Vegetable Radical Menstruum

Vegetable Radical Menstruum By Dale Halverstadt "Process II is that of preparing the vegetable radical menstruum.  !f the vegetable or herb used one ta#es the best #ind. $his is placed in %ea# acetic acid and rectified spirits of %ine. &'ual parts of both li'uids are used. $his mi(ture is placed in an alembic and distilled. It is digested again and the complete p rocess of mi(ture and distillation repeated t%o more times ma#ing a total of three. )inally as a result of these constant firings a  penitent spirit %ill come over. $here should remain behind in the alembic a small amount of dead earth and nitrum *saltpeter+. It %ill then be necessary to ma#e t%o or three cohobations  i.e. combining the dead earth %ith the spirit or essence. In this manner the vegetable radical menstruum is prepared. By placing other herbs in this menstruum their essential oils can easily be obtained and thereby invaluable eli(irs and medications prepared.", In this paragraph ta#en from the second secon d edition of )rater -lbertus -lbertus -lchemists Handboo# the Vegetable Vegetable Radical Menstruum *V.R.M.+ *V.R.M.+ preparation is described. $he follo%ing are the efforts results and insights of that menstruum preparation by the author. !f the best #ind of vegetable or herb to be used in this %or# in all probability the vegetable referred to %ould be that %hich is e'uivalent to man in the animal #ingdom and to gold in the mineral #ingdom. #ingdo m. Basil Val Valentine entine %ould say that such an herb is the grape./ $he V.R.M V.R.M might be loo#ed at some%hat li#e the alcohols e(tracted from various herbs or grains i.e. some %or# better than others to use as a menstruum. 0hemically spea#ing the union of ethyl alcohol and acetic acid produces an ester called ethyl acetate *also called acetic ether or vinegar naphtha+ having the chemical form 0H10!!0H/23. It has a characteristically fruity odor. Its vapors may be irritating to mucous membranes %hile prolonged inhalation may cause renal hepatic damage.1 &thyl acetate can be bought from any organic chemical stoc#room. I found it to be almost totally useless to e(tract the essentials of various herbs. - 435 grain alcohol *322 ml+ %as added to a good apple vinegar *322 ml+ plus ,2 mI of H/6!7 *sulfuric acid+. *$he old alchemists used vitriol 0u6!7  copper sulfate.+ $he sulfuric acid should push the reaction and give a much higher yield *the vitriol also has a spirit %ithin it that %ill give some added po%er to the menstruum+. $he vitriol %ould be alive and thus if the menstruum %ere strong enough %ould e(tract this spirit as %ell and %or# li#e 8H70l *ammonium chloride+ in the 9.M. )rom a chemical c hemical point of vie% the release of the 6!7 ions present in this tend to %or# as a catalyst. $hey do not enter into the reaction but in the end more of the ester formed. H /627 *sulfuric acid+ %ill provide this increase. 0u6!7 *vitriol+ should also provide this. *$he author has nev er had access to 0:6!7 ore and could not research it.+ Marriage is important for the vinegar and alcohol. !ne %ill %ant to digest the vinegar and alcohol together for some period of time to complete the e'uilibrium of all the products. $he above %as allo%ed to stand for a month and then the spirit %as distilled out at about ;2 degrees 0. $o distill distill out the V.R.M. V.R.M. spirit %ill cause the remaining products to become out of alance. Redigest and they %ill again see# their balance.
hydroscopic *that is it attracts %ater+ and helps also to push for the marriage. -fter all the V.R.M. spirit has been distilled out there %ill remain behind some alcohol acetic acid and %atery phlegm. $his %e do not %ant. Ho%ever they %ill distill out. -lso left behind are fi(ed salts oils and dead earth  this %e do %ant the spirit to be several times e(posed to *=ust as Dr. 9erc#ringius ma#es his 9.M.+ to give the V.R.M. the spirit of the oil and !nce you distill out the V.R.M spirit this %ill also contain some %ater and alcohol *unless you have e(tremely high 'uality distillation e'uipment+ that needs to be removed =ust as %hen you ta#e %ine and %ant the alcohol from that. >ou first distill out the spirit and then rectify *redistill+ several times. In the fall ,4?3 6e(ta 0lass it %as demonstrated that this V.R.M. had the e(tracting po%er to dra% a tincture from a fermenting herband did not have the po%er to dra% a tincture from a freshly macerating herb. - fermenting herb is one that is releasing its o%n spirit *ma#ing alcohol+ such as %hen %ine is being made from grapes and %ater %hile a macerating herb is one that is soa#ing in %ater such as %hen tea is being made. $he disadvantage of this menstruum is that though it is still an ether it is %ater soluble and tends to mi( %ith the %ater of the macerating herb. $his can be circumvented by using angel %ater rather than %ater in %hich to maceraie the herb or to add this spirit directly over a dried herb. !ne should be able to prepare a yet higher form of V.R.M. by using a highly rectified grape %ine alcohol and a grape vinegar. -lso much can be learned by ma#ing ones o%n %ine and vinegar in the process of ma#ing such a menstruum if one %ants to go to the effort. - vinegar may be made from an unpasteuri@ed %ine or from a grape =uice. &ither %ill %or# for our V.R.M. $he best is the %ine vinegar. Dr. Bronners Red
rather than the ore itself. :sing the salt of grape %ine and grape vinegar is therefore 9 /0!1 *potassium carbonate+ not 98!1 *potassium nitrate+. -s to the 'uantity of vinegar and alcohol that one %ill need to begin %ith it must be remembered that it is a poor reaction even under good conditions. :sing my recipe one may e(pect to start %ith ten times as much vinegar and t%ice as much alcohol as you plan to finish %ith. $here is much less fi(ed spirit in vinegar than the unfi(ed in the alcohol. - liter of vinegar might give you about ,22 ml in the end if you do %ell. $hese are the results insights and efforts on the V.R.M. of the author up to this time. 0learly more time and effort spent on this pro=ect %ill reveal even more. It is hoped that such beginnings %ill enable others to use this tool and push beyond this point.