Transmutation of Silver into Gold , gold can be manufactured from other elements

From: Br Dan Izzo (revdanielizzo_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 09/09/04 

Date: 9 Sep 2004 06:59:28 -0700

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Adept Alchemy
by
Robert A. Nelson

Part II ~ Chapter 1

Transmutations of Silver

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Gold can be manufactured from other elements by several methods. The
penultimate means of transmutation is the Philosophers' Stone of any
degree, but that is another matter altogether.
The transmutation of silver to gold is perhaps the easiest -- or least
difficult -- of such experiments. If nothing else, the attempt may
serve to enlighten aspiring souffleurs ("Puffers", an old French
alchemical label for deluded fools who pump their bellows in vain) to
wise up, get a life, and do something more worthwhile, profitable, and
less dangerous. Employing the methods developed by Francois
Jollivet-Castelot, however, there is every chance of success, albeit
at great risk due to the use of arsenic.

It has been argued by some purists that transmutations such as these
are not alchemy at all, but rather "hyper-chemistry" or "archymy".
Mayhap so, but I choose to include these factoids in this collection.

Most of the 19th and 20th century experimenters in this genre used a
variety of "wet" techniques (refluxing with nitric acid, etc.), or
"dry" transmutations with alloys in the furnace. Dr. Stephen Emmens
used high-pressure hammering (500 tons/sq. in.) of silver at low
temperature, followed by fluxing, granulation, more hammering,
treatment with "modified nitric acid", and refining.

(1) T. Tiffereau
(2) R. Hunter
(3) A. Waite
(4) Fulcanelli
(5) F. Jollivet-Castelot
(6) S. Emmens
(7) C. Lea
(8) References

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(1) Theodore Tiffereau ~

Between 1854-55, Theodore Tiffereau submitted six memoirs to the
French Academie des Sciences concerning transmutations of silver to
gold. He published a compilation of the papers ( Les Metaux sont des
Corps Composes ) in 1855.(25-27)

Tiffereau conducted his experiments at considerable expense while
supporting himself making daguerotypes in Mexico. Tiffereau claimed
that Mexican silver possesses peculiar qualities that lend to its
augmentation as gold (Dr. Emmens also used Mexican silver in his
work). While he claimed success in principle, he made no capital
gains. Tiffereau demonstrated his process at the French Mint in Paris
before the assayer M. Levol, but the results were unsatisfactory.

Tiffereau attempted many modifications of his techniques, and claimed
that certain experimental conditions influence the transmutation of
silver to gold:

1) Pure silver filings were used, sometimes mixed with pure copper
filings (Ag 9:1 Cu) and traces of zinc, iron, alumina and silica;

2) Trace amounts of gold catalyze the reaction;

3) The silver was refluxed with concentrated nitric acid, hyponitrous
acid, and nitrogen protozide or deuteroxide;

4) Concentrated sulfuric acid was used at times;

5) The acids were exposed to sunlight to "solarize" them. Tiffereau
complained that the French sun was not so effective as the Mexican;

6) Halides and sulfur in the presence of oxides of nitrogen improved
the reaction, and so did ozone;

7) Prolonged reaction time increased yields.

Tiffereau attributed the production of gold in the earth to the action
of the "microbe of gold". This was confirmed in the 1980s by the
discovery that placer gold nuggets form around a nucleus of bacillus
cereus.

The following experiment is typical of Tiffereau's general methods:

"After having exposed, over two days, pure nitric acid to the action
of solar rays, I added pure silver filings with pure copper filings in
the proportions of the alloy of money (9:1). A lively reaction
manifested, accompanied with a very abundant deposit of intact filings
agglomerated in a mass.

"The disengagement of nitrous gas continued without interruption, and
I left the liquid as is over twelve days. I noted that the aggregate
deposit was augmented sensibly in volume. I then added a little water
to the dissolution in which the product had precipitated, and again
abandoned the liquid to rest five days. During this time, new vapors
unceasingly disengaged.

"The five days having passed, I raised the liquid just to ebullition,
which I maintained until the nitrous vapors ceased disengagement,
after which I evaporated it to dryness.

"The matter obtained from the dessication is dry, dull,
blackish-green; it did not offer an appearance of crystallization...

"Placing the matter again in pure nitric acid and boiling six hours, I
saw the matter become clear green without ceasing to aggregate in
small masses. I added a new quantity of pure concentrated nitric acid
and boiled it anew; it is then that I finally saw the disaggregated
matter take the brilliance of natural gold...

