STUDY OF ALCHEMY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 263, 5 October 1936, Page 8

STUDY OF ALCHEMY.

SOCIETY IN ENGLAND

A society for the study of alchemy and early chemistry lias been formed in England and is to start work in the autumn. Dr. J. R. Partington, professor of chemistry at the University of London, and Dr. E. Sherwood Taylor, assistant lecturer in chemistry at the same university, are to edit the society’s journal. In a narrow sense alchemy is the pretended art of turning base metals into gold and silver. In a wide sense it has been called the chemistry of the middle ages. Dr. Taylor said that, although none of the recipes, ancient or modern, for making gold, was worth serious scientific investigation, it was felt that the time had come for an effort to find out what the alchemists were driving at. Many were not impostors, but had achieved eminence in other directions. It was difficult to discover their aims. “Thomas Vaughan was one of the last of the reputable English alchemists,” said Dr. Taylor, “but lie was about as much concerned with the practice of chemistry in a laboratory as Freemasonry is with building. Our main objects are the study of mystical alchemy and of practical alchemy in its bearing on the history of chemistry. We do not propose to have a museum of exhibits —few of such curiosities exist —but we shall have a library. Incidentally, our investigations may also be the means of exposing the fraudulent claims of imposters who have been attracting attention of late.”