The San Francisco call., 1896-08-23

DIR. Stephen 81. Emmens, the inventor
of the powerful explosive known as EN-
mensite," having recently announced that
he has discovered a method by which
silver can be changed into gold, the very
large number of metallurgists and
chemists who on the Pacific Coast deal
with the production of the precious metals
are on the qui vive and they will wait with
much of interest and curiosity more
definite announcements than have been
made public. The utterances of DIR. En-
mems may be SUNNI arized, for reader
understanding, about as follows:
Neither gold nor silver is an elemental
body. The relations of the TWO metals
chemically to each other, and their con-
slant association in nature, has long made
it probable that they are but different
forms of the same substance, Just as
charcoal and the diamond are allo-
tropic forms of carbon. 1t is possi-
BILE to dissolve gold very easily, and
the resultant solutions OF both gold
and silver are the same; substance has
been secured by segregating the particles
of the silver solution which is similar
to gold. DR.. Emmens has found that the
transmutation of silver into gold has
commercial value. He produced artificial
diamonds from a carbon solution thirty
years ago, and has constantly worked
since that time on the problem of the di-
visibility of what are called elementary
substances. A laboratory will be erected
in New York to carry on the transmuta-
tion of silver into gold according to his
process.
Local metallurgists and chemists have
been interviewed. John w. Pack, assayer
in the United States Mint in this City,
said that it is true, as DR.. Emmens claims,
that gold is not an elementary substance.
Demonstration has amply proved that
gold is compound substance and con-
tains two elements. This being so-and
the chemists have claimed such to be the
fact-it is possible that such a discovery
may lead up to solving the solution of
gold as we know it now. SAT the same
time" said Mr.. Pack. "before I am will
ing to say that silver can be transmitted
into gold, or to think that process has
been discovered which can accomplish
that result, L must see something more
definite than has yet appeared on the sub
iect. In other words, I would like q
demonstration.
''Dr. Emmens is probably misquoted
concerning the ease with which gold can
be dissolved. 1t cannot be dissolved as
easily as sugar is dissolved by water, but
by the use of murlatic and nitric acids it
can be liquefied. as it has been custom
arily turned by chemists into liquid
form. But while silver can be dissolved
by one acid, nitric acid, it takes two
acids to dissolve gold. OF course all
metallurgists must surely realize the
wide bearing of a discovery by
which the transmutation of the less
valuable precious metal into gold can be
effected. and scientific men will undoubt-
edly watch what may come of DIR.
Emmens' experiments by reason of the
economic bearing OF his researches fully
as much as on account OF their purely
scientific possibilities" Mr. Pack has
been assayer of the mint some years, was
four years assistant assayer at the mint
under Mr.. Twiggs and has had intimate
knowledge of metallurgy since 1874.
Louis Falkenau conceded that it Is pos
sible that silver may be transmitted into
gold. Modern chemists, proceeding scien-
tifically. have reached the conclusion that
this may be accomplished, and Dr. EN-
mems may be the discoverer of the process.
Mr.. Falkenau did not say that he thought
that such discovery had been made.
In reference to the article which appeared
in The CALL last Sunday Mr.. Falkenau
said:
"What was published may be all true.
AT any rate the writer had some knowl-
edge of his subject and he has the adyan-
tage that no one can dispute him success
fully. No one knows that what he says is
not true. 1t has been hoped for, centuries
that the baser metals might be trans
muted into gold. The olden alchemists
believed that this was possible. The mod
ern scientists have arrived at the same
conclusion, but by entirely different nro.
cesses and Investigations have the mod
erhs come to that way of thinking. The