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# Vadim Rabinovich's 1979 book translates a philosopher's stone recipe into chemical formulas
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/chtoby-prigotovit-eliksir-mudretsov-ili-filosofskii-kamen-vozmi-syn-moi-filosofskoi-rtuti-i-nakalivai-poka-ona-ne-prevratitsia-v-zelenogo-lva/
- Published: 2017-06-27T09:22:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:53:33.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Observations, Science

"To prepare the elixir of the sages, or the philosopher's stone, take, my son, philosophical mercury and heat it until it turns into a green lion. After this, calcine it more strongly, and it will turn into a red lion. Digest this red lion in a sand bath with acid spirit of wine, evaporate the liquid, and the mercury will turn into a gummy substance that can be cut with a knife. Place it in a clay-coated retort and distil it slowly. Collect the separate liquids of different kinds that will appear in the process. You will obtain tasteless phlegm, spirit and red drops. The Cimmerian shadows will cover the retort with their dark veil, and you will find inside it the true dragon, because he devours his own tail..."

This recipe is cited by the Soviet chemist Vadim Rabinovich in his 1979 book "Alchemy as a Phenomenon of Medieval Culture". A wonderful book, vivid and interesting, and I recommend it to everyone. Rabinovich translated this alchemical instruction quite literally into chemistry and obtained a series of formulae:

3Pb + 1/2 О2 = Pb3О4  
Pb (С2Н3О2)2 > (СН3)2 + PbСО3  
PbСО3 = PbО + СО2  
PbО + С = Pb + СО.

It turned out that the Cimmerian shadows have nothing to do with the people from the land of eternal gloom at the entrance to the underworld, but rather with the black mass that remains in the retort: pulverised lead. From the sequence of formulae it is clear that the medieval sages knew about the transformation of lead oxides and salts, and even about acetone. As for me, I passed my candidate's examination in the history and philosophy of science with top marks.