Subscribe to DeepL Pro to translate larger documents.

Visit www.DeepL.com/pro for more information.

Bulletin de l'Ecole française

from the Far East

Marcelin Berthelot and Indian alchemy

Arion Rosu

Summary
MARCELIN BERTHELOT AND INDIAN ALCHEMY SUMMARY Based on unpublished manuscripts, the article reveals the keen
interest shown by Marcelin Berthelot in Indian alchemy. The French savant actually inspired and encouraged the first historical
research in this field, undertaken at the end of the last century, in Calcutta, by the Bengali scientist Prafulla Chandra Rây.
Coming to France in order to pay homage to Berthelot, he was received by him at the Academy of Sciences of Paris in March
1905. Center national de la recherche scientifique Paris

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Rosu Arion. Marcelin Berthelot and Indian alchemy. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 75, 1986. pp. 67-
78;

doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.1986.1700

https://www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_1986_num_75_1_1700

pdf file generated on 08/02/2019

 MARCELIN BERTHELOT A N D ALCHEMY INDIAN

BY

RION ROT U

Based on unpublished manuscripts, the article reveals Marcelin Berthelot's interest

in Indian alchemy. Indeed, he inspired and encouraged the first historical research in
this field, undertaken at the end of the last century in Calcutta by the Bengali
chemist Prafulla Chandra Rây, whom the Académie des Sciences de Paris welcomed
on a visit in 1905.

Marcelin' Berthelot (1827-1907) was not only the illustrious scientist who opened a new era
for organic chemistry in 1860, but also the historian of science whose work2 marked the beginning
of t h e scientific history o f alchemy.'

' The ort hography of Marcellin's first name with two -l 1- was ordinary for M. Berthelot. Towards the end of his life,
however, he preferred the form without doubling the consonant, as shown by the post-scrîptum of an autograph letter dated
December 3, 1897: Mon prénom est "Marcelin". The document is kept in the Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de pharmacie
(Paris) under the symbol M. 124. t-e spelling discrepancy is thought to be the result of a clerical irregularity i n the civil
registers, with Mr. Berthelot's birth certificate bearing the name Marcelin. See E. J ungfleisch, Notice sur la vie et les tra
vaux de .Warcellin Berihelot, Paris 1913, p. 1 (n. I ).
Marcelin Berthelot's historical works:
Les origines de l'alchimie, Paris 1885. New edition Paris 1938 and reprint Brussels 1966.
Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, with the collaboration of Charles-Emile Ruelle, 3 volumes and index
in 4 issues, Paris 1887-1868. Reprints Osnabrück 1967 and London 1963, reviewed by W. Pagel reported in A it#iz
12 (1964), pp. 77-80.
Introduction à f'éru':fe de la chimie des anciens et du mo yen âge, Paris 1889. Reprinted Paris 1938 and
reprinted Brussels 1966. This work, conceived as a commentary on the preceding work, formed part of the first
volume, but was subsequently published separately, with a few additions and corrections.
Histoire des sciences. la chimie au mo yen âge, 3 vols, Paris 1893. Reprinted Osnabrück-.-Amsterdam 1967,
reviewed by W. Pagel in Ambix 14 (1967), pp. 203-206:

1. Essni on the transmission of ancient science in the Middle Ages,-

2. L.'alchimie syriaqne, with the collaboration of Rubens Duval;
3. L'ulchimie arabe, with the collaboration o f Octave Houdas.

Archéologie et histoire des sciences, Paris 1906 (Mémoires de l'Académie des Sciences de l'Institut de France,
tome 49). Reprinted in Amsterdam 1968. The second section (history of science) of this collection of articles includes
four notes o n Asian knowledge:
Pl. 1 - Letter from Max Müller (Oxford, December 2, 1895). Daniel Langlois-Berthelot Collection.
Pl. 2 - Title page of P.C. Rây's handwritten memoir on Indian alchemy. Daniel Collection
Langlois-Berthelot.
Pl. 3 - Alchemy and the Tantras. Notes by M. Berthelot on reading P.C. Rây's dissertation. Collection Daniel
Langlois-Berthelot.
Pl. 4 - Drawings o f Indian chemical apparatus by M. Berthelot based on a memoir by P.C. Rây. Daniel
Langlois-Berthelot Collection.
Pl. 5 - Letter from P.C. Rây (Calcutta, July 3, 1902). Fonds Marcelin Berthelot, library of the
Collège de France.