28 MR. H. E. STAPLBTON ON S AL- AMMONIAC : 



is found in the alchemical writings of Stephanos and other Greek commentators of the 6th 

 and 7th centuries, the table may be taken as fairly typical of the alchemical ideas that pre- 

 vailed in Egypt down to the time of the Arab invasion. 



Arabic alchemy was chiefly drawn from Greek sources, but the most casual examina- 

 tion of the work of any alchemical author during the first five centuries from the Hijra, 

 will convince the student of the great influence that was brought to bear on the Greek 

 theories by Asiatic thought. The most striking result was the re-establishment of a belief 

 in the essential connexion between animals, plants, and minerals, and a consequent revival 

 of faith in the efficacy of of organic materials in alchemical research. 



A quotation from Al-Khwarazmi's Mafatihu-l-'Ulum, written about 976 A. D., will 

 serve to make this clear. 



" Al-Hajar (' The Stone'). Among the alchemists this is anything by which the Art 

 can be performed, that is, anything out of which Elixir can be made. These substances 

 are of two kinds, Animal, and Mineral. The best of these are the Animal. 



" The latter are Hair, Blood, Urine, Eggs, Gall, Brains, Skulls, Shells, and Horns. 

 The best of these is Human Hair, and next Eggs. 



" The varieties of Mineral ' Stones' are {a) among the ' Bodies,' Gold, Silver, Lead, 

 and Tin ; (b) among the ' Spirits,' Mercury, Arsenic Sulphide, Sulphur, and Nushadur^ 1 



We see from this definition that Nushadur, the substance whose name the Latin 

 translators from Arabic of the 1 ith and subsequent centuries metamorphosed into Sal- 

 Ammoniac, 2 had taken rank among the most important chemicals in Arabic alchemy, and 

 our first duty therefore is to ascertain what was the special value of Nushadur that caused 

 it to be held in such high esteem. 



Regarding this point, ample information exists in alchemical literature. The state- 

 ments that will now be given are selected not only because they suggest a possible 

 explanation for its use, but also for the reason that they afford clear indications as to its 

 chemical constitution. 



In the Mafatlhu-l-'Uliim the following is found: "Another of their substances is 

 Nushadur, and it is of two kinds (a) Mineral ; and (b) Artificial, made from Hair." 3 



A second method of preparing it is given in the 13th cent. Latin treatise ' De 

 Investigatione Pcrfectionis' that purports to be a translation of a work of Jabir, the ' Father 

 of Arabian Alchemy,' who died in 776 A.D. 



" De Salts armoniaci prccparationc. Sal-armoniacus fit ex quinque partibus [vel 

 duabus] urina^ humanse et parte una sudoris ejusdem, et parte una salis communis, et 

 parte una cum dimidia fuliginis lignorum, vel baculorum habitis simul coctis usque ad 



1 Van Vloten's ed., Leyden, 1895, p. 265. For the definition of ' Bodies' and 'Spirits' cf. Idem, p. 259— " Bodies are so 

 called because they remain inert and fixed ; whiie Spirits owe their name to the fact that they fly away when heated." 



* Or ' Armoniac' " Debes habere de quatuor spiritibus, scilicet aurum vivum, sulphur, auripigmentum, sal-armoniacum t '' 

 (De Anima of the pseudo-Avicenna, 1572 Basle ed., p. 96). This book was probably compiled in Spain 150 or 200 years after 

 the death of Ibn Slna (Avicenna). 



S Ed. cit , p. 259. When hair is subjected to destructive distillation below a red heat, white crystals of Ammonium Carbonate 

 collect on the walls of the receiver. Sulphuretted hydrogen is also evolved. Practically no ammonium chloride is volatilised) 

 but halogen can be detected in the residue. 



