The purpose of this book is to give a short and clear account of the alchemists, their ways of thought and their contribution to man's achievement. Contents: The Ideas of the Alchemists; The Origin of Alchemical Practice; The First Alchemists; The Earliest Alchemical Signs and Symbols; Chinese Alchemy; Alchemists of Islam; The Alchemists in Europe; Alchemy in the Fourteenth Century; The English Alchemists; Alchemical Symbolism; Stories of Transmutations; From Alchemy to Chemistry; The Hermetic Philosophy; The Relation of Alchemy to Science.