860 
perfectly acquainted with the ‘ philosophers’ 
stone,’ and, desirous that posterity should 
inherit the wonderful secret,.he had the 
whole art of creating gold engraved on an 
emerald tablet, which was placed in his 
sepulchre. Many years later this was re- 
moved by Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and she 
concealed it in a cave near Hebron ; there 
it remained until again discovered by Alex- 
ander the Great. The inscription reads in 
part as follows: 
“T speak not of fictitious things, but of 
that which is most true and certain. What- 
soever is below is like that which is above, 
and that which is above is like that which 
’ is below, to accomplish the miracles of one 
thing. Also since all things were made 
from one by the help of one, so all things 
are made from one thing by conjunction. 
The Father thereof is the Sun and the 
Mother thereof is the Moon ; the wind car- 
ries it in his belly, and the nurse thereof is 
the earth. * * * This thing has more 
fortitude than fortitude itself, because it 
will overcome every subtile thing and pene- 
trate every solid thing. By it this world 
was formed. Hence proceed wonderful 
things which in this wise were established. 
For this reason I am called Hermes Tris- 
megistus, because I possess three parts of 
the philosophy of the whole world. What 
I had to say about the work of the sun is 
completed.” 
Writers on modern alchemy discuss the 
marvels of palingenesis, of homunculi, 
and of gamahes; they write of the ma- 
terialization of a metal through the medium 
(mediumnité) of a metal; they cite the 
‘Rules of Philalethes,’ the works of George 
Ripley and of the Cosmopolite, and refer in 
the same essay to Berzelius, Berthelot and 
Moissan. We are told that “ le diable est le 
singe de Dieu,” and that the ‘‘ Cherubim of 
the Ark of the Covenant symbolizes the 
male and the female of the Universe, the 
Alchemical Father and Mother,’ by the 
SCIENCE. 
[N. 8. Vou. VI. No. 154. 
very authors who show acquaintance with 
the most recent advances in pure chemistry. 
In liquid fluorin they perceive a realiza- 
tion of the Alkahest, or universal solvent 
long sought by medizval alchemists. . 
Accustomed to juggle with numbers, the 
kabalist finds abundant opportunity in the 
atomic weights of the elements, and he 
makes the most of his opportunity. When 
the arithmetical sum of the atomic weights 
of elements entering into a given compound 
chances to equal the atomic weight of gold, 
this accidental correspondence is seized 
upon as a pretext for claiming hermetic re- 
lationship between the two substances. 
August Strindberg has devoted much 
study to such correspondence and points 
out the following : 
K,Mn0, = 197 = Au 
Cu,Cl, = 196 = Au 
Fe,S = 197 = Au 
C,H,I + 4 Br= 197 = Au 
He uses both 196 and 197 as the atomic 
weight of gold to suit his purposes, and 
seems to be very weak in arithmetic, for the 
hypothetical body Fe,S has a molecular 
weight of 200. 
The ammonium-ferrous-sulfate crystal- 
lized with six molecules of water, which 
chances to havea molecular weight equal to 
that of gold, is used by Strindberg as basis 
of the following experiment, which serves to 
show his method of reasoning and of opera- 
ting. 
Ammoniacal sulfate of iron = 392 = Au 
is perhaps the solution of the enigma ; sul- 
fate of iron (green copperas), precipitates 
solutions of gold; to precipitate according 
to monist-chemistry is to enter as a factor 
into the reconstitution of the body of a 
compound. Soak’a strip of paper in a so- 
lution of sulfate of iron, and expose to the 
fumes of ammonia; the paper will assume 
a bluish-green color like that of the ‘pro- 
toxid of gold. Dry the strip of paper over 
