Re: In Alchemy, what does a symbol w/ a Z and a subscript, E mean?

Hi,

The symbols used for alchemical studies were not really standardized; alchemists were sometimes persecuted and sometimes paranoid about their secrets being stolen by their peers, so they often used variants of what are thought of today (when they are thought of at all) as "standard" alchemical symbols. In addition, I should add that alchemy is not really pertinent to modern science, except form a historical perspective, so your question is generally outside of the scope of our site. Finally, since alchemical symbolism was used as a notation for the more exact chemical notation we use today, a great number of symbols were developed, many of which differ in appearance in small ways. Even using descriptions of characters in the modern alphabet, it is not easy to identify a particular symbol. If you are describing letters in one font, and I am used to using the same letters in a different font, the description might correspond to a different symbol.

That being said, I'm not a scholar of alchemy, but I think that you are describing two conjoined symbols that might have been part of a recipie. If you draw your capital Z the way that I do, with a horizontal crossbar in the middle of the slant, then this is the symbol for Tin, and the curve-backed reverse capital E is the symbol for a scruple, an archaic measure of weight used by apothecaries, and I guess by alchemists too.

A scruple weighed 20 grains. A dram weighed three scruples, and an ounce weighed eight drams. This ounce is what is known as a troy ounce, where a pound weighed 12 troy ounces. Today, we use the so-called avoirdupois ounce, where a pound weighs 16 avoirdupois ounces. The apothecary's symbol for a troy ounce looks sort of like the symbol you are describing too, but instead of a curve-backed reverse capital E, the subscript on the Z looks like the number 3 (or a backwards 5).

If your capital Z does not include a crossbar, but the Z in the shape has a little concave swoop to the bottom, then it might be the symbol for "common salt" (sal commune) conjoined with the symbol for a scruple. So, your symbol may be saying, "a scruple of tin", or "a scruple of salt."

Good luck!