[The third test in this series] "presented an extraordinary phenomenon
to be noted: the quantity of the alloy that I used experienced a
transformation entirely to pure gold."

Carey Lea suggested that Tiffereau and other experimenters had merely
prepared a gold-colored form of allotropic silver.

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(2) R. M. Hunter ~

In 1908, Sir Henry Baskerville made mention of a contemporary claim to
the production of artificial gold:

"Among the many communications reaching the writer, one is of more
than passing interest. Mr. R.M. Hunter, of Philadelphia, has written
concerning 'synthetic gold' as follows:

"I have so perfected the process that in my judgment, based on my
actual experience, gold may be manufactured at enormous profit, and to
this end I have designed a plant to be erected in Philadelphia and am
at this moment negotiating for $500,000 capital for its erection. I
realize that the public and most scientific men are adverse to the
belief in the possibility of such an enterprise, but I know what I am
doing and can afford to allow public sentiment to follow its own
course.

"Enclosed with the letter was an affirmative affadavit. On request,
Mr. Hunter promptly forwarded me samples of silver in which the gold
is 'growing' and some 'grown-up' gold, said to have been produced by
his secret process. I have not made analyses of the samples." (5)

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(3) Arthur E. Waite ~

The eminent occultist Arthur E. Waite wrote A Collection of Alchymical
Processes which includes a segment entitled "Silver Transmuted Into
Gold By The Action Of Light":

"In the focus of a Burning-Glass, 12 inches in diameter, place a glass
Flask, 2 inches in diameter, containing Nitric Acid, diluted with its
own volume of water:

"Pour into the Nitric Acid, alternately, small quantities of a
Solution of Nitrate of Silver and of Muriatic acid, the object being
to cause the Chloride of Silver to form a minutely divided state, so
as to produce a milky fluid, into the interior of which the brilliant
convergent cone may pass, and the currents generated in the Flask by
the Heat may so drift all the Chloride through the Light.

"The Chloride, if otherwise exposed to the Sun, merely blackens on the
surface, the interior parts undergoing no change: This difficulty,
therefore, has to be avoided. The Burning-Glass promptly brings on a
decomposition of the salt, evolving, on the one hand, Chlorine, and
disengaging a metal on the other. Supposing the experiment to last two
or three entire hours, the effect will then be equal to a continuous
midday sun of some 72 hours. The Metal becomes disengaged very well.
But what is it? It cannot be silver, since Nitric acid has no action
on it. It burnishes in an Agate Mortar, but its reflection is not like
that of silver, for it is yellowish, like that of Gold.

"The Light must therefore have so transmuted the original silver as to
enable it to exist in the presence of Nitric Acid." ( 28)

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(4) Fulcanelli ~

The renowned master Fulcanelli published this transmutation of silver
in Les Demeures Philosophales:

"The simplest alchemic procedure consists in utilizing the effect of
violent reactions --- those of acids on the bases --- to provoke in
the midst of the effervesence the reunion of pure parts, their new
arrangement being irreducible. In this manner, starting from a metal
close to gold --- preferably silver --- it is possible to produce a
small quantity of the precious metal. Here is, in this order of
research, an elementary operation whose success we guarantee,
providing the instructions are carefully followed.

"Empty into a glass retort, tall and tubular, one-third of its
capacity in pure nitric acid. Adapt to the receiver an escape tube and
arrange the apparatus in a sand bath.

"Gently heat the apparatus short of reaching the boiling point for the
acid (83o C). Turn off the fire, open the tube, and introduce a small
portion of virgin silver, or of cupel, free from gold traces. When the
emission of peroxide of azote has stopped and when the effervesence
has quieted, let drop into the liquor a second portion of pure silver.
Repeat introducing metal, with no hurry, until the boiling and issuing
of red vapors manifest little energy, which is indicative of the
property of saturation. Add nothing more. Let it rest for half an
hour, then cautiously decant your clear solution into a beaker while
it is still warm. You will find a thin deposit in the form of black
sand. Wash this with lukewarm water, and let it fall into a small
porcelain capsule. You will recognize by making the assays that the
precipitate is insoluble in hydrochloric acid, just as it also is in
nitric acid. Aqua regia will dissolve it and yields a magnificent
yellow solution, exactly like gold trichloride. Use distilled water to
dilute this liquor; precipitate from a zinc blade. An amorphous powder
will be obtained, very fine, matte, of reddish brown coloration,
identical to that given by natural gold reduced in the same manner.
Wash well and dessicate this pulvurent precipitate. By compression on
a sheet of glass or marble, it will give you a brilliant, coherent
lamina with a beautiful yellow sheen by reflection, green by
transparence, having the look and superficial characteristics of the
purest gold.

