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Anya Subich (/en/page/30255/anya-subich)

Urine and philosopher's

stone
How the search for gold led alchemists
to discover something else
For centuries alchemists and magicians were racking their
brains over the riddle of philosopher’s stone - a mysterious
substance that is able to turn basic metals into gold. One of
the legends ran that this substance can be found within the
human body... According to another belief, it should be a
liquid, since water is the prime cause of life. Once you add a
pronounced golden colour - everything was pointing on urine
as an answer...

(/en/page/232650/cabala-mineralis-attributed-to-rabbi-simeo
n-ben-cantara)
The “golden age of alchemy”, which fell on 13th-17th
centuries, resulted in numerous alchemical treatises,
created by medieval scholars, venturing clergymen and
mysterious kabbalists. One of them - "Cabala Mineralis" -
suggested using urine as a possible ingredient for the elixir
of immortality. A manuscript, located at London British
Museum, dates back to the middle of the XV century and is
ascribed to Rabbi Simeon Ben Cantara.

Colourful illustrations of this book explain how urine of a

young boy can be used as a source of ammonium: "Our
ammoniac is not that of the vulgar". Ammonium then shall
be used together with mercury as essential components of
philosopher's stone.

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232651/cabala-mineralis)

Urine's importance in alchemic work can be explained by

the fact that it contains volatile components, which can help
to volatilise metallic salts that are not willing to sublimate.

Around 1669 someone called Henning Brand - an enthusiast

chemist from Hamburg, found an alchemy book, entitled
“400 Auserlensene Chemische Process" by F. T. Kessler of
Strasbourg” . A recipe from this book stated that a mix of
alum, potassium nitrate, and concentrated human urine
would turn basic metals into gold. In an attempt to solve the
mystery Brand, he then rerouted and began to experiment
with boiling huge amounts of human urine. At first he was
satisfied with the amount of liquid he produced himself,
then he put an eye on his wife's and friends' chamber pots.
After a short while, an experiment gained such a wide
audience that Brand made up his mind to acquire wholesale
product from the Prussian army…It is thought that in the
course of his experiments he collected overall 5500l of
urine.

Brand boiled the large amount of liquid until it turned into

a thick substance with red oil on the top. He then extracted
this red oil and cooled down the rest of the substance until
it turned black.

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32652/cabala-mineralis)

Having mixed the red and the black parts, Brand heated
them again, distilled and...hocus pocus! The glass chamber
got filled with glowing fumes that turned into a shining,
white liquid, which, upon contact with oxygen, produced
bright flames.
 (/en/page/23265

3/cabala-mineralis)

Needless to say, Brand was perfectly sure he had found

philosopher's stone. He gave his discovery the name
phosphorus - after the Greek name for Venus...

He continued experimenting with the new substance for six

years, having discovered its many qualities, but not being
able to obtain the so cherished, elixir of immortality. Only at
the autumn of his life, Brand acknowledged that he
probably had not discovered philosopher's stone, but
something else. Later generations of chemists were to find
out what exactly phosphorus was and obtained the credits
for the discovery.
 (/en/page/23265

4/cabala-mineralis)

Thanks to his extensive correspondence, Brand was

eventually recognized as a father of phosphorus (long after
his death), - "13th element", the first chemical element that
was discovered by the humanity since the ancient times.