Quote:Tara Nummedal (2013), Alchemy and Religion in Christian Europe, Ambix, p.314

The fourteenth-century Franciscan John of Rupescissa offers only one example from this rich tradition. In his striking interpretation of an earlier alchemical author, pseudo-Arnald of Villanova, Rupescissa likens the third stage of the philosophers' stone, a distillation, to the crucifixion. Observing the digestion of alchemical mercury and the ascent of its vapours to the head of the alembic, Rupescissa saw Christ's ascension on the cross: “mercury is placed in the bottom of the vessel for dissolution,” he wrote, “because what ascends from there is pure and spiritual, and converted into powdery air and exalted in the cross of the head of the alembic just like Christ, as master Arnald [of Villanova] says.” Likewise, the alchemical vessel that enclosed the final stage of the red stone resembled “Christ inside the sepulcher.” Once the flames had brought out the internal redness of the stone, the alchemist was to remove the red stone from its vessel so that it would “ascend from the sepulcher of the Most Excellent King, shining and glorious, resuscitated from the dead and wearing a red diadem, just as Master Arnald has attested.” Although Rupescissa spun out this analogy in words, it appeared in image as well, for example, in the successful Rosarium philosophorum, which appeared in print in 1550 as the second volume of a compendium of alchemical texts.

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(06-07-2021, 06:55 AM)Aga Tentakulus Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Or fermented fish. You really need a strong stomach to eat that.

Quote:Rupescissa maintained that once a successful process was found that it could be used in the pursuit of fifth essence on a variety of materials. The materials first needed to be “digested” by being slowly cooked over a low heat and have salt * added to it. Once the resulting subtle parts were removed they could be mixed with a quintessence of wine (obtained through its own regiment of distillations). In order to find the fifth essence of gold Rupescissa recommended mixing gold with mercury and then combining that with distilled “philosophical vinegar” (the result of a distilled wine vinegar and nitric and hydrochloric acids) and heating the oil mixture over a fire.

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Geber is also considered the discoverer of the mineral acids sulphuric acid and nitric acid. He obtained the former by "distillation" from the salts alum and vitriol, the latter by adding saltpetre (potassium nitrate) to the salt mixture *.