El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-12-08
Discovery Gold Can Be Produced From
TransmutatiOn May DemoraIize Nine
Undergraduates Ore CheapAsSa

I A REPORT was resolved IN FL Pas1
/ n Monday by the Associated Press
quoting the Paris Matin to the effect
that Sir Ernest Rutherford. director OF
. physical laboratories al the Univar-
sity OF Manchester. England. has
solved the riddle Of transmutation OF
matter. This report. II true. means.
( secording 10 FL Paso Scientists, that
. a secret sought for centuries has been
Z revealed II the secret Of transmu-
E tafion Of matter really has been dis
covered. It also means. according 20
many Authorities on The subject OF
3 chemistry. that there viii be a revo-
luton OF not only the science OF
7 chemistry, but IN the monetary sys-
TENS Of the world im which gold is
/ the STANDARD Of valuation.
Opens New Possibilities.
fermentation OF matter, as e1-
planned BY Arthur Laferriere. chemist
I for the county farm bureau, means
( The process through which one com
bination Of elements might 90 through
in order 70 assume q different COM
bination- II has special application
to metals. for the reason that al
chemists Of the middle ages tried In
every conceivable way 10 produce
gold from the baser metals. Alchen-
lists preceded the chemists. who be-
came more and more skeptlcal Of sue
cess IN such attempts until the dis
coTery Of the atomic theory. which
most modern chemists believe est1b-
lished the imp0ssibilitv 81 making
gold out Of anything else.
The reason for this belief or
disbelief was that gold "a be-
a H. IL L.
That u. gold Is not believed 10 be
dlrisible into component paris.
Roland HarWel, county farm agent
and Mr.. Laferriere. agree with most
other men versed in chemistry that
the science Is very imperfect and that
most anything Is possible. The atomic
theory, they say, Is Itself not an es-
tablished fact, but a mere hypothesis
1t may be that Sir Ernest Ruther
ford has discovered that gold Is not
an element but a combination or as
ISOLATION q elements" said 1fr. Har-
veil
aIn THIS case. Il would be theo-
rFficnIIy possible to create gold
out Of fts elements. Thus some
ether metal might be subjected 20
q process which would result IN
its becoming gold. But n the
discovery has been made that
gold consists Of two or more eie-
mentss the fenncity Of tboEe ele-
mcuts remains to Be explained
A few years ago there was consid-
cradle discussion among scientists
about the persistence OF elements
themselves. That e. did elements
lose or acquire energy OF weight
throughout the ages2
Agreed on Hypothesis.
There was agreement on the by
pothesis that all atoms which are
supposed to be so minute that no
mirroscops viii ever be able to make
thsa visible, contain ether In circu-
lation between two poles. the positive
and the negative. IN fact, the dis
cussions pointed to the hypothesis
that matter really was nothing bat
energy in various degrees OF density
or intensity. Therefore. the only dif-
ference between oxygen or hydrogen
or between the atoms Of any element
and those Of another was In the eE-
tent to which the energy they con-
tanned was concentrated These SCI
entlsts. real OF charietan. whichever
they were, argued that By iosiae
enough OF its energy. an atom CT
gold for instance. might be reduced d