Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1882-08-10
THE "PHILosOPHER's STONE

The three great remedies for the ir-
rcmediable evils of death, toll and i;gno-
rance of the future have been sought
for, how earnestly and blindly! The al
chemists, whose art fiourished for SO
many centuries, would have it that al
chemy was a old as man himself; that
its name was derived from Shem. the
son of Noah; that Noah himself must
have possessed the elixir vite-that
Hermes 1rismegistus founded it among
the Egyptians. where Moses learned it.
as was proved by his making the gold of
the golden calf float on the water. The
Chinese claim to have known all about
alchemy 400 years ago. Certain it is
that in the first centuries of the Chris
tian era there were pretenders to the art
of making gold and silver in Rome,
whom the authorities punished as knaves
and impostors. and at ConstantinOple in
the fourth century transmutation OF met
ais was very generally believed in.
These early Greek alchemists held that
all metals were composed of two sub
stances-metallic earth and a red, in
fiammable substance called "sulphur."
The pure union of these produced gold,
but other metals were mixed with and
contaminated by various foreign ingre-
dients. which the philosophers stone
would infallibly and instantly detect.
Thence to the eighth century, when the
delusion rcappeared among the Arabs.
its course cannot be traced with certain
ty. Geber. who flourished about $50, is
credited with writing 500 treatises on
tho ,,h,la-A,hnvsc aud no, 20
of life. Gold was to him the only
metal in perfect health. and he be-
lieved that preparation of gold would
cure all the maladies incident to the
animal and vegetable kingdoms. II he
did not find the precious stone, he did
find such valuable things rs corrosive
sublimate. the red oxide of mercury,
nitric acid. and the nitrate of silver
For the next two centuries the Arabian
philosophers practiced alchemy and as
trology; but after Avicenna death in
1855 the seat of their study was trans
ferred to Europe. where it was at its
brightest in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries. Among the most eminent
men OF the time was Albertus Magnus,
who had Thomas Aquinas for pupil.
Between them they made, according to
the legend. that famous brazen statue
which spoke and acted rs servant.
Albertus had the power of changing the
seasons, it may be added. Artephius,
who pretended TO be 1,025 wears old, de-
clared that he had found the elixir, and
the stone as well; to the latter discovery
Alain de Isle also laid claim. while Ar
noldd Villeneuve was said TO have trans
muted great quantities of lead and cop
per. He had an infallible recipe for
perpetual life-semi-weekly anOintings
with the marrow of cassia and the
nightly wearing over the heart OF plas-
ter OF Oriental saffron. red rose leaves,
sandalwood. aloes and amber liquefied
in oil of roses and white wax. The diet
prescribed was a chicken a day. the
fowls having been fattened for two
months on serpents boiled in vinegar
thickened with wheat and bran. From
sixteen to thirty DAYS of this food,
washed down with good white wine or
claret, made man safe for seven years
of life His friend. Pietro d'Apone,
had. if his contemporaries are to be be-
lieved, seven spirits bottled up whom he
could release on occasion to do his bid
ding in any art or science. Though he
could turn brass into gold. he operated
very sparingly, and preferred the SIM
pier process Of paying his way in mon
ey, which returned to him next morn
ing no matter what precautions had
been taken by the person TO whom it
had been paid. In an evil hour he fell
into the bands of the Inquisition and