Secrets of alchemy - alchemical revelation. Alchemist's Gold: A History of Alchemy

Alchemy is an art without art, which lies at first, works in the middle, and ends in poverty.

If the alchemists had heard their great science tediously called "the pre-scientific period in the development of chemistry", they would have been severely offended. Indeed, almost 2 thousand years of magic, encrypted manuscripts, brutal persecution, horrific deaths and the greatest discoveries are just a “pre-scientific period”?!

In fact, alchemy, from the point of view of its adherents, is a philosophical doctrine. And all the practical alchemical achievements from ammonia obtained in ancient Egypt to black powder, which changed the entire political map of Europe, are just a by-product.

History of alchemy

The history of alchemy is rather vague, until now the exact origin of alchemy is unknown. Most historians attribute this event to Egypt III-IV centuries. BC, although there is evidence that similar studies were taking place in ancient China and India around this time. The very name "alchemy" is of Arabic origin, presumably from the Egyptian word "chemi" - black or from the ancient Greek "chimeros" - mixing. In ancient Egypt, alchemy (which was not yet called alchemy at that time) was a religious and philosophical movement that was mystical in nature and was an explosive mixture of Aristotle's theories about the 4 primary elements, Chaldean astrology, Persian magic and technological achievements of that time, including ammonia and bright colors.

Gold from lead

Hermes was considered the heavenly patron of alchemy, therefore later, in the Middle Ages, alchemy was often called "hermeticism". Egyptian alchemists were the first to come up with the idea that one metal could be transformed (with the help of alchemy!) into another. Naturally, first of all, the Egyptians wanted to turn something ordinary into gold. The idea of ​​metal transmutation and instant enrichment (all lead into gold!) cost the lives of very, very many, but gold never came out of lead.

And first of all to the ancient Egyptian alchemists themselves. At the end of the III century. The Egyptians rebelled against the Roman emperor Diocletian. The uprising was brutally suppressed, and all the papyri, which told about the manufacture of gold and silver, were burned. In this way, Diocletian tried to undermine the economy of Egypt and destroy a possible source of wealth.

In ancient China, alchemists were mainly concerned with the problems of mining, smelting and processing metals. Some foundations of philosophy were introduced into this purely practical knowledge by Lao Tzu. The ancient Indians, unlike the Chinese and Egyptians, did not pay much attention to practical experiments, preferring the transmutation of the person himself and the achievement of mystical states.

Arabs - keepers of ancient knowledge

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the center of alchemical research moved to the Arab East. Arab scientists preserved a large number of ancient works - basic knowledge of alchemy and added their own reflections to them.

It was the Arabs, and specifically Jabir ibn Hayyan, who introduced the concept of the philosopher's stone into alchemy, i.e. some magical substance that can turn any metals into gold, as well as heal all diseases and give immortality. Ibn Hayyan, on the other hand, connected the Arabic letters with the names of substances, thereby greatly improving the secrecy of alchemical knowledge. Arab alchemists were the first to create a distillation apparatus for their natural science research. Once in Europe, this apparatus revolutionized the production of alcoholic beverages.

In the 7th century Arabs captured the Iberian Peninsula (the territory of modern Spain). This made it possible for Europeans to begin to study the scientific achievements of the Arab East and ancient works. Surprisingly, Christian monks and priests initially had nothing against alchemy, moreover, they actively contributed to its spread. The Dominican Albert the Great himself wrote books on alchemy and introduced it into the course of teaching at the Sorbonne, Thomas Aquinas studied ancient alchemical manuscripts a lot, etc.

The alchemists of the Middle Ages believed their main goals were:

• creation of a philosopher's stone for the implementation of transmutations;
• achieving eternal youth and immortality;
• achieving happiness.

Alchemists of the Middle Ages actively resorted to the help of various magical rites and spells and developed the mystical foundations of alchemy extremely widely. All their research was distinguished by mystery, secrecy, various ciphers and metaphors. In general, the Middle Ages greatly enriched the philosophical principles of alchemy. And already in the first half of the XIV century. The pope banned alchemy in Italy, thus initiating the "witch hunt".

Renaissance

In the Renaissance, alchemy more and more departs from its philosophical beginnings, dealing with the practical problems of metallurgy, medicine, mining, etc. Many acids were discovered, the effect of chemicals on health was actively studied, in which Paracelsus played a big role, etc.

At the same time, Europe, especially the royal courts, is engulfed in a gold rush. Almost all monarchs began to keep one or more alchemists at court, so that with the help of the philosopher's stone they would help them get rich.

On the one hand, this gave a fair impetus to the development of various technologies. So, at the Saxon court, alchemists were the first in Europe to make porcelain products. On the other hand, numerous failures caused many deaths. For example, the Duke of Württemberg, having spent 60,000 livres on the alchemist Genader and getting no result, hung the scientist on a gilded gallows. The discovery of America and the massive influx of gold from there markedly reduced the role of alchemy. In addition, not alchemical, but atomic theories (founded by Democritus) begin to prevail among scientists, and practical alchemy gradually begins to turn into chemistry familiar to us. However, the philosophical and religious foundations of the doctrine did not allow many and many to sleep peacefully. Both in the 19th and 20th centuries. here and there secret societies were organized, taking their basis in the mystical reasoning of medieval alchemists.

Alchemy is a crazy mother of a rational daughter

2 thousand years of existence of alchemy gave rise to many discoveries that are widely used today. Acids, methods for obtaining salts, distillation, including countercurrent, black powder, alcohol and its distillation, vitriol, alum, obtaining amalgam, ether, phosphorus and much, much more originates in the works of alchemists.

The mysticism and mysticism that surrounded alchemy served as an impetus for a wide variety of literary works: from Faust to Harry Potter (the hero of the latter in one of the books looks for the philosopher's stone and its inventor, the 14th-century alchemist Nicolas Flamel).

Moreover, despite the fact that all the "miracles" performed by alchemists, all the discoveries of alchemy are fully explainable from the point of view of modern chemistry, some people still continue to search for the magic philosopher's stone. However, the practical achievements of alchemy remained in the distant past. But its philosophical and mystical foundations, surprisingly, continue to attract many.

For centuries, alchemists have unsuccessfully tried to turn lead into gold. For them, it was the ultimate goal, not because it would make everyone insanely rich, but because it was considered as close to perfection as humanly possible.

Gold was a symbol of complete, completed development, rebirth and the victory of good over evil. They tried to create it not to achieve financial wealth, but for a much higher reason. And the fact that alchemists often tried to make gold from lead was also not without reason.

Lead was a fairly common metal, but that's not the point. It symbolized everything that is opposite to gold - everything low, dark, evil. It was the most base of all the base metals. Turning it into gold was more than turning a cheap metal into an expensive one. It was the transformation of the diabolical into the divine. The alchemists who worked on this problem considered it in terms of four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water.

All they needed was a particle accelerator.

With this device, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were able to turn bismuth, a lead-like material, into tiny pieces of gold. They were so small that they could only be measured by the radiation emitted by the new element as it slowly decayed. In essence, the destruction of bismuth by high-speed particles helped to obtain gold. Scientists managed to realize the centuries-old dream of alchemists, but it turned out to be a rather unprofitable undertaking - all efforts cost about $ 120,000.

Recently, however, researchers at Princeton University have found a possible way to make alchemy practical. In experimental chemistry, they found a way to combine iron atoms with organic molecules, which would help create a catalyst. Ultimately, it will act in the same way as some of the more expensive materials (like cobalt and platinum) that are used to drive chemical reactions like those in batteries.

The consequences of this can be truly staggering. This discovery can be used to create a real global energy. Researchers use the same principles when they extract nitrogen from the air and convert it into other forms, such as fuel and fertilizer. This can quickly eliminate the need for large-scale mining or the use of incredibly expensive components. After all, ordinary, base metals can perform the same role with a minimum amount of conversion.

