The word VITRIOL hides a sixteenth-century alchemical acrostic

The symbolic figure of the Emerald Tablet is surrounded by a Latin acrostic whose seven initials form the word VITRIOL. This acrostic invites to visit the interior of the earth to find the hidden stone according to alchemical doctrines. The term also designates the old name for sulfuric acid associated with the hermetic tradition of the sixteenth century.