the "Elixir of Life."--The desire for long life and the
acquisition of wealth have indirectly been the stimulus to medical and
physical investigation, eventually evolving science as we have it now.
The fundamental principles of nearly every branch of modern science
were the gradual metamorphoses of the investigations of the old
searchers after the "philosopher's stone" and "elixir of life." The
long hours of study and experiment in the chase for this
will-o'-the-wisp were of vast benefit to the coming generations; and to
these deluded philosophers of the Middle Ages, and even of ancient
times, we are doubtless indebted for much in this age of advancement.

With a credulous people to work upon, many of the claimants of the
discovery of the coveted secret of eternal life must be held as rank
impostors claiming ridiculous ages for themselves. In the twelfth
century Artephius claimed that by the means of his discovery he had
attained one thousand and twenty-five years. Shortly after him came
Alan de Lisle of Flanders with a reputed fabulous age. In 1244 Albertus
Magnus announced himself as the discoverer. In 1655 the celebrated
Doctor Dee appeared on the scene and had victims by the score. Then
came the Rosicrucians. Count Saint-Germain claimed the secret of the
"philosopher's stone" and declared to the Court of Louis XV that he was
two thousand years old, and a precursor of the mythical "Wandering
Jew," who has been immortalized in prose and rhyme and in whose
existence a great mass of the people recently believed. The last of the
charlatans who claimed possession of the secret of perpetual life was
Joseph Balsamo, who called himself "Count of Cagliostro." He was born
in Italy in 1743 and acquired a world-wide reputation for his alleged
occult powers and acquisition of the "philosopher's stone." He died in
1795, and since then no one has generally inspired the superstitious
with credence in this well-worn myth. The ill-fated Ponce de Leon when
he discovered Florida, in spite of his superior education, announced
his firm belief in the land of the "Fountain of Perpetual Youth," in
the pursuit of which he had risked his fortune and life.

We wish to emphasize that we by no means assume the responsibility of
the authenticity of the cases to be quoted, but expressing belief in
their possibility, we shall mention some of the extraordinary instances
of longevity derived from an exhaustive research of the literature of
all time