ON ALCHEMICAL EQUIPMENT TN THF1 ELEVENTH CENTURY, A.D. 63 



Wisdom,' 1 of the breadth of two spans and the thickness of a thumb, and while it is still 

 moist, you invert on its centre the lower half of the jar. By exerting a little pressure, you 

 obtain the measure of the circumference and its mark is impressed. After removing the 

 jar, you take the cup of gfradhar, and invert it on the disc, pressing it down so that it 

 may also leave its mark. 2 This in turn is removed, and the layer left in the shade to dry. 

 When it is well dried, you take it and having cut out the centre with a knife up to the 

 limit of the mark of the jar, you mount it (i.e., the ring of clay that remains) on the top (?) 

 of the lower half of the jar, just like the lips of the pots made of ghadhar. The joint is 

 luted with clay, and when this is dry, the instrument resembles in shape the ordinary 

 uthdl. It is then taken and half covered with ' clay of wisdom ' to the thickness of a 

 thumb. You also affix, half-way up, four handles of clay so that it may rest on the 

 ' Mustauqad' (furnace). Finally the clay is allowed to dry. 3 



You next build for this utAal, a round mustauqad, similar in appearance to the 

 mustauqad of tne sweetmeat sellers, having a small door for the fuel and two openings 

 on the right and left, at the height of a l sAa/cankah ,t from the ground for the smoke 

 to go out of. The height of the top of the mustauqad from the ground is two spans and 

 the breadth of the aperture three spans. 



The utA at is mounted on the mustauqad according to the annexed figure. Between 

 its sides and those of the mustauqad there is a space of four 

 fingers 5 for the tongue of the flame to play in, and between the 

 bottom of the pot and the ground a distance of a span. You 

 must also make certain of the junction between iit/ial and 

 mustauqad by covering in with clay all round. 6 



When the utjial is properly fixed in position, you take a 

 little ' Isfiddju-l-Juss' (shell lime) and having pounded it up 

 Fig. 7. with water, you smear it on the surface of the lip and leave 



1 Earlier in the ' Third Pillar ' of the ' Ainu-s-San-ah, it is mentioned that the special luting clay (' Clay of Wisdom,') employed 

 by Muhammad ibn -Abdi-1-Malik, consisted of two-thirds Tinu-l-Hurr (clay, free from stones ; see Ibnu-1-Baitar, trans, cit., II, p. 424) 

 and one-third of a mixture of dried dung and chopped animals' hair. From Bar Bahlul, loc. cit., p. 137, it would seem probable that 

 the stone-free clay used in making • clay of wisdom ' came from Assuan in Upper Egypt. 



2 As is evident from what follows, the rim of the cup is of larger diameter than that of the jar. 



* With this compare the following extract from the contemporary Syrio-Arabic alchemical MS. published by Duval in 

 Vol. II. of Berthelot's La Chimie au Moyen Age, p. 69. 



" Take a pot shaped like a ' Burmak,' of the length of one cubit, and breadth two hands, and invert it on a level surface. After 

 throwing sifted ashes round it for the space of a hand and a half, you remove the pot, and cover the ashes with clay up to the same 

 limit. When the ring of clay is dry, lift it up and polish its surface with ' Isfiddj ' and white of egg. Polish it a second time. 



[Here comes an unintelligible sentence. The copyist also seems to have omitted a sentence describing 



the fixing of the ring on the top of the pot.] 



" Then invert the pot of the ut±.dl on its face and after covering it evenly with clay all round, encircle the pot with wings, one 

 hand below the shelf (turs, lit. 'disc'), in order that the flame of the fire may not affect whatever settles on the shelf, and so 

 burn and damage it. Finally invert the cover on the uthdl. There is a mystery in this which we shall mention when giving an 

 account of sublimates." 



* This measure of length does not seem to be mentioned in any Persian or Arabic dictionary 



5 The home-made uthdl is apparently broader than the ready-made uthdl mentioned at the beginning of this section, as in the 

 case of the latter, the distance between the sides of the uthdl and mustauqad would be one span. Little reliance can be placed on 

 the drawing, for according to the description, only half the length of the utfcdl should be within the mustauqad. 



8 Cf. the Syrio-Arabic MS., loc. cit., Text, p. 79 : 

 Mem. A.S.B. 



