art "that would be a guide that he might follow and a standard to which he could refer.. .I have expounded t o him the science of the chemicalart. . .and have written for him a concise, excellent book entitled: Book of the Secret of Secrets. With i t the metals can be raised (in rank). .and i t degrades (the ennobled metal) and brings it t o the original condition. This process I descrihe: . . .If I did not know that my days are numbered, and if my death were not so near a t hand,. . . I would not have troubled to have set down all this in my book, nor would I have taken the pains to do this in so complete a measure. This, my hook. treats of three subjects: The knowledge of materials, the knowledge of vessels, the knowledge of the process." This chemistry text, written about one thousand years ago, still makes excellent reading, but beyond its entertainment value is the important fact that this work was recognized as a masterpiece and exercised a potent influence on the development of science. The course of alchemy followed two divergent channels. The first had its rise in thc Egyptian cult of the ninth to the thirteenth centuries, which beingbased not on experiment and observation developed, when transplanted on European soil, into the welter of literary extravagances and arrant nonsense synonomous with the popular idea of alchemy. The second channel of development had its rise in the Syro-Persian culture which in time was transmitted to the Occident by the Arabs. This rested on the solid foundation of factual knowledge laid down by Razi, who avoided all magic and astrology. He and his successors were the forerunners of modern chemistry. Several manuscripts of the text are known, but after careful comparison Ruska decided to base his translation on the one in the Gttiugen library. Its probahie date is 1561. Translations of medieval alchemical texts often suffer from the use of modern mineralogic and chemical terms as being proper translations of the vague and variable ideas that the alchemical writer called by these same names. The alchemists used dozens of names for the same material, and, contrariwise, one name was often made t o serve for a variety of materials. Razi avoided this confusing practice; he used a straightforward style and described most materials in ~reciseand uneauivocal terms. Color, luster, hardness, taste, odor, fusibility, inflammability, etc., are given so that the recognition of the carriers of these qualities is usually certain, a circumstance that delivered the translator from many of the snares that beset the path of the unwary. At times, the terms used by Razi do not cover the modern meaning, as, for example. "magnisiya" is not magnesia but an ore of manganese. Such questions are handled in the extensive commentary (eighty-two pages) that precedes the translation itself. Apparatus and procedures are described in detail, and the state of development of equipment and the extent to which i t was used are a revelation to those who may have believed that such chemical furniture and knowledge of reactions and behaviors are of a much later date than Razi (865-925). Certainly this type of alchemy is quite different from the mystic. allegorical rigamarole found in so many of the products of Greek alchemy and its dependent Arabian writers. The aim of Razi's alchemy was to change baser metals into silver and gold, and t o convert common racks and minerals into precious gem stones. The means was a powder or water that was to act like a powerful medicament. The basic philosophy was that all materials are carriers of properties which can be increased or decreased by suitable elixirs, by heating, etc.. or by the addition of other materials of like or opposite qualities. The basic qualities included those of earth, water. smoke, air, t o which were added those of oil and sulfur, which conferred intlammabilitv. Deerees of salinitv also entered the - * ~" picture. Here are the roots of the "mercury," "salt," and "sulfur" of the later alchemists. &fany of the procedures described by ~~~i are entirely or substantially valid; others, to us, are nonsensical, and the putative results are figments of the writer's imagination. However, Razi was the first t o expound alchemy in a strictly scientific form, and this, his chief work, leaves the impression that the whole literature, which sets forth alchemy in separate chapters dealing respectively with materials, apparatus, and working
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directions, rests primarily on the presentation in the Book of the Secret of Secrets. How could Razi, who was acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicians of his time, and who enjoyed the highest reputation as a clear-thinking philosopher, so deceive himself that, in all good faith, he could seriously write alchemical books? The answer is simple: other times, other philosophies. His ideology, one accepted, justified his procedures and aims, and his methods and goals were just as legitimate as those of modem chemistry, which are the product of our own scientific heliefs. Was practical use made of this treatise on transmutation? The Giittingen manuscript contains an interesting insertion concerning attempts to prepare the elixirs: "Abu'lqasim al-Muqaddas -may Allah he merciful unto h i m s a y s : 'Verily, I have looked into this book and have seen there not even the slightest indication for bringing forth the spirit of the 'Alam and the 'Aqrab. Therefore, busy not yourself with these two, unless you already know the Secret of the Process-for only then-God willing-are you capable of the Work.' " The foregoing is mostly adapted from the interesting commentary which Ruska has provided. In this elucidation he reveals his competent scholarliness and his complete understanding of this difficult subject matter. In the July. 1936, issue of Tnrs JOURNAL (page 313) may be found an essay "Ruska's Researches on the Alchemy of al-Razi " The author, R. Winderlich, also wrote the biographical sketch in the Festschrift issued in February, 1937, in honor of Ruska's seventieth birthday (Ahhandlugen zur Geschichte der Medizin und der Natumissenschaften, Heft 19). I n these will he found the background of the laborious researches which enabled this man of transcedent talent and indomitable industry t o put out this superlative discussion and translation of one of the classics of early alchemical, or should we say chemical, literature. I t is unfortunate that the high price will preclude a wide sale. RALPHE. OESPER
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ORGANICSYNTHESES,XVII. L. F. Fieser, Editor. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York City, 1937. v 112 pp. 2 figs. 15 X 23 cm. $1.75. The current volume of this valuable series contains directions for the preparation of: aconitic acid, y-aminobutyric acid, earninocaproic acid, 1.2-aminonaphthol hydrochloride and 1.4 aminonaphthol hydrochloride, henzoylene urea, hromal, phromohenzaldehyde, 4-hromoresorcinol. l,3-butadiene. Zcarbethoxy-cyclopentanone, cellobiose, arsellohiose actacetate, chelidonic acid, cholestanone, dihydrocholesterol, 2,bdimethyl5-carhethoxypyrrole. 8,B-diphenylpmpiophenone, ethyl ethoxalylpropionate, ethyl methylamolanate, unsym. heptachloropropane, 2-ketohexamethyleneimine,6-methylwad, 8-naphthoic acid, 8-naphthoquinone and a-naphthoquinone, pentaerithrityl bromide and iodide, a-phenylethylamine, d-and l-a-phenylethylamine, tetramethylene chlorahydrin, tricarbethoxymethane, and triphenylethylene. There follows an appendix containing "later references to preparations in preceding volumes," and "additions and corrections for preceding volumes." This publication fills a very definite need, and i t is particularly gratifying to note that many of the preparations r d e c t the trends of modern orpanic research.
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MOTIONPICTURESOB THE WORLD,The Educational Film Directory. International Educational Pictures, Inc., 40 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, Massachusetts. 66 pp. 27.5 X 21.5 a.Subscription price $0.50. (-0 issues annually.) This directory contains a list of film subjects which includes all countries, art, biography, entertainment, history, industry, nature, religion, science, sports, snd transportation.
