Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-07-11
St. James Gazette.l

The composition Of the philosophers
stone was the prime problem Of
alchemy; tnd although many practi-
TONERS Of the " holy art " declaredthat
they had discovered the ingredients
Necessary to It's production, they I'M
kindly omitted to leave the prescription
behind them. From the first there was
bot controversy as TO whether the
stone had a corporal OF merely an
etherea, existence; and the discussion
was conducted in language streng enough
for q theological disputation. One adept
declared that the stone consisted Of
common mercury, animated by the
sulphur Of gold and from; another
maintained that il was not stone at all,
but was at one and the same time min
eral, vegetable, and animal third
that it was mineral fire." contin-
ual. equal, and never eyaporatins. The
gibberish OF the hermetic philosophy Is
somewhat vague reading, and when the
writer d5es not know his own meaning
The curious student may be pardoned
for occasional lack Of prehensiOn.
As to the color Of "philOsophical
matter" there WAS the usual d.
versity of opinion. Florls, in
"La Tourbe dcs PHILOSOPHERS" says
that it was black 10 Zenon it
was red. to Rosinus white 90 the sur
face ard red inside. Another philOs0.
phcr found that it had red head,
white feet, and black eyes. Others
we're not wanting to declare that 1t
took upon occasion all the cOlors Of the
rainhow. Searchers who pretended 10
have found the stone said, some that
it was light, others that 1t was heavy
it was al a.Iial, spongy. and mg'able
equally - ire, water, or even the wind.
Morilnus said that 70 the touch Il was
soft. bat .wo such distinguished a'che-
mists rs Geber and Raymond Luli
opined tina; it was hard. MorlcEus,
moreover. vas able graphically to de-
scribe the odor Of the philosophers
stone it was sickly and like unto the
stencil OF a charnslh0use. Most Of
The other writer's said that it had a
pleasant perfume. Several Of the
adopts had tasted it, but they were
quite unable 70 agree whether its taste
was sweet or bitter.
Upon one essential point, and upon
that only, is there substantial agree
ment and it is stated, on the authority
Of an alchcmist who died only few
years ago, that tho teaching Of 1900
volumes Of hcrmetic literature IS IN &C
cord upon this point. All lay it down
tba, to produce the philosophers stone
j. is necessary TO extract from the
Urinary matter" the sulphurouS
spirit" from mercury the " sulphurous
SOUL" and from gold the " sulphurou'
body" The historic difficulty which
has besct every slchemisE as to
End this primary natter which is
neither animal, vegetable, nor mineral,
ard is indeed nothing less than the
matter from which the world was ere
ated, Nearly all the alchemical writers
admit that j. is produced in the night
by the influence Of earth acted npon by
the stars that at daybreak it begins to
disappear, and that BY sunrise it
has entirely vanished. The man.
pa which fell in the wilderness
they point out was similarly
oyaresceu,, and had to be coll
lcctsd before daylight and carefully pre-
served in s,oppered jars. 1t Is not
enough to gather the primary mattel"
during the night. Il must be a DARK
night, otherwise the moon will "spe-
cialize " it--that is TO say, resolve 1t
into animal, vegetable, or mineral. The
matter has, Of course, TO be recognizeu
before il can be gathered; but al
though scores, and possibly hundreds
Of volumes have been written with
the protested object Of instructing the
necpbyte in the first stage Of his re-
searches, 10 sort Of guidance is to be
obtained from any Of them. The Ian
guage Of mysticism, OF allegory, and OF
parable was brought 10 such perfection
by the hermetical writer's that 1t is pos
sible to read whole library Of books
upon alchemy without acquiring any
information Whatever, beyond learning
bow to concoet some Of the horrible
messes these gentry delighted to mix in
their crucibles.
As with tho operations Of magic, :" the
great work" had to be conducted IN
seeret chamber specially set apart, aud
the adept was TO seek for transmnta-
ton with pure heart and devout De-
lief that he was engaged upon holy
task. Some seekers after tho "Saejscs
Of The ssges - went SO far, with the pc
culisr lore Of blasphsmy which dissin-
gdisbed the oceulists. Is to drsx 9