"To increase with a new quantity this miniscule deposit, you may
repeat the operation as many times as you please. In this case, take
up again the clear solution of silver nitrate diluted from the first
washing water; reduce the metal with zinc or copper. Decant this
silver into a powder and use it for your second dissolution." (14)

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(5) Francois Jollivet-Castelot ~

Francois Jollivet-Castelot was the Secretary General (and later
President) of the Alchemical Society of France (founded in 1896). He
also edited the Society's journal L'Hyperchemie, and served as a
special delegate of the Supreme Council of Martinists. He authored
several books and articles on alchemy and "hyperchemistry", a system
of non-occult chemical methods of transmutation. (17-20)

Jollivet-Castelot began experimenting with transmutations of silver in
1908. In 1920, he published La Fabrication Chimique de L'Or to report
his successes using both "wet" and "dry" methods of transmutation:

"By means of catalytic action I have succeeded in manufacturing gold
chemically by acting on silver with arsenic and antimony sulfides,
tellurium, and tin.

"This process gives a very high yield which has already been confirmed
by several chemists, in particular by Mr. Ballandras, Chemical
Engineer of Lyons, and Mr. Outon, Chemical Engineer of Buenos Aires...

"The object of the present leaflet is to enable chemists to repeat and
check my experiments in their turn...

"I made a mixture composed of 3 gr of chemically pure silver and 1 gr
of chemically pure orpiment and placed it in 36o nitric acid for
several months cold and then brought it to ebullition. The liquid was
kept at the boiling point for several days. A small quantity of the
material became detached at this moment and formed a pulvurent black
deposit. When no further action took place, I decanted off the
solution and collected the insoluble residue. This residue was
attacked by aqua regia at the boiling point until it was almost
completely dissolved; the liquor when decanted and filtered was
analyzed and gave all the characteristic reactions for gold....
[December 1925]

"I acted on 22 gr of chemically pure silver ... and on 3.5 gr of
chemically pure orpiment... The mixture was heated to about 1600o C In
a metal smelting furnace for about three quarters of an hour. The
residue obtained was again melted with the addition of orpiment. After
having hammered for half an hour and remelted with the addition of
small quantities of orpiment every ten minutes, it was withdrawn.

"After cooling and the addition of chemically pure antimony sulfide,
it was again put back into the furnace, small quantities of orpiment
being thrown in every five minutes. The residue obtained had a dark
metallic tint. After hammering it became slightly golden.

"The residue dissolved in chemically pure 36o nitric acid first cold
and then hot, gave an abundant pulvurent deposit. This deposit after
being washed and treated with ammonia to dissolve the arsenic and
antimony salts was completely dissolved in aqua regia. The liquor then
being chlorinated and filtered was subjected to the reagents of
platinum and gold. Mr. Andre Vandenberghe who was acting as preparator
for this experiment, had thought that in accordance with the law of
the evolution of matter, the transmutation of bodies into gold should
be preceded or accompanied by their transmutation into platinum...

"The reactions of gold were quite characteristic; the reactions of
platinum also seemed to reveal its presence.

"The quantity of gold obtained in this experiment was about one
gramme.

"I submit the hypothesis that the arsenic acts as a catalyst and the
sulfur as a ferment in this transmutation." (December 1925; Douai,
France)...

"As a sequel to my previous work on the artificial synthesis of gold,
I have introduced tin into these new tests as it is also often
associated with gold in Nature. The following is a description of this
new process, thanks to which the percentage of gold obtained destroys
all the objections that are raised with regard to impurities.

"I made an intimate mixture of 6 gr of chemically pure silver... 2 gr
of antimony sulfide, 1 gr of orpiment, and one gr of tin... I then
added the usual fluxes and then heated the whole in a crucible in the
furnace to about 1100o C for about one hour, twice adding a small
quantity of SbS.

"The residue obtained was treated for a long time in 36o nitric acid,
first cold and then at the boiling point; the insoluble residue was
next washed with distilled water, treated with ammonia, washed again
and finally treated for a long time with boiling aqua regia.

