Lumbric: Alum: UST

Unknown artist

This blown and molded square glass bottle has a narrow neck, a flared lip, and a baked enamel cartouche surrounded by a floral arrangement. The label is marked in black <i>Lumbric Alum UST</i> and the alchemical symbol for Spirits. Lumbricor is dried and pounded earthworms, alum is potassium aluminum sulfate, and ustum is Latin for <i>heated</i>. This jar would have contained a spirits solution of heated alum and earthworms, which was often used as an emetic, astringent, or diuretic.