Eureka weekly sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1887-1902, 1889-07-27
srosE AGAIN.

PHILOSOPHERS STONE AGAIN.
The Sacramento Bee says the an
pouncement made by Professor Brown
seousrd that he has discovered the se-
crss Of perpetual youth will be received
BY most people with incredibly. Alb
mrd, however, ~ the statement may
seem, the scientific sttainments Of the
suthor entitie his discovery 10 an at
t~ention, that, emansting from any o
les. distinguished, il would not receive.
Born in Msuritius, Of French-Americsn
psrentage, Brovn-Sequard's discoveries
ia medicine have earned for him . repu.
tation shared by no other medical man
in this country. He is elassed in the
same category as Maudsley, Vischov
and Pasteur, with whose writings and
experiments those Of Brown-Sequsrd
take equal rank. In the works Of the
first named. the opinions Of Brovn-se-
guard are repeatedly cited, and every
where with . Difference 10 the authority
that inspires them. Both Of these SCI
entists pursue the same path, and both
have followed il with . persistence that
neither years nor failure has diminished.
The pain has for its goal the reiucsion
OF thought and consciousness to molecu-
lar changes in the brain. Attacking the
problem on its morbid or pathological
side, the conclusions Of these scientists
are weighty, in proportion to the unex-
ampled pains that the authors have taken
in verifying them. While, however. the
Englishman has not advanced further
than the collection Of an enormous
amount Of knowledge which he has given
to the world in books, our half-eountry.
man has attained 10 . discovery 90 novel
and 90 audacious that were it not for his
reputation we should be inclined TO
characterize it a. . hoax.
The accounts which the papers con-
tain Of il are meagre, but in the absence
Of more elaborate details. the extracts
from the press bearing on the discovery
must furnish Us the material for CRITICS.
ing il. In little more than an inch in
space is contained . panacea for old age.
By injecting ourselves with particles
taken from certain special organs Of liv-
ing animals we may dodge death in.
definitely and procure for ourselves q
new lease Of existence beside which
Hezekiah's was triAing. Less sstisfsc-
tory than the fountains Of youth"
Brown-Sequard's recipe may best be de.
scribed as 9 stsver off Of age. Unlike
the former, ii does not transform from
senility to boyhood. but merely retards
decay. putting the subject back about
ten years in his course. This 10 the
effect it is alleged to have had on Brown.
Sequard, and a precisely similar one we
may suppose it will have on all those
who have the courage to initiate him.
An operation, however, that has been
applied successfully once, may, we should
opine, be repeated ad infnitum. and
there is thus . prospect held out to the
human race Of indefinitely adding to its
decades. To all intents and purposes
this amounts to living forever. for who
would consent to dissolution when by an
application Of the syringe be might evade
it,
Viewing the discovery in all serious
ness, opinion is invited as to the inhu.
ence that will be exerted ON mankind by
its agency. for Of its importance it would
be impossible to think too highly. II
theory in this case is capable of being
reduced to practice, . discovery will
have been made, beside which Newton's
will be nowhere. More fatal to revela.
tion than Darwinism. not the find
ing Of the philosophers stone can equal
il in importance the secret Of provis-
ional Immortality. Its effect on the
race would be simply i~ncalculable. and
its influence on morality and opinions so
great as 10 revolutionizs human conduct.
With neither death nor the grave a.
landmarks. the future would be robbed
of its ~terrors. but also, alas, Of its hopes.
How these latter, with the authorities
that inspire them, would be discredited
by the new revelation. can only be seen
- belief in il gains acceptance. Even
now. however. IL must be clear that
Scriptural limitations Of year, being de-
fed. and the potency to prolong exist.
ence to thousands Of years beyond
Methuselah's being affirmed. all ortho.
dox notions Of q Deity must perish.
"That strain I heard was Of . higher
mood" and these reflections. though in
evitably suggested by the report Of
Brown-Sequard's discovery. are sssum.
ing il 10 be true with . confidence that
subsequent events will undoubtedly
prove misplaced. The world will never
be ripe for such . discovery, and society
10 certainly not prepared to solve the
many complex problems to which an ap-
plication of the principle would give
rise.