The Philosopher's Stone [pp. 509-512]

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511
at the same time giving him about a halfounce of the gold which the alchemist had
made:
"A stranger, meanly dressed, went to a
Mr. Boyle, and, after conversing for some
time about chemical processes, requested him
to furnish him with some antimony and some
other common metallic substances, which happened to be in Boyle's laboratory. These
were put into a cr'icible, which was then
placed in a melting.furnace. As soon as the
metals were fused, the stranger showed a
p6wder to the attendants, which he projected
into the crucible, and, directing the servants
to leave the crucible in the furnace until the
fire went out of its own accord, instantly departed, promising to return in a few hours.
As he did not fulfil his promise, Boyle ordered the cover to be taken from the crucible, and found therein a yellow-colored metal,
possessing all the properties of pure gold, and
only a little lighter than the weight of the
crude materials which had thus been transmuted."
One more example, related by Helvetius,
physician to the Prince of Ora~ge, in his
"Yitulus Aureus," is worth giving. Helvetius was a professed skeptic, a disbeliever in
both the philosopher's stone and the universal medicine. His story, therefore, ought to
carry some weight.
He says that "a stranger called on him
on the 2~th of December, 1666, and, after con.
versing for some time about a universal medicine, showed him a yellow powder, which he
affirmed to be the philosopher's stone, and at
the same time five large plates of gold which
had been made by means of it. lielvetius
entreated him to give him a little of the powder, or at least to make a trial of it; but the
stranger refused, and went away, promisin
to return in six weeks. He came at the time
appointed, and, after much entreaty, gave
Helvetius a small piece, not larger than a rape.
seed. When he latter expressed his doubts
whether so small a portion would suffice to
convert four grains of lead into gold, the adept
broke off one half of it, and assured him that
the remainder was more than sufficient for
the purpose. During the first conference,
Helvetius had concealed a little under his
nail. This he threw into n~elted lead, but it
was almost all driven off in smoke, leaving
only a vitreous earth. When he mentioned
this, the stranger informed him that the
powder must be enclosed in wax before put.
tin it into the melted lead, lest it should be
injured by the smoke of the lead. The stranger
promised to return the next day and show
him how to make the projection; but, like all
of his kind, he forgot to keep his word, and
Helvetius tried the experiment himself In
the presence of his wife and son, he put six
drachms of lead into a crucible, and, as soon
as it was melted, he threw into it the fragment of the philosopher's stone in his possession, having previously covered it with
wax. The crucible was then closed with its
lid, and left for a quarter of an hour in the
fire, at the end of which time he found the
lead converted into gold. Its color was at
first a deep green; being poured into a conical vessel, it assumed a blood-red color but
when cold, it became yellow, like gold ~n I
being examined by a goldsmith, it was pro.
nounced to be pure gold; and it withstood
all the tests applied to it by Porrelius, the
master of the Dutch Mint."
If these accounts are not sufficient to
convince the most incredulous of the possibility of transmutation, we confidently refer
the reader to the treatises of Albert Groot,
surnamed Magnus, of Arnoldus de Yilla Nova, Basil Yalentine, Baptista Porta, Joannes
Rungius, Rub ens, Picus, Libavius, Quercetanus, and of the other great professors of the
art, wherein will be found many still more
wonderful examples.
The critical reader will raise the objection
that nearly all of these stories come to us at
second-hand; that in almost every instance
the evidence is merely hearsay. But is it
not so with all history? If we believe only
that which can be sworn to in a court of justice, we shall have but little left to pin our
faith to.
In conclusion, however, it is proper to
add that distinguished scientists of modern
times have laughed at the pretensions of the
alchemists, and have even accused them of
perpetrating the most barefaced frauds, in
order to convince their dupes that they were
possessed of supernatural powers. In the
year 1~~2, M. Stephen Louis Geoffroy read a
paper before the French Academy of Sciences,
in which he attempted to make an exposure
of the different tricks resorted to by the
adepts. We give a few of his statements
from which the reader can draw his own conclusions:
"Sometimes," he says," they put the oxide
of gold or of silver at the bottom of the crucible, covering the mixture with some powdered
substance and gum-water, or with wax, so that
it might look like the bottom of the crucible;
sometimes they made a hole in a piece of
charcoal, filled it with powdered gold or silver, and closed the hole with wax; or soaked
charcoal 1657]in a solution of these metals, and
threw it, when powdered, upon the material
to be transmuted. They used, also, small
pieces of wood, hollowed and filled with
filings of gold and silver, and stopped with
fine sawdust of the same wood, which, on
burning, left the metal in the crucible. Sometimes they whitened gold with mercury, and
made it pass for silver or tin, and, when
melted, exhibited it as gold obtained by
transmutation. They had, too, a solution of
nitrate of silver or muriate of gold, or an
amalgam of gold and silver, which, being
adroitly introduced into the crucible, furnished gold. Another of their tricks was to
change part of an iron nail into gold, by dip.