For centuries, mankind has tried to turn one metal into another, but scientists subsequently declared the opposite. At the same time, alchemists made incredible contributions to modern science and laid the foundations for today's chemistry. Now scientists have "returned to the roots" - and the circle is closed.

Alchemy as the science of "creating" gold appeared in the third or fourth centuries BC in Ancient Egypt, but only in the Middle Ages spread to all European countries.

The goal of the alchemists was to find the so-called. "Philosopher's stone" supposedly if you mix it with silver or mercury, heating it to a high temperature, you get an ingot of gold. Even such well-known scientists as Avicenna, Bacon, Leibniz and Baruch Spinoza were sure of similar results of this process.

Outstanding physician of the 17th century. Helvetius reported that in 1666 a man who had extraordinary knowledge in many sciences came to him. The man gave the scientist a couple of grams of powder, which, according to him, carries out the transformation of certain metals into gold. In the morning Helvetius heated tin and poured this powder into the molten metal. “When the mixture cooled, it shone. The whole family went to the jeweler, and he defined it as “gold of the highest standard!”. Spinoza found a goldsmith and he confirmed everything that Helvetius said.

In 1648, the Emperor of Austria Ferdinand III, having poured a powdery substance, which was provided to him by the alchemist Richthausen, independently obtained gold from mercury, and a medal with the image of Mercury was made from it. She until the beginning of the XIX century. was in the treasury vault in Vienna.

In 1705, Peikül, who was engaged in alchemy, and several witnesses, including the chemist Girn, made a transformation and a special medal was knocked out of this ingot.

in Paris in the 14th century. scribe Nicolas Flamel, doing his work, accidentally discovered the oldest parchment with mysterious symbols depicted on it. Nicolas spent more than 20 years to no avail to understand these symbols. Then he went to Madrid, and after a couple of years he found a man who deciphered all the signs. After that, Flamel took up experiments and in January 1382 he was lucky!

The famous Edison and the unpredictable Nikola Tesla also tried to find a solution. For several months they retired to the laboratory and engaged in mysterious experiments. Avoiding prying eyes, they closed the curtains tightly, and when they left the room, they carefully checked the locks. They were irradiated with x-rays, the electrodes of the apparatus were covered with a layer of gold, the thinnest silver plates.

Chemist Stephen Emmens, who previously invented explosives for mining, told reporters that he had the secret of the "philosopher's stone". It is worth noting that after careful analysis, the bars were purchased by jewelers. Emmens agreed to speak and demonstrate these processes at the Paris exhibition in 1900, but did not come, and then disappeared from sight altogether.

A similar fate awaited Professor Adolf Mietche from Germany, who in 1924 announced that he knew the secret and successfully resorted to this method several times.

At this time, a huge number of scammers appeared, using a variety of tricks to deceive gullible citizens. If such a "craftsman" was convicted of fraud, he was threatened with the gallows. And if it was not possible to prove the deceit, then the authorities believed that he was connected with evil spirits and he was awaited by a life sentence in prison. It was difficult to get out of this vicious circle, saving one's life, and it was necessary to have great courage to conduct such experiments.

The famous chemist J. Berzelius from Sweden germinated lettuce leaves in hydroponics and watered only with purified water. After some time, he burned the plants and studied the composition of the ash, it turned out that there was twice as much sulfur in the ash as in the seed! The famous biologist Louis Kervran from France grew oats using the same method and it turned out that after a month the amount of calcium in the spikelets increased four to seven times.

Professor D. Bertrand, who taught at the University of Paris for more than 20 years, was engaged in the same experiments and came to an incredible result: “It begins to seem to me that the plant “knows” the secret of alchemists and daily transforms various chemical elements!”. But not only the plant world has the ability to transform elements. Chickens received oats with a certain amount of calcium. However, their egg shells contained far more of this chemical element than their food contained.

Geologists are sure that a similar transformation occurs in inanimate nature. The Russian geologist P. A. Korolkov claims that almost all ore deposits arise as a result of the transformation of elements.

"Gold grows underground" - assured the old days. The greatest scientist Leonardo da Vinci was of the same opinion: “Look closely at the branches of the ore, and you will notice processes on their tips!”.

Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke says that in laboratories, experiments on the transformation of elements will be possible by the middle of our century.

Alchemy as the art of "creating" gold originated in the 3rd - 4th centuries AD, in Egypt, but it became especially widespread in the Middle Ages in Europe. The main goal of the alchemists was to obtain the "Philosopher's Stone", since it was believed that this element was able to change the structure of any metal, turning it into gold or silver. Such outstanding scientists as Avicenna, Francis Bacon, Leibniz, Spinoza, Isaac Newton and others were convinced of the reality of alchemy.

In various museums around the world and in the collections of numismatists, there are many coins and medals made from the gold of alchemists. They are decorated with inscriptions: "A miraculous transformation, Committed in Prague on January 16, 1648 in the Presence of His Royal Majesty Ferdinand III" or "The chemical transformation of Saturn into the sun, that is, lead into gold, was carried out in Innsbruck on December 31, 1716 under the patronage of His Excellency Count Palatine Charles Philip."

The guidebook, published more than two hundred years ago, invites us to the imperial treasury in Vienna, introducing each exhibit in turn. Gemstones sparkle from faded pages, gold and silver glisten. There is a bar of gold weighing 300 ducats, which the alchemist and. k. richthausen created from lead in the presence of the king and emperor Ferdinand III, which is confirmed by the inscription on gold: "Received in Prague on January 15, 1658 in the presence of His Holy Imperial Majesty Ferdinand III." There also hangs on a chain a large round medal with 41 chased portraits of the rulers of the Habsburg dynasty. Once it was silver, but the Czech alchemist Wenzel Seiler turned it half into gold. We know about the fate of the two alchemists that Ferdinand III elevated Richthausen to the rank of baron, and Leopold I promoted Seiler to the nobility and honored him by ordering to make coins from artificial gold with the inscription: "Wenzel Seyler has Good Powder, Therefore, I Turned into gold."

And other collections included gold made by alchemists. Here, lying on a velvet cushion, the coins proudly proclaimed the story of their transformation. There, a golden cup reported that a base metal had been turned into gold by the mysterious means of the alchemists. In the collection of the Florentine Archduke Küchelbecker there is a nail: half of it consisted of gold, half of iron. Artificial silver objects are more modest, among them the so-called Kronemann thalers stand out, they were created from lead and mercury by the alchemist of the Brandenburg Margrave Erne Kerestey, Baron Kronemann.

A real sensation was made by the treasures left by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II after his death. In the form of gold bars, the heirs unexpectedly found 84 centners of gold and 60 centners of silver. Rudolf II was an adherent of the secret sciences, astrologers, clairvoyants and alchemists constantly lived at his court. Naturally, everyone assumed that the treasures discovered after his death had alchemical significance.
Rudolf II had followers among the German princes, in particular, Elector Augustus, who personally conducted experiments with the philosopher's stone. His laboratory was called the golden house. The elector August wrote to his Italian colleague: "I have already entered the course of business so much that I can make three ounces of full-weight gold out of eight ounces of silver." The golden fortune of August after his death was estimated at a significant amount for those times - 17 million thalers. It was believed that the elector found the recipe for the philosopher's stone. Many successors sought to learn this recipe. One of them, August II, being the Elector of Saxony and the King of Poland, in a dispute with the Prussian King Frederick I took the alchemist Johann Betger from him. The alchemist was kept captive until he discovered something that the Prussian princes valued extremely highly. We're talking about porcelain. The Dresden State Porcelain Collection contains a 170 g solid gold bead, obtained by a betger in 1713 through alchemical manipulations.

