12. Manufacture of Asem.
Take
some shreds of {metallic) leaves, dip in vinegar and white lamellose
alum and let them soak during seven days, and then melt with a fourth
part of copper, 8 drachmas of earth of Chios, 8 drachmas of asemian
earth, 1 drachma of salt of Cappadocia {and) additional lamellous
alum, 1 drachma; mix, melt, and cast the black {refuse) from the
surface.
The nature of the metal first used is not stated. The chemical nature of the "asemian earth" is also unknown to us.
13. Manufacture of an Alloy.
Copper
from Galacia, 8 drachmas; tin in sticks, 12 drachmas; stone of
Magnesia, 6 drachmas; mercury, 10 drachmas; asem, 5 drachmas.
14. Manufacture of an Alloy for a Preparation.
Copper, 1 mina, melt and throw on it 1 mina of tin in buttons and use thus.
15. The Coloration of Gold.
To
color gold to render it fit for usage. Misy, salt, and vinegar accruing
from the purification of gold; mix it all and throw in the vessel
{which contains it) the gold described in the preceding preparation;
let it remain some time, {and then) having drawn {the gold) from the
vessel, heat it upon the coals; then again throw it in the vessel which
contains the above-mentioned preparation; do this several times until
it becomes fit for use.
According
to Pliny the "misy" of the Ancients was either iron or copper pyrites
or oxidation products of these, that is, basic iron or copper sulfates
or various mixtures of these salts. (See Pliny, "Natural History," Book
XXXIV, chap. 31.)
16. Augmentation of Gold.
To augment gold, take cadmia of Thracia, make the mixture with cadmia in crusts, or that from Galacia.
This
is apparently the beginning of a longer recipe. No. 17 seems to be the
remainder of it. Berthelot has suggested that the title of No. 17 was
a comment or gloss erroneously copied into the papyrus by a copyist.
17. Falsification of Gold.
Misy
and Sinopian red, equal parts to one part of gold. After the gold has
been thrown in the furnace and it has become of good color, throw upon
it these two ingredients, and removing {the gold) let it cool and the
gold is doubled.
The meaning of "sinopian red" is various. The description of Dioscorides {Materia Medica V, 3) would make it appear that it was an iron ochre, although it sometimes referred to red lead.
18. Manufacture of Asem.
Tin,
a tenth of a mina; copper of Cyprus, a sixteenth of a mina; mineral of
Magnesia, a thirty-second; mercury, two staters. Melt the copper, throw
on it at first, the tin, then the stone of Magnesia; then having melted
these materials, add to them an eighth {part) of good white asem of a
suitable nature. Then, when the alloying has taken place and at the
time of cooling, or of remelting together, add then the mercury last of
all.
19. Another {Formula).
Copper
of Cyprus, 4 staters; earth of Samos, 4 staters; lamellose alum, 4
staters; common salt, 2 staters; blackened asem, 2 staters, or if you
desire to make it more beautiful.
