Information AboutVitriol |
Oil of vitriol is concentrated sulfuric acid so named due to its oily appearance. Vitriol is also a quality of abusive or malicious forms of speech or feelings. EXTRACTION In antiquity, the vitriol salts were extracted from the runoff that collected inside Mines of Sulfide ores; the sulfates were formed naturally by the action of air on the wet sulfide minerals, and washed down by percolating water. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Vitriol was the most important Alchemical substance, intended to be used as a Philosopher's Stone . Highly purified vitriol was used as a medium to react substances in. This was largely because the acid does not react with Gold , often the final aim of alchemical processes. The word ''vitriol'' derives from the Latin ''vitreus'', 'glass', for the glassy appearance of the salts. The alchemical motto ''Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem'' ('Visit the interior of the earth and rectifying (i.e. purifying) you will find the hidden/secret stone'), found in '' L'Azoth Des Philosophes '' by the 15th Century alchemist Basilius Valentinus , is a Backronym . The Islamic Alchemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Gaber) discovered Hydrochloric Acid by mixing Table Salt with vitriol. Green vitriol was much used in the middle ages to make Iron-gall Nut Ink for use in writing. The act of splashing someone with acid intentionally is Vitriolage . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |