This section is from the "Henley's Twentieth Century Formulas Recipes Processes" encyclopedia, by Norman W. Henley and others.
Heat the alum in a porcelain dish or other suitable vessel till it liquefies, then raise and continue the heat, not allowing it to exceed 400°, till aqueous vapor ceases to be disengaged, and the salt has lost 47 per cent of its weight. Reduce the residue to powder, and preserve it in a well-stoppered bottle.—Cooley.
Heat ordinary alum (alumina alum) with constant stirring in an iron pan in which it will first melt quietly, and then commence to form blisters. Continue heating until a dry white mass of a loose character remains, which is powdered and kept in well-closed glasses.
 
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