Many kings and emperors kept court alchemists, driven by the desire to take possession of the philosopher's stone, with which one could become even more powerful. Failure could cost the alchemist very dearly, often unsuccessful experimenters were hanged on gilded gallows, but the successes of alchemists were highly valued and provided them with full patronage, many honors and a comfortable existence. Alchemy was so widespread that the English king Henry IV even issued a decree forbidding the transformation of base metals into gold without his knowledge. It must be assumed that the king was seriously afraid that someone would outdo him in wealth and power.

Documents of that time preserved many descriptions of experiments culminating in the transformation of base metals into gold. What was hidden behind these demonstrations of the success of alchemy?

In Europe, alchemy found support for the church. Alchemy was even an instrument of the church, in accordance with its dogmas, and many clergy tried their hand at the path of searching for the philosopher's stone. When they went beyond the requirements of the church, they immediately became victims of persecution.

Alchemy in the West was under the auspices of astrology and therefore acquired a secret character. The political conditions of medieval Europe and the rivalry of numerous courts created fertile ground for the search for the philosopher's stone. Spain, Italy, France, Germany, England - this is the cradle of Western alchemy. It was a disinterested search undertaken by honest people, adherents of alchemy, convinced of the possibility of finding the philosopher's stone by chemical operations. But charlatans also acted alongside them, using alchemy for their own self-interest.

Arab alchemists left a noticeable mark in pharmacology, in particular, they introduced the so-called "Drinking Gold", which was credited with outstanding healing properties, similar to the elixir of longevity.

The Arabs abandoned mysticism and mystery and did a lot to turn alchemy into a real science. Among them were prominent scientists whose names have come down to our time: Geber, Rhazes, Avicenna.

Egypt is considered the cradle of alchemy. The first reliable information about alchemy as the art of "multiplication" of gold and silver is contained in the "Leiden papyri" (II century) found in Egypt at the beginning of the 19th century. This collection of records contains numerous recipes for making artificial gems, obtaining purple, preparing some alloys, describes methods for tempering metals, methods for silvering and gilding jewelry, etc. after Egypt became part of the mighty Roman Empire (Greece became one and a half centuries earlier), and especially after the rise of Christianity, hard times fell on scientists. At the end of the 3rd century AD, the emperor Diocletian brutally suppressed the Egyptian uprising and at the same time ordered the burning of ancient books, being absolutely sure that they contained the secrets of making gold in unlimited quantities available only to the Egyptians, fearing that they would use them in the war against the empire. Later, Emperor Justinian banned any chemical occupations, declaring them ungodly. But the constant demand for gold pushed the most active representatives of metallurgy to try to turn base metals into noble ones.

Museums and collections in Europe store 62 genuine gold coins and medals made by alchemists three hundred to four hundred years ago.

There were many legends about the gold of alchemists. In connection with the history of the Templars, this was reported in the magazine (Miracles and Adventures No. 10/1996. Forty or fifty years ago, the fundamental possibility of transforming elements in nuclear processes became clear. And this again and again makes researchers turn to those coins and medals that were minted from alchemical gold and have come down to our days. Basically, they belong to the XVI-XVII centuries - the heyday of alchemy. And these are no longer encrypted texts of ancient recipes that cannot be verified, these are material evidence of their activities that can be seen, picked up and examined in laboratory conditions.It is obvious that someone really managed to achieve the desired result.These products are characterized by two features: symbols showing from which source element the gold was obtained, and a high standard of the precious metal.An article by the historian M. pazin describes the main samples of coins from alchemical gold, preserved to this day.

In the Middle Ages, there was a strong belief in the possibility of turning cheap metals into expensive ones. Many were engaged in alchemy, from monks to nobles, their activities were favorably treated by high-ranking people and monarchs, who often themselves engaged in such experiments. And oddly enough, traces of their activities have survived to this day in material incarnation - in coins minted from alchemical gold or silver, and in medals dedicated to these events, in books and treatises.

In 1692 a catalog of a doctor and mathematician from Kiel c. Reicher "On Various Coins Made from Chemical Metals". It described in detail all the medals and coins known at that time, minted from gold and silver of alchemical origin, including those that were in circulation at that time. Coins from this metal were in circulation, they were believed, they were accepted as payment. Their presence of alchemical symbols was different. Alchemists in every possible way classified their activities, encrypted their records, and certain components of the recipes were designated by symbols. Such symbols were also found on coins and indicated what metal the gold or silver for these coins was obtained from.

The symbols of sulfur and mercury are marked on the coins of the city of Erfruit. These are the silver thaler of 1617 and the gold ducat of 1617. The symbol of mercury is on the thaler of 1630 of the elector of Mainz, Archbishop Anselm Casimir (1629-1647. Several material monuments of alchemy were left behind by the Swedish king Gustav-Adolf (1594-1632. One hundred pounds of gold obtained from tin, he was presented by a certain merchant from Lübeck. Ducats were minted from it. The king generously thanked the merchant, because after his death they found 1.7 million crowns in his house. The king himself was engaged in alchemy, together with his coin master Weinsmantel. In memory of this activity, 1631 and 1632 were minted silver medals with the sign of mercury. Silver two-thaler coins of 1632, gold ducats of 1634 and two-ducat coins of 1632 with the symbols of sulfur and mercury were issued. Apparently, the merchant passed on his secret to them, and the king himself turned sulfur and mercury into gold and silver and then minted coins from it.

Another Swedish king, Charles XII (1697-1718) left a visible mark on alchemy. During the war with Poland in 1705, near Warsaw, he captured a former subject, General Otto Arnold von Paykul. The general commanded the troops of the Polish King August II of Saxony, who fought on the side of Peter I with Sweden. The general was sentenced to death by the Royal Court of Sweden. Paikul asked for pardon, and in return promised to reveal to King Karl the secret of making gold in large quantities, almost worth a million thalers. The prisoner was given the opportunity to do so. In the presence of the general arms master Hamilton and the lawyer Fegman, he received gold from tin. 147 ducats were minted from it with the inscription: "This Gold Was Smelted by Chemical Art in Stockholm in 1706 by O. A. Paikul". However, after revealing the secret, the general was executed. In our time, ducats made with the help of alchemy have been tested and really pure gold - the 97th sample.

Landgrave Ernst Ludwig Hesse of Darmstadt (1667-1739) was able to mint several hundred ducats from the gold obtained by converting tin (1667-1739). John Konrad von Richthausen, appeared in the vein of Emperor Ferdinand III.In 1648 in Prague, in the presence of the emperor and the mint master Count Rutz, he turned 3 libra of gold from mercury (libra - 327) using the "Philosopher's Stone".He took the stone with his deceased friend La Busardi in the house of Count Mansfeld.

When in 1648 the Austrian emperor Ferdinand III personally obtained gold from mercury with the help of the powder of the alchemist Richthausen, he ordered to mint a medal weighing 300 ducats (more than a kilogram of gold) from this metal, on which the image of Mercury was engraved as a symbol of the completed transformation. This medal was kept in the Vienna treasury at the end of the 18th century.
The grateful emperor assigns the title of von chaos to Richthausen and gives him the Sachsengang estate on the Danube. Later, in 1658, Emperor Leopold I made him his vicegerent in Banska Stiavnica and Kremnica in Slovakia. The alchemist Johann Konrad von Richthausen von Chaos died in 1663 in glory and honor.
In addition to the emperor, this alchemist also worked with other people and gave some of the "Philosopher's Stone" and Johann Philipp of Mainz. The elector himself placed the remedy in the form of a ball in the flame of a candle so that the wax flowed into the crucible, added 4 ounces of mercury there, put the crucible on coals for half an hour, which led to the transformation of mercury into gold. The resulting gold was so fine that it had to be alloyed with silver. In 1658, Mainz ducats were minted from it, part of the gold went to George V of Hesse of Darmstadt, part - to a professor at the University of Jena, Wedel.

