Silver has been reported to have therapeutic value throughout the ages. It has been reported that one reason the upper class did not succumb to many of the plagues that almost wiped out many villages was because they ate with silver utensils, off silver plates and drank from silver goblets. Churches did, and still do, use cups made of silver for communion, where one goblet is passed from person to person. The knowledge of the miraculous healing powers of silver was so well known that in the legends of werewolves, silver was required to kill the lychantrophy, and supposedly, evil witches cowered at the power of silver to eliminate evil. More recently, many researchers such as Bob Beck have reported that silver in a colloidal state eliminates virtually all known pathogens, viruses, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, and yeasts.
Silver is referred to as a transition metal in chemical literature, along with copper and gold.
These are metals that are heavier than the life-giving light metals, such as sodium, calcium, and potassium, yet lighter than the toxic heavy metals such as lead, arsenic and mercury. Gold and silver are considered noble metals because they tend to not react easily in forming compounds. The transition metals are known for their catalytic properties. Starting with atomic or ionic silver, the catalytic effect increases with particle size until it reaches a peak at some value, then drops off to a much lower level when the particles approach the wavelength of light. This is easy to explain by examining how a catalyst works.