Microcosmic salt
Microcosmic salt is a salt found in urine with the formula NaHPO4. It is left behind in the residues after extracting the urea from dried urine crystals with alcohol. In the mineral form, microcosmic salt is called stercorite.
Its name was coined in Latin by Paracelsus in the 16th century, but it was also referenced by Pseudo-Geber in the late Middle Ages; another alchemical name for it was sal urinae fixum. The first extraction of pure phosphorus came from this salt in the 17th century, when Hennig Brandt attempted to extract gold from urine.
Microcosmic salt is used in the laboratory as an essential ingredient of the microcosmic salt bead test for identification of metallic radicals on the basis of the color they produce in oxidizing or reducing flame, in hot or cold conditions.
Microcosmic salts form a tetrahydrate.