The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Leopold I (1640-1705) patronized alchemists without fail (1640-1705. In his laboratories, alchemists performed dizzying experiments that delighted Europe. One famous figure in the field of alchemy was Wenzel Seiler. A twenty-eight-year-old monk, an Augustinian from the Czech Republic, used some purple powder, which he allegedly found in some church in Prague.According to other sources, in a dream he saw a place where.
Allegedly, Paracelsus himself buried his "Stone of Wisdom". In the presence of Emperor Leopold I, he turned zinc into gold, from which ducats were minted in 1675. It was testified to them: "By the power of Wenzel Seiler's Powder, I turned Zinc into Gold." In gratitude for this, the monarch raised the monk to the rank of nobility, and he became Weinzel von Reiburn. Seiler received the title of "Royal Court Chemist" and was knighted in 1676. The crowning achievement of the former monk's career was his appointment as Obermeister of the Bohemia Mint. In 1677, again in the presence of Emperor Leopold I, with the help of a liquid tincture, he made a silver medal half gold. The medal has been preserved and is in the Art and History Museum of Vienna, its weight is 7.2 kilograms. The small chips on the medallion are the result of a sampling carried out probably as early as 1677. A more detailed analysis was made in 1930 by the microanalytical laboratory of the Vienna Institute of Technology. According to this analysis, part of the medal consists of an alloy of gold, silver and copper, containing approximately 43.18% silver and 56.82% gold. The entire family tree is depicted on the medallion. In the center you can see the bust of Emperor Leopold I, surrounded by three concentric circles of their ancestors, starting with the King of the Franks and ending with his father, Ferdinand III (1637-1657).

Baron Pfenniger, Oberegermeister of the Elector of the Palatinate, in the presence of King Charles IV, turned lead into gold with the help of a tincture he received from a person who died in 1655. This event was dedicated to the medal with the appropriate inscription.

Doctor i. Becher (1652-1682) also practiced alchemy, and in 1675 a medal was struck with the inscription: "In the Month of July, 1675, I, Dr. J. I. Becher, Received this Ounce of the Purest Silver by the Art of Alchemy."

In 1705, the alchemist peikül, in the presence of the scientist - chemist girn and many witnesses, also made several transformations of base metals into gold. In memory of what happened, a special medal was knocked out of the received gold. This list could be continued, historical evidence of the transmutation of cheap metals into noble ones.

Golden treasure of 17 million

Gold. No other metal in the history of the world has possessed such a magical attraction! The shimmering sheen of gold aroused human greed, beckoned countless adventurers into the distance, and was often the pretext for bloody wars of conquest. Auri sacra fames! (Damned thirst for gold!). With such words, ancient Roman poets castigated the insatiable greed of mankind for gold. The reason for the attractive power of gold is its unusual properties: chemical resistance, high density, ease of processing in the manufacture of jewelry and worship. A long time ago, gold became a symbol of the eternally unchanged and valuable, it became the "king of metals". Long before the beginning of our reckoning, it was considered a measure of value, a universal means of exchange and settlement. The possession of gold was the privilege of the few. Gold has become synonymous with wealth and power. It retained this function to our time. In the world capitalist economy, gold, as before, plays a predominant role as a currency base. Gold is one of the few elements that occurs naturally in the form of nuggets. It is usually dispersed in minimal concentrations in solid rock. In the table of the abundance of chemical elements in the earth's crust, gold ranks 77th, which is one of the reasons for its high cost. Getting gold artificially in any amount is an old, albeit naive, dream of many people. Interestingly, the problem of making gold again and again occupied people, right up to our time. To show this, it suffices to turn to the recent past. "Among the mysteries of natural science, none has caused so much thought and controversy over a millennium and a half, as art ... which is called alchemy." When the professor of philosophy Karl Schmider of Kassel wrote this in 1832 in the introduction to his voluminous study "History of Alchemy", he clearly could not hide his surprise and even reverence for the mysteries of such an "art". Professor Schmider collected factual material with scientific precision. He wanted to present a historical overview of alchemy, that is, the art of making gold. Schmieder has always sought to separate legend from fact and distinguish scientific deceit from unintentional self-deception. However, despite the firm intention to dispel the medieval mystical ideas about alchemy and evaluate it critically, the author eventually came to stunning statements. There is a chemical preparation with which metals can be turned into gold! Despite the dubious tricks of many deceivers, there is supposedly enough evidence that from substances that do not contain gold, real gold can be obtained using the art of alchemy. For such a transmutation (transformation) of base metals into gold, the notorious philosopher's stone, also called the great elixir or red tincture, was used. Ancient alchemists possessed this amazing substance and knew how to prepare it. Schmider regretted that the recipe was apparently lost. True miracles were told about the philosopher's stone: it was supposed to bring its owner not only sparkling gold and unlimited wealth, but also to reveal the secret of eternal youth and long life. This wonderful liquid is allegedly a panacea for diseases and senile ailments, an elixir of life. Schmider stated that with the help of the art of alchemy it is also possible to obtain pure silver from substances that do not contain silver. For this, a "stone of the second order" was used, which is also a small elixir, or white tincture. Of course, only a few were true craftsmen, Schmider concluded in his book. - In the end, deceivers, swindlers, charlatans have discredited the high art of alchemy. They expected to achieve wealth in an easy way. The greed of specific princes, kings and emperors, who, using their all-powerful power, forced alchemists to serve their selfish interests, greatly damaged alchemy. Raimundus Lullus from Spain, who traveled a lot, belonged to those true sages-artists, according to Schmider, who possessed the philosopher's stone. By the beginning of the 14th century, the English king Edward managed to get this legendary personality into his service. He was able to attract Lullus with a promise to open a campaign against the infidels - the Turks; as a result, Lullus made a kind of agreement with the English crown: the alchemist undertook to make 60,000 pounds of gold from mercury, tin and lead, which would be of better quality than gold from mines. Ships were to be equipped with this gold and warriors were to be paid for the holy war against the infidels. However, Edward's secret plans were different. After Lullus in a short time actually produced the promised amount of gold, the king ordered that gold coins be minted from it with his image and the heretical inscription: "Edward, King of England and France." These were coins twice as heavy as ducats, they had the image of a warrior and a ship. These gold coins spoke of the true political intentions of the English ruler - to conquer France and rule over the united Anglo-French state. Such a plan was much more to his liking than a risky crusade against the sons of Mahomet. It would be quite simple to classify this deed of the alchemist Lullus into the realm of fables, which many alchemical stories truly deserve. However, those Raimund nobles of royal coinage can still be seen in museums. They are made of gold of a high standard and were probably issued in large quantities, for many calculations were carried out with this coin. This is all the more striking, historians testify, that England at that time practically did not conduct maritime trade and did not possess either colonies or gold mines, and the goods of the Hanse were usually paid for with tin. From what sources did King Edward scoop up the gold with which he apparently was able to cover the costs of the ensuing thirty years of war with France? There are other mysteries of this kind in the history of the Middle Ages. For example, the treasures that Emperor Rudolph II left after his death in 1612 made no less of a sensation. In his inheritance, quite unexpectedly, 84 centners of gold and 60 centners of silver were found in the form of ingots. The mysterious liquid, which was in the same place, was considered made from the philosopher's stone. Rudolf II, who had his residence in Prague since 1576 as German emperor, was famous for his great adherence to the secret sciences. In those days, astrologers, soothsayers, clairvoyants and ... alchemists crowded in a motley succession at his court. Therefore, it seemed certain to many that the remaining gold and silver were of alchemical origin. Rudolf II found numerous followers at the German princely courts. One of them was the Elector of Saxony Augustus, who personally carried out experiments with the philosopher's stone in the laboratory and, as they said, successfully. The people called his laboratory nothing more than a golden house. It was equipped by him in the resident city of Dresden, where the professional alchemist Schwerzer also worked for him. Elector Augustus wrote in 1577 to an Italian alchemist: "I have already become so up to date that I can make three ounces of full-weight gold out of eight ounces of silver." Augustus left a gold treasure of 17 million thalers, a significant amount at that time. The whole world believed that the elector had found a recipe for the transformation of metals. His successors, including Augustus II, called the Strong, were very eager to learn this secret. As Elector of Saxony and King of Poland in 1701, in a famous state dispute with the Prussian king Frederick I, Augustus II took away the alchemist Johann Bötger from him. The latter was kept prisoner in Dresden, and later in the fortress of Königstein, until he received something that the German princes at that time valued their weight in gold. It was porcelain. Appointed director of the Meissen porcelain manufactory, founded in 1710, Betger apparently remained true to his inclinations towards alchemy. The Dresden State Porcelain Collection still holds a piece of pure gold weighing about 170 g, which Betger allegedly obtained in 1713 through alchemical manipulations.

