CHARCOAL BURNERS
before the industrial revolution.
| ALTERNATE NAMES OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES |
| Acid of Sugar | Oxalic Acid |
| Alkanet Root | Alkanna Tinctoria |
| Alum (Allum, alumn) | Aluminum Sulfate |
| Aqua Fortis | Nitric Acid |
| Aqua Regia | Nitro-Muriatic Acid |
| Armenian Bole | Red Clay |
| Asphaltum | Mix of Bitumens and Asphalt |
| Bakers Ammonia | Slats of Hartshorn |
| Benjamine | Benzoine |
| Bismuth | Ore for extracting mercury |
| Blue Stone | Copper Sulfate |
| Boule (bole) | Bole Armeniac |
| Borax | Mineral |
| Brazil Dust | Pernambuco |
| Brimstone | Sulphur |
| Butter of Antimony | Antimony Trichloride |
| Butter of Tin | Anhydrous Stannic |
| Butter of Zinc (killed spirits) | Chloride |
| Calcium Carbonate | Whiting - Chalk |
| Calomel | Chloride of Mercury |
| Chalk | Carbonate Calcium |
| Caustic Potassa | Hydrate Potassium |
| Caustic Soda | Sodium Hydroxide |
| Chalk | Carbonate Calcium |
| Chili Niter | Sodium Nitrate |
| Chloride of Gormyle | Chloroform |
| Chrome Green | Chromate of Iron |
| Chrome Yellow | Chromate of Lead |
| Cinnabar | Vermillion |
| Common Salt | Chloride of Sodium |
| Common Soda | Bicarbonate |
| Copperas (coppersulphate) | Sulphate of Iron/Zinc Chloride |
| Copperas, Blue | Copper Sulfate |
| Corrosive Sublimate | Bi-Chloride of Mercury |
| Cream of Tartar | Bitartrate Potassium |
| Curcuma | Goldenseal Root |
| Coccus | Cochineal |
| Diamond | Pure Carbon |
| Dragon's Blood | Resin from Rattan Palm Fruit |
| Dry Alum | Sulphate Aluminium & Potassium |
| Epsom Salts | Sulphate of Magnesia |
| Ethiops Mineral Black | Sulphide of Mercury |
| Exhilarating Gas | Nitrous Oxide |
| Ferro Prussiate | Potassium Ferricyanide |
| Fuller's Earth | Rottenstone |
| Fustic | Pulverized Dry Sumac Leaves |
| Galena | Sulphide of Lead |
| Gallotonnic Acid | Nut Galls |
| Gesso | Fine plaster made with whiting |
| Glauber's - Salt | Sulphate of Sodium |
| Glucose | Grape Sugar |
| Glycerine | Glycerol |
| Gypsum | Plaster of Paris |
| Hartshorn | Ammonia |
| Hartshorn, Slats of | Ammonium Carbonate |
| Hartshorn, Spirits of | Ammonia |
| Hydrochloric Acid | Hydrogen Chloride |
| Hydrotal Sodium Tetraborate | Nitro-chlorahydric Acid |
| Iron Pyrites | Bi-Sulphide Iron |
| Isinglass | Fish bladder glue (sturgeon) |
| Isinglass | Thin sheets of mica for windows, etal. |
| Ivory Black | Carbonized Ivory |
| Japanese Laquer | Rhus Vernicifera-urushi |
| Japan Wax | Rhus Vernicifera-urushi |
| Jeweler's Putty | Oxide of Tin |
| Kaolin | Pipe Clay |
| King's Yellow | Sulphide of Arsenic |
| Lamp Black | Carbon |
| Laughing Gas | Protoxide of Nitrogen |
| Litharge | Lead Carbonate |
| Lead, Black | Graphite |
| Lead, White | Ceruse - Lead Oxide |
| Lead, Red | Minium - Oxide of Lead |
| Linseed Oil | from Flax Seed |
| Lime | Oxide of Calcium |
| Logwood | Haematoxylin |
| Lunar Caustic | Nitrate of Silver |
| Lye | Potassium Carbonate |
| Madder | Acid Alizarine Blue |
| Marine Acid | Spirits of Salt |
| Montpelier Yellow | Yellow Oxide of Lead |
| Muriate of Lime | Chloride of Calcium |
| Muriatic Acid | Hydrochloric Acid |
| Mercuric Sulphide | Vermillion |
| Naples Yellow | Yellow Oxide of Lead |
| Niter | Nitrate of Potash |
| Oil of Turpentine | Spirits of Turpentine |
| Pearl Ash | Potassium Carbonate Anhydrous |
| Potash | Oxide of Potassium |
| Prussian Blue | Ferric Ferro Cyanide |
| Pumice Stone | Volcanic Rock (lava) |
| Purified Potash | Potassium Carbonate |
| Purple Crystals | Potassium Permanganate |
| Pitch and Tar | Saps exuded from Evergreens |
| Realgar | Sulphide of Arsenic |
| Red Prussiate of Potash | Potassium Ferricyanide |
| Rosin, Colophony/Gum | Residue from Distilling Turpentine |
| Rosin, Tall Oil | By-product of pulp paper manufacture |
| Rosin, Wood | Refined from Tree Stumps |
| Rust of Iron | Oxide of Iron |
| Saffron | Yellow dye for varnish and more |
| Salammoniac | Muriate of Ammonia/Ammonium Chloride |
| Saleratus | Pearl Ash overcharged w/Carbonic Acid |
| Sallet Oil | Goose or Duck Likker |
