remarks that might be made
regarding this...