PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, TnE. A mysteri ous compound to which was attributed the power of transmuting metals into gold or silver, and the attempted making of which was the chief .wcnpation of alchemists, at least during the Middle Ages. in reality it bore no resemblance to a stone, being more properly described as an amalgam. It W:1s a universal panacea that was so eagerly sought, for with the function of a universal solvent it, combined that of the elixir of life. a renewing influence on the body. The conception of the transmutation of metals was Oriental. The Arabs regarded metals as com pounded of mereury and sulphur in varying pro portions. To this was added a more philosophic conception of a common basis of all forms of mat ter. individual forms being due to a force sepa rable from this. If the `materia prima' could he dissolved from the combining forces and united with the special 'form' of gold and the combina tion eould be controlled, then any bodies could be at will. Three forums of the philoso pher's stone are mentioned—the great elixir, a red tincture metals into gold; the elixir vibe, restoring youth and prolonging life: and the lesser (.1 ixir, a white tincture, changing metals into silver. The powers of the philosopher's stone appear to have been first described by Zosinnts in the fifth eentury. Gebel- (q.v.I was
the reputed author of the Key of Wisdom. a secret book on time philosopher's stone. The matter was generally shrouded in mystery and not clearly defined until the twelfth century. :salt, sulphur, and mercury, regarded as the t'iP1111.111.: of matter, were combined to produee the solvent. By the sixteenth century the for mula of preparation had become more definite. The 'mercury of philosophy,' combined with gold, was plaeed in a furnace where the gold was dissolved. After a long interval a black powder. called Saturn, was produced. A further beating produced the white tincture, or little philosopher's stone, and a hotter fire produced a red powder. the true stone. Vali Helmont as serted that he had seen and handled the stone, whieb was sulphur-color, heavy, and brilliant as glass. Paracelsus described it as a solid of deep ruby color. transparent, flexible, and brittle as glass; Raymond as a carbuncle. After the thirteenth century a mystic and esoteric interpretation of the philosopher's stone seems to have been applied to morals. the stone bringing to the wearer wisdom and virtue, and purifying the soul.