I was looking lately to a list of alchemists, found on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_alchemists
Many of them have died too soon compared to the modern life expectancy values. For example Paracelsus, the father of western alchemy lived only 47 years. Glauber died at 66. Some of them were lucky enough to live more than 80 years. Albertus magnus died at 87, Isaac Newton at 85. The record seems to be kept by the arabian Jabir, who lived up to 94 years. A great achievement for his time but not so impressive today.
Also, when looking at the causes of death, we can find that common ailments have plagued alchemists too.
So the question naturally arises, can the philosopher's stone prolong life, can it protect from disease?
My current understanding is that it can keep someone healthy until old age and death come upon him naturally. It can alleviate health problems caused by minor disturbances but probably it has limited action against serious diseases that are caused by storng infectious agents.
Reading a recent entry from Salazius' blog the answer may be that there are diferrent kinds of "philosopher's stones", some stronger than others. But if Paracelsus himself was unable to find the true philosopher's stone I wonder if it possible to be made.
Another interesting research could be to check which of those alchemists has left a body behind, after death. A real alchemist who would probably have reached to the true stone, would be able to take his body with him, like various prophets and saints is rumoured to have done.
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