The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1905-01-12
TIE PHlLo soPsseR's sToMe.


SE0OU0 - E0080 - 9&M01O - ~
7araccisus. the arch magician u the
dark ages. announced that .sthero
abides In nature a certain form Of mat
ter which. being discovered and brought
By art TO perfection. converts to Itself
proportionnily>cii imperfect bodies that
It touches" Following this definition
OF the philosophers stone" came a pc
rod OF mysticism and charlatanry,
ewaying the world with the belief that
tie baser metals might be changed to
gold 1t Is strange, therefore, that the
formula OF paracelsus should express
with precision the conclusions adopted
by modern chemist no less skeptical
and distinguished than Sir William
Ramsay. who In HGrpe.'s Magazine
makes known his opinion that the
"srone" may actually have been found
irons OF radium.
This opinion IL not yet belief. and
the conclusions are but tentative. Pro
fessor Ramsay assures US. however.
that they constitute working hypoth-
eSis. In 1868 NJ. Jansen, the French
astronomer. discovered an unknown el
emenf, afterward named helium, in the
chromosphere Of the sun during an
eclipse Ramsay IN 1906 found and
identified THE element on the earth.
Only lately he has ascertainei, with
the aid OF other scientists. the aston
isning fact that the electrons OF the
element radium-which are exceeding
ly minute particles. shot off with enor-
Mous veioc.ty-when acting upon glass.
change. disintegrate ard build up
new etoms OF similar radio active ele-
nleDts. notably heiium. Z Is a Iegiti-
mate inference, declares Sir William
Ramsay. that II the atone OF ordinary
elements could be made to absorb en-
ergy they would undergo change 9. G.
and not OF a disrnpttve
II. as looks probable, be
the action OF the eiectrons,
themselves the conveyors Of enormous
energy, on such matter az glass b to
,uild up atoms which are radio active
Ind ~ II be focnd that the particular
matter produced depends on the ele-
ment" on which the eIectrons full and
70 which they impart their energy
then the transmutation Of elements
10 longer appears an Idle dream" He
lays further:
The philosophers stone will have wen
discovered. and Il e not beyond the
Wounds Of possibility that Il may lead to
hat other goal Of the philosophers OF the |
lark ages. the elixir vitae. for the ac-
ion OF living cells is also dependent on ]
he nature and direction Of the energy
which they contain. and who can say
hat II win be impossible to control their
Lcfioh when the means OF !rsnaFtirg end
energy shall have beer inves-
iEateds
Transmutation appears to be q fact |
q at least one instance. 1t Is almost |
ertain that radium. itself an element,
hanges into various other elements.
borrower. its hfe In its present form
comparatively short one. and Il
nust therefore Be In course Of Soema-
~ else tie amount would be exhaust
{ tn about $500 yeara The infee-
nee may not Be resisted that not this
lement merely. but several elements,
ne undergoing spontaneous change
lto other forms OF matter. themselves
ighly energized. and themselves un-
table. Men already control the proc
ss OF transmitting radium. Have they
ideed penetrated the secret re the
aundatson OF the forms OF matter and
fe:-New York Times.