Volatile and penetrating liquids of the alchemical laboratory, obtained by distillation and valued for their power to dissolve, preserve and extract. Aqua vitae, the strong spirit of wine, was the model case, and writers praised it as a medicine and as a means of drawing the virtues out of plants and minerals. Grander claims were made for solvents such as the alkahest and azoth, imagined as universal agents that could dissolve or restore any body. These substances stand where practical distillation meets the alchemical hope for a single master solvent or remedy.
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Spirit (Alchemical Substances)
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Aqua vitae (Wikipedia)
Has Member: Aqua Vitae, Lead sentence, classQuote, Has Member: Aqua Vitae, Lead sentence, class
Aqua vitae (Latin for "water of life") or aqua vita is an archaic name for a strong aqueous solution of ethanol.
Alkahest (Wikipedia)
Has Member: The Alkahest, Lead sentence, classQuote, Has Member: The Alkahest, Lead sentence, class
In Renaissance alchemy, alkahest was the theorized "universal solvent".
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