The Red Cloud chief., 1882-09-15

es1
was becsuse I was ainscsed win . very torpid
liver.
Outs.
THE "PHILOSOPHHK,S STOxE.,
The three great remedies for the r.
remediable evils Of death. toll and igno-
rance Of the future have been sought
for. how earnestly and Hindly! The al
chemists, whose Art nourished for 70
many centuries, would have II thst al
chemy Was Is old - man himself; that
its name Wal derived from Shem, the
son Of Noah; that Noah himself must
have possessed the elixir vite-that
Hermes 1~rismegistus founded Il among
the Egyptians. where Moses learned Il,
a. was proved by his making the gold Of
the golden calf dOst on the water. The
Chinese claim to have known al about
alchemy 400 years ago. Certain it Is
that in the first centuries Of the Chris
tian era there were prctenders TO the art
Of making gold and silver in Rome.
whom the authorities punished a. knaves
and impostOrs. and ut 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-me.allic earth and n red. in
fiammable substance called s%'sulphur."
The pure union of these produced gold.
but other metals were mixed with and
contaminated by various foreign ingrc-
dents. which the philosophers stone
would infallibly and instantly detect
Thence 70 the eighth century, when the
-delusion reappcared among the Arabs.
Its course cannotb be ira .ed with certain.
ty. Gebcr. who fourished about $50, Is
credited with writing 800 treatises on
the philosopher stone and the water
Of life. Gold WINS 10 him the only
metal in perfect health, and he be:
licved that . preparation Of gold would
cure all the maladics incident to the
animal and vegetable Kingdoms. II no
did not find the precious stone, he did
find such valuable things rs corrosive
subkmate. the. red oxide Of mercury.
nitric acid, and the nitSate of silver.
For the next two centuries the Arabian
philosophers practiced alchemy and as
trology; but after Avicenna's death In
1856 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 vas Albertus Magnus,
who had Thomas Aquinas for q pupil.
Between them they made. according to
the legend, that famous brazen statue
which spoke and acted as a servant.
Albertus had the power Of changing the
seasons, IL may be added. Artephius,
who pretended to be 1,O2j years old, de-
clared that he had found the elixir. and
the stone rs well; 10 the latter discovery
Alain de Lisle also laid claim. while Ar
noldd villeneuve was said 10 have trans
mutcd great quantities of lead and cop
per. He had an infallible recipe for
perpetual Extraordinarily anointings
with the marrow of cassia and the
nightly wearing over the heart OF a plas-
ter Of Oriental saffron. red rose leaves.
sandalwood. aloes and amber liqueficd
in oil of roses and white a The diet
prescribed was n chicken q day, the
fowls having been fattened for two
months on scrpenis 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 q man safe for seven years
of life. His friend. Pietro d'Aponc,
had, II his contemporaries are 10 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 god. he operated
very sparingly. and preferred the sim
pier process of paying his way in mon-
ey, which returned to him mex morn
ing no matter what precautions had
been taken by the person 10 whom it
had been paid. In an evil hour he fell
into the bands Of the k.1uis.tion and
was hacked almost To death. diving,
however. before his trial had been con-
cluded. Raymond Lulli was a sill
more eminent adept, who labored CON
currently at finding the philosophers
stone and converting the Mussulmans.
A dubious story makes out that ne once
visited England and was assigned apart
ments in the Tower, where, II the
legends do not lie. he made f6. 600. 600
worth OF gold out Of iron. quicksilver.
lead and pewter. In his Testament
um." Lulli boosted of having converted
$4,000 pounds Of these base metals into
gold. Roger Bacon was q firm believer
in the talismanic stone and an ardent
seeker for it though he did not there
fore neglect his studies in physics and
astronomy. Pope John XIII. was
claimed by the alchemists as a distin-
guished worker in their craft, and they,
insisted that his bulls on the subject
were only aimed at false pretenders, and
claimed that the 1900. 600 forms he
LETT In his Golfers had been made, be-
cause they could not have been amassed.
Jean de Meung. the author of the
"Romande de la Rose" was another
of note. and played q sad
practical joke on the Cordelien. to
whom he ~bequeathed q weighty chest,
which they fAncied would contain his
treasure. but proved to be filed
with slates scrawled with hero
giyphics. Nicholas Flannel after
studying the book written Tin
Latino by Abraham. patriarch. Jew,
Prince, philosopher. Priest Levite and
A~strologer." for twcnty-four years made
, lot Of mercury into silver January
Is. 1882. and converted another large
quantity of quicksilver into gold on
April Is. and by simultaneously dis
covering the elixer Of life was enabled
e9prolong his life to the age Of ll6.
when he died. leayinga great treasure.
Modern skeptics, however. insist that
b Was . miser and . usurcr. who dab
bled In alchemy. The tradition was
long current that he was alive and was
IAted 10 zee his 600th year. and 50 late
- 1876 his house. in the Rue de Mari
eanx. at Paris. was taken and unsacked ,
b. . credul0us seeker alter his boards
y Tie secseA by which he amassed
hen. In England. In 14O4. the making
u gold sndsiLver was declared . felony'
IeeFs being entertained that some alche.
mist working with IN ambitious baron /,
night 0vsrtkFew the throne, but in !
llSl IL King issued several patents to
formed for discovering tie !
1pne and eixer. George Ripley, u