The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-05-10
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC J. HAsKn. DireCs6r.
washington. d. O.
ANCIENT AND MODERN ALCHEMY

For several centuries now. the
popular attitude toward the medieval
alchemists has been ridicule- The
philosophers stone and the elixir of
] life were Jokes" Transmutation of
base metals into gold was pronounced
a legerdemain trick which some al
chemists dexterously managed to put
over in the presence of gullible kings
whose knowledge of chemistry was
limited.
One historian explained that the
medieval scholar could produce a
| convincing illusion by mixing in the
in which gold was secretly placed or
! held invisible in solution, and then
bringing it forth by a process simple
enough to the operator but profoundly
mysterious to the bystanders."
The bearded old alchemists were
relegated to- a sorry place in history
and formulas were glfhly quoted TO
show just how far off were the
theories of the early philosophers
from the facts of scientific chemistry
But now, we have come round to
a more credulouS era So many MIRA
cles have become commonplace; so
many mysteries have been explained;
and so many modern explanations
have to be periodically revised that
most learned men hesitate to scott At
the seemingly impossible.
Thus, some scientists listened with
respectful interest to the reports that
German chemists were making syn
thetic gold. To be sure, the reports
were later emphatically denied, and
there is no reason to believe that the
Germans have solved the problem that
of Europe for a thousand years.
Still. 1t is interesting to consider
that il gold were to be made syn
thetically, the discovery would certain
" be kept secret as long as possible,
because only by keeping the process
secret could the inventor hope to
profit. AS soon as the process became
public property, gold would sink in
value to the level of lead.
This economic fact explains why
philosophers searched thru ten cen
turtles for the secret of transmutation
of metals. without losing interest or
hope. The mystery which surrounded
the experiments of each black robed
philosopher was supposed to safe
guard all sorts of important discov-
cries Generally, the philosopher died
without ever contributing his mag
mum opus to science. He preferred
to bury his secret with him.
Torture Revealed Nothing.
ANY number of wise men were sup
posed to have found the philosophers
stone which would dissolve the for
eign substances in base metal leaving
pure gold. Alchemists were tortured
by poverty stricken kings of Europe
in vain efforts to force them to reveal
the secret they claimed to have or
were accused of having. Rack and
wheel left tie sages mute. Either
they had no Secret or it. stayed with
them.
Alexander Seton. a Scottish alchem-
list was thrown into prison by the duke
OF SaxonX who demanded of him the
secret d the philosophers stone.
Seton refused to produce a fortune
I'm transmitted gold which the duke
asked for his ransom, and even under
torture he told nothing. But when a,
fellow alchemist Sendivogius offered
to help him escape in return for a
little information about alchemy Seton
agreed.
He regafned mis- freedom but, with
the caution of the Scot, he refused
to tell his secret to his deliverer. In
stead, ne save Sendivogius an ounce
OF transmutation powder. This
powder was used to such good effect
that SendivogiuS was credited with
cures of diseases and production of
gold. But eventually the ounce was
used up. Seton was dead by that time
ana the less skillful friend married
his widow hoping that the Scot had
left her the secret of mixing the pow
der. If she knew, however, she never
told her second husband.
Some of the alchemists did entruSt
their theories regarding the philos-
opher's stone to friends, and some
wrote books explaining their dis
coveries, but needless to say, these
Even when a philosopher was ex-
posed as a fake, the public, from king
to peasants, merely transferred it's
reverence to some, other sage ana
trustingly waited for him to dazzle
them with his erUdition.
The birth of modern science was
the death of alchemy-as the medieval
wise men practiced it But lately
science has begun to see something
more than huanbug and wild guess
ing in some of the ideas of the philos-
opheTs.
One scientist has pointed out that
the medieval theory that invisible
instance, is not so outlandish as to
call for ridicule. The alchemists said
that salamanders lived in the fire,
gnomes in the earth, sylphs in the
air and nymphs in the water Whether
they were guessing, prophesying or
divining, this scientist thinks that the
alchemists have given a pretty good
description of the micro organisms
that are SO tiny as to be truly in
visible to the naked eye So far.
however, science finds nothing to JUS
tify the alchemists' idea of the sala-
mander
If the alchemists were on the right
track about one natural mystery, per-
haps they were not altogether wrong
about other things, this scientist adds.
There is a theory considered today
that all metals evolved from one
origin. which is precisely the theory
on which the philosophers based the
possibility of transmitting metals and
bringing base metals to gold which
they considered the perfect state
Another interesting If true theory
which is super-modern and yet
smacks OF alchemy at its most fan
tastic has to do with the substance
of which ghosts are made Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle says that ghosts are
composed of ectopIasn. mysterious
substance, thick, Vapory and slightly
luminous.
The stuff that Sir Arthur's ghosts
are made of can be felt, he says. 1t
has never been analysed because no
chemist has been able to capture a
L.