§ 61. Did the Alchemists achieve the "Magnum Opus"?.
The alchemists were untiring in their search for the Stone of the
Philosophers, and we may well ask whether they ever succeeded in
effecting a real transmutation. That many apparent transmutations
occurred, the observers being either self-deceived by a superficial
examination—certain alloys resemble the "noble metals"—or deliberately
cheated by impostors, is of course undoubted. But at the same time we
must not assume that, because we know not the method now, real
transmutations have never taken place. Modern research indicates that it
may be possible to transmute other metals, such as lead or bismuth, into
gold, and consequently we must admit the possibility that amongst the
many experiments carried out, a real transmutation was effected. On the
other hand, the method which is suggested by the recent researches in
question could not have been known to the alchemists or accidentally
employed by them; and, moreover, the quantity of gold which is hoped
for, should such a method prove successful, is far below the smallest
amount that would have been detected in
the days of Alchemy. But if there be one method whereby the metals may
be transmuted, there may be other methods. And it is not altogether an
easy task to explain away the testimony of eminent men such as were van
Helmont and Helvetius.
