was an Augustinian monk, later a
chamberlain of Innocent VIII, and still later a Carmelite monk. His _Liber
de mercuris philosophico_ and other tracts first appeared in _Opuscula
quaedam chymica_ (Frankfort, 1614).

[259] Besides the _Opus majus_, and other of the better known works of this
celebrated Franciscan (1214-1294), there are numerous tracts on alchemy
that appeared in the _Thesaurus chymicus_ (Frankfort, 1603).

[260] George Starkey (1606-1665 or 1666) has special interest for American
readers. He seems to have been born in the Bermudas and to have obtained
the bachelor's degree in England. He then went to America and in 1646
obtained the master's degree at Harvard, apparently under the name of
Stirk. He met Eirenaeus Philalethes (see note 254 above) in America and
learned alchemy from him. Returning to England, he sold quack medicines
there, and died in 1666 from the plague after dissecting a patient who had
died of the disease. Among his works was the _Liquor Alcahest, or a
Discourse of that Immortal Dissolvent of Paracelsus and Helmont_, which
appeared (1675) some nine years after his death.

[261] Platt (1552-1611) was the son of a London brewer. Although he left a
manuscript on alchemy, and wrote a book entitled _Delights for Ladies to
adorne their Persons_ (1607), he was knighted for some serious work on the
chemistry of agriculture, fertilizing, brewing, and the preserving of
foods, published in _The Jewell House of Art and Nature_ (1594).

[262] "Those who wish to call a man a liar and deceiver speak of him a
writer of almanacs; but those who (would call him) a scoundrel and an
imposter (speak of him as) a chemist."

[263] "Trust your barque to the winds but not your body to a chemist; any
breeze is safer than the faith of a chemist."

[264] Probably the Jesuit, Pere Claude Francois Menestrier (1631-1705), a
well known historian.

[265] The author was Christopher Nesse (1621-1705), a belligerent
Calvinist, who wrote many controversial works and succeeded in getting
excommunicated four times. One of his most virulent works was _A Protestant
Antidote against the Poison of Popery_.

[266] John Case (c. 1660-1700) was a famous astrologer and physician. He
succeeded to Lilly's practice in London. In a darkened room, wherein he
kept an array of mystical apparatus, he pretended to show the credulous the
ghosts of their departed relatives. Besides his astrological works he wrote
one serious treatise,