The Transmutation of Metals

John Webster (1610-1682) was a mid seventeenth-century chemical writer, best known for his detailed analysis and description of the properties and extraction of metals. Though drawn to a chemical approach he could not ignore the alchemical ideas of transmutation, and in the final chapter of his book Metallographia: or, an history of metals, he explores the nature of transmutation and tries to bring it within his chemical model of metals.