The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 20, 1896, Page 24

24 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1896. The Comet That Is Coming and What May Be Expected if It Hits Us A recent telegraphic announcement from one of the astronomical observatories situ- ated in the Southern Hemisphere tells of the appearance of a large comet. Ordinarily there is nothing startling in such announcements. It is a matter of every lay occurrence under tha_ preseut advanced state of astronomical science for the observers to find a comet within the field of view of their telescopes, and only those of probabie importance find mention in the newspapers. The one alluded to in the dispatch mentioned is by some thought to be the return of the great comet of 1880, whose giant tail measured at the time of its last appearance over 150,000,000 miles in length. Because the ordinary observer fails to perceive with the naked eye these wander- ers of space, it must not be supposed that their number is limited. The best astron- omers are agreed that the number of comets is very great. Arago estimated that there are at least 17.500,000 within the orbit of Neptune. Lambert points out where he thinks Arago neglected to in- vestigate, and places the number at over 500,000.000. Kepler says: ‘“Comets are scattered through the heavens with as much profusion as the fishes in the sea.” From the beginning of the Christian era to the close of the present century there is trustworthy record of about 1000, of which we are fairly satisfied that prob- ably half a dozen have returned. Proba- bly at least five have been seen to each one recorded, so we may conclude that at least 5000 have appeared during that time. What has become of the immense number which apparently visited our system but once? The theories put forward to account for tie formation of comets are many. They are all ingenious, but unproven. Cole, a noted English observer, thinks it possible that there are other emanations from the sun and from the stars (which are other suns), besides that of light. If this be the case the comets in their passage from one system to the other may attract and col- lect the particles scattered in the immense regions of space. This woald account for the very dense and extensive atmospheres ovserved to surround most comets. Professor Young of Dartmouth Coilege thinks that comets consist of matter ejected from our sun and from other suns. On September 7, 1871, Professor Young witnessed an extraordinary explosion on the sun. The expelled matter was seen by nim to ascend toa heightof 200,000 miles above the sun’s surface, traveling with a velocity of 166,000 miles per second. This would give an initial velocity of over 200,000 miles a second, and if there was nou any resisting medinm in space wou!d be sufficient to carry the ejected matter beyond the sun’s attraction. It is believed that there is a resisting medium in space. The use of the spectroscope has enabled us to learn something of the material of which comets are composed. Observa- tions with it, and the fact that meteoric Six-Tailed Comet, 1764, showers are intimately associated with cometary routes, lead to the opinion that comets are composed of a blazing nucleus and a mass of separated matter, such as metalliferous stones, clay dust and gas. The nucleus gives out intense heatand masses of burning gas which is luminous. It is probable that comets shine with both inherent and reflected light. That the comet is constantly undergoing great physical action is apparent to every care- ful observer. The anpearance of the tail is constantly changing. Apparent vibra- tions or coruscation begin at the head and traverse the enormous lengti of the tail in a few seconds. Perhaps some form of electrical energy is present creating the constant state of intense excitement. The questions of greatest interest to the majority of people are: Do comets exer- cise any influence upon the earth? Is here any danger of a comet colliding with the earth; and if so, what would be the result? A few comets have. had their motions sufficiently well observed and computed to enable us to predict the length of time equired by them to complete the tour of their orbits. One of these, known as Encke’s, isa small affair of short period. Another, known as Halley’s, is a large Halley’s Comet, 1835, one completing its orbital revolution in about seventy-five years. Its first re- corded appearance occurred in A. D, 1005, and that year was marked by a great fam- ine in Europe. Its next appearance was in 1080 when a terrible earthiquake took place. Its subsequent appearances, to- gether with the attendant abnormal eartn conditions, are as follows: 1155, exc ‘ssive cold and great crop failures; 1230, inunda- tion of Germany; 1304, intense cold and drought; 1380, awful pestilence; 1456, in- undation and earthquake; 1531, great floods; 1607, intense cold and drought; 1682, floods and big earthquake; 1759, floods ana earthquake; 1835, remarkably variable weather and great eartbguake in fs-.;;pt. We have yet to learn the story of