The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-05-08
Frederick Haskin's Letter
.snea., CORRESPONDENCE of Argus
ANCIENT AND MODERN ALCHEMY
Especial corres0nndsnee Of The Al


fused TO tell his secret to his a..
liverer. Instead, he gave Send.
vogius an ounce of transmutation
powder. This powder was used n
such good effect that Sendivogius
was credited with cures of diseases
and production of gold. But even
tually the ounce was used nm
Seton was dead by that time ami
the less skilful friend married bt7
widow, hoping that the Scot had
left her the secret of mixing The
powder. If she knew, however, she
never told her second husband.
Some of the alchemists did en-
trust their theories regarding the
philosophers stone to friends. and
some wrote books explaining their
discoveries, but needless to saw.
these published secrets were worth
less.
Even when a philosopher was
exposed as a fake, the public, from
king to, peasants, merely trans
ferred it's reverence to some other
sage and trustingly waited for him
to dazzle them with his erudition.
The birth of modern science was
the death of alchemy-as the medi-
eval wise men practiced it But
lately science has begun to see
something more than humhug and
wild guessing IN some of the ideas
of the philosophers
Back to Alchemy.
One scientist has pointed out that
the medieval theory that invisible
creatures inhabit the elements. for
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 wa
ter. Whether they were guessing.
prophesying or divining. this seien-
fist thinks that the alchemists have
given a pretty good description Of
the micro-organism that are so
tiny as be truly invisible to the
naked eye. So far, however, science
finds nothing to justify the alchem-
lists idea of the salamander.
If the alchemistS were on tina
right track about one natural mys-
terry, perhaps they we're not alto
gether wrong about other things,
this scientist adds. There is a the
DRY considered today that all met
ais evolved from one origin, which
is precisely the theory on which
the philosophers based the posi-
bility of transmitting metals and
bringing base metals to gold which
they considered the perfect state.
Another interesting if true" the 4
iat, -,
smacks of alchemy at its most fam,
tastic has to do with the substance
of which ghosts are made. Sir Ar
thur Conan Doyle says that ghosts
are composed of ectoplasm, a mys-
FERROUS substance, thick, Yapory and
luminous.
The stuff that Sir Arthur's ghosts
are made Of can be felt. he says.
It has never been analysed because
no chemist has been able to cap
ture a bottle full for laboratory eX-
pertinent. Some kind of self-pro-
Cective instinct seems to cause
ghostly emanations to depart hast
lily when science gets too familiar.
Ectoplasm is the latest sensation
Of parlor science, and yet the phil
osophers of Prague and Cologne
observed this same elusive sub
stance. They regarded it as a clue
to perpetual life if it could only
be identified and rendered sufficient
Iy durable for practical use.
Modern science has not tried to
bottle ectopIasm as a handy pre-
scriptiOn for reiuvenatin purposes.
Even if it is decided that mans Ill
innate destiny is TO turn into Gcto-
plasm, most people will be willing
to wait until the appointed time 10
change substances. The spirit
world may be the state of perpetual
youth which the alChemists we're
vaguely seeking. If Soft Seton
and the rest are now wearing eCtO-
the alchemists achiev-
ed one of their quests.