Kerkring Menstruum

This menstruum is a powerful

one, far stronger than ordinary
alcohol. It is attributed to the
Dutch physician Theodore
Kerkring, and is found in his
commentaries on Basil
Valentine's "Triumphal Chariot of
Antimony." It has a variety of
uses in the mineral realm.
It's manufacture is fairly simple.
Using two corningware or
visionware casserole baking
dishes over electric or gas heat, sublimate Salt Ammoniac (the salt known as
ammonium chloride) three times. The sublimated crystals will take on a pale
yellow colour after the first sublimated, and eventually turn yellow-orange, even
red in some areas. Store these crystals in a glass jar sealed away from moisture.
Obtain some absolute alcohol as instructed in an earlier section, preferably from
red wine, and combine them during the New Moon, in the proportion of roughly
four parts sal ammoniac to nine or ten parts alcohol. Seal them both in a glass jar
and digest at around 40C for at least a month.
After the month is up, distill off the alcohol very gently to near dryness. Collect
the distillate and then distill again two more times. This is the Kerkring
Menstruum.

James Collins