L the years 526, 1721, 1783, 1822, 1831 and 1834 great remarkable dry fogs ex- tended over a large poriion of the earth and these years were marked by the ap- vearance of large comets. The second question may be answered by the statement that already the earth has passed through the gaseous portion of more than one comet, and it is believed by good authority that she has passed through the bodv of at least one comet within re- cent years. A certain short period comet, known as Biela’s, failed to appear at the appointed time in 1872. Instead, there was visible a very rich shower of meteors, through which the earth passed Novem- ber 27 and 30, 1872. So certain were the astronomers at this side of the globe that the meteoric stream was Biela's comet dis- integrated that they telegraphed to the observatory at Cape Town, in Africa, to watch the skies for Biela’s comet, and sure enough the African ob- servers saw the fragments of the comet receding from the earth. Did the coliision affect the earth? Let us see. In October, 1871, the earth passed through the gaseous envelope of Biela’s comet, and t. enceforth the comet has not been seen as a comet. It was broken up by its con- tact with the earth. But 1n October, 1871, there occurred awful conflagrations in the Northwestern States, devastating thou- sands of square miles of territory. The testimony of the survivors of Minnesota and elsewhere states that the lames would suldenly burst forth in the timber, ap- parently coming from the sky. The Chi- ca o fire occurred at that time also, where solid granite buildings took fire and burned as if of wood. Spectroscopicanaly- sis tells nd that the gaseous enveiope of a comet contains carburetted hydrogen. It is a simple solution of the terrible confla- grations if it be recognized that a portion of the gaseous envelope of Biela’s comet became mixed with the earth’s atmos- phere in October, 187). The mixture forms the most inflammable substance known. Humboldt, whose reputation as a con- servative and able physicist stands pre- eminently high, emphatically states that the earth vassed through the tails of comets in 1819 and 1823. The face of the globe exhiiits many very peculiar phe- nomena, extremely puzzling to the ortho- dox geologist, who is vnable to satisfac- torily account for tune conditions by any theory known to him. The “drift’’ is one of these. On the supposition that the earth was struck by a comet of some size and mass the phenomena is raiionally explainable. The elements, i. e., the speed, direction and shape of orbit, of guite a number of comets have been studied and rartiul suc- cess aitained in computing the times of their return. Yet, it has always been found that something Las interfered to Donati’s Comet, 1858. negative the result. The one of 1532 was said to have a period of 129 years. It did return in 1661, but was absentin 1790. The velocity of movement of a comet varies, and we do not know exactly just when and where the variation comes in. The comet of 1472 had speed. of over 3,000,000 miles in twenty-four hours. We are apt to think that our fast express trains, mov- ing sixty miles an hour, are swift fliers, yet here was an enormous mass speeding through space at the velocity of over 2083 miles per minute. Asto the part played by comets in the complex machinery of the universe we his opinions thus: “Science seems to point to the finite duration of our system in its present form and to carry us back to the time when neither sun nor planet existed, save as a mass of glowing gas. How far back that was it cannot tell us with cer- tainty, it can only say that the period is counted by millions of years, but probably not by hundreds of millions. It also points Morward to the time when the sun and stars shal! fade away, and nature shall be en- shrouded in darknessand death.” Sospake Profesror Newcomb. Science is made to bear very many burdens; thisisone. No law of nature doth disclose the science of Head of Donat’s €omer, 1358, the known to be the science of the un- known. Throughout all the vast universe exists a something—call it force, if you choose—that comprehends all other forces, and that passeth from meas- urable energy to intangibility, only to manifest itself as energy when the conditions for such metamorphosis attain. Some forces of nature lie dormant until they are brought into contact with other forces, and then when the combina- tion occurs the resultant energy is of changed form. Let me illustrate this by calling attention to the phenomenon of crystallization. Dissolve some alum in know nothing. One bold utterer has voiced | pure water. The solution will remain clear for an indetinite period if the solu- tion be undisturbed, but atiach a micro- scopic octahedrai crystal of the salt to the finest filament and lower it into the solu- tion. Instantly crystallizetion commences at the suriace of the fluid and progresses with great rapidity until every atom of alum in the solution is visible. Now, the comet is simvly a mieroscopic orystal crystallizing, i. e., chan;;i'ng the forms of radiant light