The Middlebury Register

A Great Discovery—The Philosopher's Stone.

Those which men in the "olden time" considered to be beautiful dreams have become realities in our day. Diamonds have been imitated, but with less perfection than pearls, therefore the natural ones are still without rivals. The German chemist Woehler, of Gottingen, however, has succeeded in giving to the world a gem which compares most favorably with the natural diamond. This is Bor, the elementary substance of boric acid. Heretofore no chemical means had been found capable of reducing it to its natural state. This new substance—Bor—is equal to the diamond in resisting chemical agents, and is even harder. Mr. Woehler anticipates that means will yet be found to make it colorless, its prevailing tints being reddish and yellow. In connection with M. Deville, Woehler made the discovery of reducing aluminum from its oxyd to a metal; this new discovery in reducing boric acid and extracting Bor, increases his celebrity.