(356)   Thu 4 Dec 97 12:55
By: Karl Schneider
To: William Putnam
Re: CASE #1, Debunked
St:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@EID:389c 238466e0
@MSGID: 1:170/170.6 a16c4597
On (02 Dec 97) William Putnam wrote to All...

 WP>                  THE BLOOD OF ST. JANUARIUS

SOCIETY FOR SCIENTIFIC
EXPLORATION

PRESS RELEASE


Embargoed until September 30, 1992

CONTACT:
Marsha Sims, Executive Editor,
Journal of Scientific Exploration

Is it a Modern Miracle or Ancient Alchemy?

Stanford, CA, September 30, 1992 ---

In a report released today in the Stanford-based Journal of Scientific
Exploration (Vol. 6, No. 3) , published by the Society for Scientific
Exploration, Drs. Michael Epstein and Luigi Garlaschelli discuss their
scientific investigations of the liquefying blood of Saint Januarius,
patron saint of Naples, Italy. Elaborate ceremonies in the Duomo of
Naples dating back to the 14th century appear to result in a miraculous
transformation of the substance in two ancient sealed vials, believed to
be the coagulated blood of the martyred saint so that it temporarily
changes into apparently fresh, red blood.

The legend of the holy blood of this early Christian martyr began in 305
AD. Januarius, an early bishop of Benevento, an ancient town northeast
of present day Naples, was martyred during the persecutions of the Roman
Emperor Diocletian. Legend has it that a serving woman collected blood
from the stone on which the saint was beheaded.

The first reference to a miraculous event occurred one thousand years
later,  when on 17 August 1389 the diary of an anonymous Neapolitan
reported on a great procession to mark the wondrous transformation of
the blood "as if it had been in the living body of Januarius on that
very day." Elaborate ceremonies, sometimes even described as boisterous
and hysterical, have taken place ever since. On only a handful of
occasions has the prayed-for transformation failed to occur.

The scientific validity of this phenomenon was boosted in 1902, when
spectroscopic analysis by scientists at the University of Naples yielded
a spectrum with characteristics similar to blood. This and other
investigations earlier in this century led to the assessment, summarized
even in the authoritative Encyclopedia Brittanica, that "the phenomenon
has been tested frequently and seems genuine."

Now Michael Epstein, a chemist and board member of the National Capital
Area Skeptics and Luigi Garlaschelli, a professor of organic chemistry
at the University of Pavia, Italy, have succeeded in synthesizing a
"thixotropic gel of iron hydroxide" that appears to have the same
properties as the mysterious blood.  Dr. Garlaschelli developed the
thixotrophy concept and Dr. Epstein added historical and spectroscopic
backup and was able to reproduce Garlaschelli's thixotrophy with
modifications.

Epstein and Garlaschelli believe that a chemical substance similar to
their iron hydroxide gel could have been fabricated using alchemical
techniques known some 650 years ago. According to Epstein, "The real
trick was not to find a chemical substance that could change back and
forth between solid and liquid and look like blood, it was to find a way
of doing this as if we were fourteenth century alchemists instead of
twentieth century chemists."

In addition to creating a substance that might be in the sacred vials,
the two chemists also carefully rechecked the earlier spectroscopic
evidence and found inconsistencies between the results reported earlier
in the century and more recent findings on the spectrum of blood.

Epstein concludes: "We have demonstrated feasibility in terms of
historical motivation and alchemical knowledge from that era. There are
lots of non-invasive tests we could run today.

It's up to the Catholic Church to allow qualified scientists with modern
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
equipment to carry out investigations while still respecting the sacred
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
nature of the relic. Besides, it could be blood and that would be even
more exciting."



... Fundies - slugs in the garden of life.

--- PPoint 2.05
 * Origin: An insignificant part of the Milky Way (1:170/170.6)
SEEN-BY: 12/12 218/890 1001 270/101 353/250 396/1 3615/50 51 3804/180

@PATH: 170/170 800 400 396/1 3615/50 218/1001