Persian sulfur

Ingredients

Persian sulfur

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Coarsely crush Persian sulfur. Heat a pot and sprinkle sulfur onto it to create smoke. Pass the pen over the sulfur smoke repeatedly until it becomes black. Avoid direct flame contact. Ensure the pen is thoroughly washed and rubbed with hair to remove any remaining red traces before re-smoking any areas that haven't turned black.

Evidence

"You should have previously prepared Persian sulfur, crushed and pounded coarsely. Then take a pot $^{(3)}$ from the fire with tongs $^{(4)}$, place it before you, and sprinkle sulfur on it in one place, a little of the well-crafted sulfur. Then hold the pen with your hand and pass it over that smoke, bringing it close to it if the sulfur does not flare up or heat. ... Do this until the pen becomes black with your heart's desire, so that it becomes like a dye."

Remarks

This recipe details a method of creating a black dye or ink by exposing a pen to sulfur smoke. The sulfur likely reacts to form a black sulfide compound on the pen's surface.