and heat into other modes of motion, which, in the fullness of their functions, eventually return back to the originals. Ever since comets have been observed a great deal of speculaiion has been in- dulged in as to what constituled the tail of the comet, and some very ingenious theories have been elaborated to account | for the fact that the tail, whi e observed at a considerable angle with a line crawn to the sun, and even at right angles toit, constantly inclines towara the region from which the comet is moving—always away from the sun. It is difficult to con- ceive how the tail of the comet of 1880, | 150,000,000 miles in length, could in the space of time occupied by the comet-head in sweepiny around the sun—a period of a few minutes of time—describe so tremen- dous an arc in space in so short a time. If the tail did actually sweep around the particles at its extremity must have trav- elea with a velocity utterly inconceivable to the human mind. No known law of nature can explain ths sudden shift of posidon. Generally the tail is curved, resembling a scimitar, but many have been observed of extremely fantastic appearance. One is recorded as baving been seen at the time of Constantine tbe Great, shaped like a cross, and the imaginative superstition of that age discerned beneath it the legend: “In hoc signes vinces.”” In this case the comet did some good. Perhaps we may be able in coming years, when these mat- ters are better understood, to use these wanderers as messengers to bear our com- munications to other spheres. Of one thing we may be morally certain—that if a .reat comet should appear before the close of this year, the disappointed politi- cal party will, beyond all doubt, charge their defeat to the comet. F. M. Crosg, D.Sc. ==F “The North Pole and the Magnetic Pole Parted Co;1pany 12,000 Years Ago It isa well-known scientific fact that the magnetic pole of the earth is not coinci- dent with the pole of revolution, but is located sbout 70 degrees north latitude, near King Will.am< Land. The magnetic pole is not a fixed point, but varies con- tinually, though slowly, pursuing a path about the true pole, its shifting periods estimated at 640 years. One would naturally suppose that if the axis of the earth since the beginning had held a constant po-ition on inclination, the two poles, that is—the magnetic and the revolutionary poles—would be coincident, especially so when we remember that, as the ‘magnetic pole isconstantly moving at an appreciable rate, it should by this time certainly have found its center of influence. Ifitis assamed, as 1t is by eminent philosophers if not by geologists, that at one time the magnetic pole was coincident with the revolutionary pole (about 12,000 years ago), then the solution is apparent, and since the change of axis of the magnetic pole is moving in a spiral, 1ts center will again eventually coincide with the present revolutionary pole. Astronomy has pointed out that the axis of the earth is still “wobbling.” In fact, 1t is a very suspicious wobble—a wobble within a wobble, if yon please— the greater wobble having a period of 428 days. It issurmised, too, that the greater wobbling motion is but an epicycle of a still greater wobble, which will aceount for the poor orieniation of the pyramid of Ghizeb, as well as the fact t. at the sun, when in Cancer, at Athens, does not come so far north by a degree as it did 2000 years ago. Ihs ieads to the statementasserted with contidence and defended with assiduity, that the revolutionary axis of the earth is shifted pericdically. And if this be true itisof ihe ntmost importance to scien- tists, explaining many events which have been too much in the dark. Colonel Fred G. Piummer, formerly State Geologist of Washington, has recently publshed an excelient treatise upon this subject, en- titled *‘The Last Change of the Earth’s Axis,” Mr. Plummer is aeserving of much credit, for not only collecting ana collating the valuable information, but for the fearless and original way in which he presents the matter. it is by the kindness of Mr. Plummer, whose little book is protected by copy- right, that permission has been granted THE CALL to introauce the facts and theoriés advanced. It is claimed that the shifting of the axis, that is, the revolutionary axis, will expluin the reason of the flood, the sinking of continents, more especially Atlanus, the presence of drift deposits, the birih of Niagara, the position of the magnetic pole, t e frozen mammoth in Alaska, the reindecr in Europe and many of the myths and traditions of all ancient nations. It has been stated as a fact by some philosophers that upon several occasions vast areas upon the eartn have been sud- denly changed, even in a single night, from tropical and semi-tropical countries into the bleak and howling wildernesses of a frigid zone. And this effect may readily be accounted for by a shifting of the axis, which movement controls the different climates experienced with the earth to a large extent. In his book Mr. Plummer says: The fact that the flora and fauna of the earth