"The liquor when filtered and subjected to the reagents of gold showed
the presence of this metal in the form of abundant deposits which may
be estimated at 0.05 gr in all, which is very high considering the 6
gr of silver employed. The deposits when collected and dried had a
yellow green metallic color and possessed all the characteristics of
gold...

"The addition of tin to the other bodies has certainly facilitated the
reactions of the gold and increased the yield of this metal which can
be manufactured artificially by my process, i.e., by synthesis and in
measurable quantities.

"It would be very easy to show that, given the respective prices of
gold and of the other substances that are used in my process to
produce it, a profit could be obtained if the process were worked
industrially, all the more so as the greater part of the silver
employed can be recovered at each test..

"I believe I now hold the key to the regular and even industrial
manufacture of gold.

"But the industrial question is voluntarily put aside from my
thoughts, for my only object is the search for pure scientific truth."

In a correspondence to Jollivet-Castelot, Mr. Ballandras reported on
"How I Succeeded In Making Gold According To The Process of Mr.
Jollivet-Castelot: Dosage of gold obtained by the second method":

"From a mixture of 10 gr silver, 3 gr of tin, 3 gr of arsenic sulfide,
and 3 gr of antimony sulfide, the residue which had been obtained was
crushed as much as possible and subjected to a treatment of pure
chloric acid like in the first method. However, in order to completely
eliminate the silver and the tin employed, I scrupled to begin again
the indicated treatments, that is as much to say that the powder which
was obtained having been subdued first to the action of azotic acid,
then washed with distilled water, then subdued to the action of
chloric acid, then washed with distilled water, then once more washed
with distilled water, and these different operations were begun once
again with another portion of pure chloric acid... The insoluble
residue was subdued to the prolonged action of aqua regia...

"It must be noted that this thing happened during the ebullition. The
washed residue contained the slighter part of gold; this thing would
be found dissolved in the last liquor which I obtained.

"After 18 hours of digestion at about 25o, I subdued the mixture to
ebullition during 3 hours. After refrigeration, I filtered on glass
wool and I looked if parts were not drawn along in suspense. I found
nothing. Then, I decided to proceed to a circumstantial analysis of
the liquor which I obtained...

"The quantity of gold which was obtained was 0.476 gr for 10 gr of
silver employed, or 0.0476 gr of gold per gram of silver."

Jollivet-Castelot read this memorandum to the Academie Royal des
Sciences (Belgium) on June 6, 1926:

"A Recent Experiment In Transmutation --- All my research work on
transmutation since 1908 has started from the fact that gold is found
in nature associated with antimony and arsenic sulfides as well as
with tellurium, which is considered as a mineralizer of gold. I
therefore considered that it was logical to introduce tellurium into
the artificial combination of silver and arsenic and antimony sulfides
that I make...

"I prepared a mixture composed of 6 gr of silver, 1 gr of native
orpiment free of gold, 1 gr of antimony sulfide and 2 gr of
tellurium... I added pure silica to the usual fluxes. This mixture was
heated in the furnace in the usual way for one hour at about 1100o C.
The residue obtained was of a blackish-grey color with violet
reflections. It weighed 6.42 grams.

"When subjected to the action of nitric acid, the residue was attacked
with difficulty and greenish metallic particles become detached. The
solution was then decanted and a greenish-yellow residue remained
which was kept at the boiling point of nitric acid for several hours.
After decanting off the liquor once again, the residue, which had not
changed, was washed, treated with ammonia and then subjected to the
action of boiling aqua regia in which it was entirely dissolved after
boiling for several hours.

"[The solution was chlorinated and subjected to the reagents of gold
with positive results, although] a certain amount of gold was
certainly lost in this test just as in all my previous tests, for it
is known that arsenic, antimony, and tellurium entrain gold in their
fusion and their volatilization.

"In order to obviate this disadvantage, I had thought of making the
vapors of arsenic acid and antimony sulfides and of tellurium act on
the silver in fusion in a closed vessel by means of a special
device...

"I consider it certain that if the vapors were allowed to bubble
through the melted silver, a much higher yield of gold would be
obtained than that I have obtained hitherto by an imperfect and too
rapid contact of the bodies in presence, while it is undoubtedly
necessary to make them react on one another in the vapor state in a
closed vessel."

Mr. Louis Outon, a pharmaceutical chemist in Buenos Aires, reported to
Jollivet-Castelot in a letter (July 26, 1927):

"Dear Sir... I have repeated the experiments... in my laboratory and
am amazed at the results. For the moment, it is only the scientific
side which interests me, since the cost of the gold obtained is often
greater than the value of the metal..."

