LECTURES ON HOMEOPATHIC MATERIA
MEDICA
by JAMES TYLER KENT, A.M., M.D.
The brimstone of the Bible, sulfur was most likely encountered by prehistoric humankind near geothermal sources such as volcanoes and geysers. Sulfur’s two crystal forms, monoclinic and rhombic, both have a melting temperature just above the boiling point of water at one atmosphere. Under pressure, as under the earth, water temperature can exceed the melting temperature for sulfur. Since sulfur does not dissolve in water, the liquid sulfur immediately solidifies as it reaches the earth’s surface, leaving the distinctive non-metal pale yellow brittle solid. The Frasch process for mining sulfur does exactly the same as the geothermal process. Superheated water under pressure is pumped into the earth and retrieved with melted sulfur in it, mimicking the natural process for sulfur exposure. There is another non-crystalline form of elemental sulfur that can be made by melting crystalline sulfur, but the amorphous allotrope is unstable, reverting to one of the crystalline forms on standing. Sulfur burns in air (the stone that burns) to form sulfur dioxide. This is the first step in the manufacture of sulfuric acid, by far the most used compound of sulfur. It has been said that the amount of sulfuric acid made is a good measure of the level of industrialization of a country. Sulfur is one of the main ingredients in the vulcanization of rubber.