| Sallet Oil | Sweet Oil |
| Salt of Tartar | Carbonate of Potassium |
| Saltpeter | Carbonate of Potassium |
| Saltpeter Niters | Potassium Nitrate |
| Slacked Lime | Hydrate Calcium |
| Slaked Lime | Hydrated Calcium Hydroxide |
| Soda | Oxide of Sodium |
| Soot | Carbon |
| Spanish Black | Burnt Cork |
| Spanish Brown | Sesquioxid of Iron |
| Spanish Bugloss | Alkanet |
| Spanish Ferretto | Calcinate of Copper & Sulphur |
| Spanish Red | Ocher resembling Venetian Red |
| Spanish White | Chalk |
| Sperm Oil | From Head Gland of Sperm Whales |
| Spirits | Alcohol |
| Spirits of Hartshorn | Ammonia |
| Spirits of Nitre (Sweet) | Ethyl Nitrate |
| Spirit of Salt | Hydrochloric or Muriatic Acid |
| Spirits of Turpentine | Distilled tree resins |
| Spirits of Turpentine, rectified | Camphene |
| Spirits of Wine | Alcohol |
| Stucco or Plaster of Paris | Sulphate of Lime |
| Sugar of Lead | Acetate of Lead |
| Sweet Oil | Olive Oil |
| Tannin | Tannic Acid (bark) |
| Talc | Ground Soapstone |
| Tincture of Steel | Ferric or Iron Chloride in Grain Alcohol |
| Venice Turpentine | Premium Turps from the Larch |
| Verdigris, Acetate of Copper | Oxide of Copper, Cupric Acetate |
| Vermillion | Sulphide of Mercury |
| Vinegar | Acetic Acid (dilute usually 5% to 7%) |
| Vinegar, strong | Acetic Acid above 20% |
| Vitriol | Sulfuric Acid |
| Vitriol, Blue | Sulphate of Copper |
| Vitriol, Green | Ferrous Sulphate, Nitric Acid & Copper |
| Vitriol, Oil of | Sulphuric Acid |
| Vitriol, Red | Nitric Acid and Copper |
| Vitriol, White | Sulphate of Zinc |
| Volatile Alkali | Ammonia |
| Water | Oxide of Hydrogen |
| Water Glass | Sodium Silicate |
| Whale Oil | Oil rendered from Whale Blubber |
| White Precipitate | Ammoniated Mercury |
| Yellow Prusiate of Potash | Potassium Ferrocyanide |
More as it becomes available. Please email any
not included to expand listing.
The above chemical equivalents are drawn from several sources. In many cases the names are repetitious and often contradictory. We assume no responsibility for possible errors that may occur in this listing or its accuracy in all occurrences. Period references were frequently regional in application and what one thing was called in one part of the world was often something else somewhere else. We have tried to include as many variances as possible, there are at least as many more.
Be very careful many of these things are very dangerous. KNOW what you are doing. Go to the library and read a good Chemical Hazards Dictionary.
These equivalents are included so that those reading old texts and testing ancient receipts have a point of reference. It may be of some use to budding young alchemists.
An attempt has been made to preserve original spelling.
CHEMICAL FORMULAE and EXTRACTION |
| The below methods of obtaining chemicals are included as a point of interest. It is not recommended to try these things at home as the manufacture of chemicals (even the simplest ones can be dangerous). The purpose is to illustrate how simple chemicals can be obtained by traditional means. |
SPIRITS OF SALT 10 lbs. common salt 20 lbs. common clay water sufficient to make into balls. Distill while moist with a violent heat and rectify by re-distillation. |
COMMON AQUA FORTIS 6 lbs. nitre 6 lbs. green vitriol, not calcined 2 lbs. green vitriol, calcined Distill |
SIMPLE AQUA FORTIS 2 lbs. green vitriol 1 lb. niter Distill |
AQUA REGIA 16 oz. spirit of nitre 4 oz. sal ammoniac Dissolve |
HARTSHORN Burnt antlers of deer. |
TALC Powdered soapstone |
POTASH Water leached through wood ashes |
SALTPETER Sodium nitrate treated with potassium chloride |
IVORY BLACK Ivory dust burnt in an absence of oxygen |
CHARCOAL Wood burnt in an absence of oxygen. |
WHITE LEAD Lead oxide from lead exposed to an atmosphere of acetic acid or ammonia. Red lead results from heating white lead. |
TABLE OF PRINCIPAL ALLOYS |
Antimony, tin and copper makes babbitt
metal. ** It has been illegal since the 1600's
to make eating & cooking utensils of lead bearing
pewter, britannia metal is the preferred substitute. |