In Capricci Medicinali, Leonardo Fioravanti shows how iatrochemistry and Alchemy share some proceedings. Here he presents metal calcination methods.
Leonardo Fioravanti was a sixteenth-century Bologna-born Italian medical celebrity. He worked and published all around Italy, especially in Venice. His Capricci Medicinali, Venezia 1561, was considered a must-have book for iatrochemists and alchemists.
Nevertheless, we always have to be street-wise when handling these pratici for alchemical use. Their spiritual products are not as powerful as those obtained by real alchemists. For example, when Fioravanti writes living sulfur or soufre vif, intending an alchemical substance, what kind can we reasonably expect? A powerful soufre vif or a light one? To you, the answer. Fioravanti’s methods of using spiritual substances to calcine some metals are very interesting. Spiritual substances seem to have oxide potential.
Metals calcination was useful for iatrochemists to prepare their medicines and for alchemists to get a metallic powder to dissolve by a Universal Solvent (see an Opus Magnum scheme).
I translated from sixteenth-century Italian verbatim. Thus reading is truthful but may result in discomfort. Fioravanti jumps unpredictably from the third to the second person and is careless about punctuation. It is very strange, but an ancient uncomfortable reading gives charm to a recipe.
“Chapter 44
Title: How to calcine metals to work on Alchemy
Suppose you want to be skilled in alchemical art. In that case, you need to learn how to calcine metallic bodies to extract their Sulphur as well as unnecessary water, which metals contain, and to reduce them to what they have as a distinctive attribute, that’s to say they can be resolved in Prima Materia. And this calcination is very useful for this. In the following chapters, I mean to show you the real method to calcine metallic bodies to operate in alchemical art, and I will do that with ease and good order. So we will start from gold, and then the other ones will come after, going over all metals so that everyone can operate on such a pleasant art as Alchemy is, from which many nice things are being born. It is very necessary for a person eager to operate well in Alchemy to be an expert in doing this calcination. And thus, in the following chapter, I will deal with gold calcination, and so preparing it for Solution: the work in black (1), that without it wouldn’t be possible to get anything good out of Alchemy.
Chapter 45
Title: How one calcines gold to work in alchemical art and the rule of it
The real method to calcine gold is this that’s to say, one has to take a clay pot or an iron pot shaped, and inside, one puts one quantity of lead and the third part of quicksilver (2), over the mouth of one fits some gold in foils and then cover them with a pot lid and the container has to be placed over a fire. Provide melting heat; as the substance will be melted, one has to turn gold foils around many times till they become brittle like glass, then reduce all to subtle powder; then take two parts of quicksilver and one of living sulfur (3) and crush all together with gold,
put all in a griddle at a minimal fire as long as all the substance becomes red, which will result in the perfect black calcination to get used in Alchemy, as aforementioned.
Chapter 46
Title: How One Calcines Silver Operating in Alchemy
Silver calcination can be performed in various systems: but the easiest and shortest is that one with aqua fortis (4) to start whose calcination one makes in this way, that’s to say: one takes aqua fortis to separate gold from silver, which turns into light blue water: after it will be turned in water put it in a luted bowl, let evaporate water, and at the bottom, white calcinated silver will remain which you can use in all alchemical operations, and for those wanting a more subtle powder, they could calcine again with saltpeter (5), and they will do far better.
Chapter 47
Title: How one calcines iron to employ in alchemical art, and that calx is called crocum ferri
Of course, the iron calcines by itself, and its calx is what is commonly called iron rust: this calcination is performed by nature for a length of time, without any handwork, as we can see in most of the locks being kept in humid places. Nevertheless, similar calcination can be artificially done, and one does in this way; that’s to say, one takes iron foils and wet them with a solution made from very strong vinegar and sal armoniacum (6) and places them in a humid place, every four days remove calx by scraping it off till the whole of iron is reduced; then put it into a pan and give it reverberation fire or return fire for about sixteen hours, and it will be calcined. And this calx is ready for a solution, fission, to fusion; it is a wonderful source of tinctures. One can obtain another source of easy and short calcination. Let’s make aqua fortis to start, made from vitriol, saltpeter, and alum of rock in equal parts. This water calcines iron at once and resolves it in water, which is to evaporate with fire; iron gets calcined in a very subtle red powder; this powder is wonderful in that art. There are several other methods to calcine iron that I will not mention because they are not so necessary to be known.
