I hate paywalls- read this in your local WHSmiths.

From- http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530040.600-eureka-relived-alchemy-thats-more-than-magic.html

"and put into the one side thereof a burning Coal, and the Fire will glide through the Feces within half an Hour, and Calcyne them into a Citrine Colour, very glorious to behold."
It doesn't exactly sound like science, and this extract from The Bosome Book of George Ripley, a mid-15th-century text, illustrates alchemy's image problem, says" (someone) "


Not that I want to say "I told you so" but going back to the original texts is always a good thing,