to: main page                        A Special Substance  Gold!
I want this gold. The source of all wealth, it will make me
rich.  This heavy yellow metal has been treasured since the dawn
of civilization. It is the metal of kings. Golden objects have
been found in Ur, in Pharaonic Egypt, in Persia, in India, in
Rome and Greece, in Celtic Ireland, in Aztec Mexico and Peru’s
Inca empire.  Gold is everywhere on earth. It is dissolved in
the seas. It is in rivers and at the bottom of creeks. You find
it mixed with the sand or in quartz veins deep in the earth.
This precious metal is alloyed with copper, with silver, or with
platinum, nickel, or zinc. But sometimes it appears in pure
nuggets: 24 carat gold.  King Midas of Phrygia asked the god
Dionysus to grant him a wish. He wished that everything he
touched would turn to gold. When the food that Midas ate became
an indigestible metal, the king realized he had made a mistake.
He asked Dionysus to release him from the gift. He was allowed
to wash away his special