are found in zones, and that the fossils, or former evidences of life, are not found in zones coincident with our present lints of iati- tude, are enough to force the conclusion upon any thinker that the past has seen vast changes of climate upon the earth. How, in- deed, may changes of climate occur so that points of equal lautude will be affected equally excepting by a change of the earth’s axis? As long as the earth revolves its ciimates will be in zones, and no theory can explain how ice sheets existed in Ohio when Siberia was not glaciated, or wh¥ the reindeer made his howe in Europe while the mammoth fed upon the tropical vegeiation of Alaska, ex- cepting on the theory that ihe zones, and con- scquently the axis, were lo1merly different. Many other and even more famous au- thorities might be cited to the same effect, and some seiections from them are pre- sented, as follows: We must imagine that the hills and valless about the present site of New York were cov- | remains of the mammoth, a tropical animal, ered with noble trees and with a dense under- growth of species for the most part different from those now living there, and that these were the homes and feeding ground fof many kinds of quadrupeds and birds which have long since become extinct. The broad plane which gently sloped seaward trom the high- lands must have been covered with a sub- tropical forest of giant trees and tangled vines teeming with animal life. This state of things doubtless continued through many thou- sands of years, but ulti- mately a change came over the fair face of nature more complete and terrible than we have language to de- scribe.—Popu.ar Science Monthiy. We see that the the- ory of a catastrophe accompanying or caus- ing this change of cli- ma e is advocated. This delightful ciimate was not confined to the present temperate or tropical regions. Itex- tended to the very shoresof the Arctic Sea. In Nortn Greenland, at Atane-Kordiuk, in lati- tude 79 degrees north, at an elevation of more than 1000 feet above the sea, were found the remains of beeches, oaks, pines, popars, maples, walnuts, mag- nolias, limes and vines. Tie remains of similar plants were found in Spitzbergen, in latitude 78 degrees 56 minutes. —American Antiquarian. It is not o be pre- sumed the flora was carried into the polar regions. It must have becn overwhelmed by the “great winter.” What caused the grea: winter? If astron- omy 1is to be lelieved the sun has not cooled materially since oaks, pines and pop- lars came to grace the earth. The fact that the are found so perfectly preserved has forced upon the scientific world the belief that a catas- | trophe oecurred at the time of thelr death, | “It is remarkable that nownere in the great | plains of Siberla do any traces of glacial action | appear to have been observed. Consequently Outline Map of the Northern or Land Hemisphere Before the Change of the Earth’s Axis Took Place, Showing Portions of Lemutia and Atlantis, as Drawn by Cslonel Fred Plummer, Geologist. we find the great river deposits with their maoimalian remains, which tell of a milder | climate than now obtains in those high lati- | tudes, siill .ying undisturbed at the surface,”— | The Great Tee Age. 1t they had not been frozen as soon as killed putrefaction would have decomposed- them, and on the other hand this eternal frost could not have previously prevailed in the place Wwhere they died, for they could not have lived in such a temperature. It was, therefore, at the same iastant when these animals perished that the country they inhabited was rendered glacial. These events must have been sud- den, instantaneous and withqut gradation.— CuVIER. “The . most violent ‘convulsions of the solid and liquid elements (of the earth)appear them- selves oniy the effect due to a cause more powerful than the mere expansiol It isadmitted, then, by these authorities that 1t was a catastro- phe which caused tbe sudden ctange of cli- mate, and possibly it was a change of the axis ot rotation. Much more in the same vein might be given, but the above seems sufficient. 1f, then, te axis of the earth has under- gone a change there must have bpeen a former ¢quator, and if so where was it and ‘what evidence Lave we that it existed ? We know that to- day the mot persist- ently active volca- noes are in the trop- ics, where associate phenomena of earth- quakes are most fre- quent. We know that this shouid be the case upon a revolving sphere like the earth, where the tendency of a fluid interior to force an exit would be greatest, and where the greatest strains upon the crust wou'd be produced. It will be admitted by any student in physics that the cracking o the earth’s crust, permitting the pouring out of moiten material, would probably occur along the equatorial belt, if at all. On the earth volcanoes are distributed in groups, or along extensive lines. as if connected with a fissure of the earth’s crust. The most remarkable linear series of voleanoces in the world is that which belts the Pacific Coast, as Professor Le Conte of Berkeley has pointed