item: #1 of 7 id: 1271 author: Redgrove, H. Stanley (Herbert Stanley) title: Bygone Beliefs: Being a Series of Excursions in the Byways of Thought date: None words: 55010 flesch: 64 summary: This was presently reported to the Duke of _Buckingham_, and a little after to the King (James I.), who were both very curious to know the issue of the businesse, which was, that after dinner I took the garter out of the water, and put it to dry before a great fire; it was scarce dry, but Mr _Howels_ servant came running (and told me), that his Master felt as much burning as ever he had done, if not more, for the heat was such, as if his hand were betwixt coales of fire: I answered, that although that had happened at present, yet he should find ease in a short time; for I knew the reason of this new accident, and I would provide accordingly, for his Master should be free from that inflammation, it may be, before he could possibly return unto him: but in case he found no ease, I wished him to come presently back again, if not he might forbear coming. It is easy for the superficial thinker to dismiss much of the thought of the past (and, indeed, of the present) as _mere_ superstition, not worth the trouble of investigation: but it is not scientific. keywords: "(1; "(2; account; action; ages; agrippa; aid; air; alchemical; alchemists; alchemy; amulets; analogy; ancient; angels; animal; animism; application; architecture; art; astrological; attempt; authority; b.c; bacon; behaviour; beings; belief; bernard; better; bird; birth; black; blood; bodies; body; book; brotherhood; cambridge; case; centuries; century; ceremonial; certain; chap; character; characteristics; chemistry; chief; christ; christian; church; cit; close; college; colour; common; complete; concept; concerns; conclusion; conjunction; connection; considerable; copper; cornelius; correspondences; cosmos; course; crude; cudworth; cure; curious; day; days; deal; death; description; design; desire; development; different; difficult; digby; discarnate; discourse; discovery; divine; doctrine; doth; doubt; earth; edward; effect; efficacy; elements; eliphas; energy; english; equal; essay; essential; evidence; evil; evolution; example; excursions; existence; experience; explanation; extent; extraordinary; face; fact; faith; famous; fantastic; female; fig; figure; fire; following; force; form; free; fundamental; general; generation; geometry; god; gold; good; great; greater; greatest; greek; ground; gunpowder; half; hand; harmony; hath; having; head; heat; heaven; heavenly; hebrew; hermetic; high; highest; history; holy; human; ideas; image; imagination; importance; influence; instance; intelligence; interesting; iron; john; jupiter; kelly; kenelm; king; knowledge; known; language; late; law; letters; levi; life; like; lion; little; lives; living; long; love; m.a; magic; magical; male; man; manner; marriage; mars; material; mathematical; matter; means; mediaeval; medical; medicine; mercury; mere; metallic; metals; method; microcosm; middle; mind; modern; moon; motion; museum; mysteries; mystery; mystical; mysticism; names; natural; nature; necessary; need; new; note; number; object; obvious; occult; operation; opinion; opus; order; origin; original; paracelsus; particular; parts; past; peculiar; pentacle; pentagram; people; perfect; perfection; phallic; phenomena; philosophers; philosophical; philosophy; phoenix; physical; place; planets; platonists; pliny; point; pointed; possible; power; practical; practice; precious; prepared; present; primitive; principle; process; product; psychical; pure; pythagoras; question; rate; reader; real; reality; reason; reasoning; recent; red; reference; regard; regular; religion; religious; remarkable; remarks; research; results; rev; right; roger; rule; saturn; science; scientific; second; secrets; seed; self; sendivogius; sense; sexual; sign; significance; silver; similar; sir; society; solomon; sort; soul; source; spirit; spiritual; stage; stars; statement; stone; study; subject; substance; sulphur; sun; superstition; swedenborg; symbolic; symbolism; symbols; sympathetic; system; table; talismans; teaching; term; theology; theories; theory; things; thomas; thought; time; trans; transcendental; translation; transmutation; true; truth; union; unity; universe; use; value; venus; view; virgin; virtue; vitriol; vol; waite; water; way; weapon; whichcote; wife; wisdom; woman; womb; words; work; world; worship; wound; writers; writings; year; young cache: 1271.txt