The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-15
EASY WAY TO MAKE GOLD
THE RAW MATERIAL IS CHEAP. AND
ONLY WANTS PLENTY OF HEAT.
Mr.. Brfee's Recipe Requires Anthony,
Iron, Sulphur and CharcOaI-Ear-
Iier Experiments Tried.
Washington Letter in Philadelphia Times.

the Treasury failed to get any gold by his
process because the experts insisted on mix
ing tartar emetic with the raw materials.
Then he threw up the whole business. How
ever. there is no reason why anybody
should not try for himself, with the in
ventors own recipe, which is stated in full
in his application for a patent filed the
other day. Go ahead and make your own
gold. "a carats fine The crude ingredients
are cheap enough. All you want is anti
nony, iron, sulphur and charcoal
You take ordinary crucible, and place
at the bottom of the receptacle a layer of
powdered charcoal. Upon this you put a
layer of sulphur, then another layer of
charcoal, next layer of granulated anti
mony. The proportions are not very essen
tial, though it is just as well to have about
fifteen parts of antimony to ten parts of
sulphur three parts of iron and two parts
of charcoal. The charcoal is not absolutely
essential, and may be omitted.
One great advantage of this method of
manufacturing gold is it's extreme sim
plicity. An essential point, however, is a
very high heat, so that a furnace is in
dispensable. At an elevated temperature
the metallic ingredients are fused together,
an assay of the resulting mass showing the
presence of large quantities of gold and
silver also. Given a furnace hot enough, a
temperature high enough and a time long
enough and one ton of anthony, with some
iron and sulphur, will yield 250 ounces of
gold and $50 ounces of silver. You just
chuck the stuff in, and sit down to wait.
There is no use working for a living when
one can go ahead manufacturing the stan
dard of value at this rate. Mr.. Brice
showed to your correspondent a lot of mug
gets-a whole bagful of them, in fact
which were about so per cent. gold and the
balance silver, with few possible impuri-
ties. They were white, with a yellow
gleam Then the inventor put them back
into the sack one by one, with a dun,
sickening thud, and did not offer to bestow
a single lump upon the newspaper man,
who gazed upon the precious stuff with
gloating eyes. 1t was a case where gloats
cut no ice whatever.
My process is merely an imitation of ma
lures own method said Mr.. Brce, nib
ping the last nugget, as if to exhibit its
quality. Mature is continually engaged in
manufacturing gold She makes it out 81
baser metals; transmutes the latter into the
precious SubStance-that is to say, by fuS-
ing them together at an enormous heat, I'M
der suitable conditions. All gold is of vol
canic origin. So we counterfeit the volcano
by means of a furnace, and from similar
raw materials we evolve the same result
That result is gold-yellow gold with more
OF less SILVER. Inc process requires twenty
four hours, and under the most favorable
circumstances we get $500 ounces of gold
and silver from ton of anthony and ct
ceteraS SO there you are.
AHE STUMBLING BLOCK.
Before granting exclusive rights in an
idea the Patent Office requires evidence to
show that it is useful. That is the stumbling
block encountered by inventors of perpetual
motion machines; the government insists on
a working model. For the same reason a
demonstration of the practicableness of Mr..
Brices method of making gold was de-
manded, and that is how it was brought
to the attention of the treasury experts.
The matter was handed over to the treas
ury by the Patent Office, because the lat
ter establishment did not possess an ade-
quate metallurgical laboratory. Science to-
day by no means denies that it may be pos
sible to transmute base metals into gold :;
yet there is certainly an amusing pictur-
esquesnesS in the notion that the govern
ment Of the United States. in the year 1897,
should take up seriously the pursuit of the
philosophers stone.
On the files of the Patent Office is a cur
ious English patent receipt for making gold.
1t is as follows:
Cut whole wheat straws into little square
ships the width of the straw and mix this
with a quart measure of the grain. Measure
out half a twO-quart saucepan and set it
aside. Fill the saucepan three-quarters full
of water and set it to boil on the fire. Pour
in the mixture and let it boil two and a
quarter hours adding water at intervals.
Then strain off the liquor in thin layers
into soup plates and allow the same to rest
thirty--eight Lours at a temperature of for
ty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. Then slowly
bake them dry and find the gold adhering
to the plates"
The above as a household method of
making gold, so to speak, is unequaled.
But, if you choose to travel in India. you
will find other equally valuable receipts in
actual employment by the native fakirs---
men who pursue the abStruSe problems of
alchemy with as much earnestness as ever
did the philosophers of the middle ages.
traveller, testified that he had repeatedly
| seen metal like gold issuing from their
crucibfes-metal that could not be distin-
guished from gold by the touchstone."
These Oriental alchemists, Leveille states.
are always fakirs or 'penitents the lat
ter a class of beings accustomed from
youth to eat poisons and to resist heat and
| cold. The best evidence goes to show that
for many centuries past the transmutation
of tin, zinc, copper and mercury has been
practiced by these holy persons.
The processes they use are somewhat
elaborate. One Of the receipts requires the
| ounces; seeds of Abra precatorius, two and
one-half ounces; one garlic; cinnabar, two
ounces; orpimient, two ounces; sal ammo
These are to be pounded separately and
made into a paste with three quarts of the
milky juice of the ASclepiaS gigantea- The
stuff is then formed into small balls.
wrapped In paper or linen, put in sealed
crucible and heated White not In char-
coal fire. Removing the crucible finally.
you let it cool. When you open it you are
a rich man.
EARLY EXPERIMENTS.
1t is often said, and with truth, that the
science of chemistry to-day owes much OF
it's knowledge to the old alchemists, who
made a greater number of valuable dis
coveries accidentally, while trying to find
the philosophers stone. The notion of
transmitting baser metals into gold seems
| to have reached Europe through the Arabs,
but it is certain that at a much earlier
epoch the deuson reigned in eastern Asia.
causing many political troubles. Even
kings were eager to procure the magical
substance, which. employed In another
way. was supposed to confer immortality.
History relates that on one occasion an
Emperor of China was about to toss off a
goblet containing an alleged guarantee OF
eternal life, when courtier snatched 1t
rudely from his hand and drank 1t him
self IF / am rendered immortal, said
he your Majesty cannot Kill me, II i am
not immortal, you will reward me for open
ing your eyes to so contemplate an i'm
posture.
The above story is told by a recent writer
in Household Words, who says that a few
wears ago q modern alchemlSt made his APP
uearance in London. He gave out that he
possessed a powder which had the property
Of transmitting baser metals into gold, and
he was willing TO part with the receipt for
a few thousand pounds cash. Careful ex-
periments showed that with the use of this
powder there resulted a certain amount of
gold where there had been none before. But,
unIucxily an expert discovered that the
powder itself contained the gold. and that
just as much was taken from the crucible
w. -