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

~ lNe NNeHtINu NNlA anHNN l"A "AiAN
one thing In the civilized world is sought
after most, 70 Is probable that the sub
stance Of nearly all your replies would
be very much the SAME, namely
wealth, money. And 10 most people
especially those who live 10 the West,
the idea Of money at once suggests gold
and silver. II is Of these metals that
people think, talk, and perhaps at times
dream. II Is FOR these that men toll
plan, scheme, and too often stake love,
honor. all. And without inquirng into
the question whether or not the mania
for gold Is more prevalent now than
formerly Il Is enough for our present
purpose TO say that it bias perhaps ale
ways been the CHIEF desidentum Of
civilized men
The original source to which men now
turn for wealth In the form Of gold and
silver is in the bowels Of the earth. But
these metals have not always been
sought for here exclusively. There was
q time Ia the history Of the world, not
long since past, when men thought they
could create gold and silver called
noble metals. from lead, copper tin,
mercury, etc, usually spoken OF as base
metals And il Is the purpose Of your
speaker to ask your iudulgent attention
Tor a short time, while an outline Of the
history Of such attempts Is presenied,tl-
gether with brief consideration Of the
reasons which led TO the attempts.
The art by which the noble metals,
gold and silver. were 10 be made from
the base ones such as lead and copper is
known as alchemy ltmay be well 20
say however, that this art was nothing
but a division OF chemistry and. indeed,
for centuries il was considered to be
almos, Identical with chemistry, that b.
10 say chemistry was then regarded as
the art Of making the noble metals. 10
Is customary now, however 10 call the
subject alchemy, during the time that
making gold and silver was regarded as
its chief aim. That very important
science which we call chemistry may be
said, therefore, to have had rs origin in
the efforts to make the precious metals,
gold and silver Hence iu folio A'rg the
history Of alchemy. we will be following
| iu a general way the history OF Chemis.
| try until near the close OF the alChcmis.
! tic period, when chemistry and alchemy
/ parted company. But we shall find that
alchemy did not long survive the
separation.
From what has been said Il will be
| readily understood that the problems OF
| alchemy were regarded as the problems
| OF chemistry. But the problems aud
aims OF chemistry have not always been
the same, aud It IS due 20 differences in
aim that the history OF the science may
be divided into periods, five of which
/ are recognizable. The alChemisiig
| period, however, extending from the
| inst centuries of our era 70 the sixteenth.
is longer than all the Others combined.
! 10 now We seek the source from which
| originated the idea that base metal like
| lead and copper can Doe changed, ur
| transmitted, into the noble ones. gol a
! and silver, We shall first OF 90 have tu
| look the spcCulaliuus of ancient Grggian
! philosophers relative 20 the material
! world, aud especially 10 the ultimate
constitution OF matter. Though their
| views upon the elements and iUe COM
! position of substance. were various, we
need, perhaps, consider here only those
bearing tua name OF Aristotle. who lived
in the fourth century b c., Tor the SO.
called Arislotelian doctrine II the Gle.
ments, which doctrine, however was
| originated by Lmpeu1clci nearly a cen
fury before Atslutlcs tmc-Was the
one which was universally accepted aud
| which continued o. be regarded as the
highest expression OF scientific truth
throughout the Middle Ages. AccorJ.n.
90 this view Gll kinds OF sUt stances are
made up OIL our elements. earth, air, fire
ana water Aristotle himself did not
look upon these so.callcd elements as
different kinds of matter, but as different
properties carried about by one Original
matter. The chici qualities Of the Gle.
ments he held 10 be those apparcntto the
touch, namely warmth. ColuuCss, dry
ness, and moisture Zach OF the iuul
elements is characterized 10y the pos.
session Of two OF thgs, properties, 900
being warm and moist, car.h cold aui
dry, fire dry aud warm, aud water moist
and cold.
Every material substance, according
TO this view, 3 composed uf the same
kind Of matter hut with these tour
properties, represented by tine four Gle.
mCuts, present 300 various proportions iu
different substances, that Is 10 say, Zoo
any one substance the amount OF tht..
different properties present is constant
for that substance in @ particular con
dtiCn, but the amounts iu one subslaugr
differ from the proportions IN another
Afterwards 10 was pointed out that every
substance has a property peculiar to
itself This, Aristotle then said, ls due 20
the gHiHH cS5cNhl, Or ililh essence,
which he regarded as being lmmaterial
Ia lbs nature. The difference, then, between
one substance aud another are due solely
TO different proportions of these proper
ties contained In the substances, But II
was assumed that these properties can
alter therefore II follows that one sub
stance can be changed into another.
Thus water represents moisture and
GOODNESS, air warmth and moisture; these
elements have the property moisture 100
common, and GOODNESS, the individual
property OF water, can be changed by
heat into warmth, the Individual property
OF air. Hence water can be changed
into air From speculatIuns OF this
kind, It is easy TO see how the belief be.
came firmly fixed that one substance
can be changed into another. Indeed
such changes were thought to be a
matter OF every day occurrence.
| Before proceeding further IL may be