中国有色金属史(七) 汞

MERCURY

汞,古称澒,又称水银,在炼丹家手中曾扮演过很不寻常的角色,它是人们有意识地研究物质间相互转变的一种主要原料,对近代化学的发展起过促进作用。朱砂(或称丹砂、辰砂)是炼汞的原料,我国早在四千年前就已开采使用。1967年及1973年在河南偃师二里头早商宫殿遗址附近发掘出一批玉器和青铜器,都是裹在朱砂里面的,还有三个坑的底部保存有大量朱砂。我国至迟在战国时期(公元前3至5世纪)

Cinnabar have been known and used since antiquity.To extract mercury from cin- nabar was not very difficult in ancient times,the only problem was to find an effec- tive method of condensation.In China,mercury was produced no later than the War- ring States period. Mercury played an important role in the work of alchemists for more than one thousand years.The alchemists tried to make pills of immortality,though their fanta- sies and concoction in the end came to nothing,but their devoted investigations had c...