The names of the ingredients of the elixir of life could be symbolic to represent the names of the real substances .
The most famous Chinese alchemical book , the Tan Chin Yao Ch ’ eh ( `` Great Secrets of Alchemy , '' dating from approximately 650 AD ) , discusses in detail the creation of elixirs for immortality ( mercury , sulfur , and the salts of mercury and arsenic are prominent , and most are ironically poisonous ) as well as those for curing certain diseases and the fabrication of precious stones .
Elixir of life