The Argosy, Vol. XXIV, No. 3 — page 75: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE GOLD DELUGE. 459 He did not wait until the wires had cooled, but immediately placed one of them under a powerful microscope and examined the surface minutely. He could discover no trace of any foreign substance thereon and, laying it aside, busied himself with the contents of the crucible, which had in the mean time cooled off somewhat. Very carefully he poured out all its contents, placed it in an alembic filled with water in which the crystals which had been imbedded in the yellow metal and now had turned into a glass-like substance, quickly dissolved. He refiltered the entire matter and again evaporated it, until he had the pure metal before him. He now stepped to the delicate analytical scale, laid the metal on it and weighed it. ‘‘ Again five milligrams short,’’ he muttered, and placed his hand to his brow. ‘‘ Then that was zof an accident? But why? I cannot compre- hend it.”’ Mentally absorbed he approached the window, dropped into a chair, and stared at the night shrouded sky. ‘And yet it means something,’’ he mumbled to himself. ‘‘It isa cer- tain indication, because, if the gold were not destroyed in some manner or other by the process, it would be entirely inexplicable. There are five milli- grams less each time, and if thereby amorphous gold is created it cannot be demonstrated-—at least with the instruments at my command. Could I only work with larger quantities; I have only a small amount—fitty grains—but it shall succeed—must succeed, even if I exhaust my brain entirely! Noone ever before came as near a solution of the question as I did—that I feel cer- tain of; oh, it is bewildering, excruciating to see all those sparks flimmer and not be able to unite them into an entirety and thus solve the matter. That there is a solution, there is no doubt; the forms are absorbed and dissolve and amalgamate in one another, but—how? What law governs it? Oh, could I discover that! If only the morrow brought success! Small wonder that a man’s brain turns at the thought. Suchadiscovery! I know of no other which would compare with it. Blast the gold! This is, first and last, only a question of the corelativeness between power, strength, and original matter, whereby the visible, so called basic element is produced, which again is sub- divided into hundreds of other forms according to—yes, according to—what ? There's the mystery! I must procure a spectroscope, but where am I to get the three hundred kronen? I must follow the matter as far as it goes, and having found the means for everything thus far, I surely will make this also possible.’’ : His soliloquy ended, he again busied himself with his apparatus, threw a shovel of coal into the fire, and with the bellows produced a bright flame. ‘“T want to see any way, whether it is not possible to catch a trace of amorphous gold with a platinous sponge ; I feel convinced it is present ; only a trial will tell.’’ He recommenced his experiments while the day dawned, and all the noise that the cocks around the factory could possibly make a-crowing resounded in his ears with a din. ‘The lamplight expired without his noticing it, as daylight was now sufficient for his work. Undaunted, he worked away with Oo | CONMnicloooks.cO