1897. This important and serious study, first published in 1897, is a fascinating account of the great alchemical and early pharmaceutical endeavors from the fabled search to turn lead into gold to the exotic hunt for the elixir of life. Selected contents: the dawn of the art of healing; the wizards of early Greece; the wizards of the Roman empire; the fathers of medicine; the early age of Greek and Roman pharmacy; alchemy; the philosopher's stone; the black art and occult sciences; the art of foretelling; black magic; superstition and its influence on medicine; love filters; amulets, talismans and charms; mummies and their use in medicine--the unicorn.