Exemplar

When asked how all this came about he said: "R.A.M.S., Restorers of Alchemical Manuscript Society, was an idea that germinated around 1976 and produced its first fruit in 1977. This was the Bacstrom translated "Golden Chain of Homer". Sigismond Bacstrom, an alchemist, extracted items he thought of importance from the Boehm (publisher) versions of the "Golden Chain." The material seemed to be important. In fact, I asked Frater Albertus during my Secunda Class, "If the building was on fire, what book, if you could only save one, would you save?" "

"He smiled and said, 'The Golden Chain of Homer'. I asked if he therefore thought this to be one of the most important books on alchemy. He replied: "Yes. IF you can understand it!" Finding the Bacstrom (English)gave me the impetus to "restore" this manuscript and R.A.M.S. was now a seed. Typing was done by a friend in Albuquerque.

"Later, as other manuscripts came to hand. I enlisted the service of many friends all over the world to aid in this project. Some provided funds to obtain the documents and pay for materials. Others helped in typing or proof - reading. Others were kind enough to spend long hours in the translation of these documents. And most of those people treated this as a labor of love, that is, were not recompensed for their efforts, and considerable efforts they were. Now, many of them were not even aware that I had, for fun, "lumped" them together under the name R.A.M.S. This name was, as said, for fun and it was also appropriate since I am an Aries! Besides, everyone loves acronyms these days.

This then, a loosely known group of people often unaware who all was working with them on a particular document, contributed to the production of over fifty manuscripts. Some of these R.A.M.S. items are collections themselves in that they contain many tracts or treatises. Some of these have been translated from German, French and Latin. We are now working on an Italian, a German and a French manuscript."

When these publications appeared he graciously dedicated his efforts to the then PRS where the thoughts for this venture originated.

It is persons like Hans Nintzel that take the time and make the efforts to be of assistance unto others to help bring more light among mankind by rekindling the flame others wanted to extinguish. For this, Essentia expresses its appreciation publicly to Hans Nintzel and his wife Jody who so understandingly supports him in his work to republish important alchemical manuscripts.

May his work with the help of his associates continue to prosper for the benefit of all concerned. The Paracelsus College needs more of the type of Hans Nintzel to establish its work firmly among sincere searchers of the ancient and contemporary wisdom to be found in Alchemy, by using all legal and honorable means available.

LABORATORY REPORT

The Acetone

In the last issue of Essentia under Examplar, Dr. Christian Augustus Becker was mentioned. His research proved to him what was known as the Mercury of the Wise, was a special Ketone known as Acetone. The following is in part what Dr. Becker has to say in his book, over a hundred years ago, long since out of print and hard to come by. It was written in German. An English translation was attempted by the publishers of rare alchemical texts under the name of Rams in Texas, of which this is an excerpt. Being personally conversant with the original German text for many years and its described experiments and tests, what follows should prove of great importance to advanced students. (Ed.)

Das Aceton

This is the place in the whole book where the behavior of the residue is described this clearly, and after having been lost in dark words for years, all of a sudden I was enlightened. The characteristic to burn like a tinder made it clear beyond doubt that the coal-like residue has to result from the destruction of an acetone salt. Thus the secret of the Spiritus Vini philosophici was discovered and all the products from the distillation were correct.

Now the Aqua ardens with the quintessence became a simple chemical fact, and the only thing surprising that was left was how the old chemists had been able to work with it for centuries without this becoming known. Of course everybody put a curse on whoever would give away the secret, and this curse seemingly represented a moralistic power because Weidenfeld in a book that was to be published later on indicated hope for the discovery, but the book never came out. And Pott, who had thorough knowledge and who did not have to fear the curse says, that whether because of a promise or because of envy: the preparation is easy, but it is a secret.

