Milk alchemistry manuals#

It flies away suddenly to whatever place you wish and burns up everything.' Then put into a reed or hollow wood and light it. 'After finely powdering dissolve in linseed oil or in laurel oil which is better. 'Note that every inextinguishable fire can be extinguished or stifled by four things, namely strong vinegar, or by stale urine, or by sand, or by felt soaked three times in vinegar and thoroughly dried it stifles the said fire.' But we advise that it should be used before sunrise or after sunset.' When the sun rises and before the heat has melted it the mixture will inflame. Take it out and smear it with crows which can be flown against the tents of the enemy. Put all these in a pottery jar buried in horse manure for fifteen days. Take petroleum, black petroleum, liquid pitch, and oil of sulphur. 'Another kind of fire for burning enemies wherever they are. of this oil if the enemy is near, more if he is distant. If you wish to operate on sea, take a goatskin bag and put in it 2 lb. The performance of this operation indoors is prohibited by reason of danger of fire. The sign of melting is this: the product will look like butter on a piece of wood inserted in it. Liber ignium of Marcus Graecus: 'Take pure sandarach resin 1 lb, liquid gum ammoniac 1 lb, grind together and put into a glazed earthenware jar closed carefully with philosophical lute. distilled petroleum thickened with resins and sulphur.īase chemical compound (liquid) would have to be homogenous to flow smoothly through the delivery system to the nozzle. Naphtha: known since the 4th century BCE. J R Partington, A History of Greek Fire 8. colloidal suspensions of metallic sodium, lithium, potassium, or quicklime in a petroleum base. possible active ingredients: calcium phosphide (made by heating lime, bones and charcoal releases phosphine on contact with water, which ignites spontaneously). “carcass composition”: liquid petroleum, naphtha, burning pitch, sulphur, resin, bitumen. If the engines of the enemy are to be burnt, they are smeared with it in the evening, and when the sun rises all will be burnt.' It must be kept in bronze boxes with tight covers, protected from the rays of the sun until it is wanted. The mass must be stirred at mid-day with care and the body protected, since the composition easily inflames.

'Automatic fire is composed of equal parts of native sulpur, rock salt, incense, thunderbolt stone, or pyrites, ground in a black mortar in the mid-day sun, and mixed with equal parts of the resin of the blackksycamore and liquid asphalt of Zakynthos to a greasy paste. Sprinkled with water, it becomes slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), which can spontaneously combust. Limepowder, or roasted limestone becomes calx, caustic quicklime or calcium oxide. Source: Adrienne Mayor, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs asbestos).Ĭhinese smoke-ball: made of powdered aconite root, wolfbane (species of monkshood), croton beans (purgative which causes blisters and pustules), arsenic, hemp (hallucinogen), blister beetles, sulphur, charcoal and resin.

Milk alchemistry manuals#

Muslim military manuals recommend a paste of talc, eggwhites, gum, and salamander skin (i.e. Alum (double sulphate of aluminium and potassium) was known ot be a fire retardant. It was discovered that heated vinegar or soured wine could cause marble and limestone walls to disintegrate.