Leyden papyrus

Caley, Earle Radcliffe. The Leyden papyrus X an English translation with brief notes. JChemEduc 3, no. 10 (Oct 1926) 1149-1166. 

Mahdihassan, S. "Isles of Immortals" of a Chinese legend as the precursor of "Islands of the Sea" mentioned in the Leyden papyrus of Greek alchemy. Studs Hist Med 8, no. 3-4(1984) 153-158. 

Berthelot, from the study of the Leyden papyrus and of other contemporaneous papyri of a nonchemical nature, concludes that the arts of magic and of these chemical arts were practiced by the same persons, though in both these manuscripts the text is free from magical or mystical content. If true, this fact would have very interesting bearing upon the mystical character of the works of later alchemists. 

Skilled alchemists early tried to make synthetic beryls and emeralds. In the so-called Stockholm Papyrus [15.1], descriptions are given for these syntheses. The Papyrus was found in Alexandria in the early years of the 19 century and is dated to the 3 or 4 centuries ad. Together with the so-called Leyden Papyrus, it is the only original document from this early period and of great value for the history of chemistry, especially from the beginning of alchemy. 

Caley ER (1926) The Leyden papyrus X—an English translation with brief notes. J Chem Educ 3 1149-1166... 

The study of vitriol began in ancient times. Sumerians had a list of types of vitriol that they classified according to substance s color. Some of the earliest discussions on the origin and properties of vitriol are in the works of the Greek physician Dioscorides (first century AD) and the roman naturalist Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD). Galen also discussed its medical use. Metallurgical uses for vitriolic substances were recorded in the Hellenistic alchemical works of Zosimos of Panopolis, in the treatise Phisica etMystica, and the "Leyden Papyrus x". 

From Leyden Papryus X and the Stockholm Papyrus." In The alchemy reader, ed. Stanton J. Linden, 46-49.. ... 

By a fortunate chance, however, there have been saved to our times two important Egyptian works on chemical processes, the earliest original sources on such subjects. They were discovered at Thebes, and both formed part of a collection of Egyptian papyrus manuscripts written in Greek and collected in the early years of the nineteenth century by Johann d Anastasy, vice consul of Sweden at Alexandria. The main part of this collection was sold in 1828 by the collector to the Netherlands government and was deposited in the University of Leyden. In 1885, C. Leemans completed the publication of a critical edition of... 

Examples will best serve to illustrate the character of the recipes and of the knowledge of practical chemistry which underlies them. The following are from the Papyrus of Leyden, as found in the previously mentioned translation of Berthelot. 

The processes of dyeing are treated much more fully in the Swedish papyrus than in the Leyden, and can better... 

In one of the Egyptian papyri at Leyden, contemporaneous with those we are considering (Papyrus Y), there is a passage which says 10... 

Among the papyrus manuscrpits in the Leyden collection, is one, Papyrus Y, determined on paleographic basis to be of the same period as the manuscripts above-described. It also came from Thebes. This manuscript has been critically studied by Berthelot. It contains two chemical recipes of a character very similar to those in the other works. 

Berthelot considers it at least as early as the papyrus of Leyden which was written probably in the third century though evidently copied from earlier writings. Democritus was referred to as a great authority by Zosimus (third century), thus giving the impression that he was earlier than his time. 

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