- Phlogiston
In 1667, German alchemist Johann Joachim Becher identified this as the essence of fire. It was supposedly contained in all combustible substances. - Miasma
The Greeks were convinced that diseases like malaria were spread by bad smells, dubbed miasmas. Medieval Europeans combated them with incense. - Orgone
In the 1940s, psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich posited that this substance composed of sexual energy can be collected for medicinal purposes. If only. - Luminiferous ether
Descartes asserted that light and gravity traveled through this “more subtle than air” medium. Disproved by Einstein’s theory of relativity. - Alkahest
The 16th-century Swiss alchemist Paracelsus “discovered” this universal solvent. (Bonus misapprehension: The “philosopher’s stone” is made of alkahest.)
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