The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-13

milky juice of the Asclepias gigantea The
stun is then formed into small balls
wrapped in paper or linen, put In a sealed
crucible and heated white hot in a char
coal fire. Removing the crucibe finally
you let IL cool. When you open it you
are a rich man.
1t is often said, and with truth that the
science of chemistry to-day owes much
OF its knowledge to the old alchemists
who made a great 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 1t Is certain that at a much
earlier epoch the delusian reigned i'm East
ern Asia, causing many political troubles
Even kings were eager to procure the
magical substance, which, employed in
another way, was supposed to confer i'm
mortality. History relates that on one
occasion an emperor of China was about
to toss off goblet containing an alleged
guarantee of eternal life when a coulter
snatched it rudey from his hand and
drank 1t himself. IF l am rendered i'm
mortal" said he, your majesty cannot
XIII me; If | am not immortal, you will
reward me for opening your eyes to so
contemplate an imposture"
The above story is told by a recent wri-
ter In Household Words, who says that
few years ago a modern alchemist made
his appearance in London He gave out
that he possessed a powder which had the
property of transmitting baser meals into
gold, and he was willing to part with the
recipe for few thousand pounds cash
careful experiments showed that with the
use of this powder there resulted a certain
amount of gold where there had been none
before But unlucklly, an expert discov-
cred that the powder itself contained the
gold and that just as much was taken
from the crucible as had been put in. A
term OF Imprisonment was the punishment
for obtaining money by false pretenses.
Some of the old-time alchemsts actual
~ tried to imprison sun rays. which they
| attempted to calcine and powder the rays
! being supposed to consist OF pure golden
| sparks. Others sought to make wished
| for gold-making substance out of honey
! fugar, wine, blood and even rainwater
| Dead bodies were dug up from graves and
saltpeter was extracted from them to
| serve as an ingredient Still others believ-
| ed that gold grew from seed.
! Only two or three centuries ago 1t was
| quite the fashion to hang or otherwise ex-
| ecute persons who pretended to be gold
| makers, but who proved unable to give
| satisfaction in that line of business. Count
Cajetan, in 1905. in the presence of Fred
| erick l., of Prussia, changed ! pound of
| mercury into gold by means Of a red tine
| ture. Subsequently he promised to make
| $500 900 worth of the yellow metal in six
| weeks, out, raining 10 keep his word he
was hanged. draped in gold-leaf. A Sax
on lieutenant named Paykull was taken
| prisoner by Charles XII at Warsaw and
! condemned to death. He promised to
/ make 100000 worth of gold annually n
| his life was spared. In the presence of
| witnesses he transformed six ounces of
! lead into gold by means of a mixture
! which contained anthony, sulphur and
| saltpeter. Out of this gold medals were
| stamped; but Paykull must have failed In
| subsequent attempts because he was af-
| forwards executed. In 1877 man named
| Krohnemann entered the service of the
| Marquis OF Brandenburg. He soon won
reputation as a gold-maker. and was plac-
| ed in charge of the mint and mines. But
| finally he was suspected of fraud, and on
his trial 1t was proved that he had stolen
! gold from the treasury of the margrave
| for use in the deception. He was sentenc-
| ed to be hanged. All the alchemists are
not dead yet, and one may buy to-day
| from clairvoyants and other fakirs recipes
| for making gold at prices astonlshingly
| low 1t Will always be so, for, though
| knowledge grows human credulity and
avarice do not diminish from age to age
| Populus vult decipi as Mr.. Barnum used
/ to remark.