Experiments with gold

The emperor Leopold I, who ruled from 1658 to 1705, was considered the great patron of all alchemists. At his court, alchemists performed sensational transformations, which at one time amazed everyone. Scientists have recently puzzled over them. The most exciting alchemical adventure is associated with the name of the Augustinian monk Wenzel Seiler. Here is his story. In 1675, rumors about the cheerful life of alchemists at the Viennese court attracted this monk to the residence of the emperor. Life in a monastery in Prague bored him. Zeiler himself was going to serve alchemy. He stole a red powder from one colleague, believing that this was the mysterious philosopher's stone. Emperor Leopold I listened sympathetically to everything that the monk could tell him. Being the patron of all itinerant craftsmen, he also sheltered Seiler. The monk was supposed to show his art in the emperor's secret laboratory. It was a gloomy cellar with narrow windows that barely let in daylight. Torches on the walls served as additional lighting. Their flickering light, gliding along the cold walls, gave the atmosphere something ominous. Zeyler had to call upon all his composure to appear outwardly cool. He realized that not only his career at court, but life itself depended on the upcoming experiment. The trial of deceivers was usually brief. Many of them ended their lives on the gallows, painted with gold leaf. Seyler said that he would partially "paint", that is, turn, a copper vessel into gold. "Well, then, begin!" - ordered the ruler sharply, but quite graciously. The monk began the ceremony with theatrical gestures and mysterious, almost incomprehensible words. However, Leopold I, well acquainted with such cabalistic tricks, interrupted impatiently: "Act at last!" When she was red-hot, the master poured a pinch of miraculous red powder on her. Mumbling some incantations - this he could not refuse in any way, Zeiler turned the copper vessel several times in the air and finally plunged it into the prepared vat of cold water. A miracle happened! Wherever the philosopher's stone touched the copper of the cup, there was a familiar sheen of gold. With relief, the monk turned to a crucible with bubbling mercury standing at a distance. Zeiler ordered his assistant to increase the fire, for, as he announced with enthusiasm, now he wanted to turn mercury to gold! For this purpose, he covered a part of the red powder with wax and threw it into a boiling liquid. He poured out a thick, acrid smoke, which forced all the curious who came too close to the fire to cough and turn away ... Almost instantly, the violent seething in the crucible stopped. The melt has solidified. Seyler forced the servant who kept the fire going to work even harder. The hiss of the blower was the only sound that broke the reverent silence for several minutes. The emperor Leopold and the chosen courtiers looked, as if spellbound, into the flames of coals, which seemed to threaten to engulf the crucible. However, the monk stated that the fire was not yet strong enough. With a confident movement, he threw a few coals into the melt. They burned with a blazing flame. When Seiler ordered the servant to pour the liquid melt into a flat bowl, it became clear that the contents had decreased significantly. Something miraculous happened again. The solidifying metal sparkled with a light sheen of gold, brightly reflecting the light of the torches. The emperor nodded to have the sample of gold taken to the goldsmith, who was waiting in the next room. Then several times he passed a piece of gold crosswise over polished flint, the so-called touchstone. On the dark, matte surface, Zeyler's gold left a thin mark. Experienced specialists can only draw conclusions about the gold content based on the color and appearance of this stroke. Our jeweler moistened the strokes with nitric acid. The gold on the touchstone hasn't changed. Other metals would dissolve in nitric acid. Such a test, which is usually used to determine the gold content, was only beginning to be used at that time. The method was later improved. For comparison, they began to use assay strokes with a known gold content, as they do now. The emperor and the courtiers were looking forward to what the verdict of the goldsmith would be. Finally, the result was announced: the jeweler declared that this was the purest, high-carat gold he had ever dealt with! Leopold did not skimp on royal praise. Zeyler also made no secret of his triumph. Emboldened by his success, he announced another experiment: Seiler wanted to turn tin, ordinary tin, into pure gold. This bold attempt also succeeded. The emperor turned to the joyfully excited alchemist: "Do not hesitate to present us with further evidence of your high art. Get gold, and we will shower you with favors!" Emperor Leopold I ordered the minting of ducats from artificial gold. On one side they have his image, on the other, an inscription placed around the date 1675: "I am turned from tin into gold by the power of Wenzel Seyler's powder." These coins were almost pure gold. The line on the touchstone showed a purity greater than 23 carat gold. True, the ducats seemed somewhat lightweight to critical contemporaries. With great pomp Seyler was awarded the title of "royal court chemist", and in September 1676 he was knighted. In addition, the emperor Leopold, not without a distant sight, appointed him Obermeister of the Mint of Bohemia. The emperor probably expected that, thanks to Zeyler's dexterity, the Bohemian tin mines would soon bring more income than the Hungarian gold mines. Other examples of coins allegedly minted from transmuted metals are also known. Adherents of alchemy willingly saluted them as irrefutable evidence. When a certain Baron von Chaos made two and a half pounds of "gold" from three pounds of mercury, a commemorative medal was minted from this metal. The inscription in Latin on it reads: "A miraculous transformation performed in Prague on January 16, 1648 in the presence of His Royal Majesty Ferdinand III." The Austrian naturalist and economist Johann Joachim Becher cannot by any means be considered an alchemist. However, he also believed in the transformation of metals. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna has a medal with the following inscription: "In the month of July 1675, I, Dr. J. I. Becher, received this ounce of the purest silver from lead by alchemical transmutation." There is another gold medal, the weight of which corresponds to 16.5 ducats, bearing the following cryptic inscription: "Aurea progenis plumbo prognata parente". It means: "Golden offspring of a lead parent". On the reverse side we read: "The chemical transformation of Saturn into the Sun, that is, lead into gold, was carried out in Innsbruck on December 31, 1716 under the auspices of His Excellency Count Palatine Karl Philip ...".

