James Price (chemist)
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James Price (1752 – 3 August 1783), born James Higginbottom, was an English
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
and
alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...
who claimed to be able to turn mercury into
silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
or
gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
. When challenged to perform the conversion a second time in front of
credible witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...
es, he instead killed himself by drinking
prussic acid Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structural formula . It is a highly toxic and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an industrial s ...
(hydrogen cyanide).


Early life

Born in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1752, his original surname was Higginbottom, but he changed it to Price following the wishes of a relative who had died and left him a legacy. He attended
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
and, although no records of his early education or his research at Oxford exist, had a successful career there. He became a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
at 25 and the university made him a
Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...
in 1778, particularly for his work in the field of chemistry. In 1781, at the age of 29, he became a member of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
.


Work on transmutation

In the following year, he began working on the transmutation of
base metal A base metal is a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to a precious metal such as gold or silver. In numismatics, coins often derived their value from the precious metal content; however, base metals have also been used in coins in the past ...
s into
precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...
s and on 6 May 1782, after revealing his findings to a few of his friends, he hosted a series of public experiments at his laboratory in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
. He claimed that he could produce precious metals by mixing
borax The BORAX Experiments were a series of safety experiments on boiling water nuclear reactors conducted by Argonne National Laboratory in the 1950s and 1960s at the National Reactor Testing Station in eastern Idaho.
,
nitre Niter or nitre is the mineral form of potassium nitrate, KNO3. It is a soft, white, highly soluble mineral found primarily in arid climates or cave deposits. Potassium and other nitrates are of great importance for use in fertilizers and, ...
, and a red or white powder of his own devising (which he called the powder of production) with fifty times its own weight in mercury and stirring the mixture in a
crucible A crucible is a container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures. Although crucibles have historically tended to be made out of clay, they can be made from any material that withstands temperat ...
with an iron rod. Mixing in the red powder allegedly produced gold; the white powder, silver. He performed seven of the public demonstrations, the final one being on 25 May 1782, which were attended by peers, clergymen, lawyers, and chemists. Some of the gold that Price claimed was produced during the experiments was presented to King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
.


Challenged by other Fellows

The Fellows of the Royal Society were less convinced, however, and asked him to repeat the experiments in the presence of some of the members of the society, which Price was reluctant to do. He claimed that his powders were exhausted and preparation of new samples would cost him time and money and be damaging to his health. He also protested that the cost of preparing the gold or silver by this method was not economical, as it cost £17 to make an
ounce The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight, or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States ...
of gold, which was only valued at £4. The Royal Society insisted on the repetition of the experiments and reminded Price that, as a member, he was calling the honour of the society into question. Price rebuked them, claiming that his reputation and position in society should prevent any hint of suspicion from being cast upon the veracity of his claims, but he was eventually forced to submit.


Events leading to suicide

In January 1783, Price returned to his laboratory in Guildford, ostensibly to start production of the miraculous powders. In fact, he set about the
distillation Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...
of laurel water (which contained hydrogen cyanide, commonly known as prussic acid). He wrote his will at the same time, but it was another six months before he returned to London to invite members of the Royal Society to witness the experiment on 3 August in his laboratory in Guildford. Despite the claimed successes of his initial demonstrations and the furor they had caused, only three members turned up in Guildford on the appointed day. Although clearly disappointed by the poor turnout, Price welcomed the three men and then, stepping to one side, ended his life by drinking the flask of laurel water he had prepared. The three men immediately noticed a change in his appearance, but before they could do anything, Price had died of cyanide poisoning.


References

*New Scientist, Dec 24–31, 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, James 1752 births 1783 deaths 18th-century alchemists 18th-century English chemists English alchemists Fellows of the Royal Society Scientists from London Suicides by cyanide poisoning Alumni of the University of Oxford Suicides in England Suicides by poison 18th-century suicides