urine ; the past
Chemistry’s golden past
Paintings of alchemists show them holding up flasks. The contents of those flasks are almost always golden in color. That’s because alchemists were obsessed with urine.
And no wonder. The limits of science all through history are set by the limits of instruments. So despite having just five senses for test instruments, the alchemist could use urine to diagnose patients and make scientific discoveries. (He was often the local healer, dentist and bleeder.) At the time when alchemy was the leading edge of chemistry, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the alchemist could observe, sniff, touch and taste this vital fluid to look for clues to the ills his patient suffered. Arguably the greatest discovery made by an alchemist was from urine. Sometime around 8
urinated
1669, German alchemist Hennig Brandt distilled buckets of urine and then heated the paste that remained. In addition to creating a horrible smell, he isolated phosphorus. When the secret got out, Brandt’s neighbors certainly knew a lot about his research, alchemists across Europe began collecting urine from public loos in hopes of replicating his results. Alchemy hung on till the 19th century partly because Brandt found the route from piss to phosphorus.
to the right Trouble comes to the Alchemist, 17-18th century,17th century Netherlandish
Neil Gussman from Annals of Improbable Research.
bottom right Science, 17-18th century, by Gerard Thomas
top left The Alchemist, 17th century, by Mattheus van Helmont. top right The Medical Chemist, 18th century, by Franz Christoph Jannec bottom left The Iatrochemist, 17-18th century, by Balthasar van den Bossche