Eleven Useful Additions to a Wizard's Laboratory

A wizard's laboratory typically includes a variety of books, crucibles, flasks, jars, tripods, herbs, and even a skeleton or two. Following are several less common but extremely useful items that might be found in an especially well-furnished laboratory. The cost of each item is given in parentheses,

1. Granite Table Top

This is an ordinary desk with a top made of polished granite or quartzite to resist staining and damage from acids and other potent substances. (150 gp)

2. Glass Mask

This is a face mask made of glass designed to protect the wizard from inhaling poisonous fumes and to protect his face from splashed chemicals. (10 gp)

3. Alchemist's Globe

This 3-foot-diameter glass globe separates into two sections. When assembled, the sections form a tight seal that prevents air from entering. Items and substances can be locked inside the globe to isolate them from outside conditions. Small and large globes are available. (150-250 gp)

4. Athanor

A small furnace consisting of an oven and a deep pan of sifted ashes. Substances to be heated are placed in a sealed container and covered in ashes for slow, even heating. (80 gp)

5. Descensory Furnace

This is a medium-sized furnace primarily used for heating liquids. The liquid is poured down a funnel on the top which runs into a container in the belly of the furnace. (100 gp)

6. Heat Bath

This is a small furnace holding a deep pan of water containing metal rings to hold variously sized flasks and tubes. The substance to be dissolved is placed in a glass tube, which in turn is placed in an appropriately-sized ring in the pan. The furnace gradually heats the water and thus the substance. (75 gp)

7. Dung Bed

This item consists of a box made of glass or other non-flammable material with a tight-fitting lid. The box is filled with hot dung or clean, dry sand. Treated substances are placed in the dung bed to keep them warm. (25 gp)

8. Analytical Balance

An extremely precise scale for weighing solid materials, the balance is sensitive enough to distinguish a blank piece of paper from a paper with writing on it. To keep it dust-free, the balance is covered with a glass case. (400 gp)

9. Burette

This is a thick tube with a valve on one end used to measure liquids precisely. (1 gp)

10. Filter Paper

This is a specially treated paper that filters solids from liquids. A funnel is lined with the paper, then the liquid to be filtered is poured in the funnel. Solid material will not pass through the paper. (1 gp/10 sheets)

11. Hand Centrifuge

This is a machine consisting of several rings for holding test tubes with a hand pump on the top. Test tubes filled with liquids are placed in the rings, then the wizard rapidly works the pump, causing the tubes to spin in a circle. The spinning causes the heavier substances in the tubes to sink to the bottom, while the lighter substances remain near the top of the tube. (100 gp)

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