Mr. A. Ballandras also replicated the experiments and reported the
results:

"I will not conceal the fact that I have often heard ironical remarks
aboutprocesses by which he succeeded in manufacturing gold. I
determined to check his tests with the greatest possible accuracy...

"In a new quartz crucible, I placed 15 gr silver, 6 gr arsenic
sulfide, 6 gr antimony sulfide. The crucible was heated at a
temperature of 500o C and then for one hour and a half at 1100o C. At
this moment the mass was fairly liquid... The crucible was then
allowed to cool down. The reddish-brown residue obtained weighed
exactly 23.742 gr, or a loss of 3.258 grams.

"I allowed this residue to cool in pure nitric acid in which the
greater part was dissolved fairly easily. After prolonged boiling the
liquor was filtered on a new glass wool. The resultant liquor was very
clear and absolutely free of any particles.

"The glass wool was then macerated in aqua regia rich in hydrochloric;
after 18 hours maceration, the whole was boiled for 3 hours. I again
filtered on glass wool in order to separate any traces of the filter
from the liquor... Any gold that might have been obtained would
necessarily be found in the last liquor... It was of importance to
prove its existence qualitatively at least.

"For this purpose, I tried the various standard reagents, the results
being the following: 1) Oxalic acid: flakey precipitate; 2) Iron
sulfate: glossy metallic black; 3) Tin chloride: peach pink
precipitate; 4) Formol: rather light bluish coloration; 5) Sodium
carbonate, potassium carbonate: light coloration after boiling; 6)
Sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide: yellowish coloration, cloudy.

"These reactions are sufficiently characteristic and clearly prove the
existence in the last liquor of a metal which, even if it is not gold,
must nevertheless be placed very close to the latter... the metal
obtained and gold must be perfectly isotopic.

"I have repeated this test several times and I have observed: 1) That
the production of gold is a function of the rapidity with which the
necessary heat is obtained; 2) That it is also a function of the
degree of tightness of the crucible. A crucible that is closed as
tightly as possible gives better results; 3) That the amount of gold
obtained was not always uniform; some of the tests were absolutely
sterile and I inferred that this was due to some defect in the
mounting.

"I think there must be a certain temperature that should not be
exceeded and that the external conditions of pressure and electricity
must be of considerable importance."

In another experiment, Ballandras used silver (10 gr), tin (3 gr),
orpiment (3 gr), and antimony sulfide (3 gr):

"After having operated as previously, I obtained a quantity of gold
corresponding to 0.05 gr per gram of silver employed... This I
consider to be a highly interesting result."

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(6) Dr. Stephen Emmens ~

Early in 1897, the British chemist Stephen H. Emmens, then residing in
New York, announced the discovery of a new element which fills the
"vacant space existing in the sub-group of Group I", and which he
thought to be the intermediate matter from which silver and gold are
formed. Dr. Emmens said:

"Our claim is that the element in question is therefore neither silver
nor gold, but which may, by our new physical methods, be converted
into gold." (14)

In 1897, Dr. Emmens' Argentaurum Laboratory on Staten Island produced
over 660 ounces of gold from silver and sold it to the U.S. Assay
Office. He revealed a few historical and technical details of his
transmutation process in his book, Argentaurum Papers #1: Some Remarks
Concerning Gravitation:

"Our work, which converts silver into gold, had its origin in the
course of certain investigations which I undertook for the purpose of
preparing chemically pure nickel... in 1892. In attempting to prepare
these pure metals [nickel and iron], a certain product was obtained
which seemed to differ from anything recorded in the textbooks. The
same product was subsequently found when the investigation was
extended to the case of metallic cobalt... The phenomena observed
afforded indications of the existence of some substance common to the
whole of the elements in what is known as Series 4 of Group 8 of the
classification of Chemical Elements... It appeared to us almost
self-evident that if we were right in supposing a common substance to
be present in any single series of elements, the same would hold good
for each group.

"And as Group I of the classification contains the precious metals ---
gold and silver ~ it was obvious that our time and attention should
be directed to these metals rather than to any other...

