The Magnificent Possession

Walter Sills, a weary chemist long lost in obscurity, finally stumbles onto the breakthrough of a lifetime: a process for isolating a miraculous new metal called ammonium, a glittering "substitute gold" with the power to remake science, industry, and fortune. With the cheerful help of his friend Eugene Taylor, he moves from tentative experiments to a discovery that promises wealth, fame, and even scientific immortality, only to learn that invention can attract greed as quickly as admiration. News of the metal spreads fast, alarming industrial titan J. Throgmorton Bankhead, whose plating empire is suddenly at risk. Opportunists swarm in, including a pompous ex-Congressman and a gangster, while Bankhead tries to pressure the scientists into selling cheaply. When thieves and con men invade the lab, Sills and Taylor are forced into comic, dangerous improvisation to protect their secret. Even after the papers are stolen and the pair retreat under police guard, they press ahead with a test of ammonium's plating power—only to unleash a spectacular, room-filling stench that sends the lab, the street, and everyone nearby into chaos. Blending speculative science, satire, and farce, this is a story of brilliant discovery, corporate menace, and the unpredictable disaster that can follow a world-changing idea. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.