Count Saint-Germain claimed the secret of the "philosopher's
stone" and declared to the Court of Louis XV that he was two
thousand years old, and a precursor of the mythical "Wandering
Jew," who has been immortalized in prose and rhyme and in whose
existence a great mass of the people recently believed. The last
of the charlatans who claimed possession of the secret of
perpetual life was Joseph Balsamo, who called himself "Count of
Cagliostro." He was born in Italy in 1743 and acquired a
world-wide reputation for his alleged occult powers and
acquisition of the "philosopher's stone." He died in 1795, and
since then no one has generally inspired the superstitious with
credence in this well-worn myth. The ill-fated Ponce de Leon when
he discovered Florida, in spite of his superior education,
announced his firm belief in the land of the "Fountain of
Perpetual Youth," in the pursuit of which he had risked his
fortune and life.
We wish to emphasize that we by no means assume the
responsibility of the authenticity of the cases to be quoted, but
expressing belief in their possibility, we shall mention some of
the extraordinary instances of longevity derived from an
exhaustive research of the literature of all times.
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