out. Com- mencing with the Fuegian volcanoes, it runs along the whole extent of the Andes, Rocky Mountains, then along the Aleutian chain of islands, Kamtchatka, the Kurile Islands, Japan Islands, Puilippines, Su- matra, St. Paul, Kergulen to the Antarctic voicanoes, Mount Erebus and Terror, thence back by Deception Isiand to Fuega agrain, thus completely encircling the gloBe. As might be expected, along such a lmne of fissures the volcanic activity is on a general scale, and it is likely to be mani- fested in several locaiities at the same time. This was observed as early as 1835 by the great naturalist Darwin. Within 100 miles of Tacoma are not less than 200 volcanic peaks, the largest of which— Mount Tacoma—is 15,000 feet high. Alaskan volcanoes are frequently active, and the eastern coast of Asia has an established reputation for seismic dis- turbances. “In the physical formation of North and South America there is a re- markable resemblance, which would nat- urslly result from the fact that they were formerly on the same latitudes and gov- erned by similar conditions of climate,” says the Encyclopedia. When the earth’s axis was perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, the north pole was somewhere in the' vicinity of the Mediterranean and possessed a delightful and perpetual spring climate. This fact calls to mind the biblical Garden of Eden, Plato’s Atlant’s and the Garden of the Hesperides, and concerning these intereat_- ing times we find the history and tradi- tions of the older nations replete. then along the Cordilleras of Mexico, the | Concerning the tradition of the Hindus, 8ir Charles Lyell states that “‘we can by no means look upon them as a pure effort of the unassisted 1magination, or believe them to have been composed without re- gard to ovinions or theories founded on the observation of nature.” Lenormant says: In all the legends of India the origin of man- kind is placed on Mount Meru, the residence of the gods, which unites the sky to the earth. * * * Meru then is at omce the highest part of the terrestrial world, and the central point of the visible heavens. * * * It is also at one and the same time the north pole and the center of the habitable globe. The “‘Secret Doctrine’* says: The Egyptian priests taught the fact to Plato, who expounds the theory or fact asa sudden catastrophe. Dr. Croll combats the axis theory, saying that such attraction— and change of climate—can be accounted for by the mutation and precession of the equi- noxes, “but there are other menof science, such as Sir H.James and Sir John Lubbock, who feel more inclined to accept the idea that they are due to a change in the axis of rota- tion.” There is one point of importance that should be noticed. Of course, if the poles have changed there Las resulted a corre- sponding change in the cardinal points. Do we find any evidence of such a change. and if we do isit not worthy of special note? Terrieu de Lacouperie writes: The names of the four cardinal points, and what is very remarkable, the hieroglyphia signs by which they are expres:ed, are in a certain measure (he same in the Akkadian and Chinese cultures. * * * The south, which was so termed in the cuneiform tablets, corresponds in Chinese to the east, the north to the we=t, the east to the south, making thus a displacement of & quarter of a circle. It would be interesting if on examination of tha Akkadian and Assyrian names we could find that they in their turn denoted an early dis- placement of which only traces remain to us.” — Esrly History of Chinese Civilizas tion. Frederick Klee pronounces it remarkable that the Scandinavian mytuology informs us that before the establishment of the present order of the world the sun, which now rises in the east, ““rose in the south.” The Queen Lily and the Wheat Belong to One Tribe F THE many who admire the queen lily now blooming in the park conserva- tory, few perhaps remember that its meg- nificence is the outcome of a process of change prolonged through countless ages, during which environments favorable to size and beauty were predominant, and that each portien of its structure is trace- able to some corresponding portion, foundation or possibility in the structure of the unpretentious ancestor of the lily family, To the mind of the botunist who can discern kindred traits in the most seem- ingly diverse species, and can trace the family tie between the giant of the forest and the scant herbage of the mountain peak, the lily tribe unfolds a marvelous retrospect of evolutionary a:justment to conditions. According to & noted au- thority the first flower botanically en- titled to be called a lily, though now ex- tinet, is fairly represented by the simple marsh lily, the gagea depicted in the illustration. Many of the tribe blend with these triple formations developments of their own 1n the direction of growth, of beauty, or both, while others lose some of the lily traits, but, retaining the foundation, di- verge into a less ornamental form, just as a modern storehouse may be constructed from the ruined walls of a castle. Of