Excerpt from A Treatise on Chemistry, Vol. 2: MetalsI the metals gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead were known to the ancients. We find them mentioned in the writings of the Old Testament, as well as in those of the early Greek authors. The name of mercury is first found in the writings of Theophrastus, but the existence of the remaining metals only became known in comparatively recent times. Antimony appears to have been obtained by Basil Valentine, and zinc and bismuth were both described by the same alchemist, although their properties did not become generally known until the sixteenth century.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.