Vegetable Radical Menstruum

By Dale Halverstadt
"Process II is that of preparing the vegetable radical menstruum. !f the vegetable or
herb used" one ta#es the best #ind. $his is placed in %ea# acetic acid and rectified spirits
of %ine. &'ual parts of both li'uids are used. $his mi(ture is placed in an alembic and
distilled. It is digested again and the complete process of mi(ture and distillation repeated
t%o more times" ma#ing a total of three. )inally" as a result of these constant firings" a
penitent spirit %ill come over. $here should remain behind" in the alembic" a small
amount of dead earth and nitrum" *saltpeter+. It %ill then be necessary to ma#e t%o or
three cohobations i.e." combining the dead earth %ith the spirit or essence. In this
manner" the vegetable radical menstruum is prepared. By placing other herbs in this
menstruum" their essential oils can easily be obtained and" thereby" invaluable eli(irs and
medications prepared."
,

In this paragraph ta#en from the second edition of )rater -lbertus. -lchemist.s Handboo#"
the Vegetable Radical Menstruum *V.R.M.+ preparation is described. $he follo%ing are
the efforts" results" and insights of that menstruum preparation by the author.
!f the best #ind of vegetable or herb to be used in this %or#" in all probability the
vegetable referred to %ould be that %hich is e'uivalent to man in the animal #ingdom and
to gold in the mineral #ingdom. Basil Valentine %ould say that such an herb is the grape.
/
$he V.R.M might be loo#ed at some%hat li#e the alcohols e(tracted from various herbs
or grains" i.e." some %or# better than others to use as a menstruum.
0hemically spea#ing" the union of ethyl alcohol and acetic acid produces an ester called
ethyl acetate *also called acetic ether or vinegar naphtha+ having the chemical form
0H10!!0H/23. It has a characteristically fruity odor. Its vapors may be irritating to
mucous membranes" %hile prolonged inhalation may cause renal" hepatic damage.
1
&thyl
acetate can be bought from any organic chemical stoc#room. I found it to be almost
totally useless to e(tract the essentials of various herbs.
- 435 grain alcohol *322 ml+ %as added to a good apple vinegar *322 ml+ plus ,2 mI of
H/6!7 *sulfuric acid+. *$he old alchemists used vitriol" 0u6!7 copper sulfate.+ $he
sulfuric acid should push the reaction and give a much higher yield *the vitriol also has a
spirit %ithin it that %ill give some added po%er to the menstruum+. $he vitriol %ould be
alive and thus" if the menstruum %ere strong enough" %ould e(tract this spirit as %ell and
%or# li#e 8H70l *ammonium chloride+ in the 9.M. )rom a chemical point of vie%" the
release of the 6!7 ions present in this tend to %or# as a catalyst. $hey do not enter into
the reaction but in the end more of the ester formed. H/627 *sulfuric acid+ %ill provide
this increase. 0u6!7 *vitriol+ should also provide this. *$he author has never had access
to 0:6!7 ore and could not research it.+
Marriage is important for the vinegar and alcohol. !ne %ill %ant to digest the vinegar and
alcohol together for some period of time to complete the e'uilibrium of all the products.
$he above %as allo%ed to stand for a month and then the spirit %as distilled out at about
;2 degrees 0. $o distill out the V.R.M. spirit %ill cause the remaining products to become
out of alance. Redigest and they %ill again see# their balance. <e also %ant to %or# %ith
the vinegar and alcohol until they %ill not separate. $he H/6!7 sulfuric acid+ is
hydroscopic *that is" it attracts %ater+ and helps also to push for the marriage.