the first class the Victoria lily is the climax, though it also numbers in its ranks such exquisite developments as the aspnodel, the tulip ant the orchid. Conspicuons in the second class is the grass tribe in its thousand varieties, including the familiar stalk of cultivated wheat. The gap between the latter and the night - blooming lily, resting its large blossoms and leaves on the deep water and sensitively c anging its color with the hours of dav, seems a wide one, but it bas been bridged over by several plants that probably represent the chief stages of transi ion. The large species of white water lily, the Egyptian lotos and the prickly leaved eurgale of Hast India suggest the route of divergence from the ancestral iily or simple gagea to the exuberance acquired in the waters of the Soutk American tropics. The trail of divergence from the gagen to the ear of wheat has been more definitely tracei. tirstcomes thecommon rush family, whose smaii dingy blossoms in a group are sezn when maguified to be the true lily tyye, though botanically classed as merely of the lily tribe. Another link i> a marsh plant known as the woou- rush. As shown in the iliustration, its The Yellow Gagea. small blossoms are in a loose cluster like wild garlic, which, in spite of its 1nsi nifi- cant flower and its strong individuality among the floral host, is botanically classed as a true lilv. Moreover, the wood- rush combines small brown-tinted flowers like the common rush with flat tupering leaves like the zrass tribe. The glutinous seed vessel a 50 gives an idea of the begin- n ngs of grain formation. Finally, botani- cal researches detect in the eriocaulon, a rather rare but interesting bog plant, with lancelike leaves and blossoms in a close taft, a sirong suggestion of the stalk oi wheat, the splke form being a final step in diver-ence. It mustbe understood that cach small division of the ear of wheat i= the transformed representative of what, under d:fferent environments, would have been one comulete lily. The process of change which endured for conntless ages ean scarcely be called a retrogression, consiiering the utility at tained in the final staze. But thatsucha type of floral beauty as the lily, and such a type of edible vegetation as the grain of wheat, should be cradled on the same ancestral stalk is evidence of the hidden resources provided by nature for the emergencies caused by environment. Rose O'HALLORAN. URING the past days a dark streak ex- tending in an east and west direction mizht have been iscerned on the disk of the sun «ven without the aid of magnify- ing power. It wasa large croup . fsmall sunspots, and the peculiarities of the dis- turbance have especial interest now within two years of the period of comparative solar quietude, when the disk will be un- spotted for weeks and months in succes- sion. The number and size 0! these phe- nomena have been decreasing since 1894, and the solar eycle, which includes a ma imum and a minimum of disturbance five and a naif years apart, will not be completed until about the fourth year of the next century, when the spots may be expected to ap- pearagain in great number as in 1892-93. As the cause of this eleven-year cycle is still unknown and that of the spots also some- whai unsettled, an accumulation of de- tails as to the position, form and dura- tion of solar disturbance is always of vaiue in the study of solur physics. On Sceptember 9, when three smull ‘groups were distributed over the d sk, this group appeared on the east limb, thus showing a stream of successive disturbances across irom east 10 west. As it advanced it was seen to be co: posed of about ten small black spols in a straight line cu- riously eniwined with a curving line of six or' seven small spots, ail connected with an encircling venum- bral area, which in the foreshortened view seemed to bea group of unusual length, As it approached the central portion of the disk, where dimensions are best seen, it proved to be more than 100,000 miles in length and from twenty to thirtv in width, while the size of the spots was THOSE SPOTS ON THE SUN from five to fifteen miles in diameter. The entwined aspectit bad at first was modified, as probably the spots farthest from the solar equator failed io keep pace with those vearest to that line. 1ts average position is 8 deg. north solar latitude, and on account of its length it will probably remain visible until the 224 of this month unless tbe disturbauce dies out before then. Being The Woodrush. 