The old masters denominated calx of the Sun
faintly an oxide or a reduced metal to thin powder.
To reduce to metallic powder the solar star, you
make first, an amalgam of the noble metal with the common quicksilver, then, volatilise
the quicksilver with Vulcano and will remained the metal in powdery state (calx). At
present time, the Brazilian prospector, still uses this process that is very dangerous,
due to the quicksilver highly toxic vapours not only noxious for the animal economy, but
for the atmosphere as well.
As this operation is very risky, for the reasons
that we exposed you, we do not advise that you do it.
If you want to reduce gold into calx, dissolve,
in a Beaker 100ml, old damage gold jewels in royal water, made with 3 parts of spirit of
salt and 1 part of spirit of nitre. The royal water should not be in excess, but just
enough to dissolve the gold that you have.
The dissolution will have a yellow-greenish
colour because the gold jewels usually contain legally, a small percentage of copper. If
it were pure gold, the dissolution would have a beautiful yellow colour.
If it doesn't dissolve well with
effervescence, heat up the solution to 40°C, on a small electrical oven with controlled
temperature.
Take care not breathes the toxic vapours that
emanate from the reaction. Furthermore, don't spill the liquid dissolution on the skin,
because later, the area of the skin that was in contact with the golden trichloride
solution will be coloured of a dark violet very difficult to eliminate. Furthermore, the
more you will wash the area with soap the more it will be accentuated. Use rubber gloves
when doing this operation.
In the same vase, coagulate the solar dissolution
to a temperature of 60°C, in a sand bath on a small electric oven with controlled
temperature.
In a graduate 100ml (Beaker) of Pyrex glass pour
80ml of distilled water and dissolve in it the chloride solar-venusian's (gold and
copper).
Now, introduce in the liquid a small and very
clean copper sheet and polished with sandpaper or steel wool. Leave it for some time. The
gold that is in dissolution will precipitate little by little, on the part of the copper
sheet that sits in the liquid.
When the amount of precipitate gold is
sufficiently thick, shake the sheet to free the gold, which will drop in a powdered form
on the bottom of the glass.
When it doesn't precipitate anything else, remove
the sheet and by decantation, flow with precaution the bluish water that remains and which
has in dissolution the copper that the gold contained. Be careful that you do not spill
the golden powder,
Wash the precious brown powder well with
distilled water and dry it in the same vase, to a temperature of 60°C, keeping it, after
its dry, in a small glass flask well closed.
This calx is pure metallic gold, much divided and
therefore it has a brown colour like coffee. If you examine it with a magnifying glass,
you will notice some metal particles. You can melt it with an appropriate fusing heat and,
like this, you will have pure gold.
This calx will be easily amalgamated with the
common quicksilver and it will be good for the Filaleto, Flamel and Basil Valentine's
work.