The old alchemists, who were accused of being magicians, and having dealings with the powers of evil, were always trying to make gold.  Apparently no one ever succeeded.

Lately, a man from Chicago, a Mr. Brice, went to the Government and asked for a patent on a method of making gold, which he offered to sell the Government.

It has long been known to scientists that the precious metals, silver and gold, are present in many of the baser metals, such as antimony and lead.

Mr. Brice claimed that he could extract the gold from these metals, and that he could also make gold.

When he applied for his patent it was refused to him, on the ground that he had not shown that the work could really be done.  He continued to ask for the patent; and, as the laboratory of the Patent Office was too small for him to show his process to the authorities, he was allowed to use the laboratory of the Mint Bureau for his experiments.

A committee of scientists was appointed to conduct the experiments, and Mr. Brice furnished them with his formula for making the gold.

The first experiments were tried with metals that were known to contain gold and silver.  From these, by Mr. Brice’s process, eighty-four per cent of the gold was recovered and fifty-six per cent of the silver.

They then tried to make gold from minerals that were free from the precious metals, but this experiment failed; no gold resulted.

In making their report of the attempts to make gold, the committee pronounced them failures.

They said, first, that in the attempt to extract gold from metals known to contain gold and silver, Mr. Brice’s process had only extracted a portion of this metal.

Second, that the claim of making gold was entirely without foundation.

Mr. Brice replied to this, by complaining that the commission did not follow his formula.

He declared that certain chemicals had been used which he had expressly stated would ruin his process if added to his formula.  He said that the commission had also declined to use a certain apparatus which he insisted was absolutely necessary to obtain the desired results.

Mr. Brice says he will go to England and try his experiments there, and offer Great Britain the wonderful secret which the United States has refused.

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A new method for using electricity instead of steam has been tried on the railroad.

It has proved to be such a success that many people declare that the days of the steam locomotive are numbered, and electricity will soon be used in its stead.

The plan was tried on the New England Railroad, between Hartford and New Britain.

It is called the “third-rail system,” and consists of a third rail, laid down in the centre of the tracks, between the ordinary supporting rails.

This third rail looks like a capital A, flattened down.  It is laid on blocks of wood, and through it the electric current passes to the cars.