Pseudo-Democritus
Pseudo-Democritus, also known as Democritus the Mystogogne, (Greek: Δημόκριτος) is the name given to a Greek writer and alchemist best known for his treatise Physica et mystica, which was translated by Pizzimenti in the sixteenth century, and his Letter to Leucippus.[1] Alomst nothing is known about the writer other than his name, although it is assumed that he was not the Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus, and was working several centuries later, possibly some time between the first century BC and the first century AD
Physica et mystica is concerned with dyeing and with aurifaction ("making" gold).[2][3] One of his recipies for the "manufacture of silver" is quoted in the Stockholm Papyrus:[4]
He [Pseudo-Democritus] rubbed common salt together with lamellose alum in vinegar and formed very fine small cones from these and let them dry for three days in the bath chamber. Then he ground them small, cast copper together with them three times and cooled, quenching in sea water.
The papyrus attributes the record of the recipie to Anaxilaus, which would imply that Pseudo-Democritus was working before 28 BC.
References
- ↑ Démocrite le mystogogne. In Grand dictionnaire universel du XIXe siècle; Pierre Larousse: Paris, 1870; Vol. 6, p 411.
- ↑ Cobb, Cathy; Goldwhite, Harold Creations of Fire; Basic: New York, 1995; pp 36–37. ISBN 0-7382-0594-X.
- ↑ Démocrite. In La Grande Encyclopédie; Lamirault: Paris, 1892; Vol. 14, pp 66–69.
- ↑ Caley, Earle Radcliffe The Stockholm Papyrus: An English Translation with Brief Notes. J. Chem. Educ. 1927, 4 (8), 979–1002. DOI: 10.1021/ed004p979.
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