plain text: 1271.txt item: #2 of 7 id: 14218 author: Muir, M. M. Pattison (Matthew Moncrieff Pattison) title: The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry date: None words: 49187 flesch: 59 summary: Besides describing apparatus for distilling, subliming, and other processes in the laboratory, French gives directions for making tinctures, essences, essential oils, spirits of salt, and pure saltpetre, oil of vitriol, butter of antimony, calces (or as we now say, oxides) of metals, and many other substances. It must he admitted that the alchemists could cite many instances of transmutations which seemed to lead to the conclusion, that there is no difference of kind between the metals and other substances such as water, acids, oils, resins, and wood. keywords: ---on; 17th; able; account; accurate; acid; action; active; activity; agent; air; alchemical; alchemists; alchemy; ancient; animals; apparatus; applied; argument; atmosphere; atomic; atoms; attempt; author; basil; beginning; black; bodies; body; book; boyle; burning; cagliostro; calcination; calcined; cause; century; certain; change; chapter; character; characteristic; chemical elements; chemistry; class; clear; cold; colour; combination; combined; combustible; combustion; common; composition; compounds; conception; conclusion; conditions; copper; course; dalton; day; days; death; definite; description; differences; different; different substances; different things; directions; discovery; distilling; distinct; earth; effect; electric; electrons; elements; end; energy; essence; essential; events; exact; examination; existence; experiments; explanation; expression; facts; far; fig; fire; following; form; formation; gas; general; god; gold; good; grains; great; greek; guide; hand; heated; heating; high; homogeneous; hot; human; hydrogen; ideas; identical; illustration; importance; instance; investigation; iron; kathode; kind; king; knowledge; known; laboratory; language; lavoisier; lead; left; life; light; like; liquid; living; long; lucretius; magic; making; man; manner; mass; material; matter; mayow; meaning; means; measured; mental; mercury; metals; method; middle; minerals; minute; modern; mortification; multiples; names; natural; nature; necessary; new; nitrogen; number; observed; occurrences; oil; open; operations; order; ordinary; original; oxygen; paracelsus; particles; particular; parts; people; perfect; perfection; phenomena; philalethes; philosopher; phlogiston; picture; place; portion; possible; power; practical; present; priestley; principles; processes; production; products; properties; property; pure; putrefaction; quantities; quantity; quest; radio; radium; rays; ready; red; remains; results; sacred; sages; said; salt; saying; scheme; science; second; seed; senses; separation; silver; simple; simplicity; small; solid; soul; specific; spirit; spiritual; stahl; state; stone; story; study; substances; sulphur; sum; supposed; supposition; symbol; system; temperature; terms; theories; theory; things; thought; time; transmutation; true; union; unity; universe; unlike; uranium; use; valentine; vast; vessel; view; virtue; volatile; water; way; weighed; weight; white; words; work; working; world; writer; writings; years cache: 14218.txt plain text: 14218.txt item: #3 of 7 id: 14641 author: Helvetius, Johann Friedrich title: The Golden Calf, Which the World Adores, and Desires In Which Is Handled the Most Rare and Incomparable Wonder of Nature, in Transmuting Metals; viz. How the Intire Substance of Lead, Was in One Moment Transmuted in Gold-Obrizon, with an Exceeding Small Particle of the True Philosophick Stone date: None words: 15895 flesch: 58 summary: Many other things like to these he told me, which I neither well observed, nor committed to memory; because my intention was: carryed further, viz. Such a Remedy is exceeding necessary for a Physician, but no man knows, what and how great are the Secrets yet hidden in Nature, nor did I ever, in all my Life see such an Adept Man, although I have read and perused many things, touching the verity of this thing, or Art, in the Writings of Philosophers. keywords: