Evening star., 1932-02-19
TRAIL Of ALCOHOL
TRACED TO ORIGIN
Twelfth Century Christian
Chemists in Italy Made
Drug First.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

The lurid trail Of alcohol leads
straight to the doors OF some Christian
chemists living in southern Italy about
the middle of the twelfth century.
Such is the conclusion of George Sar-
ton, historian of the Carnegie Institu-
ton of Washington, after an exhaustive
search of medieval manuscripts for a
which has had the world by the ears
ever since
He was unable to establish the thesis
generally held, that alcohol was of
Greek or Oriental origin and was intro
duced into Europe by the invading
Arabs. The discovery of alcohol, he
says, may be said to mark the begin
ming of a new period in the history of
chemistry.
The Oldest mention of alcohol which
DR.. Sarton was able to uncover was in
treatise by Magister Salernus, who
fourlshed at the University of Salerno,
one of the great medieval seats of learn
ing, between ll30 and 1850. Salernus
however, did not describe himself as
the diScoverer and probably was record
ing the work of some one of his con-
temporaries.
1t is noteworthy, Sarton points out
that chemists at Salerno about this time
were experimenting on the distllation
OF rose water, much used in medicine,
and the discovery of alcohol probably
came as a direct result Of this.
Found Earlier in China.
Although the claim cannot be fully
substantiated, Sarton points out, there
is reason to believe distilled spirits were
known in China about century earlier.
There the discovery is credited to a GER
tain Tou Ping who lived in the first
half of the eleventh century. Another
Chinese Chemist" Chu-I-chung, is said
to have written treatise on the distilla-
ton of spirits about 1920, but the dates
cannot be checked with any eXactnesS
Medieval Europe apparently was not
slow in discovering the potency of the
new liquid, especially for medical use
A medical treatise early in the next
century described twelve marvellous
waters, including alcohol, the elixir OF
life
Later in the thirteenth century. DR..
Sarton records, the virtues of alcohol as
medicine were stressed by one Of the
foremost figures of the Middle Ages.
Arnold of Villanova, the physician of
kings and popes. At the same time, less
exalted doctors were prescribing it
among their wealthy and noble patients
for all sorts of complaints. 1t was not
long before hard liquor" and its par
ticular virtues of warming up the body
and producing an eXhilarated feeling
more rapidly than did wine were known
to all classes in Europe.
Shortly after the discovery of alcohol,
DR.. Sarton believes as a result of his
search of medieval sources, came the
discovery of another substance which
has shared the potent liquids task of
disturbing the eGuanlm1ty OF the world.
He is quite skeptical of the we'll known
Chinese claim to have been the dis
coverers and believes gunpoWder origi-
mated somewhere in western Europe be-
fore the end of the thirteenth century.
He has been unable, however to trace
the actual inventor. He discredits the
claim of the great English monk, Roger
Bacon.
Early Recipe Revealed.
The earliest reference to gunpowder
DR.. Sarton was able to find is in a
manuscript of recipes written sometime
late in the thirteenth century by an
unknown Marc the Greek. The recipe
is as follows: Take Cne pound of live
sulphur, two pounds of charcoal from
the lime or willow, and six pounds of
saltpeter Let the three substances be
very finely powdered upon a marble
slab and then mixed together"
The fact the Chinese 50 long have
been credited as the inventors of gun
powder, DR.. Sarton points out, hinges
on a substance referred to by Egyptian
physicians as Chinese snow" which
may have been potassium nitrate, the
kind of saltpeter necessary for the ex-
plosive.
He admits the Chinese were using
explosive fireworks devices about the
middle of the twelfth century in their
battles against the MongoL The claim
they used guns in 1882, he says, is due
to a misunderstanding of texts and if
they actually knew of gunpowder they
used it only in the form of pyrotechnics.