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

parallel between the daily stages
Of the creation and the progress
of their own smelling opera
tons. The stone could be searched
for at any season Of the year; bot
spring was considered TO be most pro-
pitious. Almost every possible natu-
raj object was in turn tested, IN the
hope Of its yielding the primary mat
ter" AS we have said, many alchem-
lists swore by ordinary mercury others
pretended that they had found what
they sought in arsenic, in copper, and
in antmony. Roger Bacon declared
that some metals were too fixed aud
others too poor for the essence TO De
separated from the body, 80 to
speak. Arnaud de Villeneuve be-
lieyed in salt; and the varieties OIL
salts were ss perseveriDgly expert
mented with as the metals had 6ssn'
Then came the turn Of vegetables;
which Was followed by devotion TO
animal matter--human bones, flesh,
blood, and hair. Some alchemists there
were who believed, or affected to be-
lieve. that the "soul Of the world y was
to be found in the air and to obtain 1t
they diligently Analysed rain-waler,
snow, and dew. Even meteoric stones
had their deyotees, who seem never to
have been repaid for their trouble. 1t
was thought that frogs, lizards, and
serpents must contain the much-desired
matter, otherwise now could they eX-
list for days at a stretch without eating;
The unfortunate creatures were die.ed,
disseCted, and distilled for the iaevl;a-
bic essence which inevitably was not
there.
Seeing that the alchemists we're bound
By strict code Of honor to reveal none
Of their experiments andprOcesses save
TO true disciples Of philosophy" /! Is
astonishing that we know so much Of
their secrets. The most tremendous
mslodictions were TO fall upon the heads
of those who revealed essential details.
They were revealed nevertheless and
perhaps, after all, there was some truth
in the conception which, according to an
old writer, the common people had OF
alchtmsts; that they were base coin
eTs, thieves, and perfdious dcceiyers.
Unfortunately the knowledge the per-
fdious ones have left to US is not very
lucid, and the most diligcnt student Of
the black arts would find it difficult in
deed to compound some Of the messes
in which the germs Of gold were sup
posed 20 exist. The finding Of tho
primary matter" was not every
thing, for before gold could be
produced it was necessary to dis.
cover the "msgic powder" which
seems TO have been the immediate
agent Of transmutation. This powder is
variously described as red and black.
Jean Delisle obtained it by drying aud
pulyeriziDg the herbs LWnarld mGj0r
and LuRGrid minor. Here is recipe
from a siXteenth-Century source for
making the philosophers stone The
philosophical mercury being amalga-
mated with pure gold, and put into the
philosophical egg, the whole is then
placed in a cruclde, which is then put
into the furnace. Thereupon the
mercury, excited by the warmth Of it's
internal sulphur and by the fire which
the adept keeps burning underneath,
dissolyes the pure gold without violence
into mercurial gold. In this operation
the eagle devours the lion, the fixed
becomes volatile and the volatile fixed,
the spirit becomes corporal and tn body
spiritual. Then the mass gradually
grows very black, and in this state al
chemists call it Saturn. Next it be-
comes white, and is then known as the
moon" In this stage it formed the
primary matter from which, accord
ing to Raymond Lulh, pearls could be
made. /" From white the matter becomes
green, then red. Now it is tho sala-
mander or incombustible sulphur, and
cannot be brought to higher perfec-
ton" The philosophical egg" was
a good strong glass, round or oval in
shape, clear and thiek-the thicker the
better-laIge enough to contain four
ounces Of distilled water, and with
neck eight or nine inches long. Whom
it was in use it was to be kept hermeti-
cally sealed, TO the end that none Of its
precious contents should evaporate.