856 
vulgar scheme of fraud among ignorant 
tradesmen on the east side of New York 
City, in which lead, iron scraps, crucibles 
and furnaces formed the properties; and of 
the larger operations of an educated French 
chemist who found dupes in both South 
and North America; but in each of these 
cases the severe logic of law courts inter- 
vened and abruptly discomfited the swin- 
dlers. It is not by sleight-of-hand that the 
revival of alchemy is now being engineered, 
but by a company of educated charlatans. 
The movement to resuscitate alchemical 
doctrines and practices has been particularly 
successful in France, where there are to-day 
four societies and a‘ university’ claiming to 
possess occult knowledge of hermetic myster- 
ies; these secret societiesarenamed: ‘ Ordre 
de la Rose-Croix, ‘L’Ordre Martiniste,’ 
“La Société d’ Homéopathie Hermétique’ 
and ‘ L’ Association Alchimique de France.’ 
The first two of these societies seem to 
work on lines similar to Free Masonry, and 
claim that their secret mysteries were be- 
queathed by the last sages of Atlantis and 
by the Lemures to their brethren in Asia 
and Egypt, dwellers in sanctuaries whence 
issued Krishna, Zoroaster, Hermes, Moses, 
Pythagoras and Plato. The priestly Magi 
who preserved this lore in the temples of 
Thebes, Heracleopolis, Aphrodite, Pthah 
and Serapis were succeeded by secret al- 
chemical societies of the first centuries of 
our era; then followed the Hermetic lodges 
of the Arabs, and these gave rise to the 
Templars, the Rosicrucians and the Mar- 
tinists. 
The third society cultivates especially 
occult therapeutics, a system of medicine 
invented in the sixties by Count Czsar 
Mattei, of Bologna, which unites the prin- 
ciples of Hahnemann with those of the 
Tatro-chemists, disciples of Paracelsus. This 
new departure in medicine publishes four 
monthly organs and special treatises all its 
own. 
SCIENCE. 
LN. S. Vou. VI. No. 154. 
The Alchemical Association of France 
is successor to the Société Hermétique, 
which was founded by the late Albert Pois- 
son (+ 1894), also known by the pen-name 
Philophotes. Itsseatisin Paris ; the objects 
of the Association as set forth in its Con- 
stitution are “the theoretical and experi- 
mental study of evolution and of the trans- 
mutation of bodies. Its members, with this 
end in view, study the processes of the 
ancient alchemists and compare them with 
the work of modern chemists.” These ob- 
jects are to be accomplished as follows: 
“The Association proposes to assist in reviv- 
ing the unitary doctrines of chemistry: 
1st, by grouping the efforts of isolated 
workers by means of L’ Hyperchimie; 2d, by 
furnishing them the aid of advanced stu- 
dents ; 3d, by supplying so far as possible 
books and apparatus to its members. Re- 
searches of the members, when approved by 
the Masters, should be forwarded in dupli- 
cate to the Secretary-General; one will be 
printed in L’ Hyperchimie, and the other will 
be preserved in the archives of the Associa- 
tion for the benefit of members who can 
secure iton demand.” ‘“‘ Candidates for ad- 
mission must pass an examination in: Ist, 
the theory and history of alchemy ; and 2d, 
the elements of physics and of chemistry 
(without mathematics). A diploma from 
a normal, polytechnic or industrial school 
will be accepted in place of No. 2.” 
The affairs of the Association are con- 
trolled by the Secretary-General, F. Jollivet- 
Castelot (of Douai), assisted by seven 
Councillors, who hold an annual meeting. 
There are at present (July, 1897) two 
Honorary Members, Camille Flammarion, 
the popular writer on astronomy, and Au- 
gust Strindberg, a Swede residing in 
Austria, author of several hermetic essays.* 
There are two other classes of members, 
* Dr. Stephen H. Emmens, of New York, has been 
added to the list of honorary members since writing 
the above. 