able; adept; age; arcanum; art; artist; benefit; best; better; bodies; body; certain; colour; crucible; curious; day; diseases; divine; doubt; earth; effect; elias; excellent; external; eyes; faith; fire; fixed; friend; glass; god; gold; golden; good; great; hague; half; hands; happy; hath; heat; help; helvetius; holy; hope; hour; house; ignorant; internal; judge; kind; lead; life; light; like; little; long; man; manner; mass; matter; mean; medicament; medicine; men; mercury; metallick; metals; mind; mystery; natural; nature; new; noble; operation; ounce; paracelsus; parts; perfect; philosophers; philosophick; physician; powder; prepared; preparing; pure; rare; reason; red; said; saline; salt; saying; science; scorbutick; secret; self; silver; sir; small; sons; space; spirit; stone; substance; sufficient; sweet; things; time; tincture; tinging; transmutation; treasure; true; universal; verity; virtue; viz; water; wax; way; white; wise; wonderful; words; work; world; worthy; yea cache: 14641.txt plain text: 14641.txt item: #4 of 7 id: 26340 author: Basilius Valentinus title: Of Natural and Supernatural Things Also of the first Tincture, Root, and Spirit of Metals and Minerals, how the same are Conceived, Generated, Brought forth, Changed, and Augmented. date: None words: 30479 flesch: 52 summary: Saturn_ is made fluxible by Fire, it hath most of _Mercury_ in it, but it is inconstant and volatile; it hath least of Sulphur, and therefore according to its small quantity its cold body cannot be made warm; it hath little Salt, but fluxible, otherwise Iron would be more fluxible and malleable than Lead, if the Salt alone could cause a malleableness and fluxibleness, because Iron contains more Salt than any other Metal: Seeing then there is a difference to be found in this point, you must therefore observe and remember the difference, and how to distinguish between Metals. Mercury_ which is extracted from _Saturn_, being purified and sublimed, as _Mercury_ is usually sublimed, I tell thee, my Child, that the same _ keywords: air; antimony; ashes; augment; bath; beginning; better; birth; black; bloud; bodies; body; book; celestial; ces; chap; child; clear; coagulation; cold; colour; common; copper; corporal; course; cure; days; degree; diseases; distil; distilled; divers; divine; doth; drops; dry; earth; earthly; elements; end; essence; evil; fiery; fire; fix'd; fixt; flux; form; furnace; glass; glory; god; gods; gold; good; great; half; hath; head; heat; heaven; help; high; hot; influence; internal; lead; life; light; like; little; long; lord; love; luna; man; manner; mars; matter; means; medicine; mercury; metals; minerals; nature; notice; observe; oil; open; operation; paradise; parts; people; perfect; philosophers; place; planets; pot; pound; poure; power; praise; prepared; principles; projection; quantity; reason; red; root; salt; saturn; secret; seed; self; silver; small; soul; spirit; spiritual; stars; stone; strange; substance; sulphur; sun; supernatural; sweet; taste; thee; things; thou; thy; time; tincture; true; truth; understand; understanding; use; venus; vinegar; virtue; warm; water; way; whereof; white; wine; wisdom; wise; work; world; yellow cache: 26340.txt plain text: 26340.txt item: #5 of 7 id: 636 author: Mackay, Charles title: Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 1 date: None words: 97738 flesch: 67 summary: The undoubted relics of great men, or great events, will always possess attractions for the thinking and refined. During seasons of great pestilence men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come. keywords: abbe; account; admiration; advantage; affairs; age; ages; aislabie; alarm; alley; amsterdam; ancient; answer; anxious; appearance; attention; author; bad; bank; battle; beard; behalf; belief; best; better; bill; black; blood; bodies; body; bonds; books; bore; boxes; britain; british; broken; bubble; building; burst; business; capital; captain; care; career; carriage; cases; cause; celebrated; cent; centuries; century; ceremony; certain; challenge; chamber; chance; chancellor; character; charge; chariot; charles; chataigneraie; chief; children; church; circumstances; cities; citizens; city; class; clear; clergy; close; cloth; coachman; coin; colonel; combat; combatants; committee; common; company; concerned; conduct; confidence; consequence; considerable; consideration; continued; contrary; convinced; council; countries; country; courage; course; court; courtiers; craggs; credit; crime; criminal; cross; crowd; cry; curious; custody; custom; cut; d'horn; dangerous; day; days; dead; death; deep; delusion; description; determined; devoted; different; difficulty; directors; door; doubt; duchess; duel; duelling; duke; earl; earth; edict; effect; efforts; encounter; end; enemy; england; english; enormous; error; escape; established