The tinged yellow residue is dissolved with vinegar, evaporated to rubber and distilled. The residue is again treated with vinegar and also distilled. The distillates are poured together, combined with the previous one, left 14 days to digest, and then distilled. At first the Spiritus ardens passes over, which is then rectified until it is so strong that a linen cloth soaked in it and ignited will burn. During these rectifications a white oil appears on the surface and a yellow oil also remains, which is being distilled with a stronger fire. The sublimate in the neck of the retort is being pulverized and is placed to melt on an iron plate in a cold place. The liquid is filtered and a little Aqua ardens is added, whereby a green oil will separate and settle at the surface. Then it is distilled. First water and then a thick oil appear. The Water is distilled in another recipient and evaporated in the water bath until a thick, oily substance, like melted tar, remains on the floor. This black liquid substance is treated further with Aqua ardens, however, which is not explained any further here.

The Gold Tincture

Just as gold is considered the finest metal, the hermetics also thought of it as the finest medication, and that is how the Aurum potabile was put on a throne upon which it remained for many centuries. But as much as they revered it, their secret dissolution against was honored as much and maybe more, and they called it gold too. In his old age Raimund, for his strength, prepared the raw oil from the lead and said that it was more delicious than gold. Basilius Valentinus, who describes the preparation of the Spiritus Vini philosophici under the cover of the distillation of the vitriol, called the raw oil "heavy as gold, as thick as blood, burning and fiery, the real liquid gold of the philosophers".

The ideal of the alchemists and the masterpiece of the art was the Lapis Philosophorum, the stone of the wise ones. For its preparation the most needed metal was the gold. The customary gold was not suited for this purpose because it was dead due to the firm closure of its particles, and it therefore had to be animated first. This was achieved by treatment with the Spiritus Vini philosophici, whereby the soul, the characteristics were separated from the impure body and dissolved. This gave then the philosophic gold, Aurum nostrum, the quintessence, the radical dissolution without corrosion, which was achieved through the raw oil of the Acetone, called the Acetone aerrimum and the Dissaeveus Auri.

This dissolving power is confirmed by experiment reported by Fuchs (Geschichte des Zinks, pg. 200). Hellot distilled acetic zinc. At first a lightly acetic phlegm transformed; then stripes appeared, and then followed a sublimate in white, fragile flowers. Then white vapors arose which were condensed in the top of the flask into whitish-yellow, then dark green oil. The recipient contained a liquid which ignited just like Spiritus vini. Poured onto water, it first swam at the top then mixed with the water, and only a few drops of a reddish, spicy oil remained at the top. The residue of the distillation was of the color of ashes. On it the acetic phlegm was poured digested for 8-10 days, then drained and distilled, leaving a resinous substance at the bottom. The process was repeated until enough resin was obtained. This in turn was then distilled in a small retort and heated to the point of glowing, whereby a yellow liquid transferred, followed by thick white vapors. When the distillate was poured on the white sublimate in the neck of the retort, it dissolved the sublimate immediately, and so drops of reddish oil separated on the surface. This oil was then rubbed onto gold and silver trays, which within 4 hours dissolved at the covered areas.

Alchemy through shady lab assistants, crooks and dreamers has gained such a bad reputation over the years, that in general it is considered to be superstition, cheating, or fraud. Only in more recent times have individual voices of the educated world turned to the expression of Marsilius Ficinus, saying that the old and new philosophers, as the natural scientists called themselves then, have spent much effort and work in order to explore nature, and they have subsequently recognized the honorable effort of the old chemists. It was natural in its old form. As a basic rule it was established that all bodies are composed of the three chemical elements: salt, sulphur and mercury. The names which are meant only as symbols, and which mean something quite different, would equate with the following in today's terminology:

mercury = hydrogen
sulphur = carbon
salt = oxygen

Missing is nitrogen whose existence as a simple element, however, is still doubtful.

