'
'decomposed sandarach" in the above would seem to indicate that the
native arsenic sulfides were sometimes roasted and the resulting
product, which would be essentially arsenious oxide was then used in
making alloys.
86. Another {Proceeding).
Take:
tin, 12 drachmas; mercury, 4 drachmas; earth of Chios, 2 drachmas; melt
the tin, throw upon it the earth in powder, {and) then the mercury;
stir with a bar of iron; fashion into globules.
87. Doubling of Gold.
For augmenting the weight of gold. Melt {it) with a fourth part of cadmia, and it will become heavier and harder.
88. Another {Proceeding).
Gold
can be altered and increased by means of misy and earth of Sinopus. One
first casts it in the furnace with equal parts {of them). When it has
become clear in the crucible, one adds each as it is desired, and the
gold is doubled.
89. Another {Preparation).
The
invention of sulfur water. A handful of lime and another of sulfur in
fine powder; place them in a vessel containing strong vinegar or the
urine of a small child. Heat it from below, until the supernatant
liquid appears like blood. Decant this latter properly in order to
separate it from the deposit, and use.
90. How Asem is Diluted.
Having
reduced the asem into leaves and hamng covered it with mercury and
applied {it) strongly upon the leaf, one sprinkles pyrites upon the
leaf thus prepared, and places it upon the coals, in order to dry it up
to the point when the color of the leaf appears changed; for the
mercury evaporates and the leaf softens. Then one incorporates in the
crucible 1 part of gold, {and) 2 parts of silver. Having blended them,
throw upon the floating scum some golden-colored arsenic, some pyrites,
some salt of Ammon, some chalcitis, {and) some blue; and having ground
with sulfur water, heat, then spread mercury upon the surface.
In
the above recipe appears for the first time in written form, evidence
of symbolism in chemical arts, both gold and silver being designated by
special characters. The word chalcitis was used in ancient
times to designate copper minerals, especially, according to Pliny's
descriptions, copper pyrites. The unknown blue substance hinted at in
the above was also most probably a copper salt or mineral.
91. The Fixation of Alkanel.
Urine of sheep, or arbute-berry, or henbane in the same manner.
92. Falsification of Alkanel.
Alkanel
is diluted with pine-cones, the inside part of peaches, purpura, beet
juice, dregs of wine, the urine of a camel and the interior of citrons.
93. Fixation of Alkanel.
Navelwort and alum mixed in equal parts, crush finely {and) throw the alkanet in it.
94. Styptic Agents.
Melantheria,
calcined copperas, alum, chalcitis, cinnabar, lime, bark of
pomegranate, pod of a thorny tree, urine with aloes. These things serve
in dyeing.
