e brim. The other crucible
had some liquid in it, which, as the officers entered, seemed to be
furiously dissipating in vapor. They relate that, on finding himself
taken, Kempelen seized the crucibles with both hands (which were encased
in gloves that afterwards turned out to be asbestic), and threw the
contents on the tiled floor. It was now that they hand-cuffed him; and
before proceeding to ransack the premises they searched his person, but
nothing unusual was found about him, excepting a paper parcel, in his
coat-pocket, containing what was afterward ascertained to be a mixture
of antimony and some unknown substance, in nearly, but not quite, equal
proportions. All attempts at analyzing the unknown substance have,
so far, failed, but that it will ultimately be analyzed, is not to be
doubted.

Passing out of the closet with their prisoner, the officers went through
a sort of ante-chamber, in which nothing material was found, to the
chemist's sleeping-room. They here rummaged some drawers and boxes,
but discovered only a few papers, of no importance, and some good coin,
silver and gold. At length, looking under the bed, they saw a large,
common hair trunk, without hinges, hasp, or lock, and with the top lying
carelessly across the bottom portion. Upon attempting to draw this trunk
out from under the bed, they found that, with their united strength
(there were three of them, all powerful men), they 'could not stir it
one inch.' Much astonished at this, one of them crawled under the bed,
and looking into the trunk, said:

'No wonder we couldn't move it--why it's full to the brim of old bits of
brass!'

Putting his feet, now, against the wall so as to get a good purchase,
and pushing with all his force, while his companions pulled with an
theirs, the trunk, with much difficulty, was slid out from under the
bed, and its contents examined. The supposed brass with which it was
filled was all in small, smooth pieces, varying from the size of a pea
to that of a dollar; but the pieces were irregular in shape, although
more or less flat-looking, upon the whole, 'very much as lead looks when
thrown upon the ground in a molten state, and there suffered to grow
cool.' Now, not one of these officers for a moment suspected this metal
to be any thing but brass. The idea of its being gold never entered
their brains, of course; how could such a wild fancy have entered it?
And their astonishment may be well conceived, when the next d