VOL. 5, NO. 4
THE STREET OF THE ALCHEMISTS
467
THE STREET OF THE ALCHEMISTS HARRY N. HOLMES, OBERLINCOLLEGE, OBERLIN,OHIO
In March, 1926, I made a brief visit to Prague in order to get a glimpse of the famous medieval architecture. The architecture was well worth a visit, but, thanks to a professor of botany in the old Czech University, my most vivid memory is of a chemical nature. My friend, the professor, took me up on the hill overlooking the city, to see the Hradcany, or royal castle. Close against the back of the castle he showed me "Gold Street," very narrow, but too neat and clean to be
called an alley. At first glimpse it seemed to me nothing but a little old street of dolls' houses, but the professor informed me that into this street King Rudolph of Bohemia gathered the alchemists of Europe under his protection. Not only did King Rudolph subsidize these alchemists to turn base metal into gold, but he actually worked with them at times, like the merry old soul he was. By means of a smile and a language that I knew not, my friend secured us en*& into one of these dolls' houses. Our hostess showed us the very forge in which the alchemist had melted lead and other base metals. She pointed to the second floor, and we crawled up, rather than walked, because of very limited head room. Things were left very much as they had been centuries ago, but everything was spotlessly clean. Tantalizing
odors from the kitchen tempted us to stay, but it was evident that the dimensions of the house were not arranged for guests. After my return to America i t occurred to me that the professor of botany might get me a picture for the JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION. Here it is. I was astonished to find that not one of the many chemists in Europe and America to whom I told this story knew anything about "Gold Street." For that matter, neither did I find any chemists outside of France who had seen the excellent statue of Lavoisier located just behind the Madeleine in Paris. I didn't know of i t either, until my wife dug up the information and led me to the shrine.
