Robert Steele, its translator, asserts that On Things Natural and Mystical is the “earliest known chemical treatise” (88); however, its date of composition and authorship remain highly uncertain. He attributes this work to followers of Democritus of Abdera (ca. 460-357 BC), the Greek philosopher best known for his atomistic theories, stating that it dates “certainly not later than the first centuries” AD. Matters of authorship and time of composition are complicated by the fact that pseudo-Democritean writings proliferated in the ancient world, as in the case of the Egyptian Bolos of Mendes (or Bolos the Democritean) who seems to have flourished ca. 200 BC and is known to have collected chemical and metallurgical recipes of the sort included in the present treatise. However, during this time, Democritus's reputation was not only that of a philosopher and scientist; in Pliny's Natural History (bk. 30:1), for example, he is deplored as a pupil of Ostanes and popularizer of magic: “Democritus especially instilled into men's minds the sweets of magic” (Loeb edn., 8:285). Thus, attribution of On Things Natural and Mystical to him is at least plausible and may even be correct. In any case, the variety of recipes and formulae included is great, as is the range of experimental procedures described. One finds glimmerings of “proto-scientific” methodology – as in statements of objectives, technical vocabulary, close attention to the appearances of substances, and concern with practical (if sometimes deceptive) outcomes – along with frequent and enthusiastic rhapsodies on the power and glory of Nature.