ping it into a certain solution." M. Geoffrny,
who is a confirmed skeptic, says that these
nails were made one-half of iron and onehalf of gold, soldered together. The gold
was covered wiil~ something to conceal its
color. This was removed by the liquid into
which it was dipped, and a portion of the
nail was apparently turned into gold.
M. Geoffrey gives other no less curious
instances of deception, for which we must
refer the reader to his memoir.
Since the days of Winthrop and Brewster,
the search for the philosopher's stone, if pursued at all in this country, has been pursued
in silence and secrecy. At least the public
has heard nothing of it. But, as we write, a
statement appears in the newspapers, credited
to the San Francisco Ckronic'e, asserting that
the art of making gold has not only been
sought in California, but actually found. Here
is the story, as we find it related in the iV~w.
York Times, of September 2, 18~2:
"Three or four months ago a plain-looking
man, of American birth, walked into a San
Francisco bank, and asked to see the manager.
The latter was weary, and not happy. Too
much doubtful paper had been discounted, or
the mining-stock collaterals were shrinking
too fast in value. Almost before the newcomer opened his lips, the manager anticipated
him by a not over-courteous refusal.`Very
sorry,' he said,`but can't do it, whatever it
is.' The plain-looking man made no reply,
but calmly placed a leather valise on the
banker's desk before him, opened it, took out
an ingot of dingy metal, and banded it to the
other in silence.`Well,' said the man of`giltedged' and other paper,`what of it l Tin
ain't it, or brass?' A sarcastic smile illumined the face of the mysterious stran'~er
`Look again,' he muttered, sententiously.
`What for?' asked the banker, fretfully.`I'm
no judge of minerals, anyhow-except one-and
I've no time to study this particular specimen.
His visitor mildly persisted, and to this end
became more loquacious.`Do you know gold
when you see it? If not, will you call in some
trustworthy expert who does?' The banker,
with some reluctance, assented. A well-known
assayer was summoned, and to him the mass,
with some others ifire it, was submitted. On
seeing the metal he asked, with excitement,
where it came from; but, receiving no satisfaction, agreed to do what was requested, and
took it away for assay: The next day he came
hack, by appointment, meeting the two others,
and produced a yellow bar.`That looks like
gold,' said the banker.`Rather,' returned the
assayer.`It is gold-nearly a thousand fine;
the finest I ever put in a crucible.' The mysterious owner said nothing. Questions were
put to him as to where he got the precious
stuff, but these were civilly evaded. lie desired, as a further test, that the bar should be
sent to the rhint. This, too, was done, and
the bar came back in due time, transformed
into eight thousand dollars' worth of double
eagles. The cash, by request of the stranger,
was put to his credit, and he then disappeared.
For a week he was not seen, during which
time the banker looked eagerly at the newspapers, expecting to find some robbery reported of an up-country treasure-box, of which his
new friend would turn out to be the hero. But
this was not to be. At the end of a week the
latter cm~e back, and this time laid before the
excited banker a much larger quantity of the
same metal.`It is gold,' he cried,' pure gold,
like the last? Where did you get it?` The
stranger looked with steadfastness at his interlocutor, and replied, calmly:`I made it-I
made it myself!'
"The astonishment of the banker was, of
course, unbounded, and was not diminished
by the particulars afterward confided to him.
Our modern Midas announced that after long
and painful effort, he had discovered the secret
of the transmutation of metals. He could make
gold by the ton-nay, by the sbip4oad; but tlie
process be would reveal to no living soul. A
bargain was, however, effected, whereby he
and the banker became partners, Midas furnisbing the bullion, and his friend undertaking its cautious and profitable distribution.
The latter did not fail, by way of getting his