Vto. XXV. No. 10.] 
POPULAR SCIENCE NEWS. 
147 
blance is the more striking as each leaf hangs 
from such a long stalli. It is delicately ribbed, 
but is not divided into sections. The cones of 
tliis wonderful tree are small, soft, and yellow, 
having the appearance of small plums. 
The walls of the garden were covered with a 
perfect blaze of scarlet blossom, which, seen from 
a distance, I mistook for the trumpet creeper. 
But it was the Tecoma tagliabuena, introduced in 
1836, and I commend it to flower-lovers as the 
most magnificent blossom of the kind, some of 
the bells being at least three inches in diameter. 
A beautiful Cycadacece, {Cycas revoluta), Japan, 
1 780, stood at the entrance to the part of the gar- 
dens set apart for the grove of exotics, many of 
which were planted in 1760, and have made mag- 
nificent growth. Some of those which struck me 
as being most remarkable are the Carpinus orien- 
talis^naO; TOio arjren«o, Hungary, 1800 ; Gledits- 
chia horrida, China, 1760; Dyssptjros lotus^ Japan, 
1760; Acer platanoides, Europe, 1760; Cedrus coni- 
ferx, Nepaul, 1828 ; and the Fagus sylvatica, with 
its exquisite lanceolate serrated leaves flickering 
in the breeze. 
The situation of Padua is, of course, most favor- 
able to the growth of exotics, and the superb 
trees that made it cool and shady for us on this 
day of fierce heat showed that the idea of the pro- 
fessor three centuries ago has been crowned with 
success. 
[British and Colonial Druggist.] 
ALCHEMY. 
Alchemy is said to have been commenced by 
Hermes Trismegistus, an ancient Egyptian king, 
and from its earliest ages the discovery of the 
philosopher's stone, which was to transmute all 
baser metals into gold, was one of its chief objects 
— if, indeed, this were not a cause of its founda- 
tion. Those who advocate the great antiquity of 
chemistry conceive that the alchemical secret is 
metaphorically concealed in the fable of the 
Golden Fleece of the Argonauts, rejecting the 
more probable solution of the story of Strabo, 
who says that the Iberians, near neighbors of the 
Colchians, used to receive tlie gold brought down 
from the high lands by the torrents into sieves 
and sheep skins, and that from thence arose the 
fable of the Golden Fleece. Dionysius of My- 
telene offers a different explanation, and supposes 
it to allude to a book written on skins, and 
containing an account of the process of making 
gold according to the art of alchemy. Either of 
these explanations proves the great value that 
was set upon gold even in those remote times. 
The alchemists, however, were not satisfied 
with the idea of changing the base metals into 
gold; they expected by the same means to pro- 
duce a universal remedy, the elixir of life, calcu- 
lated to prolong indefinitely the span of human 
existence. It is difficult to imagine what connec- 
tion could exist in their ideas between the philoso- 
pher's stone, which was to transmute metals, and 
a remedy which could arrest the progress of hu- 
man infirmity. Upon searching into the writings 
of those times, it clearly appears that this conceit 
originated with the alchemists from the applica- 
tion of false analogies, and that the error was 
subsequently diffused and exaggerated by a mis- 
construction of alchemical metaphors. Some- 
times the processes of alchemy were expressed by 
a figurative and metaphorical style of description. 
Thus Geber exclaims, "Bring me the six lepers 
that I may cleanse them," by which he implied 
the conversion of silver, mercury, copper, iron, 
tin, and lead — the only metals then known — into 
gold. Prom the works of later alchemists it also 
appears that they constantly represented gold as 
a sound, healthy, and durable man, the imperfect 
metals as diseased men, and the means of pro- 
cesses by which the latter were to be transmuted 
into the former they designated by the name of 
medicines ; hence those who were anxious to dive 
into the secrets of these magicians (or adepts) 
without possessing the key to their language, sup- 
posed that these descriptions were to be under- 
stood literally, and that the imperfect metals 
might be changed into gold, and the bodies of 
sick persons into healthy ones, by one and the 
same cliemical preparation. 
Pliny says that the Emperor Caligula was the 
first who prepared natural arsenic in order to 
make gold of it, but abandoned the attempt be- 
cause the charge exceeded the profit. Some say 
that the Egyptians knew the secret. In 1405 the 
"craft of multiplying gold and silver"' was made 
a felony, which would seem to indicate that 
roguery was increasing in that direction, but the 
act was repealed in 1689. In 1476 a license to 
practice alchemy was granted to one Richard 
Carter. Sir W. Raleigh, during his imprisonment 
in the Tower, employed himself largely in chemi- 
cal experiments, and believed that he had discov- 
ered an elixir of life. In 1782 a Dr. Price, of 
Guilford, published an account of his experi- 
ments, in which he pretended to success. He 
brought his specimens of gold to the king, affirm- 
ing that they were made by means of a red and 
white powder. Being a fellow of the Royal Soci- 
ety, he was required, upon pain of expulsion, to 
repeat his experiments before Messrs. Kirwan and 
Woulfe, but, after much equivocation and delay, 
he committed suicide. In 1860 a Hungarian refu- 
gee, named Papaffy, represented that he had a 
system by which he could transform metals into 
sterling silver. Strange to say, he induced num- 
bers of men of position to advance capital for his 
operations, when, having raised over £10,000, he 
quietly decamped. 