"Our starting point, so far as silver and gold were concerned, was
afforded by the remarkable discoveries of Mr. Carey Lea with regard to
[colloidal silver]... It was found that... this subdivision of
metallic silver was attended by very considerable changes in the
physical properties of the substance...By certain physical methods and
by the aid of a certain apparatus, we succeeded in bringing about a
further subdivision of the silver. We were not surprised to find that
the substance obtained differed so far from ordinary silver that it
could no longer be regarded as the same elementary substance. It
seemed to require a new name and a new chemical symbol. Inasmuch,
therefore, as our theory was that this substance was common to both
gold and silver, and in reality was the raw material out of which both
gold and silver were constructed by the hand of nature, we named the
substance Argentaurum...

"The next step was to ascertain whether this substance could be so
treated as to be grouped into molecules of greater density than those
of silver... We found that... Argentaurum can be aggregated into
molecules having a density considerably superior to that of ordinary
gold molecules. Whether we are right as to this or not, the condensed
Argentaurum presents the appearance and is endowed with the properties
of ordinary metallic gold...

"We do not consume any chemicals and other costly materials in our
process; what we use is mainly energy in some of its various forms,
such as heat, electricity, magnetism, gravity, cohesion, chemical
affinity, x-rays and the like... Our chief source of expense is the
time required for bringing about the desired molecular changes... One
ounce of silver will produce three-quarters of an ounce of gold..."
(6)

Herbert Fyfe reported that Dr. Emmens' process comprised five stages:
1) mechanical treatment; 2) fluxing and granulation; 3) mechanical
treatment; 4) treatment with a "modified nitric acid", and 5)
refining. Dr. Emmens said:

"I regard the mechanical treatment as the causa causans. The fluxing
and granulation serve, I think, merely to render the molecular
aggregate susceptible of displacement and rearrangement." (15)

The mechanical treatment was accomplished by means of Dr. Emmens'
"Force Engine", which exerted pressures in excess of 500 tons/in2 at
very low temperatures. Step 4, using "modified nitric acid",
contradicts the statement made elsewhere, that "we do not consume any
chemicals... in our process." (4, 7-12, 15, 16, 23)

Dr. Emmens included a sample of Argentaurum and these instructions in
a letter (21 May 1897) to Sir William Crookes:

"Take a Mexican dollar and dispose it in an apparatus which will
prevent expansion or flow. Then subject it to heavy, rapid, and
continuous beating under conditions of cold such as to prevent even a
temporary rise of temperature when the blows are struck. Test the
material from hour to hour, and at length you will find more than the
trace (less than one part in 10,000) of gold which the dollar
originally contained."

Sir Crookes was unable to replicate the experiment to his
satisfaction. He reported:

"A specimen of Argentaurum sent me by Dr. Emmens has been examined
with the spectrograph. It consists of gold with a fair proportion of
silver and a little copper. No lines belonging to any other known
elements, and no unknown lines, were detected."

This analysis resembles that of ordinary bullion gold, which contains
silver and copper to make it harder and more fusible than pure gold.

In a rejoinder, Dr. Emmens noted:

"I have received a letter from a very eminent Fellow of the Royal
Society informing me that he has performed the crucial experiment
suggested in my letter of May 21, 1897, to Sir William Crookes. The
gold contained in the Mexican dollar after 40 hours of intense cold
and continuous hammering was found to be 20.9% more than the quantity
of gold contained in the same dollar before the test."

In 1898, Emmens floated the Argentaurum Company, a syndicate which
promised that for one ounce of silver (then worth about 50 cents)
entrusted with payment of $4.50 per ounce for conversion costs, the
investor would be repaid with 3/5 ounce of gold (then worth about
$11). Dr. Emmens' application for a patent on his process was refused,
however, so production never began, since he would not have been able
to protect his methods from unscrupulous competitors. (24, 29, 30)

Dr. Emmens was issued several U.S. Patents for inventions; at least
two of them may be related to his process: #501,996 (25 July 1893),
Electrolytic bath; and #501,997 (25 July 1893), Apparatus for
Electrolytic Extraction of Metals. Dr. Emmens' Force Engine produced
hammering pressures in excess of 500 tons/in2 at very low
temperatures. These effects can be achieved by a variety of modern
methods.

Semantic ambiguities in Dr. Emmens' writings confuse the understanding
of the process. At times, Argentaurum refers to a new element, or to
the gold produced from it, or to Lea's intermediate allotropic silver.

