Sulfur alchemy

In the days of alchemy and the phlogiston theory, no system of nomenclature that would be considered logical ia the 1990s was possible. Names were not based on composition, but on historical association, eg, Glauber s salt for sodium sulfate decahydrate and Epsom salt for magnesium sulfate physical characteristics, eg, spirit of wiae for ethanol, oil of vitriol for sulfuric acid, butter of antimony for antimony trichloride, Hver of sulfur for potassium sulfide, and cream of tartar for potassium hydrogen tartrate or physiological behavior, eg, caustic soda for sodium hydroxide. Some of these common or trivial names persist, especially ia the nonchemical Hterature. Such names were a necessity at the time they were iatroduced because the concept of molecular stmcture had not been developed, and even elemental composition was incomplete or iadeterminate for many substances. 

The manufacture of sulfur dyes involves sulfurisation processes, the chemistry of which remains rather mysterious and may arguably be considered still to be in the realms of alchemy The processes involve heating elemental sulfur or sodium polysulfide, or both, with aromatic amines, phenols or aminophenols. These reactions may be carried out either as a dry bake process at temperatures between 180 and 350 °C or in solvents such as water or aliphatic alcohols at reflux or at even higher temperatures under pressure. C. I. Sulphur Black 1, for example, is prepared by heating 2,4-dinitrophenol with sodium polysulfide. 

The author traces the positions that writers of histories of chemistry took toward alchemy as a total phenomenon, how they regarded the experimental-practical and philosophicoreligious components of it and what stand-points they adopted relative to such alchemical theories as the doctrine of transmutation and the sulfur-mercury theory... 

Sometime around 1300 bce, an unknown alchemist described sulfuric acid. Not much is known about the early use of sulfur or sulfuric acid. In 1579 an alchemist named Andreas Libavius described the progress of alchemy. In his book he described how hydrochloric and sulfuric acids are produced and mentioned the formation of aqua regia, which is a mixture of acids that is strong enough to dissolve gold—the royal metal. 

Jabir introduced a theory, which was to influence much of later alchemy, that metals were mixtures of sulfur, mercury, and arsenic, except for gold, which was made up of sulfur and mercury alone. The sulfur and mercury of which Jabir spoke were not the substances found in nature. They were purified essences which European alchemists later called philosophical sulfur and philosophical mercury. They were supposed to be quite unlike the common substances. For example, it was said that philosophical sulfur didn t burn. According to Jabir, of all the metals, gold contained the most mercury and the least sulfur. Thus other metals could be transformed into gold if ways were found to increase their mercury content. 

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in Emope, Greek and Arab texts were translated from Arabic into Latin, the literary language of Emope. The first translation of an alchemical book from Arabic, The Book of the Composition of Alchemy, was prepared by Robert of Chester in 1144 CE in Spain (31). To the Four Elements, air, water, fire, and earth, Arab alchemists added mercury and sulfur. Paracelsus considered mercury and strlfirr as principles along with salt... 

The Bergbiichlein, for example, discussed the sulfur-mercury theory of the composition of metals, which Arabic alchemists introduced into alchemy. 

Within man s occult anatomy, these planetary representatives were often referred to as our "Interior Stars." In Practical Alchemy, the timing of astrological events is used to assist various aspects of the work on the three levels—Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury. 

In Practical Alchemy, there is only the One Thing and all that we perceive is an adaptation of that One. The One takes on the "Clothing" of the Four Elements to bring forth the Three Essentials of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. It is the Work of the alchemist to separate, purify and recombine these basic principles until they are in perfect proportion and harmony with each other. Alchemy is all about bringing things to a greater state of perfection. 

In herbal alchemy, most common uses of distillation are in the preparation of the Sulfur and Mercury. Earlier we described the steam distillation of the essential oils from a plant. Live steam is injected into a plant / water mush and the essential oils are carried over with the steam to form a layer on top of the distilled water. We can also simply distil the plant / water mush and collect the oil as it forms a layer at the top of the distillate. The collected oil can be mixed with water and distilled again to bring it to a higher state of purity. 

The next 2000 years of chemical history were dominated by a pseudoscience called alchemy. Alchemists were often mystics and fakes who were obsessed with the idea of turning cheap metals into gold. However this period also saw important discoveries Elements such as mercury, sulfur, and antimony were discovered, and alchemists learned how to prepare the mineral acids. 

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