TWO PSEUDO-SCIENCES 



ing to its degrees of purity, certain forms only possess- 

 ing the power of turning base metals into gold, while 

 others gave eternal youth and life or different degrees 

 of health. Thus an alchemist, who had made a partial 

 discovery of this substance, could prolong life a certain 

 number of years only, or, possessing only a small 

 and inadequate amount of the magic powder, he was 

 obliged to give up the ghost when the effect of this 

 small quantity had passed away. 



This belief in the supernatural power of the philos- 

 opher's stone to prolong life and heal diseases was 

 probably a later phase of alchemy, possibly developed 

 by attempts to connect the power of the mysterious 

 essence with Biblical teachings. The early Roman 

 alchemists, who claimed to be able to transmute 

 metals, seem not to have made other claims for their 

 magic stone. 



By the fifteenth century the belief in the philoso- 

 pher's stone had become so fixed that governments 

 began to be alarmed lest some lucky possessor of the 

 secret should flood the country with gold, thus ren- 

 dering the existing coin of little value. Some little 

 consolation was found in the thought that in case all 

 the baser metals were converted into gold iron would 

 then become the " precious metal," and would remain 

 so until some new philosopher's stone was found to 

 convert gold back into iron a much more difficult feat, 

 it was thought. However, to be on the safe side, the 

 English Parliament, in 1404, saw fit to pass an act 

 declaring the making of gold and silver to be a felony. 

 Nevertheless, in 1455, King Henry VI. granted per- 

 mission to several "knights, citizens of London, 



VOL. II. 10 



