Coelum philosophorum seu de Secretis Naturae

This Latin title translates into English as “Philosopher’s Heaven or the Secrets of Nature”, which builds on the work of the German surgeon, botanist, and alchemist Hieronymus Brunschwig (ca. 1450 – ca. 1512) titled Liber de arte distillandi de simplicibus or “Book on the Art of Simple Distillation”. The author was Philipp Ulstad, a nobleman from Nuremberg who taught in Fribourg at the beginning of the 16th century. It is a major work in the history of distillation and includes various remedies for doctors as well as recipes for drinkable gold. The text is mostly focused on obtaining the “water of life” – destillatorium ad aqua vitae. Ulstad specifies the various instruments involved in producing alcohol, but also addresses other topics like the philosophy of the nature of time.

Alcohol: the Fifth Element?

Ulstad divides the universe into two distinct regions: the world of the four elements (water, air, earth, and fire), where corruption and imperfection reign, and the incorruptible sky. Aqua vitae, having been distilled down to its essence, was thus believed to be the “quintessence”, the fifth element that was supposedly the matter of heavenly bodies. It was believed that when the substance enters the body of the patient it eliminates the uncomfortable humors since it surpasses all the elements that are under the sky. The ancient philosophers worked on its elaboration to strengthen and lengthen life. Today we know that distilled alcohol can be used to sterilize medical instruments, and ether, an early anesthetic, can also be created through distillation. This document thus marks an important milestone in the evolution of medical science.