The theory said that the differences of the metals is based on the qualitative proportions of these three elements, and that through changes in these proportions, it is therefore possible to alter the metals up to a perfection of gold and silver. Since the proportions of the mixture were determined only hypothetically, the experiment was only empirically technical; but since all metals and many minerals had been used in the experiments, it presented an opportunity for many chemical discoveries which served the sciences in general. The old experts and highly respected persons, like Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon, analogously to the efforts of today's science, tended to dismantle the bodies and to create new connections. The old chemistry, using the transmutation of the metals, arrived at no confirmed positive results, whereas modern chemistry not only calculated the atoms, but also their abberations.

The chemistry, which was taught freely in Arabic sciences and which was protected by the caliphs, encountered mistrust and suspicion with its transition to the Christian World. It was derived from the non-believers whose actions were connected with the world of magic and the devil; was persecuted by the Church. Working with it was, therefore, socially dangerous, and physically the vapor of the minerals and the vast effort were not advantageous for the health. Large incentives were needed to find followers and disciples, but they were not scarce. Just as the Church promises its believers eternal happiness, alchemy promised retention of health by means of the lapis and with that longer life and large richness heaven on earth; in addition the was the secret with its mysterious appeal. Permeated by the grandeur of their ideal, the alchemists drowned themselves in religious mysticisim; everything started with God and everything was done under his protection, and only through God's grace and enlightenment could the stone of wisdom be obtained.

The radical dissolution of the gold, which was caused without corrosives and from which the metal could not be reduced, was the true Aurum potabile, the quintessence. Rupescissa says, "the quintessence of the gold is Aurum Dei and part of the lapis, and it is completely transformed into nutriment. The genuine gold is not transformed into nutriment, but it is excreted in the form in which it taken in. Aurum alchymicum, which is composed of corrosives, destroys nature; therefore the Aurum Lapidis is called Aurum Dei.

Paracelsus explains that the quintessence in the gold is very little, but that it has the color in the power, and when it is extracted the remaining metal has lost its power. It differs from Aurum potabile in as much as it may not be reduced to metallic gold a second time, while the Aurum potabile may be transformed into a metallic body; therefore its quintessence is finer.

Raimund gives the following eloquent, but complicated statement:

1. Spiritus philosophici is distilled three times over Sal Tartari, and this distillation is kept in digestion for 50 days, at the end of which a yellow residue appears on the bottom.

2. The gold and silver are now separately calcinated, that is amalgamated and the quicksilver evaporated.

3. On the remaining calcinated metal each separately we pour three fingers' width of the sharp spirit No. 1, and then first hold in a water bath, and then in the ash-bath at boiling temperatures. The dissolution of the gold is yellow and it is carefully decanted; also the dissolution of the silver is green or blue and it is carefully decanted.

4. The residue of the metals is repeatedly treated in the same manner until everything is dissolved.

5. These solutions are each kept 40 days in digestion; then the solvent is distilled-out in a water bath, leaving the metals behind just like oils. The distillate is poured back over the oil, left to digest in the water bath for 24 hours and then distilled.

6. The distillate is at first gently distilled in a sand bath, whereby the water goes over, then at higher temperatures the spirit goes over, and even at higher temperatures a part of the oil transforms.

7. The water that went over at first in the water bath is added to the distillate, digested, distilled in the sandbath, and this is repeated as often as needed to have all the gold and silver go over.

8. The solutions are rectified in the sand-bath seven times.

9. Now both are mixed and circulated for 60 days.

With this the great solvent is prepared, which dissolves all metals radicalIy.

Now other gold, which has been amalgamated and calcined through the evaporation of the quicksilver, is digested with the solvent No. 1, and after its distillation it is submersed by Menstruum majus to dissolve the gold. When this is done it is drained. On the residue a fresh Menstruum majus is poured for complete dissolution, and that is then combined with the previous one. The solution has the color of a most beautiful ruby or carbuncle. It is circulated for 20 days in a water bath and 20 days in an ash-bath. Then you will find the gold transformed at the bottom into beautiful rosin, and the water on top may be carefully drained. The rosin is soluble in any liquid. This is the true Aurum potabile.

