Alchemy in Reverse: Robert Boyle on the Degradation of Gold

Abstract

A LCHEMY was ordinarily considered to have as its ultimate objective the perfection of metals, in particular, the making / ^ of silver and gold out of the baser or less perfect metals. Various accounts appear in the literature of claims for successful pro jections, usually with the aid of a mysterious powder. In some direc tions for making transmutations the base starting materials are de graded in a preliminary step in order to deprive them of any qualities, an operation called melanosis. Except for this initial blackening proc ess, alchemists concerned themselves with the process of perfecting metals. In fact, certain authors have alleged that there are no accounts of operations in which a noble metal has become debased. For this reason, it is appropriate to examine the little-known tract of Robert Boyle, Of a Degradation of Gold, published in 1678.1 Although the author of this seventeen-page book was simply listed as an Anti-Elixir, Boyle's pen was accepted by his contemporaries as the source and his name appeared on the title page of the second edition.2 Only a few copies were printed and Fulton knew of only four extant copies when he prepared the second edition of his bibli ography of Boyle's works. The second edition, which bears the en