ABSTRACT
The Oxford English Dictionary defines alchemy as the art and science of transforming base metals into gold, particularly through the use of the universal solvent, or philosopher’s stone. Alchemists believed that, by applying the universal solvent, any metal could be purified into gold, which was merely the perfect state of all metals. It was thought that even iron, if left to grow in the ground over time, would mature into gold; alchemical practice merely expedited this natural process. Alchemy involved techniques originally developed by craftspeople seeking to create objects of simulated gold, silver, gems, and pearls, as well as by dyers who attempted to counterfeit the rare and valuable Tyrian purple dye. Elements of alchemy also evolved from the demands of medical practice and pharmacology.