; estates; europe; evening; evidence; evil; example; exchange; excited; excitement; execution; expedition; extent; extraordinary; extravagant; eyes; face; fact; fair; faith; fall; false; fame; families; family; famous; far; fashion; fatal; fate; father; favour; favourable; favourite; fear; feeling; feet; fellows; field; fine; fire; fixed; florins; following; folly; foolish; foot; force; foreign; fortune; france; french; frenzy; friends; future; gain; gambling; gang; gardens; general; gentleman; germany; giving; goddess; gold; golden; good; government; grand; grave; great; greater; greatest; ground; guesclin; guilty; guineas; hair; half; hamilton; hands; hat; head; hearing; heart; heavy; height; henry; hero; high; higher; history; hold; holland; holy; home; honour; hope; horses; hours; house; hundreds; idea; immense; imprisonment; increase; india; infatuation; influence; informed; innocence; innocent; inquiry; instance; instant; interest; iron; jack; jarnac; john; joy; judge; judgment; jury; justice; kemble; kind; king; kingdom; knowledge; known; labour; ladies; lady; large; late; law; lead; learned; leave; left; length; letters; life; like; list; little; livres; london; long; longer; look; lord; loss; loud; louis; love; macartney; madame; madness; majesty; majority; making; man; manager; manner; matter; means; measures; members; memoirs; men; merchants; mere; merlin; middle; millions; mind; minister; mischief; mississippi; mob; mode; modern; mohun; moment; monarch; money; months; morning; mortal; mother; motion; multitude; murder; names; nation; national; nature; near; necessary; new; night; nixon; noble; notes; notice; notorious; number; numerous; oath; object; occasion; offence; offenders; officers; old; omens; open; opinion; opponent; opportunity; opposition; ordeal; order; original; orleans; paper; paris; parliament; parties; party; pay; payment; people; period; permission; persons; peter; petition; phrase; piece; place; plague; plan; play; pleased; pleasure; point; poor; populace; popular; population; possession; possible; pounds; power; powerful; practice; precious; presence; present; pretended; prices; priests; prince; principal; principles; prison; prisoner; private; privilege; proceedings; profits; progress; project; proof; proper; prophecies; prophet; proprietors; public; punishment; purchase; purpose; quarrel; queen; question; race; rank; rare; ready; reason; regent; reign; relative; relics; religion; religious; remedy; report; resolution; result; return; reward; rich; richard; rise; river; road; robber; room; rose; royal; ruin; run; said; satisfaction; save; saw; saying; scheme; sea; second; security; sense; september; servant; set; severe; shares; sheppard; short; silver; similar; single; singular; sir; slang; sleeman; slight; small; society; solemn; sound; south; spain; specie; spectators; speech; spirit; spot; spread; stand; stanhope; state; sterling; stock; strange; streets; strong; subject; subscription; success; successful; sudden; sufficient; sum; sums; sure; sword; system; taste; tell; terms; theatre; thieves; things; thinking; thought; thousands; thugs; tide; time; town; trade; travellers; trial; true; truth; tulips; turpin; unfortunate; unhappy; universal; unworthy; uproar; utmost; vain; valuable; value; verdict; victims; view; voice; walpole; war; watch; water; way; wealth; wheel; wild; wise; witness; women; wonder; words; work; world; worth; xiv; years; young cache: 636.txt plain text: 636.txt item: #6 of 7 id: 713 author: Mackay, Charles title: Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 2 date: None words: 100522 flesch: 65 summary: The boy added, that as soon as supper was ready, many other witches came to partake of it, several of whom he named. Whether the horse-shoe still remains upon the door of the haunted house, to keep away other witches, is uncertain; but there it was, twelve or thirteen years ago. keywords: absurd; account; acre; advanced; advantage; age; ages; air; alarm; alarmed; alexius; alive; ancient; answer; antioch; anxious; apostle; appearance; armies; arms; army; arrival; arrows; asia; atrocious; attack; attempt; attention; authority; awful; battle; bear; beautiful; bed; belief; bernard; best; better; bewitched; bishop; black; blood; bodies; body; bohemund; bouillon; boy; brave; brienne; brinvilliers; broken; brother; burning; camp; care; cases; cat; cause; celebrated; century; certain; character; charge; chiefs; children; chivalry; christendom; christians; church; circumstances; cities; city; clear; clergy; close; cock; coming; command; commissioners; common; condition; confession; conrad; consequence; considerable; constantinople; convinced; council; countess; country; courage; course; court; creatures; credulity; crime; criminals; croix; cromwell; cross; crusaders; cry; damietta; danger; daughter; day; days; dead; death; defence; degree; delusion; demons; departure; description; destruction; determined; devil; different; difficulty; disease; dissensions; district; dominions; door; doubt; dreadful; duke; duncan; early; earth; ecclesiastical; effect; effected; efforts; egypt; emperor; encouraged; end; endeavoured; enemies; enemy; energy; england; english; enthusiasm; escape; europe; evidence; examined; example; excited; execution; expedition; extent; extraordinary; eyes; face; fact; faith; faithful; fall; family; famine; fanaticism; far; fate; father; favour; favourite; fear; fearful; feeling; feet; fellow; fian; field; fierce; fire; fits; flesh; foe; followers; following; folly; food; foot; force; form; fortune; forward; france; frederic; free; french; friends; gellie; general; gentleman; germany; girl; glory; god; godfrey; good; grand; great; greater; greatest; greek; gregory; ground; guilty; hair; half; hand; haunted; head; heart; heaven; henry; hermit; high; highest; history; hold; holy; home; hope; hopkins; horrible; host; hours; house; human; hundreds; hungary; husbands; idea; ignorant; ill; important; imprisonment; infernal; influence; informed; innocent; instances; instant; intention; interest; italy; jaffa; james; jerusalem; jesus; john; journey; judge; judgment; justice; kent; kind; king; kingdom; knights; knock; knocking; known; ladies; lady; lance; large; late; law; laws; leaders; learned; left; length; letters; liberty; life; like; limbs; little; lives; long; longer; look; lord; loss; louis; love; madness; majesty; making; man; mania; manner; march; mark; mary; master; means; meeting; men; mere; middle; midnight; miles; mind; miserable; modern; moment; mompesson; monarch; money; monks; months; morning; mortal; mother; motives; mountains; mrs; multitude; murder; nations; nature; near; necessary; neighbourhood; neighbours; new; news; night; nobles; noise; normandy; number; numerous; oath; object; occasion; offence; old; open; opinion; order; overbury; pain; palestine; paris; parliament; passage; passing; passions; people; period; persecution; persons; peter; philip; pieces; pilgrims; pins; place; play; point; poison; poisoning; poor; pope; populace; popular; portion; position; possession; power; powerful; practice; prayers; preparations; prepared; presence; present; pretended; previous; prince; prisoner; probability; proceedings; progress; proof; property; provisions; public; punishment; purpose; quarter; queen; question; rack; raymond; ready; rear; reason; record; reign; religion; religious; resistance; rest; result; return; revenge; richard; robert; rochester; rome; room; rose; royal; rumour; sabbath; said; sainte; saladin; samuel; saracens; satan; saw; scene; scheme; scotland; second; secrets; seeing; sentence; servant; service; set; severe; shape; short; sick; siege; sign; similar; singular; sins; sir; sister; slaughter; slow; small; society; soldiers; solemn; sorcery; soul; spirits; spread; state; stones; strange; strength; strong; subject; success; sudden; sufficient; sultan; superior; superstition; supposed; suspected; suspicion; sword; syria; tancred; templars; terms; things; thought; thousands; throne; time; torture; toulouse; town; train; trial; true; truth; turkish; turks; unable; unfortunate; unhappy; usual; utmost; vain; victims; victory; village; violent; voice; walls; war; water; way; white; wife; william; willing; wind; witchcraft; witches; witness; women; wonder; wood; words; work; world; wurzburg; years; young; zeal; zealous cache: 713.txt plain text: 713.txt item: #7 of 7 id: 884 author: Mackay, Charles title: Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 3 date: None words: 99964 flesch: 65 summary: They asserted, on the contrary, that the first vow they took on entering the society was a vow of chastity; and that any one among them who transgressed in that particular would immediately lose all the advantages he enjoyed, and be exposed once more to hunger, woe, disease, and death, like other men. This work was published in two volumes, and the authenticity of its details supported by Gorres, Eschenmeyer, and other men of character and reputation in