888 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. YII. No. 168. 



■wholesale denunciation of ' a company of edu- 

 cated charlatans ' by wliom he says ' the re- 

 vival of alchemy is now being engineered ' are 

 indeed logical conclusions from admissible 

 premisses. 



His argument seems to be as follows : 



A. Certain substances, each of which pos- 



sesses certain specific physical proper- 

 ties, are by chemists denominated ' ele- 

 ments.' 



No human being can, by any method, 

 eflTect any change in any specific phys- 

 ical property of any ' element.' 



Any human being who ventures to think 

 that any method has been, or may yet 

 be, discovered of changing any specific 

 property of any element is, to that ex- 

 tent, insane. 



Newton, Leibnitz, Davy and Emmens 

 have been thus bold. 



Ergo, they have 'cracked brains.' 



B. Souls do not exist. There is no God. 



The universe consists solely of what 

 physicists call Matter, Ether and En- 

 ergy. 



Any system of thought and research 

 which enquires into Soul, as well as 

 into Matter, Ether and Energy, is 

 quackery. 



Certain writings of certain members of a 

 certain Society are based upon the re- 

 cognition of Soul as an operative exis- 

 tence in connection with Matter, Ether 

 and Energy. 



Ergo, this Society is ' a company of edu- 

 cated charlatans.' 



C. The honorary members of every Society 



must be adjudged to participate in the 

 views expressed by all the writings of 

 all the members of such Society. 

 Flammarion, Strindberg and Emmens 

 have been elected as honorary mem- 

 bers of the Alchemical Association of 

 France. 

 Ergo, they are 'educated charlatans.' 

 If the foregoing tissue of self-evident non- 

 sense be not a fair presentation of Dr. Bolton's 

 argument, let him correct it. Should he at- 

 tempt to do so, while preserving a syllogistic form, 

 the result will be instructive to himself. 



5. Finally, it is proper for me to state whei-e 

 I actually stand as regards the whole matter. 



I do not claim, and have never claimed, to 

 make gold in the alchemical sense of the phrase. 



I do not ask, and have never asked, the 

 scientific world for any recognition of my work 

 in connection with the interchangeability of 

 gold and silver. This Dr. Bolton has long 

 known. At his request I sent him a copy of 

 Arcana Natures in which is set forth a letter 

 written by me on May 21, 1897, to Sir William 

 Crookes, F.R.S. That letter contained the fol- 

 ing words : 



"The gold-producing work in our Argentau- 

 rum laboratory is a case of sheer Mammon- 

 seeking. It is not being carried on for the sake 

 of science or in a proselytizing spirit. No dis- 

 ciples are desired and no believers are asked for. ' ' 



I have, however, given every chemist and 

 physicist the opportunity, if desired, of investi- 

 gating the fundamental portion of my work. 

 The necessary instructions for the requisite ex- 

 periment have been widely published. I have 

 thus shifted the onus prohandi. Let the critics 

 do a little solid scientific work as a foundation 

 for their clamor before they snap at the heels of 

 men who make discoveries while they ply idle 

 pens. 



I do not profess to have shown how gold or 

 its simulacrum may be produced at a commer- 

 cial profit. I should, indeed, have ' cracked 

 brains ' were I to part with the control of the 

 greatest power the world has ever witnessed. 



I do, however, profess to be utilizing this 

 power for the good of science at large. In ad- 

 dition to various physical researches of great in- 

 terest and importance now being prosecuted in 

 the Argentaurum laboratory, I am aiding stu- 

 dents of nature in all parts of the world to ob- 

 serve and collate facts in rectification of much 

 hypothesis that now does duty for truth. By 

 so doing I, of course, incur the enmity of those 

 who bow the knee to Mumbo- Jumbo ; but many 

 a broad-minded and eminent leader of science 

 is corresponding with me in terms of amity and 

 sympathetic encouragement. 



Stephen H. Emmens. 



Addendum. I take this opportunity of mak- 

 ing an explanation with reference to another 

 matter. 