In conclusion, the following process, recom- 
mended by Raymond Sully, (born 12.35), may be 
mentioned : " To make the elixir of the sages, or 
the philosopher's stone, take the mercury of phil- 
osophers (lead), calcine it until it is transformed 
into a green lion (massicot) ; after it has under- 
gone this change calcine it again until it has be- 
come a red lion (minimum). Digest this red lion 
in a sand bath with acid spirit of grapes (vine- 
gar), evaporate this product, and the mercury 
will be converted into a kind of gum (acetate of 
lead) ; put this into a luted cucurbit and distill it 
with heat. You will obtain an insipid phlegm, 
then spirit and red drops. Cymmerian shades 
will cover the cucurbit with their somber veil, 
and you will find in the interior a true dragon, for 
he eats his tail (i. e., the distilled liquor dissolves 
the residuum). Take the black dragon, break him 
on the stone, and touch him with red charcoal; 
he will burn, and, assuming a glorious yellow 
color, he will reproduce the green lion. Make 
him swallow his tail, and distill this product 
again. I^astly, rectify carefully, and you will see 
appear burning water and human blood." This 
substance, called by the alchemists human blood, 
is a reddish brown oil, which is formed during 
the distillation of the acetic acid in the above pro- 
cess. It has the property of precipitating gold 
from solution containing that metal, which proba- 
bly gave rise to an idea that it possessed the vir- 
tues which were so eagerly sought after. 
The following extract from an article in Science 
indicates that a belief in the philosopher's stone is 
8tUl held even among educated people : 
About three years ago, in a neighboring city, an 
alchemist exhibited to a leading business man his 
ability to multiply gold by heating a gold coin 
with the philosopher's stone in a crucible, and re- 
moving from the crucible a mass of gold weighing 
three times as much as the original coin. Other 
business men witnessed a similar operation, and 
became so fully convinced of his power to increase 
the amount of gold threefold that they formed a 
company to multiply gold by digestion with the 
philosopher's stone. Gold coin to the amount of 
ninety thousand dollars was placed in an iron 
digestion vat with a quantity of the philosopher's 
stone. The vat was placed over a fire in a fur- 
nace built for the purpose, an iron lid placed over 
the vat, and securely locked, the furnace-room 
locked, and all the keys placed in the hands of the 
gold-multiplying company (unlimited), with strict 
orders that the vat must not be opened under 
three weeks. The alchemist having been called 
away on business to another city, and not return- 
ing at the appointed time, the gold company be- 
came suspicious and opened the vat, only to find 
the gold gone, and some stones and scrap iron in 
its place. It was the gold that had been trans- 
muted. 
A few months ago the same sharper was ar- 
rested in London for attempting a similar fraud, 
and when arraigned in the criminal court the 
police magistrate said "it was just possible that 
Pinter might have discovered some method of 
increasing the weight of gold." Among the vic- 
tims of Pinter's philosopher's stone, a member of 
the house of Rothschild's and of Baring Brothers 
are mentioned. Who shall say that faith in "the 
great work" has left the earth? A few days ago 
at the Old Bailey he was sent to prison for swin- 
dling. 
♦♦» 
INVISIBLE PHOTOGRAPHY MADE VISIBLE. 
Most amateur photographers have at some time 
in their career ushered the family or their friends 
into the dark room, with its mysterious light, to 
witness that wonderful and Interesting process — 
the development of a negative. This is certainly 
very entertaining, but they must remember that 
the ladies are averse to this semi-darkness, espe- 
cially when the color of the light does not suit 
their complexion. When I wish to entertain my 
friends now with photography, I produce a dozen 
or so perfectly white sheets of paper, and in open 
daylight or lamp-light immerse them one by one 
in a solution, and slowly a beautiful positive pic- 
ture appears and remains permanent. 
The process is as follows : Take an ordinary 
silver print, wash and fix in a solution (ordinary 
strength) of hypo, soda, with an addition of a tea- 
spoonful of bicarbonate soda to the pint. No gold 
must be used. Wash the prints well, and immerse 
in a saturated solution of chloride of mercury [a 
poisonous salt]. A part of the chlorine passes 
over to the silver of the picture and changes the 
brown silver particles into white chloride of sil- 
ver, which is invisible on the white paper. At 
the same time subchloride of mercury (mercurous 
chloride), which contains less chlorine than the 
chloride of mercury, is precipitated. This body 
is also white, and therefore invisible on the white 
paper. When the paper is perfectly white, wash 
in clean water and dry. These prints wUl keep 
any length of time and light cannot affect them. 
To develop, place the print in a solution of ammo- 
nia or hypo, soda and the picture will slowly ap- 
pear. — A. Smedley Green, in Scientific American. 
— — ' (♦♦ 
Some plants (hyacinths, for example) appear to 
be able to grow and develop in total darkness. 
