Azoth, was considered to be a universal medicine or universal solvent sought in alchemy (similar to other alchemical idealized substance, alkahest, that like azoth was the aim, goal and vision of many alchemical works it was to achieve). Its symbol was the Caduceus and so the term, which being originally a term for an occult formula sought by alchemists much like the philosopher's stone, became a poetic word for the element mercury, the name is Medieval Latin, an alteration of azoc being originally derived from Arabic al-zā'būq “the mercury.”