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


that By the middle OF the thirteenth cen.
tury the cultured men Of Europe were
iu The thfalis % the slcLsmisis 900 Ger
many But from the thirteenth century
on, chemistry found home in Germany
as well as other European nations, anu
men. famous for their learning, De-
voted themselves To- q study OF o. pnn'
cIpies
The trausmutation OF the base metals
into the noble by means of the phhoso-
| piers stone Iormod zoo that time the
| cardinal point 90 which AN chemical
| efforts were directed. Men OF the thir.
teeuth century like A'bcuus Magngss OF
] Germany. Roger Bacon Of England, AR
] ulliug Nu.anOyuus and Raymond
! Lully of France snd Spain, a.l noted
Tor their learning, regarded the trans
/ mutation OF metals as 900 inconirovefi-
| iDIe fact These maintained that the
| philosophers stone did exist and that o.
/ was endowed with The most marvellous
| powers. Zoo their theoretical views upon
| The composition OF metals they we're
! disciples of Gcbcr We need no other
/ proof that alchemy was universally ac'
! cgpicd, when men such aB these, the
most lgafuCd of their time. SGD enthusiast.
ugllly embraced ib doctrines.
Roger Bacon. "a man who was subjected
90 bitter persecution and penalties Tot
opposing many of the orthodox beliefs Of
! his day but highly vCucuted by posicriy
tor bis marvellous aud many-sidei
/ knowledge, held the most exaggerated
views regarding the power Of the philo.
/ sophct's stone. lie held that % would
| not only transform % million times ils
/ own weight of base metal into gold,
but that Dc would cure diseases aud pro-
long life. IL seems, however, that he
/ himself did not devote much time TO
practical alchemy
Raymond luly was wandering
| PRIEST who gave himself up when some
/ what aged to missionary work, under.
taking several Journeys TO Africa, where
be was stoned 90 death by the heather
in 1915. Shortly after bis death, the
/ object Of traditional glOuhcatou, Luliy
possessed among dll a.chcmsB the
| lame 0i haNng attained to the highest
/ which was in the power OF their heart
10 achieve Many alchcmisuc works
| are ascubcG TO him, but the most OF
/ them are impositous.
Ills aichemistic doctrines arc very
/ obscure. sill more incumpfehcnsiyc aud
hidden In mystic darkness are his re-
cipcs for the ennobing OF the metals.
Certainly none vi his predecessors have
ascubcd 10 the philosophers stone such
/ powers as did he; Tor he was able TO cry
/ out prUsumptuou8ly3 III the sea were
/ of mercury ! would transform % into
/ gold" And further, by means OF this
substance that highest good.heal.h-Was
10 be obtained together with long
NE.
To show The wild excuses TO which
/ De went, the following statements iu &C..
terence TO the power OF the phllO5o-
/ piers stone may be cited lie says,
Take of this precious medicine a small
/ piece, as large as "a bean. Throw %
/ upon thousand ounces OF mercury,
and this will be changed into red
| poad der Put au ounce Of the latter
| upon a thousand ounces Of mercury,
| which will thereby be transformed into
red powder. OF this, again, one ounce
| thrown upon thousand ounces Of mer.
curry will convert d entirely into medi.
| cine. Throw an ounce Oi this upon
/ thousand ounces OF fresh mercury, and
| b. will likewise turn into medicine. OF
/ this last medicine, throw an ounce upon
| a thousand ounces OF mercury and this
/ will be entirely changed into gold, which
| IS better than gold from the mines" OF
| course 10 cary out these directions, one
must be IN possession Of the small.
amount Of the precious medicine FIRST
/ used. II Is needless to say, Lully did
not give us explicit directions as 70 how
to prepare o.
The history Of alchemy during the
fourteenth and first hall OF the fifteenth
| centuries contains no single name which
| will compare In eminenCU with those Of
the above mentioned philosophers, as
the alchcmiss preferred to be called.
! But this must not be taken as meaning
that the supposed ART OF making gold
had died out On the contrary, il bore
lbs stmngest fruits during this period.
It's seductive problem, the making of
countless stores of coveted gold, brought
TO its attempted solution sll who had
means aud ability to devote themselves
| 10 H.
During this time alchemy was ios,ered
ana projected az many of the European
courts, Tor nothing appeared 10 bee more
simple than To- legupertr embarrassed
! finances by means of artificial gold
Those liChgmsb, vino were rgpulcd 90
DE in possession Ui tne secret means OF
making the philosopher stone, were
eagerly sought alter by cuveious princes,
who spent handsome sums in providing
means for these philosophers % apply
their art Yet, needless to say, frequent
and bitter were the dlsappoiumcuts
which came sooner or later from the
failure OF the aIchemlsts 10 an the cot.
ieu Of their pnncely patrons. Then
came DEGREES against the practice Ol
alchemy threats against those who en-.
gagged 100 %, and accounts OF discoveries
OF the most lmpudcnt imposilons
! Alchemy however, found special pro
lection at the court of Henry Sixth of
England, ln spite of the fact that the
kings preceding him hadt1 pay heavily
| for the iayor they had shown the ART
and thai q stringent law had been pro,
mugatgd against d by Henry Fourth.
Toe consequence Of the iayul shown to
| DO uy these m1aaichs was the prlduC.
ton of large quauuue, OF counterfeit
gold, which, iu the form OF coinage.
Hooded ugl- uDlf'ug countries. Juaurs
Seventh OF france was also sgduued by
IlClgmisfs into mlEuE similar gNper-
meuls TO those ui ue Engush munarchs.
bur be- too, came o. gugL Inc debt ot
hIs country wbs largely uerelHcl,We aye
told, by the putting into circulation ut
great deal OF counterfeit gold
one great name with which the 10,
Cugmy of tine second halt of tue hNeuln
century i5 associated iu that OF BlM
Valentine, benediCune monk uf
southern Germany. file is without
doubt the greatest chemist of The al.
Chemislic period. lie devoted himself
largely To- the preparation OF medicines.
/ but Toe was none the less uu ardent sun