-fter all the V.R.M. spirit has been distilled out" there %ill remain behind some alcohol"
acetic acid" and %atery phlegm. $his %e do not %ant. Ho%ever" they %ill distill out. -lso
left behind are fi(ed salts" oils" and dead earth this %e do %ant the spirit to be several
times e(posed to *=ust as Dr. 9erc#ringius ma#es his 9.M.+ to give the V.R.M. the spirit
of the oil and !nce you distill out the V.R.M spirit" this %ill also contain some %ater and
alcohol *unless you have e(tremely high 'uality distillation e'uipment+ that needs to be
removed" =ust as %hen you ta#e %ine and %ant the alcohol from that. >ou first distill out
the spirit and then rectify *redistill+ several times. In the fall ,4?3 6e(ta 0lass" it %as
demonstrated that this V.R.M. had the e(tracting po%er to dra% a tincture from a
fermenting herband did not have the po%er to dra% a tincture from a freshly macerating
herb. - fermenting herb is one that is releasing its o%n spirit *ma#ing alcohol+" such as
%hen %ine is being made from grapes and %ater" %hile a macerating herb is one that is
soa#ing in %ater" such as %hen tea is being made. $he disadvantage of this menstruum is
that though it is still an ether it is %ater soluble and tends to mi( %ith the %ater of the
macerating herb. $his can be circumvented by using angel %ater rather than %ater in
%hich to maceraie the herb or to" add this spirit directly over a dried herb.
!ne should be able to prepare a yet higher form of V.R.M. by using a highly rectified
grape %ine alcohol and a grape vinegar. -lso" much can be learned by ma#ing one.s o%n
%ine and vinegar in the process of ma#ing such a menstruum" if one %ants to go to the
effort. - vinegar may be made from an unpasteuri@ed %ine or from a grape =uice. &ither
%ill %or# for our V.R.M. $he best is the %ine vinegar. Dr. Bronner.s Red <ine Arape
Vinegar" ,22 grain concentration" is the best commercial product I #no% of. Boo# to your
health food stores. $hose %ho choose to %or# %ith apple vinegar may obtain a fine apple
vinegar from most health foodstores" and a 'uart of 435 grain alcohol may be obtained
from most li'uor stores.
!ne needs to see %hat one is doing %hen ma#ing the V.R.M. from several standpoints so
that more is accomplished than +ust a pro=ect.
)irst" one is marrying the unfi(ed spirit of the vegetable #ingdom to the fi(ed spirit of the
vegetable #ingdom $his spirit is yet more ethereal than either of the first t%o spirits.
6econd" it %ill become a better tool as it is used more and more" as one puts it over more
and more herbs" for in the process it becomes more refined.
$hird" it %ill itself manifest %ith more and more healing properties as it is used to e(tract
the virtues of various healing plants.
)ourth" ho% far one can ta#e sucha menstruum is only to be ans%ered by ho% far one
%ill ta#e it. $here is al%ays more to be done to improve it. -ll that is re'uired is the
ability to distill in the %ay of lab e'uipment. 6uch a menstruum can be a valuable teacher
and guide. It is an easy pro=ect to %or# %ith for if one ma#es a mista#e %ith it it %ill be
easy to redistill or even start over.
)ifth" one might use such a menstruum in the mineral #ingdom" as Dr. 9erc#ringius
described and used the 9erc#ringius menstruum in the $riumphal 0hariot of -ntimony
by a similar process.
Bastly" I might suggest that the nitrum" *saltpeter+ seems to be any purified salt of an herb
rather than the ore itself. :sing the salt of grape %ine and grape vinegar is therefore
9/0!1 *potassium carbonate+ not 98!1 *potassium nitrate+. -s to the 'uantity of vinegar
and alcohol that one %ill need to begin %ith" it must be remembered that it is a poor
reaction even under good conditions. :sing my recipe" one may e(pect to start %ith ten
times as much vinegar and t%ice as much alcohol as you plan to finish %ith. $here is
much less fi(ed spirit in vinegar than the unfi(ed in the alcohol. - liter of vinegar might
give you about ,22 ml in the end" if you do %ell.
$hese are the results" insights" and efforts on the V.R.M. of the author up to this time.
0learly" more time and effort spent on this pro=ect %ill reveal even more. It is hoped that
such beginnings %ill enable others to use this tool and push beyond this point.