2000 BCE: Sulfur - The book of science

Sulfur
Atomic number 16
Ode to allicin
Commentary

Sulfur

Translators of the Torah call it brimstone;
classical Grecians used it as a fumigant;
the Chinese used it in medicines and gunpowder;
Indian alchemists mixed it with mercury;
early Europeans made a nice skin cream with it;
and, in 1777, Antoine Lavoisier showed it was an element.

Atomic number 16

Sulfur has many allotropes
as well as stable
and radioactive isotopes.
It combines
with all elements
except the noble gases,
including itself,
easily forming rings
and chains.
Four sulfurs
and four nitrogens
form a cage.
Amorphous sulfur
could be helical
with eight sulfurs per turn.

Ode to allicin

O Allicin, O Allicin, O Allicin,
thy aroma has abundant nose!
O Allicin, O Garlic,
thy bountiful goodness the whole earth knows!
Thou art infused with virtue,
but what is it due to?
Antibacterial, antifungal,
antiseptic, antiviral, antiprotozoal,
anti-thrombotic, anti-inflammatory,
also an antioxidant,
thou art the rustic’s cure-all;
helping all endure all.
O Garlic, thy alliinase converts alliin
into allicin.
Whether minced, chopped, mashed, or whole,
I thy praises do extol.
Garlic-stuffed olives, garlic pies,
garlic bread, garlic fries,
garlic chicken, seafood, and potatoes,
garlic green beans, mushrooms, and tomatoes,
once we add our garlic sauce,
we are never at a loss,
three-garlic pasta with three garlics spiced
roasted, diced, and sliced.
Smoked, pureed, or granulated good
not just flavoring but food.
The Greeks placed piles of garlic
on piles of stones at crossroads—
food for triple-bodied Hecate.
Folk in Europe warded off
vampires, demons, and werewolves with garlic,
and used it to cure a cough.
Garlic symbolizes medicine
each New Year in Afghanistan—
also in Central Asia and Iran.
O Allicin, O Allicin, O Allicin,
O Garlic O Garlic O Garlic,
O, O, O!

Common sulfur is pale yellow and composed of a mixture of elemental sulfur and rings, mainly rings of eight (a.k.a. octasulfur, cyclo-S₈) but also rings of seven and six. Elemental sulfur is bright yellow. Sulfur burns with a blue flame and melted sulfur is red. S₄²⁺ is deep blue; S₁₉²⁺ is red. Compounds can be blue (lapis lazuli’s radical ion S₃^-) gold (iron pyrite FeS₂), or vermilion (cinnabar’s mercuric sulfide, HgS).

The active ingredient in garlic is 2-Propene-1-sulfinothioic acid S-2-propenyl ester, a.k.a. allicin.

2000 BCE Sulfur

The book of science

Sulfur

Atomic number 16

Ode to allicin