Page:The fairy tales of science.djvu/104

78 stories that are told of the conversion of the baser metals into gold, some mysterious unknown is made the fortunate possessor of the magical substance. The narrative of Helvetius, the distinguished physician to the Prince of Orange, is a good example of these stories:&mdash;

At the close of the year 1666 a stranger called upon Helvetius, and showed him five large plates of gold, which he said he had made by means of the philosopher's stone. The physician, who had hitherto been a bitter opponent of alchemy, was not prepared to receive this extraordinary statement without some convincing proof of its truth; he therefore besought the stranger to give him a small portion of the stone, or at least to make a trial of its powers in his presence. The stranger refused to accede to either of these requests, and took his leave, promising, however, to return in six weeks. He kept his promise, and presented Helvetius with a piece of the stone about the size of a mustard-seed. Next day the physician, in the presence of his wife and son, put six drachms of lead into a crucible, and as soon as it was melted, threw into it the fragment which he had obtained from the adept. The crucible was now covered with its lid, and left in the fire for a quarter of an hour, at the end of which time the whole of the lead was converted into gold. The melted metal was at first of a deep green colour, then it became blood-red, but when cold it assumed the true tint of gold. This