Yet, he reasoned, a true believer was likely to be poor, and so it was necessary to find a substitute for the precious metal. The prominent Chinese alchemist Ko Hung, who lived in the 4th century, believed that man is what he eats, and so by eating gold he could attain perfection. In 2nd century China, the study of mercury centered on a search for an elixir of life to confer longevity or immortality. The line between alchemy and medicine was not always clear. Diocletian feared that artificially created gold would debase the value of the Roman currency and allow alchemists to amass huge fortunes with which they could bribe officials and gain power.įalse Promises of Longevity and Health Chinese alchemist – Ko Hung The Roman emperor Diocletian (245-313) issued an edict in the late 3rd century calling for the destruction of all written works dealing with alchemy. While alchemists in different cultures had different beliefs, one of the central themes to European alchemy was the belief that the correct combination of mercury and other ingredients would yield riches of gold. The Hindu word for alchemy is “Rasasiddhi”, meaning “knowledge of mercury.” Believing that mercury was at the core of all metals, alchemists supposed that gold, silver, copper, tin, lead and iron were all mixtures of mercury and other substances. In the ancient art of alchemy, mercury, sulfur, and salt were the Earth’s three principle substances. The life span of a worker in those mines was tragically brief. Certain forms of mercury poisoning also cause damage to the liver and kidneys. Mercury is primarily a neurological poison, causing tremors, extreme mood changes, and eventually loss of hearing and restricted vision. The warders were among the first to recognize that there was a high likelihood that the prisoners would become poisoned and spare the keepers the need for formal executions. The Romans used their mercury mines as penal institutions for criminals, slaves, and other undesirables. Cinnabar dating from 500 BC has been identified at a Mayan site in Guatemala, and prehistoric skulls painted with cinnabar have been found in Italy. This reddish mineral containing mercury and sulfur has been used as a pigment since prehistoric times. The largest natural source of mercury is cinnabar, its only known ore, and the richest deposits are found in Spain and Italy. It was in the mining of the element where mercury first became associated with human illness beginning as tremors and progressing to severe mental derangement. The symbol for the planet was used by the alchemists to identify mercury before it was given its more modern chemical notation.Īlthough mercury’s mystique held the promise of power, many of the ancients also knew it to be toxic. Speed and mobility were characteristics of the Roman god, Mercury, who served as a messenger to all the other gods and shared his name with the planet nearest the sun. Mercury is also known as “quicksilver,” a reference to its mobility.
Mercury’s chemical symbol, Hg, comes from the Greek “hydrargyrum” meaning liquid silver. Each civilization had its own legends about mercury, and it was used as everything from a medicine to a talisman. Intriguing because of its silver hue and liquid state at room temperature, elemental mercury was known to the ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese and Hindus.
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