This section is from the book "The Home Cyclopedia Of General Information", by Charles Morris. Also available from Amazon: Home Cyclopedia of Necessary Knowledge.
[Ar. Alkimia.] A pretended art arising from chemistry, by which it is sought to make gold or silver out of baser materials, or to produce a universal medicine. The conversion into gold was to be effected by what was called the philosophers' stone. Alchemy was practiced for many centuries, but its only important result was the discovery of various chemical elements, such as sulphuric, nitric and muriatic acids.
 
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