[331] There is probably a reference here to the disputes which divided the different alchemical schools.
[332] The nature of this powder of moles is explained a little further on in the Liber Dedali, par. 10.
[333] A double chloride of ammonium and mercury, represented by the formula 2NH₄Cl. HgCl₂, H₂O.
[334] The use of matters derived from the animal kingdom, carbonised toads or moles, may be illustrated from the Liber Dyabesi (Ricc. ms. l. iii. 13, 119, p. 4 recto) which treats of what had been ‘ab omni Latinitate intemptatum’ viz. the distillation of a white land-tortoise (v. p. 7 verso). Pliny remarks that goat’s blood sharpens and hardens iron tools and polishes steel better than any file.
[335] This passage is highly significant, and furnishes a key to the title of the treatise.
[336] The doctrine of the vitriols is here substantially the same as in the great work of Ibn Beithar of Malaga.
[337] There is a well-known tract De aluminibus et salibus ascribed to Rases in the Paris MS. (6514 p. 128); it also occurs in the Speciale MS.
[338] This phrase is found in the De aluminibus et salibus of Rases (Paris ms. 6514 p. 128) who calls the place ‘Elebla.’ Vincent of Beauvais ascribes the saying to Geber.
[339] The use of the first person singular here agrees with the notion that in this part of the Liber Luminis we have the record of the author’s own experiments. See ante, p. [87].