r of mathematics at Oxford, and Flamsteed (1720) as head of the
Greenwich observatory. It is of interest to note that he was instrumental
in getting Newton's _Principia_ printed.

[249] Shepherd (born in 1760) was one of the most famous lawyers of his
day. He was knighted in 1814 and became Attorney General in 1817.

[250] This was William Hone (1780-1842), a book publisher, who wrote
satires against the government, and who was tried three times because of
his parodies on the catechism, creed, and litany (illustrated by
Cruikshank). He was acquitted on all of the charges.

[251] Valentinus was a Benedictine monk and was still living at Erfurt in
1413. His _Currus triumphalis antimonii_ appeared in 1624. Synesius was
Bishop of Ptolemaide, who died about 430. His works were printed at Paris
in 1605. Theodor Kirckring (1640-1693) was a fellow-student of Spinoza's.
Besides the commentary on Valentine he left several works on anatomy. His
commentary appeared at Amsterdam in 1671. There were several editions of
the _Chariot_.

[252] The chief difficulty with this curious "monk-bane" etymology is its
absurdity. The real origin of the word has given etymologists a good deal
of trouble.

[253] Robert Boyle (1627-1691), son of "the Great Earl" (of Cork). Perhaps
his best-known discovery is the law concerning the volume of gases.

[254] The real name of Eirenaeus Philalethes (born in 1622) is unknown. It
may have been Childe. He claimed to have discovered the philosopher's stone
in 1645. His tract in this work is _The Secret of the Immortal Liquor
Alkahest or Ignis-Aqua_. See note 260, _infra_.

[255] Johann Baptist van Helmont, Herr von Merode, Royenborg etc.
(1577-1644). His chemical discoveries appeared in his _Ortus medicinae_
(1648), which went through many editions.

[256] De Morgan should have written up Francis Anthony (1550-1623), whose
_Panacea aurea sive tractatus duo de auro potabili_ (Hamburg, 1619)
described a panacea that he gave for every ill. He was repeatedly
imprisoned for practicing medicine without a license from the Royal College
of Physicians.

[257] Bernardus Trevisanus (1406-1490), who traveled even through Barbary,
Egypt, Palestine, and Persia in search of the philosopher's stone. He wrote
several works on alchemy,--_De Chemica_ (1567), _De Chemico Miraculo_
(1583), _Traite de la nature de l'oeuf des philosophes_ (1659), etc., all
published long after his death.

[258] George Ripley (1415-1490)