Germany: it is said to have had an immense sale. keywords: abbe; able; absurdity; account; acquaintance; action; adepts; advice; age; ages; agrippa; aid; air; alchymist; alchymy; aluys; angels; animal; answer; anxious; appearance; arm; arms; arnold; arrival; art; astrology; attention; author; authority; balsamo; bed; beginning; beings; belief; berna; best; better; bishop; black; blood; bodies; body; book; borri; box; brethren; business; cagliostro; cardinal; care; career; case; cast; castle; celebrated; centuries; century; certain; chain; change; character; charles; chemistry; chief; children; church; circumstances; city; claim; clear; clever; closed; cold; college; command; commissioners; committee; common; complete; confidence; consented; consequence; considerable; continued; conversation; converse; convinced; convulsions; count; countenance; countess; countries; country; course; credit; credulous; cross; crowns; crystal; cure; curiosity; curious; danger; dark; day; days; dead; death; deception; dee; deep; degree; delisle; delusion; departure; desire; desirous; determined; devil; devoted; different; difficulty; discovery; diseases; distinguished; divination; divine; doctor; doctrine; door; doubt; dream; dubois; duke; dupotet; early; earth; edward; effects; efficacy; elixir; elizabeth; elliotson; eminent; emperor; encouragement; endeavoured; enemies; england; english; equal; escape; europe; evidence; examination; excellent; excited; existence; experiments; expression; extraordinary; eyes; face; fact; fair; faith; fall; false; fame; family; famous; far; fashion; fate; father; favour; favourable; fifteenth; fine; fingers; fire; fit; fluid; following; folly; foot; force; foreign; fortune; france; francis; fraternity; french; fresnoy; friend; future; geber; general; gentleman; germain; germany; gilles; girl; god; gold; golden; good; grand; grave; great; greater; greatraks; half; hand; happy; head; heart; hell; henry; hermetic; high; history; home; honour; hope; hospital; hours; house; human; idea; ignorant; imagination; important; impostor; inferior; influence; informed; inquiry; introduction; iron; italian; italy; jacques; john; journey; kelly; kind; king; knowledge; known; laboratory; ladies; lady; large; laski; lay; lead; learned; leave; left; lenglet; length; letters; life; light; like; lilly; list; little; london; long; longer; look; lord; lost; louis; love; lulli; m. de; madame; magic; magnetic; magnetisers; magnetism; magnificent; majesty; making; man; manipulations; mankind; manner; marechal; marks; married; marshal; marvellous; master; matters; means; medical; medicine; members; men; mercury; mere; mesmer; metals; midst; millions; mind; minutes; modern; monarch; money; monk; months; morning; mother; motion; motte; mysteries; names; nature; near; necessary; necklace; new; nicholas; nickel; noble; notice; notions; number; object; obscure; observed; occasion; okey; omens; open; operations; opinion; order; pain; paper; paracelsus; paris; particular; pass; passes; patients; pay; people; period; personage; persons; phenomena; philosopher; physician; piece; place; pleased; pleasure; point; poland; poor; pope; popular; portion; possession; possible; pounds; power; precious; prelati; presence; present; pretended; pretensions; prince; principal; prison; process; produce; professor; progress; proof; proper; prophet; public; pure; purpose; pursuit; puysegur; quantity; queen; question; quicksilver; raymond; rays; ready; real; reason; religion; remarkable; remedies; report; reputation; residence; respect; rest; result; retired; return; reward; rich; rome; room; rose; rosicrucians; round; royal; salve; saying; science; scot; search; second; secret; sect; sendivogius; senses; service; set; seton; seventeenth; shape; short; sick; sign; silver; similar; single; sitting; sleep; small; society; somnambulism; sorcery; soul; sovereign; spirits; spread; state; stone; stories; strange; strong; study; subject; success; successful; suffering; sufficient; sum; sun; supposed; sword; symptoms; system; telling; theory; things; thought; thousands; time; title; town; tractors; transmutation; treatise; tree; trial; true; truth; unfortunate; universal; university; vain; valuable; value; vessel; vienna; view; villeneuve; visit; voice; volume; want; watch; water; way; weak; wealth; weapon; weeks; white; wife; wine; wise; wish; woman; wonderful; wonders; wondrous; words; work; world; worth; writers; writing; years; young cache: 884.txt plain text: 884.txt