Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1895-01-19

identical with the anuihiIation Of ils
/ original cumponen,s, a new substance
] being created. Just here u may be
] stated that, according to all modern in
/ vestiEaii1ns, matter IS indestructible and
/ can be neither created nor destroyed by
[ man. When chemical change takes
| place, the amount Of matter after the
] change lg the same as before the change.
/ There Is no annihIlation or creation OF
] matter but only "a recomh.uati0n and
/ grouping OF the different elements iu.
VOWED 300 the change.
al the time OF the holding of such
views. men were striving 10 every
imaginable way To- obtain the phiIOsu.
! piers stone Those OF them who
| claimed TO be iu the happy possession
OF the means of preparing DO, attributed
10 % The most marvellous powers. Not
only would 30 change base metals into
precious gold. but 1t would preserve
health and life. acting thus as unver.
sal pduacCi. Statements as to g. power
OF pfUlunging lI'e we're rife during the
| middle ages, and it was no unusual
thing % hear ihat adopts had prolonged
Their lives 90 four hundred years or
more Boy the use OF this elixir The
long lives Di the ancient, palrarChs were
said 10 bc due 10 the use OF the same
substance.
For the preparation Of the philoso.
piers stone what was called the mlteria
prima was needed, the obtaining Of
which, naturally was the hardest task
ul all The most incredible substances,
natural products VI every kind, were
used as raw materials and were worked
up in every imaginable way. Those
vino were reputgd 10 be the fortunate
POSSESSIONS Ui the means OF making the
/ philosophers stone took good care TO
Keep secret their matera puma. They
described 40 kinds Of operations with
| % 10 the most cnigmatiCal recipes, en-
pluying at the same time mystical
drawings such as those OF the dragon,
the red and green lion. the lily, the
swan, etc. The au of writing can be
made 10 conceal ignorance, as well US 10
convey Information.
The alteration OF mind induced by
| the aIchcmisuc problem reached ils
/ summit when the miraculous power OF
/ the 0phurs stone had become So
great that even liic could be created by
IL. Such ideas, an insult to the human
understanding, were not only believed
but actually taught by some at the close
OF the Middle ages.
The melancholy picture which the
condition OF alchemy presents to us at
various periods becomes still more
som1ru aud involved IN deeper shadows
from the TACT that men did not hesitate
/ TO affirm the divine assistance, 10 order
TO explain the marvellous effects OF the
philosophers stone. There were adopts
Who claimed 10 have received from
heaven, through the grace OF God, the
knOwlcdgg ui Us preparation. Gross
abuse was made iu thb way ul the
divine name. aud by some OF the very
men, too. vino claimed TO be devoted
most 10 divine service.
We have nov reached the period, the
end of the fifteenth century when the
alchemisuc frenzy was at rs highest
| And yyt Just at tus time there arose a
man OF such ability aud power that bee
| was able to give a new direction 90
chemistry inis was pahcelsus,
Swiss physician. who taught that the
chief aim Ut chemistry was not TO make
gold but TO prepare medicine. With
MN begins a new period 90 the history
Of chemistry, which was TO last one
hundred and h'iy years, during which
time chemistry was allied with medicine;
and Il was not until the middle OF the
seventeenth century, under the leader.
I ship oi famous Robert Boyle. that
chemistry arose as a young independent
science. the chief aim OF which was to
! find out the true composition OF sub.
stances.
From the beginning Of the noted
career Of PauccIsus, first part OF the
sixteenth century, there grew up
gradual separation OF chemistry and
alchemy. The latter. however, did not
begin ils actual decline until nearly two
centuries later. The cause OF the won.
deflul vitality of this mschievous subject
was. undoubtedly, the support it &C..
ceivcd from the greatest chemists Of the
time, together with the favor shown b.
by many princes who were lllurcl 10 %
hy the seductive prospects OF easily ac.
qu.red treasures. Though few OF the
eminent chemists OF the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries were practical
alChgmsts. still they aIl had implicit faith
in the possibility of the tansmuiation of
metals Remarkable as tnis is. con.
sIdeunE IHa large increase in chemical
knowledge. Do must Doe due 20 tle
theoretical opinions which these men
held respecting the composition ot Che
metals. With Ggbcr and Valentine. they
regarded these as composite substances.
instead ol elements incapable ol dgcum.
position INTO simpler substances,
Among the many princes who gave
support TO- tne g'lIr,5 of tine alchcmIsts
during this time may De mentioned the
Emperor Rudl1 Second, the Erctor
Augustus OF StSoug and the ls.cgtor
John George OF BmndenhuTg. The
v a. d