Dr Zavodny's Final Experiment

Doctor Zavodny's Final ExperimentUntitled Part 1

Dr Zavodny's Final Experiment

Chapter One

After months of isolation in the tower, Kaspar was weary and disconsolate. So many failures were jeopardising the goodwill of the king and exhausting his credit from the treasury. Why had he promised so much? What grounds had he for convincing the Royal Court that persistence would, surely, bring the result that was desired so fervently?

Then again, had not Boettger persisted, even to the exasperation of the King and Courtiers and to the treasury? And had not the experiments been successful, in the end. And was not the king greatly pleased by the exquisite porcelain artifacts, the figurines, tableware and tea services that would not only rival those from Cathay but exceed them in their fineness and quality? And had not these successes distracted the king from his desire for Alchemists Gold?

He began to examine the results of the countless hours working in the unbearable heat of the furnace. Little remained but a few lumps of black residue which stank with that foulness of a burning corpse, when crushed with a pestle and mortar. Repeated sieving and spinning in the centrifuge yielded nothing but a few tiny grains of a yellowish, metallic colour, too small to be assayed.

Pushing aside flasks, phials and alembics on the bench, in order to clear some space, he reached of pen and ink.

"My Dear Dr. Boettger,

I have, during these last months, made many repetitions of the process we discussed. I have excluded as much air from the crucible chamber as could be achieved and even attempted to exhaust the chamber with the Huygens pump, as you advised me. It is my opinion that the Flogiston pervades all space, even in a vacuum, such that all materials subjected to heat will eventually reduce to ash.

I must conclude that the only hope of achieving a successful transmutation must lie in obtaining knowledge of the ancient Hindu 'Secret Fire'. I am, therefore, begging your assistance, once again. In your last missive, you told me that you believed the library at Heidleberg contained volumes which have yet to be translated from the ancient Sanskrit. May I now prevail upon you to direct one of your most able students to this task.

Your faithful servant,

Kaspar Zavodny"

He handed the letter to the guard who brought him his meals and drink. Perhaps, now Dr. Boettger would be more sympathetic now he had regained his own freedom.

In the time that followed, Kaspar engaged himself in writing many arcane and impenetrable notes and reports which he hoped would satisfy the king's inquiries as to the progress being made. Using as many alchemical symbols and terms as could be demonstrated as relevant, he as covered many sheets that the paper mill could supply him with.

However,raw materials were running low. The remaining jars of cinnabar and sulphur were nearly empty, the green glass bottles of Aqua Fortis and Aqua Regiae had but a few drops left and there was insufficient Butter of Antimony and Spirits of Salt to be rendered into Powder of Algaroth. Besides, none of these materials had proved their worth. Perhaps it was the wrong quantities, the methods of coagulation and coalescence, the temperatures to hot or too cool, but whatever it was, Kaspar was in grave and imminent danger of losing his head to the royal executioner's axe.