Chemical Experiments on the Radical Dissolution of Bodies

There was a time when the art of metal transformation Metallverwandlungskunst: The practice of alchemy or transmutation, specifically turning base metals into noble ones like gold. was only considered possible under the condition that one could radically decompose the noble metals. This decomposition, however, was held to be impossible—and consequently, the former was as well.

Experience proves, however, that man should not judge things prematurely when he lacks experience with them. A modest person merely says: according to our current knowledge of chemistry, it does not seem possible; perhaps we simply lack higher knowledge. This was my way of thinking, and this mindset led me to the reality of metal decomposition, by which the possibility [of transformation] is sufficiently proven; for experience is the best syllogism A form of logical reasoning where a conclusion is drawn from two premises; the author suggests that practical results are more convincing than theoretical arguments..

If someone were to ask me: "Can you now produce gold?" I would answer him: analyzing metals and then synthesizing them again is still very different from the actual production of them.

For example, one knows how to separate the constituents of various bodies, and [re-] The text breaks here at the catchword "wie-", likely leading into "wieder" (again) on the following page.