212 THE REVIVAL OF ALCHEMY, 



Association, special delegate to the supreme council of the Martin ists, 

 editor of L'Hyperchimie, and author of " Comment on devient Alchi- 

 miste," '' L'Hylozoisme," and other alchemic treatises; Dr. M. H. E. 

 Lalande, whose pen name is Marc Haven; F. Ch. Barlet, author of 

 "Essai sur I'Evolutiou de I'Idee." Dr. G. Encausse, who generally 

 conceals his identity under the signature Papus, is president of the 

 esoteric group,^ president of the supreme council of the Martiuists, 

 and the author of sixteen treatises on hermetism and magic, among 

 which may be named " Traite elementaire de magie pratique." Papus 

 is also editor of ^'L'lnitiation," a journal devoted to theosophy, magic, 

 and occultism, and of "Le Voile d'Isis," a weekly review of spiritual- 

 ism. Stanislas de Guaita is best known as the author of " Le Temple 

 de Satan," "Clef de la Magie Noire," and " Le Probleme du Mai," 

 works dealing with sorcery, the astral light in man, and other mys- 

 teries, Marius Decrespe's essay on " Les Microbes de I'Astral," Paul 

 Sedir's " Les Incantations," and Albert de Eocha's " Exteriorisation 

 de la Motricite" are works which indicate the mental attitude of those 

 engaged in the revival of alchemy and hermetism, A bibliography of 

 this class of works is here out of place. A single trade catalogue 

 enumerates one hundred and twenty titles, chiefly of recent date. 



One of the oldest workers in the Alchemical Association is the 

 "master," Theodore Tilfereau. In 1854-55 he sent to the French Acad- 

 emy of Sciences six memoirs, in which he claimed to have discovered a 

 method of converting silver into gold. Tilfereau had made his experi- 

 ments in Mexico at great expense, supporting himself meanwhile by 

 taking daguerreotypes. His process was repeated at the mint in Paris 

 before the assayer, M. Levol, but with liitle success. The substance of 

 his memoirs was published in 1855 in a volume entitled " Les Metaux 

 sont des Corps Composes;" of this a new edition was published by 

 Lermina in 1889. Tiffereau has never abandoned his claim, and as 

 recently as October, 1896, he addressed another memoir to the acad- 

 emy, in which he attempts to prove that the metal aluminum is a com- 

 pound. Briefly stated, his process is as follows : He placed in a stout 

 glass tube a piece of aluminum foil with x)ure nitric acid and sealed the 

 tube hermetically. He then exposed the tube and contents to the sun's 

 rays during two months. At the end of this time he opened the tube; 

 it gave out an odor which he thought was due to ether, and it yielded 

 a few grams of crystals, which he thought tasted like acetic acid. 

 Since both ether and acetic acid are compounds of carbon, Tilfereau 

 concluded that this element was derived from the aluminum. Analyti- 

 cal chemists would criticize this experiment in several points. They 

 would say Tiffereau did not demonstrate the absence of carbon in the 



iThe Groupe Inddpendant d'fitudes fisoteriques has 1,600 members, 104 branches 

 and correspondents. It embraces members of the following societies : Ordre Martin- 

 iste, Ordre Kabbalistique de la Rose- Croix, figiise Gnostique, Soci6t6 Alchimiqne de 

 France. Membership is free. 