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(7) Carey Lea ~

Carey Lea discovered the preparation of so-called "allotropic" and
"intermediate" silver in 1889 while he was studying reductions of
silver nitrate. "Allotropic" is a misnomer, however. In 1925, Dr.
Richard Zsigmondy, Professor of Chemistry at the University of
Göttingen, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his study of
Lea's "allotropic" silver under the ultramicrosope. Dr. Zsigmondy
found that such silver actually was a monoatomic colloid of ordinary
silver, not another isotope.

Lea determined that silver occurs in "allotropic", "intermediate", and
ordinary forms. Ordinary silver is protean in nature. The aqueous
solutions are colloidal monoatoms, and give perfectly clear solutions.
The several forms of "allotropic" silver (a-Ag) dry with their
particles in optical contact with each other, thus forming continuous
films that are beautifully colored, perfect mirrors. Strong acids and
pressure will convert a-Ag to the normal form. There are three forms
of a-Ag, and all are unstable. (21, 22)

There is also a very stable "intermediate form" of silver (i-Ag) which
is easy to prepare. It occurs as bright gold-yellow or green crystals
with a metallic luster. Treatment with a very dilute solution of
ferric chloride will enhance the appearance of its foliar structure,
interpenetrating with plant-like ramifications, or fine acicular
crystals up to 1 inch long.

Intermediate silver is hard, tough, and unaffected by pressure. It is
nearly as indifferent to oxidizing and chlorizing agents as is normal
silver. Intermediate silver can be formed from the allotropic
varieties by light, heat, or chemical action. The simplest preparation
is as follows:

"It has long been known that golden-yellow specks would occasionally
show themselves in silver solutions, but could not be obtained at will
and the quantity thus appearing was infinitesimal. Probably this
phenomenon has often led to a supposition that silver might be
transmuted into gold. This yellow product, however, is only an
allotropic form of silver, but it has all the color and brilliancy of
gold, a fact which was apparent even in the minute specks hitherto
obtained...

"It is a little curious that its permanency seems to depend entirely
on details in the mode of preparation. I have found many ways of
obtaining it, but in a few months the specimens preserved changed
spontaneously, to normal silver... The normal silver produced in this
way is exquisitely beautiful. It has a pure and perfect white color
like the finest frosted jewelers' silver, almost in fact exceeding the
jeweler's best products. I found, however, one process by which a
quite permanent result could be obtained... the following proportions
give good results:

"Two mixtures are required: No. 1 containing 200 cc of a 10% solution
of silver nitrate, 200 cc of 20% solution of Rochelle Salt [Sodium
potassium tartrate] and 800 cc of distilled water. No. 2, containing
107 cc of a 30% solution of ferrous sulfate, 200 cc of a 20% solution
of Rochelle salt and 800 cc of distilled water. The second solution
(which must be mixed immediately before using only) is poured into the
first with constant stirring. A powder, at first glittering red, then
changing back to black, falls, which on the filter has a beautiful
bronze appearance. After washing it should be removed whilst in a
pasty condition and spread over watch glasses or flat basins and
allowed to dry spontaneously. It will be seen that this is a reduction
of silver nitrate by ferrous sulfate...

"Although the gold-colored silver (into which the nitrate used is
wholly converted) is very permanent when dry, it is less so when wet.
In washing, the filter must be kept always full of water; this is
essential. It dries into lumps exactly resembling highly polished
gold...

"If we coat a chemically clean glass plate with a film of gold-colored
allotropic silver, let it dry, first in the air, then for an hour or
two in a stove at 100o C, and then heat the middle of the plate
carefully over a spirit lamp, we shall obtain with sufficient heat a
circle of whitish gray with a bright, lustrous golden ring round it,
somewhat lighter and brighter than the portion of the plate that has
not been changed by heat. This ring consists of what I propose to call
the "intermediate form"...

"With sulfuric acid diluted with four times its bulk of water and
allowed to cool, an immersion of one or two seconds converts a film on
glass or on pure paper wholly to the intermediate form...

"Its properties are better seen by using a film formed on pure paper,
one end of which is heated over a spirit lamp to a temperature just
below that at which paper scorches. The change is sudden and passes
over the heated portion of the surface like a flash. Examining the
changed part, we find:

1st. That it has changed from a deep gold to a bright yellow gold
color.

2nd. When subjected to a shearing stress it does not whiten or change
color in the slightest degree.

3rd. It is much harder, as is readily perceived in burnishing it.

4th. It no longer shows the color reaction with potassium
ferricyanide and ferric chloride, changing only by a slight deepening
of color.

"Of these characteristic changes the second is the most remarkable.
The gold-colored silver in its original condition changes with
singular facility to white silver; almost any touch, any friction,
effects the conversion...

