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THE TRANSMUTATION OF MERCURY INTO GOLD by Robert Nelson © 1998 tested these deposits and detected gold. Subsequently, Dr Miethe and Dr Hans Stammreich were issued German Patent Specification No. 233,715 (8 May 1924) for "Improvements in or Relating to the Extraction of Precious Metals". According to the specification: "...an electric arc is formed between mercury poles, in the same way as is done in mercury quartz lamps. With sufficient difference in potential, gold is then produced in the mercury. It is advisable to condense again the evaporated mercury. The quantity of gold produced depends, all other conditions being equal, on the quantity of current and also, among others, on the vapour pressure of the mercury or on the difference of potential in the arc. The difference of potential in the arc must therefore be sufficiently great. If it drops to excessively small amounts, the efficiency will be greatly reduced. If the difference of potential is increased, the quantity of gold formed will be considerably increased, beginning with a certain difference of potential." In July of 1924, Dr Miethe announced that he and Dr Stammreich had changed mercury into gold in a high-tension mercury vapour lamp. The experiment produced one dollar's worth of gold at a cost of US$60,000, equivalent to over $2 million today (gold then sold for $330/Ib). Miethe used a potential of 170 volts applied for 20-200 hours. The lamp consumed 400-2,000 watts. A minimum potential difference is necessary. The yield of gold was minute: 0.1-0.01 mg. The mercury and the electrodes were analysed and determined to be free of gold before the experiments. Miethe was not able to attempt to prove the production of -rays or B-rays, hydrogen or helium. O. Honigschmid and E. Zintl determined the atomic weight of Miethe's mercuric Au, using potentiometric titration of auric salt with TiCl,. It was found to be 197.26 (+ 0.2), which is heavier than ordinary Au (197.2). They emphasised the need for a mass spectral analysis. Frederick Soddy responded to the announcement of Miethe's claims with the suggestion that such a change might be effected by attaching an electron to the mercury nucleus: "Consider the collision of high-speed electrons with mercury atoms. A small proportion of these electrons must be directed upon the et al. (Tokyo Imperial University) described their studies "on the isotopes of mercury and bismuth revealed in the satellites of their spectral lines"—gold in particular. In May 1925, they reported some of the technical details. Nagaoka and his co-workers discharged about 15 x 104 volts/cm for four hours between tungsten and mercury terminals under a dielectric layer of paraffin oil. They used the Purple of Cassius test to detect Au in the viscous residue of C, Hg, etc. The black mass was purified in vacuo, then by combustion with oxygen and extraction with HCl, to yield Au, either in aqua regia solution or as ruby-red spots in the glassware. Microscopic films of Au were found on occasion. Nagaoka stated that when a discharge was passed through drops of Hg falling between iron electrodes, the formation of silver and other elements was observed. Another run of an Hg lamp for more than 200 hours at 226 volts produced a milligram of gold plus some platinum. It was noted that: "In order to be sure of transmutation, repeated purification of Hg by distilling in vacuum at temperatures below 200°C is essential." Considerations of the satellites of the spectral lines of Hg led Nagaoka to the conclusion that a proton is "slightly detached" from the nucleus of Hg, and it can be removed. It was surmised that "if the above assumption as to the Hg nucleus is valid, we can perhaps realise the dream of alchemists by striking out a hydrogen proton from the nucleus by a-rays or by some other powerful methods of disruption" to produce Au from Hg. At about the same time, Professor Adolf Miethe of the Photochemical Department at the Berlin Technical High School found that the mercury vapour lamps, used as a source for ultraviolet rays, ceased to work after a time because of a sooty deposit which formed in the quartz tubes. Miethe [I March 1924, Prof. Hantaro Nagaoka Tos LNT A Ses a = —_— Se ; - ° NEXUS - 51 Soewrarwilhe OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 1999