Ink of silver or gold

Ingredients

quicksilver, strong acid, quicklime, turmeric

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Take two luty of quicksilver and throw some strong acid on it and a little bit of quicklime. Place it all together in one vessel and keep it on a small fire until it mixes well. It will turn into silver ink. If you want it to turn gold, add a little bit of turmeric into it. (p. 299, footnote 87)

Evidence

"Ink of silver or gold: take two luty [łuta (Pol.), luta (Yid.) or lot (Ger.) was a standard measure from the Middle Ages up to eighteenth century in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and equalled approximately one third of a pound] of quicksilver and throw some strong acid on it and a little bit of quicklime. Place it all together in one vessel and keep it on a small fire until it mixes well. It will turn into silver ink. If you want it to turn gold, add a little bit of turmeric into it."

Remarks

The desired golden hue is achieved by means of additional organic ingredients as colorants, specifically turmeric, when the base silver ink (produced from mercury and acid) is used (p. 299). 'Luty' refers to a common measure in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (p. 299).