The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-21
TAKING GOLD FROM SILVER
Emmens Has Done It and the Mint
Bought the Gold.

Denver Republican: Although ovei
year has passed since Pro
fessor Stephen H. Emmens. OF
/ New York made known his discovery
Of a method OF transmitting silver into
gold the secret of the transmitting has
not been given to the public. The
learned professor has not been idle. and
he now claims that the process has got
to such a stage that its Dracticability
VIII shortly be shown by the monthly
transformation of $4,000 ounces Of sill
Yer into gold. He does not deny t@at
so far the cost of the transmutatiOn has
fully eoualed the difference in value
between the silver transmitted and the
resultant gold.
During the past year he has closely
followed every line of the investigation
and in April. Nay and June of this
year he sold to the United States mint
at New York five ingots which he had
manufactured from Mexican dollars.
The ingots were made in the laboratory
and necessarily the process was very
slow, but with machinery which the
doctor has invented especially for this
purpose the process will be greatly
cheapened as well as facilitated. Each
ingot cost him fully as much as he re-
allied by its sale, but when he gets
into operation a new engine he has
profit.
SALE OF THE INGOTS.
The FIVE ingots sold to the mint were
subjected to every test known to the
mint men. who knew what they were
buying. but everyone of the tests
proved beyond doubt that the metal
was gold and the mint bought them as
such. The first ingot sold weighed 7.06
ounces, and after it was melted
weighed 7O4 ounces, and the mint paid
$9565 for it. Each ingot sold after this
was heavier and the price paid for them
by the mint gradually increased until
S20021 was paid for the last. and DR..
Emmens is now at work making still
larger one.
The new substance manufactured by
him. which has all the chemical prop
critics of gold so far as tests can prove,
is called by Professor Emmens "Argen-
taurum," and supplies a space in the
periodic law of chemistry which has.
until this time. been vacant. Basing
their claims on the this law chemists
have always argued that there was a
substance for that place, but it re-
manned for Dr. Emmens to discover it.
The leading French scientific journals
have taken UP the new discovo-S and
believe in it, as do many of the emf
nent scientific men of toda--
A French scientific journal. in treat
ing of the new discovery, says that
Emmens took for the basis of his work
the results accomplished by other sclen-
fists, who succeeded in producing
molecular modification of silver to an
extent of its being soluble in water.
This indicated a high degree of subdi-
vision, and DR.. Emmens carried the
process still further, and completely
broke up the molecules of silver the
hitherto unknown form of matter thus
obtained being the substance he named
argentaurum. IF steps be taken to
compel the particles or argentaurum TO
once more combine together. the ag-
gregation thus obtained gives mole
oules which have a specific gravity
greater than that of the original sill
YER" the professor says. the resulting
metal has the appearance and physical
properties of gold and successfully en-
dures the tests applied by the mints
of the world.
IN TT FOR THE STUFF.
Professor Emmens states that he is
not IN the business of making gold for
fun, or for science, and ne does not care
people believe in him or not
as he is not seeking disciples AS he
states it. 1T is a sheer case of NAM
used because that coin is stated by the
United States assay office 10 be free
from gold. 1t is subjected to five treat
ments: First. mechanical: second, fux-
ng and graduating; third, mechanical: |
fourth. treatment with oxides CT nitro |
gen; fifth. refining. And these five pro-
cesses make gold from the Mexican sill
yer dollar The mechanical force used 1
is great pressure. and Professor En- |
mems has invented a high pressure en-
CINE. now nearly ready. which il is |
thought will produce Dressures exceed !
ing 500 tons to the square inch. and |
The professor states that he has every /
that through the instrument |
tally of that engine the production of (
argentaurum geld viii be brought up |
TO $4,000 ounces monthly within the /
year. and at a pecuniary profit to him
sels.
On June Is, 1897, the following was
contained in a letter sent 10 Professor |
William CrOokes, F. r. S, London: |
My force engine has been given a
preliminary trial today. prior to de-
livery and acceptance. 1t works well.
and my son has already obtained some
'esults that overthrow certain views
set forth in Thompson and TAFT"