Challenged By Other Fellows
The Fellows of the Royal Society were less convinced, however, and asked him to repeat the experiments in the presence of some of the members of the Society. Price seemed less than happy to do this. He claimed that his powders were exhausted and preparation of new samples would cost him time and money and be damaging to his health. He also protested that the cost of preparing the gold or silver by this method was not economical, as it cost £17 to make an ounce of gold, which was only valued at £4. The Royal Society insisted on the repetition of the experiments and reminded Price that, as a member, he was calling the honour of the Society into question. Price rebuked them, claiming that his reputation and position in society should prevent any hint of suspicion from being cast upon the veracity of his claims, but eventually he was forced to submit.
Read more about this topic: James Price (chemist)
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