The procedure is described so clearly that with the exception of the secret solvent agent it is totally understandable. Noteworthy is that not only gold, but also silver is needed.

Rupescissa's procedure is simpler. Gold amalgam is finely atomized by evaporating the quicksilver, and then after adding Acetum philosophorum it is placed in the sun. This causes the oil film on the surface which is taken off as it is forming, and which is placed into a glass with water. The water is evaporated and the quintessence of the gold, which contains the highest sweetness, remains.

A similar case should be the Essentia dulcis of the orphanage in Halle. According to the report by Dr. Richter, its inventor, the essential element is a subtle red gold, which dissolves quickly and without residue or turpidity in the "spirit of wine". When the alcohol (spirit) is taken out, a blackish powder remains which may easily be transformed into a light, fragile, purple red and sweet powder: there is a slight weight loss during this process because the most subtle, even at low temperatures, rises in the form of vapor, which when caught, condenses into red drops.

The way to prepare the gold is very different from the usual method, and even though harmless minerals are needed for the preparation, all foreign additives are so separated that all samples can prove that no corrosives are contained therein.

Half an ounce of the ordinary essence costs 2 "Taler".

Half an ounce of the concentrated essence costs 8 "Taler", since the latter contains four times as much gold. The substance was considered to be too expensive and it was said that the gold part hardly amounted to 1/8 of the price. The gold is, however, the least, but the other expenses and the efforts for the preparation, which keep several people busy year after year, are such that the price in comparison with prices of other medications should be set higher.

In Crell's records of 1747 the doctor of the orphanage, Dr. Richter, a grandson of the inventor, states that the process will be revealed in time. I cannot find any news in regard to this and an explanation is to be expected from Halle.

This information is very little, and therefore a more eloquent report by Wollner Diss. inang. de Epilepsia ejusque medicamento specifico Essentia dulcis adpellato. Lugduni Batavorum 1706, 4.p.22) should be mentioned. According to him it is prepared from purest gold, which is so refined that even the simple Spiritus vini rectificatissimus will dissolve a large amount of it and then turn ruby-red. The characteristics attributed by chemists to the radically dissolved Auro potabile are found also in the Essentia dulcis, that is, it cannot for the most part be reduced to a metallic body, but it evaporates like smoke even with medium fire. When a large enough amount of water is poured onto this essence, it turns turbid at first and then a very fine powder sinks to the bottom, which when dried in mild warmth, shows a yellow color and a bitter taste. It is however of such finesse that when added to spirit of wine, it dissolves completely like wax and it represents again the Essentia dulcis in color and taste. This indicates that the color of the Essentia dulcis originates from this powder or the finest Crocus Auri. When this powder is heated at medium temperature in a glass over coals, there will every once in a while be very fine coins of reduced gold, but the largest part of the residue seems so dissolved, refined and freed from all metallic chains, that it may not be reduced to metal because as the powder feels the fire, the larger part flies away in smoke, leaving a fine powder which may not be reduced with "Spiessglanz" (antimony glance, stibnite) or with lead but which forms a highly red purple colored salt when melted with Sal Tartari. This salt will even perpetrate the Tiegel and color it purple on its outside.

In 1723 Kleinfelder in Koenigsberg issued a statement against this essence, saying that it was nothing else but a tincture of burned sugar, and he said that the sugar tincture that he invented was as effective as the Essentia dulcis, even if it really contained gold. Later it was believed that the black, coaly residue of the prepartion, when lengthened with ether to become a reddish-brown tincture, and when mixed with Franzbrantwein, was the Essentia dulcis.

It seems that the procedure done according to Lullius: an indication for that is the preparation from the black residue in the distilling of the ether. The wrong interpretation may have resulted from the fact Lullius calls the substance for Spiritus Vini philosophici in many places Nigrum nigrius, and after distillation of the acetic salts a black substance like melted pitch remains. Maybe a spy in the laboratory overheard something about this black residue in the retort, and thought to have discovered the "wine spirit-coal" in it.

