List of alchemical

substances
From Wikipedia

 Aqua Fortis – nitric acid, cformed by 2 parts saltpetre in 1 part

(pure) oil of vitriol (sulfuric acid). (Historically, this process
could not have been used, as 98% oil of vitriol was not
available.)

 Aqua Ragia/Spirit of turpentine/Oil of turpentine/Gum

turpentine – turpentine, formed by the distillation
of pine tree resin

 Aqua Regia (Latin: "royal water") – a mixture of aqua fortis

and spirit of salt

 Aqua Tofani – arsenic trioxide, As2O3 (extremely poisonous)

 Aqua vitae/Spirit of Wine – ethanol, formed by distilling wine[1]

 Bismuth (German: Wismuth)

 Bitumen - highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of

petroleum

 Blende

 Blue Vitriol/Bluestone – A mineral; copper(II)

sulfate pentahydrate.

 Brimstone – sulfur

 Flowers of sulfur – formed by distilling sulfur.

 Butter (or oil) of antimony – antimony trichloride. Formed by

distilling roasted stibnite with corrosive sublimate, or
dissolving stibnite in hot concentrated hydrochloric acid and
distilling. SbCl3

 Cadmia/Tuttia/Tutty – probably zinc carbonate

 Calamine – zinc carbonate

 Calomel/Horn Quicksilver/horn mercury – mercury(I) chloride,

a very poisonous purgative formed by subliming a mixture of
mercuric chloride and metallic mercury, triturated in a mortar
and heated in an iron pot. The crust formed on the lid was
ground to powder and boiled with water to remove the
calomel.

 Caustic potash/Caustic Wood Alkali – potassium hydroxide,

formed by adding lime to potash

 Caustic Soda/Caustic Marine Alkali – sodium hydroxide,

NaHCO3, formed by adding lime to natron

 Caustic Volatile Alkali – ammonium hydroxide

 Chalk – a rock composed of porous biogenic calcium

carbonate, CaCO3

 Chrome green – chromic oxide and cobalt oxide

 Chrome orange – chrome yellow and chrome red

 Chrome red – basic lead chromate – PbCrO4+PbO

 Chrome yellow/Paris Yellow/Leipzig Yellow – lead chromate,

PbCrO4

 Cinnabar/Vermilion – refers to several substances, among

them: mercury(II) sulfide (HgS), or native vermilion (the
common ore of mercury).

 Copper Glance – copper(I) sulfide ore.

 Corrosive sublimate – mercuric chloride, formed by subliming

mercury, calcined green vitriol, common salt, and nitre

 Cuprite – copper(I) oxide ore

 Dutch White – a pigment, formed from one part of white lead

to three of barium sulfate, BaSO4
 Flowers of antimony – antimony trioxide, formed by
roasting stibnite at high temperature and condensing the
white fumes that form. SbO3

 Fool's gold – a mineral, iron disulfide or pyrite; can form oil of

vitriol on contact with water and air.

 Fulminating silver – silver nitride, formed by

dissolving silver(I) oxide in ammonia. Very explosive when
dry.

 Fulminating gold – gold hydrazide, formed by adding

ammonia to the auric hydroxide. When dry, can explode on
concussion.

 Fulminating gold – unstable gold carbonate formed by

precipitation by potash from gold dissolved in aqua regia

 Galena – lead(II) sulfide. Lead ore.

 Glass of antimony – impure antimony tetroxide, SbO4 formed

by roasting stibnite. A yellow pigment for glass and porcelain.

 Glauber's Salt – sodium sulfate. Na2SO4

 Green Vitriol – a mineral; iron(II) sulfate heptahydrate.

(or ferrous sulfate)

 Marcasite – a mineral; iron disulfide. In moist air it turns into

green vitriol, FeSO4.

 Rouge/Crocus/Colcothar – ferric oxide, formed by burning

green vitriol in air

 Gum Arabic – gum from the acacia tree

 Gypsum – a mineral; calcium sulfate, CaSO4

 Horn Silver/Argentum Cornu – a weathered form

of chlorargyrite, an ore of silver chloride

 Luna cornea – silver chloride, formed by heating horn silver

till it liquefies and then cooling
 King's yellow – formed by mixing orpiment with white arsenic

