According to practitioners and students of alchemy, the body's Vital Energy, or Quintessence, is best obtained from minerals and metals. Using everyday language and an accessible style, Cockren explores the different uses and manifestations of this ancient science, from the physical to the medicinal and even the spiritual. Along the way, he provides engaging sketches of alchemy's early pioneers, including St. Germain, Basil Valentine, and the legendary Paracelsus, providing a solid foundation to his belief that within the world's metals "can be found elements to cure all discords in the human body." Considered the greatest British alchemist of the 20th century, ARCHIBALD COCKREN (d. 1950) was a practicing physician who also studied metallurgy, biochemistry, and bacteriology.