Page:Love and its hidden history.djvu/46

 The difference between species is only a difference in the arrangement of particles, and thus, in a line, is solved the problem of the ages, — one that has probably called forth more brain effort than any other in natural history, and led Darwin to astound the lettered world with his "Origin of Species." This discovery of mine — which will, but not herein, be elaborated — not only accounts for the various kinds, sorts, and orders of trees and other vegetables, but obtains of the animal and human kingdoms as well. A very high chemical authority says, in speaking of the main idea just broached, that molecular differences alone determine ranks and species:— "Is it possible to change one metal into another? Many of the alchemists wasted their lives in the vain attempt to solve this problem. It is common to ridicule the alchemists as absurd visionaries, and their work as laborious folly. Such statements are, no doubt, properly used in regard to some of them, but they do injustice to a large number who are earnest seekers after truth, though holding mistaken opinions. The alchemist considered gold and silver to be higher and nobler in their nature than the other or baser metals; but the difference was one of degree only, and essentially the base metals were composed of the same substances as the higher, but differently combined, or else contaminated with some degrading constituent. In order to accomplish the change, or purification, which was to transmute the baser into the higher metal, it was necessary to obtain the "philosopher's stone," which had the power of instantaneously bringing about the desired end. The possession of the philosopher's stone was the goal which the sincere and ardent alchemist, undaunted by the failures of others, and unwearied by years of profitless labor, still hoped to attain, and which always seemed to him to be almost within his grasp. Some claimed that they had succeeded in discovering this' bridegroom of the metals.' A few even pretended to give processes for making it; but they took care to make them entirely unintelligible, by the use of a mystical phraseology. Nevertheless, the alchemist's work, though wrongly directed, was not entirely useless. Dissolving, precipitating, distilling, subliming, constantly causing different substances to react upon each other, they could hardly help making discoveries and observations whose meaning and value were unknown to them, but which were afterwards to