Chapter Pharsalia to Philosopher's Stone of P by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

(233-305.)
   The Philosopher of China. Confucius. His mother called him Little Hillock,, from a knob on the top of his head (B.C. 551-479.)
   The Philosopher of Ferney. Voltaire; so called from his château of Ferney, near Geneva. (1694-1778.)
   The Philosopher of Malmesbury. Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan. (1588-1679.)
   The Philosopher of Persia. Abou Ebn Sina, of Shiraz. (Died 1037.)
   The Philosopher of Samosata. Lucan.

“Just such another feast as was that of the Lapithæ described by the philosopher of Samosata.”- Rabelais: Pantagruel, book iv. 15.

   The Philosopher of Sans-Souci'. Frederick the Great (1712, 1740-1786).
   The Philosopher of Wimbledon. John Horne Took, author of Diversions of Purley. (1736-1812.)

Philosopher with the Golden Thigh Pythagoras. General Zelislaus had a golden hand, which was given him by Bolislaus III. when he lost his right hand in battle. Nuad had an artificial hand made of silver by Cred.

“Quite discard the symbol of the old philosopher with the golden thigh.”- Rabelais: Pantagruel (Prologue to book v.).

Philosopher's Egg (The). A preservative against poison, and a cure for the plague; a panacea. The shell of a new egg being pricked, the white is blown out, and the place filed with saffron or a yolk of an egg mixed with saffron.

Philosopher's Stone The way to wealth. The ancient alchemists thought there was a substance which would convert all baser metals into gold. This substance they called the philosopher's stone. Here the word stone is about equal to the word substratum, which is compounded of the Latin sub and stratus (spread-under), the latter being related to the verb stand, stood, and meaning something on which the experiment stands. It was, in fact, a red powder or amalgam to drive off the impurities of baser metals. (Stone, Saxon, stán.)
   Philosopher's stone. According to legend, Noah was commanded to hang up the true and genuine philosopher's stone in the ark, to give light to every living creature therein.
   Inventions discovered in searching for the philosopher's stone. It was in searching for this treasure that Bötticher stumbled on the invention of Dresden porcelain manufacture; Roger Bacon on the composition of gunpowder; Geber on the properties of acids; Van Helmont on the nature of gas; and Dr. Glauber on the “salts” which bear his name.