Isaac Newton wrote fellow alchemist Robert Boyle a letter urging him to keep "high silence" in publicly discussing the

principles of alchemy. "Because the way by the Mercurial principle may be impregnated has been thought fit to be

concealed by others that have know it," Newton wrote, "and therefore may possibly be an inlet to something more

noble that is not to be communicated without immense damage to the world if there be any verity in (the warning of

the) Hermetic writers. There are other things besides the transmutation of metals which none but they understand."

Newton on Keeping Alchemy Secret, by alchemylab.com

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43. James Price

I'm just going to go ahead and "quote" the entire Wikipedia article on James Price.

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James Price (1752–1783) was an English chemist and alchemist who claimed to be able to turn mercury into silver or

gold. When challenged to perform the conversion in front of credible witnesses, he instead committed suicide by

drinking prussic acid.

Born in London in 1752, he was initially called James Higginbotham but changed his name to Price following the

wishes of a relative who had died and left him a legacy. He attended Oxford University and, although no records of

his early education or his research at Oxford exist, had a brilliant career there. He became a Master of Arts at 25 and

the University made him a Doctor of Medicine in 1778, particularly for his work in the field of chemistry. In 1781, at

the age of 29, he became a member of the Royal Society.

Work on transmutation

In the following year, he appears to have been working on the transmutation of base metals into precious metals and

on 6 May 1782, after revealing his findings to a few of his friends, he began a series of public experiments hosted at

his laboratory in Guildford. He demonstrated that he could produce precious metals by mixing borax, nitre, and a red

or white powder of his own devising (known as the powder of production) with fifty times its own weight in mercury

and stirring the mixture in a crucible with an iron rod. Mixing in the red powder produced gold; the white powder,

silver. He performed seven of the public demonstrations (the final one being on 25 May 1782) which were attended by

the elite: peers, clergymen, lawyers, and chemists. Some of the gold produced during the experiments was presented to

George III. The accounts of the experiments were published with great success.

Challenged by other Fellows

The Fellows of the Royal Society were less convinced, however, and asked him to repeat the experiments in the

presence of some of the members of the Society. Price seemed less than happy to do this. He claimed that his powders

were exhausted and preparation of new samples would cost him time and money and be damaging to his health. He

also protested that the cost of preparing the gold or silver by this method was not economical, as it cost £17 to make

an ounce of gold, which was only valued at £4. The Royal Society insisted on the repetition of the experiments and

reminded Price that, as a member, he was calling the honour of the Society into question. Price rebuked them,

claiming that his reputation and position in society should prevent any hint of suspicion from being cast upon the

veracity of his claims, but eventually he was forced to submit.

Events leading to ingestion of poison

In January 1783, Price returned to his laboratory in Guildford, ostensibly to start production of the miraculous

powders. In fact, he set about the distillation of laurel water (which contained prussic acid). He wrote his will at the

same time, but it was another six months before he returned to London to invite members of the Royal Society to

witness the experiment on 3 August.

Despite the success of his initial demonstrations and the furor they had caused, only three members turned up on the

appointed day. Although clearly disappointed by the poor turnout, Price welcomed the three men and then, stepping

to one side, drank the flask of laurel water he had prepared. The three men immediately noticed a change in his

appearance, but before they could do anything, Price was dead.

His motives for attempting the deception are unknown. He was a wealthy and respected man who had already been

honoured for his chemical research.

James Price, by en.wikipedia.org

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