List of alchemical substances

• Antimony/ – Sb • Bismuth () – Bi • Copper/ – associated with Venus. Cu • Gold/ – associated with the Sun. Au • Iron/ – associated with Mars. Fe • Lead/ – associated with Saturn. Pb • Quicksilver/ – associated with Mercury. Hg • Silver/ – associated with the Moon. Ag • Tin/ – associated with Jupiter. Sn == Minerals, Stones, and Pigments ==

• Bluestone – Mineral form of Copper(II) Sulfate Pentahydrate, also called Blue Vitriol. • Borax – Sodium Borate; was also used to refer to other related minerals. • Cadmia/Tuttia/Tutty – Probably Zinc Carbonate. • Calamine – Zinc Carbonate. • Calomel/Horn Quicksilver/Horn Mercury – Mercury(I) Chloride, a very poisonous purgative formed by subliming a mixture of Mercuric Chloride and Metallic Mercury, triturated in a mortar and heated in an Iron pot. The crust formed on the lid was ground to powder and boiled with water to remove the Calomel. • Calx – Calcium Oxide; was also used to refer to other metal oxides. • Chalcanthum – The residue produced by strongly roasting Blue Vitriol (Copper Sulfate); it is composed mostly of Cupric Oxide. • Chalk – A rock composed of porous biogenic Calcium Carbonate, CaCO3 • Chrome green – Chromic Oxide and Cobalt Oxide. • Chrome Orange – Chrome Yellow and Chrome Red. • Chrome Red – Basic Lead Chromate – PbCrO4+PbO • Chrome Yellow/Paris Yellow/Leipzig Yellow– Lead Chromate, PbCrO4 • Cinnabar/vermilion – Refers to several substances, among them: Mercury(II) Sulfide (HgS), or native Vermilion (the common ore of Mercury). • Copper Glance – Copper(I) Sulfide ore. • Cuprite – Copper(I) Oxide ore. • Dutch White – A pigment formed from one part of White Lead to three of Barium Sulfate. BaSO4 • Flowers of Antimony – Antimony Trioxide, formed by roasting Stibnite at high temperature and condensing the white fumes that form Sb2O3. • Fool's Gold – A mineral, Iron Disulfide or Pyrite; can form Oil of Vitriol on contact with water and air. • Fulminating Silver – Principally, Silver Nitride, formed by dissolving Silver(I) Oxide in ammonia. Very explosive when dry. • Fulminating Gold – A number of gold based explosives which "fulminate", or detonate easily. • Gold Hydrazide, formed by adding ammonia to the Auric Hydroxide. When dry, can explode on concussion. • An unstable Gold Carbonate formed by precipitation by potash from Gold dissolved in Aqua Regia. • Galena – Lead(II) Sulfide, Lead ore. • Glass of Antimony – Impure Antimony Tetroxide, Sb2O4 formed by roasting stibnite. A yellow pigment for glass and porcelain. • Gypsum – a mineral; calcium sulfate. CaSO4 • Horn silver/argentum cornu – a weathered form of chlorargyrite, an ore of silver chloride. :* Luna cornea – silver chloride, formed by heating horn silver till it liquefies and then cooling. • King's yellow – formed by mixing orpiment with white arsenic. • Lapis solaris (Bologna stone) – barium sulfide – 1603, Vincenzo Cascariolo. • Lead fume – lead oxide, found in flues at lead smelters. • Lime/quicklime (burnt lime)/calx viva/unslaked lime – calcium oxide, formed by calcining limestone :* Slaked lime – calcium hydroxide. Ca(OH)2 • Marcasite – a mineral; iron disulfide. In moist air it turns into green vitriol, FeSO4. • Massicot – lead monoxide. PbO :* Litharge – lead monoxide, formed by fusing and powdering massicot. :* Minium/red lead – trilead tetroxide, Pb3O4; formed by roasting litharge in air. :* Naples yellow/cassel yellow – oxychloride of lead, formed by heating litharge with sal ammoniac. • Mercurius praecipitatus – red mercuric oxide. • Mosaic gold – stannic sulfide, formed by heating a mixture of tin filings, sulfur, and sal-ammoniac. • Orpiment – arsenic trisulfide, an ore of arsenic. • Pearl white – bismuth nitrate, BiNO3 • Philosophers' wool/nix alba (white snow)/Zinc White – zinc oxide, formed by burning zinc in air, used as a pigment • Plumbago – a mineral, graphite; not discovered in pure form until 1564 • Powder of Algaroth – antimony oxychloride, formed by precipitation when a solution of butter of antimony and spirit of salt is poured into water. • Purple of Cassius – formed by precipitating a mixture of gold, stannous and stannic chlorides, with alkali. Used for glass coloring • Realgar – arsenic disulfide, an ore of arsenic. • Regulus of antimony • Resin of copper – copper(I) chloride (cuprous chloride), formed by heating copper with corrosive sublimate. • Rouge/crocus/colcothar – ferric oxide, formed by burning green vitriol in air. • Stibnite – antimony or antimony trisulfide, ore of antimony. • Turpeth mineral – hydrolysed form of mercury(II) sulfate. • Verdigris – Carbonate of Copper or (more recently) copper(II) acetate. The carbonate is formed by weathering copper. The acetate is formed by vinegar acting on copper. One version was used as a green pigment. • White arsenic – arsenious oxide, formed by sublimating arsenical soot from the roasting ovens. • White lead – carbonate of lead, a toxic pigment, produced by corroding stacks of lead plates with dilute vinegar beneath a heap of moistened wood shavings. (replaced by blanc fixe & lithopone) • Venetian white – formed from equal parts of white lead and barium sulfate. • Zaffre – impure cobalt arsenate, formed after roasting cobalt ore. • Zinc blende – zinc sulfide. == Salts ==

