An Aludel, also known as Hermetic Vase, the Philosopher’s Egg, and the Vase of the Philosophy, is a tool used in alchemy to turn to solids such as mercury, sulfur into gasses. The device is place in a furnace and the condensation is trapped at the top. Image: Alchemiae Gebri, 1545
Diagram of an alchemist’s furnace, 17th Century. From Manly P. Hall’s collection of alchemical manuscripts, Box 18, MS 102, v. 6. Source: Getty Research Institute
Diagrams of alchemical furnaces in The Key of Alchemy by Samuel Norton, 1577. I love how amateur these look, it’s from a handwritten manuscript, so perhaps they’re placeholder drawings. From Manly P. Hall’s collection of Alchemical Manuscripts. Box 18, MS102, v10
