60 



MESSRS. H. E. STAPLETON AND R. F. AZO 

 Comparative Table. — Contd. 



Substances employed. 



(a) For 'the White.' 



{6) For 'the Red.' 



Alum of Yemen 



Tinkar 



Martak 



The stone Maghnatis 



Armenian Borax 



Natrun 



Hens' Eggs 



8oi 



• • ■ 



• •• 



lOf 



50 1 



Total 



8391 



I9I8§ 2 



Chapter V. 



The fifth chapter, if complete, would probably have been found to contain a full- 

 description of the instruments used in Alchemy. The MS., however, is corrupt, and after 

 giving a list of the instruments necessary for making 'the White,' it breaks off at the 

 beginning of the corresponding list of instruments for 'the Red' into an account of two 

 alchemical processes, called respectively the ' Second Pillar ' and the ' Third Pillar.' 

 It is impossible to say whether these sections belong to Chapter V, or, as is perhaps 

 more likely, to Chapter VII, since the MS. ends before even the ' Third Pillar ' has been 

 fully described. 



We quote the list of the instruments, so far as it goes, as well as an incomplete account 

 of a home-made ' UthtiV (Aludel) that occurs in the ' Third Pillar.' 



" An Account of the Instruments, giving details of those that should be either 

 purchased or made for the manufacture of 'the White.' " 



" Muhammad ibn Abdi-1-Malik al-Kathi saith : Among them are : — 



(1) A File (Mioraa) for filing silver, copper, and iron. 



(2) Two glass Cups {Qadah) without spouts, for the volatilisation 3 of silver. 



(3) A stone ' Salayah ' and a ' Fihr ' 4 lfor pounding medicines. 



I The Syrio-Arabic treatise also mentions the employment of yolks of eggs in its chapter on the manufacture of gold 

 (loc. cit., p. 179). 



* Corrected. MS... |li|_j,s **Jjlj Uao cjj™**-,? aJLjLLvj AjU*-Jj <JJ|, 1953! dirhams. The corrected total includes the weight of 

 Qily, but not its salt. The eggs are also excluded. 



3 As the word Tas'ld is generally used for solids and not liquids (Mafdtih., p. 264) the sublimation of some compound of silver 

 from a mixture of silver filings and various salts, is probably here meant, and not the actual distillation of silver itself. 



* Cf. the list of instruments given in the Syrio-Arabic treatise [loc. cit., p. 150). The Salayah and Fihr are the modern Sil (tX««) 

 and Lorha (Uj J) the oblong flat stone, and roller, used in India for making curry powder. The dimensions of the alchemical 

 talayoh are stated in the same treatise (loc. cit., p. 167) to be 1 cubit long by 3 cubits broad, i.e. about three times the size of the 

 common form. The Syrio-Arabic author also states that the Fihr should be made of jet-black stone, 



