CHAPTER IV. On Certain Alchemists

ON CERTAIN ALCHEMISTS

Nicholas Flamel and the book of Abraham the Jew—Mysterious figures of the work—A tradition concerning Flamel—Bernard Trevisan—Basil Valentine—John Trithemius—Cornelius Agrippa—The pantacle of Trithemius—William Postel—Illustrations of his teaching—The story of Mother Jeanne—The renewal of Postel—An opinion of Father Desbillons—Paracelsus—His doctrines of occult medicine—Mysteries of blood—Narrative of Tavernier—The Philosophia sagax of Paracelsus 331