Amalgam (chemistry) miners seeking gold nuggets with the aid of an engine-powered water vacuum mounted on a float. Where stamp mills were used to crush gold-bearing ore to fines, a part of the extraction process involved the use of mercury-wetted copper plates, over which the crushed fines were washed. A periodic scraping and re-mercurizing of the plate resulted in amalgam for further processing. Amalgam obtained by either process was then heated in a distillation retort, recovering the mercury for reuse and leaving behind the gold. As this released mercury vapors to the atmosphere, the process could induce adverse health effects and long
Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam of alchemical texts: Theatrum Chemicum, and commented upon by Pseudo Aquinas in Aurora Consurgens. They both also give his (modified) image of the sage holding a chemical table (see image above). Al-Tughrai was an 11th–12th century Persian physician. whose work the"Masabih al-hikma wa-mafatih al-rahma" (The Lanterns of Wisdom and the Keys of Mercy) is one of the earliest works of material sciences. Al-Jildaki who was a Persian alchemist urged in his book the need for experimental chemistry and mentioned many experiments "Kanz al-ikhtisas fi ma'rifat al-khawas by Abu 'l-Qasim Aydamir al-Jildaki". Jābir analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of Aristotle's