Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1878-10-12
A Philosophers Stone.

In the opinion of the alchemist, or
those who practiced the pretended art
of making gold and silver, and all
metals are compound, the BASES of
them containing the same constituents
of gold. The change was said to be
affected by what was called the "Phi.
losopher's Stone, which is described as
a red powder, with peculiar smell. It
was prepared by adding to the adopts,
philosophical gold, which being left in
brooding furnace, became q black
substance, then a white body, and being
long and more fiercely heated became
yellow, and, finally, bright red. Now,
the stone SO prepared could hardly have
anything but an amalgam Of gold,
which, if projected into melted lead or
tin. and then cupellated (purified),
would leave all the gold that existed
previously in the amalgam.
1t might, then, have been employed
by imposters, to pursuade the ignorant
that it was merely the philosophers
stone; but the alchemists who prepared
the amalgam could not be ignorant that
it contained gold. Yet, although the
existence of the stone was regarded for
centuries as fact, no one pretended to
possess it; each adept only maintaining
that it was in the possession of another.
Roger Bacon, the Friar Bacon of the
story books, believed in the production
of the philosophers stone, and Arnold
de Villeneuve protested that he could
increase the stone at pleasure. In 1455
Henry vi. granted patents and COM
missions to find out the philosophers
stone, "to enable the king to pay all the
debts in real gold and silver" No gold,
Of course, was ever made, but the king
had forge or smithy built for practice
in Pail Mall on the site of the Carlton
House.
Ripley, the alchemist, wrote on the
twelve gates leading to the discovery of
the stone, in 147O, but he repented his
waste life, and begged all men would
burn his books, which were "false and
vain" Basil Valentine, the German
monk, was Of opinion that the metals
were compounded of salt, sulphur and
mercury, and that the philosophers
stone was composed of the same ingre
dients. Cornelius Agrippa Joined the
French alchemists in searching for the
stone, as did Paracelsus in lis youth,
but he died in poverty, when young.
Dee and Kelly sought for the stone.
Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton joined in .
process for multiplying gold" for
which . company was established in
London. Leibnitz Joined society of
Rosicrucians in Nuremberg in the pur-
suit of the philosophers stone. Berg.
mann, the chemist, relates number Of
cases in which gold Was supposed to be
found by the use of tie philosophers
stone. though they we're the result of
fraud by secretly introducing into the
crucible gold, pretended to have been
obtained by transmutation.
Sometimes crucibles were made with
q false bottom, gold or silver being con-
cealed at the real bottom; when, heat
being applied, the false bottom dissp.
peared, and the gold or silver Was found
at the bottom of the crucible. Some
times gold or silver was introduced in
charcoal-the hole stopped With way
or In the hollow rods With which the
crucible vas stirred, the end being
closed with wax. A common exhibi-
ton was to dip nails into liquid, and
take them ont half converted into
gold World Of Woaders.
A small paper in Pennsylvania has
all the alvautsoas <h.t -