The Lie of Making Gold ― Alchemy and the Cure-All

Last time, we traced deception that wore the guise of faith, of gods and oracles. But as the age advanced, a new authority that gripped people’s hearts more strongly emerged. It was the power that sought to unravel the mysteries of nature through reason and experiment — what would later be called science. Ironically, this new authority too was turned into a tool of deception by those who borrowed its guise. Alchemy, which promised to turn base metal into gold; the cure-all, touted to heal every illness. From the early-modern into the modern era, when learning and trickery were still inseparably intertwined, people had their hearts stolen, again and again, by glittering lies.

The Dream of Gold, and Those Who Prey on It

To turn base metal into gold, and to create the philosopher’s stone that brings immortality — this pursuit, called alchemy, has a long history. After developing greatly in the Arabic-speaking world, its texts reached Europe around the twelfth century and captivated scholars across the land. Seen through today’s eyes, it was an impossible undertaking, but at the time it was regarded as a genuine branch of learning, and among kings and nobles there were not a few who kept alchemists and placed their hopes on the results.

What deserves caution here is that not every alchemist was a swindler. Many were earnest seekers who tried to probe the secrets of nature, and in the course of their trial and error, substances such as sulfuric acid and nitric acid were discovered, laying the foundations of the chemistry to come. Alchemy was also a sincere endeavor of knowledge, on the eve of science.

Yet the reputation for being able to make gold draws those who would prey upon it. In medieval Europe, it is said, many regarded an alchemist as either a kind of sorcerer or else a swindler. To claim one could produce gold, draw out funds, and seek backing and support from kings and the wealthy — that such people existed was also a fact. A promise that cannot be kept, spoken in glittering words. This structure, preying on the ultimate desire that is gold, already possessed a form that could be called the distant ancestor of the various investment frauds of later ages.

The Claim to Cure Every Illness

Alongside the dream of gold, what has gripped people’s hearts strongly is the wish for health. The earnest desire to escape illness and pain has, in every age, bred trust in remedies that tout their effects. And this desire too becomes a prime target for those who prey upon it.

From the eighteenth into the nineteenth century, patent medicines flourished across Europe and America. Many of these were sold, without a physician’s prescription or any scientific grounding, through the corners of newspapers and by traveling peddlers, claiming to cure every ailment from headaches to internal disorders. Some are said to have contained ingredients with strong effects, such as those derived from alcohol or opium, and it has been reported that by making symptoms seem temporarily eased, they earned a reputation for working.

In this era, there was no public mechanism to verify efficacy. That is precisely why, with little more than a clever sales pitch and the faint sensation of having worked, even a baseless remedy could sell widely. Around health, which everyone earnestly seeks, deception that preys on hope and fear swelled to a scale that could be called an industry.

Snake Oil, and the March Toward Regulation

As a phrase that symbolizes this era, the expression ‘snake oil,’ meaning a phony cure-all, still remains in the English-speaking world. The origin told of it is the anecdote of the showman Clark Stanley, who toured across the United States in the nineteenth century. He called himself the Rattlesnake King, and is said to have flamboyantly hawked a liniment made from snake oil before crowds, touting it as effective against every kind of pain.

In later years, however, when his product was examined, it is reported to have contained almost none of the snake ingredient that had been advertised, and to have been a blend of mineral oil, fat, chili pepper, turpentine, and the like. Against the backdrop of the Pure Food and Drug Act enacted in 1906, his product is said to have been seized by the authorities, and he was fined a small sum. The punishment itself was light, but this affair was remembered as a turning point in the era when society began to cast the net of law over remedies that touted baseless efficacy.

In this way, from the early-modern into the modern era, people had their hearts stolen, again and again, by lies that wore the guise of science. Both the promise to make gold and the claim to cure every illness, pressed to their core, preyed upon the earnest wish for wealth and for health. But what comes next is not the lie of a single alchemist or a single medicine seller. Society as a whole grows feverish toward a single dream, and the crowd itself becomes both the bearer and the victim of deception — such is the age of frenzy so great it engulfs nations. Next time, we trace the trap that goes by the name of the bubble, which has repeated its baseless surges and collapses.