 Lapis solaris (Bologna stone) – barium sulfide –

1603, Vincenzo Cascariolo

 Lead fume – lead oxide, found in flues at lead smelters

 Lime/Quicklime (Burnt Lime)/Calx Viva/Unslaked Lime –

calcium oxide, formed by calcining limestone

 Slaked Lime – calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2

 Liver of sulfur – formed by fusing potash and sulfur

 Lunar caustic/lapis infernalis – silver nitrate, formed by

dissolving silver in aqua fortis and evaporating

 Lye – potash in a water solution, formed by leaching wood

ashes

 Potash/Salt of tartar – potassium carbonate, formed by

evaporating lye. K2CO3

 Pearlash – formed by baking potash in a kiln

 Massicot – lead monoxide, PbO

 Litharge – lead monoxide, formed by fusing and powdering

massicot

 Minium/Red Lead – trilead tetroxide, Pb3O4; formed by

roasting litharge in air

 Naples yellow/Cassel yellow – oxychloride of lead, formed by

heating litharge with sal ammoniac

 Mercurius praecipitatus – red mercuric oxide

 Milk of Sulfur (lac sulphuris) – formed by adding an acid to

thion hudor (lime sulfur)

 Mosaic gold – stannic sulfide, formed by heating a mixture of

tin filings, sulfur, and sal-ammoniac

 Natron/Soda Ash/Soda – sodium carbonate, Na2CO3

 Nitrum Flammans – ammonium nitrate

 Oil of Tartar – concentrated potassium carbonate,

K2CO3 solution

 Oil of Tartar per Deliquium – potassium carbonate dissolved

in the water which its extracts from the air

 Oil of Vitriol/Spirit of Vitriol – sulfuric acid, a weak version can

be formed by heating green vitriol and blue vitriol. H2SO4

 Orpiment – arsenic trisulfide, an ore of arsenic

 Pearl white – bismuth nitrate, BiNO3

 Philosophers' Wool/nix alba (white snow)/Zinc White – zinc

oxide, formed by burning zinc in air, used as a pigment

 Plumbago – a mineral, graphite; not discovered in pure form

until 1564

 Powder of Algaroth – antimonious oxychloride, formed by

precipitation when a solution of butter of antimony and spirit
of salt is poured into water

 Purple of Cassius – formed by precipitating a mixture of

gold, stannous and stannic chlorides, with alkali. Used for
glass coloring

 Realgar – arsenic disulfide, an ore of arsenic

 Regulus of antimony

 Resin of copper – copper(I) chloride (cuprous chloride),

formed by heating copper with corrosive sublimate

 Sal Ammoniac – ammonium chloride

 Sal Petrae (Med. Latin: "stone salt")/Salt of

Petra/Saltpetre/Nitrate of potash – potassium nitrate, KNO3,
typically mined from covered dungheaps

 Salt/Common salt – A mineral; sodium chloride, NaCl, formed

by evaporating seawater (impure form)
 Spirit of box/Pyroxylic spirit – methanol, CH3OH, distilled
wood alcohol

 Spirit of Hartshorn – ammonia, formed by the decomposition

of sal-ammoniac by unslaked lime

 Salt of Hartshorn/Sal Volatile – ammonium carbonate formed

by distilling bones and horns

 Spirit of Salt/Acidum Salis – the liquid form of hydrochloric

acid (also called muriatic acid), formed by mixing common
salt with oil of vitriol

 Marine Acid Air – gaseous form of hydrochloric acid

 Spiritus fumans – stannic chloride, formed by distilling tin

with corrosive sublimate

 Tin salt – hydrated stannous chloride

 Butter of tin – hydrated tin(IV) chloride

 Stibnite – antimony or antimony trisulfide, ore of antimony

 Sugar of Lead – lead(II) acetate, formed by dissolving lead

oxide in vinegar

 Sweet Vitriol – diethyl ether. It could be made by mixing oil of

vitriol with spirit of wine and heating it.[2]

 Thion Hudor – lime sulfur, formed by boiling flowers of sulfur

with slaked lime

 Turpeth mineral – hydrolysed form of mercury(II) sulfate

 Verdigris – Carbonate of Copper or (more recently) copper(II)

acetate. The carbonate is formed by weathering copper. The
acetate is formed by vinegar acting on copper. One version
was used as a green pigment.

 White arsenic – arsenious oxide, formed by subliminating

arsenical soot from the roasting ovens
 White lead – carbonate of lead, a toxic pigment, produced by
corroding stacks of lead plates with dilute vinegar beneath a
heap of moistened wood shavings. (replaced by blanc
fixe & lithopone)

 White vitriol – zinc sulfate, formed by lixiviating roasted zinc

blende

 Venetian White – formed from equal parts of white lead

and barium sulfate

 Zaffre – impure cobalt arsenate, formed after roasting cobalt

ore

 Zinc Blende – zinc sulfide