50 largely composed of & penumbral area, it is less conspicuous than some smaller group in which the umbra was large, but it may be still seen with colored or smoked glass by those who ure possessed of keen sight. On account of the inten- ~ity of sunlight, noon is uot the best time to take such an observation, the marnine or afternoon hours beinz more favorablc for distinctness. Rose O’ HALLORAN. i UCH interist is manifeste { by the pub- dcin recard to the statement of Dr. Stephen H. Emmons that he has discov- ered a means of turning silver into gold. It is quite poss'ble that he has done so, thouch (! ere s some question whether he wil' prduce goid in such quantities as to caise any fluctuation in the value of the precious metal. Alchemy is something more than the dream of the visionary and weak-minded. If one will ‘ree h s mind from prejudice and make a review of authentiic recirds he will find that the transmutation of metals is an secom: 1 shed fact. All minerals are but differentiations from a corimon ' ase, and if one could find the steps oi differentiation—and they nave ben discovered—then the problem would resolye itself merely into a question of mechanical skiil, Various wrilers give the steps necessary in the transmuiation of base mitalinto goid, excepting that one of the substances used is so wrapped aboit with mysterious veils that it may require a lifetime for cne | to di cover the riidie unless he is so fortu- nate as to meet some one already in pos- session of it. This mysterious substance isa red pow’er, mystically termed the “red dragon,” and it 1s indispensable in the operations of t e alchemists. Among the authentic accounts of the transmatation of metals are some experi- ments made in 1782 in the laboratory of James Pr M.D,, F.R.8,, of Engiand, in the presence of twelve or fourieen specta- tors, A number of experiments were made. Half an ounce of mercury was placed in a small erucible, tog-ther with a small quan- tity of powdered charcoal and niter. Then half a grain of powder of a dark red color was added by Mr. Price, and the crucible was placed on a fire of moderate red heat. In abouta gnarter of an hour the com- pany noticed that the mercury, though in a red-hot crucible, showed no signs of eyaporation or even boiling. The fire was gradually raised toa white heat, whena small dip was taken on the pointof aclean iron rod. When the scoria cooled it was found full of small glohules of a whitish colored metal, which Mr. Price explained was an intermediste metal between mer- cury and’a more per'ect metal. A small quantity of borax was then added and the hent aguin increasel. At the end of an- other quarter of an hour the crucible was taken out and gradually cooled. On | breaking it a globule of yellow metal was { with the yellow metal and it was proven found in the bottom, and in 'he scoria were smaller ones, all together weighing ten grains. Thorough tests were made to be pure gold. Similar experiments were then made, except that a white powder was added, in- stead of the red, the result beipg a larze bead of white metal. The gold and silver | thus obtained were submitted to an as- | sayer and refiner, both of whom at once A7 The Eriocaulon, or Pipewort. affirmed the impossibility of success of such a process, and denied the purity of the metals. But tbe assay instantly dissi- pated their donbte, and they acknowl- edged, with amazement, that the metals 'were entirely pure, and gave official cer- tifi ates to that effect. Detailed accounts similar to the above might be multiplied by the score, if one desired to aoso. In 'Only One Secret Necessary to Turn Silver Into Gold Vienna there is a historical medallion, containin: po:traits of twelve noblemen around the edges. It was originally of pure silver, but to-day the upper portion is gold and the lower part silver, a result of having pass-d through the hands of an alchemist and magician. Itis, because of its present constitution, one of the rarest curios in the world, and should, of itself, even if there were no other evidence, be ample proof of the alchemist’s art. An int resting story ol alchemy comes from one of the middle States of Germany, The tale dates from the middle ages. A traveler sought shelter at the castle of a Baron one stormy winter night. The lord of the manor was away, but the Baroness su: plied him with food and lodging. Be- fore the siranger departed the next morn- ing he sought the lady of the castle and expressed his thanks for her hospitality. He said he bad no money, bat perbaps he could repay her in another way. She re- plied that she desired nothing in return, but he asked ber if she did not have some silver in the house she would like to have turned into gold. Accordingly all the silver plate was broughi forth and transmuted, When the Baron returned home and saw the gold he immediately laid claim to it under a law wiich puve the owner of land all treasure found upon it. His wife resisted the démand, and «he noble couple resorted to the courts for a settiemeut of the ownership. The Judge rendered a decision (which may be found in the Ger- man archives) to the effect tnat the gold was the sole property of the Baroness, for the reason tha the treasure had not been ‘‘iound” on the Baron’s lands, but had been “‘manufactured’” jor the Baroness at her request and as a personal gift to her. The Baron might have formerly had some cluim on the silver plate beionging to the castle, but the comparauvely small value of that was overshadowed by the great value o the gold, and he was entitled to recover nothing from the Baroness beyond the value of the silver that had di-appeared. Rax Siven,