After all, medieval alchemists engaged in what we now consider an absurd search for ways to transform base metals into gold.

The most commonly mentioned properties are the ability to transmute base metals into gold or silver, and the ability to heal all forms of illness and prolong the life of any person who consumes a small part of the philosophers' stone.

It thereby inadvertently confirmed the jihadists vilest propaganda, suggesting that Muslims worldwide can, for no apparent reason, become targets of America s lethal fury.