The intermediate form is distinguished from normal silver almost
solely by its bright yellow color and its higher luster."

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(8) References ~

1. "A.A.E.": Nature 121 (# 3060), p. 981 (June 23, 1928)
2. "A.C.": Chimie et Industrie, (1927), Suppl. 18/19 (4).
3. Anonymous: Rev. Ind. Chimie Industrielle 37: 63 (1928)
4. Ridpath, J.C.: The Arena (Boston) 19(1): 139-140 (1898); "The Age
of Gold"
5. Baskerville, C.: Popular Science Monthly 72 (1): 46-51 (1908);
"Some Recent Transmutations"
6. Bolton, Henry C.: Chemical News 76: 61-62 (6 August 1897); "The
Revival of Alchemy"
7. Emmens, Dr. Stephen H.: Chemical News 76: 117-118 (3 September
1897); The Engineering & Mining Journal 62 (10): 221, 222 (5 September
1896); "The Transmutation of Silver into Gold"; ibid., 62 (11): 243,
244 (12 Sept. 1896); " Emmens' Transmutation of Ag into Au"; ibid., 62
(14): 315, 316 (3 Oct. 1896); "The Transmutation of Ag into Au"
8. Emmens, Dr. S. H.: Science 5 (112): 314, 315 (19 Feb. 1897);
ibid., 5 (113): 343-344 (26 February 1897); "The Argentaurum Papers
No. 1, Some Remarks Concerning Gravitation"
9. Emmens, Dr. S. H.: Argentaurana ; G. Du Boistel (Bristol, 1899).
10. Emmens, Dr. S. H.: Science 7 (168): 9, 386-389 (18 March 1898);
"The Age of Gold -- A Rejoinder"
11. Emmens, Dr. S. H.: Arcanae Naturae (Paris, 1897)
12. Emmens, Dr. S. H.: Argentaurum Papers #1: Some Remarks Concerning
Gravitation; Plain Citizen Publ. Co. (New York, 1896)
13. Fletcher. E. A.: Frank Leslie's Popular Magazine (March 1898)
14. Fulcanelli: Les Demeures Philosophales, vol. 1, p. 184-185,
189-200; J. Pauvert (Paris, 1964)
15. Fyfe, H. C.: Pearson's Magazine (March 1898)
16. Gaddis, V. H.: American Mercury 86: 65-69 (January 1958)
17. Jollivet-Castelot, Francois: Chimie et Alchimie; E. Noury (Paris
1928)
18. Jollivet-Castelot, Fr.: La Fabrication Chimique de L'Or (Douai,
1928)
19. Jollivet-Castelot, Fr.: L'Hyperchimie (Paris, 1896-1901)
20. Jollivet-Castelot, Fr.: La Synthese de L'Or; H. Daragon (Paris,
1909)
21. Lea, Carey: Amer. Sci. J. (Series 3) 37 (222): 476-491 (June
1889); ibid., 38 (223): 47-50 (July 1889); ibid., 38 (224): 129
(August 1889); Ibid., 38 (225): 237-241 (September 1889); ibid., 41
(243): 179-190 (March 1891); ibid., 42 (250): 312-317 (October 1891);
ibid.,48 (148): 343 (October 1894); ibid., 51 (24): 259-267 (April
1891); ibid., 51 (246): 282-289 (April 1891).
22. Lea, C.: Zeit. Anorg. Allgem. Chem. 7: 340-341 (1894)
23. MacKenzie, J.: Spokane Mines & Electrician (17 February 1897)
24. Ord, W. E.: Knowledge 20: 285 (1 December 1897)
25. Tiffereau. Theodore: Les Metaux Sont Des Corps Composes; Vaugirard
(Paris, 1855)
26. Tiffereau, T.: L'Or et le Transmutation des Metaux
27. Tiffereau, T.: Comptes Rendu Acad. Sci. Paris 38: 383, 792, 942
(854); ibid., 39: 374, 642-644, 743, 1205 (1854); ibid., 40: 1317
(1855); ibid., 41: 647 (1855); ibid., 123: 1097 (1896)
28. Waite, Arthur E.: A Collection of Alchymical Processes; S. Weiser
(New York, 1987)
29. Woodward, Dr. R. S.: Science 5 (112): 343-344 (19 February 1897)
30. Young, C. A.: Science 5 (113): 343-344 (26 February 1897)

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