Substances transmuted

The Alchemical transmutation of substance. Parachemy 5, no. 1 (Winter 1977) Back cover. 

Going further even than Muir, some eminent chemists stridently opposed modem alchemy and the transmutation hypotheses emerging to explain radioactivity. Toward the end of his life, Mendeleev, for example, became quite concerned about the implications of radioactivity for his scientific and chemical world view. As Michael Gordin explains, Mendeleev s most salient exposure to radioactivity, and the genesis of most of his hostile views of the phenomenon, was his visit to the Curies laboratory in Paris in 1902. What he saw evoked similar worries as the Spiritualists had. He wrote in his Paris notebook ... [M]ust one admit whether there is spirit in matter and forces Radio-active substances, spiritualism (Gordin 2004,213). Mendeleev... 

The great change which takes place in these and other substances is due to putrefaction, which separates and transmutes the constituent elements. 

It must be borne in mind when reviewing the theories of the alchemists, that there were a number of phenomena known at the time, the superficial examination of which would naturally engender a belief that the transmutation of the metals was a common occurrence. For example, the deposition of copper on iron when immersed in a solution of a copper salt e.g., blue vitriol) was naturally concluded to be a transmutation of iron into copper, although, had the alchemists examined the residual liquid, they would have found that the two metals had merely exchanged places and the fact that white and yellow alloys of copper with arsenic and other substances could be produced, pointed to the possibility of transmuting copper into silver and gold. It was also known that if water (and this is tme of distilled water which does not contain solid matter in solution) was boiled for some time in a glass flask, some solid, earthy matter was produced and if water could be transmuted into earth, surely one metal could be... 

John Frederick Helvetius (see plate 13), an eminent doctor of medicine, and physician to the Prince of Orange, published at the Hague in 1667 the following remarkable account of a transmutation he claimed to have effected. Certain points of resemblance between this account and that of van Helmont (e.g., in each case the Stone is described as a glassy substance of a pale yellow colour) are worth noticing "On the 27 December,... 

Today this research programme raises a sarcastic smile. However, the basic idea behind it, whereby all forms of matter have a common origin and can transmute from one form to another, lines up well with the contemporary notion of a unified theory of matter. In this, science owes something to alchemy. In their untiring quest for gold, the alchemists subjected every known substance to the test of fire and acid aqua regia), thus paving the way to modem chemistry. 

True alchemy archimia verd) transmutes not only the accidents of things, but also their substance, so that the artificial gold produced will be identical to natural gold, even in its medical virtues. Sophistical alchemy archimia sofisti-catd), on the other hand, transmutes only the accidents of matter, so that the base metals may appear to be gold or silver, but will retain their base substance intact (Newman 136). False alchemy is necromancy. 

Boyle might have witnessed other projections as well but whether he did or not, he was clearly convinced that the transmutation of lead into gold was possible. This belief was not inconsistent with his chemical philosophy. Recall that he believed that the atoms, or corpuscles, of which all substances were composed were made of the same kind of primal matter. It followed that if there were ways to change the sizes and shapes of these corpuscles, transmutations could be carried out. 

When Lavoisier s career as a chemist began, the four-element theory was still widely believed. It was Lavoisier who showed how implausible it really was and who correctly identified many of the elements. He demolished one commonly held belief about water quite early in his career. At the time, it was commonly thought that water could be transmuted into earth. After all, watering plants made them grow. It appeared that water was being transformed into a solid substance. 

It is necessary to deprive matter of its qualities in order to draw out its soul. Copper is like a man it has a soul and a body. .. the soul is the most subtile part. .. that is to say, the tinctorial spirit. The body is the ponderable, material, terrestrial thing, endowed with a shadow. After a series of suitable treatments copper becomes without shadow and better than gold. The elements grow and are transmuted, because it is their qualities, not their substances which are contrary." (Stephanus of Alexandria, about 620 A.D.)... 

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