�The Modern Alchymist�, 1827.

UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 04: Coloured etching by T J, showing an alchemist claiming to have found the �Goose that lays the golden eggs�. He is distilling gold coins from a glass vessel labelled �Matter o� Money�. The old woman inside possibly represents the Bank of England - the �Old Lady of Threadneedle Street�. Other substances being heated are Lectures, with steam labelled �Mistification�; Slavery and �Civilization, hum!�; Morality and �Smoke�; Impurity and �Virtue�; Religion and �Humbug� [nonsense]. Containers on the floor contain �Wholesale Leeches�, Cash, and Cantharides (Spanish fly). Published by J Humphrey of London. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)