Alchemists, their tricks and the famous Philosopher's Stone

Even today the question arises: "How did Zeiler perform his alchemical trick?" In the dark times of the Middle Ages, they firmly believed in the transmutation of metals. How is it in our enlightened times? At present, first of all, it is not clear why Emperor Leopold I, who was well versed in alchemy, failed to convict the monk. After all, the tricks of roguish alchemists were already thoroughly studied then. Many times the "gold" of the alchemists turned out to be a hoax - brass, tompac or bronze. Even Aristotle in the IV century BC. e. mentioned that when copper is fused with zinc or tin, golden-yellow alloys are formed. Consequently, already in antiquity it was known that "not all that glitters is gold." There were also craftsmen who received "silver" in the form of a silvery-white alloy by adding arsenic to a copper melt; thus, too simplistic, the "art of transformation" of metals was understood: it was enough for the base metal to acquire only the color of the desired noble metal. In other cases, only the dexterity of a magician was required to quietly throw a piece of noble metal into the melt. How exactly to implement this - depended on the imagination of the craftsman. Some "masters of the golden kitchen" preferred to use a hollow stick "to stir" the melt, inside which several grains of gold were hidden, and the hole was clogged with wax. If the stick was wooden, then the lower, hollow part of it was completely burned in the melt. In such an elegant way, material evidence was quickly destroyed, before anyone could have suspicion and a desire to examine the "magic wand" closer. In their experiments, "goldsmiths" showed extraordinary resourcefulness. They used crucibles with a double bottom, from which gold poured out when heated, or coals with gold sealed inside. Sometimes gold dust contributed to success - it was blown into the melt together with air pumped by a blower. However, in some, almost flawless, demonstrations, it was impossible to immediately unravel the deception. The Swiss Tourneisser, an alchemist and miracle doctor, whose changeable fate drove him to different countries, once half turned an iron nail into gold, and this happened in front of one cardinal, who testified in writing: gold. It happened in Rome on November 20, 1586." The nail has long been exhibited to the public as proof of true alchemical skill. However, when Johann Keisler, who was traveling in Italy, became interested in this rarity in 1730, he could not get an intelligible answer. "Apparently, for many years people have been ashamed to show this nail, after it was discovered that it is a fraud and the whole trick lies in inconspicuous soldering," wrote Keisler in his report published in 1740. Tourneisser fooled the audience with a simple trick. With great skill, he soldered a golden point to an iron nail, which he covered with the appropriate paint. During the alchemical operation, the coloring disappeared, and the fooled spectators saw the brilliance of gold. In the transformation of mercury into gold, the most popular in those days, it was necessary to isolate the gold "hidden" in mercury. In the crushed state, gold almost instantly dissolves in liquid mercury, which does not change its characteristic silver color. It is known that such gold amalgams remain liquid up to its content of 10-12% and look like pure mercury. Dispelling liquid mercury is child's play for alchemists. After evaporation of the mercury, pure gold remained in the crucible. It should be noted that there were also honest, convinced alchemists who fell prey to self-deception. They firmly believed that they obtained gold by melting down large quantities of silver, mercury, lead, or by processing their ores. Due to the paucity of knowledge in analytical chemistry, they did not know that they were only enriching the small amount of gold that was already present in metals and ores. Silver coins, often used for experimentation, always contained a small amount of gold if minted before 1830. Removing traces of gold from silver for minting was either impossible with the technology of the time, or simply too costly. However, what connection does all this have with the famous philosopher's stone? The recipe for its complex manufacture was described in numerous alchemical treatises and thick tomes, but in such a form that no one, and often the alchemist himself, could understand anything. Some of these "recipes" are relatively clear, such as the prescription for making the Philosopher's Stone in Basilius Valentinius' Code of Chemistry. If some of the most important data in it is encrypted with alchemical symbols, then their solution is still quite simple. Chemical preparation of a blood-red liquid from mercury ore by dissolving the latter in aqua regia has been described; the mixture was eventually heated for several months in a closed vessel - and the elixir of wisdom was ready. It should be noted that in some details all recipes are the same. So, it is often indicated that the philosopher's stone is a bright red non-hygroscopic substance. When it is obtained from mercury and other constituents, the substance changes its color several times - from black to white, then to yellow and finally to red. Professor K. van Nievenburg from the Netherlands in 1963 took it upon himself to repeat the numerous operations of alchemists using the methods of modern science. In one of the experiments, he actually observed the described color changes. After removing all the mercury prescribed by the alchemists, as well as its salts, by decomposition at high temperatures or sublimation, he obtained a very beautiful red non-hygroscopic substance. The sparkling prismatic crystals were chemically pure AgAuCl4* silver chloraurate. It is possible that this compound was the same philosopher's stone, which, due to its high gold content (44%), could cause the desired transformation, say, surface gilding or fusion with base metals. Of course, more gold could not be conjured with this compound than it contained.

Mystery of the golden medallion

Today it is no longer possible to establish whether Wenzel Seyler took a substance like chloraurate or whether he used some kind of sophisticated trick to bring his experiments on the transformation of metals to the desired goal under the critical eye of Emperor Leopold I. However, Zeiler did another trick that can be admired today and which is not kept, ashamed, locked up, like Tourneisser's nail. The collection of medals and coins of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna contains a medallion weighing more than 7 kg. Its diameter is about 40 cm, and in terms of gold content it corresponds to 2055 old Austrian ducats. On the artistic relief of the front side, portraits of numerous ancestors of the imperial house are visible. This row begins with King Faramund of the Franks (5th century) and ends with Leopold I, who is depicted with his wife in the center of the medallion. On the reverse side, an inscription in Latin informs that in the year 1677, on the feast of St. Leopold, Wenzel Seiler carried out "this true experiment of the actual and complete transformation of metals." Here is such a stunning trick issued by a former Augustinian monk! In front of the emperor, in front of the assembled courtiers, representatives of the clergy and nobility, Zeyler turned the described silver commemorative medallion into gold. He dipped the locket about three-quarters into various liquids, which he verbosely claimed to have prepared from the great elixir. After that, he wiped the medallion dry with a woolen handkerchief. When Seiler removed the handkerchief with a spectacular gesture, everyone present was literally blinded by the shining golden gleam of the medallion. Even today, one can clearly see the border to which the alchemist lowered the medallion into the witch's liquid: the upper, smaller, part of the medal remained silvery; the lower part has a coloration of gold and is indeed gold, as proven by experienced jewelers, as well as modern research. Despite this successful display, Zeiler's career as court chemist quickly came to an end. He had to confess that he could no longer make gold. Perhaps he has used up all his miraculous powder. Historians believe that the alchemist cost Leopold 1 20,000 guilders. Seyler left a heap of debts to various court and civil servants who believed too easily in his art. Leopold I stripped the unlucky craftsman of all his titles and sent him back to the monastery. However, Leopold did not initiate a lawsuit against Zeyler, which would undoubtedly have ended in death on the gallows: on the contrary, he silently paid all his debts. The decisive reason for this unusual behavior of the deceived sovereign was, perhaps, the same golden medallion, which for several centuries has been striking as proof of true alchemical art. Scientists and specialists did their best to penetrate the secrets of such an apparently successful transmutation. Cuts are visible on the medallion in several places. Samples were taken for research. Analyzes have consistently confirmed that the lower part of the locket is made of gold. True, the density of this gold was rather low. However, what does this prove? After all, it is known that the gold of alchemists has always been somewhat lighter than natural gold. Upon closer examination of the medallion, the suspicion disappeared that it was made up of two parts - gold and silver. The trick with which the Polish alchemist Sendivogius tricked Emperor Ferdinand II, who ruled from 1619 to 1637, just came to mind. In this case, the large silver coin was also turned into gold, but only on one side. However, people were in awe of this "miracle of art" for a short time, until they discovered the deception. Sendivogius soldered gold foil to a silver plate and gave it to the minting. He covered the golden part with mercury, as a result of which a hard silvery amalgam was formed, which in appearance could not be distinguished from silver. The Polish alchemist filled the prepared coin with some mysterious essence on one side, and then thrust it into the flame. The wetted side of the coin turned into gold, of course, only to the depth that the essence could "penetrate". In the flame, mercury evaporated, gold remained. That's the whole secret. They tried to hold Seyler's medallion carefully on the flame to remove the mercury, if present, but nothing changed: the top of the coin remained silver, the gold remained gold. So it's a miracle? The medallion kept its secret for a very long time. Further tests were hampered by the fact that it could not be destroyed due to historical value. How could one find out what the medallion was made of if it was forbidden to take samples of the substance from which it was made? It took 250 years before scientists finally unraveled the mystery of this alchemical medallion, as well as the essence of Zeiler's "process" to transform the elements! Medieval alchemists fooled emperors, kings and princes. Later, they also found their victims in higher circles. Even the proud rulers of the Hohenzollern family could not protect themselves from their tricks. History knows how Frederick I treated the alchemist Cayetano - with purely Prussian military severity. This adventurer deftly lured a lot of gold out of the lord's pockets, but he himself could not get it. The Prussian king in 1709 ordered him to be hanged. This incident was to serve as an instructive example for the descendants of kings. However, the latter continued to ingloriously fall for the deceitful art of wandering alchemists and paid large sums. Frederick II, called the Great, in the end was forced to reluctantly admit: "Alchemy is a kind of disease: it seems that for some time it is cured by the mind, but suddenly it returns again and truly becomes an epidemic ..." However, this could not serve excuse, and the alchemists could no longer be left free to act. So decided the follower of Frederick II, Friedrich Wilhelm II. During his reign, laws were issued to suppress the alchemical "epidemic". In paragraph 1402 of the general code of laws for the Prussian states of 1791, it is written: "People who deceive the public by fraudulent activities, such as alchemists, exorcists, soothsayers, treasure hunters, etc., in addition to paying the usual fine for fraud, are placed in a hard labor prison from 6 months to 1 year and exhibited on the square". Alchemists now had to be wary of the severity of the law.

