THE CHEMICAL BASILICA

Antimony of Paracelsus.

Take one ounce of prepared antimony of a hyacinth color original: "Hyacinth."; a reddish-orange hue common to certain antimonial preparations, two drams each of the "Powder of Joy" of Almansor original: "spec. laetificantis Almonsoris"; a medieval medicinal compound used to cheer the spirits and of gems. Add two scruples each of mastic a resin from the mastic tree and zedoary a root related to ginger and turmeric, and one and a half scruples of camphor. Let a powder be made of all these, and let it be most diligently incorporated in a mortar with six ounces of Andromachus’s Treacle original: "Theria. Andromachi"; also known as Venice Treacle, a complex polypharmacy used as a panacea; then let it be stirred with a pestle until an electuary a medicinal paste or syrup is formed. The dose for adults is half a dram; for youths, one scruple taken with wine. Note that once it has completed its operations through the lower parts i.e., acted as a laxative, the patient should afterwards lie down in bed and sweat, for it eventually induces perspiration.

Antimonial Cathartic.

A purge that acts both upward and downward original: "άνω quam κάτω"; acting as both an emetic (vomiting) and a laxative, made with the Glass of Antimony. Take half an ounce of manna a sugary tree sap used as a mild laxative, two grains of mastic, and three and a half grains of prepared antimony. Mix these; it induces vomiting and a bowel movement twice within one hour, without disturbing the stomach.

A fragrant purging apple.

When we take three ounces of dry balsam, two and a half ounces of very finely powdered Glass of Antimony, and one scruple of ambergris a waxy substance from sperm whales used as a fixative and fragrance, we then make a fragrant "purging apple" original: "pomum odoriferum purgans"; a medicinal pomander or scented ball by mixing them together.

Some say that Ruland’s Blessed Water original: "aqua Benedicta Rulandi"; a famous 17th-century emetic remedy consists of Glass of Antimony extracted with lemon juice, and that the remaining powder is the Saffron of Metals original: "Crocus Metallorum"; a reddish-brown oxysulfide of antimony. Some deny this, especially the author of the following process, which is pure original: "syncerus".

Ruland’s Blessed Water.

Take equal parts of Choice Antimony, common salt, and saltpeter potassium nitrate; grind them very finely and mix. Afterwards, place them in a dish properly sealed with lute original: "luto"; a paste used to airtight-seal chemical vessels, yet in such a way that a lid perforated in the middle remains, with the joints first properly dried. Expose it to a blast fire original: "igne venti"; a fire intensified by bellows or wind so that they flow well together. This melting should be allowed to continue as long as smoke rises from the hole left in the lid. Indeed, if the smoke does not cease, it is a sign that the calcination heating to the point of chemical change has been correctly initiated. It must be continued while this lasts, until the sign is ready. When it appears, continue with a stronger fire for a quarter of an hour. Finally, remove the vessel; when it has cooled, you will find the antimony at the bottom in the form of a metallic lump original: "reguli" separated from the salts floating above. Once this metallic lump is properly removed from the salts, grind it into a reddish powder. One ounce of it—

Infusion.

—should be cast into four pounds of noble wine and one pound of wild thyme water original: "aquæ Serpilli". Leave it in a warm place with the vessel well-sealed until the wine is tinted with a golden color; afterwards, separate it from the powder, and in a similar way—