Arcanum duplicatum (
potassium sulfate), also known as
panacea duplicata, in pre-modern
medicine, is a preparation of the
caput mortuum, or the remaining residue from distillation or sublimation, of
aqua fortis, by dissolving it in hot water, filtering, and evaporating it to a cuticle. It is then left to shoot. It was used as a
diuretic and
sudorific.
The recipe was purchased for 500 dollars by the Duke of Holstein. Schroder, the prince's physician, wrote wonders of its great uses in hypochondriacal cases, continued and intermitting fevers, stone, scurvy, etc.
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