"I made gold!"

"In the 19th century, the transformation of metals into each other will be widely used. Every chemist will make gold, even kitchen utensils will be of silver, of gold!" The author of these words was not an inspired adherent of the art of alchemy; it was a chemist, Christoph Girtanner from Göttingen. However, he must be given his due. Girtanner considered even more amazing than the art of obtaining gold, the transformation of diamond, the hardest and most transparent substance, into soft and opaque graphite, as well as the transformation of brittle iron into hard steel. Girtanner's statement, which was on the lips of many, dates back to 1800, that is, to the very beginning of the 19th century, which promised to truly become "golden". However, this oft-repeated quotation could not conceal from anyone the fact that the art of the alchemists had reached a dead end. Thanks to the industrial revolution, the natural sciences began to flourish, and faith in alchemy began to melt like ice in the spring sun. When, at the beginning of the "golden" age in Germany, the so-called closed society met in order to restore its former luster to the tarnished gold of alchemists, such an event was assessed by historians as the last outbreak of alchemy. In the articles of contemporaries, one could often come across statements that the time of those charlatans who amazed the world with their stunning experiments had passed. Even in circles far from science, the conviction gradually became stronger that metals could not be turned into either the much-desired gold or any other element at all. The biggest "wise men" nevertheless admitted that a truly new process of obtaining gold could appear. Therefore, the readers of the Leipzig "Illustration Zeitung" were extremely amazed when, on December 9, 1854, in the "Discoveries" section, a message appeared about obtaining gold by artificial means. A Frenchman named Theodore Tiffro, a graduate and preparator of the Higher Industrial School in Nantes, has just published a pamphlet in which he blew the following sensation to the whole world: "I have found a way to obtain artificial gold, I have made gold!" Here is a description of his discovery. Convinced that metals are complex substances, that is, compounds that can be "designed", Tiffro decided to take a scientific trip to the classical country of metals - Mexico. There, and also in the golden fields of California, he wanted to test his theories. The young preparator began his journey in December 1842 at the age of 23. He managed to wander around an unfamiliar country without attracting much attention, as he posed as a novice photographer - the process of obtaining daguerreotypes, as they were then called, had just been opened. For five years, he traveled through the mountainous regions of Mexico, interviewing miners and listening with blind confidence to amazing stories around the evening fire: metals can grow and ennoble themselves, which is facilitated by the hot Mexican sun. In gold mines, as Tiffro heard, it is not at all necessary to immediately lay adits, for the gold must first "ripen". A year later, sparkling gold is formed at this place, which arose from silver, only then it is worth starting production. Tiffro immediately had an obsession: such a process could also be done in the laboratory. And he began to conduct laboratory experiments away from his homeland. Tiffro dissolved silver in nitric acid. To do this, he took natural silver, pure in appearance, from the mines of Guadalajara. Or, in the absence of it, he took large Mexican silver coins, which he turned into sawdust. Tiffro exposed the reaction mixture to sunlight for several days, sometimes weeks. These experiments were carried out in the mining town of Guadalajara, located in the mountains in the center of the country. Later, Tiffro said that with the strong solar radiation there, success was guaranteed to him. Never again, he regretted, had he had such favorable conditions. What did Tiffro discover? After repeated evaporation and dissolution in acid, sparkles of the purest gold were finally found. If you put them together, they would probably amount to several grams. For Tiffro, this served as proof that silver turned into gold under the magical influence of the Mexican sunbeams. Tiffro was afraid to immediately divulge the secret recipe mentioned. Like all alchemists, the Frenchman kept his discovery secret at first. Therefore, in his pamphlet there is not a word about a new process for obtaining gold, supposedly producing a revolution. Only towards the end of the pamphlet could the reader understand what, in fact, was persecuting Tiffro: "I turn to my compatriots with the expectation of help necessary to complete my work." In other words, like all alchemists, Tiffro needed money to put his discovery into practice. He wrote very unambiguously: "It cannot be that I was forced to share the fate of those many inventors whom their fatherland despised ..." In the "Reports of the Paris Academy of Sciences" for 1853 there is a brief mention that on October 17 Tiffro about his discovery. Already in June, he handed over a pamphlet to the Academy of Sciences, and with it, as material evidence, several samples of gold obtained in Mexico. There were hesitations whether to publish a more detailed account of Tiffro's report in a respected journal read by scientists all over the world. The commission, which included the famous chemist Tenar, came to a negative decision. The gold represented was, of course, gold. However, nothing proves that it was obtained artificially, moreover, Tiffro, in his brochure, is completely silent about the process of obtaining it. Obviously, the author himself was a victim of error, and he concentrated and isolated the gold, which was available in the form of traces. Such arguments did not reach Tiffro's consciousness. He, on the contrary, insisted on a public experiment, which he was allowed to conduct in the laboratory of the Paris Mint. All required raw materials and chemicals were provided by the state mint, including chemically pure silver. Probably, the sun over France did not shine strongly enough. In any case, the test failed completely. Not even traces of gold were found. After that, Tiffro decided to take a step that no inventor would normally take, and even more so an alchemist. He made his "process" public so that it could serve the public. He no longer had the strength to engage in the production of gold himself. “I don’t have the main thing for this and everything else,” he complained in a new edition of his work in 1854, “neither a secure position, nor freedom of thought, nor the opportunity to study the complex phenomena that occur during the transformation of metals ... Long experiments on a bright the sun weakened my eyesight, tedious work undermined my health, and I must confess my impotence, although I am firmly convinced that I am on the verge of great success. The demand for its publication was exceptional. His book was literally torn out of his hands. All of France longed to know, finally, the secret of obtaining gold. Another edition followed. The German translation also became a bestseller. The pamphlet "Obtaining gold by artificial means is actually proven. Metals are not simple substances, but complex" was published in Berlin in 1855. When, 30 years later, the famous chemist and historian of chemistry Hermann Kopp was collecting material for his review "Alchemy in Old and Modern Times", he could not find Tiffro's brochure. Not without regret, Kopp wrote that "not a single copy of it can be found, even with antique dealers, even at higher prices."