Chapter 48
Title: How to calcine tin for various and different operations.
One calcines tin in different methods, but the best, most perfect calcination is performed in this way: One melts tin, and then throws it in a stone mortar, which must be hot, and sheds over a handful of salt, stirs it up very well with a wooden pestle and tin is powdered, at least the most part and the remaining is to be melted again; then put it in a reverberation oven and give heat and keep it stirred as long as it becomes a white calx and that will be the best calx one can make, to do every operation; but one can also calcine in other ways, and one of those is that used by potters, enamelers and glass artists, and one can do in that way: they take some lead and tin in equal parts, make them burning in a reverberation oven as long they will be very white: and that is the calx used by those people. One can also do with tartar from barrels; this calx will be very sweet, fusible, and useful to many operations. There are other different methods to calcine it, but those are the most used by all workers. Chapter 49
Title: Calcining quicksilver in various ways to use them in different things.
Quicksilver calcination is performed in various ways and very different from one another; the first way to calcine it till red calx is with aqua fortis as I demonstrated when speaking of silver.
There is another way to calcine it on its own in a clay pot, oblong, with its cap and receptacle, and this pot will be put on a little iron fence (7) and over a fire and heated till it remains calcined. Another calcination can be done with quicksilver and sulfur in a pot of clay, giving them heat as long as a red blood calx is obtained. In a further way, one can calcine, putting it together with iron, and they calcine together in a close fellowship embracing each other. And those are all wonderful ways to calcine mercury, and those are known by very few people and indeed are close secrets that are useful in alchemical art; thus, there are very few works that we can do without them, without entering quicksilver, the master, and the real sulfur, and the Prima Materia Metallorum. Thus those workers who understand well this matter of quicksilver are bound to be superior to others.
Chapter 50
Title: How to calcine copper differently for Alchemy and other things.
Copper is calcined in different ways, according to the operator’s mind; one calcines with vitriol, depositing layer over layer in a clay potter and giving reverberation fire from time to time till calcination. One can also calcine with sulfur and salt, and tartar in the same way. Further, one can calcine with aqua fortis, like silver, and various other ways, which I do not mean to mention as they are not so important.
Chapter 51
Title: Method to calcine lead in various ways.
I will go on to say about lead calcination, which is important to use in different occurring things, as anyone will understand. One can calcine lead in different ways, but the easiest is not that commonly employed by many. instead: one takes the lead in subtle foils and does layer over layer with ground sulfur, then one has to cover very well for it must not breathe and place it on a great fire so as to be covered by flame for about six hours, then take it off, and it will be calcined, and it will be a black powder. One can also calcine with very strong vinegar, which then makes the vinegar evaporate (8), and a white calx will remain. One can also calcine with salt in the same way as one does with sulfur; these three calcinations are the best to burn off the waste and nasty things that lead contains, which results in being clean and neat. When lead is so purified is ready to be used in many important operations such as surgery in mineral works. These are the right calcinations on Saturn, as one can see by experience.”
In the end, a trivial note: capricci is an Italian term to point at artistic pieces denoting a sudden change of mind, or better, intense creativity.
- Many authors define Solution and Putrefaction as being the same operation;
- Argento Vivo in the Italian text can be translated in quicksilver-metallic mercury as well as in Quicksilver-our Mercurius. In this case, metallic mercury can fit;
- Living Sulphur, or Solfo vivo as used by Fioravanti, is not common sulfur but alchemical Sulphur. Iatrochemists have often used this term to define alchemical sulfur since they sometimes call sulfur combustible oils. Arsenic can be another synonym for Living Sulphur;
- Aqua Fortis, Nitric Acid (HNO3);
- Saltpeter defines either potassium nitrate or Mercurius Philosophorum. Here is intended as potassium nitrate;
- Sal Armoniacum is Mercurius at large, specifically a spirit when separating from its body. Unless Fioravanti intends it as a more vulgar sal ammoniacus;
- Fioravanti employs the term “celata” which is archaic and means either helmet protection to put over the eyes or a little fence.
- Fioravanti here uses the very ambiguous term “essalar” which is of difficult interpretation. Indeed in modern Italian we have “esalare” meaning to evaporate and “salare” meaning to salt. Vinegar plus common salt was a very common way to reduce minerals in powder, but usually, both ingredients were put in the same time, not salt well after vinegar;