|
|
|
Dear Friend, Notes on the Use of Alkahests This lesson which describes the extraction of the Alkahest of Tartar, permits us, because we know how to extract the Alkahest of Sulfur, to consider the manufacture of the seven planetary metallic tinctures. Study this lesson and constantly refer to the Spagyrics Lesson # 41. We repeat that our lessons provide solutions, but that we do not wish to impose them as exact models. Everyone is free to carry out a work program that suits him or her, according to the time you have available or the material you can obtain. In the part of the nonmetallic mineral kingdom, in other words, in the part concerning the Alkahests, we believe in the possibility of more than one practical solution. Either we manufacture the Alkahests of tartar and sulfur which complement each other, or we can produce the vinegar of antimony. As experience will demonstrate, each of these Alkahests has its advantages and drawbacks. Those of tartar and sulfur are volatile, the vinegar of antimony isn't. The action of the tartar or sulfur alkahest is generally quicker than the action of the vinegar of antimony. Tartar is inexpensive and easy to obtain. As soon as you have mastered the extraction of the Alkahest of tartar, you can use it to obtain the tinctures of iron, copper, mercury, silver and gold starting from dead but pure metals. The extractions of lead and tin are done with the Alkahest of sulfur. The manufacture of this Alkahest requires native sulfur, a more expensive and rarer product than tartar. It is therefore only used for two metals. If you possess a sufficient quantity of stibnite, the method of the vinegar of antimony is preferable. The Extraction If the metals used are pure, the tinctures will also be pure. If the metals are dead, the Alkahest lends its "alchemical life" to revivify the tinctures, but in this case the Alkahest can't be revived and reused. Which are the different minerals that will provide us with the living elements of the seven planetary metallic tinctures? If we prepare the tinctures from living ores correctly prepared, we can recover the Alkahest alive. It can be reused and the distillation of the tincture yields either another live Alkahest, or a live Philosophical Mercury.
If you choose the Alkahest of sulfur and tartar method, the extraction on pure but dead metals seems preferable. But, if you choose the vinegar of antimony, we believe the method of live ores is the best. It is not enough to pour the live ore into the Alkahest to obtain the tincture. In this case, you only obtain a horrid mixture without any value and generally very toxic. The ore is never pure, it contains many bodies which are to react with the Alkahest. It is therefore necessary to purify the ore without killing it. There are various methods and they must be adapted to each mineral or ore. This is why we recommend the use of sulfur and tartar to start with, for this problem of purification is very simple for those two materials, at least as far as toxic substances are concerned. The two mineral substances which present a major problem are free sulfur and arsenic. In galena as for all sulfides, the sulfur is normally chemically bonded to the lead to form a sulfide. But the quantity of sulfur that yields a sulfide for a same quantity of lead is fixed. If there is more sulfur, this excess doesn't enter into this composition and therefore there is free sulfur. You should always remember that alchemical life does not support high temperatures and mineral acids. If there is free sulfur, sulfuric acid will form on contact with the moisture in the air and the substance will loose its alchemical life. If there is arsenic, the alchemical fermentation or fecundation won't occur. Moreover, arsenic even in minute doses is toxic to the operator. Later in the work, you'll have to obtain live purified ores. We do not deal with gold and silver as native metals. In what follows we'll note that the minerals that interest us come under four different forms:
The sulfates, as it is the case with copper, are rare but easier to handle because they are soluble in water. The solve coagula operation with crystallization is possible. The purification is easily obtained, especially if one respects the rule to never crystallize all the liquid at one time, but to remove and gradually dry the crystals as they form. The next easiest metals to work with are carbonates which are easily transformed into acetates. We can operate by solve coagula as we did with the sulfate. We discuss this question in detail in the lessons about antimony and in the lessons about Saturn. The oxides usually are difficult to work with unless they dissolve and become acetates after circulation in a Soxhlet with distilled vinegar. The sulfides must be treated either by purification through slow calcination, or by the extraction of impurities with organic solvents. This doesn't concern the stibnite, the trisulfide of antimony, which takes a wet treatment studied in the lessons on antimony. In all sulfides, the free sulfur is eliminated through a long calcination at a temperature between 70°C (158°F) and 90°C (194°F). Beyond that temperature, the sulfur becomes fixed (110°C or 230°F) and we incur the risk of not being able to eliminate it. After 10 to 20 hours of calcination, the heat is increased to a temperature of 150° to 180°C (302° to 356°F) and the arsenic is eliminated. (Be careful! Arsenic vapors are fatal). This calcination happens on the finely pulverized ore that has been spread in a thin layer. If the first phase has been done incorrectly and the sulfur has been fixed, it will definitely be transformed into sulfuric acid in the later stages of the process and