, 1879-01-21

'i'S ,"otn IoF h'sertbtag the strange obscur!fy
nnIer Which they Yelled the truths which they
believed they hail established. They were gen.
esanIs honest fanatics, but, In later years cspc.
aiI, ersiI, t.ers wrrc n9s few clever Fasea's WHO
h.obc., antt rich cilzeha, wn.tlne their gold In
thelf experiments, real or rrctrtulcd.
a iem remarkable instances n these arc all Of
chemist. who ten times had n,ndr public trans
nintntlpns under the close watch Of members or
ttc Royal Society Of London, being unable at
iast to carry on his dccepticns poisoned
ue, was q rich and learned man, and
had been \ practitioner Of medicine. Hc be-
came desote! to alchemy, aud in 1851 concluded
ts.!u ana, ~ had l!seovered powder which wonl..
not 90 al that lie had hopcJ, nevertheless l,c
eonAdcd his discovery to rome friends. Grow.
lnE moro confident, snl less ecsupu1oua, he
tried to deceive oshers as be had originally de-
dera, one red and the other wh,ss, With WHICH
i.e claimed to transmutc at his pleasure tho
enenn a. metals into thc preeious ones. lie a.
'smsa ;b the ipeetatos. lie Used oil Of napll-
render It thick and expanded. lii. experI-
q precious metals, bit in bis ninth exhibition,
Alay W. l7s3, ne produced-worktnR with 10
lookcrs on-ah fng0t Ut gold weighing twn
ounces and half, as he alleged, frotn sixty
ounces ~ mercury. treated With twelve grains
.! pht1nsophef's powder. The tnEot was offered
oy. scev and Is schem1 msaer ~. 81 tg
regarded ~ an exploded superstition, the tcsii-
nony Of t1Ia distinguished persens who had
borne witness TO Pricc's skill WAS not deemed
sufficient. iIc was summoned to repeat his
experiments before commission Of which twD
eminent chemists were members. Ilo rcfusoi
to do 10, on tho plcn that tho eupply nf tho
powder va exhausted, and that be had not
Der Of The sceietr Of tho Rosy Cross, hc had DO
right to diyulee tts secrets. The Society wouflnot
abatc 'ts demands, and Price finally decided to
90 10 work again. flo returned 10 Guiltord in
January, 17s3, announcing that he would rcturn
to London ne1t month. On reaching home he
shut himself up IN his laboratory, where, before
beginning ro5k, be made tone prusaic acid and
Ser e xo!a Up rs II" T 9ss @ sn sns n ssn n
Rotng TO another world morc suro than this, /
make here my Inst arrangements" At thu cnd
q six months he arrived In London and invited
the Royal Society to visit hIs laboratory in a
tion. Price could not endure their 1nanItestn-
tfona Of contempt lie retired Into 4 sn,all
room opening tnto hs laboratory. and drank the
pe'son be bud brought fsom ualltord. lle was
aead Ia few minutes. lie left considerable
fortune to hfs friends.
acmler. Professor at Halle and one Of tho
pluncers Of 3crnan Kai1onal's1n In tho last cen
!!c was first deceived by au sdventurcr from tho
Barhasay States, and then hy the Salt uf Life,
mixture put forth By the Baron Leopold lIir-
sehen. This salt was not only 4 panace4 for all
diseases, tut IN agent for trans1nutatiu.,. Tha
nnatysts ut clesnists proved this precious stuff
tU be lnaue Of tl1suber's suits. eulnnatc Of mar.
ncs1a, and other aIkals, With sone bits Of gold
leaf thrown H. Se,nlcr wAs slow Ii, Icaytiluv
his mistake. bat he fnniy 3nadc a candid con.
fesstun tflat he hhd been ioulctI.
dOllaua Friedrich hoettcher WAS frst en-.
pinycd by tlat Ruyal spenlthritt anu rtprobate,
Augustus IL. Of saxony aud Poland, a. IN
alellcMlst- lie helped MIS- employer III snt,up- |
detih1 many thotisanls of gold in t,selcss a,,d
Fraudulent experiments, hut tu may he regarded
as having nadc up for this lIy his development
Of the ccfu1nlc art, which gave Dresden such
Just celebrity.
u Manuel Gaetan0, executed at Berlin In !
!40j oy tho harsh father Ut Frederick the trcat
Tor a[s eesed trickury; Of Ur. Juhl Dec vi tht.
aiteciIth century: of the rroyrilcai utri,cust |
De!isle. 80 famous during the ctosIny 3csss uf |
Lo1is NV, VIC eau only nentfuu tho ,Jau,ta, |
OlheEs equally Interesting must he pusae.I uyrr
tn slleucc. We hare told enough 10 slluw tho /
reader that vast amount Of tnt.rrstIu1 mat |
ter Exists Eclatiyo to the strange ptrycisiou VI
6cirnca whlcA VIC have described. II now, tu
! he last quarter Of tho nineteenth century, It
th'n!u turn out TINT the end for which thcsu
fnnallcs hIintllv worked was IN any sense attain.
mule. additional proof viii be Afforded Of a tact
nutired Ia UtAcT departments of i.uIuIry, that
tile I1ost Of human deiuS:ons generally hare
some ah!n1xtuFe Of truth. 1T Nr. Luckyer Is
right, chemical sctcncc Is nnw entering uron d |
new cra. and what 1t NAV ret dcvelop ulay bo |
BIlauuWed "