The earlier hermetics used their acetone in many ways, partially for chemical procedures in connection with acids and salts, partially for the preparation of medications. From the vegetable substances the quintessence is extracted within 3 hours when it (acetone) is used. An interesting observation of Rupescissa is that the Laxantia through this become more effective and are therefore administered in smaller dosages.

Among the later chemiatrics Quercitanus used it for the preparation of the Antipyreton and a gold tincture, and Agricola too manufactured several medications with it without realizing that he already possessed the Menstruum Lullii, which he desired so much to obtain.

We should mention here:

THE HEALING FROM PODAGRA

which the Count Onuphrio de Marsciano tells of in his hermetic writing, of 1774, p. 30. When he suffered a severe case of Podagra he placed the spirit oil the swollen and extremely painful foot, and "Oh Wonder! he says, the pain disappeared and I started to dance for joy, to the astonishment of my friend. After that the Podagra has not pained me again, and didn't have the least bit of complaint thereafter, but I have been completely free and healthy like before; but from then on, I started to take 20 drops in the morning before eating for 15 days in order to completely clean the blood since there is no blood cleansing like it in the whole world. He calls the substance only spiritus simplex, but in the hermetic experiment on page 161, where he cites from Lullius that the quintessence heals all tiredness and sickness, and removes all weakness, protects from all sicknesses and retains the youth, he clearly says: And I swear the truth that I have seen wonderful things done by this Simplici Spiritu Vini philosophici, and I have even healed the Podagra completely with it, as many have seen and has, been ashamed by.

The newer chemistry has again taken up the research since Chevenix found the acetone as Spiritus pyraceticus; this research, however, dealt only with analytic interests, disregarding its medical costs; and medicine was left empty-handed without its due share.

The alchemists rectified the pure acetone repeatedly in order to eliminate the water, and to arrive at a concentration that would burn like alcohol. The more modern chemists dehydrate the acetone with calcium chloride, which we however cannot approve of, since the latter combines itself with the wood alcohol which is analogous to the acetone. This combination does not dissolve at 1O0^oC; this condition proves disadvantageous when the product is used as a medication. This process seems also unnecessary since the Aqua ardens (das Aceton) is more volatile than the spirit of wine, and it merges already at 48^o in veins, while the water follows only at higher temperatures, and the two oils do so at an even higher temperature.

The entire distillate was kept in digestion for several weeks in the warmth of horse dung (30^o), whereby especially the oil the quintessence, is separated on the surface and it provided a very pleasant smell. This oil consists of two oily substances: one, a distillate according to Fittig (About Acetone 1858. page 48) at 90^o; the other one, Dumasin at 120^o. These two oils form the core of the medication; therefore the substance is an acetonium oleosum and correctly should be called an

ACETONOL

The pure acetone, as provided by the chemical industry is of little medical value. It is clear and light as water, burns completely, but has no trace of oil on the surface. The oil, however, is still inside because if you place the acetone in mild digestion over an extended period of time, the oil appears and surfaces. I already observed this reaction in the past, and I have repeated the experiment now. I placed 1/2 ounce pure acetone in a glass that was not tightly closed on the back burner. After approximately onehalf had evaporated, a trace of oil appeared, and after two months, when only 1/2 Drachme remained, a visible layer of a clear oil was on the surface.

The pure acetone may be quite good as a chemical preparation, but therapeutically it constitutes a weakened oil-poor product, which only has the appearance, like vanilla beans, of which the aromatic Benzo-resin has been drained.

For medical application purposes, it will be advisable and required that it is prepared with the same method used by the hermetics. It takes a of time and patience and under current situation of the business, these may not be expected because already in 1668 during a discussion of Weidenfeld Spiritus Vini Lulliani, Jungken complained that the modern chemists are not able to produce anything extraordinary since they start to work in the morning, but stop again at night, which is the wrong way, because a good thing takes time.

AMBER

Gypsy Alchemy

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