Hamburg, Germany, 1669.
A merchant named Brandt heard a rumor while passing a tavern: the "king of metals," gold, could be made from urine. No one believed such drunken nonsense, but hoping to make a fortune, he conducted countless experiments with urine.
In one experiment, he mixed sand, charcoal, lime, and other materials with urine, then heated and distilled them. Though he failed to obtain gold, he unexpectedly produced an exceptionally beautiful substance.
It was white and soft, capable of giving off a flickering glow in the dark, so Brandt named it phosphorus, a Latin word meaning "cold light." Later, people added pasty antimony sulfide and potassium chlorate to tree gum, mixed them with phosphorus, dabbed a little onto wooden sticks, and lightly struck them against sandpaper.
Even as a sulfide, antimony was highly flammable, and phosphorus had a low ignition point. That was how matches were born.
Later, humanity also invented incendiary bombs, smoke bombs, fertilizers, and more. That substance extracted from urine truly created wealth, even if it was not gold.
All living things underwent metabolism. Defecation and urination were natural responses, just like eating and drinking.
Phosphorus was not only present in the human body, but in animal bodies as well. When people obtained nutrients from food, they absorbed more than just the elements contained within it.
Potato chips and fish contained relatively little energy, but after being deep-fried, they became high-calorie foods because they absorbed oil.
Fatty meat, animal organs, nuts, and cooking oil were also high in calories. Eating too much of them left one feeling greasy, and the body rejected further intake of such foods, instead craving something "light" to cut through the richness.
Children were always hungry, especially Ron Weasley. Watching him eat always gave Pomona a sense of accomplishment. The lavish feast