Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-28
WILL AWAIT DETAILS
Washington Scientists Do Not
Accept Dr.. Lange's Claims.
MAKING PRECIOUS METALS
Prof. F. w. Clarke of the Geological
Survey Discusses Efforts of Al
chemists in Transmutation.

| Scientists in Washington seemingly are
not thrown into any fever of excitement
over the reported tTansmutation of the
baser metals into gold and silver by F.
| w. Lange of Scranton. The attitude of
| all of them is that although in the light
| of present chemical development such a
| thing is not absolutely impossible, the
probability of any such thing being done
! ON commercial scale is so very remote
as to hardly warrant discussion
! A general talk on the subject was given
! The Star by Prof. +. w. Clarke of the
| geological survey. He said:
Nobody can say positively that any
development in chemistry is absolutely
out Of the question, but it is very safe to
say that any revolutionary development
| is most unlikely. A revolutionary de-
velopment by an amateur is even more
unlikely. All we can say is that we have
not even had an Intelligent statement
yet of what DR.. LANCE claims to have ac-
complished, and we have absolutely no
details on which to base a judgment.
Efforts of Alchemists.
''Transmutation has been sought as far
back as we have any records. Paracelsus
was comparatively modern. Ii goes back
| even to Babylonia and Assyria. The old
| aicilemists were not so unreasonable as
might be thought in the way they argued,
especially in view of chemical knowledge
| or lack of knowledge at that time. They
| argued that ii was possible to turn
wood into charcoal, and therefore that it
ought to be possible to turn one metal
| into some other
/ THE work Of Ramsay in England is
i different, CT course, but that is in the line
! of transmutation. He has managed 10
| turn radium into helium. He has pub
| lished his methods and | have seen his
work. But there is a big gulf between
! a laboratory experiment dealing with a
! ten-thOusandth of d grain and making
! any commercial use of the same thing.
, Kamsay's work has all been in the line of
degradation. of reducing a material of a
| higher atomic weight to that of lower
Artificial Diamonds.
But. l say, laboratory work and
| commercial work are very different. ii
| is true that artificial diamonds have
| been MADE in France. They were true
| diamonds but they were too small to be
CT any use. They cost more TO make also
| than ma tural diamonds cost tc find. Some
| man may come along in time and improve
! the process, and it may be possible then
, to manufacture diamonds to compete
with the natural ones.
| There is great deal OF self-deception
| about such work also. Nearly all lead
! contains a trace of silver, and much OF
| the commercial copper a trace of gold
! BY modern methods this gold is extracted
! and it sometimes pays the expense OF re-
| filming the copper. Many of the Old al
| chemists found the precious metals IN
this way and thought they actually had
made the rarer metal out of the baser
Much Trickery.
| "Of course, there has been a great
amount of trickery in such work 1t is
easy enough to put an amount of gold
or silver into crucibie and then claim
| to have made it. You can claim almost
anything that it would be hard 10 dis
prove and impossible to prove. L can
claim that there is vein of gold carry
ing $1,000 ton under the base Of the
Washington Monument, but it would
hardly pay to dig for it.. If DR.. Lange
has done anything it will be time enough
to discuss it when we have his method
OF operation in detail
There is no record in the Treasury OF