So, He Was Something of a Wizard?

No, don’t be silly. He didn’t attend Hogwarts. His name was Zosimos of Panopolis. Now, I know what you’re thinking: cool name, but why should I care? Well, I’ll tell you. You should care because he is associated with the origins of distillation.

Well, that’s not entirely true. He didn’t invent distillation. I’m sorry. However, he did say alchemy is “the study of the composition of waters, movement, growth, embodying and disembodying, drawing the spirits from bodies, and bonding the spirits within bodies.” This is where we get the term "spirits." But let me tell you who did invent distillation.