blade or instrument of copper. Kunckel was the first chemist to explain the fallacy.
Elixir of Vitriol was devised by Adrian Mynsicht, a famous German physician, in the early part of the seventeenth century. He published an Armamentarium Medico-Chymicum which became very popular. His Elixir (under the name of Elixir Vitrioli Mynsichti) was first given in the P.L. of 1721 as follows:—cinnamon, ginger, cloves, of each 3 drachms: calamus aromaticus, 1 oz.; galangal root, 1-1/2 oz.; sage, mint, of each 1/2 oz.; cubebs, nutmegs, of each 2 oz.; lign. aloes, lemon peel, of each 1 drachm; candied sugar, 3 oz. Digest in spirit of wine, 1-1/2 lb., and oil of vitriol 1 lb. for twenty days. Then filter.
In the P.L. 1746 the formula was simplified by mixing 4 oz. of oil of vitriol with 1 lb. of Aromatic Tincture, and the title was changed to Elixir Vitrioli Acidum. In the P.L. 1778 there was no Elixir of Vitriol, dilute sulphuric acid taking its place. This was then called Acidum Vitriolicum Dilutum. Under the name of Acidum Sulphuricum Aromaticum, however, an acidulated tincture, flavoured with ginger and cinnamon, was retained, and this, with the synonym of Elixir of Vitriol, is still in the B.P.
Quincy (1724) states that this medicine had lately come greatly in practice, and deservedly. "It mightily strengthens the stomach," he says, "and does good service in relaxations from debauches and over-*feeding."
The alga "nostoch," so-called by Paracelsus, who also described it as flos cœlorum, acquired the name of vegetable vitriol, and sometimes spittle of the stars, because it appeared after rains in places where it had not been seen before.
