161 / 374
DRINKS.
1.61
devoted
their
leisure
time,
of
which
they
appear
to
have
had
no
lack,
to
the
so-called
magnum
opus.
The
magnum
opus,
the
quintessence,
the
elixir
of
long
life,
were
three
different
denominations
of
one
and
the
same
thing.
Monkish
intellectual
toil
was
chiefly
con-
nected
at
that
time
with
the
study
of
essences,
spirits,
alcohols,
and
distillations.
The
plants
which
they
sought
with
the
greatest
eagerness
were
rosemary,
arnica,
elder,
camomile,
sweet
trefoil,
rose,
borage,
balm
mint,
snake
weed,
iris,
etc.
In
the
thirteenth
century,
Arnold
de
Villeneuve,
a
celebrated
physician,
possessed
with
this
devil
of
a
magnum,
opus,
formulated
the
question
of
the
quint-
essence
or
elixir
of
long
life
in
these
terms,
which
became
afterwards
a
dogma
for
all
his
monastic
successors.
"
This
is
the
secret,
viz.,
to
find
sub-
stances
so
homogenous
to
our
nature
that
they
can
increase
it
without
inflaming
it,
continue
it
without
diminishing
it
...
as
our
life
continually
loses
somewhat,
until
at
last
all
Is
lost."
The
outcome
of
th^e
long
and
patient
labours
of
the
monkish
alchemists
was
certain
elixirs
and
liqueurs,
of
which
the
secret
composition
was
transmitted
from
generation
to
gener-
ation
in
convents
and
monasteries.
Such
liqueurs
were
in
their
origin
simply
a
pharmaceutic
product.
It
is
only
within
the
last
few
years
comparatively
that
they
have
been
converted
Into
delicacies
after
dinner.
Our
age
bears
the
hall
mark
of
positivism.
The
monks
labour
no
longer
for
the
sole
glory
of
God
and
comfort
of
the
sick.
Their
object
at
the
present
day
is
to
effect,
it
is
affirmed,
a
ready
and
productive
sale.
L