International crooks

Life did not live up to the hopes that Tiffro entertained with the release of his publication. He did not find a patron who believed in him and provided him with the money to start the process "on a large scale." However, he had followers who secretly followed the same path and began to fabricate gold from silver. A solid "enterprise" of this kind is reflected in the secret acts of the private court and state archives of the Austrian monarchy. It goes without saying that this fact became known only when the monarchy collapsed. With the publication of these acts, the machinations of Emperor Franz Joseph and his cabinet were exposed, which from 1868 to 1870 attracted three alchemists to work, in this respect Franz Joseph showed himself to be a true offspring of the Habsburgs and a worthy follower of Rudolf II and Leopold I. Three alchemists, those who came to the emperor, probably seemed to him the messengers of heaven. In 1866, as a result of wars with Prussia and Italy, the Austrian monarchy lost rich provinces. Significant military indemnities had to be paid. The public finances were in bad shape. In addition, the grandiose intentions of the House of Habsburg to settle in Latin America failed as a result of the overthrow of the Austrian king Max of Mexico in 1867. Three alchemists - a Spaniard and two Italians, one of whom allegedly fought to the last on the side of King Max in Mexico - came to Vienna to confidentially tell Emperor Franz Joseph how to turn silver into gold. Very eloquently they tried to describe the significance of their epoch-making discovery: Franz Joseph would have received from their hands nothing more, nothing less, as the key to world domination! Surely the emperor will not reject these proposals and will not repeat the mistake of Napoleon I, who at one time rejected the invention of the steamboat, with the help of which the British later began to rule over the seas. No, Franz Joseph I was not Napoleon I. He wanted to know all the details. The alchemists made a grand gesture - they offered to conduct a trial experiment. For the discovery of their secrets, they demanded only 40 million guilders: 5 million as a down payment, the rest in securities paid out over ten years. However, the Habsburg house became more reasonable than during the time of Rudolf II. The emperor appointed his former teacher, the chemist Schroeter, as an expert, giving him the position of director of the Imperial Mint in Vienna, and allowed the alchemists to work under his supervision in the premises of the mint. The conditions set by Professor Schroeter were, frankly, discouraging for the three adventurers. They were to obtain gold from a half-pound of pure silver provided by the mint, with additives invented by Schroeter himself, in vessels and crucibles belonging to the latter. Despite everything, the craftsmen somehow managed to do the old trick of the alchemists and throw gold into the melt. Of course, not all half a pound of silver turned completely into gold, but in the end a pea-sized ball of the coveted yellow metal was discovered. Such a result was never repeated during their more than two years of secret work at the mint. Therefore, the emperor's secretary silently attached this piece to the case. During these years, Monsieur Tiffro again made him talk about himself. In France, he tirelessly searched for a capitalist who would take up the production of gold. However, times have not changed for the better for him. Meanwhile, there was more and more news about the incessant intrigues of "competitors". In 1860 a report came in from London that a Hungarian refugee, Nikolaus Papafi, had won favor with respected segments of London society by proposing a process for converting base metals such as lead and bismuth into silver. His enterprise prospered so successfully that Papafi, Barnett, Cox & Co. settled in London's Leadenhall Street. One foggy night, Papafi disappeared, leaving £10,000 in notes. Another international crook named Paraf changed tactics. In New York, he lured a lot of money from a number of gullible people, promising to get gold. In Peru, he made a short but dizzying career with his discovery of how to turn copper and copper ores into pure silver. Finally, in 1877, he "surfaced" in Valparaiso, where he also found gullible shareholders. Here, however, his frauds ended in the face of the law. In January 1878, correspondents wrote that the swindles of the alchemist Paraf occupied the public more than all other events. The volume of his case at the preliminary investigation exceeded 600 pages. However, the answer to the question was still not found: was Paraf a fraud or was he unjustly kept under lock and key? From his cell Paraf made gloomy predictions; he told a reporter, "If I get my freedom, then my revenge will be to make gold, devalue it and shake all the money markets." Surprise is the beloved child of faith. Tiffro also hoped that his countrymen would finally believe in him. The obsession with the artificial production of gold did not leave him even in his advanced years. He tirelessly fought for the recognition of his discovery, looking for its scientific justification. Of course, Tiffro did not find the simplest explanation: the presence of an admixture of gold could give the impression of his education. In June 1887, Tiffro filed an application with the budget commission of the French Chamber of Deputies: let them finally test his process of obtaining gold in the commission of experts. Tiffro's statement was ignored, for it was considered best not to stir up a new scandal. Too fresh was the memory of one of the last great trials of alchemists in Paris in 1882 ... A resourceful American named Wiese claimed that he knew how to fabricate gold. Prominent representatives of the Parisian nobility, Prince Rohan and Count Sparré, invested several thousand francs in the enterprise and personally helped the American in a trial experiment. Rolling up their sleeves, they both took turns pumping the blower. After some time, they were supposed to testify against the fled Wiese, who was convicted of deceit. The court sentenced the alchemist - in absentia - to a heavy fine. And both noble persons became the laughingstock of all Paris, for they stubbornly claimed that they had seen with their own eyes how an American received gold. However, when the investigator began to interrogate them, both "eyewitnesses" realized that they had left the alchemist's laboratory only once. They remembered that towards the end of the decisive experiment, Mr. Wiese had thrown some kind of powder into the melt. The room instantly filled with disgusting smoke and stench, so they were forced to run into the next room. No further comment is needed: this clever trick was, of course, planned and brought Wiese to the desired success.

Theory about growing gold in nature

Tiffro's theory that gold can grow on its own in nature, especially where the sun is hot, as in Mexico, found adherents even in Germany. This is evidenced by a newspaper advertisement placed in the Müncher Allgemeine Zeitung on October 10, 1875, under the promising heading: "Real annual earnings - millions." A retired apothecary named Kistenfeger used this ad to find a partner who was open-minded and had sufficient capital to bring the new gold-making process to an industrial level. Kistenfeger, in his announcement, assured that several years ago, in the presence of well-known chemists, he had carried out with brilliant success an experiment underlying such a process. It has been shown that, under appropriate conditions, it is possible to accelerate the growth of precious metals - just as it is done with the help of greenhouses for plants. What a tempting idea - to produce large quantities of gold in greenhouses! In essence, this was the same idea of ​​the Frenchman Tiffro, who until the last moment assured of the ability of metals to grow. Already in March 1891, Tiffro told the press that, as his experiments had shown, microbes play an important role in the processes of metal transformation. In his opinion, it is microbes and algae that are the reason why the silver in the Mexican mines is gradually turning into gold. The goal of science is to discover these "gold microbes" and grow them. Tiffro could just as well look for "germs of human stupidity," in the words of Kurt Goetz. L "art de faire l" or (The Art of Making Gold) - such was the theme of numerous reports by Master Tiffro, as his admirers called him. Orally and in writing, he tried in the 90s to resurrect his idea again. As an "honest alchemist" he lived in honors to gray hair; in Paris, a community of admirers formed around him. At the meetings of the newly founded hermetic society (Societe Hermetique) in France, the participants listened thoughtfully to the Master's Speeches. connections. This time the Teacher, as always, went for everything. Tiffro presented a new study to the Academy of Sciences, which confirmed his vague point: if aluminum foil with nitric acid is soldered into a glass tube and exposed to miraculous sunlight for two months, the contents turn into ether and acetic acid. Therefore, aluminum is not an element at all ... Poor master Tiffro! The achievements of chemistry, which had advanced so rapidly in recent years, seemed to have passed him by. He, of course, forgot that almost 40 years had passed since he first demanded recognition of his theory in 1853. Particularly great advances in science over the past 25 years have been achieved in the study of chemical elements and the impossibility of their transformation into each other.