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Jens Nordlunde · 12th April 2005, 04:56 PM

Her comes a recipe for quenching, but before I bring it, I think you should have a small lecture in botany. In the recipe is mentioned ‘Serpent’s mushroom’. As I did not know what it was I tried Google, with no result, then I read further and it said that it was the same as ‘Mountain celery’. That gave a result, 138 to more exact, and it also gave a lot of recipes how to use ‘mountain celery’ in different dishes, this was a surprise to me, as it clearly says that ‘serpent’s mushroom’ is fatal if eaten. Well I thought, it could be, that those dishes were only meant for nasty mothers in law – who knows?

The text below is from ‘Persian Steel’, the chapter ‘The Development of Iron and Steel Technology’, written by Dr. Brian Gilmour.

In the 9th century, al-Kindi wrote that ‘moderation of quenching is an aid to sharpness, for quenching, if intensive, causes the serving of the blade in adversity, in other words, that too sudden quenching, as in cold water, made the blade too brittle.

(Although I would like to put the whole book on the forum, I can’t – you will have to buy it – it is very interesting, and a god investment, I think. Jens). And now to the recipe.

‘Take the mushroom which is known as ‘serpent’s mushroom’, so called because it is fatal if eaten, and which is the same as mountain celery [sic]. It frequently grows especially at the foot of large olive trees or in asses’ dung. Grind it up, collect the juice of Persian alkali and the jujube, and vine lees, sea foam, sal ammoniac, canthardies, the juice of the tender henbane, grind the solid parts to a powder and mix them with the liquid, place them in a bottle stoppered at the top, and bury in manure for 40 days until completely dissolved. Then take felt, soak it for three days in old urine, dry in the shade, and sprinkle the abovementioned liquid upon it. Bring the sabre to red heat in the fire and spray it, using wool, as is done for sabre iron. When it has drunk, cool it, cover it to protect it from dust. It will cut anything, and if a saw is made out of it, it will cut through glass like another will cut through wood; this is a noble tempering.’

This suggests that Tom is more right than I, the sharpness was most important. But he also states that the blade should be right tempered – so I was also right

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12th April 2005, 04:56 PM	#20
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	Her comes a recipe for quenching, but before I bring it, I think you should have a small lecture in botany. In the recipe is mentioned ‘Serpent’s mushroom’. As I did not know what it was I tried Google, with no result, then I read further and it said that it was the same as ‘Mountain celery’. That gave a result, 138 to more exact, and it also gave a lot of recipes how to use ‘mountain celery’ in different dishes, this was a surprise to me, as it clearly says that ‘serpent’s mushroom’ is fatal if eaten. Well I thought, it could be, that those dishes were only meant for nasty mothers in law – who knows? The text below is from ‘Persian Steel’, the chapter ‘The Development of Iron and Steel Technology’, written by Dr. Brian Gilmour. In the 9th century, al-Kindi wrote that ‘moderation of quenching is an aid to sharpness, for quenching, if intensive, causes the serving of the blade in adversity, in other words, that too sudden quenching, as in cold water, made the blade too brittle. (Although I would like to put the whole book on the forum, I can’t – you will have to buy it – it is very interesting, and a god investment, I think. Jens). And now to the recipe. ‘Take the mushroom which is known as ‘serpent’s mushroom’, so called because it is fatal if eaten, and which is the same as mountain celery [sic]. It frequently grows especially at the foot of large olive trees or in asses’ dung. Grind it up, collect the juice of Persian alkali and the jujube, and vine lees, sea foam, sal ammoniac, canthardies, the juice of the tender henbane, grind the solid parts to a powder and mix them with the liquid, place them in a bottle stoppered at the top, and bury in manure for 40 days until completely dissolved. Then take felt, soak it for three days in old urine, dry in the shade, and sprinkle the abovementioned liquid upon it. Bring the sabre to red heat in the fire and spray it, using wool, as is done for sabre iron. When it has drunk, cool it, cover it to protect it from dust. It will cut anything, and if a saw is made out of it, it will cut through glass like another will cut through wood; this is a noble tempering.’ This suggests that Tom is more right than I, the sharpness was most important. But he also states that the blade should be right tempered – so I was also right.