• Glauber's salt – sodium sulfate. Na2SO4 • Sal alembroth – salt composed of chlorides of ammonium and mercury. • Sal ammoniac – ammonium chloride. • Sal petrae (Med. Latin: "stone salt")/salt of petra/saltpetre/nitrate of potash – potassium nitrate, KNO3, typically mined from covered dungheaps. • Salt/common salt – a mineral, sodium chloride, NaCl, formed by evaporating seawater (impure form). • Salt of tartar – potassium carbonate; also called potash. • Salt of hartshorn/sal volatile – ammonium carbonate formed by distilling bones and horns. • Tin salt – hydrated stannous chloride; see also , another chloride of tin. == Vitriols ==

• Blue vitriol – copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate. • Green vitriol – a mineral; iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate. (or ferrous sulfate) • Red vitriol - cobalt sulfate. • Sweet vitriol – diethyl ether. It could be made by mixing oil of vitriol with spirit of wine and heating it. • White vitriol – zinc sulfate, formed by lixiviating roasted zinc blende. == Waters, oils and spirits ==

• /spirit of nitre – nitric acid, formed by 2 parts saltpetre in 1 part (pure) oil of vitriol (sulfuric acid). (Historically, this process could not have been used, as 98% oil of vitriol was not available.) • /spirit of turpentine/oil of turpentine/gum turpentine – turpentine, formed by the distillation of pine tree resin. • (Latin: "royal water") – a mixture of aqua fortis and spirit of salt. • – arsenic trioxide, As2O3 (extremely poisonous) • /aqua vita/spirit of wine, ardent spirits – ethanol, formed by distilling wine • Butter (or oil) of antimony – antimony trichloride. Formed by distilling roasted stibnite with corrosive sublimate, or dissolving stibnite in hot concentrated hydrochloric acid and distilling. SbCl3 • Butter of tin – hydrated tin(IV) chloride; see also , another chloride of tin. • Oil of tartar – concentrated potassium carbonate, K2CO3 solution • Oil of tartar per deliquium – potassium carbonate dissolved in the water which its extracts from the air. • Oil of vitriol/spirit of vitriol – sulfuric acid, a weak version can be formed by heating green vitriol and blue vitriol. H2SO4 • Spirit of box/pyroxylic spirit – methanol, CH3OH, distilled wood alcohol. • – stannic chloride, formed by distilling tin with corrosive sublimate. • Spirit of hartshorn – ammonia, formed by the decomposition of sal-ammoniac by unslaked lime. • Spirit of salt/ – the liquid form of hydrochloric acid (also called muriatic acid), formed by mixing common salt with oil of vitriol. • :* Marine acid air – gaseous form of hydrochloric acid. == Others ==

• Alkahest – universal solvent. • Azoth – initially this referred to a supposed universal solvent but later became another name for Mercury. • Bitumen – highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. • Blende • Brimstone – sulfur :* Flowers of sulfur – formed by distilling sulfur. • Caustic potash/caustic wood alkali – potassium hydroxide, formed by adding lime to potash. • Caustic Soda/caustic marine alkali – sodium hydroxide, NaOH, formed by adding lime to natron. • Caustic volatile alkali – ammonium hydroxide. • Corrosive sublimate – mercuric chloride, formed by subliming mercury, calcined green vitriol, common salt, and nitre. • Gum Arabic – gum from the acacia tree. • Liver of sulfur – a loosely defined mixture of potassium sulfide, potassium polysulfide, potassium thiosulfate, and likely potassium bisulfide. • Lunar caustic/ – silver nitrate, formed by dissolving silver in aqua fortis and evaporating. • Lye – potash in a water solution, formed by leaching wood ashes. :* Potash – potassium carbonate, formed by evaporating lye; also called salt of tartar. K2CO3 :* Pearlash – formed by baking potash in a kiln. • Milk of sulfur () – formed by adding an acid to thion hudor (lime sulfur). • Natron/soda ash/soda – sodium carbonate. Na2CO3 • – ammonium nitrate. • Sugar of lead – lead(II) acetate, formed by dissolving lead oxide in vinegar. • – lime sulfur, formed by boiling flowers of sulfur with slaked lime. == See also ==