will destroy the alchemical life. Only antimony does not provoke this reaction. It is preferable to extract the sulfur and the arsenic before any calcination. The only possible solvents for sulfur are carbon tetrachlorides. A Soxhlet extraction of the finely pulverized ore with this liquid extracts the free sulfur. But carbon tetrachloride like all solvents of this kind has a power of alchemical extraction. It can "take away" the Alkahest or the alchemical Sulfur of the ore. During the experiments, we were surprised to see the oil of sulfur swimming over the carbon tetrachloride after the extraction. We believe that leaching with organic solvents containing carbon should not be done during cloudy weather or at night, otherwise there is a risk of alchemical extraction of the ore. This is the case for the two solvents which are mentioned in this lesson. To be safe, it is necessary to distill the solvent before circulation and to redistill it after circulation. If the distillation temperature differs between the two distillations, an extraction has occurred. Generally in this case, a second careful distillation permits us to recover the alchemical Alkahest of Sulfur. The organic solvent for arsenic is benzene. The arsenic is extracted using the same method as stated above. The solvents both require careful handling. The first is toxic, the second is inflammable. A circulation with these two solvents does not eliminate the need for a later calcination designed to "open the pores" of the ore. In this case, as long as the temperature is maintained under 200°C (392°F), there should not be any problem, and no longer the risk that the sulfur become fixed, or that a toxic gas be released. The present lesson opens the doors to genuine mineral alchemical work, and the various paths of separation of the three metallic principles should begin to emerge clearly:
The lessons about antimony will describe Basil Valentine's method and the lessons about lead will describe the Cockren method. The wet method of antimony which is very close to Cockren's and Newton's method do not require the use of the vinegar of antimony. We shall study the broad lines of the wet method of antimony in the next lesson. Extraction of the Alkahest of Tartar The setup for the distillation is a classical one. It is useful to use ground glass for the round bottom distillation flask although it is often destroyed. The tartar will be red and crushed into pieces about 1cm (0.39 inches) thick. Do not use powder or big pieces. The distillation is extremely delicate. It is necessary to have both complete airtightness and a safety mechanism which will open in case of the build up of pressure. The cooling down of the round bottom flask must be rapid. Put the receiving flask in a bath of salt water which is filled with little pieces of ice. It is not necessary to refrigerate the receiving round bottom flask for the first phase of the distillation. The distillation proceeds as follows: Increase the temperature very slowly. A phlegm will pass over. At the end of the passage of the phlegm, the distillation spontaneously stops for a while. The receiving flask is then changed and the refrigerated flask is put into place. Heat is increased slowly, very slowly. White smoke indicates the passage of the "spirit". This is when the oil of tartar and its Alkahest begin to come over. The round bottom flask is changed again after the black oil of tartar has passed. The black oil is foul smelling. The receiving flask of the "spirits" must be very carefully plugged and preferably kept cold in a refrigerator. A new distillation setup is then put together with the round bottom flask heated in a waterbath. The receiving round bottom flask is refrigerated with salted ice or day ice. The liquid distills into two parts, one clear, the Alkahest, and a light oil, very light yellow in color, of an agreeable odor; we now have the Sulfur of tartar. Each one is left with the task of discovering the properties of this nontoxic oil, on their own. An Alchemist of the German school said that if this oil were better known, the face of the earth would be changed. The most delicate phase of this operation is the timing for the changing of the round bottom flask. There should also be total airtightness, otherwise the Alkahest will escape. A verification of the airtightness of the distillation train through maintaining a vacuum is very appropriate. A Pauly separator is very useful in this case. We should remember that with a good thermal insulator and salt and broken ice (out of the freezer) it is possible to keep a temperature of -10° to -15°C (14° to 5°F) during the passage of the "spirit". (Note: -56°C or -70°F with dry ice). Keep the Alkahest either in a ground glass flask, greased with silicon, or preferably in a closed flask with a silicon rubber stopper. Verify then the power of extraction of the tinctures on the metals of the Figure in Lesson # 41. If you experiment in the realm of metallic tinctures, it is a good idea to read "Revelation des mysteres des teintures des sept metaux" (Revelation of the mystery of the tinctures of the seven metals) by Basil Valentine. Note: This kind of distillation dirties the flasks very much. If you scrape them with a metal rod, you will scratch them and considerably increase the risk of breaking them. The best way to clean them is to fill them with bleach for 24 to 48 hours. With a sponge or a towel placed at the end of metallic stick, you can finish the cleaning process perfectly. This system is also good for cleaning up after distillations of the vegetable tinctures which were overheated. Ora et Labora! Send mail to CompanyWebmaster
with questions or comments about this web site.
|